3rd year medical student

Hello!

I am an ex-public forum debater from the New Horizons Debate Team in the Dominican Republic. I am now a debate coach and a business student.

I base my decision on the established framework. If no framework is presented, I’ll just choose my own.

I can keep up with fast-paced reading, but if you spread I will not flow. Slow down when reading your impacts or any important statements you want to emphasize.

Take your time and fill your time. DO NOT leave time in your speeches or go over your time, otherwise, I will take speaker points off.

Use taglines and make sure your speeches are organized.

Use a line-by-line approach in rebuttals if possible and beneficial.

Use impact calculus in summary and final focus. Also, everything not mentioned in summary I consider dropped.

CX can be aggressive but don’t be disrespectful. Otherwise, I will take speaker points off.

I don’t flow crossfire but do take them into consideration.

Both speakers should speak in grand-cross.

Don’t take too long looking for evidence. Don’t add me to any link chains, just show your evidence in the round and it’ll be fine. Also, don’t argue with your opponent when asking for or showing cards.

Have fun and good luck!

**Arturo Féliz-Camilo**

Hello! I’m the head coach at Colegio Bilingüe New Horizons.

I have a background in law and have been teaching AP US History for a while. I tend to prefer economic, social, and historical arguments. Since 2013, I’ve primarily coached Public Forum (PF).

When judging, I really enjoy a good clash of ideas and creative analysis. I’m open to just about any argument, as long as you explain it clearly, warrant it, and back it up with relevant evidence. That said, being "open to anything" doesn’t mean I’m okay with distasteful arguments—keep it civil and respectful.

I don’t strictly fall into either the tech>truth or truth>tech camps. Think of me as closer to a lay judge. Just because “there’s a card” doesn’t mean I’ll automatically buy the argument. Make sure your arguments are well-explained and warranted. I need to understand what you're saying to be persuaded, so clarity is key.

Communication is crucial. If I can’t follow due to speed, I may not flow it. I usually won’t ask you to slow down because I prefer to avoid intervening, but if you’re spreading, that’s going to be a problem. I can handle a reasonably fast pace, but don’t expect to win by brute force alone.

I appreciate a respectful CX. If you need to ask for evidence, that’s fine, but don’t turn the round into an evidence battle. If you call for evidence, I hope you plan to actually use it. I listen to CX but don’t flow it. I’ll make note of interesting points in hopes they come up in the speeches. I almost never review evidence unless there’s a serious claim or ethical issue. If I feel like you misrepresented or misused a card, you’ll likely lose the round. I definitely prefer debates that are more conversational in pace.

Feel free to give an off-time roadmap—no need to ask, just go ahead.

Explain, analyze, and warrant your case—don’t just read it. Weigh the arguments, link them, extend points, crystallize the round. Without clear framework and weighing, I’ll default to what’s standing at the end of the debate. Please don’t introduce new arguments in summary or final focus.

As for T's and K's, run them at your own risk. I’m not totally against them, but I tend to favor a good RVI and I’m not a fan of running these against inexperienced or novice teams. I also think T's get abused too often, so be honest with it. I’ll weigh what makes sense, including any real-world harms like abusive behavior or bad-faith misgendering.

Pettiness won’t win me over, but you should still stand your ground. A little sass is great, but there’s a fine line between sass and pettiness, so be mindful of that.

If you’d like feedback after the round, I’m always happy to share my thoughts, but know that I submit my ballots before offering feedback. I understand that some rounds (like bubble rounds) matter a lot, but I don’t check records before submitting my decision. I hope that regardless of the outcome, you leave each round feeling that it was a meaningful experience.

Please add me to your evidence chain: **arturo@arturofeliz.com**

Hello!

A little background about me... I was a Public Forum Debate Coach until recently, and was a PF debater myself.

On to preferences..

If you present an argument/statistic, make sure you have evidence to back it up. Any evidence that is asked I will also ask to see. If there is some information that seems wrong to me, or manipulated, I will ask for it and if it turns out to be foul play you will automatically lose the round. Make sure all evidence is warranted. I weigh numbers more than I do words. Also, I discourage link chains. (Having to prove 3+ links to get to your impact.)

Clear and fast-paced speeches are my preference. However do not spread, I will not flow.

During crossfires, I like civil interactions between teams. Though please keep it interesting. Be sassy and clever, but not abusive. Make me laugh and I'll give you 2 extra speaker points. Also in Grand-cross, both partners should speak. Everyone should be taking their own time and staying within the speaking times.

If an argument or impact is not mentioned in Summary I consider it dropped. Period. If it is mentioned in summary but not carried through to final focus, i also consider it dropped. No new arguments will be accepted after rebuttal.

Frameworks are a must. If you don't do Framework weighing/comparisons in rebuttal and/or summary adequately i will choose my own. Make sure your framework is clear to me. Impact calculus(i.e. probability, magnitude, scope, timeframe, impact short circuiting, reversibility, etc.) is ESSENTIAL in summary and final focus. Tell me what you win and why you win it, and why you win it better than the opposing team does.

USE TAGLINES, in every speech. No exception. Make sure your speeches are organized.

I love a good argument/impact turn, pointing out non-uniqueness, slick stuff like that.

Do NOT leave time in a speech. Do NOT go over your time. I will keep your time; however, please do so as well. If you keep talking past your time and do not stop when I ask you to, I will be decreasing your speaker points significantly.

That's about it, if you have any questions or concerns I'll be happy to briefly answer them before the round begins.

Most importantly, have fun!

María Jimenez

I studied and practice law. I'm familiar and like the economic/social/historical arguments. I've been coaching PF since 2017 for New Horizons Bilingual School in the Dominican Republic.

I love debate, and the strategy game. I love to see a good clash of ideas and interesting/novel analysis. I'll buy any argument as long as you link, warrant, and support it with relevant evidence. Still, I think some arguments are just in bad taste.

I believe communication is key. If I can't understand it due to speed, I won't flow it. I won't ask you to slow down. I almost never intervene. Debate should not be about brute force your opponents into submission, but about a clash of ideas.

I really enjoy a civil CX. Ask for evidence if you must, but don't make the round an evidence match. If you call for evidence I hope you're planning to do something with it. I hear CX but won't flow it. I'll note cool stuff in the hopes it makes it into your speech.

Explain, analyze, and warrant your case, don’t just read it. Weigh, impact, link, extend, boil down, crystallize. Feel free to sign-post/roadmap. Absent a framework and weighing I'll go with what stands in the end.

I'm not in love with Ks or Theory. Run them at your own risk. I like to think that we should debate under the agreed upon rules. I will buy arguments on technical aspects of PF, as a matter of order and fairness. I think too many debaters are running disclosure in a dishonest way. All that said, I will buy anything that makes sense, including abusive behavior, bad faith misgendering, and anti-violence.

Pettiness will not win me over, but you gotta stand your ground. Sassiness is awesome, but the line between the two is just so thin.

You want to win your round? Be smart, creative, fun, thoughtful, and strategic. Outweigh, outsmart, outperform, outclass your opponent.

email: mariaalexandrajimenezcano@gmail.com

Hello Debaters

I am currently in my first year studying law at PUCMM University. I am the former Senior Captain of the New Horizons Debate Team in the Dominican Republic and I debated for a total of six years. I am a double time qualifier of the National Speech and Debate Tournament at Harvard University, and a one time qualifier of the Georgetown University Debate Tournament. I have over 250 rounds of experience, and I currently am a coach of the same team I debated all of these years for. This means that this activity is something I admire and love.

SPECIFIC PREFERENCES:

- I really enjoy off-time road maps, since it gives me a preview of what the structure of your speech will be, so if you can, try to do them. REMINDER: Please follow the structure of your off-time road map as much as you can, and don't do something completely different than what you stated you were going to do. If you are not going to follow your off-time roadmap, then it would be unnecessary for you to do it.

- Make eye contact with me during the speeches.

- I will keep track of your time, but it is also important that you do so too.

- You can be assertive and a bit aggressive, but please don't be rude.

- I take note of every speech, including crossfires, but if you want for something that you said in cx to be taken into account, mention it in your speech.

- I am tech > truth, which means that I will buy what you are telling me if you sell it and defend it correctly.

FRAMEWORK:

- To me, the framework is important in the round, but it is not obligatory to have one. However, if you decide to bring up a framework to the round, please defend it the same way as you would defend any argument, and restate the framework in every speech.

- If both teams are bringing up frameworks to the round, try to agree on a sole framework that you will have for the rest of the round in during the first CX, and abide by it for the rest of the debate.

SPEECHES:

- In terms of speech, I don't mind debaters speaking quickly as long as they are understandable. Slow down if you can't handle the speed because it's essential for me as a judge to be able to understand the strong points that you've worked so hard to prepare, but also remember to speak loudly and to emphasize on important points for me to fully flow the ideas you want to express.

REBUTTAL:

- In rebuttal, I would prefer for you to state your blocks in a form of point by point. In the end, this will make my flow be more organized.

Example:

The opposing team in their contention 1 stated: X

* Our first response states: Y (here you proceed to explain your block)

* Our second response states: Z (here you proceed to explain your block)

If you are the second speaking team, you should frontline in your rebuttal

SUMMARY and FINAL FOCUS:

- In summary, it is CRUCIAL to mention the framework (if you have one), voting issues, and winning strategies in these two speeches. REMEMBER that if you don't mention something in your summary, I won't take it into consideration in the final focus. Finally, remember to do weighing, and tell me explicitly why you won on all of the most important points inside the round.

Have fun and enjoy each round!

Hello!

I am a current debater attending my 4th year of High School in the Dominican Republic. I have been debating Public Forum for over 5 years and participating in Model United Nations Conferences for 4 years locally and internationally, in addition to other speaking events. As a judge, I appreciate when debaters show passion and active participation in their rounds, as it demonstrates that you are interested in the debates and it really makes me see what type of debater you are. In debates, I am very flexible if you have any issues or inconveniences and am here to make sure that everything flows correctly and fairly.

Speaking

I like humorous people, if you can make me laugh [making reference to literally anything funny, a meme, vine, a tv show, celebrity] I will find it great and certainly take it into account in your speaker points. I cannot stress this enough, please speak in a very clear way, as if I do not understand what you are saying then I cannot judge it. I appreciate if during the debate you can remain calm but still carry the debate on in a professional and collected way. I really don't find the necessity in being aggressive, as it just shows that you are perhaps stressing out or being too pushy, which for me, is a huge turnoff. Don't get me wrong, I do love some spice in the rounds and if you speak in a high voice, but please do not show aggression or disrespect.

I really do not appreciate rudeness, pettiness, or being mean, so please try to be as well mannered and as civil as you can. Your job is to persuade me, and you cannot persuade me if you are screaming to another person or even myself. I don't mind at all if you speak fast, I can understand it, just don't spread too much or speak in an unintelligible way. Speaking in a collected manner is always better than not being understood if you speak too fast. Use all the debate jargon you want, just make sure that you don't overdo it as your speech may lose essence if you say something out of place.

I hold in high regard if you avoid standing there, reading off your laptop or paper the entire time and not looking at me or using any kind of body language. I need to buy what you are saying, and if you're just there talking in a monotone voice and not looking at me then I will get bored and uninterested. Passion and excitement in debates is crucial!

Speeches

Your speeches are your opportunities to shine and are key in catching my attention. I love cases that are explained thoroughly and have a lot of warranting, as the more I understand it, the higher the chances of me buying it. If you do not warrant an argument/impact, I will not take it into account whatsoever. Try to have as many quantifications as you can to prove your ideas, if you pull up detailed and well evidenced numbers I will be certainly impressed and will be more convinced.

Tabula rasa - I will not have any preconceived ideas during the debate, so anything you tell me I am open to hear it and consider it in the real world as long as it is well warranted.

Rebuttal: Specify every argument you are refuting and I also love if you can turn an argument well. You don't have to give me a million responses to an argument, just focus on strongly blocking it by the means that you consider are well. Please signpost.

Framework: I highly value frameworks, if you do not have one then that's fine, but they do provide me a good layout on what should be the most important topics in the round. If only 1 team in the round has a framework, I will abide by that one. If both teams have frameworks then I would love if there was framework clash, you should not leave it undiscussed. Finally, any abusive frameworks will not be considered, as they have to allow each team to win on it and fit into a general perspective.

Summary: For me, summary is one of the most important, if not the most, speech in the round. Please try to provide me the most clear layout of what has been discussed in the debate and weigh as much as you can. Impact calculus and framework assessment also are great.

Final Focus: Don't introduce new arguments/information that you did not say in summary, I will not flow them. Remember, it is an extension of the summary so keep giving me the clear outline of why you are winning and focus on this, do not focus too much on the opposing team. Weigh as much as possible and bonus if you end in a good note :)

Evidence

I may ask you for evidence if I deem it necessary and to see an evidence that was requested by your opponents. Please don't take too long to pull out your evidence, I would say that 1:30-2 minutes is way more than enough to look for evidence. Unless there is seriously something preventing you from pulling your cards out, if you take more than 4-5 minutes to look for one it can be disregarded and considered as not presented. If you cannot present sources for an argument, it will be hard for me to take what you're bringing to the table into account. Don't ask for too much evidence, a lot of time can be wasted and if you are asking for evidence that is not relevant to the debate then that will result in speaker points taken away.

Technical

Theory/Ks: I don't mind that much if you use these, just be careful in how you do it and if what you're saying is out of this world and not reasonable, then you will most likely lose the round. Focus on debating the resolution detailedly, don't drive off too much as it will not end in good terms. If what you run in these do make absolute sense and allow me to sympathize with it, then that's not a bad thing, but I suggest you to play it safe and keep debating what's supposed to be debated.

Signposting, road maps: Please signpost important issues (tell me exactly what you are touching upon or assessing in your speech), and I appreciate road maps, although they are not too necessary in the round.

Prep time: I will take note of all your prep time and time your speeches but do time them yourself so you know how much time you have left.

Crossfires: Stand up in all crossfires. I love if you can shine in crossfires but in a good way, always be polite and know your boundaries on a crossfire. You can interrupt a debater if it is necessary, but if you do it too much then I will take off points. Be assertive with what you say, but don't become too grudging or petty. You can't win a round from crossfire but you can lose one due to it.

I'm a very expressive person, if you see that I nod at something you say or look confused because of a statement, consider that strongly.

With this in mind, just remember to have fun and enjoy it as much as you can! Good luck!

Hellooo! I am an ex a public forum debate and am currently in med school! I have quite a bit of debate experience (debated for 4 years) and now I coach PF.

I would really appreciate that you guys use technical debate terms/jargon throughout the round. I'll try to include as many details as possible but if you have any other questions feel free to ask. Remember the most important thing is that you try your best and have fun!!

- I can keep up with a pretty fast pace just make sure its understandable, but slow down when reading your impacts or numbers so I can get them all down.

- In your rebuttal I really would prefer a line by line approach but if you don't it wont hurt you.

- For summary please make sure to use impact calculus and explain to me why they apply to each individual issue. Make sure you really summarize for me what happened in the round but please don't just make it another rebuttal that'll make your speaks lower...

- On that same note do not mention any arguments in final focus that you didn't extend through summary. If I hear something not mentioned in summary in final focus, i'll just stop flowing.

- In final focus, same thing as summary don't just refute everything again. This your chance to really grab my attention and tell me why your'e winning. Make it priority to get all the voting issues across. Flat out tell me what they are and how you won them.

- On evidence, I really don't care if you ask for it but if you ask for a new piece every 5 secs i'll probably get annoyed and lower your speaks. With that being said, if you debate over a card for a while i'll ask for it at the end and use that for my decision.

- I will ALWAYS keep time, but do as well try your best to NOT leave more than or go over 3 seconds. In cx, if you go over time just finish your sentence (briefly) don't waste time by asking me.

- I love a fiery cx but if you're rude you'll lose speakers, and if you're just plain disrespectful ( racist/homophobic/xenophobic etc.) you're losing the round.

- If you make me laugh, bring me coffee, or reference Grey's Anatomy your speaker points will be boosted:)

Goodluck!

I was a PF debater throughout high school, and am now a debate coach and studying business.

I appreciate a very technical debate; i.e. smart FWs, lots of impact calculus, clear voting issues, jargon, and weighing.

Speak up and enunciate, I think it's kind of important that I can actually understand what you're saying during a round.

Off-time road maps are okay and encouraged, no need to ask. In RB try to go line-by-line if it suits you, and be smart about your refutation. Arguments not mentioned in summary I assume are dropped. FF should very clearly explain to me why you win each clashing point. Always remember your signposting.

Be mindful of your performance and charisma (they're very important to me), and have fun. Do not be rude at any point. If your speech time ends in the middle of a sentence, it's fine for you to finish it (just a few words). If possible, I'd rather you stand during your speeches and individual CXs.

All arguments should be backed by evidence and it should be presented quickly if called. Do NOT have a debate or argue with your opponents when calling cards.

I refrain from inferring on any arguments and will only give points for what you explicitly state (as tabula rasa as possible). I will not refute, assume, clarify, or weigh for you. Tech>truth.

I do not especially appreciate Ks or Theory (trad-leaning). Feel free to run if you’re confident in your argument and I’ll consider it fairly, but I’m just letting you know.

Keep track of your own speech time and prep at all points. Obviously, try not to leave any time in your speeches.

Please do contact me at veratolari03@gmail.com if you have any questions!