I am a traditional judge, that goes for all formats, and if you are in LD and you are going to super spread, please remember I prefer quality over quantity. So slow down, this is not one person policy ! Remember what LD was meant to be as a format.

Penn will be my first time judging! Looking forward to it.

A little bit about me: I coach for Millburn High School in New Jersey. I competed on the circuit in high school and college.

I do my very best to be as non-interventionist as possible, but I know some students like reading judge's paradigms to get a better sense of what they're thinking. I hope that the below is helpful :).

Overall: You can be nice and a good debater. :)

Here are some things to consider if I'm your Parliamentarian/ Judge in Congressional Debate:

- I am a sucker for a well-executed authorship/ sponsorship, so please don't be afraid to give the first speech! Just because you don't have refutation doesn't mean it isn't a good speech. I will be more inclined to give you a better speech score if you stand up and give the speech when no one is willing to do so because it shows preparedness.

- Bouncing off of the above bullet point, two things I really dislike while at national circuit tournaments are having no one stand up to give the earlier speeches (particularly in out rounds) and one-sided debate. You should be prepared to speak on either side of the legislation. You're there to debate, so debate. I'm much more inclined to rank you higher if you flip and have fluency breaks than if you're the fourth aff in a row.

- Asking the same question over and over to different speakers isn't particularly impressive to me (only in extreme circumstances should this ever be done). Make sure that you are catering the questions to the actual arguments from the speech and not asking generic questions that could be asked of anyone.

- Make my job easy as the judge. I will not make any links for you; you need to make the links yourself.

- Warrants are so important! Don't forget them!

- If you are giving one of the final speeches on a piece of legislation, I expect you to weigh the arguments and impacts that we have heard throughout the debate. Unless there has been a gross negligence in not bringing up a particular argument that you think is revolutionary and changes the debate entirely, you shouldn't really be bringing up new arguments at this point. There are, of course, situations where this may be necessary, but this is the general rule of thumb. Use your best judgment :).

- Please do your best to not read off of your pad. Engage with the audience/ judges, and don't feel as though you have to have something written down verbatim. I'm not expecting a speech to be completely flawless when you are delivering it extemporaneously. I historically score speeches higher if delivered extemporaneously and have a couple of minor fluency lapses than a speech read off of a sheet of paper with perfect fluency.

- Be active in the chamber! Remember, the judges are not ranking students based upon who is giving the best speeches, but who are the best legislators overall. This combines a myriad of factors, including speeches, questioning, overall activity, leadership in the chamber, decorum, and active listening (i.e. not practicing your speech while others are speaking, paying attention, etc.) Keep this in mind before going into a session.

- Please please please don't speak over the top of one another. This being said, that doesn't mean you have a right to monopolize the questioning time, but there is a nice way to cut someone off if they're going too long. Use your best judgment. Don't cut someone off two seconds after they start answering your question.

- I rank based on who I think are the overall best legislators in the chamber. This is a combination of the quality of speeches, questioning, command of parliamentary procedure, preparedness, and overall leadership and decorum in the chamber.

Let me know if you have any questions! :)

Here are some things to consider if I'm your judge in Public Forum:

- Please add me to the email chain if you have one: jordybarry@gmail.com

- I am really open to hearing almost any type of argument (except K's, please don't run K's in PF), but I wouldn’t consider myself a super techy judge. Do your thing, be clear, and enjoy yourselves!

- Please debate the resolution. It was written for a reason.

- It's important to me that you maintain clarity throughout the round. In addition, please don’t spread. I don’t have policy/ LD judging experience and probably won’t catch everything. If you get too fast/ to spreading speed I’ll say clear once, and if it’s still too fast/ you start spreading again, I’ll stop typing to indicate that I’m not getting what you’re saying on my flow.

- Take advantage of your final focus. Tell me why I should vote for you, don't solely focus on defensive arguments.

- Maintain organization throughout the round - your speeches should tell me what exact argument you are referring to in the round. Signposting is key! A messy debate is a poorly executed debate.

- I don't weigh one particular type of argument over another. I vote solely based on the flow, and will not impose my pre-existing beliefs and convictions on you (unless you're being racist, sexist, homophobic, antisemitic, or xenophobic). It's your show, not mine!

- Please please please don't speak over the top of one another. This being said, that doesn't mean you have a right to monopolize the questioning time, but there is a nice way to cut someone off if they're going too long. Use your best judgment. Don't cut someone off two seconds after they start answering your question.

- Be polite!

- Make my job easy. I should not have to (and will not) make any links for you. You have to make the link yourselves. There should be a clear connection to your impacts.

- Weighing impacts is critical to your success, so please do it!

Any questions, please feel free to ask! Have fun and good luck!

When I judge I always keep in mind Aristotle's model of persuasion: ethos, pathos, and logos.

I can hardy understand auctioneers, please no spreading, I beg you, please.

--Congressional Debate--

- I value both presentation and content, be respectful to one another as well

- Make sure to reference others if you're speaking later in the round

--Debate Events--

- Warrant all of your claims. I am willing to buy strange arguments that remain well warranted (however no K's, CPs, etc. in PF).

- You do most of the deciding. If what you say matches my flow by the end of the round you'll probably win my ballot.

- Weigh impacts

- Pls don't spread

- Be nice. If you are excessively rude it's an automatic loss for your team.

please be nice to me, i am but a simple fool

but for realz y'all, this is early early in my debate judging career (aka the first one was princeton '22) so, in the words of adele, go eaaaaaasssssyyyyy on me

you have free will, but i do not know what a counterplan, a k, a disad, or theory are so don't expect me to understand those. i only know these words because my girlfriend know what they are and told me to write them

for everyone's convenience, please give roadmaps and sign posts as you go and speak at an understandable/intelligible speed. don't expect me to read your mind or do your work for you. that kind of defeats the purpose of this whole "debate" thing

if you're sharing cases, my email is lcoilparampil@gmail.com

if i give verbal RFDs, please write them as we go

I am a judge with eleven years of experience in Public Forum, Lincoln-Douglas, Congress, and Parliamentary Debate.

I am a flow judge that values precision of thought, argument structure, and word choice. I welcome authoritative sourcing in support of arguments but never an appeal to authority. I understand the tactical reason for speed but prefer to be convinced by the strength of the argument and the rhetorical elegance of the presentation.

As a teacher of history that thrives on disputation, I require a clash of ideas. I am philosophically fond the counterpunch and find a “turn” often to be the highlight of a debate. Find the flaw in your opponent’s argument and exploit it to your advantage.

In Public Forum and LD:

During cross, strive for a balance between contention and civility.

In Congress and Parliamentary Debate:

Regardless of the prep time, demonstrate a certain depth and breadth of content knowledge related to the bill or motion. Reasoned argument on behalf of the commonweal is preferred over moral preference and preening.

Disclosure (if permitted by tournament rules) is not a time for discussion or appeal.

Congress:

General Round Preferences:

- Don’t re-hash.

- Try to bring up new impacts or points of view into the debate.

- If you’re going to crystallize, make sure you aren’t just repeating args.

- Remember, Congress isn’t a speech event, you can actually refute and debate.

- Tie in your args back to the U.S. if the topic is foreign policy. Tie in your impacts to the constituents if domestic. Why should we care about the aff/neg? how does this impact the people in the end?

Refutation:

- Have substance, don't just repeat what others have said and claim they are wrong. Prove why they are wrong and how this affects the round.

- If you can give a good analysis on how your arg turns the other side's impacts, you're going to be ranked higher.

Timing:

- I know it's hard to pace yourself but don't speak too fast. Congress is a combination of eloquent speaking and argumentation.

• I can tell when you're running out of time and trying to squeeze one last argument into your speech. I don't particularly like this because it reduces the quality of your speech and leaves it unfinished.

I stg if there's no claim, warrant, data in each point.

Hi everyone! My name is Matt Fleischer (he/him).

About Me

I am a former high school debater, and I competed primarily in Congress. Now, I am a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania. I know how stressful competing can be, so do your best to just have fun!

What I Want to See

Congress: First, I am looking for clear argumentation. Do what you can to warrant (explain why what you are saying is true) and impact (explain why what you are saying matters) your arguments. It also helps to link your points directly to words/lines within the legislation. Although I have no preference for certain types of speeches (a well-executed authorship or constructive speech can find its way to the top of my ballot), speakers after the first speech on legislation should reference and refute other speakers. For those wondering, I will be flowing the round, so do your best to convincingly cut down the arguments of the other side.

Next, I want to see good speaking. This is hard to achieve on Zoom, but I love speakers who can make me feel something. Change your volume, pitch, and tone to engage with me and showcase the passion you have.

Finally, I want to see that you are a leader. This does not necessarily mean begging to make every motion or participating during every cross, but you should be involved in the round by asking hard-hitting questions (and not surfing the web/sitting on your phone) and working to resolve legislative problems (e.g. imbalanced debate). Most importantly, leaders are respectful: if you speak over others, are rude, or routinely misgender other legislators, I will drop you without hesitation. This is not to scare you--just be nice!

I also want to add a quick note on presiding: if you are unbiased, efficient, and knowledgeable, I will score you well. POs are just as involved as speakers, and they will be scored on my ballot as such. Don't avoid presiding if no one will run because you think I will drop you!

Speech: For prepared events, go out there and show me what you came prepared with! No notes here. For unprepared events (e.g. extemp), do what you can to signpost your arguments and provide objective evidence. See notes on warranting and presentation above. I am also happy to provide time signals, if needed.

Good luck to you all! I know you'll be great. :)

• I've been coaching in southeast Florida since 2000, and have had national qualifiers in Policy Debate, Lincoln Douglas Debate, Public Forum Debate, and World Schools Debate. Some have even advanced beyond prelims!

(1) Picture ... if you will ... your 93-year-old great-grandfather. In order for him to understand the words coming out of your mouth, you must speak clearly. Very clearly. I'm not 93, or your great-grandfather (or, at least, to the best of my knowledge I'm not - and if I am, why am I judging you? You're my great-grandchild! Conflict of interest!), but I weigh clarity highly. If I cannot understand you, and stop flowing (whether via old-school "putting the pen down" or new-school "no longer pounding away on my laptop keyboard"), you are probably losing the round. Badly.

(1a) My iPad tends to merge words together when I try to flow using electronic ballots. Which means I sometimes miss arguments while trying to fix the hot mess typos. Or when I look back on the round to review, there’s chunks missing. Clarity in your presentation will go a long way toward me remembering what you said and why it was important. “Speed kills” isn’t just about how you drive on the roadways. Speaking of which ...

(1b) Debate is an educational communications activity. It's about persuasion; competitors ought to hone and practice the skills that will be effective in the real world; I expect no less in a debate round. Spewing out random crap just because you think a 72nd argument will win you the round won't cut it. The ONLY spreading that matters is cream cheese on a toasted onion bagel. (Mmmmm, toasted onion bagel ... with cream cheese ... and lox ...)

But I digress.

(2) In Policy Debate, "End of the world" nuke war-type arguments don't sway me. (Actually, this holds true in all other debate events, too!) We've somehow managed to survive the Cold War, Krushchev's shoe-banging incident, and that immature Canadian singer who makes me want to puke (and whose name I refuse to print or say).

(2a) I rarely call for cards. Like, I’ve done it maybe twice in 15+ years? Don’t expect to be the third.

(3) I prefer substance over style.

(3a) I also prefer you treat your opponent and the judge (and, in a paired event, your partner) like they are human beings. DO NOT GO DONALD TRUMP IN A ROUND - YOU WILL LOSE POINTS, AND PROBABLY LOSE THE ROUND ... BADLY.

(4) In Lincoln Douglas Debate, I'm really old school - it's a philosophical debate, not a forum to jam statistics and facts down my throat. Notice that "OLD SCHOOL" has the initials "LD" embedded in the name. Live it; learn it; know it.

(5) I am not a "point fairy" (earning a 30 from me is damn next to impossible) but am not overly harsh ... unless you do something reallllllllly stupid or insulting, in which case, fear my wrath! Also, I will deduct an entire point if I don't believe you are flowing the majority of the time you should be OR if you pack-up your belongings and don't take notes/look at your flow during my RFD/critique. (BTW, I rarely disclose, but I will offer analysis of things that occurred during the round.)

(6) Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia rocks my dirty socks. So do Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (RIP, Tom!), Monty Python, the Detroit Red Wings, and Mountain Dew. Sadly, I'm not supposed to have Ben & Jerry's or Mountain Dew anymore (damn you, Type 2 diabetes!), but such is life. Then again, we've survived that previously-referenced Canadian singer ... so far ...

In a chamber, I seek for debaters to be bringing up new and relevant points in an effort to further the notion of the given debate. Practices such as refutation and prefutation are equally important to me. Finally, I believe decorum is extremely important in any debate and that mutual respect should be provided between debaters regardless of the context.

I’m super excited to be here, and just want everyone to be the best version of themselves!

About Me:

My name is Erin and I am comfortable with any and all pronouns. I competed primarily in Congressional Debate in high school and competed in American parliamentary debate at the beginning of my time in college (pre-Covid). I am also the Assistant Coach at my old high school, primarily in charge of all things Debate :)

Congress:

I firmly believe that the event is very much a mixture of both speech and debate - do not be afraid to be more performative while speaking, after all, you are a member of congress!! But this does not mean that you should sacrifice good argumentation and the content of your speech for the sake of putting on a show!! If you are able to combine the two in a cohesive, smooth way you are off to a good start!

Speeches: I (like most judges) primarily look for strong argumentation, unique impacts, and strong, relevant rhetoric. Your argumentation should be solid and easy to follow along (no gaps in the link chains!) and should have clear structure. After the first round of speeches on a piece of legislation, I expect there to be some clash and/or extensions on what the previous debaters have stated. But please watch out for rehash!! Show me you are paying attention to your fellow speakers in your speech, but avoid repeating their contentions (unless you are running a solid extension). In terms of types of speeches, each round of congress should follow a similar flow style, going from constructive to rebuttals and then crystals. Do not be worried about how speaking towards the end of a bill will affect your placing!!! Sometimes a good, strong crystallization speech is worth a lot more than a copy-paste constructive speech! (It shows you are paying attention to everything being said in the round as well as shows you can think quickly on your feet - which is very impressive!) The use of meaningful and relevant rhetoric to help break up and break down the arguments is greatly appreciated and highly recommended! The one case where rhetoric is not appreciated is in the instance where canned rhetoric is used - try to come up with more original sayings rather than use generic ones that have been around since before I was competing…

Sourcing: I have no real preference when it comes to what sources you use in your speech. News sources are fine but don’t cite news sources with known bias or an insane amount of editorialization and op-ed writing. When citing your sources please include at least a last name, year, and publication; you do not need to provide qualifications but they are a bonus if you use them!

Questioning: This is very important!! Being active in the chamber can really help boost your overall ranking by helping you stand out, especially if you are nervous about being marked down for only speaking once due to poor recency. Good questions and answers can be the tiebreaker in situations where I am conflicted between two speakers of similar caliber. That being said - please don’t ask trap questions!! If you are competing you should have enough know-how and evidence to ask fair questions and use that information given to help talk about it in a later speech. Forcing questions is smart, but forcing answers is abusive. Last but not least - QUALITY over QUANTITY always!!

Speaking + Speed: Spreading in rounds is totally cool, so long as you are clear and concise!! If the competitors and/or judges can’t understand what you are saying, it makes it difficult for your arguments to be used in the round. The need for speed is okay (trust me I was the same way I understand completely) but sometimes less is more!! Do not try to speak faster just to fit in more arguments - instead, prioritize what you think is important and use your time wisely.

PO: I greatly appreciate the role of the PO, and as long as you do not mess up royally you are guaranteed a rank! POs should be able to control the room without having to be loud or forceful. A great PO is one who understands how the event works - makes no procedural errors, runs a quick and efficient chamber, and most importantly, is FAIR to all competitors in the room. I’ve been around long enough to be able to get a feel of who knows who in a chamber within the first few minutes. Any obvious favoritism towards certain speakers when picking questioners and speakers will not go unnoticed or unpunished. If I am your parliamentarian and you have a procedural or general question in round, do not be afraid to ask!! I would much rather you ask and get it correct than guess and make a mistake. Make sure to keep a clear chart for keeping track of precedence and recency, as a judge (and more so as a parli) I tend to keep one of my own as it helps me keep track of competitors, so I will know if you make a mistake!

Above everything else, everyone should respect one another. If you are acting a fool and putting others down incessantly both in or outside of the chamber, I will not rank you no matter how good you are. Talent does not excuse poor behavior, and therefore will not be unpunished. I have a zero-tolerance policy for racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, and all other forms of bigotry, prejudice, hatred, and intolerance. You are all smart enough to know better, and the usage of anything to this level will not be tolerated (it does not matter if you do not believe it- you should not need to use it to make a point). Be respectful of one another and it will be a great day!

When I am acting as parliamentarian at state and national level tournaments - my critiques on tabroom will be more general based and directed to the whole chamber. If you would like a copy of your own specific critiques and/or have any questions as to why I said what I said - feel free to send me an email (erincnmohr@gmail.com) with your name, speaker code, and what round I judged and I will get back to you after the tournament is over!

Also if you recognize me from the internet no you don't <3 /j

In general, speak at a moderate speed, and be considerate of your teammates, opponents, and judges. Refrain from hyperbole. Please be clear, concise, and organized -- connect the dots for me.

I am not a technical judge. I will flow the best I can and evaluate your arguments but I am not comfortable with progressive rounds. Keep the round traditional (no tricks) or risk losing my ballot. There is no need to speed read. Please do things to make your speech easier to follow. Slow down/emphasize taglines. Signpost, and Roadmap off-time for clarity.

Debate and arguments must be persuasive. If the argument does not persuade me, I have no reason to vote for it. I do not intervene so debaters must tell me what is important and why I should vote for them. Be clear about what I am weighing and what I should value most highly. Impacts should be realistic. Not every action could or will cause a nuclear war. Your argument should be clear and plausible. I appreciate a clear analysis of why you should win in the final rebuttals.

It is important to show respect to your competitors and approach every speech as an opportunity to teach and learn.

* Congress *

Just a couple notes on places where I may differ from certain other judges.

First: I see Congress as a true speech AND debate event. Rhetoric, passion, body language, facial expression, changes in pace & tone, the use of pathos & humor (where appropriate) -- these things matter! If your speech is three straight minutes of speed-reading through a list of arguments and cites, you'll absolutely get credit for the evidence & argumentation, but you'll also get dinged for treating it as a CX round, which it is not.

And, second: I find I'm much more impressed by discernible consequences than by abstract notions of fairness or inequity. That doesn't mean you shouldn't talk about big ideas, about right & wrong -- that's great, by all means you should include it. But if, for example, your Neg speech boils down to, 'Alright, the bill is better than the status quo and, sure, no one in particular is really harmed by it. But the legislation doesn't go far enough, and the benefits of the bill are distributed in an unequal way, therefore the bill is unjust and we must negate' ... then to my thinking you've accidentally given an Aff speech. Oops.

History has shown that not all judges see this issue the same way I do, and that's fine. But if you're trying to game my ballot, show me tangible harms or tangible benefits.

Sorry for being really extra about Congress. I just want to make it clear what I think of each speech

Congress

I judge a lot of Congress. Congress to me is half speech and half debate. The best congress students have a mix of both qualities. I find myself in prelim rounds and local tournaments frequently rewarding better speakers because there is a greater talent disparity in those rounds, and kids who are phenomenal speakers break. However, you likely are only reading this if you are a student who takes Congress seriously and expects to get into break rounds. Here’s the thing, once you are in Congress break rounds, everyone is a good speaker and the gap between 1 and 12 is really often negligible to me. Therefore, if you expect to make it into the top 6 and move on, you have to give the appropriate speech at the appropriate time. Here is how I classify different speeches. Each one is judged differently

• 1st Aff/Authorship/Sponsorship

• Judged to a higher evidence standard since you are literally setting the table for the entire round

• Needs exceptional structure and argumentation. This should read like a debate case in PF/LD. No claim should go unwarranted, no argument should lack a variety of strong evidence, the impacts should be clear and heavily emphasized

• Speech is generally easier since it is prepared in advance, so this speech needs to be very well written

• 1st Neg

• Same standards as the 1st Aff/Authorship/Sponsorship

• Difference, you must directly refute what the previous speaker stated. You do not need to refute everything necessarily (although better speakers will), but you should definitely pick out whatever was the key point of their case and directly refute.

• 2nd Aff/2nd Neg-7th Aff/7th Neg (roughly, this depends on chamber size)

• Speeches need to address what is happening in the chamber. A good rule of thumb is to always address the claims of the speaker who went right before you plus the key issues of the round up to that point. If you are not making the debate unique by refuting previous speakers and extending previous speakers from your side, you will have a tough time being ranked top 6

• Unique arguments are great and you should draw attention to them. However you are not going to win the debate with a rando argument at the very end with limited impacts. Unique arguments are not a replacement for refutation and extension of previous speakers

• Closing Affs and Negs (like the last 4 speeches or so)

• Crystalize/Weigh voting issues. At the end of a cycle of debate, it needs to be like a final focus in PF or a 2AR in LD. Isolate the key issues of the round and explain why your side is winning. Speeches that do not weigh this late in the cycle do not add anything to the debate and are judged as unnecessary.

General Congress Speaking Tips

• Remember to always use decorum and professionalism

• Be consistent in the language you use (don’t flip between bill and legislation randomly)

• Important. At the end of the day, you are acting. You are a legislator, not a high school student. You are a legislator whose personal worth is attached to either the passage or failure of this bill because of how it affects the United States citizens. You delivery and disposition should be that of someone who is desperate to see its passage or failure. Show me this is important to you

Role of Cross Examination

• I am not paying attention to how many questions you guys ask. I am only really paying attention to the person’s answers. Cross ex should be a time you try to get the opponent to make concessions or show the judges they don’t really know what they are talking about. Be aggressive, but be respectful

• Ask lots of questions though. I may not be noting it down, but if you ask a lot of questions, I’ll remember that and it can be used to break ranking ties

Evaluating the PO

• If the PO does the following, I am going to rank them top 3 no matter what

• Maintains excellent professionalism and decorum

• Showcases strong knowledge of parliamentary procedure

• Maintains control of the chamber

• Makes no mistakes with recency or frequency

• One more thing to point out. Running an effective chamber also involves encouraging motions in order to continue facilitating legitimate debate. If there are 3 negs in a row with no Aff, and the debate has been done to death - you should be actively asking for motions and reminding the chamber about how we frown on one sided debate and can move on

One final note about Equity

• It is important to be fair to everyone in the chamber. However, this is a competition. You are trying to destroy your opponents and proceed in the tournament. You have no obligation as competitors to ensure all speakers get to speak the same number of times. Now I will admit, other judges may frown on this - so it is risky behavior. I am just letting you know that I will not take points away because you force a motion to call the previous question and end debate when the debate is clearly over and keep someone from speaking.

• Tabroom will not let me eliminate this stray bullet

LD/PF Paradigm

1. Speed kills. Spread at your own risk.

1. In LD, you need to win the framework to win the debate

1. Case needs to tell a cohesive story. You should not include arguments that don’t function under your framework for the sake of just having extra offense

1. You have to weigh the debate. No weighing, no ballot

1. Respect your opponent. Ideally you should be stone faced when your opponent is speaking and never snicker or make any comment of any kind. I’ll drop you

1. Voting issues. Gotta have them. What are the key issues of the round in your view? How do I know what to vote off of if you don't tell me what matters?

2. There is no 7, tabroom will not let me backspace

Speaker Points

• If you are competent and minimize mistakes, you automatically finish with 28.5 speaker points (29 if decimals are forbidden). To improve on that, there need to be zero mistakes, zero arguments that go unrefuted, clear weighing of impact analysis, etc. If you get lower than 28.5, it means you missed something somewhere. I’ll try to put it on the ballot. Overall, if you do your job, you are not finishing with less than 28.5. Going to be honest though, I can't tell you what a 30 is. You have the impress me in some way that I really can't quantify

Hello everyone!

I competed in Congress from 2013-2017, accumulating 21 bids to the Tournament of Champions. I have been judging Congress/PF ever since.

When it comes to speeches, I care a tad about how you sound, but care WAY more about what you're saying. An unpolished speaker with awesome points wins my ballot over a polished speaker with subpar points every time.

Before getting to the main areas I focus on, a couple of quick notes:

I am a huge sucker for a good author/sponsorship speech. Never be afraid to give one! Especially when nobody wants to step up to give that first speech, that gets major brownie points for me. On a similar note, if there are unbalanced debates, I expect you to be able to flip sides if needed. Internet is a thing in rounds now, so there should be no excuse. Even if there's not, you have had weeks to prepare for this tournament and should have appropriate evidence and points to flip. If there are multiple speakers in a row on the same side and you continue to speak, you should expect your scores and ranks to be dropped accordingly. At that point, you are adding little to the debate by rehashing and exclusively speaking on one side.

For my Presiding Officers, as long as you do not make mistakes and allow for a smooth flow of debate, you'll end up on my ballot. Stay in the background and make the round easy for everyone.

I narrow my main critiques of speeches to these three points:

Evidence:

I am a HUGE stickler for good evidence. Be aware of the news you are citing and reading, and be cognizant of the political biases that may seep through. Make sure your evidence is either quantified or substantiated. Don't just overload me with analysis from pundits when you can provide prove-able evidence. I also take faking evidence very seriously and have no problem card-checking if the situation calls for it.

Refutation:

There is precisely one speech that gets an excuse for not refuting and it is the first affirmative. After that, you should be debating. If it is past the first affirmative and you are not refuting, expect your ranks and scores to suffer. I also think it's important to note that there is a significant difference between just name-dropping an individual and actively refuting the opposing side's argument.

Impact:

You all are Senators/Representatives (as an aside, please refer to each other as Senators/Representatives. Be respectful to those around you and avoid calling them Mr./Ms.), and as such, the bills you are debating have actual effects on the people that you are representing. So when you speak, make sure you acknowledge the people you represent, and how the bills in question affect them.

Have fun!

Holistic judging, give me a good reason why I should care about what you are saying

Debated all through high school on both the local (Illinois) and national (TOC) circuits. Sophomore at Penn studying Finance and International Studies.

Looking for:

• Dynamic speeches with good vocal variation.
• Good argumentation and showcasing that you're listening and responsive to the round. I've prepped beautiful speeches but had to adjust and never use them because that wasn't where the debate was going. Be responsive. There's nothing worse than a speech that's great but you hear crickets when the PO asks for questions. If you're speaking at the start of the round/sponsoring, I won't punish you for not having rebuttals. However, you have the privilege to dictate the direction of the round! Make good, broad points that will enable other people to argue with you in future speeches. I won't forget you if others are constantly bringing your name up.
• Great rhetoric (aka the ability to link your speech under one cohesive theme, through both choosing arguments well as well as intros and conclusions).

Bonus points if you make me laugh