Hi there! I did Public Forum for 2 years and now I do Speech :)

Here's my email if you have any questions before/after a round or for an email chain for sending cards/evidence, haabo23@icstudents.org

Things I want to See

- Rounds should be about convincing me that your overall argument and position on the resolution is correct. Please keep in mind that's what Public Forum is, persuasion.

- Please signpost, (tell me what argument you're responding to or what overall contention you're talking about), it will help me keep track of my flow and especially use them when you’re extending cards (i.e. saying the tagline.) It will help me with my flow so please try and do it

- Weighing: Weigh the arguments in the round, ESPECIALLY in summary and final focus. Tell me why your weighing means you should win this round, not just why your weighing is true. Talk to me like I am a 3rd grader who doesn't know much about the topic and you're telling me why you're the best and not your opponents. (I assure you I know a lot about the topic, but pretend I don't)

- Impacts: Tell me why you have greater impacts than your opponents. If a debate gets really close, I will most likely decide the winner depending on who weighed the impacts better.

General Stuff to Remember

I am completely fine with off-time road maps, as long as you follow them.

Please time your speeches and prep, I will keep time, but it is also your responsibility.

I will allow you to have 10-15 seconds to finish your sentences at the end of your speech.

Please be respectful. Public Forum is also for everyone to have fun and learn. Respectfulness leads itself to better speaks. Any problematic behavior in the round (racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, etc.) can lead to a loss or docked speaker points. Watching a super aggressive/rude debate is also super frustrating and will hurt your speaks. I do not have any tolerance for any form of in round abuse or discrimination.

Please have a trigger warning for any content related to sexual violence, self-harm, or graphic descriptions of violence. If you're not sure if you should read one, read it. If somebody isn’t comfortable with you reading the argument, don’t. Usually, I'm okay with this kind of content, but please ask beforehand.

Speed

REMEMBER THIS IS PUBLIC FORUM AND NOT POLICY/LD. I can handle some speed but please don't spread, If you do, it's on you if I couldn't flow your speeches. If you have some speed, please also be clear when you speak, that way I can hear your arguments and be able to flow them. Clarity > Speed

Speaker Points

For good speaker points, I want to hear good tone, authentication, and speaking style. Being kind and respectful can lead you to better speaks!

(I will give you +0.5 speaker points if you make any references and I know of it, literally not joking) (Or if you somehow get food to my house, I'll give 30 speaker points to you)

(If you buy me any album off my album list I will consider giving you an automatic win and 30 speaker points)

29-30: Amazing Speaking

27-28: Really good speaking

24-26: Average/Okay

23 and below: Poor Speaking

Cross-Examinations

Use cross-examination periods to ask questions you genuinely want your opponent to answer. Listen to their response respectfully. Don't use cross-examination periods to make arguments, and please do not make me repeat this, please be kind during cross, I don't want to see any bullying or disrespect. (Also please do not be like Trump and Biden during the Presidential Debate, that was terrible.)

I want to see some clash. Clash is good, debate the warrants behind the other team's arguments vs. the reasoning behind your arguments.

Rebuttals

Please don't just throw a bunch of blocks and evidence at my face, use weighing, and tell me why your blocks make their arguments invalid. Please extend as well, that will seriously help you in your speeches.

Summaries

Try your best to not make this like a second rebuttal and do not just repeat everything your partner said in rebuttal. No new arguments in 2nd summary (it's abusive; your opponents don't have enough time to respond)

Final Focuses

PLEASE DO NOT BRING UP NEW EVIDENCE IN FINAL FOCUS. Final Focus is meant to weigh everything important that's happened in the round and to tell me why you should win, not to make new arguments.

Other

- Please try to not call me "judge"—it feels weird and cringy >_<|||

- You can refer to me as Hana (Pronounced as Hah-nah) or "You"

- Please stay on the topic and resolution.

- If I see any disrespect directed towards your opponents, me, or anyone else. Not only will I dock speaker points but I will also say YOUR BEHAVIOR IS SO UGH (extra points if you know where this is from)

- Make your arguments very clear to follow and understand, especially if you are advancing them. If your opponents do not respond, make sure to mention that in your next speech.

- Please do not lie! Also do not have any skewed cards, it's just downright bad to be lying and won't do you any good.

- Please do not cheat your prep time, I will be keeping time to be sure.

- If an argument isn't valuable in the round anymore, it's ok to collapse on something else in summary (but make sure to say "We're collapsing on __ because __")

- If someone calls for a piece of evidence, please give it to them as soon as you can. For online rounds, if there is a chat option just copy and paste the card, tagline, and citation there. Otherwise please email it to your opponents and me.

- Please be a good sport! These times are difficult to be able to debate like we usually would. Be kind to your opponents and judge. This also just isn't for me, but for everyone. Many people are working very hard to make these tournaments possible for you to debate and have fun.

That is all! If you have any questions about this please ask before we start the round, have fun and good luck! (╯°▽°)╯ ┻━┻

I have been a coach the last 4 years, however, consider me a lay judge. I prefer clear signposting and clear impacts. I appreciate good explanations and sound reasoning throughout. I value most well-structured cases, clear arguments, and explicit weighing.

For a rate of speech, I can keep up with a brisk pace, but if you are too fast, then I can't write down your points. Finally, I expect debaters to treat each other cordially and professionally.

Iowa City West High School '23 | she/her | alicedebate3014@gmail.com

About me: I’m currently a varsity PFer; this is my 4th year of debate.

NOVICES: take everything below with a grain of salt, debate the best you can, and have fun!

General:

• "debate is a game" so tech>truth
• I will always disclose unless told not to
• Run what you want as long as it's warranted & has impacts
• Time yourselves
• Be nice
• If you bring me bubble tea before the round, +0.5 speaks
• Feel free to email or Instagram DM me if you have more questions after the round :)

Things I want to see:

• Off-time roadmaps & signposting
• Trigger warning if your arguments could be sensitive
• Start frontlining in 2nd rebuttal
• Weighing, especially in summary and final focus
• Interaction (aka actually RESPOND to what your opponents say, don't flow through ink)
• Collapse, don't extend stuff you know you can't win
• Collapse STRATEGICALLY - aka don't go for the contention/argument that has 8 responses to it (unless you're prepared to/have time to frontline them all), when you could go for the one that has just 2

Things I DON'T want to see:

• "Bruh homies out here having an asthma attack while reading cases." Don't spread. This is pf. If I miss something you say, that's on you. (If your opponents spread, feel free to run anti-spreading theory)
• Don't read frivolous theory
• DONT READ PROGRESSIVE ARGS IF YOU KNOW YOUR OPPONENTS DONT KNOW ANYTHING ABT PROGRESSIVE PF

• "asking" statements, instead of questions, during cross
• New arguments in final focus or 2nd summary. This is abusive; your opponents don't have enough time to respond.
• Bringing stuff up in final focus that wasn't brought up in summary (I won't vote on it)
• DON'T just read card after card. You need to analyze in between and explain how they prove your point
• Discrimination

I think speaks are very subjective, but here you go:

30: God-tier - I see you definitely breaking and making it into deep out rounds

29.5-29: Great - You're breaking for sure, might not make it far, but you're breaking

28.5-28: Average - Might be on the verge of breaking/will be in a bubble round

27.5-27: Comprehendible

<26: Either I can't understand you at all, or you were egregiously rude/discriminatory

link to one of my favorite pf rounds ever!

My preferences for judging a debate are: 1) That debaters not speed spread, if I can't follow your arguments it's hard to persuade me. It also makes for a better Public Forum debate if everyone can follow the main arguments. 2) That crossfire be cordial, being rude and/or cutting a speaker off will lose you points. 3) I prefer that your evidence support your argument, not that it tangentially might apply. I also an extensive background in speech and debate as a high school student and as a high school Speech & Debate Coach and a speech Judge.

Pronouns: She/her/hers

Pre-req: I will not vote on any case arguments addressing sexual violence, rape, or suicide/suicidal ideations that were not preceded by a pre-round trigger warning. If, upon hearing this trigger warning, the opponent requests the argument not be made and that request is denied, I'll be very receptive to theory arguments about why I ought to vote against you based on the introduction of that issue.

I believe that problematic arguments are problematic whether the opposing team points them out or not. I believe that this is not a space where any argument can be made. Problematic arguments at minimum impact the people in the round and can impact discourse outside of the round. I want the opposing team to point out problematic arguments and abuse. However, arguments that promote sexism, racism, or other forms of hate will not be persuasive for me and are likely to result in a down ballot.

Style: I am one of those judges who responds very negatively to rudeness, disrespect, and offensive language

Speed: I don't like speed. Learning how to talk fast has no post-debate benefit, so I do not support it as a strategy in an educational debate round. I can follow fast talking, but if you are spreading, then I will put down my pen and stop flowing. If I stop flowing, it probably means I am confused; either because you are going too fast, or I don't understand what you are saying.

Style: I need to have a weighing mechanism in PF debate. I need to know how to decide who won the round, otherwise I will get very frustrated. I do not want to decide using my own metrics, I want YOU to tell me how to judge the round. I will be using this weighing mechanism as I look at my flow to decide who won the round.

I tend to be a flow a judge. By that I mean that I flow and will be following the flow to see who has the strongest arguments at the end of the round.

Evidence This is also very important to me. By that I mean that I need evidence that is clearly cited and explained. Actually READ me your evidence, don't just give me your summary of the evidence. Analytical arguments are great, and I will vote there, but when disagreement is happening about what may or may not be true about the topic, I would like to hear evidence. This should also connect back to your weighing mechanism.

I also like to hear evidence in the rebuttal. If you are responding with an analytical argument to an argument that has evidence, I need you to do the work of explaining to me why your analytical argument is sufficient to off-set the argument with evidence. You can do this by telling me that sense the argument doesn't make sense/has a fallacy, then it doesn't stand even with evidence. Or you can make an analytical argument about the evidence itself. Otherwise, I am likely going to still prefer the argument with evidence.

Please call for evidence in a timely manner. Please use an email chain or the evidence sharing that Tabroom provides. I want to be included on the email chain.

If there is conflict about evidence, I need you to do the work of telling me why I prefer your evidence over your opponent's evidence. Just telling me, "It post dates," is not sufficient. What has changed since that date? Why is your source more reliable? Otherwise, I will just get frustrated.

If your opponent asks for evidence, per the NSDA rules, you need to provide them with the cut card and the full article in a way that allows everyone to see and read the evidence. I expect to be included in any email chain, so I can also see the card that was called for. I also expect this exchange of evidence to happen promptly (less than 30 seconds) when asked.

If there are questions about the validity of the evidence or the way evidence is being used, you are likely to lose my ballot.

On a related note, I do not believe that everything needs to be quantified. Just because numbers cannot or are not put to an impact, does not mean that it cannot be weighed. This is ESPECIALLY true when it comes to impacts to human beings. I do not find the argument, "we don't know how many people will be impacted," persuasive.

Prep Time: I expect competitors to keep track of their own time. I will also be keeping track of prep time. This will be official time used. If you use all of your prep time before the end of the round, I expect you to start speaking promptly. That means you should take no more than 10 seconds to begin your next speech.

Background: I am a math teacher, so if you are going to throw around math terms and mathematics, you need to be certain that you know what you are talking about and are correct. As an example, there is a difference between exponential, linear, and geometric growth, so make sure you say the right one.

I have debated PF 4 years in high school, 4 years of college PF, 4 years of NPDA/parli in college.

I am not a LD debater, so I have minimal understanding of the theory and technical arguments that exist within LD. You can absolutely still make those arguments, but you need to make sure that you are explaining those terms, otherwise I will be lost and frustrated.

I am happy to give you feedback after the round, if you find me. :)

I love debate, horseback riding, and 4-H, but who am i kidding? You're not hear to read an autobiography; you just want to know what I like and don't like in rounds!

For all crosses: I don't flow cross or honestly care about it, for me as a debater it's just a fun time to rip into your opponent's weakest links, however if something important happens in cross make sure to mention it in a speech and flow it through!

If the opponent says something stupid i'll buy it if you don't respond to it and then extend it through final focus.

Extend EVERYTHING you want me to vote for through final focus, or I won't vote for it

I don't care if you spread, just keep it medium (nothing to fast). just make sure that I can understand you and your clear.

Just go out there and have fun!

Danke fur lesen! tschüss!

I'm a senior and have been a public forum debater for three years. My pronouns are she/her/hers.

Please add me to the email chain: my email is cayan23@icstudents.org.

If you have any questions about the round, my decision, or debate in general, please don't hesitate to ask or email me after the round :)

Things I want to see:

- Warranted arguments that are extended w/ impacts: for me to vote on an argument, it should be extended throughout all speeches

- Off-time roadmaps and signposting (!!) 

- Weighing/voters in summary & final focus

Things I don't want to see:

- Lying: I don't like intervening so please be transparent and direct

- Rudeness: I will likely dock speaks

- Discrimination: your speaks will nosedive and I may drop you.

Speaker points

- 30: v good; expect you to be among top speakers/teams in the tournament

- 29-28: pretty good; expect you to break

- 27-28: average; you may break/be on the verge of breaking

- 25-27: not bad

- Below 25: you were discriminatory/lied/extremely rude :(

- Will add 0.1 speaks for each tasteful roast of Alice Doresca, Ben Kleiman, or Andrew Dong

Miscellaneous

- I can handle pretty fast speaking but keep in mind that I have never debated/judged ld/policy

- Theory is ok when warranted/not frivolous

- Bonus speaker points for humor & good vibes

- Have fun :D!!