San Fran Bay District Tournament
2023 — CA/US
Debate (CX/LD/PF) Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show HideSan Diego State University Comm major
Current Trojan Debate Squad member (Policy Debate) 23/ '24
NDT / CEDA qual
Your work towards making your speeches clear for my flow will be reflected in my ballot.
Please include me in the email chain joaquinresell@gmail.com
This version of my paradigm is a total rewrite of my previous paradigm, an archived version can be found here. This does not represent a change in opinions but updating for clarity and structure.
i. Affiliations
Iowa City West High School (2011-2017, 2023-present): Coach/Judge. I also debated for 3 years for ICW in high school
Hawken School, OH (2021-2022): Judge
ii. About
I have been doing policy debate since 2011 and that is the format I am most familiar with and actually coach. However, I also have judged just about every other debate/speech format*. I would like to be added to the email chain: lang901@gmail.com and iowacitywestdebatedocs@gmail.com. I have both a BA in political science and a J.D. as well as a license to practice law in 2 states (Iowa and Ohio [Inactive]).** I am fairly tabula rasa and have voted in the past on the entire range of arguments. I have hopefully organized this in a readable manner. Let me know if you have any questions if not.
I. OVERVIEW
Do what you want to do. Do it well and I will probably vote for you. Esoteric Ks will require a bit more explanation but I will do my best to meet you in the middle. Tech over Truth but the truth is pretty persuasive. Generally, unless instructed otherwise, I will vote on based on the path of least resistance. This means the less I have to resolve in your favor, the more likely I am to vote for you. I will judge the debate you had in front of me. I will not intervene/insert my own opinions/knowledge unless absolutely necessary as tab will get mad at me if I take an hour to make a decision. I may comment on things in the RFD/oral critique after the round but generally unless noted, it didn't affect the outcome.
This is technically a nitpick but I'm going to put it here anyway.Citations to legal texts/court opinions have a very specific format. It's not hard to learn. Please use it in your cites when relevant, especially this year as the topic is incredibly legal-technicalities oriented. I will give you bonus points if I notice that your cites are in the correct format.
II. Line by Line(With very few caveats, this section is mostly advisory. Do not overadapt. If it's not clear to you what's advisory and what isn't, feel free to ask before the round)
a. Disadvantages- They exist. You should read them if you want. Subject to the caveat in supra note 2, I don't really have any ideological hang ups about disadvantages. I would like them to be specific but I recognize that that's not always possible. Try to have real links to an actual affirmative, not just the entire concept of the year's topic.
b. Counterplans- I will vote off the counterplan text said out loud during the debate. You should have an actual solvency advocate for your counterplan. Counterplans without a solvency advocate are just a sentence and I will judge them accordingly. If the aff doesn't point this out, I won't vote you down but that means this is something aff's should be on the lookout for.
c. Kritiks- I am familiar with core kritiks (e.g. Cap, Security, SetCol, etc.). I am also familiar with ableism kritiks and a lot of the literature in that area. You shouldn't run into any problems running those in front of me. Virilio notwithstanding, if your K is named after a specific person, I am more than likely unfamiliar with it. I will try to meet you where you are but there are definitely ways you can make that easier. In those instances, err on the side of over-explanation.
d. T- I don't particularly love the tactical deployment of T arguments. I'm not advocating RVIs or anything but keep that in mind while crafting your 1NC. I will evaluate the T debate on the basis you tell me to (i.e. Competing Interp vs. Reasonability). The interp and violation debates are just as important as the standards/impact debate on T***.
e. FW- I separate FW from T only really because I learned them separately as a debater. While I generally think having a stable locus for the debate is good and that locus should be the resolution, I am sympathetic to many anti-FW arguments. If you are an anti-FW team, please try to have an interpretation of the debate round that is more than just "vote for us". I roll my eyes a bit when I see "The Role of the Ballot/Judge is to vote for the team that does [object of the k]" in a speech doc. At that point just come out and say the ROB/J is to vote for you. That is at least a bit more honest.
f. Theory-
(1). 3+ is where condo gets bad and you have to ask for judge kick.
(2.)Judge kick is also probably bad, I'm not interested in doing historical revisionism to your 2NR. If you go for a counterplan, I'm judging the counterplan.
(3). If debatevision had not met an untimely end (RIP), I would link a decade-old GDI(?) lecture here about why international fiat is bad. But you'll just have to take my word for it.
(4). I have a high-ish bar for reject the team theory. If you want me to do so, it better be 3+ minutes of the 2xR. I am much more lenient on RtA framing and if used tactically, could have the same effect as RtT (i.e. rejecting the counterplan the 2NR went for).
g. Cross-Ex- This gets its own section because it's a critical part of the debate. Avoid clarification questions about cards read. These should be eliminated by flowing the actual speech rather than just writing down everything in the speech doc. Cross-ex is about establishing links and forwarding your arguments. Do that instead of asking questions you should already know the answer to. Also, if you're not going maverick, CX time is time for questions. If you don't have questions, then either prep time or the next speech starts.
III. Debate Senior Citizen Yells at Clouds (you can largely skip this section if you have limited pre-round prep time)
(I've been in and out of the community over the past 14 years so these are my extraneous thoughts about norms that have developed in the past decade.)
a. Why are cards highlighted so badly now? If you're card consists of 5 sentences, composed a word at a time, across 25 paragraphs, not only is that bordering on academic dishonesty, your points may suffer. If you're doing it for time reasons, I would suggest either getting faster or reading less.
b. Speaking of reading less, I do not like neg strategies that involve 5+ off in the 1NC. If you stand up for the 1NC and a number greater than 10 is in your order, I will be mad. I will still vote for you but regardless of my feelings on the strategy, these strategies place you well behind the starting line in a debate. These strats lead to 1 or more of the following situations: your cards are dangerously under-highlighted, your arguments are dangerously blippy, or you have to reach the upper thresholds of speed and human comprehension but unfortunately I don't type that fast. The first two create a scenario where the debate is incredibly anti-educational. The third creates a situation where you are incredibly unhappy with me at the end of the debate as I only caught, generously, 40% of your arguments. Policy debate should be education first, competition second. But neither of those goals are accomplished in 5+ off strats. Additionally, spending a minute kicking positions at the top of the 2NC is not compelling on a base ethos level.
c. I don't have many hangups on the presentation level of debating. Dress however you want, speak how you want, sit or stand. However one presentation thing I think is good is facing the judge during CX. Facing your opponent during CX is bad on an ethos level, especially if you end up facing entirely away from the judge. I will try to take a central spot in the room to facilitate this as easily as possible.
d. Impact/evidence comparison should happen early and often. Necessary judge intervention happens almost exclusively in scenarios where evidence and especially impact comparison starts in the 2xR. Late breaking debates result in neither you, your points, nor me being happy with the result of that round.
IV. Endnotes
*Note 1: I also coached World Schools but that probably isn't super relevant to this document.
**Note 2: With this in mind, if you're going to go for a really technical argument in either of those areas be sure you really, really know what you're doing. If you don't, and it will be clear if you don't, I will likely be incredibly annoyed for the entirety of the debate. The place this will be the biggest issue is evidence. I read cards and I have noticed an uptick in egregious Tag/Card mismatch. This goes beyond powertagging and borders on straight up dishonesty. In these cases, I have no issue basing my decision on what the card actually says rather than a debater's misrepresentation. For the sake of your speaker points and an efficient RFD after the round, heed this warning.
***Note 3: This year's topic is worded terribly and thus lot of the interp cards I've seen coming out of camp files this year (2024-2025) are downright bad. A random out of context paragraph from the Supreme Court of Montana in a case not about IPR, interpreting part of a statute unrelated to IPR, is not where definitions should come from. There is no intent to define and also not even how courts look to defining things. Affs can and should use this to their advantage.
I debated for Dougherty Valley. I don't debate for Cal.
be comprehensible/go slower - i dont judge as often as you compete
way better for the K now than I was 3 years ago - I still require explanation and examples to the same extent though
Debated mostly in LD but went to policy camp and some policy tournaments. If you're a PF-er you shouldn't have counteradvocacies but other than that I will judge it like it’s a policy round - read cards
he/they
add me to the email chain (bhatsavit@gmail.com).
if you're short on time, just read this top section:
don't overinvest, have fun
Tech>Truth, but it’s easier to win more truthful arguments.
arguments require a claim and a warrant and (eventually) an implication. i wont pretend you said something you didn't and have no problem voting on lack of explanation or not hearing something.
online: record speeches locally if online, flash analytics if possible
email chain should be set up at start time
if you or your opponent might read theory or topicality as a viable out (not just to waste everyone's time), read the "rant" under the theory section. everything else in the paradigm is extremely standard and you'll be fine even if you don't read it.
Misc:
- you don't need to adapt to novices if on the national circuit
- circumvention and impact turns are nice
- number/delineate your arguments
- will reward fun, high-risk strategies such as 1-off disad, a massive impact turn , 7 minutes of case turns or circumvention etc.
- "independent voting issues" are rarely ever independent or voting issues
- happy to give the "i don't get it" rfd
- defaults: comparative worlds (LD), no judge kick, "competing interps", no rvi, drop the debater on T and condo and disclosure theory and drop the argument on all other theory, fairness and education are voters, everything other than fairness and education is not a voter
- tell me to judge kick or I won't: condo assumes 2NR collapse exists.
Evidence:
- disclosure is good
- sending a marked copy does not constitute prep, requesting a doc where "unread cards are deleted" does
- you can insert rehighlights
-clipping - stake the round and show me the recording.
- ev ethics - any misrepresentation of evidence (stopping in the middle of a paragraph, if the article concludes the opposite way after the card ends, mis-cited) is an automatic L even if not called out. if your link is dead but the article can be procured through a different method you won't lose.
- i expect evidence to have cites/qualifications and not be bracketed unless offensive language. read theory
- i read a lot of ev, the quality of the warrant is the quality of the argument.
"Framing Contentions"
- extend warrants, weigh, and answer warrants. implicate each argument, don't leave it to me to do the work for you
- you still need to answer the disadvantage
- this just shifts the burden of explanation, it doesn't magically make extinction not a problem anymore (or the reverse). that being said, you should still leave some time for the framing portion of the debate
Disadvantages:
- I used to like politics disads but then I grew up
- no new links/IL/impacts/uq arguments in the 2NR, but may use cards to answer (new) 1AR arguments
- 2NR/2AR impact calc isn't new and is vital
Counterplans:
- love smart and creative counterplans
- start the solvency debate in the 1NC (card or analytic), not the 2AC. burden of proof on the negative!
- defining "sufficiency framing" isn't enough - make it contextual.
- read CP theory but don't speed through blocks. Counterplan theory is generally a question of research and predictability, having a specific advocate is important.
- i do not have a predisposition for/against condo/dispo bad in LD (they're good in policy)
- err neg/drop the argument on 1AR theory is persuasive in LD
- LD only: non-resolutional actor CPs in LD don't provide an opportunity cost to the plan insofar that the aff's obligation is to prove an actor's moral obligation, i will still evaluate them as they are read and debated unless that argument is made.
Kritiks (on the negative):
- good k debates are cool but rare - consequently good k debates with explanation and knowledge of your argument will get great speaks and bad k debates meant to take your opponent by surprise or rack up easy wins with blocks will get extremely deflated speaks.
- the more the negative wins their link the easier it is for them to win Framework
- filter alt solvency through Framework - and actually explain it please!
- please actually warrant your fairness arguments on Framework - 'moots the aff' absent an explanation of why consequences are specifically key is probably not enough
- LD only: Link walls must be in the 1NC. New 2NR links from the 1AC are new and will not be evaluated. New 2NR links based on the 1AR will be evaluated. In policy, new 2NC links are fine
- not relying on precluding the aff = higher speaks.
- extensions of 'ontology' and similar broad claims need to be much more robust than you think they do. you can't just say the buzzwords "natal alienation" or "gratuitous violence" or "metaphysics" without telling me 1) what they are and 2) how they implicate progress.
- i will vote for warranted K "tricks" but keep the overview shorter rather than longer please
- vagueness in cx bad
- particularity vs Ks is good and Ks should either link turn or impact turn this and overinvest time on this argument
Kritiks (on the affirmative):
- T-USFG/Framework - aff teams can easily out-tech neg teams but i usually went for T/Fwk. Don't care which internal link/impact you choose: fairness, skills, testing, etc. as long as they have an actual impact
- I am unfamiliar with K v K debates, but I'm not opposed to judging them.
- try to answer the case even if you go for T especially the parts that interact
- you get a perm
- go for presumption if the 1AC is just an impact turn to Framework
Theory/Topicality:
- Rant: Reasonability vs Competing Interps is much less important than you think it is. If the substance tradeoff DA or overpunishment DA by dropping the debater outweighs mitigated interp offense, I will vote against theory because of "reasonability". If neither of those arguments are introduced or leveraged successfully, I will not use reasonability (i.e. there must be some offense vs the interp to vote against theory). if both teams pretend like this part of my paradigm doesn't exist, I'll likely just use competing interps because it causes me less of a headache to evaluate
- i like T, went for it a lot.
- weighing is essential
- evidence comparison is underutilized
- RVIs are bad but don't drop them
- if a 1AC theory underview has more than yes/no theory, competing interps/reasonability, dtd/dta, voters you instantly lose 0.5 speaker points for making me flow all that :)
- Interpretations are models of debate, and definitions are the warrants for why those models are predictable - standards should be filtered through predictability
- "semantics first" is not persuasive, precision as an internal link is persuasive
LD Philosophy/Ethical Framework Debates:
- i am much better for literally any other argument. I'm sorry I just really do not care
- that being said, if your cards and rebuttals do a good job of explaining the syllogism and reasons to prefer(they usually don't), you'll be fine.
- tricks: If there's a clear claim, warrant, and implication to an argument when it is first introduced, then I will flow and evaluate it like any other argument. Even if you go for terrible one-liners that are almost definitively false, you should still collapse and oversell the truth of your arguments.
- "we defend the aff as a general principle" is a topicality issue about implementation.
- general confidence vs modesty bores me - contextualize (with cards) !
Speaks:
CX matters, -0.1 speaks if you shift around your order multiple times when giving it or if you don't label your flows in the 1nc ("next off" is insufficient).
Credit to whoever I copped some lines of this paradigm from
Add me to the email chain and send round docs rahul.bindlish71@gmail.com
Occupation: IT Services
School Affiliations: DVHS
Years of Judging/Event Types: Judged PF for 3 years
How will you award speaker points to the debaters? Fluency of speech, arguments made supporting your position, data provided supporting your arguments, how did you defend the other teams objections, how did you challenge the other teams position.
What sorts of things help you to make a decision at the end of the debate? Logical reasoning, supporting data, clarity of thought and clear articulation.
Do you take a lot of notes or flow the debate? I take notes by speaker and team. I tend to keep tab of main arguments made for and against the topic and try to decide which ones I finally believed in based on the arguments and data presented during the debate.
Rank each using the following rubric: 1 - not at all 5-somewhat 10- weighed heavily
Clothing/Appearance: 1; Use of Evidence: 10; Real World Impacts: 8; Cross Examination: 10; Debate skill over truthful arguments: 3
Brief update for Stanford LD competitors - I primarily judge circuit and CA-circuit policy debate, but much of the below should apply. I'm not primed for any category of LD arguments over another, and don't have an inherent preference for circuit arguments and styles, but I'm very open to them.
Four years of policy competition, at a solid mix of circuit and regional tournaments. I generally do enough judging these days to be pretty up-to-date on circuit args.
Generally comfortable with speed but I tend to have issues comprehending overly breathy spreading. And please, for everyone's sake, make sure your tags are clear and don't try to give theory analytics at full speed. You can do whatever feels right, of course, but I can only decide based on what I catch.
Broadly, I default to an offense-defense paradigm and a strict technical focus. It's not exactly hard to get me to depart from those defaults, however. I'll vote for anything, and it doesn't take any 'extra' work to get me to endorse performance advocacies, critical affirmative advocacies, etc - just win your offense, and framework if applicable.
I'd love to be a truth over tech judge, but I just don't believe that's an acceptable default orientation for my ballot. That said, engaging with that preference and doing it well is a pretty convincing approach with me. This most often comes across in impact calc.
Evidence quality is extremely important to me. I tend to grant much more weight to card texts and warrants than to tags, and I'm perfectly happy to drop ev that doesn't have warrants matching the tag, if you articulate why I should do so. That said, I don't discount evidence just because I perceive it to be low-quality, and if it gets conceded, well, it might as well be true.
My bar for framework and T/theory tends to depend on what you're asking me to do. Convincing me to drop a states CP on multiple actor fiat bad requires fairly little offense. Convincing me to drop a team on A-Spec is going to be an uphill battle, usually.
Please put brand@responsible.com and lowelldebatedocs@gmail.com on the email chain
Long, long, long ago; back when dinosaurs still roamed the earth, I was a regional finalist in High School impromptu and parli.
Now I am merely a parent judge and no longer have a dinosaur to ride, so instead I judge IE and Parli (and now Policy).
SQUALS 2023: I am a lay judge and have been judging debate for four years (two years for policy). Please, please, please don’t spread. I’m not going to vote on anything completely absurd like squirrels not having proper scuba gear leads to extinction. I will try to be as tech > truth as I can be, but my biases in terms of truth will probably influence decisions even if I don’t intend that to be the case. I have expertise in 5 areas of science and engineering.
Please read an actual plan in 1ac. We are not here to debate about the value of debate or try to attach metaphysics to real and important earthly problems.
Topicality: I will understand topicality and vote on topicality if you can prove that their plan has made the debate significantly unfair.
Kritik: Don’t run these with me, they’ll confuse me and I’ll mark against you for them if I’m confused.
CP: Love counterplans, bonus points if they are unique and well explained.
DA: Please don’t read some generic link, make the link specific to the aff, and make sure to explain impact link chain clearly.
Case: Love case debate, if you can prove you know the aff better than the affirmative does and then prove its a bad idea I will be very impressed and give you good speaks.
Cross-X: I flow cross-x, don’t be overly aggressive or rude, it will reduce speaks. Strong cross-x which will increase speaks include: any question that highlights a missing link in the argument or an inconsistency in the argument.
+0.1 if you tell me what your favorite dinosaur is before you speech
In IE, I particularly look for
* good transitions
* cohesion (does it sound like a single talk instead of unrelated series of short monologs)
I strongly dislike when the enthusiasm to show emotion interferes with diction and severely treble shift voices.
In Parli,
* I have difficulties when people speak too fast. (Especially if it is faster than my pet dinosaurs used to run.)
* I am generally not persuaded by "theory" in Parli.
gene bressler (they/them)
Calvert Hall '21
Wake Forest '25
genebresslerdebate[AT]gmail.com
If you're considering college debate, ask about Wake's debate program!
Paradigms are overrated. Nobody judges the way they think they judge.
That said, I think and care about debate a lot. I will pay attention to whatever you're doing, and try to think the way debaters are thinking, rather than send you on an intellectual masterclass in the RFD. Put differently, I don't care if you do things the way I would've done them. I re-wrote this, and am somewhat horrified by how long it is. Most is not all that relevant, I've put what is at the top
Here are the only things you "need to know,"
-2v2 debate, each person gives a constructive and a rebuttal (pre-scripted performance stuff is okay, giving all of every speech is not)
-"Clash judge."
-Be clear. Good judges vote for arguments they understand. In addition, I've noticed a concerning amount of clipping in extremely high-profile debates. If I can't understand you, I'll call clear. If I think you're clipping, I'll say that prior to ending the round, but, c'mon.
-Judge kick is my default, but if the AFF says no, I'll evaluate it technically.
-Most things that bother old people don't bother me (feel free to go to the bathroom, fill up your water, and be happy in the round)
-"defend what you say, hold people responsible for what they say. i’m not here to resolve your personal beef with someone, but i do find myself responsible for making sure this space is maximally safe" - asya taylor
Thoughts about debate
I've judged and debated a lot of different rounds, across varying styles and quality. I read about postmodernism "too much," have a generally decent knowledge of "policy relevant" disciplines, and think about debate a lot.
Debate is getting better, not worse! Evangelists of an era where "CO2 good," "patriarchy key to heg," and a singular "AT: K" file were found in every dropbox make me sad, and I have a strong desire to voice this opinion. To that end, I don't care if you use your computer to give speeches, but I do appreciate the aesthetic of line by line debating far more than 5 minutes of block reading. I will reward the former with speaker points, regardless of your choice of flowing medium.
I flow straight down, usually on a laptop. I am pretty "flow centric." To me, that means I begin from the presumption that I trust debaters more than their evidence. If something is dropped, I'm not going to scrutinize your cards and be sad when they don't quite line up perfectly. Maybe in an ideal world I'd have time to do this, but I find judges that engage in this practice do it quite unpredictably, and the burden is best left on the debaters to indict bad ev.
Unless instructed otherwise, I only read ev as a "last resort," when it seems too difficult to resolve an argument based purely on words on the flow. Judge instruction about how to read and prioritize evidence is a sign of quality debating - if you spend a lot of time prodicting/indicting cards, I am more likely to care about them.
It's hard to dissuade me from using an offense/defense paradigm to think about debate. There are two main implications to this
1) If both teams advance an interpretation, I will use one of those interpretations. Debaters are free to advance a middle ground, but I won't come up with one for you.
2) Reasonability must be framed offensively (ie. in terms of substance crowdout, arbitrariness, etc.) rather than as a plea to not care about the other teams offense. I treat questions of interpretations the same as questions of substance, and I don't vote AFF just because the link to the DA was "reasonably" low without being given a qualification to evaluate that versus some other offense
Disads:
I start by evaluating relative risk. This means that winning a big DA/advantage is often more important to me than ticky tacky on impact calculus. Of course, you should conduct impact calculus, but you're hitting diminishing returns pretty quickly with me.
You don't have to say "nuclear war turns climate change," certainly not for more than 5 words. I get it. Existential risks are bad.
I'm fine for agenda politics/elections/other "bad" DA's. Explicit judge instruction on how I should interpret/how much I should care about evidence goes a long way.
I haven't judged or been in many debates that pushed the limits of DA intrinsicness. You're free to explore this, but I will be entering with a slight bias towards the negative and very few critical thoughts.
Counterplans
Pretty neutral on competition questions. I think perm do the counterplan is often more strategic than the intrinsic perm, but whatever. Impact/internal link comparison should happen early - I'd prefer if both teams focused on central offense with framing devices as opposed to spamming arguments about how hard it is to be aff/neg and praying one is dropped.
Counterplan theory arguments are better used as competition standards than theory interpretations, because of how arbitrary they are. I'd rather you move "process cp bad" offense to the relevant perm debate than go for a contrived interp.
If "sufficiency framing," is just "compare the deficit to the DA," it seems impossible to not do that.
Conditionality is fine. My intuition is that in-round abuse doesn't matter as much as theoretical justifications, but I can be convinced otherwise. If condo is a winning 2AR, I won't be upset that you gave it. It's a massive uphill battle to get me to "reject the team" on any other theory argument.
K's on the negative
I decide on an interpretation for framework, none of this "it's a wash" nonsense. Debaters can (and perhaps should) advocate for a middle ground interp, but I won't do it if left to my own devices.
I might know what you're talking about, but I'd be more comfortable if you pretended I didn't. Besides that, I don't have a ton of takes. I'd prefer if the 2NR/2AR had a central strategy rather than spamming links and hoping I figure it out, but this is the case for all debates.
K's on the AFF
Framework/T-USFG: Pretty even voting record. Ballot solvency matters a lot more to me than groveling over what constitutes an impact. Equally fine for fairness and clash, but be careful when explaining them relative to what the ballot solves (e.g. if you say something like fairness first - nothing leaves the room, you need to think about how that reconciles with clash/skills/whatever).
Most of the below is about debates where the AFF has some form of counter-interp/counter-model. You're welcome to just impact turn the reading of framework. I think I'm worse for this on a personal opinion level, but tech trumps all else.
I'd like a counterinterpretation, or some vision of what voting AFF means for future debates. At the very least, I'd like to know what you think debate should be about - what are the controversies? Functional limits style arguments shouldn't just be "what could you have read this round," but instead "what does the counter interp hold the aff to defending," and how can the negative predictably engage with that premise.
Internal links matter a lot. Most framework arguments don't make a lot of intuitive sense to me, I'd prefer to vote for a "small" and specific impact with a lot of comparisons/defense than to go down the rabbit hole of "policy deliberation solves climate change," vs. "voting negative turns you into Karl Rove."
Method v method/ k v k thoughts: no perms in a method debate isn't great, but I evaluate it technically. I use an offense-defense paradigm, and care a lot about impact framing. Establish win conditions, points of competition, and what you're impact turning early and often
Topicality vs plans
I estimate I am better for T than a majority of the judging pool. I wouldn't consider myself a member of the "cult of limits," but T doesn't give me the ick the way it does for an increasing amount of judges.
Don't care if you go for precision or limits. Do care about the size of the internal link. Would prefer if the 2NR/2AR was more like "large limits difference outweighs small precision difference," than "limits are the only thing that matters."
I think the best impacts concern research/topic evolution. Groveling about how hard it is to debate more than 2 AFF's or how the AFF can never win if the negative researches the 1AC in advance seem equally unpersuasive, but these premises are rarely contested so what do I know.
Above thoughts on reasonability apply.
LD:
If you read plans, go for the K, do "LARP" things, etc. the above applies.
If you read "phil" I will almost certainly not know what is happening prior to you explaining it to me, but I won’t hate you or anything.
If you read "tricks," I will flow as carefully as I can without using the doc to fill in holes. You can win on anything, but the more inane, the worse your speaks. Empirically, I miss large swaths of the underview when debaters blaze through it. No remorse.
If you say "evaluate the debate after 'x' speech" I will give you the lowest speaks the tournament permits.
I am a Lay Judge and have 0 experience with Policy debate. Please accommodate. I cannot understand spreading or arguments that require debate experience to understand.
Thank you.
Add me to the email chain: marvinchen@princeton.edu
I'm a first year student at Princeton. Debated 4 years in high school for Lowell, with a focus on lay. I have no topic knowledge this year so don't assume I know anything you're saying.
Only exception to the above: you don't need to waste time explaining policy jargon! I will get what you mean by uniqueness or link, but it is still your job to explain to me why your argument matters. Speak at a conversational speed (especially since it's online!) and with clarity. Don't sacrifice clarity for speed. I will try my best to clear you through chat if necessary but if I don't catch an argument because you mumbled or sped through it, then it will not be evaluated.
Some online etiquette:
- Have your camera on, at least when you are speaking (i.e. during CX and your speech).
- Wait for either my verbal confirmation OR "ready" in the chat BEFORE you start your speech
Argument-wise:
I am a tech > truth judge unless a truly absurd argument is brought up (which can also be debated though). I enjoy watching the traditional CP + DA debate, and not a big fan of K's (maybe except Cap). Ultimately, you do what you do best and I will try to accommodate to any type of argument.
Do the ballot writing for me! This will reflect greatly on your speaker points.
Lastly, debate is a game; just try your best and have fun!
I am a parent judge for Dublin High School. I expect the debaters to self-govern and adherence to time limits.
Speaking Requirements
- Speak very clearly (enunciation) and slowly. Do not speak too fast and emphasize important words, use pauses effectively.
- Speak confidently. If something is important, make sure you make that very clear. Refer to me as judge if you want my attention especially during your speech.
- Give eye contact during every speech.
- I take your body language into consideration.
- Be polite and respectful to me, your opponents and your partner
Content Requirements
- Stay on the topic. I will not vote for you if you go off topic.
- Make your arguments very clear to follow and understand, especially if you are advancing them. If your opponents do not respond, make sure to mention that in your next speech.
- Don't be disorganized. In rebuttal or summary, tell me if you're addressing their case or their refutations in crossfire. Also, give me an off time brief roadmap before the rebuttal, summary, and final focus speeches.
- In final focus, tell me the voter issues (main arguments in today's debate), why you won, why they lost, and why your impact outweighs theirs. The easier you make it for me to know why you won, the more likely you will win.
What's up, I'm Nick, and my email is nick.davillier@gmail.com
I've debated for 4 years with Holy Cross in LD (traditional and national circuits).
I mostly read Ks (Wilderson, Warren, Hartman, etc.) when debating on the circuit, but I'm good with anything.
For nat circuit: I'm familiar with most K literature, just explain your lit if your running something dense. Don't read theory unless there's real abuse.
For traditional debate, just remember to be clear and well-organized. If you make the most sense in the debate, you'll probably win. In your last speech, make sure you're winning the framework debate and weigh your impacts. Having good crystallization will boost your speaks.
Don't be antiblack, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, or generally hateful/ignorant.
TL;DR: Speak clearly, emphasize clash and voters, follow the line by line, and be respectful. Let me know if any accommodations are needed.
Student at UC Berkeley and former high school debater. Primarily competed in PF, NX, and Congress. Have very limited LD experience. Not overly technical so probably not to your advantage to run K's, spread without disclosing/flashing, or run theory, unless the other team is truly being abusive (I will theoretically vote on an RVI if you can explain it clearly enough to me).
Be respectful, speak clearly as I do not judge as often as you debate, and please emphasize areas of clash and weighing of voters. Generally not a huge fan of overly abstract frameworks in topics phrased as consequentialist. That said, I find good framework/value debates intellectually stimulating and helpful for finding truth so please try to make your framework convincing, but I will not punish you if your opponents respond inadequately to a lightly justified framework.
Please respond to the line by line as well as you can. I do not want to vote on bad but dropped arguments. Tech over truth but please don't make me vote on bad arguments because at some point in the logic chain I need to use some level of discretion. If the debate lacks direct responses, I will default to voting on truth at the end. Please provide disads when possible, usually would not want to vote solely on non-uniqueness unless its very obvious and well argued, in which case it is a great refutation.
Always appreciate a tasteful joke and a respectful but sharp CX. It is binding to me but please do extend CX in your speech to get it on my flow and demonstrate you understand how it fits with the broader voters/args.
Please be honest with evidence, I am happy to call a card if it seems important and suspect. Do NOT enjoy card dumps or cards that you do not even understand yourself and want everyone to take as true without explaining why they are intuitive, so please disclose if you are going to do that to make it more fair for your competitor and easier for me to follow. Misrepresentation of evidence is a pet peeve.
If you have any questions or need any accommodations, feel free to ask! Have fun!
I am a mom of a kid who debates in Public Forum, so I mostly end up judging Public Forum. My paradigm is for that.
1. Please be respectful to your opponents, especially during CrossEx. This might affect your speaker points.
2. On top of that, please take turns asking questions in CrossEx. You are not talking to me, you are having a conversation with your opponent. Let your opponents finish their thoughts before interrupting but do not spend too much time on the same issue. Please bring important points made in CrossEx in a speech.
3. Please speaker slowly and clearly (conversation speed). If I can not comprehend you, I will not be able to give you the argument.
4. Please don't use any technical debate words and try to stick to simple words.
5. Please do offtime roadmaps. Helps me be organized.
6. Please do the weighing for me. If you leave the weighing to me, I might not be able to do it "the correct way."
Parent judge. I take notes during round - the most logical and most clearly explained arguments win. The accuracy of your arguments is highly important. Do not speak fast or yell: your speaking style will affect my decision. Quality of arguments/responses is more important than quantity. Truth>Tech.
- Written by my son
Hi!
My name in Matheno. I have been a participant of this activity for about over 17 years. I started to debate in High School out of the DKC Urban Debate League. I emerged onto the national circuit my novice year in 2004. I have attended debate camps at University of Iowa, University of Missouri Kansas City as well as the University of Louisville. "Performance" debate is mostly how I approached debate as a framework. Do not call it Performance debate. Debate itself is a performance. I do understand what many call "traditional debate." It's how I got introduce to this activity. I just felt better equipped as a debater dozing into what felt more authentic for me. I judge my debates on what is on the flow sheets. If its not on the flow then I cannot evaluate it. Speed does not mean to forfeit persuasion. I will listen to mostly everything. I like new and different arguments. I was a big fan of K arguments and of course ran many Kritiks. I am now a staff member at the Bay Area Urban Debate League as a Program Manager. I have been a judge every single year since I left debate as a competitor. I love this activity! I have assisted BUDL, DKC and also Atlanta Urban Debate League. Write the ballot for me. If I have to do a lot of framing and impact calculus myself then I don't think you did much coverage of handling the flow. Write the RFD for the judge. Who knows what may happen if you leave it in my hands. I have a very queer mind.
Email thread: bfandbo@gmail.com
Email : himali2712@gmail.com
I am a parent judge with little experience of judging at Varsity level.
Please be clear in your speech and talk at a pace that I can understand. This will help me follow your case and comprehend your arguments.
Support your positions with statistical data, numbers and warrants. Make sure you sign post and don't hop around cases. Logical flow of arguments will make your case easier to understand and hence strengthen your position.
In summary and final focus, be clear on what your impacts are and why they matter more than your opponents.
I update myself with the debate topics that I am judging, so be ready to comprehend your arguments well.
Please share the relevant docs pertaining to your case.
Please be kind to your competitors. Don't try to be rude or discriminatory otherwise points will be taken off.
Hello! I've debated LD for all 4 years of high school and I'm a college freshman so I still have a grasp of debate. Progressive or traditional, I'm down for either but my experience with theory debate is pretty limited. All speeds are alright, just don't spread if it's obvious your opponent is not comfortable with it. Really I'll just follow the flow. If I didn't answer all your questions feel free to ask in round!
Hello Everyone
My name is Kamesh Gottumukkala. I have been judging Speech and Debate events including several IE's, LD, Congress, PF, Varsity Policy for over 4 years.
I look for respect from the competitors for each other and to the judges. I am a parent and a lay judge. Lets make the competition interesting and don't lose your temper!
Hi! I'm a sophomore at Stanford and competed on the PF national circuit as College Prep HO for 3 years. Add me to the email chain please:
tldr - I'm a pretty standard tech judge, w/ tech > truth, and simply put the more work you do for me, the less likely I am to make a decision that you disagree with!
Heads up, I know damn near nothing about the topic lol so please spell out acronyms the first time around and all that to make sure there aren't any leaps you're taking that I miss.
For non substance arguments (e.g. theory, Ks, etc) while I've seen a fair amount of rounds and find them super interesting, I don't have a lot of direct experience myself. Basically just a quick disclaimer to proceed with caution and make your advocacy very clear for me if that's the direction the debate is headed, and it should hopefully make for an interesting round!
Tech > Truth
Make sure you weigh your arguments vs your opponents'! It'll make things a lot easier for me and make it so I don't have to intervene with my own biases/opinions.
An argument has to be fully extended in both summary and final focus for me to vote on it. That means every step of the link chain along with the impact should be in the back half of the round! If you're speaking 2nd, you also have to frontline it in 2nd rebuttal (respond to their responses from 1st rebuttal).
To re-emphasize, extending warrants is critical. Don't just throw out card names and dates. In fact, I'd rather you have warrants than just naming the piece of evidence from earlier in the round. Final focuses should have both though.
(like I said above...) Frontline in 2nd rebuttal!!
I'll vote off the flow based on what's said in speeches (not in cross). If you get a concession in cross, point it out in speech.
Defense is sticky, you can still make my job easier by extending it anyways. If you do want to read it in rebuttal and bring up that it was dropped later, please point out that defense is sticky as you implicate it however you will.
I won't call for cards unless you specifically ask me to within speeches.
Once again (because this is particularly important), PLEASE WEIGH!! Not just the numbers and impacts, but also the warrants, links, etc. Tell me why your argument is more likely, more clear, affects more people, and/or needs to be prioritized for any other reason.
Time yourselves please.
I'm ok with mild speed but definitely rusty so I might miss some things on the flow (especially online considering technical difficulties)... aka proceed at your own risk.
Be respectful, don't say anything hateful or offensive, and fill your time; you'll at least get a 28 from me if you do those things.
Best of luck, and have fun! Feel free to ask me any questions before and after the round, and even reach out to my email way after if you want :)
Here are the things that matter:
I did not debate as a student.
I have judged and coached PF and LD for 8 years.
I don’t lean towards any style of debate, just convince me why I should vote for you and you can win.
My favorite philosophy is Utilitarianism... just sayin’
I believe that a good debate should consist of fair, logical, and followable argumentation.
Please debate in a manner that would be understandable to a general audience and speak in a way that can be easily followed. A little bit of speed when reading evidence is understandable, but please keep the argumentation and analysis of key evidence points at a normal speaking pace. Assertiveness and respect is favored over aggressiveness.
Overall, a clean, fair debate is the objective.
I'm a lay judge that believes the winning team should have clear arguments they extend and defend well with impacts. If you talk too fast I may miss what you are trying to communicate so spread at your own risk. I don't have experience with theory or ks but I will understand framework if it is explained well. I want your evidence to back up what you are saying and prove why your evidence is more true than your opponents. Please be polite and respectful of your opponents. Good luck!
I am a second year judge. I will judge off the flow, your delivery, logic, refutation merit, and overall cohesiveness. I appreciate unique and creative arguments. Please do not be aggressive and try to speak slowly. Good luck!
Please add me to the email chain: email: upalmandal@gmail.com
I'm a parent judge, please speak slowly and clearly. Please respect me and your teammates throughout the round.
The main thing I am looking for is that you write my ballot for me in the final speeches. Please explain all your arguments clearly and backed up with facts and evidence. I will not infer what you want to convey, you must clearly tell me what you want me to know and my decision will be based off of what you say in the round. If something is brought up in cx, it needs to be reiterated in the speeches again for me to take it into account. I will do my best to flow, but make sure it isn't messy or unclear since I am still new to this. There are a lot of terms I don't know, so it would be advised to explain everything.
Most importantly, have fun!
I prefer moderate speed. I vote for clear speaking and convincing arguments.
Debate coach. 3 year state qualifier with a focus in congress/extemp/public forum. I tend to focus on logic and argumentation first and foremost. While I appreciate good delivery, it won't overshadow analysis. I will be flowing the debate, so framework debate and dropped arguments will be noted. Try not to speak too fast, I can't give you what I can't flow.
Please give special attention to your closing speeches. Crystallize/summarize the discussion so that I can make sense of what is on my flow. I will not penalize you for every little dropped argument if they are ultimately extraneous to the debate, so please try to prioritize what is most important in the round.
Hayden '22
KU '26
Add me to the email chain:
Smcconnell.debate@gmail.com
TLDR: I've gone for a mix of policy and critical arguments. I don't have preferences about what you read. Just do what you do well.
Speed is fine---Slow down for analytics and give some pen time
Unique strategies and in-depth explanation = Increased Speaks
Tech>Truth, but truth is a tiebreaker
Impact calc is good
LD/PF Note:
I did LD a few times in high school, but don't know too much about the event.
I've never done or judged PF, but know the basic structure.
This means I don't really have any preconceived notions about these events, so you have to explain how I evaluate certain arguments in the round.
Just debate your best and I will try to adjudicate the debate my best.
If you have any questions just ask!
Prior experience:
Debated as a 2A for James Logan High School for 4 years. Went almost exclusively for K’s on the aff and the neg. Currently debating as a 2A for the University of California. I exclusively go for policy arguments now.
Judging:
Jameslogandebatedocs@gmail.com
A majority of my debates have been one off/K Affs so do with that what you will. Im a sucker for a good Security/Cap/Settler Colonialism Kritik. However, this does not mean I wont vote for a policy argument. I love debate and do not have a predisposition towards particular styles. At the end of the day my rfd is a referendum on who debated better. That being said, do not try and over-correct for me. I think debate is a space for you to pursue whatever you want (as long as it’s not overtly violent like racism/sexism/discrimination good).
Don’t bomb through analytics its annoying to flow and you will lose speaks. The less you act like a jerk the better. Theres a time and place for everything.
Rebuttals are often the most frustrating part of debate. This is when people have to get off the blocks and start thinking big picture. I like debaters who write their ballot for me in the 2NR/2AR. More judge instruction will not only get you better speaker points but dramatically increase your chances of winning. Im more than likely not going to vote on ticky tacky arguments, but who has a better big picture analysis for why they’ve won the debate and can flush out the benefits to granting them a ballot. In close debates, impact calc goes a long way. I will read evidence at the end of the round, but that is not an excuse for lazy debating.
extra .1 speaks for making fun of a current cal debater
Hello Wonderful Person,
I appreciate the opportunity to judge. As a judge, my primary goal is to fairly evaluate the arguments presented and provide constructive feedback. I value clarity, strategic argumentation, effective communication, and adaptability.
Communication: Clear and articulate communication is crucial. Ensure that your speech is well-paced, and your arguments are easy to follow. Please provide a clear roadmap and structure for your speeches.
Argumentation: I value well-reasoned arguments supported by evidence and analysis. Impactful arguments that directly address the resolution or topic are particularly important.
Cross-Examination/POIs and Engagement/Rebuttal: Take and give POIs strategically. Quality matters over quantity. Engage actively with your opponents through POIs and responses during their speeches. Demonstrate an understanding of the key issues in the round. Maintain a respectful demeanor during cross-examination. Engage with your opponent’s arguments. Provide effective rebuttals by directly responding to the core of your opponent’s case. Be strategic in your prioritization of arguments and responsive to the flow of the debate.
Etiquette: Maintain a respectful and professional demeanor throughout the round. Avoid any form of discriminatory language or behavior.
I look forward to an energetic and insightful exchange of ideas, while you showcase your unique debating style. See you soon!
Lindsay
In a round, I prefer loud, clear, concise speech. I appreciate arguments that get to the point and spoken relatively slowly and clearly. Empirics are extremely important. I am a parent judge so I will not be familiar with debate jargon, as such, I am much more likely to vote on arguments that are thoroughly explained.
Former open debater at GMU from 2018-2022. I ran mostly queer theory, disability, and various forms of cap for the last couple years and am most familiar with those lit bases.
She/they pronouns. Put me on the email chain please, ceili1627 at gmail dot com. Feel free to email me after rounds with questions.
TL;DR: run whatever you want and I'll judge as best I can. I think my role as a judge is to be an educator/facilitator of idea exchanges regardless of whether those ideas are connected to anything from USFG action to interpretive dance performances. Keep in mind that even though debate is a game that you should have fun playing, it has real-world consequences for the real people who play it. As a great woman once said, "At the end of the debate, be sure to tell me why I should vote for you; if you don't, then you can't get big mad when I don't ... periodt" and I live by that <3
Policy:
K Affs: I'm totally down with k affs but I prefer them to have at least a vague link to the topic. It's super easy for the narrative of k affs to get lost during the round so please keep the aff story alive!! In FW/T debates, make sure to explain what debate rounds look like under your counterinterp, and that plus solid impact turns is usually a fairly easy ballot from me.
FW/T: As the same great woman once said, "I have voted against framework, I have voted for framework, but at the end of the day I don't really want to be there when framework is read." Run a caselist. Reasonability isn’t really an argument and fairness definitely isn't an impact. I tend to default to competing interps unless given a good reason otherwise. The neg needs to really spell out why I should err towards them on limits. TVAs are pretty useful for mitigating offense against fw as long as they're explained and contextualized well. Please for the love of god contextualize all your fw blocks to the round & aff in question instead of just reading a transcript of fw blocks from an NDT outround half a decade ago. I'm not persuaded by args that debate doesn't shape subjectivity--if you come out of a round the exact same as you entered it (regardless of if your opinions/beliefs have changed) then you're probably playing the game wrong.
Theory: Trying to convince me to care about potential abuse is an uphill battle. Don’t spread through theory blocks please. For blippy args I generally err towards rejecting the arg but will (extremely) reluctantly vote on it if dropped.
DAs/Case: Impact calc and clear internal link chains are both super important for me to vote on a DA. I tend to think that links determine DA direction but can probably be persuaded that direction is determined by uniqueness. I really enjoy heavy case debates and am disappointed that's increasingly missing from a lot of rounds. Also I think re-highlighting your opponents' ev is a bold move that's cool and often persuasive when it's done right but is pretty cringe if done poorly.
Ks: I was mostly a k debater in college and I'm most familiar with lit bases for queer theory, cap, set col, and debility. Still, you need to clearly explain your theories of power and all that good stuff instead of throwing around a bunch of obscure terms expecting me to know what you’re talking about. Please please please don't read a k just because you think that's what I want to hear--it makes for a bad debate and a grumpy judge. I’d like to think my ballot actually means something so explain to me what it does and I'll be more likely to pull the trigger for you. I feel most comfortable voting on specific links to the aff though I prefer the debate to go beyond the level of you-link-you-lose. Please give me a clear and coherent framework under which I consider the aff vs the alt, but also I think too many policy affs use framework to avoid engaging with the k at all which is both frustrating to judge and not at all strategic.
CPs: 50 state fiat is definitely core neg ground at the high school level. I’m fine with the neg having 2 conditional worlds, 3 makes me lean aff, and the neg shouldn't ever need 4+ conditional worlds. I don't judge kick and I'm likely to entertain most if not all CPs as long as they have a clear net benefit and explanation of how they solve the aff. Super meta CP theory confuses and bores me.
General: Tech > truth (often but not always, e.g. I usually tend to evaluate the debate through tech > truth but can be fairly easily convinced otherwise), debate is a game that you should have fun playing, clarity > speed (especially for zoom debate), I reserve the right to tank speaks if you're being homophobic, transphobic, sexist, racist, ableist, excessively rude, or clipping cards. Please don't make me have to judge something that happened outside the round like authenticity checks or happenings from other tournaments/seasons. I usually have little HS topic knowledge but that doesn't necessarily mean you shouldn't pref me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ it's good for the neg on T insofar as I don't have a predetermined view of what the topic should look like, but it's also good for the aff because I don’t have much knowledge on the nuances of what affirmatives look like under particular definitions. I'm pretty hit or miss on reading ev after rounds unless explicitly told to, and on that note please highlight your cards in as close to complete and coherent sentences as you can. Violent verb fragments aren't arguments.
PF:
I did 4 years of PF in high school so I'm quite familiar with this format. Extend your own args, don’t drop your opponents’ args. I vote on the flow and default to util for impact comparison unless you tell me to frame impacts differently. I’m most likely to vote for a PF team that nails impact calc in the rebuttals, does solid work extending offense, and uses effective warrant-level evidence comparison. My 3 biggest pet peeves with PF are (1) labeling literally everything as a voter, (2) saying "de-link,", and (3) using "frontline" as a verb.
LD:
I never debated this format, though I understand it, and I tend to judge it from a somewhat policy perspective. I'm cool with both traditional and progressive formats--do what you do best/enjoy most and I'll vote off the flow. What bugs me most is the introduction of some kind of framing lens at the beginning of the round (like value/value criteria or another kind of framework) that isn't extended or used throughout the rest of the debate.
The Gamble
If you use One Direction lyrics in your speechI will raise your speaks a max of 0.5. Do with that what you will.
Hi friends:) plz add me to the email chain if there is one @drpham1126@gmail.com
My name is Doanh Pham, but I go by Rita (she/her). Currently debating policy at University of Kansas as a 2nd year. I'm currently a double major in Political Science and East Asian Studies with a concentration in Chinese. Highschool history wise, I debated PF and did IX at Lee's Summit West Highschool for 4 years there. Was decent, was state champ and did the NSDA jazz, you can look me up at Rita Pham on NSDA. PF is my first love!
Don't be a-holes to each other. I'm a firm believer that debate is about education and pedagogy.
No matter what event, framing then tech into truth plz. Judge direction is important, you should tell me from the beginning how I should evaluate the round/on what framework. FRAMING IS TOP LEVEL. Identity politics and structural violence works well with me over extinction/econ impacts. Also evidence quality is so important to me, I will read it if you highlight its important. Below you can see events spec thoughts:
Policy: I love high theory and critical things. any flavors of Ks are welcomed and if I don't know then I'll try to keep up actively. Some of my fav is Set Col, Cap, Asian Identity/Orentialism, Academy.... I think alt is important but if you don't have one, prove to me why your link makes their aff net worse. Im very good judge for identity politics.
Stuff like wipe out and pess/death good, eh idk how I feel about it but I don't particularly love.
K aff are cool, I'm running one for the 2023-2024 season myself - but try to have it tie the resolution somehow. I'm pretty good on the FW debate, impacts like education is more convincing then fairness for the sake of fairness. This means that I'm pretty ok with seeing how the T flow interacts with K affs if that's your thing!
I am ok at policy stuff (don't run more then 4 off as a policy strat, I will be very annoyed and the args start to lose quality), T-subsets and etcs arent my thing but I will still flow. A good DA with a strong link story is always good. Extinction impacts are overrated but I will always vote on what you tell me to vote on.
Don't love PIX/PICS and stuff that steals opponents' args but justify yourself.
I usually don't cancel teams for certain args and will give them grace since I view debate as a game but you can convince me otherwise!
PF: I am very well versed in this area, and a stern believer that PF should remain like PF. Please don't try to be high theory on your opponents, otherwise go try policy.
Since rounds are only 45 min, I think CX should be binding so you can build args. Be organized, I don't care how many contention or subpoints you have, I'll keep up. I flow most things, make sure you signpost. I think since there are less arguments in PF, you should have quality evidence. Logistics are always welcomed, but if most of the round is false logic then I will decide based on evidence quality even if you did well at framing. Just because the nature of PF is more evidence based.
LD: I never did this event but I understand its about morals/ethics and a mix of pf and policy. Especially in LD, you should center around your value criteria. Ref puff stuff to know more about me but I will judge you base on how you want me to.
Hello All,
Background
I work in the Technology Sector in the Bay Area. I judge for Dougherty Valley, and though I am quite novice at judging, I have watched a lot of rounds and have a good understanding of the format and logistics.
As a heads-up, I plan to take notes during the debate, but it is better if you treat me as a "lay" judge.
I have a good amount of general knowledge on the topics provided for these events, but may not know the specifics of your topic.
Preferences
a) Speak loudly and clearly. Please no "spreading". I will not be able to understand what you are saying, so speaking slower will allow me to process your arguments more clearly.
b) Be polite and fair to your opponent. If you are outright rude (ie. yelling, mocking, laughing, cutting opponents off) you will not get good speaks. Also, please note that team work is key and I find that the best debaters can work together efficiently.
c) Explain arguments thoroughly. Remember I do have some background in topics but not in debate so terms such as "uniqueness" should be more elaborated upon. Another important aspect is organization so try to state clearly what you will be talking about. (ie. Next, lets talk about the first contention.)
Decisions
I will try to be as fair as possible and explain my decision in the best way I can using the above criterion as well as the debate itself. I will not carry personal biases into the round.
I will vote for the team that explains their warrants and why their impacts matter to me.
If your arguments are too complicated to be understood by the average person, then I will probably be less likely to vote for you.
Additionally, presentation will probably also influence my decision. Be confident, if you make it seem like you are losing then I will think that.
Other
I expect teams to time their speeches themselves. But, if you want me to time, I can do that as well.
If you think that I should look at your/your opponent's evidence, please let me know.
Good luck!
I am a parent judge. This is my second year judging. I have judged various speech and debate platforms.
A few pointers-
-I would prefer a brief layout of the debate before you start.
-Speak with clarity and at a reasonable pace so that I can flow. No spreading.
-I look for effective, convincing arguments and strong rebuttals.
-Please don't be aggressive and be respectful to your opponent.
Best Wishes!!
I am a parent judge with 5 years of experience.
I expect the participants to speak slow but most importantly clearly
I want to understand the debate so explaining arguments help me understand why you should win more.
Respect other participants and I will respect you
add me to any email chains
ajayrawal@hotmail.com
email:
About Me: I am a former Open Debater at Cal State Fullerton. I had 3 years ~ debating in college and experience as a coach at CSUF. I have vast judging and coaching experience at the High School level. I spent a lot of my Career running mostly critiques including Settler Colonial K's, Afropessimism K's, Baudrillard K's, performance K's, as well as experience running Framework.
Aside from that my cases usually involved futurisms and storytelling.
Coaches: Toya Green, Romin Rajan, Lee Thach.
Me as a judge real talk: I can understand spreading, and I'm as good as anyone at getting this down. But Imma be honest, it is hard for me to stay organized. I joined debate in college, no high school experience.
In other words, framing is super important for me. Clarity is important to me, because I want to understand how you think we/you/ I should think, view and participate in the community, in this round, at this tournament, etc. Is debate a game? is the game good? why or why not? I'd like these question answered either implicitly or explicitly. I don't inherently work with the perception that debate is (just) a "game", but if given a good argument as to why I should take on that perspective (in this round, all the time, etc) I'll take on that perspective. I prefer not to feel like a worker in the debate factory who needs to take notes and produce a ballot, but idk maybe I should function in that way-just tell me why that's true.
Evidence Reading: I will read your cards if you urge me to look at them, or if they are contested during the round. Otherwise, I am assuming they say what you tell me they say. IF you don't mention the evidence outside of the 1ac/1nc, they most likely wont stay in the forefront of my mind during the debate. This means reading the evidence will a clear voice will give you an advantage with me, because I will most likely understand the evidence better.
Impact: Proximity and likelihood> magnitude and time frame
MISC:
Clipping Cards is an auto DQ.
I really don't care what you do as far as tag teaming, changing format, playing music, using stands, seating placement, etc. Do you, just don't make the debate go longer than it needs to. Also feel free to talk to me before, after and during prep in rounds. I generally enjoy talking about debate and like helping young peeps. Just chit chat and such.
Policy- I think that a straight up policy plan is dope. MY biggest concern is the debaters ability to explain numbers to me. ITs hard for me to do the calculations and understand why specific stats are important and win you the debate. I am pretty line by line when it comes to a policy debate. Id say with me, focus on some impact calc because thats usually where my attention is mostly at. Liklihood and proximity are more important than severity, magnitude. Time-Frame is iffy but doable.
FW- Honestly, framework is pretty cool. I think its become kind of a meme at this point about my annoyance with whiney FW debaters, so make sure you are being real with your critique. Framework says that there is a structure which needs to be followed for this activity to run efficiently. This assumes that the game of debate is good, so explain why the game is good, or why your specific version of the game is good. When you run framework you are saying that the other team is debating in a way that lessens/nullifies the benefits of debate. That is a big claim, so treat it as such. If you are just using it strategically- more power to you buuuuuuut, it makes you hella less persuasive if thats how you are coming off. Also, Fairness is not inherently a terminal impact, lol. At least mention debate is a game and tell me why the games good.
K- I love k's, but they get hella sloppy. With k's, i need to know that you are solving your impacts. seems basic but im shocked at how often debaters dont explain how their "self abolishment" solves antiblackness. Acknowledging that there is a problem isn't a solution, or plan or anything. It's just a diagnosis. I need a prescription. HAving said that, Im pretty open minded when it comes to different strats. The more weird the more fun for me.
I'm way more truth than tech.
Email: jessiesatovskydebate(at)gmail(dot)com
Note for 2024 topic: I have 0 topic knowledge and very little experience judging on this topic, so keep that in mind when debating in front of me and make sure to explain topic acronyms, etc.
I have 6 years' debating experience and currently debate at Emory.
My preference is toward policy arguments since I have a better understanding of them, but I have a pretty good grasp of just about any argument. Bottom line: read what you want, explain it well, and be respectful to your opponents!
----Policy:
K arguments:
I have a bias against random K arguments so unless you can explain them to me well, probably don't go for it (ie: ontology-esque, Baudrillard/Post-modernist critiques, and things that don't seem to be an opportunity cost to the aff, etc.).
Framework almost always decides this debate. Middle-ground frameworks are confusing---the affirmative saying that I should "weigh the links against the plan" provides no instruction regarding the central question: how does the judge compare the educational implications of the 1AC's representations to the consequences of plan implementation? "Hard-line" frameworks that exclude the case or the kritik are much clearer.
I will decide the framework debate in favor of one side's interpretation. I will not resolve some arbitrary middle road that neither side presented.
If the k is causal to the plan, a well-executing affirmative should almost always win my ballot. The permutation double-bind, uniqueness presses on the link and impact, and a solvency deficit to the alternative will be more than sufficient for the affirmative. The neg will have to win significant turns case arguments, an external impact, and amazing case debating if framework is lost. At this point, you are better served going for a proper counterplan and disadvantage.
Topicality
T-USFG --
I'm pretty neg-leaning here, and generally believe that topical plans are the best route to fair and predictable engagementToto win as a K-aff on framework, you will need to either impact turn framework or provide a counter-model and a good description as to why your model best solves your framework and makes sense in a space like debate, which relies upon rules and predictability for both teams to be adequately prepared to debate one another. Doing impact calculus with your offense and explaining why the debates under your model are good and why debates under their model are net worse is important and helpful for me when resolving your debate.
Other T -- make sure to do good impact calculus and contrast models (see above for T-USFG).
Policy arguments
Disadvantages -- you need to be thorough in your explanation and point out why the aff specifically triggers the link, otherwise it's low-risk and I'll probably defer aff.
Counterplans -- point out why it solves the aff specifically, and affs should focus on quantifying the solvency deficit, otherwise a risk of the net benefit probably outweighs.
Dropped arguments
Make sure to point out they're dropped, and in the rebuttals explain why that's important so I know how to evaluate it. Please don't excessively say arguments are dropped if they're not, it's redundant and wastes your speech time.
Lay Debate
Generally, please go slower, I'll judge like a lay round unless specifically instructed that y'all want it to be a circuit round. You don't have to go as slow as you would with a parent but slow the debate down and spend more time explaining your arguments than spreading through cards.
----LD:
I've never competed in the activity so I'm not familiar with the specific theory/tricks and will view the debate similarly to how I'd view a policy debate. Explicit judge instruction and impact calc will go a long way for me, especially in the final rebuttals.
Things that will lower your speaks: stopping prep time before you start creating your speech doc, egregiously asking your opponent what was marked/not read, and going for an RVI.
Misc
- Online debate = it's harder to hear, so please try to be extra clear, and slow down so that you can be even clearer if needed.
- Time yourself, and please don't steal prep. It makes you look bad and I'll dock your points.
- Please keep your camera on if possible; looks less shady and lets me connect with y'all.
- *Make sure to check that I (in addition to everyone else in the round) am ready before you start, or I'll probably miss something.
Most of all, do your best and have fun!
Yama/judge/mr. judge/ professor/sir/whatever you want to call me
he/him
james logan 22 - SJSU 26 (not debating)
email chain please -- ysekandar[AT]gmail[DOT]com AND jameslogandebatedocs[AT]gmail[DOT]com
debated at james logan, qualed to TOC senior year, advanced to California state elims senior year
i was taught how to debate by rahul ramesh and nish neelakandan. their paradigms are beautiful and reflect my philosophy almost perfectly
i have never judged on the NATO topic, i know what things like the EU and the DOD are, but please avoid calling random fringe treaties by their acronyms and stuff like that
be funny, make your speeches clear and well organized, be kind, have fun and watch your speaker points fly
good luck!
RULES/MAIN THINGS -
- if you are going to the bathroom, both cameras stay on so i can see your hands are off the keyboard. preferable cameras are on when you're giving speeches but not absolutely necessary. if you are curious why i have this rule, i have a funny story for you
- tech>truth
- claim->warrants->impacts
- substantive questions are resolved probabilistically, this may slightly differ for some debates because it rather becomes a question of does uniqueness overwhelm the link? does the link turn overwhelm the link?
- theoretical and procedural questions are of a binary nature, and as such i will resolve things like "are intrinsic perms justified?" as a yes or no question. i will similarly resolve topicality and framework and will very, very rarely defer to reasonability or try to create a bastardized combination of the policy and K interps. whether procedural or theoretical questions outweigh each other i will leave up to the debate.
- i primarily read K arguments but will not hack for them
- will vote on evidence ethics
- inserting one or two lines is fine, but entire rehighlightings must be read
- i will judge kick only if prompted
- slurs and in-round harassment = automatic L and -30 speaks
- anything other than that, out-teching will reverse any preferences.
Case -
i like really like impact framing debates.
most advantages are garbage. i encourage you to point this out, because a good case debate will do you a lot of favors when it comes to the 2nr
case debate is better if its more than impact d.
DA -
fun and good
link > uniqueness
link turns are offense even without uniqueness
ptx DAs are my fav but will hold uniqueness to a higher threshold
CP -
cp theory is cool, no one really reads it anymore but i'd be down to judge a debate
counterplans should try to shy away from artificial opportunity costs. i am pretty evenly split on the intrinsicness debate.
i am more sympathetic to PICs and process CPs on this topic but i will try to still fairly evaluate
condo is usually good if it isnt ridiculous.
K -
fairly comfortable with pretty much any K argument, i've gone for Ks disguised as dedev turns + a counterplan, i've gone for afropessimism against setcol affs, i've gone for setcol against environmentalism, i've gone for education bad against k affs, i've gone for baudrillard as both a K and a "mystery counterplan" with a "Fishy on Me" performance by Tiko. just do you.
likewise, ive also gone for fairness outweighs and capitalism + revisionism are The Truth.
personally, links to the plan>"your card says the word security in the unhighlighted 2 point font part that has nothing to do with your aff AND SECURITY IS BAD" but thats all up to how framework is debated
they dont get Ks is an awful argument, likewise, you need to do work for me to not let them weigh the plan. this means a robust impact turn to fiat/policymaking/their form of debate, a counterinterp that tells me how i SHOULD view the debate, why thats better than their model (or at least why the impact turn outweighs and the c/i solves)
i appreciate these debates and especially ones that have lots of clash over framework, have a substantial link debate, or maybe a great impact turn debate
dear respected K teams - saying fiat is illusory 6 times in a 3 minute overview and not having an impact turn to framework or a good impact turn is not a winning strategy, the policy team and the judge are aware that fiat is not real. you need a reason why their model is BAD
dear respected policy teams - please stop reading generic blocks on framework and start answering the specific impact turns. unless you make internal link turn arguments, prereq arguments, skills and education arguments, movements arguments, etc, do not go for fairness is good because debate is good because fairness is good because clash is good because debate is good, it is circular and tautological
K aff/T USFG -
despite almost exclusively reading a K aff, i am actually pretty evenly split about this debate. do you and i will evaluate from scratch.
the aff should do something or presumption is an easy ballot. "refusal" or "rupturing the space" stuff is very unpersuasive when it comes to ballot framing. ie how does me voting for you ONLY in this round do anything good? instead i want to see a theory of how debate should operate, what does your world look like and how is this round conducive towards that? does that mean you need to read a plan? absolutely not. just have a concrete strategy the negative can hold you to and test.
that also means your 1AC should be an 8 minute impact turn to framework while also telling a meaningful story about the topic, why its bad to engage in it, and what we ought to do instead. state/topic is bad so vote for us without a model of how debate ought to look or how we ought to engage in politics is a very unpersuasive story that will, for a lack of words, get dropkicked by SSD and the TVA
the aff should probably be related to the topic (related to the topic =/= topical)
impact turn strategy is great, adding smart sufficiency framing to c/i is cool too
fairness as an impact is extremely unpersuasive. please read an external impact
fairness, clash, predictability etc. as internal links to something like legal ed, skills or movement building is very persuasive
answer the impact turn or your life will be very hard
most k team's c/i are pretty bad, i encourage you to point this out
ssd is pretty persuasive deployed correctly, the aff should have a response better than "it links, next"
most tva args are deployed poorly, but i think well written ones can soak huge amounts of offense
Topicality -
fun and good, unless you read like 5 of these
limits, legal precision and ground are all good impacts, but their persuasiveness declines in descending order
ev quality is critical
limits for the sake of limits is a bad argument unless you explain how its key on a broken topic
good luck and do your best
Misc -
1- leaning neg on condo unless its 5+ off
2- sympathetic to theory about cheaty fiat
3- hidden procedurals are extremely cowardly. will i vote on them? yes, if it isnt something like Dspec: aff must specify their favorite dorito flavor. i encourage the aff to ask them for reasons to reject the team first thing in crossex
4- will vote on spark and wipeout-esque arguments (unless the team has specifically asked you to not read them BEFORE the round/put it on their wiki) but generally i think ethics-based arguments, as well as pointing out how absolutely garbage the evidence quality of these arguments tend to be, combined with a counterpush with your own evidence is a winning strategy
5- RVIs are extremely dumb unless they seriously did something problematic
6- kicking the plan text is very illegitimate
Hey!
TLDR: Be nice in round, and have a good time! NO matter what, debate is about learning, and I understand that a loss isn't fun, especially at a big tournament like this, but as long as you learn from it, I will think I have done a good job as a judge.
Add me to the email chain shaan.a.shabbir@gmail.com or sshabbi2@jhu.edu or if you want to use a doc in round to share evidence that's good as well just pop the link in chat for me.
Experience
Competed for 5 years in PF, 4 at Monte Vista, as a part of Monte Vista BS(I was the second speaker), qualified to nationals in my senior year(last year), and made outrounds at a lot of tourneys in PF. I don't debate at Hopkins anymore, but I do keep up with the debate scene, and help around occasionally.
I also dabbled in Parli and IX for fun.
I haven't done much LD, besides watch rounds, but I know how to judge it, flow it, and how to judge an argument(and I'll know when some one is capping and making no sense).
General Rules for all debates
- BE NICE, and have a good time
- Speed is okay, but don't be spreading. I don't want to read a speech doc, but will if I have to. I used to speak fast so I can understand it, but if I don't understand you, I will unmute and say "clear".
- Don't run any Ks or any of that stuff(I'm okay with theory, but also this is for nat quals and I don't think many people run theory or Ks at nats, but idk I'm a PF Kid). If you tell me how to vote on it then I will.
- For theory, I'm not a big fan, AND PLEASE DO NOT RUN PARAPHRASING THEORY(unless there is a clear misconstrual of evidence, and then I'll look at it and decide).
- Use evidence, but make sure you understand the warranting behind your evidence, cause if you don't and start making stuff up, I can probably tell or your opponent will call you out.
- Time prep properly, I won't time myself as I trust y'all to do so.
- For speech times I'm good with a 10 second grace period as long as you finish your sentence/thought, but if you start reading a whole new impact or contention I won't flow it.
LD
For LD I haven't competed much in the event, so treat me almost like a Flay judge(cause I will be flowing). Explain everything to me, and don't make me do too much work in trying to make a path to the ballot. In your final speeches please give me a clear voter. If it comes to a framework debate, show me how either your framework wins (or how you win on both, extra speaks for this, cause I LOVE THIS).
Make it clear what your value is and tie it back, and then use evidence and logic. I think the value of logic is undermined in debate, but I think good logic can easily be more important than a bad, randomly, non-explained/warranted piece of evidence.
Use cross effectively, and most judges won't flow it, and I won't either, but I will defo be paying attention. If u ask super fire questions and poke holes you will get higher speaks. If you get a concession in cross, make sure its in the next speech, or else I'll know it happened, but can't do much about it. Make sure to be nice, and let them finish their sentence, but if they are rambling you can say you want to move on, with no negative impact from me(If you are rambling to avoid questions, you'll probs lose speaks) DON'T ASK FOR EVIDENCE IN CROSS, do it before or after. DON'T ASK THEM TO REPEAT EVIDENCE IN CROSS. If you want to ask a question about their evidence in cross, have a point to it, and not just having them restate it, cause that's a waste of time. I'd rather end cross early, rather than sit with bad questions.
PF
PF IS MY THING!! Same rules as above about theory and all those things, but otherwise any arguments are good with me. I love framework discussions, and weighing OVs, but make sure they make sense, and you can tie back into them.
WEIGH WEIGH WEIGH!! THIS IS MY MOST IMP THING!! make my job easy pls. I would want to see weighing started in summary a little, but if not final has to hit hard on this.
No new args in second summary, second rebuttal is a little iffy, like don't turn dump in the second rebuttal, but if you read some I won't kill you.
Please please please use cross effectively. I don't want to see back and forth of nothing questions. I want you to set up your partner for their next speech, and ask good thought-provoking questions that poke holes in arguments. Or feel free to use cross for clarifying questions, but please don't ask for evidence in cross do that before/after.
Speaks
Everyone starts with a 28. If you are blatantly rude, sexist, misogynistic, or any thing else, you will get a 20 and probs the L, and a report to the ethics committee(for my sake and for the debate's sake just don't be rude.) If you do something good your speaks will go up.
30: Outstanding, and I think you have blown me out of the water.
29: You were much better than others, but I'm not blown out of the water.
28: You were average and just fine, nothing stood out too much to me.
27: You probs spoke too fast or unclear.
In the end, I will vote off the easiest path to the ballot with the easiest, and clearest framework. Make my life easy, and explain this well. Have fun, and don't be rude in round.
If you have any questions feel free to ask before round(I know it can be intimidating, but dw I won't take any offense at all if you ask me something I may not have thought of, cause there are defo things that aren't on here.)
Also if any of you have any other questions(non-debate related as well) feel free to ask, or shoot me an email after!
Intro: My Name is Nirav Shah and I Will Be Your Judge Today. I Am a Traditional Flow Pf Judge With Extensive Experience. I Flow All Speeches With Great Detail. My Son is a Debater for Dougherty Valley (Ivan). I've Judged at Gtoc, Cal Rr, Stanford, Berk, Presentation, Asu, Cal States, and So Much More.
General Pf Preferences: I Try to Keep My Evaluation Exclusively to the Flow. In-round Weighing of Arguments Combined With the Strength of Link and Conceded Arguments. I Default to Arguments With Substantive Warranted Analysis. Please Collapse on the Most Important Voters in the Round. The Defense Should Be Extended in Both Summary Speeches if You Want to Go for It in the Final Focus. Be Respectful in Cross as I Pay Close Attention to It. Don't Speak Too Fast but if You Do Please Give Me the Speech Doc. Time Yourself and Make Your Opponents Accountable for Their Speech and Prep Timings. Weigh Your Impacts and Explain the Comparison. Provide an Off-time Roadmap in Every Back Half Speech Onwards From the Second Rebuttal. Time Yourself and Make Your Opponents Accountable for Their Speech and Prep Timings. Weigh Your Impacts and Explain the Comparison. Provide an Off-time Roadmap in Every Back Half Speech Onwards From the Second Rebuttal
Evidence: I Strongly Encourage Debaters to Cut Cards as Opposed to Hyperlinking a Google Doc. I Call for a Lot of Evidence After the Round Instead of Looking Through It During the Round. (Only Contested Pieces of Evidence)
Speaker Points (on Average 29.3): Used to Indicate How Good I Think Debaters Are in a Particular Round Along With Substance
Prog: I Have a High Bar for Abuse for Theory Argument but You Can Run Them as Long as It is a Genuine Violation. I Wouldn't Run Any Non-topical Ks on Me. Topical Ks Are Fine. I have extensive experience with Sec, Militarization, Orientalism, Cap, EcoAuthoritiasm (Ill buy More but It'll Be My First)
Other: I'll give an Oral RFD
Have Fun!
Feel Free to Email Me Any Questions or Concerns. (Also Add Me to the Ev Email Chain if You Are Making One). Email: Niravdhira@gmail.com
Intro: My Name is Nirav Shah and I Will Be Your Judge Today. I Am a Traditional Flow Pf Judge With Extensive Experience. I Flow All Speeches With Great Detail. My Son is a Debater for Dougherty Valley (Ivan). I've Judged at Gtoc, Cal Rr, Stanford, Berk, Presentation, Asu, Cal States, and So Much More.
General Pf Preferences: I Try to Keep My Evaluation Exclusively to the Flow. In-round Weighing of Arguments Combined With the Strength of Link and Conceded Arguments. I Default to Arguments With Substantive Warranted Analysis. Please Collapse on the Most Important Voters in the Round. The Defense Should Be Extended in Both Summary Speeches if You Want to Go for It in the Final Focus. Be Respectful in Cross as I Pay Close Attention to It. Don't Speak Too Fast but if You Do Please Give Me the Speech Doc. Time Yourself and Make Your Opponents Accountable for Their Speech and Prep Timings. Weigh Your Impacts and Explain the Comparison. Provide an Off-time Roadmap in Every Back Half Speech Onwards From the Second Rebuttal. Time Yourself and Make Your Opponents Accountable for Their Speech and Prep Timings. Weigh Your Impacts and Explain the Comparison. Provide an Off-time Roadmap in Every Back Half Speech Onwards From the Second Rebuttal
Evidence: I Strongly Encourage Debaters to Cut Cards as Opposed to Hyperlinking a Google Doc. I Call for a Lot of Evidence After the Round Instead of Looking Through It During the Round. (Only Contested Pieces of Evidence)
Speaker Points (on Average 29.3): Used to Indicate How Good I Think Debaters Are in a Particular Round Along With Substance
Prog: I Have a High Bar for Abuse for Theory Argument but You Can Run Them as Long as It is a Genuine Violation. I Wouldn't Run Any Non-topical Ks on Me. Topical Ks Are Fine. I have extensive experience with Sec, Militarization, Orientalism, Cap, EcoAuthoritiasm (Ill buy More but It'll Be My First)
Other: I'll give an Oral RFD
Have Fun!
Feel Free to Email Me Any Questions or Concerns. (Also Add Me to the Ev Email Chain if You Are Making One). Email: Niravdhira@gmail.com
I am a lay judge.
I will be listening to your debate and taking notes.
Being clear and logical wins you the round.
Be good debaters!
she/her
Add me to the email chain: siyavsharma@gmail.com. Also, just generally beyond debate, email me if you want to chat - happy to engage with committed debaters.
First a little of my background:
I have extensive debate + speech experience. As a debater, I got 6th in CA state and 4th at NSDA Nationals in LD. As a speech person, I primarily competed in extemp (IX, but some NX) and impromptu. Wasn't amazing at it, but I have enough invitational experience.
I am largely familiar with the ins and outs of both debate and speech, so I encourage you to feel comfortable with me.
LD philosophy:
I like to consider myself to be a flow judge, but please NO spreading. I will dock your speaks if I can't understand you.
Flay debate is hands down preferable to me, but here are my specific preferences:
Traditional:
This is my favorite form of debate. Also, a key misconception a lot of super techy debtors have is that trad isn't legit debate - obv it is, with so many arguments going back and forth. I am flowing every thing that is said.
V/VC debate should be tied into the contention-level thesis.
Line-by-line debate is alright w/ me.
Quality of evidence > quantity of evidence. You better have cites for all your evidence.
I prefer clashes on arguments that are far more substantial. Don't spend time on arguments that aren't going to be voting issues in the round.
Please articulate voting issues in the summary speeches.
I really dislike it when debaters take evidence out of context. Just say what your evidence says.
Philosophy:
I'm well-versed in phil, so please don't make a really sad argument about something you don't understand. Denser phil requires more explanation.
Speaking:
If online, go slower. Just make it clear. If it's not clear, I'll yell "clear" 3 times for you to slow down. After that, speaks are docked.
Base for speaks is 28.
If in-person, just NO spreading.
IF necessary, here are the techy stuff (still don't prefer it):
Kritiks:
I'm cool w/ kritiks, as long as you explain it well enough. Framework determines the game here most of the time so if you want me to vote for your kritik, win the framework. Also, don't be obsessed with your doc here all the time. Take the effort to look up and speak to me. Debate is a persuasive activity, so treat it like that.
K Affs and Ts:
These kinds of Affs should be isolating an issue and resolving it. Personal narratives here are irrelevant. Explain these well, please. A nuanced framework will go in your favor.
Tricks:
Please just no.
Extemp:
A good explanation is the name of the game here. Don't make up an answer that doesn't make sense, make sure it ties into the question and actually gets to the point.
I'm actually very well-versed in international and US politics, so don't make stuff up. If you do and I know you're making stuff up, you're going to get a lower rank.
Usually, though, I vote based on who answered the question the best, but speaking does play a role in that decision. Extemp is the interesting duality b/w complex topics and simplicity. If you can synthesize complicated information in a simple way that's engaging to listen to, you'll probably be high-ranked.
Coach - Quarry Lane School, formerly Lawrence Free State
Debated - University of Kansas '25 (Antitrust to Climate), Pittsburg HS in Kansas '21 (Education to CJR)
email: jspiersdebate@gmail.com, HS add: debate@student.quarrylane.org It's 2024: you know how to send an email, it should be sent by start time.
I judged ~40 debates at camp, and will normally judge around that number during the season.
I will vote on just about anything - except any discriminatory 'ism' good. This includes - hidden ASPEC, death good, fiat double bind, random dropped VIs, "flow check- vote them down if they don't answer this arg" etc... Debates should be decided technically. Bad arguments can't be beaten just by pointing out that they're bad- you have to explain why. Incomplete arguments CAN be answered by pointing out that they're incomplete. I attempt to avoid reading cards as much as possible - when you send a card doc, I will read the minimum I need to make a decision.
Maximizing your chance of victory requires you to verbalize the ballot you want me to write and do the comparison/explanation that you want me to tell you in the RFD. My least favorite debates to judge are the ones that everyone forgets that someone has to write an RFD at the end- and is very good at micro questions but lacking in putting together a ballot.
As I've debated and judged for longer, I have greater respect for debate as a persuasive activity, In the ideal world I am an idle viewer of your debate and don't have thoughts on anything you say. We are not in the ideal world, and in this one I hate voting on hidden ASPEC. While defeating your opponents with brute force technicality on some of the "greatest hits" of abominable argumentation is possible, these are by-and-large not the debates I like to judge. If it were up to me, every round would be biggest aff on topic vs. topic DA. But, I understand the need for strategy, that debate's not about me, etc... The way this translates in debates: it is more likely that you get speaks that punch above the average by defending the most controversial positions on the topic (controversial as in people have stuff to say about it, not as in "hated") than process CP fiat K junk.
Many technical judges have blindspots [some think theory is silly and "if it's competitive, it's legit" is always true, some hate condo bad, some won't vote on the K]. No judge wants to admit they have any of these, but if anything is mine is that I think "bad' args are bad- those that contravene reality, not those that are kinda silly but tricky like wipeout - I may be a little too willing to think "true not new" is justified, although in all but the most extreme circumstances I'll probably begrudgingly vote for the bad argument.
Please recognize that as much as I try to evaluate technically debate requires speech and the additional ways you modulate your voice while spreading (getting really loud or quiet, drastically changing your pitch, mumbling when you didn't before, random changes in how you sound between tags/analytic/card text) make flowing significantly harder. Spreading is talking but faster, and that's it. If you can't do it without anything else, just talk the way you would in CX and debate technically and efficiently.
Improve speaker points by:
1. Concision/efficiency - don't say three times what you've said once- I will not flow "Jared your paradigm says you'd vote on Hidden ASPEC and actually what we did here in this 1NC was hide ASPEC ergo you must be willing to vote on hidden ASPEC.." etc... just say "ASPEC is a VI - failing to specify kills generics like agent CPs which are necessary on topics that are bad for neg - impact is fairness - dropped in 2AC' (notice how one of these was an argument and the other alluded to an argument) - this applies equally to like just saying an argument is "stupid" or "you don't care," because I am an unfeeling robot and those do not respond to the excel cell to the left
This is also true of overviews... a 2AC/1AR overview (especially with a plan) is basically actively killing your speaks and the first place I will tell you to save time- since I often see teams getting to DAs with not enough time, but if they had their 30 seconds from overviews back...
2. Clarity - whoever taught you that you didn't need to be clear in the body of cards is wrong - sounding good is sounding relatively similar for most parts of the speech other than emphasis and transitions to make it clear what matters - just like when we talk slowly... there's a reason the best debaters you've watched don't hum while speaking or fail to pronounce syllables in words
3. Write my decision for me - bad attempts at this often look like the ASPEC thing above, but a good attempt at this normally says something about how you want me to individually decide COMPONENTS - "ASPEC is a VI, their best shot is new cross applied answers, which we'll answer specifically below, but you should reject and punish them for being new, which means we have unmitigated offense that outweighs..." because deciding debates is basically zero of the impact-calc tournament demonstrations of macho-ness and more intricate evaluations of individual parts
- I prefer if you go slightly slower so i can understand responses easily
- Clash is always good
- make sure to weigh and give voters
- I would appreciate it if you could give an offtime roadmap before speeches
- give warrants behind evidence - don’t just extend
- explain arguments clearly
Assistant Coach for Nueva
Add me to email chain: esteinberg01@wesleyan.edu
PF:
Extensions/General Preferences: A few sentences or a run-on containing a claim, warrant, and impact is sufficient to be considered "extended". However, arguments are usually harder to win on the flow with shallow extensions. The vast majority of teams seem to have issues mechanizing and thoroughly explaining each step of their link-chains. Going fast and covering the flow is not an excuse to avoid explaining your arguments - collapsing effectively and introducing weighing early will make it easier to flesh them out. If both teams are technically proficient, the team that wins will often be the one that can resolve clashes with more thorough and deeper warranting.
Weighing: I despise when teams read a laundry list of weighing buzzwords like "scope, magnitude, probability" without any nuanced argument comparison. Additionally, if you say "Our probability is 100% because it's happening right now" I will roll my eyes. You derive impacts from the probability of preventing the harm or creating the benefit not from the probability of the harm occurring.
-Speed: Go as fast as you want - I have not needed to clear anyone but I will if necessary.
-Theory: I have voted for theory several times this year but I have yet to see a good round with theory in it. Take that how you will.
-K: I majored in philosophy in college so I will be able to follow the material/literature but slow down/thoroughly explain the implications. I would be more than happy to judge a good K round but I will be very sad if you botch a philosopher I like. Unfortunately, the latter happens more often than the former so I would recommend being cautious about running a K in front of me unless you are dope at it.
-Tricks: Haven't judged it yet but I am mildly fascinated by the prospect.
-Use CX to resolve clash - I'm not flowing but cross can still be incredibly productive if used correctly
Parli:
Competed briefly in HS parli and extensively in college (APDA). Open to all kinds of arguments, but see above regarding my perspective on prog args. I am less familiar with Parli norms so connecting prog arguments to Parli may require more connecting and implicating.
The things:
Affil: Baylor, Georgetown University, American Heritage and Walt Whitman High School.
If you think it matters, err on the side of sending a relevant card doc immediately after your 2nr/2ar.
**New things for College 2023-24(Harvard):
Weird relevant insight: Irrespective of the resolution- I am somewhat of a weapons enthusiast and national security nerd.
Yes, I am one of those weirdos that find pleasure in studying weapon systems, war/combat strategy and nuclear posture absent debate. Feel free to flex your topic knowledge, call out logical inconsistencies, break wild and nuanced positions etc. THESE WILL MAKE ME HAPPY(and generous with speaks).
In an equally debated round, the art of persuasion becomes increasingly important. I hate judge intervention and actively try to avoid it, but if you fail to shore up the debate in the 2nr/2ar its inevitable.
Please understand, you will not actually change my mind on things like Cap, Israel, Heg, and the necessity of national security or military resolve in the real world...and its NOT YOUR JOB TO; your job is to convince me that you have sufficiently met the burden set forth to win the round.
Internal link debates and 2nr scenario explanation on DAs have gotten more and more sparse...please do better. I personally dont study China-Taiwan and various other Asian ptx scenarios so I will be less familiar with the litany of acronyms and jargon.
***
TLDR:
Tech>Truth (default). I judge the debate in front of me. Debate is a game so learn to play it better or bring an emotional support blanket.
Yes, I will likely understand whatever K you're reading.
Framing, judge instruction and impact work are essential, do it or risk losing to an opponent that does.
There should be an audible transition cue/signal when going from end of card to next argument and/or tag. e.g. "next", "and", or even just a fractional millisecond pause. **Aside from this point, honestly, you can comfortably ignore everything else below. As long as I can flow you, I will follow the debate on your terms.
Additional thoughts:
-My first cx question as a 2N/debater has now become my first question when deciding debates--Why vote aff?
-My ballot is nothing more than a referendum on the AFF and will go to whichever team did the better debating. You decide what that means.
-Your ego should not exceed your skill but cowardice and beta energy are just as cringe.
-Topicality is a question of definitions, Framework is a question of models.
-If I don't have a reason why specifically the aff is net bad at the end of the debate, I will vote aff.
-CASE DEBATE, it's a thing...you should do it...it will make me happy and if done correctly, you will be rewarded heavily with speaks.
-Too many people (affs mainly) get away with blindly asserting cap is bad. Negatives that can take up this debate and do it well can expect favorable speaks.
More category specific stuff below, if you care.
Ks
From low theory to high theory I don't have any negative predispositions.
I do enjoy postmodernism, existentialism and psychoanalysis for casual reading so my familiarity with that literature will be deeper than other works.
Top-level stuff
1. You don't necessarily need to win an alt. Just make it clear you're going for presumption and/or linear disad.
2. Tell me why I care. Framing is uber important.
My major qualm with K debates, as of late, mainly centers around the link debate.
1. I would obvi prefer unique and hyper-spec links in the 1nc but block contextualization is sufficient.
2. Links to the status quo are links to the status quo and do not prove why the aff is net bad. Put differently, if your criticism makes claims about the current state of affairs/the world you need to win why the aff uniquely does something to change or exacerbate said claim or state of the world. Otherwise, I become extremely sympathetic to "Their links are to the status quo not the aff".
Security Ks are underrated. If you're reading a Cap K and cant articulate basic tenets or how your "party" deals with dissent...you can trust I will be annoyed.
CP
- vs policy affs I like "sneaky" CPs and process CPs if you can defend them.
- I think CPs are underrated against K affs and should be pursued more.
- Solvency comparison is rather important.
T
Good Topicality debates around policy affs are underappreciated.
Reasonability claims need a brightline
FWK
Perhaps contrary to popular assumption, I'm rather even on this front.
I think debate is a game...cause it is. So either learn to play it better or learn to accept disappointment.
Framework debates, imo, are a question of models and impact relevance.
Just because I personally like something or think its true, doesn't mean you have done the necessary work to win the argument in a debate.
Neg teams, you lose these debates when your opponent is able to exploit a substantial disconnect between your interp and your standards.
Aff teams, you should answer FW in a way most consistent with the story of your aff. If your aff straight up impact turns FW or topicality norms in debate, a 2AC that is mainly definitions and fairness based would certainly raise an eyebrow.
Lowell '22
Cal '26
Contact Info
Policy: lowelldebatedocs [at] gmail [dot] com
LD: tsantaylor [at] gmail [dot] com
Policy
Lay Debate: I'll evaluate the debate as a slow round unless both teams agree to go fast. Adapt to the rest of the panel before me.
Topicality: It's the negative's burden to prove a violation. I think debate is both an educational space and a competitive game, so I will be more persuaded by the model that maximizes its benefits for debaters and creates the most level playing field for both sides.
Counterplans: Unlimited condo is good. Advantage CP planks should have rehighlightings or solvency advocates to be legitimate. Deficits should be clearly impacted out from the 2AC to the 2AR for me to vote on them.
Disads: Turns case arguments, aff-specific link explanations, and ev comparison matter most for me. Logical, smart analytics do just as much damage as ev.
Ks: Most familiar with cap/setcol/security/IR Ks. I evaluate framework first to frame the rest of my flow. Contextualization to the aff, turns case analysis, and pulling lines from the 1AC are really important for the link debate.
K-Affs/KvK: I have the least experience judging these debates. "As the negative, recognize if this is an impact turn debate or one of competing models early on (as in, during the 2AC). When the negative sees where the 2AR will go and adjusts accordingly, I have found that I am very good for the negative. But when they fail to understand the debate's strategic direction, I almost always vote aff." - Debnil Sur
LD
I primarily judge LD now, but I've never competed in the activity so I'm not familiar with the specific theory/tricks. Explicit judge instruction and impact calc will go a long way for me, especially in the final rebuttals.
Things that will lower your speaks: stopping prep time before you start creating your speech doc, egregiously asking your opponent what was marked/not read, going for an RVI.
Misc.
I won't read evidence at the end of the debate unless you explicitly tell me to and send a compiled card doc.
Read whatever you want - if an argument is truly so bad that it shouldn't be debated, you should be able to beat it with zero cards. With that said, there is a clear difference between going for certain args and being actively violent in round, and I have zero tolerance for the latter.
+0.1 speaks if you make fun of a current cal debater/anyone on the lowell team and i laugh
Be nice, don't cheat, and have fun!
I have been associated with the speech & debate program since 2016. I have judged a few competitions - Congress and Public Forum. Here are my preferences:
1. I appreciate debaters maintaining the decorum, at all times
2. Make sure to follow the rules, at all times
3. Treat your opponent(s) with respect and dignity, just like how you would like to be treated
4. Understand and practice the difference b/w speaking affirmatively vs speaking loudly
5. To me, good content is one where there is strong evidence to support your arguments
6. I appreciate meaningful, relevant statistics/data points that support the evidence
7. I appreciate a good summary towards the end highlighting key impacts
8. Speak at an acceptable pace. Being clear and concise is important to me that speaking fast
Wish you best!
add me to the email chain!
debate however you want to, I'll adapt and my paradigm is likely to not fully encompass my views on debate
Good debating will always overcome any of my biases, these are just defaults if things are uncontested
Notes for online debate
If you raise your pitch while spreading, please go slower so you don't peak or modify your gain filter so your audio does not cut out
Prefer cameras on including prep
If you have a fun strategy feel free to run it in front of me - this excludes exclusionary strats
Good for speed, just make sure you're clear, if I clear you and you don't change then don't be surprised if my flow misses an argument you made
Evidence quality and ethics are highly valuable to me, although I typically let the flow decide what is "true". That being said I have a low threshold for ignoring bad cards, if your opponent reads bad cards jump on this. If you don't, I won't do the work for you.
Additionally rehighlighting their evidence will always boost your speaks and be very good at zeroing whatever argument they want the card to make. However, make sure you are right about what you point out.
feel free to post round if you don’t think my decision was clear
Topicality -
Default to competing interps (this means you need to say reasonability and extend it through the 2ar)
Topic specific definitions > general definition > noncontextual definitions
I can be persuaded otherwise but this is what I default to
I enjoy evaluating T debates and would consider myself good for them.
T USfg -
Negative teams need to answer the impact turns by being specific about how their impacts implicate the affirmative model's solvency. Your education/fairness arguments mean nothing if it is key to something that the affirmative is critiquing.
Typically the team which is more specific with their framework offense will win the debate, broadly saying debate is violent or procedural fairness is key are unpersuasive absent a reason why the other team's model does not solve for your impact or exacerbates it.
Clash > fairness > education > skills
Affirmatives need to define the role of the negative
K Affs -
Teams that counter-define the resolution and create an interesting model of debate will more often than not win in front of me. I find full impact turns to T less persuasive relatively but will still vote on them.
Any affirmative that is willing to defend itself and its purpose in the debate space may be read in front of me. Advocate for what you want my ballot to represent and I will typically use it as such unless you lose framework.
Theory -
Have a high threshold for most arguments as a I believe theory should typically be used to create reasons to reject the team
Disadvantages -
Turns case arguments are important to me, especially when comparing extinction impacts
Soft left affs should look to win the framing page with more than just "extinction never happens".
The best way to zero a disad is with evidence indicts.
There is not always a risk of the link/impact and I will typically read the cards surrounding those two most thoroughly in my decision
internal links need to be debated out more often, they're often the sketchiest part of any argument.
Counterplans -
If you are going to read cards on the counter plan it should have a solvency advocate in the 1NC, otherwise I will be easily persuaded by theory
CPs based off 1AC evidence are some of my favorite to judge
I lean neg on the question of sufficiency framing so comparison of the world post-aff vs post-cp are very important to me
Kritiks -
I would say I'm a good judge for any K
I think that the block should have a significant amount of link explanation (I love link specificity based upon internal links), therefore I'm more empathetic to grouping blippy links in the 1AR as a way to deter the link shotguns that seem to have become more popular. This is because too often I see teams throw out 5 or 6 links in the block to have the 1AR drop one they apparently aren't prepared to go for in the 2NR and end up collapsing the debate down to the one argument which was covered. (this will tank your speaks as a 2N)
Framework is key to how I evaluate the alt and what my ballot represents - teams can still win absent framework and it is a viable 2nr in many cases if you're ahead on the link debate
On that note, affs should try to isolate whether the alt is material or not as early in the debate as possible, this informs a lot of the debate and letting the negative run away with this will lose you debates.
Debate- This is my third year judging. I am well informed and have done my homework so as to judge fairly and effectively.
-Speak with clarity and at a reasonable pace so that I can take notes.
-I look for effective presentation, organization and strong evidence.
Speech- Not judged too may tournaments but familiarizing myself with the various platforms of speech. I look for effective presentation, body language and facial expressions.
Best Wishes!!
Lowell '21, Davis '25
Yes I want to be on the email chain: leenicholwilcox[at]gmail.com.
Make sure to add lowelldebatedocs[at]gmail.com to the chain as well.
And please - actually label your chains. Please format it as [Tournament Name] R[Round Number] Aff [School] AB vs. Neg [School] CD. (An example - ASU R3 Aff McQueen LR vs Neg Lowell WW) It keeps things neat. If you send me a chain labeled "1AC" or "No Subject" I will have a stroke.
About me: Lowell High School from San Francisco, California, Class of 2021. I use he/him pronouns. These days, I'm a student at UC Davis. I was a part of policy debate for four years at Lowell and was moderately successful. I've been both a 1N/2A and a 1A/2N so I know what a good example of every speech in debate looks like. Make a funny joke about anyone on the Lowell squad and I'll give you +0.1 speaker points. Taytum Wymer was best and final partner as a 1N/2A, but I've also debated with Alvin Yang, Zoe Rosenberg, (at the lay level) and Aaliyah Mangonon. Debnil Sur is my god, father, and guiding influence, and was my debate coach through high school. (Jokes about any of them get you +0.2 speaker points.) He has influenced my thoughts and attitudes about debate immensely. If it's not in my paradigm, check his and the chance is good that I agree with him.
Notes at the top:
-Tech > truth. My personal opinions will almost never affect my decision in a round, but they may affect how I read and treat your execution of certain arguments.
-Do not waste your time telling me something was dropped if it wasn't, it's irritating to me as a judge and gains you nothing.
-Most important thing in a round is judge instruction - as with most judges, I'm lazy. Write my ballot for me, I beg of you.
-Snark and grandstanding in speeches and c/x are fine when it comes to ethos, but it's a fine line. If I don't like your behavior, and in particular if I find your behavior condescending and disrespectful toward your opponents, I can and will dock your speaks.
-Dropped arguments mean nothing absent contextualization. Explain to me what it means that they dropped this argument. Great, it's true. How does that affect the rest of the round and my decision?
-I think I'm pretty expressive, so if I don't like your argument, trust me, you'll be able to tell.
Lay Debates: In a predominantly lay environment like a GGSA tourney, I'll judge it like a parent unless you explicitly ask me for a circuit-style round. If I'm on a panel, I will judge you on a flow basis but am fine with being adapted around. I can roll with anything.
Online Debates: Slow down and have your analytics in the doc. I flow based on what you say, but if I miss something I'll probably reference your doc, and if you read a bunch of one line analytics and try to blow them up later in the round only to discover it's new to me, it's not my problem. Signpost explicitly. If you put more in the doc than you end up reading that's fine, but be extremely clear about what you didn't read. Don't be the debater that puts everything in the doc and barely reads any of it. I will dock your speaks. Unless you have internet issues, I expect your camera to be on. Be accommodating of tech issues. Wait for explicit visual or auditory confirmation from everyone before you give your speech. I will either say "I'm good" or flash you thumbs-up when I'm good. If I say nothing or I say "I'm not good," for the love of God do not start.
Topic Background: I am not intimately familiar with this topic, so don't take my knowledge of topic-specific jargon and the meta for granted.
Argumentative Preferences: The word "preferences" is doing a lot of work here, I'll vote on and listen to a lot but in general I prefer policy arguments, although I've moved substantially leftward as I've gotten older. (Some of that has to do with the topics we've been getting recently) I will still vote on your K or K Aff.
K Arguments
How compelling I find critical arguments depend on the K itself and on the aff it's being read against. I'm relatively well-read on Ks like Security, Cap, and Setcol, (and likely have working familiarity with a half a dozen more) but I have higher expectations for link work than "they exist in the system." I'm also probably a poor bet for less "common" Ks like Baudrillard since I tend to be biased against them. The closer it is to cap the more I'll probably agree with it. The more material it is the stronger it is in my book. Alternatives are often the weakest part of a Kritik. An affirmative team that properly indicts the alternative and holds off neg offense on the links and framework is in a good position for me. Perms are useful situationally. If you get wrecked on framework a perm will not save you.
I don't find sweeping ontological claims absent contextualization to the affirmative you're reading compelling. If you don't win it and framework is lost, I let them weigh the aff. Probably a death knell for a K team, but solid turns case work and good explanations can still have me hand it to you. I tend to vote for whatever I think has the best chance of solving the most important impact, so if you win that your impacts are the most important and your alt is all that has a chance of solving it, I'm golden.
Framework-wise, (and this goes for T debates as well) I don't see myself as a policymaker. Critiques of the educational structure of debate or indicts of the way educational value is produced under your opponent's interpretation are extremely strong for me, but I'll vote on whatever is debated to me better.
Disadvantages
Most of them are nonsense. I was a straight policy team for my first couple years, so believe me when I say I know exactly how asinine your DA is. If you read a stupid DA and your opponent mocks it for what it is, I find it exceptionally compelling. Neg teams should vigorously defend their internal links with specific, warranted explanations and have clear and compelling links to the plan. Otherwise, affirmatives will almost certainly outweigh your low-risk impact in my book. Don't treat your impact as an afterthought, and be sure to do some impact calculus, but in my experience DAs lose on link/internal link stuff far more often.
Counterplans
Honestly, they're either painfully generic or obviously don't solve for the Aff. For the neg, explicit and clear solvency explanations and using sufficiency framing to mitigate solvency deficits as well as weighing the net benefit against them are an absolute must. For the aff, detail out the solvency deficits and quantify them so I get a sense of how much of your aff they don't solve. You also need to be able to explain your perm beyond a tagline for me to take it seriously. I'll judge kick unless the Aff wins I shouldn't.
Theory
If it's not dropped I almost certainly won't vote on it, and frankly, unless I see in-round abuse I won't vote on it even if they drop it. (Don't take that as an excuse to drop it, please) With three or fewer conditional advocacies I lean Neg on condo. Slight aff lean on process counterplans but I won't reject the team. I lean neg on every other theoretical argument I can think of.
Lowell '20 || UC Berkeley '24 || Assistant Coach @ College Prep || she/her/hers
Please add both kelly@college-prep.org and cpsspeechdocs@gmail.com to the chain.
Please format the chain subject like this: Tournament Name - Round # - Aff Team Code [Aff] vs Neg Team Code. Please make sure the chain is set up before the start time.
Background
I debated for four years at Lowell High School. I’ve been a 2A for most of my years (2Ned as a side gig my junior year). Qualified to the TOC & placed 7th at NSDA reading arguments on both sides of the spectrum. I'd say my comfort for judging rounds is Policy vs. Policy > K vs. Policy >> K vs. K.
I learned everything I know about debate from Debnil Sur, and I think about debate in the same way as this guy.He's probably the person I talk to the most when it comes to strategies and execution, it would be fair to say that if you like the way that he judge then I am also a good judge for you.
General Things
I'll vote on anything.I think there is certainly a lot of value in ideological flexibility.
Tech >>>>>>>>> truth: I'd rather adapt to your strategies than have you adapt to what you think my preferences are. The below are simply guidelines & ways to improve speaks via tech-y things I like seeing rather than ideological stances on arguments.
Looooove judge instruction - if I hear a ballot being written in the 2NR/2AR, I will basically just go along with it and verify if what you are saying is correct. The closer my decision is to words you have said in the 2NR/2AR, the higher your speaker points will be.
I think evidence quality is important, but I value good spin more because it incentivizes smart analysis & contextualization - I think that a model of debate where rounds are adjudicated solely based on evidence quality favors truth more than technical skills. As a result, I tend not to look at evidence after the round unless it was specifically flagged during speeches. With that being said, I’ll probably default to reading evidence if there’s a lack of resolution done by teams in a round. You probably don't want this because I feel like its opens up the possibility for more intervention -- so please just help me out and debate warrants + resolve the biggest points of clash in your 2NR/2ARs.
2023-2024 Round Stats If You Care:
Policy vs. Policy (11-18): 37.93% aff over 29 rounds, 22.22% aff in a theory debate over 9 rounds
Policy vs. K (5-2): 71.43% aff over 7 rounds
K vs. Policy (2-3): 40% aff over 5 rounds
K v K (1-0): 100% aff over 1 round
Sat once out of 12 elim rounds
Disads
Not much to say here - think these debates are pretty straight forward. I start evaluation at the impact level to determine link threshold & risk of the disad. My preference for evaluation is if there is explicit ballot writing + evidence indicts + resolution done by yourself in the 2NR/2AR, I would love not to open the card document and make a more interventionist judgement.
CPs
Default to judge kick. If the affirmative team has a problem with me doing this, that words "condo bad" should have been in the 2AC and explanation for no judge kick warranted out in the 1AR/2AR.
The proliferation of 1NCs with like 10 process counterplans has been kind of wild, and probably explains my disproportionately neg leaning ballot record. Process/agent/consult CPs are kind of cheating but in the words of the wise Tristan Bato, "most violations are reasons to justify a permutation or call solvency into question and not as a voter."
I think I tend to err neg on questions of conditionality & perf con but probably aff on counterplans that garner competition off of the word “should”. Obviously this is a debate to be had but also I’m also sympathetic to a well constructed net benefit with solid evidence.
Ks
Framework is sosososo important in these debates. I don’t think I really lean either side on this question but I don’t think the neg needs to win the alt if they win framework + links based on the representational strategy of the 1AC.
Nuanced link walls based on the plan/reps + pulling evidence from their ev >>>> links based on FIATed state action and generic cards about your theory.
To quote Debnil “I'm a hard sell on sweeping ontological or metaphysical claims about society; I'll likely let the aff weigh the plan; I don't think the alt can fiat structures out of existence; and I think the alt needs to generate some solid uniqueness for the criticism.“
Bad for post-modernism, simply because I've never read them + rarely debated them in high school. If you have me in the back you need to do a LOT of explanation.
Planless Affs/Framework
Generally, I don’t think people do enough work comparing/explaining their competing models of debate and its benefits other than “they exclude critical discussions!!!!”
For the aff: Having advocacy in the direction of the topic >>>>>>>> saying anything in the 1AC. I’ll probably be a lot more sympathetic to the neg if I just have no clue what the method/praxis of the 1AC is in relation to the topic. I think the value of planless affs come from having a defensible method that can be contested, which is why I’m not a huge fan of advocacies not tied to the topic. Not sure why people don’t think perms in a method debate are not valid - with that being said, I can obviously be convinced otherwise. I prefer nuanced perm explanations rather than just “it’s not mutually exclusive”.
For the neg: I don’t really buy procedural fairness - I think to win this standard you would have to win pretty substantial defense to the aff’s standards & disprove the possibility of debate having an effect on subjectivity. I don't think I'd never vote on fairness, but I think the way that most debaters extend it just sound whiney and don't give me a reason to prefer it over everything else. Impacts like agonism, legal skills, deliberation, etc are infinitely more convincing to me. Stop with the question of "what does voting aff in round [x] of tournament [y] do for your movement", you're hardly ever going to get the gotcha moment you think you will. Absent a procedural question of framework, I am just evaluating whether or not I think the advocacy is a good idea, not that I think the reading of it in one round has to change the state of debate/the world.
Topicality / Theory
I default to competing interps. Explanations of your models/differences between your interps + caselists >>>>> “they explode limits” in 10 different places. Please please please please do impact comparison, I don’t want to hear “they’re a tiny aff and that’s unfair” a bunch.
Topic education, clash, and in-depth research are more convincing to me than generic fairness impacts.
Theory debates are usually the most difficult for me to resolve, and probably the most interventionist I would have to be in an RFD. Very explicit judge instruction and ballot writing is needed to avoid such intervention.
Ethics Violations/Procedurals
I don't flow off speech docs, but I try to follow along when you're reading evidence to ensure you're not clipping. If I catch you clipping, I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you don't know what you're doing. I will give you a warning, but drop you if it happens again. If the other team catches you and wants to stake the round on an ethics challenge, I doubt you're winning that one.
Questions of norms ≠ ethics violations. If you believe the ballot should resolve a question of norms (disclosure, open sourcing, etc), then I will evaluate it like a regular procedural. If you believe it's an ethics violation (intentionally modifying evidence, clipping, etc), then the round stops immediately. Loser of the ethics challenge receives an auto loss and 20s.
Evidence ethics can be really iffy to resolve. If you want to stake the round on an evidence distortion, you must prove: that the piece of evidence was cut by the other team (or someone affiliated with their school) AND there was clear and malicious intent to alter its meaning. If your problem isn't surrounding distortion but rather mistagging/misinterpreting the evidence, it can be solved via a rehighlighting.
Online Debate
Please don't start until you see my camera on!
If you're not wearing headphones with a microphone attached, it is REALLY hard to hear you when you turn away from your laptop. Please refrain from doing this.
I would also love if you slowed down a tiny tiny tiny tiny bit on your analytics. I will clear you at most 3 times, but I can't help it if I miss what you're saying on my flow ;(.
Lay Debate / GGSA
I actually really appreciate these rounds. I think at the higher levels, debaters tend to forget that debate is a communicative activity at its core, and rely on the judge's technical knowledge to get out of impacting out arguments themselves. If we are in a lay setting and you'd rather not have a fast round when I'm in the back, I'll be all for that. There is such a benefit in adapting to slower audiences and over-explaining implications of all parts of the debate -- it builds better technical understanding of the activity! I'll probably still evaluate the round similar to how I would a regular round, but I think the experience of you forcing yourself to over-explain each part of the flow to me is greatly beneficial.
Public Forum
I've never debated in PF, but I have judged a handful of rounds now. I will evaluate very similarly to how I evaluate policy rounds.
I despise the practice of sending snippets of evidence one at a time. I think it's a humongous waste of time and honestly would prefer (1) the email chain be started BEFORE the round and (2) all of the evidence you read in your speech sent at once. Someone was confused about this portion of my paradigm -- basically, instead of asking for "Can I get [A] card on [B] argument, [C] card on [D] arg, etc...", I think it would be faster if the team that just spoke sent all of their evidence in one doc. This is especially true if the tournament is double-flighted.
If you want me to read evidence after the round, please make sure you flag is very clearly.
I've been in theory/k rounds and I try to evaluate very close to policy. I'm not really a huge fan of k's in public forum -- I don't think there is enough speech time for you to develop such complex arguments out well. I also don't think it makes a lot of sense given the public forum structure (i.e. going for an advocacy when it's not a resolution that is set up to handle advocacies). I think there's so much value in engaging with critical literature, please consider doing another event that is set up better for it if you're really interested in the material. However, I'm still willing to vote on anything, as long as you establish a role of the ballot + frame why I'm voting.
If you delay the round to pre-flow when it's double-flighted, I will be very upset. You should know your case well enough for it to not be necessary, or do it on your own time.
Be nice & have fun.
I am currently a Policy Debater at Gonzaga University and am coaching at Niles West High School
TLDR
Yes email chain - tzdebatestuff@gmail.com
Time yourself and time your opponents
I have experience with most types of arguments but don't assume I have read your author/lit already. Explain your theory/complex legal args in language that is understandable
Impact calc wins rounds
speed is good but outside of policy it's cringe
Tech over truth within reason (ie a dropped arg with no warrant or impact doesnt matter)
I don't care at all what you say and will vote on anything that is not immediately and obviously violent
Not a fan of the super-aggressive debate style - unless executed perfectly it comes off as cringe 99.9% of the time
Judge instruction please
T
Some of the most interesting debates I have judged have been T debates against policy teams. In a perfect world the negative should explain what the in round implications of the untopical aff were as well and probably more importantly what it would mean for debate if their interpretation was the new norm.
Going for T doesnt mean you cant extend a case turn youre winning
Limits is a very convincing argument for me - I probably agree that a ton of small affs would be bad
FW
I have read both policy and K affs
Debating about debate is cool but if it is distracting from x scholarship it is less cool
Bad K affs are not cool but good K affs are cool
K affs that don't address the resolution/stem from topic research are not good and start from adeficit
I find myself pretty split in FW v K Aff debates. If the aff sufficiently answers/turns FW I have no problem voting aff to forward a new model of debate. I find this specifically true when the 1AC has built-in or at least inferential answers to fw that they can deploy offensively.
At the same time if the negative does good FW debating and justifies the limits their model imposes I feel good voting on FW. I am not convinced that reading FW in and of itself is violent though I recognize the impact these arguments may have on x scholarship which means that when this gets explained I am down to evaluate the impacts of reading these types of arguments but I don't think its a morally bankrupt argument to go for or anything like that.
Debate bad as an argument is not convincing to me, we are all here by free will and we all love debate or at the very least think it is a good academic activity. This does not mean you cannot convince me that there are problems within the community .
Switch side debate probably solves your impact turn to framework - affs that undercover SSD put themselves in a really tough spot. I often find myself rewarding strategic 2NR decisions that collapse on SSD or the TVA (or another argument you may be winning).
Fairness is always good
Theory
Theory is good.
If you read like 6 reasons to reject the team I think some warrants are necessary. ex:"Reject the team, utopian fiat bad" is not an argument - why is x thing utopian?
If you are going to go for a theory arg in a final rebuttal ensure your partner extended it substantially enough for you to have adequate arguments to go for or give a nuanced speech on the specific args extended by your partner - generalized rebuttals on theory are bad. At the same time I am cool with hailmary rebuttals on theory because you are getting destroyed in every other part of the debate
I tend to lean neg on condo stuff but not by much
Will vote on perf con
Dont read your theory blocks at 2 million wpm
Bonus points for contextualizing your theory args to the round they are being deployed in
If you want to go for theory spend more than 7 seconds on it when you are first deploying the argument
K
Cool with a 1 off and case strat
Kritiks are cool
Vague alts are annoying and if I cant understand how the alt solves case and you don't have good case stuff I am gonna have a tough time voting neg unless the link debate implicates that (and is articulated)
Explain links in clear terms and be specific to the aff you are hitting. Specific links are better than generic like state bad links but if you have a generic link please explain to me how the aff uniquely makes the situation WORSE not just that it doesnt make it better - these are different things
I am totally cool with performance and love me some affect but if you are reading cards about how performance is key to X and your whole "performance" is playing like 10 seconds of a song before your 1AC and you don't reference it again then I am cool voting neg on "even if performance is good yall's was trash" (assuming this arg is made lol)
Winning FW is huge but you still need to leverage it as a reason for me to vote on X. Just because you are "winning" FW doesn't mean I know how you want me to evaluate args under this paradigm. So, when you think you are winning FW explain how that implicates my role as the judge.
CP
CPs are great but 10 plank conditional counterplans are kinda silly.
2nc CPs (or CP amendments) are lit
Advantage CP defender
DA
DAs are awesome and CP DA strat is a classic
UQ is extremely important to me. A lot of links are ignorant to UQ so explain the link in the context of the UQ you are reading
Explain your impact scenario clearly - bad internal links to terminal impacts r crazzzzzy
PF
I did PF in HS but it was trad so I am likely going to evaluate the round through a policy lens.
Will vote on theory
Cool with K stuff
LD
Pretty much same as PF - never did LD but I have judged it a ton so I will likely judge how you instruct me to but default to a policy lens.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Debate is hard and stressful but relax and be confident and have fun!
Feel free to email me with any questions tzdebatestuff@gmail.com
School Affiliations: Dougherty Valley High School
About me: Hi, my name is Roy Zheng, and I'm a parent judge who has judged for almost 6 years for my 2 daughters. One competed in Expository Speech all throughout high school, and the other is actively competing in Policy/LD Debate in high school right now.
Judging/Event Types: Policy, PuFo, LD, Speech Events
Speaker points: You can get good speaker points by being confident and having smart, concise arguments that are well-warranted and explained well. Please make sure you respect your opponents as well!
At the end of the debate, I like to look at arguments again and review which side made the best claims and had the best evidence for comparison. Impact weighing during your rebuttal speeches helps me a lot with my decisions too, so please make sure you don't forget to talk about your impacts! I will evaluate any type of impact, as long as you explain it well.
I take notes/flow the entire debate and listen to cross examination.
Feel free to ask me before the round starts if you have any questions. Please be kind and confident, as debate is supposed to be fun and we're all here to learn :-)
Hi!
I'm Wei Wei Zhou and a parent judge.
Please speak slowly and clearly. Please send your cases to me before the round. Be polite!
Please keep your own time. I will not keep it for you.
Give an off time roadmap before every speech.
Please weigh and give me exact, accurate numbers in your impacts.
If you are offensive toward your opponents, I will drop your speaker points and/or disqualify you.
I value sportsmanship and logic above all else. Have fun debating!