I am a PF debater but have coached/taught LD. My suggestions:

be nice, be clear and make the judges’ lives easy.

if you get me in LD somehow god help you

(on a serious note just explain things well and everything will be okay)

Hey y'all, I was a varsity public forum debater and domestic extemper at O'Gorman and went to nationals a couple of times. I'm now currently at Vanderbilt University in Nashville (Anchor Down!!) studying Molecular Biology. Just a couple of things:

1). be confident!! (y'all got this)

2). be respectful please (especially in cross)

3). HAVE FUN (debate is meant to be fun)

If you say something that is rude or disrespectful you most likely will see it on my face and I will look up.

Overall, just have fun and have confidence and you'll be good!

I debated in the mid 1980's, almost exclusively inside South Dakota and coached some HS debate while I was attending college in Minnesota. I continued to judge some throughout the 90's. In the mid 2010's, I re-engaged with the activity. In the 2021-22 season, I added a part-time gig, becoming the assistant coach at SF Jefferson.

Policy: I'm a 1980's policymaker, weighing advantages vs disadvantages, but I will certainly vote on stock issues in the real absence of inherency, solvency or topicality.

Debate started changing dramatically in the late 70's and I was in the first wave of spread 1.0, almost laughable when compared to today's spread on the circuit and collegiate level. I believe spread and K's pushed policy debate to an extreme that required the creation of PF. The speed of today's South Dakota PF feels a lot like 1980's policy debate, quick, but nothing close to crazy. I am making it somewhat of a personal mission to keep PF from tipping over the edge.

I outlined my thought on judging policy above.

Public Forum: I am looking for clash -- real clash and sound logical reasoning and quality extension evidence that makes your case. Don't paraphrase. I consider K's and counterplans out of hand. I also place a premium on signposting (anything that can help me keep as organized a flow as possible). Teams that fail to do this leave themselves at a real competitive disadvantage. Weigh impacts and construct a narrative around why I should vote for your side of the resolution. Finally: If your team is 2nd speaker, your rebuttal absolutely has to get back to your Case and counter the attacks made against it!

I value exceptional speaking and rhetorical excellence. I love speakers that can change my perception on issues, speakers who possess a passion for the topic and the activity. If you find a way to be unique and memorable, you will have a significant competitive advantage over 90% of your competition. While speaking skills are not as important as research and argumentation in helping me decide a round, they are often the difference maker in a close round. They are also somewhat of a lost art as PF begins to look and sound more like policy -- which is a shame.

I occasionally judge LD -- it also has been impacted by the spread/K revolution. I am looking for many of the same skills I'm looking for in PF. I appreciate debaters who help me weigh the competing value/criterions and what should take precedent within a particular resolution. Connect your V/C to your contentions. Tell me why we should frame the resolution through your V/C instead of your opponents. I need help connecting philosophy to your contentions -- take the time to explain it to me in a clear and persuasive manner. Don't assume I have a working knowledge of these scholars, because I probably don't or, the few I may have heard or read about, have likely been forgotten.

On a scale of 1/10 for speed, I would consider myself about a 5 In policy debate and a 6-7 in PF/LD. On a scale of 1/10 for openness to alternative argumentation, I would be fairly low on a 1-10 scale. For policy -- quite open to topicality, less to counterplans, and a big hurdle to get my ballot if your case hinges on a series of Kritik arguments. For PF -- I consider myself a local/regional kind of guy. I am open to speed, not spread. I think disclosure theory is bogus (debate is a speech activity -- an argument hasn't been made until a speech is delivered). Don't run K's.

TLDR:

be nice, don’t drop things, and make sure you point out drops

About me:

I did four years of public forum and domestic extemp with Aberdeen Central and am now a political science major at the University of South Dakota (go yotes!). I keep pretty up to date with current events in the United States and abroad and like to think I know what is going on in the world for the most part. I am also a lover of cats, movies, and Christmas :)

Public Forum:

Drops:

I am going to be a flow over anything judge.

If you drop it and the other team points that out, then its gone and I won’t vote on it. That being said, I think it is the burden of the speaker to get back to touch everything they are going to pull through in the next speech. This means that the 2nd rebuttal speaker NEEDS to get back to their own case for me to weigh it and the summary speakers need to cover everything that their partner is going to close for or I won’t flow it. However, if your opponent doesn’t point out your drop and you repack it up then consider yourself extremely lucky. I will flow it again because drops need to be pointed out in the round for me to weigh them.

Speed:

I can handle rapid conversational just fine as long as you are speaking clearly and sign posting, sign posting, SIGN POSTING!!

Time:

I love a good, BRIEF off the clock road map. They are my favorite thing tbh.

For calling for cards I typically won’t take prep unless a team takes the card back to their area or it starts taking to long to find or read the card. Please don’t take advantage of this. I will expect the other team members not to prep during this time and will dock speaker points if you try to steal prep or if this takes too long.

Cross:

Please just be nice and respectful. I understand being fired up in the heat of the moment but there is a difference between being assertive and being disrespectful. I typically won’t vote on respect unless it is a MAJOR issue, but I will take speaker points away and give a low-point win.

LD/Policy:

I have very little experience here so if I am in the back of your round I am sorry, but I will try my best. I will be flow over anything and can handle a rapid conversational as long as there is signposting, but maybe go a little slower at first to ease me in :)

IEs:

You shouldn’t have to conform your speech style for judges, but I did do domestic extemp for four years so I have the most experience there. Admittedly, I didn’t sit through a single inform or oratory round in my four years of high school, but I do enjoy them. If you make me laugh I will give an extra speaker point :)

1. Debate background:

1. Judged High school debate for (9 years);
2. Assistant debate coach for 2 years.

2. Judging:

• I love flow and base my judgment on logical arguments, facts, science, etc.
• I deliberate on overall presentation of debaters-- i.e.-- argumentation + delivery

she/her lm the H half of sf roosevelt GH

past experience - varsity debater, first speaker, above average student most days, state champ (sd of course so take that as you will), nsda nationals 2018, 2019, 2020, circuit tourney stuff, toc gold tourney all that jazz :)

weighing will win.

sexism, ableism, racism, any negative isms ----> voted down.

interrupting, not tolerated. just kidding. go ahead, but don't mansplain or waste my time.

about my vibe: i am nice. i promise. y'all are wholesome.

if I shake my head profusely, change the topic.

Use your prep time: prep, get to know your partner, do your calc hw, cry. i don't care, but use it wisely.

if your impact is so HUGE or TERMINAL that you will spend an hour trying to convince to care, act like you care. (EX: if global warming is going to kill us should make me want to buy a new prius after the round)

if you can not provide your evidence within 2 minutes, it does not exist in my mind sweetie.

policy on ev exchange: exchange EV, take prep, read it, stop prep, hand it back.

as a judge, i will set my bias aside to the best of my abilities. BUT. let me acknowledge one: to my fellow female debaters, y'all are killing it. don't forget that.

Hello, I am a parent judge.

If I am your judge, remember it is your job to convince me to vote for you.

I will flow your round and I look for contentions to be supported and defended.

I look for how you work as a team. Are contentions dropped?

Speaker points are individual and will be scored that way. It won't matter how much info you put into your allotted time if I can't understand what you are saying. Please fill your speech times. I will let you finish your thought before I call time if you go over.

Please speak loudly and clearly as I sometimes have a hard time hearing.

Debate is a fun activity, keep it that way. Be respectful to your opponent and to me!

If you have any specific questions on preferences, feel free to ask me before the round is started.

Emerson Keeley

she/they

University of South Dakota

General

Hey there! My name is Emerson Keeley but, I also go by Emma. I graduated from Aberdeen Central in 2021. I only did debate for 1 year so I don't know much so please correct me if I do anything wrong. I am open to learning from my mistakes. I did show choir throughout high school, so I am WAY out of my zone. I currently attend USD, studying Psychology with a minor in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

DO NOT say anything out of pocket, homophobic, transphobic, sexist, racist, xenophobic, or anything of the sort. I grew up in South Dakota, it is not fun what some people have to go through, and if you are like that to your opponent or partner, you will be downvoted instantly. I will absolutely not tolerate it!

Go YOTES!

Public Forum

I am most confident in this type of debate. I know most terms but bare with me. I am still fairly new. I know how to keep a decent flow. I am open to learning! I am slowly getting more confident in PuFo.

I will not disclose rounds. If you ask me to disclose, that's .5 of your speaker points.

Make the debate traditional

IE's

I LOVE HUMOR!!! IT IS MY KILLER!!

LD

I am least confident in this type of debate, therefore, I am open to learning!! I will try my best!!

Information

emerson.keeley2003@gmail

Feel free to email me if there is anything you'd like to discuss regarding your round! I would be more than happy to give my input! Just make sure to put what round it and what the topic was since I have the memory of a goldfish :)

I am currently a Political Science student a the University of South Dakota, and was a Public Forum and Congress debater at Lincoln High School, with some experience in policy.

PF:

Speed is okay, as long as I can understand you, I will shout "clear" if I cannot. I don't like paraphrase cases, but I know most teams run them in pf, just don't expect me to write down all of the authors names.

When extending, please warrant your extensions and do not simply say "extend the Johnson evidence."

Please refrain from identity politics, I really don't think it is fair to use race/gender orientation as an advantage in the debate space, and those arguments generally take away from the core of the topic.

I generally give high speaks unless you are rude in round or don't fill up time/don't try.

Empirical evidence is best

Probability> Magnitude> Timeframe

If no framework is given, I will default to cost benefit analysis.

Congress:

I have the most experience in this field. More speeches do not necessarily mean higher rankings. I expect you to take the round seriously, and joke/meme speeches will reflect poorly on your ranking, as will being rude. Unlike other SD judges, I will value the PO highly if they do their job correctly. Ask questions. It is the best way to stand out in the round.

Content>speaking ability>number of speeches

If I happen to be judging you in novice LD, make sure you are clear on impacts and convince me what to vote on, as I have no experience in that area and will otherwise judge it like I would a policy round.

fyi: i'm used to judging novices so please forgive me!

i debated novice PF for one year and varsity PF for two years at roosevelt high school in south dakota and am continuing my speech & debate journey at colorado college. i am double majoring in environmental science and political science. if you're looking for something to talk about pre-round, i have a dog, a cat, and five fish, i love the national history day annual competition (and plan to judge for that too), and i really like playing the sims 4!

hey, you! don't stress. i'm nice, i swear. just take a moment to chill. vibe.

you like extra speaks? show confidence in what you're saying. confidence is huge for me

most important speech to me is summary. weighing is important. extend key arguments into summary and final focus or i will not vote on that argument

i'll start prep time for exchanging evidence when you begin reading, and i'll end it when you stop. for virtual tournaments, please tell me when you begin and when you stop

watch my body language. i'm not subtle. if i'm shaking my head, you're not making sense (i've been there, just change the subject). if i look like i'm grooving out, you're doing great

no tolerance for sexism, racism, homophobia, etc.

here's the deal with theory and k's. i'm not a fan of them just because i feel like you should be debating the topic at hand. i believe the most educational debates come from prepping, and running something like theory or k limits the amount someone can prep for the resolution itself. that doesn't mean i won't vote for a theory/k though. i still expect good responses from the opponents

don't interrupt your opponent in crossfire for no reason, but if they're overexplaining than please go ahead

i usually don't flow crossfire, so make sure you're keeping good eye contact. crossfires are great persuasion points for me

novices only: tell me your favorite song = +0.5 speaks

since i'm not a super experienced judge, please don't talk too fast, but i can handle some speed

also i know basic debater terminology but not as much as my more experienced peers so please go easy on me

evidence that can't be provided within two minutes will be marked off of my flow

also cheesy but please have fun (it's not that serious)

Affiliations

Debated for Lovejoy HS (TX) 2015-2019

Judge/Assistant SF Roosevelt (SD) 2019- 2020

tl;dr

I'll give you time to read before round, but here is a quick summary:

I debated PF all four years and have seen success. Other debate events I will try and judge but sorry in advance. If you want my ballot make sure you have warrants

PF:

Default Fw: CBA

Warrants>Empirics

Every debater needs to extend and 2nd rebuttal must respond to turns.

Please go Line by Line on every speech except FF.

-------------------

Long Version:

PERSONAL BACKGROUND/EXPERIENCE:

Former 4-year varsity PF debater and team captain of the PF debate team at Lovejoy High School in Lucas, Texas with some experience in the National Circuit. I competed in a very tough and progressive circuit. Qualified to NSDA Nationals 2016,2017,2018,2019. TOC 2018. Currently a 3L at the University of South Dakota School of law.

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ALL OTHER EVENTS:

-Speak up and speak clearly, but don't yell.

-Moderate Speed is fine, but if you're going to spread I will not flow.

- I will try my best to adjudicate the round, but sorry in advance.

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PUBLIC FORUM:

Tech>Truth

Warrants> Empirics

Anyone can find anything on the internet. This is why warrants are essential. Explain the logic behind it.

Theory:

I would prefer you to stay away from the theory debate. I have only debated theory a couple of times and I am not the best judge to have a full-on theory debate. I HATE Disclosure theory as I think it is a way to just get to the ballot without engaging on substance. Theory regarding abuse is fine, just make it well warranted ie: Paraphrasing, T, etc.

Interp:

I would always run weird meta interps and I think it is fine if it is warranted. If a team is running an abusive interp don't be afraid to call them out on it. If you do not warrant why it is abusive than I will allow the interpretation to stand.

Framework: Default: CBA

Honestly, I think framework is dumb. Framework is just an unnecessary form of weighing that goes dropped mid round and that most PFers dont understand. If you have a framework that is basic like CBA than I will dock speaker points because I believe it is pointless and it shows you did not read my paradigms. There are exceptions to having a framework. If your case has a narrative, then have a framework pertaining to that. Framework must be extended cleanly like everything else. Framework should be Warranted or I will probably default CBA

Case Debate:

I am fine with about any type of case. If it is well warranted than I do not care about what type of argument it is. Ex: If it is about Asteroid mining go ahead and run it. Just make sure your case is well warranted and you can defend it.

In round:

I enjoy clash and DO NOT BE AFRAID TO BE AGGRESSIVE IN CROSSFIRE. I am fine with speed, however I will yell clear if I can not keep up. The 2nd rebuttal must respond to turns or it is conceded. Also, extend extend extend, if something is not extended than it is dropped. Weighing is a must; without it, I will have to intervene and weigh myself. The Final Focus/ Summary should not extend through ink. I prefer that all the speeches go down line by line except for the FF

Speaks: I feel that good debaters should not get stuck on breaking due to speaker points. If I believe that both teams did an excellent job and should "break" then do not worry about speaker points. However, if you debated poorly than that will be reflected in the speaker points I give.

Evidence Challenge: If you want me to look at a crucial piece of evidence I will. If the evidence is falsified/Power tagged than I will drop the evidence and give low speaker points. I hate debaters that lie/power tag evidence and you will most likely lose if I catch you. Falsifying evidence is the worst way to get to my ballot. If the evidence is interpreted how it is argued, then the evidence will stand.

Jeffrey Thormodsgard

Assistant Coach of Debate at Roosevelt High School, Sioux Falls, SD

pronouns: he/him

Please add my email to the email chain: jeffrey.thormodsgard@k12.sd.us

I will do my best to judge the debate that occurred versus the debate that I wish had happened. I see too many judges making decisions based on evaluating and comparing evidence post the debate that was not done by the students. Speech > Speech Doc

I prefer providing oral RFDs unless rounds are extremely complicated or messy —those RFDs take more time. I understand the commitment you put into the activity so I try my best to put the same amount of effort into judging and making a decision. Nothing is worse than when a judge does not care about what they do and does not give you real feedback because the whole point of the activity is education and to learn. Post round oral disclosure is good. I subscribe to (most of) Lawrence Zhou's thoughts on the matter here. If you're from South Dakota, bonus points if you read that one. ;)

My only real pet peeve is wasting time during or before a debate. Please be ready to start the debate on time and don't cause unnecessary delays during it. Preflowing should be done before the debate start time. When prep time ends, you should be ready to start your speech right away. "Pulling up a doc" or something like that for 30 seconds is stealing prep and should be done before you end your prep time. Assume I'm running the clock.

Public Forum

This event should be accessible to all--meaning please keep your rate of delivery in check. I can keep up with speed, but please make sure to articulate yourself. If I can't understand the words you are saying at the pace you're saying them, then I can't flow. In addition, the speed at which you're talking shouldn't interfere with your presentation. If I don’t flow it, it doesn’t exist. If you're going too fast, I'll communicate that in round. Debate should be for everyone and not just those who can afford debate camp and those who speak English as their first language... If both teams love fast debate, and everyone agrees to it, then let's go all out speed because I enjoy fast debate too (just give me a heads up). I'd like a speech doc if you're going to go over 275+ words per minute. If I miss something in summary or final focus because you're going too fast and I drop it, it's your fault; slow down, don't go for everything, and be efficient.

Rebuttals:

If you are speaking first, I'm fine with you spending all 4 minutes on the opp case. If you are second speaker, you should defend your case in some capacity and briefly respond to args made on your case. At minimum, you must answer turns. If you speak second and don’t answer turns in rebuttal, you will almost certainly lose the round if your opponents go for those turns. This is not to say I think you need to go for everything in second rebuttal. I’m fine with you kicking arguments and thinking strategically during the round.

Summary/FF:

I like clear voting issues. Summary and final focus should crystallize the round. Don't just do line-by-line. Also, if an argument isn't extended in both summary and FF, I won't vote on it.

Crossfire:

Cross-examination matters – Plan and ask solid questions. Good cross-examinations will be rewarded.

Prep time/calling for cards:

If it looks like you are prepping, I will start the clock. I'm fine if you time your own prep, but know that I am also keeping time and my time is the official time.

I believe the activity is approaching the point where it should be the norm to send all the evidence you read over to your opponent rather than doing this inefficient one (1) card at a time nonsense. Whatever you do though, please be efficient. I blame inefficient evidence exchange on the team fetching the evidence, not on the team requesting it.

Debate is an activity about high quality research not writing a persuasive English paper. If you paraphrase (1) you shouldn't be, and (2)then you really need to have the cut cards ready at a minimum. A card is not cut if it does not have a complete and correct citation as well as the important/cited parts of the card being emphasized. Evidence should be able to be sent when asked for in a timely manner. If it is not sent quickly it may be dropped from the debate. If you're using an email chain, I don't care how many tech. issues you have, I'm keeping a running clock. Have your evidence sent over at the start to your opp, or hand over your device when evidence is called for.

Theory/Kritiks/Counterplans/Plans

Run whatever you think will win.

Public Forum time structures are not suitable for debating Kritiks with alternatives. However, debating ethics directly related to the topic and arguing it outweighs/should come first is good with me. No plan texts or counterplan texts please (note: a counterplan text is not saying 'another solution is better than the solution being presented by the resolution' -- that's just an argument, just answer it...).

If you're running K arguments, I'm expecting strong blocks -your case relies on it. If you're using a K to avoid clash, don't. If you're spreading on a K, don't make the round harder than it has to be. K's should be about education. If no one in the round understands you b/c your argument is using complicated jargon and you're spreading, you aren't achieving your goal. Make it accessible. Non-topical Ks need to have justification and should be engaged with - don't be abusive and avoid vague alts.

Very high threshold on theory. Despite being tech over truth 95% of the time, I have limited tech expectations on theory since I don't want to punish students who couldn't afford debate camp to learn the technical aspects of theory. If something truly unfair happened in the debate, then go for it by arguing 1) we should have this norm and 2) you violated that norm. To beat theory argue it 1) shouldn't be a norm or 2) you didn't violate the rule or 3) we should have a different norm instead of the one you provided. Theory should be a check on unfair debate practices, not a strategy to catch your opponent off guard.

Disclosure is good (on balance)

I feel that debaters/teams should disclose. I am NOT interested in “got you” games regarding disclosure. If a team/school is against disclosure, defend that pedagogical practice in the debate. Either follow basic tenets of community norms related to disclosure (affirmative arguments, negative positions read, etc.) after they have been read in a debate.

ADA issues: If a student needs to have materials formatted in a matter to address issues of accessibility based on documented learning differences, that request should be made promptly to allow reformatting of that material. Preferably, adults from one school should contact the adult representatives of the other schools to deal with school-sanctioned accountability.

Framework

TLDR: If your version of debate doesn't promote clash, you're going to have a tough time winning my ballot. Beyond that, it's about the learning.

Postrounding

Postround as hard as you want. I won't change my decision, but I believe it helps education for the activity for both judge and debaters.

Other stuff:

• Anything excessively past time (5+ seconds) on your speech can be dropped from the round. I won't flow it, and I won't expect your opponent to respond to it.
• I don't care how you dress, if you sit, stand, etc. Debate should be comfortable and accessible for you. Know that the tournament has an equity officer for a reason.
• Collapsing and making strategic decisions in 2nd rebuttal and 1st summary is an expectation of PF. Try to go for everything, and you will fail. There's a reason speech times decrease.
• Rudeness in cross will lose you speaker points. You can make strategic offensive rhetorical decisions to put your opponent on the defensive, but there is a difference. I try to be as wary as possible of my own implicit biases in giving low speaks for this. I've had too many of my students (especially women and POC) docked speaker points for being "too aggressive" towards or for "interrupting" their male opponents. If you feel I am unfair on this, postround me, and we can discuss.
• I will negate speaks for pretending something was in summ when it wasn't; pretending your opponents didn't respond when they did; etc. You need to meet your opponent at their best, as they should do to you.
• Speaks from me should be seen as percentages sans the first number i.e. 30.0 = 100%, 29.9 = 99%, 29.8= 98%

LD

I occasionally judge LD. My stances on all of the above carry over. You need to weigh the competing value/criterions and what should take precedent within a particular resolution. Connect your V/C to your contentions - and tell me why we should frame the resolution through your V/C instead of your opponents. You should clearly communicate the connection of your philosophy to your contentions. While I like to think I have a functioning working knowledge of many of the V/C scholars, my background is in Lacanian lit. crit. (Marx, decon., race, gender, queer theory, etc. are all in my wheelhouse), so help me out with specifically who we're talking about and what facet of their oeuvre you're using. Ignore the contentions debate and lose. Ignore the V/C debate and lose.