CX/LD/PF: Stock issues, solvency, and addressing opponent's case. Also, prefer if competitors do not spread.

My pronouns are they/them/theirs. Please do not call me ma’am. I know it's a southern respect thing but it's icky to me. If you need a title for me, I unironically like being called judge, Judge Contreras is fine, just Contreras works too. My students call me Coach, and that's also fine. Teens, please don't call me El (that's one southernism I stand by!)

Affiliations:

Head Coach and social studies teacher at L.C. Anderson High School in Austin, TX since 2022.

San Marcos High School- I competed all four years in high school, I did extemp, congress, and UIL Policy.

Speech people!!!!

I will not rank a triggering performance first. I just won’t do that. There’s no need for you to vividly reenact violence and suffering at 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning (or like, ever). Triggering performances without trigger warnings will have their rank reflect the performance. Use your talent to tell a story, not to exploit pain. Also, normalize giving content and trigger warnings before your performance!! Give people a chance to take care of themselves. If I'm judging your round and another competitor triggers you, you are welcome to quietly get up and walk out during their performance. I will not dock or punish you for this, your mental health is the most important. Please take care of yourself and each other!! I'm in a "you should do a different piece" mindset on this issue and if you can't reenact that narrative without exploiting suffering, something is wrong.

Debate comments (PF, LD, CX, World Schools)

Just disclose. I know LD's norm is sending 30 minutes before round, I think that's a great norm.

In PF, send case docs. Don't be secretive with your cards. Your opponents should not have to disclose a disability in order to get you to send docs. I also think sending a speech doc for rebuttal and summary is a good norm. This is not (necessarily) something I'll down you for but it could be, if you're intentionally being harmful.

I will evaluate anything as long as it's warranted and extended. I won't make arguments for you, tell me why and how you're winning. I'll vote tech over truth unless the truth overwhelms the tech. Sticky defense is so fake, extend your arguments if you want to win them. Unextended = dropped. Proper extensions, tag and cite, claim, warrant, impact!!

Both partners need to participate in grand cross. PF is a partner event! No, you can't skip grand cross. I'm listening to cross and waiting to hear the questions from cross brought into round.

Please do a www.speechdrop.net room, it is a fantastic site, and I will definitely pop in and read cards and cases if you have the speechdrop room set up. Always send case, always send speech docs. I am #notsponsored, just a fan! My email is down below.

Spell out all the abbreviations you use in round. Don’t assume I know what you’re talking about. People know what the UN is, the EU, etc, people may not know BRI, any random trade agreement, etc.

speed: You don't have to go at a conversational pace but nobody should be full-on-spreading in PF. When you're off the doc, you have to go slower. I try not to flow off the doc but I will use it as support if you're faster than I can follow. I'm not in a debate round to read off your case doc, I'm in round to hear YOU. Slow down on taglines, analytics, authors- basically anything you think is vital to my decision.

PF-specific comments:

• I'll vote on anything, not a huge fan of theory, not the best judge to evaluate theory
• i love frameworks! they should be well-developed. blippy frameworks don't win framework debates
• extensions are not just saying "Extend my contention 2", you must extend the card tag/cite and the claim, warrant, and impact! Let me hear the link chain again!!
• speaker points- these national tournaments keep giving me a rubric to use and I'm trying to apply that to all the realms I judge in. Points start at 28 and I adjust from there. Points will only be below a 27 if you did something harmful or rules/norms were horribly broken.
• PFers, please read cards with actual taglines. "furthermore", "and", are not taglines. A tag is the thesis of the card, it is the summary of the content. I've been seeing a lot of that lately- it's lazy and bad practice.

LD-specific:

• I don't judge LD often, not as comfortable with LD speeds but I'll use the doc
• I will evaluate k's, as long as they're well-developed and defended. i know theory is normative in LD and I'll do my best to evaluate it fairly and wisely. probably not the best judge for your theory debates
• consider me pretty lay, generally pretty trad. Read me a standard, read me a value, slow it down!!
• I know this event is generally more technical but again, don't assume I know what you're talking about!! spell out all your abbreviations, provide definitions (especially if you're reading a K), do your best to make the round and the space more accessible!
• pref me slightly better than a lay judge
• I come from pf so arguments such as kritiks and theory will make less sense to me butI’lltry my best to evaluate them

email- theedebatecoach@gmail.com

and

docs.anderson@gmail.com

please <3

This message is specifically for competitors in debate events; I value respect in the round. Please don’t be rude in front of me. It doesn’t make me laugh, it reminds me of uncomfortable/unpleasant rounds where my competitors were rude to me or my partner. That has no business in a debate space, please don’t bring that energy into a round. This goes double for people in privileged positions who make women and gender/racial minorities uncomfortable or unsafe in the debate space. Not only will I chew you out and tank your speaks, but I will also let your coach know about the harmful practices. it's on all of us to make the debate space inclusive and equitable.

TLDR- be nice, be kind, and be self-aware.

Congress comments:

I did congressional debate all four years I competed in high school, I really enjoyed it and love watching a good Congress round. I have a lot of respect for a strong PO and usually reward that with a higher ranking. POs that struggle with precedence, maintaining decorum, and Robert's rules of order will have that reflected in their rank.

Clash, clash, clash! Put the debate into congressional debate.

There's a line between sassy and rude. Tread it carefully.

General comments:

something that I genuinely appreciate in every event is a trigger warning before potentially triggering performances and speeches. controversially, I care about all of your experiences in a round and would like to give everyone an opportunity to opt out. If you’re a spectator or a competitor in a speech room, you deserve the opportunity to step out. If you’re competing in a debate round, you have every right to ask your competitors to read a version of their case that excludes the triggering material. As a judge, I reserve the right to step out/turn off my camera for a moment before you give your performance.

In a debate round, I’d appreciate that triggering material cut out. I don’t think intense/graphic depictions of human suffering add much to your overall case anyway, I’d rather you extend cards in that time or frontline or do anything besides exploit human suffering.

If I correct your pronunciation of a word in my ballot, it’s genuinely to educate you. It’s hard to know how to pronounce a word you’ve never heard aloud, just read (looking at you, Reuters!)

I have a degree in history, with a focus on Latin American history. Keep that in mind when discussing issues focused on Latin America. Feel free to ask me for a reading list to better understand conflicts, revolutions, and government suppression (including US intervention) in Guatemala, Argentina, Honduras, El Salvador, and more.

If you are spectating an event and are fully texting in front of me or attempting to talk to/distract a competitor, I’m going to ask you to leave. I will not warn you once, I have a zero-tolerance policy for disrespecting competitors or interfering with competition in that way.

Most basic things like good sources, logical links, and cohesive speaking are important to me. The most important thing is that you are authentic and genuinely care about the topics you are talking about. I really enjoy genuinely passionate speeches.

Congress Judge-I want to hear evidence in your speech. Your opinion does not usually impact the speech very much. Try to address issues brought up by other members of the chamber. Try to avoid rehashing positions unless you are giving very late speeches. I am fairly hard on the PO. I expect them to know the procedures and pay attention. Slowing the chamber down a bit to avoid mistakes is better than going quickly and making errors that get called out.

Speech Events-I am not a speech judge normally. I will fill in for OO, Info, and Extemporaneous Rounds as needed. Anything beyond these speech events, I have not judged or have less than 3 rounds total in my life. I will look towards the piece as a whole. A typical selection that is POI, HI, DI, or Duo/Duet will mean very little to me as I really do not have the background to judge if a piece is a great standard. As such, I will be looking for pieces that make me feel like the performance was a selection or segment of the real life situation that is unfolding. I have watched a few pieces performed that were so real, the actor could have been the author of the selection.

I judge Congress often and am always looking for excellent delivery, effective eye contact, and original thinking/clash that will set the speaker apart from the pack. I really search for the speakers who really make me want to listen to them. Speakers need to ask relevant questions, answer questions quickly and completely, and be respectful of the rest of the room. I expect the PO to run a tight ship and keep tabs on speaker order and frivolous questions. POs can be ranked first in the room, depending on the quality of speakers and PO. Evidence is crucial, but a clear speaking voice with passion, wit, and grace goes just as far.

For Congress, I care most about content of a speech. Too many debaters have unclear or missing links. If you don’t follow a link chain through, it will be very hard for me to see your argument as good or thoughtful. I don’t care about a base system- if you want to try for a third speech when everyone else is getting two, I will not penalize you, but an extra speech will only place you above someone if I’m struggling to decide who did better. For speaking style, I don’t judge off of how you sound, but detest rudeness and like professionalism. The real US Congress doesn’t start a speech with a joke or trite phrase, so neither should you. IF YOU USE A CANNED INTRO OR PHRASE I WILL NOTICE AND BE UPSET. Also, I don’t think any news site is good evidence and prefer you use actual research- not just reporting. 9 time out of 10, a news source will cite something else, and it's lazy citationing on your part to not cite the original source.

When you clash- you cannot just tell someone that they're wrong. You have to either weigh your impacts against theirs and tell the chamber why your impact is preferable, or prove their link chain is incorrect. The latter your speech is, the more clash I expect to see. If you're giving constructive speeches late into a round, I will not rank you well, if at all.

For POs- I want to interject as little as possible (someone asking for tournament rules, like about hard stops, does not hurt you). How smoothly the round runs is your main job and will reflect on your rank. If there are a lot of recesses for people to write because they are not prepared, then you will do worse. You should manage the round and that includes making sure people will have future speeches.

rileydwing@gmail.com

Debate:

I am a firm believer that this is your debate not mine. As a result I view the round how the debaters ask me to.

The few things I request is professionalism, fairness, and politeness. This stops being an educational experience when you sacrifice any of those 3 things for a win. I ask that all debaters be polite and do not partake in any sort of shady behavior.

I am more than ok with spreading if I have the case in front of me.

Lastly write my ballot for me, tell me why you won. I can make connections mentally, but I vote off the flow so vocalize everything.

Speech:

Speech is equal parts argumentation as it is presentation, I believe that both are imperative to a high ranking. I will always prefer average speaking and great analysis to average analysis and fantastic speaking. If you have both expect a high ranking.

I am a parent judge. If I don't understand your argument, I will not vote on it. You can spread during the 1AC and 1NC (as long as you send the full doc) but please slow down during the 1AR, 2NR, and 2AR. Please be very clear and considerably slow because I have hearing issues.

Please use SpeechDrop for sharing cases.

TLDR

1 - Advs/DAs/CPs

Please be very clear and explicit about your link chain - do impact calculus and weighing against your opponent's arguments.

3 - Theory/Topicality

I will only vote on theory if there is actual abuse within the round. I will also vote on topicality if the negative proves why the aff is not topical and why that is a bad thing for debate.

3 - Kritiks

I understand generic kritiks such as capitalism and settler colonialism. Please do not read confusing kritiks that I will not understand. I will try to evaluate them to the best of my ability but there is a very unlikely chance that I will vote on them unless they are explained extremely well.

4 - Philosophy

Please do not read dense philosophy. If you do read philosophy, please explain it very well or there is a high chance that I will not understand it and I will not vote for it.

Strike - Tricks

Congress

For introductions, please try and avoid canned introductions. I want to hear what you have to say on a bill that you are passionate about, not what sounds clever.

When citing evidence, be sure to elaborate as to why that evidence is useful and actually link it to your arguments. Reading your evidence is not clash, identifying opposing arguments and using evidence to poke holes in other arguments is clash.

Be professional and polite to your fellow competitors. Debate is an educational experience where you can develop good life skills, establish connections and friendships, and speak on issues that you are passionate about. While this is a competition, it is not worth it to be hostile or disrespectful to your fellow debater who is also passionate about an issue.

Clash is a must in late round speeches, I do not want to hear a constructive speech 8 speeches into a bill.

While questions are important and show that you are engaged in the debate, please do not waste questioning time by asking a 20 second question with no real question. Make sure questions are clear, concise, and further the debate.

I generally rank POs favorably if the round is running smoothly and you are doing your job.

Congress:

• Respectful clash is a must!
• Looking for organized speeches with some kind of evidence (real-world impacts; examples/references, context/background).
• Prefer conversational, dynamic speaking style with good eye contact.
• Don't be afraid to let your personality shine through your speeches; that keeps the round interesting!
• Make your questions count; well-thought out questions that help bolster your side of the debate could make a difference in where you are ranked.
• Always looking for speakers who respond to questions directly; Answers should demonstrate you have done your research on the topics.
• It's always good to point back to the bill or amendment during the debate; remind us of the heart or spirit of the legislation.
• Original thinking and creativity is a bonus!
• Stay engaged during the round, and demonstrate you are actively listening to the opposing side's arguments.
• Effective POs will receive a high ranking as long as they demonstrate leadership and keep the round running smoothly. Don't let the room get stuck, and help ensure everyone gets a chance to speak.

Interp Events:

• The best intros represent your own voice/perspective, provide a little background to prepare us for what we are about to watch and set up the proper mood/tone for the selection.
• Looking for well-developed characters, complete with consistent voice, stance/posture/placement, mannerisms and facial expressions.
• Multiple characters should be distinct, and transitions between characters should be polished and smooth.
• Creative blocking/movement/use of folder is definitely a bonus! But be sure the movement has purpose and does not detract from the performance.
• Please don't forget to have fun with your performance and don't be afraid to let your personality shine through the selection. That will always help bring the story to life.