I am the head Speech, Debate, and Congress coach at Horace High School, ND.

I have a background in English, Speech, and Theatre Education.

Debate:

Decorum matters, so be polite to your opponents, including in the questioning period. You can be firm in cross while being polite, but there is a line that you shouldn't cross during cross.

Make my job of flowing easy, signpost accordingly and don't rush through your contention taglines.

If you speak so fast that I can't understand your argument and flow your argument, I will have a hard time giving you the win.

I will not make links for you.

If you open your speech with a preview of what you are talking about, I expect the preview to be reflective of what you talk about. Example, if you say you are giving voters, you should give clear voters instead of just talking down the flow.

PF: PF isn't Policy. Also, I'm not sure why people keep trying to add frameworks into PF cases, but they won't play into how the round is weighed on the ballot unless both teams willingly accept the framework.

A good first neg in LD will use their time equally between attacking the Aff case and setting up the neg case; 5:30 setting up the Neg case and 1:30 attacking the Aff case is not using time equally in my eyes. The same idea goes for PF.

I like to hear the voters. Don't just say that something flows to your side though, give the rational and link it for me.

Congress:

Delivery and presentation are musts for me: eye contact, conversational tone, posture, and not just reading off computer or notepad.

I will flow your argument, but I will not make the links for you unless they are incredibly obvious.

Be brave and have fun in the session; this is a social activity. I want to see students willing to get up for authorship. If no one is willing to speak or run for PO that's your cue to be a leader.

Even the second aff/ first neg can, and often should, have elements of refutation in there. For the first 2/3-3/4 of speeches, I expect to see clash, but also new arguments being brought in. This is an activity that requires not only research, but also depth of research. Don't get up there and say that the aff or neg has already brought up a point, but not explored it enough, unless you can back it up with new analysis or additional research. The last few speeches should wrap up the debate, especially if debate has been limited and you know that you are one of the last speeches.

Don't play games and try and make the PO look bad unless they have actually made a mistake. Decorum is at the heart of congressional debate and must be respected. Do not be rude or belittling to your competition; you may be the best speaker in the room, but you will lose favor quickly by not respecting your competition and the activity.

Speech number is irrelevant; however, you had better have a good reason for not speaking on each piece of legislation. Quality of speeches, quality of questions, and quality of overall interaction in the chamber is what will get you the ballot from me.

Debate should be an educational and communicative activity. I look for debaters that can discuss the topic with intelligence and honesty. Any attempts to play games with my emotions or my sentiments will get very low marks on the ballot. Debate the topic and do so with integrity, this is my expectation.

Brian Geffre

Shanley High School

Fargo ND

I have been coaching debate since 1980. I was a policy debater in high school. I have coached policy debate, Lincoln Douglas, Public Forum, Big Question and World Schools debate. I am also a congressional debate coach and speech coach.

LD-

It comes as no surprise based on my experience and age, that I am a traditional judge. I do keep up on current theory and practice, but do not agree with all of it. I am a traditional judge who believes that LDers need to present a value to support based in the resolution. A criterion is helpful if you want me to weigh the round in a certain way. Telling me you won your criterion so your opponent loses doesn't work for me, since I believe you win the round based on your value being upheld by voting affirmative or negative on the resolution. Telling me to weigh the round though using your criterion makes me very happy.

Voting Issues- I need these. I think debaters ought to tell me what to write on my flow and on my ballot.

Not a fan of K's, performance cases, counter plans, or DA's in LD. I know the reasons people do it. I don't think it belongs in this type of debate. I know debate is ever-evolving, but I believe we have different styles of debate and these don't belong here.

Flow: I was a policy debater. I flow most everything in the round.

Speed- The older I get the less I like speed. You will know if you are going too fast --- unless your head is buried in your laptop and you are not paying any attention to me. If I can't hear/understand it, I can't flow it. If I don't flow it, it doesn't count in the round.

Oral Comments- I don't give them.

Public Forum-

I have coached Public Forum since it began. I have seen it change a bit, but I still believe it is rooted in discussion that includes evidence and clear points.

Flow: I flow.

Public forum is about finding the 2 or 3 major arguments that are supported in the round with evidence. The two final focus speeches should explain why your side is superior in the round.

I am not a fan of speed in the round. This is not policy-light. I do not listen to the poor arguments moving into the PF world.

Pronouns: He, Him, His

Past Experience: I debated Public Forum for 5 years.

--PF--

I am pretty strictly a flow judge. If you expect to win an argument on the flow it must be cleanly extended throughout the round. If its not said in a speech didn't write it down. Rounds for me are won through offense. You have to give me a reason to vote for you rather than giving reasons to not vote for your opponent. I want you to literally spell it out for me why you won by the end. I absolutely HATE having to rely on my own defaults to decide a round.

I really don't care a whole lot what kinds of arguments you wanna run as long as they are not a plan or counterplan. Theory, Kritiks, etc. are cool, fun, and educational. They shouldn't be excluded from this event but they also need to be better tailored to the format. That means if your running an obscure kritik you need to be able and ready to spend 4 minutes clearly explaining your argument. You may not have time for other offense in the constructive. That's the tradeoff and strategy discussion that will happen with your partner and coach. I don't care what you go for so long as I can understand, and flow it.

If you have me as your judge, please understand that you likely will not change my opinions on things. That is ok. Do not worry about my personal opinions. Your job in the round, if I am your judge, is not necessarily to convince me that your position is correct but rather it is to convince me why you have won the debate. I will vote against my own personal beliefs if I believe that that side won the debate based off of my flow unless it is particularly egregious (e.g. racism, transphobia, bigotry, etc.).

That being said do not be racist, transphobic, etc. You will lose. If you are intentionally and consistently being problematic I will stop the round and report the incident to the tournament organizer. Also, do not frivolously claim your opponents are being bigoted. I take these things seriously and do not appreciate such disingenuous rhetorical jabs. If you believe that your opponent's argument or your opponents themselves are genuinely bigoted, then call that out appropriately. If you are unsure how to do so, talk to your coach.

--LD--

*working on it dawg just ask me, but most of the PF stuff is applicable

--CX--

*working on it dawg just ask me, but most of the PF stuff is applicable

I have coached Speech and Congressional Debate for 3 years. I have judged other forms of debate in my spare time however, I would consider myself a lay judge.

I enjoy sign posting. I want you to be clear as to where the debate is going.

Stay organized and clear as to how you are debating. I won’t make links for you.

Don’t speak so fast that I can’t understand you. I expect you to treat your opponent politely. You can be assertive without being aggressive.

I am looking for a clear argument. How did your opponent refute or drop your argument? Work to answer questions or ask for clarification during cross-examination. This will help me decide on the round if you drop an argument.

Lay it out. Why do you deserve to win the round? Use clear links and voters.