I currently use they/them pronouns, and wish for you to respect them, regardless of your view on gender as a whole. Thank you!

Hi there! My name is Jake Garrard, and I'm currently attending Utah State University, majoring in Law and Constitutional Studies. In high school, I mainly did Congress, so I have a lot of background in critiquing both speaking skills and debating skills; as a general rule, I value both of those things in all events (minus a few speech events where they both aren't quite relevant). Speech and debate made me into the person I am today- because of that, I hold the sport in very high regard. But onto the stuff you're here for:

Public Forum

You're at a debate tournament, so act like it. PF is a debate event, but I want to see how you present your ideas just as much as I want to see the ideas themselves. A more catchy argument will, however flawed, stick in a judge's mind better than a boring, drawn out recitation of a perfect argument. I flow rounds pretty well and will track arguments as they transform over time during your rounds. Don't let one fall in order to more thoroughly defend another. Prioritize your entire set of arguments and utilize your time effectively.

Your topic for this tournament has quite a few...red herrings, I'd argue. Avoid getting trapped in semantic arguments, and point out if the other side is arguing a point irrelevant for the debate at hand. Finally, avoid buzzwords like the plague. I don't believe I can go into specific details here, but this topic invites quite a bit of mainstream attention and colloquial terms without clear definitions. If you must use a casual term for a more complicated subject, DEFINE THE TERM.

Above all, enjoy yourselves! Debate is supposed to be fun, so please have fun! Don't get too stressed out over this. You're improving skills that will last you a lifetime. That alone is worth the effort!

Good luck!