Fourth season as parent judge; practicing attorney (19 years).

My Paradigm should be in the RFD but if not here are my criteria for certain events.

Interp: My decision will be based on the NSDA criteria: Characterization: Is each character well-developed? Is each character relatable? Does a character’s response seem believable given the situation being portrayed? Blocking: Can you tell what the performer is doing in the scene? Is it clear what character(s) they are playing? Is the movement motivated? Cutting: Do you understand what is happening? Is the storyline easy to follow? Does the sequence of events make sense?

Creative storytelling: I based my decision on three things. 1. Storyline: Is there character development and a distinct plotline that has a climax and a resolution. 2. Character/ narration interaction: Do the charters/ narrators developed the story/ plotline. Do the characters have a unique personality and a creative challenge/ issue. 3 Speaking ability are you able to have minimal stutters and pauses do your characters have an accent/ personality and do your voice/ body reflect that trait.

Extemp: I base my decision on three main things 1 Organisation, did you layout clear points with and did you use an intro that grabbed my attention and a conclusion that neatly wrapped your speech up? 2. Source consideration did you provide meaningful evidence that contributed to your speech and was easy to follow and how did you introduce your evidence in a thoughtful manner. 3 Delivery how many stutters or pauses did you have? Did you make clear and consistent eye contact, How well were you able to persuade me that your topic answer made sense? Out of the three criteria, the winner of this round displayed the most out of all three categories.

OO/Info I base my decision on three criteria. 1) organization Organisation, did you layout clear points with and did you use an intro that grabbed my attention and a conclusion that neatly wrapped your speech up(brownie points to those who had a lesson at the end? 2) Delivery, did you have persuasion, did you have purposeful movement. How well did you keep the audience engaged with your speech? 3) overall effect, How well did your speech organization and delivery work together to provide a speech that delivers a message or something to take away(why are you talking about it). The winner had fulfilled all criteria the most.

PF: I base My decision on three main factors. Organization, did you have an organized case that was easy to understand and persuasive? 2) Argumentation, did you effectively address your case and your opponents. 3) Delivery how persuasive were you at speaking. By filling the most criteria the winner should have the most points in their case defended.

If you want a more thorough explanation email me @ Dode5566@colorado.edu

Background:

I graduated high school in 2014 and competed mainly in LD (Nats qualifier) and PFD. However, I also competed in extemp, impromptu, congress, and surprisingly policy. I'm currently working in the Public Relations and Social Media realm. I have an MBA and fairly in-depth knowledge in public policy, the business world, and history.

Preferences for the round:

LD: I prefer traditional philosophical and value oriented debate. This is the roots of LD and I much prefer this to the PF-esque LD rounds I've seen become the norm. I prefer discussions of the rational or the driving force rather than card battles over the implementation.

PFD: Give me a measuring system for how to judge the round. Unlike LD there are no values, so you must tell me what measuring system to use and why it is preferred to your opponent's system.

Generic debate preferences:

As far as progressive debate tactics vs traditional debate tactics, I have no real preference and am open to voting for kritics, etc. Speed is not a problem for me and neither is spreading. However if you do decide to use progressive tactics, I have a few caveats. Don't be abusive, clearly explain your argument/warrant/impact, and you must be articulate. If you are not understandable, I will stop flowing until you are able to be understood (this is still about the art of communication not just about speed reading). A round where debaters will receive high speaker points will include substantive argumentation supported by reputable sources, will have clear value clash, clearly link to values (LD) and the speakers will present the claim, warrant, and impact of each argument. I'm a traditional flow judge so I'm not a fan of dropped arguments. If there is a dropped argument, tell me what was dropped and why that drop is important. Not every argument carries the same weight so just because an argument was dropped, it does not mean that you instantly win or lose. It depends on the argument that was dropped. As far as organization of your speeches, signposting is a must but especially if you are running 3-4 contention cases with many cards.

Timing on your phone is fine with me and honestly every debater should be self timing. Reading cases and evidence off your computer is fine. However if your computer crashes, have a hard copy of your case and evidence available so that you can continue the round.

CX is for breaking down your opponent's case and logic. Use it wisely and do not waste time with pointless questions or questions that do not advance your goal. CX is not an extra 3 minutes to give a speech furthering your constructive.

Things that increase your speaker points:

Good understanding and use of philosophy. Strategic use of CX.

Things that lower your speaker points:

Definition battles (I think I can only remember 1 instance where the definition was truly that important to the result of the round).

Not knowing when to move on from a question that has been asked and answered in CX (just because you didn't get the answer you wanted does not mean that the opponent hasn't answered the question).

Don't attempt to box opponent into defending or advocating for something that is extra-resolutional (for example forcing opponent to create a viable plan of implementation instead of defending the theory of an action).

Being rude, abusive, et al.

PF/LD:

Hi, I'm Jakob Lucas and I just graduated last year. I was involved in debate all 4 years of high school and did Congress for every year. I like all different types of arguments and weighing mechanisms. It's up to you to determine how I should weigh the debate, I will make the decision of how to weigh the debate myself ONLY IF no weighing mechanism is provided. Overall I think I'm pretty well-versed and you can run almost anything you'd like I just have two requests:

- Please no spreading.

- Please no kritiks (Ks).

I have a lot of experience competing in debate as a high school and college student (30 years), so you can expect me to be passionate about the issues you are speaking for and against but I will not bring personal preferences into debate like some other judges. I judge various events so here is a general outline of what I am looking for in a speech:

1. Passion - no matter what I want to see that you care about what you are speaking about. If this is lacking you can expect a poor ballot.

2. Good Arguments - when I have a tie between two capable and passionate debaters, this is where I go to break the tie. If you repeat arguments expect a poor ballot. Also note for formats like WSD and LD, I will try my best to flow the round, but you need to tell me arguments are dropped. I look for sound reasoning and logic flow in all of the debates and in LD, PF and other evidence based debates I will be asking you to read all of your cards.

3. Inflection and Voice - If I lose interest during your speech you are doing something wrong. Keep me engaged throughout. If you lose me when you are describing an argument you will not be on my flow and I will drop that argument completely.

4. Any type of rudeness and any chance at cutting other competitors speaking time (especially for POs in congress) will result in the lowest rank possible. RESPECT PRONOUNS and POI choices.

General overview:

I was a high school and college debater and have been an active high school coach ever since. I am chair of my state league as well as an NSDA District Chair. Dating back to high school, I have over 35 years of experience in the activity. However, please don't consider me as "old school" or a strict traditionalist. Like any activity, speech and debate is constantly evolving and I am open to and embrace most changes. You'll clearly understand all of the rare exceptions to that as you read my paradigm.

It is very important to remember that debate is a communication activity. As such, I expect clear communication. Well articulated, supported and defended arguments, regardless of quantity, are far more important to me than who has the most cards that they can spout out in a speech. While I'm okay with a limited amount of speed, excessive speed beyond what you would use in the "real world" is not effective communication in my mind. Communicate to me effectively with well reasoned and fully supported arguments at a reasonable pace and you will win my ballot. I don't accept the "they dropped the argument so I automatically win the argument" claim. You must tell me why the dropped argument was critical in the first place and convince me that it mattered. I look at who had the most compelling arguments on balance and successfully defended them throughout the round while refuting the opponent's arguments on balance in making my decision.

Things to keep in mind about the various events I judge:

Policy debate is about policy. It has a plan. Plans have advantages and disadvantages as well as solvency or the lack thereof. Some plans also might warrant a counterplan from the negative if it is good, nontopical, and can gain solvency better than the affirmative plan. I am not a fan of "circuit style" policy debate and greatly prefer good and clear communication.

Lincoln Douglas Debate is about values. I am interested much more in values in this type of debate than any sort of policy. However, I'm not a strict traditionalist in that I don't require both a value premise and a value criterion that is explicitly stated. But I do want to hear a value debate. That said, I also want to hear some pragmatic examples of how your value structure plays out within the context of the resolution. All in all, I balance my decision between the philosophical and the pragmatic. Persuade me of your position. However, please don't present a plan or counterplan. Switch to policy debate if you want to do that. Bottom line: debate the resolution and don't stray from it.

Public Forum Debate is about current events and was intended for the lay judge. Don't give me policy or LD arguments. Clear communication is important in all forms of debate, but is the most important in this one. I am not open to rapid fire spreading. That's not communication. Please don't give me a formal plan or counterplan. Again, reserve that for policy debate. Communicate and persuade with arguments backed up by solid research and your own analysis and do this better than your opponents and you will win my PF ballot. It's that simple. Debate the resolution without straying from it in a good communicative style where you defend your arguments and attack your opponent's and do this better than they do it. Then you win. Persuade me. I am also not a fan of "circuit style" Public Forum that seems to be increasingly popular. Communicate as if I am a layperson (even though I'm not), as that is what PF was intended to be.

Congress Paradigm: (I'll be honest. It's my favorite event.)
Congressional Debate is designed to be like the real Congress when it functions as it was intended. Decorum is absolutely critical. While humor may have its place in this event, you should not do or say anything that a United States congressperson of integrity would not do or say. You should also follow Congressional decorum rules and address fellow competitors with their proper titles. When judging congress, I want to see clash/refutation of previous speakers (unless, of course, you are giving the first speech of the topic). Try to avoid "canned" speeches that are largely prewritten. This is not dueling oratories. It is still debate. I look for a combination of new arguments and clash/refutation of arguments already made. I do not like rehash. If it's been said already, don't say it unless you have a uniquely fresh perspective. I am not impressed by those who jump up to make the first obvious motion for previous question or for recess. Obvious motions score no points with me, as they are obvious and can be made by anyone. It's not a race to see who can be seen the most. I am, however, impressed by those who make great speeches, regularly ask strong cross examination questions and show true leadership in the chamber. Simply making great speeches alone is not enough. If you give three perfect speeches but never really ask good cross examination questions or rarely participate proceduraly in the chamber, you might not get the ranking you were hoping for. Although speeches are very important and a major factor in my decision, they are not the complete package that I expect from a competitor. I'm looking at your total constructive participation in the chamber (in a productive sense, not a "just to be seen" sense). Finally, to reiterate what I said at the beginning, I take decorum very seriously. You should too.

Congress Presiding Officers: Keep your wording as brief and concise as possible. Avoid the obvious. Please don't use phrases like "Seeing as how that was a negative speech, we are now in line for an affirmative speech." Here is a MUCH better option: "Affirmative speakers please rise" or "We are now in line for an affirmative speech." There is no need to tell anyone that the previous speech was negative. We should know that already. Just immediately call on the next side. It is acceptable and advisable to also very quickly give the time of the previous speech for the reference of the judges, but we do not need to be reminded of what side the previous speech was on. The phrase I dislike the most in Congress is "seeing as how . . ." So how do I judge you as a P.O. in relation to the speakers in the chamber? Most (but not all) presiding officers will make my top eight ballot if they are good with no major flaws. But how do you move up the ballot to get in "break" range? I place a great deal of weight on fairness and decorum, knowledge of parliamentary procedure and the efficiency in which the chamber is conducted. I reward presiding officers who are precise and have minimal downtime. And, as mentioned earlier, it does not require a great deal of language (especially jargon and phraseology) to be an excellent presiding officer. I'm not judging you on how much I hear you speak. I'm judging you on how efficient the chamber ran under your leadership. An excellent P.O. can run a highly efficient chamber without having to say much. Keep order, know and enforce the rules, and be respected by your peers. That said, you should also be prepared to step in and be assertive anytime the chamber or decorum gets out of hand. In fact, you should step in assertively at the first minute sign of it. Finally, while it is often difficult for a P.O. to be first on the ballot, it is also not impossible if your excellence is evident. And as a side note, while this is not a voting issue for me, it is worth noting. When giving your nomination speech, you don't need to tell me (or the rest of the chamber) that you will be "fast and efficient." That phrase is overused and heard from almost every candidate I've ever seen nominated. Everyone makes that claim, but a surprising number don't actually follow through on it. Come up with original (but relevant) reasons that you should be elected.

Things to avoid in any event I judge:

"Spreading" or rapid fire delivery. Just don't.

Ad Hominem attacks of any kind. Stick to the issues, not the person. This is the first thing that will alienate me regardless of your position.

Kritiks - You must be extremely persuasive if you run them. I'll consider them and vote for them if they are excellent, but I'd rather hear other arguments. Very few kritiks are in that "excellent" category I just mentioned. These are mainly only appropriate for Policy debate. I'll reluctantly consider them in LD, but never in PF.

Debate that strays outside the resolutional area. Stick to the topic.

Lack of respect for your opponent or anyone else in the room. Disagreement and debate over that disagreement is great. That's what this activity is about. But we must always do it respectfully.

Lack of respect for public figures. It's perfectly fine to disagree with the position of anyone you quote. However, negativity toward the person is not acceptable.

Condescending tone or delivery. Don't even try it with me. Trust me, I'll hear a condescending tone/delivery much louder than any argument you make, no matter how good the argument is. I'll make a condescending tone a voting issue that does not play in your favor. You don't want that.

I am a PF judge for Fort Atkinson, although I have judged policy in the past. I judged policy from a traditional policy-maker position and tend to prefer cases that are on-topic and had a course of action that I could take. While we are not looking for a plan from Public Forum debaters, arguing the topic directly plays right into my preferences, so it will be tough for PF debaters to go wrong with me.

Speed should not be an issue for public forum debaters, however I know that some students compete in several formats. Having judged policy in the past, I am comfortable with a novice-to-varsity level of speed, however, if I think that you are speaking too quickly for a public forum setting, I will say "clear" up to 3 times. If you speed up again, I will merely start to take off speaker points. If you are speaking so quickly that I cannot flow the debate (which should never happen in PF; this isn't policy!), that will simply be to the detriment of your case. I will not judge what I cannot flow.

I judge primarily base on the arguments/analytics that are presented in the round. I feel that speaker points are best suited to reward debaters for style. In other words, while arguments, facts, and logical deductions are the bread and butter of any debate, if you make it look good or convince me that you know your case backward and forward, that will be reflected in speaker points.

If you are arguing from a moral high ground, please be sure to emphasize that I should be considering moral obligations before considering other aspects (such as utilitarianism) and why. For example, I need something in your arguments telling me why I should value human lives above, say, dollars and cents, but from there on, this can be referred back to as a moral imperative without having to re-argue the original moral argument. Just be sure to include something in your summary or final focus that mentions that I should vote based on moral obligation above all other considerations.

When you are wrapping up the debate, please indicate clearly which arguments you think are the most important for me to consider and why. If there are flaws in the opposing argument, or if you want to toss some analytics, I am fine with this. Analytics are the application of logic to draw a conclusion based on the evidence at hand and they indicate to me that you've been seriously considering the side of the argument that you are presenting.

On my ballot, I try to indicate areas of improvement for everyone along with what was done well. If I indicate a mispronunciation, it is only to improve your debate for the next round, not to embarrass you. While a large vocabulary is desirable, nobody can claim to be perfectly familiar with every single word. English is far too large of a language and it can be terribly inconsistent.

You should also know that I am an Air Force Brat. I grew up on an Air Force Base, near a naval station, that housed Navy personnel and Marines. I am familiar with military equipment of various kinds, how they function, and the role they play in current and past military strategies. Tactical maneuvering for military and political advantage are not unknown to me and I have a good grasp of recent conflicts and their history. Please don't quote conflicts and dates unless you are certain because I will not find it convincing if it's incorrect.

Seth Willden

Debate Philosophy and Paradigm

I have no desire to see your case. I have no desire to be a part of an email chain. I want you, the debater, to make your arguments clear and thoughtful and ingestible for your judge.

I have been a coach of Speech and Debate for 5 years. I have been a community judge for 8 years. I teach research, writing, and speaking at the high school level and have taught at the college level as well. My background is rhetorical theory and criticism. I have judged LD in local Colorado Tournaments, and the National Speech and Debate Tournament. I would consider the majority of the judging and coaching I do centers on a “traditional” paradigm. But that brings with it a lot of baggage. So read on, dear competitor.

With my background in mind, I am primarily interested in debate as a pedagogical tool and an art.

A good round of debate demonstrates that both debaters have done research, organized their ideas well, and thought about how to defend their position(s). Both debaters will make it clear to the adjudicator of their position(s), and do their utmost to be convincing with solid evidence, questioning, and extemporizing. Debate is audience centered, meaning that effective communication should be at the forefront of the activity. If the arguments are not clear to the judge (rate of speed, inflection, organization, display of research), then the debate is all for naught.

The number of arguments you present is not positively correlated with the quality of those arguments. A few developed arguments are far more sound than a handful of cards you are able to fit into a 7 minute case. I know most Americans like to go down to Costco and buy cheese in bulk, but often the best cheese is handcrafted, cared for, and savored. Savor the arguments. Debate is an art, after all.

I will flow the debate as best I can, but debaters should make considerations for virtual competition space. You might need to slow down to make your arguments. And that’s okay. That fourth contention might have to wait for a judge more willing to listen.

Judging Style - Debate is an art, and therefore art can take a variety of forms. Values and Value Criterions are often helpful in adjudicating a round, so I prefer to have them situate the affirmative case. Debaters should try to see how each other’s values interact with one another, in order for the debate to have the desired “clash.”

I try to keep up on philosophy and rhetorical theory. I may not be particularly well versed on your thread, but I am generally familiar with Foucault, DeCerteau, Baudrillard, Deleuze, and Barthes. Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau, Jefferson, and Machiavelli. Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Isocrates, Quintillian, Cicero. Israel, Rawls, Kant. Queer theory, Cornel West, Judith Butler, Frantz Fanon. I will follow your position as best I can. If you misrepresent an idea, it may impact my decision making.

Oftentimes I see debaters travel far afield from the resolution in question. Try to maintain the resolution impact. Critiques of the resolution are welcome, but blanket K’s are not a helpful pedagogical tool in debate. There are many platforms for us to scrutinize debate praxis, but in the middle of the round it just gets a bit too metacognitive to be helpful.

We know that debate in practice has been harmful to some folks. LGBTQ+ folks, Black folks, and women in particular. Debaters who portray a persona of white hypermasculinity and use it as a tool to bully or demean other debaters will be marked down. 2020 has thrown us a lot of things. We want to make sure that debate is a safe place for us all. So be kind.