I am a lay/parent judge.

As such, speak at a conversational pace and state your points clearly. Be respectful during all speeches and crossfires.

PF Paradigm at the top, LD at the bottom. I approach the events in a completely different manner. I wouldn't apply what is in the PF paradigm to LD.

PF Paradigm

I am a coach that has been involved with debate for a while. At the most basic level, I will evaluate the impacts students have access to at the end of the round using the weighing/framing mechanisms provided. You should be weighing in the back half of the round. Here are some notes about the details.

-I am listening but not flowing crossfire. While I'm not voting on anything that is said here, I am judging your knowledge of the important args and the topic in general.

-I am not tab. The best description of my judging style is a critic of argument. I want to vote for the best debaters, and to that end, I feel this activity is at its best when students explain warrants. I will vote on consequential drops, but I almost never vote on unwarranted blippy claims, even if they are carded. So for instance, if Smith 20 says "the economy will crash in two months," and that is the end of the story; for the purposes of the round I am not assuming the economy will crash in two months. You need to explain why Smith thinks that and contextualize its importance within the round. If Smith doesn't give a reason you are comfortable explaining, or you don't understand why Smith thinks that, this argument should not effect the RFD. My bar for a warrant that I will accept is very low(often I disagree with the warrant but still accept it), but the bar does exist. Just give me something that makes sense. The top competitors warrant and do all this naturally, so I don't think a lot of adapting should be going on.

-I prefer a brisk but understandable pace in the rebuttal/summary speeches, offense in the FF needs to be clearly extended (preferably weighed) throughout.

-I view debate as a game that teaches essential skills, and will vote for the students that in my opinion win the game. Using offensive arguments or not respecting the dignity of your opponents will lead to you losing the game.

-There is a zero percent chance I will vote on theory. I am ok with paraphrasing but prefer direct quotations. I do not expect disclosure (full text or otherwise).

-There is a zero percent chance I will vote on a non-topical K. There is a zero percent chance I will vote for a K that links into the topic in general. If the K has a strong link into the opponents advocacy, I will consider it, but probably still vote against it.

-Defense is not sticky.

-You should frontline in 2nd Rebuttal.

-Sell terminal defense, I have a higher bar for granting access to the impact then a lot of judges.

-There is no reason for a plan or CP.

-I don't like politics DAs, in policy rounds they work as a net benefit to a CP decently, but as independent offense in PF I think it is poor in general. The only way I'm voting on it is if it the other team severely mishandles it or has no offense I can comfortably vote on.

-If you want to see cards have the names ready and say them immediately after the speech. The 1st speaker for each team should be ready and adept at sending cards. I am not ok with a stream of asking for cards one after the other stretching out the time. The PF round should end in roughly an hour.

LD Paradigm

The PF paradigm above doesn't apply very much here. I debated LD in high school, but that was a long time ago. In LD, I'm resigned to being tab and voting on execution. I will try my best to reward the better debater, so if you can go fast and clear that is good.

I prefer debate on the topic and I view this activity as a game, so my natural inclination is to expect the resolution to grant both sides with ground, although the specifics can be debated. In general, I don't like to vote on blippy drops. I rarely vote for non-topical affs. Framework debate is ok and I will vote for the debater that executes their style the best. I enjoy judging debates with clash, and reward developed arguments which clearly link to the core issues of the resolution. I will vote for Plans, CPs, DAs, Ks, Theory, and framework. You are not winning the round in cross.

I don't have a problem with speed, but if I can't understand what your saying I will not connect the dots for you. A brisk speech that is clean is preferable to a faster pace in which words are mumbled and there are many noticeable stumbles. I keep a detailed flow and if an argument is dropped it matters. I like to hear voters during the final speeches.

Clements '20 | SLU '24

Email chain/Gdoc: yesh.dhruva@slu.edu

PF

Hi! I debated Public Forum for four years at Clements HS in Houston TX (didn't compete on the nat circuit much). I'm the average 'flow judge' and would also describe my (previous) debate style as an average 'flay' debater. For background, I qualified to TFA State twice and NSDA Nats. In short, I would suggest you focus on persuasion and quality of arguments, rather than quantity and jargon.

Read this above all: "I will not evaluate any Ks, theory (particularly disclosure theory), or other forms of technical argumentation from Policy/LD that are not common in PF. Not only am I uncomfortable with my ability to seriously evaluate these, I don't think they should exist in an event designed with as low of a barrier of entry as possible. If your opponent is racist, sexist, ableist, etc. I will intervene as necessary." -Jacqueline Wei

1. Exercise PF style judgment. Collapse, full frontline in second rebuttal, and extend defense in summary. DO tell me explicitly to call for evidence and signpost clearly. DON'T tag team speeches, flex prep, or spread. Speaker points are based on the above mentioned strategy but also decorum.

2. Present a cohesive narrative. Speeches throughout the round should mirror each other and have a strong central idea. As such, developed arguments and smart analytics always trump blips. I find myself not voting for arguments with little work done on them when they don't fit a story. By the end of the round, each argument should have extended evidence with a claim, warrant, and impact.

3. Weighing decides rounds. Weighing and meta-weighing should be done early and throughout the round, but with quality over quantity. This means implicating your weighing to engage with your opponent's arguments. I encourage you to create a lens to view the round by weighing turns, evidence, and case arguments in novel ways.

**As mentioned above, Please watch for speed when competing online, if you would like to go fast I will expect a speech doc so I can make sure I get everything**

Couple of last ideas I don't really want to type out:

-Please skip GCX if you can, we both want to get out of the round asap and I don't think it really does much for the round anyways

- Please make sure evidence is legit, if I notice it's not what you say it is, I won't buy the argument

- Save my soul and don't waste time sending evidence

LD/CX

- treat me as a lay, I flow as much as I can. I will try to make the best decision possible, but I honestly have no idea what I'm doing in this event.

- if you spread kiss the ballot goodbye. I did PF so don't go all out on me.

- If it helps, look at my PF paradigm (above), if you want some idea of how I judge PF.

Congress

- I have no idea what I'm doing.

- I can tell who's doing good and who's doing bad.

- Be nice.

---

Ask any questions to me if necessary (contact me at yesh.dhruva@slu.edu or tbh just message me on FB - I respond here fastest), and remember to enjoy each round!

Core Judging Philosophy:

As a Public Forum judge I am partial to tech debate, therefore what happens or doesn't happen on the flow is the preferred basis for my decision. I find the query of my being “tech over truth” or “truth over tech” to be a reductionist question. I will vote on a clean argument on the flow before I vote on a more realistic yet poorly extended argument. Proper signposting can be a valuable tool in this endeavor.

I will avoid using prior my knowledge or experience on a topic, or from previous rounds, to come to a decision. My decisions are derived from the information provided in the round I am judging only. A consistent and clear narrative will help you when the flow is muddled.

Speed:
I am fine with speed if you have good enunciation and volume. If you are capable of “varsity LD level” spreading then let me know that pre-round. If you are concerned about being too fast or unclear to be understood by me then you are also welcome to add me to an email chain for me to follow/understand you using your documents (if you choose to do this you must also include your opponent).

Weighing:Weighing in the final speeches is extremely important. I want a clear, quantifiable, and comparative weighing of impacts. If I have to calculate for myself which impact is more significant then you may not find the result you are looking for and making a judge do the work of weighing is not something that most judges want to be burdened with. Organizing the final focus speech by voters is not required but can be very helpful to a judge.

Opinions:
I like to see well-warranted evidence comparison (evidence weighing if you will). I also will vote on evidence over analytics without exception. If you find yourself stating opinions and analysis that are your own without evidence, then you are at risk of losing the round, no matter how logical your statement may be.

Speaker Points:

My speaker points range from 25-30. Only speeches I deem to be highly offensive or abusive will be given less than 27. In my four years of judging this has yet to happen, don’t be my first. I do not deduct for more aggressive debate styles, so long as teams are evenly matched opponents and there is nothing overtly abusive about the exchanges.

Other Notations: Time yourselves and your opponents, I want my focus to be on the round. Timing exception being if I am judging a Novice team who would like me to assist.

Concise road maps before the speeches following constructive are appreciated.

I will not flow crossfire/CX. If you get an important concession in cross bring it up in your next speech if you want me to consider it.

Framework and impact framing is preferred, and when well executed will often be an important consideration in my final decision. If no framing is present then I will evaluate the round using a cost-benefit analysis of comparative worlds, as is standard.

Background:

I did Public Forum for 3 years at Vista Ridge High School, and a few Policy tournaments but I doubt it really counts. I debated on the national and local circuit, qualifying for TFA State my Junior and Senior years of High School. I am currently a Sophomore at St. Edward's University in Austin.

General:

I am not tolerant of any sexism, racism, or anything of derogatory nature and my ballot will reflect that.

WEIGH WEIGH WEIGH. AND SIGNPOST. I am more tabula rasa than not.

Also, keep track of prep yourself I am too lazy to do it.

I generally listen to cross-fire but I don't decide the round on it.

Please be kind to one another and do not talk over each other. Debate is a game of intellect, not to shout over each other as if you were in a bar fight. (this will also get your speaks docked)

If you have a good joke that is tasteful and in context, go for it.

Speed:

I think that you can go at a fast pace as long as I can understand you, and I will just say clear if I can't but this does not mean spreading. Please do not spread, there's no point and it does not make you win more round in the long run. All in all, just be clear. I am not a judge that overestimates their ability to comprehend speed, I would rather everyone be in understanding of what is happening rather than going at warp speed.

LD - If you flash me everything you read, you go as fast as you want. If there are off-screen analytics being made I would slow down a bit.

Types of Arguments:

Keep in mind I did PF, not LD or CX. Run theory at your own risk. I did PF when they were running disclosure, I will listen to it but your voters or RVI's have to be pretty compelling for me to give you a round win, but it can be done. Other theory arguments like T's or K's are usually not done correctly and just make things messy. Also, running these arguments because the opponent doesn't know what theory is, is exclusionary and not cool.

I also do not like weird squirrely arguments to throw the opponents off, it just isn't needed but if its clever and in your constructive than more power to you.

The Split:

I think the second rebuttal should always frontline/address the first rebuttal. That is all.

Summary:

Defense is NOT sticky.

Given that you have a 3-minute summary, there better be some good condensing in there.

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. I also like it when teams collapse well in these speeches. If something important isn't in the summary, I'm not voting on it in final focus.

Evidence:

Truthful paraphrasing > miscut cards.

I can't believe I have to say this, but please represent evidence honestly. I'm not going to punish you for paraphrasing but I do expect you to stay true to what the evidence is saying if you choose to do so. I will punish you for misrepresenting evidence or knowingly reading authors that are fraudulent or very clearly unreliable.

Please don't do "debater math" or over-extrapolate the results and numbers in studies. It's often unethical and usually just not educational and inaccurate. Wrong. Bad. Pls don't.

You should know where your evidence is. I won't start immediately running your prep when opponents want you to find some evidence because I think that's silly, but if you start taking more than a minute or so I will.

Bracketing in your card is bad. The one exception, I guess, would be clarifying a qual or something. For example, 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.

Speaker Points:

If you speak clearly and your in-round strategy is good, don't worry about speaker points. I generally don't give below 28 but it takes a good amount to get a 30.

Hendrickson '19 | Texas A&M '22

Email: bryce.hann@gmail.com

I was a 4-year PF debater for Hendrickson HV with vast national circuit exposure. I’m now studying political science at Texas A&M.

General Philosophy: I’m your typical flow judge but I’m a sucker for a good speaker and great persuasion. The quickest way to my ballot is providing quality warrants to weighed impacts in a persuasive manner. Meaning, don’t just extend through ink. I love the flow, but presentation and persuasion are huge.

Be intelligent. Please do not say the same thing over and over again. Find new ways to develop complex arguments delivered in a simple and succinct way. Warrant everything.

If you're able, I strongly prefer that you stand up during your speeches. It builds character lol

Arguments need to have purpose. Blippy responses in mass quantity in rebuttal are a great way to show you’re not persuasive and can’t actually interact with your opponent’s arguments.

Truth > Tech. I do think debate is a game, but not at the expense of truth. PLEASE don’t make ridiculous arguments that have no real-world application. On the off-chance that ridiculous arguments are cold dropped by the other team, you’ll probably win the argument but your speaks will suffer.

2nd rebuttal needs to answer the first. At the very least, turns HAVE to be answered. In summary, defense DOESN'T stick so you need to extend it.

Weighing is the most important thing. Do it or lose.

Speaks: As I mentioned above, I love a good speaker. Speaks depend on both strategy and speaking ability. I range from 26.5-30.

· Minimum speaks are reserved for those who are offensive and/or belittling to opponents or anyone else OR for those who break rules

· 26.5-27.5 = below average

· 28 = average

· 28.5-29.5 = above average

· 30 = stellar performance

Speed: Do NOT sacrifice clarity and persuasion for speed. I can usually follow but won't be kind on the speaks side if you’re on the verge of full on spreading. If you need to be fast, then be fast with a purpose, not just to be fast. If I can't understand you, I will say "clear" once and one time only. If something doesn't make it on the flow because you went too fast, that's tough.

Theory: Unless there is a clear violation in the round, I believe theory has absolutely no place in PF. That being said, I will always listen to what you have to say but we both know there is not enough time to develop a good theory argument. If you truly think you can do it, then by all means roll the dice and try to impress me.

Evidence: *** Please be able to produce your evidence when it's called for. You might as well save them as PDFs to avoid internet issues. Be able to highlight what you cite in the article. Evidence is crucial. When a debate is close, the better evidence is usually a good indicator of what team wins, so please do comparative evidence analysis. PLEASE do not miscut or misconstrue evidence. If you do, your speaks will suffer. It is your responsibility to understand what your author is saying and the methodology behind it. If you want me to call for a card, tell me in your speech. Also, evidence with important claims need to be warranted. Don't just say "X author says Y will happen so vote aff". Explain why X author says Y will happen.

Intervention: The last thing I want to do is intervene. If I have to then chances are it won’t be great for either team. Do your job well so mine is easy!

If you have any questions then feel free to shoot me an email.

Thanks and gig em

For online debate, I am more inclined to give highest speaker points to both parties, since internet issues can result in some speech not coming through clearly. With that leeway being said, there's still some points in the speaker point section that would greatly benefit you chances of winning the round, so if you do read the entire paradigm, don't shy away from it.

During the constructive speeches, make sure you are clear. I cannot stress this enough. If you decide to spread, at the very least, be clear. Most people don't have a problem with being clear but actively annunciate. (doing this in all speeches is preferred)

I really like the 1st crossfire. There's a lot of good things that can come out of 1st crossfire that the other crossfires can't necessarily benefit from. 1st speakers start with 29 speaker points and 1st crossfire can really boost y'all up to 30. Make it productive and polite, yet still, be aggressive.

Rebuttals should have weighing, which is something most people don't do, but would help the round move more smoothly. Attack wise, I always prefer line-by-line, but going big picture won't cost you the round. 2nd speakers start with 28 speaker points. A good rebuttal with clear signposting and line-by-line gets y'all 29 speaker points. Weighing will add another .5 speaker points.

2nd crossfire should have a lot of hardball questions now that your opponent's strategy is more clear. Like the 1st crossfire, make it productive and polite, yet still, be aggressive.

Both summary speeches need to incorporate defense brought up in rebuttal. On top of that, establishing your path to the ballot is key here. Weighing is the best way to gain a speaker point if you didn't get it in the 1st crossfire. If you don't say it in summary, your partner can't say it in the final focus. That's pretty normal for most rounds, but I will actively listen for new arguments and actively not write them down.

Grand crossfire is a time to have fun. You can expand on summary arguments, so "new arguments" are sort of allowed. Establishing dominance is key in this crossfire because if you as the individual are dominant, you can make up for the speaker point you didn't get in the other speeches. That being said, being dominant doesn't mean being mean. There is a perfect middle ground that most people can get to. If you are being mean, you won't lose speaker points, but if you actively insult your opponents, expect you and your partner to lose speaker points.

Final Focus is my favorite speech. First, voters. If you don't have voters from the summary, you can't win. Making new arguments is bad. My summary speech paradigm explains this pretty well. This is where 2nd speakers can get their final speaker point for straight 30s. The way you do that is pretty easy: give me your voters and tell me why I should value your voters over your opponents. The 1st final focus will have a harder time on this, but it's not impossible especially considering that you heard your opponent's summary.

For reference, I did Public Forum for 4 years with Lincoln Douglas and a couple of speech activities sprinkled in around.

Something that does bother me for some reason is when an entire speech's time isn't filled up. Do try to fill it up as much as possible. If you don't, I'm hoping you only have at most 30 seconds left of the speech. If your speech is shorter than that, I am inclined to remove .5 speaker points. However, comma, if there really isn't anything left to talk about in your speech and there is more than 30 seconds left in your speech, DO NOT RAMBLE. I sometimes rambled on at the end of my speeches because I had nothing so say, and it didn't add to my argument. State the facts and be done with it.

Empirics is something that each team should have. Straight empirics are more important than philosophical arguments to me. If you do run theory, don't call it a theory. It's not terribly hard to adapt theory to PF, but if your opponents call you out for theory, I may just drop the whole theory from the debate. You be the judge of when it'll be appropriate. If you do use theory, I will tell you at the end of the round if I valued it or dropped it. If I dropped it, feel free to attempt to convince me that I should've valued it. If you slip up and get angry and yell at me, I'll call the cops. That's a joke. I won't get offended, I know what it's like to lose an argument that I spent a lot of time developing both outside and during the round. Please be nice and don't waste time.

Something I tend to hear in PF now is a colorful analogy. I really like analogies because it makes it more family friendly for lay judges and tired judges. What I like more than analogies are references. If you make a bad reference to pop culture, you lose .5 speaker points. So don't spend too much time on analogies. A good reference will follow nonnormative meme culture (if you don't know what that is, I would shy away from pop culture reference and stick to vanilla analogies).

If you have any specific questions, ask me. Most judges will be a little peeved if you just ask "What are your paradigms?" instead of specific questions, but I won't get mad. Ask.

If you have scrolled this far, welcome to the LD Paradigms.

I absolutely need clear roadmaps for each speech. It will help me be able to catch all the important details as well as your opponent in order to have a productive exchange of arguments.

I do not mind progressive debate. Progressive debate is a staple of LD and can be used very effectively. However, I will not value progressive aspects of the debate over physical evidence directly pertaining to the Resolution. Feel free to ask specific questions about certain strategies before the round starts in order to make sure that what you are utilizing isn't too farfetched and way out of left field.

SPEECHES

The 1AC is simple. Feel free to spread, do what you need to do to get everything out on the table.

The 1NC is a little less simple. Anything not addressed by the Negating side is assumed to be conceded for the Affirmative side. This will make is easier for the round as a whole, but harder for the Negating side for obvious reason. Even if it is just mentioned briefly I will still let it fly as you addressing it and you can clarify further in CX or the NR.

CX as a whole should be respectful, but also definitely demanding. whichever side is questioning has a lot of power to drive the narrative, so use the full force of the examination. In PF, CX can get a little disrespectful and it can hurt speaker points, which is why I am most likely not going to deduct any speaker points based on CX performance. I will only add speaker points.

1AR's focus should be a rebuttal of course, but there also needs to be plenty of weighing. This will make it easier for me to find the path to the ballot for the Affirmative. Any weighing not done here cannot be brought over to the 2AR.

The NR has the hardest job. Not only do you have to rebut all terminal attacks, but you also have to weigh and give me the Negating side's path to the ballot. New arguments in the NR won't be written down by me, but like I said in the 1NC, if you at least mention your attack and give some brief understanding of where you're going, you can further extrapolate on that idea in this speech.

2AR should almost be a mirror of the 1AR in my opinion. No new arguments, only crowd control is allowed. If something truly diabolical is said in the NR, go ahead and address it, but make sure it has direct relevance to your speech content.

SPEAKER POINTS

It's pretty easy to get 30 speaker points. I'm fairly nice about it. The way I give speaker points is the Affirmative side starts with 27 speaker points and the Negating side starts with 28. I will add speaker points with each speech you give. As long as you are clear when you spread you will probably get the point.

But let's assume you choke up in your 1AC and either don't finish your case reading or you skipped too far down and missed an important link. It's alright because if you perform well under the pressure of your opponent's questioning in your CX, I will give you .5 of a speaker point back to you. In order to get the other half of the speaker point, you must ask important and relevant questions in your CX of the Negating side, making sure you keep your opponent in check while still being somewhat respectful (but go ahead and be rude it's more fun that way). And of course, this works for the Negating side as well, these terms are not exclusive for the Affirmative side. For obvious reasons, I can't give more than 30 speaker points (I don't think).

Like my PF paradigm, ask any and all questions you have before the round starts. If you have any questions during the round you would like to ask me, feel free to do so. I can understand the stress of debating and now having technology as the middle man will jumble up your mental processes. It will disrupt the immersion and flow of the round, but if it's a necessary question then it's a necessary evil. Just make sure it doesn't happen more than once or twice.

If there are any questions or concerns after the round regarding either my paradigm or RFD, feel free to email me at jhoang19@mail.strakejesuit.org I might not get to it immediately, but if you make the subject line what round and flight you were for what tournament, I will be more likely to answer promptly

I competed in public forum debate for 3 years thus I know all the ins and outs. A few ground rules for me are that second rebuttal must respond to first, no spreading (if you read so fast I can't understand I'm putting my pen down and whatever you say won't be taken into account for the ballot), each cross fire should be used constructively and shouldn't be you just giving a speech (answer your opponents question and move on), summary and FF should be clearly warranted or else you're just telling me things and I don't want to go through and find warrants for them, if you read theory I will drop you (this is public forum not LD or CX debate the topic and don't get sidetracked like that). Both sides overall need to be articulating to me why they are winning throughout the round and sign post the whole time, I don't want to sit there going through the flow trying to figure out where you're jumping to next. For a final overall point I am largely truth over tech, thus if you provide me an argument and truly convince me with viable evidence I'm going to be voting for you but if I do have to weigh a round over tech I will.

he/him

I did PF at James Bowie HS in Austin, TX for 4 yrs, graduating in 2019.

I would prefer offense to be frontlined in second rebuttal. Any unaddressed defense doesn't need to be extended in summary. Any offense that you want me to vote on must be fully extended in summary and final focus. Don't just say the words extend + the card author. Please actually extend argument. If you don't, I will look to vote elsewhere. Weighing is very important. Please give me a way to evaluate the round.

Speed is fine as long as you're clear. For online debate, I think its good practice to send speech docs prior to constructive given connectivity issues. If an email chain is used, I would like to be added.

I'll attempt to evaluate any argument you read in front of me, but I am more comfortable with standard stuff. I never ran K’s/theory/CP’s/etc. Feel free to ask me specifics before the round!

Lastly, please be nice to each other.

If anything in here was unclear, I'm happy to answer your questions!

Love to be on the chain.... sfadebate@gmail.com

LD---TOC---2024

I'm a traditional leaning policy judge – No particular like/dislike for the Value/Criterion or Meta-Ethic/Standard structure for framework just make sure everything is substantially justified, not tons of blippy framework justifications.

Disads — Link extensions should be thorough, not just two words with an author name. I'm a sucker for good uniqueness debates, especially on a topic where things are changing constantly.

Counterplans — Counterplans should be textually and functionally competitive but I'm willing to change my mind if competition evidence is solid. I love impact/nb turns and think they should be utilized more. Not a fan of ‘intrinsic perms’.

Kritiks — I default to letting the aff weigh case but i'm more than willing to change my mind given a good framework/link push from the negative. I’m most familiar with: Cap, Biopolitics, Nietzsche, and Security. I'm fine voting for other lit bases but my threshold is higher especially for IdPol, SetCol, and High Theory. Not a fan of Baudrillard but will vote on it if it is done well.

K Affs — I'm probably 40/60 on T. If a K aff has a well explained thesis and good answers to presumption I am more than willing to vote on it. A trend I see is many negative debaters blankly extending fairness and clash arguments without substantial policymaking/debate good evidence. I default to thinking debate and policymaking are good but I'm willing to be persuaded otherwise absent a compelling 2NR.

Topicality — Big fan of good T debates, really dislike bad T debates. I don't like when teams read contradictory interps in the 1NC, you should have good T evidence, and I like a good caselist. Preferably the whole 2NR is T.

Theory — Not a fan of frivolous shells but i'm willing to be convinced on any interp given a good explanation of the abuse story. I default to In-round-abuse, reasonability, and have a high threshold for RVIs.

Phil — As an Ex-Policy Debater, my knowledge here is very limited. I'm willing to vote on it if it's very well warranted and clearly winning on the flow. But in a relatively equal debate I think I will always default to Util.

Tricks — Don't

edited for LD 2022-3

I have not judged a lot of LD recently. I more than likely have not heard the authors you are talking about please make sure you explain them along with your line by line. Long overviews are kind of silly and argumentation on the line by line is a better place for things Overview doesn't mean I will automatically put your overview to it. If you run tricks I am really not your judge. I think they are silly and will probably not vote for them. I have a high threshold for voting on theory arguments either way.

edited for Congress

Speak clearly and passionately. I hate rehash, so if you bring in new evidence and clash you will go farther in the round than having a structured speech halfway to late in debate. I appreciate speakers that keep the judges and audience engaged, so vocal patterns and eye contact matter. The most important thing to me is accurate and well developed arguments and thoughtful questions. For presiding officer: run a tight ship. Be quick, efficient, fair, and keep accurate precedents and recency. This is congressional debate, not congressional speech giving, so having healthy debate and competition is necessary. Being disrespectful in round will get you no where with me, so make sure to respect everyone in the room at all times.

Edited 20-21

Don't ask about speaks you should be more concerned with how to do better in the future. If you ask I will go back and dock your speaks at least 2 points.

Edited for WSD Nats 2020

Examples of your arguments will be infinitely more persuasive than analogies. Please weigh your arguments as it is appropriate. Be nice, there is a difference between arrogance and excellence

Edited for PF 2018-9

I have been judging for 20 years any numerous debate events. Please be clear; the better your internal link chain the better you will do. I am not a big fan of evidence paraphrasing. I would rather hear the authors words not your interpretation of them. Make sure you do more than weighing in the last two speeches. Please make comparison in your arguments and evidence. Dont go for everything. I usually live in an offense defense world there is almost always some risk of a link. Be nice if you dont it will affect your speaks

Edited for 2014-15 Topic
I will listen to just about any debate but if there isnt any articulation of what is happening and what jargon means then I will probably ignore your arguments. You can yell at me but I warned you. I am old and crotchety and I shouldn't have to work that hard.

CXphilosophy = As a preface to the picky stuff, I'd like to make a few more general comments first. To begin with, I will listen to just about any debate there is out there. I enjoy both policy and kritik debates. I find value in both styles of debate, and I am willing to adapt to that style. Second, have fun. If you're bored, I'm probably real bored. So enjoy yourself. Third, I'm ok with fast debates. It would be rare for you to completely lose me, however, you spew 5 minutes of blocks on theorical arguments I wont have the warrants down on paper and it will probably not be good for you when you ask me to vote on it. There is one thing I consider mandatory: Be Clear. As a luxury: try to slow down just a bit on a big analytical debate to give me pen time. Evidence analysis is your job, and it puts me in a weird situation to articulate things for you. I will read evidence after many rounds, just to make sure I know which are the most important so I can prioritize. Too many teams can't dissect the Mead card, but an impact takeout is just that. But please do it all the way- explain why these arguments aren't true or do not explain the current situation. Now the picky stuff:

Affs I prefer affs with plan texts. If you are running a critical aff please make sure I understand what you are doing and why you are doing it. Using the jargon of your authors without explaining what you are doing won't help me vote for you.

Topicality and Theory- Although I certainly believe in the value of both and that it has merit, I am frustrated with teams who refuse to go for anything else. To me, Topicality is a check on the fringe, however to win a procedural argument in front of me you need specific in round abuse and I want you to figure out how this translates into me voting for you. Although I feel that scenarios of potential abuse are usually not true, I will vote for it if it is a conceded or hardly argued framework or if you can describe exactly how a topic or debate round would look like under your interpretation and why you have any right to those arguments. I believe in the common law tradition of innocence until proven guilty: My bias is to err Aff on T and Negative on Theory, until persuaded otherwise.

Disads- I think that the link debate is really the most significant. Im usually willing to grant negative teams a risk of an impact should they win a link, but much more demanding linkwise. I think uniqueness is important but Im rarely a stickler for dates, within reason- if the warrants are there that's all you need. Negatives should do their best to provide some story which places the affirmative in the context of their disads. They often get away with overly generic arguments. Im not dissing them- Reading the Ornstein card is sweet- but extrapolate the specifics out of that for the plan, rather than leaving it vague.

Counterplans- The most underrated argument in debate. Many debaters don't know the strategic gold these arguments are. Most affirmatives get stuck making terrible permutations, which is good if you neg. If you are aff in this debate and there is a CP, make a worthwhile permutation, not just "Do Both" That has very little meaning. Solvency debates are tricky. I need the aff team to quantify a solvency deficit and debate the warrants to each actor, the degree and necessity of consultation, etc.

Kritiks- On the aff, taking care of the framework is an obvious must. You just need good defense to the Alternative- other than that, see the disad comments about Link debates. Negatives, I'd like so practical application of the link and alternative articulated. What does it mean to say that the aff is "biopolitical" or "capitalist"? A discussion of the aff's place within those systems is important. Second, some judges are picky about "rethink" alternatives- Im really not provided you can describe a way that it could be implemented. Can only policymakers change? how might social movements form as a result of this? I generally think its false and strategically bad to leave it at "the people in this debate"- find a way to get something changed. I will also admit that at the time being, Im not as well read as I should be. I'm also a teacher so I've had other priorities as far as literature goes. Don't assume I've read the authors you have.

I am a former debator and interper and L.D. Bell High School Grad. I have competed in both PF and LD debate. My training is a traditional style.

Overall, I prefer quality over quanitity arguments. I want to be able to understand you. My judging will be based on who makes the best points, not who has the most cards.

In PF I want to see equal contribution from both partners.

In LD, I put emphasis on value. It should be the foundation of your argument.

I will deduct speaker points for disrespect towards your opponents. Be kind and be respectful to one another. Remember that although this is a competitive event, ultimately you're here because it's something to enjoy.

If you want to send me your case, you can do so to my email eliperry@ttu.edu. This is up to you, it is not required. I would prefer if you didn't spread, but if you must, please send me your case.

Congress:

I rank POs. If I didn't rank you as a PO, it wasn't because you weren't considered. I presided often when I competed. This means that I know parli procedure/RRO well, but it also means that I understand the struggle.

Break down what exactly a piece of legislation says and does as the first negative and sponsor/author. I haven't always had time to read it. Even if I have, it's not nice to assume.

I care most about the content of a speech. You have to clash/extend if you are the fifth+ speaker. Additionally, make sure that your extensions aren't just rehash. This means you have to introduce new information and strengthen the argument. Too many Congress competitors have unclear or missing links. If you don’t follow a link chain through, it will be very hard for me to see your argument as good or thoughtful.

You are also judged based on your kindness/fairness in recesses and before the round begins. Equity is very important to me. I don't care how many speeches you give, unless you a) don't participate at all or b) are rude to someone else in order to give additional speeches.

I don't like cheesy AGDs. Although I don't think Congress should be 100% roleplay, at least try to give serious introductions. This applies x10 if the bill is about something serious. This means no song lyrics/movie references etc. I did Congress, so I know all of the canned intros as well as you do. Don't use them.

Allow me to get on my soapboax: I am really bothered by the recent trend of calling people 'Ms.' or 'Mr.' instead of representative. Look, I understand that it's fewer syllables. I get that it makes it easier to transition from house to senate and vice versa. Too often, people will call male presenting speakers 'Representative' and female speakers 'Ms.' If you do this, it will negatively affect your ranking. It genders speakers in a way they may dislike (Zoom update: online, people can share their pronouns more easily. Some people use this as reasoning to use titles, but just be careful). TL;DR, avoid using gendered titles. If you use them, at least use them consistently instead of using them as a way to devalue female-presenting speakers.

I really like Congress, and I hope everyone has fun with it!

IEs:

I only did extemp and oratory if that contributes to your strikes.

I don't really have a paradigm for prepped events because y'all have been working on them since last July. Just make them yours.

Insofar as extemp, my most important request is that you answer the question. Don't do anything fancy, just lay it out for me. Ideally, I will learn something from your speech. Additionally, I like to know that you understand what you're talking about. You have the internet to search nowadays, use it!

Also, I hate that this has to be said, but...don't make up evidence. It's usually obvious, and even when it isn't, it's unethetical.I care most about content of a speech. Too many debaters have unclear or missing links. If you don’t follow a link chain through, it will be very hard for me to see your argument as good or thoughtful.

PF/WSD:

Mom judge. Flay. Be nice.

I would prefer offense to be frontlined in second rebuttal, but it's not required. Any unaddressed defense doesn't need to be extended in summary. Any offense that you want me to vote on must be fully extended in summary and final focus. This means I should hear the warranting behind the complete link chain (just repeating the taglines or solely extending the impact is not sufficient.)

Please collapse in the back half of the round. If you go for too much, you won't be able to extend the complete link and impact story for any singular piece of offense. Weighing should be present in summary and final focus. If there is no good weighing I will default to the team with the most coherently fleshed out link chain.

Unless the piece of evidence is literally made up, I am never going to vote off an evidence call. It will just make me grumpy.

Speed is fine as long as you're clear.

I never ran K’s/theory/CP’s/etc. So, you're probably better off not running these arguments in front of me unless you do a really god job making it sound lay.

I am sometimes asked prior to the beginning of a round if I might offer any additional insight into my paradigm or I might be asked a question pertaining to what I might identify as key voting issues. I do hope all of you take the time to read through all of the paradigms posted as they are for your benefit. I might argue that if you do that in advance it should help you determine what each of us is looking for. For the record, I do have an extensive background in the forensic world of debate at both the high school and college level. I debated for Bellaire High School from 1973 to 1976 where I learned to win quite often and for four plus years on a full debate scholarship at Houston Baptist University. I competed in high school and in college in policy debate (CX) and competed at a national level during my college years. Although it's been awhile since those days filled with stress and with competition, I have been judging off and on the past 12 years and I certainly have a few opinions to share with you perhaps best referred to as some friendly advice.

Like any good judge ought to insist upon during any round, my decision is based upon what the contestants themselves argue during the round, based upon extensions advanced to the flow and of course based upon what does persuade me or does appear most compelling at the end of the round. I do actively take down cites on most evidence read during a round and respectfully, I will not need a road map from you. That's probably helpful though for you guys to share between you. By now surely we all know that there should be no new arguments presented during rebuttals. I would also hope that debaters at all levels understand and fully embrace the notion that competition during a debate as a battle of wits ought to come down to winning arguments that can be proven and are linked quite reasonably. In my own mind, it ought to be fairly clear for me to see by the end of a round what the important voting issues are and why. I suggest trying to limit repeating what you have already said and instead focus upon extending your own case and or arguments as your key arguments. Any success during the round should be sought through purposeful and thoughtful clash with your opponents on the flow. I tend to look for and typically best follow teams that extend effectively in ways in which I can still flow where it belongs. I tend to defer to the team who best persuasively convinces me that their intended plan of action is much better than the other based upon evidence, reasoning and logic.

I am also asked if I can handle a fast speed or for that matter, the flow. I try never to be rude when I might retort in response that there is simply no way they or anyone else could ever be any faster than he and I were while debating the likes of Harvard, Georgetown etc. in that college setting I mentioned. Nevertheless, speed can still kill a good argument due to a lack of application, lack of explanation or simply because it was unintelligibly spit out. At high speed your killer evidence may indeed just become lost upon the deaf ears of a lay judge or even upon the perky ears of seemingly competent judges doing their very best to follow you. Your successes will be most often determined by you, your style and by your unique ability to fully connect the dots on the flow for all to see. You must be prepared to make your evidence and arguments count with great force in such a way that it sticks with your judge. I do accept most reasonable arguments as presented during a round especially those that are well defended with evidence, with logic and sound reasoning. I believe strongly in a professional courteous exchange at all times during a round, especially during crossfire. Cross fire is certainly not the time to keep on arguing with your opponent thinking they will agree that you are going to win. We all accept that you will probably never agree with the other side on this day of battle (until you must debate the opposite side of the flip), but use your CX time not to help set the record straight for everyone but instead to win. Utilize this precious time to seek out and gain needed clarification providing clarity for your own purposes. Responses given during cross fire are binding unless dropped or explained in context. If properly employed crossfire time can certainly make a difference in the result of the round.

Let me state it more clearly, if you are rude, obnoxious or loud during crossfire exchanges you do rub most judges the wrong way. Lastly, you might be surprised how many debaters do not do a very good job telling me as a judge why I should vote for them. Typically they insist that I must vote their way. Tell me why and keep telling me why. It begins with those first two constructive speeches in which clash is fully expected and undertaken. For the record, I do not give decisions or feedback at the end of a preliminary round, but of course I do during elimination rounds as allowed. My ballot will generally always make it crystal clear to both parties why I voted the way I did, agree or disagree. Debate is and always has been intended to be a fun, exciting activity and of course, highly competitive. Highly competitive though is not defined by talking over someone during cross fire or by being rude to another or by speaking much faster and much louder than others. I view forensic activities as a whole to be in large part preparation for your future endeavors in life with the potential to help one distinguish between what is true in theory and what might actually happen in the real world.

In terms of student Congress and Senate competition, I have judged those events often over the past 12 years and I do enjoy it immensely. It is still all about the numbers if you desire to win at a high level so naturally it does matter how many bills you are prepared to address with substance and it matters what you have to say about the subject. Your ability to effectively and respectfully question your peers effectively when called upon is critical to help garner a judges attention. It might help if you try and visualize Congress being in session and accept that you are literally debating a bill on the floor. Respect for each other, your demeanor and your own ability to participate is vital to making a great impression on your judge. Embrace that role and allow your efforts from the minute you walk into the room be dedicated to collaborating with others alongside representatives you hope might be persuaded to vote for the bill you choose to defend. If you go into a student congress event be prepared to participate, that is why you are in the session itself.

Individual events tend to be speeches or performances where you are on your own for the most part. It's important if you do want to place and compete that you make every effort to most effectively utilize the time you have been given to speak. A short speech is just that, it's short and often way too short. Proper use of mannerisms, natural body movements and practicing a deliberate and confident style used to deliver your piece is critical to success. Judges do tend to remember a genuine smile, a look or feel feel of sincerity and almost always naturally connect to the dynamic use of voice, dialog and diction patterns. It does not matter where you are in the speaking rotation. I can assure you, judges are waiting in earnest looking for you to stand right up their and knock their socks off so just do it.

Hey! I've competed in extemp and congress for 4 years in high school. I also did a tiny bit of WSD and now compete in collegiate parli debate.

General:

- your args should have a definitive purpose in the round. Line-by-lines that don't relate to the larger narrative of your side don't win you much ground

- evidence/stats/sources should be a means to an end, not the end itself, so warrant them out!

- if I'm judging you in PF/LD/CX, think of me as a lay judge

Congress:

- I'll have the docket pulled up so 1) I don't mind if your sponsorship goes straight into AFF arguments without introducing the policy and 2) don't BS what the legislation says

- quality over quantity of speeches; you can still break with 1 speech if it's well-composed and you're active in questioning

- I value effective clash, but understand/can appreciate if you have to give early speeches to help the round move along. This will not lower your ranking (on the flip side, you won't get extra brownie points for politicking before round/during recess)

- it's ok to have some line-by-line in crystals, but you should also give me analysis on why all these responses culminate in a win for your side

- If you're an adequate and equitable PO, I will rank you to break/place

Extemp:

- my breakdown is 35% speaking and 65% analysis

- I've heard/competed with many canned args so I think unique analysis is pretty rad, as long as it's plausible and topical to the speech

- signposting is important and helps me to evaluate your speech accurately

- I'm lenient on time allocation; if all of your points are strong they'll end up taking the right time anyways

- I love a good AGD, but if you make a joke, punch up and not down

- P.S. if you stumble on the intro or question, I'm not gonna immediately drop you!! I will pay equal attention to the rest of the speech :-)

hey everyone! I'm Sanjitha Yedavalli and I did speech & debate (PF and extemp) all 4 years of high school. I had a decently successful career qualifying to nats and the TOC. That being said, I do flow. Here's a couple of specific things.

1. 2nd rebuttal has to frontline

2. PLEASE signpost.

3. Collapse during summaries to make the round cleaner for me. I don't want to hear some really badly extended arguments all the way in final focus.

4. I won't vote off of an argument if the link/warranting isn't cleanly extended through final focus.

5. I try to flow all the card names but I usually just end up flowing the argument only. That being said, don't extend by saying "extend the Smith card", you will need to repeat the actual argument.

6. I'm fine with speed. if you think it's going to be rlly fast, just send me your speech doc before just so we avoid any issues

Speaker points: I generally give pretty high speaks in the 28-30 range. The only reasons I would go any lower is if you are being rude, racist, sexist, homophobic, ableist, or any other offensive ism. Also, I will dock speaks if you aggressively post round.

Theory: I will probably never vote off of it because I do not understand it well enough.

Kritiks: I'm not accustomed to the lit. If you read a K, make sure you slow down and simplify it so that I understand it. Clearly explain why this matters and why I should be voting off of it. Also highly unlikely that I will vote off of it.

Structural Violence Frameworks/Args: Don't read structural violence arguments without a clear understanding of the oppression that exists. I do not accept a poor understanding of sensitive issues or shallow thinking when it comes to this. Warranting is key. Do not assume my political views because of my looks. Don't use the oppression of others as a tactic to win a debate round. I will call you out if I sense any bs.

I appreciate humor. Use it to your advantage.

Please make crossfire bearable. I don't want to be falling asleep so use humor or be aggressive (but not too aggressive to the point where you're just being a dick)

If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask me before the round begins.

If for some reason you need to contact me or want to ask me any additional questions after round, feel free to email me at sanjitha.y@gmail.com