Western JV and Novice Championship
2023 — Bay Area, CA/US
In Person PF Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show HideKeep it civil, please!
I like to watch stronger topics vs teams attacking eachother.
Stay calm. I like clarity and confidence. I know everyone is nervous, but dont let it get the better of your performace.
Keep me engaged!
Make sure you get everything in before your time is up. <3
Hi! I'm Claire. I was decent at PF in high school (College Prep BB, if you want to stalk me). I still coach (Palo Alto High School) and debate (BP and APDA at Stanford).
How I judge PF:
Tech > Truth, I'll vote off of anything on the flow as long as it's 1) warranted and extended and 2) not offensive/discriminatory in any way.
Evidence still needs warrants. Please have good evidence ethics and send evidence quickly. I will call for evidence if it's contested, and it should be a proper cut card that actually says what you say it does.
Frontline in second rebuttal and collapse well in the back half, it'll make the round much nicer for everyone involved.
Extend your arguments fully, don't just extend taglines and author names. If you want me to vote for an argument it needs to be warranted and weighed in both summary and final focus.
Weighing should be comparative. Don't just read made up jargon, give me actual reasons why your impacts are more important and tell me how to evaluate the round.
I'm fine with speed. Send speech docs (cbeamer@stanford.edu) if you're planning to go fast (or even if you're not), but I won't flow off of the doc; if you're going too fast or are unclear, I'll let you know, but after that it's on you if I miss anything.
I'd prefer you debate the topic, but I'm fine with progressive arguments and will evaluate them just like any thing else. For theory debates, I default to competing interps and no RVIs but you can change that pretty easily.
I don't care about your "brief off time road map." Just tell me what flow to start on and signpost during your speech.
Feel free to ask me any questions before round! And, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out (email or messenger).
How I give speaker points:
1. Auto 30s to everyone in the round if you collectively agree to have a paper only round with no evidence and treat it like it's British Parliamentary.
2. Otherwise, they will be based on cross. I promise I have good reasons for this; I will not elaborate.
How I judge anything else:
Do whatever you want; I probably won't know the rules of your event so you can make new ones up for all I care. Although, being persuasive, reasonable and clear will probably be in your best interest.
Tech judge
Put me on the email chain pls: tbhatnagar@thecollegepreparatoryschool.org and collegeprepdocs@gmail.com
Quick summary,
Impact weighing is good, link weighing is better
Defense is sticky.
Theory and prog args: I think paraphrasing is good, disclosure is bad, etc, but I will evaluate all shells fairly whether or not they fit with my personal beliefs.
K's are fine, I'm not super experienced with it, but know what you are doing, and please have solvency
If you say Among Us or make a Jojo Reference in any speech I will give you 30 speaks(real)
If you want a long version, look below(totally not stolen from William Pirone)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
* * * * *
If you have any questions about my paradigm, please feel free to ask me before the round! My paradigm has recently become egregiously long so just skim through the underlined text if you want the TL;DR.
General:
Tech >>> Truth. You can read any type of argument you want in front of me, as long as it contains warrants. I’ve read everything from politics DAs, tricks, round reports theory, riders, and consult Japan to “warming opens the Northwest Passage which prevents Hormuz miscalc”—do what you’re comfortable with.
Also,go as fast as you want as long as you're clear. I won’t flow strictly off a doc but will take one in case I miss something/want to check for new arguments/implications. Please don’t confuse words per minute with arguments per minute – clear spreading is orders of magnitude easier to flow than a slightly less speedy blip-storm of arguments.
~ ~ ~ ~ Substance ~ ~ ~ ~
This is by far the most fun to judge. Below are some of my preferences/rules when it comes to tech substance debate, listed from the debate norms most specific to me to the least.
Part I - General Substance:
If parts of your argument are uncontested,you do not have to extend warrants for conceded internal linksin summary and final focus. Definitely extend uniqueness, links, and impacts though.
I like impact turns. A lot. Read them.
You also don't have to extend your opponent's link if you're going for impact turns, but you can if you want to.
Stolen from Nathaniel Yoon’s paradigm:I will disregard and penalize "no warrant/context" responses on their own. Pair this with any positive content (your own reasoning, weighing, example, connection to another point, etc), and you're fine, just don't point out the lack of something and move on.
I really value word efficiency– do this well, and you will be rewarded.
"Who what when where why" is not a responseand if your opponents point it out they get auto 30s.
Part II - Evidence:
Smart analytics are great—but please add empirics/warrants to them. Do not dump blippy analytics, ever.
Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseread taglines if you are going fast. I beg of you. In case, rebuttal, everything. No, “thus” and “specifically” don’t count.
Also, please don’t put analytical warrants in tags unless your evidence backs it up. If you pull up with something along the lines of “because a revoked Article 9 would cause a Chinese state collapse and the re-emergence of the bubonic plague, Shale-13 of Brookings concludes: revising the constitution would be unwise,” I will laugh but also be very sad.
Please label email chains adequately. Ex. “TOC R1 – College Prep HP (Aff 1st) vs. LC Anderson BC (Neg 2nd)”
Whether or not the tournament is onlineI will require an email chain for every round, evidence exchange is faster and more efficient. If you are spreading or reading any progressive argument you must send a doc before you begin; otherwise, sending a doc will not be required. Don’t send Google Docs and then delete them after the round, send either a word doc or paste the text into the body of the email.
Part III - Weighing
Weighing = great. Do it.
You still need to win sufficient offense on your weighed argument though—please don’t try to kick out of terminal defense through things like try-or-die weighing, I’m more than happy just voting on one team’s argument having the higher risk than the other team’s argument, especially if both terminalize to extinction.
—Weighing §1—
Impact weighing is good, link weighing is best.
Don't use "probability weighing" as a chance to read new defense. Probability = strength of link in my view, if you win an argument and warrant it then it is probable. General reasons why your argument is a better link, i.e. actor analysis and historical precedent are fantastic, just don’t use this to insert 27 new responses.
Clarity/contextualization/strength of link are not weighing mechanisms – just explain why your argument is more important than your opponents’ assuming that both sides have won their offense.
—Weighing §2—
In almost all circumstances, link weighing is way more important than impact weighing. Don’t just say extinction outweighs and move on—do comparative analysis on why your link is better(larger, faster, more probable, etc).
On a similar note, make sure to resolve clashing link-ins/prereqs—otherwise, I will be very confused and probably have to intervene. This also means that 1FF can read new link weighing mechanisms to resolve clashing prerequisite arguments, as long as they weren’t conceded in first summary.
Part IV - Defense:
Frontline in second rebuttal—everything you want to go for needs to be in this speech. 4 minutes is 4 minutes, read whatever offense you want in both constructives/rebuttals.
Defense isn't sticky. That said, I am very lenient towards blippy defense extensions in first summary if second rebuttal doesn't frontline something at all, just make sure it's there.
Pleasemake frontlining substantive. What I mean by that is actually reading warrants/evidence when frontlining instead of saying “no internal link/warrant/context” and arguments along those lines. Technical responses are fine when paired with substantive responses, but don't read 2 minutes of "1.) no warrant 2.) no impact 3.) no context 4.) the evidence is miscut 5.) we postdate…"
~ ~ ~ ~ Progressive ~ ~ ~ ~
All arguments in this section are fair game, I’ve read basically everything you can think of at some point.
Theory:
Theory is ok, I read it a lot my junior year. We usually read disclosure/paraphrase/round reports, but I'm good with anything as long as it's warranted. I also won’t be biased when judging theory, so feel free to respond in any way you wish—meta-theory, interp flaws, impact turns, etc, are all fine with me.
I prefer techy substance rounds thoughso speaks might take a slight dip if you do this in prelims.
—Theory §1—
Yes, I think paraphrasing is bad and disclosure is good.(Tanishq here: This is objectively wrong). No, I will not hack for either of these shells.
If you've never run theory before, and feel inclined to do so, I’m happy to give comments and help as much as I can.
Unless I am evaluating the theory debate on reasonability you must read a counter interp... if you do not all of your responses are inherently defensive because your opponents are the only team providing me with a 'good' model of debate.
Theory should be read immediately after the violation. Eg. if you’re speaking first disclosure must be in your constructive for me to evaluate it. However, I am willing to vote off of paraphrasing theory read after rebuttal if your interpretation is that people shouldn't paraphrase in rebuttal. You MUST extend your own shell in rebuttal if it was read in 1st constructive; you must frontline your opponent's shell in the speech after it was read (unless there is a theoretical justification for not doing this).
Substance crowd-out is most definitely an impact, andreasonability can be very persuasive– just read this off of your CI or as a turn on their interpretation. Please still read a counterinterp.
—Theory §2—
I default to spirit > text,CI > R,No RVIs,Yes OCIs*,DTA.
If there are multiple shells introduced, make sure todo weighing between them.
If you read disclosure theory, you must have good disclosure norms—I will probably check.
I will never vote on an out-of-round violation other than disclosure/round reports and the like.
Don’t read blippy IVI sand then blow up on them — make it into a shell format.
Theory unaccessible is not a fantastic argument—there are tons of resources out there and if you need more help/advice feel free to email me. It is just like responding to anything else.
Theory cards, in most cases, are overrated and are often just written by former debaters and will be evaluated on the same level as any other standard/argument. This is different from topicality interpretations and impact weighing/cards against Ks.
*OCIs good is the one thing in my paradigm that you cannot alter with warrants. If you win that your shell is better under a model of competing interpretations, or win turns to your opponents’ interp, you win.
K:
I will evaluate kritiks but no promises I'm good at doing so. I'm most familiar with security/cap/Baudrillard. For anything else please slow down and warrant things out.
No paraphrased Ks—this is non-negotiable.
If you read the mythical Bayesianism kritik, I will give you 30 speaks, especially if you can point to specific links from their case.
If you are reading substance + pre-fiat framing (or a topical link to a kritik in any way)you must still win your topical links to access the pre-fiat layer. I am never going to vote for a “we started the discourse” link or arguments about how your opponents cannot link in.
Rejection alts/ROTBs are sus, read an actual one.
Also, theory almost always uplayers the K.You should be reading off of cut cards and open-source disclosing when reading these arguments.
Perms are OP if you use them effectively. I like when people shotgun them.
CPs:
I will begrudgingly evaluate a plan/counterplan debate. This obviously differs based on the resolution (“on balance” phrasing is weird), but for fiated topics i.e., “Japan should revise Article 9 of its constitution,” they’re probably fair game.
Also, totally open to theory against these– just make the arguments.
FW:
Read whatever you want here, I won't be biased one way or another. Extinction reps, Kant,anything goes.
Util is most likely truetil, but I can be convinced otherwise.
Tricks:
If you must, just make sure the other team is cool with them first. Theory against these is smart too.
Make tricks fun, arguments like a prioris or “eval after the 1ac” are meh butparadoxes, skep, etc are great.
Head to the presumption sectionsince it’ll probably be necessary for these rounds.
~ ~ ~ ~ Extra ~ ~ ~ ~
Presumption:
Absent warrants otherwise,I default to the first speaking team. Independent of presumption, I understand that going first in tech rounds puts you at a significant disadvantage, so I will defend 1FF with my life.
Make sure you read actual presumption warrants.I won't evaluate anything in FF, so make sure to make these warrants in summary, or else I will just default to whoever spoke first.
Preferences:
LARP - 1
Theory/T - 2
Kritik - 3
Tricks - 4
Phil - 4
Non-T Kritik - 5
Performance - 5
Postrounding:
Postround as hard as you want, I think it's educational.
Speaks:
I usually give pretty good speaks, and assign them based on clarity and in-round strategy, with bonus points forword efficiency and humor. In general, I’m also a speedy person and like to do things quickly, so the sooner the round ends and the less prep you steal, the higher your speaks will be!
If you want a boost:
+0.2 speaks if you're disclosed and you tell me and it’s OS
+0.2 speaks if you don’t paraphrase (+0.2 for rebuttal too)
+0.2 speaks if you read the Keck/Dowd combo
+0.1 speaks if your cards are Times New Roman with green highlighting
+0.1 speaks if you have round reports
I will give you a 30 if you readALL defense/turns in second constructive(first rebuttal must frontline if this happens).
If it’s a prelim and both teams agree before the round, we can switch the resolution to a different one– it can be a previous topic or something new entirely.
Current Junior PF debater for College Prep.
email: bboykin@thecollegepreparatoryschool.org
Novices:Speak clearly and at your own speed. Line-by-line in first rebuttal, frontline and line-by-line in second rebuttal, collapse and weigh well in summary and and final focus. Make sound arguments and make it clear what I should vote on. Have fun!
Also, for the RTW topic if you have clashing evidence, please warrant why I should prefer your evidence over the opponents.
TL;DR
Tech>truth. I prefer substance rounds. Weigh, give me good warranting, and speak as fast as you want. Extend your arguments with warrants, links, and impacts through summary and final. Weigh links and turns, defense, and pretty much everything else. Also, weighing should be comparative. I'm willing to vote off of anything as long as you're winning it, just don't be offensive or discriminatory.
In round:
I don't flow cross, if it's important put it in a speech. Don't ask to take prep, tell me you're taking prep. I'm fine with flex prep. You can skip grand if you want to take 1 min of prep instead. Tag-team cross is fine.
Second rebuttal must frontline. Collapse and weigh in summary. Defense is not sticky. Case extensions must be in summary and final.
Speed:
I can follow speed but be clear, if I can't understand you I can't flow. Speech docs are a good idea. Speed is good in the first half and bad in the second half, collapse strategically. Don't go for everything, and be efficient.
K's / tricks:
Run at your own risk. I'm not too familiar so it has to be explained miraculously well.
Theory:
I default no RVIs and competing interps (and drop the debater).
I do not like prog args = do not run prog args.
I'm a high school social studies teacher currently teaching comparative cultures and geography as well as APUSH. I have experienced judging a few rounds before, I am a lay judge. Please make sure to not SPREAD and make very clear your arguments.
If you do not want to read everything on this -- TLDR: have fun and don't be stupid, bring me food for good speaks
Background Info:
- they/them
- Junior at Dougherty Valley High School
- 5+ years PF experience, 2 years impromptu, 1 year of LD, 1 year of Parli
- Idk just tab stalk me
- My biggest accomplishment is 1-5 at ASU
PF:
General:
- Add me to the email chain: ashnag0415@gmail.com
- Send me your case before round
- Label email chains adequately. Ex. "TOC R1 F1 Email Chain Dougherty Valley GB v. Alsion Montessori SS."
- Have fun so I don't fall asleep
- Warrant responses or I won't vote on it
- Carded link extensions are stupid -- just re-explain the arg and ill buy it
Cross
- be aggressive its fun
- don't be homophobic/racist/sexist/ any -ist or ill drop you
- if you say something important in cross say it in speech too because I probably wont be listening
- be funny
Rebuttal
- do whatever you want
- second rebuttal has to frontline
Summary
- first summary has to frontline
- WEIGH.
Final Focus
- should basically be mini summary
- new weighing in first ff is fine
- imo -- rounds cant be won in final but they definitely can be lost here
Prog
- if you do prog debate badly ill be sad
- run literally whatever you want I'll evaluate it
- I have a lot of experience with K's -- not so much with theory but I still understand it well
- friv is fun
Speaker Points
If I cant understand you, I will say "clear" three times before I stop flowing completely (you'll probably lose)
I give an average of 26 speaks without bonuses
+0.3 if you:
- do a spin every time you turn an argument
- clap after all of your opponents speeches
- make my little pony references
- make your contention name a bear-related pun
+0.5 if you:
- send your case before round
- do a handstand in cross
- make a donut analogy
- find a legitimate way to impact out to dugongs
- bring me food (+0.5 for every snack you bring me)
Auto 30/29.9 if you:
- run Ranchoddas Shamaldas Chanchad K
- rap your entire final focus
- Cite Surya Muthu Devasenapathy as a source
- read 30 speaks theory
- run a progressive argument well (i have a high threshold for this)
I will dock your speaks if you:
- run a prog argument without understanding it
- misgender (ill probably drop you too)
- spread on novices
- act like a bad person
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.
I am currently competing in Extemp and Congress on the Varsity level, so if you're reading this, most likely you're doing some sort of speech event (although I also judge debate). I know it is unusual for speech judges to have a paradigm, but I think it's always helpful to know what's on the judges' minds. If you ever have any questions about my ballots please email me at tgercken@college-prep.org!
Extemp:
I am sure you all are smart cookies, so I am not going to do the usual speech paradigm of telling you that good evidence, confidence, and delivery are critical; obviously if those are lacking you will be marked down. However, I think it is a far better use of your time to tell you that I will judge the round very technically.
This means that I am using a stopwatch in round to make sure you start and end points on time. I am very attached to the 1:30 - 1:30 (x3) - 1:00 structure of Extemp. If your points are ~15 seconds off in either direction, expect a comment. Hitting the times almost precisely is an excellent way to signal to me that you are a high-level competitor, and I should not stand in the way of you breaking.
In addition, there is a tendency in high-level Extemp to talk faster and use your hands every few seconds. If you are talking more than a bit faster than conversation speed, expect a comment. If your hands are not mostly by your side, expect a comment. Also, staying still is impressive to me. Swaying back and forth undermines presentation.
I will be noting substructure and similar substructure for all three points is a great way to get good ranks with me. If all three points work differently, it feels un-unified, and you should expect a comment. The substructure for the intro, points, and conclusion should be fairly traditional. It would take a lot to convince me that your way is better than the regular way. That means your intro should have an AGD and background and impact, and your conclusion should contain more than just your question and answer. If I cannot instinctively feel the flow from my competition in Extemp because it is so predictable, expect a comment.
I think having to memorize the question word for word is kind of weird, given that in college, you can just read it off the slip. I will flat out let you read it off the slip or keep the chat up in zoom. Note that it may impact your presentation but there's a way to do it cleanly. Also, if you state the question and it's basically the same with a little bit of different wording, I do not care and honestly will not notice 99% of the time. So if you spend a minute or two in prep memorizing the question, do not, practice the intro again or something.
In cross-examination, you should be having a conversation, trying to discover more about their argument. I do not view cross-examination as a way to poke holes in each other's arguments; I view it as a furthering of the fundamental goal of Extemp, which is education. If you come off as aggressive, argumentative, or as trying to undermine your fellow competitor (not opponent), expect a comment. Cross-x has never made me more likely to rank you highly, only less.
This may give you the impression that I am expecting a complicated speech full of theory. That could not be further from the truth. I appreciate speakers who take it slow, make simple arguments, and have great signposting. The Extemp community is terrific, we love to talk about issues on a really detailed level, but ultimately we will be presenting to non Extempers. Just because I can understand a fast and complicated argument does not mean I will appreciate it. If it is not simple enough for even the parent judge that provokes the most complaining on the bus ride home, expect a comment.
For online competition, please position your camera so you face it head on, stay reasonably close to the camera, move around, and above all else, please time yourself. It helps you (having more exact time), and it helps me (concentrating more on the speech and giving better ranks/comments).
Congress:
Congress is such an interesting event because it is structured so differently than the speech and debate categories. But critically, while it is different, I consider it a debate event and expect it to not feel like a many person version of lay PF. For a more extensive judging philosophy, you should read the Public Forum section of this document.
Engagement is amazing; ask questions, give rebuttals. If you are clearly just reading speeches that you wrote at home before the round, you will not get a super high score, and you should expect a comment. Congress is the one speech event with lots of involvement between participants, and it should be a significant part of the round.
Impromptu:
Impromptu is a very limited prep event, but it still should feel like any other speech. Well thought out, with clearly delineated points, just in a shorter time frame. First, you need to have an introduction. Just saying the topic and jumping into arguments are not enough (also never start with the topic, and AGD needs to be somewhere). However, depending on the topic, you can cut some things. Obviously, background will not be needed if the prompt is "a day at the pool." Use your best judgment but make sure it is robust. Clearly signposting what your points are and then making sure they have a followable substructure is critical and is the number one thing I will mark you down for. If you just have a train of consciousness, it will not be very convincing or informative. However, it is a shorter time period so try to keep your points simple. A reasonably common criticism I have is that things are assumed that the judge gets but not described. Try not to do that. Finally, your conclusion should have a tie-up and a return to your AGD. Just ending your speech after your second point or after a brief tie-up is not going to work. The third paragraph of the Extemp section has some notes on the presentation you may want to look at.
Oratory/Advocacy:
I have never done Oratory or Advocacy, so you should consider me a lay judge. I want you to connect with me and convince me, I want a nice and clear structure with lots of signposting, and I want in-depth analysis that makes sense to me. I don't know how technical anyone really gets in Oratory/Advocacy but regardless I won't be considering that. Some of my notes in the Extemp section are likely to apply as well, so I would recommend you reference it.
Interp:
Make me laugh, make me cry, make me believe whatever it is you are trying to be. I will be the first to admit; I know 0 about the Interp events, so please treat me precisely as you would a lay judge. I'm sorry if this disappoints you, but I just can't have a judging philosophy on events I don't do. That being said, I am always really excited to see interps, so I will be happy to watch and listen.
Public Forum:
Public Forum debate is not Policy, and in judging, I am looking for a very different experience. I want to see a friendly well-reasoned debate between four smart high schoolers/middle schoolers about the actual topic. Clearly delineated arguments, links, and impacts, in a thoughtful and convincing manner is critical. Do not spread. I will not read a speech doc (except to look for cards) and even if I can understand it, if you are speaking faster than a lay person could understand and flow, I will disregard everything you say. Please, no weird arguments that don't seem to pertain to the resolution, and, while significant impacts are necessary, if arguments start to be linked to stuff like extinction or nuclear war with a tenuous connection, I'm not going to vote on it (the impacts should be big but they have to be real). Truth > tech not because I don't understand but because that shouldn't be encouraged and if that's what you're looking for go to Policy. If you use a theory that does not quote the rulebook, or spread or run a k, I will sign the ballot immediately and give both competitors 26 speaker points max (if another team does any of these, please do not respond. They have already lost the round, but I would like discussion to continue for the educational value). Explain to me why you are right but if you attempt some sort of theoretical explanation of the event it will not land well with me. I will nod along with you, understand, and vote you down. One part of the case that I am especially interested in is the framework. I view framing the debate at the top as critical to accessing impacts and if I don't have framework I will default to a very restrictive view of what is topical which will likely hurt your case. If only one team gives me framework (and it is somewhat reasonable), I will default to theirs. If both teams give framework to me, winning (or at least tieing) that clash is essential to me letting you access your impacts.
Policy/LD:
I have never done Policy/LD, and I am not used to spreading. Please make sure I can understand, obviously if I can't, there is no way I can base my vote on whatever you are saying. I know that Policy/LD has a tendency to focus some arguments on things that don't relate to the resolution, and that is fine; I'm judging a Policy/LD round, and I will try my best to abide by the events conventions. But, please make sure it's clear why I should vote on something not pertaining to the resolution. In cases where other judges might just get it, make sure it's clear to me.
Politics:
I hate the trend in speech and debate where competitors look up their judges to find out what their politics are. However, it is sadly necessary for a variety of reasons. I have had my fair share of judges that voted me up or down based on opinion. So, I'll tell you upfront that I'm a libertarian. You can find my twitter here if you really want to check it out. But I promise that I will try not to judge you based on my political opinion.
High School Music Teacher.
I am a lay judge and appreciate speaking with clarity and no spreading. I will do my best to take notes but I will not keep track of time so I count on debaters on both sides to be accountable for tracking speech time as well as prep time. Please keep the debate civil and fun.
I like hot chocolate...
I am a parent judge. I would prefer for the teams to speak at a moderate speed, and thoroughly explain their arguments. I have not judged many debates before.
Hello there. (Congrats if you get that reference)
Here's my email for the email chain or evidence doc: ej82669@gmail.com
I'm a freshman UIUC debater who debated PF in high school.
If you’re here for speech, jump all the way down to the bottom. I’m sorry :((
There's sections for debate, PF, LD, and speech.
DEBATE
As a judge, consider me tech over truth. However, I coach middle schoolers and believe that debate is an educational event. Good research is a big part of that, so I won’t buy problematic arguments that seem to have no basis or understanding of the current situation. (eg US should increase military intervention for orientalist reasons) Otherwise, clean voters and collapses will always win me over. If this doesn’t happen, I will pick apart the flow (against my will), and no one is ever happy when the judge is forced to intervene.
That being said, I am also a debater, so I’ll vote on dropped arguments, dropped weighing, dropped framing, dropped whatever. I’ve always been a second speaker and love listening to rebuttals dumping 7 warranted responses to every single contention (it would be hypocritical for me not to). If there is genuinely no defense or clash, I default neg.
Evidence: Know the NSDA and CHSSA rules on evidence.
CHSSA Debate Rules and Regulations
If the opponents call you out on a card you definitely cut 30 seconds ago, I will allow evidence challenges or for them to clown you in all the rest of the speeches for bad evidence. I consider preventing access to a requested card as nonexistent evidence and will absolutely rules in favor of an evidence challenge in that context. I have no tolerance for distortion of the card or dates. Regardless of a challenge, I will drop the card on my flow.
General Points (that I will potentially drop your speaks for):
- Time: Time yourself. If you make the mistake of using a timer and start talking over the ringing, I will drop your speaks, because not only do you know you are going over time, you are consciously choosing to ignore it. Otherwise, I will be running a stopwatch and will put up my phone when you are going over. I will allow you to finish your point, but will not flow any new points.
- Speed: I can handle and almost prefer moderate speed. I can handle spreading, but you must be CLEAR and ENUNCIATE. Otherwise, expect to send me and your opponents a speech doc. If I catch you manipulating it, I will drop your speaks faster than you call your opponents for dropped arguments you didn’t actually make.
- Organization: Off-time roadmaps are great, but if its “I will start on my opponent’s first contention on small businesses, extend the turn, refute their second contention on policing, address the framework…” then no, they aren’t great. Signposting is a MUST. If I lose you on the flow, then good luck extending arguments that I can’t find.
- Clash: If you don’t clash, don’t expect speaks. Debate is the speaking event where opponents actually interact with each other, so I would like to see interaction.
- Weigh: Weigh…please, especially if you have a framework. Saying timeframe, magnitude, and scope is not enough. You can just choose one, and explain why it matters + how it links in to your opponent’s impacts. (eg If mass extinction occurs, you can’t have an economy.)
- Crossfire/Cross-Examination: I don’t flow crossfire/cross-examination. If something important happens, bring it up in your speech. That being said, I don’t tolerate aggressively speaking over the person or using cross as speech time. Cross can get heated, but there’s a difference between yelling at the other person.
I get this is a lot, but the tl;dr is be respectful to your opponent and me. The common courtesies in debate are to make it fun for everyone. For those of you who like being mean >:(, I give out low-speak wins pretty frequently anyway.
Public Forum: (my favorite :D )
Chances are, I have thoroughly researched and debated the topic you are doing, so I will know if you don’t have links or are making things up. That being said, I have a lot higher tolerance for “analysis” or “general knowledge”. I apologize ahead of time if you get an entire paragraph of rfd. I’ve primarily competed in PF, so I will definitely have opinions.
Besides the general time yourself, signpost, be nice in cross, and speed reminders, here are a few things I look for:
- Collapsing: While my fatal flaw is going for all of the 6 contentions on both sides of the flow, I’d rather you consolidate and do voters, especially in FF. Most of the time, I just vote off the later speeches. I will silently cry if you go line-by-line in FF.
- Frontlining: I expected second rebuttal to frontline. I believe defense is sticky, but a brief extension of it every time is best.
- Weighing: Weighing slaps. Enough said.
- New Arguments/Responses: That’s a no-no in 2nd summary and FF. I will not flow it.
- Progressive Arguments: I am a sucker for topical Ks. I believe Ts are to prevent abuse and improve the debate space, but will not vote on friv T. Because of this, if you run friv T to win a round in JV/novice on a new non-circuit debater, I am not voting for that.
(I love the Robert Chen K though)
- Plans: No…I will drop them.
Lincoln Douglas:
I'm only getting used to college LD, but I work with novice LDers so I will also know if your arguments are very strange, to a lesser degree. Besides the general time yourself, signpost, be nice in cross, and speed reminders, I have stolen the following things from my coach’s paradigm (thanks schletz):
- New Arguments/Responses: No new arguments in 1NR and 2AR. I will not flow it. I'm fine with evidence though.
- Theory: Theory works, but I won’t vote on frivolous theory used to avoid responding to your opponent’s argument (especially not if you unabashedly break norms yourself). I view theory as a way of preventing abuse in the debate space and that it should only be used as such. I believe in RVIs so feel free to run them in response.
- Frameworks/VC: They slap. If you provide and defend one but don’t use it, I will evaluate it based on what vague instruction you’ve given me on how to evaluate using the framework…which probably won’t end well. I cannot emphasize enough: YOUR IMPACTS SHOULD ALIGN WITH YOUR FRAMEWORK.
- Kritiks + Phil:I love and appreciate them. Please slow down a bit if it’s super dense.
Speech
I love you guys…I promise. Most of my friends do speech.
A few warnings:
- Respectfulness: I don’t tolerate horsing around or loudly speaking during other competitors’ speeches. Whispering is okay, but do anything more disruptive and I will drop your speaks.
- Timing: Please time yourself. While I will be running a stopwatch, I am terrible at giving time signals. I will allow a stopwatch or someone else’s phone. Having a friend give time signals works too. Refer to tournament rules on grace periods.
- My instinct is to take notes while you’re speaking, so if I don’t look at you, I am so sorry. If I am judging you for IX or NX, your content will be scrutinized because I have a little too much background knowledge on politics.
If you’ve made it to the bottom, have fun and be a cool person. :)
Feel free to ask me questions. I like those.
I am a parent judge. Speak slowly and clearly. Avoid jargon. Explain your points in the simplest terms.
Hello future debaters! I look forward to judging your rounds, but please keep in mind of these few things.
My email is brianylee2003@yahoo.com. I am a parent judge. I have no prior debate experience, but my child has competed in PF for the past year. You should assume that I am knowledgeable about the topic if it is PF.
Evidence: I am not tech > truth, so if you want to argue the sky is green, I won't buy it. But I am open to reasonable interpretations of evidence (e.g., sky is purple, pink, orange, blue, a mixture of hues, etc.), particularly if your opponent fails to contest your interpretation.
Please be honest about your evidence. Your credibility matters A LOT. If your opponent points out a weakness in your evidence, you can try to dodge it by diversion, etc., but don't outright lie about it. If you're caught in an outright lie, you WILL lose your round.
Moreover, I want to reward the team that has done its research and can back up their contentions with solid evidence. That's why it is not uncommon for me, especially during elimination rounds, to request to examine cards that I think are crucial to how I might decide the debate.
Spreading/Speaker Score: Don't speak at a supersonic speed. My upper limit for comprehension is about 200 words per minute. So if your speech exceeds 800 words in a 4-minute speech, consider shortening it. Competitive debate may be the only activity where confusing your opponent through mumbling is allowed. I accept it as the reality, but I don't want to reward it. Spread at your own risk.
Beyond your mastery of language and confident articulation, I'm also looking for the ability to explain complex ideas simply and logically. Clarity is crucial in getting a high speaker score from me. Be careful about tossing around jargons. While I may understand it, excessive use of jargons in lieu of plain speaking may lower your speaker score.
During cross, I want to see polite, but assertive examination. Being passive may lower your speaker score.
Constructive: During this phase, I'm looking for debaters to (a) describe a problem, (b) explain to me precisely how the resolution you're advocating for will help solve the problem, and (c) tell me the impacts.
Too often I see debaters unable (or perhaps unwilling) to describe the problem beyond vague, general terms. For example, if you want to argue Chinese hegemony, tell me what specific behavior of China you want to stop or counter. Simply throwing around fancy labels like "hegemony" or "multi-polarity" won't do it for me.
The same goes for (b). To convince why your proposal will work, you need to cite either a credible expert explaining how it will work, or a historical example showing how it has worked, or at least logical reasoning and common sense why it will help. If, after four minutes, I struggle to connect the dots, it would be challenging for me to lean in your favor.
When it comes to impacts, I don't always go with the biggest one. I measure magnitude of an impact along with likelihood as well as timeframe. More importantly, if you don't do (a) and (b) well, I can't give you (c). In other words, accessing (c) is a direct function of doing (a) and (b) well.
Cross-examination: I know some judges don't pay too much attention to this. I REALLY do. To me cross is the essence of debate . During cross, I am looking for you to probe the weaknesses of your opponent's contentions to set up your rebuttals and to defend your own positions. I expect lively exchanges involving vigorous attacks and robust defenses. I will also look to see which team can establish perceptual dominance. Your performance in cross is often a key factor in how I decide speaker scores and possibly the round.
Rebuttal, Summary, and Final Focus. Rebuttal is straightforward, so I won't elaborate. For summary and final focus, I'm looking for debaters who can bring CLARITY (yes, that word again). That often means collapsing if you have three or more contentions and telling me how the contentions interact with each other. Tell me what I need to focus on, why your contention wins, and why your impacts outweigh. Clarity is the key to earning my vote.
Good luck!
Please be respectful towards your opponents. I am fine with some aggression, but I will not tolerate any discriminatory, offensive, or disrespectful behavior/remarks.
Remember to collapse, extend, and weigh! When weighing, please explain why your argument matters more than your opponent's. For example, say "We outweigh on magnitude because..." and give me a valid reasoning to your weighing.
Try to respond to all of your opponent’s arguments if you can. It is critical that you respond to a turn. If your opponents do not respond to a turn, call them out for it so that I can take note.
I will not be flowing crossfire. If you want me to take note of something said during crossfire, bring it up in one of your speeches. I will also not count anything that is said during Final Focus if it is not said in Summary (remember to collapse).
I would rather not see any Ks nor spreading.
Email Chain: leesyemi@gmail.com
I am a senior software engineer and father of two.
I am a lay judge, and have little background knowledge of Feb 2023 PF topic. Please explain your arguments clearly.
Please send me your case file before your round. My email is yunruili@yahoo.com
Please be respectful. Have fun and enjoy your rounds.
Debate should always be fun, educational, and safe - please ask questions before/after the round if anything is unclear. I'll always disclose and feel free to ask or say something if you disagree with my decision.
Everything needs to be warranted
Summary is the most important speech in the round - collapse, extend links and impacts, frontline, and weigh. Any offense and defense needs to be in summary and FF (because summary is now three mins, defense is not sticky). Basically I should be able to listen to only summary and FF and make the correct decision.
I think spreading, Ks, theory, and other prog args are overdone in PF and defeat the purpose of the event. I will evaluate them but I'm generally predisposed to not vote for them; I also never ran them as a debater so I'm not the most familiar at judging them.
Have fun!
Hi all! Think of me as a flow judge but leaning towards flay. A few things to note:
-If you read a turn in rebuttal, tell me what the impact is or else I’ll only count it as defense. If you’re the second speaking team, address both sides of the flow during rebuttal (aka frontline). Also respond to any turns in rebuttal or it's conceded
-An unaddressed argument is essentially conceded, but any concessions made in crossfire must be brought up in a later speech. Explain the implications of the concession (why them agreeing to your point matters in the round)
-I was a 1st speaker when I did PF so I rly value summary speeches
--When extending an argument, u need to explain all 3: claim-warrant-impact (frontlined when necessary) for it to count. A tag or an author's name doesn't mean anything if the evidence or impact is unwarranted. On the flip side, saying your opponents "extended by ink" isn't a valid rebuttal.
--No new offense after the 1st summary, but anything I vote off of in your final focus must be here
-I try to be tech>truth but if I hear a repeated card that sounds too good to be true, I’ll call for evidence at the end of the round. If it’s misconstrued, it won’t affect my decision unless your opponents brought it up during the round. However, your speaks won't do great so please don’t lie :/
-I have 0 experience with progressive arguments (plans, kritiks, theory, etc.)
-I can't handle too much speed. If you're spreading (please try not to), signpost clearly
-Don’t paraphrase evidence
-If your opponents call for cards and they don't receive it within 2 minutes, it may affect your speaker points and I'll allow your opponents to prep
Feel free to ask any questions before the round! You can also add me to any email chain: 22melodyl@alumni.harker.org. Looking forward to a fun round :)
I am a parent judge. Please speak slowly and clearly. (Do not go at 10x speed). I will ask you to slow down if you are speaking too fast once. If your speed continues, I will simply decrease your speaker points. I will be paying close attention to cross-fire. Be prepared to defend your own case and answer your opponents' questions.
Make sure to send me your constructive speech before the start of the round so I can fairly judge the round and understand all of your arguments. Weigh all of your impacts against your opponents to make evaluating the round much simpler.
Keep track of your own prep time.
Emai: irani.m.engg@gmail.com
Thank you and good luck to all the debaters!
Hey, I'm Vienna! I did PF at Harker, but as a judge I lean more flay than flow.
Add me to email chains: vienna.z.parnell@vanderbilt.edu
- I'm okay with speed to a reasonable extent, and please signpost.
- Second speaking team's rebuttal should at the very least frontline new offense brought up during first speaking team's rebuttal.
- Everything in final focus should ideally have shown up in summary
- Claim + warrant + impact + author + date. Particular emphasis on the warranting part because chances are you know the ins and outs of the topic much better than I do. I'm all for hearing out squirrely arguments as long as I can understand them.
- Blatantly misconstruing/paraphrasing evidence in a way that strongly favors you will probably automatically lose you the round.
- If evidence is called, find and send it in a timely manner. And don't steal prep (this especially goes for online tourneys).
- I have extremely minimal experience in evaluating progressive arguments (e.g. theory, Ks, Tricks, etc.)
Glhf!
Hi! My name is Sachi (she/her) and I did Public Forum at Quarry Lane for 4 years on the national circuit. I am now a freshman in college and coach for Quarry Lane. Add me to the email chain: spatel0275@gmail.com
-- UPDATE FOR JV POLICY, GBX/BERK --
I'm familiar with policy but don't have a super extensive background in it. I recommend using my PF paradigm below to understand my judging preferences -- the main principles are the same (weigh well, extend properly, send evidence promptly/adhere to prep time, etc.). For specifics, see the first half of this paradigm.
-- Public Forum --
**Send speech docs with cut cards for case and rebuttal BEFORE the speech. I have more tolerance for less experienced debaters, but if you're in JV/varsity and aren't doing this, your speaks will most likely be getting docked.
Tech > Truth
Good with speed as long as it's clear, if you’re going >250 wpm just send a doc. And please SIGNPOST.
Frontline in second rebuttal → If you don’t frontline defense on an argument you’re going for and your opponents extend that defense, I will evaluate it as conceded.
WEIGH!! very very very important. Make it comparative + the earlier the better, I look to the weighing debate first when evaluating rounds. Hearing smart, well-warranted weighing (clever link-ins, prereqs, short circuits, etc.) makes me happy.
Collapse if it is strategic (most of the time it is). This means collapsing on your own contentions/case args but also collapsing on responses on your opponent's case (Quality > Quantity). Note** I am fine with you dropping case and going for turns on their case. It's fun if you can pull it off well (please weigh).
GOOD EXTENSIONS MATTER. Fully extend case args w/ uniqueness, links, impacts, etc. and responses should be well implicated. This can be as simple as pre-writing case extensions and reading them in the back-half, but for some reason it is still poorly done, which is sad :(
Any offense you’re going for in final focus must be in summary. Defense is not sticky.
I don't really listen to cross, won't evaluate anything from cross unless it's brought up in a speech.
Feel free to postround me -- I think it's educational and am more than happy to elaborate on any part of my decision.
Progressive Args:
I will try my best! Generally lean towards disclosure good, paraphrasing bad but I won’t hack for either. I can probably evaluate a decent theory debate … anything outside of that realm run at your own risk.
Speaks:
Strategic round decisions = good speaks !
Not sending speech docs, stealing prep, being disrespectful = bad speaks :(
Finally, this goes without saying but don’t read arguments that are racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. because they WILL NOT be evaluated and you will most likely get terrible speaks/get dropped.
Have fun!!!
tech>truth
email: apeng@thecollegepreparatoryschool.org
tl;dr
run anything you want as long as it does not exclude anyone from the round by exploiting any disparity between teams (anything racist, xenophobic, abelist, etc)
i'll evaluate based off my flow but warranted analytics>blippy cards
second rebuttal must frontline all offense and/or collapse; pls collapse in summary & nothing new in ff
theory & prog: theory's fine please don't run friv; K's are fine, but I'm not super experienced with it, but know what you are doing, and please have solvency
long version, look below (borrowed from tq)
You can read any type of argument you want in front of me, as long as it contains warrants. Go as fast as you want as long as you're clear. I won’t flow strictly off a doc but will take one in case I miss something/want to check for new arguments/implications. Please don’t confuse words per minute with arguments per minute – clear spreading is orders of magnitude easier to flow than a slightly less speedy blip-storm of arguments.
You also don't have to extend your opponent's link if you're going for impact turns, but you can if you want to.
Smart analytics are great—but please add empirics/warrants to them. Do not dump blippy analytics, ever.
Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseread taglines if you are going fast. I beg of you. In case, rebuttal, everything. No, “thus” and “specifically” don’t count.
Also, please don’t put analytical warrants in tags unless your evidence backs it up. If you pull up with something along the lines of “because a revoked Article 9 would cause a Chinese state collapse and the re-emergence of the bubonic plague, Shale-13 of Brookings concludes: revising the constitution would be unwise,” I will laugh but also be very sad.
Whether or not the tournament is online I will require an email chain for every round, evidence exchange is faster and more efficient. If you are spreading or reading any progressive argument you must send a doc before you begin; otherwise, sending a doc will not be required. Don’t send Google Docs and then delete them after the round, send either a word doc or paste the text into the body of the email.
Weighing
Weighing = great. Do it.
You still need to win sufficient offense on your weighed argument though—please don’t try to kick out of terminal defense through things like try-or-die weighing, I’m more than happy just voting on one team’s argument having the higher risk than the other team’s argument, especially if both terminalize to extinction.
Impact weighing is good, link weighing is best.
Don't use "probability weighing" as a chance to read new defense. Probability = strength of link in my view, if you win an argument and warrant it then it is probable. General reasons why your argument is a better link, i.e. actor analysis and historical precedent are fantastic, just don’t use this to insert 27 new responses.
Clarity/contextualization/strength of link are not weighing mechanisms – just explain why your argument is more important than your opponents’ assuming that both sides have won their offense.
In almost all circumstances, link weighing is way more important than impact weighing. Don’t just say extinction outweighs and move on—do comparative analysis on why your link is better(larger, faster, more probable, etc).
On a similar note, make sure to resolve clashing link-ins/prereqs—otherwise, I will be very confused and probably have to intervene. This also means that 1FF can read new link weighing mechanisms to resolve clashing prerequisite arguments, as long as they weren’t conceded in first summary.
Defense:
Frontline in second rebuttal—everything you want to go for needs to be in this speech.
Defense isn't sticky. That said, I am very lenient towards blippy defense extensions in first summary if second rebuttal doesn't frontline something at all, just make sure it's there.
Please make frontlining substantive. What I mean by that is actually reading warrants/evidence when frontlining instead of saying “no internal link/warrant/context” and arguments along those lines. Technical responses are fine when paired with substantive responses, but don't read 2 minutes of "1.) no warrant 2.) no impact 3.) no context 4.) the evidence is miscut 5.) we postdate…"
Progressive
All arguments in this section are fair game, I’ve read basically everything you can think of at some point.
Theory:
Unless I am evaluating the theory debate on reasonability you must read a counter interp... if you do not all of your responses are inherently defensive because your opponents are the only team providing me with a 'good' model of debate.
Theory should be read immediately after the violation. Eg. if you’re speaking first disclosure must be in your constructive for me to evaluate it. However, I am willing to vote off of paraphrasing theory read after rebuttal if your interpretation is that people shouldn't paraphrase in rebuttal. You MUST extend your own shell in rebuttal if it was read in 1st constructive; you must frontline your opponent's shell in the speech after it was read (unless there is a theoretical justification for not doing this).
Substance crowd-out is most definitely an impact, and reasonability can be very persuasive– just read this off of your CI or as a turn on their interpretation. Please still read a counterinterp.
If you read disclosure theory, you must have good disclosure norms—I will probably check.
I will never vote on an out-of-round violation other than disclosure/round reports and the like.
Don’t read blippy IVI sand then blow up on them — make it into a shell format.
Theory unaccessible is not a fantastic argument—there are tons of resources out there and if you need more help/advice feel free to email me. It is just like responding to anything else.
Theory cards, in most cases, are overrated and are often just written by former debaters and will be evaluated on the same level as any other standard/argument. This is different from topicality interpretations and impact weighing/cards against Ks.
K:
I will evaluate kritiks but no promises I'm good at doing so.
Also, theory almost always uplayers the K. You should be reading off of cut cards and open-source disclosing when reading these arguments.
FW:
Read whatever you want here, I won't be biased one way or another. Util is most likely truetil, but I can be convinced otherwise.
Extra
Postrounding:
Postround as hard as you want, I think it's educational.
Speaks:
I usually give pretty good speaks, and assign them based on clarity and in-round strategy, with bonus points for word efficiency and humor. In general, I’m also a speedy person and like to do things quickly, so the sooner the round ends and the less prep you steal, the higher your speaks will be!
LES PHILLIPS NUEVA PF PARADIGM
I have judged all kinds of debate for decades, beginning with a long career as a circuit policy and LD coach. Speed is fine. I judge on the flow. Dropped arguments carry full weight. At various times I have voted (admittedly, in policy) for smoking tobacco good, Ayn Rand Is Our Savior, Scientology Good, dancing and drumming trumps topicality, and Reagan-leads-to-Communism-and-Communism-is-good. (I disliked all of these positions.)
If an argument is in final focus, it should be in summary; if it's in summary, it should be in rebuttal,. I am very stingy regarding new responses in final focus. Saying something for the first time in grand cross does not legitimize its presence in final focus.
NSDA standards demand dates out loud on all evidence. That is a good standard; you must do that. I am giving up on getting people to indicate qualifications out loud, but I am very concerned about evidence standards in PF (improving, but still not good). I will bristle and register distress if I hear "according to Princeton" as a citation. Know who your authors are; know what their articles say; know their warrants.
Please please terminalize impacts. Do this especially when you are talking about a nebulosity called "The Economy." Economic growth is not intrinsically good; it depends on where the growth goes and who is helped. Sometimes economic growth is very bad. "Increases tensions" is not a terminal impact; what happens after the tensions increase? When I consider which makes the world a better place, I will be looking for prevention of unnecessary death and/or disease, who lifts people out of poverty, who lessens the risk of war, who prevents gross human rights violations. I'm also receptive to well-developed framework arguments that may direct me to some different decision calculus.
Teams don't get to decide that they want to skip grand cross (or any other part of the round).
I am happy to vote on well warranted theory arguments (or well warranted responses). Redundant, blippy theory goo is irritating. I have a fairly high threshold for deciding that an argument is abusive. I am receptive to Kritikal arguments in PF. I will default to NSDA rules re: no plans/counterplans, absent a very compelling reason why I should break those rules.
LES PHILLIPS NUEVA PARLI PARADIGM
I have judged all kinds of debate for decades, beginning with a long career as a circuit policy and LD coach. I have judged parli less than other formats, but my parli judging includes several NPDA tournaments, including two NPDA national tournaments, and most recent NPDI tournaments. Speed is fine, as are all sorts of theoretical, Kritikal, and playfully counterintuitive arguments. I judge on the flow. Dropped arguments carry full weight. I do not default to competing interpretations, though if you win that standard I will go there. Redundant, blippy theory goo is irritating. I have a fairly high threshold for deciding that an argument is abusive. Once upon a time people though I was a topicality hack, and I am still more willing to pull the trigger on that argument than on other theoretical considerations. The texts of advocacies are binding; slow down for these, as necessary.
I will obey tournament/league rules, where applicable. That said, I very much dislike rules that discourage or prohibit reference to evidence.
I was trained in formats where the judge can be counted on to ignore new arguments in late speeches, so I am sometimes annoyed by POOs, especially when they resemble psychological warfare.
Please please terminalize impacts. Do this especially when you are talking about The Economy. "Helps The Economy" is not an impact. Economic growth is not intrinsically good; it depends on where the growth goes and who is helped. Sometimes economic growth is very bad. "Increases tensions" is not a terminal impact; what happens after the tensions increase?
When I operate inside a world of fiat, I consider which team makes the world a better place. I will be looking for prevention of unnecessary death and/or disease, who lifts people out of poverty, who lessens the risk of war, who prevents gross human rights violations. "Fiat is an illusion" is not exactly breaking news; you definitely don't have to debate in that world. I'm receptive to "the role of the ballot is intellectual endorsement of xxx" and other pre/not-fiat world considerations.
LES PHILLIPS NUEVA LD PARADIGM
For years I coached and judged fast circuit LD, but I have not judged LD since 2013, and I have not coached on the current topic at all. Top speed, even if you're clear, may challenge me; lack of clarity will be very unfortunate. I try to be a blank slate (like all judges, I will fail to meet this goal entirely). I like the K, though I get frustrated when I don't know what the alternative is (REJECT is an OK alternative, if that's what you want to do). I have a very high bar for rejecting a debater rather than an argument, and I do not default to competing interpretations; I would like to hear a clear abuse story. I am generally permissive in re counterplan competitiveness and perm legitimacy. RVIs are OK if the abuse is clear, but if you would do just as well to simply tell me why the opponent's argument is garbage, that would be appreciated.
TOC:
Let’s move quickly, TOC rules say your prep starts during evidence exchange
Go like 85% of normal tech speed haven’t judged in a minute
* * * * *
I debated for three years on the national circuit for College Prep. I now privately coach.
Add me to the email chain: wpirone@stanford.edu.
If you have any questions about my paradigm, please feel free to ask me before the round! My paradigm has become egregiously long over the years so just skim through the underlined text if you want the TL;DR.
General:
Tech >>> Truth. You can argue anything you want in front of me. I’ve read everything from politics DAs, tricks, round reports theory, riders, and consult Japan to “warming opens the Northwest Passage which prevents Hormuz miscalc”—do what you’re comfortable with. I enjoy voting on creative, fun arguments I haven't heard before.
Go as fast as you want as long as you're clear. I won’t flow directly off a doc but will take one in case I miss something/want to check for new arguments/implications. That said, please don’t confuse words per minute with arguments per minute – clear spreading is orders of magnitude easier to flow than a slightly less speedy blip-storm of arguments. If I miss something in summary or final focus because you're going too fast and I drop you it's your fault; slow down, don't go for everything, and be efficient.
I tend to be very facially expressive when judging—it can help you know which args to collapse on and which to kick. If I'm vibing with something you're saying, I'll nod along with it during your speech. Argument selection is critical to my ballot—identify the best possible collapse strategy, go for the right argument, and do solid comparison on it.
Please label email chains adequately. Ex. “TOC R1 – College Prep HP (Aff 1st) vs. LC Anderson BC (Neg 2nd)”
If you disagree with any part of my paradigm, just make a warrant why I should evaluate the round differently. I'm open to almost everything.
Substance:
If parts of your argument are uncontested, you do not have to extend warrants for conceded internal links in summary and final focus. Definitely extend uniqueness, links, and impacts though. This also applies to impact turns—if your opponents' link is conceded by both sides, you don't have to extend it.
Stolen from Nathaniel Yoon’s paradigm: I will disregard and penalize "no warrant/context" responses on their own. Pair this with any positive content (your own reasoning, weighing, example, connection to another point, etc), and you're fine, just don't point out the lack of something and move on. This also applies to responses such as "they don't prove xyz" or "they don't explain who what when where why"—make actual arguments instead.
Well-warranted analytics are great, blippy analytics are a headache.
In almost all circumstances, link weighing is preferable to impact weighing. Don’t just say extinction outweighs and move on—do comparative analysis on why your link is better (larger, faster, more probable, etc). On a similar note, make sure to resolve clashing link-ins/prereqs—otherwise, I will be very confused and probably have to intervene. This also means that 1FF can read new link weighing mechanisms to resolve clashing prerequisite arguments, as long as they weren’t conceded in first summary.
Defense isn't sticky. That said, I am very lenient towards blippy defense extensions in first summary if second rebuttal doesn't frontline something at all, just make sure it's there.
Theory:
I'll tolerate theory. I'm chill with any shell as long as it's warranted. I also won’t be biased when judging theory, so feel free to respond in any way you wish—meta-theory, interp flaws, impact turns, etc, are all fine with me. Friv is fine, just make it funny (dinosaur/shoe/no evidence theory is interesting, disclose rebuttal evidence is boring).
I default to spirit > text, CI > R, No RVIs, Yes OCIs*, DTA.
If you do choose to disclose, do it right. Genuinely think disclosure bad is a more persuasive argument than full texting > OS.
*OCIs good is the one thing in my paradigm that you cannot alter with warrants. If you win that your shell is better under a model of competing interpretations, or win turns to your opponents’ interp, you win. The definition of what constitutes an "RVI" is irrelevant.
K:
I will evaluate topical kritiks. I'm relatively comfortable with Baudrillard, biopolitics, cap, imperialism, and security—anything else is a stretch so please slow down and warrant things out.
No paraphrased Ks—this is non-negotiable.
If you read a Bayesianism kritik, I will give you 30 speaks (especially if you indict the methodology of specific studies from their case).
If you are reading substance + pre-fiat framing (or a topical link to a kritik in any way) you must still win your topical links to access the pre-fiat layer. I am never going to vote for a “we started the discourse” link or arguments about how your opponents cannot link in.
Your opponents conceding the text of your ROTB is not a TKO. You still need to win the clash on your argument. Similarly, rejection alts/ROTBs are sus, read an actual one.
CPs:
I will begrudgingly evaluate a plan/counterplan debate. This obviously differs based on the resolution (“on balance” phrasing is weird), but for fiated topics i.e., “Japan should revise Article 9 of its constitution,” they’re probably fair game.
Totally open to theory against these though – just make the arguments.
FW:
Read whatever you want here, I won't be biased one way or another. Extinction reps, Kant, anything goes.
Util is most likely truetil, but I can be convinced otherwise.
Tricks:
These are fun, but never voting for unwarranted blips like ROTO or “eval after the 1ac.” Paradoxes, skep, etc are ok.
GOATs:
I aspire to judge similarly to Ilan Ben-Avi, Ishan Dubey, and Ryan Jiang.
Presumption:
Absent warrants otherwise, I always default to the first speaking team.
Speaks:
I award speaks based on fluency and in-round strategy. Humor also helps.
Most importantly, have fun! Let me know before/after the round if you have any questions or want extra feedback.
—WP
I'm a parent judge and I have only judged a few debates. I work as an engineer. I prefer to have a clear communication round with no speed.
I am a fellow parent and has a very little experience judging PF and speech tournaments. Expecatations are very less to speaking clearly and slowly , explaining key points or terms as understandable to common audiences . Stating your sides politely . Good contentions and tactful rebuttals are a value add .
Expecting a good decorum among debaters!
Add me to the chain and send docs: ssaharoy@yahoo.com
I am a parent judge and doing this for last 3 years
I'm bad at flowing so pls don't go too fast
For me clarity is more important than speed
TL:DR
pf Gtoc 3X, Did Nat circ PF for 4 years from Dougherty Valley. tab stalk if you want
Stuff:
Warrant
Keep round fast, Send docs w/card before every speech
Be sassy in cross
Weigh
Comparative weighing
If there's no Comparative weighing I vote on the path of least resistance (Strength of link)
Signpost do it but keep roadmaps short
Speed is totally fine, ill clear you if its too muddled
Prog is fine - k, theory, etc
I lowk like tricks
presumption warrants - default first>neg>whoever had shorter speeches?
If they have no path to the ballot save everyone time and TKO them in speech (ill give you 30s)
Dont skip Grand, make it fun
EV. Challenges - eh I'm salty from personal reasons but ill do them if its a valid tko
Long Boy
About Me:
Pronouns: He/Him
Senior At DV And Frequently Debated In Varsity Public Forum And Impromptu. I've Been Doing PF For Over 5 Years, I Have 14 Bids - 9 Gold(Tab-Stalk Me If You Want, GTOC 3X, Cal States 2X, Nats, Champ LCC, Jack Howe, Cal RR Semis Etc)And Have Done Impromptu For 4 Years (Not Successful Because I Get 1st Prelim Seed And Then Talk About 3-Idiots In Finals To Get Dead Last)
PF:
Label Email Chains Adequately. Ex. "Cal RR R3 F1 Email Chain Dougherty Valley DS V. Fairmont Prep SS."
Please Have Pre-Flows Done Before The Round For The Sake Of Time. Don't Be Late. Read Any Argument You Want, Wear Whatever You Want, And Be As Assertive As You Want. Any Speed Is Fine As Long As You Are Clear.
I'm More Than Happy To Evaluate Anything You Run, So Do What You Do Best And Own It!
Tabula Rasa - Tech/Truth, I Like To See Clash And Please WEIGH, That Lets Me Know What To Vote On In The Round. Collapsing/Crystalizing Is Essential, Don't Go For Every Single Argument On The Flow.
I Am Fully Experienced In Whatever The Current Topic Is Cause I Compete Frequently. If you read a definition of the word USFG or smt imma lose it.
Cross: I'll Listen, But I Won't Weigh Arguments Made In Crossfire Unless You Restate Your Points In A Speech. This Doesn't Mean You Should Ask Bad Questions, Make Sure They Are Smart And Strategic.
Rebuttal: Read As Much Offense/DAs As You Want, Just Please Implicate Them The Line-By-Line And Weigh Them. The Second Rebuttal MUST Frontline Terminal Defense And Turns, Probably All Defense Too. Check OutThis VideoFor Some Help.
Evidence: I Am Fine With Exchanging Evidence Through An Email Chain But Please Don't Ask For Too Much Evidence And Steal Prep, I Will Dock Of Speaks. Also If A Team Takes More Than 2 Mins For A Card Either Its Striked From The Round Or You Need To Take Prep To Pull It Up.
I Will Only Look At Evidence If I Am Deliberately Asked To In A Speech, It Seems Too Good To Be True, Or There Is A Massive Clash Over It.
Summary: First Summary Only Needs To Extend Turns But Should Also Extend Terminal Defense If You Have Time. I’d Prefer For The Second Summary To Extend As Much Defense As Possible With Author Names.
Please WatchThis VideoIf You Have The Time.This OneIs Also Good If You Only Have Ten Mins.
Final Focus: The First Final Can Do New Weighing But No New Implications Of Turns, Or Anything Else UNLESS Responding To New Implications Or Turns From The Second Summary. The Second Final Cannot Do New Weighing Or New Implications. The Final Focus Is A Really Good Time To Slow Down, Treat Me Like A Flay Judge In These Speeches And My Decision Becomes A Lot Easier.
Prog Debate: Theory>K>=Case. I'll Evaluate Ks AndTheoryI Have Experience WithProgressive ArgsAnd I Enjoy Listening To Prog Rounds Over Substance Ones. Check Out ThisYoutube PlaylistIn Your Off-Time If You Want. Also, Look At ThisTheory Demo Debate Round. Ive listned to some of the best K debates on the circuit but don't get discouraged. I hate judges who say they want perfect K debates. Everyone has to start somewhere.
Speaks: I Am Comfortable With Almost All Speaking Styles And Speeds But Make Sure To Give A Speech Doc If You Are Going To Spread. (For Online): If I Can't Hear You Or You Are Muted I Will Unmute And Yell "Clear" Up To 2 Times. If The Problem Persists I Will Stop Flowing And Tank Speaks.
Other Things I Dock Speaks Off For:
- Going 10 Seconds Over Time
- Reading A Theory That You Violate
If Nothing Is Done From This List Then You Can Expect A Very High Speaks Count For All The Debaters. 99% Of The Time I Give Above A 29.3 Just Cause I Can :)
Other Stuff I Like:
- Have A Little Fun In Cross, Don't Be Too Uptight
- Make Me Laugh
- Metweighing (ComparativeWeighing)
- Signposting
- Brief Roadmaps (if the roadmap is more than 5 seconds its times gotta start)
- Unique Weighing As Soon As Possible
- Summary/FF Parallelism
Decision: I Will Provide Oral Decisions After Round Most Of The Time. (Depends On Tournament Specific Regulations). If I Give An Oral Disclosure, There Won't Be Much On My Online RFD. Post-Round All You Want, I Enjoy It But I Won't Change My Decision Unless I Pressed The Wrong Button On Tab.
I don't provide my email for safety reasons. I'll give it in round
Hidden section
For 30 speaks:
Coffee - Caramel Macchiato
or
Subway (Italian Herb and Cheese, Veggie Delight, American Cheese, Toasted, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Black Olives, Onion, Salt & Pepper, Ranch, Garlic Aoli on Half, pick another sauce for the other side)
or
Margarita Pizza
or
Taco Bell (Supreme Crunch Wrap Veggie - w/ +seasoned rice, onion, cheese jalapeno sauce)
or
Chipotle Order - 3 Soft tacos, white rice, black beans, mild salsa, cheese, guac, lettuce & corn
or
In & Out - Grilled Cheese w/ onion
Or
Anything else veg
Hey! I'm Amrit (he/him) and I debated Public Forum for 4 years at the Quarry Lane School and am now a freshman at the University of Washington.
UPDATE FOR BERKELEY JV POLICY
I've never judged or debated policy. I did public forum so I have a basic understanding of debate, but treat me like a lay judge in policy.
Tech > Truth (If you make the argument that 1+1 = 3 and it is extended properly and not responded to, I will vote on it even though 1+1 = 2)
Add me to the email chain: 2005amrit@gmail.com
I expect all cards for both constructive and rebuttal speeches before the speech is given. Teams that don't do this will have their speaks capped at 27.
Things I like to see in round:
- Frontlining in second rebuttal
- Extending defense and arguments in Summary
- interacting with frontlines when extending defense, do not extend "thru ink"
- doing comparative weighing (explain WHY you o/w on magnitude, timeframe, severity, etc.)
- ^^this is what will decide rounds for me
- no new weighing in second FF, very minimal weighing in first FF, most of your weighing should come in summary (even better if it's in rebuttal)
Speaks:
- +0.5 if you read cut cards in case
- +0.5 if you are disclosed on the wiki with highlights and cites
- Automatic 30 if you read solely from cut cards in both rebuttal and constructive
Progressive:
Shells:
Familiar with most (Paraphrasing, Disclosure, TW) , I can't judge a full-fledged theory debate nearly as well as others so run at your own risk
Kritiques:
I know less than nothing about these, please do not run unless I'm the only judge on a panel who doesn't know them.
All the best to all the contestants. Having been a judge for more than a year I look for good eye contact, clear and concise arguments, respectful behavior and clear speaking. Confidence is the key, not aggression.
Email : subrantap@yahoo.com
I'm a high school varsity PF debater.
Treat me like I'm a lay judge - please explain things thoroughly, speak clearly, don't spread, and avoid prog args. I will vote off of what I flow, and I can only flow what I understand. Signposting is a must or I likely won't be able to flow your speech. Note that I will not flow crossfire, so if there is something you would like me to pay attention to, please address it in your speech.
Things I like: good clash, comparative weighing, collapsing in the second half of the round. Respond to all turns!
Make sure you extend your argument through all speeches in the round. I will not vote for arguments brought up in Final Focus that were not in Summary.
Regarding evidence: I take evidence ethics seriously. Add me to the email chain and I'll check the ev myself if you call your opponents out in speech.
Please time yourself.
Lastly, please be respectful! No hate or discrimination of any kind will be tolerated. Have fun and enjoy the round!
My Style of Judging :
- I wont be able to follow you if you go above 300 wpm. In that sense, I prefer quality over quantity of arguments. 2 arguments with deep impacts are better than 3 or 4 with weak ones.
- Make sure you have 2-3 key summary arguments that you end your debate with.
- You can attack contentions but do not be condescending like "do you understand what Im saying?"
- Besides the usual debate judging, I focus on clarity and delivery of speech, with good intonation. ENUNCIATE.
- I dont have anything against reading cards, but if you are flat out reading your notes, its not a debate, so memorize your points and seldom refer to your notes. That shows that you have practiced a lot, and I will award you for that.
For PF: Speaks capped at 27.5 if you don't read cut cards (with tags) and send speech docs via email chain prior to your speech of cards to be read (in constructives, rebuttal, summary, or any speech where you have a new card to read). I'm done with paraphrasing and pf rounds taking almost as long as my policy rounds to complete. Speaks will start at 28.5 for teams that do read cut cards and do send speech docs via email chain prior to speech. In elims, since I can't give points, it will be a overall tiebreaker.
For Policy: Speaks capped at 28 if I don't understand each and every word you say while spreading (including cards read). I will not follow along on the speech doc, I will not read cards after the debate (unless contested or required to render a decision), and, thus, I will not reconstruct the debate for you but will just go off my flow. I can handle speed, but I need clarity not a speechdoc to understand warrants. Speaks will start at 28.5 for teams that are completely flowable. I'd say about 85% of debaters have been able to meet this paradigm.
I'd also mostly focus on the style section and bold parts of other sections.
---
2018 update: College policy debaters should look to who I judged at my last college judging spree (69th National Debate Tournament in Iowa) to get a feeling of who will and will not pref me. I also like Buntin's new judge philosophy (agree roughly 90%).
It's Fall 2015. I judge all types of debate, from policy-v-policy to non-policy-v-non-policy. I think what separates me as a judge is style, not substance.
I debated for Texas for 5 years (2003-2008), 4 years in Texas during high school (1999-2003). I was twice a top 20 speaker at the NDT. I've coached on and off for highschool and college teams during that time and since. I've ran or coached an extremely wide diversity of arguments. Some favorite memories include "china is evil and that outweighs the security k", to "human extinction is good", to "predictions must specify strong data", to "let's consult the chinese, china is awesome", to "housing discrimination based on race causes school segregation based on race", to "factory farms are biopolitical murder", to “free trade good performance”, to "let's reg. neg. the plan to make businesses confident", to “CO2 fertilization, SO2 Screw, or Ice Age DAs”, to "let the Makah whale", etc. Basically, I've been around.
After it was pointed out that I don't do a great job delineating debatable versus non-debatable preferences, I've decided to style-code bold all parts of my philosophy that are not up for debate. Everything else is merely a preference, and can be debated.
Style/Big Picture:
-
I strongly prefer to let the debaters do the debating, and I'll reward depth (the "author+claim + warrant + data+impact" model) over breadth (the "author+claim + impact" model) any day.
-
When evaluating probabilistic predictions, I start from the assumption everyone begins at 0%, and you persuade me to increase that number (w/ claims + warrants + data). Rarely do teams get me past 5%. A conceeded claim (or even claim + another claim disguised as the warrant) will not start at 100%, but remains at 0%.
-
Combining those first two essential stylistic criteria means, in practice, many times I discount entirely even conceded, well impacted claims because the debaters failed to provide a warrant and/or data to support their claim. It's analogous to failing a basic "laugh" test. I may not be perfect at this rubric yet, but I still think it's better than the alternative (e.g. rebuttals filled with 20+ uses of the word “conceded” and a stack of 60 cards).
-
I'll try to minimize the amount of evidence I read to only evidence that is either (A) up for dispute/interpretation between the teams or (B) required to render a decision (due to lack of clash amongst the debaters). In short: don't let the evidence do the debating for you.
-
Humor is also well rewarded, and it is hard (but not impossible) to offend me.
-
I'd also strongly prefer if teams would slow down 15-20% so that I can hear and understand every word you say (including cards read). While I won't explicitly punish you if you don't, it does go a mile to have me already understand the evidence while you're debating so I don't have to sort through it at the end (especially since I likely won't call for that card anyway).
- Defense can win a debate (there is such as thing as a 100% no link), but offense helps more times than not.
-
I'm a big believer in open disclosure practices, and would vote on reasoned arguments about poor disclosure practices. In the perfect world, everything would be open-source (including highlighting and analytics, including 2NR/2AR blocks), and all teams would ultimately share one evidence set. You could cut new evidence, but once read, everyone would have it. We're nowhere near that world. Some performance teams think a few half-citations work when it makes up at best 45 seconds of a 9 minute speech. Some policy teams think offering cards without highlighting for only the first constructive works. I don't think either model works, and would be happy to vote to encourage more open disclosure practices. It's hard to be angry that the other side doesn't engage you when, pre-round, you didn't offer them anything to engage.
-
You (or your partner) must physically mark cards if you do not finish them. Orally saying "mark here" (and expecting your opponents or the judge to do it for you) doesn't count. After your speech (and before cross-ex), you should resend a marked copy to the other team. If pointed out by the other team, failure to do means you must mark prior to cross-ex. I will count it as prep time times two to deter sloppy debate.
-
By default, I will not “follow along” and read evidence during a debate. I find that it incentivizes unclear and shallow debates. However, I realize that some people are better visual than auditory learners and I would classify myself as strongly visual. If both teams would prefer and communicate to me that preference before the round, I will “follow along” and read evidence during the debate speeches, cross-exs, and maybe even prep.
Topicality:
-
I like competing interpretations, the more evidence the better, and clearly delineated and impacted/weighed standards on topicality.
-
Abuse makes it all the better, but is not required (doesn't unpredictability inherently abuse?).
-
Treat it like a disad, and go from there. In my opinion, topicality is a dying art, so I'll be sure to reward debaters that show talent.
-
For the aff – think offense/defense and weigh the standards you're winning against what you're losing rather than say "at least we're reasonable". You'll sound way better.
Framework:
-
The exception to the above is the "framework debate". I find it to be an uphill battle for the neg in these debates (usually because that's the only thing the aff has blocked out for 5 minutes, and they debate it 3 out of 4 aff rounds).
-
If you want to win framework in front of me, spent time delineating your interpretation of debate in a way that doesn't make it seem arbitrary. For example "they're not policy debate" begs the question what exactly policy debate is. I'm not Justice Steward, and this isn't pornography. I don't know when I've seen it. I'm old school in that I conceptualize framework along “predictability”; "topic education", “policymaking education”, and “aff education” (topical version, switch sides, etc) lines.
-
“We're in the direction of the topic” or “we discuss the topic rather than a topical discussion” is a pretty laughable counter-interpretation.
-
For the aff, "we agree with the neg's interp of framework but still get to weigh our case" borders on incomprehensible if the framework is the least bit not arbitrary.
Case Debate
-
Depth in explanation over breadth in coverage. One well explained warrant will do more damage to the 1AR than 5 cards that say the same claim.
-
Well-developed impact calculus must begin no later than the 1AR for the Aff and Negative Block for the Neg.
-
I enjoy large indepth case debates. I was 2A who wrote my own community unique affs usually with only 1 advantage and no external add-ons. These type of debates, if properly researched and executed, can be quite fun for all parties.
Disads
-
Intrinsic perms are silly. Normal means arguments are less so.
-
From an offense/defense paradigm, conceded uniqueness can control the direction of the link. Conceded links can control the direction of uniqueness. The in round application of "why" is important.
-
A story / spin is usually more important (and harder for the 1AR to deal with) than 5 cards that say the same thing.
Counterplan Competition:
-
I generally prefer functionally competitive counterplans with solvency advocates delineating the counterplan versus the plan (or close) (as opposed to the counterplan versus the topic), but a good case for textual competition can be made with a language K netbenefit.
-
Conditionality (1 CP, SQ, and 1 K) is a fact of life, and anything less is the negative feeling sorry for you (or themselves). However, I do not like 2NR conditionality (i.e., “judge kick”) ever. Make a decision.
-
Perms and theory always remain a test of competition (and not a voter) until proven otherwise by the negative by argument (see above), a near impossible standard for arguments that don't interfere substantially with other parts of the debate (e.g. conditionality).
-
Perm "do the aff" is not a perm. Debatable perms are "do both" and "do cp/alt"(and "do aff and part of the CP" for multi-plank CPs). Others are usually intrinsic.
Critiques:
-
I think of the critique as a (usually linear) disad and the alt as a cp.
-
Be sure to clearly impact your critique in the context of what it means/does to the aff case (does the alt solve it, does the critique turn it, make harms inevitable, does it disprove their solvency). Latch on to an external impact (be it "ethics", or biopower causes super-viruses), and weigh it against case.
-
Use your alternative to either "fiat uniqueness" or create a rubric by which I don't evaluate uniqueness, and to solve case in other ways.
-
I will say upfront the two types of critique routes I find least persuasive are simplistic versions of "economics", "science", and "militarism" bad (mostly because I have an econ degree and am part of an extensive military family). While good critiques exist out there of both, most of what debaters use are not that, so plan accordingly.
-
For the aff, figure out how to solve your case absent fiat (education about aff good?), and weigh it against the alternative, which you should reduce to as close as the status quo as possible. Make uniqueness indicts to control the direction of link, and question the timeframe/inevitability/plausability of their impacts.
-
Perms generally check clearly uncompetitive alternative jive, but don't work too well against "vote neg". A good link turn generally does way more than “perm solves the link”.
-
Aff Framework doesn't ever make the critique disappear, it just changes how I evaluate/weigh the alternative.
-
Role of the Ballot - I vote for the team that did the better debating. What is "better" is based on my stylistic criteria. End of story. Don't let "Role of the Ballot" be used as an excuse to avoid impact calculus.
Performance (the other critique):
-
Empirically, I do judge these debate and end up about 50-50 on them. I neither bandwagon around nor discount the validity of arguments critical of the pedagogy of debate. I'll let you make the case or defense (preferably with data). The team that usually wins my ballot is the team that made an effort to intelligently clash with the other team (whether it's aff or neg) and meet my stylistic criteria. To me, it's just another form of debate.
-
However, I do have some trouble in some of these debates in that I feel most of what is said is usually non-falsifiable, a little too personal for comfort, and devolves 2 out of 3 times into a chest-beating contest with competition limited to some archaic version of "plan-plan". I do recognize that this isn't always the case, but if you find yourselves banking on "the counterplan/critique doesn't solve" because "you did it first", or "it's not genuine", or "their skin is white"; you're already on the path to a loss.
-
If you are debating performance teams, the two main takeaways are that you'll probably lose framework unless you win topical version, and I hate judging "X" identity outweighs "Y" identity debates. I suggest, empirically, a critique of their identity politics coupled with some specific case cards is more likely to get my ballot than a strategy based around "Framework" and the "Rev". Not saying it's the only way, just offering some empirical observations of how I vote.
I am a parent judge. I believe this is a great learning platform for all of us. I look forward to learning from your ideas, arguments and reasoning.
1. Greet everyone and introduce yourselves.
2. Demonstrate respect and professionalism. Adhere to time limits.
3. Be original and be comfortable. I will adjust to your style of presenting.
Please highlight maximum 3 main arguments for your case along with 3 supporting evidences. Additionally, pay attention to other team's arguments and respond accordingly.
My decision will be based on the strength of reasoning, impacts, rebuttal and weighing in Summary Speech(SS) and Final Focus(FF). Any additional weighing that is not stated in Summary Speech will be quantified in my choice. No new cards or arguments should be made in Final Focus(FF).
Hope you will have great learning experience and have fun!
As a fellow parent and experienced judge who has presided over more than 30 rounds, may I respectfully recommend that you speak slowly and clearly during your presentation? It would be greatly appreciated if you could begin by defining key terms, stating your standards, and presenting your contentions in a well-organized manner. When explaining your arguments and analysis, please use language that is accessible to a wider audience and keep the round as straightforward as possible.
My email is venkatesan.ramkumar@gmail.com
I am a flay judge in that I have lots of experience judging, but I'm not an actual flow judge. I know how the debate process works, and I've judged in over 15 tournaments.
Good rhetoric and lay appeal and I will most likely vote for you. If you don't know something or are otherwise unsure/unready for something just fake it until you make it; I like seeing confidence.
I will not flow cross-ex but I will be paying attention. If you bring something up in cross-ex and want me to flow it, remember to say it in speech as well. Emphasize important points with speech inflections, as well as bring up things you want me to remember/write down several times. Don't put down your opponent (like in LD) and don't bully during cross-ex, although remember to be assertive and stand up for your partner (during grand) if you have to.
Speech
It doesn't matter to me what you do while you speak, as long as you make eye contact regularly. Sit, stand, meditate, doesn't matter to me. Please try to signpost as much as possible, it really helps, and it makes it a lot easier to follow what you're saying. It also helps your speaks (now you're listening, huh?). Gesticulate, use ethos, pathos, logos, talk loud, whatever you have to do to get my attention and my vote (and high speaks).
Kritik
Since I'm not a professionally trained judge, I don't have any specific policy against K's, but don't expect me to go with your point of view without strong rhetoric. I must need to know exactly WHY their view on a policy is wrong, and WHY your take matters more. If I were you, I would not run a kritik.
Etiquette
Insulting your opponent is DIFFERENT FROM arguing with them. You can say the same thing by yelling as you can by assertively speaking to your opponent. Please do not argue/yell/bully your opponent. That is a sure way to lose speaks and maybe the entire round.
Speed
I, like the vast majority of other judges, will have an easier time listening and understanding to you if you speak slower. Note: I prefer slower speaking, but I can handle faster speed to some degree. I may look confused/stop writing/not take note of important parts if you are going to slow; that means I do not understand you, and you may need to slow down.
Other
I can promise you that I will understand these issues more than most judges. Please make sure to time yourselves, if there is a discrepancy between the prep time, speech time, etc., try to work it out yourselves, although I will interfere if too much time is taken.
Thanks for reading this information, although I know it's long and boring. Good luck!
I value clarity, logic, and evidence-based reasoning. Clear and cogent arguments backed up with facts and a keen focus on the key issues will greatly enhance your chances of winning my vote.
In the event that both sides present compelling cases and no arguments are refuted, I'll default to voting negative. However, I remain open-minded and ready to be persuaded by well-reasoned arguments and compelling evidence.
I submit to you that debate is not only about competition, but also about intellectual engagement and growth. Let's have fun, learn from each other, and appreciate the art of persuasion.
Best of luck to all of you!
2024- 2/4/2024
I'm not just any judge; I'm a ”cool” judge with a journey dating back to 2000. So, when you step into this arena, know that you're dealing with someone who's witnessed the ebb and flow of the debate currents over the last 2 decades. I am old.
General:
Yes you can go fast if you want to, just be clear, and loud enough for me to hear. I will be flowing along and won’t look at doc’s or cards unless warranted by y’all. I will do my best to time with you.
World Crafting:
Your task is to construct a compelling narrative, competing worlds, both sides have a world to offer, you sell it.
Argument Framing:
Frame your arguments as pillars that support the world you've built. Your job is to make me see the strategic significance of your narrative. Don't just present; show me why your world outweighs the others.
The K:
I have a soft spot, but only if done well. Critical acumen is your secret weapon. Integrate it seamlessly into your world, making it a key component of your narrative. I also am not a fan of non black POC running afropress, or similar k's, so please don’t. Other than that, no issues with K’s.
Theory:
Preemptive theory is unnecessary imo unless the topic warrants it, but most debates do not need a theory most of the time, but it is your round, so do you.
Tech vs. Truth:
Truth sometimes trumps tech, and in other rounds, tech might take the lead. But what matters most is how well your crafted world stands.
Rudeness is a No-Go:
Discourteous vibes won't elevate your speaks. For real
Impact Calculus and Critical Thinking:
Impact calculus is the key to your world's strategic significance. Dive into critical thinking, showing why your crafted universe is not just valid but important.
Authentic Knowledge Over Blocks:
Don't just parrot blocks; show genuine understanding. Bring knowledge to the forefront, not just rehearsed lines.
Voting Issues:
Present me with clean voting issues – make it glaringly apparent why your world is the one I should endorse. THERE IS NO 3NR. So please make it definitive in the last rebuttal
TL;DR
Be clear
Weigh
Impact calculus
>If you want to add me to the chain or send hate mail.<
2023
i will flow to the best of my ability i have the carpal tunnel but can still keep up
spreading is only chill if you are clear
I don't need to be on the email chain but here it is if you feel like adding me anyway
liberal.cynic.yo@gmail.com
I am indifferent to the kind of argument you are choosing to use, i care if you understand it
ask questions
My paradigm was lost to the void, who knows what it said...
for long beach 2018
i'll make this, and fix it later
1. yes, i flow
2. yes, speed is fine
3. flashing isn't prep (unless it takes wayy to long )
4. i look at the round as competing narratives, i do not care what you run as long as you know what it is you are running
5. ask questions