Palm Classic
2022 — NSDA Campus, CA/US
Congress Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show HideI competed in LD four years and qualified to the CHSSA state in Policy. Therefore I will always be flowing the rounds I Judge!
In LD I look for these things:
-cross examination- I like a good cross examination because I find it clarifies what both the AFF and NEG really are arguing. I take note of the questions being asked and if theres any contradictions they tend to come out in cross examination 95% of the time.
-Definitions:if you define something, do not have 4 definitions for 1 word. Select one that is strong. Having multiple definitions is confusing.
- Theory:if you run theory, argue it well. I have judged rounds with theory in them and do not have an issue with it.
- Make your voter issues known in the last speech
-K affs--> I am okay with, however if you are argue with a K aff, use evidence that STRONGLY supports your case and the resolution.
-Make sure what you are arguing is topical to the resolution.
If you spread make it known prior to speaking.
Hello! Some background on me: My name is Kino Farr, and I am a UC Berkeley Rhetoric graduate.. I did speech & debate for 6 years before transferring to university and have been judging since I was in high school, so I'm an experienced judge, don't worry.
Onto my paradigm:
Keep the debate theory out of this - I know how it works, but I focus on points and flow.
Enjoy yourself - I want to see that you're having a good time, otherwise, it's no fun for anybody. I want everybody to have a good time, so just take a deep breath and relax your shoulders before you speak. It'll be okay and you'll do great.
I think that's it? Cool
oh wait one more thing… NO SPREADING! I want you to PRESENT to me, NOT READ.
About Me:
I competed in congressional debate for 4 years. I competed at NSDA Nationals 3 years in a row. I competed at TOC. I have some of the most POing experience on the national circuit. I was NSDA's highest-ranked debater in IL.
What I Look For:
Prove to me that you are not here to grab points but instead to further the debate.
Prove that you have valuable knowledge and insight to offer your colleagues.
Meaningful clash that is both convincing and based on fact.
Show respect for one another and refute by name.
I take POing very seriously, be efficient and knowledgeable about procedure (Specific to each tournament).
Creative and original introductions!
Hey everyone! My name is Fidencio Jimenez, and I am currently the head congressional debate coach for Modernbrain Academy. I have competed in a variety of individual and debate events during my time as a competitor in the high school and collegiate circuits of competition. My general approach to judging follows as such:
Email for document sharing: fidencio.jimenez323@gmail.com
Congressional Debate
Make sure your claims are linked and warranted with evidence. If you don't make it clear how your sources and information connect, you just sound like you are listing sources without contextualizing them in the round. This usually results in speakers presenting impacts that were not explicated thoroughly. I do not flow arguments that fail this basic requirement.
Incorporate the legislation in your arguments. I read the topics before each round, make sure you do too. If your points do not connect with the actual plan (that being I don't buy that the topic viably solves the problems or creates claimed harms), I will not flow them.
Keep the debate topical. If the link between your claims and the bill is obvious there isn't much to worry about here. If you don't think the grounds for the link between your harm/benefit are clear, justify yourself by explaining what mechanisms in the legislation make it so that your claims come to fruition. This makes it so you avoid mistranslation and prevent judges (myself included, it can happen to anyone) from overlooking/misunderstanding something in the topic.
For presiding officers, I ask you to be firm, deliberate, and clear in your instructions. The more a PO demonstrates the ability to take control over the round to avoid complications, the more they will be rewarded.
EX: Round does not have anyone who wants to speak so you call for recess, call for splits, and urge people to swap sides or speak.
Policy/LD/PUFO/Parli
Spreading- I do not mind if you spread. However, if your speed makes it so you become audibly incomprehensible I will clear you. Spread at a pace you can actually handle and perform stably.
Counterplans (for where it is relevant)- I am not a fan, too many times it seems like the plans do not tackle the benefits provided by the proposition. If you can link a counter-plan that establishes a harm, run it, but if it doesn't tackle their actual case, you are better off avoiding it.
K's- Same thing as counter plans. There is a time and place but if the K is not extremely fleshed out or justified, I will not consider it. There has to be substantial real-world harm clearly established. Make sure to weigh why the educational value of the discussion is not worth the consequences it creates.
IE's
I evaluate based on performance and the educational value of a competitor. For instance, if someone has a cleaner performance, but does not have a topic that is educationally substantive or as critical as someone with a slightly less clean performance, the person with the more substantive topic will get a higher mark. This is why for interpretation events I ask your thesis is made clear within your introduction and for events like impromptu and platform speaking to avoid surface-level theses or topics.
I am a debate coach at Little Rock Central. Please put both on the email chain: jkieklak@gmail.com; lrchdebatedocs@gmail.com
I believe that my role is to listen, flow, and weigh the arguments offered in the round how I am persuaded to weigh them by each team. I will listen to and evaluate any argument. It is unacceptable to do anything that is: ableist, anti-feminist, anti-queer, racist, or violent.
I think debates have the lowest access to education when the judge must intervene. I can intervene as little as possible if you:
1) Weigh your impacts and your opponents' access to risk/impacts in the debate.
2) Actively listen and use your time wisely. Debaters miss each other when distracted/not flowing or listening. This seems to make these teams more prone to missing/mishandling arguments by saying things like, "'x' disad, they dropped it. Extend ____ it means ____;" yet, in reality, the other team actually answered the argument through embedded clash in the overview or answered it in a way that is unorthodox but also still responsive/persuasive. Please be clear.
3) Compare evidence and continuously cite/extend your warrants in your explanations/refutation/overall argumentation. Responses in cross that cite an individual warrant or interrogate their opponents' warrants are good ethos builders and are just in general more persuasive, same in speeches.
4) You fully explain your perms/responses to perms. I am less persuaded by blippy arguments (especially the perms), and I am more persuaded when perms and are either: explained in detail or carded.
5) "Be mindful of your maximum rate of efficiency" (AT). Speed isn't typically a problem, but do be realistic about how fast you think I can type your responses that you want me to flow verbatim (perms, blippy disads, etc.) and not reconstruct.
Debate has changed the way that I believe about certain policies and policymaking. I believe that debate can do this for other people too.
I value persuasive judge instruction, and I would like my RFD to reflect key moments/lines in the 2AR and 2NR. Line by line is important.
In debate, I value true debating. I look for clash and actual consideration of competitor's arguments, not just person after person reading their pre-written, un-customized cards or speeches. I also value communication. If you talk too speedily and I cannot hear distinct words, those arguments will not be accounted for in my judging. This is not to be mean, but if I can't understand you, I can't really judge you. Finally, you will be polite and respectful. Yes, I want clash, but nothing personal. Debate your opponent's points, not their personality or appearance or whatever else. Honestly, that would just make me more sympathetic to them, so don't do it. And PLEASE, no lingo. Say real people words. I do not care enough to learn every swanky fancy term for something you could just call by name, so if you use debater's slang around me, I just plain won't know what you mean, and that's not good communication.
IEs are a little different. Of course you will not be clashing, so those parts don't apply. Still, I expect you to speak clearly, and I expect to not. be. yelled. at. I don't mean I don't want to be lectured, because extemp speeches and oratories are literally lectures, but do not raise your voice at me. Get passionate, vary your tone, all that good stuff, but don't literally yell. It's kind of the same principle, if I can't hear you well and you're just being mean, I'm gonna have a harder time giving you first place.
And for POs in Congress, please, be chill. I'm not saying be lax on the rules, but in my opinion, an amicable (but not lazy!) chamber is the best kind. I don't like being yelled at. As long as everyone gets to speak and you run the room fairly, you'll be good in my book, and you'll be satisfied with your rank on my ballot.
I just want y'all to be nice to each other. You're all overachievers who choose to put on a suit and debate politics on the weekends for fun, there's no need to get nasty or cutthroat or anything l like that. You're a lot more similar than you are different, which is a good thing! Just be cool, and I'll be cool too.
Good luck, all!
Current Director of Debate at the University of Northern Iowa #GoPanthers!
high school = Kansas 2012-2016 (Policy and LD)
undergrad = Emporia State 2016-2020 (Policy)
grad = Kansas State 2020-2022 (Policy Coach)
edited for the youth
Updated 8/2/24
Policy Debate
Yes, put me on the email chain. Squiddoesdebate@gmail.com AND pantherdebatedocs@gmail.com
if you send the cards in the body of the email you lose 5 speaker points. Attach a doc. I hate PDFs.
Virtual Debates --- Do a sound check before you start your speech. Simply ask if we can all hear you. I will not dock speaks because of audio issues, however, we will do everything we can to fix the audio issue before we proceed.
SEND YOUR ANALYTICS - if you want me to flow every word, you should send me every word you have typed. I am not the only one who uses typed analytics. Don't exclude folks from being able to fully participate just because you don't want to share your analytics.
The first thirty seconds of the last rebuttal for each side should be what they expect my RFD should be. I like being lazy and I love it when you not only tell me how I need to vote, but also provide deep explanations and extensive warrants for why the debate has ended in such a way to where I have no other choice but to vote that way.My decision is most influenced by the last two rebuttals than any other speech. I actively flow the entire debate, but the majority of my attention when considering my decision comes down to a flow-based comparison of the last rebuttals. If you plan to bounce from one page to the next in the 2NR/2AR, then please do cross-applications and choose one page to stay on. That will help both of us.
I think debate should be an activity to have discussions. Sometimes these discussions are fun, sometimes they aren't. Sometimes they are obvious and clear, sometimes they are not. Sometimes that's the point. Regardless, have a discussion and I will listen to it.
I don't like to read evidence after debates. That being said, I will if I have to. If you can make the argument without the evidence, feel free to do so. If I yell "clear", don't trip, just articulate.--- If I call for evidence or otherwise find myself needing to read evidence, it probably means you did not do a good enough job of explaining the argument and rather relied on author extensions. Please avoid this.
Your speaks start at a 30. Wherever they go from there are up to you. Things that I will drop speaks for include clearly not explaining/engaging the arguments in the round (without a justification for doing so), not explaining or answering CX questions, not articulating more after I clear you. Things that will improve your speaks include being fast, being efficient with your words, being clear while reading evidence, demonstrating comprehensive knowledge of your args by being off your blocks or schooling someone in cross-x, etc. If I significantly hurt your speaks, I will let you know why. Otherwise, you start at 30 and I've only had to go below 26 a handful of times.
my range is roughly 28.7-29.5 if you are curious for open and higher for Novice because I love novice debate
Prep time, cross-x, in-between-speeches chats, I'll be listening. All that means- be attentive to what's happening beyond the speeches. If you are making arguments during these times, be sure to make application arguments in the speech times. That's not just a judge preference, it's often devastating.
I like kritikal/performative debate. I did traditional/policy-styled debate. I prefer the previous but won't rule out the latter. <---this is less true as I judge more and more high school debate but it is still true for college debate.
General Tips;
have fun
slow down when reading the theory / analytics / interps
don't assume I know everything, I know nothing in the grand scheme of things
don't be rude unless you're sure of it
Ask me more if you want to know. Email me. I am down to chat more about my decisions in email if you are willing.
LD
- theory is wild. i don't know as much about it as you think I do
- tell me how to evaluate things, especially in the later speeches because new things are read in every speech and its wild and new to me. tell me what to do.
- I love the k's that are in this activity, keep that up.
Congress
I reward clash. If you respond to your opponents in a fluent, coherent manner, you will get high points from me.
I am not the most knowledgeable on the procedures of Congress so I don't know what tricks of the game to value over others. But I'm an excellent public speaking and argumentation coach/professor so I mostly give points based off of the speeches than the politics of the game - i.e. blocking others from speaking, switching/flipping, etc.
For P.O.'s --- I reward efficiency and care. I feel like some P.O.'s take things super seriously in order to be efficient but they come off as cold and unwelcoming in the process. P.O.'s who can strike a balance between the two get the most points from me. I don't keep track of precedence so you gotta be on top of that. I don't time speeches, that's on you as well. I just vibe and look for clash.
I am a parent judge who has been judging congress at a local, state, and national level for about 6 years.
PARLI
I am often selected as a parliamentarian for prelim rounds. As a parliamentarian, these are my top issues:
- Adjust to the flow of the debate. You may give me a fantastic speech, but if it has nothing to do with what others have said in the debate, I cannot rank it high. I love dynamic rounds where a lot of things are happening and everyone adapts quickly to the round.
- Similarly, I love dynamic cross-ex. I want to hear a lot of questions and answers. Don’t ramble on. Don’t yell over each other. It’s okay to interrupt if someone is going on too long, but don’t scream. If someone is talking over you incessantly, don’t escalate — they already look bad and it’s a win for you. At least in my book.
- As a parli, I love a chamber that can run itself. Help each other out! In this event, you have to collaborate with each other to compete against each other. If you sabotage each other or get in each others’ ways, that will always reflect on the quality of the round. I reward constructive and productive leaders in the round. That being said, don’t try to domineer the “politics" of the chamber.
- As a parli, I don’t give detailed feedback for each individual speech. I try to give you actionable advice based on what I see across all the rounds. I will use your speeches as examples.
PRESENTATION
- I pay a lot of attention to delivery and presentation.
- Good delivery is necessary to get your point across! I don’t judge it on a rubric. It’s just a critical component of actually communicating your argument. Often, competitors make unique or nuanced arguments — I absolutely do appreciate it, but you have to work extra hard to communicate that argument clearly to your judges.
- iPads are OK. If they hurt your presentation, I’ll mark you down for poor presentation. If they don’t, no problem.
- No laptops. You won’t get a rank from me if you speak off a laptop.
CONTENT
- I like structured speeches. I’m just a parent judge. Don’t lead me along a wild goose chase. If you have some kind of round-winning impact at the end of your speech, I want you to preface it at the beginning before you jump right into the content.
- All speeches in a round are equally important, from the sponsorship to the last in a round. You can win my 1 speaking from any point in the round. For example, if an early speech is essential to the round, I will reward it more than a later speech even if it does have more refutation/adaptation etc.
- Late round speakers who are repeating or rehashing arguments don’t get ranked well.
- I don’t like short speeches. 3 minutes is already so little time to engage in a debate that is 90-120 minutes long. Use your time and use it well! I consider anything under 2:30 a short speech and will probably mark it on your feedback.
PRESIDING OFFICERS
- Please please please elect someone who knows how to do their job. I’ve seen people who are perfectly capable of POing pressure someone who has no idea what they are doing into POing, and then the chamber is awful for the next two hours. Don’t do that to me.
- Don’t “backseat PO.” Yes, correct the PO for substantive mistakes like precedence/recency slip-ups, but don’t be a smartass. Don’t get in the way of chamber business. Correcting technicalities will slow us down and that can often deny people a chance to speak.
- POs have to be assertive and play at least some kind of role in leading the chamber.
- A good PO will always get a breaking rank from me.
Have fun! Don’t take yourself *too* seriously.
Parent Judge
I am a lay judge. My scoring criteria are:
1) Arguments - how strong are arguments, how well they are developed and supported by evidence.
2) Delivery - how compelling, fluent and practiced it is vs. reading from a script.
3) Engagement - how engaged is a debater in taking and giving POIs, attacking weak points of opposition and defending own arguments.
I have judged HS and MS debate for 4 years now, so I have am familiar with the inner workings of Congress and PF. Some things I look for:
Clash and Refutations- As the round develops, there needs to be more refutations/analysis of the debate as a whole. I don’t want a repetition of points and want you to engage with other senators
Rhetoric/Speaking: I need to be able to hear you properly. Speak clearly and at a reasonable rate. I like emotion and rhetoric in speeches, but make sure your arguments are sound too
As always, be respectful of everyone, especially during cross-ex. Things can get a little tense in cross-ex, so just be professional you’ll be alright.
I am a lay judge. Please go slowly, and make sure all jargon and terminology is crystal clear. I look for coherency in your argument and speech, and I value argumentation over all else. Please be engaging as possible, and use rhetoric efficiently. As for argumentation, I enjoy the introduction of new rounds not yet considered. Make sure you are laying your claim, warrants, and impacts clearly on the table. They should connect effortlessly.
For PO’s: be nice, fair, and do not make mistakes! I would like the round to be as smooth as possible. Know your stuff.
I am a lay judge. Be sure to explain any terms or acronyms that is specific to the topic. I will be looking for an organized argument and analysis presented in a clear, concise way. I am looking for a good balance of depth and breadth of argument. I am also looking for how completely each point is refuted.
Don't assume that I won't vote for a crazy argument just because it is "crazy." (You might be able to convince me to blow up the moon if you can show some benefit and if it goes unrefuted.) Spend the effort to refute those and move on.
Use spreading at your own risk. Because I will be looking for some depth of how each point is argued, choosing quantity of points over quality of the argument is a negative to me. However, kudos if you can provide substantial depth to a good subset of (3 or more) points.