Truth>Tech. Please do not spread. I will not flow off a doc.

It is called Public Forum because you ought to speak as if to members of the public!

Be respectful and have fun.

I am a parent judge. I judged over 100 competitions.

I will rate the competitors based on two main parts:

-Composition:

If the content is effective writing or not.

Does the competitor's speech organize clearly and easy to follow?

Does the speech contain ample solid reasoning and logic

Is the speech too general or does it focus on specifics?

Does the speech make too many generalizations or assumptions about the audience?

Does the speech contain evidence and examples?

Does the speech have good rhetorical choices?

-Delivery:

I would like competitors to use effective oral presentation skills. I will check if the competitor is comfortable with delivery such as having a clear voice, good intonation, or a nice tone.

I will also check if the speaker uses effective body language or not such as hand gestures, facial expressions, and eye contact.

TL;DR: Speed is fine, tech> truth, send a speech doc, read cut cards, disclosure is good, paraphrasing is bad.

Background

I currently coach a few teams and worked at a debate camp this past summer for a month so I like to think I am above the level of a washed first-year-out.

I debated public forum at Marist for 4 years (2019-2023). Competed in lots of rounds on the national circuit and went to TOC my junior and senior year.

I expect there to be an email chain sent up for evidence exchange every round. My email is:

jescayg@nd.edu

General Paradigm

-All offense you plan on going for along with turns must be front-lined in second rebuttal. That being said defense is not sticky, I don't know who started saying that but given that summary must mirror final that doesn't make structural sense. If a team kicks out by extending a delink, it is typically safe to assume the remaining defense on the argument is conceded. Often, defensive concessions can be taken advantage of elsewhere on the flow, and I am partial to debates where teams consider how arguments interact with each other at both a practical and technical level.

- Speed is non-issue for me as a judge and probably a net-positive for public forum as a whole. I'll be honest and say that any speed bad arguments likely will never win my ballot. "Flow better" is a sufficient response in my opinion. Still going fast doesn't mean you can sacrifice clarity. This is magnified by a world where teams don't read more than one sentence from a card or paraphrase. If you are unclear enough that your only solution is for me to flow off the doc, then your speaker points will reflect that. That being said, I will do my best to avoid having to clear you. I despise intervening and think the burden of clarity falls on you rather than the judge.

-Weighing without comparison isn't weighing, it is just extending your impact. Most buzzwords used for weighing are just part of timeframe, magnitude, and probability. Unless its an impact turn debate, please take time to compare both your links and internal links. I love when teams stake the ballot on either a link turn or an impact turn, so don't be afraid to kick case and go for offense on their case. That being said, collapsing is essential, and prioritizing quantity of offense over quality typically isn't the best strategy.

Evidence

-On a personal level I will always prefer full cut cards and no paraphrasing, nothing you do in round will be able to convince me that not having cut cards and/or paraphrasing is good for the activity as a whole.

-Please call out bad evidence practices, if you don't feel comfortable reading theory that's fine but you can still be making arguments in the speech that call for rejecting the argument (if I am on a panel in which theory is not an option I will be extra partial to this);

- I love when teams compare and contrast their evidence to their opponents, and it is something that teams do not do with enough frequency. This adds an extra layer of analysis to your arguments and helps make them more persuasive.

-Verbal citations are a must and need to include author name and date of publication. Not only is it unfair to make your opponents go back and check for authors and dates on all you pieces of evidence, but it is also plagiarism as you are taking someone else's work and utilizing it as your own.

Progressive

Theory

-I default to competing interpretations unless told otherwise. Unless the theory is frivolous I'm not likely to buy any RVIs as I don't think teams should be punished for good-faith norm-setting.

-Disclosure is good and paraphrasing is bad, I will have no hesitancy treating either of those as a voter and dropping the violating team. I would suggest that every team just disclose and don't paraphrase because otherwise you are going in to a theory debate you will most likely lose. That is not a case of me intervening, but rather due to the fact that the majority of arguments against disclosure and in favor of paraphrasing aren't good.

-99.9% of the time trigger warnings are unnecessary in PF. If it non-graphic I don't believe it should have a trigger warning point-blank. In my experience trigger warnings prevent important debates from happening, and are often used to silence underrepresented voices. The literature also seems to conclude that trigger warnings are a trauma magnifier, so do with that as you please.

-I'm indifferent on round reports if you disclose, but think they are unhelpful if you don't.

Kritiks

-The time constraints of PF make it really hard to have a good K debate, that being said, I think it is good for teams to be pushing the threshold on what arguments are accepted in PF.

Arguments I read in high school: Securitization, Word Pic, and topical race/gender arguments with a ROB

Arguments I debated: Anti-blackness, Rage, Fem, Cap, Set-Col, Orientalism, Spark, Dedev, Wipeout (not endorsing the last three just saying I debated them)

The tl;dr: is that I can evaluate K debate to the extent of a PF first year out with some familiarity navigating the policy backfiles. If you win the K on the flow you will win my ballot, but don’t assume I have prior knowledge when it comes to the more unorthodox K positions (especially non-topical ones).

- If you are reading an argument that talks about changing the debate space, please don't have an opt-out form, it is counter-intuitive, and potentially terminal defense on your method if you are willing to not debate an argument that aims to change the space.

Speaker Points

I'll start everyone at a 28.5 and adjust from there on a sliding scale. It'll be a mix of style and strategy.

Have fun, debate is a game.

I am a three-year varsity debater. I do flow and will vote off the flow; however, crossfire will not be flowed. Do not try to gain extra preparation time by over-asking for cards and/or delaying the time it takes to send your cards to the opposing team. Both competitors are responsible for upholding the time intervals for each speech and cross during the debate and to time their prep time. If there is an email chain to exchange evidence, please include my email (willfligg23@gmail.com) 

Thanks

I was a three-year varsity PF debater at Marist School.

There are two main things I vote off the most in rounds:

• PLEASE extend the contentions you are going for (ideally at the start of your speech) and frontline. most rounds I vote on come down to which team extended better. Tell me where you think you're winning and I'll focus my vote there.
• Signposting. Make it painfully clear where you are in the flow. After all, if I misplace something, it only stands to hurt your chance of getting the vote.

Some other points about my judging:

• I will not flow crossfires, but I will pay attention and it may influence my vote.
• I expect anything in final focus to have been brought up during the summary.
• I expect second-speaking teams to respond to the first rebuttal in rebuttal.
• I expect defense to be extended if the contention isn't dropped.
• Teams are responsible for time intervals for each speech, crossfire, and any prep time used. I will be keeping time if anything is too far off.
• If you use an email chain, please include my email in the chain (amanhaileyesus23@gmail.com)

I'm a 4th year PF debater at Marist School in Georgia.

Add me to your email chains

matthewhorne24@marist.com maristpublicforum@gmail.com

If you spread, send a speech doc

Tech>truth

Time your own speeches, prep, and crossfires.

I pay attention to cross solely for speaker points, if something happens that I should know about, let me know in the speech.

Please weigh and

Collapse in your summaries. Narrowing down the debate is important in the back half of rounds

Email me if you have any questions about rfd.

she/her | add me to the email chain: ellykang@mit.edu

competed in nat cir public forum for 4 years at marist

general notes

tech > truth

please preflow before the round

i will always prefer better comparatively weighed arguments

love weighing introduced earlier (especially in rebuttal!)

warranted analytics > unwarranted evidence

can handle speed but will clear you if i can't understand + you should be slowing down on taglines, send speech docs in the email chain if you spread

if you do paraphrase, please at least have cut cards. if evidence is called for and sent in the email chain, it should be sent in cut card format. if you don't have a cut card for key evidence, your speaks and the argument will be dropped.

won't evaluate arguments in cross unless they're made in speeches

rebuttal

must frontline in second rebuttal (at the very minimum, frontline what you collapse on and every offensive argument)

implicate your responses and tell me why they matter in context of the round

summary + final

defense isn't sticky

collapse in the back half. for anything you collapse on, extend every part of the argument (uniqueness, link, internal link, impact)

back half should be consistent. everything in final needs to be in summary or i won't evaluate it

progressive argumentation

i do believe reading cut cards and open source disclosure are good norms, but reading those shells is not an auto win. you have to win the shell for me to vote off it

i don't like friv theory that doesn't actually contribute education or fairness to debate + probably won't evaluate it. i consider friv anything that isn't disclosure, paraphrasing, or content warning theory. but note i have a fairly high threshold for what requires a content warning

have judged kritiks several times, but not the most familiar with them. if you read one, i'll do my best to evaluate

other notes

i give speaks solely based on strategic decisions in round

if you are any kind of -ist in round, i will immediately drop you with the lowest speaks i can give

if you have any questions you can always ask! feel free to email me if there are any others after the round

Marist School (Class of 25')

Hi y'all my name is Faiza.

here is my email for chains: faizakhaled25@marist.com

I’m a third year competitor for Marist! I primarily compete in POI (and other speech events) but did a little policy and also judge public forum, so I understand the debate basics. It is to your benefit to treat me like a lay judge, but that being said, there are a couple things you can do to increase your chance of winning

1) Slow down! Your goal is to be persuasive, not make as many arguments as possible. Use your time to your advantage, but remember, quality over quantity. A short but fully developed speech is much more impactful to me rather than a lengthy speech that regurgitates your case redundantly and doesn't extend or weigh the opposing sides case or show any impact.

- On the note of time, respect the time of both your judges as well as the other competitors. This applies to everyone in terms of being prepared to start the debate on time as well as during the debate round, especially during prep time.

2) Signpost, if you tell me to write something down I’ll definitely be included on my flow.

3) Use cross to highlight important parts of the debate, if I hear it more often I’ll remember it.

4) Weigh! I think that weighing your case with the opposing side is a fantastic mechanism to contest the opposing argument while creating nuance within your own argument in a effective and efficient way. Also, extend every part of your argument and show its impact.

5) Speaking points will be based on clarity and quality.

6) Unless it is serious, theory should be avoided. Disclosure is good.

Remember to have fun and be respectful! If an argument seems true it will be more likely to decide my ballot. I’ll only evaluate arguments made in the round, but I come from a background that emphasizes persuasion. Good luck!

I'm a three year varsity debater. I did PF and now speech.

I will flow the round and will vote off the flow. This means that I will not consider crossfire in the round unless the questions and responses in CX are brought up in speeches. 

To have arguments and responses considered, debaters should extend their evidence from rebuttal to FF. If something isn't extended in summary but shows up in FF, I will consider it dropped in the round. If there is no response to an argument or response made in the round, I will consider it conceded. 

Evidence should be open and available for both teams to access. I prefer email chains and will not count the time it takes to send evidence as prep time. If their is an email chain, please include my email davidkleinrock23@marist.com

In terms of timing, I expect debaters to time themselves and the other team. I will also time, and going over the limit for each speech will result in a deduction from your speaks at the end of the round.

PLEASE frontline rebuttal and weigh your impacts so I don't have to do it for you. Framework does not matter to me at all.

In terms of speaks, I'll start with a 28.5, as long as you do nothing egregious you'll end with that score. To boost it, you should focus on organization, detailed interactions between evidence, and well-thought out weighing. (Being good in CX will help you here, but not in the overall round decision)

I am a four-year varsity debater.

Here are some guidelines for the round:

1. I expect everything in the final focus to be in the summary.
2. Second speaking teams must respond to the first rebuttal.
3. First speaking teams must extend defense in the first summary.
4. I don't flow crossfire.
5. Competitors are responsible for upholding the time intervals for each speech and cross during the debate and to time their prep time (I will keep time as well).
6. If there is an email chain to exchange evidence, please include my email (keeganleary23@marist.com).

Hello debaters,

As your judge I value clear, concise and polite speakers. Content and presentation are both equally valuable, and I will be carefully observing the quality of your speeches and questions asked. During crossfire, I expect questions and answers to be straight to the point.