I am a current high school speech and debater with experience in parliamentary debate, interp, impromptu, and am familiar with most events.

DEBATE PARADIGMS:

Off-time roadmaps are appreciated, and I am fine with mild spreading. I want to hear logical contentions, and for you to explain the reasoning behind your contentions with as much context as possible. I should not be confused by your standpoint or by what you are addressing. In other words, explain your arguments to me like I'm a five-year-old.

I value tech over truth arguments. Regardless of whatever you say in your point (unless it's offensive), I will go along with it! I believe that in the case of such arguments, it's up to the other side to disprove any claims made.

SPEECH PARADIGMS:

I look for speeches with minimal filler words/hesitations, and meaningful body language. To me, having an engaging speech is what matters most. For interp, I look for pieces with significant blocking, vocal variety, and skillful emotional portrayal.

SOME GENERAL DETAILS:

Timing: I would recommend that you time yourself, but I'm more than happy to provide time signals if needed.

Conduct: I expect you to be respectful to your opponents. I will reduce speaker points if you are disrespectful to anyone.

+0.5 speaker points for any time you make a reference to rubber duckies when speaking.

Most importantly, I want you to have fun! Good luck with your rounds!

Debate

• Don't thank your judges excessively before or after rounds. I understand you're trying to show respect but we can skip all the pleasantries. I won't dock you points, but please don't do it in the round.
• I don't care how fast you speak as long as you enunciate. I will flow but it's up to you to signpost to make sure your case is coherent and to summarise all your points.
• Tech over truth
• +1 speaks every time you add ducks to your speeches
• I'm not strict on time. I would rather have quality over quantity in terms of the argument. Don't ramble on to fill the time I do not care.

Speech

• I have dabbled in POI but I'm a debate person, not a speech person so let me know if there are any nuances that I should be aware of. I do have an understanding of most speech events.

Hey, y'all! I'm Varun and I am an open division Public Forum debater from Sunset High School, Oregon! I have participated in debate for three years, with two of those years in Public Forum and the majority of one year spent in Parli. I've dabbled a bit in speech as I spent my freshman year participating in Impromptu.

Here are some general paradigms:

1. Please make sure to speak at a reasonable speed. This doesn't mean to try and articulate and enunciate on every word, nor is it an invitation to spread (read super fast) at 300 words per minute; instead, please try to find a happy medium that allows for me to get the gist of your points down without me missing anything crucial. Not only will spreading hurt your chances (as I can't vote on points that I miss), but it will also result in fewer speaker points.

2. I am a typical tech > truth judge, which means that I will take note of whatever you say, regardless of my personal opinions on that matter. However, it is your job to convince me that your position on the topic is correct, so if you don't do this then unfortunately I can't flow this through.

3. Signposting. Please make sure to signpost before or during your speech, making sure to tell me what points you will be talking about next. This helps me to stay organized during your speech so that I know what you're talking about when. For example, don't begin by talking about your opponent's first contention then immediately move onto your own contention without telling me you are doing so. Use transition words such as "moving onto our first contention". If it helps, you are more than welcome to use off-time road maps.

4. I encourage you guys to time yourselves, just in the interest of you guys being able to get all of your points across and me not having to be the bad guy and cut you off in the middle of your speech. Timing yourself gives you a good idea of how you're pacing yourself, so if you've used up more than half of your speaking time and aren't even on your second point yet then you should probably start to speed up. It also means that I don't have to cut you off mid-speech, which, let's be honest, makes us both feel bad. However, if you're on your last sentence and about to wrap up your speech, then I'll give you an extra 5-10 seconds if need be.

5. Most important: no derogatory language. If there is any support or advocating of things such as racism, sexism, etc. then that's going to look very bad on you. If you're a debater, it will result in you getting no speaker points and if you're doing speech...well, I'm not sure what's going to happen yet >:) A similar principle applies to using rude, offensive language toward anybody, regardless of who they are. In general, do not use derogatory language because it hurts other people more than it hurts you; be respectful.

Debate Specific:

1. Be nice to your opponents. I like it when there is clash, but don't be overly vicious when responding to your opponents' points. I like to abide by the rule "attack your opponents' points, not your opponents themselves".

2. Talk about the "so what?" If you've made a point against your opponent's contention that's all fine and dandy, but just sum it up with a statement about why that point has significance. A small statement like "for this reason, my opponent's first contention doesn't stand", or something like that. A similar thing applies for people doing their summary speech.

3. Framework/weighing mech. If you're using a weighing mechanism or framework, then make sure to tie your contentions back to your weighing mechanism.

4. DON'T bring up new points in the last 2 speeches of your round - I will not flow them. Bringing up new points  in your voters/final focus speech isn't fair to your opponents since they haven't had time to digest it and therefore can't respond to it.

5. FINAL FOCUS: In your last speech, please don't forget to touch upon points about why I should vote for your team. Refuting points that your opponents brought against you in the previous speech is fine, but make sure to tell me why you've won the debate. Try to use some combination of the typical voters (flow, impact calculus, timeframe, probability) to convince me why your points outweigh your opponents. In this sense, you're essentially helping me write my ballot.

Public Forum:

1. Make sure that you cite evidence. Evidence backs up any claim that you make in a contention, so it's key that you have some to support your points.

2. On a similar note, I allow and even encourage asking opponents if you can see their cards. However, if there is any incriminating evidence in the card, it's your job to mention that in the next speech.

3. I do not flow cross ex. If you manage to poke any holes against the opponent's side in cross ex, then please bring it up in your next speech so that I can flow it.

Parli:

1. I generally enjoy good plans vs. counterplans debates, they tend to be fun. You're not absolutely required to use plans or counterplans, but it does tend to make the debate more interesting in my opinion. That being said, please make sure to tie your contentions back to the plan/counterplan and also make sure they're topical.

2. I encourage you guys to ask questions about each other's cases. Remember that you can ask questions at any time during your opponent's speech. If the question reveals some major flaw in your opponent's case, then please make sure to talk about it during your speech though.

General Speech Paradigms:

1. This is my first time judging speech events overall. I've done impromptu before but nothing else. Whatever speech event you are doing, please make sure to have a clear-cut outline to walk me through your points. It also helps to have points that flow directly into one another, but that isn't necessary, just as long as you outline each of your points for me.

Hi! I'm Daniel Lee, a senior at Sunset High

I've been doing debate for two years and I'm experienced in pf, and can kinda cross-apply to other debate events.

I take real-world issues pretty seriously, as in if anything racist/sexist/homophobic is said I will be stopping the round.

I can take spreading, but if your opponents request you to slow down or if they say "clear!" you should slow down. If you continue, at best your speaks get dinked at worst I drop you if your opponents just cannot comprehend what you're saying. Go crazy for fellow spreaders. It's probably good courtesy to ask before the round though, just to be sure.

DO NOT TAKE 2 MINUTES TO ANSWER A QUESTION IN CROSS!! This is my biggest pet peeve, and if you want high speaks, you will need to answer questions concisely. I understand that every question is a pointed question, but you don't need a summary speech in order to dispute it. Although if you still do it, I won't drop you, I'll just be sad.

Defense for me is NOT sticky, you need to bring something up every speech if you want me to flow it through safely. If your opponents point it out I will drop it.

I don't flow cross, but I really like it so I pay pretty close attention.

I am super inexperienced with T's, K's, and trix, but I more or less understand K's and I will buy T's if there's actually something worth running a T for (sexism, spreading, rudeness, abuse of time/prep). I'll buy trix if you buy me a car.

I am a tech > truth and I'll try to be tabula rasa as much as possible. If you tell me the moon is green I'll buy it until your opponents say literally anything about it.

Add me to the email chain, I will be calling for cards if there's ever a dispute and I will be checking evidence! So stay strapped with the proper, cut cards. If it looks ugly and is just a massive text dump with a link I will read it but will be very sad.

If your opponents are inexperienced don't angle shoot/bully them. PF is tough but stomping a team because they don't fully understand sticky defense or are stuttering in cross isn't what should happen. Be nice to new teams, if you try to win off a technicality or intimidate them to throw them off I won't buy it.

If opponents abuse going 2nd I will drop their points/pre-rebuttal so you don't have to bring it up. You will need to bring up lack of evidence though, I assume things have cards unless you tell me otherwise.

Hi, I'm part of the Sunset Speech and Debate club, and I've competed in PF for three years.

I can flow most everything but make sure you speak slow enough so that any listener can understand.

NO SPREADING. Don't be rude/antagonistic.

I'll listen to cross but I won't flow it so if something important happened make sure to bring it up in your speech.

IMPACTS are very important, it's hard to vote for a side that tells me good things will happen but doesn't quantify. Also while I am relatively tabula rasa and tech over truth, it's still hard for me to buy contentions that are wildly unrealistic like nuclear war.\

Defense/Offense is sticky.

Signposting and road mapping are appreciated so I can keep track of where you are in your speech.

Jargon is fine, but don't go to a point where your opponents can't understand what you're saying.

Hey There! My name is Ehan Masud. I'm currently a sophomore at Sunset High School, and I'm looking forward to the debate!

Since I know tournaments can be pretty stressful and scary, I'm going to reassure you guys that I am not going to murder you if you lose your round.

Here are a few things you will need to know if you want to win me over.

1. Repeating yourself is going to lose some serious points. There is a difference between a summary and repeating yourself to spread, so keep that in mind
2. Speak with confidence! Even if you feel like you are going to lose, keep talking like this round is the easiest round ever.
3. Have fun! Speech and Debate shouldn't be so stressful and scary, even though it can be. Respect your opponents, your teammates, and most importantly, yourself.

DEBATE:

Good:

• Signpost
• Be Clear
• Ask argumentative questions.
• Explain why your points flow through and why your opponent's points do not.

Bad:

• Don't be TOO mean (Unfortunately people do not like mean people so don't be mean, I guess. BUT a little bit of banter is accepted and welcomed, and I won't mark you down for it. BUT LIMIT IT)
• Don't shout to get points across. You shouting just explains to me you have no idea what you're saying.
• Basic etiquette must be respected (do not interrupt, do not communicate to your partner too loud while your opponent is speaking, etc.)

Create an entertaining debate with limited banter! I enjoy arguments and conflict, so I want clash in points not definitions.

Hello!

I did speech and debate in Oregon in high school from 2019-2023. I primarily focused on parliamentary debate, but I tried out Public Forum and Lincoln Douglas as well, and will be familiar with the conventions of your event. Feel free to use whatever jargon you please, so long as a) it strengthens your argument by allowing you to be more concise, and b) a reasonable person would expect your opponent to understand the jargon you're using. A good rule of thumb is that if a 2nd year open debater can understand your argument, I'll probably be able to understand it too.

I will try my best to remain tabula rasa, but like anyone else I have my biases, some of which I may not be aware of, but I will always be moved by persuasive argumentation. I will be keeping a (hopefully) good flow, but my notes can only be to the quality that I understand your argument.

Disclosure

While I personally believe in disclosure, OSAA rules don't allow me to discuss rounds with you during the tournament. However, if you want my flow sheets, or have any questions about my ballot after the tournament is over, feel free to contact me at my email: bryson@petterborg.com.

I promise you aren't being a bother, especially if you go to a smaller school where opportunities to get feedback can be sparse.

DEBATE: No spreading please!!! Present your case loudly and clearly, and have good organization. Signposting is helpful. Keep a respectful debate, and explain examples if you’re going to bring them up: for example, if you use a historical event as evidence, give a brief summary of what it was and how it supports your contention.

I will judge the debate on both the flow / who had more solid and defended arguments, as well as speaking and structure. Just be confident and take a breath if you keep tripping up!

Have fun :)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FpFGDeqryYVR3kgXKDVaegBbB0W77I0uUJeb3kpLLus/edit?usp=sharing

Hello, speechies and debabies! I am a current high school speaker and debater and my pronouns are she/her/hers. I compete in a wide variety of events including Public Forum, Parliamentary, Prose, Poetry, Impromptu, and ADS.

Debate:
Tabula rasa- assume I am coming into the debate with zero knowledge and explain everything to me, even if it seems like common sense. Off-time (or on-time) roadmaps are appreciated. Fast speaking is completely fine with me, but make sure you have super clear signposting. I want to hear exactly what argument you are addressing. I am a flow judge and most of the time, I will take tech over truth, as long as you provide me with evidence and a strong link. Weighing is probably the most important thing you can do. Tell me exactly why I am voting for your arguments over your opponents' arguments. I will mark you down for over-aggression and rudeness- I want you to attack your opponent's cases, not them.

Speech:
For platform-speaking events, the thing I most want to hear is structure. I need a thesis and a clear structure and signposting in your speech. Good speaking pace, articulation, and eye contact will also help your ranking. For limited prep events, I want clear, complete sentences. If you need to, take a pause but don't try to continue and just "um" your way through your speech. In Interp, I am looking for clear storytelling with a variety of emotions.

In General:
Speech and Debate is meant to be a fun, educational experience for everyone. I will not tolerate discrimination or rudeness and you will be marked down for those kinds of behaviors. Have fun, do your best, and show good sportsmanship. Best of luck to everyone!

Background:

I am currently a Hight school student competing in Open Public Forum and Prose for Sunset High School. I've been a debater for 5 years and counting. I started competing in Open Public Forum at the beginning of 2018 and I did speech events throughout these last three years, but debate is my focus. My pronouns are He, Him, and His

Enough about me...

General Approach:

Civility: I will absolutely not tolerate disrespect, discrimination, rude behavior, or anything that harms down your competitors, judge, or audience. We are here for educational purposes and to have fun. I will vote you down as this behavior inherently inhibits learning and enjoyment of this sport. I welcome vigor and passion in your arguments, but that does NOT allow you to target the people in the room just because you don’t agree with them.

Role as Judge: I try to come in as a judge under the framework of tabula rasa--blank slate. I do my best to limit any interference on my part (the only exception is a violation of civility as mentioned above) as I know how frustrating it can be as a competitor. Therefore, if you want me to vote on something or make an argument with complex links, you need to tell me and explain the links of the argument. I am not going to come in with any assumed knowledge, so if you are arguing on "common sense" you still need to do the leg work of what that argument entails. I will not do the work for you in making and furthering your arguments. On your ballot, I will give suggestions of how to make your arguments better, but I will not factor that into my reason for decision. I AM A FLOW JUDGE. I will vote off of what is on the flow, and I will flow anything you say as long as you tell me where on the flow you are (look to next section).

Organization: This is key to effectively communicating your arguments. PLEASE use off-time or on-time roadmaps (I don't care which, just tell me which one you are doing), signpost, use tag-lines, list your number of responses/links/impacts, etc. This makes it easier for me to track and flow your arguments, so when I am making a decision I am looking at all of the arguments you made in comparison to your opponents.

Importance of Impacts: Impacts are the reasons your arguments matter!! Vocalize them PLEASE. Why does your argument matter? Crystalize these during your last speeches.

Speed: I don't care if you talk fast. I am comfortable with all speeds, however, if your competitor asks you to slow down please respect that and do so to the best of your abilities.

Timing: I prefer that you time yourself. I will give you time signals if needed, but I do prefer to focus on flowing. I don't mind if you go a few seconds over so that you may finish your sentence, however, please do not go over 30 seconds, I will stop you if you reach that point.

Parliamentary Debate:

* Please be mindful of what type of resolution you have (policy, value, fact) and make sure you are doing some resolution analysis so that you are making applicable arguments (i.e. don't run a plan on a value resolution).

* Respect each other time for questions. Ask the questions you need, but do not take up more than a minute or so of their speech for questions. Additionally, if you cannot get to a question that is okay, but does not say "I will get to it at the end of my speech" and then say "sorry I can't take questions now that I am in protected time" (this was an old pet peeve of mine). Also, PLEASE do not stand up for a question and try and just make a comment/argue your own points, you will have your time to argue in your own speech.

* Run whatever you want (as long as it is applicable to the resolution). I am, as a tabula rasa judge, open to any type of argument and support debaters who take risks. If you want to run a K, topicality, permutation, inherency/harms press, counter plan, etc. just please provide correct structure! Other than that, I am happy to hear any type of argument, I actually encourage it as you learn a lot from it.

Public Forum Debate:

* Please do not make your debate about "do you have a source for that?" Evidence IS important as you need substantial support for argument validity, however, if you can logically explain an argument that can be generally understood/agreed upon by the public, a source is not necessarily required. (I have been asked before if I had a source for what the First Amendment entailed...this is unnecessary and takes away from the actual debate at hand).

* Please make sure your summary speeches are crystallizing the main points of the clash. Start narrowing the entirety of the flow to the main points of the clash and why you have won them. The voter speech is best used when you actually do voters instead of doing line-by-line refutation (same goes with summary speech).

* Showing evidence is important in understanding what the source says. If the source says differently than what is paraphrased, call attention to it and I will look at the source myself if need be. I recommend having your partner look at the evidence shown during the crossfire while you continue asking questions so you can get the most out of your time. Please have evidence available for opponents or myself if called for, and be able to highlight/point to the part of the source where you are pulling from.

* I am quite open to any arguments that you want to run. As the rules state you cannot run formal plans/counter plans in Public Forum Debate as this is supposed to be an accessible form of debate, but I will of course listen to and be open to more unique arguments or approaches.

* Please adhere to my civility paradigm at the top, especially as crossfire tends to run into trouble in that area.

Policy Debate:

* My main thing for this form of debate is civility! Policy gets heated, but always remain respectful to those in the room.

* You are of course able to run any argument, just stay organized.

* Please don't assume I know about the topic, again, I approach debates with tabula rasa — Blank Slate.

Lincoln-Douglas Debate:

* This is the one format of debate I do not have personal experience in, but I am very familiar with the format and norms of this style. The general debate comments apply, otherwise, you are open to running the round how you would like.

I’m a Senior debater at Sunset High School and do both Public Forum debate and Extemporaneous speaking.

For Debate:

I am completely fine with speed, as long as you speak clearly and coherently. I did Parli in middle school but haven't done it in the past two years. If you’re doing PF or Policy, please set up an evidence exchange (Google Doc, Email, Dropbox) at the start of the round before constructive speeches. You’ll get extra speaker points if you say “Uh-Oh Spaghetti-Os” in any of your speeches. I tend to focus a lot on the flow but will vote on well-executed topicality and theory shells and more standard kritiks. Signposting during your speeches is important to me, and I am generally a tech over truth judge (as long as the argument is somewhat reasonable and has a clear link chain). For cross-ex, be respectful, don’t interrupt your opponents, be respectful, and be confident! In your final focus/voter speeches, I look for more weighing/impact calc over other voters, and I don’t need a re-explanation of all your points.

For Speech:
I’ll vote you higher if you have a clearly laid out speech structure and make your thesis clear.
If you're doing Extemp, make sure to cite your sources in an obvious manner and try to keep an equal time allocation for each of your points. If you're doing an interp event (POI, Prose, etc.), ensure your blocking matches what you're speaking about. For example, don't incessantly make pointless hand gestures or pace across the stage when you're not trying to emphasize a particular point.

For all events:
Speech and Debate should be a place to learn, have fun, and enjoy yourself. Don't be toxic, don't misrepresent evidence, don't take prep while you're sharing cards, and please be respectful to everyone!

Hello, my name is Pranav and I am a debater at OES. I have competed in policy debate on the nat circuit for about 3 years.

General Paradigms:

I would consider myself as tech > truth, which means that I will try my best to evaluate the debate via my flow. However, I will not evaluate arguments such as "extinction good," or "racism good." In fact, I will probably drop you if you say that racism is good.

I highly recommend off-time road maps and signposting if you are debating in front of me, as they help me organize my flow a lot better.

If you have nothing else to say in your speech, end your speech. You lose a lot of your ethos when you stutter and repeat yourself multiple times.

PF Specific Paradigms:

Send me your speech doc and any evidence please!!!

I whole-heartedly support collapsing in your summary speeches. It is much easier to win a debate with one coherent and well-developed position/arguments rather than 10 barely fleshed out arguments.

I will not flow cross-fire. This means that if anything interesting happens in cross-fire that you want me to flow/consider, reference it in your speech.

Parli Specific Paradigms:

Have a weighing mechanism and define critical words. I will be put in a tough position if you don't define a critical word, and your opponent decides to define it in an abusive way, as then I will have to take your opponents definition. Same thing with weighing mechanism.

Things to not do:

Spreading - I am generally fine with spreading or speed reading if you are able to retain clarity. However, I find that at this level people end up sacrificing clarity for speed, making whatever you say a jumble of incomprehensible sounds rather than a coherent speech.

Thanking the judge - Please do not thank me after every one of your speeches. Save it for the end of the debate.

Things that can get you extra speaker points:

Including "Uh oh spaghetti o's" in your speech (+1 speaker point)

This is just for me to know that you read my paradigm.

Things that do not affect my decision:

Attire: You could be in a two piece suit or a half sleeve t-shirt, neither will help you get my ballot