I am a parent debate judge. No spreading. Be kind to your opponents.

I am a volunteer lay judge. I've judged a variety of rounds, however, keep in mind that I'm still a parent. Spreading is frowned upon solely because it's hard for me to make sure I put everything on my flow - I might have to stop flowing just to be able to understand your arguments. I'll let you know if you're going too fast for me. 

Lincoln Douglas: 

LD Debate is my favorite debate form to judge. I have a good amount of experience in LD debate, and I enjoy judging it.

I believe that LD is a very framework-oriented debate. Make sure you can tie your arguments back to your framework, as well as having some cards that support yours. I infer the word ought in the topic to mean a moral obligation, however, good reasoning for any particular framework can change my mind. If you're running frameworks such as Kant or other literature ones, please have card(s) explaining them as I am not familiar with them.

In general, I expect to see a polite and smooth debate from both sides. My speaker points start from 26 and go up from there. I like to see emotion, emphasis, facial expressions, and projection in your speaking. Mumbling and spreading will definitely be reflected in speaker points. Hand gestures are welcome, but don't go overboard and don't cover your face. I'd appreciate it if you kept your cameras on throughout the round, but if you have a technical issue, that's OK too. Don't be mean or insulting in any way to your opponent. 

I love to judge Lincoln Douglas, and have met so many wonderful debaters in tournaments. If my feedback can sound negative, it's just that I can see so much potential in your future in the debate world. Keep on going debaters, and shoot for the stars!

I'm a former PF competitor, but have been coaching all forms of debate for the last seven years. I also dabbled with parliamentary debate in college. I will vote down all Ks in PF.

In CX, I will typically vote on whatever debaters make important in the round. I'm fine with forms of typically "non-traditional" debate like K's, theory blocks, etc. I cannot flow at the fastest speeds people will spread, but typically can still follow all arguments presented.

In LD, I prefer traditional LD to progressive LD. The timings involved in the event make 1:1 CX debate really hard to watch, and require the judge to do a lot of work on behalf of the competitors. Core Value/Criterion clash is important for determining the framework of the round, but it only determines how we weigh the other arguments in the round, not who wins overall.

*Varsity Speaks: Boost in speaker points when you compliment your partner in-speech - the more fun or earnest, the higher the speaks boost :) I've found this gives some much needed levity in tense rounds.

*Online: Please go slower online. I'll let you know if you cut out. I'll try on my end to be as fair as possible within the limits of keeping the round reasonably on time. If the tournament has a forfeit policy, I'll go by those.

Background: 3 years of college super trad policy (stock issues/T & CPs) & some parli. I coach PF, primarily middle school/novice and a few open. She/her. Docshare >

PF:

Firm on paraphrasing bad. I used to reward teams for the bare minimum of reading cut cards but then debaters would bold-faced lie and I would become the clown emoji in real time. I'm open to hearing arguments that penalize paraphrasing, whether it's treating them as analytics that I shouldn't prefer over your read cards or I should drop the team that paraphrases entirely.

Disclosure is good because evidence ethics in PF are bad, but I probably won't vote for disclosure theory. I'm more likely to reward you in speaks for doing it (ex. sharing speech docs) than punish a team for not.

“Defense is sticky.” No it isn’t.

Ex. Fully frontline whatever you want to go for in second summary in second rebuttal. Same logic as if it's in your final focus, it better be in your partner's summary. I like consistency.

If you take longer than a minute to exchange a card you just read, it starts coming out of your prep. Speech docs make sure this is never an issue, so that's another plug.

Collapsing, grouping, and implicating = good, underrated, easy path to my ballot! Doc botting, blippy responses, no warrants or ev comparison = I'm sad, and you'll be sad at your speaks.

Cleaner debates collapse earlier rather than later.

I'm super into strategic concessions. "It's okay that they win this, because we win here instead and that matters more bc..."

I have a soft spot for framing. I'm most interested when the opposing team links in (ex. team A runs "prioritize extinction," team B replies, "yes, and that's us,"), but I'll definitely listen to "prioritize x instead" args, too. Just warrant, compare, etc.

Other "progressive pf" - I have minimal experience judging it. I'm not saying you can't run these debates or I'm unwilling to listen to them, but I'm saying be aware and slow down if I'm the one evaluating. Update: So far this season, I've voted down trigger warning theory and voted for paraphrasing theory.

I'll accept new weighing in final focus but I don't think it's strategic - you should probably start in summary to increase my chances of voting off of it.

All else fails, I will 1) look at the weighing, then 2), evaluate the line-by-line to see if I give you reasonable access to those impacts to begin with. Your opponents would have to really slip up somewhere to win the weighing but lose the round, but it's not impossible. I get really sad if the line-by-line is so convoluted that I only vote on the weighing - give me a clean place to vote. I'll be happy if you do the extra work to tell me why your weighing mechanism is better than theirs (I should prefer scope over mag because x, etc).

LD:

I’m a better judge for you if you're more trad/LARP. The more "progressive," the more you should either A) strike me if possible, or B) explain it to me slowly and simply - I’m open to hearing it if you’re willing to adjust how you argue it. Send a speech doc and assume I'm not as well-read as you on the topic literature.

All:

If it's before 9am, assume I learned what debate was 10 minutes ago. If it's the last round of the night, assume the same.

Open/varsity - time yourselves. Keep each other honest, but don't be the prep police.

On speed generally - I can do "fast" PF mostly fine, but I prefer slower debates and no spreading.

Content warnings should be read for graphic content. Have an anonymous opt-out.

Have warrants. Compare warrants. Tell me why your args matter/what to do with them.

Don't post-round. Debaters should especially think about who you choose to post-round on a panel when decisions echo one another.

Having a sense of humor and being friendly/accommodating toward your opponents is the easiest way to get good speaks from me. Be kind, have fun, laugh a little (but not at anyone's expense!!), and I'll have no problem giving you top speaks.

If I smile, you did something right. If I nod, I'm following what you say. I will absolutely tilt my head and make a face if you lost me or you're treading on thin ice on believability of whatever you're saying. If I just look generally unhappy - that's just my default face. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I am a parent judge on my third season of judging.

I do not like spreading and prefer a traditional style debate. Do not assume I know anything about the resolve so, for example, avoid speaking in acronyms without explaining them first. I will also do my best to judge what is presented without any outside prejudice.

I have many years of experience in theater production so I like smooth concise speaking, voice projection, casual eye contact, and to see your face now and again, not heads down or looking above the judges heads. I will intently listen to your speech/debate and then flow periodically.

I extremely respect the amount of time, effort, and energy you put into this activity and even though I am a parent who never competed in speech and debate, I will do my best to judge with the same dedication.

I have judged PF, LD, Congress, Extemp, OO, Poetry, Drama, POI and Info at local, state and national levels.

I am a parent judge. I expect you to demonstrate your knowledge and depth of the content as well as the ability to make a confident argument towards your stance.

I cannot judge what I cannot understand so clear and logical communication is key.

Also, keep track of your own and other team's speech/prep times.

Basically just be nice and enjoy your passion towards debate.

I think that debate is the most fun and important educational activity in the world. I'm a former coach of a national circuit team which experienced a fair amount of success during my tenure. I have coached multiple teams who have appeared at the TOC in Policy Debate, including one TOC championship. I have also coached multiple teams to championships at the Middle School Nationals tournament in both PF and Policy debate.

I'm generally a "progressive" judge in the sense that I enjoy theory debates concerning what debate ought to be and how we can provide the best educational experience for competitors. I'm also happy to listen to criticisms and counterplans in those events which have not traditionally utilized those types of arguments.

I've been focusing more on my day job for the past few years and therefore haven't judged as many rounds during the last several seasons. Don't assume I know the jargon specific to this particular year or your particular case, even if it is a camp case. I'm generally good with jargon specific to debate and I can flow a fairly high degree of speed.

At the end of the day, have the debate you want to have, make it the best debate that you can show me, have fun, and I'll reward that.

P.S.: Please do your part to help keep the round running on time. I'll keep track of time just in case, but I'd rather that you not make me police speech & prep times.