My name is Caroline (she/her), I'm a policy debater from Lexington High School, I'll try to keep this paradigm concise and easy to understand---this paradigm is specific to policy I don't have much experience with ld or pf but I think I know enough about debate to understand you, everything below still applies

(if you have questions or don't know what these mean don't be afraid to ask me questions before the round)

email: carolinehbarry@gmail.com

*this is specific to online debate--- please have ur cameras on, if theres tech issues thats fine, but having them on should be the default***

a) Tech > truth (to a degree--no racist, sexist, homophobic, etc arguments) – I'll try my best to minimize any judge intervention (even though it is inevitable) and will ultimately decide by looking at my flow

b) Try your best to use line-by-line and signposting

c) When giving your rebuttals make sure to frame or at least tell me what to think

d) I love impact calc

e) Please when extending arguments say more than a claim (i.e. use some warrants and impact them out)

f) My default framing is util, and my default role is a policy maker, these aren't set but you have to say if you want me to think otherwise

g) Good luck, have fun and make sure to be respectful to one another (especially to your partner)

Don't be afraid to email me additional questions after a round, I'll be happy to answer.

oh and shout out to mahima <3

Debate history: 1 year in NLD, 2 years in VPF

Things I look for in speaking: Debaters speak clearly and stay organized on the flow.

What a good debate will look like to me: Extension of arguments, weighing and voters, attacking the opponent's actual argument (not solely the evidence), and presenting all information clearly while making cogent and relevant arguments. The latter is especially important because in order to be a fair judge, I cannot use background knowledge to analyze the validity of arguments, only what I hear in the round.

If any debaters reading this have clarifying questions, I am always happy to answer any questions before the round, assuming time permits!

Good afternoon, my name is Garett Halsell, I'm a seasoned debate participant and coach. I have debated for 8 years, and coached for 3.

I believe that the use of logic is Paramount to any good case, I'd request that you speak at a reasonable pace, spreading as gonna lose you speaker points I think it's dumb and irrelevant to the debate. Our job is not to talk nice, it's to think well.

I want to see a lot of value clash, framework clash, weighing mechanism clash, or whatever term you use. Just don't be two ships in the night.

I want to see blood on the floor during cross. Be aggressive, do not be afraid to cut eachother off. That's not to tell you to be aggressive for aggressions sake. I want you to be respectful of eachother and your time.

Impact your evidence well, I will call out bad cards and expect you to point out. Be quick with giving cards, more than what is reasonable will trigger me starting your prep time.

Hello there!

Some things to consider:

Cases:

Please share cases with each other before your first speech. A speech doc would be helpful if you are reading any cards during your rebuttal. I need to be able to access all evidence that you use.

Speed:

It is the debater's burden to make sure that the speech is clear and understandable. While I will not knock spreading/speaking quickly immediately, the faster you speak, the more clearly you must speak and signpost. If I miss an argument, then you didn't make it into my flow. I vote off of my flow for all rounds.

Impact:

Impact arguments by both the Aff/Neg should be clearly stressed and extended. It's worth repeating and stressing if you feel you have the winning arguments. Don't just say "______ impact has more chances of happening than my opponent's impact of ____" I would like to see evidence on anything you do present on impact debate.

Clash:

Clash is necessary. You must convince me that your arguments outweigh your opponents. Dropped arguments leads to that argument being won by whichever side presented it. If your opponent dropped an argument, make sure to clearly state that during your speech in case I miss it on my flow.

Off-Case:

I am okay with Topicality/interp. If one does run T/interp the opposing side I would say the other side has to respond. If the T has been dropped, whoever ran the T is more likely to win the round.

I am familiar with the capitalism K, ethical imperatives K, and Feminism K. If you read any unfamiliar K's, please explain well.

Counterplans are okay with me. Make sure to explain how your counterplan would have more benefits than your opposing side.

Refutes:

Any cards you read against your opponent, be sure to ask if I or the opponent would like to see them before moving on. (or just use a speech doc like I mentioned earlier)

Other:

Be respectful to one another and make sure you are not making your opponent feel uncomfortable in any way.

Good luck and I'm excited to judge your debate!

Hello, I am a first time judge, so I will be looking at content as well as speaking skills.

Please be clear and slow when stating your contentions and arguments.

I will mostly be looking towards impacts and crystallization, as to why you won the round. Try to restate and summarize your points and impacts in the final speeches.

Please try not to speak too fast when reading cases, as it would be difficult to follow along. Remember to be responsible of timing yourselves too. And lastly, please be respectful of your opponent. Thank you.

I'm Helena (she/her) - please add me to the email chain moosior@gmail.com

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Things you SHOULD do:

- Read arguments you like, don't base your choices off my preferences. I mainly read Ks and T but I'm also comfortable with theory, cp/da, phil, policy affs, basically any kind of argument you want to run, go for it!

- explain your position clearly, especially if you're reading phil. don't assume that I'm familiar with everything Hume or Leibniz have ever written.

- warrant your arguments, especially in extensions.

- speak clearly. I'm happy to hear you go fast as long as you are clear and don't mumble.

- disclose.

- weigh arguments. tell me which framework is better and why your case achieves it better than your opponent's case.

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Things you SHOULD NOT do:

- speak/laugh/be disrespectful in any way when your opponent is making their case.

- cx is binding. I will flow it. if you contradict what you say in cx later in the round I will notice.

- please don't run a priori or tricks in front of me. even if you win I will give you very very low speaks - same goes for any frivolous or insulting argument. I will consider it in my decision, but even if it goes unanswered and you win, your speaks are going to take a hit.

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Ask me before the round if you have any questions -- I'm here to help you have a fun, educational debate and I know that virtual tournaments can be challenging. If you have any concerns, let me know.

Lay Judge

tech > truth

Please provide a weighing mechanism

Clash with your opponents arguments

If you are spreading add me to the email chain: tracylu2001@gmail.com

Do not be racist, sexist, etc. or you will be dropped

I am a traditional LD debater/judge. I like sound logical and philosophical arguments and I weigh value/value criterion arguments most heavily. Speed is okay, but I prefer you do not spread as it distracts from the purpose of the debate. I prefer quality over quantity.

I have judged 5 tournaments and have no debate experience myself. When judging, I look for powerful delivery, insightful analysis and ease of handling questions.

1. Do not speed, or I won't keep up. Do not sacrifice your clarity, otherwise I will miss the main point of argument.
2. Always be respectful to your opponent.
3. Keep a clear and consistent narrative throughout the entire round.

I'm Sarai my pronouns are she/her I like k debate. You need to explain why and how you get the ballot to win that you should. Been out the activity two years keep that in mind when you collapse/in the last speeches, explain to me how you'd like the round framed. Please add me to the email chain (saraipridgen@gmail.com).

I did speech and debate in high school, 3 years of LD and 1 year in PF. I'm alright with any kind of argument you want to read (theory, k's, etc) just explain what you're reading well and make sure you can communicate your advocacy. I'm also okay with speed, but if you are planning on speaking really fast, please email me your case. My email address is msavransky01@gmail.com.

I'm a flow judge and prefer tech > truth but your arguments obviously still have to be true for me to vote for them.

How To Win My Ballot

Arguments should be extended in the summary and final focus speeches, if an argument is brought up in the 2nd rebuttal and final focus but not the summary, I won't vote on it.

Weigh your arguments against those of your opponents, that's one of the most important things for me in the round! In your speeches, you should be explaining why voting for your side has a bigger impact than that of your opponents using different criteria like magnitude, scope, timeframe, probability, and reversibility. This is especially important in your final focus and summary speeches.

Your final two speeches should look somewhat like my ballot, explain the main arguments that the round comes down to and why they should be the key voting points. Say why those arguments flow your away and weigh them against the arguments your opponents.

Don't go for too many arguments in the final speeches, you shouldn't be talking about everything discussed in the debate, only the most important things. Otherwise, the debate tends to get messy as there ends up being a lot of extended arguments that have little interaction with each other.

Cards should be explained through out every speech, when you extend a card, you should not only be saying the name of the author but also the warrant of the card and the implication of it. Also, you should be weighing your cards against those read by your opponents i.e say why your evidence is better quality, why there is more of it, and so forth. When two teams have competing cards, this is what helps me decide which one to believe and side with.

All I'm all, just extend your arguments and cards in every speech, weigh the most important arguments against each other in the final speeches and you'll definitely win the round/get great speaks.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to judging you !

I do not prefer too much spreading so much so that the participant is having hard time breathing. Please keep the talking speed such that I can follow and take some notes while you are speaking.

Gig Harbor 12/14/23:

This is my first speech tournament, and my paradigm is all about LD. I'm new to speech but experienced in debate and I'm excited to learn :)

I want on the email chain! matilda.stricherzdeb@gmail.com

My background:

•I did LD for three years at Vashon High School. I started off traditional and ended up mostly running progressive stuff adapted to they by local circuit- so a lot of CPs, more simple Ks, etc. I also did a year of APDA in college!

•I haven't judged debate since 2021 so I might be a little rusty on jargon- if you use a term I don't know I'll ask you to clarify.

•I have a BA in Political Science- International Affairs from Oregon State University

•If you require any kind of accommodations PLEASE let me know! Email me! I want the debate space to work for you.

General debate stuff/conduct:

•Please send me anything you're reading out (cases, blocks, theory, etc.) Spreading is cool with me if I can read along!

•SIGNPOST!!!!! It takes a few seconds to tell me in-round where you are on the flow. If I can't find your argument I can't flow it!

•I don’t flow CX, so you need to restate and extend stuff from CX if you want it to become a voting issue.

•You need to extend and warrant a point if you want me to vote on it. Don’t ask me why I didn’t vote for you based on a one-sentence argument you made in the NC.

•The 2AR and the end of the NR should be clear, simplified speeches. I don't care if the round was a K aff vs 7 off, I want to hear clear, concise reasons as to why I should vote for you. Tell me why your framework or role of the ballot wins if it's in question. Then, tell me why you're right and your opponent is wrong. I want to see impacts. Write the winning ballot for your side.

Individual arguments:

Traditional: Traditional debate is cool and I respect it. I think framework (as in ethical framework, not technical/ debate-y) is absolutely the highlight of trad LD, and when done well can be more interesting than a lot of policy-focused debates. You should focus on the value criterion and then look at the offense through that lens. I don't want to see value debate unless there's real clash, which I highly doubt there will be. I

K: I love K debate! I think Ks, especially unique Ks and ones you cut and wrote yourself, make rounds really fun.
As specific arguments go, I have a solid understanding of leftist, feminist, and queer theory, although my familiarity with specific theorists will vary. You obviously still need to explain the theories I just listed, both for myself and your opponent, but know I'm bringing more prior knowledge to a round about Butler than about, say, anthropocentrism.
I'm totally down for a 1AR K.
If you're nonblack, don't run afropessimism, I will not vote for you.

K Affs: I think K affs are super cool and I have no problem seeing them. I'm not very familiar with them, especially those with performance aspects, but I'm into it none the less. Go ahead and run them, just make it clear to me what I'm voting on.

Plans, Counterplans, DAs: Not much to say here. I better see some good impact calc. Make sure your evidence actually says what you think it says.

Theory: Theory is... fine. I think debating about the imaginary rules of debate is somewhat annoying, and I wish people reserved theory for rounds where it was actually somewhat necessary. I'm also specifically somewhat biased against topic/real world education as a voter because theory itself is… literally not that. I think frivolous theory (like "plans bad") is an especially bad strategy. All that being said, you can run theory, I won't weigh theory less because of my biases, etc. I'll err on the side of drop the arg and no RVIs, but you can change that.

Meme cases: If it's fine with YOUR OPPONENT then go ahead. Please check with them, it's not funny if it's just you going off and them trying to actually debate. If they're cool with it I'm cool with it.

Stuff I won't vote on: I'm not going to vote off spikes/NIBs/whatever you wanna call them. Basically, if the argument is just something fully unrelated to debate or to the round that isn't gonna facilitate meaningful debate, I'm not going to vote for it. You should be debating, not trying to trap your opponent with "affirm means to strongly state, I strongly stated the resolution, so I fulfilled my burden" or theory like "debaters must send everyone in the round a picture of a soap dispenser before the AC".

Speaker points:
I use speaks for a holistic evaluation of your speeches’ efficiency/quality: basically, “how well did you debate?” vs “did you win?”. I’m looking for 1ARs and NC oncases (as in the rebuttal portion) with good coverage that sets you up to win, and NRs and 2ARs that close up the round and tell me how to vote. Use good strategy and time management. Tell me what a ballot for your side looks like. I’m most likely to give low point wins in rounds where the W is only based on one layer of the flow, one dropped point, etc, without which the round would’ve swung the other way.
30: You won. All of your speeches were the best they could be. You literally wrote my ballot for me. I can't imagine how anyone would improve on this. I won’t give a 30 as a high point loss.
29: Your speeches were (almost) perfect. My decision was very easy.
28: Minor issues, maybe with structure/time allocation or small mistakes, but your speeches fulfilled their purposes well. Outcome maybe wasn't obvious, but all the arguments I needed to decide were actively discussed.
27: Speeches were messy/hard to follow OR a significant error was made: lacking weighing/layering, barely addressing major arguments, dropping (less major) arguments, etc. My decision was significantly harder than it needed to be.
26: Round was messy AND you made significant errors. Hard to follow or evaluate.
25 or below: You did something deeply offensive or genuinely morally wrong.

Email me if you have any questions, or ask once we're all in round. That's all!

Hi, my name is Joel Swirnoff, and I did policy debate at Lexington High School in MA for 3+ years. I TA'd novices at LHS (in policy debate) in my senior year. I use he/him/his pronouns, and it would be great if you could let me know what yours are, as well as your preferred name if it is different than what is listed on tabroom.

I'd like to be on the email chain- please use the email joeldebate@gmail.com

Look to the bottom of my paradigm if you need a TLDR

Overall/if you have time:

Please signpost! Tell me what flows I need and in what order for your speech, and say "and" in between cards.

tech>truth. This doesn't mean you can just make any claim however, you also need a warrant. If you have a sufficient one, I will presume it is true until the other team makes an argument against it.

Framing ends up being really important in my decision. More on this below.

Spreading is fine, but if I cannot understand you I won't be able to flow what you say. If you are more comfortable not spreading, don't! In the end, it's about what you say, not about flexing how quickly you can talk.

Clarity is super important too, for the reasons above.

Make sure you are extending warrants when you make any extensions! If you tell me "extend Swirnoff- that turns the link" I want to know HOW it does that.

Dropped arguments are concessions, but it is up to you to capitalize on them. Like I said above, I want to hear why that concession wins you the debate, rather than you telling me it wins the debate. Say things like "they dropped our Swirnoff card, this means only the plan leads to xyz impact as..."

Organization is key for both you and me. It helps everyone in the round when you tell us you are moving on to another specific part of the debate. This means saying clearly when you are moving to another flow, or even when moving to another part of a contention (for example: "now onto the uniqueness of the disadd")

Big fan of impact calc, especially when it is explained well! In closer rounds, this and framing is usually how you win.

In your last speech, tell me why you win the debate. Outline the arguments you are extending and say what my ballot should say.

Things specific to Policy Debate:

A note: please don't say you "solve for racism," you don't.

Case: Case is your child, so take care of it. If you are on the aff remember that you start with the burden of proof.

Framing: As mentioned above, framing is really important in my decision. I will default to a utilitarian framework unless told otherwise. This means for soft left affs, a lot of what will likely end up going into your win is an explanation as to why we should prefer your framing of the round. For the neg, you will have to defend your framework as well. I've found in rounds that each team can win under each framework, the explanation just needs to be there.

DAs: DAs are the epitome of tech>truth, and I love debates over DAs if the link is thought out well and is contextualized to the plan. Take me through the different parts of the debate: this will organize my flow best. Tell me what's unique, what the link is, what the internal link is, and what the impact is. One thing I've seen a lot this year is that it's really hard for me to vote on a DA when there isn't a coherent link chain. So please, please, in your 2nr flesh it all out for me and weigh it at the end.

CPs: CPs that are contextualized to the aff are super strong, but remember you always always always have to prove that it is mutually exclusive from the aff. As I mentioned before, take me through all the parts of the CP. For the aff, this means going through POSTAL.

Conditionality: If you are running one or two conditional advocacies, it probably isn't abusive (two can be argued). More than that you've got a real debate on your hands, but I can be swayed either way.

Ks: I love Ks like Cap and Security! If it is well thought out and contextualized to the aff, I'll be a big fan. Make sure you prove to me that the world of the alternative is better than the world of the aff and status quo. If your alt is "Reject the Aff" it's gonna be a much harder sell to me than real substantial change (eg communism as an alt to capitalism)

T: The neg will have to win a couple parts of the debate in order to win T, but it is definitely doable if you devote your 2nr to it. You'll first have to win that the aff is violating the resolution. This includes a good definition of the language in the resolution you think the aff is violating. From there, you have to prove that what the aff is doing is bad for debate or is abusive. I think that fairness IS a voter (sorry Kaz), but it can also be used as an internal link depending on how you see it.

Things specific to Novice LD:

Framework: I love debates about values and criteria. If you can win your framework it's much more likely that you win the round. A well thought out criterion that fits your evidence well makes the round an engaging one that will probably help your speaks.

Definitions: These can really be your friend! Later in the debate you might be having an argument over how certain actions pan out in the world of the debate, and having a strong definition (it's helpful to include why this definition is good) can decide whether I choose yours or theirs.

TOPIC KNOWLEDGE: I do not have much topic knowledge.

Random: You don't need to say "I affirm/negate resolved" or "I urge you to vote aff/neg." I'm aware, but it's not a problem if you do, I just think you should be saving time for actual substance.

FAQ:

Open CX- I don't really care

What should you call me- "judge" is fine

Open speeches- I'd prefer not, but it's not the end of the world. I'll flow it but it probably mentally holds more weight if the actual speech giver says it

Cameras on- I'd prefer it if you had your camera on, but if you're not comfortable don't feel pressured to do so.

New arguments from the 2ac on- I'd really prefer it if you didn't. Add ons are okay but it's much better if you just go with the arguments that came out of the 1ac and 1nc. Exceptions are if a team does something within the bold below.

Keeping track of prep- I'll do my best to keep track of prep but I don't always remember to. Consider this a panopticon tho- I am keeping track of your prep and speaks will go down if you steal.

Speaker points- I start out at 28.3-28.5 and will go up or down based on the debate. I consider clarity, respectfulness, arguments made, quick-wittedness, etc.

Lastly,

Be nice! Respectfulness will usually lead me to giving you higher speaks. If there is a lack of respect or if there is demoralization between opponents, it'll likely lead to lower speaks, especially when this occurs from a male team towards a female or other identifying team.

Racism, xenophobia, antisemitism, ableism, or any comments of the like will automatically dock speaker points and may lead to a loss.

Some stuff about me that I might give you plus speaks on: I'm a big fan of soccer (I'm a Man Utd fan) and really all sports, so if you want I'd be down to talk about it before the round. Also, if you can make jokes about Lex Debate or anyone in it I'll definitely appreciate it.

If you have any questions, please ask, and have fun!

TLDR:

- You can run pretty much anything you'd like in front of me

- I am very much tech>truth

- Be respectful

- framing is usually pretty important in my decision

- Do impact calc

- organize your speeches well, be clear, and say "and" in between cards

add me to the email chain- joeldebate@gmail.com