A note to all debaters: although I try to be completely objective when scoring, remember judging is essentially just my opinion of how you did. Your own evaluation of how you debated is at least as valid as mine and probably more so. I try my best to leave constructive comments for each speaker, but time constraints while a debate is in progress can make that difficult. If you do not get feedback, it's not because I do not care, it's because I ran out of time.

Expect comments of the form:

Cycle w/ notations, for example 3A (break) (cut-off) means it was the 3rd Affirmative speech, it broke cycle and the PO cut you off at 3m10s
Strength: Something you did well
Suggestion: Something to consider when working to improve

Congressional debate
I personally consider Delivery to be the most important skill you can acquire from debate because it's a life skill. Even if you never debate again after high school, being comfortable with speaking to a group is useful forever. My comments are often heavily weighted towards Delivery strengths and suggestions for this reason.

I prefer a traditional speech with a defined introduction, main body and conclusion:
1) Tell me what you're about to tell me (30 seconds) - Introduction
2) Tell me (2 minutes) - 2 or 3 main points
3) Tell me what you just told me (30 seconds) - Conclusion/summary

I use speaker points mostly for my use in post-session ranking but in general:
6 - Outstanding (rarely given)
5 - Excellent
4 - Average
3 - Below average (rarely given)
2, 1 - I don't use these scores

I try to be as objective as possible without introducing bias, opinion or knowledge external to the debate. If you claim "The sky is purple", back it up with evidence, persuade me, show why it matters, and rebut any opposition counter-claims, then the sky is actually purple for scoring/ranking purposes.

I also take into account the overall experience level of the chamber and judge each speaker in comparison to the others present. For example, if a novice House speaker simply reads a prepared speech, I'm much more forgiving in my rankings than I would be for a Varsity Senate speaker doing the same thing.

How I judge a debate speech in detail:
Introduction
Simple, direct and concise is best. An attention-getter (like you would do at a speech tournament) is probably unnecessary and uses valuable time. For NEG speeches it's ok to agree with something in the bill as long as you immediately follow-up with what's wrong with it: "While I agree that passing this bill to get "X" is a noble goal, the enormous problem of "Y" makes passage impractical and counter-productive".
* Main point overview - "Tell me what you're about to tell me". For example, something like "The main [benefits/problems] with this bill in general are financial which I'll cover in my 1st main point and quality of life covered in my 2nd and 3rd points about health care and tax reform" This can also set up your conclusion/summary where you can echo your intro and "Tell me what you just told me".
* Bill overview - This is critical in 1st cycle speeches. State the primary [benefit/liability] for [passing/failing] this bill as written. A short and meaningful (quantified if possible) impact statement is best. For example, "Passing this bill will feed 10 million malnourished children per year who would otherwise go hungry and cost just $50 per child - that's 14 cents per day per child!" i.e. AFF should avoid stating the $500 million cost directly, and NEG should do the opposite.
Content
* Organization - Speech should have a clear intro, main body (2 or 3 main points) and conclusion with obvious and meaningful transitions.
* Credibility - mispronounced words, world leader names in particular, can indicate to me that the speaker is simply reciting a speech written by the team.
* Decorum - Never raise your voice in questioning. Always refer to actual politicians and chamber members with their honorific: "President Washington said..." rather than "Washington said...". Respect the position even if you don't respect the person currently/formerly holding that position.
* Links & Connections - Whenever possible connect your related points to a previous speaker/argument, ex. "My 1st main point about financing [supports/refutes] Senator Lincoln's argument about budgeting and Senator Jefferson's claim about debt".
* Logic, facts & evidence - Ideally, about half your main point explanation(s) should "prove" why the bill should pass/fail.
* Persuasion & passion - Ideally, the other half should convince me why you are correct and/or the opposition is incorrect.
* Answers - Simple, clear and concise answers are best. Never raise your voice no matter how aggressive the questioner gets. It's ok to subtly critique the questioner when appropriate, ex. "That was a long winded question but I'll do my best to answer in the few seconds remaining..." or "That was a statement. Do you have an actual question for me?"
Arguments
* Claim - simple, clear and concise is best. "This bill will cost $500 million dollars and the country simply cannot afford it right now!"
* Proof, experts & citations - Support your claim with evidence from subject matter experts as much as possible. Avoid long back and forth "dueling expert battles" in questioning. It's ok to point out "your" expert is stating the exact opposite of "their" expert but let it go after that.
* Impact / Explanation - Tell me why it matters! Use intro phrases like "This is important because..." or "The primary overall impact of [passing/failing] this legislation is..."
Clash (N/A for 1st cycle speeches) - Be specific and detailed when you tell me what's wrong with the opposition's case.
Closely related to "Links and Connections" above. This is most important at the Senate level. If your speech is presented like a 1st cycle speech with no clash, it will impact your ranking.
* Speakers - Name all previous speakers who made similar (but distinct) points before making your new point.
* Arguments - Group similar but distinct previous arguments together as well.
Delivery
Do not simply read your speech. I give some allowance for 1st cycle speeches, but holding a laptop with both hands, standing still, looking straight down at the screen and reading will impact your ranking.
* Extemporaneous - your prepared material should be used as notes and not as a script. Using voice technique (volume, tone and pacing) to add impact/drama to your most important points will positively impact your score/ranking
* Gestures - Use hand gestures to add non-verbal emphasis and impact to your important spoken points.
* Movement - Use meaningful movement as a non verbal signal to indicate transitions. For example, as you end your intro and start your main point 1 topic sentence, move 3-6 feet to your left or right and again at other main point or summary transition points. Avoid meaningless pacing and shifting from foot to foot as it can indicate nervousness.
* Eye contact - "Talk" to all members of the chamber - center, left and right - switching at transition points is fine. Avoid just talking to one "location" (judges and/or the floor/ceiling/back wall)
Conclusion
The word "Affirm/Negate" does not count as a conclusion if you run out of time speaking on your main points.
* Main point summary - Make the transition obvious with something like "So in conclusion..." and then add a sentence or two about the broad categories of your main points, something like "The main [benefits/liabilities] of this bill are financial as I clearly explained in my first main point and quality of life as my 2nd and 3rd main points on health care reform and fair taxation prove." The categories you choose (financial & quality of life in my example) give following same-side speakers an easy way to link back to your speech as well.
* Big Picture statement - One or two sentences on the primary impact of [passing/failing] the bill is good enough, but tell me why it matters.
Time - anything between 2:30 and 3:09 is fine.
Do not force the PO to cut you off at 3:10, this will impact your ranking. A common comment I make if you ran out of time or rushed your summary is something like "Consider using the PO's 2m30s double gavel tap as a signal to begin your conclusion to avoid running out of time."

For crystalization speeches, I strongly prefer advocacy on one side or the other. If you properly flow the debate you can simply add a statement in your intro and conclusion to support either AFF or NEG to avoid breaking cycle. For example, in your intro say something like "I'd like to focus this debate by first summarizing the AFF speakers and their arguments. Follow up by summarizing the NEG side, and conclude by telling you why [AFF/NEG] should get your vote". In your conclusion something like "Now that I've summarized both sides, let me tell you why argument "X" is the most compelling, briefly explain the Big Picture impact of this legislation and ultimately why it's important you vote for [AFF/NEG]". It is critical you reserve the last 30 seconds of your time for the conclusion and advocacy statement. Use the PO's 2m30s gavel double tap as a signal to end your main point discussion.

Presiding Officers are judged on:

Speaker Recognition (Precedence and Recency)
Fair and even distribution of speaker recognition throughout the chamber when preset precedence is not used is important, i.e. you do not constantly favor Reps. sitting on the right side of the room. Making mistakes, but catching and correcting them will impact your ranking a little, not catching and correcting them will impact your ranking a lot.
Parliamentary Procedure
You handle motions, timing and voting efficiently. It is critical you use the standard/recommended NSDA timing signals. If you confuse speakers with non-standard signals, it can and probably will negatively impact your ranking.
Delivery / Presence
You speak loud and clear. Call on speakers quickly. Shutdown post-time arguments in questioning, etc.
Running a smooth and efficient chamber is key. "You did your job so well I barely noticed you" is the highest compliment I can give.

FULL PARADIGM CAN BE FOUND HERE! This page is meant to be something you can read right before round and get a general idea of what's up

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Bullies get dropped

If your argument needs a trigger warning, either ask before the round S T A R T S or don’t read it. Don't say mid speech "trigger warning!" because judges cannot just up and leave a round the same way you can, and you're not actually giving any students time to react. I think like 90% of tw are super performative and framed as “imma read this, deal w it”

www.ImpactInstituteDebate.com

@Impact.Institute_ on Instagram for 100% free, high quality, virtual Congressional Debate resources.

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Any pronouns work, but do not call me mister

Congress 2016-2019 for Eagan High School in MN, traveled a little bit but certainly wasn't a circuit kid

Congress coach 2019-present at Armstrong and Cooper High Schools in MN

Parli (NPDA) for the University of Minnesota 19-20, 20-21 (I read topical affs and cap/ableism on neg)

PNW CARD Debate for 1 semester (closed research packet, but I loved sliding in Marxist lenses)

Congress judge first, but pls don’t assume I'm not a "debate" judge :)

Overall, I prefer chess over checkers. But both are valuable games!

Email chain or questions/critiques/whatever AFTER the round: Davi3736@umn.edu

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LD:

-Ask before you spread. I probs can't understand your spreading, I'll clear/slow you until I can, but 70% is a decent starting point

-Not flowing off a speech doc but pls share it w me

-Tech>everything: I used to say “except for xyz” but instead, just be a good debater. I’ll vote for stupidity idc. However, “get good” is probably an able normative response to “speed bad” so b careful w ur language. Wipeout, war good, dedev, truth>tech, idc just say it w your chest and let it rip.

-Judge instruction is my fav part abt this activity, followed by conceding fwk, followed by turns of any kind

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Congress:

#AbolishPOs (don’t worry I still rank y’all)

Congress is a debate event you silly goose

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she/her

I competed in LD for three years and have coached LD and Congress for three years at Forest Lake, currently head coach. I’m also a Lead Instructor at the Minnesota Debate Institute.

**adding Jan 2022: I really think debaters ought to be distinguishing cards from their own words MUCH better: if you read a card and immediately head into analysis or summary without identifying that, it sure feels like you're trying to pass off those words as more qualified (which I think we've all normalized! but we shouldn't!) try: "quote...blah blah... end quote" or emphasizing "the impact is..".

The big stuff: debate is a great activity for learning, building confidence, etc but it can absolutely be exclusionary and replicate oppressive structures. There’s never an excuse for running harmful arguments that deny or perpetuate oppression. And be respectful — I probably think you’re being too aggressive in cross. You can ask questions before round, my answer is probably I don't care.

LD

I'm a pretty traditional judge, not going to be too tolerant to spreading, run things at your own risk.

Framework is super important to how I evaluate a round, so two things: 1) don’t just repeat “my framework is a prereq and better weighing mechanism” each speech. These aren’t good arguments, and I need you to show how the two frameworks interact and differ and actually respond to your opponent’s args. 2) and if you choose to make our lives easier by conceding, you should do a really good job weighing and providing impact analysis. I love some top-of- and end-of- speech framing.

Probably the only reason I’ll give below a 27 is if you’re being rude or offensive. Please use the pronouns your opponent has given via tab, or use gender neutral language. 29+ is I’m impressed with the way you handled arguments and framed the round.

Congress

I’d rather hear you give a mediocre speech on every bill than only one good speech, because that shows you’re trying and engaged in the chamber. That being said, a good speech should have well-explained arguments, impacts on why those arguments matter, and CLASH. The biggest things I write on ballots are a) why is this argument true? why does this matter? b) respond to other debaters in the chamber. The level of energy you bring to a speech absolutely changes the delivery, but I'm not going to comment on things like your physical presentation.

I've got quite a bit of experience coaching, judging, and even competing in all the main debate events - Congress, Public Forum, LD, Policy, and World Schools. I will understand your terminology, I'll time you, and I understand the rules/expectations of the events. I've been participating in speech and debate for 16 years, coaching for 10, and this is my third year in Minnesota.

PF and LD Specifically: I tend to prefer the debate to be a tad bit slower. I'm also a big advocate of very structured speeches and structure to the debate as a whole. So like, signpost, line by line, one case at a time, etc. Also, please collapse throughout and give 2-3 voters or big issues at the end. You can still address line by line in FF though I don't prefer it. If you do, just remember to collapse and categorize. I also tend to prefer front-lining in 2nd rebuttal. I'm a big proponent of weighing and extensions as well, but like don't just use those things as a time dump alone. The majority of your rebuttals and summary speeches should be focused on the flow and responding to arguments line by line, but make sure to extend key arguments that go unaddressed and either weigh as you go or weigh at the bottom.

LD Specifically: Framework debate is extremely important in LD... HOWEVER, framework debate is somewhat pointless when it has nothing to do with the resolution. I don't really care why your framework is more important than your opponents framework in a general sense. I care a lot more about why your framework is more important than your opponents framework in a resolutional sense. If you can't make your framework arguments specifically applicable to the topic at hand and the arguments you are making, then you are wasting your time debating it in the first place, and I will just end up using your voters, impacts, and weighing to make my final decision in the round.

PF/LD/Policy/WSD: I will rarely vote for a lazy debater. If I ever have to, you'll get very low speaker points. If you want to win a debate, you have to play the role of a debater. Here's how I break that down:

1. Debate has time limits for a reason. Your are practicing the art of understanding, preparing, and delivering arguments within a specific timeframe. If you have 3-5 minutes of prep time, you don't need 3 extra minutes to flash evidence/call for cards while you think of what you're going to say in the next speech. Flashing is prep time in all events.

PF: If you want to see a card, ask for it in cross ex, that way your opponents partner can pull it up and you can read it after cross ex when you start prep. Again, saving time. Ask for cards early, so we don't have to sit here waiting for them to find the card and I have to consider whether or not I should count that as prep and for which team.

2. Cross examination is not a time to ask random questions while you sit down and prep for your next speech. Every part of the debate counts. I'll also give low speaker points to a debater who sits during cross ex (other than grand cross in PF, and this doesn't include virtual tournaments. In a virtual debate, sitting is the norm and that is fine).

3. A large part of debate is presentational. In my opinion, spreading cards and cases alone is not debating. Cards don't beat cards, you have to explain the links, warrants, impacts, and weighing. I have ADHD and zone out very quickly if you aren't slowing down and explaining things or you aren't emphasizing the things I should be flowing. I can flow cases slower than I can flow rebuttals so please read a shorter case if you can so you don't have to spread. Exceptions for Policy only. If you do decide to spread, please slow WAY down on tags, and always include a short analysis at the end of each card.

4. K's and Theory are fine (especially in Policy), but slooooooow down. You have to explain that stuff to me or I won't be able to follow you. If you run it in PF just know that I may be very lost or unprepared as to how to deal with that or where to flow it. I'm not completely against it, but like only do it if you're really good at it, and be prepared to lose literally because I understood none of what you were saying due to lack of time to explain it.

5. Don't abuse prep time. Always tell me when you are starting and stopping prep. I'm timing you as well, so I will correct you if I need to but if I have to correct you it probably doesn't look good on you and may affect your speaker points.

6. Most importantly, do what you're good at. Like, I have a lot more experience with traditional styles of debate because that's the style we used where I was from. However, I also have a pretty strong understanding and comprehension of progressive stuff. Just do what you're best at. I'd much prefer a really good progressive debate, then a really bad traditional one and vice versa. I just might understand and flow the traditional debate a taaaad bit better though.

Congress:

PO: Between "Fast, Fair, and Efficient" I care most about fairness, second most about about efficiency, and I don't care at all about "fast." Be efficient of course, try to make sure that things are running smoothly and that you aren't taking extra time because you don't know the process or because you are adding unnecessary extra words to your phrasing, but I would much rather you take an extra couple of seconds to make an accurate decision which doesn't require me to correct you, than I would for you to make a quick decision in the hopes that you'll look better. It may not flow off the tongue as well, but "Accurate, Fair, and Efficient" would be my preference.

Also, some common phrasing that I think you can shorten:

• When calling on subsequent speakers after the first speaker on a piece of legislation, cut all the nonsense about "Seeing as that was the 3rd affirmative speech we are now in line for a 3rd negative speech. All those wishing to speak in the negation please rise." Cut it out. Just say "Negative speakers rise" "Affirmative speakers rise"
• For the end of a speech/start of questioning: "Thank you ____ for that speech of (time), questioners please rise" No need to say "We are now in line for 2/4 blocks of questioning"
• When calling subsequent questioners after the first questioner for a speaker, please do not waste time by saying things like "Thank you (questioner), the next questioner is (name)." Literally just call out the name of the next questioner at the same time as you tap the gavel twice for the end of one questioners block. "(tap tap) Rep. Blah"

Some other PO Notes:

• I appreciate when the PO shares their precedence sheet with the chamber in some sort of google spreadsheet or something.
• I think the PO should be consistent in reminding the chamber of any and all rules that are not being followed. "Please do not abuse the grace period" "You must ask permission to leave and exit the chamber"
• I think a really good PO can add super small yet effective elements to their responses which show more personality in general. I don't think "The chair thanks you" is necessarily enough for that since it's so common. I like when a PO is able to reword their responses to things in ways that are still accurate but which can add some slight, yet not time-consuming, humor to the round.
• The PO should recommend and remind the chamber not to stand for speeches or questions until they tap their gavel. This provides a more fair moment for all to stand rather than having some people stand right at the end of the speech while the PO is still talking.
• The PO should state at the beginning of the round: Gaveling procedures, how they are determining precedence and recency (and if it isn't preset, then what system will they use to fairly call on people at first), and any particular ways in which they will go about things like calling for speakers or questioners. If there are rules particular to a given tournament such as how precedence or recency should be used which are not common at other MN tournaments, the PO should also mention those at the beginning to make sure everyone is on the same page and there aren't random issues regarding precedence or recency or following those rules at the very start of the round.

Speakers: I dislike speaking from laptops. Laptops are generally best used when they can be placed on a podium or desk, not held up and balanced on one hand in the middle of a public speech. When you use a laptop to speak from, you are forced to have one of your hands constantly held up and there is a giant barrier between you and your audience. I prefer the use of a notepad, or second best would be an ipad with the intention being that you can actually hold those notes at your side for certain parts of your speech to show that you are prepared. I also believe strongly that you should be writing outlines, not speeches. You will likely receive a pretty low speaker score from me if you appear to be glued to your notes because you wrote too much down. The sign of a good speaker is someone who knows their speech or their topic well enough that they don't rely on the notes and can speak well regardless of whether or not they have them. Use the notes for sources or bullet point key ideas with short phrases. Please do not read to us, speak to us. Additionally, I think participation is important. You could be the number one speaker in a round but if you are clearly not engaged at all in questions, motions, etc. then it's likely I will knock you down some ranks because of that. On that same note, while I would hope all speakers decide to attempt to speak on all items, if you have purposefully made the decision not to speak on the first item for debate in a session, then my expectation is that you would be fully prepared to give one of the first speeches on the next item. On the note of preparation, please do not EVER delay a chamber for something that YOU want for YOUR own purposes but that you are NOT prepared for at the time you are asking for a delay. For example "We shouldn't move to previous question yet because I still want to speak" and then the chamber decides not to move to previous question, and when calling for speakers you don't immediately stand up.

Side note: One sided debate sucks. Please either swap sides or just be prepared to give an early speech on the next debate item. Also, I understand the culture of saying "I'm prepared for both sides" because that's a good skill to have as a debater, but I don't like how publicly and simply people are willing to swap sides in congress. I really dislike hearing students say "Yea I can swap sides" out loud in the middle of a recess. It really defeats the whole purpose of you actually trying to convince me that you care at all about the side of the debate you are on, and I think one of the things you should be trying to do as a congressional debater is really be assertive concerning your feelings on a topic. I'd much rather you say something like "I'm not sure which side I'm on yet" or at least make those side-specific decisions more privately. Perhaps even just hide the decision a bit better by making it seem like the decision was actually made after hearing some of the arguments and giving more of a refutation speech. On that note, I think the longer debate on an item goes on the more I should see speakers refuting other arguments.

Congress: I like to see that you know the game of Congress so if I can tell that you're strategizing (internally, with others in the room, with teammates) I'm gonna be happy. I like debaters that debate. Sounding pretty is good but giving rebuttals and avoiding giving constructive speeches in the middle of the legislation are even better. You should have enough evidence or common sense to speak on either side of the legislation at any point, wasting recesses to write speeches or chide others for not being ready (while you're not offering to speak either) will be criticized.

Public Forum: Give me voters in summary and final focus or give me death! I am a logic-chain judge; if your arguments require me to suspend disbelief or ignore reality then expect them to be dropped from the flow. Behavior within the round matters just as much as performance so please do not be rude to your partner or competitors and try to maintain professionalism for the sake of an efficient round. Speeches that matter the most to me are rebuttals so an organized rebuttal that responds to as much of the competitors case as possible will positively impact my vote overall.

(she/they) Email: lauren.gilli03@gmail.com

(Pre-Round Skimming=Bold)

I have 4-years' debating experience in VPF (mainly trad/lay), various IEs, and 3 years at NSDA Nats for PF/Extemp (once somehow). If you have any questions before/after the round, ask! I like giving help and will give critiques when I can.

~Decorum~

- Don't be an [expletive] in round. If bad enough, give you the lowest speaks possible or the L :)

- I will not stand for prejudiced arguments/rhetoric. I will give opposing team the opportunity to continue, otherwise I will end the round with a fun chat and an L for the offending team, along with lowest possible speaks and a talk with coaches.

- Use trigger/content warnings please. If you have enough foresight to do that, I expect an alt prepared.

- Please no descriptions of sexual assault/in-depth anecdotes of such.

Basics

- Your job is to make my job easy.

- Keep a clear narrative throughout the round- overviews are nice and I love them done well.

- Speak clearly :)- stumbling is fine, I feel you. It doesn't mean you're any less confident.

- In PF, it's not policy- and in LD, stay understandable. No spreading please. If y'all are going way too fast, I will raise my hand.

- For Congress, spreading is absolutely contradictory to the point of the event. Please don't <3

- If, for some god-forsaken reason, you decide to spread against my warning, please send me a case doc. Email above.

- Debate is a competition, yes, but also respect the origins. The point of debate is to persuade, and you can't perform if you are spreading. If you are going too fast, I signal, and you don't slow down... I will flow what I can understand. You have been warned.

- - - I have four points about spreading. That is a sign.

- EVERYONE: SIGNPOST PLEASE <3

- Weigh for me, otherwise I'll do it myself (and that is a threat...mwahaha).

- I generally don't vote on obviously false args. Opposition, at least tell me it's clearly false, give a quick reason before moving on.

- As long as an argument is warranted, have fun with it! I like wacky args if the links are there.

First Speakers (PF)

- Please don't state Cost-Benefit Analysis (a la common sense) as FW in your case. It is useless unless it is used as a response to your opponent's FW.

- Give me (preferably only) voters in summary (collapsing/crystallizing) - again, makes my job easier - line-by-line is rarely summarizing and I will die on this hill. At least throw in voters at the end if you decide to not summarize in your summary

Second Speakers (PF)

- Your success in rebuttal rests on signposting. Tell me where you are! Please!

- For your partner's sake (and your own), start weighing in rebuttal

- Have fun with final focus because it doesn't matter much- The round is won in Rebuttal and Summary! Be sassy but stick to your guns- keep your narrative cohesive w summary

Crossfire/Ex

- It doesn't matter. Keep it clean, no punching. I don't flow during this time unless there is a mic-drop moment. If there is said mic-drop moment, bring it through in later speeches.

- I'm only here for the quotable moments

- finish answer if timer beeps, but not question

Evidence

- I have absolutely no tolerance when it comes to evidence violations. I have had bad experiences in round and will not let an abusive team win. If you want me to call for your/the opp's evi at end of round, tell me. Don't be afraid to stop the round and call a violation if they continue insisting on their evidence being something it's not.

Theory

Very limited experience, outside of a few rounds re: disclosure in LD and one in PF. If you run theory, be clear about your narrative and make it obvious why it should be preferred over substance.

Lincoln-Douglas

I am sorry, I have limited experience in LD judging. I'm teaching myself as much as I can starting '21. but please treat me as a lay judge. Spell it out please. I know next to nothing about LD, so be clear and explain thoroughly. Limit jargon- I competed a lot, but in a very traditional circuit. Glean what you can from the PF paradigm <3

_________________________________

This is debate! The point is to learn and meet people! In the words of my former debate coach, "Do your best. Have fun."

My Background: I have coached PF and LD and have been involved with Congressional Debate.

PF: Factors I consider when judging a round:

1. Who had a better framework, and who upheld it better (I realize this isn’t LD, but I want to see which team has a better view of The Big Picture)

2. The strength of the case.

3. The quality of the arguments presented:

a. Links

b. Harms

c. Impacts

4. Evidence:

a. Dates – how recent is it – give me a date in the citation

b. Author credibility – give me credentials

c. Specificity of content/applicability to case

d. NOTE: Quality is preferred over quantity: Spreading doesn’t belong in PF!

5. Cross Fire:

a. I’m paying attention! Rounds have been won and lost here!

b. No interrupting. If you ask a question, I want to hear their answer.

c. In the end, debate is about promoting civil public discourse – please remember why we are here.

6. Summary/Final Focus:

a. Crystalize the round and give me the three most important voting issues.

b. Don’t tell me how I am going to vote “this is why you will be voting Neg” – ask me for my vote. Nobody likes being told what to do, and it’s not an effective persuasive strategy.

7. Special note to Aff: Your case must have offense.

When judging Congress, I look for three things:

Is your point supported by a logical argument and/or a source?

Do you respond to other debaters and other points?

Are you respectful and attentive in the chamber?

And as always, be mature and be good people.

Updated 1/6/24, pre MSHSL State tournament (post sections). Have some thoughts from sections at the top of the PF/LD paradigm.

ImpactInstituteDebate.com

Background:

Graduated Bloomington Jefferson HS in 2012. Did Policy/Extemp and a little Congress. Wasn't great at any of these events.

Coach of the Bloomington Debate team 2018-present. Our program is now exclusively a Congress team, we did some PF in 18/19. Judge mostly Congress, but get ~12 assorted PF/LD rounds a year.

I work in finance doing institutional asset management when I'm not coaching. I also play and coach ultimate frisbee in my free time and watch any and all sports, do with that what you will.

Disclosure:

I love to discuss specific feedback, either email (below) or find me after a round. Email after a tournament (Congress especially) is great if you want more feedback. I like to disclose post round when allowed, tho likely will NOT at State this year unless both teams read this and ask for disclosure. That said, will likely give you some feedback I hope to help you if it's not the last round of the day.

Two important rules (all formats)

1. Be respectful. If you say anything offensive (racist/sexist/homophobic/etc.) I will not hesitate to give you the auto-loss or the worst score I can.

2. I'm always down to give you more feedback, email is great (arthurpaulharris at gmail dot com) or just come find me at a tournament. I will answer any question about something on any ballot I put out.

Short Paradigm [PF/LD/CX] (update 1/6/24):

If there's an email chain pls add me, email above. The debate will be best if you do what you do best - I'll do my best to adapt to you.

For PF/LD: I will vote on what's on the flow (or do my absolute best to). I flow on paper but my pen is still decently fast (see below about speed). I'm probably dead center on tech vs truth if you think those are contradictory, but if you want this to be circuit LD/PF and it's a MSHSL tournament, you'll be disappointed.

PF people - If you need a shortcut for my paradigm I align with Christian Vasquez's paradigm almost exactly (I assume y'all will be more familiar as he's gotta be like 5x the judge/debate educator I am). If you want to read actual coherent thoughts on PF debate, check that out, it's probably the paradigm that's helped me (re)form my thoughts on PF in the last year.

Section 230 thought from 5 rounds at sections (idk if this will be helpful): Unlike most of the judging pool I'm not a lawyer (so am more susceptible to being bamboozled by lies/debate logic about the legal system) - even so, I think that having a good understanding and then explanation of what 230 does (and doesn't!) do would go a LONG way to establishing ground for both sides.

PF/LD thoughts:

1. Your speed is probably fine, your clarity probably needs work, you should def slow down for anything you want on my ballot at the end of the round and an argument made in your first speech needs to be extended in your other speeches to weigh at the end of the round. PF PEOPLE - I used to have a section about how y'all read your tags/cards backwards but I think I figured you out - I still would prefer if you made my life easier and didn't read everything at one speed, but increasingly that feels like a battle I will not win.

2. I def don't know any of your topic specific jargon and I almost certainly don't know any of the conventions/norms/customs of your event. That means - you probably want to explain an acronym if it'll be important and you'll want to have clear explanations and impacts to your "speed bad" theory or whatever event specific theory (disclosure theory I guess?) you read.

3. Prep time abuse is bad. If it becomes an issue in round I will insert myself and start keeping the prep time myself. When you are out of time you have about 5 seconds to start talking before I get annoyed at you wasting time or stealing prep. Also - I've noticed a huge increase in rebuttals that go 4:10 or summaries that go 3:08. I will put my pen down at the end of the allowed speaking time, you're welcome to keep talking but none of it is going on the flow. I know it seems marginal (and that you don't have enough time as is), but those extensions net you 3-5% extra speech time and someone (probably the judge!) needs to hold the line.

4. I assume that when you read evidence you are reading directly from the source. If you are paraphrasing (apparently allowed in PF) you need to make it clear you are doing so (but also just don't do that). Failure to provide the evidence you paraphrased to the other team in a reasonable amount of time when asked is grounds for a loss. If you set up ev sharing, you should 100% send all cards before you start speaking. This will save time and make everyone's life easier, please just do it this way.

5. I think teams have been most frustrated with my decision when they're read more cards/arguments but didn't spend much time in the last rebuttals/final focus explaining the role of my ballot and weighing. Condensing, weighing and explanation will get you a lot of wins in front of me. Smart cross applications and analytics will also get you a long way in front of me. Additionally, specificity of uniqueness/link and impact scenario will go a long way in front of me, and teams that read a specific scenario have beaten teams reading generic turns quite frequently.

Thoughts on things in debates (not sure how many of these are in LD, pretty sure very few are in PF):

Ks: I'm not a bright or well read individual. I understand the basics of what I believe y'all refer to now as "soft left" Ks, but my lack of substantial liberal arts education means I'm not familiar with anything more critical than them. I will do my best to judge you though, however on kritiks as with any other arguments I need to hear a clear, specific link, a reason the kritik is competitive and solvency. You can try to convince me some or none of these are needed, but it'll be an uphill battle for you. LD people - I think (think) this means that if you read a consequentialist framework I'll track you, if you go for something ontological I'm going to need some extra hand holding (rephrasing your authors will go a LONG way). If this sentence makes no sense, you see what I'm trying to say re: me being not the smartest :)

CPs: Usually fine. I think I prefer that they're not topical, but can be persuaded otherwise. Need to be competitive. Perms aren't an advocacy but I also find the perm does a good job of proving non-competitiveness most of the time.

Theory: Theory with a voter of dropping a team: really high bar, need to prove in round abuse. Theory to drop an arg: Somewhat lower bar, would still like in round abuse. As I get older I find reasonableness to be a better standard for judging theory. Your theory probably needs an interpretation, a violation, an impact and a voter. I've come to understand there's a subset of theory in PF called "tricks" - if your trick doesn't meet this burden I probably don't care for it. In PF, if you want to read "Topicality", I think the most reasonable voter is to drop any argument that isn't topical. You still need to run an interpretation, have a violation and explain what the impacts of non-topicality are. I can be persuaded you should win on T if your opponent reads non-topical advantages, but the burden is high on you to win the impact/voter level.

DAs: Obviously these are fine, need a clear uniqueness and link story. The more complicated your link chain the higher your explanatory burden will be and the lower my bar to evaluating defense for the other team will be.

Short Paradigm [Congress] :

1. Debating makes up ~80% of your rank in front of me, speaking is ~20%. Argument quality is an important sub-element of debating (note - creative link chains are acceptable, you just need to explain them well). I am a human though, so masterful rhetorical skill can get you a good rank if you have it.

2. POs - I am PO friendly in that every PO starts somewhere in the top half of my ballot (new policy for 22/23 season). I track P/R for speeches/questions. If you make no P/R mistakes (or correct yourself quickly if you do), call speakers/questioners about as fast as I can track, have a handle on the rules for motions/votes and keep the round running smoothly, you'll probably do well. You can find detailed examples of how to move up/down as the PO in my extended paradigm linked below.I think the PO leniency has bent too far in favor of POs, so mistakes in P/R will start to carry harsher penalties in Varsity/Open rounds.

3. If there is a broken cycle (i.e. no one stands for aff so there are two negs in a row or vice versa) - giving that broken cycle speech is almost always a surefire way to move to the bottom of my ballot. You need to bring new refutation to the table and it needs to be a clincher for the round. You're almost always better off moving previous question and taking your P/R to the next bill - this continues to be an issue with little movement in the right direction...maybe 24-25 season we give this some more thought?

4. I am probably one of the more friendly judges for you if you like to run critical theory arguments. I can't say this will ever be a good strat for you because I'm never your only judge, but if shooters gotta shoot - let it be you.

5. Please remember to have fun. If you aren't having fun there's really no point to any of this.

Assorted Musing/Long Paradigm:

For the 22/23 Congress season, some observations:

I think the bias in the aff/neg split has firmly entrenched itself on the neg - this is probably due to a) poor bill quality in MN and b) assuming an authorship means prepping a 1N is more "guaranteed". That said, I think going aff can be very advantageous this year, especially given the quality of neg args that folks seem to be running against legislation that is, big picture, a *good* idea.

At locals: The trend of putting every bill authored by someone in the chamber on the agenda needs to stop. The legislation people are putting out in MN is NOT good enough for authorship to guarantee the floor, and because y'all refuse to move on at an appropriate time these bills kill speech ranks for ~2-3 cycles of debaters. I promise you you will not lose ranks in front of me for being "mean" and voting against dockets that have bad bills on them just because someone wrote that bill - in fact if I observe you lobbying against poorly researched and/or "shallow cycle" bills in the face of opposition from folks "just trying to be nice" I'll probably be more inclined to use that as a tiebreaker to move you up in rank for recognizing that debate takes precedence.

PO bias seems to have bent back in favor of POs - in order to compensate I will have a much stricter tolerance for PO mistakes on precedence/recency for both questioners and speakers. Additionally I will start to judge PO speed on a stricter scale when it comes to selecting questioners in particular (obviously accounting for debaters that may take too long to stand or stand mid questioning).

Also for POs - please cut down on the words you say. We don't need to know how long the speech was. We know and TRUST YOU to know how many questioning blocks are next. We only need to know if aff or neg is next speaker, not which number it is. If you really need to thank everyone, please do it off the clock after the round.

I used to have a whole lot of words here about the way I think about and judge debate. I probably won't update it a lot but I probably won't change it a lot either. I've moved that to a google doc which you can view here. Everything is still up to date and accurate as of December 2021.

Extemp Speaking Paradigm, updated pre MN State Tournament 2023:

How to win the ballot, Extemp Speaking:

1. Answer the question.

1. Actually answer the question that was asked, not a variant or similar question. At state this is going to pick trickier than usual (probably), because the questions tend to be multifaceted.

2. Usually, the easiest way to make sure you answer the question is to have a thesis, instead of just a yes/no. You are usually then forced to make sure your subpoints of analysis always link back to the thesis, which in turn answers the question.

3. Whether or not you use a thesis, you want to spend time explaining why your subpoints reinforce or prove your thesis correct, and if you do have a thesis you need to explain why it is the best answer to the question

2. Analysis

1. Depth > breadth - that is, I’d rather see you really focus on proving the logic behind a single claim per sub point rather than having a ton of different points of analysis or facts crammed into two minutes.

1. For example, if your first subpoint is that the ECB raising rates would but European banks under pressure, my preference is for you to explain a theory for why and develop out a clear picture of how and why banks would be in trouble in a rising rate environment (using maybe 1 or 2 sources), rather than telling me that 4 different sources show that 4 different European banks said they’d have trouble with an asset-liability mismatch if the ECB raises rates.

2. Another way of saying this is - I want you to demonstrate that you have an advanced understanding of what you’re talking about, rather than that you were able to read a bunch of headlines. Whatever you can do to give me that impression, do that.

2. Source quality - this is one area of “flash” that I can be impressed - deploying underutilized sources (and explaining why they are great sources) is something I personally really like.

1. Even if you don’t have any books or papers or super underutilized sources to run out, using higher quality sources of common usage (i.e. think tanks and analysis pieces) instead of common news sources (i.e. the NYT, Reuters, etc) is usually good.

3. Delivery - I am pretty firmly in camp analysis > delivery, but am probably an outlier on any panel in this regard. If its the State final you’re all going to be delivering at a level that clears my threshold, so really the key is to not get mentally down on yourself if you stumble or aren’t as smooth as you’d like early on because I don’t care about that at all.

4. Probably the best way to think about winning a round is to treat answering the question like you’re engaging in a debate vs an imaginary opponent who is trying to disprove your answer to the question. This will force you to:

1. Defend the veracity of your claims, which in turn will make them more persuasive

2. Will likely lead you to conditioning your claims with “even-if” statements, which again will increase their persuasiveness

3. Probably means you’re presenting a more nuanced picture of the world, which is good.

Hi folks!

My name is Kiah (she/her) and I graduated from Yankton High School (South Dakota) in 2021. I've mostly debated Lincoln-Douglas and Congress, but I have a tiny bit of Public Forum experience.

I debated traditional/lay debate throughout high school, so please keep that in mind going into round. I can handle speed to an extent.

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

1. SIGNPOSTING!!! it helps me as a judge when i'm flowing, and it should help you in round. you absolutely will get docked if you don't signpost.

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

3. warrants that you can actually explain tbh

4. evidence comparison (especially using author quals)

5. when you kick your F/W and turn their case (that’s spicy stuff)

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

Here is a list of things that make me :'( in rounds

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

a. drop kick u off the ballot

b. give u the lowest legal speaks

c. talk to ur coach

d. tell ur mom

2. when ur winning and u rub it in the other person’s face- that is rude stop. i will drop speaks if necessary.

3. don’t use other people’s oppression as a gimmick y’all the ballot isn’t worth it

ask me or email me if u want more info i’ll tell u how i feel about anything and i’ll give u time to change it if u need to :) holmstromkiah@gmail.com

Congress:

-Remember this is congressional debate, not a speech event. That means I will mark down speeches that repeat what the last speaker on your side said. If your points are similar to ones mentioned before, however, show why yours goes into more depth!

-Be active in the chamber. Respond to any and all speakers whose arguments conflict with your own. The author/sponsorship in addition to first negative speeches are obviously exempt from this rule because you should be laying down the substance of your side (although I am impressed when you anticipate potential opposing arguments and show why they shouldn't be considered).

-When responding to other speakers, please be respectful and do your best to pronounce names correctly. Write ALL names down phonetically once they pronounce it so you don't have to rack your brain to remember what the name was or how to pronounce it. Also don't say "a previous representative..." that's lame.

-Don't try to be funny, it feels forced. If it's natural, it's natural, but never think you have to be funny to get me to listen to your speech!

-I do love sass and sarcasm so I will laugh in the middle of direct questioning even if nobody else does. HOWEVER, sass and sarcasm should not be used excessively to put someone down, I can tell when you're not being lighthearted with it. On that note, please don't make puns out of someone else's name, that's rude. Actually, don't make puns at all.

-If there is a one sided debate, please, for the love of parliamentary procedure, do not call for a "five minute in-house recess," you all should be adequately prepared. Here's a tip- if you need to flip sides, find a way to flow your impacts to the opposite side. Your opponents do this all the time to your impacts and this way it's not that different of a speech and you are more familiar with the content. And, trust me, I will notice when you stand up for the opposite side. It will be much appreciated.

-Ask a lot of questions, but please don't throw softballs like "do you think this bill is good?", there are questions like these all the time coated in different words but I can tell it's just as surface-level

-QUALITY OVER QUANTITY. Never feel forced to speak. If you think that you need to give an additional speech, make sure it's good. If it's bad, it will be the last thing I remember you by. One time, I once gave a student a "7" even though she only spoke once between two sessions. Quality matters!

-If I'm a parli, I will keep a running rank of your performance round by round and will determine my ranking based on your average. If there is a tie in averages, I will consider the most recent session, whether or not you have presided, and, if all else fails, affirmative action to break the tie (most applicable when there is more than one student that hasn't spoken and I am expected to rank all students).

P.O. Evaluations:

-I understand if they are going over-time that you will "gavel them down" but if your default gavel tap is 1,0000 decibels, it will not be appreciated (especially if I'm your parli)

-Never P.O. to get out of speaking, I can tell. In reality, a good P.O. should be doing more work than when they are speaking because they should always be paying attention

-Study parli pro until it becomes natural please. Look at the NSDA sheet, Quizlet, whatever works

-Know at the beginning of the session (based on the number of students in the room) how many votes will get you 2/3, how many for 1/3, and how many for majority.

-If you choose "whoever stands/ whoever I see first" to determine speaking order, you will be marked down. This may seem like a decent, arbitrary system, until you notice only the students that jump out of their seats get called. Plus, proximity tells me your line of sight will be whoever is closer to you and nearest the center.

-Know your "procedural speech" so we can start as soon as you get elected, and you can give the speech while setting up.

Public Forum:

-I expect copious evidence and argument deduction to make it clear to me who is winning.

-"Off-time roadmaps" are lame. Do it on your time, it takes three seconds. In reality, your signposting should be good enough that you won't need it.

-I will raise my fist when time has elapsed. Finish your sentence and give a concluding statement, such as "thus, we negate"

-I will hold up a hand if you are going too fast

-Speaker points are not just based on presentation. It is based on fluency, structure, signposting, clarity, analysis, and RESPECT! If I couldn't understand what you were saying and you ignore my signals to slow down, you will get a 26 because clarity is a prerequisite to almost everything else. If you ever put down your opponents, yell at them, or anything of the sort, you will get a 25. This doesn't mean you will lose the debate, it just means you are not a respectful debater.

Constructive speech:

-Try not to go ridiculous with the number of contentions nor sub-points.

-Lots of evidence please, and explain why it matters even if it's "implied," either CEWI or CWEI format for each point- your impacts should always be last. Enunciate and give vocal variation to emphasize what is really important (*cough* impacts).

Rebuttals:

-Evidence!!!!

-Cover everything; contentions, sub-points, and framework. I don't expect an article for everything on the opposition because that would be a little suspicious, but at least outweigh or frame the argument.

-You don't need to "go back to your own speech," defensiveness is lame. The best defense is attack. I got it down on my flow already thanks.

Summary:

- This is a summary, not a rebuttal speech at half the time. Narrow it down to the voters please. Only then should you go back to your constructive and show why each voter is supported by your side, not theirs. You respond to rebuttal arguments here.

Final Focus:

-Tell me a story of the debate. Show where the voters started on your side, where your opponents tried to pull them to their side, and conclude why their reasoning is flawed. More framework here than in summary,

Cross-X's:

-Please be nice.

-If you're PRO, just ask the first question, you don't need permission.

-Be prepared with questions so you're not floundering around in awkward silence while there's a cross.

-Clarifications are ok! Use CX to your advantage if you want more material for the next speech.

LD:

-I have never judged an LD round, but that doesn't mean I can't declare a winner. I am qualified to judge any debate so if you expect your side only to win with those that "get LD," that's a problem and you should make it very easy to follow so that even a speech coach could tell you're wining.

Hi!

My name is Aarush Jambunathan, I'm a sophomore at George Mason University. My pronouns are he/him/his. Please let me know what you would like me to refer to you by.

Put me on the chain, my email is aarush.jam@gmail.com

WHAT FOLLOWS IS FOR POLICY UNTIL TOLD OTHERWISE

TL;DR for all y'all pre-round point-grabbers (no judgement):

I am a 2N so I like weird args. Don't be actively "-ist" or you will immediately lose and get your speaks punted into the mariana trench; I'm OK with speed as long as I'm on the email chain; If you're spreading and you aren't clear on your tags you will not get good speaks; I don't care if you swear; I value tech over truth 90% of the time IMO; I like arguments like T and FW; If you run a K I am probably not the judge for you - I'm not anti-K but I will rarely vote for a K that I don't understand, so if you run a K please make sure you explain exactly what it is and does in round as it will buoy your chances of victory; Don't read Judge Kick Condo CPs - if they are read against you, any condo bad arg will be held against them no matter how weak so long as it is fully extended; If you wanna run troll arguments go ahead - if you make them funny you might even win.

Full text:

As a person, I'd like to say that I'm moderately funny and likable, but I guess I'm a biased source on that end. My favorite animal is a Giant Panda, bears in general are just nice. I play the trombone & guitar to varying levels of success, and listen to just about anything you could put on. Yes, I do mean anything. Try me.

My friends tell me I have a more-than-healthy dependence on caffeine, which I'm willing to admit might be true (I have tried many an energy drink and can tell you with great confidence which ones are "good" and which ones are not worth the effort), and I am far from the most athletic person in any given room.

I've lived in India, Singapore, Minnesota(skol vikes), and Virginia over the years, and have broken my right ankle seven separate times by falling down seven separate flights of stairs. I don't know how I managed it, either.

I like to ski.

As for previous debate experience, I've dabbled in Policy, Congress, Big Questions, and a little bit of LD, but I did Congress as my main event. I enjoy it, so please don't trash it. I'm currently doing Policy at GMU.

Now on to my actual paradigm and judging strats, in no major order:

- If you actively make racist/homophobic/transphobic/sexist/etc. comments I will immediately drop you and report you, as well as write what you said on the ballot. If necessary I WILL STOP THE ROUND. Don't be that person. Fake accents count too. If I say something offensive to y'all, call me on it. I don't wanna be rude.

- I couldn't care less if y'all swear in front of me, and I'll probably accidentally swear in front of y'all, so let me know if it's uncomfortable for you. I can't promise it won't slip out, but I'll try my best to censor myself. Apologies in advance.

- If I had to describe myself on the whole "Tech vs. Truth" thing I'd probably value tech over truth 90% of the time, but both are gonna be considered

- If you're gonna spread, please do it at a speed that you're comprehensible at. If you're JV or higher, I expect comprehension and clarity, and if you're Novice or Rookie, I expect at least an effort. Obviously, if you're not in an event that spreads, this doesn't apply.

- I like T, theory, and FW arguments, but you've gotta explain why I should give a crap about whether or not the aff/K/CP is extra-t/abusive. If you don't win a violation and an impact, there's no issue with the argument you're reading against.

- I am not a K debater. I will vote for the K only if I can understand it. If you read a K and cannot describe what it actually does in round, I will rarely vote for it. This is not to say that I am anti-K, nor that I think K args are inherently unfair, but I am not comfortable voting for an argument I know nothing about.

- I hate Judge Kick Condo. Any, and I mean ANY, argument against it will be weighed if it's carried through, no matter how weak. If, by some stroke of freak luck, there is no opposition to this idea by the Aff, I will carry out my duty. I'll be unhappy, but I'll do it. It is NOT MY JOB to kick your arguments for you. I won't vote you down for reading it automatically, but please - as a 2N, there are better args to run.

- If y'all're making an email chain, include me on it. It should be stated up top, but here it is again anyway: aarush.jam@gmail.com

- I enjoy seeing someone get roasted as much as the next person, but please refrain from making personal attacks during rounds. If it's an exceptionally good one, you might get a pass or additional speaker points depending on how you're doing in round currently, but otherwise your speaker points will probably go down. Play it safe until you're sure you can absolutely decimate them in one shot.

- I have major RBFS. I promise I'm not mad. If I was mad, you'd know.

- In general, call me on my stuff. I'd be welcome to discuss an RFD with y'all, and I'll explain my reasoning, but attempting to argue my decision after round serves no purpose but actively lowering your speaks.

- First person I judge in a tournament to email me the OK I PULL UP capybara video (the full length one, not the original), a picture of flow paper, and your preferred G2 width and color for Neg in the body of the email as they enter the room gets a crisp high five, barring the violations mentioned above, as a reward for reading the full paradigm.

THIS IS WHEN YOU'RE TOLD OTHERWISE: WHAT FOLLOWS IS EXCLUSIVELY FOR CONGRESS:

- Same general rules of don't be mean as above.

- I really like it when you snarkily rebut another senator/representative, but if you do so please make sure you're snarkily rebutting their argument, and not just straight-up insulting them in round. If it's particularly funny, I may just let it slide, but you certainly won't be getting ranked higher for just roasting somebody on how they dressed. Poke holes in the bill and their speeches!

- While I have access to the packet, I have done no research on the topic. Treat me like I don't know what you're talking about, because I probably don't.

- If you cite a source that's just... terrible(think Alex Jones or the ever-ubiquitous "the times"), then you'll get a lower rank. If you get pressed on it and can make it sound believable, you'll get a better rank just for sheer nerve and for pulling it off.

- If you spread from the get-go in your speech I will not like you. You may still get ranked well, but know that it will not be happily. Spreading should only be done when you're trying to finish a sentence before time gets called, and even then only as a last resort. If you want to spread, compete in policy.

- If you egregiously butcher someone's name, AFTER THEY HAVE CORRECTED YOU, you will not get a good ranking. Take a gander at my name and guess why I have strong opinions about this.

- PO, do your best. As long as you're tracking precedence/recency, you'll probably be ranked(unless you do the above or everyone else in the chamber is just so phenomenal that they push you out of the ranks - a very unlikely scenario.)

- If you want clarification on your ballot, feel free to email me: aarush.jam@gmail.com , and I'll try to get back when I can and give whatever addtl. feedback you wanted.

Hope to see y'all in round!

As a PF judge, I weigh clarity more than speed. Evidences are only making sense to me if the debaters can connect them to the arguments through an analysis.

As a congressional debate judge, I weigh a little more on quality than quantity in participation.

For virtual debate, I am ok with muting video to make audio better only when debaters are having slow internet or technical challenges.

I want to see clash, argument, and discourse. At the end of the round you should completely disagree with the other speakers, but remember they are people and deserve respect same as you.

I do not give perfect scores because perfection is impossible.

Debate well

Any questions about how I judged, send an email to john.novack@und.edu (put like "debate question" or similar in subject line and I'll get back to you w/i 24 hours.

Put me on the email chain! eshaanpatel1@gmail.com

Hi! I'm Eshaan! I use he/him pronouns. I am mostly a traditional debater from Forest Lake High School. I have debated for 4 years. I have competed in every category so I am pretty well versed in debate spheres.

I am going to say this off the bat: I am not well-rendered in circuit debate. I can handle counter plans, disads, and that is it. If you plan on running deeper circuit cases (k's, theory), I would recommend not doing that because it will be hard for me to want to vote for you.

Stock

I am good with traditional debate. I need to see some heavy weighing and extending. Please do not make an extension and then not tell me why I should extend it. If it is a specific card, tell me what impact this holds and how this outweighs your opponent. I love framework debate so please interact with your opponent's framework.

***Winning framework does not mean you automatically have the ballot! Link and weigh under frameworks.

Counterplans/Disads

I am fine with these. Please do not run theory or K along with this. I am pretty open to condo bad arguments so take that as you will.

Kritiks

Please do not run these. I think it would be okay if you ran a very light K that is not super dense, but you need to do some explaining. If your opponent is easily confused by this, be diplomatic and take the time to clear things up in cross x.

Phil

Do not run this because I will not know what you are talking about lol.

Theory

I am not familiar with T at all. I do not like the disclosure bad cards many like to read so I wouldn't go for that card. If there is abuse in the round (which I will most likely be aware of), you can point that out and make args, but do not go in and tell me I am voting on this theory stuff because I won't.

Speed

If you are planning on spreading, not ideal seeing as we are virtual. Be accomodating of your opponent. But if you do spread, email cases to your opponent and I.

Other things to be aware of

Do not be racist, sexist, ableist, homophobic, transphobic, etc. It will tank your speaks and I will not be receptive to voting for you.

Signpost signpost signpost!

Give me 3-4 solid reasons why I need to vote for you. I am not going to pick that out of your 2AR or 2NR on my own. Leave enough time to list out a couple voter issues or else it will be hard for me to know why to vote for you.

When beginning prep time or starting a speech, make sure to let your opponent and your judge know when you are starting that. Do not just rush into it.

I award speaker points based off how well your strategy is on your rebuttal structures. Number your responses. That is one of the best ways to be clear and organized in your speaking.

Have fun! Make the debate enjoyable for your opponent and I. Please ask any questions before the round I am more than willing to answer them :)

What I look for in Congress is a debate that moves from solid and well researched constructive speeches to rebuttals that engage with the previous points and extend the arguments of your side. In short - clash is good. The quality and thoughtfulness of your arguments matters as much as your speaking style.

I am a head debate coach at East Ridge High School in Minnesota with 10 years of debate under my belt and 15+ years of speech coaching / judging experience as well. I love both activities, and I love seeing creative / unique approaches to them. I've sent several students to Nationals in both speech and debate categories for the past several years.

In 'real life' I'm an intellectual property attorney. I love good arguments in all types of debate. But I will NOT make logic jumps for you. You need to do the legwork and lay out the argument for me, step by step. I LOVE legal arguments, but most of all I love a good Story. Frame your arguments for me. Make the impacts CLEAR. (e.g. in PF / LD - WEIGH them.) Tell me how and why to write my ballot for you and I probably will!

Voting Values
I vote on topicality in any type of debate that I judge. If your arguments are non-topical, and you get called on it, they will be struck from my flow. Everyone got the same resolution / bills, that's what I want to hear arguments about.

I am NOT a fan of Kritiks - you got the resolution ahead of time. Debate it.

SPEED

THIS IS A COMMUNICATION ACTIVITY. Your goal is to effectively communicate your arguments to me. If you are talking too fast to be intelligible, you are not effectively communicating.

If you make my hand cramp taking notes, I'll be crabby. I am a visual person and my notes are how I will judge the round. If I miss an argument because you were talking at light speed, that's your fault, not mine! :)

Attitude / Aggressiveness

100%, above all, you are human beings and citizens of the world. I expect you to act like it. I HATE rudeness or offensive behavior in any debate format. Be kind, be inclusive. By all means, be aggressive, but don't be rude.

Public Forum: I am a huge framework fan. You have the evidence, frame the story for me. If you give me a framework and explain why, under that framework, your evidence means I vote for you, I will. Don't make me do summersaults to get to a decision. If only one team gives me a framework, that's what I'll use.

Re: Summary / FF - I expect the debate to condense in the summary / final focus - and I expect you to condense the story accordingly. Look for places to cross-apply. I do need arguments to extend through every speech to vote for them - but I do not expect you to reiterate all evidence / analysis. Summarizing and weighing is fine for me.
WEIGH arguments for me. Especially if we're talking apples and oranges - are we comparing money to lives? Is there a Risk-Magnitude question I should be considering?

Re: new arguments in GC/FF - I won't weigh new ARGUMENTS, but I will consider new EVIDENCE / extensions.

Re: Argument / Style - I'm here to weigh your arguments. Style is only important to the extent you are understandable.

I generally don't buy nuclear war arguments. I don't believe any rational actor gets to nuclear war. I'll give you nuclear miscalc or accident, but it's a HIGH burden to convince me two heads of state will launch multiple warheads on purpose.

Lincoln-Douglas: If you give me a V/C pairing, I expect you to tie your arguments back to them. If your arguments don't tie back to your own V/C, I won't understand their purpose. This is a values debate. Justify the value that you choose, and then explain why your points best support your value.

Congress: This is debate. Beautiful speeches, alone, belong in Speech categories. I expect to see that you can speak well, but I am not thrilled to listen to the same argument presented three times. I expect to see clash, I expect to see good Q&A. I love good rebuttal / crystallization speeches.

I DO rank successful POs - without good POs, there is no good Congressional Debate. If you PO well in front of me, you will be ranked well.

World Schools: This actually is my favorite form of debate. I want to see respectful debate, good use of POIs, and organized content. I've judge WSD at Nationals for the last several years and I do adhere to the WSD norms. Please do not give me "regular debate" speed - I want understandable, clear speeches.

She/her/hers pronouns

I did congressional debate for 4 years through high school. I was a national semifinalist in 2020 and I also got third at MN state tourney. I know how congress works which also means I want to hear y'all DEBATE!!!

Things to do:

- Debate

- Refute if speaking after the first cycle

- Ask questions well (no softballs, no statements)

- Have fun

Things you should NOT do:

- Be racist, sexist, xenophobic etc. (if you are, then you will automatically drop to dead last on my ballot)

- read word for word from your screen

- Be a jerk

Feel free to ask me questions if need be. If you want more feedback or have any questions - email me: prapthi09@gmail.com

Amanda Soczynski’s Judge Philosophy

A little about myself; I have been involved with forensics for 19 years as a student, judge, and coach. I am currently in my 8th year as the congressional debate coach at Edina High School. My background was originally in speech where I competed and coached. In High School, I learned policy debate as a class rather than competition on a local level, so I competed but not in a typical local circuit. I have been judging debate for the last 13 years, in all categories. I judged CX for the first 5 years and the last 7 years in LD, PF and mostly Congress. I graduated with a Mass Communications degree from University of Minnesota School of Journalism and a J.D. graduate from William Mitchell College of law in 2014. I work at Thomson Reuters on legal software & research, as a content expert. I really love congress, watching, coaching. I always try to strive to do my best! If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask. My goal is always to be an educator and help you succeed!

If for some reason my parli notes don't end up in your results packet, email me at amandasoc@gmail.com or amanda.soczynski@edinaschools.org. I will send you my google doc. I parli a lot and I always take lots and lots of notes and try to give RFD's when I can. If you don't get the link. Please ask, I put a lot of work into them. ????

I have a congress paradigm and CX,LD,PF one included in here.

Evidence / Citations / Warrants for all categories: *note - Statista is not a source, it's like Wikipedia, it's a congregation website not actually doing any of the studies that are on there. If you copy and paste the title of the stat you're looking at it will likely take you to the original source. Also the little (i) icon often will tell you where it can from. DON'T USE STATISTA as a source with me. I am a professional researcher by trade, so I care about citations! They matter and if they are from a source I don't know or if they're suspicious to me, I will google them.

Congress Paradigm:

General:

One thing to remember - judging congress is hard! It's just as exhausting for us as it is for you. We're trying really hard to compare a lot of people who have vastly different styles! I try to write as much as I can, but I spend a lot of time listening, so sometimes my comments can be lite at times. I'm working on that, the three mins go so fast. I'm hoping this will help shed some light on how I evaluate debaters.

When it comes to national level tournaments, at this point, almost everyone is a proficient speaker, so I really focus on the quality of arguments and ability to be flexible in round. Being a well rounded debater is important for me, especially as a Parli. I want to see a variety of type of speeches, and ability to switch sides, and flex to what the round demands. Make sure you are listening and not rehashing, if you're doing a rebuttal make sure you are extending or further attacking an argument.

I REALLY APPRECIATE A GOOD AUTHORSHIP OR SPONSORSHIP. Nothing is worse than judging or watching a semi-final round where there is no first aff, and having to take an in house recess immediately. Come prepared, have one. Spend the rest of your time doing great questions and defending your position there. I feel like people don't like to do this because they feel like they will be dropped. Rebuttals and Crystals are great, but there's a lot of them. If you can do this well, we'll know. It comes with the most amount of questioning time that if you know a lot about the topic you can show boat.

Linking: This is a debate skill you should have, you should able to link your impacts with others, link arguments together for rebuttal. Most national level congress debaters are great at linking within their own argument, but make sure you link and contextualize to the round. I want to see that they go together rather be a stand alone. That being said, contextualizing by: "I want to separate myself from the other AFF or NEG arguments", that's okay because you are still contextualizing within the round. Do not operate as an island in the debate, it's a good way to be dropped by me. Also remember, you can have great speeches, but if you don't ask questions, you're going to find your way to the middle of my ballot. It's a crucial part of debate.

Impacting:

THIS IS SO IMPORTANT. Again, at the national level, most people can impact to lives or economy etc. But what I find people aren't as good, is contextualizing the impact. Example: You tell me that thousands of lives are being lost in Yemen, take it one step further tell me what percentage of that population is being killed, or how that compares to another genocide for context. Make it hit home for all of us. Just giving generic #'s, sure it's the impact, but it doesn't show me the impact. Make sense? Remember I come from a policy background where pretty much everything leads to nuclear war.

Questioning:

Direct questioning is great, but make sure you're not too long winded or too brief, there's a nice sweet spot, where you have maybe a sentence or two question and answer. I've seen people basically run out the time by doing a really long answer, and I've also seen debaters ask such long questions that there's no way the opponent can answer. You only have 30 seconds, make it count.

Participation in Round:

Leadership is important. Remember, I'm comparing a lot of kids, participation with motioning and making sure that all students get to talk is important. This can help make up for bad presidency etc.

PO:

I almost always rank P.O.s in the top 5. It's a hard job, and as a parli, we appreciate good POs. A good way to get to the top 1/2 of my ballot as a PO. The round runs so smoothly I barely know you're there. You are able to solve issues of people not being prepared / docket issues. (This happens so often, time restrictions make things complicated. Especially since lots of tournaments have their own rules).

Mistakes happen, one mistake is not going to tank you. Continuous mistakes, or failing to help chamber resolve issues. This makes it harder. Fairness is also important, I notice when you pick your teammates repeatedly or if you always start in the middle of the room.

Inclusiveness - especially on the local circuit. I don't like parliamentary procedure used to limit people talking. It is also important to encourage those who haven't talked to go. Do your best to make sure the chamber is inclusive.

DON'T ALWAYS PICK YOUR FRIENDS FIRST. I know this happens. And it's easier to pick up than you think it is. Presidency means a lot in congress. Make it fair.

There's a reason I love coaching congress, it's a fun event!

CX/LD/PF Paradigm

General: As I’ve previously mentioned I come from a legal background. I am a “big picture” judge. I do appreciate the attention to detail, however, I don't like when it devolves into a debate that’s myopically focused on one thing. Make sure you take the time, especially in rebuttals to do a “birds eye view” of the debate. Remember, the rebuttal is the last time I hear from you before I make a decision, make it count. I appreciate good crossfire, and cross ex, specifically using information obtained in these for an argument.

Topicality: I like topicality, especially in varsity level debate. I think it makes a for a boring debate to have a non-topical aff. So it’s a pretty garden variety argument for the neg to make.

Critical Arguments: As I wasn’t a debater in high school, I don’t have the technical experience dealing with these arguments, however, I don’t mind critical affs on-face. Since I don’t have the technical experience, I appreciate all critical arguments to be understandable and explained properly. I catch on to arguments quickly, however I loathe having to have to fill in the gaps of an argument because its poorly argued. Make it logical, make it understandable. I generally dislike affs that are anti-topical or affs that critique the topic. I’m not saying I’ll never vote for a critical aff, whiteness aff, performance aff’s, etc, but its the one area where an affirmative is asking the most out of me as a judge. Again, I have less experience with these types of aff’s so extra explanation of sources and philosophies. For kritiks from the negative, I prefer ones that are topic-specific rather than K’s that are broad or philosophical. I’m pretty familiar at this point with cap k, neolib, fem, eco-k, anything outside of these again you’ll have to communicate more effectively as it is a bigger burden for me to decipher.

Theory: I don’t have the background in this, so this won’t be very successful with me as a judge. I overall prefer substantive arguments over theoretical or procedural arguments. My training in law, and my work, deals almost exclusively with substantive arguments, so I tend to prefer and understand those better. If you do decide to go this route, it must be very well done. My flow can’t be muddy, and the explanation must be very logical and understandable.

Speed: I have no problem with speed. I do ask two things. 1. Slow down enough on the tags so that I can understand them 2. Make your tags count. I dislike deciphering poor tags that do not tell me anything about the evidence. Keep tags like 5-8 words, long tags suck.

Post Round Discussion: Please be respectful, I don’t appreciate a “shake down” when I’m explaining my decision. I don’t do speaker points till after the round is over and all the debaters have left the room and I take decorum into account. I am a bit of a non-traditional judge and I do make a concerted effort to bring up constructive criticism and positive comments. Please take these comments as an opportunity to learn!

Speaking:

Try not to go too fast! I have been a debater, but it's been a while since I've flowed anything too fast.

If you don't speak clearly, I won't say anything during your speech. Instead I'll ask clarification afterwards.

Evaluating the Round:

1. For framework, I look at who wins the framework debate in general, who has an easier to use framework, and who's framework is easiest to understand.

2. I don't really care about values. If you have one, great! If you don't, no worries.

3. I'm okay with plan texts, however with counterplans and kritiks I'm not too fond of them. I like to hear good conversation about the resolution; however if your CP and Kritiks makes sense I will listen to it and flow it. If it's too dense/esoteric/difficult to understand I won't be as interested. My general debate philosophy is to have quality discussion and be inclusive. If your reasoning for running what your running is for shock value or to disclude your opponent then you probably shouldn't run it.

4. When deciding who wins, I looked to see who has a better overall story and who has the most desirable world. If you do a great job of painting a picture of what will happen if I vote for you, I'm more likely to vote for you. Weighing, voter issues, and clear speaking are all great ways to do this.

Other information:

Be kind to your opponents. I will drop speaks and will probably give a loss to anyone who is condescending or disrespectful.