In speech events, I am looking for accessible language and demonstrated preparedness on the speech topic. In debate events, I am looking for a clear and persuasive argument, and rebuttals that address specific claims. I appreciate speakers who are able to hold their audience captive and make concise points. I may deduct points if the speaking is too fast for me to follow.

Regarding time signals:

I trust speakers to keep their own time, however, I will also be keeping time and I will gladly give limited time signals if requested.

My name is Stephanie Berry and I teach freshmen and transfer students at the University of Mississippi.

I will not flow anything that I cannot understand, so speak coherently and do not spread.

I do tend to enjoy framework heavy arguments, as I was a philosophy major in college. With that being said, I will vote off of more than framework. Giving me clear voters and being crystal clear as to why you win that issue is the best way to win my ballot.

Strong speaking skills (not speaking monotone, hand gestures, eye contact, etc.) are heavily appreciated and make it more engaging and easier for me to understand your argument.

My judging style is pretty straightforward, so come prepared and have fun!

I am open to any argument, as long as it makes sense and is backed up with evidence. The tagline must be what the card actually says.

In rounds, my main pet peeve is unclear tag lines. Be sure that you clearly enunciate the tagline if you want me to take it into account.

For critiques and theoretical arguments, make sure you clearly explain both the argument and its implications.

I try to be open-minded and fair about any arguments presented.

Hey, I’m a debater at St. Andrew’s, this is my fourth year doing it and as of this year the only debate event I haven’t done is Parliamentary. My first couple years I was a CX kid so I’m fine with speed and more nuanced arguments as long as you share a doc. I try and keep up with the news so I should understand most topics I haven’t actually debated but do try and explain your cases cause not every judge is going to know everything. Tech > Truth but I prefer Techy Truth. Also I hate that I have to say this but if you say anything bigoted or hateful I will drop you and report you to tab so please don’t make me do that.

Email: hrcooper25@gosaints.org

LD: This is what I’ve been doing over the past 2 years so I hope you stick with it, so far it’s been pretty fun. With that being said I don’t pretend to know everything about LD so I may make a mistake or judge you a little more like I was judging CX and for that I’m sorry.

I love a good framework debate and personally, I think it’s one of the easiest ways to win a round. If you win framework and use that to force me to not weigh your opponents case you’re doing the right thing, but if you lose this portion of the debate it’s not an automatic loss.

I know it’s not the norm in Mississippi to share a doc but if you want to I’d love that and may give you extra speaks. I think it’s one of the biggest things lacking in MS LD so if you’re fine with it, it literally cannot hurt you, just don’t share if your opponent doesn’t want to.

PLEASE SIGN POST

Also finally I stole this from my coach but it’s so true. Too many NR’s and 2AR’s are focused on not losing and not on winning. Plant your flag somewhere, tell me why you’re winning those arguments and why they’re the key to the round. Don’t rely on defense to win cause it won’t.

CX: Fine with speed, K’s, T, theory and stuff like that as long as you can explain it well.

Honestly if you want to see a detailed explanation of what I think go to my coach Mr. Jharick Shields’s paradigm and it sums it up pretty well.

Please email me the doc, I’m not a super big fan of Speech Drop.

K Debate- Please have read the lit and be ready to explain it well cause I probably haven’t. I’ve faced stuff from Eco-Socialsim to Radical Daoism so I at least think I know the extent of where this can go so just be ready to give a good alt and a clear link to the case. If you are reading an afro-pessimism K I have read the lit there so don't bs with that cause I'll know.

T- I think meaningless T debate is stupid but I will vote for it if there’s a clear violation of the topic. Also explain your voters here, why should I care about education, fairness, etc.

Theory- I guess I’ll vote for it but you’ve got to be really good or your opponent has to be violating something major. I hate useless timewasting theory overviews especially if you know your opponent's pretty trad so just don't do that.

I’m fine with other stuff just don’t be a jerk in cross pls

PF: I’ll make it short, use your evidence, and don’t just rely on defense. I need offense on my flow at the end of the round to vote for you so please make sure you have it. I feel like a lot of PF rounds people just speak past each other so make sure there’s clash on at least most of your opponents' contentions. Also I am probably not paying attention to grand cross cause I am literally yet to see a good example of that yet, including in the rounds I've debated myself.

Other: Just please be courteous and clear about how you win. Again just look at Mr. Shield’s paradigm for general stuff. I have debated worlds before and love seeing style, so if you're doing that please use the jargon and don't make it a 3 vs 3 CX round.

Good luck you guys and I look forward to the rounds!

I have done policy debate for 3 years at St. Andrew's Episcopal Schools.

Just have fun and be respectful to your opponent.

I love clash, especially when there is hard evidence to go with it. Keep it respectful.

For PF I just go down the flow and choose winner by who won most contentions by the end of the round.

For LD I weigh framework over contentions but give contentions some love too. Don't force a debate into a framework debate that's not meant to be a framework debate.

I don't like off time roadmaps, I should be able to follow based on your given time alone.

Ask me questions at the beginning if you have any.

I was a high school policy debater, college IPDA debater, and now lawyer. That being said, I can tolerate most styles of debate, but ask that in the age of Covid and online tournaments, you be sure to be as clear as possible when speaking. Even though you normally may be able to go faster, if you can't be as clear, it may benefit you to slow down a bit.

I like big picture, impact calc, why we win analysis. If you run a K but can't evaluate it within the round, I'm not going to evaluate it for you.

Let's have a great round!

My judging paradigm is very simple. I believe the purpose of debate is to teach competitors to think critically and communicate effectively. Evidence is only important if a competitor can tell me why it's important. It is imperative for the competitor to demonstrate a true understanding of the arguments they are making. To that end, I think spreading should be avoided when possible, but I am fine with some speed.

I like to see clear clash and persuasive argumentation. Assertiveness is good, rudeness is completely uncalled for and may cost a competitor the round if it is pervasive enough. Further, competitors should be respectful and deferential to judges regardless of the judge's experience.

Debaters should come prepared for technology catastrophes. Bring paper copies, USB storage devices, and contingency plans. I flow when I judge, so I only take things into consideration that are said in the actual debate. If you are spreading to the point that your words are unintelligible, I will put my pen down. If that happens, you will not be getting credit for anything you say until you can be understood enough for me to resume flowing.

Hi! My name is Ryder and I am currently a Senior at St. Andrews Episcopal School in Ridgeland Mississippi. I have been involved in Speech and Debate since 7th Grade. I have primarily participated in PF and LD but I have also done Congress, Big Questions, Extemp, Impromptu, Prose, OO, and Pro Con Challenge.

I love this activity and personally, it has done so much for me which is why I also love to judge it! But enough about me let's get into the specifics:

Jude Style: I am a flow judge. I also believe in Tech>Truth (Unless you are just blatantly lying or misrepresenting your card).

General Debate:

1) I have very little experience with Policy and LD, but I am by no means a lay judge. With that being said do not try and put lay judge tricks past me. If you try and say your opponent clean dropped and arg and they clearly didn't that will not bode well with you. Speaking of drops make sure you clean extend evidence through all speeches. If you drop your arg in a rebuttal and then don't bring it up again then I will not flow that to you (Applies to evidence as well). So please make sure you clean extend your arguments.

2) I cannot stress this enough but please ARTICULATE when you speak. I personally do not like speed in debate events however I can still understand it. Just please make sure that you say your words with clarity and I can undoubtedly understand the words that come out of your mouths. (If I do not understand or miss something because you are not articulating your words then I will not flow it through).

3) Make sure that our arguments make sense. This might sound self-explanatory but please make sure you have a clear link chain throughout your case. It makes the debate 1000x times better.

4) As far as timing goes please do not go over the 5-second grace. I know for PF at least 4 minutes is not enough time (trust me I go over sometimes too) but please do not go over the grace. I will just stop paying attention to anything after that. It is extremely unfair to your opponents.

5) Do not be racist, homophobic, sexist, or transphobic. You will instantly lose.

6) In PF and LD I do not like Theory or K's. Most kritiks are based on some very complex and abstract concepts that require a great deal of explanation. The longest speech in PF is four minutes long. If you can explain such complex concepts in that time frame at a comprehensible speaking rate, then I do admire you. However, the vast majority of debaters don't even come close to accomplishing that task. So please, do not run them.

Hi Everyone!

Background

I have experience in VLD (both local and circuit). I'm currently a first year at Vandy studying Medicine, Health, and Society (possibly prelaw or premed).

How to Win My Ballot

- I love a good a framework debate. If you're engaging framework and making extensions throughout the round to prove why your framework is important, I am much more likely to vote for you.

- If you say anything ridiculously discriminatory in round, that will warrant in automatic L. I will not tolerate it. Period.

- I can flow spreading, but I don't like it.

- I'm not voting for an argument just because it's in your case. That would require me to engage in too much critical thinking. The more work you do to convince me that your argument has an impact (magnitude, scope, time frame), the easier my job becomes.

- Please outline clear voters and signpost.

Up to date for Harvard 2/18/23

Please time yourselves I will forget to start the timer and we will all be sad.

I did CX for several years in high school, but I have little judging experience since and I am not familiar with current topics. That means I know what is going on in the debate, but you should not assume I know positions/abbreviations/jargon for this topic.

As for voting: I do not have a strong and consistent framework. I am willing to write an RFD on almost* any well-argued, well-supported, and reasonable position. One of the best things you can do for yourself is tell me how I should vote. This requires more than just stating harms and watching me write them down. Why should I be more concerned by pro's X than by con's Y? Give me good reasons (and evidence) to care about your claims. The caveat is that you shouldn't tell me I should prioritize {insert something horribly unethical}. I won't and you will be wasting your time.

*My only hard requirement is that the debate is approached by everyone in the room with the goal of creating a respectful, equitable, enjoyable, and educational experience. This goal can and should coexist with wanting to win the debate. This is both a hard rule (if you are blatantly disrespectful to your opponent, I will stop the debate and follow tournament procedures and be sad and be mad at you) and a guiding principle (I will value highly a team that is kind. It won't win you the debate but it will make me like you more).

Also, don't cheat.

Hello, I’m Khalil Jackson! In high school, I mainly competed in Congressional Debate but have some experience in all debate events. This paradigm applies to all debates.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Keep me in the loop on file sharing (kjspeechanddebate@gmail.com), and make your subject lines specific. Do not expect me to rely on file sharing for my decision. I will only flow what I comprehend in round, but I may go through the files if I was thrown off track or need to double-check something.

I am not not too good with speed, especially being so far removed from debate. So, try to maintain a relatively normal speaking pace. If you want to speed up, let me know before your speech. I will be forgiving when it comes to clarity and will notify you when needed. When signposting, let me know which arguments are especially important and weigh it when you get there.Fewer, more-developed arguments are preferred.

I am more than willing to listen to any arguments or approaches to your side of the resolution. However, assume that I am not familiar with the literature or your arguments. You need to be intentional about what you say and how you tie it together. So, I will not piece together what went unsaid, and I will not vote for you if your arguments are unclear.

I am generally substance over procedure, truth over tech, but that is not a hard and fast rule. I am willing to vote for anything that is well-explained.

I have a habit of giving non-verbal cues, but do not mistake them as an indication that I agree with you. They only indicate that I understand the point you are trying to make, not necessarily that I buy what you are saying.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Here are some of the ways you can lose the round immediately:

- Being deceitful by clipping cards, falsifying evidence or any number of shady things

- Being rude or disrespectful to me or anyone else

- Being racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, etc. in any way shape or form

I try not to intervene but will do so if I am invited to, like being asked to read evidence or if I feel that bad behavior is taking place.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Feel free to let me know if you have any questions or concerns before round!

Clayton Kincade

Cabot High School 2021 Alumni

Hello! My name is Clayton, and I did Speech and Debate for 6 years while in high school. While I primarily did speech, my junior year onward, I did debate on the side. I qualified twice for Nationals in WSD, as well as winning best overall delegate at ACTAA Congress in 2019! This experience is where I will be basing most of my judging.

Congress:

I prefer speeches that are clearly organized with a teaser, conclusion, and roadmap. When speaking, provide credible sources (don't make claims or statements without backing it up). Try and provide new arguments not provided in the round when speaking, if possible; this helps keep the debate fresh for everyone involved. Make sure that during the questioning period, you adequately respond to questions and don't circle around what's being asked. Be kind to your fellow delegates and don't speak over them or patronize them. Overall, I value fluid speeches that are well-spoken and easy to follow.

WSD:

1. For speaking points, I value a good "public speaking" voice. Do not spread or rush through the content. Make sure speeches are well organized, follow a template, and flow from each speaker to the next. Sign-posting is ideal for organization, but treat these segments nonetheless as you're speaking a normal sentence--AKA don't fall into a policy style of speaking. Enunciate all words and have tonal inflection that helps keep me engaged.

2. For content points, I highly regard the "world" aspect of world schools. Arguments that are international, unless specifically regarded as a U.S-centric topic, will always be preferred. Respond to each point the opposing side brings up, but don't fall into the "list" trap of going through all the specific issues over having clear organization. Having a debate about framing is okay, but making it a large issue during the round ends up giving everyone involved a headache (and means I can't judge well)!. Organization is key for having a great argument, so find a structure that works well for your team and stick to it! Ultimately, remain friendly and cordial with one another. Being disrespectful or rude to your opponents during questioning or during speaks is unacceptable, and will most likely result in a loss.

If given the option, I will always disclose my decision and provide reasons why. I'm not the best at flowing, so I will mainly look for how each team responds to the broad arguments of one another and provides the most convincing argument for overall arg/content points (though I will still flow).

I'm very tabula rasa and expect the debaters to do the work for me rather than having me trying to piece everything together. Ideally, I'm looking for you to cross the t's & dot the i's rather than having me do it for you – claim, warrant, impact- contextualization, weighing, impact analysis

I am fine with speed.

Policy/CX/LD :

Run whatever you want: DA's, CP's, K's, T, Theory

I have no pre determined opinion about certain args such as condo good/bad

Don't worry about coming across as rude in cross

PF:

New args in FF will not be evaluated

Try not to speak over each other in GCX

Updated February 2023

Caveat: This is my perception of what I think I do. Those who have had me in the back of the room may have different views.

The TL;DR version (applies to all forms of debate).

1. The resolution is pretty important. Advocate for or against it and you get a lot of leeway on method. Ignore it at your peril.

2. Default policymaker/CBA unless the resolution screams otherwise or you give me a well-reasoned argument for another approach.

3. “Roles of the ballot” or frameworks that are not reasonably accessible (doesn't have to be 50-50, but reasonable) to both sides in the debate run the risk of being summarily thrown out.

4. Share me to the speech doc (maierd@gosaints.org) but I’m only flowing what you intelligibly say in the debate. If I didn’t flow it, you didn’t say it.

5. Fairness and reciprocity are a good starting point for evaluating theory/topicality, etc. Agnostic on tech v. truth debate. These are defaults and can be overcome.

6. Rudeness, rules-lawyering, clipping, falsifying evidence and other forms of chicanery all make me unhappy. Making me unhappy reduces your speaker points. If I’m unhappy enough, you might be catching an L.

The longer version (for all forms of debate)

The Resolution: Full disclosure – I have been a delegate to the NFHS Debate Topic Selection Meeting since 2011 (all years for Mississippi except 2022 when I voted on behalf of NCFL) and was on the Wording Committee from 2018-2020, the last of those years as chair. There’s a lot of work that goes into crafting resolutions and since you’re coming here by choice, it should be respected. Advocate for or against the resolution and I’ll give you a pretty wide degree of latitude on method. If you’re just going to ignore the resolution, the bar is pretty low for your opponent to clear to get the W (though I have seen teams bungle this).

File Sharing and Speed – Yes please, but understand I’m only flowing that which comes out of your mouth that I can understand – I don’t flow as fast in my mid-50s as I did even in my 40s. I only go to the speech doc if a) I lost concentration during the speech through no fault of your own, b) I need to read evidence because there is a dispute about what the evidence says, or c) I want to steal the evidence for a future round. If you bust out ten blips in fifteen seconds, half of them aren’t making the flow. Getting it on my flow is your job and I have no problem saying “you didn’t say that in a way that was flowable”.

Arguments: Arguments grounded in history, political science, and economics are the ones I understand the best – that can cut both ways. So while I understand K’s like Cap, CRT, and Intersectionality, I have a harder time with those that are based on some Continental European whose name ends with four vowels in a row who says that not adopting their method risks all value to life. Your job is to put me in a position to be able to make the other team understand why they lost, even if they disagree with the decision. If you don’t do the work, I’m not doing it for you. Regarding “framework” or “role of the ballot” arguments – if what you’re advocating isn’t at least reasonably accessible to both teams, I reserve the right to ignore it.

Deciding Rounds – I try to decide the round in the least interventionist way possible – I’ll leave it to others to hash out whether I succeed at that. I’m willing to work slightly harder to adjudicate the round than you do to advocate in the round (basically, if neither debater does the work and the round’s a mess, I’m going to look for the first thing I can embrace to get out of the round). If you ask me to read evidence, especially your evidence, you’ve given me a tacit invitation to intervene.

Point Scale – Because I judge on a few different circuits that each have different scales, saying X equals a 28.5 isn’t helpful. I use the scale I’m asked to use to the best of my ability.

Things that will cost you speaker points/the round:

1. Rudeness – Definitely will hurt your speaks. If it’s bad enough, I’ll look for a reason to vote you down or just decide I like to make rude people mad and give you the L just so I can see you get hacked off.

2. Gratuitous profanity – Saying “damn” or “hell” or “the plan will piss off X” in a frantic 1AR is no biggie. Six f-bombs in a forty second span is a different story.

3. Racist/sexist/homophobic language or behavior – If I’m sure about what I saw or heard and it’s bad enough, I’ll act on it unilaterally.

4. Falsifying evidence/clipping cards/deliberate misrepresentation of evidence – Again, if I’m sure about this and that it’s deliberate, I’ll act on my own.

5. Rules-lawyering – Debate has very few rules, so unless it’s written down somewhere, rules-lawyering is likely to only make me mad. An impacted theory objection might be a different story.

Lincoln-Douglas Observations

1. Way too much time on framework debates without applying the framework to the resolution question. I’m not doing this work for you.

2. The event is generally in an identity crisis, with some adhering to the Value Premise/Criterion model and others treating it like 1 on 1 policy, some with really shallow arguments. I’m fine with either, but starting the NC with five off and then collapsing to one in the NR is going to make me give 2AR a lot of leeway (maybe even new argument leeway) against extrapolations not specifically in the NC.

3. Too many NR’s and 2AR’s are focused on not losing and not on winning. Plant your flag somewhere, tell me why you’re winning those arguments and why they’re the key to the round.

Public Forum Specific Observations

1. Why we ever thought paraphrasing was a good idea is absolutely beyond me. In a debate that isn’t a mismatch, I’m generally going to prefer those who read actual evidence over those who say “my 100 page report says X” and then challenge the other team to prove them wrong in less than a handful of minutes of prep time. Make of that what you will.

2. I’ve never seen a Grand Crossfire that actually advanced a debate.

3. Another frustration I have with PF is that issues are rarely discussed to the depth needed to resolve them fully. This is more due to the structure of the round than debaters themselves. To that end, if you have some really wonky argument, it’s on you to develop your argument to where it’s a viable reason to vote. I will lose no sleep over saying to you “You lost because you didn’t do enough to make me understand your argument.”

4. Right now, PF doesn’t seem sure of what it wants to be – some of this is due to the variety of resolutions, but also what seems like the migration of ex-debaters and coaches into the judging pool at the expense of lay judges, which was supposed to be the idea behind PF to begin with.

5. As with LD, too many Final Focuses are focused on not losing instead of articulating a rationale for why a team is winning the debate.

I participated in speech and debate in High School and have been judging debate all year this school year.

I am generally a tabula rasa judge beginning with a blank slate and look to see which side presents the best overall arguments. I tend to put a greater burden of proof on the affirmative since the negative can usually argue to the status quo.

I am a graduated senior at St. Andrew’s Episcopal school. I competed in Public Forum in 6th-8th grade and I currently compete in Lincoln Douglas debate, Prose interp, Dramatic interp, Duo inerp, Original Oratory, and congressional debate (a lot I know).

Debate: I do not particularly like spreading I think that it is often used as a tactic to cause confusion so that your opponent does not have the ability to respond but if you do spread be sure to read taglines clearly and annunciate your words as well as share your case with me as well as your opponent. My favorite part of debate is cross examination and if you can get some really good question in there you set yourself for a good round in my world. With that being said respond directly to your opponents questions if you don’t know the answer I prefer you say you don’t know rather than wasting time circling around the question. My main voting point will more than likely be based upon how well you respond to your opponents case and impact weighing.

Speech: I really enjoy Speech events this year i competed in 4. my main events are Duo interp and Original Oratory. in speeches i look for clarity and inflection. if your speech/ speaking voice is flat you wont rank well. I enjoy funny pieces but i really like when funny pieces still have a message i think that presenting a message and teaching something is the point of speech and debate. for duo i really look for partner chemistry and a good flow int he cutting and blocking. that being said blocking isn't enough there needs to be some good acting. acting outweighs tech. for platform events: clarity, posture, inflections, tone, speech organization.

St. Andrew's 25' - pranavreddy25@gosaints.org, add me on an email chain

Basics

• Tech > Truth
• Fine w/ speed
• Done PF for 4 years

How to win with me/get good Speaks

• PLEASE WEIGH- be comparative, not incoherent. I place a heavier emphasis on weighing than most judges and really enjoy if weighing lets me evaluate the round without much thinking.
• IMPACT CALCULUS- this goes with the previous point. Please make sure to tell me why your argument should be preferred. Probability, timeframe, and scope are really important, especially in public forum debate. My flow will have a clear winner for one who wins on case for these three items(Unless losing on Tech).
• SIGNPOST- Make it easier on me and your opponents to have an educational debate. There is no reason why I should be confused when you are moving to new contentions.
• Send Cards before the case and rebuttal in the email chain. There is zero reason not to - you should be disclosing it anyway. Evidence exchanges in PF take way too long. Please know your evidence and where it is so we can have a faster round. Also if one team sends all their ev and the other doesn't I will just pref towards that team on evidence questions. Please do not send paraphrased evidence, especially for constructive speeches. Cut cards show your credibility that you are using evidence with significant authority, so please give speeches with actual case construction.
• Creative strategies - judging the same round over and over again gets so boring - multiple layers of offense r very fun, rebuttals full of impact turns, squirrely arguments, etc. are all really fun and actually keep me awake during rounds. Be creative, but don't be extra or quirky. Arguments that make no sense or just try to confuse are not a strategy, it is an impediment to debate. Please make sure that you maintain good debate etiquette that makes the debate educational but also fun.
• Keep off-time roadmaps to the simple order of argumentation- No need for off-time roadmaps to be over 10 seconds. I just need to know how you are going to approach the round.
• If you are going to be spreading and going fast, you should slow it down the further you go in the round and isolate clear offense that I can vote on. After the constructive and rebuttals, there is no real reason to go fast, you are just trying to crystalize the round. I would pref if you got slower or even stopped spreading after the first constructive, but do what you must.
• Cross-X is Not Binding- If an opponent says one thing you like in cross-x, use it to build your argumentation rather than just say over and over again that they concede. You need to give me a layer of analysis on how they concede or how their case shows they concede. A single answer or question in cross-x will not win you the round.
• DEBATE, DON'T BE MEAN - I will cap speaker points at 28 if you are being condescending or making personal attacks on the opponents.

Prog Run Down

• Theory- I am fine with theory, but this is Middle School Public Forum, I don't believe that I will see it as much. Please stick to things that you at least 90% know how it works. You shouldn't be running anything you don't know how to, but especially Theories and K's.
• Kritkis- I am fine with Ks, and understand them as much as theory. If run well, I enjoy these debates very much.PLEASE ONLY RUN K's IF YOU HAVE READ THE LITERATURE OR ANOTHER OF THE SORT. I don't want one to be running a CAP K without actually being able to explain how capitalism is bad in their own words and analyzing it with specific examples.

Miscellaneous

• If you don't know how to debate theory -https://pfforward.weebly.com/theory.html- pretty good explanation. If you read my paradigm, that means you can't say theory debate is inaccessible, and if you make that argument in the round, you will get a 27."National level debaters should be able to handle varsity level arguments".
• Please stand up to speak, unless it is truly uncomfortable.
• If it is an outbound and you disagree with my decision, post round me.
• If you have any other questions, ask before the round or post.

Hello! I am Jharick Shields. I am a speech and debate coach at St. Andrew's Episcopal School. I have been coaching for about 20 years and have coached debaters into late elimination rounds in a number of national circuit and NSDA/NCFL tournaments. I have also been fortunate to watch them win a few. Debate allows us the ability to critique the world and to substantively engage with those criticisms. It is a forum in which we communicate those ideas. How you communicate in front of me will directly correlate to the ballot I write. I am truth with tech. I think that you should be able to create a cohesive ballot story while also understanding the fundamentals of LD argumentation. You need to show me that you are reading the sources you are citing. You need to prove that you understand the context behind the arguments you run. You should engage with the arguments of your opponent. Is T engagement with an aff that is nontopical? I would say yes. However, the debater that will earn higher speaks from me will also critically think and engage the affirmative.

Speed is an part of the game of debate. Judge adaptation is also part of the game. I have no problem saying that I missed something on my flow. If the argument is super important, signpost and weigh it. Don't assume that an extension through ink is enough for me to pull the trigger. A lot of times in great debates, amazing weighing tends to win out on cold concessions. Great debaters explain why the argument was conceded. I think that the best debaters figure that out, and close the door on them. I prefer few, well developed arguments to many. However, its your world. I tend to get excited when I am asked to bring out a lot of paper. Just don't assume I got everything you said if you aren't utilizing good communication skills.

I am an old fashioned policy kid, who was fortunate enough to do LD as well. Policy arguments are my heart. I like great plan texts, plan flaws are a thing, CPs with net benefits, strong case debates, Ks(bonus for Ks with policy alts). If thats what you do, I am a really good judge in those rounds. You still have obligations to communicate...

If you are a traditional debater, I still have plenty of love to share. Some of the best rounds I have seen on the national circuit are kids reading a traditional aff. I watch as their opponent gets ready to run 5 off and case. The 1ar gets up, extends their conceded criterion/case evidence, no links the DAs/Ks, perms the CP/Alt and sits down. And maybe the debater doesn't use those terms, but if you make the argument clearly and labeled, I will bridge the educational gap in debate jargon. I am also a very good judge for you.

If you caught me during high school, maybe I could have gotten into tricks/skep stuff. Basically, I can evaluate it, and if both debaters are going down that road together, I won't be as upset going there. I think HEAVY weighing is the only way that I won't gut check for anything else in that debate. Maybe not the best for you, but maybe you just need a somewhat tech judge in a small pool then I am good.

Honestly, I just am really excited to see debates. Run what you want, be respectful, have fun! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me prior to the round.

For MS Local Touraments:

Everything above applies. There are some things that students do in front of me that don't really help them win the ballot. Here are a few:

1.) Rules Lawyering: I get it, you want to show the judge that you know more about LD or at the very least have a lot of ethos. I must say, through my experience, these cases only end up with that debater losing some ethos. Telling me that something is an NSDA rule when we abide by MSHAA rules is sort of a bad argument. Telling me that a student must have a value, can't run a plan/CP, can't have a criterion, etc is just wrong. In theory, a student can run a case with just 1 contention and nothing else and it is fine. They don't lose the debate, they aren't disqualified, they live to debate another round. Win on the flow.

2.) New arguments: I don't flow these. If the new argument transcends the debate: a student has done something harmful in round, then its fine(but I will most likely intervene, since that is my duty). New evidence that supports arguments already made are fair game. A lot of debaters think that new evidence is the same as a new argument. It isn't.

3.) Mismanaging Drops: Debaters will tell me that an argument was dropped, but it wasn't. They will tell me that they have responded to an argument. They have not. Make sure that you are flowing. After the round, if you show me a quality flow of the debate(and if I have them on me). I will give you a candy/treat or something.

Okay, thanks!!

I am a junior high speech and debate coach. While I do tolerate some speed please do not spread. Please make sure to signpost. Impacts are important please make sure you connect them back to your value/criterion. Have fun and be kind to each other.

I am a math teacher and speech and debate coach at Purvis High School in Purvis, MS. Our primary focus as a team is on speech and interp events, so my experience with debate events is rudimentary.

I judge LD debate, where I would prefer that debaters not spread. I judge primarily on the flow with an emphasis on value and criterion, but I do give a higher weight to presentation than do many debate judges. I feel that debate should not just be an exercise in logic and evidence (though that is the focus), but should also reflect the reality that the way in which information is presented affects its persuasiveness.

I did public forum throughout high school, so I am comfortable with flowing the round and will make my decisions based on the flow. For the final focus (and the rest of the debate), I want the debaters to weigh the impacts for me directly. If one team weighs the impacts of both worlds, and the other team does not, I will be forced to vote for the the former, even if I consider their impacts less important. For the impacts, I will judge them on both their likelihood and their magnitude (I would love it if you considered both of these explicitly and individually). This means that quantifying your impacts is great but only if you clearly articulate the probability of it, so the warrant and the evidence are equally important for me. If this means that one of your impacts outweighs the rest of your case, it might make sense to concentrate exclusively on that argument in the final focus. Speed: I cannot flow properly if a debater is spreading, but I am comfortable with most everything short of that. I like to see reduced speed in the second half of the debate since evidence has mostly been established and the debate is being crystallized.

Courtesy, clarity, and connection. Please be polite, speak to make your points or performance clear to the audience (the judges), and (in debate) explicitly articulate the connection of your evidence to your point(s).

Speech & Debate is as much an educational activity as it is a competitive activity, so my comments will be focused on what seemed to work or not work within the context of what it appeared you were trying to accomplish.

I give only a brief paradigm here because I do NOT want you to attempt to tailor your presentation to a bunch of imagined traits and preferences I may or may not possess. Run YOUR case; give YOUR performance - I will judge and comment upon the presentation's face value to the best of my ability.

Hey! My name is Faraaz Yousuf, I mostly did Policy in high school with a little bit of LD. I look forward to judging your debates!

Just some top-level things, don't be rude, don't be unethical with evidence (i.e. falsifying, clipping, etc.), really just make sure to be respectful during rounds and there shouldn't be any issues at all.

Policy Debate/General Paradigm

Good organization and clarity are extremely important. Make sure your arguments are well explained, and having a consistent structure in your speech helps immensely with judging a debate. Be thorough with your arguments, make sure you lead me through why you're winning the round. Make sure you do impact calculus, things like weighing probability and magnitude. I'm down to vote for most arguments, just explain. Be persuasive.

Speed is fine, do make sure you're being clear as well. I'll say "clear" twice before I stop flowing. It should be pretty clear when I either stop typing or writing things down. *As a later addendum to this I've been a little removed from judging debate and don't quite have the same ear for spreading, I should still comprehend you for the most part but I would def take it down a notch, or at least ramp up in speed as a speech or round progresses to allow me to better acclimate to the speed (which is also a good tip in general in my experience debating).

I try to avoid giving nonverbal cues, but reactions do slip out of me sometimes so do keep an eye out for that.

I'll try my best to evaluate rounds based on the approaches articulated in them, but I do tend to default to a policy-making perspective when nothing else is offered. I'm open to other approaches, just the explanation should be clear, though that should be ideal for any argument in a debate.

I feel like I tend to lean truth over tech, but as long as theory arguments have a well-developed explanation I'm perfectly comfortable voting for them. Just because I tend to lean truth doesn't mean you can hand wave away any theory arguments.

I think K's are good, I just may not extremely familiar with whatever literature you're basing it off of so the explanation may have to be a little more in-depth for me to get it.

I like to think I'm decently equipped to judge most rounds if you have any questions at all feel free to ask me before the round starts!