Hello Public Forum debaters!

Here is a little bit of information about me to help you in round:

(If any of the below terms are unfamiliar to you please ask me before round)

Experience

-Four years competing in Public Forum

-Two years judging Public Forum

-ISD Trained Debater

-PF Equality Summit Workshop attendee

-Well versed in debate terminology

-Well versed in theoretical arguments

-Well versed in technical arguments

-Well versed in truth arguments

-Well versed in Kritique style arguments

(All this to say anything goes as long as it is within the rules of the tournament)

Judge Preferences

- Spreading is ok, but please understand that I can’t evaluate what I can’t understand.

-I will be flowing round. I will request your flows at the end of the round as well to help me think through your win conditions.

-Truth vs Tech… Either is a winning strategy if you convince me in summary/final focus

-Be yourself - I want to see YOU debate, not your captains, coaches, or advisors. Try to be yourself and run arguments you understand well (arguments YOU wrote)

-Constructives - I as long I you are being coherent you are doing a good job

-Rebuttal - I want you to respond to as many arguments as you can, but prioritize off of truth and impacts. If something goes unresponded to it may not be the deciding factor of the round if you are winning the truth and tech elsewhere.

-Summary - Bring forward the FACTS of the round (anything that can help your side)

-Final Focus - Summarize the world in which YOU Win the round. Tell me why I should vote for you. (be sure you only talk about things brought up in summary)

-Crossfire - Have a productive, polite, and above all kind conversation. I won’t vote off crossfire, you need to bring up things that happen in crossfire in main speeches.

-Speaker Points - I will always defer to tournament rules on speaker points. In the absence of clear rules baseline speaks is 28 if fully comprehensible. I will dock points for incomprehensibility and for rude behavior. You will gain points for polite behavior and strong performance.

-This goes without saying - DO NOT base your arguments or behavior in racist, sexist, homophobic, ect thinking. This will impact how you are evaluated.

-Also goes without saying - Be polite nice people. Do not contribute to debate toxicity!

I look forward to judging your round!

What I would prefer to see in a Speech:

1. Please use sources/references for all the facts that you are mentioning in your speech. This includes all the stats and ideas of the other authors that you are paraphrasing. This is essential for me to believe the credibility of the speech you are the delivering.
2. Please be courteous to all other participants
3. Please ensure the speech that is being delivered flows logically and clear with an introduction, body and conclusion.
4. Ensure the speech is not delivered at very fast pace. Please give adequate pauses so that I can understand the content in a better and clear way
5. Please don't pace very fast across the stage as it will become difficult for me to focus on your speech. I appreciate vocal variety, eye contact and adequate use of gestures during the speech delivery
6. Please let me know if you need time signals for your speech before you start the speech
7. Wherever applicable I would appreciate if real incidents/solutions are referred in the speech to support the topic rather than stating the hypothesis. The real incidents gets to me better than hypothesis
8. Please ensure the audience is engaged throughout your speech whatever could be the topic and ensure that you are staying relevant to the speech topic

I am a high school science teacher who has judged one other debate tournament in the past. I am a lay judge, and I prefer that students do not engage in 'Spreading,' but I will not deduct points for using the technique unless it impacts my ability to understand your argument.

During Crossfire/ Reubatal- I am not a fan of students speaking over others to make their point and believe all questions should be directed to the opponent in a manner that allows them an opportunity to answer the question that was asked of them.

If a group asks for evidence for an argument and that can not be produced or shared within a reasonable time frame, I will assume the evidence is not easily accessible to the team who presented it and thus not valid for consideration as part of the debate evidence.

I prefer to keep time but encourage students to keep track of their time. I expect the dialogue to end precisely at the time allotted.

Good luck, I look forward to hearing your arguments.

As a judge, I prefer for debates to stay on resolution / topic, does that mean I am more traditional, yes. The formats were formed for a reason and that should be followed. If you get too progressive, well please see what I initially started my paradigm with.

As for speed, can flow very well, however if it sounds like you are choking and cannot breathe, well you just dropped those contentions, cards, points, whatever you were trying to establish. In most things, quality outweighs quantity, like do you attend three, four, five colleges at once, no, no you do not that, you pick the one of highest quality and focus on that, so in that vein, remember, this is not policy, but either PF or LD and looking for quality during the rounds.

Please respect each other and have a great debate.

This is my second year judging PF debate, but I am no means an experienced judge. I am the parent of a PF debater, so at the least I am somewhat familiar with the resolves. I have judged mainly at small scale tournaments and local leagues. However, I am still an extremely lay judge

Speaking:

- I prefer if you speak somewhat slowly and clearly, I prefer it to high speed speech. If I don't hear something I will struggle to evaluate it in round

- Clarify/Emphasize important impacts/evidence

- No spreading

Case:

- I am incredibly unfamiliar with any form of off-topic/theory arguments/K's, please stick to arguing the resolve

- Sign-posting/off time road maps are appreciated to allow me to keep better notes throughout the debate

- Less debate jargon would be appreciated as a am not familiar with all terms

Conduct:

- Please be civil with both your opponents and myself

- Keep crossfire controlled, and try to keep grand crossfire from being too chaotic

- Any sort of discrimination or overt aggression towards your opponent will not be accepted and will result in a major reduction in speaker points

- Any points that are racist, sexist, or homophobic will not be evaluated

Other Notes:

- Be patient with results at the end of the debate

Thank you

(p.s. please take it easy on my mom. This entire paradigm was written by me, my mom doesn't know what most of the words in the paradigm mean. - child of judge)

I am a lay judge.

Please strive to be clear, understandable and respectful. Signpost and remember that I cannot flow spreading effectively.

Best of luck!

I have no prior experience in speech and debate. I have never competed and only recently started judging. I understand basic debate argumentation but am still learning specific jargon and technicalities. Please try not to speak too fast but I understand that this is a space that requires time constraints. I have previously judged speech rounds in one tournament. Despite my lack of experience, I want to hear any kind of arguments that you have prepared. Please clearly extend your arguments throughout the round, with author names or taglines so I know exactly what you’re extending. I am excited to see what all of you have to say, but please be respectful of each other in round.

Hi!

My name is Laila Mamdouh, a senior at Lexington High School and I judge PF.

A quick note: If I’m not judging PF or LD, treat me like a new judge please and thank you!

I'm going to start off with the list of things I prefer you don't do while debating:

• I’m not a fan of theory, so please don’t run theory, it'll make me very sad to flow it :(

• No spreading, unless your super duper good at it!!

• Please don't paraphrase UNLESS you have the actual evidence that goes with it (and if so, then just read the evidence) --> Don't even start the Paraphrasing theory with me

• If y'all want to look at each others evidence, please don't wait till your opponents are taking prep to ask for it, not cool and could result in evidence ethics problems that we could all just avoid.

• Please Don't bring up arguments after Summary, I won't flow it :(

Case Reading: Personally I like judging Lay but if you are going to do Tech, totally fine just let me know before the round starts so I can mentally prepare. It's four minutes for reading but I'm so kindly giving you a grace period of 10 seconds after that, I stop flowing. Please have moderate speed THROUGHOUT the four minutes, and good emphasis = higher speaker points :)

Crossfire: Please be nice and respectful and don't say stuff that you can get called out for or in general. Also minimize interruption --> comes off as rude = less speaker points :( I don't flow crossfire so if it's something important you gotta bring it up in your speech. (With this in mind, I am very nice with Speaker points as long as we can stick to these simple rules :))

Rebuttal: Please signpost if you know how so it's easier for me on the flow. **If you have time: WEIGH. You can never go wrong with weighing. Friendly reminder to please WARRANT your responses. Also please Terminalize your impacts!! (good emphasis here is good as long as you're not yelling please). Frontline your terminal defense and turns. Having link-ins from your case only makes it stronger. Don't drop arguments that you want me to vote on, that'll be very sad.

Summary: DON'T JUST SUMMARIZE the round. Tell me why you win the round and your opponents don't: Weigh, comparative weighing would be even better as long as you're telling me why you outweigh and what kind of weighing you plan to use. Still enough time to bring in responses if you're desperate, again warranting.

Final Focus: Tell me what I should take away from the past hour and why YOU deserve the win.

A few things I need to mention:

• Please Signpost! This helps me map the whole debate on my flow and it makes my life SO much easier.

• In your later speeches, if you want to bring up cards, tell me the content of the card and not the name like Jackson 21 and leave it at that.

• Quantifying Your impacts!! I can't stress this enough, what is the impact of the 2 Billion program if you're not gonna tell me?

• You have to let us know about any Trigger Warnings before the round, you can't just say it like it's part of your speech.

• Please don't misconstrued your evidence, it looks so bad on many levels even if you aren't caught.

• Please be respectful. Certain lines shouldn't be crossed and I believe we are well versed on that.

Here's my email if you need to contact me: Lailamamdouh611@gmail.com, if you will run a chain, please add me to it, Thanks!

MOST IMPORTANTLY: HAVE FUN!! Your life doesn't depend on debate. A Win is a Win and a Loss is also a Win :)

1. Please be respectful to your opponents. Do not roll eyes, snicker, make rude gestures or comments. Treat them as you would want to be treated.
2. Please speak at a normal pace. No spreading, speed talking etc. If I can’t follow you as you are speaking, I can not understand you and judge you.
3. Do not interrupt others. You may reasonably do so during cross examination, if they are rambling on for a long time, but generally hear them out.
4. Remember, I am a parent judge not a professional one.
5. You are debating a topic, not a person. Do not make it personal. You can disagree without being insulting.
6. Keep your cards handy. I might call for them only if the two sides say the exact opposite thing, but your opponents may call for them anytime.
7. Speaker points are awarded on how you speak, not just on what you say. Look at the judge/others. Modulate your voice. Talking in a monotone is less interesting. When you talk, where you pause is also important. Show me that you care/ believe in what you are saying. Reading from a paper/computer without any eye contact or emphasis is less effective.
8. Remember that weighing is an important part of showing why your argument is more convincing. A great idea that can not be scaled/applied is not as effective as a good idea that can be scaled and applied and affect a broader change.
9. Look like you are enjoying yourself. More importantly, actually enjoy yourself.

I am a lawyer who deals with argument and rhetoric in his work life, and I have occasionally judged high school public forum during the past two years of the pandemic but still see myself as a sincere lay judge who has a lot more to learn about "debate" metrics.

Therefore, I do best when you explain clearly and carefully what roadway I should follow in deciding to sign a ballot for one side or the other. Straightforward narrative, clean storytelling and coherent extensions of arguments and systematic rebuttals will overall be persuasive. So . . . don't go too fast, and signpost by telling me what you're doing in your speech as you go and how and why you weigh which side gets us to a better world -- that would help me feel confident about whatever decision emerges.

Please limit your use of debate "jargon" and make sure your arguments are clear, straightforward, and understandable. While I know the current resolution, I have not researched it and have a limited knowledge on the topic. I'll vote on arguments that make the most sense but have also been carried throughout the round well and the importance of which has been explained.

I will be taking notes throughout the round save for cross examination, that said please be respectful when speaking to your opponents if you arent you will get deductions in speaker points.

No need for you to include me on your email chains however if a piece of evidence becomes important in the round I may request to see it before making my decision.

I will do my best to keep track of speech times and prep, however if you notice your opponent has gone over time or has used more prep than they have, please let me know in a non disruptive way like showing me your timer or pointing it out after their speech.

For teams I have judged, my email address is james.millerman@davispolk.com

I am very new to judging. Please implicate your arguments, warrants, links, and weighing. Try to limit use of jargon and I expect a passionate, but not loud and angry debate round. Feel free to ask clarifying questions as well.

Email: oddoye.sean@gmail.com

Experience: Speech (Varsity DI and Extemp.); 2 years, HS LD (NJFL); 2 years, College parli (APDA and BP); 2 years.

1. I competed in circuit LD in high school, however that was a few years ago, so I am a bit rusty, however, I do keep a good flow.

2. Again, since I am a bit out of practice, I'd prefer if you don't spread if it's not necessary (if you are going to spread, just slow down on the tags, if I'm having trouble keeping up I'll raise my hand or say "clear"). Additionally, I value narration and explanations over quick technical blips -- make sure I know what I'm voting for.

3. Please weigh comparatively and clash with each other, win your warrants and explain why your evidence or standards are better.

4. I'm more used to traditional debates, I can count the number of times I've read a theory shell/ks on one hand, as such, I'm most comfortable judging traditional value/value criterion/contention or plan/counterplan debates. The same thing goes for tricks, LARPing, etc-- absent some sort of detailed and comprehensive explanation, I probably won't know what's going on or how to adjudicate lol.

6. If I've missed something, or if you have any other questions, just ask me.

Have fun, and pref/adjust accordingly : )

I've been judging PF debate for two yea and have taught in both middle school high school. I deeply appreciate clarity of argument and for debaters to speak slowly enough that I can understand what is being said. I flow on the entire debate including cross

This is also my first year as a LD judge. Likewise, clarity is essential. Please don't speak too quickly!

I am a first time lay debate judge. I am a high school math and science teacher who responds to logical deductive reasoning and science/facts used effectively over passions and emotions. I am an immigrant of Pakistani origin and identify as a person of color. I am married with two children and have been teaching for more than 25 years. I stay up to date with current news and events and have an extensive background in science.

I am a traditional debate judge.  I like clash, weighing of arguments, and substantive, not blippy arguments.  I do not believe that Kritiks and other cases like that have any place in PF debate.  Speed should be reasonable.  I can handle speed, but again, I don't think it belongs in PF.  

I am a lay judge, and an attorney who practices principally in the areas of complex commercial litigation, criminal defense and appeals. Thus, I will focus closely on the reasoning and logic of your arguments, and on the warrants underlying your contentions. I will also focus closely on crossfire, as an opportunity for each team to demonstrate the strength of its own position and identify flaws in its opponents’ arguments.

Please do not “spread.” Rather, keep the pacing of your arguments reasonable, so that I can flow them. Also, you should not run arguments that are not germane to the resolution at hand.

I look forward to judging your rounds.

I am a new judge. I will evaluate who best persuades me of the truth of their position. I do not prefer a fast debate.

Language: No fast talking. Make case in well-paced, short, direct sentences. Eschew obfuscation.

Presentation: Be well appointed. Sit up straight. No fidgeting.

Differentiation: Everybody sites the same sources. Find unique sources.

Originality: Avoid cliches. Don't be afraid to make original points.

I have no prior experience in speech and debate. I have never competed and only recently started judging. I understand basic debate argumentation but am still learning specific jargon and technicalities. Please try not to speak too fast but I understand that this is a space that requires time constraints. I have previously judged speech rounds in one tournament. Despite my lack of experience, I want to hear any kind of arguments that you have prepared. Please clearly extend your arguments throughout the round, with author names or taglines so I know exactly what you’re extending. I am excited to see what all of you have to say, but please be respectful of each other in round.

Paradigm:

As a judge, I prefer for debates to stay on resolution / topic, does that mean I am more traditional, yes. The formats were formed for a reason and that should be followed. If you get too progressive, well please see what I initially started my paradigm with.

As for speed, can flow very well, however if it sounds like you are choking and cannot breathe, well you just dropped those contentions, cards, points, whatever you were trying to establish. In most things, quality outweighs quantity, like do you attend three, four, five colleges at once, no, no you do not. You pick the one of highest quality and focus on that, so in that vein, remember, this is not policy, but either PF or LD and I am looking for quality during the rounds.

Please respect each other and have a great debate.