49th Harvard National Forensics Tournament
2023 — Cambridge, MA/US
PF (Online Divisions) Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show HideEmail - Maxinekyadams364@gmail.com
Prefs
1 - k/performance****, traditional
2 - theory
4 - larp
no tricks.
Important
-i am very flow centric (flow cross ex even)- tech matters a lot
-impacts are important to me. please give me framing and comparison, tell me the story of your impacts and how they outweigh.
-case debate - be very clear when you're cross applying arguments to the case flow - 2nr and 2ar must go to the case page and isolate what you're winning
-FW - ill vote on it if you win it.
More thoughts
- please collapse by the 2n/2a and use judge instruction.
- good analytics > bad cards
Background: Judging online from Indonesia GMT+7 (12 hours ahead of EST/CDT). I judged several varsity level British/Asian/Australs parliamentary debating tournaments around Southeast Asia from 2016 till 2021. As of Nov 2023, I judged a total of 13 Public Forum, 1 Lincoln-Douglas, and 1 WSDC competitions in the U.S. circuit.
Technicalities: Some people may put a heavy emphasis on the presence of evidence and the presentation of examples, but for me, warrant: coherent logical explanation and step-by-step analysis of your argument is more valuable. Spewing out too many facts and trivia before you explain your assertions confuses me. Use those data to back up your arguments, not to lengthen your speech. Also, don't forget to connect the extensions. Do put elaborations on why any impact you give is significant and unique to your side.
Strategy: Don't ever forget to weigh in your arguments against your opponent's. I also expect the two-worlds scenario when you're painting your case. Rather than saying "To give you an off-time roadmap..." in the beginning, better if you do signpost as you go because it will surely help me do the flow during the speech. I love the "even ifs" and the clear-cut comparison between your model and your rival's model.
Manner: No spreading. Please speak clearly and don't rap out your speech. You may turn off cameras if you (or I happen to) experience lags or internet problems. Please time your own speech and when you start, just speak. There's no need to say "time starts now/on my first word" because some scientists argued that time began shortly after The Big Bang.
Correspondence: albert-yang@mail.com. Yes, without the G.
In Public Forum Debate, I will priotize for those who have better explanation and justification (why or how) in their case. It means that not only I credit the evidence, but also the explanation of what debaters can or want to do with that evidence. It would be nice if debaters could explain the likelyhood of their case in term of utilizing the evidence. Debaters might want to explain the exclusivity of their value and how it would happen in your side of the house.You might need to be clear about the clashes in your side of the house so it would be easier for me to see the holes you poke in your opponent's case and how you rebuild your own case. Note that I will only judge and take notes based on your speech (I won't step out of your case) so it would be cool if you could choose your wording wisely and give the step by step of your value to be justified to make sure that we have mutual understanding so I could give proper credit to your case.
In public forum debate, i will prioritize the student's cappability in creating further analysis in regards to the fact and material that they deliver to the speeches. Giving away facts is cool but letting people know step by step process as how the facts are materialized is even cooler. Rebuttal and responses are better to not one liner and have deeper reason. I expect a debate where student can cite factual and scientific resources such as journal or papers.
I have been judging since 2021, I have experience judging nearly 200 competitions in multiple formats of debate and speech including the World Schools format, British Parliamentary format, Asian Parliamentary, LD, PF, CNDF, SPAR, etcetera and in speech formats including Storytelling, Extemp, Interpretive Reading, Impromptu Speech, etcetera. Notable tournaments I have judged not on tabroom include Princeton IV 2024, Hart House IV 2021, John Hopkins University Debate Open 2022, Doxbridge WSDC 2023 & 2024, World Schools Debating Championship 2022 (Invited Adjudicator at all of these events and more. You can send me an email if you need more of my achievements.
I appreciate well structured speeches that are relevant thematically and delivered well with creativity. Formal and conversational speaking style are welcomed.
I do prioritise logical material and also give credence to evidence when used relevantly.
My weighing flows generally with exclusivity of the material, but my weighing also follows what is being provided by you in the round and how well you justify that metric.
For speech events, i look out for authenticity and nuance in character development, but my philosophy also broadly aligns with all listed earlier too.
My feedback focuses on argument development and strategy.
Debate Philosophy:
I approach debates with a focus on flowing arguments and evaluating them based on the flow. While I prioritize technical arguments over truth, I do expect clear and logical communication from debaters. Clarity of thought and logic is paramount, and I value well-warranted arguments over-reliance on evidence alone.
I weigh the claims by whether they are supported by two kinds of reasoning:
11. Truth: Why the claim is true.
22. Impact: Why this claim is important in the debate.
"Claims" apply to both constructive arguments and rebuttals, as I will weigh them side by side in clashes on my flow later. Providing examples or research findings doesn't necessarily mean your claim is true; you have to explain which part of the example/research can be applied to the argument, to explain why that example is important to the debate as a whole.
Weighing Arguments:
Debaters should focus on weighing their arguments and demonstrating why their impacts outweigh those of their opponents. This includes considering scope, magnitude, timeframe, probability, or employing metaweighing techniques. I appreciate clear roadmaps and signposting throughout the round to aid in organization.
Topic Relevance:
I prefer debates to stay on topic and avoid off-topic or theoretical arguments aimed at disqualifying the other team. Definitions by the government/affirmative team are allowed, but abuse of this privilege will be penalized.
Argument Evaluation:
Warranted arguments are crucial for winning my ballot. Unsubstantiated claims are difficult to vote on, especially when effectively rebutted by the opposing side. It's essential to be charitable to opponents' arguments and engage with the best version of their claims rather than strawmanning them.
Public Forum-Specific:
In Public Forum debates, I prioritize logical reasoning over reliance on evidence cards. Debaters should focus on identifying weaknesses in their opponents' link chains rather than reading from prepared blocks. Clash should be evident by the rebuttal speeches, and second rebuttals should address all offense or risk concessions.
Evidence and Email Chains:
I do not typically review evidence or participate in email chains. Debaters must convince me of their arguments without relying on my review of evidence. However, if requested, I may assess evidence for accuracy.
I'm a parent judge with little experience judging in public forum. I will follow NSDA rules and evaluate you on both your arguments individually, clash between teams, and the overall impact of your case. Please make sure to explain why I should vote for you...no new arguments once it's time to summarize or give a final focus. Speed should be normal, so I can keep up with points being made. Please keep decorum and be respectful of each other. Speak clearly and confidently and show that you care about what you are talking about. Please provide an offtime roadmap before each of your speeches so it is more organized and easier to follow along.
Same thing applies with lincoln douglas. Do not spread as it will be difficult for me to keep up with the points being made during the round. Please speak at a normal pace and speak clearly. I prefer confident speakers that care about what they are talking about.
I have not done PF debate since I was in middle school, so I'm a fair bit out of practice... just keep that in mind as you present your arguments etc. Try to avoid unnecessary jargon, and remember, I can't support an argument I don't understand!
You don't win any points for shouting louder. A spirited debate can be fun, but I expect all debaters to be respectful.
Weigh your arguments - let me know why they matter. And in general, please try to keep your arguments reasonable and thoughtful :)
Have fun! If you're not, you're doing it wrong.
I debated PF for four years in HS.
Basically, make good arguments and convince me why you won. That's what debate is about.
I'm fine with speed (as long as your opponents are). Frontline in the 2nd rebuttal, extend defense in the summary, and collapse the debate in the back half of the round. Tech > truth to some extent. I don't like crazy or unrealistic arguments, as I view Public Forum Debate as a means for discussing real world problems and their practical consequences, nor am I a fan of 5-6 contention cases, in which each argument is underdeveloped and poorly warranted, BUT, if an argument is clean dropped, I am very likely to vote for it.
Please be respectful during cross. Don't yell. And remember, you are trying to convince the judge that you are right -- not your opponents!
+0.5 speakers points if you make an Atlanta Hawks reference !!
Email me at aananbiswas3@gmail.com if you have any questions.
I have 4 years PF debate experience and have attended several NSDA and NHSDLC regional and national tournaments in China, as well as Harvard, Stanford, and Berkeley annual debate tournaments. I've been coaching debaters in several debate camps in China during 2019, and I have worked as a PF debate coach from 2021-2022. In turns of judging experience I've judged several regional PF debate tournaments and the 2019 NHSDLC Nationals for both MS and HS divisions, as well as Stanford/Harvard annual debate tournament.
In terms of judging PF debate, I would like to hear more weighing and impact comparison from both sides, and debaters to directly engage with opponents' arguments instead of simply presenting defensive arguments. I prefer contentions with strong logic links and data/evidence and line-by-line rebuttal.
My PF expectations:
In order to aid my evaluation, each round should have clear arguments, with sufficient road mapping and framing. Ultimately, I am looking to see arguments that are practical, with plans/counter plans thoroughly explained in order to create logical links throughout your argument, and I expect your case to cover a variety of themes, not just specific points; you should be covering all aspects and factors of the motion. Finally, please be respectful during the debate.
Hi everyone, good luck today. One thing I like to see is loud speakers and clear points.
As a parent judge, clarity in your arguments is crucial for my understanding. Avoid spreading and ensure each claim is accompanied by a sensible warrant. Additionally, maintaining a respectful tone is essential throughout the debate.
David Coates
Chicago '05; Minnesota Law '14
For e-mail chains (which you should always use to accelerate evidence sharing): coatesdj@gmail.com
2024-5 rounds (as of 2/10): 51
Aff winning percentage: .510
("David" or "Mr. Coates" to you. I'll know you haven't bothered to read my paradigm if you call me "judge," which isn't my name)
I will not vote on disclosure theory. I will consider RVIs on disclosure theory based solely on the fact that you introduced it in the first place.
I will not vote on claims predicated on your opponents' rate of delivery and will probably nuke your speaker points if all you can come up with is "fast debate is bad" in response to faster opponents. Explain why their arguments are wrong, but don't waste my time complaining about how you didn't have enough time to answer bad arguments because...oh, wait, you wasted two minutes of a constructive griping about how you didn't like your opponents' speed.
I will not vote on frivolous "arguments" criticizing your opponent's sartorial choices (think "shoe theory" or "formal clothes theory" or "skirt length," which still comes up sometimes), and I will likely catapult your points into the sun for wasting my time and insulting your opponents with such nonsense.
You will probably receive a lecture if you highlight down your evidence to such an extent that it no longer contains grammatical sentences.
Allegations of ethical violations I determine not to have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt will result in an automatic loss with the minimum allowable speaker points for the team introducing them.
Allegations of rule violations not supported by the plain text of a rule will make me seriously consider awarding you a loss with no speaker points.
I will actively intervene against new arguments in the last speech of the round, no matter what the debate format. New arguments in the 2AR are the work of the devil and I will not reward you for saving your best arguments for a speech after which they can't be answered. I will entertain claims that new arguments in the 2AR are automatic voting issues for the negative or that they justify a verbal 3NR. Turnabout is fair play.
I will not entertain claims that your opponents should not be allowed to answer your arguments because of personal circumstances beyond their control. Personally abusive language about, or directed at, your opponents will have me looking for reasons to vote against you.
Someone I know has reminded me of this: I will not evaluate any argument suggesting that I must "evaluate the debate after X speech" unless "X speech" is the 2AR. Where do you get off thinking that you can deprive your opponent of speaking time?
I'm okay with slow-walking you through how my decision process works or how I think you can improve your strategic decision making or get better speaker points, but I've no interest, at this point in my career, in relitigating a round I've already decided you've lost. "What would be a better way to make this argument?" will get me actively trying to help you. "Why didn't you vote on this (vague claim)?" will just make me annoyed.
OVERVIEW
I have been an active coach, primarily of policy debate (though I'm now doing active work only on the LD side), since the 2000-01 season (the year of the privacy topic). Across divisions and events, I generally judge between 100 and 120 rounds a year.
My overall approach to debate is extremely substance dominant. I don't really care what substantive arguments you make as long as you clash with your opponents and fulfill your burdens vis-à-vis the resolution. I will not import my own understanding of argumentative substance to bail you out when you're confronting bad substance--if the content of your opponents' arguments is fundamentally false, they should be especially easy for you to answer without any help from me. (Contrary to what some debaters have mistakenly believed in the past, this does not mean that I want to listen to you run wipeout or spark--I'd actually rather hear you throw down on inherency or defend "the value is justice and the criterion is justice"--but merely that I think that debaters who can't think their way through incredibly stupid arguments are ineffective advocates who don't deserve to win).
My general default (and the box I've consistently checked on paradigm forms) is that of a fairly conventional policymaker. Absent other guidance from the teams involved, I will weigh the substantive advantages and disadvantages of a topical plan against those of the status quo or a competitive counterplan. I'm amenable to alternative evaluative frameworks but generally require these to be developed with more depth and clarity than most telegraphic "role of the ballot" claims usually provide.
THOUGHTS APPLICABLE TO ALL DEBATE FORMATS
That said, I do have certain predispositions and opinions about debate practice that may affect how you choose to execute your preferred strategy:
1. I am skeptical to the point of fairly overt hostility toward most non-resolutional theory claims emanating from either side. Aff-initiated debates about counterplan and kritik theory are usually vague, devoid of clash, and nearly impossible to flow. Neg-initiated "framework" "arguments" usually rest on claims that are either unwarranted or totally implicit. I understand that the affirmative should defend a topical plan, but what I don't understand after "A. Our interpretation is that the aff must run a topical plan; B. Standards" is why the aff's plan isn't topical. My voting on either sort of "argument" has historically been quite rare. It's always better for the neg to run T than "framework," and it's usually better for the aff to use theory claims to justify their own creatively abusive practices ("conditional negative fiat justifies intrinsicness permutations, so here are ten intrinsicness permutations") than to "argue" that they're independent voting issues.
1a. That said, I can be merciless toward negatives who choose to advance contradictory conditional "advocacies" in the 1NC should the affirmative choose to call them out. The modern-day tendency to advance a kritik with a categorical link claim together with one or more counterplans which link to the kritik is not one which meets with my approval. There was a time when deliberately double-turning yourself in the 1NC amounted to an automatic loss, but the re-advent of what my late friend Ross Smith would have characterized as "unlimited, illogical conditionality" has unfortunately put an end to this and caused negative win percentages to swell--not because negatives are doing anything intelligent, but because affirmatives aren't calling them out on it. I'll put it this way--I have awarded someone a 30 for going for "contradictory conditional 'advocacies' are illegitimate" in the 2AR.
2. Offensive arguments should have offensive links and impacts. "The 1AC didn't talk about something we think is important, therefore it doesn't solve the root cause of every problem in the world" wouldn't be considered a reason to vote negative if it were presented on the solvency flow, where it belongs, and I fail to understand why you should get extra credit for wasting time developing your partial case defense with less clarity and specificity than an arch-traditional stock issue debater would have. Generic "state bad" links on a negative state action topic are just as bad as straightforward "links" of omission in this respect.
3. Kritik arguments should NOT depend on my importing special understandings of common terms from your authors, with whose viewpoints I am invariably unfamiliar or in disagreement. For example, the OED defines "problematic" as "presenting a problem or difficulty," so while you may think you're presenting round-winning impact analysis when you say "the affirmative is problematic," all I hear is a non-unique observation about how the aff, like everything else in life, involves difficulties of some kind. I am not hostile to critical debates--some of the best debates I've heard involved K on K violence, as it were--but I don't think it's my job to backfill terms of art for you, and I don't think it's fair to your opponents for me to base my decision in these rounds on my understanding of arguments which have been inadequately explained.
3a. I guess we're doing this now...most of the critical literature with which I'm most familiar involves pretty radical anti-statism. You might start by reading "No Treason" and then proceeding to authors like Hayek, Hazlitt, Mises, and Rothbard. I know these are arguments a lot of my colleagues really don't like, but they're internally consistent, so they have that advantage.
3a(1). Section six of "No Treason," the one with which you should really start, is available at the following link: https://oll-resources.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/oll3/store/titles/2194/Spooner_1485_Bk.pdf so get off your cans and read it already. It will greatly help you answer arguments based on, inter alia, "the social contract."
3a(2). If you genuinely think that something at the tournament is making you unsafe, you may talk to me about it and I will see if there is a solution. Far be it from me to try to make you unable to compete.
4. The following solely self-referential "defenses" of your deliberate choice to run an aggressively non-topical affirmative are singularly unpersuasive:
a. "Topicality excludes our aff and that's bad because it excludes our aff." This is not an argument. This is just a definition of "topicality." I won't cross-apply your case and then fill in argumentative gaps for you.
b. "There is no topical version of our aff." This is not an answer. This is a performative concession of the violation.
c. "The topic forces us to defend the state and the state is racist/sexist/imperialist/settler colonial/oppressive toward 'bodies in the debate space.'" I'm quite sure that most of your authors would advocate, at least in the interim, reducing fossil fuel consumption, and debates about how that might occur are really interesting to all of us, or at least to me. (You might take a look at this intriguing article about a moratorium on extraction on federal lands: https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-oil-industrys-grip-on-public-lands-and-waters-may-be-slowing-progress-toward-energy-independence/
d. "Killing debate is good." Leaving aside the incredible "intellectual" arrogance of this statement, what are you doing here if you believe this to be true? You could overtly "kill debate" more effectively were you to withhold your "contributions" and depress participation numbers, which would have the added benefit of sparing us from having to listen to you.
e. "This is just a wrong forum argument." And? There is, in fact, a FORUM expressly designed to allow you to subject your audience to one-sided speeches about any topic under the sun you "feel" important without having to worry about either making an argument or engaging with an opponent. Last I checked, that FORUM was called "oratory." Try it next time.
f. "The topic selection process is unfair/disenfranchises 'bodies in the debate space.'" In what universe is it more fair for you to get to impose a debate topic on your opponents without consulting them in advance than for you to abide by the results of a topic selection process to which all students were invited to contribute and in which all students were invited to vote?
g. "Fairness is bad." Don't tempt me to vote against you for no reason to show you why fairness is, in fact, good.
5. Many of you are genuinely bad at organizing your speeches. Fix that problem by keeping the following in mind:
a. Off-case flows should be clearly labeled the first time they're introduced. It's needlessly difficult to keep track of what you're trying to do when you expect me to invent names for your arguments for you. I know that some hipster kid "at" some "online debate institute" taught you that it was "cool" to introduce arguments in the 1N with nothing more than "next off" to confuse your opponents, but remember that you're also confusing your audience when you do that, and I, unlike your opponents, have the power to deduct speaker points for poor organization if "next off--Biden disadvantage" is too hard for you to spit out. I'm serious about this.
b. Transitions between individual arguments should be audible. It's not that difficult to throw a "next" in there and it keeps you from sounding like this: "...wreck their economies and set the stage for an era of international confrontation that would make the Cold War look like Woodstock extinction Mead 92 what if the global economy stagnates...." The latter, because it fails to distinguish between the preceding card and subsequent tag, is impossible to flow, and it's not my job to look at your speech document to impose organization with which you couldn't be bothered.
c. Your arguments should line up with those of your opponents. "Embedded clash" flows extremely poorly for me. I will not automatically pluck warrants out of your four-minute-long scripted kritik overview and then apply them for you, nor will I try to figure out what, exactly, a fragment like "yes, link" followed by a minute of unintelligible, undifferentiated boilerplate is supposed to answer.
6. I don't mind speed as long as it's clear and purposeful:
a. Many of you don't project your voices enough to compensate for the poor acoustics of the rooms where debates often take place. I'll help you out by yelling "clearer" or "louder" at you no more than twice if I can't make out what you're saying, but after that you're on your own.
b. There are only two legitimate reasons for speed: Presenting more arguments and presenting more argumentative development. Fast delivery should not be used as a crutch for inefficiency. If you're using speed merely to "signpost" by repeating vast swaths of your opponents' speeches or to read repetitive cards tagged "more evidence," I reserve the right to consider persuasive delivery in how I assign points, meaning that you will suffer deductions you otherwise would not have had you merely trimmed the fat and maintained your maximum sustainable rate.
7: I have a notoriously low tolerance for profanity and will not hesitate to severely dock your points for language I couldn't justify to the host school's teachers, parents, or administrators, any of whom might actually overhear you. When in doubt, keep it clean. Don't jeopardize the activity's image any further by failing to control your language when you have ample alternative fora for profane forms of self-expression.
8: For crying out loud, it is not too hard to respect your opponents' preferred pronouns (and "they" is always okay in policy debate because it's presumed that your opponents agree about their arguments), but I will start vocally correcting you if you start engaging in behavior I've determined is meant to be offensive in this context. You don't have to do that to gain some sort of perceived competitive advantage and being that intentionally alienating doesn't gain you any friends.
9. I guess that younger judges engage in more paradigmatic speaker point disclosure than I have in the past, so here are my thoughts: Historically, the arithmetic mean of my speaker points any given season has averaged out to about 27.9. I think that you merit a 27 if you've successfully used all of your speech time without committing round-losing tactical errors, and your points can move up from there by making gutsy strategic decisions, reading creative arguments, and using your best public speaking skills. Of course, your points can decline for, inter alia, wasting time, insulting your opponents, or using offensive language. I've "awarded" a loss-15 for a false allegation of an ethics violation and a loss-18 for a constructive full of seriously inappropriate invective. Don't make me go there...tackle the arguments in front of you head-on and without fear or favor and I can at least guarantee you that I'll evaluate the content you've presented fairly.
NOTES FOR LINCOLN-DOUGLAS!
PREF SHORTCUT: stock ≈ policy > K > framework > Tricks > Theory
I have historically spent much more time judging policy than LD and my specific topic knowledge is generally restricted to arguments I've helped my LD debaters prepare. In the context of most contemporary LD topics, which mostly encourage recycling arguments which have been floating around in policy debate for decades, this shouldn't affect you very much. With more traditionally phrased LD resolutions ("A just society ought to value X over Y"), this might direct your strategy more toward straight impact comparison than traditional V/C debating.
Also, my specific preferences about how _substantive_ argumentation should be conducted are far less set in stone than they would be in a policy debate. I've voted for everything from traditional value/criterion ACs to policy-style ACs with plan texts to fairly outright critical approaches...and, ab initio, I'm fine with more or less any substantive attempt by the negative to engage whatever form the AC takes, subject to the warnings about what constitutes a link outlined above. (Not talking about something is not a link). Engage your opponent's advocacy and engage the topic and you should be okay.
N.B.: All of the above comments apply only to _substantive_ argumentation. See the section on "theory" in in the overview above if you want to understand what I think about those "arguments," and square it. If winning that something your opponent said is "abusive" is a major part of your strategy, you're going to have to make some adjustments if you want to win in front of me. I can't guarantee that I'll fully understand the basis for your theory claims, and I tend to find theory responses with any degree of articulation more persuasive than the claim that your opponent should lose because of some arguably questionable practice, especially if whatever your opponent said was otherwise substantively responsive. I also tend to find "self-help checks abuse" responses issue-dispositive more often than not. That is to say, if there is something you could have done to prevent the impact to the alleged "abuse," and you failed to do it, any resulting "time skew," "strat skew," or adverse impact on your education is your own fault, and I don't think you should be rewarded with a ballot for helping to create the very condition you're complaining about.
I have voted on theory "arguments" unrelated to topicality in Lincoln-Douglas debates precisely zero times. Do you really think you're going to be the first to persuade me to pull the trigger?
Addendum: To quote my colleague Anthony Berryhill, with whom I paneled the final round of the Isidore Newman Round Robin: " "Tricks debate" isn't debate. Deliberate attempts to hide arguments, mislead your opponent, be unethical, lie...etc. to screw your opponent will be received very poorly. If you need tricks and lying to win, either "git' good" (as the gamers say) or prefer a different judge." I say: I would rather hear you go all-in on spark or counterintuitive internal link turns than be subjected to grandstanding about how your opponent "dropped" some "tricky" half-sentence theory or burden spike. If you think top-loading these sorts of "tricks" in lieu of properly developing substance in the first constructive is a good idea, you will be sorely disappointed with your speaker points and you will probably receive a helpful refresher on how I absolutely will not tolerate aggressive post-rounding. Everyone's value to life increases when you fill the room with your intelligence instead of filling it with your trickery.
AND SPECIFIC NOTES FOR PUBLIC FORUM
NB: After the latest timing disaster, in which a public forum round which was supposed to take 40 minutes took over two hours and wasted the valuable time of the panel, I am seriously considering imposing penalties on teams who make "off-time" requests for evidence or needless requests for original articles or who can't locate a piece of evidence requested by their opponents during crossfire. This type of behavior--which completely disregards the timing norms found in every other debate format--is going to kill this activity because no member of the "public" who has other places to be is interested in judging an event where this type of temporal elongation of rounds takes place.
NB: I actually don't know what "we outweigh on scope" is supposed to mean. I've had drilled into my head that there are four elements to impact calculus: timeframe, probability, magnitude, and hierarchy of values. I'd rather hear developed magnitude comparison (is it worse to cause a lot of damage to very few people or very little damage to a lot of people? This comes up most often in debates about agricultural subsidies of all things) than to hear offsetting, poorly warranted claims about "scope."
NB: In addition to my reflections about improper citation practices infra, I think that evidence should have proper tags. It's really difficult to flow you, or even to follow the travel of your constructive, when you have a bunch of two-sentence cards bleeding into each other without any transitions other than "Larry '21," "Jones '21," and "Anderson '21." I really would rather hear tag-cite-text than whatever you're doing. Thus: "Further, economic decline causes nuclear war. Mead '92" rather than "Mead '92 furthers...".
That said:
1. You should remember that, notwithstanding its pretensions to being for the "public," this is a debate event. Allowing it to degenerate into talking past each other with dueling oratories past the first pro and first con makes it more like a speech event than I would like, and practically forces me to inject my own thoughts on the merits of substantive arguments into my evaluative process. I can't guarantee that you'll like the results of that, so:
2. Ideally, the second pro/second con/summary stage of the debate will be devoted to engaging in substantive clash (per the activity guidelines, whether on the line-by-line or through introduction of competing principles, which one can envision as being somewhat similar to value clash in a traditional LD round if one wants an analogy) and the final foci will be devoted to resolving the substantive clash.
3. Please review the sections on "theory" in the policy and LD philosophies above. I'm not interested in listening to rule-lawyering about how fast your opponents are/whether or not it's "fair"/whether or not it's "public" for them to phrase an argument a certain way. I'm doubly unenthused about listening to theory "debates" where the team advancing the theory claim doesn't understand the basis for it.* These "debates" are painful enough to listen to in policy and LD, but they're even worse to suffer through in PF because there's less speech time during which to resolve them. Unless there's a written rule prohibiting them (e.g., actually advocating specific plan/counterplan texts), I presume that all arguments are theoretically legitimate, and you will be fighting an uphill battle you won't like trying to persuade me otherwise. You're better off sticking to substance (or, better yet, using your opposition's supposedly dubious stance to justify meting out some "abuse" of your own) than getting into a theoretical "debate" you simply won't have enough time to win, especially given my strong presumption against this style of "argumentation."
*I've heard this misunderstanding multiple times from PF debaters who should have known better: "The resolution isn't justified because some policy in the status quo will solve the 'pro' harms" is not, in fact, a counterplan. It's an inherency argument. There is no rule saying the "con" can't redeploy policy stock issues in an appropriately "public" fashion and I know with absolute metaphysical certitude that many of the initial framers of the public forum rules are big fans of this general school of argumentation.
4. If it's in the final focus, it should have been in the summary. I will patrol the second focus for new arguments. If it's in the summary and you want me to consider it in my decision, you'd better mention it in the final focus. It is definitely not my job to draw lines back to arguments for you. Your defense on the case flow is not "sticky," as some of my PF colleagues put it, as far as I'm concerned.
5. While I pay attention to crossfire, I don't flow it. It's not intended to be a period for initiating arguments, so if you want me to consider something that happened in crossfire in my decision, you have to mention it in your side's first subsequent speech.
6. You should cite authors by name. "Stanford," as an institution, doesn't conduct studies of issues that aren't solely internal Stanford matters, so you sound awful when you attribute your study about border security to "Stanford." "According to Professor Dirzo of Stanford" (yes, he is THE expert on how border controls affect wildlife) doesn't take much longer to say than "according to Stanford" and has the considerable advantage of accuracy. Also, I have no idea why you restrict this type of "citation" to Ivy League or equivalent scholars. I've never heard an "according to the University of Arizona" citation from any of you even though that's the institution doing the most work on this issue, suggesting that you're only doing research you can use to lend nonexistent institutional credibility to your cases.Seriously, start citing evidence properly.
7. You all need to improve your time management skills and stop proliferating dead time if you'd like rounds to end at a civilized hour.
a. The extent to which PF debaters talk over the buzzer is unfortunate. When the speech time stops, that means that you stop speaking. "Finishing [your] sentence" does not mean going 45 seconds over time, which happens a lot. I will not flow anything you say after my timer goes off.
b. You people really need to streamline your "off-time" evidence exchanges. These are getting ridiculous and seem mostly like excuses for stealing prep time. I recently had to sit through a pre-crossfire set of requests for evidence which lasted for seven minutes. This is simply unacceptable. If you have your laptops with you, why not borrow a round-acceleration tactic from your sister formats and e-mail your speech documents to one another? Even doing this immediately after a speech would be much more efficient than the awkward fumbling around in which you usually engage.
c. This means that you should card evidence properly and not force your opponents to dig around a 25-page document for the section you've just summarized during unnecessary dead time. Your sister debate formats have had the "directly quoting sources" thing nailed dead to rights for decades. Why can't you do the same? Minimally, you should be able to produce the sections of articles you're purporting to summarize immediately when asked.
d. You don't need to negotiate who gets to question first in crossfire. I shouldn't have to waste precious seconds listening to you ask your opponents' permission to ask a question. It's simple to understand that the first-speaking team should always ask, and the second-speaking team always answer, the first question...and after that, you may dialogue.
e. If you're going to insist on giving an "off-time road map," it should take you no more than five seconds and be repeated no more than zero times. This is PF...do you seriously believe we can't keep track of TWO flows?
Was sich überhaupt sagen lässt, lässt sich klar sagen; und wovon man nicht reden kann, darüber muss man schweigen.
My background: I am a former CEDA debater (1987-89) and CEDA coach (1990-93) from East Tennessee State University. Upon my retirement in August 2021 I've judged numerous at numerous debate tournaments for PF, LD, IDPA, Parli, and Big Questions (mostly PF and LD). (FYI, when I participated in CEDA it was quasi-policy, not true policy like it is today.)
Speed: I can keep up with a quick-ish speed - enunciation is very important! Pre round I can do a "speed test" and let you know what I think of a participant's speech speed if anyone wants to. I think it is especially important to make sure cases are comprehensible. I look at speech docs if something only if evidence is questioned. I was never a super speed debater and didn’t encourage my students to speed. Please keep all this in mind if you normally utilize speedy delivery.
Theory: I am familiar with topicality and if other theory is introduced, I could probably understand it. (I also used to run hasty generalization but not sure if that’s still a thing or not.) Theory is best used when it’s pertinent to a round, not added for filler and needs to be well developed if I am expected to vote on it. If you are debating topicality on the neg you need to provide a counter definition and why I should prefer it to the aff.
The rounds: Racism/sexism etc. will not be tolerated. Rudeness isn’t appreciated either. I do not interject my own thoughts/opinions/judgements to make a decision, I only look at what is provided in the round itself. Re: criteria, I want to hear what the debaters bring forward and not have to come up with my own criteria to judge the round. My default criteria is cost/benefit analysis. I reserve the right to call in evidence. (Once I won a round that came down to a call for evidence, so, it can be important!) As far as overall judging, I always liked what my coach used to say – “write the ballot for me”. Debaters need to point out impacts and make solid, logical arguments. I appreciate good weighing and I will weigh the arguments that carried through to the end of the round more heavily than arguments that are not. Let me know what is important to vote on in your round and why. Sign posting/numbering arguments is appreciated and is VERY important to me; let me know where you plan to go at the top of your speech and also refer back to your roadmap as you go along.
Cross Examination: a good CX that advances the round is always valued. If someone asks a question, please don’t interrupt the debater answering the question. I don’t like to see a cross ex dominated by one side.
In most rounds I will keep back up speaking time and prep time.
I hope to see enjoyable and educational rounds. You will learn so many valuable skills being a debater! Good luck to all participants!
Congress:
Have an engaging hook.
Clash!
Make sure for online you do not speak over each other during X
LD:
1. Speak at a normal rate of speed; no spreading/speed talking
2. Attack & rebuttal "down-the-line" - val, crit, conts, sub point tag lines
3. Be aggressive in CX, but not belligerent
4. rebutt. Specifically why your val Trump's your opp's val.
CX:
1. Speak at a NORMAL RATE OF SPEED. If I can't understand you, I can't give you credit for args, refs, or rebutt.
2. Keep the esoteric jargon/terms/abbreviations to a minimum. ("K's" "disads", etc)
2. Hit the H.I.T.S. (Harms, inherency, topicality, solvency, )
2. I'm looking for cogent, well-exposited arguments supported w/ pertinent/rez relevant documentation.
3. Don't spend too much time on topicality unless your opp's off-topic args are egregious.
4. Neg doesn't need a c/p unless it is vital
PFD
See above
This is my first time judging PF debate and english is not my first language. But no worries I've several experiences of judging competitions in other system. During rounds, I would appreciate debater could speak a little bit slower. I'd prioritize student's capability in creating their analysis and materials that they give during their speeches. Furthermore, giving facts and step by step analysis on their argument would be great rather than just throwing facts only. Rebuttal and responses with deep analysis to prove why your side is better compared to another is better. The win teams would be a team that can explain their analysis with facts followed with impacts that materialized in their speeches and may be impactful for us in the future.
General
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Because argumentation is a game, technology trumps facts.
Speed: Please keep your conversation contained and talk at a normal pace. You should know that the quicker you run, the more likely I am to miss anything.
Any surrendered defence must be made within the speech itself, just after it was read.
Instead than merely saying "we agree to the delinks," a concession should imply how the defence interacts with your argument.
Provide trigger warnings; if another team does not feel comfortable with an argument, adjust it. I don't care whether you sit or stand, wear professional attire, or anything else. You are free to discuss the merits of trigger warnings for discourse and society, but you should not intentionally damage another person.
The defence isn't cohesive.
Tag-teaming speeches/CX and flex preparation are ok by me.
I'm going to assume a negative vote on policy items and a first place vote on "on balance" topics until shown otherwise in the round.Case
Be merry. Just do what you want.
Authors that frame their arguments in terms of a case study (like those who write on extinction or systemic violence) have my undivided attention.Rebuttal
As such, I shall have a lower bar for responding to the offensive overarching arguments included in the second reply.
I believe it's important to make a strong showing in the second rebuttal, but you may use whatever approach you choose there.
The odds of a conceded turn are always one hundred percent.Summary
There's a catch with the twists and turns. If you extend a link turn on their case, as my buddy Caden Day and I both feel you should, you should also make the delineation of what the effect of that turn is, otherwise I don't understand what the goal of the turn is.
It would be much easier for me to follow the argument if you listed case offences and turns in order of author. Don't state "extend our link" if you want your argument to be upvotable: "Expand our jones evidence which suggests that extensions like this are beneficial since they are simpler to follow." I want amplification of originality/connection/impact.
Do not finish your summary with a barrage of shaky, unreasonable statements; this includes arguments that have already been acknowledged.
Initial Synopsis
The defence should be pushed back, but if you push it back in the last round, I'll be a little easier on your side. This is particularly true given that the non-native speakers have had two opportunities to address the issue. Nevertheless, it is not a fatal defence at this stage, and it will at least lessen their effect.
Second Synopsis
In the event that the weight is not present at this time, I shall not consider any further weighing from your side.
Defenses need to be made more expansive.Final Focus
Simple repetition; emphasise originality; increase relevance and effect.
Don't imply meaning where none exists; It is not feasible to check to see if I misheard, and it wastes my time.Cross
The cross is persuasive, but only if mentioned in public.
Evidence
Notwithstanding my awareness of the problematic nature of evidence ethics, I will only request evidence if the other side requests it of me.
If your opponents are deliberately misrepresenting evidence, you should address the issue head-on in your argument.
A excellent analytic with a decent warrant, in my opinion, is superior than a fantastic empiric with no warrant. Put it to good use
You have one minute to provide the proof your opponents have demanded before your speaking points begin to be deducted.
The only exception is if the wifi is terrible or if you need to bypass a paywall.
For the rounds I am judging, I will be looking for appropriate mechanisation of the arguments presented, proper analysis of their full impact and clear cohesion and structure in the way they are presented. I will also be paying special attention to how you explicate the magnitude and time frame of the arguments that you believe best sum your case and help your side and stance. A crucial part of that is that you strategically collapse on your strongest argument and zoom in on their magnitude.
In terms of style, the most important thing for me is that you are first and foremost respectful of one another. There is nothing wrong with having a strong assertive style, and even a strongly critical when questioning the other team, but you should never attack another's debate person or offend them in any way while doing that. Beyond this, I appreciate clarity and being able to follow your flow from one argument to the next - in other words, slow down!
Finally, I want to be able to see clear evidence of collaboration between you and your teammate in terms of how your arguments build on top of one another without duplication and how you refer to the points made by your teammate in your speech to enhance your analysis.
P.S: my face does weird things some times when I am engrossed in notetaking or deep thought, I can promise you it is no reflection of how you're doing so don't be intimidated and have fun!
Hello! I'm a parent judge, so please don't speak fast or use much debate jargon. Here is what I will primarily be basing the round off of.
- Relevance and Source: Will assess whether the evidence is relevant to the arguments presented and the credibility of the source. I will look for facts, statistics, and authorities that are supported by thorough research
- Emphasis and Discussion: I consider the placement of the evidence within the debate's narrative structure, including how much emphasis was placed on the evidence
- Quality of Research: Will evaluate the thoroughness and relevance of the research behind the evidence presented.
- Clash and Debate: Will also consider how well the evidence is debated, including how it is linked to arguments and whether it is properly clashed throughout the round
Just some preferences that I would like to see in round:
- Debaters using their evidence in rebuttals and linking it back to the main point
- Please make sure to signpost
- I am a lay judge, so I would not prefer any circuit debate/progressive debate arguments (K's, Theories, etc)
- Make sure to use appropriate language in the debate at all times
- Impact Weighing: Show me how your impacts outweigh you opponents, and expand on it.
Looking forward for the event and wishing all candidates the best.
I am a career Adjudicator experienced in various formats of debating such as Public Forum, Policy debate, Speech, British Parliamentary, World Schools, Asian Parliamentary, Australs, and several others. I have been on the Core Adjudication Panel at WSDC 2024 and currently the DCA for Sofia WUDC 2026.
I am a certified judge on Tabroom. My certifications can be found on my account.
Please be respectful to other debaters while speaking because I am very strict in implementing rules because I always want all debaters to feel comfortable in their debate rooms despite meeting people from different backgrounds and beliefs.
I'm a parent judge who enjoys a spirited, intelligent debate built up logically with relevant warrants and a concise impact. I judge based on the logic, rationales and strategies of both contentions and rebuttals.
- Feel free to go fast and I will keep up, if you are spreading aggressively, just know that I may not catch a key point.
- I don't automatically believe assertions unless they're proven or supported.
- I like a direct rebuttal, or question, if you believe your opponent has faulty logic, EXPLAIN... don't just tell me it's faulty.
- Don't repeat yourself unless it's to make a point as to how important something is.
I am a parent judge. I would prefer for the teams to speak at a moderate speed, and thoroughly explain their arguments. I have not judged many debates before.
Respect is very important attribute for me. I expect the teams to respect each other.
I keep tab on the flow & time on my own. I would like to see each team use the time appropriately.
I would prefer if the debaters spoke clearly at a reasonable speed rather than rushing.
I would prioritize teams and speakers that are able to provide relevant point of proof about the motion, manage to provide proper analysis about their point, Properly engaging to the point of the opponent and are not dismissive to the relevant case brought by their opponent. Preferably able to provide clear comparative point to why your argument should win the debate and providing clear support to the claim with logical explanations.
I am a veteran teacher that loves vigorous debate and discussions. I prefer students to engage the topic with insightful and meaningful arguments. Be kind in the debate to the other students and make sure to respond to arguments made by your opponents.
Don't spread - I prefer conversation speed. If you go faster than that then you do so at your own risks.
Be firm and aggressive but not rude - I enjoy a heated debate but not mean and rude comments or disrespectfulness during speeches.
I wouldn't consider myself to be a specialized debate judge so if you use a bunch of debate jargon that may not work out well for you.
If you have questions feel free to ask. Good luck!
email chain: samjones@college.harvard.edu
PLEASE EXPLICITLY WEIGH AND EXTEND LINKS - IF YOU DO NOT I WILL HAVE TO INTERVENE TO DECIDE WHAT WARRANT/IMPACT IS MORE IMPORTANT AND NO ONE WILL BE HAPPY.
Update Harvard 2024: For some reason, everyone keeps reading extinction impacts without internal links and no link weighing. I like extinction as an impact when done well, but it isn't an excuse to not read links and not weigh. "There's no internal link in case" is a valid response. If both teams go for extinction, please give me explicit link weighing. "Our impact happens first" isn't weighing unless give me a reason to care. I'm more likely to vote on weighing over extinction than a sketchy link into extinction. Maybe I'm old, but one person per speech and first/second cross.
Day 3: I have not been getting enough sleep, so the more coffee I get brought the better my decision will be. I'm not going to vote on arguments for which I don't understand the internal links - this is the most likely to be true on conflict scenarios.
tldr: debate is a game, tech > truth, and warrants > cards.
Respond to offense and concede defense as soon as possible. First rebuttal defense is sticky until frontlined. I'm almost always going to prefer a warrant over a card. A round where everyone gets 30s is a round where I vote on high-quality warrant comparison.
Without metaweighting, I default uniqueness > magnitude. I won't flow off docs. If you're reading prog, assume I have no background. I'm open to ROTBs which have an explicitly defined way for your opponents to win under the ROTB. I default fairness > education, i'm truth over tech on most shells, and I will vote on RVIs.
Wear whatever and say whatever you want. I don't really listen to cross, but it makes me sad when people talk over each other. I'll vote on anything.
Hello!
My name is Dhruv Kairon, and I will join from Edmonton, Alberta! I am a first-year at the University of Alberta, so not older than most of you, and I cannot wait to have a fun and exciting weekend.
My judging criteria are simple, and probably what you have already heard in your debate training, convince me. The clearer, the better. Ensure your arguments are phrased so that an average, globally-informed citizen can understand and follow. Structure your speeches so that it helps me judge you better with as little room for me to figure out what you were trying to say or what you were referring to. Remember, when a debate is good, and both the teams have convinced me to some level with their arguments, start weighing. Use the metrics of likelihood and relevance to weigh whose argument wins in the end.
Be respectful; you can convey your constructive in a lot of ways.
I am a lay judge and this is my third year of judging. I flow the rounds, and I generally have some background knowledge on the topic, but please treat the round as if I do not because I may not know what you are talking about.
What I look for in a round regarding any debate style:
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Speaking Speed: Please go at a moderate speed. I don’t want to have to judge a round where I am barely able to flow because of the speed the round is going at. I also want to make sure that both I and your opponents are able to understand your contentions. It’s very time-consuming in crossfires to ask for a summary of your contention(s).
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Timing: Please make good use of your time. I would appreciate it if you time yourself. I will be timing, but I think as debaters you need to develop the habit of timing yourself.
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Attitude: Please be respectful. I will not tolerate inappropriate language, interruptions, etc., and it would be in your best interest to avoid this. I will dock speaker points if anyone is rude.
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Crossfires: In your crossfires, allow your opponents to respond completely and don’t interrupt anyone. Also, please have your cards handy in case your opponents call for a card. It would save a lot of time.
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Cherry Picking: Please don’t take a single example and generalize it to the overarching idea. I’ve judged rounds where debaters have done this - for instance, on the PF NSA surveillance topic the privacy vs. security argument - and it’s very messy and hard to judge.
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Prep Time: Please don’t take any prep time before your crossfires. I’ll be glad to give it to you any other time, like before rebuttal, summary speech, etc., but I discourage taking any before a crossfire. I am okay with taking either running or set prep.
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Technical Difficulties: I like starting as soon as possible, and it would be greatly appreciated if you can resolve any tech issues with your partner/on your own before entering a round.
Speaker Points: I’ll be basing your speaker points on your speed, style, timing, attitude, crossfires, and, of course, the actual content of your speeches.
Clarify any questions you have for me beforehand.
I look forward to judging a clean and interesting round.
As a judge, I believe in fairness, clarity, and the educational value of debate. I approach each round with an open mind, evaluating arguments based on their merits, evidence, and logical coherence. I expect debaters to engage in civil discourse and respect each other's viewpoints, regardless of their personal beliefs or backgrounds. I also value creativity, originality, and effective communication, and encourage debaters to take risks and think outside the box.
In terms of speaking speed, I prefer debaters to speak at a pace that is clear, concise, and easily understandable for both myself and their opponent. If a debater is speaking too quickly or too slowly, it can make it difficult to follow their arguments and can negatively impact their overall performance. That being said, I understand that everyone has their own speaking style and preferences. If you have a preference for speaking speed, please let me know before the round starts so that we can come to a mutual understanding and ensure that the round is conducted fairly for all parties involved.
Decision-making: My decision-making process will be based on the quality of the arguments presented in the round and will be impartial and fair. I will not consider any outside information, including the debaters' personal backgrounds, affiliations, or beliefs. If the round is close or there are significant arguments on both sides, I will consider the debaters' speaking skills, responsiveness, and overall conduct to help make my decision.
About Me: I have been actively involved in debating, primarily in the BP and AP systems, since 2019. My coaching journey began in 2021, focusing on BP, and extended to AP in 2023. Additionally, I have served as a judge in several BP Debate competitions since 2022 and six Public Forum Debates since 2023.
General Approach to Judging:
My judging philosophy revolves around meticulous evaluation and fair assessment. When assessing arguments, I prioritize a comprehensive elaboration of the points made, and while I give due credit to assertions, a thorough explanation of the reasoning and process behind each claim is essential. Furthermore, I emphasize the significance of relying on credible and legitimate sources, such as journals and scientific research, to support data, evidence, or study cases.
In response to opponents' arguments, I encourage debaters to provide clear and concise explanations on why an argument may lack validity. This involves showcasing why the anticipated outcome might be contrary to what is asserted or effectively addressing the best-case scenarios put forth by the opposition, always maintaining a tone of politeness and respect.
A critical aspect of effective debating is the ability to compare and clash arguments. I look for debaters to convincingly demonstrate why they believe they are winning in their concluding speeches. Structuring the speech is equally crucial, and I appreciate debaters who employ road-mapping and signposting techniques to enhance the overall organization and clarity of their speech.
Hi, my name is Austin Kelachukwu. I am a debater, public speaker, adjudicator and a seasoned coach.
Within a large time frame, i have gathered eclectic experience in different styles and formats of debating, which includes; British Parliamentary (BP), Asian Parliamentary (AP), Australs, Canadian National Debate Format (CNDF), World School Debate Championship(WSDC), Public Forum(PF), amongst others.
As a judge, I like when speakers understand the format of the particular tournament they’re debating, as it helps speakers choose their style of speech or debating. Speakers should choose to attack only arguments, and not the opponent. I do take equity serious, so I expect the same from speakers. When speakers understand the tournament’s format, it makes things like speaker roles, creating good and solid arguments easy, so they can act accordingly, and through that understand how the judge understands the room as well.
I suppose that speakers are to understand the types of arguments that should run in the different types of motion, their burden fulfillment and other techniques used in debate.
I take note of both key arguments, and the flow at which such argument is built, so speakers shouldn’t just have the idea, but should be able to build that idea also to create easy understanding of the argument. On understanding also, i prefer when speakers speak at a conventional rate, to aid easy understanding of what the speaker says.
I appreciate when speakers keep to their roles, i.e when a summary or whip speaker knows one’s job is not to bring new arguments but to rebut, build partner’s case, and explain why they won.
I value when speakers keep to time, as arguments made after stipulated time wouldn’t be acknowledged.
Austin Kelachukwu.
email: austinkelachukwu@gmail.com
General
I am a flexible judge who comes to each debate with an open mind. I am open to all sorts of arguments, provided that sufficient work is done to prove why that's true and important to the debate. Things I generally look out for include:
Realism:
I believe that the most compelling arguments are those that show probability that a particular outcome will happen. Debaters usually focus on analyzing impacts without proving that those impacts can and will happen. This often leads to unengaging arguments that may not be as relevant to the given motion as required.
Engagement:
Debate is a comparative sport. I credit teams that are able to sufficiently engage with what their counterparts said. Teams can engage however they want, provided that the engagement is sufficient to disprove/mitigate what has been said.
Weighing
Teams should compare the strengths of their arguments with their counterparts' to prove why their case is better. Weighing helps me as a judge to see the conclusions that each team is trying to make.
Mechanization
I expect teams to go beyond making assertions by providing reasons why the arguments they make are true. A well mechanized argument will show me why a claim is true, and why it is significant to the debate. This also applies to rebuttals, provided that the claim being rebutted was well mechanized.
Clarity
I value arguments that are presented in a way that can be understood by a reasonable average voter. That means that arguments should be presented in a simple way, the relevance of examples should be explained, and the speech(es) should be consistent throughout the debate.
I am a tabula rasa judge.
I've judged public forum debates for a while now, so I'm familiar with common positions and arguments. Please speak at a moderate pace and slow down for taglines and author names.
I'm an open-minded judge. Sticking to the resolution is crucial, and creative thinking is valued. However, the ability to handle strong arguments and deep thinking is just as important.
Remember, let's keep the focus on the topic and have a constructive exchange of ideas. Good luck to both teams!
Put forth well structured argument that outlines your points in clear contentions. Designate these contentions. Do not talk too fast. Your extra information means nothing if it is lost in a machine gun of words. Be expressive in your tone. If something is particularly important, make sure your inflection denotes this. Be passionate, but not exasperated. Remember that there are three modes of persuasion, ethos, pathos, logos. Almost all debaters bring good logos, most bring good ethos(see below), but few bring sufficient pathos. Can you get at the emotion of the issue beyond simply using a passionate tone? Bring humanity to the issue by connecting it to a specific anecdote or example. This will show you care about your topic and are showing me how it genuinely affects an individual, not just numbers. Stats are important, but numbers can blend together and be forgotten soon after they are said. A story rarely is.
Maintain courtesy in your cross and your exchanges with the opponent. Do not commit ad hominem. Do not interrupt your opponent's answer during cross unless he or she is being unnecessarily wordy and using up the time. Let the person finish. If you have to interrupt them, do so respectfully. If you don't want a person to eat up your time, then don't ask an open ended question that allows him/her to do so. Professionalism and respect are essential to effectively winning an argument. Why would I believe what you have to say if you can't even believe in your own argument enough to let the other side say theirs?
Avoid using the word 'like' as a filler during speeches. This is a bad habit and can erode your authority as a speaker. Don't try to impress me with debate jargon. This can bog down the flow of your argument and can get away from the humanity of the issue. Public forum debate or World School debate are both supposed to appeal to any person. Excessive use of debate jargon or spreading goes against that intent. Please recognize that you are here to perfect your ability as a communicator, not dump as much information onto the judge as possible.
Hello everyone!
My judging philosophy is simple; come up with a good structure, logical arguments, short summary speech and I shall consider you.
Debating is, according to me, more of what you present and less of what you know. I do not prefer long extensive arguments. Just come on the stage, give me handful strong arguments, do impact assessment of your points, make a few rebuttals and you are good to go.
Refer to these specific points-
1. Topic knowledge- You need not be scared from an unknown topic, I won’t judge your past knowledge on the topic, and rather I will give weightage to how you interpret it in the round and explain it initially. But, at the same, you may get some brownie points if you insert a fact and impress me!
2. Jargons & Speed- Do not go too fast in order to keep forth all your points and disturb your flow. Either select a sensible number of points or shorten all of them in order to present them wisely. If I am unable to match the speed, you have the chances to lose.
3. Rebuttals- I would love to hear logical rebuttals from you, but even the wacky ones won’t harm. Make sure you tell me where you are on the flow, and I’ll really like numbering your responses to things, it makes flowing easier for everyone.
4. Summary- A good summary is what I’ll appreciate. Just be very specific in it; you can also add a couple of new points in it but prefer reiterating the previous ones.
I am not going to judge you on each and every word you speak but make sure, most of them make sense. Be honest, don’t pretend on the know-how and do well.
Feel free to ask me any questions you may have before the round starts.
All the best!
I’ll prefer good speaks, not speakers!
As a judge, I will look for the following in the debate
a) Don't spread too much. If you want to spread, please share the case with me in advance. I may hear your speech/argument, but if you do not give me enough time to process it, I may not vote on it.
b) Don't bring any evidence if the probability of the issue happening is very low.
c) Don't bring any new arguments/evidence in the final speech.
d) I prefer Quality over Quantity.
I will try to be as neutral as possible. Having said that It is your job to make sure I know your argument without having studied it myself.
In Public Forum debate, I will prioritize the students' capability in creating further analysis and not just giving away the facts that they gathered in certain resources. This analysis is important as to show how you process all of the information you've collected before and getting the best output to the forum right away within your time. Rebuttals and responses are better to not be one-liner. A deeper reason to prove why your opponents are wrong will contribute more on the matter of debate. The team that wins, would be a team that gives more tangible examples and facts that may be impactful to us in the future.
Lay judge, have judged many rounds. Speak at reasonable pace ie not too fast, please be clear on our main points and impact weighing.
Hello! My name is Ryaan ("ry-on") and I’m a freshman at UIUC. I’m barely older than most of you, so feel free to interact with me casually.
During high school, I competed as an international at the TOC for PF and in various World Schools tournaments. As a judge, I’d prefer to be treated as your average “informed person” (or engineering nerd) rather than a debater. That said, I can flow properly but don’t count on it if you’re spreading.
People tend to perform best when given a familiar environment, so I won’t list out strange criteria or tell you how to debate. Show me the strategy you think is the most persuasive. If you’re still eager to tweak your case to my biases to relieve any pre-round anxieties, you can cater to my love of MATH. Statistics are a great form of evidence, but make sure to treat them with care (aka minimal unexplained “debater math” to extrapolate impacts). If you pique my interest with funky findings, I may call them into question, but I’d highly prefer it to be pointed out during the round first.
In the minutes leading up to our round, put down the last-minute prep, take some deep breaths to wind down and try to remember why you enjoy debate (I hope you do if you're here lol). Let’s have a fun round. See you all soon!
parent judge. no spreading. ty
Public Forum
Most importantly, have fun and enjoy the tournament!
But..
Since it is an online tournament, please try to talk slower than you normally would do at in-person tournaments. I flow on paper and listen to cross-fires as well.
Some things I look for:
- make sure your cases are well structured and easy to follow
- if you have a framework, make sure you link it to your contentions
- contentions should have either logic or evidence to support your claims
- please include impacts in your case
- if you are refuting to opponent's case, make sure you let me know which contention/argument you are refuting to and explain your logic or include evidence to support it
- try to weigh your impacts and clearly explain why your impacts outweigh your opponent's
- please refrain from adding new contention at summary speech
- I should hear voters at final focus. Tell me why your team won!
Hello debaters! My pronouns are she/hers.
I debated for 3 yrs in high school, judged for 2 years nonstop and have been coaching for 2 years.
Regarding to my preferences, they are the following:
- I do not see the point in ofttime roadmaps. unless you're taking a different approach, you can save them.
- No spreading.
- I do not mind some agressiveness during crossfires, as longs as you stay respectful.
- I flow everything, so I will notice if you drop something or you dont attack something. Also, I prefer no spreading, since I already have it in written, but do not confuse it with dropping smth.
- I like well structured summary: voting issues and weigh.
- Stay in your time limits, specially in the constructive speech.
- I do not mind use of debate jargon nor fast speaking, tho a prefer a conversational pace.
- Ireally like when the 2nd speaker gets to turn arguments, instead of the classic blocking with another evidence.
- Try to signpost in your rebuttal.
And most important, have fun about it!!!
Judge Paradigm:
Background:
As a judge, I believe in fairness and objectivity. My role is to evaluate the debate based on the arguments presented, not my personal beliefs or knowledge. I appreciate clear, logical argumentation and effective communication.
Flow/Structure:
I will flow the round carefully, so I appreciate clear signposting and roadmap speeches. A well-structured case that’s easy to follow will always benefit you. If you want me to weigh a specific argument, make it clear in your summary and final speeches.
Evidence vs. Analysis:
I believe both evidence and analysis are important. Strong evidence should support well-thought-out analysis, but a debate that is too evidence-heavy without explanation or context may lose persuasive power. I value quality of evidence over quantity—just throwing a lot of facts at me without tying them to your argument won’t win you the round.
Speaks (Speaker Points):
I evaluate speaker points based on clarity, delivery, and engagement. Confidence and professionalism in presentation matter, but you don’t need to be flashy. Effective use of rhetoric, persuasive tone, and strategic word choices can enhance your delivery.
Cross-Examination (CX):
Cross-examination is key to identifying weaknesses in your opponent’s case. I appreciate debaters who use CX to ask meaningful questions and clarify points rather than trying to score cheap wins. It’s also a good opportunity to control the narrative.
Theory/Framework:
If you run theory, make sure it's warranted and not frivolous. I am open to hearing theory and framework debates, but it must be well-justified and impact the round significantly. I am more inclined to vote on these if the abuse is clear and affects the debate directly.
Speed (Spreading):
I’m comfortable with speed, but clarity is a must. If I can’t understand what you’re saying because of speed, it won’t make it on the flow. I’ll call for "clear" if needed, but keep in mind that over-spreading can hurt you more than help.
Weighing:
I highly value good weighing mechanisms. Make sure to tell me why your impacts matter more and how they compare to your opponent’s arguments. Impact calculus is crucial in close rounds, and I prefer to hear clear explanations of magnitude, probability, and timeframe.
Voter Issues:
In the final speeches, please be clear on your voting issues. Summarizing key arguments and telling me why you should win will help me when making a decision. I prefer to see debaters focus on crystallizing the debate rather than introducing new arguments in the last speeches.
Conclusion:
In summary, I look for clear, structured, and logical arguments. I’m open to all kinds of debate styles, but clarity and strategic choices are key. Make sure to tell me why you win, and I’ll base my decision on what’s presented in the round.
I am a debate coach in Vancouver, Canada. I consider speech delivery and presentation as one of the most important factors in debating. Tone of voice, volume, eye-contact, and persuasion is key.
I am looking for clear and jargon free exposition of the contention, linking of evidence to contentions in a persuasive way which makes it easy for me to follow you to your summary; in summary you will explain why you won the round. I don't appreciate overly combative and/or sarcastic cross - you can contend, but remain respectful.
Qualifications: I competed in speech and debate tournaments for five consecutive years throughout all of high school. Most of my debate experience comes from public forum and I have extensive judging experience as well.
Paradigm:
- I am fine with speed, but please talk clearly. If I cannot understand you, what you say will not appear on my flow.
- Organization is important. If you are organized, I will be able to connect your speeches throughout my flow better and (hopefully) end up voting for your team. Be especially clear with taglines.
- Weigh the impacts and clearly tell me why you win. If you don't, I will end up having to put my input into the vote.
- Impacts are important. Even if you have a clear claim and warrant, nothing will count unless you have an impact as a result of that. I will most likely vote based on your impacts and voters, so make sure they are clear and strong.
- Warrants are important. If you have an impact but no clear warrant or link to the resolution, I will not vote for it.
- Be sure your arguments are backed up by evidence. The better your arguments are backed up, the stronger it will be.
- I do not flow during crossfire. If anything important comes up during crossfire, be sure to mention that within your speeches if you want that to go on my flow.
Any clarifying questions about my paradigm can be asked before the round starts or to anstlgus02@gmail.com.
email: prateek.motagi@stern.nyu.edu
feel free to ask me anything before and after the round
tldr: run whatever, explain it, win
- tech > truth. ill vote off ANYTHING extended cleanly on the flow. Love impact turns. Ngl idk much about prog - have exposure to para/disclo theory but wouldnt count on me for it
- if there is a lay or flay on panel feel free to kick me could care less
- speed is chill, lmk if over 1k and i may need a doc. with that, make sure you speak with clarity
About me:
A proudly African woman from Kenya who is obsessed with debate and the culture of sharing knowledge, perspectives, and experiences! Has organized and hosted multiple debate tournaments across continents, and is a debate and judge coach to African debaters in the British Parliamentary debate circuit. Studies computer science as a university degree, and spends her free time debating, judging, listening to music, dancing, eating great food and of course, travelling!
Judging rubric:
In any given debate, there are a few baseline criteria I use to evaluate arguments and speeches:
1. Clarity: tell me what the debate is about and what it should be evaluated on, e.g. helping vulnerable groups, maximizing freedom of choice, etc. These should ALWAYS be followed by mechanization.
2. Mechanization: do not just state claims and rebut them with counter-claims. Mechanization means giving me strong reasons why your claim or counter-claim is true, and why it is not only important in the debate, but the MOST IMPORTANT in the debate. That means you must do good quality weighing along with your mechanization.
3. Weighing: take the best case scenario of the other side, and do a comparative analysis with the average case or worst case scenario on your side. If you can show me that even if your side's best case does not work, your average or worst case is still better than the other side's best case, and give me strong reasons as to why, you've scored a solid win.
4. Engagement: being genuine in addressing the other team's case is key to winning a debate. Do not assume points for the other side, or try to water down their points without giving me proper rebuttal. Listen keenly to what each speaker says, and do your best not to run away from the core of their case, even if it seems hard to engage with. Try your best!
5. Structure: present your speeches in a clear and simple way. Complexity does not win debates, simplicity does. Clear structure and simple but detailed analysis makes it easy for teams to understand your arguments and for me as a judge to do so as well. I value signposting (giving me a brief outline of what you will talk about in your speech), flow (signaling the end of one argument and the beginning of another), and clear comparatives throughout the speech.
6. Team Dynamic: how you and your partner present your case is important. I need to see strong support structures and extensions to strengthen arguments, and see well thought out speeches that do not sound contradictory or confused on one end. Cohesion and synchronicity is key!
7. Respect: let's not be derogatory or discriminatory towards anyone in the debate. Let us not think differently of them because they have different accents or are not from where you are from. Any slander, arguments based on stereotypes, lack of respect for gender identities and general offensive language will result in repercussions, and a report to the tournament organizers. Let's celebrate diversity and culture, and learn from everyone's different perspectives!
Good luck everyone!
I will take and assess argument based on its strength, on the truthfulness of the argument and how well established the process of explanation, also on how important and impactfull is the argument on the debate and to be as comparative as possible. I would also appreciate linear analysis with the spirit of the motions, frameworks and examples given, also clarity of speech delivery for maximum understanding. I would also highly appreciate engagefull debate, with well analyzed, concise and on-point rebuttal, and to not ignore your opposing bench case.
I like organized, clean debates. Please have respect for the other team.
I appreciate it when debaters fulfill their roles and have good involvement in the debate.
I'm a parent judge with little experience judging in public forum. I will follow NSDA rules and evaluate you on both your arguments individually, clash between teams, and the overall impact of your case.
Please make sure to explain why I should vote for you...no new arguments once it's time to summarize or give a final focus.
Speed should be normal, so I can keep up with points being made. Please keep decorum and be respectful of each other.
Hello! My name is Jonas, I'm currently a coach for Walt Whitman High School. I have 4 years of HS debate experience (mostly Parli with a bit of PF), 4ish years of collegiate debate experience (British Parli and APDA), and 3ish years of coaching and judging experience (Parli, Congress, and PF).
I'll flow all your arguments, just make sure that you explain to me what your argument is, how it's relevant to the debate, and why it's important. If you want me to vote for you, have clear link work and explicit weighing of your impacts. If you tell me that "x" is the most important issue in the round, I will vote on "x." If your opponents tell me that "y" is the most important issue in the round, then you need to tell me why I should vote on "x" instead of "y," or how you can win on both "x" and "y." If you tell me something is the most important issue, I will spend more time trying to find a ballot for you on that clash. If no teams tell me where I should be voting, I will be very sad.
I won't automatically vote on drops. You still have to prove why that arg is round winning and can outweigh wherever your opponents are closest to winning.
I don't have a preference for any specific types of arguments, but please make sure your arguments relate to the round! I'm probably not going to vote for something super high magnitude but also incredibly low probability (as long as there's some pushback on that arg). So if you impact out to nuke war when the topic is about international adoptions, and your opponents say "that's highly unlikely," I probably won't vote there. If you can convince me that there's some degree of probability, then I will vote for it.
Weighing is really important. If your weighing is clear and specific, I'm more likely to vote for you. Your weighing should also be comparative. Tell me how I should weigh your arguments, and be specific about what impact you want me to vote for. Please weigh across your clashes too (if you are winning on one clash, and your opponents are winning on another, explain why you winning your clash is more important than them winning their clash).
I'm fine with speed, but I might drop some args if you are fully spreading.
Unless your k is really good and really applicable, don't run it. Not a huge fan of theory debates.
Always be respectful of your opponents. Debate should be an educational space and I will dock your speaks if you are too mean.
Have fun!
-
Two quick notes for the Feb PF topic:
- I don't want the round to devolve into just a back and forth about the importance of one or two statistics. Barring a glaring issue (i.e. date of the study, funding for authors, skewed methodology), I would much rather you spend your time focused on the logical warrants you can make regarding the original argument, or better yet weighing your impacts. If you hit me with a "EVEN IF you don't doubt the significance x card my opponents have, here's why we still outweigh," I will be quite happy.
- Similarly, I don't want the round devolving into whether or not a certain stat should apply because of confounding variables. I have noticed a lot of teams saying that their opponents' stats shouldn't apply because of x confounding variable, but then don't hold their own stats to the same accountability. Once again, I care more about the logical warranting you can use these cards for, and the weighing you can build off of the impacts.
I have little experience judging so please speak slow and maintain decorum. Avoid using very technical jargon. I prefer logic based arguments. Good luck!
Updated 2/22/25 for the Arizona State Tournament
It is a privilege to support the speech and debate community and I do not take this privilege lightly. I value your voice and want to engage and react to you and your critical thinking and creativity.
"Debate doesn’t simply just change lives—it makes lives better. It gives us a space to grow, to give back, and to find the best people by our sides." Jeff Miller
Speed kills, don't be absurd, include me.
Paradigm most similar to mine at the last tournament *(Stanford)Darnov
Congressional Debate
PO ranked, do not read a speech, do not break cycle-ever. See more below.
Public Forum
Collapse in Summary, Voters and weigh only in Final Focus. See below for link to full set of preferences.
Lincoln Douglas
Quick summary T W W
Traditional Framework Judge -I base my ballot on value
Warrant your argument (evidence is secondary)
Weigh - if you don't I will and you may not like the result
DO NOT SPREAD - I vote for the slowest speaking debater. Always. Yes, its true.
I do not ballot on solvency, extinction impacts, progressive,/kritik, or counterplan
LD Click here
PF Click here
Congress Click here
IE Click here - I judge to the standard outlined in Welty Wisdom.
What lay judges vote on. I encourage you to read as I am a lay judge as are over 80% of all judges you will encournter.
Why I love speech and debate
Concerns I share about debate
Still scrolling? Good. From Darnov paradigm + mine
" I simply do not follow .... speed particularly well, and I find it frustrating that debaters often seem to ignore this (no matter how clearly it's written on my paradigm). keep in mind that if you’re at any any kind of speed above a brisk conversational pace (think of a particularly energetic weatherman, for example), I’m probably not going to be terribly interested in trying to follow the argument." And, as I indicate below, I always ballot for the slowest speaking debater - always. Yes, it is true.
Like Darnov I am frustrated, bewildered, confused, and yes judgmental of debaters who IGNORE the speed admonition - so odd and to quote an Arizona coach - very disappointing.
Debate for fun
I evaluate Public Forum Debates based on strong logical arguments, supported with evidence. Slow down , since I can flow only what I can understand. Abusive/Disrespectful arguments are not tolerated.
Add me to the email chain: rohithraman4@gmail.com
he/him
Tufts 25, I debate in college, but also like not really
Top Level stuff
As a first year out, I haven't had much of any experience judging and my thoughts on debate aren't set in stone or insanely clear - I'm also not an great flow, especially online
Read whatever you want - if you're clear and fully fleshing out the args then you should be fine.
With that said, I have almost exclusively invested in k debate throughout high school - if your ideal 1NC is 6 off policy strat, then pref me much lower
The 2NR/2AR should frame my decision - how do I think about the args, what comes first and why etc - judge instruction will be rewarded and just makes decisions easier
Most of the time, tech over truth – however, I won’t vote for an arg just because it was dropped. Impact it out
Don't be a shitty person - understand how you interact with spaces like debate and change accordingly. I’ll stop the round if there’s anything racist, sexist, homophobic etc being said – goes without saying
Disclosure is good.
Notes this year - go a little slower than you usually would and record speeches in case someone cuts out if it's online. I also know very little about the topic, so limit the amount of topic specific jargon you use
Fw
Neg ---
I approach fw from the point of the broader vision each team has for debate. What discussions are you forwarding, and how do I differentiate between the two? What vision does your model have for engagement, or does that come secondary to another impact?
You are more likely to get my ballot if you explicate the end point of your model. For example, I find discussions of clash to refine political strategies or create better advocates as a much more persuasive argument than keeping clash to simply “preserve the game”. Going further and explaining why certain things matter will help a ton. A 2NC/2NR that is able to win an exportable impact and argue how it gets better throughout the year alongside some aff offense through either SSD or TVA is in a great spot
I find it shocking that a ton of fw teams will go through rounds without mentioning any specific stuff about the aff – engage with the aff
creative interps, standards, and answers are ALWAYS preferred - diversify how you approach each aff – you don’t always need to read t-usfg
Do I think procedural fairness is an impact? No. Especially if there's no actual explanation on it - you should be talking about what the unfairness looks like in round, examples of your inability to engage etc. I prefer deliberation, skills, clash based args as opposed to fairness because it gets to the question of why this matters. Fairness debates end up becoming a question of their external net benefit like clash or education, so starting there just makes more sense to me but you do you
SSD and TVA – These should be areas of the debate where you can most easily access aff offense. Most aff teams don’t know how to answer SSD, but you need to explain what reading on the neg would look like etc. The TVA doesn’t need to “solve” the aff, but I do think they need to be able to include most of the aff’s discussion somehow, especially if the aff has reasons why that discussion matters. Most neg teams will simply say the TVA doesn’t need to solve and move on, which isn’t sufficient
Don't just forget case - a significant case push makes neg ballots way more viable - most k affs don't do anything so go for presumption please
Aff ---
I tend to lean aff in these debates, but make sure there isn't ambiguity over what the aff does / you clear it up quickly – I’ll vote on presumption for sure
Just explain why the end point of their model causes [aff impact] + why that’s bad and you should be good. I personally think impact turn strats are much better because focusing on a counterinterp often forces the aff to find more common ground than offense. Regardless, decide what strat you want to go for and stick to it.
I love DA’s that target both form and content of fw
Crafty counterinterps are always great
You have to have some sort of topic link – use that to your advantage because that should be the crux of your fw answers
k stuff
General ---
I primarily read Afropessimism, Black Nihilism, Baudrillard, Semiocap/James, and Settler Colonialism, but I’m familiar with most ks in varying degrees. Regardless, nuanced explanation of the theory is important
I'm fine with debaters reading stuff outside their subject position but that requires an understanding of how your identity relates to the arguments you read and sometimes a change in the way you read the arg - whether thats how you approach talking about instances of violence or the alternative you read -- (opponents should always push on these kinds of questions) -- Its clear when a team has thought through their relationship to the scholarship and when they haven't
I'm fine with longer overviews, but I think its way more strategic and easier to flow if they are shorter - do your work on the lbl
I really like smaller k's or piks (that actually have strategic benefit)
K v policy ---
Framework is probably one of the most important part of these debates to me because it determines how I view literally everything else – if you are winning fw, I don't think an alt is needed as long as you are framing stuff correctly
"Generic links" are fine, especially if there is a broader fw push, as long as you are getting specific when extending them. Obviously, the more specific the link, the better. You should be giving me examples and pulling quotes when extending the links
K v K ---
These can be some of the best debates if well executed.
Methods need to be explained - what does the alt do? What does the aff do? You should be spending time here, include examples, quotes, etc – I think the alt should be resolving either the impact to the links and/or the aff, but if you want to go for it as a non-unique da then I need significant offense on case
That being said, explain perms fully - you should be doing more than simply showing an ideological similarity between both authors/lit bases. What does the perm look like in application? Again, examples are really helpful – I tend to lean aff on the question of no perms in a methods debate – it’s a standard for competition that tests the legitimacy of the links, but I also agree that most perms in these debates make zero sense
Theory of power stuff can get pretty muddled - make it clear - you don’t auto win if you have a better theory of power, but it helps
Policy stuff
I'm not your judge for the 8 off debates, but I'll do what I can if I’m in the back. I would much rather you limit the cards read in the block and use more analytical arguments rather than card dump – either way, make sure there is actual engagement
T ---
Default to competing interps,
More specific interps are better, but these debates can get really confusing and annoying - just explain things like definitions or what the interp looks like fully
Having case lists and describing what debates would look like under each model is always helpful
Cps ---
Try to have some explanation about what the perm looks like outside of perm do the cp in the 2ac
I don't really care about judge kick - if the neg doesn't go for it then I'll kick it but if you want to go for it as offense then sure
DAs ---
I mean just extend it properly and have offense that o/w – its pretty straight forward
Random theory stuff ---
I hate these debates - most of the time nothing is really abusive – if the 2ar goes for theory, it has to do the work of comparing its impacts to the stuff that the 2nr goes for
Other stuff
CX is really important and I flow it - just don't be rude / unnecessarily cut people off
Recutting ev is always persuasive – you definitely can get offense from unhighlighted parts of cards
Make me laugh
For LD/PF, the closer you are to policy the better.
howdy,
former HS/Collegiate competitor
I judge quite a bit
- treat others the way you want to be treated
- I don't do email chains... NSDA docs, speech drop or google docs are the way to go
- if using historical evidence (for debate events or public speaking events) you must address the 5 C's of historical analysis.. if not there's an L waiting for you
- FOR PF debate!!!- I don't flow off the doc, I only look at it for evidence (only if you tell me to, also no email chains for me..)
- in any debate event... if you don't provide a FW or R.O.B I will default to your opponents
IE's -
MS/HS - you do youu!!
Collegiate - you know what to do
^ very big on binder etiquette
Congress -
no rehash
its ok to agree but have your own contentions/speech
stay active thru round for high ranks
clash - def gotta engage with competitors for maximum affect
PO - if you don't state your gaveling procedures almost immediately I'm gonna rank you last
^ don't make any mistakes or imma tank you
direct questioning is meant for answers/clarification not being rude !!!
don't lie about evidence
PF - will auto down if you say exclusionary things and or things def not true (holocaust never happened) etc ...
love a good framework or Role of the Ballot round
no email chains for me, either google docs, nsda doc/drive or speech drop - if not oh well
if your file or doc is a mess I am NOT going near it
evidence practices are pretty bad in PF, should you notice it LMK in speech and lets see what we can do
no speed/spreading in PF, talking fast is ok tho - speed or spreading and imma have a problem
tech or truth? Somewhere in between the two
Don't waste my time, flips and pre flows better be done before start caz if not imma start tanking speaks
Condo/Fiat - IMO should be left to LD/CX but if you bring it up I'll evaluate it I guess
^ gotta explain it , if not I am not evaluating
resolutions/topics sometimes have loose wording... take advantage of that
impact cal is an easy voter and is well appreciated
good luck going for a technical knock out
the more unlikely the claim, the higher the burden of proof is
paraphrasing is a BIG NO, read actual cards/tags
I like Disclosure Theory.... but if your wiki is BS and or not fully filled I will tear you apart
^ As a judge I know the rules better than you , don't preach them to me for this T
what's the deal with a lack of front lining and signposting? If you don't then you're getting an L
when citing evidence , be sure to say title , publisher , date
stop going over time !!
MY GO TO RULE FOR PF.... the Michael Scott rule - K.I.S - "Keep It Simple'
LD - if its a state or bid or RR tournament send a doc , if not then don't bother
if spreading you better be clear or imma down, too bad
^ not gonna say clear
tech or truth?? somewhere in between
P/CP - better be specific , if so I am the judge for you
Trad - I'm an ok judge
K - HECK YEA!!!!!
LARP - I like it... but can go either way
Tricks/Friv T/Performance/Phil/other T
^ auto strike!!
^^ unless you're running nihilism Phil don't strike, but if not then strike
NGL - if your case is blippy I am probably gonna look for everyway to vote against you
CX - LOL
unless it's TRAD I won't judge
Worlds - I expect to see clash
don't paraphrase evidence
no speed, this needs to be conversational
its ok to have a model/c.m , but don't get policy debate crazy with them
not taking any POI's makes you look silly, at least take 1 , but not too many
I really value creative, introspective and real rhetoric - trust me this is how you win me
style - a simple claim, warrant and impact will do just fine
don't try a PF take on this event
the framework and definitions debate can be fair and or abusive ... if abusive then you're gonna loose
Should any questions need to be asked ... ask before round!
Best of LUCK 2024-2025 competitors !
Note: For events other than policy, scroll to the bottom
Email: Please put me on the email chain — jramrocks17@gmail.com
About me:
· 2 years of NDT-CEDA debate at Liberty University (2020 and 2021 seasons)
· 2x NDT participant and 2x CEDA Double-Octa finalist
· 1 year of coaching policy at Liberty
· 4 years of policy and 3 years of extemp at Prosper High School in Texas
· I was a K debater most of my career but switched to policy for my last year of college debate. I've been on both the K and policy sides of the library and want to see you do what you do best
TLDR: You do you. Tab/flex judges don’t exist as we all have our biases, but I’ll try my best to be “Tab”. I have run and seen all types of debate and am fine in any type of round. Please don't change your strategy based off of my paradigm or what you've heard I prefer. I am tech over truth
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Argumentative Preferences:
Policy Affs: Do what you want, but I think that teams benefit from extending entire advantages in each speech. I like it when the Aff uses its 1AC to debate each off case and uses its advantages to frame the whole debate on each flow
Counter Plans: I can enjoy a good CP debate. I have no problem with multiple CP’s but will vote off of condo if you’re losing it (more than 3 condo is maybe a little sus, but that's up for debate). I've gone for sus process CPs a lot, and I think I have no Aff or Neg bias on theory. I personally believe that judge kick is a good thing, as it upholds the Aff's burden to prove that it is better than the CP and the status quo, but I will vote based on the flow and how I am instructed
Disadvantages: I think strong policy teams use DA’s to turn case and engage in in-depth impact analysis and framing. The truth level of the DA and quality of your cards is relevant. Be sure to extend your whole link chain in each speech
Impact Turns: I’m cool with them and think that they can be strategic—just don’t double turn yourself. I think the level of truth does matter (ie dedev is better than spark but still questionable), but at the end of the day I will vote on tech and card quality
K: K’s are cool on the Aff and Neg. Don’t assume I understand your literature base—I’m most familiar with literature surrounding capitalism, militarism, international relations, sexuality, and to a lesser extent post modernism, blackness, and colonialism, but you should always explain your arguments in depth. I think that in order to win on a K you usually must resolve the links and impacts either through a material alternative or through framing/education/methodology. I will vote on epistemology framing, but there is some truth to "tie links to the plan" so this needs to be debated out
Framework:
· I have experience both reading K affs and going for framework/T-USFG, and will try my best to remove any bias
· I want to be convinced that I am voting for the best model of debate. At the end of the round, I will weigh how much each side solves for the other's offense and how each side frames their offense
· I strongly dislike stale framework debates where teams read generic blocks and arguments, and where there is no contextualization to the other team’s arguments. If you win a round just because the other team dropped some of your generic blocks, you gained almost no education out of that round and your speaks won’t be great
· I think that it is better for the Neg when they focus on TVAs/switch sides as opposed to focusing on their impacts alone
· I love it when the Neg uses clash/fairness/any impact to turn the Aff and answer their offense
· I will weigh Aff offense and want to hear it contextualized to the Neg's explanation of FW; "USFG bad" is probably not enough. I want to hear how the Aff’s counter interp solves the Neg's offense
· I lean towards the belief that fairness is an internal link to education or other impacts, but if you explain and win why fairness is an impact, I am willing to vote on it
Topicality: I'm cool with voting off of any interp that you’re winning, as I view T like I view any other argument and won't refuse to vote Neg just because I think they have a bad/untrue interp, but if it's a close debate you probably need a fair interp to win. The winning side will win that their model of debate is best, although proving in round abuse (like the Aff no-linking core DA's) will greatly help the Neg. Have a clear interp, violation, and standards that you extend in every speech
Competing Interpretations vs. Reasonability: I default to Competing Interpretations because nowhere else in debate is “we kinda don’t link to this argument” a good answer. Debate is about competing methods and worlds, and I believe that Affs use the reasonability argument to win ballots from judges who don't like T debates. I’ll vote on reasonability if you’re winning tho for sure
Theory: I think that theory can be good in certain instances, but it can also be unnecessary. Just have a clear interp and violation with voters and don’t go for a ridiculous shell that was obviously meant as a time suck unless it’s dropped or very under-covered. If you go for condo against a team with one conditional advocacy or something ridiculous like that, I will vote for you if you're winning, but you won't be happy with your speaks
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Random things:
· Speak as fast as you want, just slow down on tags and make sure I can tell when you're reading a tag vs evidence text. Whatever speed you are at be clear as long as you are able :)
·Emailing probably isn't prep but if you are talking to your partner, typing excessively, writing on your flows, or taking over a minute or two I will count prep
· Please feel free to time yourselves. I can time as well in case you need it for speeches/prep, but please ask
· Open CX is fine unless tournament rules say otherwise
· Please don’t be rude or mean, and don’t discriminate against others or read arguments that discriminate against others
· I refuse to judge any "death good" arguments, mostly because the burden shouldn't be on the other team to ask me to end the round
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Scale Thing I see judges do:
Policy----------X--------------K
Condo good----X--------------------Condo Bad
Tech--X----------------------Truth
Death good is valid------------------------X No!
Ks of fiat-------------------X-----Fiat always good
Process CPs good-------X-----------------Salty 2A
Non-resolutional procedurals are bad----X--------------------Veganism/Christianity type procedurals
Perms are legitimate X------------------------The 2NR I gave in my first novice round
The above is set in stone--------------------X----I will flow the debate and vote on tech
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Speaks:
· Speaker points are low key an arbitrary vibe check, but I try to give speaks based off of your speeches, overall strategy, and cross ex
· A 28 to 28.5 is average, and it’ll and go up/down based on your performance throughout the round
· I will adjust how I give speaks based on the tournament. I’ll probably give you higher speaks for your performance at a local than if the exact same round took place at a bid tournament
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Other Events:
PF Paradigm: I did policy debate in high school and college, which has definitely shaped how I view debate. That being said, I have judged a lot of PF debates the past few years. I am familiar with the norms of PF and will judge accordingly. I will vote for the team that best accesses an impact under the framing I am told to vote for. If your “impact” is economic decline and nothing more, why should I care? Be sure to tell me what will result from voting for your side (stopping structural violence, preventing war, saving how many lives, etc.) I will default to consequentialist framing unless given something else. You need to extend an argument in the summary in order to extend it in the final focus. Unless it is against the norms/rules of the tournament, speak as fast as you want as long as you are clear!
I think that debates are better when more evidence is sent out. Obviously it is up to the debaters, but clash is better when both sides have access to as much evidence as possible. When you send out a card please make sure it is cut, and please do not send a link to an article and ask the judges/other team to "control F" to find your quote. Also, if you mention/extend a card in the summary/final focus, please make sure it is sent out.
If an advocacy like a K with an alternative is read in PF, I will not automatically reject it. However, I am open to "framework" type arguments that tell me to vote down the team for reading an advocacy in PF. If you think it is unfair for advocacies to be in PF, tell me how it harms you as a debater to have to debate it (say you are unprepared which harms the quality of debates, education, etc). I will treat this like any other argument, meaning that the pros and cons of allowing advocacies in PF should be debated and weighed.
Note: A lot of teams in PF have been taking time after the start time of the round to pre-flow or prep. Please don't do this when I am judging—prep ends at start time
LD: LD is cool! I have some minor experience. I’ll probably judge it like a short policy round. Anything from framework debate to K debate to stock debate is cool and I’ve ran all of that in LD. I’ve heard that alts aren’t that important in LD K debates, but I value them so please explain it. I’ll probably vote based on which side better accesses the winning framework in the round. I hear that LD likes RVIs for some reason, so I'll vote on those if I'm told why
Congress: I did congress a few times in HS and was first alt to Nats my senior year. I want good content but will also value your speaking skills
Speech: I competed in extemp in high school and broke at NSDA in FX, and I enjoy good speeches. I will weigh the content of your speech vs your performance/tone differently based on the specific event
Hi my name is Ria, I competed in Policy, PF and Lincoln-Douglas for four years in high school. I've been judging policy, LD, Congress, PF and Parli since then. Ive judged for WACFL, VHSL and for several CA HS debates so far. I've judged every kind of debate, MetroFinals, State semifinals, I've judged up to semi-final elimination rounds (before final finals) in the Debate HS National Championships NSDA Nationals in DC.
Send me your plans before the start of the round I judge you on - this will make me much more able to consider your framework and go through the finer points in your argument. My email is riamerrill@yahoo.com.
Speed
I prefer debaters to speak at about 70% of their maximum speech speed. I do not appreciate spreading at all. So spreading in rounds I highly discourage. It is the debaters responsibility to make sure that I can hear all evidence, contentions, etc. If I didn't hear it, that I can't judge you on a statement that I didn't hear!
Prep Time -
Please let me know at the start of the round if you will take running prep or set minutes at a time between arguments.
Time Keeping - I will keep time for all arguments, but I highly encourage debaters to keep their own time for each argument and also to keep time for their opponents speeches, in order to encourage a nice tight debate.
Arguments.
Come into the debate prepared for the debate. Do NOT ask me for prep time at the start of a debate. You should have done that earlier.
I will always use a reasonability standard in judging arguments. Running theory is asking me as the judge in intervene in the round, and I will only do so if I deem it appropriate.
I very much as a judge appreciate Cross X's that don't run over time and I judge accordingly on that matter.
Topicality: Fine. Just make sure you specify what the impact of topicality on the round is.
Narratives: Fine, as long as you preface with a framework which explains why and how narratives impact the round.
Please do not make a case without backing that up with strong evidence and examples. That just depresses me in a debate frankly. That ruins the framework of an argument on a case Aff OR Neg for me.
Arguments that are obviously racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic, anti-Semitic, etc. are not OK. (Read: you will lose if you go ahead and run them.)
I enjoy a substantive debate that has real clash versus ill formed half baked ideas or ill-linked impacts
I appreciate weighing mechanisms where you explain to me why I should weigh your impacts over your opponents.
Rudeness and i.e. talking over your opponent when they are already speaking first, will lose you speaker points.
Overall I really value clear logical presentations of your case, the clearer and more logical your framework, the stronger your case is likely to be.
I do not get much out of hearing information repeated multiple times over and over in a round. Keep your arguments fresh!
I appreciate when debaters give me voters during the final speeches in a round.
Speaker Points
I judge primarily between 25-30. I have given a 21 to debaters who neglected to bring laptops or any evidence in a debate and just spoke extemporaneously in a policy round before. I have severely penalized a debater who referred to Africa as a country 6 times in a speech. Africa is not a country!
I VALUE clear speech and a minimization in speeches of sentence fillers such as Ahhhs and ummms. Language fluency and flow is highly valued to me as a judge in terms of rewarding speaker points.
25 is a problematic round, with gaping flaws in speeches, huge amounts of time left unused, blatantly offensive things said, patently incorrect information cited, or other glaring rhetorical issues.
26 is a milquetoast round. The debater had consistent issues with clarity, time management on presenting the case in the context of argument times, or in language fluency and flow in speeches, which makes understanding or believing the case much more difficult.
27.5 is average. Speaker made no glaring mistakes, but nevertheless had persistent apparent errors fluency, clarity or other areas of rhetoric.
28.5 is above average. Speaker made very few mistakes, or made a few minor mistakes in speech which were not repeated. Speaker was compelling, used rhetorical devices and strategies well.
30 is perfect. No breaks in fluency, no issues with clarity regardless of speed, very strong use of rhetorical devices and strategies.
I do take points off for a lack of fluency or clarity, which very fast speaking speed often creates.
Judging style
In a debate, I strongly look toward framework, impact analysis and evidence to support claims. I very much value specific statistics to make a claim over a general statement.
“That which is asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.” —Christopher Hitchens - I met him in Beirut in grad school in 2009. We went out for cocktails after he gave a speech to my grad school class at the American U of Beirut. Then a very happily tipsy Hitchens decided to go out running like a banshee late night through the Beirut streets and then decided to rip down a poster of an SSNP (Syrian Nationalist Party) slogan, apparently within sight of some SSNP nationalists, and he was promptly beaten up by a bunch of Syrian Nationalists in Beirut that night. I always feel bad about that one, if Hitchens had had just listened to my advice that he stay at the bar, that beating by SSNP thugs wouldn't have happened. Hitchens was dead 2 years later. RIP.
Counterplans
I'm fine with counterplans if its a tight, cogent counterplan that is topical to the debate round.
Virtual Debate
Please stay in the frame of your camera during the debate. Share me on your plans - add me to the email chain - riamerrill@yahoo.com
.I look forward to when I get to judge a really excited, clashy debate!
kschwab@pinescharter.net
I've been coaching and teaching Debate (as well as the AICE courses Global Perspectives & Thinking Skills) for the past 14 years.
For LD/PF/Policy
Even though I have experience on the circuit and enjoy different types of cases, I am not a buyer of the belief that the technical should rule because sometimes format is not as important as content & understanding what you are running. I would consider myself a truth over tech although it will come to the clash provided not my own opinion on the truth. I will stick to the flow unless someone gives me a good reason to vote for them that is true and benefits the debate/educational event. I believe that kritiks, theory, LARP, etc... are all beneficial to learning and play into strategy, so I will vote in favor of anything IF you are able to prove the link is logically clear and strong enough in regards to what your opponent says is the reason for why I should not accept.
I do NOT have a preference for framework/cases - I've heard almost every kind by now and all types have won and lost my vote. Extinction impacts bore me without link work done, so I'd appreciate you at least have some linked harm impacts before extinction level even if final impact is extinction.
I can handle speed (even spreading) pretty well by now - if there is an issue with understanding or hearing I will say "clear" and will also check cards at the end for anything I missed...but please keep in mind that there are certain aspects in a construction that maintains well with speed and other areas that don't (i.e. - if you need me to understand how a philosophy or theory applies then allow me to absorb each part before rushing to the next because those are building block arguments, so missing one part can make the whole thing fall).
Congress:
This is a role playing event - I would like you to act better than our current congress :) I'm big on arguments... not on summation evidence (the kind that is just a quote that someone said the same thing as your claim). I like you to talk to us...be charming or intelligent or both if you really want my top scores. I love this event because when it's good it's so good. Have fun, be smart, and don't leave the chamber during session unless an emergency - there are plenty of breaks and I appreciate when students that don't take extra ones.
Jai Sehgal
Updated for 2024-25 Szn
*Online Rounds*
Please go at ~60% of what your normal speed would be. I am not going to flow off of the doc, so if what you are saying is not coherent, I will not flow it.I have seen far too often debaters compromise articulation in their speech because they assume judges will just blindly flow from the doc. I understand that virtual rounds are a greater hassle due to the sudden drops in audio quality, connection and sound, so err on the side of slower speed to make sure all your arguments are heard.
Be sure to record your speeches locally some way (phone, tablet, etc.) so that if you cut out, you can still send them.
LD
Prefs Shortcut
LARP/Generic Circuit - 1
Theory - 2
Phil/High Theory Ks - 3/4
Tricks - Strike
General:
I default to evaluating the round through a competing worlds paradigm.
Impact calculus is the easiest way to clarify my ballot, so please do this to make things easier for you and I both.
Assume I don't know much about the topic, so please explain stuff before throwing around jargon.
Give me a sufficient explanation of dropped arguments; simply claims are not enough. I will still gut check arguments, because if something blatantly false is conceded, I will still not consider it true.
I love good analytic arguments. Of course evidence is cool, but I love it when smart arguments are made.
I like it when a side can collapse effectively, read overviews, and weigh copiously.
There's no yes/no to an argument - there's always a risk of it, ex. risk of a theory violation, or a DA.
Evidence ethics are a serious issue, and should only be brought up if you are sure there is a violation. This stops the round, and whoever's wrong loses the round with the lowest speaks possible.
Disclosure is a good thing. I like first 3 last 3, contact info, and a summary of analytics the best. I think that as long as you can provide whatever is needed, you're good. Regardless, I'll still listen to any variation of disclosure shells.
Please write your ballot for me in the 2NR/2AR. Crystallization wins debates!
I debated mostly policy style, so I'm most comfortable judging those debates. I dabbled into philosophy and high theory as well, but have only a basic understanding of most common frameworks.
LARP:
My favorite kind of round to judge is a util debate. Unique scenarios/advantages are great.
I love impact calculus. The more specific your scenario is, the more likely I am to be persuaded by it, and a solid analysis of the impact debate will do good things for you.
A lack of offense means that there's always a moderate risk of the DA or the advantage. Winning zero risk is probably a tougher argument to win - that being said, if there's a colossal amount of defense on the flow, I'm willing to grant zero risk. However, simply relying on the risk of the DA will not be too compelling for me, and I'll have a lower threshold for arguments against it.
Theory:
If you're going to read theory, prove some actual abuse. My threshold for responses to frivolous theory has certainly gone down as I've judged more debates, so be wary before reading something like "cannot read extinction first."
I default competing interps, DTD, and no RVI's, but have realized there is some degree of judge intervention in every theory debate. Therefore, the onus is on you to win your standards clearly and do weighing between different standards.
Please go at like 50% speed or flash me analytics when you go for this because I’ve realized theory debates are sometimes hard to flow.
Kritiks:
I'm fine with generic K debates, but I'm probably not the best judge for high theory pomo debates.
The K must interact specifically with the aff because generic links a) make the debate boring, and b) are easy to beat. The more specific your link is to the aff, the more likely I will like listening to it.
I'd rather see a detailed analysis on the line-by-line debate rather than a super long overview. In the instance where you read an egregiously long overview and make 3 blippy arguments on the line-by-line, I'll have a very low threshold for 1AR extensions for the concessions.
I'll vote on K tricks and dropped framing arguments, but only if these are sufficiently explained. An alt solves the aff, floating PIK, conceded root cause, etc. are all much more persuasive if there's a clear explanation.
PF
I don't have many reservations in terms of what I want/don't want to see while judging PF, but here are a few things to keep in mind:
- If it's not in FF, I will not vote on it.
- Weighing should ideally begin as early as possible, and it will only help you if you do so.
- If you would like to read theory, go ahead.
- Second rebuttal needs to respond to everything + frontline.
- Sending case docs is a good practice.
I care most about your effectiveness as a speaker, your content, and being a courteous person.
I do not care for spreading, cramming, and being rude to opponents.
I am a flay judge - lay judge who flows through the debate so I am looking for effective arguments, flaws in opponent cases and persuasive speaker.
Lay judge, have judged many rounds. Speak at reasonable pace ie not too fast, please be clear on our main points and impact weighing.
Send case to email chain before your speech & I might ask for extra cards if I’m curious: joytaw01@gmail.com
My wifi sucks, it'll make it a lot easier for everyone to have at least speech docs prepared for your speeches - lowkey required for rebuttal, others optional but preferred.
I debated in HS but it's been a while (class of 2020) -- I can understand tech but prefer to be treated like a flay. Semi-ok with speed in the first half of the debate if there are speech docs (still pref not going super fast) (update: I lied I am tired please don't go fast. Do at your own risk but if it's not on my flow then womp womp) + No spreading in second half of the round pls. If you do, I guess I'll still evaluate it but it will only be what I can catch + your speaks will be dropped.
Lay ----- Flay --X--Tech
Public Forum:
General update/preference on framework: I don't like oppression olympics. I don't like talking about why we should prefer one group over another group so if both teams have framing impacting out to marginalized communities, I prefer the debate to just be on the link level unless you are undeniably winning on the warrant level. Also I don't like the "link-ins bad" arg as much either, I just don't like the round being over before it starts.
Theory - pls no theory unless it's about the other team not reading a content warning. I mean if u do read theory i guess i'll judge it but i prefer substance so my threshold for responding to theory is prob a lot lower than u would like. I also don't care for disclosure theory.
Evidence - I care about evidence ethics so don't egregiously miscut cards but if you are going to run ev ethics on someone, implicate why it's more important than substance debate or why it should control my ballot. Also, I think paraphrasing is fine in PF so don't run that on me lmao.
- keep track of your own times pls
- pls stop asking if it's okay to take prep just announce to the room so we're not waiting around and time yourselves
- Be clear. I never get enough sleep so if I don't catch it, it won't be on my flow.
- Frontline if you're second rebuttal
- I don't flow crossfire. If it's interesting I'll listen, but if it's important - bring it up in speech.
- Don't be rude to the other team or I’ll drop your speaks. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzpndHtdl9A)
- YOU CAN’T EXTEND ARGUMENTS WITHOUT EXTENDING WARRANTS!!!! (e.g. Don't just tell me ending arms sales causes war - give me reasons WHY that's true and extend the impact of WHY it's important) Every time you extend an argument you should extend the link chain + impact. No blippy extensions.
- Terminal defense is not sticky (translation: Rebuttals will not be directly flowed across so bring it up in summary if you want it in final focus)
- Collapse
- Pls don’t make me intervene (write my ballot for me with weighing)
warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants warrants (warrants =/= evidence)
weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh weigh but make it comparative
in summary and final focus
pls thank u
Policy update:
I'm familiar with policy debate, as in I've judged it before, but I never competed in it. I competed in public forum so keep that in mind when you're debating. Aka:
- don't go too fast, if you are gonna spread - send me a doc
- If you're running theories or Kritiks that are not intuitive -- please EXPLAIN THEM FULLY or it will not go your way. Also if it involves smth sensitive - please include a content warning.
- Time yourselves - I might do it on the side too but I want you guys to keep track of it yourselves. Especially prep or opponent's prep.
I am a parent judge . This is my fourth year judging PF debates.
Speak clearly and articulate your points well. Please don’t spread.
I pay attention to cross-X sessions and how your are countering the opponent’s cases/arguments with proper evidences.
Please be courteous and respectful to your opponents.
Good luck!
I possess over a year of experience as a judge in mainly PF debates but I also have experience with the BP style of debate as well. With that being said, I am more of a flay judge as well. My preference is to evaluate arguments based on their substance rather than style because the latter can be a disadvantage for ESL participants. Additionally, I prioritize convincing arguments over speed. (Please do your best not to spread, my old ears aren't as good as they used to be, and I might not be able to process your argument.)
During rebuttals, I urge the debaters to allow their opponents to respond to their questions. Furthermore, I strongly recommend that the debaters structure their arguments logically and succinctly. I am open to accepting cards and paraphrasing for evidence as long as the presented information is accurate and reliable! While I am not too nitpicky on evidence, I must emphasize that I will not tolerate deceitful claims such as lying that cows are pink or grass grows upside down.
Lastly, I wish all the participants the best of luck and encourage them to enjoy themselves!
Hi, I'm a student judge originally from Wolverhampton, England who currently lives in India. I've been debating for about 2 years now, mainly PF but also some Policy.
Things that may affect your ballot and speaker rating:
- Signpost whenever and wherever you can. It makes it easier to flow the round.
- Generally not a big fan of collapsing; I prefer if every contention is tackled
- Arguments in rebuttal are okay and I do recommend frontlining if they come up.
- New arguments in summary are also fine, but you're on extremely thin ice. Nothing beyond that, please.
- This is often inevitable, but try not to talk over one another (or worse, yell) during Cross.
- +0.2 to your speaker rating if you're able to mention a football/soccer team somewhere in your speech. I'm a fan of Liverpool, but anything goes.
- Please do not spread.
Hi! I am a second-year university student studying biochemistry and forensic science. I have done a few informal debates in my classes, but this is my first time being a judge. I will be as objective as possible with my decisions.
I value the flow of logic in an argument; I think it is crucial that a point is clearly expressed and that it makes sense. I would also like to see well-supported arguments. So when a point is made, I expect to hear it elaborated. That said, I will try to be fair and not harsh with my grading.
Good luck and I look forward to your debates! If you want more feedback from me, feel free to reach me at ashleywangxm@gmail.com!
I'm a fourth year university student at SFU studying Health Science.
Generally, I'm open to every argument, but please (please!!) keep your delivery slow and clear. It's more important to have quality evidence than quantity of evidence. Please do not be rude or cheat. At the end of it, I vote based on the flow and the debate round.
Feel free to contact me after the round if you need more feedback. You can reach me at Jasminewxb01@gmail.com.
(Debaters better send your cases to the email in advance :) )
I am a lay judge and have judged at a few national tournaments before.
I am familiar with the structure of public forum debate, but please keep your own speech times. I will only vote off what is said in speeches, so if you want me to consider something, please mention it in your speech. I will be writing things down but only as much as I can hear, so speak slowly.
Otherwise, be respectful and have fun. Good luck.
Name: Mike Wascher
School Affiliation: Lake Highland Prep
Number of Years Judging Public Forum: 10
Number of Years Competing in Public Forum: 0
Number of Years Judging Other Forensic Activities: 15
Number of Years Competing in Other Forensic Activities: 8
If you are a coach, what events do you coach? Public Forum, extemp
What is your current occupation? Debate coach
Please share your opinions or beliefs about how the following play into a debate round:
Speed of Delivery As long as it is clear, speed is not important
Format of Summary Speeches (line by line? big picture?) Turning point in the debate where the debater should take from the line by line the arguments they envision as being the decision points. Whether it is organized by the same order as the line by line or re-cast in voting issues makes no difference.
Role of the Final Focus Tell me what arguments you win, explain why those arguments, when compared to your opponents arguments, means you win the debate. The comparative work is crucial. If the debaters don’t do it the judge has to do it and that is a door debaters should never leave open.
Extension of Arguments into later speeches While I have no autocratic rule, I would imagine that something you plan to go for would be something that is extended throughout the debate. If argument X is a winner it just seems reasonable to me that it should be included in all speeches.
Topicality Sadly, this argument isn’t advanced much because the time it takes to present it is generally critical time lost on case arguments and the trade off is seldom worth. Having said that, I would vote on a T argument.
Plans Specific plans are, by rule, not allowed. Generic ideas about solving problems necessarily discusses policy options. The general idea of those options is the resolution when were have policy topics.
Kritiks If Public Forum is supposed to be debate about how current events are debated in the real world I find little room for theoretical ideas that are not considered by real world policy makers. If, however, the critical argument has specific links to the topic, (and history suggests that few I’ve heard do) it should not be rejected because it is critical.
Flowing/note-taking I flow the key parts of the argument and sometimes flow authors. I find myself noting dates when they seem to be old (and possible dated). I listen to cross fire and sometimes make notes when I heard something worthwhile.
Do you value argument over style? Style over argument? Argument and style equally? I value argument and I especially value warrants (which aren’t tag lines) that explain why your claims are persuasive.
If a team plans to win the debate on an argument, in your opinion does that argument have to be extended in the rebuttal or summary speeches? Not a hard and fast rule with me but I can’t imagine why a winner would be left out.
If a team is second speaking, do you require that the team cover the opponents’ case as well as answers to its opponents’ rebuttal in the rebuttal speech? Also not a hard and fast rule with me but strategically it is probably important you get back to some of your case, unless you plan to win offense on turns on your opponents case.
Do you vote for arguments that are first raised in the grand crossfire or final focus? Never!
If you have anything else you'd like to add to better inform students of your expectations and/or experience, please do so here. The three things I would like to hear more often in Public Forum debates are:
1) Comparative work. Explain why you win the debate not just win some arguments. You can win every argument you discuss but still not have a better story than your opponent. Take the time to explain why the arguments you win form a better story than your opponent’s offering.
2) Warrants. Claims are not persuasive. Why your claim is true, significant, harmful, etc., make for a persuasive argument. The best claim from the most qualified author is generally useless and it is sad when those “Best” authors write warrants and debaters fail to cut that evidence and read it.
3) Paraphrasing. I recognize that the PF world is at this point. I don’t like it. I believe there are ethical issues when one cites three different authors, for example, and none of the three are working on the same argument but rather writing one line that fits in and is found in a google search. I also find it problematic that some think they can summarize a master’s level work in six words. Paraphrasing opens the world to a lot of potential evil. I read a lot on our topics and do not be the person that is misrepresenting an author by a poor paraphrase. It’s as bad as clipping. Given the power to change the world I would mandate we go back to reading evidence but then again I can’t find enough people, maybe even one other person, willing to give me that power. So we will paraphrase but we will properly represent the evidence.
Fundamentally I see debate as a game. I think it is a valuable and potentially transformative game that can have real world implications, but a game none the less that requires me to choose a winner. Under that umbrella here are some specifics.
1. Comparative analysis is critical for me. You are responsible for it. I will refrain from reading every piece of evidence and reconstructing the round, but I will read relevant cards and expect the highlighting to construct actual sentences. Your words and spin matters, but this does not make your evidence immune to criticism.
2. The affirmative needs to engage the resolution.
3. Theory debates need to be clear. Might require you to down shift some on those flows. Any new, exciting theory args might need to be explained a bit for me. Impact your theory args.
4. I am not well versed in your lit. Just assume I am not a "____________" scholar. You don't need to treat me like a dullard, but you need to be prepared to explain your arg minus jargon. See comparative analysis requirement above.
Side notes:
Not answering questions in CX is not a sound strategy. I will give leeway to teams facing non responsive debaters.
Debaters should mention their opponents arguments in their speeches. Contextualize your arguments to your opponent. I am not persuaded by those reading a final rebuttal document that "answers everything" while not mentioning the aff / neg.
Civility and professionalism are expected and will be reciprocated.
Speech events. I am looking for quality sources and logic in OO and Inf. I have been teaching speech for 18 years and will evaluate fundamentals as well.
Add me to your email chain careeryen@gmail.com
My paradigm
What is your debate/judge experience?
Former debater/judge/coach in HS and in College.
What kind(s) of performance is effective and increases your odds of winning?
Articulate measurable outcome(s) delivered by feasible solution(s) aligned with the nature of the objective(s). They should not become unmoored from reality.
Establish cause-and-effect relationship between upstream action(s) and downstream impact(s) through facts, evidence, logical reasoning...etc.
Root-cause followed by correlation and attribution.
What kind(s) of performance is counter productive?
"Spreading" inane arguments.
Dumping statements without logically linking the root-causes driving the symptoms.
Rude, talk over opponents.
My name is Jian Ying. I am happy to be a parent judge and I wish you have great performances.
Hello, I'm Sarah, and I'm a third-year university student. I'd appreciate if you signposted, but it's not absolutely necessary.
I don't have any particular preference for the debating style. I noticed from previous tournaments that fast-talking doesn't help to win the debate. An argument with strong logical reasoning and supporting evidence is more convincing. Additionally, if possible, I would prefer to avoid using "off-time roadmap", which sometimes takes 30second and does not add much value to the argument. In term of time management, sharing files and cards may help but also take up prep time. The debate should be focused on making logical argument and thus requesting for card can be minimized.
I am a parent judge. Please speak at slower pace and articulate clearly. Please also add zhangyali@gmail.com to the email chain and send your case file before your round. Label the chain clearly; for example, “TOC R1F1 Email Chain Bethesda-Chevy Chase GT v. AandM Consolidated DS.”