Cogitare Winter Invitationals 2022
2022 — Online, CN
Public Forum Novice Division Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show HideExperience: I have been an active member of the debate community for the past 5+ years. I spent the first 3 of those years as a Public Forum Debater and the rest 2+ as a judge and a coach. On top of that, I have has some experience in other public speaking events including but not limited to Original Oratory and Model United Nations.
Judging Philosophy: 1) The most important one is that I firmly believe that the debaters should be 100% responsible in helping me understand the content of their case and blocks. It is NOT my responsibility to have any prior understanding of any resolution and debaters should not expect me to, either. This means, in order for you to win a voting issue, you have to explicitly tell me why and cite any relevant information that was discussed in a round. 2) Pay very close attention to the arguments mentioned in a round. You are responsible for reminding me what is the most important information in the round. If your opponents have dropped an argument, I expect you to take full advantage of it. 3) So long as an argument can be explained with logic and backed up with credible information, I will buy it. 4) K/T are permissible, but please bear in mind that the public forum debate was supposed to be a kind of debate that the general public can understand. Your K/T should also follow that philosophy. 5) Be careful with the language you use. Do not use any degrading or offensive language when describing an argument from your opponents. 6) I will not tolerate any abusive behavior. Debate should be an inclusive environment and participants should at all times hold themselves accountable to that standard.
Flowing: I prefer to flow in writing and I take flowing very seriously. My decision will be made based on flowing so the debater should be very clear with their speech delivery and structuring.
Speed: I am generally ok with speed but I prefer a paced delivery.
Roadmaps: General roadmaps are permissible. I expect it to be done within one or two sentences. Anything longer than that will be crossed off on my flow. No specific argument should be mentioned in roadmap and will thus be crossed off on my flow.
Frameworks: If you are going to introduce a framework, you should be prepared to explain it, extend it and debate it. More often than not I find debaters introducing one but not being able to extend it consistently.
Observations and Definitions: They go along the lines of frameworks. But for these two, debaters should also help me understand why they are essential for your case.
Evidence Check: I will allow it in moderation, but I expect all checked evidence to be addressed in speeches. If a piece of evidence was checked but not addressed, I will deduct your speaker points.
Crossfires: I listen to crossfires though I will not always flow it. I will sometimes highlight arguments or evidence that catch my attention on my flow. However, you should still highlight any information you want to me to put on my flow. I expect any crossfire to be a civilized discussion in which both sides take turns asking and answering question, which means absolutely no yelling or delivering a monologue of speech.
Summary: I expect summary speeches to focus primarily on addressing voting issues. This means your main focus should be put on giving me an overview of the previous speeches and crossfires, identifying your winning arguments and explaining them to me. Conduct weighing when necessary. If there was any confusion you need to address, summary is the time to do it. Only when you have explained all aforementioned information should you proceed with further rebuttal.
Final Focus: I do appreciate some pathos in Final Focus, though you should not rely on it to win a Final Focus. You should approach this with a similar strategy as you would Summary: identify the most important winning arguments and go over each of them; you need to present your terminal impact in this round during Final Focus and conduct any weighing when necessary.
Speaker Points: My average speaker points is 26, but it might vary from tournament to tournament. When allocating points I tend to follow the six general ideas (analysis, reasoning, rebuttal, crossfire, evidence and delivery). Any misconduct in a round will result in deducting points (i.e. not addressing a piece of checked evidence, rude behavior, offensive language, etc).