The predictable way to win with me is clash. If you engage with the opposing teams case and spin out a victory, I will be happy when voting for you.

If you've got wicked speed, I won't flow it all. Bring the pitch down an octave and I'll give you speaker points.

Everything is on the table but I recognize my implicit bias against exclusive framework debate. Oh, you'll win it- if you win it. I will be putting a sad face on your ballot though.

I find framework boring. I enjoy listening to impact turns.

I'm beginning the round believing that what is said during cross shouldn't be evaluated. If you can give me a good reason to evaluate it, I will.

Please, don't be rude in a bad way. Sick owns that are entirely related to the round as a form of framing voting issues are great. Being mean to folks is not.

School Affiliation: Graduate of Brown University; former competitor with Big Spring High School.

Experience: 5-year speech and debate competitor with Big Spring ISD; I was predominantly an LD debater, but I have experience in CX/PF/Congress as well as DX/IX/OO.

Speed: Speech and debate is an educational, public speaking extracurricular. While I can handle spreading, I discourage it. There is a difference between speaking quickly to get your arguments on the board and speaking so fast that no one can understand you. If I cannot understand you, I will not flow your argument. To help with clarity, please tagline your arguments with clear markers (i.e: Contention 1, subpoint A, etc.).

Types of Arguments: I support "traditional" debate in every sense of the word. I will evaluate rounds by how well debaters stick to the resolution and debate the nuance of it using their value and criterion. Consequently, I am not a fan of CX-like argumentation (this includes, but is not limited to, arguments concerning topicality, plans and counterplans, and kritiks). These arguments are never persuasive to me. Stick to the resolution, back up your argumentation with solid statistics and analysis, and compare them to your opponents'. In the end, give me voters. That is how you can win my ballot.

Speaker Points: As I mentioned with speed, clarity and persuasive argumentation are at the core of this activity. To receive high speaker points, be clear, concise, persuasive, and respectful (both in terms of treatment of others and the language you use). Speed will never add points, but it certainly will take them away if I cannot understand you.

Email Chain: I do not want to be added to email chains. The presentation of your case and subsequent points is how I will flow and consider arguments. As a result, communication is key.

Disclosure: I do not disclose who won my ballot or speaker points.

Hello! I debated in high school (1995-1999) and have been judging debate for the past 20 years. Here is a quick recap of my paradigm

SPEED: no issue. Talk as fast or as slow as you want.

QUALITY > QUANTITY: it is better to have a few good arguments than many bad ones.

FRAMEWORK: important but not absolutely required. Helps to frame the round, but arguments are more important.

PHILOSOPHY: especially for LD, I think it is important to incorporate philosophy into your arguments. Not as important in PF, but it doesn't hurt to have it.

SOURCES: always cite your sources. I reserve the right to check your evidence during or after the round.

CIVILITY: be good to your opponent. This is a formal environment. Don't be rude or you will lose the round even if you have better arguments.

VOTERS: always give me voters at the end of the round. I will use them as a tiebreaker if the round is close.

CX: try to trap your opponent during CX. Don't waste valuable CX time asking for clarification questions, unless absolutely necessary.

HAVE FUN AND GOOD LUCK!

LD: Howdy Y'all! I am a former debater who has competed on different levels, I am well versed in how an LD round should run and what to expect from the debaters. That being said, My voting comes down to three main points; Framework development/analysis, the extension of arguments, and presentation of the debater.

I expect the debater to be able to provide a clear Value and Criterion that is weaved through their case and show how they are able to meet this value by the end of their round. This allows me as the judge to view the round their framework and understanding why I should vote for their side. As well, I expect that debaters extend and cross apply their framework throughout the round.

Anyone can give an argument on why their case is better, however, extending and building on one's argument is golden in my view. Having the ability to 1) build on arguments and carry them through your speech, 2) provide clear warrants and impacts, and 3) cross apply them back to one's framework.

Although the first two points are important, it ultimately comes down to how you present this to a judge, such as myself. I do not like speed, please speak at a normal pace to me (how you would read a book that you enjoying or how you would speak to your friends). Going too fast will make it hard for me as a judge to know what you're arguing. meaning that if I can't understand what you're saying, it makes it more difficult for me as a judge to judge the round. Please signpost during the round as it makes it easier to follow the round (whatever you can do to make a judge job easier always looks good !) I expect competitors to be courteous to one and another, although the round may get heated, that does not give anyone the right to be disrespectful. Also, as previously mention, I do not like speed or spreading. I will not flow what I do not understand. The last major point presentation is organization. What gets always undercuts good speakers in LD is the lack of organization. Be on top of your time and be sure that speeches are well formatted where I can logically follow.

If you have any questions concerning my ballots please ask me after a round.

he/him

jacksonspecker@gmail.com yes please include me in your email chain.

Debate is a game, have fun playing.

History with Debate:

Debated 3 years at Kearney High School (MO) (2010 - 2013) doing PF

Debated at Missouri state for 2 years (2015/16 and 2016/17) doing NDT/CEDA and NFA LD.

Graduate assistant coach at Northern Iowa for 2 years (2017/18 and 2018/19).

Current part time assistant coach at Johnson County Community College.

Full time I work in the public sector, updating welfare (Medicare, Medicaid, Food Assistance, ETC..) systems to accommodate the latest policy changes.

Quick Thoughts:

1. I feel like it is my job as a judge to not let my thoughts influence my decision of who did the better debating. However, It will inevitably happen. So you do what you do best and I will try my best as a judge. What I am really saying is I am not an argument processing machine, mistakes will happen.

2. You should debate as if I have little background and experience in the area you are talking about. It seems that it would serve anyone best to take the time and develop clear and well-constructed warrants. This will limit my ability to misunderstand your argument.

3. In my experience, people can take this activity too seriously. Humor will be rewarded.

4. Specificity is good, will be preferred over general claims/arguments.

5. Read Arguments that you enjoy. If you enjoy them I will probably enjoy them more as a judge.

6. I tend to find myself more in line with the tech>truth.

7. One conditional position for the neg is not abusive I will never process this as a reason to reject the team.

8. In T debates I generally think limits are good. Standards should be a way to explain how the debate space should divide the topic, I don't care about "in-round abuse"

9. I am not a big fan of debaters quoting my paradigm in round. This is not a contract, just the current state of my debate thoughts. Those thoughts can change.

10. I do not like any form of speed bad arguments, this is not to say that I understand everything perfectly there is a limit to what I can understand in terms of speed. I don't think I understand how an interp on this can work.

11. I flow straight down on each page.

12. I prefer you call me by name rather than 'judge'

13. If you call the politics DA the "tix da" ill drop your speaks.

14. Email chains are far superior to speechdrop, being quick and effective at emails is one of the most real world skills debate can offer

15. typically I have the speech doc and my flow both on my laptop, I strongly prefer that people use the condense feature on verbatim so I'm not scrolling through your evidence for too long

How I approach my decision

At the end of the debate I ask one questions before I start looking at the my flows. "Can I explain my decision to my friends?" This means that I have to have a decent grasp of what you are advocating for, so if it is high theory, I think that your final speech might be the most effective at winning my ballot if you have good overviews at the top of the speech. The longer time I spend outside and away from the classroom, the more I forget about how some of these theoretical positions function. I enjoy my time in debate but I also enjoy my time outside debate and can't spend the time to keep up with all these different arguments. From this point I will start to look at flows and evaluate the warrants and evidence of the relevant args in the round. Then once I have a more nuanced view of how these warrants are interacting I will start to think of the 'two worlds' that are possible in the round and evaluate the consequences of each team. After all of that I should be able to come to a decision.

Quick overview of my thoughts on speaker points

I think I am on the lower end of speaks, I will be evaluating after the 2023/2024 season to bring this more in line with what the majority of people's speaks might look like.

Novice round? I give speaker points in a novice round on their own scale relative to other novices.

JV round? I give speaker points on the same scale as I evaluate open debate. This means if you are in JV typically I feel that I am around the 28.25 as statistical median.

Open Round? I think that 28.5 is the number that represents an "average" debater. someone who I think would go 3-3 at a regional tournament. 28.8 is probably someone who clears at regional tournament. 29.1 is someone who can clear at a national tournament. 29.5 is someone who is advancing deep into elimination rounds at a national tournament. Anything about that is amazing. I don't think a 30/30 exists.

Debate Scales

The following format is stolen from Jeff Buntin (Northwestern)

Feelings-------------------------------------X-----Dead inside

Policy------------X---------------------------------K

Read no cards-----------------------X------------Read all the cards

Conditionality good---X---------------------------Conditionality bad

States CP good----------------X------------------States CP bad

Politics DA is a thing-------X----------------------Politics DA not a thing

UQ matters most---------------X-----------------Link matters most

Try or die--------------X---------------------------What's the opposite of try or die

Clarity X---------------------------------------------Srsly who doesn't like clarity

Limits------------X----------------------------------Aff ground

Presumption-----------------------------X---------Never votes on presumption

Longer ev--------------X---------------------------More ev

"Insert this rehighlighting"------------------X-----I only read what you read

Fiat solves circumvention-----X-------------------LOL trump messes w/ ur aff

CX about impacts-------------------------------X-CX about links and solvency

AT: -------------------------------------------------X------- A2:

While I have your attention

Watch The Leftovers on HBO (Max) this has to be one of the very few TV shows with a perfect ending, and I am always amazed at how few of people have watched this show. And it has an episode that uses the Fischer Protocol so call it topic research.

Listen to Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear, a great local KC musician who I think ought to have more listeners.