Jesuit Dallas Debate Invitational
2022 — NSDA Campus, TX/US
Public Forum Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show HideI am a typical PF judge. No real paradigm since PF is not plan or value driven. I like to see well developed arguments and effective speaking. I will listen to any argument as long as it is reasonable.
(she/they)
Who am I?
I am a social studies teacher the assistant debate coach. I mainly judge public forum and believe it is a positive space for open and healthy rhetoric. I hope you agree with my view that public forum is an event for the common person.
I am hard of hearing
I will be using a transcription aid on my phone to follow the round. It is not recording the speech and the transcript is deleted after 24 hours. Please, speak loudly and clearly for me and the transcription.
How I evaluate debate.
Treat me like a lay person who can flow. Use email chains, cut cards rather than paraphrasing, and avoid the use of debate jargon. I want to see clear defense, impacts, and links. I am a social studies teacher, so focus on your ability to use evidence and real-world understanding. I will vote on understanding of the issue, evidence, and explanation.
### Speeches
If you don't talk about it in summary, I'm not evaluating it in final focus.
### Cross
Don't use crossfire as an opportunity to bicker. I don’t pay attention to cross. In my opinion, cross is meant to examine your opponent’s case and clarify any questions. Seeing people using cross just to dunk on the opponent is not useful.
### Spreading
I am new to debate and English is not my first language so I cannot judge spreading - nor do I believe it has a place in *public* forum. I need to understand your argument and your ability to adapt to your audience will be judged.
### Theory
If your opponent does any of the Big Oofs and you read theory about it, I'm inclined to think you're in the right.
I don't want to listen to K debate - I will be honest and admit I do not know enough about debate to evaluate them fairly (except for the aforementioned exception)
Big Oofs
These are things that will make a W or high speaks an uphill battle. If you read theory against any of these (when applicable), I’m inclined to side with you. Avoid at all costs.
1. Misuse Evidence. Know the evidence and cut rather than paraphrase. Use evidence that is relevant, timely, trustworthy, and accurate. Use SpeechDoc or an email chain to keep each other accountable and save time.
2. Be late to round. Especially for Flight 2. I understand the first round of the day, but please try your best to be in your room on time. Punctuality is a skill and impressions are important.
3. Taking too long to ‘get ready’ or holding up the round. Have cards cut, flows setup, and laptops ready to go before the round. Especially if you’re going to be late.
4. Not timing yourself. Self-explanatory.
5. Not using trigger warnings. Debate is better when it’s accessible. Introducing any possibly triggering topics or references without consent is inaccessible.
6. Doing any of the 2023 no-no’s. Homophobia, misogyny, transphobia, racism, ableism, etc. is a one-way free ticket to a 25 speak and an L for the round.
The Respect Amendment
This section was added for minor offensives that rub me the wrong way. No, I will not vote on these. I might dock speaks for not following these - depending on severity.
I want to forward a respectful, fair, and accessible environment for debate. The Big Oofs are a good place to start. But I hope that every debater would…
1. **Respect their partner.** Trust that they know what they’re doing.
2. **Respect their opponent.** Don’t belittle them or talk down to them. Aim to understand and give critiques on their argument, not to one-up them on something small.
3. **Respect the judge.** All judges make mistakes and lousy calls - especially me. We can respectfully disagree, and that’s okay. However, not a single judge has changed their mind because you were a bad sportsperson.
I mainly did Congress and DX during high school.
PF:
I am fairly traditional for pf. I won't automatically vote you down if you run more progressive tactics like theory or CP, but don't expect me to be able to follow along unless you're really willing to explain it.
I value weighing and explanation a lot. If you card is solid but you don't explain mechanisms or how it works, I'm not going to be convinced.
Tell me how to weigh the round.
KEY NOTE TO CONGRESSIONAL DEBATERS (can apply to any event really)
I'm seeing too many points where the tagline is pretty much "russia bad" or "china bad." That is not an argument. If you just say doing x will help China or Russia without clearly extending your impact beyond that, I'm not going to take the point seriously and your ranks will suffer. I understand that current rhetoric has made China out to be an adversary and you are reflecting that as reps and senators, but I expect more developed arguments here.
Baylor '25
Colleyville Heritage '21
Email: shahinadebates@gmail.com
I did policy (and some LD) for 4 years in high school and am currently debating at Baylor
Try to make the subject of the email chain: "Tournament - Round # - School 1 (AFF) v School 2 (NEG)" or something similar
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TLDR
I'm not going to do work for you. That being said, you should write my ballot in the 2NR/2AR and tell me what I’m voting on -- this means these speeches need to be heavy on judge instruction.
Evidence quality matters a lot more than evidence quantity -- a more technical and organized debate is easier to vote on than a card-heavy debate.
Clash is good. Line by line is good. You should interact with the debate you're actively in, don't just spread through your blocks and move on.
DAs:
I start the round with a 100% presumption of a risk of the DA. This means I need impact calc... Do the risks matter? Do they outweigh the aff's impacts? I don’t know, you tell me.
The same 5 affs and disads on every topic gets boring and you know it -- a good impact turn debate is much more interesting to evaluate than people just reading ev at each other.
Tech>Truth is probably the most applicable here.
Counterplans:
You need to explain why it solves better than the plan. Don't just say "counterplan solves" and expect me to vote on it. Same thing with perms too -- "perm do both" isn't an argument.
Well thought out PICs/PIKs are fun and strategic when debated correctly
I will not judge kick the CP unless explicitly told to do so.
Kritiks (Top Level):
I was a K debater throughout high school and now at Baylor, so I'm probably a good judge for you if you want to go for the K
I've debated/researched a lot of Asian Identity, Pessimism, Logistics, and Racial Capitalism in the past and some Settler Colonialism/Grove and Psychoanalysis currently if that is important to you.
Try not to go for things you're not familiar with -- you're missing out on critical substantive debate when you're reading something just for the sake of it
K v Plan:
Sometimes K debates get muddy if there aren't specific links to the aff, so you should probably find some sort of link that is specific enough to the AFF (or at least attempt to contextualize it). That being said, I’ll vote on a generic link if it's insufficiently answered or dropped.
Tell me what the world of the alt looks like; I'm not going to vote for an alt that I can't understand. Same thing with the perm.
I think the aff gets to weigh the plan, but the neg should also get residual links of reps to the plan -- I can be convinced otherwise, though.
K Affs:
I literally don't care what kind of aff you read -- I have experience reading straight up policy affs to K affs. However, most of the Affs I have read/cut have been K Affs -- this is the kind of debate I'm more used to.
I think your Aff needs a topic link at the very least, unless you have a cohesive answer as to why you don't have one.
Topicality/Theory:
Topicality debates are my favorite when done well. I love good T debates and hate bad T debates. Don't make this a bad one.
I really like nuanced T debates against policy affs. I think a lot of these affs get away with WAY too much than they should (like fiating away literally everything) which is why I really appreciate fun little arguments like extra T and effects T being impacted out in the 2NR.
Case lists + examples of ground loss + a good interp = a good T debate.
Topicality is a question of models of debate, not THIS debate. I would rather you go for an education or portable skills/testing impact as opposed to procedural fairness.
I think that condo is probably the only theoretical reason to reject the team, even then, please come prepared with robust explanations of your theory arguments. For all other theory arguments, you should err on the side of over-explanation and more judge instruction.
FW v K AFFs:
Even as a K debater, I'm still going for FW against K affs in 75% of our neg rounds, so I'm comfortable/familiar with both sides of this debate.
I think a lot of teams have trouble with TVAs and SSD, both on the aff and the neg. Your TVAs should have clear plan texts and SSD arguments should be able to solve the content of the aff as well as the 2AC's answers to framework.
I tend to err neg on the fairness question absent specific aff answers as to why FW can resolve aff offense via the TVA/SSD debate.
I think presumption is SUPER underutilized in these debates. K affs are usually very vague in terms of explaining the advocacy/solvency and I think that presumption is probably a winning strategy against K Affs 9/10 times. A 5 minute 2NR on presumption would probably be my favorite (and most preferred) type of 2NR in these types of debates.
PF
Set up an email chain before the round.
My thoughts about PF are basically Judy and Katelynne's paradigms put together -- look there if you have any lingering questions. Email me if you're still confused.
I think Dave Huston's thoughts on progressive PF are probably a good answer to a lot "Ks" that PFers try to read. I'm not against progressive PF BUT you have to make a strong case for why you're reading what you are. Don't tell Dave that I agree with him (he doesn't need to know that I think he's right).
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Notes:
I appreciate sass and assertiveness (don't make this boring), but be respectful. That being said, use your critical thinking skills to decide what you want to read in front of me.
Other than disclosure, I won't make a decision based on anything that occurred outside of the round -- I probably don't know you and I don't feel comfortable evaluating the character of a person that I don't know.
If you're interested in applying to/debating at Baylor, please reach out! You can send me an email or find me in person if you have any questions.
I debated PF for 3 years at Dulles High School and graduated in 2021.
Above all, make debate a safe and educational space for each other. Don't be sexist/ableist/racist/etc, respect pronouns, and use content warnings. Feel free to message me on Facebook or email me (rana.duan@utexas.edu) if you ever feel unsafe in round. If there are any violations in the round that hurt/exclude anyone, I will intervene as necessary.
I try to be a tabula rasa judge and I'm generally tech > truth! Your best bet is to treat me like a flay judge. Write my ballot for me (tell me what arguments to prioritize, why I should vote for you, etc.) because I want to minimize judge intervention as much as possible or else we will both be sad :((
I have little experience with progressive arguments and I much prefer substance debates (see the flay judge comment), but I do not believe it is my role as a judge to tell you what you can or cannot read, although I do have preferences that raise/lower my threshold for responses.
Feel free to ask any specific paradigm questions before the round.
Just be cool and have fun! I'll try to adapt to what makes you feel most comfortable.
Background: I retired from Coppell High School a few years ago where I taught Public Forum, Policy, and Lincoln Douglas. I am assisting Coppell at the present time.
Judging Philosophy: While I don't think anyone can be truly tabula rasa, I try to ignore my bias as much as possible. I will listen to any argument you want to make as long as you have good evidence, and qualified sources. I expect weighing of impacts and any other reason why your argument is better than your opponents. Your strategy is your own business but if you expect me to vote for you I have to have strong impacts and comparisons to your opponents arguments that make sense.
Style: I have to hear you to flow your arguments. Because of this virtual world we are forced to live in you have to be clear and make sure you are being heard. I will say "clear" once. I prefer moderate to a little faster speed. Again, remember you are debating via computer.
I have judged Public Forum a lot this year.
f
(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."
Elaine Granoff is a Westwood High School parent who works in developer relations during the weekdays.
Hello, I’m a former debater that has competed in UIL, TFA, and NSDA tournaments at both the state and national levels. I’m ok with any arguments as long as they make sense and are warranted.
Participated in PF Debate and IX all 4 years at Richardson HS
Now attending Southern Methodist University
General Paradigm: Honestly as long as you explain your arguments well and tell me why they matter (I'm big on impact calc.), I'll flow any case. This means clear warrants and links. I like to have my job be easier so tell me right from the start what I need to vote on and what stuff is important in the context of the round. If you don't do that I'll be forced to become a policymaker which means I may default to impacts that you may not have focused on. Summary and final focus speeches should be mirrored. This means the arguments that you flesh out and extend are the same ones you should be speaking about in the FF. Don't bother bringing up dropped/dead arguments near the end of the round. You are just gonna be wasting my time. When extending args, include the (warrants, links, and impacts). There is no excuse to not do this considering summary speeches are 3 minutes now. Again for me focus on Impact Calc. Make sure you give me voters on why your args matter, and why you win.
Speed: I can deal with moderately fast speed as long as you are clear. Slow down on taglines and for warrants that are crucial to your case. I will say clear once if I cannot understand/keep up. (Do not try and policy spread. I will not flow.)
Keep your own time. I will be keeping time as well.
I may ask for evidence at the end of the round
During CX , feel free to go all out. The more clash the better , and be well mannered during CX. Do not be afraid to go at it , but do it respectfully
Feel free to ask me about anything I may not have covered.
Don't speed read. If I can't understand you, I can't vote for you. Please stick to stock issues.
pkagine1@jh.edu
southlake carroll ’22 | johns hopkins ’26
general:
12x career bids, 2x toc qual. 6-1 vs bea culligan. truth = tech. arguments = claim + warrant + impact. be nice. dont cheat. good debating can overcome preferences.
i actively coach for the debatedrills club team so i will be familiar with the topic. click here to access incident reporting forms, roster, and info regarding mjp's and conflicts.
good for:
- any policy strategy
- infinite conditionality
- substantive topicality arguments
- framework (t-usfg not phil)
- topical k affs
- ks that disagree with the plan
- disclosure theory
- <3 impact turn only 1ncs
okay for:
- substantive philosophy
- decent theory arguments
- most kritiks
- planless affs
bad for:
- philosophy with no cards
- stupid theory
- tricks
- ks that don't change topic to topic
- "the role of the ballot is to [vote for the k]"
- nebel
Competed PF for 4 years at Lovejoy High School, qualified for state 2018-2019 and 2019-2020. I also competed in College Policy last year at Indiana University. I can understand some speed, but I have not judged in months and we are online so higher speeds may not pick up well over computers. For security I would reccomend just emailing me speech docs, helps me not miss anything
I am tech over truth in that I will prefer a mediocre argument with 0 defense on it over a strong, realistic contention with 2 unanswered pieces of terminal defense.
If you want it in final focus (PF), and want it to be weighed, it should be in your summary as well. Also PLEASE DO IMPACT CALCULUS. Tell me on what scale is your impact either more likely, impactful, or far-reaching(scope).
Repeating your link chain is not extending the argument... Unless the opponent drops it completely, you must still explain what this drop means in the context of the round and why it can, or should, win you the round.
(Update for online, most of this doesn't apply as you are looking at a computer screen. Just try to keep it persuasive.) I know from experience, we all want 30's in the speaker point category, here's how you get one from me. First, be conversational, speaking like a robot in every speech and staring at your flow will not get you good speaks from me. Second, in cross, do not get bullied around and ask 1-2 total questions, but obviously be respectful and if your opponent asks for a question after you ask one, just give it to them. Third, your ability to weigh and crystallize your argument in the later speeches will come as a factor in your speaks, do not make me decide which argument is more important, tell me which one is the winner, and what specifically happened in the debate that makes that the case.(Drops, unanswered turns, non-unique's, etc.)
I am a PF-er at heart, so if you run Plan-affs, K's or other non-standard argument types.
If you have any other questions on any in-round preferences, feel free and ask me in the round.
Email is glarson3434@gmail.com
I am a parent and lay judge.
Please don't speak too fast. I will try to listen to every arguments.
Please weigh your in summary and final focus.
I will vote for whoever is more persuasive.
Be nice and good luck!
I'm a former HS debater for Coppell. Please include me in the email chain: emaan.majed@gmail.com
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Make sure you weigh your impacts. If your argument is important, extend it, weigh it at the end, and it will be on my flow. If you want me to weigh on an argument, it should be mentioned in every speech. I'll judge based on the arguments carried forward on my flow.
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Also, make your impacts tangible based on the context of the round. If your arguments are very theoretical that's fine, but you should be able boil it down and tell me concretely why they matter in the real world, especially if the other team is doing that.
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I can follow speed, but to a point. I don't think PF is the place for extreme spreading. Quality & consistency of arguments > Quantity.
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If you're arguing non-topicality, the burden of proof is higher on you to prove that. I enjoy topicality debates but you have to prove what you're saying, provide warrants, show cards etc to back up big statements.
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Have your evidence ready to share!
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Lastly, be civil. Debate can get people fired up, and I enjoy an interesting cross-ex, but don't be super rude to your opponents. Don't interrupt every answer before they finish a sentence, etc. This won't make or break the round for me, but it doesn't reflect well on you. I don't flow cross unless a major concession happens, and the opposition can still win that point back in their next speech.
I would prefer that the participants start an email chain and include me @ teacherpack@gmail.com
I am the Director of Analytics at McLeod Software. Previously, I was a high school mathematics teacher (retired after 25 years) and began the debate team at several of the schools I taught at. My daughter is a senior currently debating in Varsity PF and she asked me to become a judge. I am well-informed about the structure and rules of PF. Make sure you speak at a speed where I can follow your contentions. If I don't understand what you are saying, I will not flow your contentions which could lead to deducted speaker points. As such, spreading will not be tolerated as per the NSDA guidelines for PF. If you are a spreader, I encourage you to debate in either Policy or Lincoln Douglas. I have prior knowledge about the current topic, and I value truth>tech - I call cards. All debaters should be respectful and courteous with opposing teams. Please don't consider it prep time while your opponent is delivering their speeches. I flow the Cross-ex. and it is used in voting and in awarding speaker points.
Judging experience:
Samford University debate series
Hoover Bucs Tournament 2021
Jesuit Dallas Debate Invitational
Skyhawk Smackdown
In PFD, I want to see organized cases with debaters directly clashing with opposing arguments. I want to hear sources with dates, in case I want to refer to them at some point in time. I would prefer to hear a few well-developed arguments instead of a dozen arguments that are only mentioned once in the debate. I don't think theory arguments are appropriate for this format. I expect final speakers to sum up why their side won the debate (voters). I expect all of the debaters to speak at a rate in which a normal human being could hear, process, and understand. I coached for a long time, and I really enjoy hearing sound, logical arguments.
1. PLEASE SPEAK SLOWLY!!
2. Be polite in cross
5. Overall, just make smart arguments, while maintaining a good presentation. Please be respectful to your opponents.
6. If you add me to the email chain I will bump up your speaker points by 0.5, if you send cases I'll bump it by 1.
7. I'm a traditional parent judge.
my email is roongtafrisco@gmail.com
please put me on the email chain: kateshadman@gmail.com
^^please send docs, don't dump an entire speech into the body of the email
Colleyville Heritage HS (TX) '20: 4 years PF (tfa and nat circuit)
University of Oklahoma '24: 4(ish) years policy
pronouns: she/her/hers
tl;dr (pf)
do whatever you want, i vote on the flow. your barrier to speed is your opponent (if they can’t handle it don’t do it). please warrant and weigh your arg and terminalize your impacts — if you do this you will most likely win. 2nd rebuttal should frontline, if they don’t defense is sticky in 1st summary. if it’s in final it needs to be in summary. have good evidence ethics.
come in pre flowed and send the email chain at the start time
for roadmaps: just tell me which piece of paper to have on top
tl;dr (cx)
my only cx experience is in college, so I'm not as with it as the other college policy debaters
I don't care what you read, I'll listen to pretty much anything. write my ballot for me, I love judge instruction (especially on the K, implicate it to the round plss). I'm biased for a good policy round but don't get me wrong, I love a good K (most familiar with set col, security, and cap). pls label each piece of paper in the 1NC. regardless of the argument, make sure to extend the link (really hard to vote on anything in the 2AR/NR if it's missing) and implicate your args.
come in pre flowed and send the email chain at the start time
for roadmaps: just tell me which piece of paper to have on top
welcome to my paradigm:
*before your speech, pls just tell me what piece of paper to start on and I'll follow you from there (cx: just give me the order of the sheets of paper)
Warrant, Weigh, Win- it's that simple.
- it needs to be on the flow, I need clean extensions and weighing if you want me to vote on it
(please weigh. please, please, please weigh)
- for it to be an extension, I need claim, warrant, and impact
- tell me why/how you're winning and why your argument matters (write my ballot for me)
- terminalize impacts
- please come in pre-flowed and prepared to debate (i want to start the round asap)
- speech doc/email chain should be sent at the start time of the round (or earlier, just not later)
- signpost, I want to write down all of your wonderful arguments (in the right places)
- speed: i don't care how fast you go, know your opponent (if they can't handle the speed -- don't go fast, if they don't have experience flowing off speech docs, this isn't the round for them to learn), if you're going to go sicko mode, give me a doc, otherwise, I flow on paper if I'm not writing stuff down, slow down
pf specific:
- quality > quantity
- tech > truth
- default util
- I don't like calling for ev. you should be doing the ev analysis yourselves, ie. compare the ev between speeches then say it in the speech (I won't vote on it if it's not on the flow)
rebuttal:
- 1st rebuttal shouldn't be doing case extensions (unless it's an ov, fw, or weighing you want flowed on your case), i already got the args from case, it's just repetitive
- 2nd rebuttal: pls frontline offense
summary:
- if 2nd rebuttal frontlines, defense is not sticky
- if 2nd rebuttal doesn't frontline, defense is sticky
- please weigh (pls, pls, pls)
final focus:
- final focus should mirror the summary (if it's not in the summary it shouldn't be in final) (weighing should also be the same)
- PLEASE DON'T GO FOR EVERYTHING, collapse and narrow down the debate
crossfire:
- start whenever y'all are ready, don't wait on me
progressive args (pf)
I would rather not but, do whatever you want, but, it's extremely hard to do the work you need to do within the pf time constraints and the bar doesn't lower just because it's pf. if you are going to do something funky, one of the biggest mistakes I see is not implicating the K (or whatever) to the round, make sure you do work on page comparison otherwise, it's really hard to see how the argument is relevant to the round. tell me how to evaluate the arg in the context of the round.
"progressive args don't belong in pf" isn't a response (unless you have a beautifully curated block on this arg), you need some legitimate ink on the flow
again, I would rather not judge progressive rounds in pf, if you want to, you run the risk of losing the ballot a lot easier than if you debated traditionally
evidence:
don't do anything stupid and don't take forever to pull up evidence, evidence should be cut properly and cited with a working link, if your opponents are doing something bad/sketch with ev make it a voting issue--I am very likely to vote on it (if it's legit)
personal thing about ev- evidence shouldn't be paraphrased when it's introduced into the round, you should be reading from cards, obviously this gets lost in the back half of the round (which is fine)-- if you are going to paraphrase make sure you have the cut cards available and that you are representing them correctly
Email is wwatson.debate@gmail.com
I hate paraphrasing and believe it is the cause of bad debate.
World schools peeps- speak with passion and give a clear delivery. Order/signposting is your friend.
No matter what event you are in I expect disclosure once you break a case... if you read disclosure theory I want your case on the wiki even if this is first time breaking
I vote on an offense defense paradigm for the most part- I am a past PF/CX debater from Colleyville Heritage. My first two years I did CX so I will most likely default to stock issues unless someone reads a framework. I enjoy weighing. The easiest way to get my ballot in any event is to pick one argument then weigh it against your opponent's arguments. If you pick one or two arguments to go for in final focus or the rebuttals in policy, I am likely to vote for you, especially if your opponent decides to go for everything.
Recent update- weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh.weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. weigh. Literally, start your rebuttal with "regardless of responses, our case outweighs their case because ______"
Also- please please please please please tell me the why. Explain why things happen.
Theory/topicality
I hate theory/topicality being read as a time-suck. I will default to reasonability so if you read T be sure to give me a reason not to. Unfair observations and burdens will most likely get you low speaks, especially if I feel that you are trying to win in a cheap way. Run these at your own risk...
Speaker Points
I will go on a scale between 27-30, with a 28 being average. High Speaks are given to people who keep track of time, speak well, show up early, and are relatively nice. I am cool with sarcasm when appropriate, just don't be rude. Being early to round will get you higher speaks. If I am on a panel with a parent and you have to adapt to them I will understand.
Event Specific
Policy Specific/LD: Flashing doesn't count as prep, I'm down for reasonable theory, and open CX is fine. If you give me a speech doc and then spread through it tell me where to mark the card and which ones to skip. Slow down on taglines and anything else you want me to flow...
PF Specific: I want the second speaking team to try to answer the first rebuttal. New in the 2 gets lower speaks instantly for both partners AND I won't vote on it. If you want high speaks be clear, weigh, and have the FF mirror the summary.
Remember this is a game and y'all want to do this. Act accordingly. BTW I will yell clear!!!
This is Parth, here's some tips for my dad as a judge:
1. Speak slowly and explain your arguments well. He's a pretty easy person to read, so it'll be pretty obvious if he doesn't understand your argument. Signpost so that he knows what you're talking about. He'll take notes, but he's not going to be flowing.
2. Don't run tech arguments. He won't intervene, but he is most likely not going to vote off your 17 card link chain into thermonuclear war.
3. Weigh. Tell him why your argument matters more; he's a lot more likely to vote for the debater that writes out his ballot for him.
4. Be respectful. It probably won't affect the decision unless you're a massive jerk, but good speaks are always nice to have.
5. He's a pretty well informed guy, so don't bring up not-that-logical points without backing it up with evidence.
Overall, just make smart arguments, while maintaining a good presentation, and make his decision as easy as possible.