I am new to this as a judge. Although, I have always been interested in watching people debate issues presented to them and listen to their responses and counter arguments. Whoever wins the most arguments will win the round.

"Slow Down" - me, on like 80% of ballots

For Public Forum: I'm a traditional, slower speaking public forum judge. I vote on the contention debate. Focus more on the logic and analysis argument. Don't use abusive definitions, and be rude or condescending at your own peril.

For Lincoln-Douglass: I focus on the value/criterion debate when voting, but if the debate is centered on contentions that is subject to adjust. Again, please don't speed read, and respect your opponent

I did Congressional Debate, Debate (PF & LD & World Schools) and I did almost all the events for Speech. I have been involved since 2013 as a competitor until I graduated in 2019. I went to nationals 5 times, once as a middle schooler in Extemp, Freshman year I went into the house, Sophomore year I went in World Schools and my junior and senior year were both into the Senate. I was fortunate in my senior year to make it into the semifinals.

Congressional Debate: I want to see some clash, point out points of the other Reps/Senators from the opposing side as well as your own. The debate should taper- meaning the first couple of people bring up all the new points and the last few shouldn't be all new points they should summarize the debate. Ask good questions, don't waste your time. The speeches should flow and not be choppy.

LD Debate: I am not scared of technical terms since I was primarily an LD debater. I want there to be a clash on the Value and Criterion level especially. Since you are using technical terms don't think you can just leave holes in your case or arguments and expect me to fill them for you. Questioning I want to see good questions being asked, clarification is fine but they shouldn't all be clarification. At the end of the debate tell me why you should win not why your opponent lost, I am just going to assume you don't have any offense left. I am NOT a fan of spreading, I want to see a good debate and in my opinion, spreading hinders that.

PF Debate: I want to see a clash from each speaker not just the second from each team. At the end of the debate, I am looking at the amount of evidence and recency of that evidence. At the end of the debate tell me why you should win not why your opponent lost, I am just going to assume you don't have any offense left.

Hey y'all, my name is Porter. This is my 7th year being involved in debate. Octafinalist at 2021 NFA-LD National Championship. Pronouns are he/him.

I would HIGHLY encourage the debaters to set up a speech drop (speechdrop.net), especially if the debate is occurring online/hybrid. If for any reason that does not work, please include me on any email chain at porter.giles@gmail.com.

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BIO: I am currently a senior at Illinois State University, where I now help coach and judge. I did 4 years of Lincoln-Douglas in high school, and I competed at nationals my senior year. I competed in NFA-LD my freshman and sophomore years of college, and spent my junior year abroad in Japan. I am a political science major with a minor in East Asian studies. I worked as the assistant debate coach for the LD team at Lincoln Southwest HS from 2020-2022, and University High School from 2021-2022.

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Case:

When evaluating rounds I will look to the framework , but I do a lot of the decision-making based on the impact level (for HSLD). I'm not a huge fan of traditional debates in HS-LD these days, so make sure you are doing it very well if you want to go for that. I like to see a lot of clear extensions of arguments that either go dropped or are under-responded to by your opponent, as well as good impact calculus. If you can make turns on your opponent's arguments go for it, I love to see that. PLEASE for the love of all things good give me some in-round clash rather than 45 minutes of unresponsive arguments that don't link to each other.

Side note: I will not vote for debaters who run arguments that speak over others' voices. Ex: white debaters running blackness.

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Speed: 8/10

In terms of speed, I can keep up with most spreading although in an online format you are running the risk of poor connection interfering with your speeches. SLOW DOWN FOR TAGLINES!! Clarity is more important to me than whether or not you can go Mach-5 and read 12 off-case positions. If your opponent is clearly new to the activity I will dock your speaks if you spread them out of the round. If you do this on top of being exceptionally rude to your opponent, I will most likely drop you.

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K:

I'm fine with the K debate, so long as you explain the alt and the links in a clear manner. Warrant analysis is a MUST on the K debate. I am most comfortable with critical arguments surrounding capitalism, consumption, necropolitics/biopower, and migration, although I will listen to anything if you explain the literature well. If you are reading a K aff I have a high threshold to vote against you on theory.

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Topicality/Theory:

Go for it. I enjoy the T debate at this point in my debate career and I am comfortable evaluating it. Slow down for your shell so that I don't miss anything you might want me to hear.

I probably need at least some instance of proven abuse, otherwise, give me a very compelling reason as to why I should vote on potential abuse. I generally have a very high threshold to voting on T against K affs.

Side note: I will NEVER under ANY circumstance, vote for disclosure theory. If you do choose to run disclosure in front of me, I will give you no higher than 26 speaker points.

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TL;dr Prefs:

tech > truth

phil - 3

Theory - 2

CP - 1

DA - 1

K - 1

tricks - Just don't do it.

I am a retired grandparent fairly new to judging, but have some experience. Prior to retirement I was project manager, so I am familiar with the importance of knowing how to present an argument to an individual or group.

As a judge I look for the debater to educate me on their argument and provide sources to back that argument. Explain why and how your position is superior to your opponent's. I apply a higher value to competitors who make an effort to address issues presented by their opponent. I am not a fan of too much speed because I have experienced arguments where too much speed has made it difficult to grasp the argument. I am more impressed with good data that is relevant versus a lot of data. Quality not quantity.

Please time your own speeches and prep time. This allows me to give my full concentration on the debate.

Let's make this a rewarding experience for all.

This is my 3rd time experience as a Judge. So i still feel i am novice at Judging.

I prefer participant to articulate their content in a clear and in the right pace(neither fast nor Slow).

Personally i do not prefer very fast speaking speech as its difficult for me to comprehend the content.

hi my name is rachel (she/her) i’m excited to judge (almost always)

chahta yakni | šuŋgmánitu oyáte

dowling 23- i am going to be judging a ton of pf for the foreseeable future! i'm excited to learn more about a different style of debate. however, the way that I approach rounds pretty much never changes. i only care about the arguments on the flow, not speaking style. i highly value framework debate and impact weighing, and i expect that debaters try their hardest in every round. my paradigm might not be very helpful if you're a PF debater, so feel free to ask me questions before the round. gl everyone!

apple valley 22- email chains consistently annoy me. if you can use speech drop i would appreciate it very much.

going forward- i'm not going to clarify a position on my paradigm for only 1 debater- if you want to ask questions, i think it's only fair that your opponent gets the same opportunity. if you want to email me beforehand, either cc your opponent or just wait until everyone is in the room.

Quick Guide if you want to pref me

1- Give back the land (Tuck and Yang, not Churchill)

Debord

Orthodox Marx (i have mixed opinions on Stalin and Mao. I think there are probably better critical theorists who articulate their ideas better, but whatever floats your boat. Lenin is fine, but I'm only really familiar with Imperialism:HSoC. If you read Krupskaya I'll be stoked).

SC authors (Locke especially, Hobbes 2nd and Rousseau 3rd)

Rawls

Socrates/Plato

2- Butler

LARP (i think of this in two ways, either structurally or argument-wise. I'm pretty solid on both, although you'll be better off dropping some hyper-specific policy language because it wasn't what I usually went for as a debater)

Spinoza (this is only at a 2 because I genuinely don't think you could ever make Ethics topical).

Hegel- i mean what can you do ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

3- Trad/lay (i debated in SD, so go figure).

SOME DnG (I think I get rhizomatic thought, I think I get schizophrenic capital, I don't understand most of the rest of it. Plz be cautious.

Kant- idk man this is run in so many different ways you should just ask.

4- Middle-of-the-road Performance (I have not yet been able to find a debater that clearly articulated how to substantively weigh performance in a round, and I ran performance several times. If you think you can then go off, I'd love to hear it). This includes poems, songs, personal narratives, etc- see "5" for aggressive or emotionally traumatic performance.

"High Theory"- whatever this means, if it's gonna make my brain bleed i'm not a fan.

Chinese Imperial Philosophy: Confucianism, Taoism.

Theory- I'm not a huge fan and I'm bad at flowing it. Like terrible. Please if you do this to me go very slow I will unintentionally drop 50% of your standards. RVIs mostly good. paragraph theory is fine, it just needs clear impacts to the round/debate space.

5- Evola (ill drop you no cap)

Time Cube >:(

skep

social darwinism

badly done death drive (ie "k*ll everyone, nuke war good). Don't justify oppression, don't be rude. Also in here- physical performance or extremely emotional performance. Do not read me trauma-porn.

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here is a list of things that make me go :) in rounds

1. extending the whole argument (claim + warrant) in every speech

2. warrants that you can actually explain tbh

3. evidence comparison (especially using author quals)

4. when u kick ur F/W and turn their case (that’s spicy stuff)

5. when u run a well articulated Kritikal position that ur excited about and that makes me learn stuff ( although it makes me go :/ if it’s clearly commodifying a people group- ex. don’t facilitate a performance you have no stake in)

6. in general if u teach me something that’s great!!!!

here’s a list of things that make me go :( in rounds

1. you have a captive audience in the round, so don't make the round unsafe for anyone (think the -ists and -phobias). if you do so in a manner that i think warrants it, i will

a. drop kick u off the ballot

b. give u the lowest legal speaks

c. talk to ur coach

d. tell ur mom

2. when ur winning and u rub it in the other person’s face- that is rude stop. not gonna drop ur speaks though- its just annoying.

3. don’t run afro pes if ur non black or anything like that- don’t use other people’s oppression as a gimmick y’all the ballot isn’t worth it

if you take each part of the debate seriously then u should be fine- most people mess up the most when they get too confident

ask me if u want more info i’ll tell u how i feel about anything and i’ll give u time to change it if u need to

my email is rdover2@gmail.com if u need it

u get +.1 speaks if u can diss Andrew Myrick in ur speech and it flows well

lay judge

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I think that debate is about having fun and being kind in the process. Don't be rude or condescending to your opponents (or racist, homophobic, xenophobic, etc.), or I will have a negative opinion of you, which may affect the round's decision.

Joe Rankin

Bettendorf High School

jrankin@bettendorf.k12.ia.us

UPDATED: October 4th, 2022

I'm not sure what happened to my previous Paradigm that was posted, but it appears to have been erased/lost. My apologies as I just learned of this at the Simpson Storm tournament (Sat, Oct 1, 2022) this past weekend.

My name is Joe Rankin and I am the head coach at Bettendorf High School in Bettendorf, IA. I have been the head coach at Bettendorf since the 2005-2006 school year. I primarily coach Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Public Forum Debate, Congressional Debate, and Extemporaneous Speaking...however, I am familiar and have coached all NSDA sanctioned speech/debate events over my time at Bettendorf.

In terms of my coaching paradigm, I'd generally consider these the 'highlights:'

1. I prefer topical debate. The resolution was voted on by coaches and students through the NSDA voting process. That's what I want to hear about.
2. I can generally handle 'speed,' but that doesn't mean I enjoy it. I'd rather help you develop skills that you will actually utilize interacting with other human beings outside of this one particular subset of existence - so I'd much prefer a rate that is more akin to real-world applications.
3. You can make whatever arguments you want to make...but I generally haven't voted on many things associating with theory, kritiks (or however you want to misspell the word critique), or other generally non-topical arguments you make in the round. It takes more work for me to believe those types of arguments are true and not a whole lot of work to make me believe those types of arguments are generally false. So, I wouldn't encourage this type of argumentation in front of me.

I figure that is sufficient for now. If you have any questions, I tend to give you that window before the round begins while setting up to judge. If not, please feel free to ask before the round. The end goal of the round for me is a competitive academic environment that is focused on education. I don't mind answering questions that will help all of us improve moving forward.

BIO: I recently graduated from Truman State University with a Bachelors degree in Communication. I grew up in Kansas City, MO, where I debated four years of CX in high school and then moved onto NFA-LD. Just a personal note about debate, I believe this is a space to be heard and that real change can come from arguments in debate rounds. I also view debate as more of an educational activity than a competitive one, although we all love to win lol, but I want to see that you are really learning about the topic and that you have a real understanding of the arguments that you are making.

*** side note, I will not let you forfeit a round. I will make you debate and it will be awkward so please do not try.

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SPEAKS

0-20: Your coach needs to have words with you about how belligerent/ racist/ homophobic/ rude you are to other members of the community. I have no tolerance for these kinds of things and you shouldn't either. Debate is dying and we are a community. Being aggressive and being rude are separate things. Be kind to one another.

25-26: You failed to do anything correct in the round

26-27: you do minimal correctly. You have not come to grasp with what debate is and how arguments function together.

27-28: You get a c-b on this debate. some important dropped args or framing questions are not challenged

28-29: You handled this round well. There were minute problems that can be resolved easily that can bump you up.

29-29.5: You are a solid debater and have done exactly what I would do (or slightly better) to answer different arguments. Typically this range is also associated with you winning against a very good opponent, or very easily.

30: I have no corrections. You have had a perfect round and all of your arguments are on point and delivered properly. You have made some kind of strategic decision that I did not think about that I find genius.

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WILL VOTE ON

Disclosure theory - you will really need to impact it out, I will vote on proven or potential abuse

Theory out of 1AC

Speed theory - if justified, although speed is a useful tool, it should not be used to weaponize the debates. If your opponent asks you to slow down and you do not, but your opponent does not bring it up, I will intervene and I will severely doc your speaker points.

Framework v. K affs - love it

Framework turns v. other positions (Ks, DAs, Case args) - love it too

CPs in HS LD

CP theory

K LD - I will listen to any K you want to read, but if I can tell if you don't understand it or it isn't topic specific, you are going to have to work really hard to get me to vote on it. I have a general knowledge of most Ks, I am most familiar with Fem Ks, and discourse related arguments.

Speaking for others arguments (There are ways to not make this problematic. However, identity is very individualized and commodification of someone else's identity for your own gain is a problem for me. For instance, do not be a white male debater reading the narrative of a black woman.)

HS-LD

For any arguments that relate to it see above. In terms of how I evaluate LD rounds I rely heavily on the framework debate to determine how I will evaluate the round. Pay it it's due and try to win it. However, if you are able to show how your arguments fall into your opponents’ framework then I will be willing to vote for you if they win the framework shell. Also please clash with each other. I have seen too many rounds where each speech is just explaining 1ACs and 1NCs and I don't have a specific reason to vote against one or the other. At that point my personal morals let me decide how I feel about the topic. You don't want that. I don't want that.

I am more progressive when it comes to LD due to my policy background. This means PICs, Ks, CPs and DAs are all acceptable. weigh them and explain the args as they apply to the aff case.

I prefer single standard debate as well. Death is bad and morality is good (but subjective) I dont need a specific mechanism for how we prevent or entrench one or the other. if you read it thats fine but I probably won't look at it that much unless you thoroughly explain it to me.

NFA - LD

SPEED: I can do speed. I do have some conditions though. PLEASE READ T SHELLS SLOWLY!!!! I need to hear the definitions, standards and voters. Bottom line is if it isn't on my flow I can't vote for it. Speed SHOULD NOT be used as a weapon especially if there is a specific debater in the round that has a disability that hinders them from spreading or flowing quick speech. Be respectful of individuals and their experiences.

TOPICALITY/THEORY: needing proven abuse is BS. Affs that say dont vote on potential abuse are wrong and should read counterinterps that apply to their affs. If the neg interp is bad then warrant that out in the standards debate.

If you want to win T in front of me you should pull through all your standards and voters, a dropped standard or voter is an easy way to win T if you can impact it out. I would also much rather see one or two well thought out T shells than multiple small violations.

When it comes to theory I love it. I tend to flow it on a different sheet so tell me when I need to pull one out. Theory args can win rounds in front of me if there are well warranted and aplicable to the topic. This means I will vote on Extra T or Effects T arguments if you make them well enough. Warrant out why some shells are weighed first in the round and explain to me how different shells interact with each other. T is never a reverse voter though and neither is theory. Predictability is not determined by whether or not something is on the wiki or if you have seen it before. Predictability is based on whether or not an interpretation is predictable given the resolution. The same goes for reasonability.

DISADS: I love to see disads! This is one of my favorite arguments to see and evaluate. However, if you run generic links that's no bueno for me. generic links from the Neg means generic responses from the Aff are acceptable. I don't want a generic debate y'all. give me some links that pertain to the case at hand.

CPs: They exist. I never really ran them but I do know how they work and I will evaluate them. Also prove it competitive. (Hint: I like Disads. that can help.) I will vote for the perm on presumption if you don’t prove them to be competitive as long as there’s a perm on the CP.

KRITIKS: I like the k debate and will vote for them but explain the literature. I am most familiar with feminist literature and identity kritiks. I have also seen antiblackness and afropessimism rounds that I have enjoyed a lot. But that does not mean I am entirely up to date on the newest literature or how your lit plays into the round. Just explain it to me. NEVER RUN MULTIPLE IN ONE ROUND!!!! The Alt debate turns ugly and I don't want to deal with that. Affs should either have a plan text or an advocacy statement as to what they do. I don't like performance debate as much as just reading the cards, however I have voted for poetry performance in rounds. I will listen to identity args. Race, disabilty, and queer lit are all acceptable in front of me and I can/ will evaluate them. Neg should be able to defend alt solvency. I am not going to automatically grant that. I will not kick the alt for you. saying "if you do not buy the alt kick it for me" is not an argument. If you do not explicitly say "kick the alt" or something of that nature I will evaluate the alternative. If it does not solve then I will be persuaded by risk of aff offense. I also want to point out that P.I.L. was correct, Anger is an Energy. If structures upset you, feel free to rage agaisnt them. This can include the debate, economic, racial, gendered, and other spaces. If you are oppressed and you are angry about it, I will not limit your ability to angrily refute the system.

CASE: I am always here for the growth, heg, and democracy bad debates as well as the prolif good ones. My strategy typically was to go T, K, O so I enjoy hearing why heg is bad and how the alt avoids it and how the aff isnt topical.

PRESUMPTION: I will not vote for terminal defense on the flow. I need an offensive reason to vote for you. Whether that be a disad, K, or advantage I need something to evaluate to give me a reason to reject the other team. Find it, win it, and extend it. Also, do the calculus for me of what impacts matter and why they matter. When I do the calculus I look to magnitude, timeframe, and probability. Explain why you fit into those please.

CONDO: I find it disingenuous to read more than one condo advocacy in one round. You can do it if you win the theory debate but I will be more lenient to theory in a world of multiple conditional advocacies. If you are running multiple advocacies please make it only be CPs. I don't want to see a CP and K in a round because almost always the CP will link to the K and I think that's cheating.

I WILL NOT VOTE ON

Topical Cps - I believe that they do steal aff ground and make it very difficult for the aff to debate solvency, yes perms can solve, and you are welcome to have that debate but I strongly dislike topical counterplans.

______________________________

At the end of the day it is my job to sit in the back of the room and listen to discourse on the issues presented. It is your job to determine how that discourse happens. Just because I say I do or do not like something should not change your strategy based on the round. I have voted for things I never thought I would and have changed my opinions about things a lot. I give higher speaks to anyone who can read my paradigm and change my opinion or do something that is incredibly intelligent in round. Do what you are comfortable with and I will adjudicate it based on what is in front of me.

Other than this PLEASE feel free to ask me.

Doing an email chain? I'd love to be on it: amwelter12@ole.augie.edu

Short version

Policy/LD background. Former debater and current coach. I time prep, but you should too. Please don't rely on me to give you 30-sec intervals.

PF - Big fan of disclosure theory and paraphrasing theory, but I'm iffy on most other theory. Don't tell me why your impact is big, tell me why it's BIGGER than your opponents'. I don't need you to win every contention (kicking out is under-rated). I don't need you to win more contentions than your opponent. I just need you to tell me why the arguments you DO win are more important than the other arguments in the round. Impacts are crucial for that. I'm a sucker for "even-if" weighing. Please don't make me judge a round where both teams close for everything, some contentions have links, some have impacts, and none have both. If you call for a card, prep starts as soon as the card is in front of you. Your speaks will take a hit if you steal prep. Your speaks will take a bigger hit if you make blatantly new args in FF (which I won't weigh). 2nd rebuttal should respond to 1st rebuttal. Uniqueness is probably important.

LD - Connect your contentions to your framework (or your opponents') or tell me why you don't have to. Winning framework alone is almost never enough to win the round. It is in your best interest to give me more than one way to vote for you (e.g. "I win and uphold my framework so vote for me there, but even if you don't buy that then here's why I win under my opponent's framework"). I am willing to vote you down for paraphrasing evidence instead of reading/quoting cards if your opponent calls you on it and gives me any explanation for why it's a bad thing to do.

Long version

I prefer topical debates on substance--that's where I've found that I'm least likely to get lost. I also prefer judging debaters who are doing what they love and do best, which doesn't need to be substance or topical. If 10 is top-speed, then I can handle about a 6. I will try super hard to follow the round, but it'll be in your best interest to slow down (substantially so on theory). LD/Policy experience. Always up for a K if there’s a solid link, but not familiar with most K lit. I’ll vote for almost anything with a valid warrant behind it.

Please, ask me anything before the round. I've been judging national circuit LD for the last few years and there are no arguments I'm opposed to on principle (except overtly discriminatory arguments...), but there's a solid chance that I won't have the same understanding of how a round should break down or what's meta. Asking me stuff before the round minimizes this chance.

My default weighing preferences (I can absolutely be convinced away from these):

Pre-fiat K > T = Theory > Post-fiat K > Substance. Condo is fine, running a ton of blips or spikes is sleazy and I'm way less likely to vote for you on those.

I default to truth-testing in general and reasonability on theory. I have a high threshold on theory and probably won't vote on without clear in-round abuse.

Pet peeve: people who say "moral obligation" or "d-rule" with no warrant beyond "x is bad". If you want me to weigh your args as a prior question to your opponent's args, I need a solid warrant for that.

Higher speaks indicate I learned something from you (either about debate or about your argument) and/or that you clashed often and effectively.

Lower speaks indicate that I think your strategy was sleazy (tricks / spikes), or that you were a jerk to your opponent.

I might disclose speaks, but I'll be the one to tell you--please don't ask.

For LD:Overall, I am a fairly progressive judge, and I am willing to hear anything. I am in THEORY fine with SOME speed, however many of you lack the ability to enunciate properly, so go at your own peril. I do not give warnings for speed, and do not ask for clarifications afterwards if you mutter through something. DO NOT BLOW THROUGH YOUR TAGLINES.

I really like framework. Prove to me why I should prefer your framework OVER your opponent's and you will win more often than not.

I do not weigh solvency unless it is sufficiently proven in round that there is a burden for it.

Kritiks and Theory are both fine by me, especially if the topic would not otherwise allow for a fair playing field for debate. I am tech over truth.

For PF: I look a lot on impact and clash. Also, be sure to explain the link, as all too often the evidence provided only has tangential relation to your contentions, and I err on not weighing it if not properly explained.

For Congress: In the rare event that I am judging Congress, avoid rehash at all costs. I hate hearing the same argument over and over and will give no speaker points if I hear something again. If what you want to say is remotely similar to what someone else has said, then move on to the next bill!