My favorite event is Extemp, so I treat all debaters like I would a national finalist in Extemp. Talk at a human pace so that the audience can understand the debate, but feel free to extend your impacts as far as possible pending you keep up the warrants for each claim. Impact turns make debate more fun, try to turn them. Work to cross apply your contentions to your opponents impacts. Making voting claims that I missed during the round won't be used to judge the round. The speakers have a duty to communicate what they want the audience to hear, the judge has a duty to listen to the best of their ability and shouldn't feel burdened by advanced debaters who go beyond the judge's means. I've got a PhD in Communication Studies and embrace a qualitative perspective, values matter. Be smart, be concise, and be respectful. If you can deliver the argument well, feel free to also be creative. For what it's worth, demanding language is a peeve, as opposed to suggestive; in voters, please tell me what I should(n't) do rather than what I can't do.

Speech and debate is a game of verbal air hockey! I value points which benefit humanity not individuals or entities or things. Play by the rules have respect and sportsmanship and we all benefit.

Clarity and conciseness are very important with logical flow of ideas.

Normal paced delivery with an emphasis of quality of information over quantity are also very desirable attributes.

I am a parent judge. No spreading, speak clearly.

I prefer traditional debate.

Assume that I know nothing about the topic. Your job is to educate me about the topic and share all relevant details etc in order for me to judge properly.

Evidence is big, I try my best to flow.

Don't use too much debate jargon.

When debating, make sure to refer to the impact and key voters to facilitate clear understanding for me, and what I need to evaluate most when deciding my ballot.

Negative strategy-- there needs to be some sort of offense in the round. A defensive strategic approach has rarely won my ballot.

email for email chains - Kathleen.clark1@gmail.com

Spread only if the speed you use also allows for enough enunciation that I can understand. I can keep up, but only if I can comprehend.

I believe in traditional debate. In LD, everything is about the V/VC construct and should apply to it. I don't really care about definition debate unless it is absolutely vital. Observations don't really matter to me unless both sides agree to them.

In, PF I try to take the position of a typical citizen judge and base "my knowledge" only on what you tell me in the round and not what I already know. Civility is still important in cross-examination so it is important to remember that with me.

In Policy, I am least familiar, so I base everything on my flow and which side has the most arguments standing by the end of the debate. Also, and I know it may be unusual, but I do care if the plan actually makes sense because I can't vote for it if it doesn't.

I don't listen to parenthetical documentation as a source. What does that mean anyway???

Hello! I'm Sid and I am a student at SDSU

For speech I like the pieces to be well organized and compelling. Please don't say anything offensive or harmful. It will not reflect well on your rankings.

Please also be patient with me as I am relatively new to judging online

Thank you and have fun!!

I have a BA degree in Political Science and Journalism. My career was doing political fundraising for National and Statewide candidates until I decided to be a stay at home mom.

I am a parent judge who has been judging for 7 years, I have judged in Indiana and Arizonia. Most of judging has been in PF and Congress with a lot of Parli experience in Congress.

For scoring I need to be able to understand what your points are. In other words if you spread so fast I cannot understand you I cannot award you the points. A roadmap is fine but not necessary. Definitions of key points are important so that I know what you are using as a focus.

Being able to defend your opponents questions is the most important point for me. A canned speech that does not react to the round will not score well with me.

General:

- Pronouns: she/her

- I have experience competing/judging/coaching in CD, PF, LD, and WSD.

- If there's anything I can do in terms of accommodations, please let me know (either via email, chat, or whatever feels most comfortable).

- Be kind and have fun!

- Feel free to ask me any questions for clarification.

Congress:

- IMPACTS!!! WEIGHING!!! Take the argument one step further and connect the dots.

- Don't forget to refute! Especially after the first 1-2 cycles!

- If the debate on the legislation starts to repeat or become stale, please move to question.

- I will gladly consider the PO in my ranking. However, the PO must show good knowledge of procedures and handle the chamber well.

PF:

- Keep me in the email chain, please!

- Organization is more important than ever!

- IMPACTS!!! WEIGHING!!! Take the argument one step further and connect the dots.

- Don't make assumptions, go through every step.

- I don't flow/vote off of CX but I do pay attention.

- If your opponent(s) drops something in a speech or concede in CX, I better hear something about it in your next speech to get it on my flow.

- Time yourself and time your opponents.

- I will disclose unless there is a tournament rule against disclosing or if 1+ competitor does not want me to disclose.

- I will do my best to give you critiques after the round if time permits.

LD:

- Keep me in the email chain, please!

- Although I prefer a traditional debate, I can follow/have voted on most progressive arguments.

- Spread all you like, but it should still be clear.

- Err on the side of caution and overexplain, but if I'm on the email chain, I'll be fine.

- Organization is more important than ever!

- IMPACTS!!! WEIGHING!!! Take the argument one step further and connect the dots.

- Don't make assumptions, go through every step.

- I don't flow/vote off of CX but I do pay attention.

- If your opponent drops something in a speech or concedes in CX, I better hear something about it in your next speech to get it on my flow.

- Time yourself and time your opponent.

- I will disclose unless there is a tournament rule against disclosing or if 1+ competitor does not want me to disclose.

- I will do my best to give you critiques after the round if time permits.

I have judged all events, but when it comes to debate most of my experience stems from LD and Congress. I value clash and enjoy watching strategies unfold. Framework is important and so is strong evidence. If you ask me in person what do I like in a debate, I say show me the best you can do and impress me. I don’t mind spreading (especially in CX where it is expected) or traditional and/or progressive debate as long your arguments are sound and adapt to your opponents’ points. Be respectful, professional, and have fun.

I am open to all types of arguments, but if you run a problematic argument, I won't evaluate it.

My least favorite thing is when people are rude during cross. There's no reason for it, so if you are rude, I will drop your speaks.

Tell me how to vote. I prefer voting on impacts, but if you tell me where you've won the round on the flow, I'll vote there.

If anything here is incomplete or you have clarifying questions, please feel free to ask.

Please let me know if I can do anything to make the round a safer or better experience for you. I love debate and I want to make sure rounds are a place that you can love, too.

If you don't have time to read all of this, tldr: signpost, read dates, warrant args, time urself, cover turns, don't touch me, lmk what I can do for you

(As a disclaimer, I look to the side when I'm thinking. It may look like I am rolling my eyes.)

The Split

I like the split. I don't think you have to cover all of first rebuttal, I am perfectly fine with you just covering turns + disads for me.

Speed

If you're clear, I can flow speed. That said, I am not the fastest flower in the universe, so proceed at your own risk. If you actually can't understand your opponents I'm fine with you yelling "clear" so they will slow down, but obvi don't say that and then like go faster than them. If your opponents yell "clear," slow down.

If I don't hear it when I am flowing, I won't vote on it. I don't use speech docs to fill in whatever you supposedly said if you spread and I didn't understand it. This is still a communication event, so I'm going to vote on things I actually catch.

Types of arguments

You are the debater, and I want you to enjoy debating things that interest you. There are very few things I refuse to hear, but there are things I enjoy more or less.

I prefer well-warranted mid-level impacts to logical leaps of bad faith to nuclear war every round. Not that I refuse to vote for unlikely but high level impacts, I just enjoy them less than more probable (and likely relatable) issues. Also, love a good warrant debate instead of just a big impacts round.

I am not opposed to progressive arguments in principle, but I do think their execution is frequently pretty bad. You can try to run them in front of me and I'll evaluate them fairly, but it'll have to be done pretty well for you to both win and speak high (this is probably slightly more true for Ks than theory). I am also not super well versed in K lit so while I will try and understand whatever you read, there's a risk I just miss something.

I really don't like when teams run weird obscure things just to throw off their opponents. Your points may suffer even if I vote for you. If you run something super random and your opponents respond with good logical warrants I will accept those responses.

If you're on a topic where people tend to run "advocacies" (eg the military spending topic) please prove there's a probability of your advocacy occurring. I hate when people run super obscure advocacies that make zero sense just because they can.

Dates

please read them lol

Evidence

I very strongly prefer cards > paraphrasing, but it isn't a hard rule. I will punish you for misrepresenting evidence or knowingly reading authors that are fraudulent or very clearly unreliable.

Please don't do debater math. It's often unethical and usually just uneducational. Pls.

Know where your evidence is fam. If you can't find it, it's getting kicked.

Bracketing in your card is bad. If your card says "Amar continues" and you add "[Yale Law professor Akhil Reed] Amar continues" that isn't a huge deal, but it's probably easier to just note it somewhere else before/after the card.

Card dumps ≠ warrants, pls explain your arguments.

Summary and Final Focus

If you're giving first summary, you don't have to extend the defense from rebuttal, but you should put defense on any giant turns or disads from the second rebuttal. I like clear voting issues in summary and final focus. For the love of god, don't go for everything. If something important isn't in the summary, I'm not voting on it in final focus. Also, weigh.

~~Decorum~~

Be funny, be witty, but don't be rude. Jokes and puns are welcome, but be chill about it. I really hate how rude and aggro some PFers have gotten, and while I will not automatically drop you for this, I am not afraid to tank your speaks.

Prep

keep track of it.

Misc

I could not care less if you enter the room or do the flip before I get there. Go ahead, if you want to.

If you want to take off your jacket/change your shoes/even wear pajamas bc it's the last round of the day/etc to be comfortable, go ahead, I won't dock you for it. How you debate matters more to me than what you're wearing.

If you're trying to get perfect speaks, strike me. Unless I am weeping from the sheer beauty of whatever earth-shattering revelations your speeches gave me I don't intend on giving you a thirty. A lot of my speaks end up in the 27.5-28.5 range.

In theory, I'd like to be tabula rasa, but I struggle to stomach truly ridiculous arguments. Tech > truth, but not to an extreme, and I will ~gently~ intervene against blatantly false args (eg weighing them less if I can) but I won't like autodrop you.

I am not amenable to speaks theory. It is anticompetitive and unfair to anyone who doesn't have theory hack judges. I won't punish you for it but I will ignore it which is a massive waste of your speech time. Please don't even bother.

pls don't shake my hand

I'll try to remember to leave my email on the ballot, so you're free to ask me questions there or on Facebook if you want to know anything. Feel free to message me for feedback.

If you show me photos of cats, I'll give you a 30. Just kidding. No I won't. But you can do it anyways.

I am a certified theatre educator and director with over 15 years of directing experience.

1) Movement - how choreography is incorporated whether it is body language of different characters to make them stronger, or use of a black book creatively.

2) Fluid story - I should know from beginning to end the rising action, climax, falling action, and resolve in your story. If it is a POI, I should see the same thing in the cutting of the pieces.

3) Hidden message - from the teaser to the introduction, all the way to the end of the piece, I want to be able to understand the hidden message of why you picked this piece(s) to support something you are passionate about.

4) Characters - There should be distinguished characters in each of the pieces. If you have multiple characters in one piece, each one should have a different "story", body language and voice to tell them a part.

For LD:

1) Evidence - using evidence sufficiently to support the claims in your argument.

2) Argument - your argument has to make sense, meaning you can't just argue that your opponent is wrong because of everything you already said. In cross I expect a new form of argument that still supports your stance.

3) Claims - I should hear a speech in your debate that clearly states the issues and how you resolve it.

IE:

Interp (prose, duo, duet) for four years in HS & impromptu.

Please do not sit directly in front of/next to/behind me.

No phones out during performances.

Reacting to a particularly funny or moving scene is acceptable/encouraged, but please do not be excessive or a distraction to the competitor performing.

If you are in a large lecture hall, please take extra care to project and enunciate!

CX:

Please include me on the email chain: rubyrgao@gmail.com

Debated CX for two years in HS 1A/2N.

_____________

Spreading is okay, but ARTICULATE. If your speech were slowed to 0.5x speed, it should sound normal-ish. A loud "AND" is helpful.

Flashing is not prep unless I notice you stealing prep, but try to be competent with your laptops.

Tag-team CX is fine but I prefer if one partner doesn't dominate the other.

I won't flow CX but it helps your speaker points when it sounds like y'all a) actually care about the questions/answers (aren't just wasting time for your partner to prep) and b) know what you're talking about and can reference cards/ev for your answers.

Debate off your flows!! Don't just read blocks off your laptop for 5 minutes - I despise when debaters write out transcripts once for their args and never look at them again until they ctrl+f a key word in-round and read the entire thing start to finish.

I won't be very receptive to you reading aloud a long prewritten o/v.

AFF

Fine with policy and most k affs.

Performance affs - tl;dr not a huge fan, but if you have nothing else prepared, go with what you have.

-Would prefer if it is at least somewhat related to core ground of the res and defends something.

-Consider the ground you're leaving your opps with without making them resort to reprehensible args like patriarchy or racism good.

Case debate is good and important please do it. Strategic 1ACs that preempt common neg args are cool. Extend your stuff through speeches - I won't flow new args in the 2AR that weren't developed in the 1AR.

"perm do both" doesn't mean much without an adequate explanation of how the perm functions.

NEG

Case debate is good and important please do it.

Hate when debaters go something like 8-off with a bunch of nonsense thrown in just to make it difficult for aff to respond. If something appears in your 1NC, it should feasibly appear in the 2NR.

T - don't love T debates but that's because they usually sound very recycled. If you're going for T, make it all 5 min of the 2NR and actually explain why your impact makes the debate significantly unfair/bad/whatever.

DAs - "the DA o/w and turns the case" means nothing. Neither do most buzzwords. Please actually explain how your args interact with theirs.

CPs - artificial net bens bad. I like interesting CPs.

Ks - I like them. Name-dropping some random old white dude isn't going to win you the round. Assume I don't know the lit. Explain your case-specific link and why it matters. Don't suck at explaining your alt.

_____________

Speaker points start at 28.0, will move up if you debate smartly, down if you are rude to your partner/opps/me, very down if you say/do something offensive.

please don't shake my hand but if you m u s t kiss up to me after round i will be receptive to a fist bump.

LD:

If you seem like you are having fun and not making the round a terrible place to be, I will listen to pretty much any argument that isn't intentionally obnoxious or repugnant (death good, racial equity bad, etc.). I prefer lines of argument that don't rely on nuclear war or extinction, but if your case is strong, go for it. Creativity and experimental arguments are awesome. Please run them.

Clash and analysis are key. Use your case to analyze and refute your opponent's arguments. Don't just toss out cards; explain WHY and HOW. If your logic/reasoning is sound, you don't need to extend every card to win. I prefer strategic condensing over shallow line by line rebuttal.

Fairness - Theory arguments about fairness in LD are, by and large, arguments debaters fall back on when they don't know their opponent's literature well enough to engage with it. Running fairness while spreading or engaging in other behaviors that exclude people from debate is unlikely to get my ballot.

K's - I thoroughly enjoy critical debate. It fits very well with the intent of LD and forces debaters to examine assumptions. Logic must be sound and you should make a concerted effort to use the conceptual framework of your K as the basis for your argumentation (i.e. don't read "We can't draw conceptual lines between people," and then respond to case with arguments that draw lines between peoples). I have a pretty high threshold for what is topical so be prepared to engage with your opponent's lit. I don't enjoy rounds that devolve to T.

Phil - Critical arguments are based on differing philosophical views of the world. The phil authors we roll our eyes at today were often the radicals of their times. I find the debate community's distinction between Phil & K debate silly to the point of absurd and based on an incredibly reductive idea of who counts as a philosopher.

Performance - Go ahead, just make sure you have clear link stories.

Make sure you weigh your impacts for me. I may have a different perspective so if you don't make the weighing explicit, you are leaving it up to my interpretation. This includes ROBs, etc.

I expect timers and flashing to work without much delay. Having issues more than once in a round will lose speaks.

My speaks start at 28 for circuit tournaments. I'll dock a varsity debater more often for nonsense or rudeness than a JV debater. Making me laugh is a good way to bump up your points a few tenths. Enunciation is also a bonus.

I studied linguistics. If you are going to talk about plurals and indefinite articles, please have read more of the article than just the card you are citing.

CX is important and clarifies for me how well you understand your own arguments. I will dock points for badgering novices. Kindness is never the wrong move.

**Virtual debate notes: WiFi strength is not universal. Audio lags make it CRUCIAL that you speak clearly and don't talk over each other.

Speed/Spread:

I don't mind speed, as long as you are clear. I will only call "clear" twice in a varsity round. Taglines, authors, and card interp should be noticeably slower. It is up to the speaker to communicate their arguments and be aware of the audience's attention level. Language has a natural rhythm. Using that to assist you will make you easier to understand than cutting all the linking words out of your cards.

**Virtual debate notes: if I can't follow your speed on a video chat, getting those extra two cards in doesn't matter. Strategy has to adapt to the medium.

Congress:

I evaluate the full participation of the chamber, from docket maneuvers to quality and variety of questions. Successful legislators are those who drive the debate, present new/unique arguments, extend/refute/deepen previous arguments, choose sources carefully, and use parliamentary procedure appropriately. Debate on the merits/flaws of the specific legislation is given more weight than general issue arguments. Delivery style can enhance the persuasiveness of your analysis, but will not make up for canned speeches, poor supporting materials, or rehashed arguments.

POs are an essential part of the chamber. They set the mood, pace, and attitude of the chamber. It is a risk, and that is taken to account when I score. POs with a good pace and no major errors are very likely to be ranked.

Note on authorships/first pros: The price for establishing recency is that your speech must provide some background for the debate and at least one reason why this legislation in particular is/is not the answer.

Evidence

The purpose of evidence in all forms of debate is to support your arguments with expert testimony, not to BE your arguments. I will only ask for cards if something sounds exceptionally wonky. Have some understanding of the bias of your sources (Are they all from conservative think tanks?, etc.). It is generally up to your opponent(s) to point out blatantly wrong evidence, but I will dock for egregious offenses.

FOR EVERYONE:

Do NOT bring up victims of police brutality just for your intros or as an additional piece of evidence you immediately move on from. people's lives should not be used as a piece of 'gotcha' evidence or a card to win a judge. if you are ignoring people's humanity to win a round you are not doing this activity correctly.

For Congress:

40% presentation, 60% content. There MUST be refutation in every speech after the authorship. your job as the author/sponsor is to explain how the mechanisms of your legislation work, not just give the first aff speech-explain what your legislation does and how it solves the problems in the status quo. If you speak twice on the same bill I will drop you. If you refer to male presenting competitors as 'representative/senator' and female presenting competitors as 'Ms.' I will drop you. If you are aggressive in direct cross I will want to drop you. Please give me clear impacts and ask questions often. I also coach extemp, so I don't want to see you just reading a prewritten speech off your legal pad. I love good POs and I will rank you high for it!

For PF:

I'm not going to time you. I'm not going to flow cross. As long as you're not an LD or Policy debater turned PF debater, I'll be fine with your speed (as long as your constructive is under 900 words you're probably fine). I need impacts and clear taglines. Organization is a huge thing for me. It is not my job to weigh the round for you, so you need to be doing impact calculus and giving me key voters all the way through. SIGNPOST. If you are rude in cross I will give you low speaks and I will want to drop you. If you run a K I will drop you. Also I do not flow the authors of your cards are so if you refer to cards by the author only I am not going to be able to find it on my ballot-give me a source name, a key word or phrase, something.

For IEs:

Your Infos/Oratories should all have quality cited evidence. Your Infos should give me impacts, and your Oratories should have solutions. For Interp, you should not be performing a character with a disability piece if you do not have that disability. In Humor ESPECIALLY, if you do a racist caricature/accent, I will drop you. Please use good judgement.

Email: erinmguiney@gmail.com

(she/her)

Hi! My name is Carrie, I debated PF for three years, with some experience in Congress and LD.

Things you probably already know, but I'll just state anyway:

Speed - Just make it understandable, I'm pretty fine with any speed, but don't go so fast that you're making it more difficult for yourself.

Decorum - have it. Talking over people is not cute.

CX - I don't flow it, I don't care about it. If you want to use anything in CX mention it in the speech directly after that CX. also. see Decorum.

Summaries and Final Focus - SIGNPOST. Use your key voters, crystalize your argument, give me no other option but to circle the ballot for you.

Clean debates = easy decisions. You don’t want your debate to end up in a coin flip (I'm not above doing this).

Do not pick up dropped arguments, don’t.

That being said, this should be fun and a learning experience! Ask questions if you need them, I'll do my best to answer them. Good Luck!

Style:

• Speed: Speak clearly regardless of your speed. Don’t use speed as a tool of exclusion. You should make sure your opponent is okay with spreading in order to have a productive debate. If you need to speak quickly to make all of your arguments slow down on the important points, I will only evaluate arguments that make it to my flow.
• Flex Prep: I have no problem if debaters choose to use some of their prep time for additional clarification questions.
• Be respectful and professional! This is supposed to be fun and educational, don’t be rude.

Content:

• Theory: Demonstrable, round-specific abuse is necessary for me to vote on theory arguments. I would rather hear arguments that address the substantive issues of the round so please consider the legitimacy of the argument on the discourse of the round before running Theory.
• Kritik: I love a good, thorough K argument! (with strong links and impacts)
• Of course counterplans and similar arguments are fine provided they are topical.
• Theory shells aren't my favorite, but I'll listen.
• I will entertain most arguments as long as you are deliberate about your choices and provide significant and high-quality impacts. If you can't explain to me how this argument weighs out in evaluation of the round, I am not likely to vote on that argument. If nobody does a good job providing me with a quality impact calculus, then I am likely to start looking for my own reasons to prefer one side over the other instead of remaining tabula rasa. Do your work so I don’t have to do it for you!

Judging I look for: speech suitability to the speaker, performance technique, creativity, understanding of the material.

My preference is for clear and enunciated speech at a conversational speed. There is no point in whizzing through facts or quotations faster than I am able to digest the information.

Pragmatic and logical reasoning are more persuasive than semantic and petty arguments. Rebuttals need to be effective, but kept short. The debate will most likely be won in the constructive and summary portions.

Public Forum

Experience:

Coached PF and LD for the past 5 years at Phoenix Country Day School in Arizona where I also teach economics. PF and LD competitor in 2003. I have judged Public Forum and LD at all levels over the past 15 years.

Bias:

I do believe that Public Forum should be accessible to all levels of judge experience, and I am less inclined to see arguments that serve to exclude the general public amicably. That being said, I hate intervening in rounds, so it is your opponents' job to explain why those arguments do not meet the spirit of public forum, are antithetical to the educational purpose of the event, and/or create levels of abuse that tip the balance towards one side or the other.

General Philosophy:

Tabula Rasa - I'll only intervene if something egregious or offensive occurs that an educator needs to step in and correct. Otherwise, I'll vote on the arguments in the round and weigh the impacts through the frameworks that are presented. If there are competing frameworks in the round, show me why you win through both of them.

Do your thing with passion. Give me your best and I will try to do the same for you.

You have only one round today, and this is that round. Give it all you've got, and I'll do the same for you.

I competed in all interp events in HS, and have coached and judged all interp and platform events.

In interp, I look for distinctions of characters, use of space, and overall understanding of the piece and your interpretation of it. Enunciation and diction are also important.

For speech events, clarity of argument, enunciation, and diction are my primary focus when commenting, although I do look at the overall presentation when making a final decision.

Hello! I have been a commercial litigator for 39 years and have tried numerous cases to judges and juries in addition to arguing thousands of motions.

I have been judging speech and debate competitions for six years.

For Debate:

I do not mind speed as long as there is clarity. If I cannot understand you, I cannot follow your arguments. I do like a road map to help me follow you.

I am fairly familiar with debate jargon, but not necessarily every specific term. I enjoy seeing clash in the debate, flowing your arguments all the way through, and weighing arguments. I want to see the impacts and links within your arguments.

I do not mind passionate debaters, but please be respectful toward your opponents.

I do not like and don't understand progressive arguments.

For Speech Events:

I enjoy creativity in content and expression in delivery. I like movement and vocal expression.

For performance events my rankings are based mostly on the quality of the performance but also on how well your speech presented a full story.

For extempt and impromptu, I have a greater emphasis on organization and content than on delivery.

Important: (inspired by Tara Bhagat) Debate ought to be a place where we can challenge our long-standing beliefs while feeling safe as individuals. If you are reading this and feel that the debate space is not safe for you–for whatever reason, no matter how small–please reach out. If I or someone I know have made you feel unsafe, please do not hesitate to let me know so I can attempt to rectify the situation and/or change my behavior. Email me at arthimacherla@gmail.com.

Public Forum

TL;DR: Flow judge; line-by-line, but warrants are important. No spreading. Weigh. Stay away from progressive arguments.

Experience:

I competed in Limited Prep and Interp from 2016-2020 (and some Congress) at Phoenix Country Day School. I have never competed in PF but am familiar with debate and flowing. I consider myself a flay judge, but do not treat me as if I've done PF for 4 years. I currently study economics and neuroscience at UChicago.

General Philosophy

I am a flow judge. Tech over truth and line-by-line, but warranting is important. I vote for contested but well-warranted, well-explained arguments over shallow, blippy extensions of dropped arguments every time. If say you are a 'fast,' 'technical' debater and do not make any comprehensive arguments, you will have to adapt to pick up my ballot.

I firmly believe that Public Forum should be accessible to all levels of debate experience, and I am less inclined to see arguments that serve to exclude the general public amicably. Generally, I'd much rather see well-paced debate with clear depth over high-speed debate with wide breadth.

Speed:

- Slow rounds > fast rounds

- Regardless, slow down on card names.

- If you plan on spreading... don't.

Structure:

- Second rebuttal must answer turns made in first rebuttal; I prefer that second rebuttal answers defense.

- First summary only has to extend defense if it is front-lined in second rebuttal.

- Arguments that you want me to evaluate should be extended with a warrant and impact in summary and final focus.

- Don't extend through ink.

- Please roadmap/signpost.

- Collapse; it is unstrategic to go for everything in final focus.

- If your rebuttal "overview" is a hidden contention I will not evaluate it.

Weighing:

- DO IT!!!!!! I cannot vote on an argument if you do not weigh it.

- Must be warranted. Give me reasons why to prefer your mechanisms; this is done best when comparative and specific to opponent's offense.

- Don't weigh on probability; I view probability as deriving from strength of warrants.

Evidence:

I deplore evidence abuse. If you deliberately misconstrue the words or arguments of your sources, I will drop you. I will call for cards if I notice evidence abuse or if your opponents tell me to.

Crossfire:

You will not win off of crossfire, but if you get a digression/warrant explanation and extend it into speeches, I will flow it. I promise that you won't embarrass yourself with simple clarifying questions; debate is much better when everyone knows wtf is going on. Grand is unequivocally stupid; don't compromise your chance at winning/speaks by getting all frustrated, I'm probably ignoring the content anyways.

Speaks

Speaks are a reflection of politeness, oral/rhetorical proficiency, and organization (signposting/numbering). If you make a good joke you get +0.5.

Notes on Progressive Arguments:

I do not expect you to be educated on the specific formats of technical arguments. Such an expectation reeks of privilege; accessibility is the rule. I expect any argument you make to me to be conceptually understandable by a moderately educated adult with no debate experience.

- If you run a Plan, Counterplan, Kritik, or frivolous Theory, I will become annoyed and drop you. We both know that there are better debate venues for this.

- Arguments with critical and/or pre-fiat impacts not in K format can be ok, just make sure to give your opponents a meaningful route to the ballot.

- Theory: If your opponent introduces significantly abusive arguments/tactics, I will evaluate traditional or simple fairness arguments made using simple formats and weighing mechanisms. No to speaker point and disclosure theory.

Misc.

- I will intervene, stop the round, and tank your speaks if something egregious or offensive occurs (ad hominem, racism, ablism, islamaphobia, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, etc.). Your coach will also get an unpleasant email.

- I prefer a chill, relaxed, and informal vibe in rounds. Wear whatever you want, just not a Flyers jersey.

- Have fun!

I am a historian of the classical Greek and Roman period, and I have a lot of experience with classical rhetoric. I often think of arguments through the lens of classical rhetoric. I am looking to be persuaded by arguments. I consider whoever wins the most arguments to have won the round. Additionally, I am not looking for speed but rather clear explanation of argument.

I am a lay parent judge. This is my first time judging debate. I will be flowing but please speak slowly and clearly and explain all of your arguments thoroughly.

LD:

I am unfamiliar with debate jargon so please present a well organized, logical argument with a clear narrative. I am also unfamiliar with the topic so it is your job to convince me about your side and why I should vote for you over your opponent. Signposting is appreciated.

Please speak at a reasonable pace. No spreading whatsoever. I will only weigh on arguments that I can understand.

Please stick to traditional LD but if you are going to run anything progressive clear warranting is key.

Make my ballot easy for me! Present clear impact weighing and key voters in the 2AR/2NR. The points brought up in the second half of these speeches should be similar if not identical to my reason for decision on my ballot.

Most importantly be respectful and have fun!

I am a parent judge with some experience judging speech and public forum. I will try to take notes, but I am not a flow judge. I look for competitors with a clear and smooth speaking style, solid gestures, but most importantly, logical and well-supported arguments.

Hello! My pronouns are she/her. I am a recent graduate and I did speech and debate in high school and middle school. I did PF primarily.

I find over-generalizing arguments to be extremely harmful to the debate space. If I hear arguments along the lines of "x people are not suffering," or "no one has this problem anymore" I will most likely tank your speaker points or even drop you if the offense calls for it. Please use your clearest judgement while using absolutist statements. Your perspective and evidence can only be stretched to an extent. For many debate topics, we have the privilege of debating topics we will never face. Speak with that privilege in check.

For PF:
Yes, I will generally flow but I'm not trying to keep up with your spreading, theory, and excessive jargon. Keep it chill, please.

I will drop anyone that says anything racist, ableist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, transphobic, or misogynistic. That should go without saying :)

Signpost and try to frontline in 2nd rebuttal (it's fine if you don't) so that I know what to look for in your summary. Only give me an off-time roadmap if you plan on doing something other than just going down each case (ex of acceptable off-time roadmap: overview on CON, go down PRO case, go down CON case)

I don't do progressive debate and unless the round really calls for it (i.e. problematic argumentation) plz avoid it.

My pet peeve in hs was when debaters would say "oh the judge just didn't understand what I was saying." It is your responsibility to make sure I understand everything from the first word of the round to the last. Signposting, line-by-line rebuttals, and clear diction will benefit your clarity 100% of the time.

Overall, engage with arguments and DEVELOP. Make sure each subsequent speech is different and builds on the previous speeches. Tell me what the impacts are and WHY/HOW your impacts are better than your opponents' impacts. That means you need your warrant intact in order to have your impact.

Please have fun. More than anything else, every round should be enlightening and enjoyable. Keep it light, keep it happy, treat people with respect :)

I am new to judging debate. I am a retired teacher, so I do have a lot of experience judging presentations. I look for professionalism and well thought out information and arguments. I don't appreciate students who talk so fast that it's impossible to process what is being said. If I'm not clear on what is being said, this doesn't help a students score.

be respectful- any sexism, racism, etc will mean an auto drop. above everything, everyone should feel comfortable in round

wear whatever shoes or clothes you're comfortable in, you dont have to look "professional"

weigh extend collapse

pls signpost - no offtime road maps unless youre doing something special

the most important thing you can do to win is weigh. tell me why your impacts matter and why as a judge should care about your impacts over your opponents

if offense is not in your summary, I wont weigh it in your final focus. make sure to extend the warranting for your argument instead of just saying "extend this". also if you wanna win the argument make sure you frontlined it, pls dont flow through ink

1st summary only needs to extend defense on args frontlined in 2nd rebuttal

turns must be responded to in the next speech

cant put defense on previously unresponded arguments in summary

2nd rebuttal should at least frontline arguments you are probably going for in summary but not mandatory (still must respond to turns)

dont go for every argument- collapse on 1 or 2

quality of arguments > quantity

well warranted arguments > cards

if something is not clear, its probably your fault and not mine, especially if its the main argument your going for. overexplaining >> underexplaining

i wont read/call for cards unless I am told to or if there was no warrant comparison done in round (but its better to not let me do that)

the faster you go, the worse my flowing skills become

im not the best judge for progressive arguments, but if you warrant them well/there is a blatant abuse then I will try my best to judge it( but I dont have much experience w it so be cautious)

Interpret and public speaking, should leave a judge, wanting to know more answering questions I never thought of getting insight into a topic or character that is not just on the surface

1. I'm not too familiar with debate slang, so I'd appreciate it if their use wasn't integral to understanding any talking points.

2. Please speak at a conversational pace and ENUNCIATE your words. I know that sometimes you have more words on the page than time to say them all slowly, but if I can't understand you, I'm unable to fairly and effectively judge you.

3. BE NICE. any hostility or personal attacks towards an opponent will be an automatic lose.

4. relax and have fun! you're gonna do great!

Debate judging paradigm: I have the most experience with LD and competed in this event during my years in high school. I love and have judged all forms of debate, including PF/LD, Congress, Big Questions and World Schools. I value dignity, civility, and respect, in addition to being a flow judge. If you drop arguments or introduce new evidence in a round, I will notice and weigh that in my decision, though it is the debater's job to point this out in their rebuttals.

For LD/PF/BQ: I appreciate good, strong clash, as well as a clear understanding of one's case and evidence, so that debaters not only READ a constructive/card at me but can actually paraphrase and link impacts. I DO pay attention during CX, and weigh the nature of questions and responses as a deciding factor in close rounds, as well as the level of graciousness, assertiveness, and respect demonstrated in CX and throughout. Many can debate well; doing so while honoring the dignity and worth of one's opponent and their argumentation is what sets true orators and diplomats apart.

For CONGRESS: I appreciate speakers that draw intelligently and usefully on prior speakers' points and arguments. Crystallization towards the end of the round should be insightful and weigh impacts. AVOID merely summarizing evidence or points that have been made already. Repetitiveness simply for the sake of getting a speech in will not go over well.

Speech judging paradigm: be bold, original, and thought provoking. Cursing and singing and foreign language are fine with me. Be respectful of other competitors while observing or having your team/family observe you.

Hi all- my name is Natalie Steinbrink and I am an assistant coach at Phoenix Country Day School, where I've been since 2015. I graduated from Arizona State University in 2018 with a degree in English Literature. I am primarily a speech coach, but I do enjoy coaching and watching Congress when I can. Here is what's important to me in a Congressional Debate round:

-Clear argumentation. Don't make me work to understand your argument. Your structure, evidence, links, and impacts should be clear and easy to understand. I can appreciate a complex argument, but if I'm still wondering what your point was by the time we've moved on to the next speech, you haven't done the job.

-Be INVOLVED in the session. Be an active listener and don't get wrapped up in your own speeches (i.e. please don't practice your speech while others are talking). Ask good, varied questions. Be a congressperson who's going to foster good debate in the round (the most fun part of congress!).

-Give me some genuine emotion! This may be the speech coach in me jumping out, but the bills you're debating impact real people in the world, and you should treat them as such. How is anyone going to believe in your argument if you don't act like you believe in it yourself?

-Good delivery is a must. Try to get away from your legal pad as much as possible.

-Be respectful. If you're rude or aggressive to other debaters, you'll be dropped. Plain and simple.

I'm excited to listen to you all, and I hope you're excited as well!

Please ask me before the round.

Hello

I have not judged a debate round in around 2 years and have not competed for a few years. my ears are probably not accustomed to very quick speaking and I would appreciate slightly slower speeches. rapid is fine but full speed probably not the best idea

email: mtamhane@asu.com

I did policy for four years at Wichita East, nat circuit senior year (2015-2019)

I am currently on the Arizona State Speech team (2019-present)

I was relatively mediocre in high school, but I know how much work debate is and I hope I can a put fraction of the work into judging as y'all put into competing

Policy Paradigm:

Overall Philosophy

explain your arguments please

You do you-- I want to hear the arguments you know the best and are most comfortable with

I think impacts are important--what those are and how they should be evaluated compared to your opponent's impacts should be clear.

I 100% have preconceived notions about debate but if you tell me to evaluate the round differently, I will. I just need a persuasive reason why your framework for the round is the best. Please tell me how I should evaluate the round, it makes my job easier and your arguments more persuasive.

Fairness is an internal link to education, but is not an impact (this one is pretty ingrained--if you believe fairness is an impact please just impact out to education. I have a very low threshold for a fairness impact, that is just not that persuasive)

Racism, sexism, anti queer garbage etc. is very bad. You'll lose.

case

I love case debate. I will vote on presumption if the negative demolishes the affirmative case on defense alone. I know thats probably weird, but honestly if you put in the work thats required crumble an aff case I will reward you in speaks and the round. Offense is great though.

Das

Unique impact scenarios are fun. Ptx das esp fun if you have a solid story. I love a good disad case debate. Offense is best strategy for 2ACs imo, but im willing to vote aff on defense if your arguments are strong/uncontested.

CP

Some cps are definitely cheating, but that doesn't mean I won't vote for them. Read theory if its cheating, please.

K

Just make sure to explain your argument with the least amount of jargon as possible. I'm not super familiar with many literature bases, but I think the best K debaters can explain their Ks without jargon. I've read some setterlism lit, some baudrillard, and I have some small familiarity with Lacan but I am by noooo means an expert. Like at all.

K affs

Im down. I wil vote for T/FW or the aff, just make sure your impact turn/response to T is clear and rooted in your affirmative.

KVK

Just makes sure to flesh out and explain your links.

T

I will vote on it, but please don't just scream jargon within jargon. Explain clearly why they don't meet, why their interp is bad for education etc.

Other Theory

Go for it, just don't go top speed when reading a wall of text or at the very least send me that wall of text. Please respond to opponents when engaging theory and don't just read your blocks.

Condo is good, but it could be bad if you are convincing

Miscellaneous

save the aliens plz

please be nice to each other.

LD

LD is weird

Because of this I have decided my default is consequentialism/util unless you tell me otherwise

please have uniqueness in your disads

I am parent Judge.
I prefer clear and concise thoughts.

I am not a fan of speed. I prefer quality or quantity.

While I have not participated in speech and debate myself, I have been judging Lincoln Douglas debate for several years now and am trained in traditional forms of debate. If you want to use progressive argumentation, that is fine as long as you are clearly explaining your argument and defining any rare terms you use. It helps to tell me why you're winning the framework debate and why that matters in the round. Also, please roadmap, do key voters, etc. Impact calc and extensions will help you immensely. I'm not comfortable with spreading (very high rates of speech); if I cannot understand you, I can't flow you, and that's not good for anyone. I'll say "clear" as a heads-up if I can't keep up with you.

It's important to me that everyone is considerate to one another and has fun!

I've coached Speech & Debate for around a decade now. I do not support any form of progressive debate in PF. Prove you understand the resolution and the content of the topic. Here’s some advice:

- No spreading, I’ll say “clear” if you need to slow down

- Use taglines and signpost to maintain clarity of flow

- I do not flow cross examination so be sure to include ideas in speech

- I am a believer in pragmatism over the ideological

- Clear elaboration and correlation is as important as card use

-Link the arguments, don't make assumptions or just point to a card

-It should not take over a minute to find cards, please be familiar with your evidence

- Keep the round moving, I’ll keep time of speeches and prep

Coaching for 23 years and taught debate for same amount of time. Holistic judge/flow judge, but want CLASH on both sides. I am okay with speed, but should not deplinish your arguments-those come first. Some progressive is okay, don't like Plans or Counter Plans-those need to stay in CX.

This is still value debate so would like to see value criterion used and supported.

K's okay, not optimal, but will listen to them.

Standing during debate is a must-lazy if you don't.

I am the Scott Woods who teaches and coaches at BASIS Scottsdale in Arizona. There are others. For instance, I am not the slam poet Scott Woods (although I enjoy his work), so if you try a slam poetry case because you think that your judge is a pretty famous slam poet, you will probably be disappointed by the ballot.

About me: I teach middle school English and high school speech and debate. I competed in interp and platform events in college. I'm a Scoutmaster, a Republican, and I go to church regularly. Many people who know me don't believe that I am as conservative as I think I am.

I want the debate round to be for the benefit of the debaters. I have been coaching and judging debate for several years, mostly in PF, but some LD. I also judge policy rounds occasionally. I've judged at the TOC four times and at NSDA Nationals three times. When I judge on a panel, my decision is often different from the majority, possibly because my judging skills are so refined and subtle, or maybe for other reasons that escape me.

I think of debate as an educational game that should be fun, challenging, and life changing for the good. I don't like sneaky approaches to debate, tricks, or unsporting behavior. I especially don't like anything that attempts to achieve an unfair advantage over an opponent. Among the behaviors I don't like to see are spreading, because it seeks to gain a time advantage by squeezing more content in the given time, forcing one's opponent either to spread or to be disadvantaged, because it makes debate into a ridiculous exercise (and I consider making good things appear ridiculous in order to achieve personal gain to be bad form), and because it is aesthetically unpleasant (and I consider intentional ugliness inflicted on others to be bad form). Also, if you spread I won't flow as much, won't understand as much, and won't believe you as much. If both teams spread, then I'll just have to guess at who won, which is very likely something that you don't want me to do. Please speak in a clear, persuasive voice at a reasonable public debate speed, and be sure to point out when the other side is spreading, show the harms, then show why they should lose on that. I'll probably buy it.

If your debate strategy includes using tactics that have the effect of giving you an unfair advantage over your opponent, your chances of winning will go down. Your arguments should give you the advantage, not your sneaky approach, your hidden claims, your abusive framework, or your tricky wording. Again, call out your opponent's sneakiness. This is especially fun and elegant in an LD round when your opponent values morality, justice, fairness, etc., and you call them out for violating standards of morality, justice, or fairness.

I prefer clear, well-reasoned arguments that are logically valid and well supported by warrants and evidence. I also value impacts. Show me magnitude and probability. I will evaluate these by taking on the stance of an intelligent person who is well educated, open minded, and not a fool. If you read a card but don't put it into the context of a clear argument, then I won't care about it. You have to use evidence to support your warranted arguments. Your cards are your evidence. I hear many LDers giving lengthy quotes of dense philosophy, without contextualizing the quoted speech. I would much prefer that you summarize the entire argument of the philosopher clearly, briefly, and accurately, rather than quoting some paragraph that seems to support your interpretation. I almost never buy appeals to authority. If you say that Philosopher X says Y, therefore Y is true, I will probably not believe you. Feel free to call your opponent on this.

Since I think that debate is a worthwhile activity that can positively shape the character of youth, I value having fun and being nice. I don't want to spend an hour or so with people who are being mean to each other. Let's have fun and enjoy the round.

I won't leave my knowledge, training, or prejudices at the door, mainly because I can't (if I were truly tabula rasa, I would be an infant or an imbecile). Instead, I'll try to be aware of them and limit the impact of my own opinions or knowledge on the debate. If you don't make the argument, I will try not to make it for you. You must do all the work in the debate. I will, however, apply my knowledge of effective argumentation and the "reasonable person" test to the arguments in the debate. If you give me a weighing method and a clear path to signing the ballot for you, your chances of winning the round go up. Please understand that I will fail to leave behind my biases, assumptions, prejudices, etc. This is a feature of being human. We can't control the processes of our thought very well, and we are largely unaware of what guides and controls our thinking. Your job as a debater is to make these biases, assumptions, and prejudices irrelevant against the overwhelming power of your arguments. Good luck.

Please understand that I will likely be judging you after having taught children all day or having traveled a long distance and slept poorly. I will probably not be at my best. This is true for many of your judges. You should consider taking this into account when you write your cases and make your arguments. After you lose a round that you think you should have won, don't complain about the stupid judge. Instead, consider what you could have done differently to compensate for that judge not being at his or her cognitive best. That's your responsibility. I don't want to think during a round. Thinking is hard. It's not my job. I often disappoint debaters when I am required to think. Your job is to pre-think the round for me, better than your opponent does. The team that does this best will win.

It's up to the round to decide on the framework. If your framework is abusive or unreasonable, I'll drop it and favor your opponent's analysis, especially if your opponent calls it out as such. I prefer realistic frameworks that generously look at the resolution as though the debate were really a public forum (even in LD) for discussing an important issue. I also prefer realistic arguments that are accessible to the public.

It bothers me when debaters don't know their case because someone else wrote it, they haven't researched the topic, or they are just using the cards that came with the briefs without trying to understand the bigger picture. This become a problem when debaters misinterpret cards or philosophers they don't understand. If your opponent calls you on your card and disputes what it means, then I will call for the card at the end of the debate and make my own judgment. I don't want to do this for a number of reasons, mainly because I don't want to do the work that you should be doing. That being said, I know a lot about many subjects, so if I think that you are misinterpreting a card, I may call for it, even if your opponent has not called you out on it. I don't like to do this, but I also don't like misinterpreted or false cards to affect a round, and I don't expect high school students to have comprehensive knowledge of the world. If I think that your card was misinterpreted, then I will drop the argument it supports.

Please do the work for me. Make it easy for me to decide who wins. Tell the story of the round. Be organized on the flow in your rebuttals.

If your opponent calls for a card, they may continue to prep while you search for it, without that time counting against their prep. This is the procedure at the TOC, which I particularly like because it encourages teams to provide their opponents with the cards they ask for in a timely manner. If you don't have the card, and the context surrounding it, then I will drop the argument that is supported by the card. If your card clearly says something other than what you say it does, I will very likely vote for the other side. Please don't misrepresent your evidence.

Regarding policy debate: Every round that I have judged in policy debate has come down to judge adaptation. Whoever adapts best to my limitations as a judge (see above) will likely win the round (or, if you prefer, my ballot). My recommendation is that policy debaters should have two cases: one that they normally run and another that they write for judge adaptation. Debaters should also practice adaptation whenever they can, making sure that their arguments are comprehensible (at a minimum) and convincing (this should be the target) to normal, educated people.