I am a junior at Smith College, double majoring in quantitative economics and psychology. I debated in Public Forum for four years in high school. I have judged multiple tournaments in China and in the states.

In terms of preference, I normally focus on clashes in the round and the use of weighing mechanisms. Explicit weighing would be useful. Debaters should also be able to explain the logic of the evidence they used instead of simply listing it to prove their arguments.

I do not encourage being aggressive during the crossfire.

I look forward to seeing debaters' ability to identify logical flaws in their opponent's case and connect their analytical response with their prepared evidence in the rebuttal. Reading blocks without any engagement cannot win the round.

I don't like it when you talk over each other and be way too aggressive during crossfire. Articulation matters when delivering speeches.

I started to debate in 2017 as a high school freshman and accumulated extensive debate experiences which were but mainly in Public Forum. I ranked 10th in the national debate ranking list in China and had won various awards in tournaments. As I graduated from high school, I began my judging career in 2020 as a college student and have since then judged more than 200+ rounds of public forum debate (both online and on-site). Overall speaking, I have judged and debated on a wide range of resolutions, social, political, economic, etc.

My judging philosophy is rather simple: Rule of Logic. I deliberate my decisions with a number of factors: argumentation (logic), quality of evidence, impact evaluation, and debating style (eloquence). (ps: evidence before impact for quality of evidence might decide if impacts are real and solid; for example the methodologies in which the research in your evidence was conducted clearly influences the relevant data)

I don't have a particular preference about speed since English is de facto my native language, or nearly, but debaters must speak with clarity (don't let speed compromise your content) otherwise i might not be able to understand and thus fail to judge your arguments.

Please try to focus on the effeciency of your outputs,pay attention to the following aspects.

A.Specificity.Judges cannot always fully understand your points,so try to balance your output and specificity.Making judge fully understand your strongest statements is the most important.

B.Emphasis.Judges cannot always flow or remember all you mentioned,appropriate emphasis on winning issues like key rebuttals,evidence,statistics etc. will help a lot.

C.Stress.It is easy to get lost or miss the important information if your voice is monotonous.

Please pay attention to emphasize the importance and give explicit weighings

A.Emphasis on importance.Proving something true isnt the end,instead,only telling judges the importance of the matters ,can we realize how important it is,and how urgent it is,which help to fully realize these points.

B.Weighing.Without explict weighings,especially in arguments about opportunity cost.it is easy to waver if debaters dont tell judge why A outweighs B.Please pay attention to making sure that you win in weighing.

If you speak too fast or uncivil,you will lose me,

If you have great engagement ,focus on logic and are passionate,it will help you stand out!

So,overally,I vote by

A.how many clashes you win.

B.whether you can use fewer clashes to successfully weigh other team's clashes.

Debate/Judging experience:

I debated, coached, and judged tournaments in China for the past three years.

Judging preferences:

I want to believe that debating is all about effective communication, I would appreciate speeches that are crafted, mechanized, emphasized and purposeful. Exchanges can get intense, but teams still need to see their opponent and contribute to moving the debate forward. The use of evidence can benefit one's case as long as it's been explained and impacted at that specific moment, I wouldn't be able to credit one underdeveloped evidence even though it's awesome.

This is Annika. I am currently studying medicine at Peking University. I am a former PF debater and now a judge. I was 2020 NSDA China National Tournament's second place, NSDA China Beijing Open Champion, NSDA China Chongqiong& Jinan Open Champion. I also have two years of experience in BP.

Firstly, i value framework a lot. All your impacts should link back to your framework, that is my criteria to weigh the impact when judging. Secondly, do not offer me vague impacts, i need quantifiable impact to actually prioritize their importance. Thirdly, do not just simply give me cards and evidence, please do more comparison. Tell me why your evidence is more preferable. Fourthly, every speech needs to have a good structure to offer me the chance of having good flow. Last but not least

For constructive speech, i am okay with full speed reading. For rebuttal, give me signpost. For crossfire, i do not care if you are aggressive or passive. Just don't be too rude and do not interrupt others. For summary and final focus, remember to extend your argument and do not drop anything. Comparison and weighing are required to win. You can neither be too defensive nor offensive.

How important is defining the topic to your decision-making?
Defining the topic helps provide clarity about what the debate will focus on. It ensures that all
participants understand the subject matter and avoid unnecessary tangents or confusion. Clearly defining the topic ensures that all participants have an equal understanding of what is being discussed, preventing any unfair advantages or misunderstandings.
How important is the framework to your decision making?
Having a solid framework is essential for navigating through the exchange of ideas, supporting positions with evidence, and ultimately influencing my decision as a judge. It provides a roadmap for constructing and delivering compelling arguments, contributing significantly to the overall effectiveness of the debate.
How important is the crossfire in your decision making?
In a debate, crossfire is crucial in my decision-making because it allows for direct communication between participants, which makes it easier to clarify points, offer rebuttals, and assess flexibility and critical thinking abilities in real time. This stage provides the opportunity to refute the arguments of opponents while also requiring quick thinking to fill in any holes or weaknesses in the arguments. Crucially, a debater's performance during crossfire influences my perceptions, impacting the debater's position's overall credibility and persuasiveness. This, in turn, has a significant effect on the decision-making process regarding the strength and conviction of arguments presented.
How important is weighing in your decision making?
Argument weighing, which entails comparing and evaluating arguments according to their persuasiveness, quality, and relevance, is a crucial aspect of decision-making during a debate. Debaters can distinguish between important points, rank the strongest arguments, and successfully respond to counterarguments by using this technique. Argument weighing guides me as a judge in determining the most compelling and convincing side of the debate, influencing the final decision regarding the debate's resolution by assessing the strength of evidence, logical reasoning, and relevance to the topic.
How important is persuasive speaking and non-verbal communication in your decision-making?
Persuasive speaking and nonverbal communication are crucial in debate decision-making because they have a significant impact on the delivery and reception of arguments. Persuasive speaking improves the persuasiveness and memorability of arguments through powerful rhetoric and skillful language use, which affects how I evaluate the strength of a debater's position. Simultaneously, nonverbal communication, which includes body language, gestures, and demeanor, supplements verbal arguments by conveying confidence, credibility, and sincerity, ultimately shaping decision-makers' perceptions and having a significant impact on the overall evaluation of the debate's outcome.
How fast should students speak?
Students should generally speak clearly and at a pace that is understandable to the other participants in a debate. Even at faster speaking rates, it's critical to preserve coherence and clarity in debate formats that may promote it. The secret is to effectively communicate arguments without compromising their clarity. Students should strive to speak at a speed that will enable them to interact with their opponents, support their arguments, and make themselves understood by the judge. In order to communicate effectively during a debate, one must strike a balance between speed, articulation and clarity

Updated for Winter Invitationals 2022: Upenn/Harvard

My Pronouns are They/Them/Their

Personal Experience:

As a debater, I have over 6 years of competitive debating experience in Public Forum, both Chinese and US Circuit. I competed in various regional and national level tournaments. Just as a record I had runner-up and best speaker for NSDA CN National, broke in major US tournaments like the NSDA Nationals and UK TOC, with some octas from Stanford/Harvard Invitational. In a word, I participated in PF debate competitively with passion during my middle/high school years, and I had basic knowledge about LD, Policy, and BP format, I'd like PF to stay unique from "Diet Policy" though.

For CX: I'd like to make an early apology for not being an active CX debater myself, so don't assume that I would be too familiar with a lot of specific techniques, though I do like to watch CX videos and know basic concepts like Framework/Plans& Counterplans/all sorts of Critiques, etc.

For LD: I prefer progressive argumentation over traditional strategy, articulate as much as possible.

As a coach, I had over 2 years of coaching experience in China with middle and high school students, some of which have won major regional tournaments with 1st ranking in the Chinese circuit.

As a judge, I had over 3 years of judging experience, mostly in the Chinese circuit with NHSDLC and NSDA China, but I'm fully open to different styles from the Chinese and US circuits.

As a student, I study Computer Science at ETH Zürich(Yes, this is the Einstein school, NOT Princeton), if you have never heard of this school it's perfectly normal. Go on whatever ranking and check the first non-US/UK school or the first unfamiliar school, it's mostly it.

My professional knowledge is mainly about CS, Math, basics about international relations, and fundamental philosophy. Be careful with AI arguments since I might have an implicit bias about your statements if they go up against my algorithm knowledge.

Framework:

My perspective as a PF debater tends to focus on quantifiable impact analysis, but I also buy egalitarian analysis as a framework and critiques if you put them in the right schema, a good analysis around structural violence/inequality/capitalism/libertarianism/neoliberalism/accelerationism might earn you a win against a huge amount of statistical evidence.

If there's no framework debate at all, I will follow default cost-benefit analysis on quantifiable impact, if both sides failed to access any quantification, I will then evaluate link quality>general performance>emotional appeal(it should be noted that I don't often buy seemingly exaggerated impact like human extinction, nuclear WW3, world doom unless you can access a good amount of probability cards)

I'd also take feasibility into consideration even if it's a should-no-would resolution, basic supply-demand statistics /empirical successful examples should do just fine for that.

Speed:

Spreading NOT appreciated but I will still carefully listen to spreading cases and judge based on my flow. I can easily handle speed over 1000 words/4 min from my empirical experience(I once went for 1200 words case in a major final and lost) I think the vast majority of PF speakers wouldn't go over this limit whatsoever, so unless you are a well-versed CS-Spreader I believe I can understand your fastest pace possible, but still remember this: speaking CLEARLY is always the pre-requisite for speaking FAST!!!!

Crossfires:

I appreciate respectful, peaceful, and fruitful crossfires, I flow BOTH crossfires and speeches, major evidence, especially data mentioned anew in cross should be re-emphasized in later speeches. Yelling and abusive behaviour will lead to speaker points deduction, but rudeness would not be a major RFD on my ballot at the end of the day.

For Online Events, I'd like to remind you again that normally conference Apps like ZOOM have automatic main voice detection, which means when multiple debaters try to talk simultaneously, one of them(normally the loudest one of all) would be emphasized and others weakened, so as basic decency I'd like to ask you to keep Q/A brief and productive because it's relatively hard to interrupt in online sessions, save some time for opponents to respond. Don't start making Speech/reading cards in Cross!

In short, have the basic decency of keeping things lean and saving time for each other.

Front-lining:

I do NOT require rebuttal speakers on the second speaking team to frontline opponents' rebuttal speech! Of course, it's appreciated if your time permits, but I would value direct responses and quality of rebuttal over front-lining against your opponents' rebuttal, that could be picked up in summary(AKA I would NOT just consider it dropped until after Grand Cross, don't try to sell me "any turns left unresponded in 2nd rebuttal are 100% conceded arguments", I will take responses from summary into consideration)

Summary and Final Focus:

No NEW arguments in final focus, summary should cover ALL voting issues about to be mentioned in the final focus. Do not just bring up "dropped argument" in final focus if it's only mentioned once in your case and was not picked up in your summary to point out opponents didn't respond to them etc. I appreciate impact analysis based on quantifiable evidence, in summary, you should try to keep the consistency of using good data and try not to get into sheer logical explanation/emotional appeal.

Critiques:

Simple standard: 1. alternative better than original plan 2. alternative mutually exclusive with the original plan, if both criteria suffice on a scientific basis, I will buy your critiques with high speaker points. But I would also accept offenses about counterplan not allowed in PF debate, however would not be a major contributor to my RFD. (Focus on Framework if Alt is absent, FW standard mentioned above)

Theory, and everything alike:

NO, you can try reading those, and I will still judge on my flow, but also still based on my usual standard mentioned above.

My name is Jianuo Song and I am a rising second year at the University of Toronto, specializing in finance and economics. I've been debating for almost six years: five years in public forum and 1 year in British Parliamentary. I've also coached and judged tournaments for more than 1 year. Here are my preferences for debaters.

1) I prefer debaters to construct a well-rounded argument instead of several arguments that are not as developed.

2) Under this resolution, I believe evidence is more important and valuable than logic that lacks evidence.

3) I dislike when debaters are aggressive and impolite during crossfire.

4) I am indifferent about how fast debaters are delivering their speeches as long as they can clearly express what they are trying to prove.

Hey, this is Brenda!

I am an engineering professional with strong interests in judging. I have over 3 years experience in judging. I enjoy debates that flow well and have distinct framework as this makes the debate well structured. I believe logic and evidence go hand in hand and well thought through debate. Moderate speaking pace, clear speech and confidence is what wins!

Emilie is currently a Philosophy, Politics, and Economics major at Yale-NUS College.
She has 4+ years of Public Forum debate experience, coached high school debaters for 2+ years. She was also the champion of Asia British Parliamentary in 2019.

Prefers debaters to be clear and organized in speeches. Knowing how to flow the arguments and try their best to avoid dropping contentions. Engage with opponents' argument as much as possible and give an impactful comparison when weighing two sides.

I did a variety of debate in high school, and did a small amount of parli in university. I currently coach PF debate.

I am basically open to any type of argumentation, from extremely standard debate to perfomace kritiks and beyond. However, I will need you to fully explain arguments in a clear way for me to accept them. I know just as little about West Africa (or what ever the current topic is at the time of your reading this) as I do the intricacies of a specific critical theory argument, so clear explanation is key.

Although I was better with speed while I was debating, my ability to comprehend spreading has definitely gotten rusty. If you do go fast, emphasize key warrants and tags so that they stand out. Unfortunately, if you go extremely fast you will probably lose me.

Please be decent and kind.

I have 4 years PF debate experience and have attended several NSDA and NHSDLC regional and national tournaments in China, as well as Harvard, Stanford, and Berkeley annual debate tournaments. I've been coaching debaters in several debate camps in China during 2019, and I have worked as a PF debate coach from 2021-2022. In turns of judging experience I've judged several regional PF debate tournaments and the 2019 NHSDLC Nationals for both MS and HS divisions, as well as Stanford/Harvard annual debate tournament.

In terms of judging PF debate, I would like to hear more weighing and impact comparison from both sides, and debaters to directly engage with opponents' arguments instead of simply presenting defensive arguments. I prefer contentions with strong logic links and data/evidence and line-by-line rebuttal.

I graduated from Public Communication in Newhouse College, Syracuse University. I participated in NHSDLC during high school and won the Champion in 2018 Guangzhou Regional. I have judged several debates tournaments before. For the debate, I would like to hear more about your logic path and complete arguements. Building a stable framework as the base of your debate is also important. Also, I prefer if you can speak clearly and fluently instead of quickly. Good luck!

I was president of both English and Chinese debate team during college, now work in the field of licensing. Started to judge different tournaments for DLC since 2015, both off-line and online.

In terms of preference, I value clear presentation and direct logic, simply repeating how strong your cases is not helping you to win, identify your opponent's logical flaw then rebut or defend analytically, ideally to connect with your prepared evidence, or to rebut basing on the real clash. As for speakers point, being kind and clear is the key. And please, don't yell.

I'm Auster Shi, who's now taking a bachelor program at Communication University of China, and once debated for over 3 years. Now I've been judging Public Forum debate for over a year in multiple tournaments in Mainland China.

I'd like to hear an off-time road map that is brief and clear to follow before both summary and final focus in case of some debaters might jump between lines unintentionally. Also, these two speeches presented in an efficient way with details covered and necessary comparison are surely a strike in my zone.

No overlapping during crossfire. That's the only thing that I desperately need when judging long tournaments with several rounds. Other things like discrimination and hatred speech will not get me to burst into anger right away but immediately report to the tabroom.

Anyways, hope that we can have a great debate time together.

I debated in Public Forum in high school and currently participated in BP in university. I also coached debate in school debate clubs, debate camps and judged at tournaments.

Normally no judging preference. But it will be better if debaters could give more reasonings and weighing besides evidence.

I have a lot of experience judging Public Forum debates, having served as judge since 2016.

I tend to focus on the clashes in a debate, and it would be great if debaters could weigh their contentions against their opponents'. The ability to point out flaws in the opponents' logic is another thing I look for in debaters.

This is Jane. I currently studying finance in Cityu of Macau. I used to be a BP debater and now I am a judge. I've judged for 5 years. In my way of judging logic is more important than the evidence. So I prefer a logic debate instead of evidence attack. I am more likely to vote for a single, well-developed arguments over many arguments that are not as developed. I don't want u to be a jerk in the crossfire. About the debate style and framework, I really don't care as long as you can express your arguments clearly and logically. Good luck.

Both slower speaking pace or a faster one are working for me. Frameworks are crucial for me to evaluate Public Forum debates. I would prefer well-developed arguments over many arguments that are not as developed. I prefer evidence with logical analysis compare to the arguments that are logical but lack of sufficient evidence. If both team can try to calm down in the crossfire and present efficient and useful questions, it will be my pleasure to judge them.

I coach Public Forum and British Parliamentary debate at the National High School Debate League of China.

Time each other including each other’s prep time

Please email me the speech docs & any evidence read : sunny@debatersdiary.cn

I hope you please share the evidence you’re reading with your opponent before the round so half of the round isn’t “can I have this specific card” (it ruins the flow/pace of the round) thanks! I would run disclosure theory every round. It makes debate more fair & outweighs if someone runs your case against you/your school as you should know how to block it anyway.

When I judge debate, I flow throughout the round. I appreciate debaters who take time to crystallize, weigh arguments/clearly and emphasize impacts.

I like to see teams:

- Sharing cases/evidence with your opponent/the judge before your speeches/rebuttals; there should be no conditions on your opponent having access to your evidence.

- Enunciating clearly throughout the round.

-Having explicit voters. Substance is key. Signpost throughout.

- I am not familiar with kritiks.

- And again, delivery matters and being monotone gets tiring after judging rounds throughout the day so practice, practice.

I dislike:

- Any form of discrimination, including bigoted language and ableist actions (such as using pace as a way to exclude opponents who are new to circuit).

- Also ad homs against your opponent such as insulting their clothing or practices, and attacks against an opponent's team or school. Don't yell. Be kind.

- I have noticed lately more and more debaters trailing off in volume as they go; ideally I don't like to have to motion the "I can't hear you or slow down" sign throughout the round.

- Non-verbal reactions when your opponent is speaking (e.g., making faces, throwing up your hands, rapid "no" shaking).

Speaker points:

Be as clear as you can.

Logistics: suyanglisusie@gmail.com if you'd like to start an email chain or doc for evidence checking.

Preferences:

1. Signposting > roadmaps
2. I appreciate well-reasoned empirical evidence, extra points if you can explain the mechanism/reasoning behind the facts.
3. I appreciate impact calculus and world comparison, even better if you have a framework that you reference consistently throughout the round.
4. I appreciate assertiveness and confidence but please do not be rude to your opponents at any point in the round.
5. I'm okay with spreading as long as you're strategic about what to drop vs extend in the second half ie. summary & FF. In the end I'm voting on your impact/weighing/frameworks, not solely on whether an argument was dropped without a good explanation of its significance.
6. Please keep your own time in speeches and crossfires. Repeatedly going over time will result in a lower speaker point.

Hey there! Please feel free to ask me about my philosophy before round

Experience

Competitor

2 years - Community College NPDA/IE's
3 years - National Circuit NPDA/NPTE

Coach
1 year - Asian Parliamentary Debate/Public Forum
2 years - NPDA/NPTE
Some BP

My preferred pronouns are he/him/his.

Public Forum Notes

Do you have any strong predispositions for or against any particular arguments? If so, what?

I am open to any kind of argument as long as it is well warranted and reasoned. As a debater and coach, I have worked with all kinds of arguments and tend to think that debaters should read the arguments that they are most personally compelled by.

What is your stance on student delivery? Should debaters be fast or slow?

I have no strong predisposition for or against speed. I just ask that all debaters are able to comprehend the debate round.

Do you call for evidence in debate rounds? What do you look for?

I call for evidence if there is a dispute on interpretation, but I tend to defer to debaters' interpration.

What do you tend to think the most important questions in a debate are?

I am fine with speed, as long as all of the debaters are.

I am not prejudiced strongly for or against kritikal arguments.

I tend to think providing a framework for the round is important.

College Stuff
General Notes

Specificity wins debates.

Interpretations and advocacies should at least be read twice and slowly. Ideally you provide the judge(s) and competitors with a copy.

Pretty much nothing in my philosophy is absolute.

I tend to believe that the way we discuss the world has real impacts outside of the debate round.

If debaters are debating ethically, I tend to believe that framework arguments are more persuasive than the arguments against it. However, I will vote based on how the debate plays out. If you win that defending the topic is bad and you reject the topic, you will likely win the debate.

An argument without a warrant isn’t an argument.

I tend to believe that recording, sharing, and watching rounds is good for debate.

Theory and Framework

I love a great theory or framework shell. I am happy to vote here. I think debaters need to step outside our normal buzzwords and discuss how our interpretations alter the debate game and our education.

Counter Plans

I’m uncertain about conditionality. I am sympathetic to arguments about the MG being key and difficult. However, I also believe the negative should have some flexibility. Feel free to run your shell. Feel free to be conditional. I will vote depending on how condo plays out.

PIC’s are usually abusive in NPDA debate, but often strategic and occasionally justified – especially if the topic provides aff flex.

Delay is almost always bad, so are process CP’s.

Kritiks

These are fine. I read them a lot, went for them occasionally. Please provide early thesis-level analysis. I think most K shells I’ve seen are incredibly inefficient and vulnerable to impact turns. Teams should likely cut major portions of their FW page and instead develop solvency and internal links to the case.

MG’s should be more willing to go hard right (or left) to answer K’s. The aff probably links to Cap, but there is SUBSTANTIAL lit in favor of cap.

Performance

I think performance arguments can be amazing. However, they are easy to do inefficiently and hard to do well. An aff that is rejecting the motion needs to justify why: 1. Your thing matters more than the topic 2. Why you can’t discuss your thing on this topic OR 3. Why your thing is a prior question to the topic.

On the neg, you need to prove that you are an opportunity cost to the aff. Maybe it’s as simple as you need to keep debating, but you need a reason.