National Speech and Debate Tournament
2023 — Phoenix/Mesa, AZ/US
Main Tournament Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show HidePlease don't offer to shake hands with me. I appreciate the gesture of respect - so just smile and say your name/number for me so I'm sure I'm on the right page.
Please speak up!
As a judge, I prioritize evidence and logical reasoning, which aligns with a Kritikal or Tabula Rasa paradigm. I believe in the importance of critical thinking and challenging assumptions. While I value clarity and organization in debates, I'm particularly interested in debaters who challenge the status quo and delve into the underlying impacts of arguments. For me, it's essential that debaters engage critically with the resolution and present substantive, thought-provoking arguments. I encourage competitors to be prepared to present well-supported, critical arguments and engage in thoughtful discourse rather than relying solely on conventional strategies.
I debated policy in high school and in college in from 1988-1994. I have coached policy, LD, public forum and now Congressional debate. Because of my policy roots substantiating your argument with evidence and refutation are important to debate. I fundamentally see Congressional debate as debate not as another form of extemp.
I am a high school graduate from Technology High School in Newark. I have also debated for a total of 5 years. I’ve debated at many tournaments (Yale, Harvard, Bronx, etc).
I am a Kritikal judge.
if there are any other questions feel free to email me at acostalberto94@gmail.com
Arguments
Framework
You need to make this the most important argument in the round. For me at least. You loss framework, than you have a really high chance of lossing the round (depends on how far you are on the framework flow)
Dropping arguments
Drop them properly. Don’t just stop talking about them. If your opponent does drop this argument then bring it up so you can reap the benefits of their mistake.
Speed
I fine with it. I just ask that you slow down on the tags and the main warrants of the arg. If I can’t hear after I say clear three times I will only flow what I hear.
Theory
I like it and I know about it, but I am not going to do the work for you. Just because you say theory and extend it doesn’t mean that you explained ite. There needs to be a clear explanation on the theory flow what is the abuse that happens in the round and why it is important. Theory for me out ranks all others (not because it is an easy way out) because I feel that this argument are the actual rules of the debate round on what can and can’t be done by each team.
C/X
It is open I don’t flow it, but I do listen to it, and it can change my decision.
2NR/2AR
I flow it, but I mostly like to listen to it. This is the crux of the round. I need you to tell me why you should win (by explaining your arguments in the most detail that you can in the time period) and what arguments that your opponent dropped. (the reason for this is that a lot of teams really don’t do this any more so better to feel safe then sorry).
Jargon
I understand all of the debate jargon (since I did us most of them anyway) just that if there are any new ones that you think that I didn’t hear about then explain it to me.
Affirmatives
Topical affs are great, but I really enjoy hearing a critical debate with a critical affs, but with these kinds aff’s come with great responsibility. There needs to be a lot of in-depth analysis onto why your aff solves for what it solves, how it is a prereq. To the k and other args. A lot of debaters really just read evidence after evidence, i instead like to hear how the aff actually interacts with other arguments what is the actual connection. The critical aff can be the most dangerous weapon in any debate round if used properly. Performance affs are fine just explain the framework in great detail and why I should reject the resolution (if that is the case) in your own words or how you are topical.
Negative
Topicality
This can be a very powerful critical argument if used properly, but not many teams use this argument. I will vote on t if there is clear violation before the round is even finished (unless there is framework or theory). This is an argument that I like but not love like others
Counterplan
This is an argument that is very confusing for me, if you are going to run it explain what the plan does and how it doesn’t steal aff ground (unless theory is involved). If there is a critical counterplan involved explain how it is different from a k. other then that I don’t like counterplans too much, but I would vote on it.
Da
This is really a straightforward argument; I really didn’t see any variations of this argument in my debating career. If there are then I welcome them, but I really don’t have anything else to say about them.
K
Finally to the one argument that all teams want to know about. I love this argument, however I find that a lot of teams really don’t explain this argument in great detail. They just leave the k up in the air for the judge to interpret it in there own way. I know enough about the most common k’s that I can understand them, but again if I need to decide what your k is talking about you may not like what I think. Some of the other arguments that I’m not to familiar with I will listen to but there needs to be more of a keen eye in the explanation for those kinds of arguments.
I'm a traditional judge with over 30 years of coaching all events. I am currently teaching a new Debate course at Center Academy for Success.
I have coached debate for 20 years. I have coached multiple state champions and National qualifiers. I like to see strong clash in the round and prefer the traditional style of should/would argumentation in LD. I don't like to see policy plans and K in LD. I don't mind them in CX, but do not like to see generic argumentation that you pull out round after round. That being said, I will adapt to you - your job is to make sure you define the framework of the round. Don't assume I have read your advocacy authors. Spell it out.
Slow down if you want me to flow it. There is a big difference between hearing and being able to process the information that is being presented.
Semantics are important. Rhetoric is important. A strong speaker with solid word choice is always going to score better than a spewing gasper. Analysis presented well, weighs as much as evidence that is not supported with argumentation.
I LOVE CONGRESS! and speaking events, and actors, and readers, and the forensic community. Don't be a jerk and we'll get along just swell.
Please feel free to ask any additional questions pre-round. I'm happy to elaborate if something is unclear.
My experience: Green River High School squad, 2006-2010. University of Wyoming squad, 2010-2012. My main event was CX, which I debated at UW as well as GRHS. I started in LD and did a smattering of PF before finding policy. I competed in all the IEs to some degree but am most familiar with EX as a competitor. I have been actively coaching in a remote fashion from my home in Washington for three years and have coached national qualifiers in LD, PF, BQ, XDB, EXC, CON, DI, IEX, OO & POI. I'm pretty well-versed in all things speech and debate.
All debates: I am generally tabula rasa so please tell me where to vote. If I'm left to decide on my own I may not evaluate your arguments the way they were intended. Passion is invited but please maintain decorum and treat your teammates and opponents respectfully. Thank you!
PF: Clarity and time management are key for me in debate and I will generally buy into any argument that is presented persuasively enough, using a combination of logic and evidence. Your reasoning skills will stand out to me more than how you utilize evidence.
LD: I look for value-centered, philosophical debates that weave impacts into a larger narrative constructed within the value and criterion. Impacts only become relevant through the value/criterion so please be sure to explain their connections thoroughly. If either side loses the value debate then they lose the ballot. I am not averse to CPs and DAs but I prefer them to be case-specific vs a general neg strategy.
CX: I'll vote for anything but you have to tell me why you win. I'm a former collegiate debater so I'm well-versed in the theoretical components of policy. Speed is fine but not if costs clarity.
Worlds: I listen for speaking styles that resemble extemp or oratory speeches. A good blend of logical and evidence-based argumentation is a must for quality rounds. Top-level debates, including framework and values, are as important as clash within substantives and rebuttals. Strategies are evaluated overall, based on how effectively your team deploys them.
BQ: I think persuasive arguments backed by logic and evidence at the intersection of science, religion, and philosophy stay truest to form. Otherwise, consider my paradigm something of a combination of LD and PF but without the need to win the value debate, per se.
As a Speech IE judge, I look for authenticity, originality, and precision. Clean and polished performances are key to a powerful performance, along with great insight from the introduction. I look for clear distinctions between the characters that are being portrayed which would require copious time spent defining each character's diction, body language and movements.
Debate Events- I am not too knowledgable on the specifics, but I look for clear, precise and factual speaking points.
I like to see direct clash (they say this, we say that), analysis with warrants (prefer our argument, because…), impact/implications (what the world looks like if we don’t do x), warrants for why your impact(s) hold(s) greater significance/is more likely/is the reason I should vote.
Make it clear to me, essentially writing the ballot for me will get you the win.
Ok with speed just be clear. Will put down my pen and stop flowing if you are going to fast.
Please be respectful during cross.
Parent judge
Be respectful to competitors and others
Content is heavily valued for extemp
I've been a coach for 7 years now for both PF and LD, and I am also a former competitor in PF.
If there's an email chain being created, please add me: rebecca.afalava@gmail.com
A few things that I'd like you to know:
- At best, I consider myself to be a semi-lay judge since I've been working in the judges' lounge for the past few years.
- Try to keep jargon to a minimum and be clear about your arguments and analyses. I'm not too familiar with kritiks, counterplans, etc.
- I'm not really a fan of offtime roadmaps. If you do use them, please keep them brief.
- I do flow the rounds - try not to spread if at all possible. If I can't understand you, I will stop flowing!
Lastly, I highly value respect and civility in rounds. Have fun!
Forensics is a speaking competition in which the art of rhetoric is utilized - speaking effectively to persuade or influence [the judge].
Socrates' remarks in Plato's Apology is the basis of my judging: "...when I do not know, neither do I think I know...I am likely to be wiser than he to this small extent, that I do not think I know when I do not know" (Ap. 21d-e).
My paradigm of any round is derived from: CLARITY!!!
All things said in the round need to be clear! Whatever it is you want me to comprehend, vote on, and so forth, needs to be clearly articulated, while one is speaking. This stipulation should not be interpreted as: I am ignorant about debate; contrarily, I am placing the burden on the debater to debate - it is the responsibility of the debater to explain arguments presented. Arguments have a criteria; therefore, clash, at the substantive level, is a must!
1) I follow each debate league's constitution, per the tournament.
2) General information, for any debate types:
A) Speed: As long as I can understand you well enough to flow the round, since I vote per the flow!, then you can speak as slow or fast as you deem necessary. I do not yell clear, for we are not in practice round, and that's judge interference.
B) Case: I am a tab judge; I will vote the way in which you explain to me to do so; thus I do not have a preference, or any predispositions, to arguments.
Set a metric in the round, then tell me why you/y'all have won your metric, while your opponent(s) has lost their metric and/or you/y'all have absorbed their metric.
The job of any debater is to persuade the judge, by way of logical reasoning, to vote in his or her favor, while maintaining one's position, and discrediting his or her opponent's position. Good luck to all!
Ask any other clarification questions before the round.
As a speech and debate judge, my paradigm centers around confident speaking, fairness, impartiality, critical thinking, effective communication, ethics, and constructive feedback. I am passionate about growth and development of participants, fostering an environment that nurtures intellectual curiosity, analytical thinking, and the art of persuasive communication. I remain committed to upholding these ideals and providing fair and insightful evaluations in every round I judge.
At its core, Public Forum is structured to start with broad platforms of advocacy which are then narrowed down to the most core issues/points of clash. When I look for good debaters in Public Forum, it will be those who understand and honor that purpose. Summary speeches, and final focus speeches in particular, are too short to be doing line-by-line deconstruction and rebuttal; debaters who fail to condense and focus their content in later speeches will, in my adjudication of the round, not have fulfilled their roles and will not be as competitive as those who do.
I am looking for high quality engagement. Thorough deconstruction, crossfire questions, and speeches that are responsive to the arguments being made in the round are signs of high quality engagement. Pre-prepared speeches past Constructive speeches may sound more eloquent, but I will be listening hard for engagement. A team which engages better will be favored over a team with more eloquent speeches.
I will be wary of impacts that are a considerable distance down the causal chain from the claim that you're making. The more "if-then's" your argument requires, the more vulnerable and less compelling it will be. A clear causal argument with well-defined and defended linkages will be stronger to me than an argument lacking those things, but instead purports the "importance" of the impact as its strength.
Use your evidence wisely - a litany of statistics too quickly (and not well connected to argumentation) will be hard to stick with me.
I very much look forward to lively, highly-engaged, respectful debates.
I debated 4 years in high school, and have judged/coached at plenty of tournaments since I graduated in 2018. I am currently a high school English teacher and debate/forensics coach. I value communication skills a lot, but the arguments being made must also have substance. I'm typically a tab judge, and will value what you convince me is most important; but if no framework is given by the debaters, I will default policy maker. I have no preference in speed as long as you speak clearly. CPs are fine, and topicality is fine, Ks are okay if you break them down. Disadvantages should have clear links to the aff, and should all be impacted out.
To win my ballot, you will need to speak at a rate that I can understand what you are saying. In addition, please make sure that your arguments are backed with evidence, but are not absent logic.
Hello!!
While I have experience in debate, most of my career is Speech oriented, so I HIGHLY value signposting and clarity! To me, what wins the round is IMPACTS and clear, logical arguments.
Happy debating!
I like to flow every debate I watch to make sure the burden of rejoinder is clearly identifiable, but I will not flow a dropped argument without being told. You should be flowing as well. If it is not CX, then I don't want you to spread. I don't mind speaking fast but I want to really hear your arguments and have time for you to persuade me.
Kindness and tone go a long way. If you are belittling someone else it does not help to prove your point. There is a difference between being assertive and flat-out demeaning.
In Congress, I am not a fan of rehash - I want to hear rebuttals and debate, not a new speech that doesn't address what the aff and neg speakers have brought to the chamber. I think it is completely appropriate to respond in your speeches to arguments by referencing the name of the representative/senator as long as you are tasteful. It helps me keep up with the round.
How you treat your PO and your attitude towards them also go into judging you as a competitor. If you have problems, you have every right to call a point of order, but being snide and hostile makes you look weak.
In IPDA, the resolution is paramount. You must show, using the weighing mechanism, how your case and arguments outweigh your opponents. In questioning, please refrain from dismissing each other or being overtly aggressive. Remember I am flowing but you have to direct my attention and give me a road map.
I have not judged CX in ages. But many moons ago, I was a CXer and I can flow. I don't perceive that I will be judging CX at any point.
As for Forensics events go - I was also a Forensics kid and have been a Theatre Director, Dancer and Interper for over 29 years. I am looking for solid real performances where the intent is routed in thought. I do not like when emotion is faked or pushed. Please perform from a place of honesty. All movement should be motivated and character driven. Variety and the ability to demonstrate clear distinct characters is essential. In OO, Extemp or Info - These are Speech events. Sometimes performers add more interp friendly content into their performances. This is where I am quite stern. There is a fine line between performing and speaking, please remember I enjoy the fact that these are SPEECH events. You are actually speaking to the audience, not performing for us. Remember that.
Corporate executive by day; speech coach, judge and mentor after hours. I've spent 20 years in corporate America listening to my share of dreadful presentations. I can always spot those who have NSDA experience because they keep me engaged throughout the presentation. As a judge, I'm looking for polished presentations that elevate the discussion.
I am committed to providing honest, constructive feedback, allowing students to develop their presentations effectively.
I have a very low tolerance for poor audience behavior. That includes, but is not limited to, the use of electronic devices while others are speaking.
My paradigm for judging:
Decorum required at all times.
Do not yell at me. I have been involved in Speech and Debate for 21 years- I competed in debate and interp in middle school, high school, and collegiate level. I have been coaching this activity for 11 years. I tend to like cool, calm, collected- not loud and chaotic.
I will flow the round- if I don't look up often, I am not ignoring you, I am checking the flow.
Your job is to present ideas, arguments, and rebuttals in a professional manner. Debaters should educate the judges, and have thorough background knowledge of the topic. You should also have fun- show off your hard work and represent your school/state well!
Do not use full prep time if you do not need it! It is a waste of time to run out the clock if you are ready to speak.
I look forward to judging your round.
I am an old school traditional judge who does a lot of congress and extemp.
In Congress - If you ask for an in house recess to pad a speech or to address the chamber because no one is speaking - DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK! Nothing annoys congress judges more than 15 minutes of caucusing and getting splits, only for no one to be ready. The PO should be running the round and is perfectly capable of admonishing those who are not ready to speak. Otherwise, I like a good intro with a 2 pt preview and good, creative arguments that show critical thinking. Be active in the round and ask good questions. As for trigger warnings: unless you are giving some graphic description of something, there is no need. The simple mention of a word does not require a trigger warning.
PF - Keep it simple. If you run a plan, a K, or theory, you are unlikely to get my ballot. Treat me like I have no idea what this topic is and explain EVERYTHING. Weigh impacts to get my ballot. Don't complicate a pro/con debate.
LD - For UIL, stick to a traditional format with Value/Criteria and Contentions. Weigh and give voters. For TFA, just know that I loathe rapid delivery and love explanations. If you are going to run a counterplan in absence of an affirmative plan, I will not vote on it. LD is not 1 person policy. Uphold your value throughout the round.
Extemp - I like a good AGD and want effective communication and sources are essential.
Remember, debate is impossible without effective communication.
FLASHING IS PREP TIME! If you are not speaking, you are prepping. My prep time clock is the official prep time clock.
I have been a middle school coach for speech and debate for the last 9 years. I do NOT judge PFD/LD/CX/WSD on a weekly or even monthly basis. I follow the original idea that PFD is supposed to be kept to a conversational pace, where we could grab anyone off the street to be able to judge your round.
Things you should be aware of if I am judging you:
- Do not speed through your case/speeches. If you do, I will miss multiple things and if I cannot understand what you are saying I will give the win to your opponents. If speeding is required to get through your case, this is where you learn how to change it up (adapt to your judge).
- Do not be rude to your opponents OR to your teammate. Making rude comments/gestures/body movements is not acceptable. Your speaks will go down if you are rude.
- I have my own way of flowing and will do my best to make sure I get everything, including dropped/unanswered contentions. Please, please, please do not lie about what your opponents did/did not say.
- I like evidence being used to be from reputable sources.
- Do not run a case that has NOTHING to do with the topic (those of you trying to bring LD into PFD, no "K"s)!
Background
I’ve been a debate coach since 2011, first at the middle school level, then managing debate operations as an assistant principal, and since 2020doing what I love as the proud coach of Everglades HS forensics from Miramar, FL. I have a B.A. in English / B.S. in Biology and a Masters in Ed. Leadership. I’ve judged everything from locals to NSDA Nationals. Four time NSDA national finalist coach. NSDA Speech school of excellence 2023. Follow us on IG @evergaldesdebate
Rule #1 – Play Nice.
If cross gets ugly and rude, I will destroy your speaker points. Debate is about building community and showing others that we don’t have to be as vile and divisive as those holding political office. Seriously, you all are the future. Make it awesome.
Argumentation & Evidence
I will be flowing your arguments and I do not want to be part of an email chain. I will judge off your flow. Having said that, please sign-post and don’t spread. I’m fine with rapid talking, but honestly, it is all about quality of argumentation over quantity.
Having solid warrants is great; but warrants without extension or analytical impact is fail. Just because you can rattle off stat after stat doesn’t show me you are an excellent debater and should win a round.
While it is very doubtful that I will be calling for cards, make sure you have exchanged cards with your opponents prior to the round so we don’t need to waste time with that in session. If you are unable to provide a requested card within 15 seconds, speaker points will drop and I will strike that piece of evidence from your argument. Disclosure via casewiki is fine, but by no means required.
Public Forum
Hopefully, you've read the first two items. A few more PF specific notes.
If you are going to keep paying camps to give you a generic disclosure theory case, or plan to run disclosure theory against an opponent, either strike me or you will loose the round. Period.
Furthering that, any progressive debate arguments will result in an automatic loss as I refuse to evaluate them in public forum debate. The event was designed so ANYONE could judge the round, even lay judges. The continued commercialization of debate is disheartening at best, and a crime that targets economically disadvantaged programs and students. Honestly, it is quite shameful. LD has already been ruined because of this brainwashing that has come in from policy. If you want to run prog debate, go to policy, it is a wonderful event and that's where all your commercialized camp driven skills can be put on full display.
As a flow judge, please remember to bring everything across the flow so you get access to it late in round. Always makes me sad when teams want to collapse to something they failed to bring across in rebuttal and it magically appears in summary. Lots of times I will link my flow in my RFD so you can make fun of me later - seriously, it is a great way to see what the judge dropped from your arguments so you can rethink your delivery and ask, why did that guy miss it!?
Lincoln Douglas
I've seen a trend recently where competitors try to spread five or six contentions. If you elect to do this, be prepared for me to either a) review written case (time permitting before decision deadline) or b) not penalize your opponent for "dropping" Cs. Again, quality over quantity for me as a judge.
I am comfortable with counter-plans in most cases; however, I don't coach kritik's or "Ks" specifically; although I do my best to read the literature contained in topical case briefs. While I would never outright fail a position for running a "K", you will more than likely need to be super-awesome to win as I prefer traditional LD rounds. If you plan to run straight theory, please strike me.
World Schools Debate (WSD)
I'm thrilled to see WSD being brought to more and more tournaments. Having said that, many don't have a clear understanding of the format. Please make sure you have reviewed the NSDA guidelines, FFL Rules (if Florida), and / or tournament specific rule-set for the event.
As a judge, great cases for me will begin with defining and contextualizing the motion from the prop / opp's position. Furthermore, if the motion does not specifically give us what "this house" represents, define / clarify it for me. Make sure you introduce a clear, believable framework,before beginning the body of your case. As the case moves forward, all substansives, observations, and evaluations should be presented with specific, concrete examples. I don't by hyperbolic, generic, or slopply linked pieces of evidence. Having said that, do not turn WSD into a PF round, I'm really not interested in seeing how many cards you can (prepared motion) throw into your case.
As the round moves on, both sides have a duty to settle the framework debate, by either furthering clash over framework or moving on and accepting your opponent's framework. Don't weight til the reply speech to attempt to resolve framework issues or I will ignore your response and pref the team that provided a clear framework weighing mechanism earlier in the round.
Having listened to all three speakers, your content score will be reflective of how well your team not only presented your case, but how you chose to respond to your opponent's position. Again, I prefer specifics with well-thought out analytics, then simple summary of an opponent's substansive and then telling me (with non-specific or simply summarized evidence) how they fail to meet the metric of your framework. Dig deeper then that.
To earn maximun style points from me as a judge, speakers should be engaging and passionate about their assigned position. The speaking delivery style of this event is much closer to OO and Congress then it is to more traditional debate formats. Inclusion of rhetorical devices, proper speaking tone / inflection, and stage presence will have a huge impact on my ballot. Also, if you spend your time with your head in your case and not engaging with the round, you'll bore me and your speaks will suffer.
For strategy points, make sure to make use of PoIs outside of protected time. This should be spread around the team and not just be one person. Furthermore, how you respond to PoIs to further develop clash within the debate and use as a opportunity shift course mid-speech is total win.
Judging
I give significant weight to how debaters handle cross, summary, and final focus (PF) or rebuttal in LD. I’m sure you all have meticulously prepared constructives / cases and rebuttals. However, I want to see what you can do when presented with your opponent’s case that is unique and entertaining.
Please make sure to weigh your arguments; but do so with thorough explanation. Please don’t tell me “aff outweighs on magnitude of impact” and leave it at that.
Also, if you've read this far, congrats! You get to hear my judging pet-peve - climate / nuclear war / extinction arguments. They feel like such an easy out. I'll certainly consider them, but I'm thinking we can be more original than that.
I will disclose results at the end of the round as per tournament directions on disclosure. Feedback will be on ballot, and if I have time and you'd like oral feedback (if disclosure is allowed) I will give oral FB.
Bonus Points
If you can slide in a reference to any of the following, I’ll give your speaker points a little bump:
- Rick and Morty - Must be a Season 7 Reference ... or something involving Mr. Nimbus.
- Bad / Silly / Campy Horror Movies
- Why Bad Monkey was seriously phenomenal and your expectations or thoughts on Season 2.
I like to be entertained. This is my weekend I’m giving up so you all can participate in a great tournament. Make me laugh and keep me engaged when you speak and the world will be an almost beautiful place.
I'm fairly familiar with all types of debate and the rules associated with them. I'm alright with speed, put a lot of weight on impacts and flow, and ask that the debate is professional (i.e. avoid ad hominem, attack arguments not opponents).
Hi. I have been judging Speech and Debate on and off the last several years. This is my first time judging nationals and policy.
I debated for four years, 3 of which were in policy.
I do not enjoy spreading, If I cannot understand you I will not flow. Speak like a normal human being, if a lay judge couldn’t understand you then you are going to fast.
I don't flow CX. It is a time for you to learn from your opponents. If you use CX to try to further your arguments that won't help you. If something comes up in CX, it is NOT on the flow.
If you can’t debate for a lay judge you shouldn’t be debating at all.
jackrabbitt64@gmail.com
Hey, I am Derek. I debated policy for four years at Truman High School in Missouri and formerly debated at Missouri State University.
Here are my random thoughts on debate
I am willing and ready to hear most arguments as long as they are not denigrating or discriminatory. These are prohibited!
Most of my debate career was spent going for policy arguments but the later end of my college career has been spent reading critical arguments. That being said I am experienced with hearing both and think there are educational benefits to both.
You should feel comfortable reading whatever argument gives you the best chance to win or the most personal satisfaction (the thing we forget most about debate is that it is supposed to be fun!). Although I may not be familiar with every acronym in your policy aff or buzz word in your kritik, I mostly base my decisions on the flow and how well things are explained. So please do a great job of explaining and contextualizing and you will like the outcome!
My decisions will revolve around the question of which team forwards a better version or understanding of the world. I am primarily tech over truth unless it is egregious (in most of these instances the argument is not worthy of response anyways).
Specific thoughts
Policy Affs: I like both large, heart of the topic affs, and smaller, left leaning affs. Internal links being specific as possible is good.
K Affs: Explain what it is about the topic you are critiquing and why that critique is good. Also heavily lean into the thesis level understanding of the kritik rather than smaller specific parts which is what I feel drives a good kritikal affirmative.
DAs: The more specific the better. Topic DAs are great too but contextualize it to the aff you are debating. I will be able to tell if you are reading the same generic link block you read your last four neg rounds. Impact calculus is where I will draw my conclusions if the link or uniqueness debates are a wash so turns case args are valued highly.
CPs: I am a fan of a great DA CP combo! Please have solvency advocate unless there is some specific reason you do not need one. Just win that it is theoretically justified, it solves the part of the aff it has to solve to win the debate, and a risk of a net benefit. If you solve all of the aff you do not need to go to case in the 2NR. Affs must win at least a solvency deficit that has an impact and some form of offense is great too! Your best bet is to minimize the risk of the net benefit and win a deficit (carded ones are great)
Ks: I love a great one off debate but a kritik also read with other off is cool too. The more you dive into the aff and their cards to prove your links, the better. Winning that your impact and impact framing outweighs is crucial. Above all else, give me judge instructions heavily. Tell me how to base my decision and how it should be different from how I normally frame decisions (this applies to all types of debates but specifically this style). You do not need to win an alternative but you should probably tell me if you are kicking it, if I should, under what conditions I should, etc.
T: You are probably more educated on how to win these debates than I am if you are going for it in the 2NR. I usually think teams that win these debates have long lists of cases that would be topical under the affirmative's interpretation that are not allowed under yours. This is good. You must win an impact above all else. Why is it important if a team is not reading a topical aff and how does it undermine your competitive incentive to debate.
FW: If you are going for FW you have to win the impact level more than anything else. Do not waste time reading definitions that get you no offense. You should also probably go to case to minimize impact turns that will most likely be there. To beat FW, make sure you have a solid counter-interp that is able to minimize all the limits and ground offense (or turn them) from FW teams. Win a large impact turn that outweighs the impacts of FW. Both teams should be telling me why their arg comes before their opponents (like "Theory before content" or "content informs theory")
Theory: Condo is usually good! I do not like contradicting condo positions but as long as they are multiple cohesive worlds I do not see a problem. PICs and PIKs are good so long as they are getting rid of a part of the affirmative. For whatever theory you are going for please have an interp!
Please be nice to everyone and have fun! I think I wasted away a lot of my debate career stressing and putting too much pressure on myself. Don't make the same mistake!
I wish to be viewing docs while I am judging so please add me to whatever evidence sharing mechanism you use! My email is derekallgood7@gmail.com
Good Debate!
Hey y’all. My name’s Matt, I competed in congress for 2 years in high school and I’ve been judging tournaments for about the same amount of time. Basically I’ve been in a lot of congress rounds so don’t worry, I know how this works. When I’m judging a round, I’m mainly looking for who can advance the debate the most or otherwise contribute the most to the round as a whole. Whoever can give me the most solid, impactful, well explained point and contextualize it to the round is going to stand out to me the most. That means if you’re speaking early, set the framework for your side to follow and for the debate as a whole to follow. If you can effectively do this, you’ll get ranked well. If you’re speaking later in the round, make share you make your arguments more responsive so the debate can be furthered, incorporate refutation so I know why your points are better, and are your point make sense in the context of other points I’ve heard in the round so far so it’s easy for me to understand. Clean, professional speaking will benefit you but it’s not the deciding factor for your rank. Important to note, I also appreciate a good presiding officer. If you are well versed in procedures and run the round smoothly, you’ll rank well with me, and if I feel you’ve contributed more than anyone else, you’ll rank REALLY well with me. That about does it for me, great luck in round everyone, I look forward to seeing you all compete.
my email address is:
Talmstedt@fjuhsd.org
Please include me on email evidence chains and case sharing.
For WSD, I will focus more on the Style aspect. WSD, I feel, is not a regular debate round, but a way to promote and share your ideas. If a team starts talking about why they won and not showing me, and the other team is showing me, I'll lean towards the other. If you're making me laugh, you are doing something right. I've judged tons of speech, PF, LD, and Policy, so I can handle anything ya got.
I am a head coach of a Speech and Debate Team. When it comes to PF & LD, I am lay judge but can understand tech-type jargon. I do not flow, but take shorthand notes. If you give me a verbal outline, I can track it.
These are do’s and Don’t for me judging your round:
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Please do not use ‘K’’s to win your round, or run anything progressive, as you probably won’t win.
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I appreciate off time road maps. Sign Posting is also very helpful for me to track your arguments
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I will defer to the tournament organizers as to disclosure at the end of the round. If there are no instructions, I will disclose at the end of the round
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A disrespectful team will most often lose the round
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Trigger warnings are appreciated, but must be followed if asked to
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I default to most lives affected/saved if no other framework is presented
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Please do not spread, I asked nicely.
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Make link chains as clear as possible, with clear warranting, especially when they are lengthy
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Evidence is important. Accurate evidence is even better. Valuable evidence is best. This means if your opponent is using faulty or poor evidence call them out on it. Thus, ask for evidence.
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As a lay judge, crossfire allows me to see the caliber of each team. Respectful, meaningful, and purposeful crossfire will help me decide the victor of the round.
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Post round questions are helpful for my growth as a judge, so please ask for reasoning. However, your obligation is to beat your opponent, not argue with the judge, so clarifying questions will be entertained, but attempts to change my mind will not.
I am a head coach at Newark Science and have coached there for years. I teach LD during the summer at the Global Debate Symposium. I formerly taught LD at University of North Texas and I previously taught at Stanford's Summer Debate Institute.
The Affirmative must present an inherent problem with the way things are right now. Their advocacy must reasonably solve that problem. The advantages of doing the advocacy must outweigh the disadvantages of following the advocacy. You don't have to have a USFG plan, but you must advocate for something.
This paradigm is for both policy and LD debate. I'm also fine with LD structured with a general framing and arguments that link back to that framing. Though in LD, resolutions are now generally structured so that the Affirmative advocates for something that is different from the status quo.
Speed
Be clear. Be very clear. If you are spreading politics or something that is easy to understand, then just be clear. I can understand very clear debaters at high speeds when what they are saying is easy to understand. Start off slower so I get used to your voice and I'll be fine.
Do not spread dense philosophy. When going quickly with philosophy, super clear tags are especially important. If I have a hard time understanding it at conversational speeds I will not understand it at high speeds. (Don't spread Kant or Foucault.)
Slow down for analytics. If you are comparing or making analytical arguments that I need to understand, slow down for it.
I want to hear the warrants in the evidence. Be clear when reading evidence. I don't read cards after the round if I don't understand them during the round.
Offs
Please don't run more than 5 off in policy or LD. And if you choose 5 off, make them good and necessary. I don't like frivolous arguments. I prefer deep to wide when it comes to Neg strategies.
Theory
Make it make sense. I'll vote on it if it is reasonable. Please tell me how it functions and how I should evaluate it. The most important thing about theory for me is to make it make sense. I am not into frivolous theory. If you like running frivolous theory, I am not the best judge for you.
Evidence
Don't take it out of context. I do ask for cites. Cites should be readily available. Don't cut evidence in an unclear or sloppy manner. Cut evidence ethically. If I read evidence and its been misrepresented, it is highly likely that team will lose.
Argument Development
For LD, please not more than 3 offs. Time constraints make LD rounds with more than three offs incomprehensible to me. Policy has twice as much time and three more speeches to develop arguments. I like debates that advance ideas. The interaction of both side's evidence and arguments should lead to a coherent story.
Speaker Points
30 I learned something from the experience. I really enjoyed the thoughtful debate. I was moved. I give out 30's. It's not an impossible standard. I just consider it an extremely high, but achievable, standard of excellence. I haven't given out at least two years.
29 Excellent
28 Solid
27 Okay
For policy Debate (And LD, because I judge them the same way).
Same as for LD. Make sense. Big picture is important. I can't understand spreading dense philosophy. Don't assume I am already familiar with what you are saying. Explain things to me. Starting in 2013 our LDers have been highly influenced by the growing similarity between policy and LD. We tested the similarity of the activities in 2014 - 2015 by having two of our LDers be the first two students in the history of the Tournament of Champions to qualify in policy and LD in the same year. They did this by only attending three policy tournaments (The Old Scranton Tournament and Emory) on the Oceans topic running Reparations and USFG funding of The Association of Black Scuba Divers.
We are also in the process of building our policy program. Our teams tend to debate the resolution with non-util impacts or engages in methods debates. Don't assume that I am familiar with the specifics of a lit base. Please break things down to me. I need to hear and understand warrants. Make it simple for me. The more simple the story, the more likely that I'll understand it.
I won't outright reject anything unless it is blatantly racist, sexist, homophobic.
Important: Don't curse in front of me. If the curse is an essential part of the textual evidence, I am more lenient. But that would be the exception.
newarksciencedebate@gmail.com
MS1 at University of Washington School of Medicine
2023 NSDA National Assistant Coach of the Year
Coaching History:
Head Coach of Interlake High School Speech and Debate (2019-2022)
Head Coach of Sammamish High School Speech and Debate (2021-2022)
Assistant Coach of Bellevue High School Speech and Debate (2022-2023)
Co-Head Coach of Newport High School Speech and Debate (2023-2024)
If I am your judge, please put me on your email chain: paluri@uw.edu
LD Paradigm
I prefer Aff to be topical. I prefer a traditional Value/Criterion debate. I like clear signposting, that opponents refer to when refuting each other. I also require evidence to uphold your warrants and link to your personal analysis. All affirmatives should have some kind of standard that they try to win, value/criterion. The negative is not necessarily tied to the same obligation. The affirmative generally has the obligation to state a case construction that generally affirms the truth of the resolution, and the negative can take whatever route they want to show how the affirmative is not doing that sufficiently.
When I see a traditional debate that clashes on fundamental issues involving framework, impacts, and what either side thinks, really matters in my weighing of the round, it makes deciding on who was the better debater during the round an easier process. I like debate that gets to the substantive heart of whatever the issue is. There are very few arguments I would actually consider a priori. My favorite debates are the kind where one side clearly wins standards, whichever one they decide to go for, and has a compelling round story. Voters are crucial in rebuttals, and a clear link story, with warrants and weighted impacts, are the best route for my ballot.
I will listen to a Kritik but you must link it to the debate in the room, related to the resolution in some way, for me to more likely to vote for it. I am biased toward topicality.
I hold theory to higher bar. I will most likely vote reasonability instead of competing interpretations. However, if I am given a clearly phrased justification for why I should accept a competing interpretation and it is insufficiently contested, there is a better chance that I will vote for a competing interpretation. You will need to emphasize this by slowing down, if you are spreading, slow down, speak a little louder, or tell me “this is paramount, flow this”.
Reasonability. I believe that theory is intervention and my threshold for voting on theory is high. I prefer engagement and clash with your opponent. If I feel like negative has spoken too quickly for an Affirmative to adequately respond during the round, or a Neg runs 2+ independent disadvantages that are likely impossible for a "think tank" to answer in a 4 minute 1AR, and the Affirmative runs abuse theory, and gives direct examples from Neg, I'll probably vote Affirmative. Common sense counts. You do not need a card to tell me that the Enola Gay was the plane that dropped the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima.
I default Affirmative framework for establishing ground, I default Kritiks if there are clear pre-fiat/post-fiat justifications for a K debate instead of on-case debate. I do not flow cross examination. If there are any concessions in CX, you need to point them out in your next speech, for me to weigh them.
Cross Examination
Sitting or standing, whatever you are comfortable with. I'm fine with flex prep. I think debaters should be respectful and polite. Cross examination concessions are binding, if your opponent calls them out in their next speech.
Speaker Points
If I do not understand what you are saying, don’t expect to receive anything higher than a 28. You will lose speaker points if your actions are disrespectful to either myself or to your opponent. I believe in decorum and will vote you down if you are rude or condescending toward your opponent. I do not flow “super spreading”. I need to understand what you are saying, so that I can flow it. I will say “slow” and “clear” once. If there is no discernable change, I will not bother to repeat myself. If you respond, slow down, then speed up again, I will say “slow” and/or “clear” again. For my ballot, clarity over quantity. Word economy over quantity. I reward debaters who try to focus on persuasive styles of speaking over debaters who speak at the same tone, pitch, cadence, the entire debate.
If something is factually untrue, and your opponent points it out, do not expect to win it as an argument.
Please give me articulate voters at the end of the NR and 2AR.
I disclose if it is the tournament norm.
If you are unclear about my paradigm, please ask before the round begins.
Public Forum Paradigm
RESPECT and DECORUM
1. Show respect to your opponent. No shouting down. Just a "thank you" to stop their answer. When finished with answer, ask your opponent "Do you have a question?" Please ask direct questions. Also, advocate for yourself, do not let your opponent "walk all over you in Crossfire".
2. Do not be sexist/racist/transphobic/homophobic/etc.... in round. Respect all humans.
I expect PF to be a contention level debate. There may be a weighing mechanism like "cost-benefit analysis" that will help show why your side has won the debate on magnitude. (Some call this a framework)
I really like signposting of all of your contentions. I really like short taglines for your contentions. If you have long contentions, I really like them broken down into segments, A, B, C, etc. I really appreciate you signposting your direct refutations of your opponents contentions.
I like direct clash.
All evidence used in your constructed cases should be readily available to your opponent, upon request. If you slow down the debate looking for evidence that is in your constructed case, that will weigh against you when I am deciding my ballot.
I do not give automatic losses for dropped contentions or not extending every argument. I let the debaters decide the important contentions by what they decide to debate.
In your summary speech, please let me know specifically why your opponents are loosing the debate.
In your final focus speech, please let me know specifically why you are winning the debate.
I am the head Speech, Debate, and Congress coach at Horace High School, ND.
I have a background in English, Speech, and Theatre Education.
Debate:
Decorum matters, so be polite to your opponents, including in the questioning period. You can be firm in cross while being polite, but there is a line that you shouldn't cross during cross.
Make my job of flowing easy, signpost accordingly and don't rush through your contention taglines.
If you speak so fast that I can't understand your argument and flow your argument, I will have a hard time giving you the win.
I will not make links for you. Also, just because you CAN make a link chain work doesn't mean you should.
If you open your speech with a preview of what you are talking about, I expect the preview to be reflective of what you talk about. Example, if you say you are giving voters, you should give clear voters instead of just talking down the flow.
PF: PF isn't Policy. Also, I'm not sure why people keep trying to add frameworks into PF cases, but they won't play into how the round is weighed on the ballot unless both teams willingly accept the framework.
A good first neg in LD will use their time equally between attacking the Aff case and setting up the neg case; 5:30 setting up the Neg case and 1:30 attacking the Aff case is not using time equally in my eyes. The same idea goes for PF.
I like to hear the voters. Don't just say that something flows to your side though, give the rational and link it for me.
Congress:
Delivery and presentation are musts for me: eye contact, conversational tone, posture, and not just reading off computer or notepad.
I will flow your argument, but I will not make the links for you unless they are incredibly obvious.
Be brave and have fun in the session; this is a social activity. I want to see students willing to get up for authorship. If no one is willing to speak or run for PO that's your cue to be a leader.
Even the second aff/ first neg can, and often should, have elements of refutation in there. For the first 2/3-3/4 of speeches, I expect to see clash, but also new arguments being brought in. This is an activity that requires not only research, but also depth of research. Don't get up there and say that the aff or neg has already brought up a point, but not explored it enough, unless you can back it up with new analysis or additional research. The last few speeches should wrap up the debate, especially if debate has been limited and you know that you are one of the last speeches.
Don't play games and try and make the PO look bad unless they have actually made a mistake. Decorum is at the heart of congressional debate and must be respected. Do not be rude or belittling to your competition; you may be the best speaker in the room, but you will lose favor quickly by not respecting your competition and the activity.
Speech number is irrelevant; however, you had better have a good reason for not speaking on each piece of legislation. Quality of speeches, quality of questions, and quality of overall interaction in the chamber is what will get you the ballot from me.
I competed in policy debate in high school, parliamentary debate in college, and I have been coaching since 2001. I would consider myself a tabula rasa judge, as much as that is possible. I feel comfortable with any line of argumentation, but expect clear articulation of said argumentation. I want you to provide me with compelling reasons why you should win the debate. Generic argumentation, weak links, and time sucks are not appreciated. I don't judge a ton (in my local circuit I am in tab a lot and I work tab at Nationals). I keep a detailed flow so staying organized is key to winning my ballot. Pronouns: she/her/hers. If you have questions, feel free to ask before the round starts. Email for the chain: amdahl-masona@nclack.k12.or.us.
In my day job I am a teacher of teachers (specifically teachers of mathematics), where my self-stated goal is to lead people to love others through teaching. I enjoy a good discussion but cannot tolerate a lack of respect during the sharing of ideas/perspectives. I will be leaning on the intent for the speech/debate/event and how participants are being instructed to speak and/or interact and the ideas that are presented and I will evaluate according to the stated indicators for that particular event. For debate events, I am looking for logical arguments that are presented in accessible language during (and not outside) of the time allotted for the speeches/conversation. For speech events, I am looking for accessible language and/or understandable talk.
Some experience has shown me that when I am asked to give overly elaborate time indicators (every minute of a ten minute timing period) I am somewhat distracted in making sure I am giving those signals then paying attention to the performance, which is tough especially for the beginning of a performance when context and orientation are being established. I would suggest timing signals that start with under 5 minutes remaining in a speech event...just my opinion to put the best light on the performance.
- good with speed
- fine with progressive (low tolerance for frivolous theory)
- fine with disclosure
- flow judge (former LD debator)
- give verbal feedback and fine with questions
- can be harsh (sorry, not intentional)
if you get me in LD somehow god help you
im not gonna vote for Ks or theory either, IEs exist for alternative advocacies
john.art.anderson@gmail.com
3/5/25 update for TFA State: Sorry this is late. I usually don't have arg pref shortcuts on here but if you find that helpful then here you go:
1 - policy (util or sv)
2 - theory / basic phil
3 - Kritiks
4 - heavy/dense phil, performance affs or obscure kritiks
5 - tricks
I competed for four years in policy and three years in LD at Lampasas High School. I have judged regularly every year since 2012, primarily at Austin TFAs. I prefer progressive debate but I am liable to miss blippy arguments/analytics/theory etc. if you're spreading fast and off the doc. Give me pen time for those things as well as tags/authors.
I am open to all arguments and will do my best to adapt to you. I am very focused on my flow so be mindful when moving from one card/argument to the next to leave a gap or say "and" to clearly indicate motion. Slow down on authors and dates please.
CX: I'm a policy maker but am always open to other arguments. My main concern is whether or not you've proven the resolution is true or false.
Topicality/theory: I default competing interp. If there aren't good extensions or if it's a wash I probably won't vote here.
K: If the lit is obscure you'll need to explain it to me a little more than popular Ks. Feel free to ask.
Case: I want the aff to extend in every speech. I will likely not vote exclusively on case defense, so negs please have another voter.
LD: I'm very line-by-line driven, and focus on the flow. Be very specific with voters.
Value/criterion: Not a must-have, and in many rounds I judge I find debaters will spend time on this without ever impacting it as a voter. If you go for this, that is totally fine, but give a clear reason why it matters in determining the resolution's truth.
Pre-standards/observations: Fine with these, but I feel the more outlandish ones need a little more work to actually matter. In any case, it is important that these are answered and not dropped.
Off-case: totally fine and love to see it, so long as whoever runs any off has an understanding of how to run that argument.
NC: I tend to be less persuaded by strats that try to spread the aff thin and just go for whatever they drop/undercover, and while I won't stop you from doing that, I begin to err heavily in the aff's favor when they have four minutes to answer 4 off, respond to your case, and defend their own. In my opinion, it's better for debate for you to demonstrate your skills by thoroughly arguing a really good voter rather than throwing half-hearted args at your opponent to see what sticks.
Aff: The most frustrating part of judging LD is watching 1ARs that try to do line-by-lines on everything and drop part of the flow. I want to see a 1AR identify the reason the 1AC theoretically wins, extend that and respond to attacks against that premise, identify why the neg would theoretically win, and respond to that. The aff does not have to win every single argument in round to prove the resolution true, so show your skill by covering what you absolutely must in this small period of time. Too often I see 2ARs make good arguments that are too little too late, so do whatever it takes to give a 1AR that doesn't drop anything important (only drops stuff that isn't important) be it taking extra prep, going with opposing framework, etc.
Head coach with 28 years experience. Entirely a policymaker who just wants what is *realistically* best for our nation and world. Please treat me as a member of congress who is evaluating a policy proposal for our nation and its international impacts. Persusasive and oratory goes a long way with me, especially in rebuttals.
I do not do well with speeding and spreading. My brain simply cannot process that fast, even if I understand all the words. Please know that I cannot vote on arguments I cannot understand or didn't process, so slow it down on the stuff that you need to make sure I hear. You can go fast if I'm the odd duck in the room, but don't forget to throw me some crumbs along the way.
All arguments are fair game, but you must first convince me that they ought to weigh heavily on my decision. I'm willing to vote on some very unorthodox arguments but not until you educate me on why I ought to set aside all other arguments.
Add me to the email chain: sdandersondebate@gmail.com. I prefer email chain to Speechdrop, but either work.
Background
I competed in LD from 2009-2013 and have been the LD coach at Eagan (MN) since 2014 and judge 100+ rounds a season. I qualified debaters to the TOC from 2021-2023 who won the Minneapple and Dowling twice. One primarily read phil and tricks while the other primarily read policy arguments, so I am pretty ideologically flexible and have coached across the spectrum.
If you're not at a circuit tournament, scroll to the bottom for my traditional LD paradigm.
Sections/State 2025 Updates
- I've updated my locals paradigm at the bottom, not with new rules or constraints but more detailed thoughts on how I tend to judge and how you should try to win my ballot.
- Topic note: obviously this topic cannot be debated as a "general principle", which is my preferred approach to traditional LD. I strongly prefer that the 1AC choose to unconditionally defend UNCLOS, ICC, or both (really, choosing just one is better, although that's just a personal preference), and think it is clearly the "framer's intent" to give the affirmative pre-round rather than in-round flexibility in choice of advocacy. As such, I think it's appropriate for me to vote on theory arguments introduced by the negative to enforce this norm and deter shenanigans.
- MSHSL rules state that LD and PF debaters "should" read oral full source citations, while all debaters "must" be able to provide written full source citations: https://www.mshsl.org/sites/default/files/2024-08/2024-2025-debate-rules-and-policies.pdf. My understanding is that the word "should" typically denotes a recommendation, as opposed to shall/must which imply a mandate (see, e.g.: https://www.rpharmy.com/blog/should-shall-must-interpreted). Accordingly, I will not be voting on the MSHSL full source rule until this ambiguity has been resolved.
- That being said, author qualifications are an important aspect of evidence comparison, and I encourage you to raise this as a substantive, rather than procedural, issue.
General Info
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I won't vote for arguments without warrants, arguments I didn't flow in the first speech, or arguments that I can't articulate in my own words at the end of the round. This applies especially to blippy and underdeveloped arguments.
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I think of the round in terms of a pre- and post-fiat layer when it comes to any argument that shifts focus from the resolution or plan (theory, Ks, etc.). I don't think the phrase "role of the ballot" means much – it's all just impacts, the strength of link matters, and your ROB is probably impact-justified (i.e. instrumentally valuable and arbitrarily narrow).
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I tend to evaluate arguments on a sliding scale rather than a binary yes/no. I believe in near-zero risk, I think you can argue that near-zero risk should be rounded down to zero, but by default I think there’s almost always a risk of offense.
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As a corollary to the above two points, I will vote on very frivolous theory or IVIs if there’s no offense against it, so make sure you are not just defensive in response. “This crowds out substance which is valuable because [explicit warrant]” is an offensive response, and is probably the most coherent way to articulate reasonability.
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I reserve the right to vote on what your evidence actually says, not what you claim it says.
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As a corollary to the above, you can insert rehighlighting if you're just pointing out problems with your opponent's evidence, but if you do then you're just asking me to make a judgment call and agree with you, and I might not. If it's ambiguous, I'll avoid inserting my own interpretation of the card, and if you insert a frivolous rehighlighting I'll likely just disagree with you. If you want to gain an offensive warrant, you need to read the rehighlighting out loud.
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Facts that can be easily verified don't need a card.
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I'm skeptical of late-breaking arguments, given how few speeches LD has. It's hard to draw a precise line, but in general, after the 1N, arguments should be *directly* responsive to arguments made in the previous speech or a straightforward extrapolation of arguments made in previous speeches. "Here's new link evidence" is not a response to "no link". "DA turns case, if society collapses due to climate change we won't be able to colonize space" is fine in the 2N but "DA turns case, warming kills heg, Walt 20:" should be in the 1N.
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Any specific issue in this paradigm, except where otherwise noted, is a heuristic or default that can be overcome with technical debating.
Ks
This is the area of debate I'm least familiar with – I've spent the least time coaching here and I'm not very well-read in any K lit base. Reps Ks and stock Ks (cap, security, etc.) are okay, identity Ks are okay especially if you lean in more heavily on IVI-type offense, high theory Ks are probably not the best idea (I'll try my best to evaluate them but no promises).
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The less the links directly explain why the aff is a bad idea, the more you'll need to rely on framework, particularly if the K is structured like "everything is bad, the aff is bad because it uses the state and tries to make the world better, the alt is to reject everything". If you want me to vote on the overall thesis of your K being true, you should explain why your theory is an accurate model of the world with lots of references to history and macro trends, less jargon and internal K warranting with occasional reference to singular anecdotes.
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Conversely, if you're aff you lose by neglecting framework. If you spend all of 10 seconds saying "let me weigh case – clash and dogmatism" then spend the rest of your speech weighing case, you're putting yourself in a bad position. I don't start out with a strong presumption that the aff should be able to weigh case or that the debate should be about whether "the aff is a good idea".
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For pess Ks, I'll likely be confused about why voting for you does anything at all. You need a coherent explanation here.
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I don't think "the role of the ballot is to vote for the better debater" means much. I'm going to vote for the person who I think did the better debating, but that's kind of vacuous. If your opponent wins the argument that I ought to vote for them because they read a cool poem, then they did the better debating. You need to win offensive warrants on framework.
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I’m bad for K arguments that are more rhetorical than literal, e.g. “X group is already facing extinction in the status quo” – that’s just defining words differently.
- Not a fan of arguments that implicate the identity of debaters in the round. There's no explicit rule against them, but I'm disinclined to vote for them and they're usually underwarranted (e.g. if they're not attached to a piece of evidence they're probably making an empirical claim without an empirical warrant and your opponent should say that in response).
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K affs: not automatically opposed, not the ideal judge either. I'm probably biased towards K affs being unfair and fairness being important, but the neg still needs to weigh impacts. I’m very unlikely to vote on anallytic RVIs/IVIs like T is violent, silencing, policing, etc. unless outright dropped – impacts turns should be grounded in external scholarship, and the neg should contest their applicability to the debate round. You also need a good explanation of how the ballot solves your impacts or else presumption makes sense. "Debate terminally bad" is silly – just don't do debate then.
Policy
This is what I spend most of my time thinking about as a coach. Expect me to be well-read on the topic lit.
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There is no "debate truth" that says a carded argument always beats an uncarded argument, that a more specific card always beats a more general card, or that I'm required to give more credence to flimsy scenarios than warranted. Smart analytics can severely mitigate bad link chains. It is wildly implausible that banning megaconstellations would tank business confidence, causing immediate economic collapse and nuclear war – your cards *almost certainly* either don’t say that or aren’t coming from credible sources.
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Probabilistic reasoning is good – I don't think "what is the precise brightline" or "why hasn't this already happened" are damning questions against impacts that, say, democracy, unipolarity, or strong international institutions reduce the overall risk of war.
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Plan vagueness is bad. I guess plan text in a vacuum makes sense, but I don’t think vagueness should be resolved in a way that benefits the aff.
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I’m baffled by the norm that debaters can round up to extinction. In my eyes, laundry list cards are just floating internal links until you read impacts, and if your opponent points that out I don’t know what you could say in response. I encourage you to have good terminal impact evidence (particularly evidence from the existential risk literature that explicitly argues X actually can lead to extinction or raise overall extinction risk) and to be pedantic about your opponent's. Phrases like “threatens humanity”, “existential”, etc. are not necessarily synonyms for human extinction.
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Pointing out your opponent’s lack of highlighting can make their argument non-viable even if they’re reading high-quality evidence – you don’t get credit for the small text.
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Some circumvention arguments are legitimate and can't just be answered by saying "durable fiat solves".
Counterplans
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In general, I lean towards the view that the 1N should make an argument for how the counterplan competes and why. I think 2N definition dumps are too late-breaking (although reading more definitions in the 2N to corroborate the 1N definition may be fine).
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Perms should have a net benefit unless they truly solve 100% of the negative’s net benefit or you give me an alternative to offense/defense framing, because otherwise I will likely vote neg if they can articulate a *coherent* risk. E.g. if the 2AR against consult goes for perms without any semblance of a solvency deficit, perm do both will likely lose to a risk of genuine consultation key and the lie perm will likely lose to a risk of leaks – even if the risk is vanishingly small, “why take the chance?” is how I view things by default.
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I think counterplans should have solvency advocates and analytic counterplans are bad except in the most trivial of cases. E.g. if the aff advantage is that compulsory voting will increase youth turnout and result in cannabis legalization, then “legalize cannabis” makes sense as a counterplan because that’s directly in the government’s power. Otherwise, you should have evidence saying that the policy you defend will result in the outcome that you want.
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Normal means competition is silly. It’s neither logical nor theoretically defensible if debated competently.
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There’s probably nothing in any given resolution that actually implies immediacy and certainty, but it’s still the aff’s job to counter-define words in the resolution.
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I spent a good amount of time coaching process counterplans and have some fondness for them, but as for whether they’re theoretically desirable, I pretty much view them as “break glass in case of underlimited topic”. A 2N on a process counterplan is more “substantive” in my eyes than a 2N on Nebel, cap, or warming good. If you read one and the 1AR mishandles it, the 2N definitely should go for it because they make for the cleanest neg ballots. I’ve judged at least a few rounds that in my eyes had no possible winning 2AR against a process counterplan.
Theory
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I consider myself a middle of the road judge on theory. Feel free to go for standard policy theory (condo, various cheaty CPs bad, spec, new affs bad, etc.) or LD theory (NIBs / a prioris bad, combo shells against tricky strats, RVIs, etc.), I won't necessarily think it's frivolous or be disinclined to vote for it. On the other hand, I don’t like purely strategic and frivolous theory along the lines of "must put spikes on top", etc. I'm also not great at evaluating theory on a tech level because it mostly consists of nothing but short analytics that I struggle to flow.
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Checks on frivolous theory are great, but competing interps makes more sense to evaluate based on my views on offense/defense generally. Reasonability should come with judge instruction on what that means and how I evaluate it – if it means that I should make a subjective determination of whether I consider the abuse reasonable, that's fine, just make that explicit. The articulation that makes the most sense to me is that debating substance is valuable so I should weigh the abuse from the shell against the harm of substance crowd-out.
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Both sides of the 1AR theory good/bad debate are probably true – 1AR theory is undesirable given how late-breaking it is but also necessary to check abuse. Being able to articulate a middle ground between "no 1AR theory" and "endless one-sentence drop the debater 1AR shells" is good. The better developed the 1AR shell is, the more compelling it is as a reason to drop the debater.
T
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If debated evenly, I tend to think limits and precision are the most important impacts (or rather internal links, jurisdiction is a fake impact). There can be an interesting debate if the neg reads a somewhat more arbitrary interpretation that produces better limits, but when the opposite is true, where the neg reads a better-supported interpretation and the aff response is that it overlimits and kills innovation, I am quite neg-leaning.
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Nebel T: I’m open to it. It’s one of the few T interps where I think the overlimiting/innovation impact is real, but some LD topics genuinely are unworkably big (e.g. “Wealthy nations have a moral obligation to provide development assistance to other nations”). The neg should show that they actually understand the grammar arguments they’re making, and the aff’s semantics responses should not be severely miscut or out of context. “Semantics are oppressive” is a wildly implausible response. I view “semantics is just an internal link to pragmatics” as sort of vacuously true – the neg should articulate the “pragmatic” benefits of a model of debate where the aff defends the most (or sufficiently) precise interpretation of a topic instead of one that is “close enough”, or else just blow up the limits impact.
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RVIs on T are bad… but please don’t just blow them off. You need to answer them, and if your shell says that fairness is the highest impact then your “RVIs on T bad” offense probably should have fairness impacts.
Phil
- I debated in a time when the meta was much more phil dominant and I coached a debater who primarily ran phil so this is something I'm familiar with. That being said, heavy phil rounds can be some of the most difficult to evaluate. I'm best for carded analytic moral philosophy -- Kant, virtue ethics, contractarianism, libertarianism, etc. I'm worse for tricky phil or hybrid K-phil strategies (agonism, Deleuze, Levinas, etc.).
- By default I evaluate framework debate in the same offense-defense paradigm I evaluate anything else which means I'm using the framework with the stronger justification. Winning a defensive argument against a framework is not *automatically* terminal defense. This means you're likely better off with a well-developed primary syllogism than with a scattershot approach of multiple short independent justifications. Phenomenal introspection is a better argument than "pain is nonbinding", and the main Kantian syllogisms are better arguments than "degrees of wrongness".
- If you'd rather not have a phil debate, feel free to uplayer with a TJF, AFC, IVIs, etc. I also don't feel like I ever hear great responses to "extinction first because of moral uncertainty", more like 1-2 okay responses and 3-4 bad ones, so that may be another path of least resistance against large framework dumps.
- If you're going for a framework K, I still need some way to evaluate impacts, and it's better if you make that explicit. Okay, extinction-focus is a link to the K, but is utilitarianism actually wrong, and if so what ethical principles should I instead be using to make decisions?
Tricks
I'm comfortable with a lot of arguments that fall somewhere under the tricks umbrella -- truth testing, presumption and permissibility triggers, calc indicts, NIBs that you can defend substantively, etc. That being said, I'm not a good judge for pure tricks debate either -- evaluate the round after X speech, neg must line by line every 1AC argument, indexicals, "Merriam-Webster's defines 'single' as unmarried but all health care systems are unmarried", "you can never prove anything with 100% certainty therefore skep is true and the resolution is false", etc. I don't have the flowing skill to keep up with these, many of these arguments I consider too incoherent to vote for even if dropped (and I'm perfectly happy for that to be my RFD), and I really don't like arguments that don't even have the pretense of being defensible. I also think arguments need clear implications in their first speech, so tricks strategies along the lines of "you conceded this argument for why permissibility negates but actually it's an argument for why the resolution is automatically false" are usually too new for me to vote for.
Non-negotiables
- I have a strong expectation that debaters be respectful and a low tolerance for rudeness, overt hostility, etc.
- If you’re a circuit debater hitting someone who is obviously a traditional debater at a circuit tournament, my only request is that you not read disclosure theory *if* preround disclosure occurred (the aff sends the 1AC and the neg sends past speech docs and discloses past 2Ns 30 minutes prior). If they have no wiki or contact info, disclosure theory is totally fair game. Beyond that, I will probably give somewhat higher speaks if you read positions that they can engage with, but that’s not a rule or expectation. If you’re a traditional debater intending to make arguments about accessibility, I’ll evaluate them, but I will have zero sympathy – a local tournament would be far more accessible to you than a circuit tournament, and if there’s not a local tournament on some particular weekend, that simply is not your opponent’s problem.
- I reserve the right to ignore hidden arguments – there’s obviously no exact brightline but I don’t view that as an intrinsic debate skill to be incentivized. At minimum, voting issues should be delineated and put in the speech doc, arguments should be grouped together in some logical way (not “1. US-China war coming now, 2. Causes extinction and resolved means firmly determined, 3. Plan solves”).
- I’ll drop you for serious breaches of evidence ethics that significantly distort the card. If it’s borderline or a trivial mistake that confers no competitive advantage, it should be debated on the flow and I’m open to dropping the argument. I don’t really understand the practice of staking the round on evidence ethics; if the round has been staked and I’m forced to make a decision (e.g. in an elims round), I’m more comfortable with deciding that you slightly distorted the evidence so you should lose instead of you distorted the evidence but not enough so your opponent should lose.
- I’ll drop you for blatant misdisclosure or playing egregious disclosure games. I’d rather not intervene for minute differences but completely new advantages, scenarios, framing, major changes to the plan text, etc. are grounds to drop you. Lying is bad.
Traditional LD Paradigm
- This is my paradigm for evaluating traditional LD. This applies at tournaments that do not issue TOC bids (with the exception of JV, but not novice, divisions at bid tournaments -- I'll treat those like circuit tournaments). It does not apply if you are at a circuit tournament and one debater happens to be a traditional debater. And if you're not at a bid tournament but you both want to have a circuit round, you also can disregard this.
- Good traditional debate for me is not lay debate. Going slower may mean you sacrifice some amount of depth, but not rigor.
- The following is a pretty hard rule: "Each debater has the equal burden to prove the validity of their side of the resolution as a general principle." At NSDA Nationals, this is written on the ballot and I treat that as binding. Outside of nats, I still think it's a good norm because I believe my ballot should reflect relevant debate skills. I do not expect traditional debaters to know how to answer theory, role of the ballot arguments, plans, non-T affs, etc. Outside of circuit tournaments, one side should not auto-win because they know how to run these arguments and their opponent doesn't. However, "circuit" arguments that fall within these bounds are fair game -- read extinction impacts, counterplans, dense phil, skep, politics DAs, topical Ks, whatever, as long as you explain why they affirm or negate the resolution.
- As a caveat to the above statement, what it means to affirm or negate the resolution as a general principle is something that is up for debate and depends on the specific wording of the resolution. I'm totally open to observations and burden structures that interpret the resolution in creative or abusive ways, and think those strategies are often underutilized. If one side drops the other's observation about how to interpret the resolution, the round can be over 15 seconds into rebuttals. They just need to come with a plausible argument for why they meet that constraint.
- Another caveat: I think theoretical arguments can be deployed as a reason to drop the argument, and I'll listen to IVI-type arguments the same way (like this argument is repugnant so you shouldn't evaluate it). They're just not voting issues in their own right.
- You cannot clip or paraphrase evidence and need a full written citation, regardless of your local circuit's norms. The usual evidence rules still apply.
- Your opponent has the right to review any piece of evidence you read, even if you're not spreading.
- Flex prep is fine -- you can ask clarification questions during prep time.
- Because (typically) there's no speech doc and few checks on low-quality or distorted evidence, I will hold you to a high standard of explaining your evidence in rebuttals. Tagline extensions aren't good enough. "Extend Johnson 20, studies show that affirming reduces economic growth by 20%" -- what does that number represent, where does it come from? This is especially true for evidence read in rebuttals which can't be scrutinized in CX -- I will be paying very close attention to what I was able to flow in the body of the card the first time you read it.
- Burdens and advocacies should be explicit. Saying "we could do X to solve this problem instead" isn't a complete argument -- I *could* vote for you, but I won't. This can take the form of a counterplan text / saying "I advocate X", or a burden structure that says "Winning X is sufficient for you to vote negative because [warrant]" -- it just needs to be delineated.
- Even if you're not reading a big stick impact, you still benefit a lot by reading terminal impact evidence and weighing it against your opponents' (or lack thereof). When the debate comes down to e.g. a federal jobs guarantee reducing unemployment vs. causing inflation, even though both of those are intuitively bad things, it's really hard to evaluate the round without either debater reading evidence that describes how many people are affected, how severely, etc.
- Normative philosophy is important as a substantive issue, but the value and criterion are not important as procedural issues. I do not mechanically evaluate debates by first deciding who wins the value debate, and then deciding which criterion best links into that value, and then deciding who best links into that criterion. Ideally your criterion will be a comprehensive moral theory, like util or Kant, but if not then it's your proactive burden to explain why the arguments made at the framework level matters, why they mean your offense is more important than your opponent's. This applies when the criterion is vague, arbitrarily narrow, identifies something that is instrumentally rather than intrinsically valuable, etc. (Side note: oppression / structural violence frameworks almost always fall into one of the latter two categories, sometimes the first.)
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I have at times had a pretty extreme neg bias this year (2024-25), and this mostly comes down to me likely being stricter when it comes to rebuttals than most judges, and in particular when it comes to impacts and weighing. The 1AR and 2AR need to extend everything necessary for your offense to function -- identify a harm in the status quo, tell me why it's bad, tell me why affirming solves (or go for deontological offense). On every component of this story, you should be comparative where necessary -- tell me why your offense outweighs your opponent's, why the reasons you do solve are stronger than the reasons you don't, etc. The negative needs to do this as well, but given the nature of LD speech times, it's much more likely that the neg ends up with some piece of uncontested offense.
Take a standard affirmative argument on the wealth tax topic, that it would raise substantial revenue that would be put towards social programs. Sometimes the affirmative blows past solvency, not explaining why the amount of revenue raised outweighs the negative fiscal impacts from administrative costs, capital flight, etc. Sometimes the affirmative blows past the impact, just saying "trillions will be spent on social programs" without explaining why that matters or why that's a more important internal link to poverty than a loss of wages and jobs. In these rounds, unless I think the affirmative is beating the neg on every one of these arguments, the threshold for "the aff wins X but the neg wins Y, there's no comparison between X and Y so it's at worst a wash, I vote neg on Z" is a lot lower.
For example, compare the following extensions:
"Extend Saez and Zucman, Warren's wealth tax raises $3 trillion over a decade."
"Extend Saez and Zucman, Warren's wealth tax raises $3 trillion over a decade, this comes from a model that assumes a 15% avoidance/evasion rate based on European studies which already accounts for their solvency takeouts."
The first gives me little to work with which spells trouble if you drop a solvency takeout, while the second drastically lowers the threshold for aff responses to solvency takeouts.
So to win my ballot, first, extend impacts. Don't just leave it at "affirming solves democracy / climate change / economic inequality / etc.", give explicit reasons why these things matter. I won't do that for you. Second, weigh. Weighing is not just extending your impact and saying it outweighs on magnitude/probability, it requires comparative analysis between your offense and your opponent's. These two are really important -- there have been several rounds where I voted neg but thought a 2AR that spent about 20 extra seconds extending their impact and doing explicit comparison would have cleanly won. Finally, you'll likely need to collapse more. It's rare that the 2AR goes for two pieces of contested AC offense and I think that was a good idea -- more often it means you're skimping on necessary extensions/weighing, dropping line-by-line responses, or undercovering the NC, unless the neg has made major errors or you are significantly more technical than they are.
Coach at Edina 22-current, and Kenwood SW 24-current. I have also helped out a handful of other critical teams across the country.
College policy debater at Iowa 23-26, (formerly Minnesota 21-23).
He/they
Yes, email chain: umnakdebate [at] gmail [dot] com.
If you are debating in front of me and feel uncomfortable, unsafe, or have another need, please let me know at some point and I will do my best to support you and meet your needs in that moment!
I also carry things like Advil, masks and bandaids at tournaments, especially when coaching - if you need anything, come find me, even if I am not judging you!
I love watching videos of historical and contemporary debates and I collect large playlists of them. I learned debate in part through analyzing videos of debates, and I record nearly every single debate that I’m in. If you want some recommendations of debates that might help you learn a particular style, skill, or argument, please ask me and I’d be happy to put together a playlist for you!
Toplevel
I will intervene into a debate in the context where the debate is made unsafe. This is my responsibility as an educator and does not require that students make arguments about it for me to stop a debate, dock speaks, award an L, or check in with a team or student.
When judging, I flow on the computer. I flow CX. If my computer is dead or broken I will flow on paper. I do not/will not flow off the doc or use the doc to correct my flow. In 95% of debates, this means I do not open a single doc the entire debate. I will flow the words I hear you say, including warrants in the body of cards.
I do this because I think it minimizes intervention and reconstructing the debate from evidence. It also rewards speakers who maintain clarity.
That said, I will read the cards that you tell me to read in final rebuttals – either yours or opponents’. I think judges too often give too much weigh to bad cards. If you tell me that a card is so bad or underhighlighted that the highlighted words do not support the tag, and I conclude that you're right, I will strike the card and probably boost your speaks for doing specific evidence analysis.
TL;DR – Prefs
When judging high school, I see my primary role as that of an educator. I take seriously the responsibility that comes with being entrusted with someone else's students. Debate’s accessibility for minoritized students matters very much to me. I therefore aim to give decisions and comments in line with this.
I am usually preffed as a clash judge. I have voted for framework against K affs, and vice versa. I have voted for Ks against policy affs, and vice versa.
I want to hear you read what you want to read, but your debating will probably require more judge instruction and more explanation of the content of your argumentation if you choose to read a policy strategy against a policy aff; I have judged ZERO high-level policy debates on this topic and participated in ZERO high-level policy debates in my college debate career.
People who have had a major influence on my thinking about debate: Tyler Snelling, Tessa Harper, Tim Edstrom, Ryan Cavanaugh, Mark Kivimaki, Grey Parfenoff, Akeem Anderson, Nolan Johnson.
Clash Debates – Extended Thoughts
I think critical argumentation has the potential to be the single most valuable and unique aspect of debate. I also recognize that many people treat critical arguments the same as any other argument, which is to say, they don’t let what they read affect them.
Neg framework vs K affs:
I am likely to vote negative when the negative reads a framework strategy that implicates the affirmative’s solvency. I am unlikely to vote negative when the negative reads a framework strategy that simply attempts to bracket out the affirmative. In other words, “Limits DA turns the aff” is a much more intuitive and persuasive argument than “don’t weigh the aff against T because I didn’t predict it”. I am significantly more compelled by clash-style impacts than fairness-style impacts.
I am likely to vote affirmative when the affirmative outframes the negative instead of trying to answer all of the minutiae. This is not to say that the aff should eschew the line by line entirely, but rather that the aff tends to win when they use big-picture thinking to obviate most or all of the negative's offense.
Arguments need warrants. “Fairness paradox” is not a warrant. “Go to tab” is not a warrant. Et cetera. If the 2NR does not extend an interpretation, a violation, an internal link, and an impact, I will not fill in the blanks for you.
Aff vs Ks:
I am likely to vote negative when the negative has a clear link, anchored in quotes from aff evidence or cx, that the negative sequences before framework.
I am likely to vote affirmative when the negative has a generic link that is not tied to specific moments from aff debating, or when the negative grants the aff that they get to weigh the case against K and the aff wins that their impacts outweigh or turn the neg’s.
Miscellaneous
Speed/Clarity. Current high school debate has a spreading clarity problem. If I can't hear you, I will clear you three times, and then I will put my hands in the air to signal that I am not flowing because I cannot hear you. I will not use the doc to fill in gaps.
Timeskew. Current high school debate has a problem with reading unviable offcase because of the notion that horizontal proliferation in early speeches is strategic. I find this trades off with depth of argumentation and irks me.
Block reliance. Current high school debate has a block reliance problem. I’m not saying never read blocks – but please do not spread through them at a speed where I cannot flow them. Please do not simply read blocks that don’t apply to the debate as a substitute for reactive, critical thinking. This saddens me and will impact your speaks.
Evidence Ethics Challenges.
Evidence ethics challenges are round-ending - if you initiate one, I will ask if you intend to stake the debate on it. If you say yes, I will use either the tournament rules (if they outline a process), or NSDA guidelines (if tournament rules do not outline a process) to adjudicate the challenge. If you say no, I'll strike the argument and the debate can continue as normal.
I judge based on how well you understand what you're saying, how clearly you communicate it, and how you control the energy of the room. I want students to strive for a balanced skillset. I will make decisions based on technicalities but I reward those who are learning how to master communication that is occurring between speaker and judge and audience.
I want to be informed, persuaded, and entertained. I will entertain every argument but I want it to have a purpose in the round. I also enjoy absurdist arguments if you can make them link. I don't enjoy watching an adult kick a toddler though-if you have clearly outmatched your opponent, you don't have to keep kicking them. I like competitors to be good sports and hate T as a time skew. The best debaters aren't afraid to actually engage their opponents.
I can follow spreading just fine but if you aren't articulate I'm likely going to zone out. I do not have a good poker face so you will be able to see exactly what I'm thinking.
All of that being said I have been either a competitor, coach, or consultant for speech and debate since 1997. I currently coach at Tulsa Community College, Edison Prep HS and Edison Prep MS and coach every event available in AFA, NFA, and PKD. I also have a student who has competed on the NDT circuit. I was hired by NSDA in 2023 to judge at nationals.
In college, I competed in limited prep policy (NPDA), IPDA (limited prep public forum), extemp, impromptu, POI, Poetry, Prose, and Dramatic Interp. I was a 5-time oklahoma state champion in college and 1st ranked seed at nationals in Team IPDA, a top speaker at IPDA nationals. I was also a national champion in DI.
In high school I competed in nearly everything. I won over 150 awards (competed in champs a lot) and was the first quad ruby from Mounds HS (the highest rank at the timeI graduated). I was also the first student in the 27 year history (at that time) of the Bethany Tournament to win top debater, top speaker, and top IE competitor. I was state champ in OO, 3rd in LD, and 3rd in DD in 2001 and 2nd in Monologe at state in 2000.
I love this activity and am willing to give feedback and advice to any student who wants it.
LINCOLN DOUGLAS/PUBLIC FORUM
Traditional Judge or Philosophical
No spreading.
A Road Map is extremely helpful.
Fulfill the burdens.
POLICY
If Spreading you need to be clear or I will dock you for unfairness and not consider information that was mumbled.
Fulfill the burdens.
Prefer Probability over Magnitude cases. If it's highly improbable, most likely will lose (Here's looking at you, extinction cases)
K's need to be probable and backed with empirical data, assumptions in your K's will be negative towards your score. Analytical warrants are decent as initial Rebuttals but need to be empirically extended afterward.
Be creative if you can, but also be realistic...you're debating policies that are essential in real-world scenarios...not fictional universes.
As a former National Forensic League State Champion (Debate, Poetry, Dramatic Interp & Impromptu Speaking), I appreciate the hard work that all of the participants have invested in their preparations to date. As a parent of a debater/speech participant, I also recognize the selfless support that coaches and parents have made to allow their students to excel and achieve.
Speech and debate prepares orators that will move nations towards greatness while collaborating to craft policy that will solve the world's toughest humanitarian challenges. I take participants' work seriously and expect you to do the same by aiming to do your very best and continuously improve from round to round, tournament to tournament. It is with this mindset that I carefully provide thoughtful feedback on every ballot, which I hope you find valuable.
I respect your work, fellow judges and expect all participants to show the same respect for each other, before, during, after and behind closed doors.
It is a privilege to be a tournament judge.
As the parent of 3 speech and debaters, I have judged for a total of 13-14 years. In deciding who wins a round I value communication and logic. A conversational speed of speech allows judges to understand your words and to process your ideas and your logic. Avoid jargon (both speech & debate jargon AND jargon that relates to the topic) and
Don't make your judge(s) work. Your logic should be front and center and clear; judges shouldn't have to look for it. I'm looking for a "red thread of logic". The other side of the debate will attempt to cut your thread of logic and you will attempt to knot those ends to reconnect your thread. Sometimes speech and debaters cut their own thread (not enunciating, speaking too quickly, swallowing taglines, using jargon and acronyms). Debaters, your responsibility is to present ideas and supporting evidence and to help me understand your case. It is not a judge's responsibility to "figure out" your case and logic (or lack thereof).
Off-time Road Maps: In Policy, yes, please provide one. In all other forms of debate, please do NOT. Quality debaters typically tend to work it seamlessly into their speeches.
Timing: Please time yourself and the others, which frees me to focus my energies on judging the debate.
Prep Time: Please request to use prep time. Time yourself and let me know either how much time you used or how much time you have remaining. I'll confirm that. This allows you to use prep time without someone interrupting you to tell you how much time you've used.
Policy Debaters: While I have judged policy and am a competent judge; however, I am not a confident policy judge. Competent, yes; confident, no. When using policy jargon, I find it helpful to be reminded to what it refers. I do NOT consult evidence you provide via email or some such. I judge solely on the evidence you state in speeches and then only to the extent I comprehend your words and process your ideas. After all, I can't judge based on what I do not understand.)
Note// I am a very expressive judge. If I do not like or buy an argument, you will see it on my face. Do what you will with this information
TLDR:
Edited mid-Harvard Tournament: after reading a few other judges paradigms I have come to the conclusion that I will add this, I do not like args that say "I can do x because I am y identity group", especially when the x that you want to do is "abusive". This does not mean I won't vote on it, it just means that my threshold for responses is lower than most other arguments.
Dont like: really messy substance debates, blippy 1ar theory that is collapsed to in the 2ar (no 10 second shells!), tricks, performance affs that drop their performance in the 1AR/2AR, new in the 2 >:(, speaking past time, etc.
Likes: clarity, overviews + why you are winning; weighing & IMBEDDED weighing; if running k, on THEME K debates (w/prefiat analysis); EXTENSIONS, etc.
I want to be on the email chain- kristenarnold1221@gmail.com
Run anything except tricks! How to pref me:
Reps/K: 1
T/Theory: 1 (Lower if you are going to spread through all your analytics)
Larp: 1-3
Phil: 2-4 (I love Phil but not when you spread analytics)
Tricks: strike
Hi y'all! A lil background on me: I debated for Pinnacle High School in Phoenix, AZ for 4 years from 2015-2019. I currently attend the University of Pennsylvania. I at-larged to the TOC my Senior year and debated almost entirely locally my freshman and sophomore year so I am comfortable with more traditional style debating as well as progressive. I have run every type of argument that exists in LD debate so I will try my best to adjudicate rounds as tab as possible but I will provide a disclaimer to you that I tend to give more weight to Reps than most judges because I very often ran Reps myself as a debater- that does not mean reading reps is an auto win so just make good args.
Things to keep in mind: I will let you know by saying "Clear" 3 times before I start docking speaks. Also when switching between flows: say 1, 2, .., etc so I can keep my flows separate. I am generally a messy flow-er and I do not think that will change. If I miss something because you didn't listen to me when I cleared you, that is on you. Also if something is really important, SLOW DOWN. You do not want me to miss your ballot story.
General thoughts on Progressive vs Traditional debates: I do not think you should have to go out of your comfort zone to try to match a traditional debater. If they ask you to slow down, please do. If they ask you to explain your arguments, please do. I will not hurt your speaks for your strategy but being not nice warrants at the highest a 27. If you both explain and maintain a slower pace, I will be a points fairy.
How I view rounds:
Layers of debate (obviously negotiable- but my defaults- pls do weighing and change my mind)
Reps
T
Theory
K
Substance
My defaults on theory: Drop the debater & Competing interps
Phil: I did this a lot in high school but if you are running a less well-known philosopher in debate, please take time to slow down and explain how the framework operates. I ran a lot of tricky framework args in high school to auto-win framework so I am fairly well versed in how these debates run. Default epistemic confidence.
Aff K's: I ran these but also debated them so I have no default opinion. I have both read and responded to T against these but if it is the type of debate you are most comfortable with or feel like you have a strong message, please read them. Just make sure to give me a ballot story or I don't know how to evaluate your AC.
K: I love the K but pls if you don't understand your K and cannot give a 2N on it, do not run it. Your speaks will be very disappointed in you. Other than that, give me a ROTB and prove that the alt solves the impacts you read and I will evaluate your K. Pretty well versed on almost every K- legit all reps, Cap, Anthro, Antiblackness (mostly ran Wilderson), Set col, Nietzsche (wouldn't suggest running it unless you are very confident because I have pretty low threshold for responses to it), Fem, Security, Baudrillard (but really just who on heck* is Baudrillard), etc. K's I don't know much about: Psychoanalysis (tried to avoid these debates by uplayering) and Bataille. God, please stop reading Deleuze and Baudrillard with me as a judge. I do not like it, and you do not explain it well.
T: I love T and imbedding reps into it-- Shoutout to the OG Sai Karavadi for being an icon at doing this. That being said, I would run 3 T shells if the aff violated so I love these debates. 2N should collapse and weigh. I don't have any defaults but Nebel T is kinda funny although I ran it all the time so I think it's a legit arg (or time suck). RVIs are great, go for them.
Theory: I mean go for it. I will vote on bad args if they win. Just pls read paradigm issues. RVIs are great, go for them.
1AR theory: I do not like the 5 second condo bad shells, please read something that you can grandstand on in the 2AR without making a ton of new args. That being said, please read 1AR theory because I will vote on it if you win it and win weighing.
DISCLOSURE: PLEASE DISCLOSE. I have been both pro and anti disclosure through my debate career but by the end of my senior year, I can say that I am a very strong advocate of disclosure. If your opponent does not have a wiki, find them on facebook or in person and ask for their case. If they are a traditional debater, they are still required to give it to you. I think disclosure theory is always valid if you have asked and they have declined to give it to you (Esp if they know what the wiki is). However, if you could not find your opponent and their case is very traditional and you have blocks to it, please read those instead.
Tricks: No pls no. If you do read them, I believe in new in the 2 responses and will provide a very low threshold to responses. Auto 26 speaks if you ask, "What's an a priori?" to someone asking if you have any a prioris.
Larp: Go for it! I love love love when debaters make it easy with weighing (prob, mag, duration, tf, etc) and also if you weigh between them (Prob vs mag) I will love you and your speaks will notice.
CP: I default condo and I do not judge kick.
Long U/V: Go for it.
Speaker Points Scale (I tend to evaluate this more on strat than how you speak because I would never dock points for a stutter or speech impediment).
30: You'll win the tournament IMO -OR- you did everything I wanted you to and I have no constructive criticism
29.5-29.9: Clear win, my ballot was written in 3 seconds, thank you for your service.
29-29.4: Great strategy, you won, but it wasn't crystal clear at the end of the round.
28.5-28.9: More muddled but I knew what you were going for.
28-28.4: Round was messy and it was hard to evaluate.
27.5-27.9: You really had no idea what your strat was but pulled something together.
27-27.4: I wanted to rip my hair out writing this ballot.
26: You are not nice.
- Be confident in round
- Be respectful of your opponents
- Please speak slow and clear
San Diego State University communication scholar
Former Trojan Debate Squad member (Policy Debate) 23/ '24
NDT / CEDA qual
Your work towards making your speeches clear for my flow will be reflected in my ballot.
Please include me in the email chain joaquinresell@gmail.com
Hey y’all. I’m David and I debated at Newark Science for 4 years on the state, regional, and national level.
College Debate: rundebate@gmail.com
High School Debate:asafuadjayedavid@gmail.com
My influences in debate have been Chris Randall, Jonathan Alston, Aaron Timmons, Christian Quiroz, Carlos Astacio, Willie Johnson, Elijah Smith in addition to a few others.
Conflicts:
-Newark Science
-Rutgers
I coach with DebateDrills- the following URL has our roster, MJP conflict policy,code of conduct, relevant team policies, and harassment/bullying complaint form:https://www.debatedrills.com/club-team-policies/lincoln-douglas-team-policy
Two primary beliefs:
1. Debate is a communicative activity and the power in debate is because the students take control of the discourse. I am an adjudicator but the debate is yours to have. The debate is yours, your speaker points are mine.
2. I am not tabula rasa. Anyone that claims that they have no biases or have the ability to put ALL biases away is probably wrong. I will try to put certain biases away but I will always hold on to some of them. For example, don’t make racist, sexist, transphobic, etc arguments in front of me. Use your judgment on that.
FW
I predict I will spend a majority of my time in these debates. I will be upfront. I do not think debate are made better or worse by the inclusion of a plan based on a predictable stasis point. On a truth level, there are great K debaters and terrible ones, great policy debaters and terrible ones. However, after 6 years of being in these debates, I am more than willing to evaluate any move on FW. My thoughts when going for FW are fairly simple. I think fairness impacts are cleaner but much less comparable. I think education and skills based impacts are easier to weigh and fairly convincing but can be more work than getting the kill on fairness is an intrinsic good. On the other side, I see the CI as a roadblock for the neg to get through and a piece of mitigatory defense but to win the debate in front of me the impact turn is likely your best route. While I dont believe a plan necessarily makes debates better, you will have a difficult time convincing me that anything outside of a topical plan constrained by the resolution will be more limiting and/or predictable. This should tell you that I dont consider those terms to necessarily mean better and in front of me that will largely be the center of the competing models debate.
Kritiks
These are my favorite arguments to hear and were the arguments that I read most of my career. Please DO NOT just read these because you see me in the back of the room. As I mentioned on FW there are terrible K debates and like New Yorkers with pizza I can be a bit of a snob about the K. Please make sure you explain your link story and what your alt does. I feel like these are the areas where K debates often get stuck. I like K weighing which is heavily dependent on framing. I feel like people throw out buzzwords such as antiblackness and expecting me to check off my ballot right there. Explain it or you will lose to heg good. K Lit is diverse. I do not know enough high theory K’s. I only cared enough to read just enough to prove them wrong or find inconsistencies. Please explain things like Deleuze, Derrida, and Heidegger to me in a less esoteric manner than usual.
CPs
CP’s are cool. I love a variety of CP’s but in order to win a CP in my head you need to either solve the entirety of the aff with some net benefit or prove that the net benefit to the CP outweighs the aff. Competition is a thing. I do believe certain counterplans can be egregious but that’s for y’all to debate about. My immediate thoughts absent a coherent argument being made.
1. No judge kick
2. Condo is good. You're probably pushing it at 4 but condo is good
3. Sufficiency framing is true
Tricks
Nah. If you were looking for this part to see whether you can read this. Umm No. Win debates. JK You can try to get me to understand it but I likely won't and won't care to either.
Theory
Just like people think that I love K’s because I came from Newark, people think I hate theory which is far from true. I’m actually a fan of well-constructed shells and actually really enjoyed reading theory myself. I’m not a fan of tricky shells and also don’t really like disclosure theory but I’ll vote on it. Just have an actual abuse story. I won’t even list my defaults because I am so susceptible to having them changed if you make an argument as to why. The one thing I will say is that theory is a procedural. Do with that information what you may.
DA’s
Their fine. I feel like internal link stories are out of control but more power to you. If you feel like you have to read 10 internal links to reach your nuke war scenario and you can win all of them, more power to you. Just make the story make sense. I vote for things that matter and make sense. Zero risk is a thing but its very hard to get to. If someone zeroes the DA, you messed up royally somewhere.
Plans
YAY. Read you nice plans. Be ready to defend them. T debates are fairly exciting especially over mechanism ground. Similar to FW debates, I would like a picture of what debate looks like over a season with this interpretation.
Presumption.
Default neg. Least change from the squo is good. If the neg goes for an alt, it switches to the aff absent a snuff on the case. Arguments change my calculus so if there is a conceded aff presumption arg that's how I'll presume. I'm easy.
LD Specific
Tricks
Nah. If you were looking for this part to see whether you can read this. Umm No. Win debates. JK You can try to get me to understand it but I likely won't and won't care to either.
Background: I competed for the UNT debate team, mostly in NPDA and NFA LD. In high school I competed in Lincoln-Douglas debate. I qualified for nationals three times in high school and three times in college, best finish was top 40ish one year.
I am fine with anything (Obviously excludes any argument based in rhetoric that disparages any marginalized groups) but in terms of what I weigh with each individual argument here is how I view each of them:
K - If you run a K I want to know the specific role of the ballot and why the alt will solve for the problems manifested within the K. It's a lot harder to get me to vote for the K if the alt is just a way to reshape thinking or the way we talk about things, for me a K needs a tangible way to fight back against the impacts. For example instead of just having the alt be a shift towards communal thinking I want it to be a way that we can effectively mobilize that. This doesn't have to be through the USFG.
T - Standards and voters in terms of the real world are how I vote on topicality.If there is ground loss but you do not talk about why that is a voting issue, I am not going to vote for it. For example if the topic is on climate policy the t shell should tell me why it’s important to debate about in regards to our world and lives.
DA - Big on impact calculus, make sure to weigh the impact of DA’s vs the advantages of the aff. Generic links aren’t as persuasive as links based in specific policies.
CP - I need a flushed out method on why the Net Benefit of the CP should outweigh the case. Not a huge fan of plan-inclusive CPs but I'll still vote on them in some cases.
Theory- I'm fine with theory, just gotta win proven or potential abuse. Proven abuse is definitely an easier way to get the ballot than potential for me.
Speed - I am fine with speed, if you go to fast or your diction isn't keeping up with your speed I'll say clear. Cards you can speed through fine because I'll still have those to read over and check in round, but please either include analytics on the doc or slow down on them.
If you choose for the round to be a more traditional V/C setup I tend to vote mostly on impact calculus that is made at the contention level. I love seeing these impacts used in conjunction to try and turn the other sides value. If you give me another framing argument up top on what my role of the ballot is I will default to whichever side wins framing though.
Feel free to email me with any questions- Josiah.atkinson@westhardin.org
I have coached debate since 1971, beginning at Manchester (now Manchester Essex) from 1971-2005, and recently at Waring School from 2005 -2025. I have coached national champions in both policy debate, public forum debate, so I can flow a debate. I also coached the 2024 NSDA National Champion in International Extemporaneous speaking, although I take scant credit for his success, but that fact may explain why I favor fact based public speaking over debate jargon, tricks, and games. I am a "tabula rasa" judge, meaning that I believe that the debaters (and not my personal opinions or delivery preferences) will determine what issues and arguments should win the debate. I grew up in Kansas and debated for Topeka West High School (1962-65), where all judges were citizens of the host community. All of our debate was conducted in front of "citizen judges." That's what I believe is most important in PFD. The event was designed so that it would be persuasive to an intelligent and attentive member of the "public." For that reason, I feel that the delivery, argumentation, and ethos of the debaters should be directly accessible to such an audience. I do agree that dropped arguments are conceded in the debate and that NEW arguments in the final speeches should be ignored. I love it when debaters are directly responsive to the arguments of the other side, letting me know on a point by point basis where they are on the flow. I also honor those debaters who show courtesy to their opponents, who have a sense of humor, and who tell the truth about what they have said. I expect that all evidence will be ethically researched and presented in the debate. I will penalize (with points) any debaters who are sarcastic, demeaning of opponents, or biased in terms of race, religion, sexual orientation, or social class. I will always be happy to talk with you about any decision I make as well as to show you my flow and explain how I assessed the debate. I will do this AFTER I have submitted my ballot. In recent years, I have been spending more of my time in tab rooms than judging, but I truly enjoy the time I can spend in the back of the room. In these trying times, you debaters are our hope for the future, naming FACT-BASED arguments about important issues.
Tim Averill (timaverill@comcast.net) 978-578-0540
I am very new to the judging scene this spring but excited to hear how our rising generation communicates with a respect for hearing all voices. As an elementary teacher I am a life long learner and look forward to hearing how our youth learn from experiences and listening to each other without interruption. Please keep the speed at a relatively universal speed to respect my novice judging as I value what you say. I enjoy somerhetoric - Congratulations on your journey!
Top level
Debate is meant to be fun. I demand that you have it. If you can not find enjoyment in this activity do not ruin other peoples love for this activity.
***NDT/TOC Update: I have noticed a disturbing trend of more and more teams having evidence ethics issues. This includes but is not limited to: putting the wrong citation for their evidence, leaving out paragraphs in the middle of evidence, and getting information in the citation wrong (date and/or author). The community seems to have different standards for these types of arguments so I want to be explicit about mine. If you make an evidence ethics violation you must end the round and stake the round on the claim. I will then issue my decision based on if I believe there has been an evidence ethics violation. My decision will only be based on if there is in fact an evidence ethics violation. "we didn't mean to", "it wasn't done maliciously", and "we stole this evidence" are all irrelevant to me. You are responsible for the evidence you choose to enter into a debate.
Do not say anything obviously problematic or violent to the other team. I will end the round immediately and assign the lowest possible speaker points the tournament will allow.
Tech over truth. This applies to all arguments. If the other teams arguments are not backed by rigorous research then defeating them should be simple and easy. If you cannot defeat them without me intervening and asserting what I "know" to be true than by all definition you have lost the debate.
I will only consider arguments that happened in the debate about the debate. I am fundamentally uninterested in resolving any interpersonal beef you may have with another team.
If you do not feel safe engaging in a debate for any reason please communicate that to me, tab, and/or your coaching staff, and the necessary actions will be taken.
Planless affirmatives
Generally fine for these debates. I would prefer the 1AC actually defend a method and be related to the topic if possible instead of being a walking impact turn to framework but I digress. As long as you win your arguments and are ahead on the flow I will vote for you.
"vote aff cause it was good" means nothing to me. Explanations of why you resolve the impacts of the aff and why the ballot is key should come early and be contextualized well.
"Why vote aff" followed by "why not" is not compelling for the same reason. 1AC's have the burden of proof. I will struggle to burden the negative with rejoinder if I don't think the 1AC has met the burden of proof after 1AC CX.
Framework/T-USFG
Framework 2NR's tend to be too defense oriented to win most debates. Negatives should be impact turning or link turning aff DA's to framework more often. If not that then there needs to be a large explanation of why clash accesses aff offense and/or why they don't get an aff because of fairness.
Everything is and is not an impact. Fun, Clash, Fairness, Burnout, etc... You should explain why those things matter and why I should care.
KvK
Method v method debates in my mind lack the pre prescribed norms of competition that usually appear in policy v policy debates. You should use this to your advantage and explain how competition ought to work in a world where the affirmative is not held to a plan text.
Figuring out what the aff will defend and pinning them to that seems important, especially when the opportunities to disagree with the 1AC are already limited.
K's on the neg
If the aff is going for a framework that says "No K's" and the neg is going for a framework that says "No aff" then I will pick one at the end of the debate. I will not intervene and concoct a "perm" where the aff gets the aff and the neg gets their links. Of course you are free to advocate the perm/middle ground.
Explanation is usually much better when contextualized to links, alt, f/w, etc... and not a chunk of text for a minute at the top of a speech.
Topicality
I will evaluate topicality as offense/defense just like every other argument in debate. Affirmative reasonability arguments are much better framed as reasons why limits are bad/an impact to overlimiting or precision.
Aff's should be more offensive when answering neg limits and grounds arguments. Most of the time the actual weight of these arguments seems stringent as best and made up completely at worst.
Evidence that describes topic mechanisms and lit direction are important. The same is equally if not more true for the interpretation debate.
Counterplans
Everything is legit until somebody says it isn't in which case then it becomes a debate. I think most affirmative theory arguments are much better deployed as competition arguments. I am unlikely to ever be persuaded by "solvency advocate theory", "process CPs bad", or the like, unless the neg completely whiffs. This doesn't apply when the neg CP doesn't pass the sniff test. I.e. international fiat, private actor fiat, etc...
I generally lean towards infinite condo being good. Obviously this is a debate that can take place and I will evaluate as offense/defense like normal, I just think the negative arguments in regards to this are much more compelling.
I default to judge kick but just please say it in the block.
0 Idea how anyone evaluates CP's besides sufficiency framing and I have yet to hear a alternative way to evaluate them. Grandstanding about sufficiency framing in the 2nr is about as useful as saying that they have conceded the neg gets fiat.
2NC CP's out of add-ons are fine. 2NC CP's out of straight turns are not fine. If it goes in the 1NC be prepared to hold the line.
Disadvantages
Fine for every politics DA you want to throw from your box. What fiat means can be debated like any other argument.
Link and Internal link turns case arguments are extremely important. Our nuclear war impact turns your nuclear war impact arguments are extremely not important.
Case
Try or die is important to me. If the negs only answer to case is solvency pushes but concedes the squo causes extinction and doesn't have a CP to remedy that then even a small risk the aff solves will almost certainly win them the debate. The opposite is true if aff drops an internal net benefit to a process CP, as the neg now controls try or die.
0% risk is definitely possible on both sides.
Misc
I will not read or consider rehighlightings you did not read yourself. Text must be actually read for it to matter, debate is a communicative activity and you must communicate. If you read it in cross-x and then insert it that is fine.
Cross-x can only make modifications to speeches if both sides consent. If the other team asks you about a card you do not get to scratch it in the middle of cross-x unless they agree. The same is also true for reading evidence obviously.
Cross-x is binding and I will be flowing it.
Speaker points are my decision and I will not listen to arguments about them. You can ask for a 30 if you want, but you will be wasting speech time.
yes email chain - traviswbabcock@gmail.com
there is nothing inherently wrong with speechdrop, but I will do old man grandstanding about it.
TLDR
Debated @ Mill Valley High School 2017-20, Johnson County Community College 2020-22, and Wichita State University 2022-24.
Coached @ Westwood High School 2020-22, and Wichita East High School, 2022-24.
Currently getting my MPA and working for county government.
Top level
do what you do best! this is advice for both content and form
Do not say anything obviously problematic or violent to the other team. I will end the round immediately and assign the lowest possible speaker points the tournament will allow.
I will only consider arguments that happened in the debate about the debate. I am fundamentally uninterested in resolving any interpersonal beef you may have with another team.
Planless affirmatives/Framework
Be related to the topic or don't, just have a solid defense of what you want to defend and why i should vote for it.
My ballot is only an instrument to tell tabroom who I think won the debate.
Debate is a game and educational activity. It ought to be fair, but there are other considerations as well.
Framework 2NR's tend to be too defense oriented to win most debates. Everything is and is not an impact. Fun, Clash, Fairness, Burnout, etc... You should explain why those things matter and why I should care.
K's on the neg
If the aff is going for a framework that says "No K's" and the neg is going for a framework that says "No aff" then I will pick one at the end of the debate. I will not intervene and concoct a "perm" where the aff gets the aff and the neg gets their links. Of course you are free to advocate the perm/middle ground.
Explanation is usually much better when contextualized to links, alt, f/w, etc... and not a chunk of text for a minute at the top of a speech.
Topicality
I will evaluate topicality as offense/defense just like every other argument in debate. Affirmative reasonability arguments are much better framed as reasons why limits are bad/an impact to overlimiting or precision.
Aff's should be more offensive when answering neg limits and grounds arguments. Saying the aff should get a lot of affs to pick from and the neg should just do better/more research is not a hard sell in most instances.
interp quality obviously matters but only insofar as it is impacted out and compared to other reasons i should value an interp.
Counterplans
Everything is legit until somebody says it isn't in which case then it becomes a debate. Create competition as you may.
0 Idea how anyone evaluates CP's besides sufficiency framing and I have yet to hear a alternative way to evaluate them. Grandstanding about sufficiency framing in the 2nr is about as useful as saying that they have conceded the neg gets fiat.
will default to judge kick unless the 1ar says something about it - the 2ar is not the time to start the judge kick debate.
Disadvantages
Fine for every politics DA you want to throw from your box. What fiat means can be debated like any other argument.
there is not 'always a risk' - there is 'always a risk' of just about anything that's called randomness.
Case
Try or die is important to me. If the negs only answer to case is solvency pushes but concedes the squo causes extinction and doesn't have a CP to remedy that then even a small risk the aff solves will almost certainly win them the debate. The opposite is true if aff drops an internal net benefit to a process CP, as the neg now controls try or die.
Misc
Inserting text is not fine. Debate is a communicative activity you have to say the thing. Inserting data, tables, graphs, photos, etc. is fine since it is visual evidence.
Cross-x can only make modifications to speeches if both sides consent. If the other team asks you about a card you do not get to scratch it in the middle of cross-x unless they agree. The same is also true for reading evidence obviously.
Speaker points are my decision and I will not listen to arguments about them. You can ask for a 30 if you want, but you will be wasting speech time.
"I am a communications judge and will base my decision on who can be more persuasive in their arguments and communicate effectively. I know that there is a lot of information that you need to fit in a short amount of time, but please do not talk so fast that I can not follow your case. It is more important to me that you present information that has substance verses spouting out lots of facts just to fill your time. PLEASE do not spread! Imagine that you are talking to someone that knows nothing about your argument and you are trying to explain why I should agree with your side. I need to be able to hear and understand your key points each time you speak and please stick to the topic. I also appreciate being given a heads up on trigger warnings. If you are not sure if it counts as a trigger warning, just keep in mind that anything involving suicide, rape, abuse, miscarriage, abortion, etc. is a trigger for me. For Debate events, keep it civil before, during, and even after your debate. A few things that I am not a fan of hearing about- nuclear annihilation, cannibalism, and mass extinction. Good luck!"
My name is Manoj Bagul and I’ve been judging Congress for the past three years.
In judging I look for THREE main things.
- First, logical argumentation. If you want to get a point across, it has to make sense and have flow otherwise it will be very diffcult for me to rank properly.
- Second, have evidence that ACTUALLY supports your analysis. Oftentimes, I hear evidence and analysis that does not match up with one another and it feels like you put them together just for the sake of it. Along with that, please cite your evidence so that you can prove its authenticity and credibility.
- Finally, this event is congressional DEBATE not speech. This means two things. First, you should be mentioning other speakers after the first affirmative speech. Second, your questioning blocks are super important so please answer them well and you will get bumped up.
I look forward to great debate, good luck everyone!
I believe that every student has the potential to excel in speech and debate.
I look for Students that show hard work and understanding of their IE selections.
I like to see them polished/ no rough drafts
Students should show they have an understanding of the selection they are presenting.
Selection should be entertaining and also have merit.
I have no pref for oratory and info. I want a solid selection with evidence to support it.
virtual should be the same as in person style wise other wise I feel it isn't fair.
teasers should hook us and make us want to listen. intros are for information only and shouldn't be acted out. that is where you get to be you.
blocking and movement is as important a the verbal parts for the performance. they should augment each other
show me interesting characters. subtext and such.
I am not here to judge the author or the choice of selection. I am here to judge the performance.
I competed in Lincoln-Douglas for three years in high school, and Public Forum for one. I've been coaching and judging LD and PF since then.
Lincoln-Douglas Paradigm
What I Like
I've gotten a few notes from debaters that my paradigm is mostly about what I don't want to see, rather than what I do. In an attempt to remedy that, here is what I enjoy in a debate round.
Evidence Debate - I love when debaters actually engage with the internal warrants of their opponents evidence and arguments. Point out contradictions between pieces of evidence, expose evidence that is too specific or too general to apply, call out evidence that is just claims rather than warrants. Any engagement with evidence beyond "my opponent's evidence is wrong because my evidence is right" will greatly increase your chance of winning my ballot.
Meaningful Framework Debate - I love when debaters pick and choose their battles on framework and clearly impact the results of the framework debate to how I should evaluate impacts in the round. You will not lose my ballot solely for conceding your opponent's framework. Not all rounds need to have a framework debate, even with different values/value criteria, if those frameworks evaluate impacts in roughly the same way or if both debaters have the same impacts in the round (eg, people dying). Debaters who recognize that and focus on the areas of framework that will actually change how I judge arguments, then follow up with an explanation of what I should look for in evaluating the round based on that change will have a much better chance of winning my ballot.
Internal Consistency - I love when debaters commit to their positions. Many arguments, especially the more unusual philosophical arguments require commitment to a whole host of concomitant beliefs and positions. Embrace that. If someone points out that utilitarianism requires defending the interests of the majority over the minority, be willing to defend that position. If someone points out that Kantianism doesn't permit you to lie to a murderer, don't backtrack - explain it. Don't be afraid to say that extinction does not outweigh everything else. Conversely, if you argue that prediction of the future is impossible in order to answer consequentialism and then cite scientific authors to support your claims, I will be much less likely to believe your position. A debater who is committed and consistent in their ethical position will have a much better chance of winning my ballot.
Argument by Analogy - I love when debaters use analogies to explain or clarify their own positions, or to expose inconsistencies, absurd statements or flaws in their opponents arguments. I think analogies are underutilized as a method of analytical argumentation and debaters willing to use analogies to explain or undermine arguments have a much better chance of winning my ballot.
Comparative Weighing - I love when debaters specifically compare impacts when weighing in the round. Rarely does a debater win every single argument in the round and weighing significantly assists me in making a decision when there are multiple impacts for both sides. While I like weighing arguments in the vein of "This argument outweighs all others in the round" more than no weighing at all, a more specific and nuanced analysis along the lines of "this argument outweighs that argument for these reasons" (especially when it explains the weighing in the specific context of the framework) will give a debater a much better chance of winning my ballot.
Disclosure
I don't want to be on the email chain/speech drop/whatever. Debate is a speaking activity, not an essay writing contest. I will judge what you say, not what's written in your case. The only exception is if there is an in-round dispute over what was actually said in a case/card in which case I will ask to see evidence after the round.
Speed
I prefer a slower debate, I think it allows for a more involved, persuasive and all-around better style of speaking and debating. It is your burden to make sure that your speech is clear and understandable and the faster you want to speak, the more clearly you must speak. If I miss an argument, then you didn't make it.
Flex Prep
No. There is designated CX time for a reason. You can ask for evidence during prep, but not clarification.
LARP - Please don't. Discussion of policy implications is necessary for some topics, but if your case is 15 seconds of "util is truetil" and 5:45 of a hyperspecific plan with a chain of 5 vague links ending in two different extinction impacts, I'm not going to be a fan. Realistically speaking, your links are speculative, your impacts won't happen, and despite debaters telling me that extinction is inevitable for 15+ years, it still hasn't happened. Please debate the topic rather than making up your own (unless you warrant why you can do that, in which case, see pre-fiat kritiks). If there is no action in the resolution, you can't run a plan. If there is no action, don't a-spec. If you want to debate policy, do policy debate. As with other arguments, I will evaluate a LARP round but will have a low-threshold to vote on evidentiary arguments, link/brink severance, and framework exclusion.
Evidence Ethics
I will intervene on evidence ethics if I determine that a card is cut in such a way as to contradict or blatantly misrepresent what an author says, even if no argument is made about this in the round. I have no patience for debaters who lie about evidence. Good evidence is not hard to find, there's no need to make it up and doing so simply makes debate worse for everyone.
Arguments
Role of the Ballot: A role of the ballot argument will only influence how I vote on pre-fiat, not post-fiat argumentation. It is not, therefore, a replacement for a framework, unless your entire case is pre-fiat, in which case see "pre-fiat kritiks". A role of the ballot must have a warrant. "The role of the ballot is fighting oppression" is a statement not an argument. You will need to explain why that is the role of the ballot and why it is preferable to "better debater". Please make the warrant specific to debate. "The role of the ballot is fighting oppression because oppression is bad" doesn't tell me why it is specifically the role of this ballot to fight oppression. I have a low threshold for voting against roles of the ballot with no warrants. I will default to a "better debater" role of the ballot.
Theory: Please reserve theory for genuinely abusive arguments or positions which leave one side no ground. I am willing to vote on RVIs if they are made, but I will not vote on theory unless it is specifically impacted to "Vote against my opponent for this violation". I will always use a reasonability standard. Running theory is asking me as the judge in intervene in the round, and I will only do so if I deem it appropriate.
Pre-fiat Kritiks: I am very slow to pull the trigger on most pre-fiat Ks. Ensure you have a role of the ballot which warrants why my vote will have any impact on the world or in debate. I do like alts to be a little more fleshed out than "reject the affirmative", and have a low threshold for voting for no solvency arguments against undeveloped alts. That said, I will vote on pre-fiat Ks - a good metric for my preference is whether your link is specific to the aff's performance in this round or if it could link to any affirmative case on the topic (or any topic). If you're calling out specific parts of the affirmative performance, that's fine.
Post-fiat Kritiks: Run anything you want. I do like alts to be a little more fleshed out than "reject the resolution", and have a low threshold for voting for no solvency arguments against undeveloped alts.
Topicality: Totally fine to run. I have a slight bias towards genericist positions over specificist ones, eg "a means any" rather than "a means one".
Politics Disadvantages: Please don't. If you absolutely must, you need to prove A: The resolution will occur now. B: The affirmative must defend a specific implementation of the topic. C:The affirmative must defend a specific actor for the topic. Without those three interps, I will not vote on a politics DA because it doesn't link to the aff.
Narratives: Fine, as long as you preface with a framework which explains why and how narratives impact the round and tell me how to evaluate it.
Conditionality: I'm permissive but skeptical of conditional argumentation. A conditional argument cannot be kicked if there are turns on it, and I will not vote on contradictory arguments, even if they are conditional. So don't run a cap K and an econ disad. You can't kick out of discourse impacts because performance cannot be erased.
Word PICs: I don't like word PICs. I'll vote on them if they aren't effectively responded to, but I don't like them. I believe that they drastically decrease clash and cut affirmative ground by taking away unique affirmative offense.
Presumption - I do not presume neg. I'm willing to vote on presumption if the aff or neg gives me arguments for why aff or neg should be presumed, but neither side has presumption inherently. Both aff and neg need offense - in the absence of offense, I revert to risk of offense.
Pessimistic Ks - Generally not a fan. I find it difficult to understand why they should motivate me to vote for one side over another, even if the argument is true and the alts are often unclear. I will vote on them but run at your own risk.
Ideal Theory - If you want to run an argument about "ideal theory" (eg Curry 14) please understand what ideal theory is in the context of philosophy. It has nothing to do with theory in debate terms, nor is it just a philosophy which is idealistic. If you do not specify I will assume that you mean that ideal theory is full-compliance theory.
Disclosure - I will not vote on disclosure arguments. I don't believe that disclosure as a norm is beneficial to debate and I see it used to exclude non-circuit debaters far more often than I see debaters who are genuinely unable to engage because they could not predict their opponent's arguments.
Framework - Please have an actual warrant for your framework. If your case reads "My standard is util, contention 1" I will evaluate it, but have a very low threshold to vote against it, like any claim without a warrant. I will not evaluate pre-fiat framework warrants; eg, "Util is preferable because it gives equal ground to both sides". Read the philosophy and make an actual argument. See the section on theory - there are no theory-based framework warrants I consider reasonable.
Speaker Points
Since I've gotten some questions about this..
I judge on a 5 point scale, from 25-30.
25 is a terrible round, with massive flaws in speeches, huge amounts of time left unused, blatantly offensive things said or other glaring rhetorical issues.
26 is a bad round. The debater had consistent issues with clarity, time management, or fluency which make understanding or believing the case more difficult.
27.5 is average. Speaker made no large, consistent mistakes, but nevertheless had persistent smaller errors in fluency, clarity or other areas of rhetoric.
28.5 is above average. Speaker made very few mistakes, which largely weren't consistent or repeated. Speaker was compelling, used rhetorical devices well.
30 is perfect. No breaks in fluency, no issues with clarity regardless of speed, very strong use of rhetorical devices and strategies.
Argumentation does not impact how I give speaker points. You could have an innovative, well-developed case with strong evidence that is totally unresponded to, but still get a 26 if your speaking is bad.
While I do not take points off for speed, I do take points off for a lack of fluency or clarity, which speed often creates.
Please please please cut cards with complete, grammatically correct sentences. If I have to try to assemble a bunch of disconnected sentence fragments into a coherent idea, your speaker points will not be good.
Judging style
If there are any aspects of the debate I look to before all others, they would be framework and impact analysis. Not doing one or the other or both makes it much harder for me to vote for you, either because I don't know how to evaluate the impacts in the round or because I don't know how to compare them.
Public Forum Paradigm
Frameworks
I default to an "on balance" metric for evaluating and comparing impacts. I will not consider unwarranted frameworks, especially if they are simply one or two lines asserting the framework without even attempting to justify it.
Topicality
I will evaluate topicality arguments, though only with the impact "ignore the argument", never "drop the team".
Theory
Yes, I understand theory. No, I don't want to hear theory in a PF round. No, I will not vote on a theory argument.
Counterplans
No. Neither the pro nor the con has fiat.
Kritiks
No. Kritiks only function under a truth-testing interpretation of the con burden, I only use comparative worlds in Public Forum.
Burden Interpretations
The pro and the con have an equal and opposite burden of proof. Because of limited time and largely non-technical nature of Public Forum, I consider myself more empowered to intervene against arguments I perceive as unfair or contrary to the rules or spirit of Public Forum debate than I might be while judging LD or Policy.
I'm a fairly new judge, so please stay away from any debate jargon or talking fast. Please time yourselves during speeches and prep time. Tell me how to vote, judge, and weigh the round. In the end, I will vote for which side makes the most sense to me and has the most important impact. I don't know K's, theory, or topicality, so if you are going to run one of them, make sure to explain it very well and tell me how it impacts the round and my vote. I judge rounds based on how persuasive the teams are, and how well they respond to counter-arguments. I've judged LD and PF, but not policy so make sure to explain things and not use jargon. Most of all please be kind to the other team and have fun!
Bro. Stephen Balletta's Judging Paradigm
I believe that debate should focus on persuasion, analysis, argumentation, and clear communication. This general statement applies to all the various branches of high-school debate (Lincoln Douglas, Public Forum, etc.) in which one can participate, at least in my view. I want to hear the debaters think on their feet, and I want to hear every word that each debater says. Therefore, I do not look favorably on speed reading, spread debating, or esoteric arguments that try to short-circuit the resolution. I have a rather limited tolerance for jargon. In my view, a few strong arguments defended well outweigh a mound of argumentation and evidence rattled off so quickly that one cannot be reasonably expected to hear and digest it all, let alone refute it.
In my view, a good debate should be a respectful exchange of ideas, delivered at a pace so that a reasonably well-educated judge -- even a first-time judge -- should be able to weigh the arguments presented and determine a winner. In line with this overall principle, I do not look favorably on a hostile, rude, or supercilious attitude on the part of the debaters.
Speak clearly; argue intelligently; disagree agreeably; and persuade by a combination of evidence, reasoning, and analysis. Debate is not a matter of game theory; it is not the realm of self-appointed specialists or elites. A good debate should be accessible to a college-educated adult who is not among the elite or the initiated of the speech-and-debate world.
If you are familiar with the style of debate promoted by the Ronald Reagan Great Communicator Debate Series, then you will know exactly what I am looking for.
Thanks!
I am a debate parent. I will keep and open mind and not bring my prior bias or knowledge of a topic into my decision. The style I prefer is to speak slowly and clearly and present well organized, clear arguments with evidence and cite sources and dates. Please emphasize the important arguments that you really want me to hear and be sure to address and counter argue each of your opponents positions. When asking questions please remain respectful, you can be confident but not cocky.
I am an experienced parent judge (3+ years) and most familiar with traditional debate but if it is within the rules I will do my best to judge it fairly. I am interested in hearing what debaters have to say so please be mindful of your speed. If one debater’s argument goes unchallenged then I will assume it is valid. You'll get dropped and the appropriate tournament officials will be notified if you say anything racist, homophobic, sexist, ableist, etc. Good luck and have fun!
I expect debaters to give informed and well-presented speeches that demonstrate critical thought of the subject matter. I do not appreciate debaters that are overtly aggressive and who do not let their opponents finish their points.
Additionally pace yourself as you speak, if you speak too quickly I will stop trying to follow the logic of your argument.
Fine with most arguments. K's are fine, just make sure to explain them.
I dislike dropped arguments. If you intentionally drop an argument. Mention it.
I default to Stock Issues, Aff must win all Arguments to win.
Not the fastest at flowing so i prefer no spreading. that said you can still speak quickly but i have to have enough time to write it down
Any other clarifications or questions you have you can ask me before the round but I am generally pretty cool w/ whatever.
Flay judge
A little bit about me: I coach for Millburn High School in New Jersey. I competed on the circuit in high school and college.
I do my very best to be as non-interventionist as possible, but I know some students like reading judge's paradigms to get a better sense of what they're thinking. I hope that the below is helpful :).
Overall: You can be nice and a good debater. :)
Here are some things to consider if I'm your Parliamentarian/ Judge in Congressional Debate:
- I am a sucker for a well-executed authorship/ sponsorship, so please don't be afraid to give the first speech! Just because you don't have refutation doesn't mean it isn't a good speech. I will be more inclined to give you a better speech score if you stand up and give the speech when no one is willing to do so because it shows preparedness.
- Bouncing off of the above bullet point, two things I really dislike while at national circuit tournaments are having no one stand up to give the earlier speeches (particularly in out rounds) and one-sided debate. You should be prepared to speak on either side of the legislation. You're there to debate, so debate. I'm much more inclined to rank you higher if you flip and have fluency breaks than if you're the fourth aff in a row.
- Asking the same question over and over to different speakers isn't particularly impressive to me (only in extreme circumstances should this ever be done). Make sure that you are catering the questions to the actual arguments from the speech and not asking generic questions that could be asked of anyone.
- Make my job easy as the judge. I will not make any links for you; you need to make the links yourself.
- Warrants are so important! Don't forget them!
- If you are giving one of the final speeches on a piece of legislation, I expect you to weigh the arguments and impacts that we have heard throughout the debate. Unless there has been a gross negligence in not bringing up a particular argument that you think is revolutionary and changes the debate entirely, you shouldn't really be bringing up new arguments at this point. There are, of course, situations where this may be necessary, but this is the general rule of thumb. Use your best judgment :).
- Please do your best to not read off of your pad. Engage with the audience/ judges, and don't feel as though you have to have something written down verbatim. I'm not expecting a speech to be completely flawless when you are delivering it extemporaneously. I historically score speeches higher if delivered extemporaneously and have a couple of minor fluency lapses than a speech read off of a sheet of paper with perfect fluency.
- Be active in the chamber! Remember, the judges are not ranking students based upon who is giving the best speeches, but who are the best legislators overall. This combines a myriad of factors, including speeches, questioning, overall activity, leadership in the chamber, decorum, and active listening (i.e. not practicing your speech while others are speaking, paying attention, etc.) Keep this in mind before going into a session.
- Please please please don't speak over the top of one another. This being said, that doesn't mean you have a right to monopolize the questioning time, but there is a nice way to cut someone off if they're going too long. Use your best judgment. Don't cut someone off two seconds after they start answering your question.
- I rank based on who I think are the overall best legislators in the chamber. This is a combination of the quality of speeches, questioning, command of parliamentary procedure, preparedness, and overall leadership and decorum in the chamber.
Let me know if you have any questions! :)
Here are some things to consider if I'm your judge in Public Forum:
- Please add me to the email chain if you have one: jordybarry@gmail.com
- I am really open to hearing almost any type of argument (except K's, please don't run K's in PF), but I wouldn’t consider myself a super techy judge. Do your thing, be clear, and enjoy yourselves!
- Please debate the resolution. It was written for a reason.
- It's important to me that you maintain clarity throughout the round. In addition, please don’t spread. I don’t have policy/ LD judging experience and probably won’t catch everything. If you get too fast/ to spreading speed I’ll say clear once, and if it’s still too fast/ you start spreading again, I’ll stop typing to indicate that I’m not getting what you’re saying on my flow.
- Take advantage of your final focus. Tell me why I should vote for you, don't solely focus on defensive arguments.
- Maintain organization throughout the round - your speeches should tell me what exact argument you are referring to in the round. Signposting is key! A messy debate is a poorly executed debate.
- I don't weigh one particular type of argument over another. I vote solely based on the flow, and will not impose my pre-existing beliefs and convictions on you (unless you're being racist, sexist, homophobic, antisemitic, or xenophobic). It's your show, not mine!
- Please please please don't speak over the top of one another. This being said, that doesn't mean you have a right to monopolize the questioning time, but there is a nice way to cut someone off if they're going too long. Use your best judgment. Don't cut someone off two seconds after they start answering your question.
- Be polite!
- Make my job easy. I should not have to (and will not) make any links for you. You have to make the link yourselves. There should be a clear connection to your impacts.
- Weighing impacts is critical to your success, so please do it!
Any questions, please feel free to ask! Have fun and good luck!
I want to see the best round that you’ve gotat your ability level.
Novice Teams:
- Don’t stress! I love to see young debaters trying their best.
- Stick to the basics- Present your case well. Flow effectively. Try to address all your opponents’ points. Practice speaking with enthusiasm and confidence.
- CLASH! Listen to what your opponents are saying. Adjust your arguments so you’re talking specificallyabout the way your opponent presented their case. The more you can respond to what was said in this specific round as opposed to parroting general counter-arguments you’ve prepared, the better a debater you will be!
- Only spread if you really can do it.
- Use each round to practice skills you’ve been working on recently. Especially if you’ve gotten consistent feedback from judges or coaches, use this round to apply that feedback and see if you can perform better than the last round.
- Be respectful.
- Have fun.
Varsity/Experienced Teams:
- Show me what you got.
- Pick your strat based on the team you’re up against.
- When picking which case you run: I have no preference between truthful verses creative.
- If you’ve got a crazy case to run that will crush the meta, do it! Just make sure you have enough evidence and are familiar enough with your argument that you can pivot deftly to tough questions in cross or intense scrutiny as you collapse.
- If it’s a topic that simply insists on the meta, use it. I don’t care if we’ve seen the arguments a million times during a tournament if they’re effective. Argue it well and, if you’re bored, do it with flare.
- If you can spread and that will make the debate better, do it. If spreading makes you unintelligible, don’t. Emphasis
- While I like to see an attempt to line-by-line every point that’s brought up in case, as the round continues, I prefer meaningful clash on issues that grow relevant in the round OVER an unending fight on the veracity of each and every sub-point.
- Therefore: collapse. (If your opponent leaves things in your speeches untouched, go ahead and extend them. In this case, I still think it’s nice if you highlight a key issue that emerges in the round for me to vote on. But I if you get to keep all your offense, go for a blowout.)
- I love sign-posting. Be clear about your story of the round. It saves me thinking time if you spell out for me who you think has solvency, uniqueness, more standing arguments, etc. But also explainwhy.
- K and Theory only if it’s super awesome. I hold a higher standard for K then regular adjudication.
- No disclosure theory. That’s my only hard pass.
- In general, I will try to judge the round on the terms YOU set.
- Finally, I learn from every round. I reiterate, show me what you got. YOU teach US how awesome and varied debate can be.
I was a policy debater for 3 years in high school and coached high school policy for 5 years through out college (in Montana). I'm excited to return to the debate world as a parent judge...things have changed a bit, but I really love it all.
l lean towards (and prefer) the stock issues. While I can go on a journey, if you use generic responses (K, Counter plans etc.) it could be more difficult for me to buy. I want to see organization, direct clash and I'll believe whatever you can substantiate with evidence or solid rationale. Debate can be intense, but please have some fun and be kind.
I need to understand what you're saying. I REALLY struggle to appreciate spreading. In my mind, it's quality over quantity. If I don't understand you (or I have to work too hard) it just won't be considered. So, if you attempt it, please, do it well. I'll flow and be aware of dropped arguments, so please pull them through.
- For any round-related correspondence, please utilize the following email address: jasondbarton15@gmail.com.
Background:
- I am an assistant debate coach at Albuquerque Academy in ABQ, New Mexico (mostly coaching CX and LD).
- I recently finished my Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of New Mexico. I specialize in German Idealism, hermeneutic phenomenology, and Lacanian psychoanalysis.
- I debated CX, LD, and PF (though mostly PF) in Dallas, TX and the surrounding areas throughout high school (2011-2014), and I debated on the NPDA/NPTE circuit with Rice University more recently (2015-2019). My partner and I finished second at nationals (NPTE) our senior years. I consider myself to be comfortable with traditional and progressive styles of debate.
- My pronouns are he/him/his.
Crucial Points:
- Please attempt to be as courteous to one another as possible.
- In terms of argumentation, I do not necessarily have a preference for which kinds of arguments you present (e.g., policy affirmatives, DAs, CPs, Ks, Theory, etc.), but I would like them to be thoroughly explained, well-warranted, and impacted out (including weighing/impact calculus) throughout the debate.
- I gravitate towards evaluating framework very highly in the round (e.g., sequencing claims pertaining to competing methodologies). It is very likely that, if you are winning the framework debate, you are ahead in the debate (according to my assessment).
Theory/Topicality:
- I approach theory and topicality by analyzing the interpretation/violation layer first and the standards/voters layer second. If the opposing team wins a "we meet," they have effectively no linked the argument in my judgment (and thus need not even address the standards/voters).
- In assessing the standards/voters layer of the theory/topicality debate, I am looking for (a) extensive comparison between the respective standards of the interpretation and the counter-interpretation with respect to the voters (i.e., internal link analysis) and (b) priority claims in regard to voters (How do the voters interact with one another? Does one ground the possibility of another?).
CPs/Ks:
- On CPs and Ks themselves, I would prefer clearly marked solvency for both positions (I think CP/K solvency is pretty important - especially the question of "how do you solve the aff?" if this is an aspect of your position).
- I would like K links to be specific to the affirmative as opposed to more generic K links ("you use the state/capitalism/etc.") - if that's not the case, I am receptive to "no link" arguments from the affirmative.
- I think framework debates on Ks can be really educational, and I value framework pretty highly when considering which impacts matter in the round. Root cause claims can function as tiebreakers between competing frameworks.
DAs:
- I like DAs with precise/lucid uniqueness stories and specific links to the affirmative.
- I enjoy arguments from the affirmative about how the DA links to the CP. I think some valuable offense can be garnered from these.
Perms:
- I believe perms are a test of competition and not an advocacy, but I'm willing to evaluate the contrary.
- Also, if the perm text doesn't make sense (e.g., "do both" when alt text says "reject aff"), I will consider this argument in relation to the viability of the permutation.
Background - I was a policy debater at Rosemount high school for four years, including being a policy debate captain my junior and senior years. While at Rosemount, I debated at both local and national circuit tournaments. I am previously worked as a coach at Farmington High School in (you guessed it) Farmington Minnesota. Presently, I'm in Moorhead at MSUM. I have judged high school tournaments before, mostly policy, but also a tiny bit of LD and like two rounds of PF.
To answer this ahead of time---yes, I want to be on your email chain. ericabaumann27@gmail.com
My name is Erica. Please call me Erica.
As far as other "pre-round" questions go: Speed is fine. Tag-team CX is fine (so long as you let your partner answer and ask their own questions.) If you are Maverick, please let me know, and we can come up with the appropriate accommodations for you.
General Philosophy: I believe debate is, at core, an intellectual game where nothing "real" happens. However, that game has to have rules in order for us to play the game, and those rules need to be fair. Left to my own devices, I am a liberal policy-maker where I will weigh advantages vs. disadvantages and I will look at my flow to see which team provided the better REASONS to believe their interpretation of the story of the round. Also, simply because you read a card that is a page long does not mean that you have provided a warrant for your argument. You have simply read me a really long card. Just because you say something doesn't instantly make it true.
I believe it is your job to explain to me what the warrant is in the argument you are making. I am most impressed by debaters who take the time to explain their position, analyze how their position interacts with the other positions in the round, and why their interpretation of this interaction is superior.
I am a fan of debaters being good human beings. I think it should go without saying, but being kind, polite and remembering that we are all people goes a long way in my book. If you are debating a less experienced team, there is no glory in crushing them into the ground. Remember, you were also inexperienced at one point.
In addition, I am telling you now: you need to respect the pronouns of the other people in the round. I will not stand for any racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, anti-Semitism, fatphobia or ableism in this space. I do not tolerate arguments that are harmful, disrespectful, malicious or any argument that has a directly adverse effect on your opponents. Period.
I will treat you with respect, and as so, I expect you to treat your opponents, your partner, and your judge (me), with respect.
Also Note:
While I am a policy-maker and they aren't my favorite, I will entertain some Ks. I am good with Cap/Neolib, Security, and the like. High theory Ks are more iffy, not because I think they're bad or invalid, but simply because I have difficulty understanding them. I will listen to them, but you have better do a really really good job of explaining them to me. I never really debated high theory Kritiks, so my knowledge of them is somewhat limited. Do with that information what you will.
Now, if you do run a K, please know what you're talking about. I take issue with debaters who simply read Ks to read Ks and who have zero understanding of the authors intent or ideology. I promise you, I can usually tell. Also, please don't try to guilt me into voting for your K because it is the "right thing to do", I really really don't vibe with that. Another big pet-peeve of mine is Ks that are full of flowery language and complex rhetoric but that do nothing. I believe that, if you do run a K, your alt has to have some kind of actual (tangible) effect. I do accept mindset shifts (as they can potentially cause an actual change) but they need to have some kind of mechanism or way to prove to me that said shift will take actually take place.
If you are running any identity-politics arguments, you need to be kind.
I like debaters who give me roadmaps. Please give me a roadmap.
Bonus points if you make me laugh.
If you have other questions, or concerns, please ask. I am always here to help!
Background:
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Head Coach--Farmington High School (2020-date)
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Co-JV/Varsity coach at Rosemount High School for 6 years (2014-2020)
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Head Coach--Forest Lake, MN (1995-2000)
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Assistant Coach--Mankato East (1993-1995)
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Concordia College (1989-1993) (NDT twice)
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Rosemount High School (1985-1989)
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Staff--Concordia College Debate Institute, Minnesota Debate and Advocacy Workshop (MDAW)
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Committee to develop the Novice Packet in Minnesota
To answer this ahead of time---yes, I want to be on your email chain. Ask me for my email.
Top Shelf:
Generally more tech>truth. I debated in a world where the K was brand new and my partner and I won a lot of rounds on rhetoric K’s. K’s that relate to more traditional political concepts make the most sense for me (Cap, Biopower, Neolib, Abolition, Feminism, IR, etc) in the context of a policy debate round. I was not a philosophy major and I don’t get all excited about the nuances of Baudrillard, or other high theory topics. Lots of big, academic words don’t impress me and honestly, I probably don’t understand them in the same way you do so if you choose to run args like that, know that I probably don’t interpret the distinctions you are making in the same way you do and I don’t really see how or why that arg is relevant to the debate round unless you explain it in real world (ie: the way non debate entrenched people) terms.
To be transparent, I am increasingly concerned that the debate space i being rarified to a degree that is irresponsible academically. All too often I see high school debaters simply parroting the phrasing and thought processes of their coaches about very complex and nuanced philosophical concepts. I teach high school students every day. There is a developmental and congnitive difference between high school and college students. I am not inclined to believe that the debate I see on these topics is created by the debater, but rather by the coach. That is problematic to me.
Other thoughts...
Policy maker at heart--I’d rather think about the consequences of plan than about academic discussion of high theory
If I don’t understand your argument, I don’t want to vote on it. Signposting will probably help you here.
If I can’t understand you (spreading, etc), I can’t vote on it
I won‘t judge kick for you. It was your strategy, not mine.
In this technological world, Disclosure Theory args strike me as a whine unless there is some sort of egregious situation that occurs.
I am a teacher and I look at debate through that lens. Education is the main reason why I do this activity.
I believe that the argument construction provided by Toulmin (claim/data/warrant) is the bedrock upon which competitive debate has been built.
I don't like judge intervention, you should be telling me how to vote in the final two rebuttals.
Online debate: I coached and ran tournaments during COVID. I do know that smart debaters will sacrifice a degree or two of speed in order to improve the clarity. I will tell you if you are not clear. I don’t want folks talking over each other during cross-ex. I will be patient with tech, but also mindful that we have a schedule and it is best to stick to that. If tech issues become extreme, I’ll ask the tab room how they want to proceed. I will probably not have my camera on so get verbal confirmation that I am there and ready to go before you start speaking.
I am also a fan of debaters being good human beings. Being kind, polite and remembering that we are all humans goes a long way in my book. If you are debating a less experienced team, there is no glory in crushing them into the ground. Remember, you were inexperienced at one point, as well. Additionally, I believe people should be consistent, both in terms of their arguments and, in the world of the K, in their advocacy. Post-Rounding me is also not cool. My decision is my decision and that will be your privilege when you are a judge.
If you have other questions, or concerns, please ask.
For extemp and public address, I prefer that students use a conversational style. I prefer that they use evidence as needed. I prefer they not try and name numerous sources, but be honest in what they are using. I like a roadmap they refer to for each point.
For interp, I like a meaningful teaser that sets the world they are creating and tries to introduce as many characters as possible. I think introductions should be short and sweet and be more personal. I think blocking and movement should be used to enhance the story, but is not necessary. I really look for fully developed characters that really listen and react to each other. For author's intent, I think it is okay to re-interpret a piece. I don't have a real issue with a curse word if it is used purposefully.
My top voting issues-
#1- Do not speak too fast and speak clearly! If I can’t understand you, how am I supposed to vote for you?
#2- Show respect to your competitors! If you ask a question, let them answer it. Your non-verbal language also shows respect, so be cautious of how you react.
#3- Give me voters- a summary of what took place shows me you know what you are talking about.
My Background-
My daughter did Policy (CX) debate and that is when I learned I do NOT like speed-reading cases. I have been coaching since 2017 and still feel like a new speech & debate coach.
If you want anything more specific, ask before the round starts.
Interp Events:
My rankings are usually based on who is able to create the most believable characters and moments. There should be multiple levels within your piece and in the portrayal of your characters ~ not everything should be intense, or fast/slow, or super loud or quiet.
Everything you do in your performance should have a purpose. If you give a character an accent, be consistent with that accent. Make sure that each movement, mannerism, or gesture makes sense within the scope of the story you are telling. Additionally, I should be able to easily differentiate between multiple characters. Facial expressions, moments, and character development are very important for the overall performance.
Speaking Events
A clear structure is important: your delivery should be cohesive, and flow logically from point to point. A natural delivery style that allows for your personality to shine is preferable to the “Platform Speaker”. Put simply: avoid speech patterns.
Extemp: The most important thing is that you answer the question! A polished speaking style is important, but I will often default to a speaker that has stronger analysis and evidence over a pretty speech with fluffy content. Do not rely on canned introductions - creativity is important when trying to engage me.
Oratory/Informative: Your attention getter, vehicle, and conclusion should be creative, but they also need to fit well with the topic. Again, I will default to stronger analysis/evidence over fluffy content.
"Debate well. Don't go fast. Don't make frivolous or untrue arguments. You have a prescribed debate topic for a reason, so debate the topic."
That is my "grumpy old man" paradigm.
In reality, I am open to considering lots of arguments from a wide variety of philosophical and practical perspectives. My biggest issue is that I am not great with speed. I don't love it, and even if I did, I don't handle it well in a debate round. I am willing to listen to pretty much any argument a debater wants to make, but I won't evaluate the argument particularly well if it's fast. Also, the more critical the argument and the more dense the literature, the slower you will need to go for me to follow you.
I do have a few pet peeves.
1) No Tricks. Tricks are for kids - I'll absolutely intervene and toss out an "I win, you lose" extension of a random sentence from the framework or an underview. Don't make it a voter or it will likely be you that loses the ballot. Debate the round, don't just try to escape with the W.
2) No EXTENSIONS THROUGH INK - if you are going to extend something, you better have answered the arguments that sit right next to them on the flow BEFORE you extend them. You have to be responsive the attacks before you can claim victory on an argument.
3) Don't shoehorn EXTINCTION impacts into topics that are clearly NOT going to link to extinction. For example, there was a topic on standardized testing a few years back. Policy style impacts of cases and disads should have been about the effectiveness on standardized testing in terms of educational outcomes, college outcomes, and overall productive individuals and societies. Instead, debaters went for the cheap impact and tried to claim that keeping standardized tests will cause nuclear war and extinction. The syllogism had about 7-8 moving parts and at least three skipped steps. It was a bad argument that sometimes won because the opponent wasn't good enough to challenge the link chain or sometimes lost because smarter debaters beat it back pretty soundly. Either way, the debate was poor, the argument selection was poor, and I was not inclined to give those debaters good speaks even if they won.
4) Only read THEORY because there is an honest-to-God violation of a pretty established norm in debate, not because it's your "A-strat" and you just like theory. I like Fruit Loops, but I don't eat them at every meal. Use theory when appropriate and be prepared to go all-in on it if you do. If the norm you are claiming is so important and the violation is so egregious, then you should be willing to be the farm on your theory argument to keep your opponent from winning the debate.
I want to see good debate. I think the four things listed above tend to make debate bad and boilerplate. If you disagree, you are welcome to strike me.
: My Credentials :] :
I debated LD all four years in South Dakota. I have judged LD and PF now for 4 years.
: General Info for All :
For speed, on a scale of 1(slow)-10(fast) I sit at a 5. If you go faster, as long as you are understandable and clear I won't get upset.
Don't be rude in round. If I see the debate turn into an attack on other opponents, I will vote you down. That is not the purpose of debate.
SIGNPOST. This is necessary for all types of debate I judge, greatly appreciated if I see clear signposting of points and arguments.
: LD :
I am pretty traditional, but if you debate circuit/policy arguments I will still vote for you as long as you make your arguments clear - if I'm judging you at a South Dakota tournament please avoid policy arguments :)
Need to see a value/criterion clash of some sort. That is a big factor in my decision and who best links to morality.
I will vote on line by line, but for the last Affirmative speech I prefer hearing Points of Crystallization or clear Voters. Tell me exactly why you win.
: PF :
As long as you give straight forward explanations of your points and arguments, you should be good. Don't give 'fluff' information, I can tell if you are not responding to an argument or an opponent's point.
Give me main Voters during your summary and final focus (this should be self explanatory but sometimes people don't do this).
: Policy :
I know the layout and arguments, but I am not well versed in critiks or higher level tech arguments. I have a very basic understanding of when I debated it my freshman year. However, if you make arguments clear I will still vote on them.
Actors: I like when “interpretations” have a clear and developed thesis. Not just the statement but through out it’s clear. But also good performance is good. If you go for stylized it better be thematic.
Speakers: Engage with the assumptions. Talk good. No nuclear war.
I prefer the round stay policy driven, if you do anything meta it better be well organized.
Speaking well includes word choice and the attitude with which you address your opponents. Don't be mean or condescending. They learned this last week, you learned it four days ago.
Introduction:
I have coached high school speech and debate since Fall 2011 at Ladue Horton Watkins High School in Saint Louis, Missouri. Our program has Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Policy Debate, and Public Forum Debate. I have judged all three types of debate at local invitationals, invitationals throughout the state, the MSHSAA State Tournament, NCFL Grand National Tournament, and NSDA National Tournament. I did not compete in high school or college. I coach and judge on a primarily lay circuit. I also coach and judge Extemporaneous Debate and Congressional Debate along with all speech events (both public address and interpretation).
Overview:
I view judging as an integral part of coaching. Quality debate rounds in front of knowledgeable judges is key to growth for competitors and judging rounds is a valuable learning opportunity for coaches. My personal coaching and judging philosophy is rooted in fun, education, and personal growth. My goal is for each round to be fun and educational for all participants while providing personal growth opportunities for each competitor during and after the round. My commitment to you is that I will provide a ballot giving feedback to each debater that addresses speaking and argumentation and I will give a clear RFD.
Ethics:
Being an ethical competitor is the most important thing you can do in the round. An unethical competitor will NOT win my ballot, regardless of the arguments in the round. Older and more experienced competitors have an educational obligation to younger and less experienced competitors. I expect all evidence in the round to be used in a way that reflects the intent of the author. Dishonest highlighting, summarizing, and/or paraphrasing is an immediate loss. The text and general meaning of evidence must be accurately represented in a round. I do not like calling for evidence but will if I need it in order to resolve an issue in the round. If you are rude in any way, you will lose speaker rankings/points and, depending on the nature of the misconduct, possibly the round. I expect a professional, mature, and kind round. Do not yell at each other and all debaters should refrain from any attacks on their opponents – keep responses based on the arguments and evidence in the round. As my students will tell you, I do not tolerate any use of profanity in an educational space.
I would like to note that harassment, bullying, and discriminatory behaviors of any type will not be tolerated. Should I see those behaviors in or out of round, I will address them. If it is in a round, it will be reflected on the ballot and the team or individual engaging in such behaviors can expect a loss. I will also address this behavior with your coach. I believe that speech and debate should be a safe space for every person and it is the communal responsibility of all of us to guarantee that.
This is also a moment to note that your behavior in and out of round is seen and heard at tournaments. I would encourage all competitors to behave in an ethical manner at all times. Unethical behavior outside of round does affect how people in the community view you – whether this is right or wrong, it is something for all competitors to consider. Think about what you want your reputation in the debate community to be and act accordingly. You are representing your team, our speech and debate community, and this activity at all times. Please hold yourself to the highest standard possible at tournaments. I strongly believe in growth and second chances so if you make a mistake, please take time to reflect, apologize, and then change your actions moving forward.
Communication:
Debate is, first and foremost, a communication activity; therefore, communication should be your most important consideration in the round. I expect debaters to speak at a conversational rate or a bit faster – I do not appreciate nor do I follow spreading. If you are speaking faster than you are able to clearly communicate, then you need to slow down. I will not interrupt you during a round but will stop flowing if I cannot flow or understand what you are saying. Reading piles of evidence without having analysis is not good communication. I do not believe students need a card for every single idea presented in a round – I expect students to think and bring their own ideas into the round. You should thoroughly understand all arguments you make in a round. Speaking and the ability to knowledgeably communicate arguments in the round are key to winning my ballot.
General Information:
I will keep track of time for speeches and prep time. Competitors are welcome and encouraged to keep their own time during the round; however, my time will be the official time. It is understandable that partners will need to communicate with each other during the round; however, the volume should be low enough that you do not interrupt the speaker. Please keep in mind that a tournament has many moving parts and rounds being completed efficiently is key to keeping tournaments running on schedule. To that end, your time in the round is dedicated to speaking taking prep time. When your prep time is over, please be ready to speak within a few seconds of getting to the front of the room – organizing speeches, etc. should be taken care of before ending prep time.
I do not flow authors for evidence – when you say “extend our Smith card”, I have no idea what you mean. YOU need to extend the ARGUMENT – I should not be asked to extend evidence. I am flowing the arguments you make and the IDEAS in the evidence you share. I do pay attention to the dates of evidence and will prioritize more recent evidence in most cases; however, there are some exceptions to this general rule. I pay attention to the credentials of authors and the sources being used in a round.
Lincoln-Douglas Debate:
I appreciate a values-based debate rooted in philosophy. The values/framework debate is incredibly important in the round. I am willing to listen to more progressive arguments, provided the value/framework debate is present. Dictionary.com is not a strong source for definitions in L-D – I would prefer legal or philosophical definitions. I believe L-D is arguing what ought to be, not what is. Roadmaps are not necessary and will not be given off-time – if you start to give a roadmap, then I will start your time.
Policy Debate:
I generally expect the affirmative team to present a topical plan. However, I am willing to listen to critical and performance affirmative plans provided the team can give a solid explanation as to why I should vote for them in the context of that debate round. If you are running a critical argument, then I expect you to be “all in” – meaning you don’t get to run a critical argument on one flow and then ignore it on other flows. If you are making a critical argument, then you need to be a fierce and passionate advocate for that stance throughout the round and bring the critical arguments into the rest of the round. I am also willing to listen to critical and performance arguments on the negative side of the flow. I expect debaters to tell me the role of the ballot in the round. I do not love counter plans or topicality arguments. If you are running topicality arguments, then I would expect that you cannot address on-case arguments…if you have a ton of prepared arguments for their case, then do not run topicality. If you have an engaging and unique counter plan, I am willing to listen to and vote on it; however, a generic counter plan that doesn't do much to advance the round is not likely to win my ballot. Extra topicality and effects topicality can be very interesting arguments. Regardless of the arguments you run, please have a strong understanding of those arguments and be able to explain them without reading cards. Organized and structured speeches are key to a successful round – I expect a roadmap before each speech (except the 1AC) and clear signposting within each speech. I do not enjoy open-cross and will not permit it if I am the only judge in the room. On a panel, I will defer to the majority opinion; however, please know that I have very real concerns about a team that lacks trust or confidence to the point that the partner must intervene in cross-ex. I will default to policymaker but am willing to judge using a framework you give me provided the argument is clear in the round.
Public Forum Debate:
Public Forum Debate is about current(ish) events so I expect arguments to take place in the context of the current world order. I do not want to see a 45-minute debate about evidence or debate rules – arguments should focus on the big picture ideas in the round. That being said, if a team is clearly violating the rules, I will consider that on my ballot. I expect there to be balance in crossfire, which requires a give and take on the part of all competitors. I do not want Public Forum to be Policy Debate, so the ability to give a line-by-line argument is less important to me than being able to effectively summarize key ideas in the round and weigh the two sides. Roadmaps are not necessary and will not be given off-time – if you start to give a roadmap, then I will start your time.
Hello!
I'm Jayden and I am a prevuous head coach. I coached LD, POL, LEGI, PF, Interp., and Short Prep events. However, I specialize in LD. I was a varsity debater all 4 years of high school. I competed primarily in LD and was fortunate enough to qualify for nationals twice (my junior and senior years). At my junior year nationals, I actually placed in the top 28. I also debate at the collegiate level. Therefore, I am a very knowledgeable flow judge. I keep a detailed flow and will likely give the win to the competitor who wins on the flow (for LD this is very much tied to your value/criterion). Also, one of my pet peeves is sliming (bringing up new evidence or points in the final speech of the round). The only exception to me voting with the flow, is conduct. If you are mean, demeaning, etc. to your opponent, you can expect to lose the ballot. With that said, I will not vote you down for being aggressive or stern unless it crosses the line of being demeaning or mean. However, I highly doubt it will come to that. Speech and debate is an amazing activities, but that can only be true if our competitors hold up to that standard and have a consequence when they don't. Thanks for reading about me and if you have any questions, please ask.
Thanks!
Jayden
Hello! I am the Pittsburgh Central Catholic Head Speech Coach with 6 years of experience judging all speech events. If you have any questions about your ballot, my email is pjb82@pitt.edu
If you want some feedback after round, just ask!
If you're an Extemper and you just so happen to have found my paradigm and I'm judging you, this is what you should do:
Make sure you include context in your introduction - don't waste our limited time by making irrelevant connections to pop culture. Explain the context of the question (why are we talking about it today?) and any definitions, technical terms, and historical information I may need to fully understand your answer to the question.
Diversify your sources. Use reputable sources only - if I don't know what it is I'll probably look it up after round. Avoid think tanks. Warrant your claims (remind me why your evidence matters in light of the question itself, not just that particular point).
**Online update: if my camera is off, i am not there**
I think debate is a game with educational benefits. I will listen to anything, but there are obviously some arguments that are more persuasive than others. i think this is most of what you're looking for:
1. arguments - For me to vote on an argument it must have a claim, warrant, and impact. A claim is an assertion of truth or opinion. A warrant is an analytical connection between data/grounds/evidence and your claim. An impact is the implication of that claim for how I should evaluate the debate. debate is competitive and adversarial, not cooperative. My bias is that debate strategies should be evidence-centric and, at a minimum, rooted in an academic discipline. My bias is that I do not want to consider anything prior to the reading of the 1AC when making my decision.
2. more on that last sentence - i am uninterested and incapable of resolving debates based on questions of character or on things that occurred outside of the debate that i am judging. if it is an issue that calls into question the safety of yourself or others in the community, you should bring that issue up directly with the tournament director or relevant authorities because that is not a competition question. if you are having an interpersonal dispute, you should try resolving your conflict outside of a competitive space and may want to seek mediation from trained professionals. there are likely exceptions, but there isnt a way to resolve these things in a debate round.
3. framework - arguments need to be impacted out beyond the word 'fairness' or 'education'. affirmatives do not need to read a plan to win in front of me. however, there should be some connection to the topic. fairness *can be* a terminal impact.
4. critiques - they should have links to the plan or have a coherent story in the context of the advantages. i am less inclined to vote neg for broad criticisms that arent contextualized to the affirmative. a link of omission is not a link. similarly, affirmatives lose debates a lot just because their 2ac is similarly generic and they have no defense of the actual assumptions of the affirmative.
5. counterplans - should likely have solvency advocates but its not a dealbreaker. slow down when explaining tricks in the 2nc.
6. theory - more teams should go for theory more often. negatives should be able to do whatever they want, but affirmatives need to be able to go for theory to keep them honest.
7. topicality - its an evidentiary issue that many people impact poorly. predictable limits, not ground, is the controlling internal link for most T-related impacts. saying 'we lose the [insert argument]' isnt really an impact without an explanation of why that argument is good. good debates make comparative claims between aff/neg opportunities to win relative to fairness.
8. i forgot what eight was for.
9. 2nr/2ar - there are lots of moving parts in debate. if you disagree with how i approach debate or think about debate differently, you should start your speech with judge instruction that provides an order of operations or helps construct that ballot. teams too often speak in absolute certainties and then presume the other team is winning no degree of offense. that is false and you will win more debates if you can account for that in your speech.
10. keep track of your own time.
unapologetically stolen from brendan bankey's judge philosophy as an addendum because there is no reason to rewrite it:
---"Perm do the counterplan" and "perm do the alt" are claims that are often unaccompanied by warrants. I will not vote for these statements unless the aff explains why they are theoretically legitimate BEFORE the 2AR. I am most likely to vote for these arguments when the aff has 1) a clear model of counterplan/alternative competition AND 2) an explanation for where the
I would prefer that debaters engage arguments instead of finesse their way out of links. This is especially awful when it takes place in clash debates. If you assert your opponent's offense does not apply when it does I will lower your speaker points.
In that vein, it is my bias that if an affirmative team chooses not to say "USFG Should" in the 1AC that they are doing it for competitive reasons. It is, definitionally, self-serving. Self-serving does not mean the aff should lose [or that its bad necessarily], just that they should be more realistic about the function of their 1AC in a competitive activity. If the aff does not say "USFG Should" they are deliberately shifting the point of stasis to other issues that they believe should take priority. It is reciprocal, therefore, for the negative to use any portion of the 1AC as it's jumping off point.
I think that limits, not ground, is the controlling internal link for most T-related impacts. Ground is an expression of the division of affirmative and negative strategies on any given topic. It is rarely an independent impact to T. I hate cross-examination questions about ground. I do not fault teams for being unhelpful to opponents that pose questions in cross-examination using the language of ground. People commonly ask questions about ground to demonstrate to the judge that the aff has not really thought out how their approach to the resolution fosters developed debates. A better, more precise question to ask would be: "What are the win conditions for the negative within your model of competition?"
I am a parent of a competitor and a lay judge. Speak at a pace a layperson can understand and process. Avoid using jargon so that I can hear and understand your argument. Clearly spell out the issues I am deciding the round on. Refrain from being any kind of -ist or phobic. Be proud of yourselves and enjoy this experience.
Congressional Debate--I expect your speeches to address the major issues addressed by the legislation or the concerns raised by the assumed passage of the legislation. I look for speeches that are continuing to advance the debate, not just re-hash points already brought up by previous speakers. Please follow parliamentary procedure. It really is not that hard.
POs should keep the chamber moving efficiently and professionally. Maximizing speech time and cross-x time plays a huge role in my evaluation of a presiding officer. I also expect much consistency from a PO in rulings and recognition of speakers.
Lastly, have fun. This is a fun event. Use humor where appropriate. Enjoy your time in these chambers.
Policy Debate--I'm that judge you wish you did not get. I am old school and I don't like speed.
I graduated from Norman North in 2019 and OU in 2022 with dual degrees in political science and professional writing. Currently, I am working toward a Master's of Education in Education Policy from American U in Washington DC. Professionally, I am an English teacher/Debate Coach at Longfellow Middle School and a two-time published poet.
Everyone
1. Being a respectful, charismatic speaker is most important. The most persuasive speakers are expert storytellers.
2. Adaptability is critical to success. So while certain strategies/etc are allowed and often welcome in the nat circuit, I will expect competitors to adapt to their judges' paradigms. Learning how to read a room is a valuable skill. Good luck to all competitors and don't forget to have fun!
PF
PF should be treated on balance, so I will carefully follow where there is clash of arguments. I want to see offense and defense. I will treat LD similarly, but FW will always matter more in LD.
LD
In LD, if you do not have a FW, then I will default to your opponent's. If you do not make it applicable to your own case, then the opponent will win on that voting issue. If you both have a FW, I want you to tell me where your FW interacts with the other. Does it encompass theirs? Does it narrow the scope? Why does that matter?
I also like to see creative arguments. Bring a fresh perspective. Big K fan when done right, but my preference will always be for traditional LD debate.
Debate Bio
From 2012-2019, I competed in PF, LD, Congress, and all IEs. LD and Congress are by far my favorites. I've been to regionals, state, Nats, and TOC.
I have judged in the West OK circuit since January 2023 and was a coach and judge for Norman/Norman North at Nationals 2023.
My pet pug is named Lincoln Douglas. :)
Coach email for further inquiries: katieb@normanps.org
Hello! I am a parent judge supporting my oldest son's speech aspirations. Now in my 7th year as a speech parent, judge, and sorta coach I have judged 100+ rounds and hundreds of presentations across middle school and high school competitions - primarily in OO, HI, DI, Duo and more. I judged the NSDA nationals DI finals in 2022 which was an incredible round and experience. I also judged the middle school NSDA final round for storytelling in 2019 along with plenty of state and nat quals through the years. Across various events, here are my thoughts as applicable for your event...
I hope to be persuaded by your thesis or argument
I want to be engaged and moved by your presentation
Your characters should be fully developed and come through clearly and distinctly
Use sources responsibly to complement your work without overwhelming with stats and figures
Show creativity and something novel relative to other competitors
Most of all, own your work, have fun, and know that you are a winner just by competing. Thank you!
Congress- Speeches should be delivered at a rate of speed that a casual listener would be able to understand and follow the argumentation. Evidence is necessary and should support every argument in a speech. In order to stand out and rank higher, written speeches should be adapted to include clash from previous speeches and offer something new to the debate. Debaters should offer speeches that forward the debate and do not simply rehash previously stated arguments. A PO should run a transparent and efficient round with a clearly offered way to track precedence and recency.
Extemp- State the topic word for word verbatim, I am looking for strong argumentation to support your answer as well as current and credible evidence. Competitors who have an in depth analysis of the topic will rank higher, fluff and generic answers will rank lower. This is a speaking event and you need to have conversational speed as well as humor to do well. Funny and pop culture AGDs are my favorite.
LD- I am an old school trad judge. I can keep up with moderate speed but if you start spreading and I put my pen down you are not in a good spot. If I can't flow I can't judge you. K and theory aren't my favorite but simple and common K like ROB I am familiar with, extinction arguments are my least favorite, they seem lazy unless you have a really compelling and interesting argument to go with it. Judge adaptation is crucial in LD success. I am not the most tech oriented judge so if you are pulling tricks make them clear and easy to follow for me, I am open to weird stuff but it had better be accessible to me.
For (DI, DUO) - Subtlety is the key, I don't need you to scream and shout to get emotion across. I'm not against screaming, but it should be during appropriate moments during the piece and build over time. At no point should you jump from deadly quiet and calm to intense and screaming. Gradually build the emotion. Show me the tension and intensity over time. Screaming when you erupt during the climax is perfectly acceptable. Further, intensity can be shown without screaming, crying, or yelling. The quiet moments of the piece are usually the ones I find most powerful. THINK and REACT to what you are saying. Emotion should come nearly effortlessly when you "are" your piece. Don't "act" like the mom who lost her daughter in a school shooting, BE that mom! Transitions and timing are SUPER IMPORTANT, DON'T RUSH!!!
For (HI, DUO) - Facial expressions, characterization, and blocking take the most importance for me. I want to see each character develop once you introduce it throughout the piece. Even if the character doesn't appear all the time, or only once or twice throughout the script, I want to see that each character is engaged throughout the piece itself. Most importantly, please remember that humor without thought is gibberish. Jokes are said for a reason - use facial expressions to really hone in on character's thought and purpose. For example, if a character A says a joke and character B doesn't get it, I should see character B's confused reaction. I will also tend to reward creative blocking and characterization. However, note that blocking should not be overly distracting.
For (POI, PRO, POE) - Regarding emotion, facial expressions, and character development, see the above text in the two paragraphs above regarding DI and HI. Personally, I place a little more emphasis on binder tech - the more creative the better! I think binder events are the synthesis of good binder tech, good script selection, and good facial expressions/emotion. Obviously, it's harder to do, since you have multiple characters in multiple parts of your speech and each have a distinct mood and personality. I prefer POI to read like an OO with someone else's words, give me a really concrete problem solution.
UPDATED 2/21/20: I do not judge as often as I may once have. At most local events, I find myself on the operations side of a tournament.
That should not terrify you – I am a career public servant, who happens to coach debate because I appreciate everything that it taught me as a student. You should assume that I approach debate rounds this way: what is the best decision I can make given the information presented to me?
It may sound old-fashioned, but I do not wish to be on any email chains. I have sadly witnessed teams answering entire disadvantages not read by their opponents simply because they were included in said distribution. Not to be outdone, I have read ballots where judges voted on evidence that nobody read. I pledge to keep the best flow I can. If I need to see a piece of evidence, and the particular league or tournament's rules allow for that, I will call for it.
If you are short on time reading this, my paradigm can be expressed in six (6) words: do your thing and be nice. If you are really short on time, we can go with four (4): old guy, still flows.
Policy:
1. Speed is fine, but clarity is necessary. I cannot vote on what I do not have typed/written down. I try hard to listen to the text of the evidence presented;
2. Open cross-examination is acceptable, but if it is clear than one member of the team is not able to participate at the same level, speaker points will suffer;
3. My preference is tabula rasa; in the absence of any alternative framework, I look first to any potential violation(s) of stock issues and then default to a policymaking perspective.
Lincoln Douglas:
1. I do not mind an LD round that gets on down the flow;
2. My preference is tabula rasa; in the absence of any alternative framework, I will default to a whole resolution lens looking first to the value/value criterion debate.
Public Forum/Speech:
1. Nothing earth-shattering here. I am less speed tolerant in public forum and I will simply apply the ballot criteria to whatever speech event is at hand.
Regardless of event, we enter the debate knowing the resolution and some basic rules of the road (e.g., speech times, likely printed on the ballot). By tabula rasa I mean that the debaters establish the framework for evaluating debates. You should do what you do best and do it well. Arguments should have three parts – a claim, a warrant, and some sort of greater implication regardless of your style.
I still believe that good decisions should flow like water. Great rebuttals frame debates and clash wins rounds. My ballots will provide a succinct RFD, possibly pointing out either strengths or opportunities for improvement as we progress through the speeches. 3AR/3NR oral critiques nauseate me: what I say out loud (if disclosure is permitted) will almost certainly match what I am placing on your ballot. Your coach should see comments too. You did not go to the dentist; my RFD is never going to read “oral.”
Finally, be respectful of your partners, opponents, and judges. I have zero tolerance for poor behavior in debate rounds.
Feel free to ask me any questions or clarifications about my paradigm at any time! To email questions: kberg@loyolanyc.org
**My biggest preference is to be a good member of the round. No phones during rounds. You could be the best speaker or performer but if you spend the rest of the round being disrespectful to your fellow competitors, I will take that into account.
CONGRESS PARADIGM:
I coach Congress at Loyola School in New York City.
Many of the style notes for policy (below) apply to Congress as well.
1. A note of personal preference: if I see you on social media, snapchat, tiktok, instagram, etc. during a round, I will drop you and report to tab as necessary. I will almost always share this at the beginning of the session. This is a firm, irrevocable line for me and I don't care if you're the best speaker in the room.
2. If you are joining Congress from another form of debate - remember that there are no email chains, judges do not have your sources, and there are no cards. Cite, explain, and analyze all your data accordingly.
3. PO - please ensure all your tech is set up before you start. I would prefer you take the extra minute to get yourself in order rather than rushing and spending the rest of the session scrambling. A smooth and precise PO is better than a quick and messy PO. Please share your preferred method for tracking speeches, recency, etc. and keep it fully available throughout the entire session. Have a plan in case there is no wifi/wifi is bad. The time to learn how to PO on paper is not while you are in the middle of being the PO.The PO is always in the running for top rank and has earned the 1 on my ballot in the past. The PO has also been dropped from my ballot should disaster strike.
4. When I competed, girls were discouraged and dismissed in Congress. I am very happy to see that this is changing, although it is not perfect. I expect all chambers to be run equitably with respect shown for all speakers.
5. Be mindful of the cycle of debate. Presenting a rehashed constructive on the sixth cycle of debate is not productive. Your goal should be furthering the quality of the debate.
6. Cross examination matters. It is as much a part of the debate as any speech. Bad faith questions reflect poorly on you. Be mindful of how you speak to one another.
7. Love a good crystal however, don't just recap the round and sit down. Extend your side's arguments and refute opposing arguments. Offer your own analysis. Weigh out all the impacts to their fullest. A good crystal should be the cherry on top of a debate not just an intermission.
8. I like to see a variety of speeches. Only giving sponsorships or crystals does not show me diversity in your debating abilities.
9.I do not look kindly on yelling during your speech and especially during questioning. Unless another speaker has personally insulted you, your family, or said something offensive, there is no reason to yell at another speaker. I especially do not look kindly on male debaters yelling exclusively or primarily at female debaters.
10: When I am judging (NOT parliamentarian): I am not in charge of the rules. I do not control the recency. I do not control the PO. Coming up to me and complaining about your recency, that your motion didn't pass, that the docket isn't what you wanted, that the chamber didn't vote in your favor, etc. is futile and does not endear you to me if you persist. If you have issues with your recency, check the sheet, ask the PO and/or parli. If you aren't prepped for all the bills on that session's docket, that's something out of my control.
POLICY/CX/DEBATE PARADIGM:
I coached policy debate at Success Academy. I did not compete in policy as a student.
A note for high school JV/varsity competitors: my paradigm is geared towards the kids I coached/judged - middle school novices. However, a lot of this applies to high school novice debate and debate in general.
1. Most debates can be won or lost over one central issue. Define that issue for me and tell me why your side should win.
2. Your final speech should always begin and end with the exact reasons you think I should vote for you.
3. Cross examination matters. It is as much a part of the debate as any speech.
4. 99% of T arguments are not convincing and unless the aff is wildly untopical, I will not vote on it. I will almost always default to reasonability, unless you can give me a fantastic reason not to.
5. Spreading is only as good as your clarity. If you are incoherent, you are not making an argument. Four excellent arguments is stronger than eight okay arguments. I err on the side of what serves the most productive, educational debate.
6. Speak like you care about what you're talking about. Inflection will boost your speaker points. Studies have shown that communication is 55% body language, 38% tone of voice, and 7% words only. Keep that in mind as you give your speeches.
7. Above all else, be kind to each other. Demonstrate respect in the way you listen and respond to your opponents' arguments.
8. Any kind of "death good" or "rights bad" argument will get you an automatic L. I'm not here for racism, homophobia, sexism, etc. or any other oppressive frameworks of thought.
9. Argumentative clarity > technical flair. Debate can be elegant. Complex topics can be explained in concise language. I will often defer to the team who demonstrates the most effective understanding of the subject matter. Kritiks are welcome only if you deeply understand them.
10. SIGNPOST AND ROADMAP!!! Organization matters.Time that I have to spend shuffling my flows and figuring out what exactly you're responding to is not time that I'm spending actually hearing you.Take that extra 30 seconds of prep to make sure your speech is actually in the order you're saying it's in.
My pronouns are he/him.
Saint Louis UDL policy debater in high school (2015-2018). Former president of NPDA parli debate at Tulane (graduating Dec '21). I began judging LD and PF in 2018. I now work full time as a housing specialist for a Permanent Supportive Housing program.
Email chain: liv.berry014@gmail.com (also email me here if you have any questions or accessibility needs)
If you feel unsafe at any point in a round or during a tournament, let me know (either in person or via email) and I will do everything I can to get you out of the situation and get the issue handled w tab/equity office/tournament directors etc. Your safety comes first, always
I clap at the end of rounds
Please put cards in docs instead of the body of the email. I don't care if it's just one card - I want a doc.
Spring 2023 Update:
- I no longer think it is particularly useful to list all of my thoughts and preferences on specific arguments and debate styles in my paradigm. It shouldn't matter to you or affect the way you choose to debate. You should debate in a way that feels fun, educational, and authentic to you. I will judge the debate in front of me.
- I am not as involved in debate as I once was. Judging is now a special treat that requires taking off work. This could be good for you or it could be bad for you. Either way, it means I'm genuinely thrilled to be here.
- Be mindful when it comes to speed and jargon. I don't know the all the acronyms or buzzwords and I don't know community consensus or trends when it comes to things like counterplans or topicality.
Some general thoughts:
- TLDR: Read what you like and have fun with it! Whether you're reading a rage aff without a plan text or nine off in the 1NC, if you're into it, I'm into it.
- The best part of debate is the people. Be kind.
- I see my role as a judge as an educator first and foremost
- The best way to win my ballot is to filter arguments through impact framing. Why is your model/disadvantage/advocacy/etc more important? What does it mean to mitigate/solve these impacts in the context of the debate? Why is the ballot important or not important?
- Every speech is a performance. How you choose to perform is up to you, but be prepared to defend every aspect of your performance, including your advocacy, evidence, arguments, positions, and representations
- Tell me why stuff matters! Tell me what I should care about and why!
- If you are a jerk to novices or inexperienced debaters, I will tank your speaks. This is an educational activity. Don't be a jerk
LD SPECIFIC:
- I don't know what "tricks" or "spikes" are. I judged a round that I'm told had both of these things, and it made me cry (and I sat). Beyond that, I've judged lots of traditional, kritikal, and plan rounds and feel comfortable there.
GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, LEARN THINGS
Jordan Berry - Loveless Academic Magnet Program High School
Hello!
I have been a coach and judge since 2015. Most debaters over the years categorize me as a traditional L/D judge. My chief weighing mechanism is usually framework (my undergraduate degree is in philosophy), but I can be persuaded to the contrary. I have no value hierarchy. I strive to keep personal views and ballot intervention away from my RFD. I will evaluate only those arguments brought up by the debaters.
Speed is an issue for me. This is primarily an education and communication activity. I highly doubt either Lincoln or Douglas themselves were spreading, and I've never seen spreading in any real-life situation aside from episodes of "Storage Wars." I do flow the round (though not cross), but "winning the flow" isn't the same as winning the round in some cases; this event is supposed to be persuasive and accessible, not a checklist of responses and replies. Thus, I always roll my eyes when one of my own debaters complains about "lay" judges: in crafting a case/round, they should receive as much consideration as that ex-policy debater.
Other issues for me: do be respectful. Do engage meaningfully with the resolution. Do be honest. Do have fun.
Break a leg!
Anthony Berryhill (MBA, PMP, M.Phil., M.A., CSM, CSPO) | Judge Paradigm- updated 3/25/2025
email (for speech docs): anthony@elitecollegehacker.com
Note: this paradigm applies to both LD and PF.
Experience:
- Professional background:
- Harvard University Instructor (Negotiation and Democratic theory)
- Former Vice President of Program Management and Learning (Executive Officer) at PIMCO (investment firm)
- Stanford (BA) and Yale (PhD Candidate) alumnus, MENSA Member
- Current job: Running college admissions coaching company (MBA/MD/PhD/undergrad) at www.elitecollegehacker.com.
- Recent Debate Career Highlights:
- Coached 5 qualifiers to 2025 NSDA Nationals (4 in LD, 1 team in PF)
- 2025 NSDA PF Wording Committee Member (former LD Wording Committee) and 2025 NCFL PF and LD Wording Committee
- Coached 2024 2nd speaker/9th place in LD for my alma mater at NSDA Nationals
- Coach of 3 national champions (College PF, LD, HS PF)
- NSDA Final Round Judge (Policy 2022, LD 2019-2022)
- Former Managing Director at VBI | Qualified to nationals in LD, Congress (Senate), and Extemp @ Isidore Newman
- How I vote (in brief): I vote for the debater who -- through the appropriate decision rule (values, burdens, argument layer) -- convinces me that I should vote for their side of the resolution (and/or performance) above the other debater.
Style info:
Good debate is good debate - I have judged late TOC, NSDA, and NCFL elims of all styles (LD, PF, CX) and historically have very successfully coached traditional, policy, progressive, performance (at the LD TOC), and K style debaters.
Please note that the *current* "progressive" style in TOC LD(nonsensical speaking, violating evidence ethics, running 9 off, cursing/bad behavior, poor tech skills, lying about isms in round for strategic purposes, racial essentialism) is not, in my view, educationally appropriate for high school debate.
I definitely understand "progressive" ideas and literature, but am "old fashioned" in so far as I follow "traditional LD" expectations of correct/accurate evidence usage, clarity, argumentation quality, line-by-debating, crystallization, and personal conduct.
To clarify: Progressive and policy arguments are fine if and only if you adopt the same level of excellent deliver, analytical and academic rigor, clarity, and accuracy (including in theory) as traditional LD debaters. For example, speed is ok if you are clear, avoid monotone, and include me on speech docs. To be clear, if you think this makes me lay, you should check yourself and your bigotry.
How to win my ballot and get high points (preferences):
- I strongly prefer debaters who do the work to cross apply, connect arguments together, extend evidence, signpost, and keep the flow clean with a coherent and easily understandable delivery style. These students get wins and 29.5s+ with shocking consistency.
- I look for the easiest, most clear way to vote, so I can minimize/avoid intervention (within reason). I am not a judge who will reconstruct a round and read cards for 30 min after a debate. That's the debaters' job. The more work you do to write the ballot, the more weight I will give to your interpretations and positions.
- In-round analysis and smart strategy counts: Weighing, closing doors (telling me where you can lose and doing the hard work in detail to stop me from doing so), crystallization, and extensions will help you sway the ballot to your side.
- Clarity matters: I am biased toward debaters who do the work to explain very complicated ideas in a simple, clear, and accessible way. As a former PhD in critical theory @ Yale, I appreciate good argumentation, depth, and skill at explanation.
What I strongly dislike/what you must avoid:
- High Mental/Cognitive load/confusion -> judge intervention: It is in your interest to collapse arguments down in order to reduce how much I have to evaluate or consider. Otherwise, I get to be dangerously creative and decide how I want to vote, which I'd rather not do.
2. Misbehavior in rounds and debate politics. I judge by the "any given sunday" principle. I do not hack--and have never--hacked for anyone, any position, or at any time. Therefore any debater can win in front of me if they adapt. Make sure to avoid behavior that is out of bounds (swearing, use of inappropriate words, and other actions that parents/principals would disapprove).
3. A note about theory and identity arguments. If you need theory or identity based arguments, go for it. HOWEVER, frivolous theory, blippy arguments, or arguments that say "only people of X identity can do Y" are not strategic in front of me and I reserve
the right to intervene even if claims are dropped. Also, as one of the first students in circuit LD to run heavily race/gender based arguments (in the late 90s) I'm especially sensitive to students treating these arguments with the seriousness they demand.
Therefore, if you run identity arguments, please do not treat these as strategic pawns to be deployed without regard to ethics. As an intersectionalist by training, I'm opposed to essentialism, stereotyping, and authenticity policing. Let's do none of that please.
Good luck!
Hello fabulous competitors, I have been a coach at Palo Verde High School for 20+ years for all events including speech.
Please put me on the chain, bersesm@nv.ccsd.net
I want to be on the doc, but this is NOT a supplement for you to be unclear and speak at incomprehensible speech.
Please be respectful to me, your judges, and your opponents. Disrespect and hate have no place in the debate space.
For LD I am more of a traditionalist, but I am open to more progressive argumentation, at the end of the day, its up to competitors to make warrants and explain their argument, I am NOT interventionist, I will not do the work for you.
Value and Value Criterion are crucial to the way I evaluate the debate and judge you
Kritiks are fine, I just need clear framing and warranting
Voting issues NEED to be in later speeches
Theory as a whole does NOT outweigh substantive arguments
I will not evaluate frivolous theory
Please don't run tricks
Speech & Interp Coach at Carroll High School in Corpus Christi, TX
SPEECH: My stylistic preferences for speakers lean towards a more personal and conversational delivery as opposed to the overly formal and stilted. Formal delivery is great and can be effective, but as a judge I don't care for speaker styles that make me feel like I am being "talked at." as opposed to being "talked to." In terms of the amount of evidence, I prefer at least one cited article per main point in the speech; more would be best. Cited articles should help support the points made. I prefer speakers to incorporate movement to help highlight the points of the speech and create a flow. This goes for most, if not all speech events.
INTERP: As far as interpretation events, I am HUGE on storytelling. The teasers should grab the audience's attention and establish clear characters and setting. I like an intro to be conversational and explain how the themes of the piece relate to us a society. I also like for some sort of personal connection to the piece to be stated. Blocking should supplement the storytelling effectively and not be distracting. Prose & Poetry performers specifically should not use binders as props and only move from the waist up to stay grounded; other interp events are free to move and explore creativity in their movement!
Characters should be carefully crafted and explored in interpretation events. I prefer characters to be well established in the teaser, but still grow and evolve throughout up until the conclusion of the piece. Clear and distinct characters are also essential in storytelling like interp events. I believe the author's intent should be clear and pieces should be appropriate for the performer. I have no issue with cursing in pieces as long as it is tasteful in delivery and not excessive. As long as mature content is handled gracefully in performance, I do not mind.
Throughout speaking events it is crucial that you always maintain the attention of your audience using organization, relatability, and a suitable platform. The delivery should be clear, concise, and feel conversational. Speeches should be well-organized so that the audience can follow along easily, and they should include sources to help establish credibility. Last but not least, speaking occasions should involve a range of vocal tones, facial expressions, and purposeful gestures.
When it comes to interpretation, I value natural acting, purposeful blocking, and experiencing the true emotion. The characters' feelings should be conveyed to the spectator. I also assess the characters' authenticity.
During the debate, you should have clear explanations so that I can follow along with the scenario you've developed. I do not approve when you are unpleasant or hostile to your opponent, and I do not approve when excess vice is propagated. It's challenging for me to absorb your ideas if I can't grasp what you are saying. Whoever has the strongest case will win, regardless of how many arguments they can provide.
I'm a parent judge who has spent the last two years judging PF and LD. I'm an attorney and litigator and, as a result, particularly value your frameworks, clarity, and argumentation over technicalities regarding flow. In addition, I'd prefer you remain topical and I have limited interest in theory. In other words, while I will track points made and dropped, and consider them, I'd prefer you point such matters out once (and argue for the point's importance) and then return to your overall argument, and I'd prefer that the debate remain focused on the topic at hand and not spin out into unrelated areas. A novel argument is great, but an unrelated argument is not going to win me over.
I enjoy a good crossfire, but I won't vote on cross unless it's brought up in a summative speech. I get frustrated with debaters that have effective crossfires that aren't utilized - please remember to do that. Also, being aggressive is great, but don't cross the line into being inappropriate, rude, mean, etc.
I indicated this above but I love a good framework and the ability to stick to it. If you are able to respond to your opponents argument, or learn something in cross, and fit that rebuttal or information into your framework - or a natural extension thereof - I will be an admiring judge.
Finally, please do not speak to fast. Share your information, but remember you're trying to convince me of your argument.
Time Debating:4 years in High School on the local Las Vegas circuit and some on the national circuit. 3 years of LD and 1 year of Varsity Policy.
School Debated for:Canyon Springs High School
Number of Years Judging: 16 years as a competitor, judge, and part-time coach
I am pastor in Tucson, AZ. As it pertains to debate, I am a debate coach that highly values debate fundamentals and the execution of them. I spent about six years doing military intelligence for the Navy, so I am well versed in foreign policy and it’s effect in the world. Lastly, I was studying to become a lawyer before becoming a pastor, so I highly value evidence and sound argumentation. With that said, I value sound argument over fundamentals. I care more that you took the time to dive deep into the “why” of an argument than if you ran a counterplan correctly. I am here to judge how you critically think and not necessarily how you execute the round, though the fundamentals are still important.
I have spent some time judging all kinds of debate, but my expertise resides in LD and CX. In general, I am judge that will pull the trigger on just about anything as long as it's believable. If you can't convince me, then I won't vote for the argument. Here are the basics I expect from every round:
1. I demand at least three voters from both the AFF and NEG. If you don't give me any then I will be forced to utilize judge intervention which I hate to do.
2. I am big on education. Debate is not a game of chess. It is a discussion of issues relevant to our society. Treat it as such.
3. Respect of one another is very important to me. Though it won't cause me to drop you, blatant disrespect will result in lower speaks.
4. You must make your cards easily available if anyone asks for them.
5. Time yourselves. I will hold you to your own integrity.
6. Absolutely no coarse language. I must say this because I have judged and coached in a secular realm.
7. Cross-examination can make or break you. However, I ask that you do your best to maintain a level of decorum during CX. Please guard your facial expressions. Also, guard your questioning as to not attack or belittle the other person. It is easy to do these things without intending to and will result in lower speaker points.
To make things clear with speed, my ear isn't as well trained for it as other judges are. Though I will accept speed in the round, there is such a thing as too fast for me. I prefer clarity over speed. During the round, slow down on the tags and cites. When reading the card, speed as fast as you please. However, if you want me to get something down that is very important, its safer to slow down on it. If you get too fast or unclear, I will yell SLOW once. If you do it again, I will say it again. If you do it a third time, I will flamboyantly drop my pen signaling that I have stopped flowing. If the argument doesn't get on my flow, it doesn't exist. So meet me halfway with speed, and we will be fine.
I do evidence call at the end of the round. Depending on what voters you decide to give me, prepare all the cards that go along with those voters. At the end of the round I will ask for those cards and I will read them for validity. I have dropped a team that debated better than the other all because their card's date didn't precede the their opponent's. I am nitpicky about evidence, so make sure your cards are relevant.
I do not blindly extend without a reason why. Please give me solid reasons as to why extending a card is important. Also, just because person drops and argument doesn't mean that they should lose. Dropped arguments happen all the time, so give me a real reason why a particular argument that was dropped should be valued.
I cannot say this enough, but DO NOT run 10 or 12 offcase just to kick out of them in block. I cannot stand it when teams that have the advantage of speed use it to abuse the affirmative. Do it and I will drop your speaks. That is one of my biggest pet peeves in the world.
My specific thresholds for arguments:
AC: I know it's very novice, but the affirmative plan must have a clear plantext. I've ran into debates where the plantext was unclear and made the debate very sloppy. On solvency, I presume NEG until the AFF proves they solve. I am very big on the stock issues. If the AFF cannot win all of the stock issues, they won't win the round.
Counterplans: When the negative runs a counterplan, I will immediately presume AFF. This means that NEG must prove that CP will solve the advantages better than plan. If the NEG decides to kick the CP at any point in the round, then I won't hold presumption against them. It is important that you have a valid net-benefit and a COMPETITIVE counterplan text.
Kritiks: I am weary of allowing kritiks because I've had too many competitors either run it wrong or run something so complex that it isn't understandable. Bottomline, if you run one, run it correctly and explain it well. Otherwise, I might have a hard time voting on it.
Disads: No credible link= no disad. I refuse to pull the trigger on it if you can't convince me of the link. However, if the AFF drops the link and you prove that it is important enough to vote on I will pull the trigger.
Theory: I personally despise theory. I ran it in high school, but learned to hate it because most of the time in turned to pointless bickering. If there is potential for abuse, you better prove it or I will dismiss it. With that said, I have voted a team down simply because thier strat created the potential for abuse, regardless of whether the team in that round was abused or not.
Topicality: I was T shark in high school, so run this argument right. Please don't run a shell that is very weak. If the AFF is non-topical, then prove it. Otherwise, accept that the AFF topical and pick a new strat. T is an independent voter for me. If I see that the AFF is non-topical and the NEG brings it up through the round, I vote NEG immediately.
For LD:
I have seen and competed in LD rounds that became one-man policy rounds. I think that while they were fun to compete in, they do not have their place in LD. This style of debate was made for a reason, and I value the integrity of the style.
It is mandatory that both the affirmative and the negative have a clear Value and Criterion in their case. This is for clarity in the round.
Affirmative has the burden of proof, while the Negative has the burden of clash. Failure to do this can result in you losing the round, no matter how good you debated.
This is just a basic idea of what I like to see and not see in a policy and LD round. It certainly does not encompass the entirety of my philosophy, therefore if you have further questions that weren't answered here I am more than happy to answer them in the round.
4th-year coach in AZ circuit (Congress, PF)
VPF Paradigm
I require email chains to be set up pre-round. Add me:tomelibil@gmail.com. Cards must be cut and tagged properly.
90% flow 10% lay - 2 distinctions:
1) Your flow will be cleaner than mine. I might miss the extension of a warrant or part of a piece of evidence so I *generally* evaluate defense on case and drops/turns on opponents case as stickier than an average nat circ tech judge would.
2) That means your defense and offense has to actually convince me. Having a response on something =/= the argument being dropped in all cases. Teams still SHOULD explain why a bad response is bad.
- Locals: pls test your tech and theory cases on me, they’re more interesting (limited experience with theory though)
- Speed is fine but no spreading
- Cleanness > everything.
- Extend full (abbreviated) link chains and responses through final
JV/Novice PF & BQ Paradigm
50% flow, 50% lay. Sitting/standing doesn't matter. Keep the off-time road map short. A passionate debate is ok, but genuine anger/insults aren't. Time your speeches and prep. Please don't state your name and the topic at the start of every speech. Generally, I evaluate novices more Truth>Tech, except for late out rounds. If you notice anything that questions the round's fairness, alert me at the soonest reasonable moment. If anything immediately threatens your safety, alert me immediately. I typically disclose.
Congress Paradigm
Debaters: I judge Congress equally as both a speech and debate event. Uniqueness is hugely important, and the time in the round you speak must match the speech you give. I will drop you for breaking cycle the 2nd time if it could have been reasonably avoided.
I evaluate all aspects of presentation - consistency and strategic variability in volume, emotion, speed, pausing, emphasizing, hand signals, and enunciation. I am not a stickler for fluency as much as most others are. I unapologetically respect late-round speeches more than early rounds, and am especially picky about sponsorships.
POs: I evaluate 3 things: accuracy, speed, and round presence. Follow standard proceedings and control the chamber while being respectful. Cut off people effectively and on time without fluff. If you're going to add personality, use it sparingly & tastefully.
I am generally a flow judge and can follow fast paced debate.
Framework should be established and followed throughout the round. Tell me why your framework is superior and back up your claim with evidence in contentions. If there is no framework debate, the round will rely on weighing evidence in contentions.
Contentions should be clearly stated with supporting evidence and analysis. Your evidence should be fully explained and analyzed as to its impact on the debate. I prefer evidence be referred to by subject/topic throughout the round rather than simply the author's name. Know your evidence well enough defend it in cross-examination.
Your case should be organized, focused and come to a reasonable conclusion that convinces me to vote in your favor. Failure to communicate the importance of evidence, weighing values and impacts, or extending key arguments may result in a loss.
Primarily, I consider "clash," or direct engagement with the opposing argument and defense of one's own.
Equally though, I value coherence, or the logical consistency and organization of an argument, as well as the support of objective facts from credible sources.
Of secondary importance I look for civil, respectful demeanor, and delivery that is accurate, grammatical, confident, and expressive. Please don't speak so quickly that I can't take notes.
I prefer an argument built on solid evidence and reasoning, rather than one hung on formalities or technicalities. Whoever presents the most convincing case, and does the most thorough job of attack and defense, wins the round.
-This is my second year judging debate.
-Please focus on clarity in delivery.
CX- 1) no excessive speed. 2) K's must apply to aff, have impact, must provide a weighing mechanism. I don't vote for a K that simply reflects a wrong in SQ- Aff needs to have caused it. Ultimately weighing adv , disads is critical. I WILL NOT VOTE ON DISCLOSURE THEORY!!!
LD- !) Value/ crit can be critical, but often depends on the topic. When topics are policy oriented, I can vote on policy. Regardless, I find standards to be important, especially how debaters respond.
I prefer all debate styles, whether CX, LD or PF to have a structure that makes it easy for me to flow. I like 1's, 2's 3's or A B C.
PF 1. obviously clash is a must. I prefer all debaters take part in grand cross fire, but will judge on case by case. Clear impacts and weighing mechanism.
Extemps
1. Make sure your address the topic.
2. While number of sources cited isn't terribly critical, I do expect facts, etc. to be supported with sources. One two sources is not enough.
3. i liked good, creative intros. Not a fan of the 'extended metaphor' intro.
4. I prefer a natural delivery to a more forced, stilted one.
Oratory
1. Good unique topics appreciated. Substance, significance of topic takes a slight edge over delivery, but only slight. A little humor along the way is always good.
POI
1. I prefer a POI that recognizes a manuscript is being used. At least a little, please. A variety of emotional appeals works best.
HI, DI
1. HI should make me laugh or smile really hard. I look for development of characters, if possible. Not a big fan of R rated selections.
2. DI should build to climax, both in selection and performance.
Prose, Poetry
1. As with POI, I like to see a manuscript being used at least a little. Something unique is always nice to hear, but nothing wrong with the classics. Again, build to the climax.
Congress
1. Be an active member of the session.
2. The least effective position to take is one that has already been given by a previous speaker.
3. Congressional debate requires debate. Rebuttal points, naming specific other speaker, gets the most positive judging response.
4. Don't be afraid to be PO. I appreciate, a good PO, and will take that into account when ranking.
I am a typical PF judge. No real paradigm since PF is not plan or value driven. I like to see well developed arguments and effective speaking. I will listen to any argument as long as it is reasonable.
CX:
I am a very traditional judge with many years of coaching experience. I am not a fan of speed, and I prefer traditional arguments. That is my preference; it does not mean that I won't listen to the arguments made and weigh the evidence.
I am a policy maker and want to follow the argumentation and see the flow of the debate clearly. I can't outweigh one side over another if I don't know why I should because the argument itself was either made too quickly to catch or does not have a clear link. What I do want to hear is the Plan and any counter-plans the Neg offers; I need to see how and why the policy works/outweighs, etc.
I do not want to be included on an email chain, but for the sake of time, you may go ahead and do so. The email address is bonnie.bonnette@fortbendisd.gov. First of all, I think that makes tournaments run very long; second, I want to SEE the flow of the debate. If I don't hear you say it and don't flow it, it doesn't count. However, just because I don't want that doesn't mean I will refuse the evidence. I will accept the email and read the shared evidence. No flash drives, however, please.
I rarely vote on Topicality arguments, and I don't like the Neg strategy of throwing out half a dozen arguments to see which one or two will actually "stick". I would rather hear a full development of two or three off-case arguments that clearly apply to the topic and to the Affirmative case. Kritiks are okay as long as they are not "off the wall" arguments. I said that I rarely vote on Topicality, but I have done so in the past.
i have been judging CX for over twenty years. Please don't treat me like I am stupid, but also don't assume I can (or will) judge like the college kids do.
Congress:
For Student Congress, I look for speaking skills, clash, and depth of information. I prefer unique arguments and reference to other speakers rather than heavy technical speeches; although, I do appreciate weighing arguments because I am a CX judge. I will rank P.O.s accordingly. I feel like the P.O. deserves a high rank as long as he or she does not make any (or many) mistakes. I look for proper structure in sponsorship and first negative speeches. I prefer speeches with good rhetoric and effective presentation skills.
nicholas.borgmeyer@palmbeachschools.org
Tech > Truth
Progressive arguments are fine, but err on the side of over explanation for voting issues
Extend everything
Cross is binding
I have more experience judging substance
LD: I prefer traditional debate for LD, because the entire point of this debate is to be values oriented and philosophical. That being said, I prefer and enjoy hearing nuanced and different types of argument. Stock debate gets boring, and those who are able to string together new ideas and successful tie them to the value and criterion are the most successful. I prefer you stay away from spreading. Speaking quality matters in LD. Speaking rate can be fast, but not the extent that the event has evolved to.
CX: Tabula Rasa. I am an open book. Tell me how to vote. I enjoyed varied arguments and will let your plans and their subsequent defense stand on there own merit. Spreading is acceptable, but shouldn't get out of control to where we are (quite literally) talking at one another.
Speech: I appreciate different approaches, but enjoy those who are able organize themselves and follow the typical conventions of quality speaking.
Congress/PF: Argument is 60% and Speaking is 40%. Your ability to draw in the audience is important in this event and speaking ability should play especially important.
Debate Coach at NSU University School
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1---Big Picture
"Bosley" preferred, "Jacob" is fine, "Mr. Bosley" if you must for comfort.
Please put me on the e-mail chain.
Policy--- uschoolpolicy@gmail.com AND jacob.daniel.bosley@gmail.com
Public Forum--- uschoolpf@gmail.com AND jacob.daniel.bosley@gmail.com
I actively coach and research policy and public forum debate. I enjoy technical, organized debates. My CX research is generally K-oriented and my PF research generally topic-oriented, but I'd like to believe I can grasp a wide range of debates.
Tech vs. Truth---Tech obviously informs truth, but if I have to decide between intuitive and well-explained arguments vs. terrible evidence, I’ll choose the former. There are few things I won’t vote on, but “death good” is among them.
Offense vs. Defense---This is a helpful paradigm for assessing relative risk, but risk can be reduced to zero.
2---General Practices
Speed---Go for it, but at the higher end you should scale back slightly.
Flowing---I flow on a computer without much shorthand. I will have the document open, but use it for either reading evidence I am not familiar with or checking when I thought I caught an argument/tag and am confirming. If you are incomprehensible in the first place, I will not use the doc to fill-in.
Evidence---I read it during debates. Quality is in the back of my mind, consciously or not.
Re-Highlighting---If small, I don’t think you need to re-read in speech. Don’t expect me to read a giant card to figure out if you’re right.
Digital Debate---Make sure everyone is present with confirmation before starting. Be reasonable about tech issues, as I will track tech time. If there are major issues, I’ll default to tournament procedures.
Decorum---Sass, snark, or shade are fine within reason. I’m not a good judge for hostile approaches, e.g. interrupting speeches.
“New” Arguments---The more late-breaking, the more open I am to responses. “Late-breaking” is relative to me catching the initial argument. Happy to strike 1AR/2NR arguments rightly flagged as “too new.”
Alternative Practices---I’m here to flow and judge a debate, awarding a single win. If you’re trying to do something different, I’m not the judge for you.
3---T vs. Plans
“Competing Interpretations”---This makes more intuitive sense to me than “reasonability,” but that's often because the latter isn't explained as a frame. Affs are still better off prioritizing offense.
"Intellectual Property" Specifics---I was not at camp this summer. Despite judging more than last year, I still don't have strong views on the most common issues, e.g. "courts only," "scope vs enforcement," "subsets," etc. Caselists and examples of specific ground lost/gained is always helpful.
4---T vs. K Affs
Frustrations---These debates are often two ships passing in the night due to reliance on pre-written blocks. Please make judges lives easier by:
A---Have a robust defense of your model of debate, including roles for teams/judge, examples of how debates play out, net-benefits, etc.
B---Pick and choose your offense and compare it with what the other team has actually said.
"Affirmation"---At a bare minimum, affirmatives should have some relationship to the topic and “affirm” a clear advocacy. I am not sympathetic to purely negative arguments/diagnoses of power relations.
"Debate is a Game" vs. "Subject Formation"----Debate is a complicated space that's competitive, academic, and personal space. Arguments that assume it’s only one seem a bit shallow. Offense can be made assuming all three.
Terminal Impacts---“Fairness” or “clash” can be terminal impacts, though often teams don’t seem to explain why.
"Truth Testing"---I am less persuaded by these arguments because all argumentation seems to rely on some outside/unstated assumptions. I can certainly be persuaded that the structure of debate warps content and that could be a reason for skepticism.
"TVAs"---The 2NR needs to explain what offense they think the TVA resolves instead of expecting me to figure it out.
"T = [X Violent Practice]"---Feel free to impact turn the resulting curriculum, models, debates, etc. of an interpretation of debate, but its difficult to convince me reading an argument about the topic of discussion is analogical to policing/"stop and frisk"/"drone strikes"/other material violence.
5---Kritiks
Framework---I don't get middle grounds by default. I will resolve this debate one way or the other based on what is said, and then determine what remaining arguments count as offense.
Uniqueness---The alt needs to resolve each link, or have some larger reason that’s not relevant, e.g. framework. Affs are often in a better spot pressing poorly explained alternatives/links.
Competition---I presume affs can test mutual exclusivity of alts, whether against a “plan” or “advocacy.” Feel free to argue different standards of competition. The less the aff outlines a clear method, the more I’m persuaded by “no plan, no perm.”
Perm Texts---They are great. This can be difficult when alts are amorphous, but 1AR/2AR explanation needs to rise above “do both.”
6---Counterplans
Judge Kicking---If you want me to explicitly consider multiple worlds post-2NR, e.g. both CP vs. aff and/or status quo vs. aff, make an explicit argument. Saying the words “the status quo is always an option” in CX is not enough for me.
Theory vs. Literature---Topic literature helps dictate what you can persuade me is reasonable. If your only basis for competition is a definition of “resolved”/“should” and a random law review, good luck. If you have evidence contextual to a topic area and a clear explanation of functional differences in implementation, I’m far easier to persuade.
Solvency Advocates---CPs should have solvency advocates of “comparable quality” to the 1AC. If your Advantage CP plank cites 1AC evidence, go for it. If you’re making something up, provide a card. If you’re trying to make card-less “Con Con” a thing, I’m a hard sell.
Intrinsicness---Both the aff/neg need to get better at debating intrinsic/“other issues” perms. I'm an easier sell than others that these obviate many of the sillier CPs.
7---Disadvantages
Framing---It's everything: impact calculus, link driving uniqueness or vice-versa, the works. Smart arguments and coherent narratives trump a slew of evidence.
Internal Links > Impacts---I find most "DA Turns the Case" / "Case Turns the DA" debates don't spend enough time on causation or timing.
Politics Theory---Most 2AC theory blips against Politics DAs aren’t complete arguments, e.g. “fiat solves the link” or "a logical policymaker could do both." Still, intrinsicness arguments against DAs are underutilized.
8---Theory
Conditionality---It’s difficult to convince me some conditionality isn’t necessary for the neg to be viable. The two recent times I was asked to vote on conditionality bad/dispositionality-only good, I voted neg. Things can certainly change based on substantive contradictions or quantity. Negs should be clear under what conditions, if any, they can kick individual CP planks.
Other Theory Issues---It’s difficult to persuade me that most theoretical objections to CPs or perms are reasons to reject the team.
“Tricks”/“Spikes”---Please no.
9---Public Forum Specifics
I am not a "lay"/"flay" judge.
A few views of mine may be idiosyncrasies:
Paraphrasing---I’m convinced this is a harmful practice that hides evidence from scrutiny. Evidence should be presented in full context with compete citations in real time. That means:
A---Author, Date, Title, URL
B---Complete paragraphs for excerpts
C---Underlining and/or highlighting indicating what is referenced.
D---Sending evidence you intend to read to opponents before the speech is delivered.
Purely paraphrased evidence compared to a team reading cut cards will be treated as baseless opinions.
Line-by-Line
A---You need to answer arguments in a coherent order based on when/where they were introduced.
B---You need to extend complete arguments, with warrants, in later speeches. If not in summary, it’s too late to bring back from the dead in final focus.
If neither side seems to be doing the needed work, expect me to intervene.
Disclosure---I generally think disclosure is beneficial for the activity, which is why our program open sources. However, I am not as dogmatic about disclosure when judging. It is difficult to convince me "disclosure in its entirety is bad," but the recent trend seems to be shifting interpretations that are increasingly difficult to meet.
Absent egregious lack of disclosure/mis-disclosure, I am not the best judge for increasingly demanding interpretations if opponents have made a good faith effort to disclose. For example, if a team forgot to disclose cites/round report for a single round, but is otherwise actively disclosing, it is difficult to convince me that a single mistake is a punishable offense.
While I don't want to prescribe what I think standard disclosure should be and would rather folks debate the specifics, I am an easier sell than others on some things:
A---The quality of debates is better when students know what arguments have been read in the past. This seems more important than claims that lack of disclosure encourages "thinking on your feet."
B---Debaters should provide tags/citations of previously read contentions. A doc with a giant wall of text and no coherent tags or labels is not meaningful disclosure.
C---Round reports don't seem nearly as important as other forms of disclosure.
Evidence Ethics---Evidence issues are getting egregious in PF. However, I also do not like some of the trends for how these debates are handled.
A---NSDA Rules---If an evidence challenge is invoked, I will stop the debate, inform the team issuing the challenge that the entire debate will hinge on the result of evaluating that challenge, and then consult both the NSDA rules and any tournament specific procedures to adjudicate the challenge. Questions of evidence ethics cannot be just "theory" or "off-case" arguments.
B---"Spirit" of Rules vs. Cheap Shots---I admittedly have idiosyncracies on specific issues, but if they come up will do my best to enforce the exact wording of NSDA rules.
i---"Straw" arguments where the cut section clearly does not represent the rest of the article, ellipses out of major sections, bracketing that changes the meaning of an article (including adding context/references the author didn't intend), and fabrication are easy to convince me are round-enders.
ii----A single broken URL, a card that was copy and pasted from a backfile incorrectly so the last sentence accidentally cut off a couple words, and other minor infractions do not seem worth ending a round over, but it's up for debate.
iii---Not being able to produce the original full text of a card quickly seems like a reason to reject a piece of evidence given NSDA wordings, though I worry this discourages the cutting of books which are harder to provide access to quickly during debates.
Policy Debate -- 2024-2025:
This is my first tournament on this resolution so even though I've done some research surrounding IP stuff/laws, assume my topic knowledge is limited. Just slow down a bit when explaining warrants etc.
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My name is Ceres Botkin (they/them). I'm a senior at the University of Kansas. I debated for four years at Mill Valley High School.
Email: ceres.x.botkinATgmail.com
Even though I've debated for 4 years, I haven't judged much on this resolution. Other than that, I'm pretty standard as a judge. I lean tech > truth but can be convinced otherwise. I'll vote on anything assuming that it's not racist/sexist/-phobic etc you get the picture. Please send me the speech doc especially if you want to go faster and please slow down for tags and analytics (especially if they are not in the speech doc). Because it has been a while, please don't spread the fastest you can.
K: I really only ran Cap/Neolib K back in the day so, although I’ve gone up against other K’s and have read a bit of critical theory, I don’t have that much experience in the art of K’s. That isn’t to say you shouldn’t run them, just do a bit more explaining if you do.
If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email.
Sarah Botsch-McGuinn
email: sbotschmcguinn@gmail.com
I only need to be on the chain if you are spreading
Director of Speech & Debate-Cypress Bay HS (2022-present)
Director of Speech and Debate-Cooper City HS (2018-2022)
Director of Speech and Debate-American Heritage Palm Beach (2017-2018)
Director of Forensics-Notre Dame San Jose (2009-2017)
Head Debate Coach-Notre Dame San Jose (2008-2009)
General:
I’ve been a debate coach for the past 17 years, and Director of Forensics for 9 at NDSJ, one year as Director at American Heritage, 4 years at Cooper City HS and now at Cypress Bay High School. I primarily coached Parliamentary Debate from 2008-2017, including circuit Parli debate. I've been involved in National Circuit LD pretty extensively over the last 9 years, but have judged all forms of debate at all levels from local south Florida and northern CA to national circuit.
First and foremost, I only ever judge what is presented to me in rounds. I do not extend arguments for you and I do not bring in my own bias. I am a flow judge, and I will flow the entire debate, no matter the speed, though I do appreciate being able to clearly understand all your points. I consider myself to be a gamemaker in my general philosophy, so I see debate as game. That doesn't mean that there aren't real world impacts off debate (and I tend to be convinced by 'this will impact outside the round' type of arguments). **I don't vote on defense. It's important but you won't win on a defensive answer.**
While I do appreciate fresh approaches to resolution analysis, I’m not an “anything goes” judge. I believe there should be an element of fair ground in debate-debates without clash, debates with extra topicality, etc will almost certainly see me voting against whoever tries to do so if the other side even makes an attempt at arguing it (that said, if you can’t adequately defend your right to a fair debate, I’m not going to do it for you. Don’t let a team walk all over you!). Basically, I love theoretical arguments, and feel free to run them, just make sure they have a proper shell+. *Note: when I see clear abuse in round I have a very low threshold for voting on theory. Keep that in mind-if you try to skew your opponent out of the round, I WILL vote you down if they bring it up.*
I also want to emphasize that I'm an educator first and foremost. I believe in the educational value of debate and it's ability to create critical thinkers.
+Theory shell should at minimum have: Interpretation, Violation, Standards and Voters.
Speaks:
Since quality of argument wins for me 100% of the time, I’m not afraid of the low point win. I don’t expect this to enter into the rounds much at an elite tournament where everyone is at the highest level of speaking style, but just as an emphasis that I will absolutely not vote for a team just because they SOUND better. I tend to stick to 26-29+ point range on a 30 scale, with average/low speakers getting 26s, decent speakers getting 27s, good 28s, excellent 29s, and 30 being reserved for best I’ve seen all day. I will punish rudeness/lying in speaks though, so if you’re rude or lie a lot, expect to see a 25 or less. Additionally, shouting louder doesn’t make your point any better, I can usually hear just fine.
If I gave you less than 25, you probably really made me angry. If you are racist, homophobic, xenophobic, misogynistic, ableist etc I will punish you in speaks. You have been warned. I will kill your speaks if you deliberately misgender or are otherwise harmful in round. I am not going to perpetuate hate culture in debate spaces.
Speed:
I have no problem with speed, but please email me your case if you are spreading. I will call 'clear' once if you are going too fast, and put down my pen/stop typing if I can't follow. It's only happened a couple times, so you must be REALLY fast for me to give up.
PLEASE SIGN POST AND TAG, ESPECIALLY IF I'M FLOWING ON MY LAPTOP. IF I MISS WHERE AN ARGUMENT GOES BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T TAG IT, THAT'S YOUR FAULT NOT MINE.
A prioris:
Please explain why your argument is a-priori before I will consent to consider it as such. Generally I am only willing to entertain framework arguments as a-priori, but who knows, I've been surprised before.
Theory:
Theory is great, as I mentioned above, run theory all day long with me, though I am going to need to see rule violations and make sure you have a well structured shell. I should not see theory arguments after the 1AR in LD or after the MG speech in Parli. I also don't want to see theory arguments given a ten second speed/cursory explanation, when it's clear you're just trying to suck up time. My threshold is high for RVIs, but if you can show how your opponent is just sucking time, I'm open to this. Also open to condo-bad arguments on CPs/Ks, though that doesn't mean you'll automatically win on this.
*Note: Because PF has such limited time, I am not huge on theory in PF especially if both speakers are not especially used to them. Please only run theory if it is especially egregious, even though I like theory debate. There is a big difference between when a debate has 7-8 minutes of speaking time vs 3-4*
Disclosure theory: PLEASE I DONT WANT TO HEAR DISCLOSURE LITERALLY READ ANYTHING ELSE IM BEGGING YOU. IN PF IT IS AN AUTO LOSS TO READ DISCLOSURE THEORY I AM VERY SERIOUS. I WILL JUST NOT FLOW. PLEASE READ THIS. Either I'm over hearing this in LD and it's just done so badly in PF that it hurts my heart.
Most other theory I evaluate in round. I don't tend to go for blippy theory arguments though! Reasonability is a good answer. Prefer competing interp.
Critical arguments:
I love the K, give me the K, again, just be structured. I don't need the whole history of the philosopher, but I haven't read everything ever, so please be very clear and give me a decent background to the argument before you start throwing impacts off it. Also, here's where I mention that impacts are VITAL to me, and I want to see terminal impacts.
I prefer to see clash of ROB/ROJ/Frameworks in K rounds. If you are going to run a K aff either make it topical or disclose so we can have a productive round. Please.
PF: I get you want to be cool, but please make sure you know your opponent would be okay with it. Email or contact them ahead of time. As I said above with theory, it makes me really uncomfortable to judge rounds where only one side is familiar with this type of debate. I am happy to run k rounds so long as everyone is cool with it.
Presumption:
In general I default to competing interp. If for some reason we have gotten to the point of terribad debate, I presume Neg (Aff has burden to prove the resolution/affirm. Failure to do so is Neg win. God please don't make me do this :( )
Weighing:
I like very clear weighing in rebuttals. Give me voting issues and compare worlds, tell me why I should prefer or how you outweigh, etc. Please. I go into how I evaluate particular impacts below.
I like clear voting issues! Just because I’m flowing doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate you crystallizing and honing in on your main points of offense.
I prefer voter speeches follow a: Main points of offense-->impact calc--->world comp model. If you just do impact calc I'll be happy with it, but I like looking on my voter sheet for what you feel you're winning on. It helps me more quickly organize my ideas.
Impacts:
I put a lot of emphasis on impacts in my decisions. The team with bigger/more terminal, etc impacts generally walks away with my vote, so go to town. This goes doubly true for framework or critical arguments. Why is this destroying debate as we know it? Why is this ___ and that's horrible? Translation: I tend to weigh magnitude heaviest in round, but if you can prove pretty big probable impacts over very low probability extinction impacts I'll likely go that direction.
You should be able to articulate how your contentions support your position/value/whatever. That should go without saying, but you would be very surprised. I don't vote on blips, even if we all know what you're saying is true. So please warrant your claims and have a clear link story. This goes doubly true for critical positions or theory.
Preferences for arguments:
If you want to know what I like to see in round, here are my preferences in order for LD:
K debate
LARP
Theory
Phil
Traditional
Tricks
This doesn't mean I won't vote for a tricks case but I will be much sadder doing it.
PF:
Policy/LARP
Traditional
K
Theory
NO TRICKS WHATSOEVER ITS AN AUTO LOSS
I know this makes me sound kind of intense, I promise I'm not. I really love debate, but I also don't like messy debate that feels super one sided and could be avoided if we check in and make sure everyone is cool with the kind of debate we are having. In PF, if you can't get ahold of your opponent I prefer if you stick to lay and presume they are a lay team. In LD go to town
I am the head coach at Shady Side Academy in Pittsburgh. I was not a debater in HS or college and have crashed on getting up to speed on the ins and outs of debate over the last few years on the job. I have judged LD at most levels (local, state, and NSDA nationals) and Congress at all levels (local, state, NSDA, and TOC). I have coached students who placed 8th in NSDAs in LD and 7th in NSDAs in Congress.
I am a fairly traditional judge. I do not like overly aggressive spreading. I can handle any debate jargon you throw at me, but I don't appreciate it when people speak lightning fast or card dump to try and jam up their opponents.
I am a historian by training, so I expect the contentions to be based in some degree of reality. I probably lean 50%truth/50% tech. I can accept that open borders will cause a nation's sovereignty to erode somewhat, for example, but I cannot accept that open borders will lead to a nuclear conflict between two countries. Make sure your contentions are plausible if dealing with a policy or policy action, and conceivable if dealing with theory or framework.
I am not a fan of Ks or off-topic shells. My PhD is in History so I can understand K-type arguments, but they go against the spirit of the activity in my opinion.
I am the debate coach at Blue Valley North HS. I was an NDT/CEDA debater at Wichita State University (2012) and a graduate assistant at the University of Kansas. I have taught camp at Michigan or Kansas every year since I graduated. I typically judge 50-80 policy rounds per year, plus some pf/ld/speech.
email: brianbox4@gmail.com
As of November 2024, I am actively working to increase my speaker points to match inflation. I will reward better points to well-researched teams who demonstrate command of topic literature in CX and their speeches. If a tournament gives 10 minutes of prep, I will increase your points for taking less prep.
I really, really enjoy judging good debates. I really, really dislike judging debates that take two hours, lack clash and mostly involve unclearly reading a document into the screen. I care far more about your ability to speak clearly and refute arguments than the type of arguments you read. Good debate good, bad debate bad. I have found that most high school debates are such clear technical victories that my argument specific thoughts aren't terribly relevant. I will vote for any argument you win.
Ultimately, the debate is not about me, and I will do my best to evaluate whichever strategy you pursue, but I am bored by negative strategies that do not demonstrate an undesirable effect of the affirmative. There is a time and a place for most strategies, and I firmly believe there is no one right way to debate, but I wish more of the debates I judged were about core topic arguments and less about non-competitive counterplans (obviously debatable), generic critiques of fiat, poorly supported politics disads, ridiculous impact turns, etc.
At some level, this is just another old guy "be clear and flow!" paradigm, but I really mean it! Here are a few important things to consider when debating in front of me.
Use your flow to answer the other team's arguments. Don't read into your computer screen from start to finish.
Evidence matters a lot. I read lots of evidence and it heavily factors into my decision. Cross-ex is important and the best ones focus on the evidence. Highlighting is important. Definitely willing to lower the prioritization of an argument or ignore it entirely if it's highlighted nonsensically. Author qualifications, histories, intentions, purpose, funding, etc. matter. The application of meaningful indicits evidence mean more to me than many judges. I find myself more than willing to ignore poorly supported arguments.
I cannot emphasize enough how important clarity is. I can't believe how often I see judges transcribing the speech document. If I can't understand the argument, it doesn't count.
Go for theory? I will never be the judge who views all sides of any theory debate to be equal, but am far more likely than I once was to vote for an argument about the scope of negative fiat. Affirmatives should be extending theory arguments that say a type of counterplan or category of fiat is bad more often. Establishing a clear interpretation is important. "Process bad" doesn't mean much to me.
The link comes first.The first thing I look at is the link. When in conflict, it is more important to contest the link than the impact.
CX is huge. This is where you separate debaters who have researched their argument and can intentionally execute a strategy from debaters who have practiced reading unclearly as fast as possible. I don't flow CX, but I am very attentive and you should treat me like a lay judge because these moments will be impactful.
HELLO!!!!
I am a fairly new judge to debate.
I expect RESPECTFUL debate...the minute you get an edge to you and become aggressive toward the other team...I shut off and will cast my vote for the other team. It is SO IMPORTANT that we have a respectful exchange of ideas and debate those accordingly. I do expect there to be a clash of ideas...just not a clash of personality. Questioning is important.
I enjoy strong connection to your material and expect you to provide strong reasoning and support for the points you are bringing to the table. If you have to spell it out for me, please do so. Be meticulous in how you explain things for me so that I can follow what you are saying. ORGANIZATION to your delivery is the key.
Speed: I am NOT a fan of spreading so do NOT do it.
I prefer a slower debate, I think it allows for a more involved, persuasive and all-around better style of speaking and debating. It is your burden to make sure that your speech is clear and understandable and the faster you want to speak, the more clearly you must speak. If I miss an argument, then you didn't make it.
I LOVE terrific cross-examination!!!
For all debate- I will pick a winner based on who best communicates the most logical arguments. When judging communication, I take into account speaking pace, clarity of delivery, and organization.
Hello
I am a parent with experience in Lincoln Douglas, Public Forum, International Extemp, Domestic Extemp, Original Oratory, and Informative.
For those doing LD:
Try not to drop any arguments, do have a rebuttal in your 1NC, and do explain why your framework outweighs your
opponent's. Please include a framework philosophy. I feel it strengthens your case.
For those doing PF:
Try not to drop any arguments, and try not to talk super fast.
For those doing extemp:
For me, doing extemp as a novice is impressive. As long as you have at least 2 pieces of evidence memorized and have a good AGD you will have good speaker points.
For any other event:
I will judge you to the best of my abilities. Try not to drop arguments for debate, if you're in a platform event try to make your topic interesting, and if you're in an interp: I will not judge you based on your script I will judge you based on the way you present your script.
Good luck! :)
I am fine with a healthy pace, but don't like a full on scream-and-gasp, stomping spread; I like to be able to actually process what you say. Be sure to emphasize key points and signpost. (If I don't flow it, it is unlikely that I will vote off of it). I like to hear authors' credentials and heavily frown upon power-tagging and heavy paraphrasing. Don't tell me, "I have a card that says..." unless you actually read the card and citation. I want to hear actual application of evidence/analysis through the round (not just shells/blocks), so explain to me how you actually interact with the opposing side or I will get frustrated as judge. Weigh impacts and pull them through framework; I overwhelmingly vote on offense that supports framework (in LD & PF). Sharing docs is not a substitution for verbally presenting the material. Please avoid confusing a judge who prefers a more traditional presentation style with being lay - I'm fine with debate jargon, etc.
In policy/CX, my favorite issue to vote on is solvency and impacts that outweigh. I will vote on Topicality, but only if the Neg shows that it is such an egregious violation that it prohibits a decent debate. I consider myself a policy judge. Full disclosure: though I understand most kritiks, it is rare that I vote on them. New in the 2NC is fine as long as its on case.
Rudeness and condescension will do you no favors for speaks. Note (for what it's worth): I am a former policy debater and interper from a traditional circuit (competed in high school and college) and have been coaching LD, PF, Congress, CX, and speech events across multiple circuits for several years and judge all events. Feel free to ask me any clarification questions before the round. Though I certainly appreciate the sentiment, I'd prefer that you shake hands with your opponent after the round as a show of good sportsmanship than with me.
Content warnings are appreciated when appropriate.
Teasers should set the mood for the piece and not be too lengthy.
Intros need to continue to prepare the audience for the piece by setting the appropriate tone as well as to give important exposition. A sharp or clever intro that is well constructed can be the determining factor in scoring among two equally done pieces.
Blocking and movement should be clear, well defined, and motivated. Clever or creative staging is appreciated. Unclear or unspecific pantomime, upstaging, or weird angles that prevent seeing the actor's faces should be avoided.
Characterization should be consistent and easy to follow if performing multiple characters. Pops should be clean. Vocal characterization should be suggestive of the character and not an opportunity to showcase cartoon voices/cliche characters (the surfer, the New Yorker, the Brit, the Aussie, etc.) unless warranted by the script/story.
The binder is NOT a prop other than in POI. Movement below the waist (steps) should be clear and motivated as well as minimal.
Author's Intent and/or Appropriateness of Literature- How do I feel about an HI of Miracle Worker (author's intent) or a student performing mature material (appropriateness)? That's a big NO for me if it's offensive more than it is creative. (Miracle Worker as an HI, or The Lovely Bones, or anything like that is offensive to me. The topics in those pieces aren't meant to be funny and do go against the author's intent.) Mature content if it's handled well and suits the piece doesn't bother me- if it's excessive or for shock value, then I may not like it. It really depends on the piece and the performer; I'm not really conservative but I've seen some material that I definitely wouldn't coach or have ranked down because I felt like it was too much.
For Speech Events OO/INFO– I love that Orator’s Triangle! It helps me follow the structure of your speech. I weigh the written speech (construction/logic/novelty/grammar/humor) equally with the presentation of the speech. I personally don’t like laminated stuff on Info boards (because of the glare.) I loooove creative/inventive Info props!
I am a lay judge and I am excited to be working with students in Interp. I am not qualified to judge in Debate or LD.
Dakota Breen has been the head speech coach of West Fargo High School since 2013.
For interpretation events, she looks for the performer(s) ability to bring their characters to life through voice, movement, and emotion brought to delivery.
For public address, she looks for the speaker's ability to craft a meaningful message that is relevant, relatable, and original. Language and structure are important.
For extemporaneous, she looks for the speaker's ability to answer the question clearly for an audience who may not know much on the topic they have chosen. Delivery is equally important.
I am a Two Diamond Coach with 14 years of coaching experience and am the 2020 NSDA Educator of the Year.
I approach most rounds with a tabula rasa mind set. However, I tend to favor traditional approaches to arguments. I want to see debates about the topics, not debates about the rules of debate.
With Policy rounds, in general, its not about the number of cards you read, its about whether or not you can share the analysis/synthesis of those cards in context to the round. Some speed is fine, but I don't see a place for all-out spreading & will stop tracking the flow if your speech becomes incomprehensible. Policy is about making informed decisions, not about who can read the fastest.
When it comes to LD, the value and value criteria matter & contentions should support/prove the weight of your v/vc. Impact analysis is crucial.
In PF, I want to see a round that evaluates various entry points to the topic & values the things that makes PF unique from the other debate events. I prefer not to see PF turned into a watered down version of policy.
For BQ, I prefer rounds that include evidence based claims and assertions. Definitions debates are great, but make sure you explain WHY your definition should be accepted and preferred.
Generally, I like those who respect the confines of the given resolutions while also thinking outside the box. I expect competitors to be civil and kind to one another- even when things get tense. Arguments/comments should be about the round, not about the opponents abilities.
If you have other questions, please ask before the round starts.
The first thing debaters seem to ask: what is your debate backround:
- Competitor: I competed primarily in policy debate in both HS (lay judge circuit) & college (during CEDA/NDT merger). In HS, I also did a little DX/USX and LD. In college, I sometimes did Extemp, Persuase, & Inform.
- Coach: I have coached policy teams (on the nat circuit, lay judge circuits, and in a UDL). I have coached LD, Congress, Extemp, platform speaking, & interp (on the nat circuit & lay judge circuits). I have also coached College NPDA, speech, interp, & British Parli (aka- world's style)
- Other: I've taught workshops for a number or organizations (NAUDL, NSDA, AZSCA, ASAA, STAM, IDEA, FLTRP), and I've written four texts including Policy Debate: A Guide for High School and College Debaters for Southern Illinois University Press as well as Transcending the Game: Debate, Education, and Society.
The vast majority of this is for Policy Debate. This, obviously has nothing to do with how I judge BP/WUDC, and to a lesser degree formats like LD. If you have questions, I'm happy to chat.
Cliff Notes Version (expanded explanations below):
- Default Paradigm: Policymaker
- Speed: Fine... but not necessary. Slow & smart can beat fast & mediocre, meaning speed is a tool not a strategy.
- Clarity: A Must... If I can't understand you, it doesn't make my flow. Not on my flow, it can't impact my decision.
- Speech Docs: Not necessary for me. I keep a pretty good flow (fast or slow).
- Cards/Analytics are more important to me than tags & sources, especially when ev is overtagged.
- Please signpost clearly... not by author but by roadmap... Ob 1 B [for example on case]; 2AC #5 [for example on off case]... I primarily flow tags and internal analysis rather than authors & dates because that's where the debate is happening.
- Ks: Good critical teams can easily win my ballot, but many run them as non-unique DAs and/or don't understand what they are reading, which makes it hard to pick up my ballot.
- PICs (of the topical & non-comp variety): Yes, I've voted for them. However... Strategically, I don't really understand why the Neg would choose to affirm the resolution in what amounts to a plan-plan debate, but if they can't explain why I should either, well...
- Theory: I'm game.
- Multiple Worlds: Weird. Lazy. Strategically Awkward. Confusing. Potentially Unfair.
- Nontraditional Debate (sometimes referenced as "Performance"): You do you... debate is here for all of us.
- Generic DAs: Useful & appropriate. (Specific links, obviously, make them better.)
- CPs: Can be great if the round warrants it. (Conditionality? Dispositionality? See Theory.)
- Defense: A solid defense can beat an offensive position. However, offense wins rounds.
- Pet Peeve: Debaters who don't understand their arguments and/or can't explain them in their own words. If it becomes clear you don't understand your own argument, it makes me question whether I can vote for it. In short, I have a hard time voting for a team/position when the debater doesn't appear to understand their own argument.
If you would like a more detailed philosophy, enjoy… It's getting lengthy, but I find really good teams want to know as much as possible about their judges' starting point.
I call myself a "modern policymaker." I prefer hearing debate in a policymaker framework; thus, that is my default paradigm. I do not hold pre-conceived notions over the acceptability of substantive arguments (unless it's offensive). It is possible to mold me into a different paradigm. However, it is the responsibility of the debaters to explain why my "view" is being shifted, along with "how" I am supposed to evaluate the round. If you don't explain, I will evaluate them within the context of my own understanding of debate (using the policymaker perspective). It should also be noted that a tagline is not the same as an explanation. The tag is a summary (aka - a claim) of an explanation (aka - a warrant).
Speed: Sure. I enjoy (prefer?) fast rounds. However, clarity is key. If you try to speak more quickly than you are capable, many judges cannot flow you. It is extremely rare for a debater to speak faster than I can flow; however, many debaters do not speak clearly enough for me to understand them. (I've sat behind many judges who do not ask you to be clear, but also aren't flowing your speeches. It is in your best interest to be clear.) Also, I don't believe that debate rounds have to be fast. I also don't think that a fast team necessarily beats a slow team. The quality of argumentation/engagement/framing is far more important than speed/delivery.
Speech Docs: I keep a pretty good flow, and I should be able to understand you no matter how fast you are speaking. If I can't understand you, then it's not on my flow. About the only time I request a speech doc is (1) if there is disagreement about the internal analysis on a card that I didn't quite get on my flow or if there has been enough disagreement that I question the accuracy of my flow, or (2) at online tournaments due to glitches/Internet issues that impact clarity but have nothing to do with the debaters themselves. Oh... pet peeve: When debaters respond to a Speech Doc rather than a speech OR read a pre-written Speech Doc that isn't responsive to the round. Bottom line: It's not my responsibility to read argumentative "papers" on the topic, but to listen attentively to the debate as it unfolds.
Evidence: It takes many forms. A quotation does not always beat a debater's analysis. Quite often, debaters quote evidence that makes additional unsubstantiated claims, authors who fail to develop a logical point, is horribly overtagged or mistagged, etc. Thus, a high school student is certainly capable of providing superior analysis as compared to that of his/her opponent's card. Responding simply with "do you have a card for that" or "I read a card and they just made a response" doesn't get you very far in the round, because I am listening to the analysis of both the debaters and the author. It is the debaters' responsibility to explain why one is superior to the other.
Signposting: Please. I would prefer that you use a hard count numbering system (or lettering system)… it's quick, it's easy, it's organized, it takes little time for me to write down "1" vs "Chandanabhumma '19." Signposting with "next," "second," "in addition," gets very confusing. Often, I don't realize when you have moved on to the next piece of ev until it's too late; thus, my flow gets muddled. Also, please don't signpost by referencing "my Smith in '04" card. Which Smith in '04 card? Often times, debaters have read multiple cards from the same author. Furthermore, my first two priorities in flowing are the tag line and analysis within the card… I rarely note the author unless it stands out for some reason.
Kritiks: I think many K debates are poorly understood and misapplied to the debate round. Many Neg teams seem to run them as nonunique disads in disguise. Therefore, policy responses seem compelling to me in those instances. It is possible to win my ballot with a critical Aff or Neg (and many have), but you should take the time to explain what your kritik means, how I am supposed to evaluate it in context with your opponent's debating efforts, what role I play in the world/debate/etc. Please don’t assume that I am familiar with your critical rhetoric (I probably am not)… that should go for all arguments. (It is a debater's responsibility to fill in gaps, not the judge's.) Please don't tell me that the "alternative" is the opposite viewpoint of the Aff and that I should reject the Aff (or Neg) in every instance because they represent the "evil" in the system. (Exception: a true moral/ethical position can ask me to reject every instance of something evil... racism, sexism, for example. Even then, your link and alt/framework must be clear.) You need to develop the advocacy of the alternative (and whether it operates pre- or post-fiat) so that I know what my ballot signifies and its relationship to the teams/cases/advocacies in the round.
PICs (of the topical, and non-competitive variety): I think they make rounds confusing... both teams share the same advocacy??? Where is the conflict, the controversy, the debate? Affs have a lot of room to claim that the PIC is the plan, that the CP proves the resolution true, etc. That said, you are welcome to debate the theory (see next section).
Theory : Whatever you want. I think it's great that debaters get to debate and define the rules of this activity. Just make sure you are debating each other and not engaged in a war of blip responses or taglines. (This may mean that you need to slow down and engage in lots of analysis.) If no one engages in a discussion of theory, I will be informed by "traditional debate theory" as viewed through the eyes of a modern policymaker. If you want to turn me into a pure stock issues judge, you need to do some significant work to tell me what that means and how the arguments are to be evaluated. On the flip side, if Aff wants me to reject the Neg explanation that competitiveness on a CP is irrelevant or that Topical CPs are legit, the Aff will have to do more than just say the CP is not competitive/the CP is topical… they'll have to explain why that matters. (If neither team provides analysis, I'll default to my "traditional debate theory in a modern policy context," and agree with the Aff that the CP is non-comp./topical and should be rejected.)
For some, this may lead you to ask, what are some of those traditional debate theory ideas?
- Affs have 5 stock issues. (I'm sure you all know them.)
- CPs have 4 stock issues (non-T, comp., solve Aff harm, & a net benefit)
- Function of the stock issues in a modern policymaker context: They form the building blocks of arguments. If one is absent, the argument can be deemed irrelevant to the outcome of the debate. In short, it's like proving that a DA lacks a link, lacks an impact, or is non-unique… Thus, it ceases to be weighed in the decision calculus.
- Am I tied to these stock issues & functions? Absolutely not, you can mold me/change my perspective, but you must explain/provide analysis about how I should evaluate the debate and be prepared to engage in a theory debate.
Multiple Worlds: I think this strategy makes the round confusing. What does the Neg advocate? Personally, I think smart debaters should be able to point out contradictions and use that to their own strategic advantage. At the same time, I'm open to hearing the theory debate (see section above). After all, I am interested in seeing if you are doing it because there is a strategically sound explanation for it, because you can defend its legitimacy, or because you were lazy & didn't realize that you were contradicting yourself. (Oh, btw, if the Neg can have multiple worlds, I think an Aff could potentially advocate multiple worlds in response. If you disagree, that sounds like another realm of theory debate that can take place.)
Nontraditional Debating (sometimes called "Performance"): I don't believe there is a "right way to debate." For years, I thought performance was destroying debate, was abusive, etc. Then, debaters opened my eyes to the role of nontradtional approaches in debate, and I became intrigued by the idea. I've had several lengthy discussions with nontraditional debaters and seen some exceptional use of nontraditional approaches to the activity. In other words, debaters opened my eyes and educated me. If you continue to do that, I'm completely down with nontraditional approaches. However, some caveats or insights (into my brain) follow...
1) Getting me to vote on the Framework… team X is bad because they debate one way or present a certain way, is probably a tough sell… for either team. (Exception: If their approach to the debate is clearly giving you a link to an argument, that's different.)
2) If your performative approach to the activity -- whether it be line-by-line, poetry, music, narrative, spoken word, etc. -- is more compelling and persuasive when examining the issues, you will likely win.
Politics DAs: There is a time & place... political backlash, elections, etc. However, it seems that most Politics DAs run today are rooted in political capital (as it relates to congress); this seems odd to me since fiat should get the Aff past this reality. That's why the resolution is about what the USFG should do. Of course, fiat doesn't get you past individual actors or voting blocks in congress. Thus, a story hinging on a certain subcommittee, committee chair, majority leader, or group of legislators are ripe for the picking. (Again, I'm open to debate on the theory about how fiat effects the link story.)
Defense: Why can't defense beat a card/argument? Hint: Of course, it can. That said, playing defense against an argument can beat that argument, but you will still need offense somewhere else in order to win the round.
Other:
Pre-written Position Overviews: Please don't read them, unless there is a very good reason to do so. I won't flow them, unless it's obvious that it was necessary. Overviews are "introductions" not arguments, meaning I will happily listen to it for any context it provides, but it won't be on my flow. I am not referring to a 10-20 second conceptualization of the argument or a brief explanation of how it fits into the round. I am referring to the practice of reading 1-3 minute overviews with multiple cards. Generally, they don't have anything to do with the responses of your opponents. Often, they reference (or cross apply or answer) ev that may or may not have been read in this particular round. Almost never do debaters use them effectively by cross-applying them to specific responses of their opponents or developing the internal link story or impact scenarios of their own positions, which makes the round messy.
CX: Is a time for debaters to seek clarification from one another… in an effort to achieve "gooder debate." As long as you don't get rude, I don't care what you do in CX. I don't flow CX, but I do keep an open ear, because I think you should be held to your answer; a shifting target is not representative of "gooder debate." (Note: That doesn't mean that I'm opposed to a good disco.)
2NRs/2ARs: Write the RFD. Don't leave it up to me. You should spell out the round. Compare the arguments. Compare the relative efforts between the two sides. Engage in impact comparisons. (But, don't neglect the line-by-line. Much of these comparisons can be inherently obvious as you work your way down the line-by-line, but an excellent 2NR/2AR saves the last 45-75 seconds to write the RFD for the judge.)
Speaker Points: Obviously, this is pretty subjective. I assign speaks based on how well you accomplished the duties/needs of your particular speeches... did you do what was necessary to put your team in contention for the ballot. Yes, some things like clarity will come into play, as well, since that informs how good my flow is. As far as the speaker point range: I judge on a number of circuits with different standards. The functional range in Alaska, for example, is 20-30 with a 25 being an average debater... thus, the vast majority of speaks I assign are in the 23-27 range. However, at NSDA/NCFL/NAUDL, the functional range seems to be 25-30 with an average debater being around a 27.5. Thus, most speaks I assign at nationals are in the 26.5-29 range. I obviously have been changing this as the circuit demands. One of the first things I ask the ballot table any time I judge at a tournament that I haven't been too recently is, "What is the functional range of speaker points here?"
Most importantly, Have Fun!
Debate paradigm:
For all formats, I focus on solid argumentation and skillful use of rhetoric. Framework is important to me. Tell me how you plan to win your argument and follow through. I do not usually favor competitors who try avoiding the topic by focusing on loosely connected tangents or technicalities. When giving voters, I do not enjoy hearing a list of individual points won. Instead, I favor big-picture summaries of what you have accomplished in the debate focused on how each individual argument supports your side of the resolution. Avoid the over-use of debate-specific terms, like which points "flow through". You should be able to tell me in lay terminology how you've won this debate. Especially be careful of claiming your opponent "dropped your case" or similar claims. If you claim this and it isn't true, this will affect my decision.
Speak clearly and with sufficient volume that I do not need to guess what you said. Courtesy towards your opponent is important to me. You should be able to argue without resorting to name-calling or caustic accusations. Communication skills matter as well. If I feel opponents are rhetorically matched, nonverbal and vocal communication skills may break the tie for me.
Most of all, I hope you all feel comfortable with me as your judge enough to enjoy the competition. Please know that if you have any concerns or questions, I will happily listen and help you in any way that I can. If you have preferred pronouns or other needs, don't hesitate to let me know. I want to treat you with courtesy, too!
Format-specific paradigms:
Lincoln Douglas:
Value and criterion debate are crucial. I will heavily consider those competitors who successfully advocate their value and criterion over their opponent’s. One can lose the flow but win the value/criterion debate and still win the round.
I only partially flow, and I only judge partially based on the flow. A dropped argument is still considered poor argumentation to me, but not all arguments carry the same weight, and just because a contention is glossed over does not mean the entire debate was lost. I will expect more rhetorically sound, evidence-based contentions to be the priority.
Some competitors try adapting strategies from other debate formats to LD, such as running kritik or spreading. I do not favor such strategies. I focus on the moral argumentation, on rhetorically sound argumentation of the assigned topic, and on clear, professional communication skills.
I am a parent judge. I competed in speech and debate all through high school and college. I did some LD debate and some CEDA, but I focused a lot of my time on platform speech events (original oratory, informative, communication analysis, extemp, impromptu, poetry, and duo). I also participated in congress (when I was competing it was a stand-alone tournament 2-3 times a year). I am a lawyer by profession and currently serve as a justice on a state supreme court. So, I evaluate arguments on their merit, but I also value communication skills.
When it comes to LD, I flow arguments so long as I can keep up with the pace of the debate. If I cannot follow the arguments because of pace I will stop flowing and judge the debate based on CX. I’m not a huge fan of topicality arguments and certainly do not see a topicality as being jurisdictional in the sense that it deprives a judge of authority to judge a round. Someone would have to be taking some serious liberties with the resolution for me to vote on topicality grounds. I am also open to evaluating plans and counter-plans, and taking conflicting positions (when done clearly and when well-warranted) does not offend my sensibilities.
Congress is one of my favorite events because it rewards students who can combine excellent research and analysis with top notch speaking skills. My judging style likely prefers substance over style meaning that if a decision comes down to two students - one who is strong on substance and one who is strong on style - I’m likely to give the higher rank to the student who is strong on substance. I also reward students who demonstrate professionalism, decorum, and an understanding of the role of a legislator. As far as style goes, I tend to prefer a conversational tone (that doesn’t mean informal) and an extemporaneous presentation that advances the debate rather than a tightly scripted speech read from a laptop.
I am first and foremost an interp/platform/congress coach who gets involved with debate when necessary. Keep this in mind for your debate rounds - you are being evaluated on your speaking and presentational skills as well as the content of the debate.
For both PF & LD, I am very traditional. Prog LD is frankly just not at all appealing to me. Sorry to any CXers out there, but please keep the jargon and bad habits of policy out of these events. In LD and PF, truth > tech always. In a policy round (pity me if I get a policy round), I will go tech > truth most often.
I do not want to see Ks in these rounds; I will hear you out if that’s what you’ve got, but it will be hard for you to win me over with a K.
Spreading is not real debate, it is throwing as much at the wall as possible to see what sticks. I take quality over quantity any day. Truly engage with the nuance of what both you and your opponents are saying, and you’ve got me. Spit as many words per minute as you possibly can, and you’re going to have a harder time picking up my ballot.
I will double check your evidence if I find it necessary. Do not cut cards in a sketchy way, chances are that I will call you on it and you are not likely to win that round.
The point of LD is the framework clash. It is a value debate. This is why the event was created! Prove you win the value clash and you’re 90% of the way to winning the round. If you throw out the framework, you have thrown out the entire intention behind LD.
Finally, just don’t be a douchebag. Keep things clean and respectful. Bullying your opponents is THE easiest way to get the L from me.
What are your stylistic preferences for extemp? How much evidence do you prefer?
It's important that the extemp format is followed. I would prefer there be a min. of 2 sources per point. I prefer an AG that you can tie back to during each transition.
What are your stylistic preferences for Oratory/Info? How much evidence do you prefer?
Much like extemp at least 2-3 sources per point. I like the intro to be tied into the subject and your transitions link back to your AG.
Any unique thoughts on teasers/introductions for Interpretation events?
I love teasers! Make sure you intro truly introduce your piece and it isn't too long
Any preferences with respect to blocking, movement, etc.?
I prefer there to be lots of movement and blocking. Help me visualize where you are and who you are talking to.
How do you feel about author's intent and appropriateness of a piece? For example: an HI of Miracle Worker (author's intent) or a student performing mature material or using curse words (appropriateness)?
I'm not ok with vulgar pieces. I am ok with some profanity but not a lot.
WSD Judging
I'm looking for teams who can defend their case and attack their opponents. I expect you to use the proper terms (opp/prop/motions) You will lose points from me if you are rude in anyway. I'm looking for everyone to be good speakers and be able to explain their side in a way that makes sense and convinces me that you should win.
Policy Debate Paradigm:
Overview:
The things you are probably looking for:
Speed: I’m fine with whatever you are comfortable with--no need to try to impress me.
Performance: I do not mind a performance but make sure the performance is tied directly to the case and purpose of the debate. I am NOT some old fart, but I am a bit old school with a blend of progressive ideology.
Pre-dispositions: Please do not make arguments that you do not understand/cannot explain in order to fill the time or to confuse the opponent—I will definitely take notice and probably will not vote for you. Keep things well researched and logical and everything should be fine.
Sportsmanship: Please always be respectful of your opponents. Mean-spiritedness is not a way to show me you’re winning. Even though I will always vote for the better arguments, if you display signs of cruelty towards your opponent, your speaker points will suffer.
****Make sure you have great links…nothing worse than sitting through a round where no one understands how any of the arguments relate to the topic*********
Specifics:
Disadvantages: Unless if your strategy is extremely sophisticated/well thought out/well-rehearsed (I have encountered quite a few when I competed), I think you should always run at least 1 DA.
· The Counterplan: If done well, and the strategy around them is logical and thought-out, these are generally winners. If done poorly and you just inserted one to fill the time, I will be sad and bored.
· Procedurals/Topicality: I love a good meta-debate, and I am open to these if you guys have a solid strategy around these arguments (for example: if your opponents are illogical/made mistakes, point that out to me). However, I usually see T’s used as generic fillers, and I will not vote for a generic filler.
· The Kritik: Love Ks if done well and showcases your knowledge of the topic and argument. However, if I can sense that you don’t know what you’re talking about, running a K might hurt you.
Overall, have fun ( I understand how stressful this event can be), show me you're prepared, and always try to learn something.
Lincoln-Douglas, Big Questions Debate, and Public Forum Debate Paradigm:
My job as a judge is to be a blank slate; your job as a debater is to tell me how and why to vote and decide what the resolution/debate means to you. This includes not just topic analysis but also types of arguments and the rules of debate if you would like. If you do not provide me with voters and impacts I will use my own reasoning. I'm open all arguments but they need to be well explained.
My preference is for debates with a warranted, clearly explained analysis. I do not think tagline extensions or simply reading a card is an argument that will win you the debate. In the last speech, make it easy for me to vote for you by giving and clearly weighing voting issues- these are summaries of the debate, not simply repeating your contentions! You will have the most impact with me if you discuss magnitude, scope, etc. and also tell me why I look to your voting issues before your opponents. In terms of case debate, please consider how your two cases interact with each other to create more class; I find turns especially effective. I do listen closely during cross (even if I don't flow), so that is a place to make attacks, but if you want them to be fully considered please include them during your speeches.
Email: dhbroussard1763@gmail.com
Rewritten for 2024/25. Fairly similar to my old paradigm but I would just read it over to make sure
anthonyrbrown85@gmail.com for the chain, I prefer speech drop. Please show up to the round pre-flowed and ready to go. If you get to the room before me or are second flight, flip and get the chain started so we don't delay the rounds please and thank you.
Background
Currently the Director of Southlake Carroll and Bluebonnet Debate. The majority of my experience is in Public Forum but I’ve spent time either competing or judging every event.
General
Tech > Truth but the tech needs to be warranted. The easiest way to lose my ballot is to extend blips without any warrants. An example of this would be something like “food shortage cause conflict which leads to war.” I need to know why food shortage causes a conflict and who the conflict is between. The easiest way to win my ballots is through clear extensions and well implicated weighing.
Speed is fine but if I miss something that is crucial to your case because you’re unclear then that’ll be your fault. I won’t flow off of the doc, I’ll only use it to check for evidence if I’ve called to. Don’t assume you can read like 1200 words on me just because you sent a doc.
I don’t flow cross so if anything important was said mention it in a speech.
Don’t just extend card names and dates without at least briefly reminding me what that card said.
I have a super high threshold for IVIs. If there's some sort of debate based abuse run a proper shell.
This is random but I bob my head when I'm flowing sometimes, it's not a nod, please don't assume I agree with you when I do it.
Speaking
Typical speaks are between 27-30. I don’t give many 30s but it’s not impossible to get a 30 from me. Actions that will likely doc your speaks: stealing prep, slow evidence exchange, having your partner tell you what to say during your speech, spreading and then having a lot of time left at the end of speech (like literally what was the need?)
I would much rather you sacrifice your speed for clarity. If you can’t get to everything that you need to say, then it would probably be best to prioritize your impacts and do a great job weighing.
Any comments that are intended (or unintended in certain circumstances) to be discriminatory in any form will immediately result in the lowest possible speaker points.
Kritiks
I’m very comfortable with Kritiks. My teams have run Fem IR, Sec, Cap, Set Col, Hip Hop, Model Minority, and 1 or 2 more so if you’re running anything similar to those then you should be fine. Make sure you understand your own K though.
Theory/Norms
Disclosing is good, bracketing is bad, paraphrasing is bad, round docs make the event accessible to everyone.
I’ll evaluate all shells but if they fall under my norms above you’ll probably have a lower bar to hit.
LD Cheat sheet (1 is most comfortable, 5 is lowest)
Policy: 1
Topical Ks: 2
Theory: 3
Non-Topical Ks: 4
Phil: 5
Tricks: Strike
I have judged debate and forensics off and on for the last 7 years.
Debate is, first and foremost, a communication activity. Arguments should be clearly laid out in a way that allows me to understand, but also shows that the debaters have a firm grasp on their evidence and why it is being used. Pretend I know nothing. I am not a flow judge, but I do take notes in the round.
I don't ask to see speech docs. My decisions will be made off of what is said in the round.
I encourage you to speak at a conversational pace.
\I am a former 4 year debater from Olathe Northwest.
I'm a policymaker judge, if the affirmative does not successfully defend against the impacts proposed by the negative then I simply cannot vote in favor of the plan. This can be accomplished by attacking the stock issues of the plan, or a good DA and/or CP.
Kritiks are not my favorite arguments by a long shot, but, I do evaluate them in a decision, and overall I default to impacts so I'm not going to get angry if I see one, just don't abuse it, and have it make sense.
I like slow flow rounds, and do not like spreading or speeding. If you go a bit faster than the average debater then I will most likely be able to understand you, but more than that is unnecessary.
How to win as aff with me as your judge: Make sure your advantages link to your solvency, defend Solvency, Inherency, and Topicallity with your life, and answer DAs, CPs, and Ks.
I love to watch clash, don't just ignore your opponent's arguments.
On a personal note, just don't be rude? I want to be able to evaluate a round without bias, but if one team is being unnecessarily aggressive or condescending then I'm going to be biased towards the other team, which is something I don't want to have happen. Also, if you personally insult or are in any way discriminatory against another team then I will feel no remorse in siding against you, this activity should be kept cordial and should be open to everyone, not just people you decide should be allowed to compete.
Generally i'm Tabula Rasa, but will default to a policymaker who values stocks if I'm not told how I should evaluate the round.
I have debated since 8th grade, and now I am a college forensicator at Western Kentucky University. In high school, I competed in Policy Debate, Public Form, and Congressional Debate and also Interp events during the Forensics season.
Here is my Policy Debate Paradigm:
K's
- I was always a K debater, so I have a sweet spot for them. Make sure if you read a K you describe it well and explain the world of your alt.
Topicality
- Topicality is not a heavy voter for me. I'm not a fan of using it just for a time-filler. However, when running/answering T, please structure it correctly.
Speed
- Speed is not a big problem for me though I am not a huge fan of spreading. If you spread, make sure you explain your cards well and slow down for taglines and more important points
On-case Arguments
- Aff, these are very important to keep consistant throughout the round. Offense is just as important as defense.
- For the neg finding solvency deficits is a significant voter for me.
Other Off-Case Arguments
- I'm down to hear any disads, CPs, etc. as long as you prove their relevance in the round.
*If any team says anything racist, sexist, homophobic, prejudiced, etc. it will be an automatic loss.*
POLICY DEBATE PARADIGM
Name: Jamelle Brown
Current Affiliation: The Pembroke School, Kansas City, MO
Debate Experience: 25+ years as a Head HS Coach, Competed 4 yrs in High School and 1 semester during college
List types of arguments that you prefer to listen to.
1. I appreciate real world impacts.
2. I love the kritical arguments/AFF’s with this year’s resolution. Make the debate real and connect to the real social issues in the SQ.
3. For T, neg if you want to prove that the AFF is untopical, provide valid standards and voters. AFF, then correctly answer these standards and voters. However, don't expect to win a ballot off T alone.
4. Know and understand what you are reading and debating. Be able to explain your card’s claims.
List types of arguments that you prefer not to listen to.
1. Every impact should not equal nuclear war. I want to hear realistic/real world impacts.
2. Generic disadvantages without clear links to the AFF.
List stylistics items you like to watch other people do.
1. I prefer medium-speed speaking. Completely not a fan of spreading.
2. Label and signpost for me. I like to keep a very organized flow!
3. Let me see your personalities in CX.
4. Impact Calc – I want to know why you want me to vote for you and weigh the round.
5. I am excited about performance teams!
List stylistics items you do not like to watch.
1. I dislike unrecognizable speed.
2. I am a Communications teacher, please allow me to see valuable communication skills. (Pre-2020 comment) For example, don’t just stare at your laptops for 8 minutes. Hello, I'm your judge – engage me!
In a short paragraph, describe the type of debate you would most like to hear debated.
Debate is a slice of life. I appreciate seeing a variety of styles and “risk takers.” Debate is also an educational venue. I enjoy K debate and appreciate high schoolers tackling K lit. There are so many important social justice issues that debaters can explore. As your judge, engage me into the round. I will not tolerate rude debaters or disrespectful personal attacks. I am a current high school Speech & Debate coach – please don’t forget about the value of communication skills! I coach all of the speech and debate events, so I love to see kids fully engaged in this activity by utilizing the real-world value it brings.
For judging I am incredibly easy when it comes to judging. I like good debate that is clear and easy to follow. I'm not a huge fan of spreading. Especially in debate formats that it isn't meant for. I will pretty much flow anything in the round with in reason. If you stretch too radical then I'm not inclined to buy into your thoughts. I've been judging world schools the last 9 years so prefer to stick to the ideals of world schools. Definitions should be clean and easy to follow, nothing squirrely.
Hi! I'm Keri (she/her); put me on the file share: keri.j.brown@gmail.com
Overall in every event, I'm looking for a round where debaters are respectful of each other and clearly outline every argument. If you are rude or I can't understand you, your speaker points will drop dramatically.
Policy: Please, make your speeches clear. This means do not spread. If I can't understand your argument, I won't flow it, and you very likely will lose. You should favor good, fleshed-out arguments over a hundred nitpicky things that your opponent can't respond to in time.
I want a lot of judge instruction - it's not my job to remove or extend arguments for you. This means I want impact calc and explanations of why your arguments outweigh your opponents'.
I have judged policy before, but techy jargon (especially in more theoretical arguments like kritiks) is relatively unfamiliar to me so please give thorough explanations for all the nuances of your arguments.
The more progressive, the higher the bar. If you're going to run a fancy, complicated argument about capitalism, you're really going to need to flesh out why I should vote for it over the actual topic.
LD/PF: Progressive debates are not my thing. Traditional arguments would be best; pick a couple of good arguments to go with and clearly explain them. I will not tolerate spreading, and complicated jargon must be thoroughly elaborated upon.
Experience: I competed in PF, Policy, and OO during high school and competed more in college. I currently coach and run the NWFL Civics and Debate League as an ambassador coach with over a decade of coaching experience.
The MOST Important Thing: Speech and Debate should be a safe space for ALL so respect is key. I don't mind aggressive clash debate, but it must remain professional and nonpersonal.
Debate is a gentleman's sport. There should be blood in the water but no bodies on the floor. You need clash and competition, but all tied up in a professional suit and tie.
Lean more flow than flay.
DEBATE Preferences:
I bring a flow pad into the room and you have to prove to me your side will create a better world than your opponent's. I am a flow judge, so be cautious of dropping points and make sure your crystallization is thorough- WEIGH AND CRYSTALLIZE.
Speaker points come through in presentation and communication. Pay attention to hand gestures, body language, and eye contact. You CAN be the better speaker and the worse debater, they are two different scores for a reason.
Cross-examination will not be flowed or scored in judging, points must be brought up again in a speech to make the ballot. Does impact speaking points.
Lean tech over truth but can go either way and understand the virtues of both. In the end, you tell me why I vote, persuasion is the name of the game in debate.
I have yet to be persuaded by a non-topical aff case.
More of a trad judge, but VERY good prog can win me over. I love a good K, Disad, Ontology argument, but remember, you had weeks to explore these ideas. Explain it WELL if you want me to get it.
Dislikes:
My strong preference is that if one debater is a traditional debater that their opponent make an effort to participate in a way that's accessible for that debater. I would much rather judge a full traditional debate than a circuit debater going for shells or kritiks against an opponent who isn't familiar with that style. If you do this, you will be rewarded with higher speaker points. If you don't, I will likely give low point wins to technical victories that exploit the unfamiliarity of traditional debaters to get easy wins. I can be persuaded by a strong argument for inclusion and accessibility here.
Spreading is fine, but don't spread tags or analytics. Quantity does not make up for quality, analysis must be thorough in rebuttal and crystal to make up for it. If you spread, add me to the chain! katrina.brownsberger@okaloosaschools.com
Likes:
Stand during Cross. Look at me, not the opponent.
Love an off-time roadmap. Helps clarify the flow and clean up the organization.
All debate lies in Impacts and Clash. Prove to me why your world is better than the opponents. Weigh it out, paint me a line to my ballot.
Observation:
I know that only debate kids look at Paradigms, but I think it is relevant to address other event preferences too, as I coach and judge anything and everything.
CONGRESS Preferences
HAVE CLASH. If you don't mention other speakers and you aren't the first speech, then I likely won't rank you top 5.
Clash and aggression are two different things. Congress should be performative in the sense that it is excessively professional, it should not be antagonistic.
Winning as a PO is hard, so let me clarify how to score higher in Congress.
Control and lead the room. Run it ON TIME and INCLUSIVELY.
I'm watching your recency, make sure you are correct, and if you make a mistake, address it.
Every hour, between speeches, remind your judge to give you a score as PO. Do it politely and professionally without overly intruding on the round.
SPEECH Preferences
Tell me what time-signals you want. Be specific. And time yourself if possible in addition to that.
Stay in the room if you can (for example if you are not double entered or have already gone), being a good audience member displays character.
There are a lot of hot debates in the coaching world about black book events and the usage of them as reading parodies versus props, and I will always respect the specific league rules over all else, but I am team prop. Use those books guys.
If you are on the floor for longer than 15 seconds total for your entire piece, I'm docking you. A book is an allowed prop, the floor or things like hair or clothes are not. Block it out differently.
I believe that public forum was designed to have a "john or sally doe" off the street come in and be a judge. That means that speaking clearly is absolutely essential. If I cannot understand you, I cannot weigh what you say. I also believe that clarity is important. Finally, I am a firm believer in decorum, that is, showing respect to your opponent. In this age of political polarization and uncompromising politics, I believe listening to your opponent and showing a willingness to give credence to your opponents arguments is one of the best lessons of public forum debate.
Background: Head Coach at Robbinsdale Armstrong and Robbinsdale Cooper HS in Minnesota. There I coach LD, PF and Congressional Debate.
Most Important: Debate should be about comparing and weighing arguments. In LD (and optional in PF) there should be a criterion (standard) which argument are weighed through. The purpose of the criterion is to filter out arguments. So simply winning the criterion does not mean you win the debate. You should have arguments that link to the winning criterion and those arguments should be weighed against any opposing/linking arguments. If the debaters do not weigh the arguments, then you force the judge to do that weighing for you and that is never good.
I will not vote on disclosure theory. Come ready to debate.
Overall: Debate should be inclusive and available to all people. If your goal is to speak as fast as possible and run the most obscure arguments ever to exclude people, then this isn't a winning strategy for you. My suggestion would be to run topical arguments at a pace that is inclusive to all students. Speed within limits is ok. The more obscure the argument the more time you should spend on explaining it. Don't just throw out random words and assume I'll fill in the blanks for you. No need to ask if I want to be on the email chain, job of debate is to communicate the evidence to me.
Congressional Debate: Read everything above because it is still valuable information. Congressional Debate is debate by nature. It is not a dueling oratory round. In general, the first cycle is there to set up arguments in the round. The author/sponsor speech should be polished. All other speeches should have elements of refutation to other students and arguments in the round. If you are giving a speech in the fourth cycle and never refer to another person's argument, you are not going to score well in front of me. Simply dropping a person's name isn't refutation. You should tell me why their argument is wrong. With evidence it is even better.
You should do everything in your power to not go back-to-back on the same side. I will flow little of a second speech back-to-back on the same side. If you are the third speaker on the same side in a row, I'm not flowing any of it. Debaters should be prepared to switch sides if necessary. Lastly, there is a trend for no one to give an author/sponsor speech as they are worried, they will not score well. That isn't true in front of me. All parts of the debate are important.
The questioning period is about defeating arguments not to make the person look good. Softball questions are not helpful to debate. Do it multiple times and expect your rank to go down. All aspects, your speech, the quality of sources, refutation and questioning all go into your final rank. Just because you speak the prettiest does not mean you are the champion. You should be able to author/sponsor, refute, crystalize, ask tough questions, and defend yourself in questioning throughout the debate. Do all in a session and you are in decent shape.
Presiding Officers (PO): The PO will start with a rank of six in all chambers for me. From there, you can work your way up or down based on your performance. PO's who are clearly favoring the same school or same circuit students will lose rank. A PO can absolutely receive the one in my ranks likewise they can be unranked if you make many errors.
The current trend is for "super wordy" PO's. You do not need to say things like "Thank you for that speech of 3:09. As this was the 3rd Affirmative Speech, we are in line for 1 minute block of questioning. All those who wish to ask a question, please indicate." If you add up the above through an entire session, that adds up to multiple speeches that were taken by the PO. Watch how many words you say between speeches, question blocks, etc. A great PO blends away in the room. Extra language like "The chair thanks you", "this is speech 22", etc. All of this is just filler words for the PO taking time away from the debate. Lastly, a "chair" doesn't have feelings. It is not rude to be efficient.
I track precedence/recency in all sessions. I keep a detailed flow in all rounds debate - Congress, LD and PF.
Disclosure: I typically do not give any oral critiques. All the information will be on the ballot.
Keep it logical - there should be a clear line from claims through warrants to impacts. Warrants should come from viable, verifiable sources, which might include philosophers for LD.
LD should clearly link every contention to the value and VC. If you can prove that your opponent's contentions fit your value and VC, bonus points.
Although I am an experienced judge, and I can handle *some* speed, that should not be the primary vehicle of a debater. This is about communication, not who can cram the most words into their constructive. If I can't understand you, I can't give you the win; when you spread, I cannot keep up mentally or physically as I flow, thus, I cannot understand your points and whether they meet the criteria of logic and reason. Use your time in the constructive well to give me your best claims, warrants, and impacts for your side of the debate. Learn how to summarize and "fold" your arguments as you continue the round so that you don't have to feel inclined to spread. Remember: you are trying to convince me, and I have to be able to understand you to be convinced that you have the better arguments.
I use an electronic spreadsheet to flow the round. Please don't tell me your opponent dropped something unless you are absolutely positive they did - I am flowing, so I have a record of the round. I will use what I record about your claims, warrants, and impacts (and how well you supported and used your value and VC in LD) to decide the round.
Keep it respectful. This is about civic discourse, not shaming, humiliating, embarrassing, or otherwise putting down your opponent. Such behavior will cost you the round, and I will report it to the tournament host.
I will not disclose unless told specifically by tournament staff to do so. Don't ask.
My name is Michael Buck and I am a Congressional and World Schools debate coach from Indiana. I have experience coaching Lincoln-Douglas debate. I have been a debate coach since 2015. I also have experience coaching public address speech events.
I am a traditional judge. I look for impacts and how your case connects to the resolution or legislation. I do not like spreading. Persuade me on the merits of your case. I look for classic elements of debate.
I thank you for your bravery in public speaking. The variety of speech and debates is quite enjoyable for me. In my opinion speech and debate are about communicating clearly, effectively and efficiently through the use of words, verbal tones and body language.
In debates and extemporaneous speeches, I appreciate it when speakers begin by stating the question and by listing their main points before going in depth. I feel this helps the speaker keep a focus as well as prepares the audience to listen. I expect the main points to make logical sense as they are tied back to the original question and I expect them to be supported by evidence.
In all speaking I expect clear, concise communication which is most likely to happen when the speaking speed does not exceed the listening speed. If a participant chooses to spread, then my listening skills are greatly diminished which results in me not being able to follow your reasoning and you will not be communicating your point.
Last, but not least, I expect all participants to treat each other with respect through both their words and actions. Disagreement is a big part of debates, but that is no reason to be denigrating to one another.
Delivery: smooth, confident, limit your stumbles.
Citations/Evidence: these are very important to me.
Dramatic delivery: a plus.
Logical flow to your speech or your argument: from beginning to end, did you sell me on your points, did you sell me on your solutions.
In debate: be civil, make your point, let them make theirs. This is speech and debate, not speech and bullying.
Talking faster does not gain you points with me - be clear, be concise…be persuasive!
This is my fourth year judging--I enjoy it and am so impressed with all the competitors.
I'm glad to judge across all speech and debate disciplines.
I base my winners on clarity, organization, dynamic speaking, engagement with/commitment to the topic, and respectfulness toward peers. Thank you.
Intro on myself:
I debated Policy my entire high school career at Lawrence High. (2009-2012)
I currently coach Speech and Debate in Missouri.
General:
Read as fast as you want, but please slow down on citations, tags, and blocks so I can keep track of them. My general rule of thumb though is that if I can’t understand you then I can’t vote for you.
Don’t speak over your opponent. It isn’t constructive to the debate nor will it be tolerated. It should also go without saying that if you’re rude in general to the opposing team that it will not be looked kindly upon.
Cutting evidence (e.g. making the font size .1 or taking out things all together) to make your argument sound better is considered cheating in my eyes. Don’t do it.
Speaks are not decided based on speed or presentation alone, but moreover your effectiveness as a debater to convince me of your arguments.
I will keep time and follow NSDA guidelines for grace periods or the lack thereof.
Arguments:
I can handle most arguments. I tend to default as a policy maker. If you choose to run a policy argument just make sure that it is explained well enough as to why I should be voting for it. Other than that I am pretty open to anything you want to run.
K’s- I am not a big fan of Kritiks. I am not saying that you shouldn’t run them, just be aware that you will need to explain it (why I should vote for it) to me very well if you want me to consider it.
Lastly, and most importantly… Have FUN!
Best of luck!
Paradigm for Congressional Debate- David Burnett
To me, Congressional Debate is a beautiful combination of the best qualities of all things speech and debate. From the theatric element of presentation and strong, impactful delivery to excellent points of contention and clash, the skilled congressional debater must strike a balance between presentation and statistics.
What do I look for when judging?
1. Impact
Who does this bill hurt? Who does it help? Why is there a sense of urgency to pass or fail this legislation. While this may sound simple, too many speeches get bogged down with piles of fluff or dry statistics. Above all, you are there to legislate. The mark of all great legislators is the ability to strike a common tone with their audience and work together with other legislators to create solutions and lasting change.
2. Congressional Decorum
Direct questioning is not the time for PF-style shouting matches. Additionally, PF and Policy jargon take away from the 'Congressional' element of the event. Yes, we all want great attacks across the 'flow' and for the 'Affirmative' to point out the 'drops' of the 'Negative' side. While those terms certainly frame and inform congressional debate, we should still present it for what it is- super high-quality debate in the style of the United States Congress. Pass, fail, my constituents, my district, etc. all add to the charm of this wonderful event.
3. Unique and exciting information
Above all, I hope each speaker brings great information to the floor and avoids repeating anyone's point unless they intend to clash with it or expand upon it.
Have fun and be kind to one another!
Paradigm for Lincoln Douglas
I believe that Lincoln Douglas represents an opportunity for fundamentals of classic one-on-one debate to shine forth in a beautiful, values-based manner.
None of this paradigm is set in stone, and I am flexible and open to all competitive styles. However, a few general 'look fors' are listed below:
(1) Framework
I look intensively at framework across the flow and weigh it heavily in my final decision. If LD is a values-based debate, then one must uphold their value and VC while successfully countering that of their opponent.
(2) Key Voting Issues
These are not, by any means, a requirement. However, KVI can help to frame the round in a clear, organized manner. In other words, KVI gives me 2-3 reasons you're confident that you've won and shows me what you've tracked throughout the round.
(3) Speed
Broadly speaking, I am not a fan of anything that even remotely approaches spreading. Lincoln and Douglas didn't spread in their debates, and more often than not quality of argument and impact points are really lost when a speaker is delivering their speech at a high rate of speed.
I have no hard and fast rule in my judging save for VHSL/NSDA requirements, but do not feel that speaking quickly and throwing tons of cards into your constructive has any marked benefit over less cards delivered in a methodical, high-quality manner.
Above all, be kind to your opponent and clear in your argumentation.
Good luck!
I debated 3 years in high school, and have 5 years coaching experience. I am the current head coach at Mountain View High School in Idaho. Most of my focus is on policy debate. When it comes to evaluating the round of any style of debate, I am a tabs judge. If you tell me how to vote, that's the way I will vote. I want you all to debate the best way you do and not try and adapt to what I like. If you can explain to me why you should win the debate, you will win the debate.
With that being said, I have a harder time seeing why running a Kritik should win you my ballot. I do default more to a policy framework. If you can take the time to tell me why you win, then run a K. However, I do tend to see more of a reason to vote for a policy argument. I also love to vote on Theory and Topicality. If you can show abuse in this round, then you have my ballot. Please feel free to ask me any specific questions at the beginning of the round.
I’m a second year head coach. With my team, I’m largely focused on public address events but I also enjoy debate.
My professional background is in communications which influences my judging in any event. This means I’m looking for clarity and I want you to engage me with your speech. Please do not spread. I strongly prefer conversational cadence.
Analysis is important. I appreciate a clear explanation of your position, good organization with signposting, description of impacts and clash. I expect you to keep your own time.
Be professional. Be nice. Have fun.
Paradigm Last Updated – Winter2025
Coach @ Shawnee Mission South and the University of Kansas.
Put me on the email chain :) azjabutler@gmail.com
TLDR:
Judge Instruction....DO IT! In other words, tell me what you want me to do with the arguments you're winning and why! Judge instruction will often look different depending on your style of debate. While I do take this into consideration, I expect each team to synthesize their arguments and their relationship (offense/defense) to other moving parts of the debate. Generally, I think clear instruction in the rebuttals about where you want me to focus my attention and how you want me to filter offense is a must.
Please for the love of all that is pure and kind, FLOW! I hate "flow-check" questions and feel they reflect poorly on your ability to organize the debate. To be completely real with y'all I also think they are indicative of lazy debating. Don't get caught up.
General:
I consider myself a reflexive and flexible judge. Meaning, I make a frequent effort to judge a wide variety of debates. Debaters should be allowed to read arguments they feel confident and passionate about. However, I debated more critically--this being the case means I primarily judge "k v k" and "clash" debates. I enjoy these debates best and feel my feedback is the most fruitful for the students here. Regardless, I will approach every judging opportunity with an open mind and try to provide feedback that makes sense to you given your strategy.
If you consider yourself a team who debates primarily in the "traditional policy" camp, I would be cautious preffing me. While I can hang in these debates, and coach a number of these teams myself, my primary expertise is not in these arguments and their broader development within the community. If my time in debate has taught me anything, it's that a lot of policy teams/coaches see debate like math i.e. x argument + y argument + z concession + this particular card = this definitive result... I do not see debate this way. I never have. If you're expecting a decision that sounds something like that, then I am not the judge for you.
Yes, I care about evidence quality! I believe in ethically cut evidence, but I think evidence can come in many forms. I rarely will ever ask for a card document. I don't like reading evidence at the end of a debate in place of students making arguments and doing their own analysis. That being said, I understand that reading evidence has become a large part of judging, BUT because I'm not ever cutting politics updates please be CLEAR and EXPLICIT about why I am reading evidence and what I should be looking for! I think debaters should be able to explain their evidence well enough that I shouldn’t have to read it, so if I'm reading evidence then you probably haven't done your job and will probably receive more judge intervention from me.
Clipping(skipping over words or speaking in such a way that I cannot make out the word that's supposed to be there) or cutting cards out of context is academic malpractice and will result in an automatic loss. I follow along more closely in 1AC and 1NC documents bc this is where clipping happens the most. After these speeches I rarely open sent documents and flow by ear.
Please know I am more than comfortable“clearing” you. If I have to clear you more than twice, your speaks will be affected.
Disclosure is good and should be reciprocated.
___________________________________________________________________
Truth over Tech -OR- Tech over Truth
For the most part, I am tech over truth, but if both teams are ahead on technical portions of the debate, I will probably use truth to break the tie.
Framework
I think debates about debate are valuable and provide a space for confrontation over a number of debate's disparities/conflicts. A strong defense of your model and a set of specific net-benefits is important. Sure, debate is a game, education is almost always a tiebreaker. Fairness is a fake impact -- go for it I guess but I find it rare nowadays that people actually go for it. I think impact-turning framework is always a viable option. I think both sides should also clearly understand their relationship to the ballot and what the debate is supposed to resolve. At the end of the debate, I should be able to explain the model I voted for and why I thought it was better for debate. Any self-deemed prior questions should be framed as such. All of that is to say there is nothing you can do in this debate that I haven't probably seen so do whatever you think will win you the debate.
Performance + Planless Affirmatives
Judge instruction and strong articulation of your relationship to the ballot is necessary. At the end of the debate, I shouldn't be left feeling that the performative aspects of the strategy were useless/disjointed from debate and your chosen literature base. You should be able to articulate why your strategy being located within debate is good.
Kritiks
I filter a lot of what I have read through my own experience both in and out of academia. I think it’s important for debaters to also consider their identity/experience in the context of your/their argument. I would avoid relying too much on jargon because I think it’s important to make the conversations that Kritiks provide accessible. I have read/researched enough to say I can evaluate just about anything, but don't use that as an excuse to be vague or assume that I'll do the work for you. At the end of the debate, there should be a clear link to the AFF, and an explanation of how your alternative solves the links -- too many people try to kick the alt and I don't get it. Links to the AFF’s performance, subject formation, and scholarship are fair game. I don’t want to say I am 100% opposed to judging kicking alts for people, but I won’t be happy about it and doubt that it will work out for you. If you wanna kick it, then just do it yourself... but again I don't get it.
Any other questions, just ask -- at this point people should know what to expect from me and feel comfortable reaching out!
Goodluck and have fun! #RockChalk
@ the Nano Nagle (HS LD / PF)
"Did you read x card..." or "Which cards did you skip" are QUESTIONS so the CX timer should be started, this mess is flighted so please don't waste my or the tournament's time.
Arguments have three parts: 1] Claim 2] Data/Evidence 3]Warrant -- if these are not present your chance of winning in front of me are low.
I primarily judge high school and college policy -- at the point in which you integrate policy arguments, norms, and techne is the point in which I evaluate the debate as a 1v1 policy debate. I will take no notes.
I promise I have no problem clearing you or your opponent so please don't clear one another -- if it's actually unclear I will more than likely beat you to it.
I don't like having to read evidence in place of you all actually debating/making arguments. That being said if your evidence is just a series of one-liners / a sentence long, only partially highlighted I prob won't take your stuff seriously.
Don't read Kant in front of me and expect me to see the debate the way you do -- if you don't know that means: Don't read it.
I am the Director of Speech and Debate at Charlotte Latin School. I coach a full team and have coached all events.
Email Chain: bbutt0817@gmail.com- This is largely for evidence disputes, as I will most likely not flow off the doc.
Currently serve on the Public Forum Topic Wording Committee, and have been since 2018.
----Public Forum-----
- Flow judge, can follow the fastest PF debater, but don't use speed. It ruins any persuasive appeal, and the round boils down to strategic errors instead of any real substantive analysis. I will dock speaker points.
- I am not a calculator. Your win is still determined by your ability to persuade me on the importance of the arguments you are winning, not just the sheer number of arguments you are winning. This is a communication event, so do that, with some humor and panache.
- I have a high threshold for theory arguments to be valid in PF. Unless there is in round abuse, I probably won’t vote for a frivolous shell. So I would avoid reading most of the trendy theory arguments in PF.
----Lincoln Douglas----
1. Judge and Coach mostly Traditional styles.
2. Am ok with speed/spreading, but should only be used for depth of coverage really.
3. LARP/Trad/Topical Ks/T > Theory/Tricks/Non-topical Ks
4. The rest is largely similar to PF judging:
5 Things to Remember…
1. Sign Post/Road Maps (this does not include “I will be going over my opponent’s case and if time permits I will address our case”)
After constructive speeches, every speech should have organized narratives and each response should either be attacking entire contention level arguments or specific warrants/analysis. Please tell me where to place arguments, otherwise they get lost in limbo. If you tell me you are going to do something and then don’t in a speech, I do not like that.
2. Framework
I will evaluate arguments under frameworks that are consistently extended and should be established as early as possible. If there are two frameworks, please decide which I should prefer and why. If neither team provides any, I default evaluate all arguments under a cost/benefit analysis.
3. Extensions
Don’t just extend card authors and tag-lines of arguments, give me the how/why of your warrants and flesh out the importance of why your impacts matter. Summary extensions must be present for Final Focus extension evaluation. Defense extensions to Final Focus ok if you are first speaking team, but you should be discussing the most important issues in every speech, which may include early defense extensions.
4. Evidence
Paraphrasing is ok, but you leave your evidence interpretation up to me. Tell me what your evidence says, and then explain its role in the round. Make sure to extend evidence in late round speeches.
5. Narrative
Narrow the 2nd half of the round down to the key contention-level impact story or how your strategy presents cohesion and some key answers on your opponents’ contentions/case.
SPEAKER POINT BREAKDOWNS
29-30: Excellent job, you demonstrate stand-out organizational skills and speaking abilities. Ability to use creative analytical skills and humor to simplify and clarify the round.
29/below: Very strong ability. Good eloquence, analysis, and organization. A couple minor stumbles or drops.
28/below: Above average. Good speaking ability. May have made a larger drop or flaw in argumentation but speaking skills compensate. Or, very strong analysis but weaker speaking skills.
27/below: About average. Ability to function well in the round, however, analysis may be lacking. Some errors made.
26/below: Is struggling to function efficiently within the round. Either lacking speaking skills or analytical skills. May have made a more important error.
Below: Extreme difficulty functioning. Very large difficulty filling time or offensive or rude behavior.
***Speaker Points break down borrowed from Mollie Clark.***
Email Chain: megan.butt@charlottelatin.org
Charlotte Latin School (2022-), formerly at Providence (2014-22).
Trad debate coach -- I flow, but people read that sometimes and think they don't need to read actual warrants? And can just stand up and scream jargon like "they concede our delink on the innovation turn so vote for us" instead of actually explaining how the arguments interact? I can't do all that work for you.
GENERAL:
COMPARATIVELY weigh ("prefer our interp/evidence because...") and IMPLICATE your arguments ("this is important because...") so that I don't have to intervene and do it for you. Clear round narrative is key!
If you present a framework/ROB, I'll look for you to warrant your arguments to it. Convince me that the arguments you're winning are most important, not just that you're winning the "most" arguments.
Please be clean: signpost, extend the warrant (not just the card).
I vote off the flow, so cross is binding, but needs clean extension in a speech.
I do see debate as a "game," but a game is only fun if we all understand and play by the same rules. We have to acknowledge that this has tangible impacts for those of us in the debate space -- especially when the game harms competitors with fewer resources. You can win my ballot just as easily without having to talk down to a debater with less experience, run six off-case arguments against a trad debater, or spread on a novice debater who clearly isn't able to spread. The best (and most educational) rounds are inclusive and respectful. Adapt.
Not a fan of tricks.
LD:
Run what you want and I'll be open to it. I tend to be more traditional, but can judge "prog lite" LD -- willing to entertain theory, non-topical K's, phil, LARP, etc. Explanation/narrative/context is still key, since these are not regularly run in my regional circuit and I am for sure not as well-read as you. Please make extra clear what the role of the ballot is, and give me clear judge instruction in the round (the trad rounds I judge have much fewer win conditions, so explain to me why your arguments should trigger my ballot. If I can't understand what exactly your advocacy is, I can't vote on it.)
PF:
Please collapse the round!
I will consider theory, but it's risky to make it your all-in strategy -- I have a really high threshold in PF, and because of the time skew, it's pretty easy to get me to vote for an RVI. It's annoying when poorly constructed shells get used as a "cheat code" to avoid actually debating substance.
CONGRESS:
Argument quality and evidence are more important to me than pure speaking skills & polish.
Show me that you're multifaceted -- quality over quantity. I'll always rank someone who can pull off an early speech and mid-cycle ref or late-cycle crystal over someone who gives three first negations in a row.
I reward flexibility/leadership in chamber: be willing to preside, switch sides on an uneven bill, etc.
WORLDS:
Generally looking for you to follow the norms of the event: prop sets the framework for the round (unless abusive), clear intros in every speech, take 1-2 points each, keep content and rhetoric balanced.
House prop should be attentive to motion types -- offer clear framing on value/fact motions, and a clear model on policy motions.
On argument strategy: I'm looking for the classic principled & practical layers of analysis. I place more value on global evidence & examples.
I am the Assistant Director of Forensics at Seven Lakes High School in Katy, Texas. I did speech in high school in Texas, and I am also a thespian -- I have a BFA in acting and I was a theatre director before moving over to Speech and Debate.
First and foremost, I am a theatre person and a speech coach by training and by trade.
Congress
Don't speed through your speeches, speed matters to me. Style matters to me as well, I am looking for structured arguments with clean rhetoric that comes in a polished package. Introduce new arguments. In questioning, I look for fully answering questions while also furthering your argument. I notice posture and gestures -- and they do matter to me. Evidence should be relevant and (for the most part) recent. Evidence is pretty important to me, and outweighs clean delivery if used properly. A clean analysis will rank you up on my ballot as well. Don't yell at each other. Overall, be respectful of one another. If I don't see respect for your fellow competitors, it can be reflected on my ballot. Don't rehash arguments. An extra speech with something I have already heard that round is likely to bump you down when I go to rank. As far as PO's go, I typically start them at 4 or 5, and they will go up or down depending on how clean the round runs. A clean PO in a room full of really good speakers will likely be ranked lower on my ballot. As far as delivery goes...as it says above, I am a speech coach. Your volume, rate, diction, etc are important. Make sure you are staying engaged and talking to the chamber, not at the chamber -- I want to be able to tell that you care about what you are speaking on.
Interp:
I am looking for honest connection to character and to text. Blocking should be motivated by the text and make sense for the character. I look for using vocal variety to add to the text and really paint a picture. I want you to connect and tell the story. I also look for an overall arc of the story, clear beat changes, and clear emotion. I also look for clean diction and an appropriate rate of speech. Additionally, the environment should be clear and the blocking should be clean. In single events, I want to see the connection to your “other” (who are you sharing this within the context of the story). In partner events, I want to see you connect to each other. If you play more than one character, I am looking for clear and clean differences between the characters. Overall, tell your story. Connect to the character, and share that with the audience.
Public Speaking:
Delivery is very important to me. Be careful of overusing gestures, make sure they have a purpose, and enhance what you say. I want to see you connected to sharing your speech, not simply reciting something you memorized. While I do tend to notice style before content, your content must be accurate and adequately supported. The content of the speech and the way it flows is important. I also look at diction and rate of delivery. In info, I do like fun interactive visuals—but they need to enhance your speech, not be there just to fill space. Overall, I want you to be excited about your speech and to have fun delivering it.
PF:
-
I try to flow, but please make sure you reiterate important points as they become useful to your argument.
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Speed is okay, as long as I can understand you.
- Articulation matters to me. I would rather you speak a little slower and not get caught up in what you are saying.
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I really look for you to answer each other’s attacks on cases, not just repeat what you have already told me if it doesn't address the opposing case.
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Giving me a clear road map and sticking to it always helps.
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If a team is misrepresenting evidence, make it clear to me and tell me how they are doing so.
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Overall, I want you to tell me why you are right AND why they are wrong. Make sure you are backing up your claims with evidence and statistics.
PF/LD Paradigms
I’m first and foremost an interp coach. Treat me like a lay judge who happens to know the rules (and yes- I know the rules). No spreading, clash is fine. If you really want to pick up my ballot, be sure to focus on cross-examination. I find that a strong, quality CX can illustrate your ability to communicate, prove your points, illustrate your knowledge and understanding of the debate and show your best engaged debate skills. Anyone can read a prepared card. Show me you know what to do with it.
On an aside, I do like debaters to keep it professional. I like it when people stand for cross-examination and are polite and supportive to their opponents before and after the round. I like it when I feel the teams are focused and paying attention not only to their opponents' speeches but also to their team member's speeches.
Congress Paradigms
I look for competitors who are prepared to speak on any topic - especially if they have prepared to speak on both sides of the topic. I look for quality speeches that add value to the debate; if we're four cycles in and you aren't bringing new information, crystallizing information we've heard, or providing a new rebuttal then it's easy for your speech to get lost amongst the masses. Activity in the chamber is good - I'm looking for you to be engaged in listening to other speeches, asking valuable questions, and working together to run a fair and efficient chamber.
Interp Paradigms
I was a high school competitor all four years - competing in all Interp events (DI, HI, OO, prose, poetry, Duo, Duet) and Congressional Debate. I competed on the Texas and National Circuits. Here's the big thing to know - you should never change your style, material, or story to try to get my 1. I will always respect the stories you choose to tell, the performance you're developing, and your courage to be you and share messages important to you. Just be you. My ballots may sound tough, but it comes out of a desire to help you improve. I've provided insight into what I'm looking for but none of it should force you to change your content.
For Interp Events, I'm looking for honest storytelling (talk to me like a person) and tech that helps enhance your story and not detract from it. I'm looking for clear, well-developed characters. I'm looking for an excellent intro that provides meaning and importance for your piece. I'm looking for excellent execution of pacing and incorporation of levels. Draw me into your story and leave me with something to take away. In addition, for all binder events, I'm a stickler for binder etiquette.
For Public Speaking Events (OO and INFO), I'm looking for topics that you are personally invested in. I'm looking for an engaging AGD, a clear vehicle, and well-defined points supported by a balance of ethos, pathos, and logos. Share your heart story and be honest with it. Most importantly, these are two events where you can really be yourself. Be your best self, sure. But don't feel like you have to put on a whole song and dance to get my one. I'm looking for an inspirational, conversational tone. INFO - I'm looking for creative visuals that are well-executed and add value to your speech without being a distraction.
For Extemp, I'm looking for a clear understanding of the question and a definitive answer with supporting analysis (cite those sources guys). Two points or three points are fine, depending on the question and your approach to answering the question. I just want your speech to have a clear sense of structure and organization. I'm also looking for strong presentation skills. Have vocal variety, adopt a conversational tone, know how to present in a way that is approachable for all audience types and not just those well-versed in current events and extemp. Don't be afraid to crack a joke, but don't rely purely on humor. Fluency breaks, circular speech (rehashing points and repeating yourself), and poor time management could affect your rank in round.
General note for everyone - I have a really bad thinking face and I'm going to look confused and upset. I'm not - don't take it personally! It's just my face and I don't really have a whole lot of control over that. Plenty of times I've had my own students tell me they were sure I hated what they were doing and then I was very complimentary of their work. So I promise you my face has nothing against you! It's just a grumpy face.
Coach focusing on interp and speech address events.
Twenty years of coaching speech and debate (LD, PF, and Policy) mostly in Colorado, but last nine years in Florida.
Two Colorado PF State Champions, as well as a team that finished 4th in NSDA Nationals. Look for quality arguments that have clean internal links and impacts. I look for teams that know how to properly weigh the opposing positions, and can identify the most impactful arguments that have surfaced in the round. Flow judge, but I can only flow what I can hear, so excessive speed will cost you. The winning team will know how to use each different speech in PF according to its designed intent (e.g. a Final Focus should not look like a frantic line-by-line rebuttal).
Coached state LD champ in Colorado and several NSDA national qualifiers in LD. Fairly traditional in LD judging. Will weigh competing values, but cases must clearly link to value being proposed/defended. Definitely a flow judge, but all arguments are not created equally. Looking for good analysis, and will definitely look for clear links. For that reason, spread is not generally going to impress me as I value quality over quantity. Some speed is fine, but most debaters think they are clearer at speed than they are, and if you fail to clearly communicate your argument, I can't properly flow it. Most kritiks are pretty poorly constructed, and I can only recall picking up a team based on their K one or two times. Debaters like to ask if I will vote on Theory arguments. The simple answer is that it depends on the theory and how well its run.
Also judge WSD. I generally like this form. The key to winning is well constructed argumentation, with proper warrants for your claims (empirical evidence or through logic, both count). This is a unique form and I expect you to use your time well in the way you structure your speeches, build on previous arguments (don't just repeat), and clearly demonstrate how your arguments refute or subsume your opponents. Delivery should be more 'congressional' than that of a spread debater. Quality, not quantity, of argument wins here. Use your POIs well. They are an interesting strategic device.
Congressional Debate Paradigm:
I'm looking for the best legislator overall which means I am considering your holistic participation in the round including the types of speeches you have given and the questions you've asked. Avoid answering with “I’m sure you can tell me.”
I love that Congress is a unique blend with an emphasis on delivery and debate/analysis in the round.
Additionally, I value evidence based debate with credible sources. Cite a source so I can look at it if I'm interested.
Please don't re-hash arguments--Know when it's time to move on. I flow the round and will know when you re-hash arguments and evidence. It's also important to know where/when you are speaking in the round in terms of what type of speech you are giving.
Be prepared to speak on either side of a bill.
You are also role playing as a legislator--remember this as well.
For the love of all things good, stop yelling out “motion.” It’s always out of order. If your motion interrupts, then say the motion directly, “point of order.” Otherwise, you must wait to be recognized.
Presiding Officers:
I will always rank a good presiding officer; however you should know the rules (NSDA, tournament specific, and Robert’s). I keep precedence/recency as well, so I will know if you get it wrong.
STOP asking for motions. It’s always out of order. Your job is to move the chamber forward. There is NOT a motion to open the floor for debate, for example.
If you choose to spread make sure you emphasize your most important pieces like your advantages and plans. I do prefer that you don't spread.
I don't mind if cross is heated but keep it ethical and under control.
I am a parent judge with two years judging LD. While I prefer that you don't talk too fast or spread, that's your decision, but keep in mind if I cannot track what you're saying, that won't be to your advantage. In fairness, I need to be able to understand what you're saying in order to judge its merits.
I take a lot of notes and will be heads down - but I will be very engaged. Please make it clear what's important to your case or detracts from your opponent's. Please don’t run progressive debate.
By your final focus or last speech, you should have made a convincing case why your impacts or value out-weigh your opponent's. And in keeping with the rules of debate, do not bring up any new arguments in the second half of a round, or they will be disregarded.
You can sit or stand, either are fine.
If time approaches, I usually let you finish your thought up to about :10 seconds. If you start a new thought after time has elapsed, I'll end that segment. I will not take points off for that.
If you ask for X minutes for prep time, I'll let you know when that time has elapsed. However, it's your time, so if you want to keep going that's perfectly fine.
Unless we're in higher levels of competition with multiple judges, I won't reveal my decision or give feedback after the round, but I do make every effort to leave notes in tabroom for the round and each individual.
I very much enjoy the competition of debate and look forward to judging your round. Good luck and have fun!
I am a parent
Please speak loud and clear. Also, please be civil towards your opponent(s).
Specifically for LD: I'm fine with Progressive Arguments (Counter plans, Disadvantages, Kritiks, theory, etc.), just be reasonable and explain it clearly so that I can understand what you are saying. For theory, please make sure it is an actual abuse in the round.
Lay Judge!
Longtime Speech Coach, focused on excellent delivery and professionalism.
Hi! Here are my LD, PF, and Congress paradigms.
Email: carteree23@gmail.com
Debate experience/about me: I'm currently an English teacher in Philly but I'm heading to law school this fall. I spent seven years as an assistant coach for Phillipsburg HS in NJ where I coached the Congress program. I am on hiatus from coaching this year but I'm still judging a little bit-- not nearly as much as in previous years though. When I competed back in the day, I did mostly LD + sometimes Congress in Maine from 2010-2014, and did NFA-LD + a tiny tiny bit of speech at Lafayette College until 2016.
Drexel Law '27, Penn GSE '21 (MS.Ed), Lafayette '18 (BA)
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LD
The short version: My background is pretty varied so I'm good with just about any arguments in round. I'm pretty tab; tech > truth; I want you to run whatever you think your best strategy is. A couple of specific preferences are outlined below.
Speed: I'm good with anything! If you're spreading just put me on the email chain.
DAs: I like DAs and enjoy policymaking debates in general but I am a little old school in that I don't really like when they have wild link chains and impacts just for the sake of outweighing on magnitude. I'm not gonna drop you for it but I think there are always better arguments out there.
T/Theory: Please save it for instances of legit abuse. I can keep up but there are definitely way better theory judges than me out there so keep that in mind.
Traditional: I competed on a small local circuit in high school and am always good for this type of round. Please weigh & give me voters!
Other stuff (CPs, Ks, aff ground): This is where the overarching "run whatever" ethos truly kicks in, though you should be mindful that I am getting very old and need you to err on the side of over-explaining anything new and hip. I love a good CP; PICs are fine, and I don't really buy condo bad. I was not a K debater when I competed but I've come to enjoy them a lot-- I am familiar with the basics in terms of lit and just make sure to explain it well. Plan affs? Absolutely yes. Performance affs? I think they're super cool. Just tell me where to vote.
And finally: have fun! Bring a sense of humor and the collegiality that makes debate such a special activity. I'll never, ever, ever drop you or even change your speaker points just for being an "aggressive" speaker, but please use your best judgment re: strat and speaking style-- i.e. if you're a varsity circuit debater hitting a novice, it's not the time for your wildest K at top speed, and that is something I'm willing to drop your speaks for.
You can ask me any further questions about my paradigm before the round.
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PF
A lot of my PF thoughts are the same as LD so this will be very short (tl;dr -- run your best strategy, extend/weigh/give me voters, and I'll vote on the flow)! I do think it should be a different event with different conventions and too much progressive argumentation is probably not great for the overall direction of PF, but I won't drop you for it.
Also, I judge a fair amount but I've never coached PF and I am also getting old so I definitely don't have as much topic knowledge as you. Please err on the side of explaining acronyms/stock arguments/etc.
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Congress
I did Congress as my second event in high school and it's what I primarily coached. I am a pretty frequent parli at NJ, PA, and national circuit tournaments.
I'm a flow judge and my #1 priority is the content of your speeches. While your speaking style and delivery is an important part of the overall package and I’ll mention it on ballots, it's called congressional debate for a reason, and I'll always rank a less polished speaker with better content higher than somebody who's a great orator but isn't advancing the debate. This may make me different than judges from a speech background, and that might reflect in my ranks-- but it's why we have multiple judges with different perspectives, and why it's so important to be well-rounded as a competitor.
I love a good first aff but they should follow a problem/solution structure. If you are speaking past the first aff I need to see great refutation and your arguments need to explicitly provide something new to the debate; don't rehash. Humanizing your impacts and explicitly weighing them is the quickest way to my ranks.
I don't have terribly strong opinions re: the PO-- just be fair, knowledgeable, and efficient and you'll rank.
For the past thirty-one years, I have been judging individual events.
For interpretation events and duo, I value natural, motivated, and believable characterizations. All movement should be motivated, not just visually stimulating without real purpose. The key to believable characterization is an internalization of the motivations that manifest themselves through the nonverbal communication channels. Performances that cause me to reflect upon what I have seen/ heard long after the event are indicative of a great, mature performer. (This should be applied to both humorous and dramatic pieces.)
When evaluating public address and limited prep events, I believe the content of the speech with credible sources should be paramount; however, the delivery and connection to the audience must also be present in order to captivate the audience. Support should delve beyond a superficial quotation or secondary source rendering; consequently, I find the unified approach to be far more powerful since it allows the speaker to develop the arguments further than a three part line of reasoning approach (especially in extemporaneous and impromptu speaking). Again, the speaker needs to cultivate a relationship with the audience in order for the content to be effective.
When evaluating debate, the focus should be the strength and depth of both sides of the argument. Fallacies and flawed policies should be exposed. A skilled speaker/ team can conduct himself or herself professionally and analytically without the rapid fire of spreading. The argument should not be made at the expense of the relationship with the audience. I follow a leader who inspires and talks to/ with me, not at me. Points that are hard to flow are not points at all.
(she/they)
Who am I?
I am a social studies teacher the assistant debate coach. I mainly judge public forum and believe it is a positive space for open and healthy rhetoric. I hope you agree with my view that public forum is an event for the common person.
I am hard of hearing
I will be using a transcription aid on my phone to follow the round. It is not recording the speech and the transcript is deleted after 24 hours. Please, speak loudly and clearly for me and the transcription.
How I evaluate debate.
Treat me like a lay person who can flow. Use email chains, cut cards rather than paraphrasing, and avoid the use of debate jargon. I want to see clear defense, impacts, and links. I am a social studies teacher, so focus on your ability to use evidence and real-world understanding. I will vote on understanding of the issue, evidence, and explanation.
### Speeches
If you don't talk about it in summary, I'm not evaluating it in final focus.
### Cross
Don't use crossfire as an opportunity to bicker. I don’t pay attention to cross. In my opinion, cross is meant to examine your opponent’s case and clarify any questions. Seeing people using cross just to dunk on the opponent is not useful.
### Spreading
I am new to debate and English is not my first language so I cannot judge spreading - nor do I believe it has a place in *public* forum. I need to understand your argument and your ability to adapt to your audience will be judged.
### Theory
If your opponent does any of the Big Oofs and you read theory about it, I'm inclined to think you're in the right.
I don't want to listen to K debate - I will be honest and admit I do not know enough about debate to evaluate them fairly (except for the aforementioned exception)
Big Oofs
These are things that will make a W or high speaks an uphill battle. If you read theory against any of these (when applicable), I’m inclined to side with you. Avoid at all costs.
1. Misuse Evidence. Know the evidence and cut rather than paraphrase. Use evidence that is relevant, timely, trustworthy, and accurate. Use SpeechDoc or an email chain to keep each other accountable and save time.
2. Be late to round. Especially for Flight 2. I understand the first round of the day, but please try your best to be in your room on time. Punctuality is a skill and impressions are important.
3. Taking too long to ‘get ready’ or holding up the round. Have cards cut, flows setup, and laptops ready to go before the round. Especially if you’re going to be late.
4. Not timing yourself. Self-explanatory.
5. Not using trigger warnings. Debate is better when it’s accessible. Introducing any possibly triggering topics or references without consent is inaccessible.
6. Doing any of the 2023 no-no’s. Homophobia, misogyny, transphobia, racism, ableism, etc. is a one-way free ticket to a 25 speak and an L for the round.
The Respect Amendment
This section was added for minor offensives that rub me the wrong way. No, I will not vote on these. I might dock speaks for not following these - depending on severity.
I want to forward a respectful, fair, and accessible environment for debate. The Big Oofs are a good place to start. But I hope that every debater would…
1. **Respect their partner.** Trust that they know what they’re doing.
2. **Respect their opponent.** Don’t belittle them or talk down to them. Aim to understand and give critiques on their argument, not to one-up them on something small.
3. **Respect the judge.** All judges make mistakes and lousy calls - especially me. We can respectfully disagree, and that’s okay. However, not a single judge has changed their mind because you were a bad sportsperson.
Policy/CX Debate:
I am a stock issues judge, I prefer the affirmative to defend all 5 stock issues. The affirmative and the negative should both create direct clash by responding to ALL of their opponents' arguments. To me, an argument that does not have a response is an argument that is won by the team that made the argument. I do not like kritiks. Topicalities are great, but I don't like time being wasted on endless topicality arguments. Disadvantages are also a good argument, but should be formatted correctly and have all four necessary parts. CPs should have a net benefit, or they are not better than the affirmative case. On case arguments are the most effective arguments in my opinion, as long as they relate directly to the opponent's case. I will also listen to reasonable theory arguments. The following is personal preference, but one thing that irks me as a judge is teams that kick arguments that they are winning or that there is good debate on, only kick arguments if you're absolutely sure the argument will have no impact on the round at all. Also, when you kick an argument, please be explicit about kicking the argument and don't "silent kick" an argument.
Style and Delivery Preferences:
I want to be able to understand every word you say. I will award higher speaker points to debaters that speak the most fluently, with the fewest mistakes, as long as I understand them.
Hi--thanks for looking me up!
I'm a parent, a career English and Ethnic Studies professor, and a former member of the USC Debate Squad. My events were duo interp. and the "After Dinner Speech" (a talk with goals to entertain and instruct). This is my 4th year judging (2nd kid on the team).
Debate: I will flow your case and vote on the strength of it as a whole (not line-by-line). I like good evidence and precise word choice; overstatement, for me, is intellectually sloppy, annoying, and sometimes a critical error (looking at you, extinction-level arguments!). The best debaters will use superb sources and be vigilant about their opponents' blocks for the same. Cross is a strategic opportunity to open holes or create a path for your own case, so "repeat this" questions that offer your opponent more airtime reflect poorly on you. Tone matters, so cross can be aggressive but not demeaning or bullying. Logical links should be made often and with crystal clarity. Real-world examples that are not cliche and offer you an opportunity to "make real" your framework and showcase the depth and adeptness of your thinking are always impressive. FYI, I have voted with the majority in 85% of debate elim rounds.
For congress, I rank your speech as well as your questions and interactions.
Don't use common cases. In my field we call itplagiarism and consider it illegal. Therefore, duplicate cases will be judged with great disadvantage. (Opponents are advised to drill down and demand logical links and sophisticated explanations from different points of view because folks who copy cases often cannot provide these.)
Spreading, for me, is a flashy (and cheap) excuse for the harder intellectual work of analysis and concision that debate demands. Please don't undermine the transferable skills at the heart of this amazing program by spreading.
Please don't ask if I want your written case in advance; that follow-on to speading compromises the careful listening and oral argument abilities that debate is designed to cultivate in real time. If you ask, I'll know you haven't read my paradigm.
IEs: I believe in genre categories, so a Dec should sound like a speech and not a DI. HI should be LOL funny instead of weird/odd. Interp speeches should be cut to highlight a clear plot arc with tension, depth, and a satisfying conclusion. Sources matter and should be clearly and respectfully credited. Platform speeches should sound professional and resist drama creep.
I don't profess to be "right," but earnest feedback is a gift, and I will do my best to offer you some thoughts. I learn something from you in nearly every round I hear (thank YOU!).
Most importantly, I'm impressed that you've made the choice to participate in Speech and Debate, and I believe that your hard work here will benefit every aspect of your future. I celebrate you! Many of you are already more advanced than my freshmen and sophomores in the CSU. It's such a pleasure to listen to you and to watch you grow over the seasons! :) Let's go!
Prof. Cassel
I have coached LD at Strake Jesuit in Houston, Tx since 2009. I judge a lot and do a decent amount of topic research. Mostly on the national/toc circuit but also locally. Feel free to ask questions before the round. Add me to email chains. Jchriscastillo@gmail.com.
I don't have a preference for how you debate or which arguments you choose to read. The best debaters will 1. Focus on argument explanation over argument quantity. 2. Provide clear judge instruction.
I do not flow off the doc.
Evidence:
- I rarely read evidence after debates.
- Evidence should be highlighted so it's grammatically coherent and makes a complete argument.
- Smart analytics can beat bad evidence
- Compare and talk about evidence, don't just read more cards
Theory:
- I default to competing interps, no rvi's and drop the debater on shells read against advocacies/entire positions and drop the argument against all other types.
- I'm ok with using theory as a strategic tool but the sillier the shell the lower the threshold I have for responsiveness.
- Please weigh and slow down for interps and short analytic arguments.
Non-T/Planless affs: I'm good with these. I'm most compelled by affirmatives that 1. Can explain what the role of the neg is 2. Explain why the ballot is key.
Delivery: You can go as fast as you want but be clear and slow down for advocacy texts, interps, taglines and author names. Don't blitz through 1 sentence analytics and expect me to get everything down. I will say "clear" and "slow".
Speaks: Speaks are a reflection of your strategy, argument quality, efficiency, how well you use cx, and clarity. I do not disclose speaks.
Things not to do: 1. Don't make arguments that are racist/sexist/homophobic (this is a good general life rule too). 2. I won't vote on arguments I don't understand or arguments that are blatantly false. 3. Don't be mean to less experienced debaters. 4. Don't steal prep. 5. I will not vote on "evaluate after X speech" arguments.
Hello my name is Shannon Catlin. I have judged debate for the last six years, while also participating as a debater in my high school career. When I sit down to a debate I prefer to hear evidence based proof with a footprint to back your sources. I also look for if a debater understands what they are presenting, explaining in your own terms.
I like to see what your policy is and how your plan of action will work with proof and funding. I watch for confident body language and being able to make eye contact with your peers.
I will allow spectators if the participants also agree, however they will not be allowed electronic devises.
Let's have s great debate.
As a Lincoln Douglas Judge I am a very traditional judge from a very traditional area of the country. With that, comes all of the typical impacts.
I am not able to flow spreading very effectively at all.
I, very rarely, judge policy, but those would be in slower rounds as well. Because of that, though, I am at least somewhat familiar with K debate, K AFF, theory, CP's, etc.
For me to vote on progressive argumentation in LD, it has to be very clearly ARTICULATED to me why and how you win those arguments. Crystal clear argumentation and articulation of a clear path to giving you the ballot is needed.
When it comes to interpretation events, I am drawn to performances that marry the synergy between literature, fully crafted performances, and effective blocking. I'll be looking for a well-crafted and engaging message that not only captivates the audience but also demonstrates a deep appreciation for the literary nuances in your chosen material. Ensure your content is not just spoken but embodied, utilizing effective blocking to enhance the visual dimension of your performance. Your delivery remains pivotal, so articulate your words with confidence, using your voice, body language, and strategic blocking to create a cohesive and immersive presentation. Pay attention to pacing and timing for a seamless and dynamic flow. Tell me a story, take me on a journey, and make me feel something!
A successful debate performance is one that is easily intelligible and persuasive to a general audience, listeners who are not trained in the arcana of debate terminology, and does so with a rate of delivery that is spirited but does not draw attention to itself by its speed.
Persuasion comes from a Latin word meaning "thoroughly sweet". Being persuasive allows the speaker to challenge the opinions of an audience by a fusion of rigorous logic and an oratorical style that does not offend but which urges the listener to buy into the speaker's take on the great issues of our day..
Br. Anthony K. Cavet
Catholic Memorial School
West Roxbury MA
Nov 19, 2020
1. What is your experience level? Have you been
actively coaching or judging, and how long?
How often have you judged rounds on this
topic?
Former interp competitor, who has been coaching and judging all speech and debate events since 2002. I have served as an event specific coach, assistant coach and head coach of small and large programs. I have judged speech, PF and Congress at all levels of competition, from local tournaments, state finals, national circuit, and national final rounds.
2. Describe your preferences as they relate to
debaters’ rate of delivery and use of jargon or
technical language.
I can handle speed for the most part, but too fast to flow and it would be difficult to win the round.
3. Describe your personal note-taking during
the round. Do you write down key arguments?
Keep a rigorous flow?
I record brief notes on the key arguments and points of the round.
4. What are the specific criteria you consider
when assessing a debate?
I look at who won the most important/critical argument of the round based on the impacts presented.
5. What expectations do you have for debaters’
in-round conduct?
I very open to style choices; however, overtly rude or aggressive behavior is unacceptable. Debaters who are respectful of their opponents and understand the art of debate should be applauded.
Andrew Chadwell,
Assistant Coach, Gig Harbor HS, Gig Harbor WA
Coached PF: 10+ years
Competed in PF: 1 year
Competed in British Parliamentary: 2 years
Competed at the 2012 World Universities Debating Championship in Manila.
Items that are Specific to the 2018 TOC tournament are placed at the end of this-I would still encourage you all to read the whole Paradigm and not just the TOC items.
Hello all,
Note: I debated in PF at a time when things were a bit different-Final focus was 1 minute long, you could not ask to see your opponents evidence and not everything needed a card in order to be true. This might explain some things before you read the rest of this.
Arguments have a claim, a warrant, and a link to the ballot (impact). This is interpreted by my understanding of your explanation of the argument. If I don’t understand the argument/how it functions, I won’t vote on it.
Main items:
1. Clear arguments-I should be able to understand you.
2. What are the impacts?-Impact calc is very important.
3. Give me voters in Final Focus.
4. Abusive Case/Framework/Conduct: Alright so if you are running some sort of FW or case that gives your opponent a super narrow bit of ground to stand on and I feel that they have no ground to make any sort of case then I will consider it in my decisions.
That being said if your framework leaves your opponents with enough ground to work with and they don’t understand it that's their loss.
Conduct in the round should be professional-We are here to debate not get into shouting matches. Or insult the opposing team's intelligence.
Framework/Res Analysis/Observation’s: Totally fine with as long as they are not super abusive. I like weighing mechanisms for rounds.
Evidence Debates/Handover: I have a very large dislike of how some teams seem to think that PF should just be a mini-CX where if you don’t have a card even if the argument is pure logic, they say it cannot be considered. If the logic and the link works I am good with it.
I don't want to see evidence/definition wars unless you can clearly prove that your evidence supplements your opponents. Also, evidence handover counts toward your prep time-not outside of it. You wanna see someone's evidence that comes out of your prep.
Speaker Points: I was asked this several times last year so I figured I would add this piece. How to get 30 speaker points from me. First of all I would say that clarity is a big helper in this, alongside that I will also say that asking good lines of questioning in crossfire can help you get better speaker points from me. I do tend to grade harder on the rebuttal and final focus speeches since those were what I was primarily doing when I competed. The other thing that can be really helpful is analogies. Good analogies can win you a round. If they are actually good.
Things that help you win my ballot:
Unique arguments (That actually link to the resolution)
Be clever.
Be polite.
Be Civil
Make it an awesome round. Down to the wire back and forth. Keep me on the edge of my seat.
Things that hurt you:
Being abusive- either in case or in speaking. Aggressive CF and arguments are okay with me, but keep it in check.
Disregarding All of the above points.
Not being attired professionally. (Unless extenuating circumstances exist)
Ignoring my point about evidence debate.
Insulting an opponent personally.
TOC Specific Items
Please share your opinions or beliefs about how the following play into a debate round:
The speed of Delivery: Medium speed and clarity tend to win out more than the number of items that you claim should exist on my flow.
The format of Summary Speeches (line by line? big picture?)
I generally would go for either Line by line will help my flow be clear and easier to understand at the end of the round. Big picture I tend to believe has more of an impact on the summary and the final focus.
Role of the Final Focus
Put this up at the top: But here it is again: I want to see Voters in the final focus. Unless your opponent pulled some sort of crazy stunt that absolutely needs to be addressed, the final focus is a self-promotion speech on why you won the round.
Extension of Arguments into later speeches
If an argument has not been responded to then you can just extend it. If it has been refuted in some way shape or form you need to address that counter before I will flow it across.
Topicality
Unless this is explained extremely well I cannot vote on T. Frankly don't risk it.
Plans
Not for PF.
Kritiks
With the lack of knowledge that I have in regards to how Kritiks should be run, Please do not run them in front of me. This will likely make vote for your opponent.
Flowing/note-taking
You should be flowing in the round-Even if you know that you have the round in the bag. Always flow.
Do you value argument over style? Style over argument? Argument and style equally?
Equal. A debator who can combine good arguments with style is going to generally win out over one or the other.
If a team plans to win the debate on an argument, in your opinion does that argument have to be extended in the rebuttal or summary speeches?
Definetly in the summery. If you have time in the rebuttal you can...
If a team is second speaking, do you require that the team cover the opponents’ case as well as answers to its opponents’ rebuttal in the rebuttal speech?
No. If you can start to do that great-but that might push you past the medium speed threshold.
Do you vote for arguments that are first raised in the grand crossfire or final focus?
If they are new-no. However, if they are extensions of prior arguments then that will be determined on a round by round basis.
If you have anything else you'd like to add to better inform students of your expectations and/or experience, please do so here.
Please read the whole paradigm. Also remember that I am human (I think) and I can make mistakes.
In Public Address: I value your originality, creativity, and persuasive presentation of ideas of personal importance. Cite your sources, explain their importance, and tell me why it matters.
In Interp: It is crucial that you tell a story in a meaningful and impactful manner. Characterization, gestures and facial expressions, and, vocal variation will all add to the overall decision.
In Debate, DO NOT SPREAD. I'm not a fan and would like to flow your case. Speeding through your case with me will not help you. I won't evaluate K, T, or Theory positions. Make the debate simple for me to evaluate and you will be rewarded for that!
Overall speaking skills or/and argumentation are critical to winning! But remember the most important thing is that you learn!
I am a parent judge whose son competes in Congressional debate. I have judged a few tournaments, specifically in congress.
Below are some things I want to see:
1. confidence and clarity when speaking
2. do not be rude to your fellow competitors
3. make your argument as clear and easy to understand as possible
For DEBATE events, I focus on:
(1) Content - focus on topic; arguments organized; factual accuracy; point of view supported; references; support is germane to topic; counters arguments presented by opposing team.
(2) Delivery - confidence; appropriate/professional tone; eye contact; volume; speaking rate (absolutely no speaking at lightspeed); time management.
Special Note - A well-delivered argument with good use of the performative aspects of speech is ultimately more persuasive than the same argument delivered poorly. If you are reading specific text from authors as evidence is expected, be mindful of your speed, lightspeed recitation of evidence will not win your arguments for you. Rather, your analysis and discussion of evidence will be necessary. Also, aggressive questioning during cross is expected, but unnecessary facial expressions/eye rolling/noise making/negative demeanors are absolutely not okay.
++++++
For SPEECH events, I focus on:
(1) Content - entertaining; piece choice challenging and appropriate for competitions.
(2) Delivery - eye contact; volume; speaking rate; confidence.
Special Note - A well-delivered speech with good use of performative aspects is the key to breaking. Believe in your piece, let the judges feel you believe in your own piece.
++++++
You are all here to showcase your pieces, I look forward to enjoying them. Be respectful to each other and other teams, I value that greatly. I will mark you down for disrespectful, unprofessional, and inappropriate behaviors toward your competitors, and if you do that more than once, I will drop you.
My background: A former defense attorney with extensive litigation experience; and I am currently a senior corporate counsel with a local architecture engineering consulting company, together I have more than 20 years of legal experience.
I am a parent judge. I judged over 100 competitions.
I will rate the competitors based on two main parts:
-Composition:
If the content is effective writing or not.
Does the competitor's speech organize clearly and easy to follow?
Does the speech contain ample solid reasoning and logic
Is the speech too general or does it focus on specifics?
Does the speech make too many generalizations or assumptions about the audience?
Does the speech contain evidence and examples?
Does the speech have good rhetorical choices?
-Delivery:
I would like competitors to use effective oral presentation skills. I will check if the competitor is comfortable with delivery such as having a clear voice, good intonation, or a nice tone.
I will also check if the speaker uses effective body language or not such as hand gestures, facial expressions, and eye contact.
Nagesh Cherukuri
First time judging
Preferences:
Speech:
- please be kind to one another during the round
- please provide your title and author before you being speaking
- please do not ask for time signals: you are all varsity and seasoned speakers, you should not need these
- if you forget your speech, you will not be permitted to restart, please keep going
- also, do not walk in while someone is performing, wait for the speaker to finish
Debate:
- please speak slowly, no spreading
- simplify your arguments before explaining them during rebuttal
- please be kind to one another during the round
For me Academic Speech & Debate is all about learning. I am a parent volunteer judge. I have judged a couple of speech tournaments for past 3 years. In a debate I am looking for significant and relevant arguments that stand to fact checking. Please do not spread. This is very important. Speak at conversational pace so that I can follow your arguments. I have very basic understanding of debate jargons so avoid them. I want to focus on your debate round so each team should keep their own time. Please be extremely polite and respectful to everyone in the room. Good luck and have fun!
I am a debate coach in Georgia. I also competed in LD and Policy out west. Take that for whatever you think it means.
- LD - Value/Value Criterion (Framework, Standard, etc,) - this is what separates us from the animals (or at least the policy debaters). It is the unique feature of LD Debate. Have a good value and criterion and link your arguments back to it. I am open to all arguments but present them well, know them, and, above all, Clash - this is a debate not a tea party.
- PF - I side on the traditional side of PF. Don't throw a lot of jargon at me or simply read cards... this isn't Policy Jr., compete in PF for the debate animal it is. Remember debate, especially PF, is meant to persuade - use all the tools in your rhetorical toolbox: Logos, Ethos, and Pathos.
- Speed - Debate is a SPEAKING event. I like speed but not spreading. Speak as fast as is necessary but keep it intelligible. There aren't a lot of jobs for speed readers after high school (auctioneers and pharmaceutical disclaimer commercials) so make sure you are using speed for a purpose. If you spread - it better be clear, I will not yell clear or slow down or quit mumbling, I will just stop listening. If the only way I can understand your case is to read it, you have already lost. If you are PRESENTING and ARGUING and PERSUADING then I need to understand the words coming out of your mouth! NEW for ONLINE DEBATE - I need you to speak slower and clearer, pay attention to where your mike is. On speed in-person, I am a 7-8. Online, make it a 5-6.
- Email Chains Please include me on email chains if it is used in the round, but don't expect me to sit there reading your case to understand your arguments - pchildress@gocats.org **Do not email me outside of the round unless you include your coach in the email.
- Know your case, like you actually did the research and wrote the case and researched the arguments from the other side. If you present it, I expect you to know it from every angle - I want you to know the research behind the statistic and the whole article, not just the blurb on the card.
- Casing - Love traditional but I am game for kritiks, counterplans, theory - but perform them well, KNOW them, I won't do the links for you. I am a student of Toulmin - claim-evidence-warrant/impacts. I don't make the links and don't just throw evidence cards at me with no analysis. It is really hard for you to win with an AFF K with me - it better be stellar. I am not a big fan of Theory shells that are not actually linked in to the topic - if you are going to run Afro-Pes or Feminism you better have STRONG links to the topic at hand, if the links aren't there... Also don't just throw debate terms out, use them for a purpose and if you don't need them, don't use them.
- I like clash. Argue the cases presented, mix it up, have some fun, but remember that debate is civil discourse - don't take it personal, being the loudest speaker won't win the round, being rude to your opponent won't win you the round.
- Debating is a performance in the art of persuasion and your job is to convince me, your judge (not your opponent!!) - use the art of persuasion to win the round: eye contact, vocal variations, appropriate gestures, and know your case well enough that you don't have to read every single word hunched over a computer screen. Keep your logical fallacies for your next round. Rhetoric is an art.
- Technology Woes - I will not stop the clock because your laptop just died or you can't find your case - not my problem, fix it or don't but we are going to move on.
- Ethics - Debate is a great game when everyone plays by the rules. Play by the rules - don't give me a reason to doubt your veracity.
- Win is decided by the flow (remember if you don't LINK it, I don't either), who made the most successful arguments and used evidence and reasoning to back up those arguments.
- Speaker Points are awarded to the best speaker - I end up with a rare low point win each season. I am fairly generous on speaker points. I disclose winner but not speaker points. Even is you are losing a round or not feeling it during the round, don't quit on yourself or your opponent! You may not like the way your opponent set up their case or you may not like a certain style of debate but don't quit in a round.
- Don't browbeat less experienced debaters; you should aim to win off of argumentation skill against less experienced opponents, not smoke screens or jargon. 7 off against a first-year may get you the win, but it kills the educational and ethical debate space you should strive for. As an experienced debater, you should hope to EDUCATE them not run them out of the event.
- Enjoy yourself. Debate is the best sport in the world - win or lose - learn something from each round, don't gloat, don't disparage other teams, judges, or coaches, and don't try to convince me after the round is over. Leave it in the round and realize you may have just made a friend that you will compete against and talk to for the rest of your life. Don't be so caught up in winning that you forget to have some fun - in the round, between rounds, on the bus, and in practice.
- Rule of Debate Life. Sometimes you will be told you are the winner when you believe you didn't win the round - accept it as a gift from the debate gods and move on. Sometimes you will be told you lost a round that you KNOW you won - accept that this is life and move on. Sometimes judges base a decision on something that you considered insignificant or irrelevant and, sometimes, judges get it wrong, it sucks but that is life. However, if the judge is inappropriate - get your advocate, your coach, to address the issue. Arguing with the judge in the round or badmouthing them in the hall or cafeteria won't solve the issue.
- Immediate losers for me - be disparaging to the other team or make racist, homophobic, sexist arguments or comments. Essentially, be kind and respectful if you want to win.
- Questions? - if you have a question ask me.
Public Forum:
Parent judging with minimal experience — be understanding and adapt to that. That means going slower, using logical arguments that don’t follow crazy reasoning, not using debate jargon, and being respectful in round. I’ll try to make the best decision possible based off the importance and weighing to arguments and you're reasoning for why I should vote for you. Remember, the clearer you are, the more likely you are to get my ballot.
Quick note: for cross x, I will listen but not flow. If you want me to note something, mention it in the next speech.
Congress:
Make your argumentation and impacts very clear. Reference other people in the round - clash is good!
Hello, I am a parent judge but I am semi-familiar with the debate circuit, but mainly PF. Treat me like a lay judge, though.
Add me to the chain: yeonkcho@gmail.com
Couple prefs:
1. Trad/larp
2. Phil
3. K (cap, security, etc. just the simple ones), aff Ks
Strike: tricks, weird aff ks (high theory), friv theory
Tech > truth
Speed:
Don’t spread, please. It kind of decks all the benefits of debate as a portable skill. I’ll boost your speaks if you win while being clear/slow
Evidence:
Don’t clip. Check evidence of your opponent. I’ll vote on ivi/dtd if you tell me.
CPs:
I like a good CP, but just make sure to warrant this out really well. I’m skewed a little bit more towards perm, but if you win on the CP I’m happy to vote on it
T
I’m not very familiar with very tricky/progressive debates. Try, if possible, to keep it trad
Theory:
Not really familiar, but I will vote on it. I default no i
K:
I’m kind of familiar with the common Ks, but please explain it well. In your 1NR, read a brief overview of what the k does. If it’s K v Phil, explain clearly why K > Phil of vice versa. K v Ks hurt my brain.
Aff Ks:
You can run it, but I’m super unfamiliar with them. I’ll be happy to vote on them if you explain them really well, though, and leverage it out over your opponents.
Hello,
I will pay attention to your presentation skills and understanding of the topic. My comments will be mainly on your strengths and areas of improvement.
Your clear thinking, good speaking, and exciting presentation will make you a strong speaker.
All the best!
Who am I:
I am the head speech & debate coach at Idaho Falls HS. I've been a head coach for 11 years, and also competed in high school and college.
Here's the best way to earn my ballot for any type of debate:
1) Win the flow. If you drop an issue in a speech, do not bring it back up. In PF, dropped arguments are technically ok (you gotta summarize after all). Just make sure to communicate to me on why it is good/bad/unimportant that an argument was dropped.
2) Impact out what you win on the flow. I don't care if your opponent clean concedes an argument that you extend through every speech if you don't tell me why I should care.
3) Weigh your impacts! This is a great way to win the ballot with me.
3) Clash with your opponent. Just because you put 5 attacks on an argument doesn't mean it has been dealt with if your attacks have no direct clash with the argument. If you are making an outweigh argument, tell me and I can evaluate it as such!
4) Courtesy. If you are not kind, courteous, and ethical to your opponent, you will receive lower speaker points. I believe that debaters should be able to win on the flow and do so in a kind and professional manner. If the round is extremely close, I often use courtesy and ethics as a tiebreaker.
5) Speed: I think that it's easier to have a cleaner debate when it is regular conversational speed, but I understand when you have to pick it up a bit. Not a fan of spreading.
6) Comms: The more I coach and teach, the more I find myself being persuaded by stronger and more polished speakers. Don't forget about good speaking techniques!
***Note- I don't pay much attention to CX. Bring the major issues back up in speeches.
CONGRESS:
Good congress involves speaking extemporaneously, using evidence and analysis, and having excellent speaking skills. I will rank you higher if you are kind, yet strong in your quesitoning answers. Good congress people should be present throughout the round the round through both speeches and questions. I recognize that preset recency can be difficult, so make sure you are both asking questions, and raising your placard to speak often!
LD DEBATE:
Value/Value Criterions
I think these are necessary in LD debate. I am a more traditional LD debate, but i'm open to progressive ideas (or CPs). Make sure to use your V/CR throughout the round. These are usually a large weighing mechanism for me, so make sure I know why I should prefer your V/CR and how you use that to win the round.
K's/Theory
I don't prefer Ks, but recognize the need for theory at times. I prefer traditional LD debate, with a focus on values and value criterions.
Plan's/Counterplans
I'm much more accepting of CPs than Ks in LD. I understand when a CP is necessary to run as the neg.
POLICY DEBATE:
I tend to be a more traditional-style policy judge, as in I judge following traditional rules. However, I'm still very open to arguments. I don't love Ks, mostly because I think debating the heart of the topic is important. I love a good T shell when the aff isn't topical (you won't find me penalizing you for T...unless you run a million as a time suck. Then I might not like it). Line-by-line and sign posting are key. I would say I'm about a 5 out of 10 on a speed scale for policy. If you go too quickly, you will notice me flowing less, so be aware.
PF DEBATE:
I love good public forum debate! I think good PF is a balance between amazing argumentation (line-by-line, direct clash, etc.) and killer speaking skills. I think good teamwork with your partner is very important. Treat your partner like a person who deserves respect. Both partners should be involved in Grand Cross. I prefer crystalization over line-by-line in the summary, but I won't punish you for a line-by-line refutation summary. Weighing is crucial in PF. Tell me WHY I should prefer your arguments and impacts so that I don't have to intervene with my own thoughts during deliberation. Debaters that don't tell the judge exactly what to vote on andwhy are just inviting the judge to choose whatever they want, leading to intervention. I belive that PF should be responding to case attacks in "rebuttal" speech (second 4 min speeches). By not doing this, you drop lots of attacks and create an unfair burden on the first speaking team.
Calling for evidence during in-person rounds
From the judge---
I will only call for evidence that is contended throughout the round, with that being said if you want me to call for evidence, tell me to call for it and what is wrong with it so I don't have to throw my own judgement in.
From your opponent---
I will not time you to give evidence to your opponents, but I will time you if you start reading the evidence and analyzing it. I believe that should be done in prep. If you are taking too long to find/give evidence to your opponents, I will start your prep time. So be quick!
Have an excellent round!! Ask me any questions about my paradigm before the round starts!
DEBATE EVENTS:
I am a practicing attorney who occasionally moonlights as a debate judge. In real life, in a real courtroom, I will only win a trial if I win the hearts and minds of the jury---presenting artfully crafted arguments that accentuate my personal ethos, while balancing appropriate appeals to logic and passion. If I tried to "spew" or "spread" my arguments to a jury, I would lose the case. If I tried it in front of a judge, I would get kicked out of the courtroom! I would lose all my cases and my clients with them.
The same goes for nearly every other professional communicator. No teacher would teach that way. No news broadcaster would report that way. As far as I can tell, the only job opportunity available to a "progressively" trained debater is to deliver the annoying legal disclaimers at the end of tv & radio commercials.
That said, here is how to get my vote:
(1) Speak at a normal, conversational rate;
(2) Look me in the eye;
(3) Begin with a clear, real-life illustration of how the Affirmative or Negative case effects real people;
(4) Make me laugh;
(5) Make me cry;
(6) Make me care;
(7) Help me understand what the resolution means;
(8) Help me understand why your ideas are right;
(9) Help me understand why your opponent is wrong; and,
(10) Organize your ideas in a way that makes sense.
I realize that this rhetorical model is profoundly outdated (it is in fact about 2,500 years old). Nevertheless, in the spirit of learning something useful (rather than simply winning another piece of shiny plastic today for speed-reading), please give these ideas a try!
SPEECH EVENTS:
Many Debaters [and coaches] consider speech events to be "throw-away" events---something to do when debaters are not in a "real" debate round. Nothing could be farther from the truth! Speech events teach students about the power of pathos---of making human connections. They provide a wonderful balance to the logos-heavy debate events. To capture my vote [or the vote of most ordinary human beings], a student must be prepared to do the following:
(1) Begin with a clear, real-life illustration of how your topic effects real people;
(2) Make me laugh;
(3) Make me cry;
(4) Make me care;
(5) Help me understand what you mean;
(6) Help me understand why your ideas are right;
(7) Help me understand why any competing viewpoint is wrong [or "misinformed"]; and,
(8) Organize your ideas in a way that makes sense.
Don't be intimidated by all of this this [if you happen to be a hard-core, card-flipping, impact-calculus trained debater]. Instead, embrace the opportunity to learn a new [and equally real] way of communicating in a way that focuses on building human connections [rather than squabbling over obscure, marginally-relevant minutia].
Berkeley is an exciting time! Have fun, and make smart decisions! I can keep up with speed, but be fair to other debaters.
The ability to craft an argument towards your judges is a critical skill, and so checking paradigms is a good start. Mine are simple — be kind, be realistic, and be better than your opponent.
If not nice, be decent. No name calling or intentional interruptions.
If not realistic, be unrealistic within reason. Try not to speak in absolutes like “There is no way impact X could happen because my 1 card refutes” or “my impacts of nuclear fallout absolutely flow through with 100% certainty in 5 years.”
Falsified evidence is also not cool! Don’t do that!
If you’re not better than your opponent, you’ll probably lose the round. Unless they are needlessly rude and unrealistic (see above).
I can keep up with any type of debate, but I'm not going to judge you strictly tech over truth. I won't make arguments for your opponent, but I'm not gonna let you say the sky is red, and make your opponent prove the sky is blue, because that undermines the quality of debate. Being accurate is an important part of winning.
My email for evidence sharing is loganchr@usc.edu
Also, I won't take points off, but avoid off-time roadmaps. Use the time that the NSDA gives you in your speech to outline your speech.
Primarily, I am a coach and educator. I have always felt strongly that debate is a contest of ideas and communication skills. I have no preferences in the round; however, if you speak so quickly that your ideas are diminished, I will have a hard time voting for you, especially if your opponent is more articulate (even with weaker arguments).
I vote on whatever I found to be effective in the round. The more specific your arguments are to what happens in the debate, the greater your chances of earning my ballot. I’m looking for clash and reward debaters who work to ensure it is achieved.
I am philosophically opposed to disclosing my ballot at the end of the round. I will only offer oral critique if I saw something that I think I could share to help you with the remaining rounds in the tournament (adjusting your case, how you could have argued more effectively, etc.). Everything else I am thinking during the round I will note on the ballot.
Please add me on the email chain:amandaciocca@gmail.com
2/19/24 UPDATE: I feel compelled to preface that Im becoming pretty tab. I keep a pretty detailed flow. I don't hack for args. Speaks are what I say they are. I evaluate almost anything as long as there is a coherent argument with a warrant. Yes, I will read cards if instructed. I need a warrant, stop spamming blippy arguments and making me decide whether I find them legit enough.
Ex-varsity college policy debater for UMW who read primarily Policy and K's. Been judging for 5 years so Im slowly becoming more cranky about bad debates. FSU grad with a Bachelor in Intersectional Women's Studies and Media/Comm, currently a MA student in the Women Studies program. I competed in LD for four years, mostly read soft-left policy stuff and fem/ borderlands Ks. I coach in the summer for the Texas Debate Collective, and also coach a few independent students during the season.
Refer to me in round however you'd like, my pronouns are she/her. Some people hate being called judge but unless you feel comfy referring to me as Amanda then do whatever you want idgaf <3
Im fairly flex at this moment in my judging career so realistically I'm fine with most args. Just dont say morally repugnant stuff. Any questions just ask.
____________________________________________________________________________
Pref guide:
Ks (General) : 1
K Affs and Performance: 1
Policy: 1
Phil: 3
Trad: 5
Theory: 2
Tricks/Skep: 4
_____________________________________________
LD:
Here's the most important things to know:
1. Learn how to flow. Im tired of debaters answering stuff that wasn't read. Im THIS close to just not looking at the doc at all because y'all are just docbots.
2. Don't be racist/homophobic/sexist/ or just problematic. Any instances of BLATANT verbal discrimination/ harassment of an opponent then Im giving you an L 20 and will hard stop the round reporting you to tab.HOWEVER, if you just are slightly big headed and/or arrogant idc. You do you, but just be respectful to other people in the room. Please use proper pronouns!!
3. Your pre-written analytics SHOULD BE GENDERLESS. Im ripping my hair out at the fact that people still aren't removing he/him/she/her from docs.
4. I'm expressive af. I will be actively making faces, most of them aren't actually directed at you. Also I do have an RBF so don't take it personally.
5. Do what you are best at.
6. Weigh.
7. Give me judge instruction.
8. Im not doing any extra work for you, I'm many debate years old and am LAZY. Tell me where to vote or else I'm going to make a decision you don't like lol
_____________________________________________________________________________
2/5/25
Updated Preferences Stylistically:
Policy-I've started really loving good policy debate. Policy-making is cool, do whatever you want. Plan texts need a solvency advocate, idc what ur coach says. CP's are cool, make sure there is some sort of net benefit and also if you don't answer the perm I'll be very sad. DA's are fun as long as there is a clear link to the aff, also for the love of god weigh. Your UQ needs to be from like two days ago PLEASE, enough of UQ from five years ago.
K-K's are groovy. I think non-t k affs are cool, just need clear explanation why that is good for debate. I have been leaning neg on TFWK, but this debate CAN be won j stop reading generics that debaters already have answers to. Yes impact turns, unless the 1N tells me otherwise. Please extend the text of the ROTB, I need some framing when extending. Please refer to my tricks section to see my opinion on K tricks.Stop reading K's without links OR extending every card in the 2NR, its just making me sad.
Performance-I have a pretty decent ability to judge a performance debate and I think they are pretty dope. However, I don't think that debaters need to degrade their opponent during a round to "get the point across" especially because I think that ruins the integrity of the round itself. If you are going to engage in an in-round performance, please extend it in rebuttals or else I fail to understand how it is important to the aff/neg.
Traditional-I am perfectly alright with traditional debate. I loved it as a freshman and sophomore. I value debaters making strats accessible for all debaters. Make sure that you are weighing and using that short 1AR/2AR to crystalize and extend your arguments. Nothing is ever implied, please use well-warranted args. I have so much respect for strong traditional debaters on the circuit but I will hold you to the same standards as I hold progressive kiddos.
Phil-I love good phil debates.Post-Harvard, Im pretty comfy evaluating dense Kant debates. Im fine with any phil as long as you win it is a good metric to frame the debate through. I have no defaults, probably should win ideal theory good. Do with this what you want, if you are comfy going for phil then pref me wherever you'd like.
Theory: I've been enjoying it a lot more. Used to really hate 1AC disclo but have recognized its necessity sometimes I guess. Also have started to really enjoy a good theory debate but PLEASE read paradigm issues on your shells!I've voted recently on ROTB Spec, ASpec, Disclo, and CSA. Let that guide your prefs however you'd like.
Tricks-This is probably my weakest place in regards to judging but that doesn't mean I won't try. If you want to pref me and read tricks then just make sure they are clear and there is an explanation somewhere in the round about how it functions in the round and I'll try my best to judge accordingly.I hate debates that are just sloppy tricks debate, if this applies to you then dont pref me at all like please don't pref me if you just want to meme around.
Skep-This is probably morally repugnant. Only chance I vote in this is when it is completely conceded and I can get a nice slow 2NR explaining the syllogism. I DONT enjoy these debates and would much prefer other things. I've voted on skep twice and somehow a entire tourney decided I should be struck in elims <3 tldr: dont read it unless its an easy debate, if you make me think even just a little about it then you'll probably lose.
Please add me to the email chain dciocca@columbushs.com
I am a debate coach with experience judging at national tournaments at the novice and varsity levels. I prefer arguments to be well structured, articulated clearly (please no spreading but I can understand a considerably faster than conversational pace) and supported by convincing evidence. Please slow down on the tags so I can accurately flow. I don't mind listening to a unique or interesting argument but somehow you MUST link it back to the resolution if you are going to get my ballot.
Plans: All good, just make it relatable to the topic
Counter-plans: All good.
Theory: If there is significant violation or abuse in a round that warrants running theory, I will vote on it but generally not a fan of debating about debate.
Ks: Willing to listen to a good K as long there is a really strong and convincing link back. Not a fan of generic links or links of omission as an excuse to run the K you want to run.
DA: I'm fine with them, we are all good here
T: I think aff has an obligation to be somewhat topical and neg has the right to question whether aff is in fact being topical. That being said, while I generally will not vote on a straight RVI, running T for the sole purpose of creating a time suck for aff and then kicking it in the NR is not a strat that is going to sit well with me.
Conditional Arguments: Anything more than 2 conditional arguments is abusive and puts aff in an impossible situation in the 1AR. I will vote off “Condo bad” in these situations.
Disclosure: Seems like it gets run a lot for no purpose other than trying to get a cheap win. However, If the affirmative is reading a case that is so unique, such as a specific plan text, that the negative would have difficulty engaging with then disclosure is the fair thing to do.
Feel free to ask me if clarification is needed
I prefer debate that is suitable for a courtroom. Professional, clear, and well organized. Usually frameworks are a waste of time.
Congress:
I value the PO (having been one myself in the past) and consistently rank excellence in PO over excellent in round speakers, as the PO is "on" for an entire session, rather than just for a few minutes over a couple of hours. If you are seasoned in congress, I would expect that you run for PO, it is your way to give back to the event, while still giving you plenty of opportunity to win your chamber. For PO's: please be loud enough to be heard in the back of the room (where I will generally be), and DO NOT POINT your gavel at the participants - for me, it is a cardinal sin of a PO (you WILL be deducted for it!)
For speakers: After the first speech on each side, remember your burden - there should be a recognition that you will need to further your side of the argument, and also defend against the other side to be truly effective. There is an extemporaneous element to speeches that should be evident, rather than reading only a canned speech and/or straight from your computer. There is NO POSSIBLE WAY you can get a 6 if you are reading your speech from your pad or computer) Evidence: I do expect a full citation on all sources. During cross, I do look for a speaker to be able to defend their aff/neg contentions - the inability to do so will hurt you in scoring of the session (I use cross as my tiebreaker with speakers and I am listening!). At the end of the day, congress is meant to be conversational and persuasive, articulating the possibility of change - it is not necessarily meant to change the world in 90 minutes. Have some fun with this - you did a large amount of preparation for this event (10+ billis, aff/neg for all and cards for quick prep). The hard part is done in advance - the speeches are the end result. BONUS POINTS for you if you can make the room laugh during the round.
I judge on a 7 stock issues paradigm (Harms, Significance, Inherency, Workability, Solvency, Advantages, and Topicality). Affirmitive must uphold all 7 issues to carry the day.
Debate is a competition that takes place through the spoken word, all speeches must be delivered at a pace and in a matter so as to render them intelligible to the judge in real time or they don't go on the flow.
Kritiks are a very weak form debating, generally a last priority for evaluating my decision. Kritiks claiming exclusive access to any arguments or issues will be rejected outright.
Theory arguments are acceptable within the bounds of the paradigm if they have some bearing on the round, but they must be an accompaniment to, rather than a substitute for, debating the substantive issues of the resolution. (ie. Arguing perm theory in order to run a counterplan)
I am willing to vote on topicality if and when it genuinely applies, but keep in mind most teams have had the foresight to write topical plans, so if you are running topicality every round that is a sign of a problem with you not your opponents.
I value good analysis and higher order thinking, clever use of arguments (turns, re-frameworking the round, identifying internal inconsistency in an opponent’s position, etc.) is better than spewing cards and expecting me to vote on them.
I have coached high school debate for twenty-seven years. If you are a progressive (role of the ballot, no value structure, and kritiks) LD debater then please strike me.
Things I like: value clash, signposting, effective time allocation, impact calculus, and rebuttals that focus on analytical comparisons of the arguments (and evidence) rather that repeating your claims or more cards.
I am a parent judge. No spreading, speak clearly.
I prefer traditional debate.
Assume that I know nothing about the topic. Your job is to educate me about the topic and share all relevant details etc in order for me to judge properly.
Evidence is big, I try my best to flow.
Don't use too much debate jargon.
When debating, make sure to refer to the impact and key voters to facilitate clear understanding for me, and what I need to evaluate most when deciding my ballot.
Negative strategy-- there needs to be some sort of offense in the round. A defensive strategic approach has rarely won my ballot.
email for email chains - Kathleen.clark1@gmail.com
Meghan Clark (she/her)
Experience:
–competed in LD on the Texas UIL circuit
–coached LD for 7 years, policy for 5, also on the Texas UIL circuit
–currently coach extemp/platform events at Plano West
LD & PF:
--I am a fairly typical flay judge.
--Truth over tech. I do not particularly like kritiks or other non-resolution based arguments (not a huge fan of progressive debate). Don’t run theory about dates, speaks, disclosure, etc. - I have zero interest in judging this. I strongly dislike frivolous theory arguments and tricks. Don’t run them.
--Make sure that you extend your arguments and signpost clearly. No sticky defense.
--I care a good deal about weighing impacts in the back half of the round. Make sure you do this. Don’t introduce new arguments in the second half of the round, and I don’t want arguments that consist of three blippy arguments with buzzwords. I would vastly prefer substantive weighing of impacts. I generally default to probability over magnitude.
--I care about quality rather than quantity of evidence. You must have clear taglines for your evidence. Don’t paraphrase.
--Make sure you are courteous to opponents and don’t speak over them during crossfire or cross-examination in LD. I expect professionalism, respect and civility towards me and towards your opponents. If you are verbally or non-verbally showing disrespect towards your opponents or me, expect to lose speaker points. It goes without saying that you should not be racist/sexist/ableist/homophobic/etc. in any way during the round.
--I do not like spreading. Debate should be accessible to a wide audience, and spreading makes that difficult. Speak at a normal rate of speed if you expect me to flow your argument. Extreme speed will most likely result in lower speaks. If I call “clear,” slow down.
--In final focus or the 2AR in LD, make the case for why you deserve my vote - don’t demand my vote.
--Strike me if you’re reading a meme or social experiment case.
--PF specific: Stick to the time structure - no skipping grand cross.
--If a card is heavily disputed during round, I will call for it.
Congress Paradigm for 2023 TOC:
Delivery: delivery will be a factor in my decision, but only a moderate one. Ideally, speakers adapt to their audience, have poise and confidence, and consider word choice carefully. Two notes I write for congressional speakers often are: 1) Stop yelling at me (please adjust your tone to be appropriate for this environment, and 2) please use a tone appropriate for the topic of debate.
Evidence usage: evidence weighs strongly in my decisions. I'm not only interested in the quality of the evidence, but I'm interested in how you use and analyze it. More is not always better.
Analysis: analysis may be the largest factor in my decisions for rankings in Congress. I really like to see debaters thinking critically, weighing arguments well, and finding nuanced ways to discuss legislation. Speakers who simply expand on arguments already made are going to struggle to do well on my ballot.
Decorum: be respectful, be kind, and follow the rules. I assume you will do this, but if you don't, that will not sit well with me.
I have coached Lincoln Douglass debate for 5 years. For me, excellent debaters are reasonable, efficient, articulate, logical, clear, audience focussed, fair, and adept at both offense and defense. Effective debaters provide a clear and direct weighing mechanism for why they are winning or have won the round, and they link back to the value criterion clearly and directly. I don't like fast debate. Debate in the real world for me as a human. I don't like tricks and manipulations. Debate your opponents' best arguments, represent them fairly, and use logic, analytics, and critical thinking to clash convincingly. Do the fundamentals well: good speaking skills, look to the audience, good sportspersonship, good clarity of enunciation, energy, posture, concrete framing, big picture framing, signposting, clash, clash, clash etc.
UPDATED FOR RIDGE DEBATES 2024 (POLICY DEBATE SECTION)
Please add me on the email chain: antoninaclementi@gmail.com AND ridgenjdebate@gmail.com
Y'all should really just use speechdrop tbh. Your speechdrop/email chain should be set up BEFORE the round.
If you are super aggressive in round - I am not going to disclose.
I err Tech over Truth
Pronouns - She/Her/Hers
Hi! I competed for four years in high school at Teurlings Catholic High School (Class of 2021). I've done oratorical declamation, student congress, Lincoln Douglas debate, impromptu, and extemp. I am currently continuing forensics (NFA - LD, extemp, impromptu, ndt ceda) at Western Kentucky University. I also currently coach for Ridge high school in NJ. I did online competition the entirety of my senior year and feel extremely comfortable with the online platform.
- If you feel the need to quiz me on the topic, don't. That's rude.
Policy:
- Same as LD, feel free to ask questions not covered in the LD paradigm.
- I think 4-6 is a pretty good number of off. I like having a good amount of case engagement still. Obv, if your a one off team stick to that but I think 4-6 is a good max for me.
- Running multiple CPs is fine
- Full disclosure: I have not judged on the 24-25 policy topic and I am not familiar with it at all so keep that in mind. My first rounds judging on the topic will be ridge debates. Further, in the spirit of full transparency I am not super familiar with IP jargon so keep it to a minimum or at least like send analytics in a doc so I can look up a word I do not know so I fully understand the impact of what your saying.
Lincoln Douglas Debate:
Pref Shortcut:
1- Policy (LARP), traditional (do not default to traditional- I find it boring but I can evaluate it), stock Ks
2- T, theory, more dense/complex Ks
5/6 - tricks, phil
Framework (Value/Value Criterion):
With frameworks, I expect weighing as to why either your framework supersedes your opponents and/or how you achieve both frameworks. Have clear definitions of what your framework is and please be familiar with what you are running.
Counterplans:
I like a good counterplan. Make sure your counter plan is extremely fleshed out and has a strong net benefit. Needs to have all components. Also, if you run a counterplan I need to hear the words net benefit from you at least once. Plank kicks are fine. My favorite counterplan is condo.
Theory Shells:
Not my favorite style of debate but, I can tolerate them. Please do not run frivolous theory. You should disclose. With that said I DESPISE round report theory or something like must be open text I think cites and bare minimum disclosure solves.
I view theory as A priori - if you go for theory I am kicking the rest of your flow and only evaluating through the lens of theory.
I think…
New affs good
Condo good
PICs good
Consult CPs bad
Vague alts bad
TW good
Delay CPs are fine
but hey maybe you can prove me wrong
RVIs:
I strongly dislike RVIs - they are ridiculous
Topicality:
I like topicality and think some negatives have a place to run T. However, you need proven abuse to get me to vote on topicality. I would say I have a mid threshold for T and I am open to a full collapse but give a through LBL. Also, I am fine if you go for T in your first speech and kick it if your opponent has decent responses.
K's:
Make sure your K's are creative and have a strong foundation, logic, and structure. If you run a K (especially a K directly on the topic) I need to know the role of the ballot and why my voting for you actually creates any type of change. Also, in any K round I need a clear and spelled out Alt. Something I have realized judging is I need to know what your K is - Is it cap? sett col? security? etc - You can not run a security and a cap K combined on the same sheet in front of me. Basically, I need to know what your K is and it needs to be one thing. TBH I am not super familiar with lots of the academic jargon involved in K lit break it down for me and keep it simple. I am familiar with Wilderson, Paur, Derrida, Ahmed, Kappadia, Lacan. Stay away from super techy academic jargon. Unless you are hitting a critical aff I really do not like psychoanalysis Ks.
Cap K:
Do not read Mao, Stalin, Castro were good people automatic speak tank, DO NOT RUN ANYTHING ABOUT CUBA BEING GOOD. With that said I like cap Ks and vote on them frequently
DA/Policy Affs:
Follow a strict and clear structure. I really enjoy politics DAs but your uniqueness needs to be recent (from the last week) and follow a clear linking format. Terminal impacts are really important here but, I need to see linking so make that really clear. I enjoy most terminal impacts if they are linked well.
Note on Politics DAs
LOVE THEM
K Affs
I think they are really cool just be sure to be prepared to defend yourself on T and let me understand what my ballot does! I usually do not vote on T - FW. Super happy to K affs that make SENSE are organized and do not have technical jargon that even the debater running it does not understand. Know you’re lit and read it proudly and your creativity will be rewarded.
Tricks
- Just thinking about trix makes me physically nauseas
- I am super open to trix bads theory
- Just have a substantive debate. Please.
Phil
- Views on phil summed up: I do not LOVE phil - esp since its old white men but i am not like morally opposed ig i am just not going to be super happy - but debate is about running what makes you happy so ig its fine
- some phil is cool. I like pragmatism and that’s kinda it tbh.
- I am super open to Kant bad/any old white philospher bad theory so idk be prepared for that ig
Spreading:
I consider speed good in rounds, I think it advances the round. However I have three rules if you spread in front of me. First, your opponent must confirms they are okay with said spreading. Two, If you spread in any capacity I and your opponent will most definitely need a copy of your case and all blocks to be read sent to us. PLEASE SEND ANALYTICS. ESPECIALLY THEORY SHELLS IN THE DOCS. Three, don't spread if you are not an experienced and a "good" spreader, if you are spreading (and expect high speaks) I hope you look at spreading as a skill that needs through practice.
Signpost:
I am a flow judge and you should be signposting. Keep your evidence organized and clear, and make sure your extensions are valid and pointed out. GIVE ME AN ORDER EVERY SINGLE TIME AS DETAILED AS POSSIBLE.
CX:
I expect good CX questions - good CX will help you in speaks. Bonus points if you ask a question in CX and bring it up in a rebuttal later or use a CX question to hurt your opponents' framework.
Impacts:
These are pivotal to your case and blocks, have strong impacts and clear links! Big fan of terminal impacts! I like weighing done in rounds, definitely needed in your voters.
Speaks:
I use to think my speaks could not go below a 26.5. I was wrong. Take that as you will. Speaks are a reward. I'll disclose speaks, if you ask.
Flex prep:
If you use flex prep your bad at flowing
Post Rounding:
If you post round me I will stop disclosing for the rest of the tournament and drop your speaks. DO NOT DO IT. It's rude. Post rounding is different then asking questions for the sake of learning. Post rounding is you asking something snippy and when I give you my answer you roll your eyes - yes I have had this happen.
Public Forum:
Same as above
- Yeah I know the rules of PF and know you can't run CPs in them.
- I know things about debate DO NOT CX me pre round about if I know enough about PF to have the "pleasure" of judging you.
- I have done PF, coached PF, taught PF to students abroad
Parli:
- Same as LD
- Do not forgot what the debate is about! Remember to at least sprinkle in key words of the topic
- I like numbering of args and clear signposting
TLDR:
Do whatever, have fun, make sense and make my job is easy and write the ballot for me in the last 30 seconds to minute of the NR and 2AR. Debates not that deep - if you don't agree with my decision that's fine but handle your loss with grace and class - trust me it benefits you in the long run. It is statistically impossible that every judge who votes you down is a "Screw" ????
Good luck and have fun! If you have any questions/comments/y iconcerns please feel free to email me (antoninaclementi@gmail.com).
I'm a two time national semifinalist from high school and in my 8th year coaching. I try to be tabula rasa, but I have a vast knowledge base and don't like being talked down to as a judge. I also have a pretty strong RBF and will visually react to what you are saying, so be aware that if you think I'm mad at you; chances are its just my face.
Call Africa a country and you will automatically get low speaker points. It's a continent and offensive to misidentify it. If you are going to refer to regions within the continent, label them appropriately. I understand if you can't pronounce the country/city correctly, but YouTube and Google exist. Please try your best to utilize these resources to improve proper pronunciation. If you're intentionally misrepresenting a demographic/word/culture for the purpose of humor, be mindful of offensive stereotypes. IF I'm bothered by it, you will see it reflected in your ballot; IF it's egregious enough to warrant a report to the tournament officials, I will allow the tournament officials to contact you/your coach directly.
If it appears that you don't fully understand the topic, I will do my best to give you resources to help you develop your understanding on your ballots (links, concepts, places to bolster research) but I won't allow it to impact my decision on the round unless it's blatantly false or has no evidence to support the claim.
Decorum matters. In digital format, this means being mindful of what you post in chat/what you put onto your onscreen camera. I don't downvote on dress/appearance; however I appreciate professional dress and being able to see a student's face when possible.
Speech
I love seeing animated and engaging speech pieces. I have a few areas I get nit picky about, but it's because I want to give you as much feedback as I can to help you improve.
IE's should have some popping/characterization if there are multiple characters being portrayed. If the digital format does NOT allow me (the judge/viewer) to see your whole body, it's makes the speech harder to judge.
Be mindful when presenting/filming of how your technology allows you to give the best speech possible. If your voice echoes in your video, consider resubmitting and/or moving to a different space for better audio quality.
Info/Oratory - Speeches with structure are favored. If your speech sounds like a stream of consciousness, it's really hard to follow the topic at hand and very hard to judge. If your visual aids have any sort of writing on them, either plan on reading/explaining the writing or don't have it at all. As a judge, if I'm trying to squint to read what's on your visual aids, then I'm probably missing some of your speech because I'm trying to read your boards.
If you/your coach feels that my advice does not work for you, please don't take it. You know your own circuit and if the advice would work for your local league. If there are specific questions, my email address is attached below for further clarification. Generally, I want to help you become a better competitor and if the advice I offer is something that will harm you, you shouldn't consider it.
Debate
Email clingern13@gmail.com to add me to the email chain.
Slippery slope arguments or ELEs are only realistic within the confines of a topical debate. This trend relies heavily on scare tactics I don't subscribe to as a debate coach or judge. I will downvote/give low speaks if your impacts lead to improbable outcomes. Ex: "You should vote for our plan to change the wording of this immigration reform bill because it will lead to global extinction if you do not..."
I like progressive debate, but if it gets too meta or narrows the debate to a specific thread, I will base the debate on what is relevant to the argument and topic at hand, especially if your opponent is presenting a more viable option.
I'm a PF/LD traditionalist. I dislike framework in LD; that is what the v/vc debate is. I love framework in PF, but if your framework is unnecessarily or unfairly limiting (abusive), it will work against you and your speaker points will correlate. I tend to vote on stock issues in CX.
If your very narrow interpretation is the only way to interpret the topic, therefore, you're right and win, I will not vote in your favor. It feels like you've found the one loophole to win and have ignored the spirit of the debate or the topic at hand. I like debate to address the topic's core, rather than a narrow and specific element. "A just government allows for civil disobedience" should not be debated on what a just government is; rather it should debate the merits of civil disobedience within a society.
Debate needs clash. If there is no clash between the two presented sides, I'm going to vote whichever side is better presented/is more viable under the topic. I will write down on my ballots if the debate held no clash in the RFD.
I don't flow any Cross Examination time, so if you want it to be on the flow, PLEASE bring it up during rebuttal speeches.
Signpost, go straight down the flow and TRY to minimize flow hopping. If you have a direct argument on your case that attacks/answers your opponent's case, state it at each interval where the argument would apply. Ex: "My c1 directly addresses their c2 sub a..." should be stated twice when you talk about BOTH your c1 AND their c2 sub a.
Extend your arguments and impacts, not your cards. Ex: "Extend Oxford here..."; tell me why "Oxford" is relevant, why it refutes the opposition's point and WHY IT MATTERS. My job as a judge is to base my decision on what you present and how you link it, not if my brain linked it for you. As a judge, I'm not going to make inference between your impacts and cards, you need to explicitly state them for them to be considered.
I can handle spreading, but try to avoid it because it's a bad habit. Be mindful of speed if you choose to not add me to the email chain. (TOC Specific)
If it appears you did not write your cases yourself (it's a team case, you bought the evidence or someone else gave you the information just prior to the round) I will assume you bought the case and don't know what you're talking about. I strongly dislike students that use prewritten cases and don't show mastery of the topic because looks like plagiarism. If you don't know what you're talking about and misunderstand the arguments, it will be obvious.
Background: I'm the Director of Debate at Northland Christian School in Houston, TX; I also coach Team Texas, the World Schools team sponsored by TFA. In high school, I debated for three years on the national and local circuits (TOC, NSDA, TFA). I was a traditional/LARP debater whenever I competed (stock and policy arguments, etc). I have taught at a variety of institutes each summer (MGW, GDS, Harvard).
Email Chain: Please add me to the email chain: court715@gmail.com.
2024-2025 Update: I have only judged at 1 or 2 circuit LD tournaments the last couple of years; I've been judging mainly WS at tournaments. If I'm judging you at Apple Valley, you should definitely slow down. I will not vote for something I don't understand or hear, so please slow down!
Judging Philosophy: I prefer a comparative worlds debate. When making my decisions, I rely heavily on good extensions and weighing. If you aren't telling me how arguments interact with each other, I have to decide how they do. If an argument is really important to you, make sure you're making solid extensions that link back to some standard in the round. I love counterplans, disads, plans, etc. I believe there needs to be some sort of standard in the round. Kritiks are fine, but I am not well-versed in dense K literature; please make sure you are explaining the links so it is easy for me to follow. I will not vote on a position that I don't understand, and I will not spend 30 minutes after the round re-reading your cards if you aren't explaining the information in round. I also feel there is very little argument interaction in a lot of circuit debates--please engage!
Theory/T: I think running theory is fine (and encouraged) if there is clear abuse. I will not be persuaded by silly theory arguments. If you are wanting a line by line theory debate, I'm probably not the best judge for you :)
Speaker Points: I give out speaker points based on a couple of things: clarity (both in speed and pronunciation), word economy, strategy and attitude. In saying attitude, I simply mean don't be rude. I think there's a fine line between being perceptually dominating in the round and being rude for the sake of being rude; so please, be polite to each other because that will make me happy. Being perceptually dominant is okay, but be respectful. If you give an overview in a round that is really fast with a lot of layers, I will want to give you better speaks. I will gauge my points based on what kind of tournament I'm at...getting a 30 at a Houston local is pretty easy, getting a 30 at a circuit tournament is much more difficult. If I think you should break, you'll get good speaks. Cussing in round will result in dropping your speaks.
Speed: I'd prefer a more moderate/slower debate that talks about substance than a round that is crazy fast/not about the topic. I can keep up with a moderate speed; slow down on tag lines/author names. I'll stop flowing if you're going too fast. If I can't flow it, I won't vote on it. Also, if you are going fast, an overview/big picture discussion before you go line by line in rebuttals is appreciated. Based on current speed on the circuit, you can consider me a 6 out of 10 on the speed scale. I will say "clear" "slow" "louder", etc a few times throughout the round. If you don't change anything I will stop saying it.
Miscellaneous: I don't prefer to see permissibility and skep. arguments in a round. I default to comparative worlds. I am not going to evaluate the round after a certain speech.
Other things...
1. I'm not likely to vote on tricks...If you decide to go for tricks, I will just be generally sad when making a decision and your speaks will be impacted. Also, don't mislabel arguments, give your opponent things out of order, or try to steal speech/prep time, etc. I am not going to vote on an extension of a one sentence argument that wasn't clear in the first speech that is extended to mean something very different.
2. Please be kind to your opponents and the judge.
3. Have fun!
WS Specific Things
-I start speaks at a 70, and go up/down from there!
-Make sure you are asking and taking POIs. I think speakers should take 1 - 2 POIs per speech
-Engage with the topic.
-I love examples within casing and extensions to help further your analysis.
please be nice to me, i am but a simple fool
but for realz y'all, this is early early in my debate judging career (aka the first one was princeton '22) so, in the words of adele, go eaaaaaasssssyyyyy on me
you have free will, but i do not know what a counterplan, a k, a disad, or theory are so don't expect me to understand those. i only know these words because my girlfriend know what they are and told me to write them
for everyone's convenience, please give roadmaps and sign posts as you go and speak at an understandable/intelligible speed. don't expect me to read your mind or do your work for you. that kind of defeats the purpose of this whole "debate" thing
if you're sharing cases, my email is lcoilparampil@gmail.com
if i give verbal RFDs, please write them as we go
Hi, I am a parent judge. Speak clearly and at a "real life" normal speed, as if you were trying to convince your parents or friends of something that was important to you. Don't spread.
State clearly your value and value criteria at the beginning. Link your arguments back to value/criteria.
Please speak to the resolution. Do not run a topical cases, or theory/trick cases.
Spread only if the speed you use also allows for enough enunciation that I can understand. I can keep up, but only if I can comprehend.
I believe in traditional debate. In LD, everything is about the V/VC construct and should be applied to it. I don't really care about definition debate unless it is absolutely vital. Observations don't really matter to me unless both sides agree to them.
In PF, I try to take the position of a typical citizen judge and base "my knowledge" only on what you tell me in the round, not what I already know. Civility is still important in cross-examination, so it is important to remember that with me.
I am least familiar with policy, so I base everything on my flow and which side has the most arguments standing by the end of the debate. Also, I know it may be unusual, but I do care if the plan actually makes sense because I can't vote for it if it doesn't.
I don't listen to parenthetical documentation as a source. What does that mean anyway???
In Congress, can you take the evidence presented, analyze the situation under discussion, and use effective delivery to convince me you've made an important advancement in the day?
Updated for the Legalization Topic 9/11/14
I do want on the e-mail chain: mmcoleman10@gmail.com
Debate Experience: Wichita State graduate 2009. We read a middle of the road straight up affirmative and won more debates on arguments like imperialsim good than should have been possible. However, on the negative roughly half of my 2NRs were a K (with the other half being some combination of T, politics/case etc.) so I believe firmly in argumentative flexibility and am comfortable voting for or against almost all arguments.
Judging Experience: 5-8 tournaments each year since graduating.
Most importantly: I do not work with a team currently so I have not done any topic research, my only involvement is judging a handful of tournaments each year. It would be in your best interest to not assume I have the intricacies of your PIC or T argument down and take some time explaining the basis of your arguments. If the first time I figure out what your CP does or what your violation is on T is after you give me the text after the debate, my motivation to vote for you is going to be pretty low. I am currently a practicing attorney so I may have some insight on the topic from that perspective, but I'll try to minimize what impact that has on my decisions outside of possibly some suggestions after the debate on how to make it more accurately reflect how the legal process works.
Ways to kill your speaker points/irritate me
1. Cheating - I mean this substantively not argumentatively. This can include stealing prep time, clipping cards, lying about disclosure etc. If people are jumping cards or waiting to get the flash drive and you are furiously typing away on your computer it's pretty obvious you are stealing prep and I will call you out on it.
2. Being unecessarily uptight/angry about everything. There's no need to treat every round like it's the finals of the NDT, try having some fun once in awhile I promise your points from me and others will go up as a result. I take debate seriously and enjoying being a part of debate, but you can be very competitive and still generally pleasant to be around at the same time. I have no problem if people want to make fun of an argument, but it's one thing to attack the quality of an argument and another entirely to attack the person reading those arguments.
3. Not letting the other person talk in cross-x. It irritates me greatly when one person answers and asks every single question on one team.
4. A lack of line-by-line debate. If your only reference to the previous speeches is some vague reference to "the link debate" you are going to be irritated with my decision. I'm only willing to put in the same amount of work that you are. This is not to say that I can't be persuaded to have a more holistic view of the debate, but if I can't tell what arguments you are answering I am certainly going to be sympathetic if the other team can't either. Also people over use the phrase "dropped/conceded" to the point that I'm not sure they mean anything anymore, I'm paying attention to the debate if something is conceded then certainly call the other team out, if they spent 2 minutes answering it skip the part of your block that says "they've conceded: . It just makes me feel that you aren't putting the same work that I am in paying attention to what is occurring in the debate.
5. If your speech/cx answers sound like a biblography. Having evidence and citations is important, but if all you can do is list a laundry list of citations without any explanation or application and then expect me to wade through it all in the end, well we're probably not going to get along. I do not tend to read many cards after a debate if any. I pretty quickly figure out where the important arguments (debaters that identify and highlight important arguments themselves and resolve those debates for me are going to be very far ahead) and then I will turn to arguments and evidentiary issues that are contested.
Ways to impress me
1. Having strategic vision among the different arguments in the debate. Nothing is better than having a debater realize that an answer on one sheet of paper is a double turn with a team's answer on another and be able to capitalize on it, bold moves like that are often rewarded with good points and wins if done correctly.
2. Using your cross-x well. Few people use this time well, but for me it's some of the most valuable speech time and it can make a big difference in the outcome of debates if used effectively.
3. Having a working knowledge of history. It's amazing to me how many arguments are just patently untrue that could be disproven with even a basic understanding of history, I think those are good arguments and often more powerful than the 10 word overhighlighted uniqueness card you were going to read instead.
Topicality
I enjoy a well crafted and strategic T argument. My biggest problem with these debates is the over emphasis on the limits/reasonability debate occuring in the abstract, usually at the expense of spending enough time talking about the particulars of the aff/neg interps their support in the literature, and how the particular interp interacts with the limits/reasonability debate. T cards rival politics uniqueness cards as the worst ones read in debate, and more time should be spent by both teams in pointing this out.
I think this topic provides an interesting opportunity for discussion with the absence of the federal government in the topic as far as what the Aff can and should be allowed to defend. I'm curious how both Affs and Negs will choose to adapt to this change.
Topicality - K Affs
I think you have to have a defense of the resolution, the manner in which that is done is up to the particular debate. Unfortunately I've been forced to vote on T = genocide more times than I'd like to admit, but Neg's refuse to answer it, no matter how terrible of an argument it is (and they don't get much worse). Critical Affs are likely to do the best in front of me the stronger their tie is to the resolution. The argument there is "no topical version of our aff" has always seemed to me to be a reason to vote Neg, not Aff. Stop making that argument, doing so is just an indication you haven't read or don't care what I put in here and it will be reflected in your points.
I don't ususally get more than one or two opportunities per year to judge debates centered around issues of race/sex/identity but try to be as open as I can to these types of debates when they do occur. I still would prefer these arguments have at least some tie to the resolution as I think this particular topic does allow for good discussion of a lot of these issues. I have generally found myself voting Aff in these types of debates, as the Negative either usually ignores the substance of the Aff argument or fails to explain adequately why both procedurally and substantively the way the Aff has chosen to approach the topic is bad. Debates about alternate ways in which these issues might be approached in terms of what Negatives should get to say against them compared to what the Aff should be forced to defend seem most relevant to me, and one that I find interesting to think about and will try hard to make an informed decision about.
Counterplans/Disads
I like this style of debate a lot. However, one thing I don't like is that I find myself increasingly voting on made up CPs that for some unknown reason link slightly less to politics, simply because Aff teams refuse to challenge this claim. To sum up, don't be afraid to make smart analytical arguments against all arguments in the debate it can only help you. I am among those that do believe in no risk either of an aff advantage or neg disad, but offense is always nice to have.
Affs also seem to give up too easily on theory arguments against certain process CPs (condition/consult etc.) and on the issue of the limits of conditionality (it does exist somewhere, but I can be persuaded that the number of neg CPs allowed can be high/low depending on the debate). In general though I do tend to lean neg on most theory issues and if you want to win those arguments in front of me 1) slow down and be comprehnsible 2) talk about how the particulars of the neg strategy affected you. For example conditionality might be good, but if it is a conditional international agent cp mixed with 2 or 3 other conditional arguments a more coherent discussion about how the strategy of the 1nc in general unduly harmed the Aff might be more effective than 3 or 4 separate theory arguments.
K's
I judge these debates a lot, particularly the clash of civilization debates (the result of judging exclusively in D3). Negative teams would do well to make their argument as particularized to the Aff as possible and explain their impact, and by impact I mean more than a vague use of the word "ethics" or "ontology" in terms of the Aff and how it would implicate the aff advantages. If you give a 2NC on a K and haven't discussed the Aff specifically you have put yourself in a bad position in the debate, apply your arguments to the Aff, or I'm going to be very hesitant to want to vote for you.
Additionally while I vote for it pretty often exploring the critical literature that isn't "the Cap K" would be pleasantly appreciated. I can only judge Gabe's old cap backfiles so many times before I get bored with it, and I'd say 3/4 of the debates I judge it seems to pop up. Be creative. Affs would be smart not to concede big picture issues like "no truth claims to the aff" or "ontology first." I vote for the K a lot and a large percentage of those debates are because people concede big picture issues. Also keep in mind that if you like impact turning the K I may be the judge for you.
Affiliation: Clackamas High School
Competitive experience: 2 years of NPDA (college parli), 1 year of CEDA (college policy)
Coaching/Judging experience: 6 years of NPDA coaching with 45-60 rounds judged per year, 11 years coaching high school policy
Pronouns: He/him
For 2024-2025: I am done with Court Clog. Run it at your own risk of me evaluating your cards on my own.
I’m into philosophy. It was my major for my decade-long undergrad, so that won’t change anytime soon.
I'm also a former law student focused on immigration, employment, and labor.
Although I have run topical affirmatives with a plan in the past, I have generally moved towards the critical as I have continued (From a Heg and Econ National Security Courts aff to Lovecraft performance and high theory).
In CEDA, I have gone for the Cap K with a Historical Materialism alt in every one of my 2NRs. This does not mean that I will automatically pick you up if you run it, but I will be familiar with most of the arguments and authors involved in that debate.
I have come to grips with the fact that I am not very good at evaluating Framework. This does NOT mean you shouldn't run it in front of me or go for it. I think Framework is a valuable debate to be had in most rounds and I encourage people to look at varying forms of this argument in debate. You should be aware, however, that I am not going to be able to fully appreciate the nuances of Framework arguments. It's really not you, it's me.
I hold a high regard for creativity in debate, both in strategy and style. In my mind, creativity is the reason debate is such a fantastic activity. I particularly like arguments that are novel, strange, or Weird.
I am also pretty expressive in round. If you notice me nodding my head or or making a face that suggests "Hey, that sounds reasonable" then that probably means I'm thinking that. If I look up in disgust or confusion, then that means I am probably experiencing one of those things.
All that being said, I am open to most any position or style so long as you can articulate why your arguments are preferable.
Also, feel free to find me outside of rounds and ask me about a round (please bring your flow or be specific about what went on in the round, I can only remember so much on demand) or about general arguments and strategies or whatever.
Clarity: I flow all speeches in the debate and I stick to that flow when making my decision. I will call clear if I can’t understand you. If you are still not understandable to me after I call clear twice, I will stop flowing what I cannot understand.
Clipping: If there is a challenge relating to clipping cards, it must be brought with video evidence. If a team has been shown to be clipping cards in my round; that team will receive a loss and the clipper will receive 0 speaker points for that round.
File sharing: Please make sure you are making a speech doc and not just sending whole files and then reading things in a different order than from what is presented. It can make things confusing for everyone in the round and throws me off if I think you didn't send the evidence when it's just four pages down.
Email: forensicsresearchinstitute@gmail.com
I am looking for well organized speeches that contain logical, clearly stated arguments. Use of specific evidence with source citations is important to me as well. I also like to hear the specific impacts of a bill, with citations to support the position. Be prepared to give a speech on both sides of a bill; if you are unable to give a speech early in the round, don't rehash arguments, but crystallizations are very helpful sometimes and a good use of a later speech. Speaking too quickly, too quietly or in a rushed way is distracting to me so that I can't focus on the arguments being made.
I appreciate seeing debaters who remember that they are playing the role of members of Congress both during their speeches and in how they ask questions and interact with other debaters. Courtesy and good manners in dealing with other debaters and judges is a must.
SOOOOOOO TRAD.
Kris Compton
Background & Coaching Information:
*4 Diamond Coach with over 27 years of experience coaching both public and private programs in Florida, Alabama and Texas.
*Experience coaching and judging all events
*Have had TFA finalists in multiple events, NSDA Nationals Semi and Finalists, and have coached numerous Alabama State Champions in multiple events
- 2023 NSDA Duo Interp Finals Judge
- *I have a true passion for the overall educational and life changing skills of speech and debate. I expect competitors to be respectful of all events and each other.
INFORMATIVE & ORATORY
Content & Visual aids
*A NEW perspective on a NEW topic or a refreshing and inspiring topic that is not overdone.
*Informative should not be persuasive in nature; your job is to inform not persuade
*The best oratories provide stories and a genuine moments within the speech. I should feel and see your heart in your speech.
*Research should enhance and advance information presented. Research should be relevant, current, and reliable
* For informative, Visual aids should not be a distraction but add to the quality of what is being said. The focus should be on the words spoken and not the visual aids. Just because you have strong visual aids is not the winning point for me; a well written memorable speech and performance weighs more heavily.
*Speech should be well organized, easy to follow, and engage the audience
Performance
*Professional and engaging. Performance should enhance natural strengths. Don't force cheesy humor.
*Natural movement and gestures; blocked and robotic movements sometimes can distract from the overall presentation
*Apply all the needed vocal variation that makes speeches engaging
*I want you to be genuine and real. I am not interested in fake and robotic performances. I cannot stress this enough. I don't care how polished you are if you are not real.
*I should be able to tell why this topic is important; passion is imperative. This should be obvious in every aspect of your performance.
IE ( HI, DI, PROSE, POETRY, POI, DUO)
*Creative, engaging, relevant, entertaining.
*Maturity and age appropriate.
*Follow the event rules
*Easy to follow; don't make me work to understand what is happening.
*Take me on a journey of emotions
*Characterization should be genuine and real.
*Blocking should enhance and add to the performance; not be used in place of good performance.
*When working with a partner, strengths should complement one another
*Sometimes simple moments in a performance are the most memorable. A certain look or gesture can be gut wrenching and draw an audience in. Those moments are more impressive than overblocked and overacting attempts of winning my vote.
*Same as speaking events, I value genuine and real performances. I'm not interested in polished robotic performances that have not heart.
PF
*I am a flow judge BUT presentation also matters a great deal. If I can't understand what you are saying, it is difficult for me to flow your arguments.
*Respect in the round is essential. I don't care how good you are if you are disrespectful to your opponents or to the judges you will not get my vote. Be professional and respectful at all times.
*I am good with any kind of speed, but keep it clear and articulate.
*If you do not extend properly, I will not buy any of your arguments.
*Proper extension should include tag, short summary of evidence, and impact calc.
*I expect FF and even Sums to have impact calculus (magnitude, propensity, reversibility, etc.)
*Impacts are essential. I don't care if you don't tell me why I should
* I prefer you being true to what public forum was designed for, however if you happen to run theory and Kritik debate I will be ok with it.
* The second speaking rebuttal should respond to turns placed in the first speaking rebuttal.
*Offense wins rounds, so make sure your voters are offensive.
*Please collapse or the debate will end up being a mess. If you are going for Theory make sure to delineate what you want me to do with it (drop the debater, drop the argument, etc.), stance on RVI, clear voters.
*I consider it the burden of the Kritik to provide an alt and prove its uniqueness, so I will default buy the perm even if your opponent doesn’t argue it unless uniqueness is proved.
*AGAIN, I prefer traditional PF debate, butI will and can adjust judging according to different styles of debate.
*Organization is key; make it easy for me to follow
*Words matter; word economy is essential. Don't waste time with insignificant words and filler language that takes away from overall presentation points
Extemporaneous Speaking
-Be strategic about your question; play to your strength and knowledge, but avoid easy questions that don't require much analysis
-It is imperative you answer the question clearly and concisely
-Clearly link evidence with rhetoric and impact
-Using variety of sources is important; I am not impressed with multiple sources if those sources don't directly link with what you are saying. Just spouting off sources is not impressive. The information actually has to say something of importance and connect.
-The more current the information, the better.
-Organization and structure is important; but add some personality and flair to make it interesting and engaging.
-Knowledge of the topic is essential; more rhetoric and logic used in your speech is more impressive than anything
-Professional presentation is incredibly important.
-Don't add humor if it is not your strength.
-Tone should fit the topic.
-DO NOT BE POLITICALLY POLARIZING. Bashing any ideology or person is not impressive and will immediately give me reason to not consider a high ranking. Be respectful always.
Congressional Debate
- I NEED CLASH.This is congressional debate, unless you are 1st AFF Speech, you should have clash in your speech. Bring up NEW points and please do not keep bringing up same points as other representatives.
- When you clash be sure you mention representative's names when referring to their specific arguments.
- Your speeches need evidence, MINIMUM, one piece of evidence per point. More is appreciated.
- When using evidence, it should clearly link or I will not consider it. Include dates; the more current and relevant the better.
- DO NOT read your speech; engage your audience and do this in a original, creative and respectful way.
- I do listen to your speeches and questions, so if you give clearly falsified evidence or logic I will know. Be involved and know parliamentary procedure as well.
- You are judged on the WHOLE round, not just speeches, so if you are rude or aren’t involved don't expect a good score from me.
I am open to seeing a number of different tactics employed in a round. Give me a weighing mechanism, evidence, and strong impact calculus.
I value clarity and organization in your presentation or argument. I appreciate it when you keep things simple and straightforward and logical. I also value moderate pacing and volume (i.e. speak slowly and don't yell), a confident demeanor, clear enunciation, and courtesy to your opponent(s). The content of your speech obviously matters most, but style of delivery (e.g. pacing, tone, mien) does affect my judgment.
I have decades of experience producing and writing television programs and educational videos. I appreciate the power of well-chosen words delivered with just the right amount of passion. My work also includes media training at a major Washington, DC think tank, where I spend a lot of time interviewing global leaders in energy, security, environmental activism, politics, diplomacy, and more. You will earn top ranks in Extemp, OO, and Informative Speaking if your speech follows strong logic, goes beyond the obvious, and is free of errors, such as mispronunciations of countries and global leaders. Furthermore, I beg you, DO NOT come at me with corny puns. If you are discussing the invasion of Ukraine, do not tell me that we will first "blast" into the truth, and then "take aim" at new theories, before "Putin'" some solutions to the test. This type of writing will get you nowhere in the real world! Clever is good. Corny is bad. And while we're at it, when competing in Extemp, go into a deep dive on pop culture at the top ONLY if you have an excellent plan for how you plan to relate it to the topic. We do not need time-consuming analyses of Disney movies or boy bands before moving into news and politics. If performing DI, HI, or POI, you will rank well if you bring nuance. I seek highs, lows, and performances grounded in human behavior, even at their most intense moments.
I love judging these events because I am continually amazed at the intelligence and capability of Speech Kids. You are everything good about your generation.
I have not done debate in a bit but I was always a traditional LD debater and usually evaluate pretty heavily on framework. I do understand some more progressive args if done right and can keep up with a fair amount of speed within reason but keep in mind that speed will make it harder for me flow more progressive things
James Constantino Paradigm
GENERAL NOTE
I judge LD more often than anything else. I was a CX debater in the early ‘90s, but I’m self-taught in LD. I WAS NOT a great debater in high school, so I have a great deal of empathy for the struggle. Since my focus is Lincoln Douglas, I expect debaters to discuss the moral and philosophical implications of the resolution in an LD round.
ABUSE
Any type of behavior that I find abusive (more than just aggressive) will probably lose you the round. Debate is about the free exchange of ideas, so if you spread with the purpose of deception, constantly interrupt your opponent(s), or just make an attempt to erode the integrity of the event, I cannot accept your arguments.
TO GET MY BALLOT
I DO NOT want to be the one to make the decision about who wins a round; I want you to tell me why you won. This means it is your job to tell me the story of the round. Where was the clash? What were the voters? Why do your impacts outweigh theirs? Leave as little up to my discretion as possible. I will do my best not to have my own opinions and background knowledge influence who wins the round. Please meet me half way on this and make your win explicit.
JARGON
Debate jargon, like any use of field specific language, can be extremely helpful in summarizing a concept or describing how a mechanism functioned within a round. But you MUST be able to explain, in almost monosyllabic terms, exactly what you mean when you use the jargon. Debate cannot be allowed to be exclusionary based on one competitor’s experience with specific vocabulary and their opponent’s unfamiliarity. You should be able to explain any concept you utilize in a round to your opponent and to a lay judge.
FRAMEWORK AND/OR DEFINITION DEBATE
If you intend to provide framework and/or definitions for the round, I still need to see warrants. Don't merely tell me how to view or evaluate the debate; explain why I ought to do so in your preferred manner. Also, if there are competing frameworks or definitions at play, I need to see work on weighing out why I ought to prefer one side's interpretation over the other. If I don't have reasons/warrants on which to prefer, I'll make the choice for myself, and as I just explained, I don’t want to do that.
SPEED
I can handle moderate speed. I can follow a quickly read and enunciated speech, but if you slurring your words together, hyperventilating, or just being unclear, I will call “clear” twice: once to get you to adjust and a second time to remind you. After that, I will cease to flow and your opponent(s) is no longer responsible to address your incoherent arguments.
REBUTTALS
It is a debater’s obligation to address both sides of the flow in rebuttal speeches. A debater that neglects to both attack the opposing case and rebuild against the prior rebuttal will have a very difficult time winning my ballot as arguments that go unaddressed are essentially conceded. A team that ignores this bit of adaptation should expect to see speaker points that reflect a performance that I see as half-complete.
SUMMARIES
The summaries should be treated as such - summarize the major arguments in the debate. I don't need line-by-line review of the round in this speech. I expect debaters to start to narrow the focus of the round at this point. In other words, crystalize the ideas that were essential to the round, juxtaposing your positions with your opponent’s. As stated above, YOU should be the one to tell me the main clash of the round and why you won.
SPEAKER POINTS
My scale is essentially as follows:
· 30 – Perfection/deeply impressive.
· 29 - Near perfect speaking/execution/argumentation/strategy
· 28 - Good on pretty much all fronts
· 27 - Average
· 26-25 - Below average in one or more ways
· 24 or fewer - Deeply problematic in one or more ways, likely offensive in nature/something warranting an apology to one or more people
For Congressional Debate:
· 6—Near perfect speech. The arguments are clear, unique, persuasive, and well-delivered with a sense of style and confidence.
· 5—Excellent speech. Arguments are clear, unique, and persuasive.
· 4—Solid speech. Lacking in evidence or uniqueness (rehash) or delivery, but not more than one component.
· 3—Average speech. There were issues in clarity, persuasiveness, or delivery. Speech contained some rehash or did not demonstrably move the debate forward.
· 2-1—Major issues. The speech was purposefully offensive or was bad for education.
He/Him
E-Mail: quinncarlo024@gmail.com
MSHS Asst. Coach 2y, (Policy 3y, PF 1y)
ASL Interpreting major @UNO (1st language: English)
Debate is about the people and the experience, so be kind.
In my days I used to run trad left affs, and Cap Ks. I trust you'll help me understand whatever you run.
LD: LAST EDITED 2/23/2024 LD is about philosophy for me. I suppose that makes me trad now... I feel old.
FW: Winning FW means I will evaluate the round through that lens. FW is not an independent voter.
SPREADING: If you spread use SpeechDrop, AND DON'T SPREAD ANALYTICS.
Ks: I've found that it is more difficult for me to buy a K AFF than anything else. That being said, I would love to engage in a discussion on K subject matters outside of the round.
- ROB: Vote for the better debater- to me means I’m looking at who cross-applied evidence well, who didn’t drop anything, who carried cards through their speeches, and other techy stuff.
THEORY: DON'T use theory as a means to win a ballot. Run theory if there is a genuine equity issue within the round.
- Disclosure Theory: If there is no in-round abuse (de-linking out of args), and/or your opponent gives you their case via SpeechDrop, I'm unlikely to vote for you.
- Spreading Theory: If your opponent asks before the round if they can spread and/or invites you to tell them to slow down, I'm unlikely to vote for you.
T: I am less likely to buy that the AFF needs to defend a specific plan as opposed to the general Value/Ethics of the Topic. Because LD is different from Policy.
→ Don't use other people's disadvantages to win you a ballot. Advocating for the rights of minorities as a majority can be fine if it is done in good faith, and you understand your case. If you are cishet advocating for the rights of queer people without knowing what it means, that's sketch.
Judge, Judge Contreras, or just Contreras are fine
pronouns: they/them/theirs (don't call me miss/ma'am)
Head Coach at LC Anderson HS in Texas
Email chain: theedebatecoach@gmail.com
Order:
- General Comments
- PF
- LD
- Congress
- Miscellaneous
- General Comments
Trigger warnings are a norm you should be taking part in. Allowing competitors the chance to opt-out is not only encouraged but extremely important for making this activity safe. This is true for every event but more true for some- DI, looking at you!
I will not rank a triggering performance first. There’s no need for you to vividly reenact violence and suffering at 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning (or like, ever). Triggering performances without trigger warnings will have their rank reflect the performance. Use your talent to tell a story, not to exploit pain. I have a "you should do a different piece" mindset on this issue and if you can't reenact that narrative without exploiting suffering, something is wrong.
If I'm judging your round and another competitor triggers you, you are welcome to quietly get up and walk out during their performance. I will not dock or punish you for this, your mental health is the most important. Please take care of yourself and each other!!
Respect and safety are crucial to speech and debate. I will not tolerate racism, sexism, transphobia, or any other kind of discrimination in or outside of round. If another competitor or participant is making you feel unsafe, you can always bring it to me. That behavior in round will be reflected in your speaks and on the ballot.
I love novices, I love fundamentals of debate. I will answer any questions after round to the best of my ability if we are respectful and wanting to learn. That also means do NOT dunk on novices in front of me. Reading 6 off on a novice might win you the ballot but I will tank your speaks.
I don’t disclose speaks.
Number responses!! the art of a clean flow/speech seems to be lost or at least elusive.
Broke: is anyone not ready?
Woke: Is everyone ready?
2. Public Forum
I’m fully flay. While I will evaluate most things, a K in PF is an uphill battle. I’m used to LD-style K’s and they have the advantage of longer speech times that PF doesn’t have. My flowing is strong, if I miss an argument it’s because it’s blippy. I don’t use the doc in PF because you should not be going fast enough to necessitate that.
My least favorite trend in PF is how cards are cut. Please include at least a paragraph of context. Your tagline should be an actual claim! “Furthermore” “concerningly” and “luckily” are NOT taglines. This is bad evidence ethics and if it comes down to a card v. card debate, yours will lose.
My second least favorite trend is insufficient extensions.
Extensions mean: tag/author and warranting. You don’t need to reread the card, you DO need to restate the claim and warrant.
I like theory. TFA rules allow tournaments to decide if judges can vote on disclosure. If allowed by tournament hosts, I will evaluate it.
3. Lincoln Douglas
I’m much more lay in LD. I will use the doc to flow but only if I’m in outrounds on a tech panel. In prelims, you should adapt. Many debaters believe they can spread, few debaters can achieve those speeds with clarity. Lay appeal is important, persuasiveness is important, style is important. If I’m your judge, that’s a great opportunity to improve upon those skills! I will reward adaptation with high speaks.
I like stock/policy arguments, theory/T, counterplans and am most comfortable with these arguments. I love framework debate.
Ks are really interesting to me, you will need to do more judge instruction and comparative to win on one but I will absolutely vote on the Kritik.
4. Congress
I love judging congress and don’t get to do it often. I listen just as much to content as I do to presentation and both factor into your rank. I appreciate a full buy-in to the congress LARPing (AGDs about your interns and time on the floor) and tend to prefer those to personal anecdotes. Intros are important, they need to be relevant to the topic, concise, cleanly delivered (ideally memorized), and impactful.
2 points, 2-3 sources per point.
Clash!!! It’s called congressional debate for a reason!
Good questions are everything! Being active in the round sets you apart from your fellow representatives.
I reward strong PO skills with high ranks in prelims. In finals, I do my best to fairly evaluate the PO vs. the speakers.
5. Miscellaneous
I occasionally judge World Schools Debate. In Worlds, I don't have as much technical knowledge about the nuances of WSD but will flow, watch for extensions, responses, and weighing/worlds comparatives. I will evaluate the round based on the argumentation, evidence, and logic. Prepare to do judge instruction and explain WSD jargon. Be so explicit about why your side and your world is better than your opponent's.
One time at a national circuit tournament, a PFer asked me if I "could evaluate complicated arguments"- don't do this. I will evaluate the most complex argument if you, the debater, can simplify, explain, defend, and weigh said arguments in the round. If I can't follow your case, it's either: a) so tangentially related that it's irrelevant, b) not clearly explained, or c) lacking links in your logic or evidence chain that would make it make sense.
I am a chaperone filling in to help in supplementals. I am a lay judge so no tomfoolery.
B.S. from Arizona State University in Spanish and minor in Family and Human Development.
I'm 100% a game judge, the flow is like a chess board and it is your job to navigate it with whatever tools you have at your disposal. You can run anything; Theory, Topicality, Ks, CP, DA/AD/Plans/KPlans but for all of those you need to give a "why" and impact calc for everything, fail to do that and you will lose the round.
That being said stock issues are inherent to an argument, if you don't solve for anything or you can't show significance then you will also lose. Topicality is loose for me but again if you fail to solve for something or show it's significance then you lose.
Spread as fast as you want, I was reading at 340 wpm once upon a memory. If you turn into a mumble rapper like Post Malone then you are not communicating effectively and you'll have stuff drop on the flow. Clear and fast is fine, murmuring quickly is not fine. When in doubt slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Too often debaters are reliant on judges reading their card for them to put them on the flow rather than conveying the information. If there is something in the debate that is the razors edge that will make or break the round then I will evaluate it but that is rarely ever the case (I have only seen it once, same source cut two different ways).
My default settings:
I will hear theory arguments if you are deeply against any of the following but otherwise this is how I vote.
Disclosure has to be consensual prior to the round but when you are giving the constructive what are you really gaining from not exchanging? Plus it is in the NSDA manual you have to produce evidence for your opponent at their request.
Aff gets fiat for world building otherwise the debate can't happen.
Neg gets conditionality to truth test with multiple worlds.
General sportsmanship should be observed. I was a debater, I promise you I know abuse when I see it. If your opponent checks it and you don't have some good reason for trying to push that envelope you'll lose. Be excellent to each other.
I do private coaching but I also care deeply about the debate community so please feel free to reach-out with questions after your rounds. coachmike@citronoline.org
Private Coaching Link
https://www.citrononline.org/camps-and-coaching/p/private-coaching
B.S. Ecology from Arizona State University
M.L.S. Environmental Law from Sandra Day O'Connor Law College
M.S. Geospatial Intelligence from Johns Hopkins University
Certified Fraud Examiner
Debate Director of the Citron Online Speech and Debate District
Nats 23 Edits (for Policy)
- Once you start stacking offs, it's super important that you have enough command of your evidence to refer to cards by author name or another specific identifier (ie "the impact card in the X Disad). I can't keep track of where "the card that talks about Russia and China" is.
- I'll only vote on T if you justified the credibility of your interpretation. Your interp evidence can't just be a situation where a word or phrase was used in a different context because then there's no actual reason to vote for it (except for blatant topicality violations).
- This is a reiteration from my original paradigm, but statements like "our first advantage solves for the impacts in the DA" mean nothing to me unless you tell me why. Just a little lip service is enough, but I can't put that connection together myself because I would have to come to my own conclusions about the relationships between the evidence, which is a form of judge intervention.
Hello! I am a former LDer turned high school Coach turned Professor of public speaking. I'm more than a couple years out from my high school years at this point, but I've stayed active in the community. I competed on the local, state, and national circuit, and especially enjoyed the more technical debates because it was much easier to strategize and predict what the judge's decision would ultimately be based on the events of the round.
As a debate judge, I also take this more technical approach. Simply being a strong orator is not enough if you are not saying anything of substance and interacting with your opponent's case. I make my judgments based on what was said in the round. Nothing more, nothing less. I listen for argument interaction, explicit signposting and extensions, weighing of impacts, and so on. No ships passing in the night! Extending a conceded argument means nothing if you don't tell me why it matters. You have to tell me why your impact outweighs your opponent's, not just that it does. I might be able to make those assumptions on my own, but it holds no weight in the round unless you say it out loud! Give me voting issues. In a good debate, your final rebuttal speech should essentially write my decision for me.
I've heard all kinds of arguments and styles, I've used all kinds of arguments and styles, and I'm open to all kinds of arguments and styles (within a reasonable standard of human decency). As long as you can support and clearly state your main idea, I should be able to understand your goal in your speech/case.
For LD in particular, remember that it is a values-based debate. Nothing makes me more sad than a total disconnect between the framework and the contentions, followed by a complete abandonment of the values debate once the rebuttals begin. The values set the framing for the rest of the debate, and a strong grasp of the philosophical aspect of the debate will really make you stand out in my book. This doesn't apply to debates based on a framework of net benefits.
When time runs out, finish your sentence. My ONLY pet peeve as a judge is students calling out "that's time!" when their opponent runs out of time for their speech. I know the speech times, so do you, so does your opponent, and so do the other judges. Please be courteous and let them just wrap up their last sentence.
Don't give much weight to what my face looks like. As someone with ADHD, "active listening" looks much different for me. Rather than looking at you while nodding and smiling, I will likely be focused mainly on taking notes on my flow. It is really important to me that I judge a round fairly, and so I put most of my energy toward keeping track of what is said in round. I get distracted easily when I look you directly in the face (because faces move a lot!), so if you see me staring at the ground or at the wall behind you with a blank expression, don't be alarmed! I'm just listening very intently.
My infatuation with the speech and debate community is eternal, and I love to see students get better, grow, improve, and become more confident. Also, one of my best/worst traits is a need to be as thorough as possible. This means you will likely see tons of feedback/comments from me suggesting ways to improve. This is NOT an indicator of poor performance, even if there are many more comments on areas of improvement than on what you did well. I just try to use my experience in my position as a judge to be as helpful and thorough as I possibly can. However, a lot of the feedback I give is largely based on my personal speech/debate style and my coaching style, and so feel free to accept or reject these comments as they apply to you.
I'm happy you're here, and I'm happy to be here too! Feel free to ask any other questions you may have
Tim Cook, Salado HS
tim.cook@saladoisd.org
I debated in high school and college. I have been coaching for over 40 years.
TFA State
If you run "tricks", I will probably vote against you. Debate is about developing substantive arguments on the topic, not finding abusive trick strategies. You will also probably get the lowest possible speaks I can give.
I will not tolerate speed! I will say clear and then stop flowing. If I don't flow it, you don't get it. I will not be flowing from a doc. Assume low speaks.
Don't run theory unless there is real in round abuse (Not a fan of theory).
K and other progressive arguments (Not a fan). Don't assume I am familiar with the lit on your K. The K should link to the topic, including K affs. We are given a topic for a reason.
I am very traditional! Establish a framework and link offense back to it.
No flex-prep
Flashing part of prep time.
Congress
Prefer clash or topical AGD. Have 2 developed arguments with good evidence. Think think tanks.
Clash and no rehash essential.
Make me laugh! DO NOT BE RUDE OR OVERLY AGGRESSIVE. Have fun.
PO's must run efficient and fair rounds. Don’t make parliamentary mistakes.
Ask me more specific questions.
Speech/Extemp
I have coached multiple UIL State champions, TFA state finalist and TOC finalist.
Answer the question! Have a clear thesis and three germane points. Prefer quality over quantity of evidence. Love AGD to be weaved throughout the speech.
Prefer controlled gestures, not repetitive. Movement should have meaning.
Ask me more specific questions.
LD
Establish a framework and link offensive back. I prefer substantive arguments over the resolution.
I will accept any argument as long as it is not offensive.
I will not tolerate speed. It will definitively result in low speaker points and could result in a loss if I don’t flow your argument.
Topicality needs to have a real abuse story.
Theory, CP and K are fine. If you are reading a K don’t assume I familiar with the argument and literature. The K needs to have a pragmatic alt. Theory needs a real abuse story.
Make sure speeches are organized and responsive to your opponent’s argument.
Don’t make do a lot of work for you because I won’t.
CX
My default paradigm is policy maker. I prefer substantive arguments over the resolution.
I will accept any argument as long as it is not offensive.
I will not tolerate speed. It will definitively result in low speaker points and could result in a loss if I don’t flow your argument.
Topicality needs to have a real abuse story.
Theory, CP and K are fine. If you are reading a K don’t assume I familiar with the argument and literature.
The K needs to have a pragmatic alt.
Make sure speeches are organized and responsive to your opponent’s argument.
Don’t make do a lot of work for you because I won’t.
Clear refutations are key to winning the debate. Speed-talking and arrogance are frowned upon. Debates should be consistent from construction to final focus, ideally while supporting a clear framework. Use sign-posts throughout to avoid dropped contentions. Solid evidence should clearly link contentions to impacts. Be civil.
High school debate: Baltimore Urban Debate League ( Lake Clifton Eastern High School).
College debate: University of Louisville then Towson University.
Grad work: Cal State Fullerton.
Current: Director of Debate at Long Beach State (CSU Long Beach), former Director of Debate a Fresno State.
Email for chain: Devenc325@gmail.com
Speaker Point Scale
29.5-30: one of the best speakers I expect to see this year and has a high grade of Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve, Talent, and Swag is on 100. This means expert explanation of arguments and most arguments are offensive.
29 - 29.5: very good speaker has a middle grade of Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve, Talent, and mid-range swag. Explanation of arguments are of great quality and many of the arguments are offensive.
28.4 - 28.9: good speaker; may have some above average range/ parts of the Cha.Uni.Ner.Tal.S acronym but must work on a few of them and may have some issues to work out. Explanation of arguments are of good quality and several of the arguments are offensive.
28 - 28.3: solid speaker; needs some work; probably has average range/ parts of the Cha.Uni.Ner.Tal.S acronym but must work on a few of them and may have some issues to work out. Explanation of arguments are of okayish quality and very few of the arguments are offensive.
27.1 - 27.5: okay speaker; needs significant work on the Cha.Uni.Ner.Tal.S acronym. Not that good of explanation with no offensive arguments.
< 27: you have done something deeply problematic in this debate like clipping cards or linguistic violence, or rhetorically performed an ism without apology or remorse.
Please do not ask me to disclose points nor tell me as an argument to give you a 30. I wont. For some reason people think you are entitled to high points, I am not that person. So, you have to earn the points you get.
IF YOU ARE IN HIGHSCHOOL, SKIP DOWN TO THE "Judging Proper" section :)
Cultural Context
If you are a team that reads an argument based in someone else's identity, and you are called on it by another team with receipts of how it implicates the round you are in, its an uphill battle for you. I am a fan of performing your politics with consistency and genuine ethical relationships to the people you speak about. I am a fan of the wonderful author Linda Martin Alcoff who says " where one speaks from affects both the meaning and truth of what one says." With that said, you can win the debate but the burden of proof is higher for you....
Post Rounding
I will not entertain disrespectful or abrasive engagement because you lost the round. If you have questions, you may ask in a way that is thoughtful and seeking understanding. If your coach thinks they will do this as a defense of your students, feel free to constrain me. I will not allow my students to engage that way and the same courtesy should be extended to EVERYONE. Losing doesn't does not give you license to be out of your mind and speak with malice. Keep in mind I am not from the suburbs and I will not tolerate anyone's nasty demeanor directed at me nor my students.
"Community" Members
I do not and will not blindly think that all people in this activity are kind, trustworthy, non-cheaters, good intentioned, or will not do or say anything in the name of competition or malice towards others. Please miss me with having faith in people in an activity that often reveals people engaging in misconduct, exploitation, grooming, or other inappropriate activities that often times NEVER get reported. MANY of you have created and perpetuated a culture of toxicity and elitism, then you are surprised when the chickens come home to roost. This applies to ALL forms of college and high school debate...
Judging Proper
I am more than willing to listen to ANY arguments that are well explained and impacted and relate to how your strategy is going to produce scholarship, policy action, performance, movement, or whatever political stance or program. I will refer to an educator framework unless told otherwise...This means I will evaluate the round based on how you tell me you want it to be framed and I will offer comments on how you could make your argument better after the round. Comparison, Framing, OFFENSE is key for me. Please indict each other's framework or role of the ballot/role of the judge for evaluation and make clear offense to how that may make a bad model of debate. OR I am down with saying the debate should not be a reflection about the over all model of debate/ no model.
I DO NOT privilege certain teams or styles over others because that makes debate more unfair, un-educational, cliquey, and makes people not feel valued or wanted in this community, on that note I don't really jive to well with arguments about how certain folks should be excluded for the sake of playing the "game". NOR do I feel that there are particular kinds of debate related to ones personal identity. I think people are just making arguments attached to who they are, which is awesome, but I will not privilege a kind of debate because some asserts its a thing.
I judge debates according to the systematic connection of arguments rather than solely line by line…BUT doesn’t mean if the other team drops turns or other arguments that I won’t evaluate that first. They must be impacted and explained. PLEASE always point out reason why the opposing team is BAD and have contextualized reasons for why they have created a bad impact or make one worse. I DO vote on framework and theory arguments….I’ve been known to vote on Condo quite a bit, but make the interp, abuse story, and contradictions clear. If the debate devolves into a theory debate, I still think the AFF should extend a brief summary of the case.
Don’t try to adapt to how I used to debate if you genuinely don’t believe in doing so or just want to win a ballot. If you are doing a performance I will hold you to the level that it is practiced, you have a reason for doing so, and relates to the overall argument you are making…Don’t think “oh! I did a performance in front of Deven, I win.” You are sadly mistaken if so. It should be practiced, timed well, contain arguments, and just overall have a purpose. It should be extended with full explanation and utility.
Overall I would like to see a good debate where people are confident in their arguments and feel comfortable being themselves and arguing how they feel is best. I am not here to exclude you or make you feel worthless or that you are a "lazy" intellectual as some debaters may call others, but I do like to see you defend your side to the best of your ability.
GET OFF THEM BLOCKS SOME! I get it coaches like to block out args for their students, even so far as to script them out. I think this is a practice that is only focused on WINNING and not the intellectual development of debaters who will go on to coach younger debaters. A bit of advice that I give to any debater I come across is to tell them to READ, READ, READ. It is indeed fundamental and allows for the expansion of example use and fluency of your arguments.
A few issues that should be clarified:
Decorum: I DO NOT LIKE when teams think they can DISRESPECT, BULLY, talk RUDE to, or SCREAM at other teams for intimidation purposes in order to win or throw the other team off. Your points will be effected because this is very unbecoming and does not allow this space to be one of dialogue and reciprocity. If someone disrespects you, I am NOT saying turn the other cheek, but have some tact and utility of how you engage these folks. And being hyper evasive to me is a hard sell. Do not get me wrong, I do love the sassiness, sarcasm, curtness, and shade of it all but there is a way to do it with tact. I am also NOT persuaded that you should be able to be rude or do whatever you want because you are a certain race, class, gender, sex, sexuality, or any other intersection under the sun. That to me is a problematic excuse that intensifies the illegit and often rigid criticism that is unlashed upon "identity politics."
Road maps: STICK TO IT. I am a tight flower and I have a method. However, I need to know where things go so there is no dispute in the RFD that something was answered or not. If you are a one off team, please have a designed place for the PERM. I can listen well and know that there are places things should go, but I HATE to do that work for a team. PLEASE FLOW and not just follow the doc. If you answer an arg that was in the doc, but not read, I will take it as you note flowing nor paying attention to what is going on.
Framework and Theory: I love smart arguments in this area. I am not inclined to just vote on debate will be destroyed or traditional framework will lead to genocide unless explained very well and impacted based on some spill over claims. There must be a concrete connection to the impacts articulated on these and most be weighed. I am persuaded by the deliberation arguments, institutional engagement/building, limits, and topical versions of the Aff. Fairness is an interesting concept for me here. I think you must prove how their model of debate directly creates unfairness and provide links to the way their model of debate does such. I don't think just saying structural fairness comes first is the best without clarification about what that means in the context of the debate space and your model of debate.
Some of you K/Performance folks may think I am a FW hack, thas cute or whatever. Instead of looking at the judge as the reason why you weren't adequate at defending your business, you should do a redo, innovate, or invest in how to strategize. If it seems as though you aren't winning FW in front of me that means you are not focusing how offense and your model produces some level of "good." Or you could defend why the model approach is problematic or several reasons. I firmly believe if someone has a model of debate or how they want to engage the res or this space, you MUST defend it and prove why that is productive and provides some level of ground or debatability.
Winning Framework for me includes some level of case turn or reason why the aff produces something bad/ blocks something good/ there's a PIC/PIK of some kind (explained). This should be coupled with a proficient explanation of either the TVA or SSD strategy with the voter components (limits, predictability, clash, deliberation, research burden, education, fairness, ground etc.) that solidify your model of debate.
Performance: It must be linked to an argument that is able to defend the performance and be able to explain the overall impact on debate or the world/politics itself. Please don’t do a performance to just do it…you MUST have a purpose and connect it to arguments. Plus debate is a place of politics and args about debate are not absent politics sometimes they are even a pre-req to “real” politics, but I can be persuaded otherwise. You must have a role of the ballot or framework to defend yourself, or on the other side say why the role of the ballot is bad. I also think those critics who believe this style of debate is anti-intellectual or not political are oversimplifying the nuance of each team that does performance. Take your role as an educator and stop being an intellectual coward or ideology driven hack.
Do not be afraid to PIK/PIC out of a performance or give reasons why it was BAD. Often people want to get in their feelings when you do this. I am NOT sympathetic to that because you made a choice to bring it to this space and that means it can be negated, problematized, and subject to verbal criticism.
Topic/Resolution: I will vote on reasons why or why not to go by the topic...unlike some closed minded judges who are detached from the reality that the topics chosen may not allow for one to embrace their subjectivity or social location in ways that are productive. This doesn’t mean I think talking about puppies and candy should win, for those who dumb down debate in their framework args in that way. You should have a concrete and material basis why you chose not to engage the topic and linked to some affirmation against racism/sexism/homophobia/classism/elitism/white supremacy and produces politics that are progressive and debatable. There would have to be some metric of evaluation though. BUT, I can be persuaded by the plan focus and topic education model is better middle ground to what they want to discuss.
Hella High Theory K: i.e Hiediggar, Baudrillard, Zizek, D&G, Butler, Arant, and their colleagues…this MUST be explained to me in a way that can make some material sense to me as in a clear link to what the aff has done or an explanation of the resolution…I feel that a lot of times teams that do these types of arguments assume a world of abstraction that doesn’t relate fully to how to address the needs of the oppressed that isn’t a privileged one. However, I do enjoy Nietzsche args that are well explained and contextualized. Offense is key with running these args and answering them.
Disadvantages: I’m cool with them just be well explained and have a link/link wall that can paint the story…you can get away with a generic link with me if you run politics/econ/tradeoff disads. But, it would be great to provide a good story. In the 2NC/1NR retell the story of the disad with more context and OFFENSE and compartmentalize the parts. ALWAYS tell me why it turns and outweighs case. Disads on case should be impacted and have a clear link to what the aff has done to create/perpetuate the disad. If you are a K team and you kick the alt that solves for the disads…that is problematic for me. Affs need to be winning impact framing and some level of offense. No link is not enough for me.
Perms: I HATE when people have more than 3 perms. Perm theory is good here for me, do it and not just GROUP them. For a Method v Method debate, you do not get to just say you dont get a perm. Enumerate reasons why they do not get a perm. BUT, if an Aff team in this debate does make a perm, it is not just a test of competition, it is an advocacy that must be argued as solving/challenging what is the issue in the debate.
Additionally, you can kick the perms and no longer have to be burden with that solvency. BUT you must have offensive against their C/P, ALT, or advocacy.
Counterplans/Advocacies: They have to solve at least part of the case and address some of the fundamental issues dealing with the aff’s advantages especially if it’s a performance or critical aff…I’m cool with perm theory with a voter attached. I am cool with any kind of these arguments, but an internal net benefit is not enough for me in a policy counterplan setting. If you are running a counter advocacy, there must be enumerated reasons why it is competitive, net beneficial, and is the option that should be prioritized. I do love me a PIK/PIC or two, but please do it effectively with specific evidence that is a criticism of the phrase or term the aff used. But, know the difference between piking out of something and just criticizing the aff on some trivial level. I think you need to do very good analysis in order to win a PIC/PIK. I do not judge kick things...that is your job.
Affs in the case of PIK/PICs, you must have disads to the solvency (if any), perm, theory, defend the part that is questionable to the NEG.
Race/ Identity arguments: LOVE these especially from the Black/Latinx/Asian/Indigenous/Trans/Sexuality perspective (most familiar with) , but this doesn’t mean you will win just because you run them like that. I like to see the linkage between what the aff does wrong or what the aff/neg has perpetuated. I’m NOT likely to vote on a link of omission unless some structural claim has risen the burden. I am not familiar with ALL of these types of args, so do not assume that I know all you literature or that I am a true believer of your arguments about Blackness. I do not believe that Blackness based arguments are wedded to an ontology focus or that one needs to win or defeat ontology to win.
I am def what some of you folks would call a "humanist and I am okay with that. Does not mean you can't win any other versions of that debate in front of me.
Case Args: Only go for case turns and if REALLY needed for your K, case defense.…they are the best and are offensive , however case defense may work on impacts if you are going for a K. If you run a K or performance you need to have some interaction with the aff to say why it is bad. Please don't sandbag these args so late in the debate.
CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE --------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am of the strong belief that Congressional debate is a DEBATE event first and foremost. I do not have an I.E or speech background. However, I do teach college public speaking and argumentation. The comments I leave will talk about some speech or style components. I am not a judge that heavily favors delivery over the argumentation and evidence use.
I am a judge that enjoys RECENT evidence use, refutation, and clash with the topics you have been assigned.
STRUCTURE OF SPEECHES
I really like organization. With that said, I do prefer debaters have a introduction with a short attention getter, and a short preview statement of their arguments. In the body of the speech, I would like some level of impacting/ weighing of your arguments and their arguments ( if applicable), point out flaws in your opponents argumentation (lack of solvency, fallacies, Alternative causes), cite evidence and how it applies, and other clash based refutation. If you want to have a conclusion, make sure it has a short summary and a declarative reason to pass or fail.
REFUTATION
After the first 2 speeches of the debate, I put heavy emphasis on the idea that these speeches should have a refutation component outside of you extending a previous argument from your side, establish a new argument/evidence, or having some kind of summary. I LOVE OFFENSE based arguments that will turn the previous arguments state by the opposition. Defensive arguments are fine, but please explain why they mean the opposition cannot solve or why your criticism of their evidence or reason raises to the level of rejecting their stance. Please do not list more than 2 or 3 senators or reps that you are refuting because in some cases it looks like students are more concerned with the appearance of refutation than actually doing it. I do LOVE sassy, assertive or sarcastic moments but still be polite.
EVIDENCE USE
I think evidence use is very important to the way I view this type of debate. You should draw evidence from quality sources whether that is stats/figures/academic journals/narrative from ordinary people. Please remember to cite where you got your information and the year. I am a hack for recency of your evidence because it helps to illuminate the current issues on your topic. Old evidence is a bit interesting and should be rethought in front of me. Evidence that doesn't at some level assume the ongoing/aftermath of COVID-19 is a bit of a stretch. Evidence comparison/analysis of your opponent is great as well.
ANALYSIS
I LOVE impact calculus where you tell me why the advantages of doing or not doing a bill outweighs the costs. This can be done in several ways, but it should be clear, concise, and usually happen in the later speeches. At a basic level, doing timeframe, magnitude, probability, proximity, or any other standard for making arguments based on impact are great. I DISLIKE rehash....If you are not expanding or changing the way someone has articulated an argument or at least acknowledge it, I do not find rehash innovative nor high rank worthy. This goes back to preparation and if you have done work on both sides of a bill. You should prepare multiple arguments on a given side just in case someone does the argument before you. There is nothin worse to me than an unprepared set of debaters that must take a bunch of recesses/breaks to prepare to switch.
I am a veteran LD coach in Indiana. I teach history and philosophy.
I expect both sides of the debate to present a framework for consideration including a value structure and value criterion. I will not vote on dropped arguments unless it becomes a tie breaker or a dropped argument is essential to the overall round. In other words, spreading will not be an effective strategy.
I will not automatically vote down Ks or Theory, but they need to fit within your framework. Also, unlike Policy, I do not access a default to utility, so arguing exclusively based on impacts without first establishing utility in your framework does not automatically win in voters.
Don't make assumptions about concepts you introduce. If you are going to talk about justice, you need to provide a rational for your conception of justice and not assume that the judge and your competitor automatically agree on your understanding. You need to lay this out in your framework. If your opponent suggests Aristotle and you prefer Rawls, you need to make me care about your view for me to prefer it over the alternative.
Finally, on evidence I will not consider appeals to authority as evidence. I don't care if you quote 17 "experts" who agree with your opinion, that doesn't count as evidence. If you have no warrant and just try to gloss over that deficiency with appeals to authority, you have no argument. Internals matter, and quoted evidence needs to be substantive. If the facts aren't in question, reason trumps appeals.
Chris Coovert,
Coach, Gig Harbor HS, Gig Harbor WA
Coached LD: 27 years
Coached CX: 17: years
Coached PF: 21 years
Competed in LD: 4 years
Competed in NPDA: 2 years
LD Paradigm: I have been competing in, judging and coaching Lincoln Douglas debate for over twenty years. I have seen a lot of changes, some good, some not so good. This is what you should know.
I will evaluate the round based on the framework provided by the debaters. The affirmative needs to establish a framework (usually a value and criterion) and then show why, based on the framework, the resolution is true. The negative should either show why the resolution is not true under that framework or provide a competing framework which negates. My stock paradigm is what most people now call truth testing: the aff's burden is to prove the resolution true and the negatives is to prove it false. I will default to this absent another paradigm being established in the round. If both debaters agree that I should evaluate as a policymaker, I am able to do that and will. If you both put me in some other mode, that is reasonable as well. If there is an argument, however, between truth testing and another way of looking at the round the higher burden of proof will be on the debater attempting the shift away from truth testing.
As far as specific arguments go.
1. I find topicality arguments generally do not apply in Lincoln Douglas debate. If the affirmative is not dealing with the resolution, then they are not meeting their burden to prove the resolution true. This is the issue, not artificial education or abuse standards. I have voted on T in the past, but I think there are more logical ways to approach these arguments if the aff is affirming the entire resolution. In a round where the affirmative runs a plan, T becomes more relevant.
2. I find the vast majority of theory arguments to be very poorly run bastardizations of policy theory that do not really apply to LD. I especially hate AFC, and must/must not run plans, or arguments of this nature.
3. I have a strong, strong, bias against debaters using theory shells as their main offensive weapon in rounds when the other debater is running stock, predictable cases. I am open to theory arguments against abusive positions, but I want you to debate the resolution, not how we should debate.
4. You need to keep sight of the big picture. Impact individual arguments back to framework.
5. I am not going to vote on disclosure theory. I am more likely for an RVI against the person who ran disclosure. There is no obligation to disclose.
Finally, I am a flow judge. I will vote on the arguments. That said, I prefer to see debaters keep speeds reasonable, especially in the constructives. You don’t have to be conversational, but I want to be able to make out individual words and get what you are saying. It is especially important to slow down a little bit when reading lists of framework or theory arguments that are not followed by cards. I will tell you if you are unclear. Please adjust your speed/clarity accordingly. I will not keep repeating myself and will eventually just stop flowing.
Public Forum Paradigm
I want to see clear arguments with warrants to back them up. I am ultimately going to vote on the arguments in the round not speaking ability. That said, speaking persuasively will never hurt you and might make your arguments seems stronger. Please do not lie about evidence or take it out of context. I know enough about most topics that I will know if you are misrepresenting evidence or simply making stuff up.
Debaters:
I believe that debate should focus on persuasion, analysis, discourse, and clear communication. I feel that this applies to all style of debate in which one can participate. I want to hear the debaters think on their feet, rebut any major point emphasized by their opponents and I need to hear every word that each debater says clearly. Emphasis should be placed on enunciating properly and clearly. I would prefer a pause and repeat rather than passing over a mispronunciation or indistinct phrase that impacts your argument. I do not look favorably on speed reading or spread debating as I feel that is only an attempt to be judged for the number of points emphasized rather than the strength and basis of the points used in the argument. I think of it as "quality of argument is more important the quantity of argument". A few strong arguments defended well outweigh a mound of argumentation and evidence rattled off so rapidly that one cannot be reasonably expected to hear, digest and note it all, let alone counter all of the points. I want to be able to keep up with you and take occasional notes as necessary. We all hear much faster than we can type or write.
A debate should always be a respectful exchange of ideas, delivered at a pace so that a reasonably well-educated judge – even a first-time judge or parent/layman such as myself without any prior information on the subject– should be able to weigh the arguments presented and determine a winner. In line with this overall principle, I do not look favorably on a hostile, rude, or patronizing attitude on the part of the debaters towards their opponents.
Speak clearly; argue intelligently; disagree in a respectful tone and demeanor. I look for a combination of evidence, reasoning, and analysis. Do not reference articles or studies without the availability to provide these to the opponent or judges if requested. If referenced make sure you argue why the study supports your argument, not just used as a reference. Just referencing a study without justifying it's use does not show deep thought and rationale in my opinion. I am not looking for a bibliography, I am looking for a foundation of your argument if referenced. A good debate should be understandable to a college-educated adult like myself who is not a certified judge with limited experience with the speech-and-debate environment. All debaters, even those who lose should learn from the experience and want to continue this road of friendly but determined discourse. As a judge I feel I am here to highlight what I think you did effectively and where you could improve. My view is a rather novice one with limited experience in judging, but a view very familiar with passionate and professional discourse amongst colleagues.
Thank you and good luck!
2022
Similar preferences to those below. I still value clarity and clash. For Congress, I value presentation, delivery, and style as well. Most of all, be your authentic self. Make passionate arguments you care about. Discuss the real-world impacts. Be respectful of your opponents and have fun!
Stanford 2020 and 2021
Here are some preferences:
I prefer traditional NSDA LD debate. If you spread, run theory, and/or kritiks, I will do my best to keep track but I do not yet have the experience to judge it yet. I'm getting better at it, though, so if you have more "circuit-type" argumentation, be sure to signpost and explain.
It is also my belief that skilled circuit debaters can be just as skilled at traditional debate (take a look at NSDA Nationals 2011 and 2018). And this year's NSDA National Champion competed at this same tournament a couple years ago. So there is lots of crossover.
Signpost. I will flow, but you can help by keeping the debate organized.
Crystallize. Break down the debate. Tell me what you think are the most important voting issues. Weigh arguments and impacts.
Have fun debating the big ideas of this resolution. It matters and your opinions matter, so challenge everyone in the room to consider this topic both philosophically and practically.
Stanford 2019
Please put me on the email chain: hcorkery@eduhsd.k12.ca.us
English teacher. Long time baseball coach; first year debate coach!
Here are some preferences:
Stay with traditional NSDA LD debate. If you are on the circuit, I respect your skill set; I’m just not ready for it yet. If you spread, run theory, and/or kritiks, I will do my best to keep track but I do not yet have the experience to judge it yet. And it is my belief that skilled circuit debaters can be just as skilled at traditional debate (take a look at NSDA Nationals 2011 and 2018).
Signpost. I will flow, but you can help by keeping the debate organized.
Crystallize. Break down the debate. Tell me what you think are the most important voting issues. Weigh arguments and impacts.
Have fun debating the big ideas of this very important resolution. I am a Marine Corps veteran and I understand the real-world impacts of foreign policy decisions. Your opinions matter so challenge everyone in the room to consider this topic both philosophically and practically.
Stanford 2018
Public Forum debate was designed with both the public and the lay judge in mind. For this reason, I'll judge your round based on the side that presents the clearest, best-supported, most logical argument that convinces the public and the public's policy makers to vote one way or another on a resolution.
I appreciate it when you explicitly state when you are establishing a "framework," making a "contention" or claim, providing a "warrant" or "evidence" and analyzing an "impact."
For speaker points, I value poise, eye contact, gestures, and pacing (changing your voice and speed to make effective points).
Finally, since this is JV Public Forum, we need to have a "growth mindset" and understand that this level of debating is developmental. JV Public Forum debaters are trying to improve and ultimately become varsity debaters. Winning is obviously important (I've coached sports for 20 years), but in my mind there is a clear distinction between JV and Varsity levels in any activity. JV is developmental competition. Varsity is the highest level competition.
I prefer that students speak and debate in the way they feel most comfortable. Their presentation should cater to a wide audience and be effective regardless of the judge.
Debate: My decision is based on who best upheld their contentions and asserted their case as more relevant than their opponent's in the context of the resolution.
I have been a judge in some capacity (coach, hired) since 1998. I've seen many trends come and go. I used to be a traditionalist when it came to interp and blocking, but understand how the events have evolved and adapted my judging to suit what the community has deemed appropriate. However, here are some event specific elements of my paradigm.
Extemp - I believe that fundamentally, an extemp speech must be founded on answering the question that is posed. I think the unified analysis is the best way to support your thesis, but am open to other organizational methods. Source citations should include the name of the source and the date for me to give them full weight. I know what's going on the in the world. Do not lie or embellish with me. It will not go well. I would rather have someone give their best try with a hard topic than to have someone make things up or misrepresent the facts of the matter. Especially with having access to the internet, there is no excuse for making things up in Extemp.
Informative - I have been around Informative speaking for a lot longer than it has been a TFA event. This event is one where you can do a speech about anything, but that doesn't mean you should do a speech about anything. It should be something where you are informing us about a topic with relevance to you (the speaker) and which you can "sell" to us as interesting and relevant to us. The quality of visual aides matter. Sloppy VAs speak volumes about the speech. Neat and clean VAs speak well and set a good impression. This should not be Infosuasion (meaning that it is a persuasive in tone, but using VAs). The best informatives have balance in them (pros and cons) and a lot of information that we wouldn't otherwise know but for this speech. Source citations should include the name of the source and the date for me to give them full weight.
Oratory - I think the best oratories are ones where they are relevant to everyone in the audience, as well as the speaker. Oratories that are overly-focused on the speaker tend to be exclusive and I think feed into the perception of this event as "bore-atory" I like advocacy focused on Problem - Cause - Solution or Problem - Cause - Impact or something similar. Source citations should include the name of the source and the date for me to give them full weight. Personal examples are ok, but should not be the main part of the support for your speech. Research is important for good persuasion for a Logos person (that'd be me).
DI/HI - I lump these together because I view good interp from the same lens. I think that the best interpers make you forget that they're a high school student performing at a speech and debate contest. If it is serious, I want to feel like you set me in that scene and that you are your character(s). If it is funny, I want to see the scene play out with the humor being an integral part of the cutting and your performance. I think blocking is a compliment to the performance. It should not distract from it. The choice of literature matters. DIs should present a good exploration of the dramatic curve - in otherwords, don't stay at one level the whole time. Have some development from start to climax to conclusion. HIs should similarly utilize the dramatic curve to build to the climactic humorous scene or event. Audience appropriateness is also an element in my judging for these events. Both in the performance choices and in the literature selection.
POI - Notice I didn't lump POI with the other individual interps. While much of the same is true of the performance elements as those events, I fundamentally believe that POI must have a thematic argument that the program explores. It is not DI with a few poems thrown in. It is fundamentally different from the other interp events. The intro must establish what this argumentative framework is for me to really appreciate the thematic choice. I also believe that the best POIs are inclusive of the audience in terms of interest and relevance - similar to my thoughts on an OO. Book work should be complimentary and not distracting from the performance.
Duo/Duet - In addition to my thoughts on DI/HI, I think how the performers work together is essential to a great partnered interp event.
Impromptu - The speech must be based on the topic drawn. Please do not shoe-horn in a canned speech into whatever quote you drew. Use your knowledge. Distill a message from the quote/topic, take a position on the message, and back it up with examples. I think variety in example areas and mastery of what you're talking about are important. I think the best impromptu speakers used 1:00-1:30 of their prep time to leave 5:30-6:00 for the speech.
Prose - See my DI/HI and POI commentary.
For all Debate events - While I have a lot of specific preferences for IEs, I generally have more universal preferences for debate events. First, in regards to speed, I can handle some faster-than-conversational pacing, but understand this: If I can't understand what you are saying because you have chosen to deliver at too rapid a pace, you are losing those arguments and probably losing speaker points (where applicable). I abhor the practice of spreading - so don't do it in my rounds. Quality trumps quantity with me every time. While I believe drops can weigh in the round, you need to tell me why they should weigh in the round. This includes being clear on their relevance to the debate as a whole. Also, please don't try weird progressive tactics. I won't pick up a debater because they constructed some fanciful construct that means only they can win the debate. I vote on the argumentation and who does the best job persuading me to their side (that is the essence of debate IMHO).
Lastly, for all events - do not shout in my face. Vocal projection is good, but not when it is over-done. And especially when it is in a small room or one with acoustics that amplify sounds. I have ranked competitors down for shouting in my face. It shows a lack of audience awareness and sensitivity. Intensity can be demonstrated with more than volume.
I am a judge with eleven years of experience in Public Forum, Lincoln-Douglas, Congress, and Parliamentary Debate.
I am a flow judge that values precision of thought, argument structure, and word choice. I welcome authoritative sourcing in support of arguments but never an appeal to authority. I understand the tactical reason for speed but prefer to be convinced by the strength of the argument and the rhetorical elegance of the presentation.
As a teacher of history that thrives on disputation, I require a clash of ideas. I am philosophically fond the counterpunch and find a “turn” often to be the highlight of a debate. Find the flaw in your opponent’s argument and exploit it to your advantage.
In Public Forum and LD:
During cross, strive for a balance between contention and civility.
In Congress and Parliamentary Debate:
Regardless of the prep time, demonstrate a certain depth and breadth of content knowledge related to the bill or motion. Reasoned argument on behalf of the commonweal is preferred over moral preference and preening.
Disclosure (if permitted by tournament rules) is not a time for discussion or appeal.
I like to see a variety of sources in extemp. Don't just throw it in there to have it, make sure it helps paint the picture.
I like to see some type of extemp walk to help me visualize the speech more.
Threads not the most important to have in extemp, but there should be some solid transitions going into each point.
Significance in all speech events are super important to me. I need to know why I should listen to you.
If using language it really needs to have it's purpose.
Debate:
Talk Pretty
I enjoy role of the ballot and role of the judge you tell me how to vote on the round.
Run whatever as long as you can explain. Key word is EXPLAIN.
Don't be rude to one another or you will lose speaker points.
Experience: Head coach for 9 years at Wichita Northwest. Assistant coach for 3 years at Topeka High. Debated 4 years in high school. I have judged at nationals in debate/speech events 15+ years.
Speed: Okay with moderate to quick pace. Spreading okay on evidence, BUT I prefer slower and more deliberate pace with especially when it comes to analysis of evidence.
Framework for Evaluating Rounds: I default to policymaker. Please tell me how you would like me to weigh the round. As long as the the framework is real world and not too abstract, I will consider it in my decision.
Positions: I evaluate Topicality roughly on par with other issues in the round. I am fine with generic DA's as long as the links are explained clearly. CP’s and K’s are acceptable as long as text/links are well explained and maintain competition in the round. I evaluate the round pretty evenly between argumentation and communication skills. You have to have both the winning arguments and the ability to communicate them clearly and persuasively.
Novice Rounds: If this is a novice round, I expect to hear case debate and explanations. Please do more than read evidence and/or read blocks. Explain what you are reading, what it relates to in the round, and how it advances your position. You should avoid arguing a disadvantage/counterplan/K if you have never read it before or haven't at least talked to your coach about what it means. Overall, I want to see clash and a debate about substantive issues rather than about how the other side debated. Focus on the arguments not on the opponents themselves.
I am in my 26th year as the head debate coach at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory. Persuasion, clarity, and presentation are priorities for me. While I have a working knowledge of many progressive arguments, I prefer traditional, topical debate. Since I do not judge frequently, it is crucial to speak clearly and articulate the points you want me to focus on. If you go too fast and fail to follow this advice, you risk losing me. I will not vote on arguments I do not understand. Make your path to my ballot clear.
I will accept certain theory arguments, such as topicality or disclosure, and will vote on them if there is demonstrated abuse. However, I firmly believe debates should center on the assigned topic.
I also believe in pre-round disclosure, as it helps level the playing field for all participants. I value well-supported arguments backed by evidence. Drops matter, as does impact calculus. Providing clear, compelling reasons why you are winning on offense is the simplest way to secure my ballot.
For all email chains, please send to both:
jcrist1965@gmail.com and strakejesuitpf@mail.strakejesuit.org
Though I am not a lay judge, I believe Public Forum debate should be accessible to lay judges. So don't go too fast. Be respectful. And make sure impacts are realistic; it doesn't take much for me to buy an argument that breaks a multi-step link chain. Finally, and most importantly, honesty matters. So make sure you represent your evidence accurately; I will drop teams that misrepresent evidence, and I'm willing to ask that they be disqualified too.
I am relatively new to judging.
PF: Please read slower than you would for a normal judge and prioritize weighing. I encourage you to drop arguments going into summary if you have one that is better than another. If you spread, I will give up trying to hear you. Running theory is ill-advised. I'm a parent judge.
Speech: I am a parent judge, so of course I am not going to be in the loop on all the technical aspects of your event. If you are the first speaker (or any speaker) in the room, you should probably tell me how timing will work as I do not know how you want it.
EXB (for Nats): Please slow down. Be realistic. Pick one or two points and don’t spread or I’ll down you. I’m not voting on extinction impacts unless it really makes sense. Time yourself. Evidence is good but cards don’t exist in Extemp Debate. Please be nice. I’m a parent judge.
I am a speech coach in Georgia. I competed in IEs but I can follow debate very well.
- LD - Value/Value Criterion - This is the unique feature of LD Debate. Have a good value and criterion and link your arguments back to it.
- PF - I side on the traditional side of PF. Don't throw a lot of jargon at me or simply read cards. Compete in PF for the debate animal it is. Remember debate, especially PF, is meant to persuade - use all the tools in your rhetorical toolbox: Logos, Ethos, and Pathos.
- Speed -Since I did not debate in High School, I don't follow speed well. Speak at your own risk, but if I didn't hear it, I don't flow it.
- Know your case, like you actually did the research and wrote the case and researched the arguments from the other side. If you present it, I expect you to know it from every angle - I want you to know the research behind the statistic and the whole article, not just the blurb on the card.
- I like clash. Argue the cases presented, mix it up, have some fun, but remember that debate is civil discourse - don't take it personal, being the loudest speaker won't win the round, being rude to your opponent won't win you the round.
- Debating is a performance in the art of persuasion and your job is to convince me, your judge (not your opponent!!) - use the art of persuasion to win the round: eye contact, vocal variations, appropriate gestures, and know your case well enough that you don't have to read every single word hunched over a computer screen. Keep your logical fallacies for your next round. Rhetoric is an art.
- Technology Woes - I will not stop the clock because your laptop just died or you can't find your case - not my problem, fix it or don't but we are going to move on.
- Ethics - Debate is a great game when everyone plays by the rules. Play by the rules - don't give me a reason to doubt your veracity.
- Win is decided by the flow (remember if you don't LINK it, it isn't on the flow), who made the most successful arguments and Speaker Points are awarded to the best speaker - I end up with some low point wins. I am fairly generous on speaker points compared to some judges. I disclose winner but not speaker points.
- Enjoy yourself. Debate is the best sport in the world - win or lose - learn something from each round, don't gloat, don't disparage other teams, judges, or coaches, and don't try to convince me after the round is over. Leave it in the round and realize you may have just made a friend that you will compete against and talk to for the rest of your life. Don't be so caught up in winning that you forget to have some fun - in the round, between rounds, on the bus, and in practice.
- Questions? - if you have a question ask me.
Looking for students who speak clearly and address all of opponents contentions.
Hello! I'm going to get right to it. I've been coaching Speech and Debate for 19 years. I’ve judged policy and LD at the local and national level. In LD, I’ve judged national semi-final rounds and also had the honor to be part of the national panel as a judge for the final round.
Use of Jargon or technical language: I got you. I prefer Ks and theory that apply directly to the resolution and the context of the round. I will rarely vote on a K or theory if it doesn’t foster debate on the resolution. I also want to hear LD debaters uphold their value - it's the only thing that makes LD unique; therefore, it must be won to win my ballot.
I am a flow judge in that I will track your arguments and look at clash and drops, analyzing who wins each argument on the flow. Given that, be specific in your signposting and tell me where you want me to put things on the flow. I look at your arguments (60%) and your delivery (40%). Share your cases with me if you’re planning on going fast; I’m ok with speed.
Please be respectful to your opponents and judges. Respect is one of the basic tenets of this activity and must be upheld. (Can you see my LD roots showing?) With that being said, let’s debate!
Mariel Cruz - Updated 1/18/2025
*Note about email chains - I don't feel comfortable publicly posting my email address on my paradigm, so please just ask me for my email if you are doing an email chain
Schools I've coached/judged for: Santa Clara University, Cal Lutheran University, Gunn High School, Polytechnic School, Saratoga High School, and Notre Dame High School
I've judged most debate events pretty frequently, except for Policy and Congress. However, I was a policy debater in college, so I'm still familiar with that event. I mostly judge PF and traditional LD, occasionally circuit LD. I judge all events pretty similarly, but I do have a few specific notes about Parli debate listed below.
Background: I was a policy debater for Santa Clara University for 5 years. I also helped run/coach the SCU parliamentary team, so I know a lot about both styles of debate. I've been coaching and judging on the high school and college circuit since 2012, so I have seen a lot of rounds. I teach/coach pretty much every event, including LD and PF.
Policy topic: I haven’t done much research on either the college or high school policy topic, so be sure to explain everything pretty clearly.
Speed: I’m good with speed, but be clear. I don't love speed, but I tolerate it. If you are going to be fast, I need a speech doc for every speech with every argument, including analytics or non-carded arguments. If I'm not actively flowing, ie typing or writing notes, you're probably too fast.
As I've started coaching events that don't utilize speed, I've come to appreciate rounds that are a bit slower. I used to judge and debate in fast rounds in policy, but fast rounds in other debate events are very different, so fast debaters should be careful, especially when running theory and reading plan/cp texts. If you’re running theory, try to slow down a bit so I can flow everything really well. Or give me a copy of your alt text/Cp text. Also, be sure to sign-post, especially if you're going fast, otherwise it gets too hard to flow. I actually think parli (and all events other than policy) is better when it's not super fast. Without the evidence and length of speeches of policy, speed is not always useful or productive for other debate formats. If I'm judging you, it's ok be fast, but I'd prefer if you took it down a notch, and just didn't go at your highest or fastest speed.
K: I like all types of arguments, disads, kritiks, theory, whatever you like. I like Ks but I’m not an avid reader of literature, so you’ll have to make clear explanations, especially when it comes to the alt. Even though the politics DA was my favorite, I did run quite a few Ks when I was a debater. However, I don't work with Ks as much as I used to (I coach many students who debate at local tournaments only, where Ks are not as common), so I'm not super familiar with every K, but I've seen enough Ks that I have probably seen something similar to what you're running. Just make sure everything is explained well enough. If you run a K I haven't seen before, I'll compare it to something I have seen. I am not a huge fan of Ks like Nietzche, and I'm skeptical of alternatives that only reject the aff. I don't like voting for Ks that have shakey alt solvency or unclear frameworks or roles of the ballot.
Framework and Theory: I tend to think that the aff should defend a plan and the resolution and affirm something (since they are called the affirmative team), but if you think otherwise, be sure to explain why you it’s necessary not to. I’ll side with you if necessary. I usually side with reasonability for T, and condo good, but there are many exceptions to this (especially for parli - see below). I'll vote on theory and T if I have to. However, I'm very skeptical of theory arguments that seem frivolous and unhelpful (ie Funding spec, aspec, etc). Also, I'm not a fan of disclosure theory. Many of my students compete in circuits where disclosure is not a common practice, so it's hard for me to evaluate disclosure theory.
Basically, I prefer theory arguments that can point to actual in round abuse, versus theory args that just try to establish community norms. Since all tournaments are different regionally and by circuit, using theory args to establish norms feels too punitive to me. However, I know some theory is important, so if you can point to in round abuse, I'll still consider your argument.
Parli specific: Since the structure for parli is a little different, I don't have as a high of a threshold for theory and T as I do when I judge policy or LD, which means I am more likely to vote on theory and T in parli rounds than in other debate rounds. This doesn't mean I'll vote on it every time, but I think these types of arguments are a little more important in parli, especially for topics that are kinda vague and open to interpretation. I also think Condo is more abusive in parli than other events, so I'm more sympathetic to Condo bad args in parli than in other events I judge.
Policy/LD/PF prep:I don’t time exchanging evidence, but don’t abuse that time. Please be courteous and as timely as possible.
General debate stuff: I was a bigger fan of CPs and disads, but my debate partner loved theory and Ks, so I'm familiar with pretty much everything. I like looking at the big picture as much as the line by line. Frankly, I think the big picture is more important, so things like impact analysis and comparative analysis are important.
Philosophy:
As a parent judge, I am committed to providing a fair and unbiased evaluation of the arguments presented by both teams. I value clear communication, logical reasoning, and the effective use of evidence in debates. My role is to assess the quality of the arguments and the debating skills displayed by the participants.
Experience:
I have experience judging debates for 3+ years. I have observed various debate formats and am familiar with the general rules and practices of competitive debate.
Role of the Judge:
My role is to objectively evaluate the arguments and evidence presented during the round. I do not have preconceived opinions about the topic and will base my decision solely on the merits of the arguments made during the debate.
Argumentation:
I appreciate well-structured arguments that are supported by evidence. Debaters should focus on providing clear contentions and solid reasoning.
Rebuttals:
Effective refutation is crucial. Debaters should engage with their opponents' arguments, identify points of clash, and provide a clear summary of their case in the final rebuttals.
Cross-Examination:
I expect cross-examination to be conducted respectfully and to serve as a tool for clarifying positions and uncovering weaknesses in arguments.
Time Management:
Debaters should adhere to time limits. I will keep track of time, but I expect participants to be responsible for managing their own time effectively.
Speaker Points:
I will assign speaker points based on clarity, strategy, and overall performance. High speaker points will be awarded to debaters who demonstrate strong argumentation skills and effective communication.
Respect:
Respect for opponents, partners, and the judge is essential. Any form of disrespectful behavior will be penalized in my assessment.
Decision Making:
My decision will be based on the quality of the arguments presented in the round. I will carefully evaluate each team's contentions, evidence, and refutation before reaching a decision.
Preferences:
I do not have strong preferences regarding specific debate styles or content areas. My primary concern is the quality of the arguments and the debating skills displayed by the participants.
Final Thoughts:
Debate is an excellent opportunity for personal growth and intellectual development. I encourage all debaters to approach the round with enthusiasm, integrity, and a commitment to constructive discourse.
Please put me on the email chain if you're using one - josephfreedotcummings@gmail.com
These are just my basic thoughts on debate. If you want the short and sweet, I would call myself a tabula rasa judge. I do my best to go into a round with no preconceived notions about how you all should do the debate, I would like you to explain why I should vote on arguments, but I don't have a lot of preferences on arguments you make.
I am a former policy debater and current policy coach.
Affirmatives
I prefer for affirmatives to have a topical plan of action. I have little to no experience with non-plan based affirmatives. If you can argue and explain it well, I have no problem voting for it, but I do not want my lack of understanding of the argument to harm your chances in the round.
The plan and its actions should be in the 1AC.
Topicality
I enjoy topicality debate, but not when it's used exclusively to waste time. I would love to vote on topicality if you can prove that the affirmative isn't topical. Even if I personally believe the affirmative is topical, I will vote negative if I believe they are winning the topicality argument.
My biggest frustration with T is when people do it half-heartedly. Don't use it to waste time, don't halfway do it in hopes I'll give you the benefit of debate in the end just because maybe there's a tiny shred of doubt that the affirmative is topical.
Being Negative
I will listen to any negative strategy. My circuit is not kritik or theory heavy. If you plan on taking this route, make sure you explain the literature and argument well, don't assume I know as much as you do about your kritik. I guarantee you I know less about your kritik than you do, explain it to me and still do the line by line debate and I'll have no problem voting for you.
I believe it's important that any negative position be explained well and thought out. There is nothing that I will never vote for, as long as the negative team can make it clear why it applies and why they should win the argument. The round is yours to do with as you please, but I shouldn't be in a position where I have no idea what is being talked about because I am not extremely knowledgable about kritiks and the negative did not explain their position well enough. That's not fair for you or me and it would be a bummer.
Pet Peeves
Please don't be rude or hateful to each other. Being unkind just because you think you're winning easily is a quick way for me to not want to vote for you anymore. I love policy and I've known too many people who have quit doing it because of how rude other debaters were to them during round.
If you are paperless, you need to be providing evidence (whether through email, flash drive, etc) in a timely and efficient manner. If you are taking forever to do such, you probably need to take more prep time. You should be providing organized speech docs.
In a virtual world everyone needs to be efficient at sharing the evidence, remember that comes out of YOUR prep time. I suggest dropping speeches before you begin your speech if not you will have to use your prep if the other team asks for it. There is a difference between prep time and tech time, don't try to steal prep during tech time.
Bottom Line
Have impacts. Weigh those impacts. I love impact calc.
Debate is good. Debate is educational. Debate is fun. Make sure everyone is able to achieve these things in the round.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q- Can I spread?
A- Sure, I won't hold it against you, but you had better be clear. If you're spreading and I can't understand a single word that won't be great for you.
Q- Open Cross?
A- Not my favorite. I'm not opposed to it, but in my experience open cross is almost always dominated by one partner. If you do open cross, make sure it's evenly distributed.
I am a coach with an open mind and I love to see someone bring their own individual style to a performance. Don’t be a robot! Be unique and interesting and you will go far.
I have been involved in speech and debate for 29 years. I did policy in High School and debated Parli in College. I have head or assistant coached for the past 23 years.
**I don't hold CX as binding (don't need to ask if I'm ready for...I'm not flowing it).
**I start running prep when you sit down from cross and stop it when you are up to speak again. Helps keeps rounds on time. The increase in prep was to accommodate filesharing, so you should be doing that during prep, not in addition to prep.
**Aff/Pro on my left (facing me your right)
Policy
I consider myself a Communication/Stock Issues judge with strong policy maker tendencies. I like to see REALISTIC impact calc and am likely to vote for the Aff if there is no risk of a disadvantage. Theory/K: I have only voted for 1 K. I think they are a great tool in college debate and usually high school students run them as a generic, underdeveloped off case. If you didn't personally cut the cards and write the K and if you can't explain the premise to your mom in 30 seconds...you probably won't win my ballot with it. CP: need to be able to prove mutual exclusivity and net benefit. IMO CP MUST be NON-TOPICAL. DAs: I really don't buy into ridiculous impacts like extinction and nuclear war and I hate moral obligation arguments. Risk of extinction is not something I weigh. Delivery: I can flow quickly and follow fast argumentation. HOWEVER--communication is important. Abnormal breathing will lose you points as will shotgun-style spreading. Develop deep arguments with claim, data, warrant. Tag Teaming: Don't make your partner look dumb. Time: Aside from the 10 second roadmap, the clock is running. Jump/file drop during prep or CX.
Curtesy and Ethics are a BIG DEAL!
LD
I am a traditional LD judge. I do NOT think Plans, CP, or K belong in LD. Keep to the V/C debate. Weigh your arguments. Should be more rhetorical (more your words, fewer cards) than policy. Judged heavily on presentation, argumentation and persuasion.
PF
Please wait to be seated until after coin toss. I need pro on my left and con on my right to help ensure the ballot is filled out in favor of the intended team. PF was made for LAY judges and I don't believe it needs a paradigm.
Congress
Yes...I have a congress paradigm...I like to see structured speeches that present NEW arguments or REFUTE arguments on the floor. Source Citation is important. Treat it like a good extemp. Presentation is important as is overall participation in the chamber. I have judged/parli at nationals for over a decade. I expect professionalism and good argumentation. POs should be efficient; keep recency and precedence; prevent suspension of the rules; and be strict but KIND.
I am the Speech/Debate teacher and coach at The Colony High School in Texas. Although I've judged many tournaments over the past four years, I consider myself always learning about coaching and judging debate and speech events. I pledge to do my best to judge events fairly and accurately. I appreciate articulate and easy to understand speakers and do not like spreading. I will ask you to slow down if you are speaking too fast so that I may adequately judge your speech/performance. I will not vote on disclosure. I may disclose results to you after your performance or may choose for you to review my comments on Tabroom. I consider myself a coach first and judge second - so if you ask how you did after a round/performance, you will hear words of encouragement or gentle critique. I want a judge to do the same for my students.
Know that I am listening intently to your performance or for the case you present in your argument and wish everyone the best of luck!
“As a coach member of the National Speech & Debate Association, I pledge to uphold the highest standards of humility, equity, integrity, respect, leadership, and service in pursuit of excellence.”
As a science teacher, I function in a world based upon data and logic. My paradigm is based upon that experience and personal value system. Arguments establish validity through the proper use of data versus grandiose claims of support based upon claims with small value. Provided below is a list of how I evaluate arguments:
- Is your position logical? Does it take into account as much evidence as possible? Does it ignore or dismiss the counter-argument? Absolutes, by my opinion, signify weak positions.
- Does the the data support the argument? Is it significant enough to value when considering the position, or is it anecdotal?
- How does your argument relate to the bigger picture? The small stories lead to the sum of the larger story? Where does the process lead?
- How does your argument affect others? Are the sacrifices being presented enough to support your position? Have you considered the long term outcomes of your position? Does it favor those with power, wealth, and privilege versus the average person? Does it further marginalize those who have significantly less privilege? Does it widen the gaps?
- From a stance of morality and ethical behavior, does your argument abandon those values? Is it the old "to make an omelet you have to break a few eggs" argument?
- Is your position what is popular or what is right? Popularity is easy to follow, but is it what is best for all? Are you willing to make sacrifices to your position to strengthen its argument? Are you willing to reconsider the evidence presented as a counter to yours or do you dismiss it?
Coach since 2014
For the most part,you'll be looking at this paradigm because I'll be your LD judge. Cross-apply these comments to PF as applicable and to policy if/when I get recruited to judge policy.
Speed and Decorum:
Send me your case. Please tell me once you have done so (I won't be sitting here frantically refreshing.) Unless there is no other way, I would like to use tabroom share.
I don't care if you sit/stand. Really, I don't. Just generally try to remain in the room. I won't be shaking hands.
Please time your speeches and prep time. I prefer to devote my attention to the content of your speeches rather than focusing on watching the clock, but I can time if needed. Flex prep is fine if all debaters in the round agree.
Debate:
I do not prefer theory. I'm usually left feeling that most debaters use it when it isn't necessary and thereby it just serves overcomplicate the round. Please don't do this.If you planning to run dense or tricky theory,you should strike me. However, occasionally theory is necessary to ensure a fair, equitable round (i.e. - your opponent purposely presents a case which is non-topical, etc). I strongly prefer paragraph theory to block theory if you are in such a situation.
You have an absolute obligation to articulate your arguments. Even if I’m familiar with the literature or whatever that you might be referencing I won't fill in the gaps in your explanation/argumentation.
Signposting = GOOD! Flipping back and forth from AFF flow to NEG flow then back to AFF Flow to NEG Flow....BAD.... VERY, VERY, VERY BAD!
Tricks = no. Thanks.
I will not vote for arguments that are mean-spirited or otherwise deny the humanity of others. This should go without saying, but this is still a school-sponsored activity, so if you wouldn't raise your hand and say it during school, don't do it here either.
Classic LD tl;dr : Value, Criterion, Contentions - and remember to link your framework to your contentions
Rounds are evaluated with emphasis on the strongest logical arguments, sometimes supported with evidence.
I appreciate frameworks and RA arguments that lay out the parameters of the debate - especially when you follow through with it, and it’s not just a 1x statement at the beginning of a speech never to be referenced again.
I enjoy well-thought arguments, clash, organization, and arguments that continue to evolve throughout the round, not just repeated.
Spread and high speed are not tolerated.
And while all of that might come off as a little grumpy, I assure you I am not. This is an enjoyable event, there are things that we can all learn from each other, and respect for your opponents, teammates and judges is a great starting point to have a good time, no matter the outcome. Have fun and learn something
Public Forum:
Good evidence, realistic scenarios, development of arguments
IEs:
I look for authenticity. Speech is about finding and exercising *your* voice, not folding yourself into a box of what you think will win or what you (or your coach) thinks judges want to hear.
Formulaic, over rehearsed, and stiff presentations will serve you well. I prefer to see *you* shine, hear *your* perspective, and learn what *you* care about.
E-mail for email chains and/or questions: Travis.Dahle@k12.sd.us
tl/dr - I prefer old school argumentation but won't intervene - I'm also old and slower on flowing 5/10 - evidence sharing needs to be quicker.
Be kind, we're all idiots.
Overarching attitude in Speech & Debate
Be kind, be friendly and show grace to your opponents, win or lose. Our time on this ice rock is short, embrace the joy of the time we have here and respect your opponent, their coaches and the judges spending their precious time with you.
My Role as a judge
To quote one of the most famous ballot ever from Scott Harris "This ballot represents my opinion on who made an argument in the debate that was more persuasive to me." What is more persuasive changes each round - but I neither endorse nor reject anyones arguments - you were either more persuasive that round or you weren't.
Lincoln-Douglas Paradigm
I have very little national circuit experience in LD as I primarily judge public forum and policy debate (see more on that below). In LD I am more of a traditional judge as in I like a discussion of the resolution from the standpoint of a value and value-criterion and contention debate. That being said, I've voted for K's, theory, etc, but I have a low threshold for them. So if you are competing against a traditional case, winning my ballot with a K or theory will become a lot harder - not impossible, but harder.
I'm about a 5/10 on speed. I'm old now and prefer to actually hear the evidence of the debate rather than read the evidence on an e-mail chain...
Public Forum Paradigm
Public Forum should NOT be a shorter version of Policy Debate. With that said, in some areas Policy Debate has ceased to exist. We can argue one way or the other as to why that is the case (I have my theories) but the fact is, some areas only have PF or LD. Just like LD, I'm more of a traditional judge and will probably be persuaded more easily on those types of arguments.
****EVIDENCE SHARING****
This should absolutely NOT TAKE SO FREAKING LONG!!!!! Either have your evidence ready to be shared or get set up on an email chain.
Big Questions Debate - I don't judge BQ a ton, however, I'd look at my paradigm much like the PF and LD paradigms below.
tl/dr - Slow down, enunciate, use evidence and weight the debate at the end - do it all respectfully to your opponent
Extemp Paradigm
I am a mix of content and delivery when it comes to judging. When it comes to sources, don't make stuff up. With the internet available now, if I suspect you are making things up, I will probably check it when you are speaking. You don't have to make stuff up - unlike the olden days where you hoped to have a file on the Togo questions Washington put out each year - you can literally google your info and bring it up instantly.
Also - ANSWER THE QUESTION - don't waffle - pick a stance and tell me why you choose that way. Pretty simple.
Don't overly fidget or dance around - but don't be a robot either.
Have fun!!!!
Policy Paradigm
In essence, I am a tabula rosa judge, meaning that I will pretty much listen to anything and will evaluate it based on the arguments in the round. That doesn't mean I don't have things I prefer or things I think are bad arguments (which I will go over) - but for the most part, I will listen to anything in the round. However, unless you tell me how you want me to evaluate the round, I will default to a Policy Making paradigm. I've coached multiple teams to nationals from 2002 to 2019, but Policy has died in SD, so I don't do it much anymore.
Speed: I've gotten old here and have grown weary with blazing speed - put me down as a 5/10 on speed. I'd rather have the ability to hear the evidence instead of having to read through everything on an e-mail chain. If you go too fast I'll let you know - you won't automatically lose, you'll just annoy me a little - unless you ignore me, which if I'm on a 3-judge panel and I'm the outlier - I totally get.
Tag-Team CX - It's okay, but I'm not a huge fan of this. One thing I like about policy is that you should know what you are talking about. I don't mind the occasional help, but if you keep answering every question, it makes your partner look like a tool. And even if they are, you probably don't want to show that they are in front of judges.
Arguments I like: I have always felt that the more you know about what a judge likes and dosn't like is essential to winning debate rounds, so to make it easier on you, these are the type of arguments that I prefer to be seen run.
Case Debate - this is a lost art in the debate community. Why as a negative are you granting them their harms and their solvency? If you can have some solid arguments against their case and point out the serious flaws in them, that will help you weight your DA's, K's and CP's over them.
Economic DA's - I have an economic background and like Econ DA's as long as they are run correctly. Generic spending DA's are usually not run correctly.
There are other DA's, but those usually vary by each year, but as long as you have a solid link to the case, you should be good to go.
Arguments I'm not wild about: Again, the more you know, the better off you will be. Once you read this list does it mean to absolutely not run these arguments - no. What it means is that you better run them better than most teams who run the crappy versions of them. I'll vote for these arguments (and have lots of times) - I'm just not wild about them.
Politics DA's - I've changed a lot on these and used to hate them but realize the strategic advantage of them. That being said, not my biggest fan, but have voted for a lot of them over the years
K's Read at blazing speed - I don't mind some K's, but most of the authors that debaters cite go so beyond the realm of what is possible to discuss in a debate round that they end up bastardizing the entire theory they are supposedly trying to use. Also, if I haven't researched and read the material, how can I evaluate it if you are reading it at a blazingly fast speed. I don't mind K's, but I'd like to understand them, so please, assume I haven't read the theory - because I probably haven't.
Performance - this is just my inexperience with performance. I've probably only judged it a couple of times, so if you do performance, I may not understand how to evaluate it and might default to the policy framework - so you need to make sure to explain to me the role of the ballot and my role in the debate. I have voted for Performance affs and discourse affs - again, more inexperience than anything makes me put this in the category of things I'm not wild about.
As always, I'm open to questions before the round if you have any other specifics. All in all, I like good debates - if you can argue well and clash with each other, I really don't care what is argued - as long as it is argued well!
Hello, and thank you for reading my paradigm. I look forward to hearing you debate...
I am an assistant coach that has a primary background in Interp. and speech events. However, I am also an English teacher with an extensive background in rhetorical analysis.
My preferences for debates are as follows:
I'm not fond of spreading. Spreading for the first speech when the cards are in front of me is fine, but for cross x, and rebuttals I would prefer a speech that is spoken deliberately and confidently. I struggle to give a fair ruling when I can't understand what you've said.
I don't take constant flow notes, but I do still take notes- especially if there's a particular point I found to be convincing or lacking. I primarily write down your key arguments to keep organized in round.
When it comes to deciding a winner, there are several things I consider: I look for appeals to pathos, logs, and ethos. I also look for presentation. There's a lot of fantastic information being presented, but is it presented in a clear and understandable way?
I expect debaters to compete ethically and with integrity. I don't appreciate when competitors speak over each other in cross x. In my opinion, cross x is to gather information from your competitor, then you can disprove their answers in your rebuttal. That's whole point of a rebuttal. When you speak over each other, I can't hear you properly, and therefore struggle to choose a winner.
In adjudicating debate rounds I try to be as tabula rasa as I can justify. I will intervene when I deem it necessary (probably only to avoid harm to anyone involved).
What I'm definitely okay with: Reasonable speed. Kritikal argumentation. Debate theory.
What I'm definitely not okay with: Exclusionary or discriminatory behavior/language. Manipulating evidence.
What I appreciate: Impact calculus. Signposting. Being told where to flow arguments. Link stories.
Quality is better than quantity- make your ideas concise and organized, and say the most important ideas before diving into more minute things if time allows. Given that, avoid speaking quickly in order to pack in as many words as you can- good ideas impress me more than amount of ideas. Be respectful no matter your opponent’s background,experience level, or argumentation style. I’d like voters- most of all have fun and be proud of the work you do!
Hey cool cats!
If you use any type of theory, I will drop you, even if the other side may not win as many points. Theory is inequitable and isn't real debate.
If you are condescending or bigoted, I will eviscerate you.
Please speak at a human pace. You may be a robot, but I am not... yet.
Use real sources and cite your evidence. I do not endorse plagiarism... even if that's what you rely on to pass AP English.
Fabricating evidence is dumb, don't do it... even if the mainstream media does.
Weighing is important. Don't make it my job to weigh you... I'm not your doctor.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE use a balance of logic and evidence,
Cross is not the time to give another speech. Let's keep this train movin'...
And finally, for the love that is all good and holy, just have some fun. You are in high school this one round will not matter two weeks from now! Seriously, if you can't have fun, then maybe it's time to reevaluate your life.
Debate Paradigm:
I am about as traditional as traditional can be. I typically won't disclose, please don't ask about it.
I am not a fan of:
-the k debate
-plans/counterplans in debates other than CX
-not standing when you are speaking or during CX
-disclosing before the debate starts
-talking fast unnecessarily
-being a part of email chains, I shouldn't have to read your evidence, I should be able to hear it and understand within the confines of your speech
-the only tricks I like is the cereal
I prefer:
-a slower more methodical debate
-actual discussion on the topic/resolution
-standing up when speaking
-understanding what the debater is saying
Dartmouth '24
amadeazdatel@gmail.com for the email chain
I debated in college policy for three years at both Columbia and Dartmouth, winning a few regionals and clearing at majors. In high school, I debated primarily local LD with some national circuit experience my senior year. I'm currently an Assistant Coach at Apple Valley and coach a few independent LDes, and am the former Director of LD at VBI.
General thoughts
Online debate: I flow on my computer so I won't be looking at the Zoom and don't care whether your camera is on or not. You should locally record all your speeches in case your WiFi cuts out in the middle.
Tech > truth. My goal is to intervene as little as possible - only exception is that I won't vote on args about out-of-round practices, including any personal disputes/callouts (except for disclosure theory with screenshots). I probably come across as more opinionated in this paradigm than I am when evaluating rounds since non-intervention supersedes all my other beliefs about debate. However, I still find it helpful to list them so you can get a better idea of how I think about debate (and knowing that it's impossible to be 100% tech > truth, so ideological leanings might influence close rounds).
Case/DA
Debates over evidence quality are great and re-highlighted ev is always a plus.
Evidence matters but spin > evidence - don’t want to evaluate debates on whose coaches cut better cards.
Extra-topical planks and intrinsicness tests are theoretically legit and an underutilized aff tool vs both DAs and process CPs.
I don't think a risk of extinction auto-outweighs under util and err towards placing more weight on the link level debate than on generic framing args unless instructed otherwise - this also means I place less weight on impact turns case args because they beg the question of whether the aff/neg is accessing that impact to begin with.
Soft left affs have a higher chance of winning when they challenge conventional risk assessment under util rather than util itself.
Zero risk exists but it's uncommon e.g. if the neg reads a politics DA about a bill that already passed.
Case debate is underrated - some aff scenarios are so bad they should lose to analytics.
Impact turns like warming good, spark, wipeout, etc. are fine - I'm unsympathetic to moralizing in place of actual argument engagement (also applies to many K practices).
CP
Smart, analytic advantage counterplans based on 1AC evidence/internal links are underrated.
Immediacy and certainty are probably not legitimate grounds for competition, but debate it out.
Textual competition is irrelevant (any counterplan can be made textually competitive) and devolves to functional competition.
I'll judge kick unless the aff wins that I shouldn't (this arg can't be new in the 2AR though).
T
I like good T debates - lean towards overlimiting > underlimiting (hard for a topic to be too small) and competing interps > reasonability (no idea what reasonability is even supposed to mean) but everything is up for debate.
Generally think precision/semantics are a prior question to any pragmatic concerns - teams should invest more time in the definition debate than abstract limits/ground arguments that don't matter if they're unpredictable.
Plantext in a vacuum seems obviously true - this does not mean that the aff gets to redefine vague plantexts in the 2AC/1AR but rather that both sides should have a debate over the meaning of the words in the plan and their implications.
Theory
I care a lot about logic (and by extension predictability/arbitrariness impacts) - this means that competition should determine counterplan legitimacy and arguments that are not rooted in the resolutional wording or create post hoc exceptions for particular practices (like “new affs justify condo” or “process CPs are good if they have solvency advocates”) are unpersuasive to me. That said, I err against intervention - I dislike how judges tend to inject their ideological biases into T/theory debates more than substance debates.
I default to theory being a reason to reject the arg not the team, except for condo.
I don't see how condo can be anything but reject the team - sticking the neg with the CPs is functionally the same since they conceded perms when they kicked them. Infinite condo is the best neg interp and X condo should lose to arbitrariness on both sides - either condo is good or it’s not. I personally think infinite condo is good but don’t mind judging condo debates.
K
I think competition drives participation in debate and procedural fairness is a presupposition of the game - the strongest opinion in this paradigm.
While I’ve voted for Ks, I don’t think they negate - the best 2AR vs the K is 3 minutes on FW-neg must rejoin the plan with a robust defense of fairness preceding all neg impacts. Affs lose when they over-allocate on link defense and adopt a middle-of-the-road approach that makes too many concessions/is logically inconsistent.
Line by line >> long overviews for both sides.
Ks that become PIKs in the 2NR are new args that warrant new 2AR responses.
K Affs
See above - while I think T-FW is just true, I'll vote for K affs/against FW if you out-tech the other team.
For the neg, turns case arguments are helpful in preventing these debates from becoming two ships passing in the night. TVAs are the equivalent of a CP (in that they're not offense) and you don't always need them to win. SSD shouldn't solve because most K affs do not negate the resolution.
For the aff, impact turning everything seems more strategic than defending a counter interp - it’s hard to win that C/Is solve the neg’s predictability offense and they probably link to your own offense.
Topic DAs vs K affs that are in the direction of the topic can also be good 2NRs, especially when turned into uniqueness CPs to hedge back against no link args.
K v K debates are a big question mark for me.
LD Specific
Tricks, phil, and frivolous theory are all fine, with the caveat that I have more policy than LD experience so err on the side of over-explanation. Phil that doesn't devolve into tricks is great. Some substantive tricks can be interesting but many are unwarranted, and I might apply a higher threshold for warrants than the average LD judge.
I’m a good judge for Nebel T - see the T section above.
1AR theory is overpowered but 1AR theory hedges are unpersuasive - 2NRs are better off with a robust defense of non-resolutional theory bad, RTA, etc. that take out most shells. RTA in particular is underutilized in LD theory debates.
There are too many buzzwords in LD theory that don’t mean anything absent explanation - like normsetting/norming (which debaters generally use to refer to predictability without explaining why their interp is more predictable), jurisdiction (which devolves to fairness because it begs the question of why judges don’t have the jurisdiction to vote for non-topical affs), resolvability (which applies to all arguments but never actually seems to make debates impossible to adjudicate), etc.
Presumption and permissibility are not the same and people should not be grouping them together. I default to permissibility negating and to presumption going to the side that advocates for the least change.
Conceding a phil FW and straight turning their (often underdeveloped) offense is strategic.
Speaks - these typically reflect a combination of technical skills and strategy, and depend on the tournament - a 29 at TOC is different than a 29 at a local novice tournament.
I am a firm believer that paradigms belong in CX, and should not be addressed inside a LD or PF round.
Voting, for me, goes in this order:
1. Speaking clarity & understanding of argumentation
2. Evidence usage to support and refute
3. Clash; is there a debate actually taking place, or are competitors merely reading cards on unique cases?
4. Cross examination; making it clear to the judge that you are laying traps and support based on questioning
5. Theory; I can vote on it and I have voted on it, but theory only gets supported when the team has already shown a foundational knowledge of the debate style to begin.
If you have questions; please ask for clarity prior to the round starting (with all competitors in the room).
Best of luck to everyone!
Extemp Debate:
Be aware that I am a newer judge. These preferences apply as a result:
1. Please do not spread. I prefer a 4/10 talking rate. If I cannot understand you, I cannot flow which will be much to your detriment.
2. Please limit the use of jargon. Anything beyond what the average intelligent being would understand is probably going to go over my head. I also do not like the practice of excluding those who are newer to the format by the overuse of this. If absolutely necessary, explain the meaning. Thank you.
As a judge, my other preferences are as follows:
- In general, I am truth over tech. However, please don't assume that I know everything about a topic. Explain.
- Cross - I don't flow cross (I still carefully listen), but if you want it to be relevant in decision, bring it up in your speech. Please be assertive in cross, not aggressive.
- I will not tolerate any offensive or rude behavior. Rude = eye rolling, laughing at opponents, etc. and will cost you several speaker points. Offensive = racist or homophobic etc. arguments, attacks on opponent rather than args, etc. and will get you the lowest speaks possible.
I typically judge speech and LD, for reference.
Interpretation events paradigms:
I have no problem with materials that are edgy or considered "triggering" - this are events that are meant to raise awareness of issues and to allow competitors to push boundaries. Please do not chew gum.
Speaking events paradigms:
I have no problem with materials that are edgy or considered "triggering" - this are events that are meant to raise awareness of issues and to allow competitors to push boundaries.
Debate events paradigms:
I expect competitors to speak clearly and not race through their points. Quality over quantity is important to me. If I can't understand you, then I have a hard time voting for your side. I like evidence, evidence, evidence. I want your points backed up with valid sources. I expect civility - debate can happen without being rude and disrespectful.
Add me to email chain: adriennedavis@me.com.
I am a parent and an attorney. Both my children competed in multiple debate events in high school and I've judged at a local traditional circuit for 6 years. I may keep a modest flow during round, but speaking skills and presentation are also important to me in making my decisions.
I will listen to any type of argument as long as its argued well and you explain why I should vote on that issue.
I flow what I can hear and understand. If its not on my flow, I'll assume you didn't say it. You can not count on me to read through all your evidence as a substitution for understanding your words. This effectively means that if you spread such that I can not keep up or understand you then you won't get my ballot. I'll stop writing if you're going too fast, that's how you'll know.
I have tremendous respect for the bravery it takes to compete in this debate. Good luck!
You will lose my vote for anything offensive, abusive, or unethical.
Policy Maker Paradigm
Stock Issues primary importance
Old-school approach
Rudeness is death
Congress Paradigm:
I have judged congress for over two decades, even before it became a National standardized qualifying event and have advocated for it all that time because I believe it to be the best overall, well-rounded event that we offer in forensic competition.
It encompasses the benefits of acting because you are playing a role as a representative and the more you understand the motivation of your position, the greater the performance. It is one of the purest of speaking events, because a great representative is a great orator, in life and in your chamber. The writing and interpretation of legislation is at the core of the event and illustrating your deep understanding of that legislation is paramount in your performance. Lastly, but most importantly, it is a debate event, where civil clash is necessary.
All that being said, to understand how I view the event holistically, there are specific standards I prefer.
I do believe that in a three to four minute speech the speaker should get our attention in a creative way and give us a clear call for action and preview of their arguments, coming back to that AGD at the end, time permitting. Preparing us for what you are about to argue is important. There is no actual grace, so 3:08 is abusing the time of the next speaker. I prefer fewer, well developed arguments, than many blipped ones. Sources are important and both the quantity and quality of such sources, Q2, are vital. Representatives do not just rely on periodicals, but government reports, experts in the field, think-tanks, etc. These considerations are important, not just the number of sources. Consideration and knowledge of how our government actually works and the type of legislation at hand is also vital. We are debating issues present in the real world, so take that into consideration and consider what are the real-world implications to your constituents? Know and use parliamentary procedure to benefit the progress of debate; do not abuse it.
PO's are a vital part to any chamber and I look for a strong understanding of parliamentary procedure and efficiency and fairness are of utmost importance. If you have not read "Robert's Rules." it behooves you to do so, then be aware of all NSDA guidelines in adapting them. A good PO should run an efficient chamber and be pro-active in enforcing a fair chamber. Any perception of recognizing speakers unfairly will be penalized. Make sure you are clear with your procedures from the start and follow them consistently.
Overall, consider the above standards in your performance and you will do well. Remember, you are not just speaking for yourself; you are truly representing your school, your state, and your nation. We need good role models.
Policy Debate CX Paradigm:
I have judge policy for almost three decades and prefer traditional policy making focused debates with well weighed impacts.
That being said, I can handle speed, but clarity and articulation are key. I will not say clear, so if I put down my pen and you don't adjust, it is on you. If I don't flow it, it's not on the flow; I will not just read your files. This is an oral exercise in debate, so if it's important, make sure I get it.
My teams also have had great success with progressive arguments and K's, so I'm fine with it if you really know the literature and have clear links. I don't like K's, so make sure the story, links, and alternative are clear. All types of arguments are fine, as long as you know how to run them and they are relevant to your debate. I don't vote on T often, but it must be ran and answered correctly, not "they aren't topical, or "yeah, we are topical", and there should be clear in-round abuse.
Make sure there is direct clash and not just random generic arguments with weak links and no direct weighing. I love those debating actually debating case, so don't ignore it.
Probability and meaningful impacts are a must.
Be civil and debate well and every round will be fulfilling.
FULL PARADIGM CAN BE FOUND HERE! This page is meant to be something you can read right before round and get a general idea of what's up
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Who am I?
Any pronouns
Did Congress 2016-2019 in MN, NPDA Parli 2019-2021 for the University of Minnesota, PNW CARD spring '23
Congress coach @ Armstrong and Cooper in MN 2019-2024ish, did some camp stuff a few times
Email chain / critiques : grant davis debate [at] gmail [dot] com
Naz, and I cannot stress this enough, Reid.
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Every event
Bullies get dropped
Trigger warnings should be asked b4 the round, not mid speech
It's fun to have fun
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LD/Parli
If doc/evidence exchanges take more than 10 seconds, I’m taking prep.
I used to judge LD more, but then I didn't judge it for a while. I know how to flow but I def don't know the meta/lit.
Good judge for "trad". Mid judge for circuit strats. Bad judge for paraphrasing. Terrible judge for unexplained jargon. Even worse judge for spreading.
I haven’t judged a real spreading round in years and haven’t done it for even more years (I was never good at spreading). Not voting for something I didn’t catch. Not voting on something I can't explain back to a middle schooler. Not voting for things not extended throughout. I will always intervene if new in the 2- never hurts to call it out though.
Not flowing off a speech doc but pls share it w me
Tech=truth: Just be a good debater. I’ll vote for stupidity idc, but the threshold to beat stupidity is probably low lol. Wipeout, war good, dedev, truth>tech, idc just say it w your chest and let it rip.
Judge instruction is my fav part abt this activity, followed by conceding fw, followed by turns of any kind
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Congress
#AbolishPOs (don’t worry I still rank y’all)
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I want you to speak well, be enthusiastic, knowledgeable, in-depth, and overall, an engaging speaker. Empirical evidence is key.
Name: Matt Davis
Affiliation: St. Croix Prep, Stillwater, MN
Email: mdavis@stcroixprep.org
Years Coaching: 12
Years Judging: twenty-four
School Strikes: St. Croix Prep
Rounds judged this year (insert any year here): usually between 80-100
***Include me on the email chain (LD, CX)
Background:
I debated for St. Francis High School, in Minnesota, from 1989 to 1993, during which time I debated two years of CX and two years of LD. I also debated four years of CEDA debate, debating for various schools. I have been the Director of Speech and Debate at St. Croix Prep in Stillwater, Minnesota since 2013, and I have coached LD, CX, WSD, PF, BQ and all speech categories. I also teach ninth grade Ancient World Literature at St. Croix Prep.
Overall Philosophy:
I believe that competitive debate is an educational space that should allow students to explore the relationships of different arguments and/or philosophical ideas. I also believe that competitive debate is an exercise in effective rhetoric (ethos, pathos, logos). With all this in mind, I love debates that involve teams that know their position in the debate and are passionate about their arguments. If one team in a debate shows that they care more about their arguments than another team, this definitely can have an impact on how I evaluate the round. I typically evaluate each team’s use of evidence, reasoning, and passion to further their arguments and clash with their opponent’s arguments, hence my previous mention of the role of the effective use of ethos, pathos, and logos. Most importantly: Be consistent, tell a good story, and explain your arguments in the context of what has happened up to that point in the debate. Teams that just read pre-written rebuttal speeches that don't contextualize their arguments don't usually do very well in front of me.
LD/CX Evidence:
First of all, evidence is only one part of a debate. Debaters should remember that there are other aspects of debate as well, such as claims and impact analysis. If you are simply extending an author’s name in order to extend an argument, you still need to extend the claim and warrant, or I am not voting on it. I will look at evidence after the round if the evidence becomes a controversial issue in the debate, or if one team is leaning heavily on a piece of evidence for their win. With this in mind, I don’t think that enough debaters go after their opponents’ sources. However, if it is clear that the source is biased or should clearly not be considered a reliable source, I would encourage debaters to make this an issue. Also, I am not a big fan of reading more evidence in the rebuttals. Sure, there may be a necessary card or two that can be effective in the first rebuttal for each team, but I would suggest using what you already have read in constructed speeches to respond as often as possible. I often find that a 1AR that can use the evidence from the two affirmative constructive speeches should have done enough to "find a way out" of the negative block (if it wasn't in the AC speeches, then its probably too late in CX debate).
Speed:
Short Version: Be clear and intentional on your tags and author names; you can go faster on your evidence, but I should still be able to understand you. I prefer passion and intensity to speed. Most of my debaters are traditional LD debaters, so I'm not a big fan of circuit speed. Will I flow it if you are slowing for tags and authors? Sure. Will I like it, probably not s'much. In this regard, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE SIGNPOST. If you just go on-case and dump a bunch of stuff on the flow, I won't do your work for you.
Long Version: Many of today’s debaters (at least circuit debaters) are not doing much that is different than what has been done in the speed category over the last twenty years. However, I do have some preferences in this regard. When you are speaking at 250+ wpm, I have difficulty distinguishing what you want me to flow versus extraneous evidence text or extemporized explanations, which invariably leads to miscommunications later on in the extension debate. One request that I have to resolve this issue is that debaters speak more articulate and “slower” in their presentation of their signposting, their claims, and their citations. This really shouldn't slow down the overall presentation of the speech by much, but it should make the presentation of those “flow-able” points more intentional. Additionally, I will not shout "clear" or "slower" if you aren't articulating your signposts, tags, and cites. An optimal speed is probably around 200-250 on average for me if you at least slow down for these three areas.
Persuasion:
As previously mentioned, evidence is only one aspect of rhetoric, and the best debaters know how to balance ethos (evidence), pathos (passion/emotion), and logos (logic/reasoning). Additionally, I feel that the most persuasive debaters are those that can do the line-by-line debating but also move the debate to the bigger picture as well.
Preferences:
While I believe, as previously stated, that competitive debate is an educational space that should allow students to explore the relationships between different arguments and/or philosophical ideas, I do feel that there should be some topical awareness in a debate. With that in mind, I would suggest that any critical affirmative arguments should be accompanied with a thoughtful explanation of why I should entertain a debate that is not related to the topic as worded in the resolution, or explain why their critical affirmative should be considered in the context of the resolution as in the direction of the resolution; otherwise, I feel like this is a tough area for me to validate, especially if I can imagine a world where the aff is just a neg kritik of affirming the resolution. I would say that my favorite debates are debates that are actually directly tied to the topic and manage to address the underlying issues inherent in the topic through a strong philosophical or political debate (I do prefer critical affs that are actually topical). However, this doesn't mean that I am partial to these arguments. I will entertain any argument, as long as the debater provides solid and supported rationale for its use in the round and its connection to the topic or the opponent’s arguments.
Cross-Examination:
I really enjoy a great cross examination, especially because it allows debaters to really show their skills when it comes to the interactive part of debate. I think that cross examination is a place that really allows the most prepared debaters to shine. Because of this, I usually determine how I am going to assign speaker points based on a debater's performance in cross-ex. So, please don't ask if you can use the rest of CX as prep. That will always be a big "No."
I am okay with tag-team cross-examination in policy debate to a degree, but I hate it when one debater is clearly the puppet and their partner is the puppet master. This becomes obvious if one debater has no clue how to answer questions posed about what they just read in the speech. That being said, I would encourage you to use tag-team cross-ex as an emergency cord, not as something that should be used frequently.
The Ballot:
Just because a debater says that an argument is a voting issue does not make it so. To make an argument into a voting issue, a debater needs to provide warrant for its impact as a voting issue. Each debater should be able to provide decision calculus that makes my job very easy for me (which, ironically, if done well by both sides, may make my job even harder). I am someone who typically votes with their flow, which makes a debater’s speed adaptability and articulation key components in my ability to make a decision in their favor. Additionally, as previously mentioned, I will take a debater’s persuasive style and passion for their arguments into account. I would say that these areas help make my decisions when the debate is very close. Lastly, as far as the “role of the ballot” is concerned, I will leave that up to the debaters to decide. If there is no “role of the ballot” argument made in the debate, I will do my best to intuit this role from your arguments and voting issues.
Policy Notes:
As has been mentioned previously, I am accepting of most arguments, as long as the debaters are able to explain the rationale behind running such an argument and the impact that the argument has on the debate. I love direct clash, since I believe that this shows a team’s level of preparedness, especially in policy debate, but I also love good critical discussions as well. Overall, I would say that the biggest issue for me is speed. Please, please, please, at the very least, make your signposting, claims, and cites audibly clear and slower than the rest of your speech. I believe this also offers you the opportunity to add emphasis to these points as well, and in so doing show the passion you have for your arguments.
LD Notes:
For me, everything in Lincoln-Douglas debate should come back to the framework debate (value/criteria). However, if a debater decides to run a policy affirmative (or counterplans, disadvantages, and kritiks on the negative), then I will decide the debate accordingly. However, just because you have a plan doesn't mean that the framework debate is automatically a Utilitarianism debate. If the opposing side reads a value and criteria and makes the debate about how we are to evaluate arguments (value/criteria), then you need to be ready for this debate, since (as previously stated) this is my predisposition in LD debate. A debater could win all of their contention level arguments and still lose a debate if they cannot prove that their method for evaluating the arguments should be preferred over their opponent's method. I think that some of the best LD debaters are those that can attack criteria with supporting evidence, or they can prove how they can perm their opponent’s criteria. Ultimately, I will vote on the voting issues presented in the debate (or impact calculus if the debate becomes a Util debate), but I will consider the criteria debate first and last when making any decision. That being said, I will entertain "nontraditional" affirmatives and negative positions in a debate (Topicality, Kritiks, Theory, etc), but you need to explain its relevance to the topic and/or arguments that have already been presented in the debate.
How I vote: I want debaters to tell me why I should vote for their position over their opponent's position. If you just barf a bunch of arguments onto the flow and don't explain how I should evaluate them against what your opponents have said, then I probably won't be too keen on buying in to your "story." I'm not a fan of judge intervention, so don't leave me too much room to make my own decision.
NEW STUFF***Kritikal Arguments Continued(CX/LD):
As mentioned before, I enjoy a well-run kritikal argument on either side of a topic; however, with this in mind, I have a few significant points I would like to discuss.
First, I believe that a kritik only holds its value when maintaining all primary parts as a cohesive whole (link, impact, alternative, and alternative solvency). That being said, if you try to extend the front half of a kritik as a non-unique disad, I will be unlikely to vote for it. There is some room for methodology to become a singular issue, especially in KvK debates, but I haven't seen those as often.
Second, a Kritikal Aff should still affirm the resolution (or be very much in the direction of affirming the topic) - I am a fairly firm believer in switch-sides debate, and I want to see teams that can think of the topic from different perspectives. I am fairly easily persuaded that Non-topical K Affs are taking away ground from the negative. Also, if the neg chooses to engage in a K v K debate, there are no perms, since perms in a methods debate are super abusive.
Third, a good alternative is a necessary part of the debate, but it can hinge on what you are trying to accomplish in the debate. If you are trying to affect change in the debate space with the hope of spillover, then your alternative should reflect this specifically. If you are trying to play the hypothetical game that the policymaking affirmative is playing, then play that game but be prepared to explain specific steps to the world of the alternative and what that world will look like.
Fourth, I am most familiar with the following Ks: Cap, SetCol, Biopower, Ableism, Death Cult, Anthro, IR, Borders. However, if you can explain the kritik to me in more cogent terms, I am willing to entertain other kritiks. What this probably means is - if you are running a unique K, slow down.I don't like to feel like my brain is melting.
Prep Time: Please don't steal prep by taking extra time to assemble the doc, attach the doc, and send the doc. I will run prep until the speech doc is received by me.
ONLINE: To keep these things running smoothly, I won't disclose at the end of the round.
THEORY: DIsclosure theory in LD is a non-starter for me. I am a small school coach, so I know the argument. I just don't like it. I firmly believe that disclosure norms are net worse for small schools.
Hello Competitors,
My paradigms are super simple, I am a flow judge that focuses on quality addresses. I would prefer arguments that address the content of the resolution, however, I can follow topicality/critique arguments if warranted.
The purpose of debate is to educate all those in the room. Lets try and keep this in mind while engaging with each other and the information provided. Empathy and being cordial go a long way in delivery of information. This type of debater will receive high speaker points and typically be more persuasive.
Thank you for all your hard work and prep that went into participating in this event. Super excited to judge your debate!
Judge Paradigm: Steven Davis
- Retired teacher of 40 years, the past 15 years offering assistance at Washburn Rural High School, Topeka, Kansas
- “Yes” – old enough to be your grandparent (and then some maybe); and for those in the know, "Yes" -- I dodrive the school bussesthat get us from the school to tournaments, etc.
- I have re-developed -- for me -- a genuine enjoyment of judging in recent years, and I strive to be as fair as possible.
- I hope that my love for all things speech and debate has been evident throughout these so many decades of involvement with these activities.
FORENSICS: If possible, I PREFER PUBLIC ADDRESS EVENTS
I do enjoy listening to and evaluating speech rounds. More often than not, rounds are close and final rankings (especially when points are not awarded) do not show how close some rounds are.
When I finally resolve rounds, I place a premium on those that speak clearly, are organized, and convince me that they care about what they are talking about. In all Public Address events, speakers make choices and thus should "sell" those messages because they do care.
Extemp ...I expect to hear a very well organized speech, with clear analysis and, in the end, support for assertions made. The most important component of extemp is that the speaker provides his or her answer to the question posed. If no answer is clearly provided, and explained, I will not typically rank that speaker very high in the round. Additionally, I do listen for sources and appropriate citations. I am pretty sure I believe that the source — if quoted or paraphrased — provides you a basis for most (if not all) your internal conclusions. I don’t count sources per se, but I expect there to benumeroussources cited and incorporated into your assertions, analysis, and conclusions.
Oratory ...should be presented with some passion, you should really be selling me your message and there should be some semblance of speaking from the heart present. In some ways, I am a traditionalist and prefer the oratory that sets out to identify a problem and then offers me solutions for that problem. I understand that today a lot of oratory is “dramatic” in its presentational form, but this is often over-killed and does not impress me.
Informative ...should likewise be presented in a way that makes the audience truly believe you care about the topic selected. Organization is very important . . . and internal analysis and development is critical to ultimate success. If visual aids are a component of the speech, I need to be able to see them, and they should support the message. Visual aids for mere glitz do not always make the point the speaker desires, AND too many visuals actually get in the way of the good speech.
Impromptu ...a lot depends on the topic area and topic chosen. I do not believe that impromptu is stand up comedy, but do appreciate a speaker that can present his/her/their speech in a conversational manner during which the speaker is enjoying themselves. Not to be forgotten, the better organized speech will be highly regarded by this evaluator.
In all of the above events, I do believe that movement must be natural and supportive of the speech. Movement offers needed transitional support, and too much movement really hurts the overall effort. Additionally, I believe that too many gestures do more harm than good in that they just distract from the message. Use gestures to reinforce your message AND make them as natural and spontaneous as possible. Finally, your delivery needs to be clearly presented so that you are heard AND understood. As is sometimes difficult for the debater to understand, in the Public Address events "Speed TRULY Kills" . . . and conversational styles more often prevail than not.
I hope that each entry in a speech event enjoys his/her/their presentations. "Fun" may not be the exact word I am looking for, but you can truly tell when the speaker is in the communicative zone . . . and not just going through the motions.
ONE ADDITIONAL NOTE:
Although, "Yes," I prefer judging Public Address events . . . but when asked to evaluate interp or acting events, I will strive to do my very best. It is not that I can't, it is just that I prefer the speech events.
Thus, REGARDING JUDGING Interp Rounds:
I have worked with interp students over the years. Fortunately, I have always been in a situation where there was a unique interp coach available as well.
When asked what I would like in interp . . . I think it comes down to the following:
- I look for a piece that is presented in an interesting manner. The content needs to flow and the cutting needs to make sense.
- I look for consistency of characters. Are they believable? Are they relatively easy to follow throughout the presentation.
- I look for a presentation where the combination of facial expressions, gestures, and vocal development blends together to provide believable characters.
- I am not opposed to movement, but I prefer that the presentation be confined to a limited area. In a sense, I still believe that except for Duo, these are INTERPRETATION events, and the primary presentation should be focused and confined to a small area in front of one's audience.
- A note about PRO/POE/POI. After judging at nationals last two years ago, I had an epiphany. This really regards the use of your notebook as a prop. I still hope that the notebook is somehow incorporated to suggest you are "reading" material, but I also understand and accept the notebook as a potential prop to be used during your performance.
- In the end, I believe I know what I like, and I will rank student performances accordingly; and when the situation presents itself, I will try to explain why I ranked students as I did. Please understand that I know with 100% accuracy that my views and another judge’s views may not coincide. And that is OK by me! It is, in part, the reason why we have multiple judges in a round.
- AND in situations where we rank performances without any other type of evaluation (like points), I hope that all competitors understand that the section will no doubt have numerous very, very good performances, yet I have no option to give a tie, I must rank top to bottom. This is the way it is! I can only promise performers that I will try to do my very best in making my final ranking decisions.
Good luck! The best to you in your future forensic endeavors! I truly hope you enjoy yourself during your presentation!
I have been a coach for 13 years and most of those have been in a 3A school. My paradigm is pretty straight forward for the Aff team. The Aff should be able to uphold their burden of proof and respond to all Neg arguments. I am also not a huge fan of K Affs.
The Neg side of the paradigm is a bit more in depth. I believe every case is non-topical in some way shape or form. I hate Generic DA’s and will not vote on them. DA’s should be specific to the case if you want me to vote on them. I like CP’s. K’s are things I despise and loath if you run one I will not weigh it in the round. Besides these things anything else is fair game on the Neg.
I prefer a moderate speed in the debate. I should be able to understand you and be able to flow the round and see the clash of arguments. I am not big on abuse arguments there is a time and a place for some of them but they should not be a go to argument.
Bio
Out of the night comes a man who saves lives at the risk of his own. Once a circus performer, an aerialist who refused the net. Once a cat burglar, a master among jewel thieves. Now a professional bodyguard. Primitive... savage... in love with danger. Judge Nate Day.
Experience
11 years judging at ~15 national circuit tournaments, tons of local tournaments
5 year public high school coach, specializing in PF, DX, and IX
3 years competing in speech and debate (2 years of PF, 1 year mix of LD and CX, every speech event but interps)
~1500 NSDA points when my time as a competitor wrapped up in 2012 (made it to premier distinction yeaaaah black sticker baybeeeee)
Style
I try to be stone cold and as unreadable as possible in round, to maximize neutrality for all competitors and give you, as a competitor, some practice speaking to a difficult-to-read audience member. I take extensive notes in speech events, and flow debate rounds digitally, so expect to see my typing like mad through round.
Paradigm
I strongly prefer for YOU as a competitor tell me in round how I ought to judge, because that's a better exercise to develop your persuasion skills than me unilaterally declaring how round MUST go (I ain't one of those self important judges who demands you debate a certain way every round and invents new rules). I'm here to help you improve your skillset, not to be entertained by you contorting yourselves to accommodate made up rules or ridiculous imagined standards. Without your guidance or direction, here's what I'll do:
In PF, LD, and Congress, I default to judging as a policymaker (RPing as a person who votes for the side that presents the best policy option).
In CX, I'll default to judging as a game theorist. Any coherent logical argument is "fair play" - as long as you can prove whatever lunacy you're advocating for is the best choice in round, you win!
Philosophy / Miscellanea
I treat my paradigm as a set of not-too-serious guidelines, not ironclad rules - the NSDA rules exist for a reason, and paradigms ought to be compliments to the rulebook, not substitutions for it.
In LD or PF, I categorically won't buy into Ks or "reject the team" theory args outside the NSDA rules.
Due to the way NSDA rules are written, I will not vote for counterplans or anything outside the context of the resolution in PF or LD. If you wanna run off-case or performative arguments, do Policy.
The framework of your debate should not be about how unfair the structure of the debate is to your side. You chose to enter into your debate category. You knew the rules when you signed up. If you'd like them to change, write an editorial for the Rostrum.
If you don't extend your arguments, they will drop off my flow (unless no one in round extends their arguments, in which case I have to pick and choose whatever arguments I found most persuasive throughout the round).
I flow in a spreadsheet, I don't flow cross, and I write a lot of feedback during cross to expedite ballot submission at the end of round.
If you plan to run off-case or performative arguments in Policy, it is your burden to explain how they link to the debate on the resolution.
I'm actively developing an alternative to Tabroom.com and frequently test the limits of this service to try to find break points. If my name, paradigm, contact info, pronouns, etc. appear weird, that's why. Check out this article on ???? HOW TO BE A HACKER ???? to learn how to exploit user editable fields.
In speaking events, it is extremely important that you always keep the interest of your audience with relatability, organization and good vehicle. Delivery should feel conversational with a good pace and easy to understand. Speeches should have good organizational structure that makes it easy for the audience to follow along and sources that help build credibility. Lastly, speaking events should include motivated gestures, facial expressions and a variety of vocal expression.
In interpretation I appreciate natural acting and blocking with a purpose and feeling the real emotion. The audience should feel the emotions of the characters. I also look for believability of the characters.
In debate, I should be able to follow along with the story created which means you should have clear explanations. I do not appreciate being rude or aggressive towards your opponent and I do not appreciate excessvie spreading. If I cannot understand what you are saying, it makes it hard for me to take in your arguments. It is not how many arguments you can get in, it is who has the strongest case.
If you plan on emailing the case to your opponent, please include me in email: cassy_molina@yahoo.com
My background/history: I studied speech/communications and have spent the last two decades first as a broadcast journalist and now as an executive in charge of strategic communication and change management for a large government agency. I have been judging since 2019.
Persuasion and influence depend on the strength and clarity of an argument. That's what I look for in every round.
I make my decision based on thoughtful, well-organized arguments where impacts are clearly defined. Convince me your argument is best. Tell me why. Be creative, but keep your arguments relevant.
I have to be able to understand your words — including the text of evidence - in order to judge most fairly and appropriately.
Quality of arguments is always more important than quantity. I love clash! Be respectful and kind.
Your primary focus should be on presenting sound arguments and countering your opponents' arguments, not just looking for opportunities to attack an opponent's style or method flaws.
I am generous on speaker points for those who speak in a natural way and command attention through eye contact and body language.
Some of my other favorite things? Passion about your position, anticipating an opponent's arguments, smart and spirited cross-examination (pay attention to your opponent's answers and work them into your counter!)
Bring your best self to the round...and have fun! I promise to do the same.
Email: andreadearden@gmail.com
Debate- I look for good clash. I don't mind spreading but I am getting older and if I miss something I feel that's on you. You should know what your cards are saying beyond just reading them. Yes, reference and use them, but also know them. Extensions are good. For Policy- K's, Topicality, Theory should be well framed and explained, when used well I will hold value to them.
IE's-
Speech Events- Organization and use of evidence is key. I look at movements and hand gestures matching the piece and being purposeful. You pacing should be understandable
Interp Events- Emotions should match the piece as well as movements. I also enjoy when they sound natural. It should flow smoothly and make sense. Time is important but not a deal breaker if the piece is more solid than the rest, but being too short in time could make it harder to advance you in later rounds when everyone is so solid. Your vocal variety and pacing should make sense with the piece.
I competed in HS during the 90's.
I coached at Shawnee Heights HS in KS for 11 years
I seldom think speed is a good idea
I am largely policy maker, at least in background
I do not mind debating debate, real world implication, politics, social issues or narratives
I want clash over just about anything else
I prefer argumentation over cards
it is possible I have become a grumpy old man
I will try to answer any questions and offer any support I can to help debate, debaters, and the round I am watching
I cannot stand teams that abuse their competition
I hate most everything about the K. I understand them, and know they are a thing and you may have them as a central part of you strat., so run them if you must. Just know that there is no such thing as tabula rasa, and my extreme bias will likely influence how I view things down the flow, even as I actively try to prevent it.
oddly I DO like a discussion of out of round impacts, role of the ballot, and real world impact of the activity/arguments
have never looked at cards-never will
In my final "get off my lawn" rant, I hate the time wasted between speeches dealing with or waiting on tech. I seriously don't care if it hasn't loaded before the speech begins. See---grumpy
General Philosophy: I strive to be a fair and impartial evaluator, focusing on the flow of the debate and ensuring all arguments are considered. I also approach the round as an intelligent layperson. Clarity and accessibility are paramount. Avoid excessive jargon and explain your arguments so anyone can understand.
Speed: I am comfortable with fast-paced debate, but clear roadmaps and signposting are essential. If I cannot understand your arguments, I cannot evaluate them.
Evidence: I value well-sourced and relevant evidence. Please provide clear citations and be prepared to explain the significance of your evidence.
Kritiks (K): I prefer debates to focus on policy arguments. While I prefer policy debates, if a Kritik is run, it must be explained in a way that is easily understood by a layperson and directly linked to the policy debate.
Speaker Points: Speaker points will be awarded based on clarity, persuasiveness, and strategic decision-making. I value respectful and professional conduct.
Matt DeLateur
Update 1/14/2023: I find the trend of cards (especially in CX) not being cut into full sentences extremely confusing, both theoretically and practically. I continue to reemphasize -- strategic vision and crystallization are drastically underrated. I don't understand why most CX debates only have substantial clash happening in the 1nr and beyond. Most advantage scenarios and disads I hear these days are mostly based on equivocations of language "we help some program that marginally involves AI" --> "runaway AI mech robots on the battlefield goes nuclear" --> "we solve nuke war". A trained leopard seal being offered a meagre amount of sardines could probably articulate why this is terrible logic. I fail to understand why the response I frequently see in situations like this not to point out fundamental leaps in logic, but to read equally badly warranted and tagged cards in a giant block, doing no line-by-line comparison of warrants. Anyway, I'm an old man, who will radically reward you for debating in a way that shows you are listening to your opponent, asking whether they have warrants and whether those warrants make sense.
CHSSA STATE UPDATE 4/24/2021: Please debate at maximum a medium speed, or run the risk of me not following anything you're saying. I think the state tournament should not be a circuit tournament -- you can still go fast, but if I stop understanding what you're saying, due to lack of clarity or explanation, I stop flowing. Strategic tips: if an opponent's link chain is bad, I will give you a lot of credit for pointing that out -- terminal defense on crappy link chains is a thing imo.
UPDATE 10/14/2017: In terms of circuit debate, I am a broken man. LD has left all sense of reason behind and now exists in an abject of state of meaningless noise. I started competing and coaching LD debate because normative ethical philosophy deserves rigorous intellectual engagement. But, though I understand there are other ways to debate, their execution in LD debate makes me want to do anything else but listen. Please, for the future, strike me if you want to read policy back-files and stupid link-chain disads or if you think debating the k without reading a framework is somehow responsive. Also, theory-hacks, please strike me. If you know how to spell philosophy and can articulate why LD is different than policy, I'm your judge. Otherwise, I reluctantly will be physically present in your round but may be more than a little emotionally and spiritually disturbed. Your humble servant, Matt DeLateur.
I debated LD for 4 years in high school and currently coach LD for Bellarmine College Preparatory. I'm open to all argumentation; speed is not an issue. The ultimate guideline behind my decision-making is that I will minimize intervention on the flow as much as possible.
Style Preferences:
Delivery: Speed is not a problem. Clarity is underrated--pauses before and after author names and during theory or analytics are good.
Speaks: Technical skill, strategy, delivery, clarity, and creativity all contribute to speaker points. My speaker points are probably higher than average.
In my view, speaker points are my way to act as an educator without being coercive with the ballot. That means if you run a topic specific plan, counter-plan, cogent D/As, innovative arguments, debate stock arguments in a positional and interesting way (or even-uninterestingly), topic specific or non-topic specific Ks, etc., you need not worry about your argumentative choices influencing your speaker points. If you choose to run any of the following things: hidden a-prioris, generic potential abuse theory shells (this is an arbitrary bright-line--use your gut--if you're running the shell simply to be strategic rather than because there is abuse, you and I probably know it), new 1AR advocacies, or anything else which I feel comfortable saying would significantly diminish the educational potential of the debate round, I reserve the right to influence the shape of the debate community using speaks.
If this seems unfair/mean to you or if any of the things I listed above that I don't like compose crucial parts of your strategy, please strike me. Otherwise, I like to think that if we agree on the above discussion of what creates an educational activity, we'll get along just fine.
LD Argumentative Preferences:
Framework: Most LD rounds and every LD resolution breaks down to competing value frameworks. As such, the easiest way to access my ballot is to either a) be very interactive and clash directly with the internal warrants of your opponent's differing system for evaluating what is important in the round, then establish yourself as the sole person with offense to the standard or b) concede the framework but uphold your burden to be comparative through really good weighing. Weighing and offense are key. I will evaluate truth-testing if it is argued for, but I default comparative worlds.
Edit 11/5/13: Recent framework debates are narrowing towards two frameworks that are meant to preclude "all other standards" for a bunch of varying reasons. Those reasons may be completely sound and valid. However, a poor debater will simply extend the number 3 or number 4 reason the standard comes first. A skilled debater will rather extend the number 3 or number 4 reason the standard comes first, but also compare the competing claims to priority that the other debater has made for their preclusive standard. I find debaters making this analysis is very productive insofar as it minimizes my intervention. Choosing between two standards that claim to "come first" without any comparison proves relatively difficult for a judge to remain neutral.
A-prioris: I don't necessarily find these arguments inherently bad in themselves. For me to vote on them, you need to 1) Win Truth-testing, or impact the implication of the a-priori to a comparative world 2) Win the a-priori. However, for me not to tank your speaks, you need to 1) clearly impact any a-prioris in your constructive speech, meaning that argument must be labeled as an independent reason to vote for you 2) Be absolutely clear and cogent if questioned about the implication/function of these arguments in cross-examination. Failure to do either of the above conditions will not cause me to vote against you, but I will exercise my subjective control over speaks as I see fit. If you meet the above two, I have absolutely no problem voting on these arguments.
Kritiks: I'm well versed in critical literature and by the end of my time in high school I was primarily a critical debater. Feel free to run anything you want. Be sure to understand your case though--nothing is worse than someone completely bastardizing an argument because they a) didn't cut it b) didn't understand it
Theory: I find theory uninteresting. That being said, it isn't my role to tell you how you spend your weekends. I will listen to any theory argument. I default competing interpretations. My thinking on RVIs has changed a touch, I tend to think that if the debater who initiates theory chooses to make theory drop the debater, theory should be an RVI. If theory is drop the argument, theory is not an RVI. If you make this argument, I will be very receptive to it.
Being blatantly offensive (rape good, racism good, patriarchy good) will earn 0 speaker points and a loss. Debate should be an inclusive and safe environment.
I'm a traditional LD coach/judge. I coach CX, as well, but don't care to see CX-style argumentation (CPs, Ks, etc.) in LD (or PF) rounds. That includes CX-style speed. I look for who resolves clash by winning the substantive issues, preferably with a coherent story or clear voters in the rebuttals. I think your values framework is central to warranting how I should interpret the resolution, and any corresponding arguments you make about obligations of how to act should be internally linked to this framework.
In CX, I'm a real world policy maker judge. I see CX as a training ground for future policy makers and voting citizens, so I want to know if plan makes the world a better place or not. When it comes to weighing the round, I'm not swayed by the magnitude of impacts if they are logically absurd, and I'll accept analyticals that tell me why they are so. I'll vote on T but not if the plan is clearly topical. I'll listen to critical positions, but I am unlikely to vote for them unless they are impacted back to a real world impact. If I can't hear the warrant in a card because of your speed, I'm unlikely to find it persuasive.
Weigh
I begged you
but
you didn't
and you
lost.
-Rupi Kaur
I was a former LDer and congressional debater, and now I’m the assistant coach at Loveland High School. Reading this paradigm will greatly increase the chance that I give you the win (especially if your opponent doesn’t read it). I will get upset if you ask me for my paradigm (because there’s a lot), but I’m more than happy to clarify specific stuff. I’m a lay with most speech events, so sorry in advance. I have general debate paradigms and specific event paradigms.
General debate:
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Talking fast is a proven method to avoid clash. If I don’t understand you, I’m not going to flow. If both teams spread, the team that spreads the least gets the most speaks (and will likely win).
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DO NOT SPEAK OVER TIME. The longer you speak over time, the more annoyed I’ll get.
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A small puppy dies when you don’t signpost, weigh, or have voters. In addition, if you reframe or clip cards, the dreams of hundreds of small children perish. Luckily, if you meta-weigh (probability > magnitude), a tiny kitten gets adopted into a loving home.
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Tech > Truth. I have the right to choose the side that persuades me the most. In addition, debaters must meet the burden of proof, clash, and persuasion for me to give them a win.
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Please inform everyone in the round if you have a trigger. Also, please be kind to each other. The debate community needs to be a safe place for everyone.
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I don’t disclose after the round. If you ask me, the other person will get a default win. Congrats—you played yourself!
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Friv theory; no. It’s annoying when debaters complain too much. Ks need to have solvency and topicality.
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Please time yourself; however, I am the official timekeeper. Do not argue with me on time; I’ll whip out a case and start debating you. Jk, you’ll just get a default loss.
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If you have an anime reference in your speech, I’ll give you extra speaks and my respect.
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At the end of the day, the debate should be fun, educational, and respectful. You are incredibly talented, and NSDA intended for you to show off that talent to the world.
Individual event paradigms:
LD:
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The framework is everything in LD. It needs to have a clear thesis and connect to all of the contentions (or I can’t weigh it). I expect strong VVC clashes throughout the round. Otherwise, you turn LD into PF, for one.
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Broad values like morality and justice remind me of hangnails. I dislike hangnails, and I will dislike your case and probably give you the loss (values like these tell me nothing about your moral blueprint for the round).
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The impact analysis should all revolve around the framework rather than a cost-benefit analysis method like PF or CX.
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I dislike counter-plans in LD. If you want to run them, policy debate would love to have you.
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I judge less on evidence and more on phil and theory for LD.
PF
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PF is card-heavy. Create an email chain with your opponents before the round. I have the right to ask for cards (remember, if they’re clipped, the dreams of hundreds of children will perish thanks to you).
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The rebuttal speech needs to cover the flow and include an impact analysis. You have four minutes; use them!
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1st speakers that collapse (focus on a few arguments, and weigh) in their summary speech will steal my heart, and force me to give them very high speaks. You should also have comparative world weighing in the summary speech (crystallization speech is another good speech for that).
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The crystallization speech needs clear voters and an extended summary speech. My RFD is mostly dependent on the voters alone. If you don’t have clear voters (or none at all), not only will you lose the round, but small puppies will die (refer back to general debate paradigms).
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If GCX turns into a chaotic mess like four raccoons fighting over trash, I have every right to stop it. In addition, if your cx turns into a rebuttal speech, I’ll end it.
Emma Baldwin and Aiden Hurst are the best (and my favorite) Pfers in Colorado, so do what they do, and you’ll win this round and any round.
Policy
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My first general rule applies, especially to CX. I'm less likely to vote for teams that avoid clash.
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I don’t want people flashing me in public, and I don’t want teams flashing cases to each other.
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I judge on stock issues. If neg is able to win on any stock issue, they win unless they run a counter plan. Then, the round is just a comparative analysis of ads and disads.
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Topicality is the most important aspect of stock issues for me. If I see an off-topic set col, I’ll drag your desk outside the room, as Senor Chang did to Annie Edison in Community.
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Be kind to your opponents in the round, or face the wrath of a default loss (this is more of an issue in policy debate than in any event)!
Congress
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My brother was the greatest congressional debater of all time, so I may be slightly harsh with my scores (I have high expectations).
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Congress is all about persuasion and substantive argumentation. If you spread, you are failing in every aspect.
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PO must follow basic parli pro and make the session fun for everyone.
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Just like any debate event, I expect arguments to be responded to. Each speech is expected to respond to arguments from previous speeches. Even if someone gives the greatest constructive in the world during the last speech of a bill, I’ll give them a low score (they need to respond to previous arguments).
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To get a high ranking in the chamber, you must engage (speeches and questions influence the chamber).
Speech Events
You will see my paradigm on the RFD.
General Debate
You can time yourself, but I am the official timekeeper. If your alarm goes off on your opponent, I find that unethical. If you argue with me, you are begging for the loss.
Speed - I prefer a slower debate, I think it allows for a more involved, persuasive speech and debate. It is your burden to make sure that your speech is clear and understandable. If I miss an argument, then you didn't make it.
Off time roadmaps - Please make them on time roadmaps. You speak, my timer starts.
Voters - If you don't provide them, I have to choose. Don't roll the dice.
Evidence - You get two free card requests, for the rest must be on your prep time.
Cross - Is non binding. if you uncover something, bring it up in your next speech.
Lincoln-Douglas Paradigm
Kritiks and counter plans - Don’t - wrong event to run those.
Judging style - If there are any aspects of the debate I look to before all others, they would be the thesis and impact analysis. Not doing one or the other or both makes it much harder for me to vote for you, either because I don't know how to evaluate the impacts in the round or because I don't know how to compare them.
Ethics violations - Do not propose these lightly. If you assert an ethical violation, you have the burden of proof. If you don’t meet it, you lose the debate.
Public Forum
Frameworks - I default to an "on balance" metric for evaluating and comparing impacts. I will not consider unwarranted frameworks, especially if they are simply one or two lines asserting the framework without even attempting to justify it.
Theory - Yes, I understand theory. No, I don't want to hear theory in a PF round. No, I will not vote on a theory argument.
Plans/Counterplans - No. Neither the pro nor the con has fiat.
Kritiks - No. Kritiks only function under a truth-testing interpretation of the con burden, I only use comparative worlds in Public Forum.
Burden Interpretations - The pro and the con have an equal and opposite burden of proof, clash, and persuasion.
Rebuttals in Crossfire - Don’t. I reserve the right to stop a crossfire that ceases to be in a question-answer format or one that becomes abusive.
Congressional Debate
This is one of my favorite events. I want to see you address the chamber (vs reading) and persuade me (and them) with ethos, pathos, and logos. I am a sucker for mythos-driven analogies on the topic or why the other side falls. I give bonus points for good constructive speeches (authorship/sponsorship and 1st neg), especially if you address the chamber. I dislike it when arguments are rehashed/repeated and later speeches do not address the congressional record to date (or worse misrepresent it). In later speeches, I want to see crystallization, impact analysis, and weighing. I break ties in ranking on questions and procedural motions that benefit the flow of debate and the chamber.
Big Questions
Please be sure to address and answer the question. The event is asking that you take a comprehensive and broad perspective to the question or the inverse of the question.
I'm very much a traditionalist but reward originality and creativity.
Interp - I belive in maintaining the authors intent. Of all the events, interp has changed the most over the years and in my opinion in a good way. Today's interpers are unique, creative, and original. I have one steadfast rule in interp; I want to be drawn into the world the interper is giving me. If they can grab me from the beginning and keep in in that world throughout their performance then they have succeeded. Anything that distracts or pulls me out of their world minimizes thier overall performance (crying, etc.).
Limited Prep: I judge on a 50/50 ratio. The first 50 is organization, content, and delivery. Firm believer in the "walk-n-talk" philosophy that you walk only on transitions. The other 50 is content. If you make a statement, be able to support it. Make sure the question / topic is answered correctly.
Prep: Much like the limited prep but I reward originality on topics and their development.
Speech/Debate Experience - Director of Debate at Liberty Sr. HS in Liberty, MO. Debated policy debate in high school and have been coaching now for 7 years. I can follow above average speed (it's your responsibility to signpost/be clear) but I acknowledge this is a communication activity and see more value in quality of argumentation as opposed to quantity of arguments. I will be flowing but don’t expect me to do the work for you in extensions or weighing. Your speeches are the priority when determining what to evaluate.
In order to weigh something on the flow, you need to include warrants with your claims. You can tell me to vote on something but if I don't have a clear (and well extended) reason to accompany it, I will look elsewhere for a claim that does have a warrant included. A complete argument should include claim, warrant, impact. Extend warrants with authors - sure, they dropped Smith '22, but why does Smith '22 matter to the round? is a question you should be answering on every extension. Each side should identify and impact calculate the offense in the round as early as they are able. Do not expect me to do the work for you or to be as well versed on the topic as you, it is better to assume I do not know a term than to jump straight in and leave the judge behind.
I typically lean more towards traditional debate in that it presents topic specific education and clash. However, kritikal arguments are fine so long as the thesis of the argument is clear and the clash is evident. Case debate is my preferred style of argumentation and if the K can provide a good link story into the affirmative world. Alternatives of do nothing in general are boring. That's not to say that they can't win a round (Solvency takeouts alone function in a similar manner) but I always wonder how much more creative the alt debate could be beyond "stay in the squo".
Prep Time: If someone is not speaking, someone is running prep time. Per the event rules there are speeches, cross-ex and prep. Especially now that high school prep is 8 minutes instead of the original 5... please don't attempt to steal prep. It is your responsibility to exchange evidence efficiently (if online, establish an email chain before the round if you think you'll need it). I will not stop prep if you "say stop prep, I want to request evidence from my opponent's". Take care of that during cross-ex or email speeches before you speak. There are time constraints in debate for a reason, abide by them, don't try to bend around them. Additionally "flex prep" is not real.
Prep and email chains- I realize that the wifi is sometimes out of your control. I'm okay with stopping prep when the email has been sent but that is also under the understanding that you also stop prepping. If you're partner is preflowing the upcoming speech doc, or you are still working then prep should still be running as by definition -- you are preparing. The other team, the same. You should be refreshing your email and that's it.
OPEN CROSS - This will lower your speaker points automatically. The event is designed to demonstrate the expertise, skill and speaking quality of each speaker. Since speaker points are given to each debater and not a team as a whole, open cross weakens individual speaking points.
AFFILIATIONS:
Coach at Kansas City Piper (Kansas)
Let me start this by saying that I kind of hate paradigms. I actively try not to have one. That said, certain preferences are inevitable despite my best efforts, so here we go...
I'm a coach. This is an educational activity above everything else. That's important to me. I will naturally vote for the team that does the work in the round. In the end, my entire philosophy revolves around your work. Pick a position and advocate for it with whatever skills you have. It's not my job to tell you what those skills are or should be.
I'll vote truth over tech every time. Your execution of technicalities won't make up for fallacious argumentation. I really crave clash in a round where we really examine what is at the core of our understanding. That said, I do love pretty tech. Feel free to be clever, but be aware that clever is not the same thing as cute.
I prefer communication over speed. At least go slower on your tags and analysis. On this vein, you are responsible for the words that come out of your mouth. Speech is always an act of advocacy.
I wish I could tell you preferences about CPs, Ks, and what the debate space means, but the truth of it is that I will vote how you tell me to. Provide me a meaningful framework (and you know... tell me why it's meaningful) and actual clash, and I'll follow along.
About Me:
I'm a 7th year Speech and Debate Coach. I prefer you speak at a conversational speed always. Slightly above is also good, but try not to spread, especially in PF (Super Fast Rebuttals/Summaries are pretty cringe and hard to flow).
I don’t mind different forms of argumentation in LD. Ks, Plans, Counterplans, etc are all ok in my book. Not a fan of progressive cases in PF, but I will still listen to them.
Not a fan of Theory-shells in Debate at all. Unless there was a CLEAR AND OBVIOUS violation in the round, do not run it.
Please utilize off time roadmaps.
Keep track of your own time. Just let me know when you run prep is all.
Signpost so I can follow on the flow. If I miss an argument because you pull a House of Pain and "Jump Around" without signposting, that is on you.
I will always vote in favor of the side with better quality arguments and better comparative analysis of the biggest impacts in the round, not the side that is necessarily "winning the most arguments."
At this point I would consider myself a flow judge (though not SUPER technical), and I value tech over truth more often than not.
More "techy" stuff:
Frameworks should always be extended. If your opponent doesn't respond to it in 1st or 2nd rebuttal, it needs to be extended into 2nd rebuttal or 1st Summary in order for me to evaluate the arguments under that framework. Teams who speak 1st do not necessarily need to extend their FW into their 1st rebuttal, but should provide some context or clarification as to why the framework is necessary for the round (can be included in an overview). If there are 2 frameworks presented, please explain why I need to prefer yours over the opponent. If no explanation is provided or extended, I will default to my own evaluation methods (typically cost/benefit analysis)
I like when teams focus summaries on extending offense and weighing, more specifically explain to me why your impacts matter more than your opponent’s. Don’t just say “(Impact card) means we outweigh on scope,” then move on to the next point. I love details and contextualization, and will always favor quality weighing over quantity.
Please collapse. Please. It helps to provide focus in the round rather than bouncing around on 20 different arguments. It just makes my life as a judge much easier.
Use FF to crystalize and highlight the most important points of contention and clash that you believe are winning you the round (things like offense and turns that go unresponded to, for example). Explain to my why I should vote for you, not why I should not vote for the other side. Voter Issues are always a good thing, and can possibly win you the round in a close debate.
LD Stuff:
If your plan is to spread, and I cant follow on the flow and miss things, that is on you. LD's purpose was intended to separate itself from Policy tactics and allow argumentation that anyone off the streets can follow. Call me a traditionalist or whatever, but spreading just to stack arguments is not educational and hurts the activity. You cant convince me otherwise so dont try.
Im perfectly OK with any kind of case, but my preference is this order: Traditional>K>Disads/Plans/CPs>Theory (only run if there is perceived actual abuse in round, dont run frivolous stuff)
Not super knowledgeable on all the nuances of LD, but I do enjoy philosophical debates and am vaguely familiar with contemporary stuff.
Add me on the email chain: josemdenisjr@gmail.com
I started coaching in 2009 and have held leadership positions in my state org and/or NSDA district almost the entire time. I am a project manager and technical writer in Marketing by trade, with experience in the civil engineering and biotechnology industries. I flow with moderate detail, often digitally, with occasional eye contact.
It is okay to present a roadmap. I won't time roadmaps so long as they are limited to a few seconds/couple sentences.
Spreading serves no practical purpose, therefore, while I can often keep up, you will lose credibility and speaker’s points.
Limit your debate jargon. Leave the competitive technicalities at the door. It’s better to bring a compelling case with analysis and evidence.
Clash; don’t perseverate. You more likely to win by presenting quality evidence paired with apt analysis.
Inspire me with creativity and respect. Insults and rudeness will likely result in an automatic loss.
One may call me a traditionalist, but I am not a fan, at all, of speed or anything policy related drifting into LD or PF debate.
The reason PF was created was to eliminate all of the lexicon/jargon and to make it easier for a judge off of the street to follow. The reason LD was created was to examine the values within our society that can be held dear to how we function as human beings. When debaters ignore those foundational components, they may as well go into policy debate. If you feel the need to run theory, topicality, kritiks, and do everything else but debate the actual topics, policy is always looking for more teams. I would encourage you to join it to try and save it.
I don't think that judges that put paradigms as "...I will give you one half of a point if you make a Pokémon reference..." are doing any good to PF or LD. Keep that stuff/junk in policy. There's a reason policy is dying around the country, and that is a part of it. It's juvenile, it's nonsensical, and it is non-educational. Judges should be here to help you learn how to improve your communication skills, critical analysis, writing, and research skills...not point bait you.
I currently work for an organization serving domestic violence survivors- so many debate games not revolving around "truth" are frivolous and purposeless.
My flow was only slightly above average when I was doing it every weekend, I can only imagine how bad it is now, with no driving force like shame to ensure I kept copious notes.
I will vote less on dropped/conceded arguments and more on true arguments- something about the "real world" makes me less for "debate games" than truth in argument.
Explain why you're winning. It might be helpful to explain why you're winning even if your opponent is also winning something. Comparative analysis matters, like Black Lives.
Be smart. Make good arguments. If you're funny, be funny. Don't make fun of your opponents; making fun of their arguments is fair game. Don't be an a**hole to be funny tho.
Speech and Interp overall:
I judge speech and interp based on the rules and based on the round--comparing the performances in the round. I think author's intent is important for interp as well as a story line. I think communication skills, organization, rhetoric, analysis, and evidence are all important in speech events.
Extemp:
Citations: Month, year, and source name are sufficient. Simple is better than made up.
Evidence should be relevant. 5-7 sources is a good benchmark, but I am not docking points for fewer citations if your analysis is solid.
Policy Debate (CX):
I am a stock issues and policy maker judge. I want to see there is a need for your policy and that it will solve the inherent problem.
I want DAs to have a clear link chain. Otherwise, I’m not buying it. Impact calculus is vital. Topicality is fine but should not consume most of your arguments unless there is a CLEAR topicality violation. CPs are fine but you must prove to me your way is better and if it is easy for Aff to perm, then it flows Aff. I am not a fan of Ks so know I will expect you to understand your own arguments, be able to analyze in your own words and explain it to an Aff who is not understanding. I am not much for games and want to actually see debate and clash.
HOWEVER, I will judge the round based on what happens IN round and not what I think should have been done. You are the debaters. I am not reliving my glory days of being a HS debater in this round. I am the judge, not a debater in the round. I will vote on all arguments that are well-developed and provide clash.
Speed: Be clear and articulate. If I can’t understand your evidence, I will not flow it.
Lincoln-Douglas:
LD is a value debate—not policy lite. I do not want to see plans, counterplans, or Ks in an LD round.
Clash matters. I want to see a strong engagement between values and criteria. Framework wins rounds. Define it clearly. Explain it well and let me see the pragmatic impacts of what you argue.
I can write a lot. I have been flowing since I was 15. I write nearly the entire sermon every week in church. So I can write fast. But that does not mean that speed is necessary in LD. If I cannot understand you, then I will not flow it.
Public Forum:
This is about argumentation and persuasion. Evidence is important but there is not enough time to dump but not provide analysis. Rhetoric is important.
I am a first time judge (lay), so please explain everything carefully and thoroughly as my debate-specific knowledge about this topic is limited.
I will base my vote on the following:
- whichever side proves that their harms/impacts outweigh the other and successfully refutes their opponents’ claims while defending their own (especially in the rebuttal speeches)
- Demonstrate clear speaking skills (speak slowly and clearly as I am new to debate)
- Have good presentation skills (use of hand gestures and eye contact with the judge/me)
Some additional factors that may influence my ballot:
- Help condense the debate in the rebuttal speeches and explain why your side deserves to win
- No spreading - if you do so, I will most likely vote for the other side as I will not read off of your word documents and would much prefer to actually watch you debate
- Do not be disrespectful or condescending towards any of your opponents (that includes but not limited to misogynistic, homophobic, racist, demeaning behavior). Any such behavior will merit a vote for the opposing side.
- Please time yourselves - this applies when you begin/end your speeches, cross-ex, and especially for your prep time. Make sure to alert me when each side is beginning their prep.
Hey everyone.
I'm a parent judge but I want you all to just follow some basic guidelines when having your debate.
- Before the round starts, send me your cases with the cards highlighted as well, just in case I miss any part of your argument I can cover them. Most likely will dock speaks if you don't send it and I do miss something. Email: anand.desikan@gmail.com
- Just try and be logical with your contentions and how they go into summary and final focus. When you use cards, instead of just saying that they dropped the card or dropped another part of the argument, tell me why it matters and give me some explanation.
- Your partnership should be coordinated and you should mirror each other for summary and final focus to make it clear to me that you understand the round and how to win
- Compare your arguments to your opponents and not just why yours is good. Debate's all about comparisons so do that for me it's an easier way to win.
- When you speak, just be clear. If you can't be clear when you speak, go slower. I'm not that experienced with speed so just go slow. Don't waste your time on rhetoric but make sure your argument gets through to me clearly.
Apart from that, have fun and make sure y'all just respect each other. You're both trying to win so have that mindset. Have a good round.
I am a coach of all forms of speech and debate events. I competed at the high school and collegiate level in interp, speech and debate.
Debate:
I would consider myself tab with a default to policymaker. I would prefer debaters establish what I should vote on and how to weigh the round. I believe it is important for the debaters to tell me why arguments are important and why they are winning it. I will vote on anything and I will not vote on anything all at the same time. It's important for you to tell me where to vote. I do not like hearing arguments that are completely squirrel of the topic at hand (ie: scream K). Feel me to ask questions if you have concerns or questions. I would prefer speakers be slow down and be very clear on the tag lines, dates and theory arguments. Speed is fine and I can flow it. I will yell "clear" if you are not.
Speech:
Organization & Clarity with supporting documentation is key. When I am judging these events, I am looking for clear justification for the topic you chose. I am looking for you to be clear in your overall organization, but the internal thesis of your ideas need to be developed and organized also. I believe ethos, logos and pathos need to be developed and deployed each and every time you speak.
Interp:
I am looking for originality. I am looking at individuals to create clear and distinct characters. I need to see you develop strong, believable characters. Tell your story.
Clarity:
If you have questions, please feel free to ask.
Interp: I am a pretty open minded judge when it comes to judging interp overall but there are a few things I look for in performances. Creativity and honesty will always be the most rewarded in my book because it is why we do what we do at the end of the day. Showcasing your own interpretation, but staying true to the core of the story is important to me. Character development and emotional shifts are super important especially over a digital platform to keeping us engaged with the story and showing us the meaning behind the words. Have fun with the choices you make as long as they are PURPOSEFUL, doing something that distracts rather than enhances makes us lose connection between what is happening in the story.
Congress: I am looking for fluid speeches that connect to previous arguments. I think it is important to have clash, refute and/or enhance your fellow representative's arguments.
My email is ian.k.dill [at] gmail
I am a graduate student and coach at the University of Texas. My graduate studies are in public policy, with a focus on global agrarian policy, sustainability, and ecological economics. I previously taught at Churchill high school and coached for Trinity University. I debated at Trinity for 4 years and at Highland Park in Minnesota for 4 years.
I strongly prefer more academically rigorous arguments. I will reward you for reading and leveraging qualified evidence (peer reviewed, written by people with relevant quals, from reputable sites , etc). When you are pointing me towards evidence to read you should compare qualifications and ev quality explicitly. Don't expect me to do that comparison for you when I am making the decision.
I will not vote for incomplete arguments (claim and warrant). "no perms its a method debate" or "da's not intrinsic" are not sufficient arguments on which I will decide a debate.
Topicality: I like T debates quite a lot, and have no qualms voting for T against any aff if the offense is clearly outlined by the neg, and impact calculus is done well. Caselists and evidence quality are important.
Kritiks: Specificity is the key. I most enjoy k debating that relies on da's to the plan as well as broader philosophical disagreements. I am happy to vote on "link is a da that turns case + try or die for alt" as well as "framework + link." I think the former is underutilized, but requires good case debating, evidence, and a well thought-out answer to perm double bind.
Specificity on the aff is also key. That means explaining how the perm solves the links. It also means explicitly answering links beginning in the 2ac. When I vote for the k, I find that it is often because the aff hasn't answered the thesis claim supporting the links, turns case, and framework arguments. Make sure you dedicate time to identifying and answering that thesis.
Counterplans: Counterplans should be both textually and functionally competitive. I will always reward the recutting of a cp from aff ev. I also think a lot of counterplans cheat, and will be receptive to theory presses against cp's that compete based on definitions of 'should' or 'resolved', for example.
planless affs/framework: I think debate is inevitably competitive and intrinsically valuable. Affs answering framework should clearly outline what debates look like under their interpretation. I enjoy non-fw strategies with well-researched, specific links.
Theory: Do not make weak theory arguments in the 2ac, add specific analysis about the argument you are debating. Also slow down when delivering them.
Random things: I won't flow things being said by anyone besides the person giving the speech.
judge kick: unless complete arguments are made to the contrary by either side, I will default to the logical option. This usually either means judge kicking the cp or voting for a perm that shields the link.
Coaching & Competitor History:
(2020-Present): Director of Debate & Speech, Melissa High School
(2019-2020): Assistant Director of Forensics & Head PF Coach, Delbarton School
(2019-2020): Policy Debate Coach, Princeton High School
(2017-2019): Policy Debate Coach, Melissa High School
(2017-2019): Graduate Parliamentary Debate Coach, University of North Texas
(2015-2017): Policy Debate Coach & PF Coach, Southlake High School
(2014-2016): Policy Debate Coach, Prosper High School
(2014-2015): Policy, LD, & PF Coach, Crandall High School
(2013-2014/15ish): Policy Debate competitor, University of North Texas
(2009-2013): Policy Debate competitor, Lampasas
Overview: I view the debate though an offense/defense paradigm. I think that this is the best way for me to grapple with the debate. Throughout my paradigm, I've tried to limit my regurgitation of knowledge or information about debate to you, and instead tell you how I view debate based on specific questions with the specific events. I think that there are some things that I will not change based on the nature of whatever event I'm judging. Theoretical disquisitions and procedural issues are ones in which I evaluate the same. Please see the theory section. If there's a question I do not have within here, please ask me. Finally, the questions that I am answering below are 1.) questions in which people have asked me before that I can remember and 2.) attempting to answer them as best as possible.
Reasons to Strike Me:
3NR's: After nationals in 2019, I have this to say. If you're going to be rude because you lost the debate, and attempt to get me to generate some sort of concession about why I messed up, I think that you're looking for the wrong judge. I make mistakes, but if I wanted to waste my time with some sort of asinine 3NR, I would have stayed home to waste my time doing nothing. If I feel it's going poorly, the 3NR, I'll shut my laptop and tell you the same thing I told the team at nationals in 2019. You should be ashamed of yourselves and your coach should be even more ashamed due to their inability to make you understand that that's not a healthy practice.
Clipping Cards: This is defined as "intentionally or unintentionally skipping over the parts of the evidence that is highlighted, bolded, and underlined." As Louie Petit says, do not be a Lance Armstrong (Petit, 2013).
Ideological Issues: Being racist, sexist, or a biggot is a great way to strike me.
Coaching: if I have coached you in the past 4 years, I will strike you. If I forget to, it is your obligation to strike me.
Cards: If you are paraphrasing and not cutting cards in PF, strike me.
Cards (PF): I'm so tired of people "calling for evidence" and it taking a majority of the round, while in the interim stealing prep. You should either 1.) send the case before you read or 2.) immediately after you're done before cross-fire or prep starts. I will start calling for prep when you call for evidence at a certain point, and if you do not like this, strike me please.
Dumb Theory Arguments: There's a national trend going on in LD indicating that we or judges should vote on frivolous argument (e.g. shoe theory, laptop theory, and so on). These are just absurdly, un-strategic, asinine arguments. Strike me please.
Email: Brendendimmig1995@gmail.com
***Policy Debate Paradigm
General Things
What does extrapolation mean for you? For me, I think that the 2AR and the 2NR get extrapolation based on previous claims made within the debate. I think that, if this is based off of evidence, and your evidence has some sort of glaring issue that prevents you from generating access to said extrapolation, then I probably won't vote for you.
What do we have to do to flag evidence? Just say look at the evidence or make some sort of evidence contestation that necessitates that I look at your evidence. It just takes a couple seconds.
Extending is important: I think that, if you do not extend the aff or example within the 1AR, I may have a hard time giving the 2AR credit. Even if it is just a shadow extension, I think that that is better than nothing.
Is evidence comparison important? Yeah. I would say that that's probably a good way for me to reevaluate why I should prefer a particular argument over another. I think that engaging in some sort of substantive level (i.e. the warrants, author, and so on) make for good case debate (for example).
Email me: I think that this will help in case I have to go back and re-read a piece of evidence. I try not to waste people's time, thus, I do not want to have to ask if you can send me a specific piece of evidence. If you're looking to get documents from a previous debate, please see the above email.
Do you prefer a specific kind of aff? no. Read a method, soft left, or big stick aff. It's up to you. I grew up going for the big stick aff and coached that the first 2-3 years out of high school, while also coaching big stick 1AC's in PF at Delbarton. I coached pre dominantly soft left aff's at Melissa and Princeton. I coach a kid now in LD reading a historical geneology that discusses why debate is bad. I think that you should do whatever you want. I've judged some great [Coppell DR and Wylie QR] teams going for the method. I've judged some great teams [Greenhill & Jesuit] going for Soft left affs. I've judged some great teams like Highland Park and Jesuit go for some big stick affs. I think that you should be able to read what you want.
Are you okay with speed? Yes. The fastest team I ever saw was the Georgetown team that won nationals twice. Unless you're going faster, I may need you to slow down. If I cannot hear you, I will say clear.
Speaker Points: I generally do not give below a 28.5. I do not know what else to say here.
Procedural Issues
Does Competing Interpretations come before reasonability or vise versa? I think that it depends on the arguments made within the debate. Absent this sort of debate, I will default to competing interpretations within the grande scheme of this or other competitive venues of debate.
What's the biggest thing people do poorly (in your opinion) on T or any procedural issue? I think that impacting your disads or standards is important to me. For example, on the ground disad, make sure that you're indicating 1.) HOW you're losing the argument (i.e. the link) and 2.) WHAT those arguments generally look like or what they specifically are and 3.) WHY those arguments are important for either topic education and/or competitive equity.
What's generated more ballots for you on T: The limits disad or Ground disad? I think that, while not having any sort of verifiable data via my ballots, I couldn't tell you. However, I have a gut feeling that it is the ground disad. I think that people, whenever making a limits claim, are not contextualizing why a particular limit based on the interpretation or rule set in debate is a better thing or idea.
Is Framework inherently argumentatively racist? I think that it depends on the debate.
Can we impact turn competitive equity and/or topic education? Absolutely.
Does or can a theoretical argument (e.g. Condo, or some other theory argument) come before T? Sure. I've seen these debates, but I've never judged them.
Do I get broad level extrapolation for my interp? No. What do I mean by this? Well, if you just say in the 2NC "conditionality is bad", but then precede in the 2NR or 1NR to clarify this statement by saying "conditionality is bad BECAUSE they can only get dispositional counterplans or advocacies", I am not likely to give you that level of extrapolation. I think that that is too late for me.
Have you ever rejected a Framework claim to a K aff (i.e. you did not vote on framework)? Yes.
Have you voted on a framework claim against a K aff? Yes.
What are things not to do or recommend not to do on Framework? I think that you should attempt to separate the procedural issues from the aff itself. I understand that making state good or bad claims and having research burdens on Framework may come as a result of some sort of argument made on framework. however, if you can separate those two things instead of them bleeding over on the same flow, I would appreciate that. If not, that's not an issue.
If I do not have either a predictability, ground, and/or limits claims within the 2NR for T, are you likely to vote for me? probably not.
Case:
Impact turning the aff? Great. I love these debates.
Can I just go for defense, or what some people call the stock issues? No. The only time I have voted on defense was in 2015. The Role of the Ballot was quite literally to vote on defense or what I believe was solvency within that debate.
Disad:
Can we win the disad absent case in the 2NR? Maybe, but I hope that you either are making claims that 1.) the disad turns the case and/or (depending on the disad) 2.) That you're making disad solves the aff's offense in some manner.
Can we win a link turn absent a uniqueness contestation made? Probably not. Right, if you do not prove why a problem is high now and are concluding that you substantially reduce that problem, absent the first sort of argument, I presume that the problem is not likely happening now (i.e. the uniqueness argument of the disad is true).
Do you prefer to hear disads? Read what you want.
Biggest issue on the disad? Same issue on an advantage; there needs to be a good explanation of the internal link or impact module that describes how we get to the impact.
Absent a disad, can we still win the counterplan? Sure, but you'll need to make either 1.) why the counterplan is just inherently mutually exclusive or 2.) Win some sort of internal net benefit to the counterplan.
What if the disad links to the plan AND counterplan? Making link differential arguments here and explaining why (whichever side's) level of "linking" (so to speak) is not enough to trigger the disad. I also then think that this is a question of the evidence, and how good or bad the evidence is. I think that this also a question of spin, so making sure that you spin the argument is important here (for me at least).
Thoughts on the Politics Disad? Fantastic.
Counterplan
Is conditionality fine? yes.
Are two conditional counterplans fine? I mean sure, i don't care.
What about 3? Look, I'm not the arbiter that determines the number of conditional counterplans or unconditional counterplans that you get to read. I think that at a certain time, there needs to be a limit set within the debate. If the affirmative proves why their limit on the certain number is good or better, then I am more likely to vote for them. I think that this ALSO means having a NON-blanket statement interpretation. Just saying that conditionality is bad is probably not a good interpretation for the debate. I think that there's a whole slew of disads and turns that the interp is going to generate. I think that parametrasizing your interp (i.e. the negative teams gets 1 conditional counterplan and a dispositional counterplan) is probably a better interpretation.
Would you vote on internal net benefits? I would yes. If you have a specific question here that I can better answer, please let me know.
What kind of counterplan do you prefer? I like PICS's. They're really cool. Read a counterplan; i don't know what else to say. Debate is cool. Counterplans are fine.
What are some dumb counterplans? Delay is probably dumb, but I've voted on it (yeah, make fun of me. It's fair). I think that consult counterplans on the wrong topic are dumb, but I've still voted for them on the topic in which they do not make sense argumentatively to be read on.
When's the last time you voted on condo? Plano West Finals, 2020. Before that, I think that it was in 2015. People do not read conditionality in front of me a lot.
What about sufficiency framing? Yeah I guess presumption would err in your direction even if there is not a net benefit or internal net benefit. I'll err this manner if the permutation cannot solve, or if the permutation is not made, or if the permutation argument is not sufficiently explained.
What's a poor permutation? One that is not explained. I also think that good permutations are one's that are thought out and take the part of the counterplan that resolves the disad and combines it with the plan. I think that teams that are strategic with these better forms of permutations are more likely to win.
Issues on permutation debates? If you're going to make assertions that the other team's permutation is either severance or intrinsic, I need some sort of warrant or violation explaining why the other side's permutation is intrinsic or severance. Absent this theorietical or structural argument in your theory argument, I'm willing to note vote on it even if you told me all day why severance or intrinsic permutations are bad. Also, if you want to impact turn severance, go ahead. Finally, explaining to me what the world of the permutation looks like and why it avoids the internal or external net benefit is going to be important to me.
Kritiks/Kritikal Aff's:
Preferred strategy against a K aff? I don't have one. It depends on the aff.
Method vs. Method debate? Well yeah, I think that these are great debates to be had.
Do you have a preferred literature base of critical scholarship that you would like to see debated? No. I read a lot of gender studies scholarship, but I do not think that this should deter you from reading the arguments that you want to read within the debate. If you're looking to up someone based on the prerequisite knowledge of things like black feminism, islamic feminism, intersectional feminism, womanism, and various other derivatives, I guess I'm that person, but I would hesitate from deeming myself that person.
Is framework against a K aff fine? yeah, absolutely.
What's the biggest issue with the K or K Aff's? Explaining the alt and how it resolves the offense within the specific debate. I think that more tangible alternatives have a better time of operationalizing an explanation for this question. That's not to say that you can NOT read reject alts. I'm just letting you know based on things that I have been judging on the national and local circuits. I think that, like my friend Chris O'Brien, I start with the alternative, look there, and then go up.
Link argument issues? I think that you are better off with doing a couple things in front of me. First, I think that going for just one link (most likley the conceded link) within the 2NR is going to be helpful. I think that good K teams are doing this because it increases the time that they can spend on other things within the debate. Second, putting the evidence or having evidence in the context of the aff is going to get you much farther. I think that these generic state bad links are fine, but just be understanding that if the evidence after reading it is in the context of the status quo and not some new proposal, I think that I am likely to err aff on this question if said arguments are made. I think that kritikal affs to better win framework we/meet arguments should have a kritik that is in the direction (at the minimum) or at least about the topic in some sort of way. Debate bad affs for instance are nice, but if they have nothing to do with immigration, arms sales, or water, then I am more likely to vote on the argument.
Impact issues? I think that whenever judging a K vs. a Soft Left aff or a K vs. K aff, make sure that you are doing sequencing work if both teams have some sort of root cause argument. I think that this level of explanation is going to warrant higher speaker points while also generating a better ballot erred in your direction.
Would you be willing to vote on a K absent us winning the alt? I think that, like my friend Chris O'Brien, I start with the alternative, look there, and then go up. If you do not have some sort of tangible alt, then I am likley to not vote for you i if the other side then makes arguments about why these things are happening in the status quo and/or the offense is just a non-unique disad at this point.
***PF Paradigm
Calling for evidence: please see the strike section above.
Is defense sticky? No. Absolutely not.
Do you have a preference of offense (i.e. scalar offense, or threshold offense)? No? I don't care. If you're reading your scalar offense, I'm not entirely sure why you're reading these uniqueness arguments above your scalar offense. Right, in policy this is just linear (or that is the synonymous term). I think that you are waisting your time for this.
Can I read multiple ethical positions within the pro and con cases? Sure, why not. If LD gets pre and post fiat, I don't understand why you can't read structural violence arguments and util arguments, and then collapse to one within the final focus.
If I don't frontline arguments within the rebuttal, are they dropped? Yeah. The way that I view the rebuttal is that is it similar or analogous to the 2AC in policy debate. Absent some sort of answer to the rebuttal's arguments that they are making probably means that you do not get to respond to them within the summary speech.
Can I shadow extend arguments in the summary and extrapolate in the final focus? Sure. I think that that is a smart move.
Can I read disclosure theory or paraphrasing theory? I'll answer both of these separately. First, I think that paraphrasing theory is inherently not something that I think that is substantive to vote on. Go look up in the theory section of my policy debate paradigm and int he overview. I think that theory here is treated the same in policy. In other words, I think that you need to win some sort of predictability, ground (or predictable ground), and/or limits (or predictable limits) claim for me to vote on your theory argument. If I do not know why paraphrasing destroys or erode one of those standards, I'm not voting voting for you.You can have as many bright line standards, contextual definition standards because you've read some sort of great (not really great) piece of evidence by some camp staffer who published an article, or whatever. That will not get you far enough in my book. Second, sure, read disclosure theory. Again, I think that the above arguments related to this applies here as well (the criticism about offensive vs. defensive standards).
What's your threshold for a warrant or an explanation to an argument within the final focus? Pretty high. Absent a warrant for an argument mean that I am going to discount that argument. It's pretty simple; I evaluate arguments in a vaccum, and just because you explained it in the summary does not mean that you necessarily get to just shadow extend arguments with the same or full weight.
What if we did not highlight our cards? I'm noticing that more and more teams are not highlighting their cards. I'm not sure if you're doing this on purpose, but I think that I will look to the analysis of the card's tag within the final focus, and adjudicate my decision from there. This is not on you. This is on the PF community to establish a set of card norms. In other words, I will hold you to your analysis, not what is on the evidence.
Can I take prep before cross or the opponent's speech? Sure.
Do you prefer Util or Structural Violence Framing? I think that these impact framing debates and risks analysis disquisitions are fun to have. No, it's not abusive for a team to read an alternative util calculus. I think that I am more adverse to giving higher speaker points to the team that goes outside the boundaries, and pushes them, by reading some sort of alternative ethical framework or calculus.
What does collapsing mean for you? I think, collapsing for me, means that you're going for less arguments but in a manner in which you extrapolate and interact those arguments in a manner that does more for you. Whenever I hear this answer, I see some sort of upside down triangle, whereby there's 2 levels (i.e. the aff case and the negative case). Going for all the arguments that you made within rebuttal within the final focus on the opponents case, while also going for all of your contentions, seems like a strategy or easy way to lose.
Why did you say that you recommend I have uniqueness for my warrants? Yeah, you have 3 different warrants (i.e. impact modules or scenarios) about why something is bad. Just asserting that X, Y, and Z will happen does not make a lot of sense absent some sort of uniqueness argument made that postulates that that issue is not happening now.
If I win a pre-req does that mean that I win the debate? Maybe? I think that it depends on the debate. I think that I would need some more context to this question, but you may be giving away some strategy to your opponents by adding context.
Can I read definitions or observations? Sure. Be my guest.
Can I read a kritik? I mean, there's a small amount of time to get through the K within the debate. If you think that you can do it, be my guest. If you don't have certain things, and are just certain you won the debate because you only read a link argument, don't be surprised when I tell you that you lose. I think that a better strategy you be just to read the link and the impact as a case turn, and then contextualize how the aff specifically increases. I think you should see some of the link sections within the kritik section in the policy section of my paradigm.
Does the new 3 minute (or relatively new) summary change how you judge? Not really. It's like going from high school policy debate to college police debate insofar as the time is concerned (i.e. everything increases by a minute). it doesn't change strategy, or largely I should say.
Speaker Point notes: I find that there is this assimilated, similar way of speaking in PF. It sounds great, but you repeating your claims over and over, and getting to the point 10 or 15 seconds in will not necessitate me giving you higher speaker points in PF. I traditionally give higher speaker points to teams that are warranting their arguments, have good word economy, and are efficient.
3NR's: I've noticed that PF has become way worse about 3NR's than even policy debate. While this hasn't happened to me in PF, or really in any event absent the 1 time at nationals, I do want to say this. You berating a parent judge is just absurd. You berating a coach who evaluates the debate differently is not going to help you win the debate back. Tack a breath, because we're all in this together. If you're doing a 3NR because someone said something egregious, I'll be there with your coach and tab to explain the situation. Absent some sort of issue like this, just don't do it in front of me. Why? The next time I see you I'm just going to think back to the unsavory moment of you berating a judge for no reason. If you want to make judges better, have a conversation with them. Ask questions. If you want judges to get better and stick around, talk to them. Also, the other person on the panel who may or may not have voted for you will also remember. Lastly, Yes, parent judges or inexperienced judges or traditional judges are people that you may not like, or would even conclude are not the ideal situation that any competitor would like. I'm probably in the same boat as you, but that doesn't justify asinine discourse.
Evidence indicts: I think that this is great, and becoming even more popular. I think that if you just assert that their evidence errs in your favor, have a compelling reason and a piece of evidence. This is really simple.
Concessions not warranted isn't a ballot: If you go for all the concessions in the final focus, but you have not warranted a SINGLE one of those arguments, I think that I am less likely to vote for you. In fact, I probably won't. Please make sure that you are explaining your arguments.
Presumption: I think that this errs a bit differently than the way that it does compared to traditional PF judges or people that have been brought up into the PF community. If there is an absence of offense from both sides in the debate, I will err aff because I presume that voting aff does something different and changes things nominally better. If you're a coach reading this and think that I need to start erring on the negative insofar as presumption is concerned, that's fine. Please explain it to me.
Can you read arguments attacking the other side's case in the 2nd speech or for the 2nd team during the constructive speech? Absolutely. I see no reason why. This is the equivalent to reading everything within the 1NC in policy debate.
Can I read theory? Sure. I think that you should reference my theory section above.
Can I go fast? I don't care. Go as fast as you want. If I cannot hear you, then I will say clear.
Can I impact turn in PF? Sure. If you. want to read dedev, give it your best. I think that, if you don't have the proper structural components, I'm probably less willing to vote for you.
***LD Paradigm
Should I pref you because I am a Phil Debater? Probably not. I'm trying to get better at having a deeper understanding of phil, but this is not my strong suit. I'm learning more in the process and doing my due diligence to better understand different philosophy and philosophers arguments.
Will you vote on framework? Sure. I think that if you decide to go for framework, please make a mental note of several things. First, if you just want to weigh your framework above the opponent's, that is fine. I think that I need some sort of good reason about why your framework is better than your opponents. Second, I think that if you want to prove some sort of pre-condition argument or pre-req, then that is fine. Just make sure that you do this. However, if you are making these sorts of link turn arguments, and you are also impact turning their framework, just note that I am likely to not vote for you because you have functionally double turned yourself. Right, you are making an argument that your criterion better gets to their value, but that value is bad, well, that means that your framework leads to a bad thing. Just be mindful of this.
Can I go for a link turn on framework and an impact turn on the opposing value? Probably not because you have double turned yourself.
Is reading post fiat and pre fiat arguments in the 1AC Fine? For sure. I don't care or see a reason why you cannot. if the opposing team make theoretical dispositions to why you can't, then that is a different debate to be had.
Can I LARP in LD? For sure.
Can I read spikes and under-views? For sure. I think that these sort of blippy arguments or analytics made within the 1AC and the 1NC that then you extrapolate on latter within the debate, that is fine. However, be mindful that if you do not give me enough pen time to flow it and I miss it, that is not on me. That means that you should slow down.
Theory? In general? Cool. If you end up reading theory, that is fine. I want to make this as specific for LD as possible. I think that there is a difference of what offense looks like on Theory than it does for say in policy debate. If you go for a time skew argument or a bright line argument, that is not offensive. That is an internal link into some sort of offensive standard, which there's universally 3 (predictable, ground, and/or limits, or some sort of derivative [i.e. predictable ground and predictable limits---depending on who you talk to]). Moreover, if you are going to be reading a lot of frivolous theory, I think that’s you need to be discussing these arguments in one of those veins.
Overall, I am mostly a tabula rasa type judge. I want each team to tell me what the best paradigm is, why and how I should adopt it, and why they best satisfy victory under the conditions of that paradigm. I'll vote how you tell me to. If both teams tell me how to vote, give me a reason to prefer your framework over theirs
If you don't give me a paradigm, I will revert to a hybrid of stock issue and policymaker judge. This means that I expect the stock issues to be covered in some way (even if you give me a different paradigm, the stock issues form a common language and rubric for debate that I think needs to be followed for the most part), and I expect discussion centered around fundamental elements of policymaking, such as cost, feasability, workability, political considerations, ethical considerations, etc. as well as the net benefit analysis. The NBA is key for me. Whoever wins the NBA wins the debate for me 9/10 times
On the off-case flow, I am 100% a judge that will vote on Topicality. But if you go for T, really go for T. That doesn't mean kick everything but T, but rather, make a real argument. In my mind, the standards are absolutely the most significant element of the T debate. And make the voters have some impact. If you read fairness and education, best tell me why your interp links to fairness and education and why it has impact on the round. All that goes for Aff, too. The right to define doesn't mean your interp is automatically better. Give me a reason to prefer
I love disads. I am fine with generic disads. I am fine with unique disads. I am good with linear DAs. Ptix is okay. I love them all!
I love counterplans. I am fine with generic counterplans. I am fine with unique counterplans. I don't get too hung up on the deep CP theory, though. And make sure to give me a plan text and preferably, a competing advantage...
I am somewhat receptive to Kritiks. That being said, I detest the "every year" kritiks that kids dust off season after season. If you're reading K, try to make it a unique K that applies specifically to this season's resolution, or work very hard to adapt your generic K to this year's resolution. I'll listen to discourse Kritiks, but there better be real impact, and I would expect something more than "role of the ballot" for the alt. Me giving you opponent a loss doesn't change debate. It doesn't educate. It may actually make the problems worse...
As for speed and performance, I do believe debate is a communicaton activity first. I can evaluate speed but am unimpressed by it. I value quality over quantity and 100% think that the warrant debate trumps the evidence debate. A handful of cogent, relative, strong arguments will win the debate over the spread 9/10 times
I expect everyone involved to be good sports. I don't care much about how you dress or how you speak or if you don't debate the "right" way, but I care A LOT about how you treat one another...
I am good with paperless debate and speech docs, but don't use that as an excuse to quit listening to each other, or to try to spread. Also, paperless debate isn't an excuse to add 10 minutes of extra prep time to your rounds.
I have many years of experience as a competitor, an assistant, and a head coach so I have seen a bit of everything
That's about all I have. Ask me any additional you may have, prior to the round, and best of luck!
Updated - Fall 2020
Number of years judging: 12
For the email chain: philipdipiazza@gmail.com
I want to be on the email chain, but I am not going to “read-along” during constructives. I may reference particular cards during cross-ex if they are being discussed, and I will probably read cards that are important or being contested in the final rebuttals. But it’s the job of the debaters to explain, contextualize, and impact the warrants in any piece of evidence. I will always try to frame my decision based on the explanations on the flow (or lack thereof).
Like every judge I look for smart, well-reasoned arguments. I’ll admit a certain proclivity for critical argumentation, but it isn’t an exclusive preference (I think there’s something valuable to be said about “policy as performance”). Most of what I have to say can be applied to whatever approach debaters choose to take in the round. Do what you’re good at, and I will do my best to render a careful, well thought-out decision.
I view every speech in the debate as a rhetorical artifact. Teams can generate clash over questions of an argument’s substance, its theoretical legitimacy, or its intrinsic philosophical or ideological commitments.
I think spin control is extremely important in debate rounds and compelling explanations will certainly be rewarded. And while quantity and quality are also not exclusive I would definitely prefer less cards and more story in any given debate as the round progresses. I also like seeing the major issues in the debate compartmentalized and key arguments flagged.
As for the standard array of arguments, there's nothing I can really say that you shouldn't already know. I like strong internal link stories and nuanced impact comparisons. I really don't care for "risk of link means you vote Aff/Neg" arguments on sketchy positions; if I don't get it I'm not voting for it. My standard for competition is that it’s the Negative’s job to prove why rejecting the Aff is necessary which means more than just presenting an alternative or methodology that solves better – I think this is the best way to preserve clash in these kinds of debates. Please be sure to explain your position and its relation to the other arguments in the round.
KRITIK LINKS ARE STILL IMPORTANT. Don’t assume you’ll always have one, and don’t over-rely on extending a “theory of power” at the top of the flow. Both of these are and should be mutually reinforcing. This is especially important for the way I evaluate permutations. Theories of power should also be explained deliberately and with an intent to persuade.
I think the topic is important and I appreciate teams that find new and creative approaches to the resolution, but that doesn’t mean you have to read a plan text or defend the USFG. Framework is debatable (my judging record on this question is probably 50/50). A lot of this depends on the skills of the debaters in the room. This should not come as a surprise, but the people who are better at debating tend to win my framework ballot. Take your arguments to the next level, and you'll be in a much stronger position.
Two other things that are worth noting: 1) I flow on paper…probably doesn’t mean anything, but it might mean something to you. 2) There's a fine line between intensity and rudeness, so please be mindful of this.
Hi, my name is Debra. I look forward to your speech or debate!
For me, clarity is key. Weigh the impacts at the end of the round for me. Explicitly state what your voters are. And be kind to each other.
Here is my email - ddisbrow@phillyasap.org if you want to include me in the evidence sharing.
Thank you!
Email- mmdoggett@gmail.com
Background:
My college career started back in the 90s when CEDA still had 2 resolutions a year. I have coached in CEDA, NFA, NPDA, IPDA, and a little public forum. I am now coaching mainly in NFA LD.
General:
First, you should not assume that I know anything. This includes your shorthand, theory, or K literature. If you do, given our age differences, you might be shocked at the conclusions I'm going to come to.
Second, if you don't offer an alternative framework I will be net benefits and prefer big impacts.
Third, I presume the aff is topical unless the negative proves otherwise. I don't necessarily need proven abuse either. What I need is a clean story from the final negative explaining why they win and why I'm voting there. T is a voter, and I'm not going to vote on a reverse voter (vote against a debater) unless it is dropped or the carded evidence is really good. I am more willing to ignore topicality and look elsewhere than I am to vote the negative down on it. In rare instances, a negative can win without going all in on it, but that is very, very unlikely.
Fourth, I tend to give the affirmative risk of solvency and the negative, a risk of their DA.
Fifth, I'm probably going to need some offense/risk of offense somewhere on the flow to vote for you.
Sixth, if your K links are non-unique (apply to the status quo as well), you are only going to win if you win your alternative.
Seventh, on conditionality (LD specific)- I will probably vote conditionality bad if you have more than one conditional position.
Eighth, I will vote on them, but I'm not a fan of tricks. Tricks are usually a good indication that you know that you have done something pretty shady but if the opponent let's you get away with it, I'll vote for it.
In closing, I think that pretty accurately describes who I am but just remember I try to vote on the flow, but I tend to only look at the parts of the flow the debaters tell me too. Good luck!
Please add me to the email chain: benjaydom@gmail.com
My ballot will be determined by my flow. Technical concessions are taken as truth.
Some random things that may be helpful:
---you can insert re-highlightings, re-cuttings of things not present in the original card should be read.
---please locally record speeches/turn on your camera for online debates.
---line by line is helpful for the purposes of my flow but I will attempt to write down as much of your rant as possible.
---I am generally a fan of creative and interesting strategies.
---"I have a lower bar for a warrant than most. I am unlikely to reject an argument solely on the basis of ‘being a cheap shot’ or lacking ‘data.’ Unwarranted arguments are easily answered by new contextualization, cross applications, or equally unwarranted arguments. If your opponent’s argument is missing academic support or sufficient explanation, then you should say that. I’m strict about new arguments and will protect earlier speeches judiciously. However, you have to actually identify and flag a new argument. The only exception to this is the 2AR, since it is impossible for the neg to do so." - Rafael Pierry
To me, strong speakers are deliberate and communicate with a variety of tones, volumes, and smooth nonverbal movement. Less is more; if a speaker is talking too fast, I can't process the message. Emotional range is appealing to me, whether humor or sadness or another emotion.
I do not disclose.
I have judged all events, but when it comes to debate most of my experience stems from LD and Congress. I value clash and enjoy watching strategies unfold. Framework is important and so is strong evidence. If you ask me in person what do I like in a debate, I say show me the best you can do and impress me. I don’t mind spreading (especially in CX where it is expected) or traditional and/or progressive debate as long your arguments are sound and adapt to your opponents’ points. Be respectful, professional, and have fun.
I have judged and coached a long time and can handle just about any style of debate.
Clash is very important in all forms of debate, and one trend I have seen in some events is ostensible refutation which consists of repetition of a previous point rather than responding to arguments from the opponents. I notice this most often in LD voters and 2AR speeches and in PF Summary and Final Focus speeches. I appreciate a little review, but if you aren't giving any new arguments, then I'm not writing anything down and it's not doing a lot to help you.
I should mention that I can handle speed but I don't particularly like it: I'm not sure I've ever seen a round where a speeding debater gained any advantage from speed that judicious selection of words and careful choice of cards wouldn't have done just as well. I also don't judge based on winning a number of arguments - it's how the arguments impact the overall debate that counts.
I am a speech AND debate coach for Milton Academy. I am an experienced PF judge who values the key principles of PF. I have been judging PF since 2011, and I debated in 2007 - 2011. Again, Policy/LD /jargon have no home in PF. I understand some jargon is useful, but not all. Be clear, be concise. Do not use framework just for the sake of having framework, don't just state a weighing mechanism and assume that puts it on the flow, do not give me a super lengthy off time road map, that sort of thing. Add me on email chains: lindsay_donovan@milton.edu
I vote primarily on comprehensive analysis, on well-supported AND well-reasoned, "real-world" links, which are the logic building blocks to your impact (no matter how large or larger in scope they may be than your opponents). I do not like source wars, or taking long periods of time to call for evidence or look at evidence, especially out of prep time. If your only strategy is to call into question the validity of evidence, you will not earn my vote. I will primarily vote on the flow, but I think persuasion is the crux of debate and can make flow better... and can stick out more to me than just an extended tag on the flow.
Substance > jargon
Clarity > speed
Argument and evidence distinctions > "our cards are better read them"
Analysis > impacts
Quality > quantity of evidence
Theory/K/what have you: If Theory or K is fair, understandable, and well reasoned I can follow it. But in general I find most theory debates unfair in nature, most people just use it as a tactic to win and have no heart in it for the sake of smart argumentation. Notably I will not vote for Disclosure theory. It is a norm, not a rule :)
Pet Peeves:
- Tech > Truth (If you are saying something blatantly not true or distorting/mis-paraphrasing your opponent's evidence I will mark you down).
- Nuclear war impacts, unclear warranting or no warranting only evidence.
- Overly aggressive/rude tactics. Don't be rude. There is a difference between being assertive and rude. I tend to vote for more calm, collected, and cordial teams.
- "Collapsing" feels like a fancy way to say dropping all your points.... I don't like it. Why bring up points in the first place so easily to discard? Run a 1 contention case then... Never concede anything!
- Also - I hate Solvency (it is a Policy concept, and PF does not have the burden of proving/disproving solvency as a voting issue unless the resolution SPECIFICALLY calls for it.) This means, do not ask how they "solve for" whatever point or that I should downvote teams who cannot completely solve issues.
Spreading and Flow: I can flow SOMEWHAT faster than conversational CONVERSATIONAL speed. Public Forum is NOT Policy or LD debate. If you spread OR EVEN GO A STEP OR TWO TOO FAST I do. not. flow. If you can't adapt to a paradigm, then why are we even using them? I do not believe that PFers should spread AT ALL, even for a “flow” judge. If you cannot speak well and argue well, then you are not competing in this event at your best ability.
Don't be malicious please! It should go without saying, do not say anything racist/sexist/homophobic/transphobic/ableist etc. or you can expect to get 0 speaker points and a loss. I am an educator first, so I will err on the side of letting the debate continue if someone used certain language that becomes an issue, and correct ignorance afterwards. I will intervene when I feel the safety of the participants becomes an issue (or if you ask me to! Always ask your judge to stop a round if you feel unsafe).
jedonowho@gmail.com
Extensions need to include warrants - simply saying extend Smith '20 isn't enough, you need to be warranting your arguments in every speech. This is the biggest and easiest thing you can do to win my ballot. Rounds constantly end with "extended" offense on both sides that are essentially absent any warrants in the back half and I end up having to decide who has the closest thing to a warrant which means I have to intervene. Please don't make me intervene - if you actually extend warrants for the offense that you're winning you probably will get my ballot.
Make my job as easy as possible by clearly articulating why you've won the round - write the ballot for me in summary and final focus. Even though I'm flowing and doing my best to pay attention, I'm not infallible and so if the summaries and final focus are just going over a bunch of arguments without clear contextualization of how they relate to the ballot, I'm going to struggle to decide the winner.
Don't do debater math.
Don't steal prep or do anything else that makes the round last longer than it needs to be (not pre-flowing beforehand, taking forever to pull up evidence). Please pre-flow before the round! Flex prep counts as part of your prep time - really not sure where people got the idea that it doesn't lol.
Don't go too fast in front of me.
Open to theory and K positions but I'm not super familiar with these arguments. I think the arguments can be very fun and educational and encourage them if you want to read them. I have decided I will not vote on non-topical Ks though.
Technical things:
Defense isn't sticky anymore with the 3-minute summary
Second rebuttal needs to frontline.
If you want to concede defense to get out of a turn it needs to be done the speech after the turn is read.
No new weighing in 2nd FF, unless you're responding to weighing from 1st FF.
I have quite a bit of graduate work in philosophy, especially ethical theory. While scientific fact is absolutely important in considering an issue, I will likely side with sound philosophical arguments over scientific ones. LD is value debate, NOT policy - if you run policy arguments you will not enjoy my ballot.
Updated for MSHSL State (nothing too significant).
Preface
Speech and Debate are educational activities. My goal as a judge is to pick the debater(s) who best argues their case or the speaker(s) who best meet the criteria of a given event. But I also am seeking a round that is educational. Abusive arguments and rhetoric have no place in debate. Treat each other with kindness. We are all here to learn and expand our knowledge and experience. Racist, sexist, ableist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic, etc. arguments should not be made. Everyone is welcome in the debate community, do not marginalize and silence folks with your argumentation.
Also, since speech and debate are educational activities, feel free to ask me questions after the round. I'm here to help educate as well. As long as we have time before the next round has to start (and I've got enough time to submit my ballot before Zach Prax comes looking for me), then I'm always happy to answer questions.
Background
Director of Debate at Wayzata High School (MN) since Sept. 2020, I've been coaching and judging locally and nationally since 2013. I also coach speech at Wayzata and at the University of Minnesota.
I am a licensed, practicing attorney. I work as a criminal prosecutor for a local county in Minnesota and I have a MA in Strategic Intelligence and Analysis with a concentration in International Relations and Diplomacy.
Public Forum (but also generally applies to everything so maybe just start here)
Likes
- Voters and weighing. I don't want to have to dig back through my flow to figure out what your winning arguments were. If you're sending me back through the flow, you're putting way too much power in my hands. Please, please, please make your voters clear.
- Clear sign posting and concise taglines.
- Framework. I like a solid framework. If you have a weighing mechanism, state it clearly and provide a brief explanation.
- Unique arguments. Debate is an educational activity, so you should be digging deep in your research and finding unique arguments. If you have a unique impact, bring it in. I judge a lot of rounds and I get tired of hearing the same case over and over and over again.
Dislikes
-Just referencing evidence by the card name (author, source, etc.). When I flow, I care more about what the evidence says, not who the specific source was. If you want to reference the evidence later, you gotta tell me what the evidence said, not who said it.
-Off-time roadmaps are often a waste of time. If all you are doing is telling me that the Neg Rebuttal is "our case their case" then you don't need to tell me that. If you are going to go FW, then some cross-application, then your case, then their case, then back to FW, then that is something you should tell me. More importantly SIGN POST, SIGN POST, SIGN POST.
-SPEED. This is Public Forum, not Policy. If you spread, you're probably going to lose. I flow on my computer so that I can get as much on my flow as possible, but if you're too fast and unclear, it's not on my flow. If it's not on my flow, it's not evaluated in the round.
-Evidence misrepresentation. If there is any question between teams on if evidence has been used incorrectly, I will request to see the original document and the card it was read from to compare the two. If you don't have the original, then I will assume it was cut improperly and judge accordingly.
-Shouting over each other on CX. Keep it civil. Don't monopolize the time.
-"Grandstanding" on CX. CX is for you to ask questions, not give a statement in the form of a question. Ask short, simple questions and give concise answers.
-One person taking over on Grand CX. All four debaters should fully participate. If you aren't participating, then I assume it's because you do not have anything more to add to the debate and/or that you aren't actively involved in the debate and I likely will adjust speaks accordingly.
-K cases. I do not like them in public forum, especially if they are not topical. However, a K that is topical and actually engages with the topic and is generally within the topic meta is something I *may* vote off of. But it must be topical, otherwise I will not vote off the argument.
-Loud, annoying, alarms at the end of speeches. Especially the rooster crow. Please no rooster crow.
-Speaking of timers, if you're going to critique your opponents for going over time, you should probably make sure that you aren't going over time yourself. Also, you don't need to turn your timer to show me that your opponent is over time. I'm aware of their time, it just comes across as rude.
General
-I'm generally a flow judge, but I don't always flow card authors/names. My focus on the flow is getting what the evidence claims and what the warrant is, rather than who the source was. Referring back to your "Smith" card isn't enough, but giving a quick paraphrasing of the previously cited card, along with the author/source is much more beneficial and effective. Similarly, "Harvard" is a collegiate institution, not an author. Harvard doesn't write anything. Harvard doesn't publish anything. They may have a publishing company or a magazine that publishes, but Harvard does not, and last time I checked, John Harvard has been dead since 1638, so I doubt he has anything pertinent to support your argumentation.
-I'm an expressive person. I'll make a face if I believe you misstated something. I'll nod if I think you're making a good point. I'll shake my head if I think you're making a poor point. This doesn't mean that I'm voting for you or against you. It just means I liked or didn't like that particular statement.
-I like CX, so I tend to allow you to go over time a bit on CX, particularly if team A asks team B a question right before time in order to prevent them from answering. I'll let them answer the question.
-Evidence Exchanges. If you are asked for evidence, provide it in context. If they ask for the original, provide the original. I won't time prep until you've provided the evidence, and I ask that neither team begins prepping until the evidence has been provided. If it takes too long to get the original text, I will begin docking prep time for the team searching for the evidence and will likely dock speaker points. It is your job to come to the round prepared, and that includes having all your evidence readily accessible.
-If anything in my paradigm is unclear, ask before the round begins. I'd rather you begin the debate knowing what to expect rather than complain later!
Lincoln Douglas
I'm a PF coach, however I'm almost exclusively an LD judge on the weekends because I typically need to hire more LD than anything else.
- I find that it is best to treat me as a "flay" judge... I will flow, but I'm lay. I am very familiar with most of the traditional value/criterion/standards. If you have some new LD tech that is popular on the circuit or something, then I'm probably not the judge for you to run that. Unless you are going to fully explain your unique FW or whatever out, you probably shouldn't run it in front of me because I probably don't know it. (Read that last sentence again. Please fully explain your unique FWs or whatever because I'm looking for trad debate more than non-trad, and if you're going to be non-trad, then you need to make it digestible.)
- Speed kills you every single time. I do not want to have to strain myself trying to flow your speech. I do not want you to email me your case in order for me to be able to follow it. As noted above in the PF section, if I do not get it on my flow, it probably does not end up impacting the round. I am very unlikely to say speed or clear in round because by the time it's become obvious to me that you're just going to spread at me, it's usually too late. You can speed test me before round if you want, but every time that's happened the speed test has not matched the in round speed, so maybe make sure you actually speed test at the speed you plan to debate at...
- K debate. I really have no interest in judging a K.
Congress
- I really want some speech variety from y'all. If I am judging Congress, I'm often serving as a parliamentarian so I'm with you for several sessions. As a result, I should be able to get to see you do a variety of different speeches. I actually have a spreadsheet I use to track everyone's speeches throughout the round, what number speech they gave on each bill, which side they argue for, how often they speak, etc. After the round is over and I'm preparing my ballot, I will consult that to see whether you gave a variety of speech types. Were you consistently in the first group of speakers giving constructives? Did you give mid-cycle speeches where you bring clash and direct refutation? Did you mainly give crystallization speeches? Or, did you do a mix of it all? You should be striving to be in the last category. Congress is not about proving you can give the best prepared speech or that you can crystallize every bill. It's about showing how well-rounded you are.
- Speaking of prepared speeches. My opinion is that you should only come in with a fully prepared speech if you are planning to give the authorship/sponsorship or the very first negative speech. After that, your speeches should be no more than 50% canned and the rest should be extemporaneous. The later in the cycle you speak, the less canned your speech should be. This is a debate event. It is not a speech event. Prepared speeches in the mid and late cycles of debate are a disservice to yourself and your fellow congresspersons. And trust me, we can tell when you’re scripted. You aren’t that good at hiding it.
- PREP. I have judged a lot of congress over the years. I've judged prelims, elims, and finals at NSDA, NCFL, and the TOC. I am frankly COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY TIRED of y'all having to take a 10+ minute break in between every piece of legislation to either A) prep speeches; B) establish perfect balance between aff and neg; or, C) do research on the bill. A and C really frustrate me. I know y'all are busy. I know that sometimes legislation comes out only a few days before the tournament. And I know that sometimes there are a lot of pieces of legislation to research. But y'all should be spending time to prepare your arguments and have research so that all you're doing mid-round is finding evidence to refute or extend something that happened in the round. And the way tournaments are structured these days, it is rare for a round to have so many people in the chamber that not everyone can speak on a bill. Do the research on your own time, prep speeches on your own time (or, I dunno, give an extemporenous speech maybe?), and stop wasting the judges time.
POLICY
Never thought I’d be adding this section but here I am. If you read everything above, you should have a pretty good idea of my background and what I like/dislike in other debate events. You’ll notice that I really don’t like speed. That’s still true for policy. I want to be able to understand the debate not have to read it. You’ll also notice I don’t like K debate. That’s much more related to PF (where there’s little value in having a K debate) and LD (where I don’t think there’s enough time or ability to effectively develop the K) so ignore that I guess? Hopefully you're a novice and I haven't wandered into a JV or Varsity round, but if for some reason I have, please just go slow. I'm not going to vote for you just because you said more stuff. I want to actually know why I voted for someone and be able to find the answer on my flow.
Best practice would probably be for you to ask me questions before the round. We’ll both learn something that way.
I am very unlikely to give oral disclosure.
National Semifinalist in Congress in 2011, have been judging Congress & PF since. Experienced Congressional parliamentarian.
General
The purpose of high school debate is to learn how to analyze & weigh information and determine the best course of action, together - and in the real world, you'll be doing this with a wide variety of people from all across the spectrum of humanity. Therefore, your arguments should always be given as if presented to a layperson with zero prior background knowledge or experience. Give background, carefully explain, illustrate your warrants & impacts clearly, and explicitly tie them into your stance on the topic; ensure that any layperson listening could easily follow you to your argument's conclusion.
My job is to enter each round as a layperson, with a completely clean slate & mind, and judge who made the strongest arguments; it's not my place to bring my prior knowledge or experience into play, let alone be the arbiter of truth and correctness - it's how well you argue against the other side. If one side makes arguments that are weak, shaky, or flawed, it's up to the other side to point that out - and if they don't, those arguments may very well carry. That being said: if you make arguments that clearly don't pass the sniff test (i.e., points that to any reasonable outside observer seem to be logically sketchy, misrepresentative, or unfounded), those will count against you - so bring the evidence, cite your sources (tell me who they are, establish their credibility, and tell me why I should believe them), and back up your claims.
Finally: If you make any claim of the form "if X does/doesn't happen, then Y will/will not happen", clearly explain why & how. Never take for granted that Thing 1 happening will necessarily lead to Thing 2 happening - clearly establish that link for me and your audience, telling me why it's either certain or at least likely that this chain of events will occur.
Congress
We as a student Congress debate important issues that tangibly affect a lot of people, and you may not always be one of them. If you're truly passionate about a topic and your stance on it, speak like it. If not, that's okay: argue for the sake of ensuring that this body chooses the best course of action, and deliver your arguments clearly for that end.
(Note: this is not political theater. Your speeches aren't performance art pieces. Don't fake passion and enthusiasm or grandstand on every issue. Actual politics has enough of that already, and has become such a sh*tshow due in no small part to unauthentic, insincere people who inflame passions for votes. Don't act - when you actually care, it shows, and when you don't, it's obvious to all.)
Quality over quantity: doesn't matter how many speeches you give if you make solid, knockout arguments. For me, length doesn't matter either. No, judges can't specifically award NSDA points to a speech under 60 seconds - but who cares. Having good debate is what actually matters, and if you deliver a solid point that makes a difference in the debate, doesn't matter how many seconds it takes to deliver it - in fact, in the real world, the more concise the better.
Your goal as a Congress house is to pass legislation, to actually take action and do things and create solutions to these problems, not to just say no and point out the flaws in everything that comes across your desk (again, see our current political discourse). Use the amendment process: if a piece of legislation has flaws that can be changed, change them! If you vote against hearing or passing a given amendment, and then proceed to speak in negation of the legislation (or have earlier in the round) based on the flaw that amendment specifically addresses, you'd better give a darn good reason why you've shot down a solution to your problem.
Public Forum
Convince me. As far as I'm concerned, each team has four speeches and three cross-ex periods in which to convince me that you're right and the other side is wrong - I'm listening to all of them, and I don't particularly care what pieces of information and argument are supposed to be given when. And during cross-ex, keep it civil - we're all on the same team, trying to figure out the best course of action for the common good. Ask questions, allow your opponents to answer fully, and treat them with respect.
Please do not spread in debate events, as I will have a hard time voting for you if I can't understand what you're saying. Other than that, I am open to all types of arguments (Ks, theory shells, counterplans, traditional cases, etc.) In speech events, I like lots of analysis and evidence, with less focus on fluffy intros. A little bit of humor is fine, especially if it relates to your argument in some way. Also, please don't say anything racist, homophobic, etc, and be nice to your competitors.
Speech: Long history judging/coaching all events after competing in policy debate for both high school and college.
Extemporaneous speaking: 1. Avoid the generic attention getters and jump into content as quickly as possible. 2. Cite lots of sources (accurately and fluidly--I'd aim for about 10); 3. Delivery/style: word economy is crucial in this event...rate is conversational, but 7:00 is not a lot of time to answer a complex question; 4. I will keep close time and look closely at the extent to which the speech is balanced. 5. All this said, I appreciate a good joke and an effort to breath personality into the speech--be bold and don't be afraid to take chances.
Platform speech events (oratory, informative, etc.): 1. A lot of my thoughts on extemporaneous speaking are applicable, recognizing this is a different genre of speech--it's geared to reach a broader audience. Thus, I might temper my comments on word economy a little--probably makes sense to take your time a little more and utilize a pace that provides more time to let points sink in, etc. Still, I value a quantity of information over cheesy jokes, etc. 2. I really, really appreciate a speaker who digs deep and finds a unique topic that is meaningful to her. So often, especially in out rounds, speakers are very equal in a lot of ways (organization, delivery, etc.), and it's the topic that helps provide a degree of separation--generic topics are fairly easy to spot. This is your chance--you can pick any topic to talk about; make it worth your while--this will make it worth my while.
Oral Interpretation: I'm not the best oral interpretation coach in the world--just never did it myself or anything like it. But, I'm not the worst either and have seen/judged a lot of INCREDIBLE rounds at the highest levels of competition. The great oral interpers make me forget that I'm judging for a few minutes. I definitely recognize great interp when I see it and am more impressed by performers who move me through pace and facial expressions than I am through volume--though the great interpers will use all the vocal qualities and have a knack for what is needed in each exact moment. The material is key--I love seeing unique themes and performers choosing material that they personally identify with. The introduction is incredibly important--here you have the opportunity to take any topic and make it your own--a source or 2 in the intro can often be effective at contextualizing your message. Take risks. Have fun. Speak your truth.
Policy Debate:
Philosophy/Overview:
I began policy debate decades ago as a policymaker (1990's when a good counterplan/disadvantage strategy ruled the day). Critical arguments are fine but don't assume that's a beginning point for me--be sure and frame the debate by discussing its pre-fiat implications. As far as performative based arguments and other more progressive styles of debate, I'm not against them...just don't have a lot of experience with them--definitely not my starting point--be sure and invest time helping me get there. Generally speaking, I feel the Affirmative should Affirm the resolution and any arguments ought to have a pretty specific link/buy-in to it. While I don't consider my understanding of debate to be inflexible or permanent, a few very gifted and persuasive college NPDA/NPTE teams have tried to convince me that the topic doesn't matter and haven't been successful.
Delivery:
Once upon a time, I erroneously gave myself credit as being a speedster from both a delivery and flowing perspective. I've gotten older (OLD) and am not in that kind of shape any more. I haven't coached or judged national circuit style of debate in a LONG time. I value efficient, quick delivery with lots of arguments--but; word economy is more impressive to me than the rate of speaking. If you must talk as quickly as possible, I'll do my best to keep up but don't be surprised if I miss stuff and/or don't have enough time to process it in a way that does you a lot of good. Definitely go slow on tag lines, game-winning arguments, transitions between arguments, and anything that you'd like to have show up on the RFD. If you enjoy "rapid fire," I get it--it's fun and I want you to have fun--and I don't question the pedagogical value in any way; but if you want me to get most of everything on my flow, I recommend slowing it down to at least 75% of your norm.
e-mail: timothy.doty@lubbockisd.org
Put me on the Email Chain- debate.taylor@gmail.com
About me: Four years of HS Policy three years of collegiate NFA LD. Tech>Truth. I will not vote on a argument that does not have a claim warrant or an impact, even if it was conceded. Teams should not be afraid to call out arguments that just do not make sense in front of me. If you are confused, and the other teams explanation of the argument does not make sense then I am confused as too.
Please Don't: Answer arguments even though they are not made. If the aff concedes an entire CP just extend the CP and move on please do not read your 10 pre-written blocks attempting to pre-empt the new 1AR arguments that I am not going to flow. --- Use all Your speech time because you feel like you have to. --- Read an incoherent 1NC with three process counterplans, two one card ks etc. Never seen that lead to a good debate. --- Read cards that have two lines highlighted.
Speed: Slow down on tags, authors, and theory blocks. I am generally okay with speed, since every judge is different I will say clear twice before I stop flowing.
Evidence: I might be reading evidence during the round, but I believe it is up to the debater to be doing comparative evidence analysis. That being said my reading of the evidence will have not have any weight on my decision unless both teams make it a point of contention. It is not my job as a judge to vote against a team for reading bad evidence it is your job to tell me their evidence is bad and why that's important.
AFF: Plan less affs are fine. I enjoy ones that relate to the topic in some way but if they don't that is cool too. Fairness could be an impact but I am usually persuaded by the impact turns.
Disadvantages: The more specific to the aff the better. I am good with politics disadvantages, fiat does not resolve the link ever. Saying "Uniqueness overwhelms the link because of how many cards the neg read" is not an argument. I am okay with hearing rider/horse trading disadvantage. You should always be doing specific impact comparison with the aff, disad turns the case arguments are convincing.
Counter-plans: Any counter-plan is fine, but if you read a delay, consult or any other counter-plan that might be "cheating", be prepared to defend the theoretical objections against it. You need a net-benefit to the counter-plan internal, a disad, or a case turn there must be some net benefit. Judge kick- 2NR Needs to tell me other wise I default to no judge kick.
Topicality: Topicality is fine. I do not have a bias on reasonability vs. competing interps, it just depends on the debate. The most important thing in these debates are the interpretations. Topicality always needs to have impacts.
Theory: Fine go for it if you want. Only theory I have a bias for is, conditionality, it's good in most cases.
Kritiks: Kritiks are fine, but I am less familiar with the literature than you. In these debates the more specific the link the better, but no matter the specificity of the link please contextualize it to the aff, examples are good for me. The better the link the easier this is, but if you read a generic link it is going to take more contextualization. Your links should be to the plan and not the status sqou. I believe that long overviews that explain the kritik are okay, and for me important. Kicking the alternative is fine. I have gone for cap a lot.
LD:I do not know what tricks are. Please read an impact to T-FW. Extend the 1AC impacts and how you solve them. Please do not read disclosure.
The following is just a few brief ideas, so if you have specific questions, feel free to ask before the round when everyone is present. In general, I will vote on the issues you tell me are most important in the round.
I competed in policy debate in the late 90's. After high school I was away from debate for several years, but I have been a coach at Norfolk Senior high for the last 14 years working with PF, LD, and congress. Within the last few years, my primary focus has been PF and congress.
In any style of debate, I find it important for you to weigh the impacts of your arguments for me. Tell me why you are winning the round by analyzing both sides in a side-by-side comparison that shows how you outweigh. Tell me what arguments are most important, why they are most important, and how you have won them. I will vote on the issues you tell me to vote on.
In PF:
I like the idea that the judge is suppose to be someone who is unfamiliar with debate, so I expect you to not just throw out debate jargon, but explain the issue thoughtfully, logically, and with sound evidence to support your position. As far as plans, counterplans, and kritiks, I don't feel PF is the place for these, and will not weigh them heavily in the round. If you choose to run them anyway and your opponent calls you out for it, they will win. If they don't, then I will look at how they impact the round. Lastly, I do believe that second speaker needs to address both sides of the flow in the rebuttal speech.
In LD:
I very much like the value/criteria debate. I do not believe your value/criteria has to win the round for you to win if you are able to link into theirs and win there. I don't mind speed if you do it with clear articulation. I also have no problem with plan/counterplan/kritik arguments in LD. Just make sure they link back to both the resolution and the value/criteria debate.
In Congress:
Argumentation is key. I want to hear original claims well supported with cited evidence. I don’t want you to just repeat what other representatives said before you. If you are the authorship/sponsorship speech, make sure to explain how how this legislation could solve a current issue. First neg should tell what is wrong with the legislation AND refute the speech before. All speeches after authorship/sponsorship should refute previous speeches. When one of your arguments have already been used by another, make sure to add something new to it or don’t use it. If you rehash, you will lose speech points. When two speakers are equal in providing well done argumentation, then I look at speaking ability/presentation. It is okay to have prewritten arguments and read them IF you are making adjustments in round and referencing previous speakers. You will loose points for reading a prewritten speech that ignores all other representatives unless you are the author/sponsor. If you choose not to use notes, make sure you know what you are saying. It is not a benefit to not read and sound like you have no idea. It hurts credibility. Finally, to rank well, be present. Ask questions, take notes, participate constantly.
Final thought:
This is your round, I will vote on the issues you tell me are the most valuable.
I see debate as way to demonstrate one's critical thinking, preparation, and communication skills in a professional manner, but also, an opportunity to connect with the audience. An example for the audience to follow in their own lives. A platform to debate an argument, not the debater.
I would appreciate if you speak at a conversational pace, or I won't be able to follow you (no spreading please). If you must spread, please send me your cases so I can follow along.
Email address is AlinaMeraz@aol.com
Yes email chain: Averyadover@gmail.com
Please label your email chains; team names, tournament, round
Prep time ends when the email was sent
Debate History
I have debated 4 Years in High school (LD and Policy), 4 years for the University of Mary Washington (Policy), and I am now the LD coach for Millburn High School
WACFL 2025 Update
I have not judged many debates on this topic at all so I will not be familiar with acronyms or what DA's/ Solvency advocates are supposed to mean, so explain things.
Clarity - Especially in online debate
If I cannot understand you, im not just going to look to your doc, I think debate is a communication activity and will judge it as such.
Evidence Quality
Adrienne Brovero said this well in her paradigm, highlighting has become pretty bad. I think evidence quality matters way more than quantity. I am very receptive to pointing out flaws in arguments and bad highlighting. If you highlight word salad, I will judge the argument based on the word salad you read, and I obviously didn't understand.
The Debate stuff
Tech>Truth
I will vote for anything you want to read, if you are technically winning it on the flow. I have read a lot of weird arguments throughout my career, meaning that I am totally down to listen to whatever you want as long as it is not harming people in round.
Cross Ex: Im not strict do whatever you want as long as you are the "Asking team"
Ill go into specifics now
Topicality:
Its a voting issue, and I dont think RVI's are a thing.
I default to competing interpretations, but like everything else, you can persuade me otherwise. If you are going for T I need analysis on why this is important for my ballot. All to often I see debaters undercover or dont provide enough offense of topicality.
Kritiks: I will listen to them but do not expect me to know the nuances of how your K works, you are going to have to explain that to me. Planless affs need to tell me what my position in the debate round is along which how I resolve the problems.
Theory: More likely than not I wont vote for stand alone theory arguments, I think debaters should frame theory as a threshold or mitigation question.
FW: I lean towards resolutional action being good but I can be convinced otherwise.
I will vote on presumption
I love a good case debate.
I think circumvention is underrated, if deployed well, it can highly mitigate the case and provide offense on each advantage.
My favorite arguments in debate are case arguments and impact turns, and I have empirically been known to go for them. If the aff can clearly articulate how their aff interacts with the off case, it can mitigate the offense on the off case.
Counterplans:
They are fine, read what you want, but I can be persuaded on theory arguments. The aff should be able to prove why the counterplan cannot solve the aff, and or why the perm is best.
Conditionality:
This might sounds old school, but I think rampant conditionality, especially when contradicting is hurting debate. This is not me saying you can't read them, just a heads up that if deployed well, I will vote on conditionality is bad.
Impact Calc: This is incredibly important
You can't just tell me you are winning the debate, tell me why you are winning specific arguments and what it means to the debate if you win them.
If you have any other questions feel free to email me or ask me before the round.
Hello Contestants! Your hard work and preparation will be appreciated by me as your Judge.
Claims w/o evidence carries little to no weight. Presenting your evidence in a clear way with a reasonable pace will assure a strong argument.
Watch your time and enjoy the journey!
I am an English teacher who is volunteering my time. I will always listen with an open mind.
In Oratory, Info, and Impromptu: I value your originality, creativity, and persuasive presentation of ideas of personal importance. Cite your sources, explain their importance, and tell me why it matters.
In DI, HI, DUO: It is crucial that you tell a story in a meaningful and impactful manner. Characterization, gestures and facial expressions, and, vocal variation will all add to the overall decision.
Overall speaking skills or/and argumentation are critical to winning! But remember the most important thing is that you learn!
- Current Forensics Coach at Pembroke Hill, I competed in IE events throughout high school and college.
- Flay-lay judge. Will flow a bit to follow both sides of the argument.
- Moderate speed preference. If you're going to speak faster, just be sure to speak clearly
- Policy- will vote strongly on issues of topicality and relevance to the debate.
As a judge I look for well reasoned arguments to support any position on any topic. I put a premium on good enunciation and rhythm with eye contact and appropriate emphasis. "Spreading" is discouraged and will not help make arguments. Slowly and effectively stating your case and checking to make sure I understand will win the day.
Superior speech and debate will have well organized and compelling arguments supported by facts, supported by references from qualified sources. Good arguments compare alternatives as part of the analysis. Closing arguments should synthesize everything covered by the debater as well as opponents to boil down why their position is superior.
While this rigorous and frank approach will win points regardless of the position taken, there should always be an obvious degree of respectful professionalism and empathy.
I have been a coach in Idaho since 2013 with students competing in Public Forum, Lincoln Douglas and Policy style debate. In general I prefer clear articulation, solid logic, and in depth analysis. I will add style specific details below.
Public Forum
I believe that public forum should remain the most accessible format of debate and should strive to avoid over reliance on Debate Theory or jargon. I prefer a few in depth and detailed arguments over a larger quantity of superficial arguments. Final Focus should include key voters on both sides.
Lincoln Douglas
I am on the progressive side of traditional for LD debate. I believe the value debate is the key to Lincoln Douglas debate and expect clash on the value level as well as the argument level. I like the inclusion of philosophical arguments and may vote only on philosophy if it is warranted. I enjoy definition and theory debate but you'll have to work very hard to get me to vote on a K.
Policy
I am a traditionalist in Policy debate. I vote almost exclusively on the stock issues, I believe that the Affirmative must sufficiently address each of the major stock issues and have never voted on a kritical Aff. I believe T is a voter, but that the default assumption is that the Aff is topical. I don't like topical CP's and you will have to work pretty hard to get me to vote on a K. I default to Condo Bad so the neg will need to justify any conditional positions. I am not a fan of high speed "spreading" or any rate of speed which inhibits clarity of arguments or speech. I want to be able to flow the warrants and links as well as taglines and impacts.
Debated 4 years at Dowling HS in Des Moines, Iowa (09-12, Energy, Poverty, Military, Space)
Debated at KU (13-15, Energy, War Powers, Legalization)
Previously Coached: Ast. Coach Shawnee Mission Northwest, Lansing High School.
Currently Coaching: Ast. Coach Washburn Rural High School
UPDATE 10/1: CX is closed and lasts three minutes after constructive. I won't listen to questions or answers outside of those three minutes or made by people that aren't designated for that CX. I think it's a bummer that a lot of CXs get taken over by one person on each team. It doesn't give me the opportunity to evaluate debaters or for debaters to grow in areas where they might struggle. I'm going to start using my rounds to curb that.
Top Level
Do whatever you need to win rounds. I have arguments that I like / don't like, but I'd rather see you do whatever you do best, than do what I like badly. Have fun. I love this activity, and I hope that everyone in it does as well. Don't be unnecessarily rude, I get that some rudeness happens, but you don't want me to not like you. Last top level note. If you lose my ballot, it's your fault as a debater for not convincing me that you won. Both teams walk into the room with an equal chance to win, and if you disagree with my decision, it's because you didn't do enough to take the debate out of my hands.
Carrot and Stick
Carrot - every correctly identified dropped argument will be rewarded with .1 speaks (max .5 boost)
Stick - every incorrectly identified dropped argument will be punished with -.2 speaks (no max, do not do this)
General
DAs - please. Impact calc/ turns case stuff great, and I've seen plenty of debates (read *bad debates) where that analysis is dropped by the 1ar. Make sure to answer these args if you're aff.
Impact turns - love these debates. I'll even go so far as to reward these debates with an extra .2 speaker points. By impact turns I mean heg bag to answer heg good, not wipeout. Wipeout will not be rewarded. It will make me sad.
CPs - I ran a lot of the CPs that get a bad rep like consult. I see these as strategically beneficial. I also see them as unfair. The aff will not beat a consult/ condition CP without a perm and/or theory. That's not to say that by extending those the aff autowins, but it's likely the only way to win. I lean neg on most questions of CP competition and legitimacy, but that doesn't mean you can't win things like aff doesn't need to be immediate and unconditional, or that something like international actors are illegit.
Theory - Almost always a reason to reject the arg, not the team. Obviously conditionality is the exception to that rule.
T - Default competing interps. Will vote on potential abuse. Topical version of the aff is good and case lists are must haves. "X" o.w. T args are silly to me.
Ks - dropping k tricks will lose you the debate. I'm fine with Ks, do what you want to. Make sure that what you're running is relevant for that round. If you only run security every round, if you hit a structural violence aff, your security K will not compel me. Make sure to challenge the alternative on the aff. Make sure to have a defense of your epistemology/ontology/reps or that these things aren't important, losing this will usually result in you losing the round.
K affs - a fiat'd aff with critical advantages is obviously fine. A plan text you don't defend: less fine, but still viable. Forget the topic affs are a hard sell in front of me. It can happen, but odds are you're going to want someone else higher up on your sheet. I believe debate is good, not perfect, but getting better. I don't think the debate round is the best place to resolve the issues in the community.
Speaker points.
I don't really have a set system. Obviously the carrot and stick above apply. It's mostly based on how well you did technically, with modifications for style and presentation. If you do something that upsets me (you're unnecessarily rude, offensive, do something shady), your points will reflect that.
Hello all!
I was a middle school speech competitor, a TFA competitor all 4 years of high school, a NIETOC Champion and Top Speaker, as well as a member of the University of Texas at Austin Individual Events team. I did speech for 11 years of my life, so it is fair to say, I have seen my fair share of performances. I am now the coach of a program in San Antonio, Texas and I coach my students in the same way that I want to see other students perform their events: high quality content, thought-provoking ideas, and, most importantly, trauma-informed or better yet, trauma-free storytelling. My question to you: whatever happened to performing pieces about joy? Where are those pieces?
Things I like: new material, weird or interesting conceptual styles of performance, literature I have not seen 1000 times, clever arguments, care for the time given to you (only 10 minutes), attention to detail, new sources, unique literature, pieces about trauma that don’t actually depict graphic elements of that trauma, clear Oratory structure (whatever it is, make sure I can follow along), clean visual aid boards that make sense and are not just for the sake of the event, humorous pieces that are actually funny and can make me laugh (try your hardest).
Things I do not like: lack of trigger warnings for graphic content, violence for violence sake, homophobic violence enacted in pieces ie gaybashing, showing or portraying violence without any reasoning as to why that violence is being shown to an entire audience, pieces about school shootings that offer no solution or aid to end the crisis our country is facing, POI’s that I cannot follow along with that have zero clear characterization, speeches about speech, pieces about speech, and did I mention that I really don’t like to watch violence enacted in performance?
Thank you to all who are reading this. I appreciate the value that each of you brings to this activity. It is easy to think that speech is solely for the self, but since we are putting on performances for audiences and people, we must MUST think about the messages and impact that your audience is seeing and taking with them as soon as they leave the room. What do you want them to remember when your time is up? That you were violent for no reason, or that you stood up for something that was bigger than yourself and changed their mind?
I am very easy-going when it comes to debate. I coach congress, extemp, and PF in my home state. I have judged every debate category at the state level as well as PF, LD, and policy at the national level and congress at TOC.
Congressional Debate:
- You need a good balance of pathos & evidence in your speeches.
- If you're the second, third, fourth, etc. speaker on a topic & you're not introducing clash, you are wasting everyone's time.
- Each speech should have something new to say. Again, if you're not the first speaker on a topic & you're repeating the same argument that everyone has said before you, you're wasting time.
- Aim for unique arguments.
- Cross-ex should advance the debate.
- Everyone always asks about delivery rate. I don't care how fast or slow you speak, just make sure I can understand you.
- Extemp your speeches if you can or speak from an outline.
- Make sure you have the basics of public speaking. Posture, hand gestures, eye contact, diction, inflection, etc.
- Be respectful. If you cross the line from assertiveness into aggressive/disrespectful you're ranked last in the chamber on my ballot, point blank period.
Public Forum/Lincoln-Douglas Debate:
Flow-Centric: I am a flow judge. I base my decisions on the arguments that are presented in the round and how effectively they are refuted. I expect debaters to clearly signpost arguments and responses. Dropped arguments are dropped. If you completely drop an argument in rebuttal, you can't bring it back in summary like nothing happened. Know the difference between dropping an argument and collapsing on an argument.
Argumentation: Quality of arguments is paramount to me. I appreciate a debate that is centered around a deep understanding of the topic, logical reasoning, and strong evidence. Make sure your arguments are well-structured, have a clear link to the resolution, and are supported by reliable evidence. Avoid excessive jargon and instead focus on clear and persuasive explanations.
Rebuttals: Strong rebuttals are crucial. I value debaters who can skillfully dismantle their opponents' arguments while reinforcing their own. When rebutting, directly reference the argument you are responding to, explain why your opponent's logic or evidence is flawed, and articulate the impact this has on the round. Be sure to extend your own arguments throughout the round and clearly indicate how they stand up to your opponent's rebuttals.
Presentation: While the substance of arguments is most important, effective communication also plays a role in a successful debate. Speak clearly and at a reasonable pace. Make sure your arguments and responses are coherent and easy to follow.
*For LD* Do not drop your framework. Seriously, I have seen too many debaters completely forget to debate V/VC. Win on your case, but also tell me why I should prefer your framework and why your case upholds that framework better than your opponent.
*For all debate*I do not care what arguments you run. My personal beliefs do not matter while you are debating. As long as your evidence is true and logical (and you're not arguing for something truly heinous) run whatever you please.
Email for email chains (please include me on them): sierra.duncan88@gmail.com
Have fun, debate well, and don't take it too seriously!
Big Q - Keep it simple, please don't talk too fast, I don't want to miss your point. Make your Definitions, Contentions, Impacts and Points very clear. It's good to repeat the important stuff and please keep the conversation moving. Be kind. be professional. Have fun!
Congress - Be professional, Engage. Keep the conversation moving forward, if you have a similar speech that was already given, reference that (As Representative Tipton pointed out earlier, I agree and here's more support....), Listen to each other. ask questions, I would rather hear a few really solid speeches instead of a lot of long winded mediocre ones. Have fun!! At the Cavalier - bonus points if you talk about a National Park Service or Wild Flowers . And as always, talk "to" us, not "at" us.
Debate - Keep it simple, please don't talk too fast, I don't want to miss your point. Make your Contentions and Points very clear. Be kind. be professional. Have fun!
Extemp - I look for a clever intro, stating your question, 2 to 3 points to answer your question with resources (source/mo/yr), your conclusion tied back to your intro. I'd rather have it short and clean, than rambling to fill 7 minutes. Talk to me not at me. Have fun!
Interp - Talk to me not at me. Give your characters enough time between transitions for me to enjoy them. (a split second can be enough time.) I love crisp pantomime and to see your personal passion on your facial expressions behind your topic. Have fun!
Congressional Debate: Show a good understanding of the bills presented and make a clear argument of your stance. Engage in the debate with good questions that challenge opposing sides, and be prepared to answer questions form the opposing side that challenges your stance. Be confident in the arguments that you present, but also respectful to your opponents.
Hello! I am Geetha Dwarakapuram. I am a senior technology manager at Bank of America. As for public speaking and giving speeches, I speak on a daily basis in front of large groups of people as part of my job. I am also a volunteer at a local youth Toastmasters club. I have been a parent judge for the last four years both online and in-person. My daughter was a National Circuit competitor in Congressional Debate for five years and my son is an active competitor in Congressional Debate.
Congress: I like to look for concise speeches that support the argument with evidence contradicting the opposing side. I also look for senators and representatives that mention others to enhance their ideas. I highly frown upon rehash but enjoy listening to speakers who engage the audience with their take on the bills. While your speaking style and delivery are, of course, an important part of the overall package, it is congressional debate after all, so I'll always rank a less polished speaker with better arguments higher than somebody who's a great orator but isn't providing something new or doesn't have the same quality of evidence. For presiding officers, I mainly judge if they do not stick out to me during the session and run a smooth and steady round.
Speech: I look for eye contact and a powerful voice when talking. I should be able to understand what you are talking about and like to be engaged throughout the whole speech. I enjoy speeches that have a memorable ending, or " end with a bang" as I like to call it. For dramatic speech events, I should be able to feel the emotion that you are trying to show with your voice. Time limits are something I look at when deciding scores.
For all Speech events: I love learning new things and more about things I do know, so I generally find most speeches interesting, but regardless of topic or the event I am judging I am looking for a few specifics. Regardless of topic or event, I judge a speech based on how engaging it is to the audience. Also, while, I do not have preference for a specific formula for a speech, I do expect it to be easy to understand from one point to the next with consistent flow.
INF, USX, and USI: In addition to the above, I am looking for cited statements from reputable sources, so it is clear where your perspective and knowledge are coming from.
For the various interpretation events: In addition to the above, I am looking for the material presented to feel like the speaker wrote it themselves and are not just rehearsing what someone else wrote. In addition, it should always be clear who is speaking, characterization and blocking are important.
For Debate: I am going to be looking at the strength of the evidence you provide to prove your point, as well as overall persuasiveness of your argument both in presentation of arguments as well as how you answer crossX of your arguments. I do not like fast speaking. I try hard to take notes of points made, answered, and challenged by each team, if the speaker is going too fast I may miss something and you may not get due credit for a point made/answered/challenged. Lastly, and most important, I expect you to cite your sources.
I am, at heart, a traditional judge, though I welcome innovative choices that make for effective storytelling in all events.
In extemp, I will be looking for a focus on the given question, clear points that support the speaker's answer, credible supporting sources, relaxed gestures that help emphasize important ideas, and a clear and smooth speaking style.
In Oratory and Informative, I will be looking for a speech that fulfills the purpose of the events - I should feel persuaded to some sort of action in oratory and I should learn something new and unexpected in Informative. The speeches should be supported with multiple, credible sources of different types. The speaker should be conversational in their delivery - formal enough to honor the topic, but casual enough to relate to the audience. Gestures should feel natural and flow from the requirements of the speech.
In the Interp events, I will be looking for an honest performance at heart. In dramatic, I should believe the emotional journey of the character(s), and should not feel overwhelmed by an overly intense interpretation. In Humorous, even when the source material is silly, the audience should feel the truth underneath the comedy. Introductions should be meaningful. If I am ever made to feel that I should not be seeing a high school student performing something (whether it is related to content or language), it takes me out of the moment and will have a negative impact on my ranking. Mature choices are fine, but it is important to maintain lines of appropriateness.
I've been around for some time now and have seen how many things have changed. If I were to sum up my overall philopshy, I'm very much a traditionalist but reward originality and creativity. I competed in policy debate in hight school and Individual Events/CEDA in college. I am also a rules generated judge. If I feel you are on the wire or have leaped over it, I make mention of it.
On the IE side:
Interp - I belive in maintaining the authors intent. Of all the events, interp has changed the most over the years and in my opion in a good way. Today's interpers are unique, creative, and original. I have one steadfast rule in interp; I want to be drawn into the world the interper is giving me. If they can grab me from the beginning and keep in in that world throughout ther performance then they have succeeded. Anything that distracts or pulls me out of their world minimizes thier overall performance (crying, etc.).
Limited Prep: I judge on a 50/50 ratio. The first 50 is organization, content, and delivery. Firm beliver in the "walk-n-talk" philopshy that you walk only on transitions. The other 50 is content. If you make a statement, be able to support it. Make sure the question / topic is answered correctly.
Prep: Much like the limited prep but I reward originality on topics and their develoment.
On the Debate side:
Again, very much a traditionalist and don't particualy care for some "anitics" I have seen over the years. The affirmative must maintain burden of proof, counterplans are non-topical. negative wins one stock, they win the round. Rapid fire is okay as long as I can flow. If I can't flow it, I can't judge it. Depending upon the type of debate is how I judge it. Polcy debate must be fully supported with evidence. Public Forum is more on the philosphical (What the student knows and how they are able to communicate it), with LD being a combination of both support and philospical. Additionally, over the years some new "terms" have been develped. Basically, I don't care what you call it, all I want you to do is support it. If called for, I will give orals at the end but will not disclose my decision. The reason, I am not opening the the opportunity for the loosing team to debate me, that has happened a couple of times, I don't like the atmosphere when that happens so I have made it a rule never to disclose. I am also a firm believer in speakers roles and duties (don't accept open cross-x, etc.) . Each speaker has been give a role with duties and they are accountable for them.
I have a more detailed paradigm and once I locate it, I will attach.
CX Paradigm:
General: I did four years of policy debate in high school. Read whatever you are most comfortable with, but make it clear to me why I should vote for you.
K debate: I am relatively comfortable with critiques. I read a critical affirmative, so I am fine in principle with voting for them. I think critical debate often risks it becoming unclear why I should vote for you unless teams take care to explain why the judge should vote one way or the other. That said, I am probably completely unfamiliar at this point with the specific literature you are reading.
If I do not feel like I can explain in my own words what your alt/advocacy does, it is very unlikely that you'll win.
Topicality: I think topicality (and I suppose other theory) debates are/can be more interesting than probably most judges do, although that's not to say that I'm more likely to vote on it than anyone else. I default to competing interpretations. I think of the standards as the impacts to voting for a particular interpretation (same for any theory argument.) As with any position, it's most important to me that you explain why I should vote for you.
DAs/CPs: Nothing specific to say here.
Speed: As long as you are clear go as fast as you want.
Speaker points: 28.5 is average.
Please feel free to ask any additional questions before the round.
henryeediger@gmail.com
I do not like spreading, especially online as I have a hard time understanding what you are saying if you spread. Also, please try not to mumble as I am somewhat hard of hearing.
I do not like Ks. I do not know how to judge a competitor using one or any kind of progressive debate in LD.
acedwards00@ksu.edu
I default Policy Maker, but I’ll vote on whatever you tell me.
I'm also not the biggest fan of existential/nuke war/extinction impacts, largely because I don't believe they reflect reality. Focusing on more realistic impacts (war and economic decline for example) is how to win me over.
Also, if I can't tell exactly what your plan is mandating/doing by looking at your plan text and ONLY your plan text and the other team runs vagueness, the odds are not in your favor. That said, I don't really care about financial specification
Topicality: Only if the plan is obviously untopical under your definition and if it doesn't involve the word "substantial"
Generic DAs: Acceptable
Generic CPs: Acceptable, but if the CP is just "do the plan but add another different entity" it is wholly unacceptable
Speed Preference: No preference, but please speak clearly no matter what
Kritiks: Not Preferred, but acceptable with clear links
I did debate for one year in college, and competitive speech on the whole for 9 straight years. I did debate all throughout High School, state qualifying every year and nationally qualifying three times. In college, I was the district champion in impromptu speaking for District 3, and qualified for nationals every year I have done that as well. My final year of college forensics, I was a national semifinalist at AFA nationals in extemporaneous speech.
LD: I'm a pretty traditional judge. I like philosophy and will vote on clash first (both framework and the flow), then I'll look to see that arguments were responded to, but I care a lot more about winning the most important arguments than the most arguments. I do not want to hear theory or spreading. I'm a history teacher and I value giving historical context to arguments to prove you understand what you're talking about.
Policy: I come from the LD/PF/Parli/Speech world, so I would say I’m going to be as Trad as possible. Because of that, I’m probably going to be a little biased against K AFFs, big reaches on topicality, and extinction impacts, but I’ll listen to anything with an open mind and I’ll pick whose policies are still standing at the end of the round. I care a lot about accurate historical context and valid economic theory, as I mention in my other paradigms. I will flow and I will listen.
PFD: Don't do policy. I don't really like statistical debates and I'll generally ignore any argument that you say will lead to the end of the human race, kill millions of people, or cost/create trillions of dollars. Just win the round by arguing the resolution and accept that there are two valid sides. I'm a history teacher, and I value giving historical context to arguments to prove you understand what you're talking about. I'm also an economics teacher, so if you're going to run any kind of economic argument, make sure you know what you're talking about.
PA Parli: I have personally authored most of the rules as well as the guide for this event and fully understand their intent. Make sure you follow them. Remember that logical arguments and cards bear equal weight and I won't listen to outlandish cards and impacts against solid logical argumentation. Please do not run a topicality or call a point of order unless you really know what you're doing.
Update January 10, 2025
Questions? email robegan3@gmail.com
GENERAL THOUGHTS
I am the current debate, forensics and speech instructor at Newton High School. I formerly coached and taught debate, forensics and speech at Wichita Collegiate, where I also competed when I was a student there. I completed undergraduate work in public policy, am doing graduate work in social justice and have contributed with time and policy writing to numerous public servants at various levels.
In any debate or speech event, I prefer a moderate speaking pace. I would rather be able to understand every word you are able to tell me than have you fit in so many words that I can't understand what you're meaning to communicate.
Please introduce yourself at the beginning of rounds. Remember that you're representing your school, and do not do anything you would not want your grandparent to see on the evening news.
Be respectful. You're going to tackle some controversial issues. There's a way to do so with tact. Breathe. Have fun!
POLICY (CX) DEBATE
I am a policymaker judge. My penchant for policy comes from my background- real world experience with presidential candidates, governors, US Representatives, US Senators, state legislators and city councilors and mayors. I know what real policy impacts are. If you're going to use an obscure policy mechanism, dot your "i"s and cross your "t"s before you use it in front of me.
Cite your sources when you have them. This helps me differentiate between cut cards and pure analyticals, though the latter cannot be discounted.
Speaking style can be what persuades me when evidence presentation is even. Make note of your delivery if you want me to remember a particular point. I want to see negative offense.. show me Ks, CPs and T, especially in higher level debates. If you're going to use those things, though, make them good-- and watch your audience and your opponents before you decide to employ certain K topics. Think!
PUBLIC FORUM (PF) DEBATE
Folks, there has to be clash. Your round structure is different from CX, and your research burden is likewise different. Adapt!
LINCOLN-DOUGLAS (LD) DEBATE
If you don't follow basic structures of LD with values and criterions, I do not know how to adjudicate you. Make clear why I should prefer your interpretation of the resolution to your opponents.
CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE
Use facts, please. Be inquisitive. Be prepared to hold others accountable, and be able to hold your own when people ask questions of you. The literal point of this event is for ideas to be debatable, folks. That means there has to be a positive and a negative side to your argument. If you make an argument that stops debate, you've lost me. This event was designed to be accessible. Your participation in it should consistently maintain that intent.
INDIVIDUAL EVENTS- ACTING/INTERP
Follow the rules of your event, first. I know what they are, and you should, too. If the event has a book, I will downgrade you if you do not use it properly. Hold it with one hand at the spine and maintain control. Otherwise, you have no gestures and you give me no ability to read your facial expressions. That means you deliver an incomplete performance, which will really make us all sad.
INDIVIDUAL EVENTS- SPEECH AND DRAWS
I do not so much care about what your actual claim is as I do about the way in which you organize your speech to support and defend your claim. Persuade me!
I am a former competitor and long-time speech and theater coach and have assisted with WS debate in our district.
I prefer persuasion over gamesmanship, moderate speed, and a focus on cross-x that is clarified in rebuttal.
I flow, but will not supply the argument for you - it must be made.
Civility is a must. Subtleties of LD/PF will be lost on me. But intelligent, data-backed claims with a clear warrant will find success.
I enjoy debate, so I look forward to hearing your round!
In general you may want to know this about me:
I want to hear you debate about the resolution/legislation at hand. Theory is very rarely needed. I like to hear real world impacts, and I want to understand how your arguments will impact the lives of people. I have little interest in unique/trick/squirrel/non-topical arguments. Weighing is important...so give me a clear way to weigh a round. Delivery is important, so speak well and avoid speed at all costs. Speaking of speaking, there have been five times when I've given a 30 in my life, and the lowest end I've given was 10. In all situations the speaker points were earned. My typical range is 26-29. I rarely disclose and there will be no orals after the round. Finally and most importantly, have fun and debate with class.
Specifically, in terms of congressional debate: I'm probably going to vote for the best legislator. You should speak well...but not have canned speeches. You should show me you can speak in a variety of positions (author legislation, introduce arguments, refute arguments, and weigh/crystalize the round). You should advance your arguments through questions. You should use motions to advance/end debate when appropriate. You should play the role of a congressperson with the decorum it deserves. You are always on...even during recess. You should be a good person (don't be a jerk).
In terms of public forum: I'm probably going to vote for the team that does the best job of explaining the big picture of what happens in the pro and/or con world. Real world impacts are important. Weighing is important.
In terms of LD: I'm old school. I would gladly judge a value debate. I would gladly judge a round in which the criterions are debated.
In terms of policy: Good luck. Use everything written here to adapt your approach to me. I might not be the best judge for your typical approach. I do not want to have to vote on presumption.
Good luck!
Tim Ellis
Head Coach - Washburn Rural High School, Topeka, KS
Email chain - ellistim@usd437.net,
I am the head debate coach at Washburn Rural High School. I dedicate a large portion of my free time to coaching and teaching debate. I will work very hard during debates to keep an accurate flow of what is being said and to provide the best feedback possible to the debaters that are participating. I cannot promise to be perfect, but I will do my best to listen to your arguments and help you grow as a debater, just like I do with the students that I coach at Washburn Rural.
Because I care about debate and enjoy watching people argue and learn, I prefer debates where people respond to the arguments forwarded by their opponents. I prefer that they do so in a respectful manner that makes debate fun. Tournaments are long and stressful, so being able to enjoy a debate round is of paramount importance to me. Not being able to have fun in a debate is not a reason I will ever vote against a team, but you will see your speaker points rise if you seem to be enjoying the activity and make it a more enjoyable place for those you are competing against.
I will do my best to adjudicate whatever argument you decide to read in the debate. However, I would say that I generally prefer that the affirmative defend a topical change from the status quo and that the negative team says that change from the status quo is a bad idea. I am not the best judge on the planet for affs without a plan (see the first part of the previous statement), but I am far from the worst. I am not the best judge on the planet for process counterplans (see the second part of the previous statement), but I am far from the worst. Much like having fun, the above things are preferences, not requirements for winning a debate.
Topic specific things about intellectual property rights:
- The neg is in a tough spot on this year's topic in terms of generics. If you are good at debating topicality, it will likely not be difficult to convince me that a more limited version of the topic could be better. However, limits for the sake of limits is not really a persuasive argument, so a big limits DA alone does not automatically result in a negative victory.
- Equally debated, I can be convinced that the mere presence of resolutional words in the plan is insufficient to prove that the affirmative's mandate is topical.
- Please debate the affirmative case. I know it can be tempting to just impact turn the aff, but generally the scenario you are turning lacks solvency or an internal link, and perhaps that would be a better use of your time than ripping into heg bad cards off your laptop for 13 minutes.
- This topic is dense and difficult to research. Speaks will likely reward teams who engagein specific research, affirmative or negative, for the positions that they present.
- I am not going to stop you from doing open cross-ex, but I really think it is overutilized and generally uneducational. In most situations, the best outcome is that you look mean or make your partner look incompetent. If your strategy revolves around not letting your partner speak in cross-ex, do not expect to receive high speaker points from me.
What I look for when I am judging is simply professional, respectful competing. I like to see good eye contact with your audience and I expect that you will be prepared and ready to debate. I enjoy seeing and hearing where you find your info so citing your resources is cool by me so that I am confident that you are prepared. It’s ok to be nervous we all are at times so try and relax and not let that stump you along the way. Thanks and go have fun above all.
Updated as of March 6th, 2025 for TFA
Hello, howdy, and how do you do, I'm Jomi Epoyun
I graduated from Northeast High School in Oakland Park, FL in 2017 and Florida Atlantic University with my undergrad in Comp Sci and Poli Sci and currently finishing my master's in Data Science in Public Policy and working in data analysis with specifics in data visualizations for political campaigns and research while coaching mainly congressional debate and extemporaneous speaking since 2018
Why I know what I am doing:
Since 2019 I have coached someone in the final round of every major circuit tournament Congressional Debate has to offer including last year's NSDA National tournament and TFA tournament in Congressional Debate
I have also been trusted to judge major elim rounds in extemp and congress including the 2023 NSDA Final round in International Extemp
In other words, if you know who I am, I know what I am doing, just ask around
What I look for in rounds:
This has changed over the years but a lot of my core principles still remain the same for the most part
I try to be as balanced of a content/speaking judge that I can so while at the same time I will be looking for if you are giving the most well-warranted, characterized, and impacted speech, I will also look for your ability to speak well through diverse emotional variation, authentic speaking, good pausing, tone and pitch fluctuations and inflections
Basically, I am a warrant guy just as much of a "way you say the warrant" guy
Speaking position does matter to be as well as I grade the speak, because late rounds delivered in the constructive phase of the round are just as bad as constructive speeches given in the late
Basically "DO YOUR JOB" relative to what is expected at your speaking position and what has happened in the round and therefore what you need to clash with in the round
I am the BAR guy as well so this means I am a sucker for fire rhetoric. Creative rhetoric. Rhetoric that connects that even makes some pop culture, show, movie, song references. Just something that ain't the standard congress rhetoric, especially because if I am at the tournament I have probably come a long way and I don't want to come a long way for something I could hear at my local tournaments
At the end of the day just show me the most amount of YOU and don't do the regular stuff every congressional debater and extemper
I want to see you become the character(s) you are portraying and have the most believability in the role. Often times in the speech world, I see so many students caught up in the “statement” of the piece, they are no longer focusing on the acting.
I want to see completely fleshed out characters and actors who have thought about each moment! Breathing, operative words, and event work is crucial.
Blocking should be creative but not steal focus. It should be used to enhance your piece and not done for the sake of doing so.
passion and creativity in OO, INFO, and Extemp is ranked highest! When everyone has the same great analysis, it’s the small things like the intellectual way you created your AGD or vehicle that make you stand out!
Speech - Organized arguments, credible sources, practical solutions, relatability is probably the biggest thing for me. I love speeches where personalities show through and I can see how you are as a person.Interp - Relatable pieces with big, distinguishable characters.
WSD - I want a conversational round with a crystallization of points at the end. Clear voters are always the way to go. POIs should be addressed consistently however not everyone needs to be taken.
Hi!
Congressional Debate
Make sure your claims are linked and warranted with evidence. Clear sources please. I value accurate information that is credible and unbiased.
I need to see an impact with clear context. If I do not understand it I will not flow it, so assume I do not know anything and be sure to provide context to your claims.
Use the legislation in your arguments. I read the topics beforehand, however understand I want to see how your claim aligns with the legislation.
I value quality questions and quality answers, need to see you are active in round.
Rhetoric is so important. Please present your arguments confidently, clearly, and succinctly so I can understand you completely. Do not spread in a CD round. Keep the debate topical.
And lastly, always be respectful.
Head coach at San Angelo Central High School
Extemp:
The most important thing is that you answer the question as clearly as possible. This includes previewing your points, signposting throughout, and reviewing your points at the end that links into the conclusion. Adding a clear structure adds to the impact and value of your overall speech. It is to also help you not ramble on. It is also important to be creative with your attention getter, vehicle, and your conclusion. It will set your self apart in my eyes with creativity done well. Sources are very important, but answering the question your way is the most important, then use sources to back those up. Not the other way around. I look for all of those together and a good flow for my overall ranks.
Interp:
Everything you do in your performance must have purpose. I love creative movements, stories, and really anything as long as there is a purpose. I am ok with any theme or story being told as long as there is impact behind it. Facials, moments, and character development are all very important for the overall performance. DO everything you can to truly become your characters and be in the story you are telling. In close rooms, I always look at who does all of these things together the best.
Congress:
The most important thing in a congress room is to have a presence. Do what you need to do to stand out without personally attacking your fellow representatives. Always attack their points, speeches, and questioning to further strengthen your points, but not them personally. I look for how well you understand the legislation, how well you know the info, the impact your points have for fellow constituents, and the creativity of your speaking. You need to have passion and use points made in the round to help your own side out. I really like crystalization of points and not just continuing to repeat other people's points. Do these things and make me HAVE to put you at the top of the room.
LD/PF:
I’m primarily an interp and speaking coach, so with that said, presentation of arguments is imperative. I still expect exceptional analysis on a substantive level, just know I judge debate as a speaking event first. The debater with the strongest link chain to access their impacts will win my ballot. The easiest way to win my ballot is in your voters section in your final speech, present your RFD for me. The less work I have to do at the end of the round the more likely it is you’ll win my ballot. Good luck and I'm excited to hear what you have to say.
Digital Debate #1 Update:
- I prefer using email for file share, 1AC shouldnt be sent out at round time, you can at a minimum send to me 5 min before and then cc your opponent before beginning of speech. I drop your speaks for inappropriate uses of time in online tournaments (out of prep and going to get water, going over prep, starting late). If you are having internet issues, adapt by sending docs beforehand.
- First tournament of season so you should probably start slow.
- Just as a general overview, I really hack towards simple arguments that tend to flow on higher levels (if you were to take a % of rounds where X arg is top layer). I have theory as my highest pref bc its intuitive and usually results in the best clash... theory v K rounds make my head hurt bc neither prefiat implication is ever explained in detail to me relative to the opposing impact.
- If you have questions you need to ask beforehand. No guarantee I will see the email before start time but its best if you are confused or think i might not be the judge for you.
- HAVE FUN!!! A loss here isn't the end of your debate career or life in general, there is more to life after debate and there is more ways to be involved in debate after debate!
faindebate@gmail.com
Auburn ‘16-‘20
Auburn University ‘22-‘26
Prefs:
1 - theory
2 - larp
3 - trix
4 - k
5 - phil
Strike me if you are a traditional debater.
Intro:
- My name is Michael Fain (please refer to me as judge, Mr. Fain, or Michael, in that order). I competed in LD for 3 years and have been judging/coaching for the past 4. My background as a competitor was entirely based around hacky arguments, trix, and baiting theory. As a judge I have gone through many different phases of what I like to get out of rounds and what I am most comfortable listening to. For the longest time I was a hack for trix, this is no longer the case seeing as trix debaters use this to run relatively dense phil and not explain it. The pref chain above is accurate and should be used for big tournaments. As a judge I evaluate the round according to how I flowed it based off of the information that was given to me. I fully believe that a close round with many different layers of offense with 11 of the most qualified judges will result in some sort of judge split. I believe that I side in favor of the majority in these rounds as my squirrel rate in tech rounds is something like 1/100. That being said, I will score the round in my rfd’s about what I think the split would be, and could provide reasons why my contemporaries might vote the other way. All judges value different things, we all hear the round differently, so as long as its close on the flow there is always the potential for a split ballot.
Preferences:
Performative - I am hard of hearing in my left ear, this does not affect round outcome, however, you are responsible for being a mindful debater and positioning yourself in the room to be heard.
I am traditional insofar as debaters ought not look at each other when speaking, should formally address the judge, should stand to speak if able, and should appropriately use their prep time (see below). (IRL ONLY)
Strategic - My voting record and past RFDs indicate a few tendencies. I am comfortable voting on very small issues with little to no risk (best examples would be like ivis on reps, conceded spikes indicting speech validity, any accessibility arg). For some reason this tends to mean I vote neg more often.
LAYERING:
After having almost 30 different iterations of my paradigm I have settled on this being the only relevant section that ought to be read before a round, anything else can be asked via shared email chain between myself and the competitors before the round. Proper LAYERING and weighing is the only thing that matters when it comes to my ballot. It is your responsibility to defend your offense as the highest layer in the round, and if your offense functions on the same layer as an opponents, why your impact should be weighed as greater. Too many times is there floating offense on different layers where the procedural “rules” of debate force theory to come before substance. Maybe I don’t judge enough but it appears that gone are the days of policymaking good frameworks dueling against the K. I do not need to be scratching my head at the end of a round asking myself whether or not the K or T is top level. The battleground of the round is normally not on a link level in the rounds I judge, and if it is, enough time is not spent explaining it. The real clash is on which offense flows above the other, youd be best suited to spend your time on that.
I am a parent of a competitor. Both of my children have competed in public forum and I have previously judged speech before. That being said, I am still fairly inexperienced in judging.
Paradigm:
Please speak slowly and annunciate. I am not familiar with progressive debate so please refrain from relying on theory (ex. disclosure theory debate). K's are okay, but I recommend spelling out voter issues a little more than you're used to. Please avoid using any jargon. Emphasize impacts & voter issues and please quantify them if possible. If you are any type of ist or phobic, I will vote you down.
Be proud of yourselves and have fun with it!
My daughter may have helped write this so do not mistake it as an understanding of K's.
I coach Congress, Lincoln Douglas, and Public Forum. This is my 21st year coaching. My judging experience includes local tournaments, State, and NSDA qualifiers, as well as prelim all the way to finals rounds at NSDA Nationals in all three categories. In 2019, I had the honor of judging the two LD finalists in their Quarter/Semi-finals rounds. In 2020 and 2023, I judged the finals session in Congress Senate and House. Up until a few years ago, I would have said that I am a "traditional" judge. However, I have opened up to a lot of things because the times are changing. That said, there are some things that you need to know.
- Speech Drop / Case Sharing -
I know what the "norm" is, and this is going to take a lot of getting used to for me. For now, here is where I am at. Do not share cases with me online. My fear, and it is a condition I have, that if I stare too much at my laptop and read, I will zone out and not realize I have stopped listening. My focus is completely taken away, and that is a disservice to you. So, I refuse to do things electronically outside of balloting. If you feel the need to give me your case, it must be on paper, but I will not read it unless there really is something I question about the validity of your evidence. Also, do not expect that by giving me your case that it is your way of telling me that this is everything your opponent must address. This is also not me condoning speeding. I will continue to flow what I hear and base decisions on that flow. See the rest of my paradigm for more related information.
- Progressive cases -
Critical Affs: I was taught that the affirmative has the burden to prove the resolution true. This is engrained in me. I struggle with things like Critical Affs for a couple reasons...1) The methodology with which people perform is one that I cannot grasp. I have tried to understand format, but in many cases, I have seen people use this style to confuse their opponents only to end up confusing me, too. 2) To ignore what the Affirmative is supposed to fundamentally be about denotes a certain amount of selfishness and avoidance of issues that are just as valid and important to debate. Without an Affirmative that does its burden, it seems simple to me to have the Negative just come back and say that the Affirmative technically negates the resolution, too, which is technically true. The Affirmative has literally given up their ground on the topic at hand. The Affirmative may have very legitimate reasons to change the topic, but that doesn't change the fact that they vacated the space that was held by the Affirmative, which means the Negative can move in.
Kritiks on the Negative: This is something I have opened up to as I have furthered my education. The Negative needs to negate the resolution and/or what the Affirmative advocates about the resolution. It is possible to look at a resolution and disagree with it based on the wording of it. In Congress, students debate the wording of the legislation and explain that they negate because of specific things the legislation states. I can get behind that and understand that. HOWEVER, being too complex is going to frustrate me, which I will explain later.
Now, what happens when I have come upon situations where both sides are running some really progressive cases? What do I do then? If I don't understand you, I won't vote for you. Beyond that, since I am not as familiar with these styles, you risk me missing something, and so accept the fact that I will be voting with the side that makes sense to me the most.
- Policy style used in other debate types -
This is becoming difficult for me since so much has bled into LD/PF/CON. There is terminology I am starting to understand, certain case structures I am starting to understand, but having watched Policy rounds from time to time...I still don't understand it, and I have gone to camps and had a few policy teams trained by a policy coach years ago. It's still too complicated for me, though, and so I still say if you try to do this in LD/PF rounds, you risk losing my ballot. Personally, I want Policy to stay in Policy. My debaters are starting to learn things from their rounds, though, and I judge rounds, so I feel like I am slowly understanding, but deep down, I just don't want the complexity of Policy anywhere else besides in Policy. So, what happens if both decide to be Policyesque? Again, whichever side I understand better, is the side that wins.
- Theory -
This is hit or miss on me. If the theory is logical and deals with the topic, I am interested in it. If it is meant to take a detour away from the topic, then I am not. I also will not include theories that aren't applicable. For example, I had a debater say that disclosure was necessary for small schools that do not have resources. The debater who said it was not from a small school, and they had plenty of resources, and I know because I coach a small school, and I knew the school the debater was from. Another debater said we shouldn't debate the topic because it was triggering and was emotionally affecting them. The opponent simply said that they knew what the topic was going to be and obviously prepared cases for this tournament as well as had to be registered. So, if you run theory, just know that you are now including me and my views of the theory in on this debate, and now I get to choose whether I buy into it or not rather than remaining objective between you and the opponent. And if your theory doesn't hold up in my mind, that will not be a determining factor when I vote.
- Speed -
Don't do it. I can't follow it. I can't write fast enough, and I can't digest the information well enough before you have moved on to something else. This is especially not helpful if you try to do cases that are overly complex. I also have a fundamental philosophy against it. No where in any form of political arena is wicked fast speed acceptable. And given that most of you will never actually go into the political field, but rather get a typical business/medical/educational kind of job, I can't imagine you being praised for your speed talking there either. You speeding is telling me that you want to cheat your way into winning because you hope your opponent can't keep up with you or understand you or be able to cover the massive amount of things you spread. To me, you are not trying to debate. You are trying to find a way not to debate. Now, what happens if both of you just ignore me and speed anyway? Yet again, the person I understand the most wins, and both of you risk me missing some warrant, link, or impact that you clearly think makes you win the round, but I didn't catch it. Your speaker points will drop anywhere between 1 to 3 points as well.
- Ideal vs. Pragmatic -
I pride myself on being a logical realist, but I am not against the ideal. In fact, by not working towards the ideal, we don't grow. I will use No Child Left Behind as my example. Very illogical! Very damaging on so many levels. However, when it was in practice, I did see the value of it. It bothered me when people would say it is impossible to get 100% children passing. I kept thinking, well why wouldn't you at least try? As lofty a goal it was, the government was not wrong in wanting our compass pointed in that direction. Their methods left something to be desired, but the concept was good. So, what does this mean here? Don't think that I will automatically vote for you because you present the case pragmatically. On the reverse, do not be so absurd and so far out in left field with ideals that I'm forced to say, "There is absolutely no way I can imagine this ever happening." Therefore, telling me something like not getting rid of hand guns will lead to weapons proliferation and mass destruction is probably not going to get you my vote. Telling me that getting rid of hand guns is a step in the right direction, on the other hand, is believable and worth considering even if it doesn't come to full fruition.
- Congress -
Your scores/nominations will be based on the following... 1) An organized and well-structured case with significant/meaningful cited evidence is critical, BUT 2) your presentation of that information is also critical. As public officials, you are supposed to be an advocate for your constituents, so sound professional and passionate rather than an indifferent newscaster just reporting the facts. 3) I like strong, unique arguments that really make me sit back and think. I like it when you look at all kinds of angles on an issue. 4) I like you giving me evidence and analysis telling me why I should care. 5) And, of course, you need to refute the representatives who go before you. It wouldn't be a debate if you didn't do that. Therefore, canned speeches are not the best way to go with me. I get that you have specific information you want to relay, but you can tailor information to what other debaters say. Being able to adapt and talk extemporaneously is a key characteristic of this style of debate. 6) This also plays into how you answer questions. Answering questions well proves you didn't just write a good case...you can talk beyond that case - you really have a deeper knowledge of the topic.
- Lincoln Douglas -
Generally, I do V/C debate, but I have opened up to the concept of "Standard" and "RoB". I am beginning to see that "Standard" is just another way of saying value or criterion, and "RoB" is another way of saying criterion. I do struggle with the format of the cases, but I follow fairly well. Either way, this is the style where philosophy is supposed to be at the core. See "Ideal vs. Pragmatic" above. Ultimately, though, I should see a clear weighing mechanism. More importantly, though, LD is about the way life "ought" be. There are philosophical schools of thought on how we should live life that clash (ex. individualism vs. communitarianism) So, basically, you should be proving to me that this philosopher/psychologist's prescription for life is the best way to go. Evidence (defined as the facts to support the advocacy of a philosophy) should be used to help solidify that position. Ultimately, though, you need to answer my question: Why is living life this way the best idea? For example, in the violent revolution topic, the question that needs to be answered is...why is the philosophy that supports violent revolution the way we need to live? Throwing a bunch of information at me about how violent revolution causes so much death, is meaningless to me because I could argue from the angle that sometimes it takes that kind of extreme to make change happen. In fact, there is a whole study on how it takes causing conflict to create actual change. If all you do is throw examples at your opponent, then all your opponent has to do is throw examples back at you...like the American Revolution. Obviously, our violent revolution turned out great for us. So, again, you have to look deeper in LD. While we won the revolution, that doesn't mean that is how we "ought" to have done it. The impact of having that violent MENTALITY is really where the debate lies if you take that angle. So, evidence of events can only take you so far. You need to have philosophical/psychological evidence to rationalize it. In terms of the round, ultimately if there isn't a value/criterion to judge on, it comes down to reasoning and significant/meaningful impacts that play out in your voters.
- Public Forum -
Your arguments and evidence should lean on ultimately explaining to me why I should care with significant/meaningful impacts. However, I should not be getting outlandish impacts like the 1% extinction. One way or another, this world will come to an end. On average, the typical span of a species is 1 million years, so banking on something like that is wasted on me....and so are apocalypses. I like arguments that make sense and are realistic. Telling me something will cause WWIII just does not seem realistic unless you can somehow prove it will actually happen, but even then, it is such a huge hypothetical. Hypotheticals are not something I really get into. Final Focus should really be able to paint a very clear picture to me what the world will be like if I vote one way or the other. As for being a team debate, I should see a good balance between partners. Speaker points can be affected when one partner clearly surpasses the other partner's participation in the debate.
I am the Debate coach at Franklin HS and have coached for a lot of years. I tend to be traditional in how I coach my debaters and what I like to see in rounds. I am open to other approaches but would like to see why an argument is valid/justified-don't make assumptions. I also want the round to be an argument of the resolution. I expect there to be evidence to support your arguments. I can flow quickly but you need to be clear.
I am a very traditional judge for all events.
LD - This is a value debate, so both debaters should have a value and criteria with which to weigh them. The debate centers around whether something should be done, not how it can be done. I don't want to see plans or generic critiques, or hear that we cannot solve. LD is about whether an action is good, moral, right, practical, maybe even feasible, but not about the nuts and bolts of implementation. There should be philosophical arguments, and direct clash. Everyone needs to be nice, and speed should be kept to a comfortable flowing pace.
I've been a Speech and Debate coach for the past 7 years, but primarily on the Speech side.
When it comes to policy debate, I tend to be more of a stock issues judge and believe that the Aff's burden is to protect and prove the stock issues; I especially look for that. I also want you to clearly articulate your positioning and prove why your arguments outweigh your opponent.
For Congress, be clear and efficient with your speeches. Feel free to lean into the "Congressional" part of it and performance is always key, but if you don't have sufficient evidence and don't explain or otherwise discuss the consequences and implications of that evidence then all the rhetoric in the world won't make up for it.
Overall, please speak clearly and slowly. Do not spread. And above all, analyze your evidence. Don't let it stand for itself - prove why it's important.
Be civil. Debate beyond your case. As you debate, interact with and include all of the information brought up in the round. Speak clearly, and organize your arguments in a clear and concise manner.
Background: I was a high school debater, extemper, and orator back in the 1990s. I became a debate coach in 2003; I coach all the events.
Everyone: Be as polite and professional as possible.
For debate events: No spreading; speak at a normal, conversational speed. I will deduct speaker points and you will likely lose the round because you've made it too difficult for me to understand what you're saying. I shouldn't have to read a copy of your case to figure out your arguments; I should be able to flow it based on what I hear in your performance. In rebuttals, I need you to signpost the part of the case before making your argument so I know where it goes on my flow; otherwise, your arguments don't count because I don't know what you're attacking or defending. Give me voters in your last speech. Do not waste time running disclosure theory; I will not vote based on it.
For congress: Be prepared before the tournament; I have no sympathy for students not having their speeches ready before the round begins. Don't take excessive breaks. We must meet the minimum time for the round while also keeping the tournament on schedule. If you think the Presiding Officer makes a mistake, deal with it immediately; otherwise, it's too late and we have to move on.
For IEs: ranking can come down to small details; bring your best! I like clever introductions that get my attention with personal stories, jokes, etc. In poetry, the cadence of the verse matters to me; if your poetry performance sounds like a prose performance, you may rank lower compared to others who perform poetry as spoken word. For extemp, the depth of your analysis will impact your ranking.
Lindsay Jade (or LJ, whichever works!)
she/her
Greenhill '21 | UT Austin '26 (2A)
assistant coaching for Greenhill
please put me on the email chain! lindsayjadef@gmail.com
glenbrooks update: this is my first time judging the IPR topic during the regular season (although I did work at DDI). For better or worse, I am probably less likely to have pre-conceived notions of what is (un)topical or does/doesn't compete - please err on the side of explaining!
generic things:
-tldr: read whatever you're best at! I have preferences, but am generally open to hearing whatever you have to say.
-I'd always prefer to evaluate the round in front of me rather than intervene. I will try to evaluate debates based on the flow before reading evidence, unless explicitly told to read a certain card.
-tech > truth
-numbering arguments = better speaks and better decisions!
-dropped arguments are true, but need to be fully extended along with an explanation of the implications you want them to have on my decision
-fully explaining/developing arguments and good line-by-line skills are important to me and will lead to higher speaker points than reading excessive overviews. If your answer to an argument is to cross-apply the overview, I tend to believe that the arguments in the overview should've just been on that part of the line-by-line. Similarly, I am much less likely to vote on "they dropped this line in my 2-minute long overview" than a more contextualized individual line-by line argument
-please be kind and respectful to each other!
-open cx is fine, but please don't excessively talk over each other/interrupt.
Policy affs:
-framing contentions are fine when you contextualize them to your aff and the CP/DA. "Probability first" still requires substantive answers to the DA to prove the probability is actually low.
-my bias is generally to weigh consequences, but I can be persuaded as to which ones matter more and why
-smart analytics and/or internal link defense > generic impact defense card
K affs vs. framework:
-I am probably slightly better for the neg here, although I have some (very very limited) experience reading k affs
-I'm fine with both limits/fairness and clash/idea testing/education style impacts (however, if your 2NR is the fun impact, the RFD probably won't be very fun for you).
-impact calculus and analysis, explaining how your interpretation best resolves that impact (and theirs can't access it), and how it interacts with the other team's impacts, will make it easier for me to evaluate the debate in your favor
-I'm seeing a trend towards impact turning topicality without extending a counter interp. Personally, I find it more intuitive when the aff presents a model of debate that resolves that impact turn to framework, giving me have a clearer understanding of how you solve your own offense (even if it doesn't try to be T/in the direction of the topic at all). If you don't want to go for a counter interp, having an explanation for why you don't need one would be helpful.
Ks:
-Some of my favorite debates to judge! I have experience debating pretty much all the Ks you usually see every year, but you should still do your best not to assume knowledge
-2NC overviews longer than 30 seconds seem excessive to me
-I probably care less about framework than most judges - framework determines which arguments I evaluate and in what order, but does not guarantee you win those arguments or the debate. If you want it to implicate any other part of the debate, you should explain that to me
-My "default" framework is that the aff gets to weigh the plan, but the negative can probably get most links to representations/justifications. Of course, this can be changed if the aff or neg is just so far ahead on framework, but I tend to not consider "role of the ballot" arguments as much. Instead, substantive arguments about why representations/justifications outweigh material action or vice versa are more persuasive to me. I tend to think teams (especially if you aren't reading an extinction impact on the aff) invest too much time in framework that should be used on the link/perm/alt debate in most cases.
-floating PIKs are probably bad, but if you get away with it, good for you
Topicality vs. policy affs
-limits > ground
-I am probably less willing than others to vote on "limits for the sake of limits" just because the topic might be huge. Neg teams' limits arguments are more persuasive when they're explained in the context of those limits being predictable (accompanied by examples). Please impact out your argument and explain how it turns each others' impacts.
-aff teams: good impact analysis (why impacts outweigh and turn theirs), defense to neg impacts, and examples are the way to my ballot
-not a big fan of subsets/whatever the throwaway T argument becomes this year, but really enjoy aff-specific smart T arguments (I know this isn't always possible and will still vote on whatever you win)
-I think reasonability is underrated when explained without relying solely on buzz words. This also applies to CP theory!
CPs and theory:
-love CPs
-aff teams: the permutation and links to the net benefit are your friend. If perm do both is the 2AR strategy, then explanations about how it shields the link starting in the 2AC is best if not necessary (the words "shields the link" alone is not an arg!)
-theory debates are probably some of my least favorite debates to judge, but if it becomes the debate I understand
-nothing except conditionality is probably a voting issue. my voting record has shown me that as a judge I tend to lean negative on conditionality, but I will do my best not to intervene
-if I think you are partially right about a theory argument but can't fully reject the team or argument, I still might be more sympathetic to a permutation that might not have been a winner in a vacuum. I won't automatically do that cross-application for you, though, so you should tell me to!
-my initial bias is that most process CPs are fine (but can be persuaded otherwise). I'd rather see creative permutations/specific theory interps than "process CPs bad"
-PICs out of words that aren't in the plan text are probably illegitimate
-judge kick: will do what you tell me to - if you care a lot, bring it up early (2AC/block). If the CP is conditional and no one says anything else I'll default to allowing judge kick.
-functionally intrinsic perms (that are limited to neg solvency advocates and only the plan and CP text) are my favorite!
DAs:
-yeah yeah!
-impact calc is very helpful, especially with turns case arguments. However, I usually end up placing more emphasis on the internal links to those impacts, whether the DA is unique, etc. (i.e., the likelihood that you're able to access those turns case arguments) - winning a slightly larger impact or turns case does not mean I'm automatically voting on 1% risk of the DA outweighs.
-that being said, tech > truth - I love (reasonably) creative spin on arguments and will reward you for it speaks-wise even if it doesn't work out for you
-politics is okay! Explaining differences between cards/warrants > the 7th card in your UQ wall
Non-negotiables (stolen from holland)
- death good = L
- being racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. or making the debate unsafe for anyone involved (to be determined at my discretion) = L and the lowest speaks i can assign.
- no asking for better speaks
- i will flow a 2-hour long debate comprised of eight speeches. "Calling for a double win, intentionally interrupting an opponent’s speech, soliciting outside participation in a speech or cross-x, breaking time limits, playing board games, or devolving the debate into a 2 hour long discussion is a recipe for a quick L for the team that initiates it." -shree
- you have to read re-highlightings, you usually can't insert them unless it's just one word or something
Final thoughts:
-my goal is to be a judge I would feel good about evaluating one of my debates. Feel free to ask questions after the round if any part of my decision doesn't make sense to you.
-if you have any questions, please email me: lindsayjadef@gmail.com
I am a parent judge - speak slowly and explain your arguments clearly.
Add me to the email chain: fengyan@gmail.com
I am a parent judge; I'll take notes but won't be flowing, so be extra careful about signposting since that's the only way I can keep track of arguments.
Hello! My name is Daniel (he/him/his) and I competed in Public Forum for six years. I'm open to all styles, but I prefer narrative debate: slow speeches with minimal jargon that tell a story. I have also been out of debate for a couple years now, so just keep in mind that I may not be up to date on the meta.
Good luck, and don't forget to have fun! You can find specific preferences below.
Inclusivity and anti-oppression
Debate excludes and marginalizes many groups of people. When we participate in this activity, we should try to make it as inclusive and just as possible. We should check our internal biases when interacting with teammates, competitors, judges, observers, and anyone else in the debate space. Be mindful of the real-world impact your arguments may have and be careful not to use marginalized people as tools to win ballots. Obviously, none of us should tolerate any kind of bigotry.
Weighing is key; probability is not weighing
Weighing is the easiest way to win debates so start weighing early, bring it up often, and develop it throughout the round. Don't just make arguments; explain why, even if your opponent's arguments have some merit, your arguments matter more.
Weighing mechanisms like "probability, strength of link, or risk of impact" assume that your opponent's arguments aren't true, placing the burden on you to disprove their arguments and defeating the strategic value of weighing. Don't make me vote on probability weighing because you may not be pleased with the outcome.
Disclosure is good
I believe that Public Forum teams should disclose. I will not penalize teams that don't disclose, but I will reward teams that do with a 1 point speaker boost – just let me know your that stuff is on the wiki before the round starts. You can find the link to the wiki here, as well as a guide to putting your cases on the wiki here.
"Truth"/tech
I believe that flows are very useful ways to track what is going on in the debate, and I also want to be persuaded. I'll try my best to be open-minded, and I acknowledge that I enter the round with my own experiences and views.
The second rebuttal should include frontlining
Not mandatory, just a preference, so don't worry if you don't get to it. The more times you make an argument, the more likely it is to persuade me.
The summaries must extend defense
If you want defense in final focus, you must extend that through summary. Three minutes is enough time for summary speakers to extend defense.
Progressive arguments, critical arguments, and theory must be accessible
Go for it! Your arguments must be accessible to everyone in the round (opponents, me/other judges, spectators). Please watch the speed and jargon.
I am a former high school debater, UF graduate, and current Assistant Coach for West Broward High. In high school, I competed mostly in PF, but also did Info and Congress. Experienced in judging local, national, and state tournaments. For any questions, feel free to ask before the round starts or email me at nataliefernandez1@yahoo.com
General:
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Not a fan of spreading, theory, K’s, etcetera. I judge a round based on strong evidence and the way you can execute the argument and oppose your opponent's case.
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Do not assume I am up to date with a topic, define any important terms or information that you believe will be important in a round that your judge and opponent need to know.
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Debate is a place for learning to foster and grow, no racism, misogyny, or ethnocentric views will award you any points towards winning the debate and will cost you the round.
Framework:
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I like clear-cut debate with an easy to understand framework that tells me how to analyze the round.
Speaks:
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There is no clear formula for how this happens. I evaluate based off of how you make arguments, your speaking style, and your effort in round.
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Belittling your opponent or trying to criticize anything aside from the information being debated in a round will not award you speaker points. I will stop listening to you. Professionalism and respect are two qualities that will take you further in life than arrogance and harshness. Choose kindness
Hey everyone I’m Ms.Stacy, I am an assistant coach at Leland.
Lay Trad judge, Truth>Tech
Please strike me for any theory
I am a California traditional lay judge. I prefer traditional arguments that do not impact out to extinction or nuclear war. Run theory at your discretion, but I am not confident I can evaluate anything progressive. Please speak fairly slowly so I can understand your arguments. If I can’t understand it, it will not be flowed.
Covering the flow completely is important for me. Responses aren’t sticky, so make sure to extend any offense or responses to your final speech. If you obviously drop an argument, that will flow for your opponent. A good debate should include lots of clash. Make sure you signpost on your rebuttals so I know where you are on the flow. In the final rebuttal, make sure to give clear voters and weighing. I like 2Rs which spell out my ballot for me.
Being confident and organized in the round will reflect well on you. Speaking style and content delivery is included in my ballot. Finally, please be respectful to your opponents. Any disrespect will tank your speaks. But most importantly, have fun in round!
If you have any questions refer to my PF paradigm or ask me questions before round.
Here is the paradigm for PF specifically:
Put me on the chain: shaky1832@yahoo.com
Treat me as a lay (less jargon, slower speed, etc.) I did not compete or coach tech-debate a lot so I am still working on understanding the intricacies of PF. Traditional speaking style/content delivery does weigh into my overall perception of the round, make of this what you will. Be fluent and seem passionate about what you are talking about and you will do great!
That being said, I can tell when a response is new. New responses that were not in rebuttal or summary will not be evaluated. I would like to understand the response as you are giving it, not 2 speeches later. As much as I try to be tech>truth, bad response quality, and explanation does still hurt. The same goes for extensions, which take longer than a 5-second speed run in the back half. If I do not understand the argument, I will not vote on it.
Keep advocacies topical. I do not trust myself to evaluate any sort of pre-fiat offense whether it be theory, kritiks, or whatever else. The most I could do is evaluate an evidence IVI if the cut is bad.
Please weigh. I often have a hard time making the “right” decision if I have to evaluate multiple lines of offense with no comparative weighing. If you start the weighing strong and early, it makes the round much easier to evaluate.
Most importantly, remember to have fun!
When judging WSD, I will vote mostly on the rubric, however, the flow does have a place in my overall decision.
I have taught and coached at Round Rock Christian, TX, for 15 years across events. I am passionate about this activity and its value for competitors to 'find their voice' in their events. Please ask if you have any questions about my paradigm.
In Round Conduct
I have zero tolerance for bullying and disrespect directed toward anyone in the competition space. I have and will stop rounds if necessary. If you are competing against someone who is less experienced, please be gracious to them. We are a community and with that comes certain expectations of how we interact with others.
Time use
Across events, your strategy for time use will be noted on the ballot.
Overall thoughts
I favor bold, energetic, engaged debaters who best represent what the event they are competing in asks of a competitor. Teach me something new. I believe each debate event has something unique about it and do not consider events to be interchangeable.
As a communication activity, in my opinion, spreading does not enhance the education space. If you choose to spread, please be sure to signpost effectively. Avoid it in rebuttal speeches. I refuse to yell out things like clear, as if you have any question about whether I understand, you need to adapt your delivery to your audience. While some jargon is warranted, the over use of it is not effective communication or an argumentation strategy.
I will weigh first on framework, then the contention level debate. Theory arguments will be dealt with secondarily.
Please note, linking everything to nuclear war without proper warrants is not effective argumentation, it's lazy. I am looking to see how your argumentation speaks to the resolution and what it asks of each position in the debate.
Giving voters allows you to narrate the round for me. If you cannot articulate why you won the round, you likely did not.
Lincoln Douglas Debate
I favor a traditional style with lower speeds and a focus on the value/criterion. This event is not policy debate for one.
Public Forum
My paradigm is convince me. I strongly dislike the Negative team going first and I recommend that you do not.
Congress
Delivery: this is a competition and delivery style will be a factor in ranking. Please exhibit the expected decorum in a Congress chamber because I do drop ranks for behavior that is unbecoming, including being rude or yelling.
Speeches: I expect a balance between preparation and the ability to navigate through the arguments so far in the round. Crystallize. I am looking for more than a surface understanding of legislation and its impacts. Questioning: use questioning as an opportunity to showcase your knowledge on legislation and your ability to expose issues on the opposition. Avoid: wasting chamber time with irrelevant questions, unnecessary motions, being dramatic about taking a first speech, or ignoring Presiding Officer gavel taps. Being gaveled down is not a flex.
I expect competitors to come prepared on legislation and yes, I am listening when the chamber is planning the docket.
For the Presiding Officer, I expect a fair and efficient chamber. A strong PO will rank high, but it is not an automatic 1st place.
Interpretation
My paradigm for interp events is whether you are believable or not as your character(s). Do you have advocacy in events that traditionally expect it? What about your time use? I will be looking at your introductions that they are carefully put together. I am looking for a polished performance that demonstrates a fine attention to detail. Your performance across events should have layers, demonstrating nuance and complexity in characters. We don't like music played with just one note, don't perform any piece with no vocal, emotional, or pacing variety. Multiple characters need to be clear.
Artistic plagiarism: as a coach of those in the interpretation events, I take this seriously. If you are performing a piece that has been on the national stage, make it yours, not a duplicate of the performance.
Platform Speaking
Whether you are in oratory, info, impromptu, or one of the extemporaneous speaking events, try to stand out by not sounding canned. Teach me something new. Humor, well used, is always appreciated. Like debate, your use of time will be reflected in the comments.
I prefer to not hear spreading in LD or PF. I look for strong voters, good clash, and signposting. Crossfire/cross ex periods are not flowed.
I prefer clearly articulated, rational argument over speed word vomit. A stronger presentation involves clear discussion of two or three main points, rather than a word gush of several points, within a short period of time. To me, the latter signifies that the speaker has done merely superficial research into the issue up for debate and is just throwing out verbage without much thought or substance.
Also, please don't waste precious time telling me "that's why I win" or "that's why my opponent loses." I know this is a competition and someone is going to win or lose. I don't need you to tell me. Phrases like this are just filler that carry zero weight for me. Focus on the substance of the issue. Your substantive discussion of the issue is what will determine who wins the round.
I have judged Varsity Policy, Parli and LD debate rounds and IE rounds for 10 years at both the high school and college tournament level. I competed at San Francisco State University in debate and IEs and went to Nationals twice, and I also competed at North Hollywood High School.
Make it a clean debate. Keep the thinking as linear as possible.
Counterplans should be well thought out – and original. (Plan-Inclusive Counterplans are seriously problematic.)
Speed is not an issue with me as usually I can flow when someone spreads.
I do like theory arguments but not arguments that are way, way out there and have no basis in fact or applicability.
Going offcase with non-traditional arguments is fine as long as such arguments are explained.
Above all, have fun.
I've got quite a bit of experience coaching, judging, and even competing in all the main debate events - Congress, Public Forum, LD, Policy, and World Schools. I will understand your terminology, I'll time you, and I understand the rules/expectations of the events. I've been participating in speech and debate for 17 years, coaching for 11, and this is my fourth year in Minnesota.
PF and LD Specifically: I tend to prefer the debate to be a bit slower. I'm also a big advocate of very structured speeches and structure to the debate as a whole. So like, signpost, line by line, one case at a time, etc. Also, please collapse throughout and give 2-3 voters or big issues at the end. You can still address line by line in FF though I don't prefer it. If you do, just remember to collapse and categorize. I also tend to prefer front-lining in 2nd rebuttal. I'm a big proponent of weighing and extensions as well, but like don't just use those things as a time dump alone. The majority of your rebuttals and summary speeches should be focused on the flow and responding to arguments line by line, but make sure to extend key arguments that go unaddressed and either weigh as you go or weigh at the bottom.
LD Specifically: Framework debate is extremely important in LD... HOWEVER, framework debate is somewhat pointless when it has nothing to do with the resolution. I don't really care why your framework is more important than your opponents framework in a general sense. I care a lot more about why your framework is more important than your opponents framework in a resolutional sense. If you can't make your framework arguments specifically applicable to the topic at hand and the arguments you are making, then you are wasting your time debating it in the first place, and I will just end up using your voters, impacts, and weighing to make my final decision in the round.
PF/LD/Policy/WSD: I will rarely vote for a lazy debater. If I ever have to, you'll get very low speaker points. If you want to win a debate, you have to play the role of a debater. Here's how I break that down:
1. Debate has time limits for a reason. You are practicing the art of understanding, preparing, and delivering arguments within a specific timeframe. If you have 3-5 minutes of prep time, you don't need 3 extra minutes to flash evidence/call for cards while you think of what you're going to say in the next speech. Flashing is prep time in all events.
PF: If you want to see a card, ask for it in cross ex, that way your opponents partner can pull it up and you can read it after cross ex when you start prep. Again, saving time. Ask for cards early, so we don't have to sit here waiting for them to find the card and I have to consider whether or not I should count that as prep and for which team.
2. Cross examination is not a time to ask random questions while you sit down and prep for your next speech. Every part of the debate counts. I'll also give lower speaker points to a debater who sits during cross ex (other than grand cross in PF, and this doesn't include virtual tournaments. In a virtual debate, sitting is the norm and that is fine).
3. A large part of debate is presentational. In my opinion, spreading cards and cases alone is not debating. Cards don't beat cards, you have to explain the links, warrants, impacts, and weighing. I have ADHD and zone out very quickly if you aren't slowing down and explaining things or you aren't emphasizing the things I should be flowing. I can flow cases slower than I can flow rebuttals so please read a shorter case if you can so you don't have to spread. Exceptions for Policy only. If you do decide to spread, please slow WAY down on tags, and always include a short analysis at the end of each card.
4. K's and Theory are fine (especially in Policy), but slooooooow down. You have to explain that stuff to me or I won't be able to follow you. If you run it in PF just know that I may be very lost or unprepared as to how to deal with that or where to flow it. I'm not completely against it, but like only do it if you're really good at it, and be prepared to lose literally because I understood none of what you were saying due to lack of time to explain it.
5. Don't abuse prep time. Always tell me when you are starting and stopping prep. I'm timing you as well, so I will correct you if I need to but if I have to correct you it probably doesn't look good on you and may affect your speaker points.
6. Most importantly, do what you're good at. Like, I have a lot more experience with traditional styles of debate because that's the style we used where I was from. However, I also have a pretty strong understanding and comprehension of progressive stuff. Just do what you're best at. I'd much prefer a really good progressive debate, then a really bad traditional one and vice versa. I just might understand and flow the traditional debate a taaaad bit better though.
Congress:
PO: Between "Fast, Fair, and Efficient" I care most about fairness, second most about about efficiency, and I don't care at all about "fast." Be efficient of course, try to make sure that things are running smoothly and that you aren't taking extra time because you don't know the process or because you are adding unnecessary extra words to your phrasing, but I would much rather you take an extra couple of seconds to make an accurate decision which doesn't require me to correct you, than I would for you to make a quick decision in the hopes that you'll look better. It may not flow off the tongue as well, but "Accurate, Fair, and Efficient" would be my preference.
Also, some common phrasing that I think you can shorten:
- When calling on subsequent speakers after the first speaker on a piece of legislation, cut all the nonsense about "Seeing as that was the 3rd affirmative speech we are now in line for a 3rd negative speech. All those wishing to speak in the negation please rise." Cut it out. Just say "Negative speakers rise" "Affirmative speakers rise"
- For the end of a speech/start of questioning: "Thank you ____ for that speech of (time), questioners please rise" No need to say "We are now in line for 2/4 blocks of questioning"
- When calling subsequent questioners after the first questioner for a speaker, please do not waste time by saying things like "Thank you (questioner), the next questioner is (name)." Literally just call out the name of the next questioner at the same time as you tap the gavel twice for the end of one questioners block. "(tap tap) Rep. Blah"
Some other PO Notes:
- I appreciate when the PO shares their precedence sheet with the chamber in some sort of google spreadsheet or something.
- I think the PO should be consistent in reminding the chamber of any and all rules that are not being followed. "Please do not abuse the grace period" "You must ask permission to leave and exit the chamber"
- I think a really good PO can add super small yet effective elements to their responses which show more personality in general. I don't think "The chair thanks you" is necessarily enough for that since it's so common. I like when a PO is able to reword their responses to things in ways that are still accurate but which can add some slight, yet not time-consuming, humor to the round.
- The PO should recommend and remind the chamber not to stand for speeches or questions until they tap their gavel. This provides a more fair moment for all to stand rather than having some people stand right at the end of the speech while the PO is still talking.
- The PO should state at the beginning of the round: Gaveling procedures, how they are determining precedence and recency (and if it isn't preset, then what system will they use to fairly call on people at first), and any particular ways in which they will go about things like calling for speakers or questioners. If there are rules particular to a given tournament such as how precedence or recency should be used which are not common at other MN tournaments, the PO should also mention those at the beginning to make sure everyone is on the same page and there aren't random issues regarding precedence or recency or following those rules at the very start of the round.
- While I think everyone in the round is responsible for the correct pronunciation of names, the PO having elected to run the chamber should be particularly wary of name pronunciations and take the time to learn names and pronunciations before the round in which they are electing to run.
Speakers: I dislike speaking from laptops. Laptops are generally best used when they can be placed on a podium or desk, not held up and balanced on one hand in the middle of a public speech. When you use a laptop to speak from, you are forced to have one of your hands constantly held up and there is a giant barrier between you and your audience. I prefer the use of a notepad, or second best would be an ipad with the intention being that you can actually hold those notes at your side for certain parts of your speech to show that you are prepared. I also believe strongly that you should be writing outlines, not speeches. You will likely receive a pretty low speaker score from me if you appear to be glued to your notes because you wrote too much down. The sign of a good speaker is someone who knows their speech or their topic well enough that they don't rely on the notes and can speak well regardless of whether or not they have them. Use the notes for sources or bullet point key ideas with short phrases. Please do not read to us, speak to us. Additionally, I think participation is important. You could be the number one speaker in a round but if you are clearly not engaged at all in questions, motions, etc. then it's likely I will knock you down some ranks because of that. On that same note, while I would hope all speakers decide to attempt to speak on all items, if you have purposefully made the decision not to speak on the first item for debate in a session, then my expectation is that you would be fully prepared to give one of the first speeches on the next item. On the note of preparation, please do not EVER delay a chamber for something that YOU want for YOUR own purposes but that you are NOT prepared for at the time you are asking for a delay. For example "We shouldn't move to previous question yet because I still want to speak" and then the chamber decides not to move to previous question, and when calling for speakers you don't immediately stand up. If you aren't ready to speak, don't delay previous question.
Some specific things I'm picky about: Congress speeches are only 3 minutes long. I think there are two common trends I've seen from some people which don't fit this style of speech well. First of all, with only 3 minutes I don't think it makes sense to have 3 full arguments. I'd much prefer you have 2 well-developed points within your speech rather than 3 shorter and less warranted ones. There's too little time in this type of speech to present that many arguments in a well-developed way without speaking way too quickly or sacrificing other important needs in the speech as well. Also, I think previewing your points in the intro is a waste of time in congress. Sure, a preview is useful in something like a 7 minute extemp speech or a 10 minute Oratory because of the length and depth of the information covered in those types of speeches. In those cases, a preview helps to compact that information and help outline what will be discussed. In congress, with only 2 main points to follow and only 3 minutes to speak, it feels like a waste of time. I'd much prefer you just gave us your agd, link it to the topic, tell us to pass/fail, and then jump right into the first point.
Side note: One sided debate sucks. Please either swap sides or just be prepared to give an early speech on the next debate item. Also, I understand the culture of saying "I'm prepared for both sides" because that's a good skill to have as a debater, but I don't like how publicly and simply people are willing to swap sides in congress. I really dislike hearing students say "Yea I can swap sides" out loud in the middle of a recess. It really defeats the whole purpose of you actually trying to convince me that you care at all about the side of the debate you are on, and I think one of the things you should be trying to do as a congressional debater is really be assertive concerning your feelings on a topic. I'd much rather you say something like "I'm not sure which side I'm on yet" or at least make those side-specific decisions more privately. Perhaps even just hide the decision a bit better by making it seem like the decision was actually made after hearing some of the arguments and giving more of a refutation speech. On that note, I think the longer debate on an item goes on the more I should see speakers refuting other arguments.
Welcome! I have been judging since November 2021. I do not have a formal background in speech and debate but my son does Policy and now Public Forum. I have judged LD and various speech events at NSDA Nationals twice. I would say that my best speech and debate teachers have been you debaters! Thank you!
I always ask that you speak clearly and at a speed that I am able to hear and note all your arguments. You DO NOT have to go slow but if you are going so fast I cannot understand you, then I am not hearing your side. I do enjoy a good argument as long as you have the evidence to back it up. Tag teaming is ok, as long as it's done respectfully and is not a distraction.
I do flow the rounds, sometimes on paper, sometimes on my laptop. All I ask for is quality in arguments, not quantity. Don't go evidence dumping just to do it, remember we do have time limits. And if we can, try not to go to Nuclear War.
I want to be persuaded! Whether you are making a case in favor of something or arguing against an issue, make it compelling. Tell me why your argument is important and why it makes sense. This is your time!
Please have respect towards your opponent(s) and show professionalism throughout the debate. I will not vote in your favor if you are rude or disrespectful to each other, your opponent or to me or the judges.
I look forward to hearing all your speeches and debates! Remember to have fun and good luck!
My email address for email chains will be melitafisher4732@gmail.com
I have been a PF coach for 20+ years. To win my ballot you should do the following things.
1. Clearly sign post throughout the round. I do flow but I do not like to spend time looking for the arguments you are addressing.
2. If you have a framework, you need to address it throughout the round. Stating it in the first speech and then not again until final focus will cause me to not weigh it as heavily in the round. I only insert myself into rounds that there is no clear framework or weighing mechanism for the round.
3. I can handle moderate speed as long as you articulate. It is to your benefit that I get all the info I can.
4. I vote on the arguments presented. I will listen to all arguments but you need to make sure they are clearly explained. If I do not understand it I do not vote for it. I will not vote on K in PF
5. Extend arguments not cards. You need to give the argument the card is making just not the author's name when extending.
6. Give me clear voting issues in the final focus. I like to hear why you should win. The focus should be on your case not your opponents.
7. Speaker points are based on how well you present yourself throughout the round. I am a speech and theater teacher and like to see good communication skills. Yelling at me or your opponents is not good communication. Crossfires need to be conducted with civility. You can be civil and still have clash in the round. I rarely give 30’s, those are reserved for truly outstanding persuasive speakers.
diegojflores02@gmail.com
Bravo '20, CSULB OF '24, LAMDL 4eva
Coach Huntington Park High School
Debate how you want:
I appreciate rebuttals that start big-picture overviews identifying what you have won, where the opponent has messed up, and what should be the core issues that decide the debate. After that, efficient and technical line-by-line.
The flow decides how I vote, not my biases. Usually, the argument that has more structure (framing / claim / warrant / reasoning) is more likely to win against an incomplete argument (missing one of those). When debates get close, it is because both sides have made complete arguments. In that scenario, I look at the evidence and decide based on who has better support. My last resort is to resort to my understanding of what is "true."
There are only 3 biases I do hold about debate:
Critical affirmatives need a solid counter-interpretation over impact turn strategies in the 2AR.
Policy teams need to defend their "reps" instead of just saying "extinction brr i need fiat look at my case"
K v. K debates need to bridge the gap between high-theory jargon and how offense manifest to material violence.
RESPECTFUL discourse during rounds is expected.
For LD rounds: Prefer to have the LD elements (Values, Criterion, Contentions, etc.) organized and clearly stated in the round.
For all events: Spreading is HIGHLY frowned upon. Concept cluster-bombing as fast as you can is a skill, but not an effective one for debate. Present the case well and decisions related to the resolution will be definitive, please do not continually state how I should vote. Make sure you practice your timing - speed is only good if you speak clearly and persuasively. If you have to take a deep breath after every sentence, you are most likely speaking too fast.
Please keep off time road maps to a minimum. If constructive and evidence is on the computer - make sure you have it in a font that you can actually refer to and present effectively.
HAVE FUN!
I was in elims of the TOC, but don't mistake that for any kind of expertise. I'm as good at flowing as a fish is at climbing trees. I also don't read.
Here's my deal:
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Great case debate - Who needs evidence when you've got a mind? As long as you engage and make good, logical arguments on case, you're golden. In fact, you could even nullify an extinction impact if you make it work. The dinosaurs are waiting.
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Clash - Let's just talk, okay? I don't need a generic block of words thrown at me. Engage with your opponent's arguments. I mean, really, who needs evidence when you're logical? It's like having a receipt for a donut.
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Slow debate - We're not in a rap battle. I don't need speed. I need substance. I don't care if you're the Usain Bolt of debate; just slow down and let's have a rigorous conversation about the aff plan.
Now, here are some circuit debate norms that make as much sense to me as a fish on a bicycle:
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Dropped arguments aren't true - I've defeated teams who crushed us on content because they missed the hidden topicality shell between DA links. I mean, who agreed that debates should be judged like this?
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Kritiks are wack - I could list my reasons, but I'll keep it brief. For one, crazy alt fiat is just that - crazy. Debate should be about possible solutions, not fantasy. Also, uniqueness - if I'm skeptical of alts, the K seems like a non-unique DA. And lastly, links - they're like those puzzles with missing pieces.
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Judge intervention is good - Yes, I said it. If I don't like your argument, it's probably not going to get my vote. This is because I want you pursuing good arguments, not just the ones the other team undercovers. You're not going to persuade me with a stale argument any more than a stale donut.
So, there you have it. My approach to debate is like my approach to cooking - I don't do it by the book. So, let's get this show on the road!
A little about me:
Currently coaching: Sage Hill School 2020-Present
Past Coaching: Diamond Ranch HS 2015-2020
I also tab more tournaments, but I keep up with my team so I can follow many of the trends in all events.
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I prefer all of my speakers to make sure that any contentions, plans or the like are clear and always link back to the topic at hand. You're free to run theory or K at your peril. I've heard great rounds on Afro-pessimism and bad rounds on it. I've loved a round full of theory and hated rounds full of theory. All depends on how it's done, and what the point of it.
I am a social studies teacher, so I can't unknow the rules of American government or economics. Don't attempt to stay something that is factually inaccurate that you would know in your classes.
Be respectful of all parties in the room - your opponent(s), your partner (if applicable) and the judge. Hurtful language is in not something I tolerate. Pronouns in your names are an added plus.
Speaking clearly, even if fast, is fine, but spreading can be difficult to understand, especially through two computers. I will say "Clear" if I need to. In an online format, please slow down for the first minute if possible. I haven't had to listen to spreading with online debate.
For LD, I don't mind counterplans and theory discussions as long as they are germane to the topic and as long as they don't result in debating the rules of debate rather than the topic itself. In the last year most of my LD rounds have not been at TOC bid tournaments, but that doesn't mean I can't follow most arguments, but be patient as I adjust.
Truth > tech.
*It's work to make me vote on extinction or nuclear war as a terminal impact in any debate. That link chain needs to be solid if you're doing to expect me to believe it.*
In PF, make sure that you explain your terminal impacts and tell me why I should weight your impacts vs your opponents' impacts.
WSD - I have been around enough tournaments to know what I should hear and I will notice if you're not doing it well. Thinking global always. Models should always be well explained and match the focus on the round. Fiat is a tricky thing in the event now but use it as you see fit.
I do NOT believe that "all's fair" in speech and debate.
Clearly, debate and speech require extensive preparation and skill in order to adequately complete. That does NOT mean undercutting or in any way subverting an opponent by anything OTHER than skillful word/research verbalization. For example, if a PF team ignores the female of the male/female opposing team, there would appear to be a problem in communication and the team would be docked appropriately for that slight. Whether intentional or not, all communications must conform to ALL rules of fairness and honor.
And debate IS a communications competition. If you cannot be understood, have distracting idioms, confusing pronunciation, apparent loss of motor skills while speaking, or any other communication issue that detracts from the words coming out of your mouth, expect less than adoration. Spreading CAN be effective if it is used correctly; that being said, if your head jerks and the veins pop out in your neck while speaking, consider the negative offset to your spread. That is not to say that you cannot win your round, but you might be making it harder on yourself than necessary.
Please understand that debate is a performance of logic; adhere to everything you've ever been taught in English, Theatre, or any other related discipline for guidance on how to conduct yourself. If you have a strict grandmother, keeping her in mind as well is also a wise choice.
Unless you directly ask me after competition, I will reserve all my comments for the ballots so that Coaches will see all of my actual words. Having been a coach, I would rather hear the words from the horse's mouth than the interpretation of a winning/losing competitor.
Former US Extemper, PFer, and OOer, with a strong focus/storied career in extemp.
Currently compete in british parliamentary debate and occasionally APDA with Stanford.
truth > tech, the point of debate is education on topics + critical thinking skills so don't tell me that nuke war with china will happen if we don't pass your water infrastructure bill
only spread if you're good at it lol. if i'm confused, i'll look confused.
i won't flow cross or take it into consideration for who wins UNLESS you bring up something that happened on cross during a speech and use it to make an argument, which you should probably do.
please weigh impacts for me this is probably the most important thing you can do especially if theres a lot of confusing clash on warranting. also "lol big magnitude means better impact :)" is not a good way of weighing impacts, explain things more than just one sentence of "we win on magnitude" - why should we care about magnitude over prob/timeframe or vice versa?
plz signpost and keep speech organized
glhf
Please introduce yourselves and your position (when applicable to the event).
I expect participating parties to keep their own time and announce the time used at the end of each segment. I am tracking the time used as well, but will not provide prompts.
I generally follow the scoring rubric associated with each event.
When I judge congressional events, I look for each speech and question to advance the bill/resolution on the floor. If you are the fourth speaker aff/neg - reading a prepared speech that does not build on, address, or bring new points to the debate is not likely to do this. Note that my bar becomes higher for the fourth, fifth, sixth, etc. speaker on a side to truly bring new arguments or effectively rebut previous arguments so in most circumstances my bias is that after a few aff/neg rounds all speakers are better served by moving to vote and having the opportunity to debate another issue. I look for consistent, active engagement in the chamber.
I am particularly sensitive to every participant maintaining a respectful tone and body language (to both participants and judges), even while listening to, debating or cross-examining their opponent(s). Passion is different than aggression, you can be passionate about a topic without being aggressive or belittling the opposing viewpoint.
I expect participants to debate or speak on the actual topic or question not build an argument based on unrelated issues or an outrageous premise. Citation of relevant and recent sources are appreciated and generally act to strengthen arguments.
Your speaking must be articulate enough for me to understand, even when spreading
I generally will not disclose round winners at the conclusion of the round, as I need time to refer to notes, compile scores and determine the winner.
Leah Frautschy (Lee-uh Frow-chee)
I have judged Speech rounds from local to Nationals, and I have been included in Debate, Congress, L-D and PF competitions.
The opportunity for me to judge at Nationals several times has been exciting and very rewarding!
I want to be able to understand you, please speak clearly. My expectations for this
event are:
Disrespect is never ok, be fair to each other and treat people as you would like to be treated.
Be kind, to others as well as yourself.
Logical, clear arguments are appreciated!
"Don't raise your voice. Improve your argument." Desmond Tutu
I am open to most any type of argumentation. I love kritiks, theory shells, topicalities, and all things squirrelly. That said, I believe spreading is an unethical practice and if I can't understand you enough to flow, you didn't say it. I have voted on probably 80% of speed Ks I have heard.
Hello!
I am a coach who for the most part judges speech. For debate, I am looking for clear arguments, active listening and analysis of your opponent's argument, effective rhetoric, a nuanced understanding of your resolution, and clear dates/data from your sources.
I do not mind off-time road maps. A clear outline of each point and subpoint during construction is imperative. Linking each point to your value and criterion helps flow the case for judges and opponents. Definitions can make or break a case. Be confident in your definitions. Speak rapidly ONLY if you can also speak clearly. I like to see passion.
Debate
I have a more traditional background in debate. However, I evaluate what is presented in the round. I like to hear in rebuttals why you believe you're winning the round (how there's a path to vote for you). Explain how you access impacts and weigh those for me.
Speech
In interp, I look for a clear storyline and development of characters. I expect to see a teaser and an intro that justifies the selection/tells me why the performance matters.
In platform and limited prep, I listen for effective speech construction, meaningful content, and smooth yet conversational delivery. I like the use of humor and other elements to add personality to the speech.
I do not judge anything which is "spread" or involves "spreading". If I cannot understand the argument, I cannot judge it. I will provide a notice of this paradigm verbally before debates begin, and I will give one warning during a debate if I cannot understand the speaker due to speaker. After that time, I will not flow what I cannot understand.
- I've been coaching in southeast Florida since 2000, and have had national qualifiers in Policy Debate, Lincoln Douglas Debate, Public Forum Debate, and World Schools Debate. Some have even advanced beyond prelims!
DEBATE EVENTS:
(1) Picture ... if you will ... your 93-year-old great-grandfather. In order for him to understand the words coming out of your mouth, you must speak clearly. Very clearly. I'm not 93, or your great-grandfather (or, at least, to the best of my knowledge I'm not - and if I am, why am I judging you? You're my great-grandchild! Conflict of interest!), butI weigh clarity highly. If I cannot understand you, and stop flowing (whether via old-school "putting the pen down" or new-school "no longer pounding away on my laptop keyboard or iPad"), you are probably losing the round. Badly.
(1a) I type fast but slopily, so I tend to merge words together when attempting to flow using electronic ballots. Which means I sometimes miss arguments while trying to fix my hot mess typos. Or when I look back on the round to review, there’s chunks missing. Clarity (there's that word again!) in your presentation will go a long way toward me remembering what you said and why it was important. “Speed kills” isn’t just about how you drive on the roadways.
Speaking of which ...
(1b) Debate is an educational communications activity. It's about persuasion; competitors ought to hone and practice the skills that will be effective in the real world; I expect no less in a debate round. Spewing out random crap just because you think a 72nd argument will win you the round won't cut it. The ONLY spreading that matters is cream cheese on a toasted onion bagel. (Mmmmm, toasted onion bagel ... with cream cheese ... and lox ...)
But I digress.
(2) "End of the world" nuke war-type arguments don't sway me. We've somehow managed to survive the Cold War and Krushchev's shoe-banging incident.
(3) I prefer substance over style.
(3a) I also prefer you treat your opponent and the judge (and, in a paired event, your partner) like they are human beings. DO NOT GO DONALD TRUMP/MAGA IN A ROUND - YOU WILL LOSE POINTS, AND PROBABLY LOSE THE ROUND ... BADLY.
(4) In Lincoln Douglas Debate, I'm really old school - it's a philosophical debate, not a forum to jam statistics and facts down my throat. Notice that "OLD SCHOOL" has the initials "LD" embedded in the name. Live it; learn it; know it.
(5) I do not require or expect case disclosure, nor will I incorporate case disclosure as a reason to vote for or against a debater, or add/dock points.
(5a) I rarely call for cards. Like, I’ve done it maybe twice in 15+ years? Don’t expect to be the third.
(6) I am not a "point fairy" (earning a 30 from me is damn next to impossible) but am not overly harsh ... unless you do something reallllllllly stupid or insulting, in which case, fear my wrath! Also, I will deduct an entire point if I don't believe you are flowing the majority of the time you should be OR if you pack-up your belongings and don't take notes/look at your flow during my RFD/critique. (BTW, I rarely disclose, but I will offer analysis of things that occurred during the round.)
(7) Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia rocks my dirty socks. So do Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (RIP, Tom!), Monty Python, the Detroit Red Wings, and Mountain Dew. Sadly, I'm not supposed to have Ben & Jerry's or Mountain Dew anymore (damn you, Type 2 diabetes!), but such is life.
CONGRESS:
(1) If you even hint you are a high school student (or anything other than an elected federal legislator, representing the constituents of your community, on Capitol Hill), expect to lose a ton of speaker points and probably any chance of ranking highly on my master ballot. The role play is crucial in this event, especially in advanced break rounds.
(2) Use of an electronic device (Chromebook, iPad, etc.) from which to read speeches will likely result in being docked a point or two. Use of a cell phone from which to read is incredibly stupid and guarantees a horrific score and a major admonishment from yours truly on your ballot. Use a legal pad!
(3) You don't need to tell me how many speeches you have given, or if it's your first or last time speaking in the session. We have all the details on electronic ballots.
(4) POs had better be standing every time they speak! Speaking of which ...
(4a) POs will almost always get ranked by me, unless they are incredibly abusive or obnoxious, allow negative speeches to open debate on a legislative item, throw gavels at the chamber, sit while speaking (see #4 above), or implore me to give them speech scores every hour on the hour. No other event - including Congressional Debate non-POs - conclude a presentation with "Hey, judge, rank me / give me scores!" The same should cross-apply to the PO.
(4b) POs cannot be impeached. Your chamber chose the PO, its legislators are stuck with their decision.
(5) ChatGPT is evil and satanic. Don't use it. And don't let me see you using it.
(6) If you use pop culture references that I don't understand, I will point this out on your ballot. Please enlighten me about the latest rap singer whose lyrics you are incorporating, or TikTok artist whose videos are part of your intro, because I am older than dirt and probably have no clue what you are talking about.
(7) Do not try to bribe the judges. You cannot afford me.
My email is paul.gaba@palmbeachschools.org.
Ariel Gabay
I debate at the University of Kentucky, I debated at, and I now coach at Niles North High School.
Emails
Procedure
I believe that technical execution overdetermines everything. I will try my absolute hardest to be non-interventionist and minimize it, in any regard, to as close to zero as I can. That said, in some debates, that's impossible, and if that is the case, I will let debaters know why I intervened, but will try to optimize that intervention towards what I believe is most fair.
I have absolutely zero preference for what argument you go for; I think that generally the more I debate, the less ideological I think I have become. Debaters work hard and are passionate about different things, you should let rip whatever you feel best increases the chances of you winning, nothing is off the table. As long as it results in more technical proficiency than your opponents, you will win.
This also means that if you cannot beat presumptively silly arguments, you deserve to lose. For example, there are a lot of intuitive issues with OSPEC; if you do not point them out and just say this is stupid, I will unsympathetically vote you down. This is a global frame for judging that I try and adopt. I try and be as neutral as possible, which means I will try and view every argument on equal footing unless explained otherwise.
Most paradigms feel like a lot of truisms, I am sure almost everyone agrees that technical debating matters. For me, what is most helpful is to understand how judges decide. I do not believe any judge is perfect. In response to the inevitable mistakes judges might make, I will try and be maximally transparent about both how I come to decisions and how I thought about arguments; you are more than welcome to post-round. With that caveat, here is my process:
I flow straight down on excel, I begin during the 1AC, no one has ever presented a persuasive argument not to do so.
I might peek at docs, but certainly not during speeches, and more so out of curiosity.
I start my decision where I am instructed to start and filter the rest of the arguments based on the resolution of that argument. I think that this is the most logical. The way to game this is that debaters must flag the arguments they want me to start on. If this is not done, I will be left to my own devices, where I will try and decide which issues I believe are most important, which, if you are comfortable with me doing that, great, but does inherently result in some judge intervention, which I detest. In response to having to intervene, I will always attempt to disclose where I started and why.
I will then type out as much as possible to figure out the implication of each argument based on the debater's articulation. This is because I believe that the decisions I respect the most, even if I disagree with them, are the ones that are thorough and well thought out. Given the amount of work that goes into debating, I will try and be thorough.
Everything should be contested, this is not just they say link, that's wrong, no link, but rather the overall functioning and structure of debate. This includes, BUT is not limited to, whether cards can or cannot be inserted, or if an argument is 'new.' Absent instruction, I will default to the least intervention. For example, if a team inserts a card and the other team doesn't say that you cannot do that, I will assume that you can insert evidence.
Lastly, something I have noticed that I struggle with is voting on arguments that are not implicated if I do not understand them, even if it is a technical crush, an argument can be conceded, therefore true, but absent an explanation of it I sometimes struggle to understand what it means and the end-result might be a decision that you are not happy with! The really easy solution to this is just judge instruction, which also overcomes everything else I have said that might result in a decision you are not happy with.
The things that have always resulted in me providing the higher speaker points are debaters who know what they are talking about, are funny, and care about the activity.
Other
Please let me know if you are interested in debating in college and want to know more about Kentucky. Do not hesitate to reach out, I almost always have Kentucky debate stickers in my backpack. I have a lot of great things to say about the school, and at the very worst, if I do not know something, I will quickly get in contact with the people who run the program for back-up.
I no longer have any carrot or stick incentive, but I certainly will consider it on the margins when thinking about speaker points if you are either bad about the wiki or are constantly abusing dead time. There is 0 excuse for not being a good debate citizen. As per the deadtime thing, I completely get that accidents happen, please make sure it is not egregious, if you have any confusion about whether something is or isn't deadtime, assume it is. Also, don't be jerks. I never thought it was affectively persuasive. I don't think anyone does, I don't think belittling your opponents has ever resulted in me voting for you, in fact, the result is usually the inverse and substantially lower speaker points.
Last big thing, I understand that at the TOC it might be people's last debates, and some simply do not want to hear full decisions. If that is the case, let me know, I won't take offense to it.
In terms of congress, I am looking for representatives who are looking to use legislation to make real changes and make them with the idea of constituents in mind, not just speaker points. Also, quality presentation and respectful CX.
She/her
Coach at Plano East Senior High (2018 - current)
I like reading, quilting, and hockey (go Stars!) Also, I am learning Finnish (Minulla on oranssi kissa ja yksi poika ja pidän velhoista. Onnea!)
I enjoy judging IEs most.
In Extemp: I judge and coach extemp more than any other event. It is my favorite event. If speech 1 has amazing content but bad fluency, and speech 2 is beautifully fluent but all the content is made up, outdated, or wrong, I would rank Speech 1 higher. If you don't answer the ACTUAL question, you will not be ranked high, no matter what. I will be randomly source/fact checking 1 source per speech, plz don't make up your sources.
In Interp: you should be making an argument with your chosen piece. Explain that argument in the intro!! I do not like giving time signals in Interp, I will give them if you ask for them but I will be grumpy about it. The piece should be exactly the same every round, so the time should be about the same. Also giving time signals distracts me from fully evaluating and taking in your performance.
In OO/Info: be unique. Think outside the box. If you are using a traditional topic, put a spin on it. If I don't learn something new during your speech, I probably won't rank you high. Same as above about time signals.
Everything you do in round is judge-able!!! Be a good steward of this activity. Be quiet while judges are writing feedback between speakers. You should NOT be on your phone during round. Your commentary on or critiques of other competitors/performances are what we call "inside thoughts" and should not be uttered into existence.
In LD, I’ve gotten much more progressive, but I tend to still favor traditional.
-I generally do not like Kritiks in LD. If you can run the same K all year on all the topics, that's a problem - lazy debating. If you choose to run a K in an LD round I am judging, slow down and explain your arguments in your own words.
-On case attacks are important!
-Theory*** & CPs good.
-Do not read at me while giving voters.
-2AR does not necessarily have to be line-by-line.
-I understand spreading, but if you become unclear I will say "clear" once, and after that, if you do not clear your speaking, I will stop flowing, more than likely hurting your chances. 7/10 speed please. Slow down on tags please.
In PF, I’m traditional. I don’t like spreading in PF and there should definitely not be CPs, Theory, Kritiks, or anything like that.
In Policy, pretty much the same as LD above, except I have more tolerance for Ks in Policy because it is a year long topic and you have more time to read lit - you still should slow down probably and explain your args really really well. I have less experience in Policy than the other debate events, but I have some competitive UIL CX history and can cross apply progressive LD knowledge. My favorite thing about policy debate is when we have fun - read an unexpected case or a crazy off.
***Theory is fine, except for disclosure theory. Not a fan. For almost a century, competitive high school debate has existed successfully and educationally without needing to read your opponent's case ahead of time.
In all debates: I do not tolerate rudeness - especially in cx/crossfire. I love seeing passion in rounds, but being passionate about your topic does not mean you get to be rude. Excessive rudeness/terrible attitude results in lowest speaks possible. Especially don't be rude or go ham when you have an obvious experience advantage (4yr debater vs 1yr).
FOR ALL EVENTS IN BOTH SPEECH AND DEBATE
Things you shouldn't say in a round in front of me (or really at all tbh): r*tarded (it's a slur), anything demeaning to or derogatory about teen moms (I was one)
When rounds finish, don't say how bad you did or how you "definitely lost" while your judges are sitting right there literally still making a decision. You never know, maybe we thought you won.
If you must have an email chain, include me: madison.gackenbach@pisd.edu (see above note about how I think you should be able to debate without reading your opponent's case)
I look forward to hearing you speak!
PF
Public forum debate is for the PUBLIC. So I expect debate that is accessible and inclusive to all audiences.
The speaking rate can be moderate to moderately fast; however, I don’t think you serve yourself well or the community going any quicker than that.
All arguments must be made by summary, or I will not be able to evaluate them in the final focus.
I prefer debate to be polite. Be nice to all competitors. Using offensive language of any kind, including but not limited to racist/sexist/ableist, will result in low speaker points and an automatic loss.
I judge arguments based on the order they are presented. I will go from top to bottom of the flow at the end of the round to make my decision. Please address the speeches that came before in the round, and make sure you are responding to the other team.
Evidence is significant to me. I want you to include the author/organization and date. Feel free to email me and competitors to start a chain.
Ultimately, have fun. Keep it entertaining. And keep it debate!
You need to support assertions with analysis and evidence to make them into persuasive arguments. You need to listen to previous speakers in order to provide direct clash and expansion and to avoid mere repetition. You need to speak articulately and succinctly. Your speed needs to not preclude clarity.
As a debate judge, I value clear signposting, structured arguments, and impactful analysis. Begin with a roadmap, maintain logical progression, and succinctly recap your points. Definitions must be precise and your impact analysis should highlight the real-world relevance of your arguments. I emphasize content and logic over speed or loudness. Management of cross-examination weighs heavily into my judging consideration. However, my ultimate decisions are based on argument relevance, organizational clarity, and demonstrated impacts.
I don't like speed or kritiks. Debate is about communication and logic. If you are speaking too quickly and playing games, that's a problem. I cannot vote for an argument that I cannot hear or understand.
He/Him
Minneapolis South
My email is izakgm [at] gmail.com, add me to the email chain before the round, please and thank you.
Significant rework: summer 2024. I’m old now. I've judged policy debate at the middle school and high school levels, and a few college rounds.
If you think the New York Liberty beat the Minnesota Lynx in the 2024 WNBA finals, you should strike me.
General Debate Philosophy:
Debate is for the debaters. Do what you are best at. You have worked hard on your arguments – don’t over adapt to me, just execute as well as you can. You could skip the rest of the paradigm and go back to cutting updates.
Ideological flexibility. No argument is presumptively out of bounds. If you said something is good, the other team can say it's bad. If the argument is horrible, it should be easy to answer. I have coached and judged teams that made a wide variety of arguments and voted for many arguments I disagree with. I refuse to draw lines like “I won’t vote on death good or racism good, but I will vote on first strike China”.
Make choices. Time limits mean that adding one argument means you spend less time on developing others. Sometimes I have under 15 minutes to decide your round. Instruct and simplify whenever possible. If an argument is incomplete when it is introduced and the other team flags it as such, I struggle to imagine a situation where I will limit new responses after the argument is completed.
Holistic evaluation. Where you start your final rebuttal is very important to me – more than other judges. I am less likely to decide a round on standalone issues and more likely to look at how those smaller issues spill up to create an overall vision of the debate. This doesn't mean you have to list 4 reasons you win at the beginning of the debate and then list them again later.
Pure technical evaluation of debates is impossible. Style and presentation are relevant. Conduct in round is relevant. Cross-x is relevant. The flow does not exist in a vacuum - I am a human being. Those factors affect what I write down, what I’m thinking about/how I feel when I write it down, and how I understand what I wrote down when I look at it later. You as a debater are relying on my knowledge of debate concepts when you communicate your speech, and in close rounds you don't have time to reinvent the wheel.
Topic research defines arguments. Any argument is fair game – but debate is a research game so arguments about the topic that are backed by timely, qualified, and innovative research are more likely to succeed. Analytic arguments can take out poorly constructed arguments or egregiously highlighted evidence. Arguments that are entirely recycled from previous years are boring. Critical knowledge is a part of the topic, if you were wondering.
Debate is an educational activity. Try your best and give your full effort towards winning. Be scrappy and creative. Every loss is an opportunity to learn and improve. “if you cannot make peace with results in a subjective activity, you are simply not an elite debater, imho” – Martin Osborn
Judging Process:
During the debate:
I will attempt to flow your speech, even if you ask me not to. On a computer if I have one, because my handwriting is poor. During your roadmap, please let me know if there’s an overview so I can insert cells. If you do not declare your overview and make more than 3 arguments, I will miss something while I make more space.
I am not the best flow on the circuit. This often stems from attempting to write too much of what you say or not knowing what I can skip. Having good labels at the beginning of your argument stem will ensure I am able to identify arguments later.
I will not open the speech doc during the debate unless I think you are clipping or cross-reading. The burden of communication is on you.
If I can understand what you are saying while you read card text, I will try to write down warrants or words you emphasize in the card, especially for longer cards. If I cannot understand what you are saying while you read card text, I will not look at the text of that evidence during the round or decision time, until I’ve submitted my RFD.
I give strong non-verbal feedback when I can’t understand you. I will verbally clear you twice if needed, even on a panel in egregious instances.
I regularly look at the speaker and each team during speeches. Speakers that connect with the judge and teams that observe how I am reacting will benefit from this.
I often take notes on Cross-x. I will verbally intervene in cross-x if there is a miscommunication that is easily resolved, or if there is excessive filibustering/question dodging.
If the debate is online, I would prefer your camera to be on, if possible. Also, please slow down a bit more. I will be more lenient about checking the doc if arguments are missed due to internet quality.
How I decide the debate:
My role is to decide who won (within time constraints given by the tournament), so I will try to follow a team down their shortest path to victory. Your shortest path to victory will include “even if” statements, which is an acknowledgement that you don’t need to win every argument to win the debate.
During the final rebuttals, I am considering the round framing given to me by each team and how much it reflects my flow of the debate. By the time most rounds (90%) end I have an initial idea of who won. I will double check that the core arguments are consistently extended and explained across speeches and cross-x.
If a round ends and is very close (maybe 10%), I will quickly write a ballot for each side to help organize the key issues, attempt to resolve those issues until one of the ballots separates itself from the other.
The rest of my decision time will be spent running through the arguments and evidence for the team I provisionally believe is losing to see if I’ve missed anything. If I find something interesting that could change the decision, I'll look at both sides in more depth. This means most of the time my feedback about evidence and strategy will be targeted towards the team that lost.
I strive to only intervene (insert my own thinking) in a few situations (don't make me do these):
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New 2ar arguments: since there is no 3nr, I will be careful that 2ar arguments can be traced backwards in the debate and strike them if necessary. I will strictly follow 2nr instruction, but I’ll try my best to protect the 2nr regardless. New arguments in earlier speeches need to be identified as new for me to strike them.
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Ships passing in the night: If both teams have plausible frames for understanding the debate, but do not make explicit arguments comparing those ideas, I will have to decide where to start. I will dig through my flows to find implicit framing questions.
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Both teams missed something big: the only way in my mind for something to become 100% true in a debate is a strategic concession – taking an argument presented by the other team and agreeing with it. If this happens early in the debate and implicates what you are talking about later and neither team talks about it, it's up to me to figure out what to do with it.
If you want me to read evidence during the part of the decision time where it's still up in the air which team won the debate:
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Please read in a way where I could understand it
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Please highlight what is good about the evidence, compare it to the other teams, etc.
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If there is a lot of evidence that you think qualifies for me to read, and it was referenced in the final rebuttal, you can send a card doc.
I will not reconstruct the round based on the docs if I’m confused. If the above standards aren’t met, I’ll stumble my way to a decision based on the explanations I was given, then look back through the evidence afterwards to see what SHOULD have been said by the debaters.
The rest of it:
Ask me about my judging record:
Debate rounds can’t be summarized by the round report. Style and execution matter more. If both teams are in the room, feel free to ask me about what happened in or how I decided any round I judged, my abstract thoughts about topic arguments, how I would have voted in nearly any debate that is on youtube (I’ve watched many – nerd alert).
I am not a member of any of the following cults (you will have to convince me to join over the course of the debate):
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Offense/Defense (I am certainly a top percentile judge for zero risk strategies, whether its presumption, links to the net benefit, zero risk of net benefit, etc)
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Debate is only a game because it’s a game
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Procedural arguments are exclusion
What are your argument preferences?
I like openness/honesty, respect for opponent and inclusivity. In my professional life I must "meet people where they are at". I believe that would be a healthy approach to debate and accordingly I am interested most in "middle ground" approaches in situations where teams fundamentally disagree about what the debate should be about. For example, k affs that have an interesting spin on what it means to be topical, or a critique that is primarily about the core assumptions of the aff. However, I am not naïve and understand that this style is rarely considered the most strategic, so I will not punish you for doing what you believe will "win" you the debate.
Feel free to post round or email me for feedback:
But if your approach in the post round is "what about this argument, what about this argument?" and you are listing one liners from the last minute of the speech, consider spending the time on a rebuttal redo where you make those arguments matter more, rather than convincing yourself that you've never lost a debate.
Minnesota Teams/regional teams without much national circuit exposure:
Use the wiki! (https://opencaselist.com/). I will boost your points (you might have to remind me but I'll try to remember). If everyone posts on the wiki, we can all save a lot of time tracking down what arguments everyone reads and spend more time preparing for better debates. If you need help setting up a wiki or navigating it, send me an email or catch me at a tournament and I’ll be happy to help. This is important for local tournaments because you get so little time to prep before the round.
Good disclosure at the tournament is also helpful. If you have a wiki that is updated, it’s easier during the preround to let folks know that your past 2nrs are on the wiki, but that only works if that is up to date. Honest and quick disclosure = more time to prep = better debates!
Think through your theory arguments if you are going for them. Not every bad or unfamiliar argument is unfair. Reading theory is also part of a broader strategy to constrain the other team's options and force responses. It still requires you to respond to opposing counter arguments – there is no one set agreed upon list of rules, so you’ll need to debate it out!
Give the performance you think is the best. That’s all I ask for!
Persuasion is key. Speaking fast with lots of arguments and debate jargon is not persuasive and will probably cost you the round. Sound reasoning and logic should be a significant part of the round. Evidence should be used as support but not the only the thing to vote on. Referring to the “Smith 16 card" will not tell me anything. Refer to the argument or contention and the evidence used there.
PF: I still think Public Forum should hold to the intended purpose when it was first introduced. Persuasion is key. Speaking fast with lots of arguments and debate jargon is not persuasive and will probably cost you the round. Sound reasoning and logic should be a significant part of the round. Evidence should be used as support but not the only the thing to vote on. Referring to the “Smith 16 card" will not tell me anything. Refer to the argument or contention and the evidence used there.
Wayzata (MN) 21'
GMU (college) 25'
In High School I competed for Wayzata High School (2018-2021) and garnered multiple national outrounds in HI, OO, Poetry, POI, PPS (prepared prompt speaking) and even have a title in DI from the TOC. I now am a competitor for George Mason's Forensics team in Fairfax, Virginia where I compete in POI, Poetry, Prose, DI, Duo, ADS, CA, and Info with national finals and outrounds in all of them, (I have 13 national finals and 5 national championships across AFA/NFA). Since I graduated highschool, I have coached at Stillwater high school, Wayzata High school, and private coached numerous students to success at NIETOC, NSDA, UKTOC, and NCFLs.
I pretty much only use tab like this when I'm judging debate so here's debate at the top, and I wrote a speech paradigm because I was bored one day.
DEBATE
PF/Policy:
I'm a pretty lay judge (I'll probs talk a lil' bit before the round and give you a brief summary of this paradigm if you hadn't checked it out beforehand) but if there is one thing you do take away from my paradigm: please don't spread, (policy, sure, I'll try and keep up), but if you're in PF and are spreading, I may drop speaks, not astronomically though. I value your voice when you're not speaking at 100 mph. I'm generally a flow judge, but I don't always flow card authors/names. My focus on the flow is getting what the evidence claims and what the warrant is, rather than who the source was. Moreover, if you wanna add me on an email chain, go ahead @premganesan12345@gmail.com . That being said, I'll mainly use it SOLELY to see if you and your opp are exchanging cards correctly and timely, any evidence in those docs that YOU DO NOT BRING UP IN THE ROUND WILL NOT BE JUDGED UPON.
Generally: I like sign posting, off time roadmaps, clear voters, I like when you extend your flow, sensible impacts (not just war is bad), solid/timely citation.
I'm also a very very VERY expressive human! I'll make a face if I believe you misstated something. I'll nod if I think you're making a good point. I'll shake my head if I think you're making a poor point. This doesn't mean that I'm voting for you or against you. It just means I liked or didn't like that particular statement.
LD:
I study Economics with a concentration in Political and Philosophical Economy. I'm well versed in sensing balanced arguments and will look for balanced arguments. This is a values debate at the end of the day, so argue values. Argue morality. Argue Justice. Argue any of the 7 deadly sins for all I care. LD has become far more about random tangental examples and far less about value-based arguments. Play the game and bring me some weird cases, I don't care. You think I'm joking, but I am not. Just don't lose the flow.
Congress:
I usually let PO's work their magic. I love sitting back and watching congress. Here's some wise words from my friend Sam Padmanabhan, all of which I agree with:
- Cite complete sources → Author, Publication, Month, Year. Also be cognizant of source quality. I want to see expert analysis, empirical data, etc.
- POs should make the round feel seamless. The ideal PO runs the chamber so well that I don't even know they're there. I will rank good POs very well. (top 4 usually)
- I need to see clash. People often mischaracterize Congress as a speech event; this is not true. Congress is debate so I need to see clash, refutation, clear interaction between arguments. Especially if you give a later cycle speech, make sure you’re engaging with what’s been said in the round (either by refuting it or crystallizing the issues). New arguments in the 4th or 5th cycle won’t help you. When doing refutation, the preferred style is line by line OR picking the major arguments and arguing at the warrant level.
SPEECH
INTERP:
I had a speech paradigm but it was me saying normal speech norms in my own way so lemme just say. Have fun, do what the purpose of whatever even it is you're doing, and be In time. If you're under 8:00, your rank may be affected, fill the time, use the time. If you're over 10:30, I won't stop you, go 16 min for all I care, I won't stop you at all, you (unfortunately) will not get my one. But still you'd be surprised how many people miss these marks, I always say if you look like you're having the most fun in the round you're automatically top half. Speech is beautiful but jading, find the cool things and speak on that.
OVERALL
I don't tolerate bigotry in ANY form: racism, sexism, misogyny, transphobia, xenophobia, etc. If I see any signs of this in any speech/debate, I will not be afraid to drop you. Ultimately, I am a speech NERD and love true advocacy. If you have ANY questions whatsoever, please reach out to me via email @premganesan12345@gmail.com : I mean it, if you have any questions about the ballot, reach out. This is a communicative activity built on communication.... so COMMUNICATE WITH ME!!!! Have an amazing time and have so so so much fun!
Prem Ganesan
I coach a full team, but I have more experience in Parli and IEs. I do not care about the economy so try not to use arguments that uphold the economy over, say, human lives. Please call me "judge" or "Ms. Garcia." Do not call me by my first name.
I will permit post-round questions but if folks are being disrespectful, I reserve the right to leave.
Try to win fair and square. Evidence challenges don't work on me.
World Schools: I follow the rubric.
Public Forum: I am a speech coach and this should be important to you. Rhetoric > Evidence Dumping, but I will be flowing and taking notes. Don't expect the sheer existence of your cards to win the round for you. You need to explain and analyze how the card bolsters your side of the argument. It would be impossible for me to vote for you, even if you win every argument on the "flow," if you are an incoherent speaker, so make sure to speak slow and clearly. I'm cool with paraphrasing; in fact, I encourage it. You should probably treat me like how you would treat a standard flay, or even a lay judge taking decent flows. No cussing please. I care about morality; your best bet to winning me over is on framework. Once again, I do not care about the economy. If you are blatantly rude or mean to your opponent (verbally insult them, roll your eyes at them, interrupt them during cross unnecessarily, etc.) you will lose my vote.You (the competitors) may reserve the right to share or not share the doc chain with me. I will not penalize you if your opponents choose to share the doc chain with me and you don't, or visa versa.The only Theory shell I know enough about to follow is Topicality. Try not to run any other types of Theory on me. If I'm your judge for the first few prelims, spend some time going over the basics and definitions of the resolution. After that though, try to stick to what makes your case unique.
Policy: I am looking for debaters who don't talk down to me while still clearly hashing out their arguments and plans. I have not and never will vote for disclosure theory. Disclosure is uneducational. If you are a good debater, you won't need the crutch of knowing your opponents' strategies before the round.
-Basic Paradigm: speaking skills > policymaker >stock issues
-Highly value: cx, poise, don't interrupt people, eloquent delivery
-Less Experienced with: Theory, conditional neg positions, Kritiks
Parliamentary: I honestly don't care as much about your evidence. The important thing is that your contentions be centered around common knowledge and that they are cleverly argued. Logic > evidence dumping. The only theory shell I will consider is Topicality. Other theory shells are not educational and defeat the purpose of parliamentary debate.
LD: be creative but not everything leads to nuclear war. I value rhetoric over evidence-dumping. Win me over on framework and you're golden:)
Interpretation: storytelling is most important to me, clearly defined characters are also important, please no screaming, "don't walk through your refrigerator," blocking should be clean.
Platform: puns are encouraged. Visual aids should complement your performance, not distract from it.
Spontaneous: make sure to clearly name the chosen topic multiple times and signpost frequently
Congress: proper parliamentary procedure is encouraged, don't disagree with the PO, I will notice if a particular school/team is prioritizing their own or ignoring recency
Congress should be a balance of conviction, research and clash. Students should practice a mutual respect for each other but also be able to address and attack each other's arguments impactfully.
LD Debate: I am a judge that leans toward the classic style. I don't mind K-debate, but you'd better make it apply to the resolution! I am not a fan Topicality arguments. If you run more than one off, I'm not going to apply the rest. Don't be a whiny debater. Debate the round! Speed is fine as long as you are articulate. Don't be rude to your opponent, and if you are a male debater...DON'T BE SEXIST OR CONDESCENDING to a female opponent. I want to hear framework, value, criterion, impacts, and links. Give me that and I will be happy.
PF Debate: Framework and Impacts! I don't like rudeness in Cross Examination. I like a mix of claims, warrants, and narrative. Tell me a story. I am not looking for solvency. I'm not sure why people think they have to solve in PF. I just want to understand why you support or oppose the status quo, how that fits into the framework provided, and where/how it impacts. Don't make it too difficult.
Speech and Interp: I enjoy being in speech and interp rounds, where I get to see student's personalities take flight! I love stories, and I feel like the journey's students choose to take us on are important ones!
In interp, I look for HONESTY and connection in each performance. Don't force emotion. We see that! It takes us out of the context of the piece! Also, please don't stare directly at me. I can't get lost in your piece if you are including me in the scene. I want to be a fly on the wall. And I'm a big believer in the FOURTH WALL. Also, I'm not a fan of those who exploit special needs characters, or make fun of them. If you use the "R" word in my round, or show disrespect to special needs characters, you will hear about it on my ballot. Please reconsider doing this in any piece you choose. It is exclusive and disturbing...don't resort to such things for the purpose of a trophy. This community encourages you to find growth in your humanity as well as your talents!
In speech, I like it when I learn something I didn't already know. Teach me! I love coming out of rounds and telling people, "I was in this OO/Informative/Extemp round and I just learned that..." And I don't mind controversial subjects either! As long as you aren't excluding anyone, or being offensive to a particular group of people (race, ability, religion, sexual preference...etc), then I'm okay with controversy. And whatever your topic...have conviction!
In both speech AND interp, I like it when students make CHOICES and take CHANCES. I'm a tough judge, but only because I want you to improve and have the best critique you can get to do that! I love the community that speech and debate provides for students. I also know that the experience I get from every single performer is invaluable! So thank you!
Policy Debate
I am not interested in spreading! I can hang with some speed, but will GREATLY value impact crystallization and a touch of rhetorical flare.
I have NSDA VCX judging experience, and am a veteran coach/director, with over 15 years of experience and Congress was my primary debate event.
I would prefer not to have to judge the "K" but I am down for whatever you decide...If I hear racism, discrimination, sexism, or even tacit xenophobic arguments of any sort I'll drop you immediately and take appropriate follow-up steps.
Congressional Debate
I competed in the NSDA during the 1999-2001 seasons and Congressional Debate was my primary national event. I value an actual "debate" of the legislation at hand, enthusiastic competitors who carry the debate forward in every facet of the round, and adept usage of parliamentary procedure. I ABSOLUTELY view Congress as a debate event and will base my acceptance of evidence predicated on appropriate citation provisions. Clash is king in the round and I fully expect direct refutations and spirited, clever, cross-examination sessions.
My email:
jdgarrett17@gmail.com
Bentonville West High School English Teacher
I have been an English teacher for eight years- specializing in writing studies. I want to see your speaking & delivery skills as much as I want to see your arguments developed. Make clear arguments and focus on line-by-line analysis. When it comes to splitting hairs for a win, I will go with the team with line-by-line argumentation.
Adapt your case structure/speaking style, to adhere to this request. I'm a speaker and writer. I expect solid speaking skills. I can deal with fast speaking as long as you are clear. If you do speak quickly, make sure you're clear. If I miss your argument because you're not clear, it could cost you the round.
Be sure to read arguments that have a clear link to the resolution and framework. If I don't understand the argument itself or don't understand how it links, there is no way I can evaluate it.
You're not going to win rounds with me in cross. Just because you bring a point up in cross does not mean I will flow it. If you want it considered, bring it up in your rebuttal. Keep it professional. A true debater can give their points without sounding demeaning or disrespectful. It will cost you the round with me. Learn to disagree respectfully. On that note, while not a debate or forensics coach, I am not novice at understanding the intricacies of argumentation. Don't use debate jargon in these rounds. Speak to me as if I had never heard the word debate before. That's the design of these styles. Your judge could be anybody- respect them but also understand that if they're not persuaded, you didn't do your task.
If you have any questions, please ask me before the round.
Avoid arguments that are homophobic, sexist, racist, or offensive in any way. Be respectful to your opponent and judge. Use professional language at all times.
This is your debate so have fun with it! Best of luck to you!!
let's not use email chains! Please use tabroom share or speech drop
if you have questions for me post round, you can reach me at gartner.drew@iowacityschools.org
Debate background:
Iowa City High: '11-'15
University of Iowa: '15
Coaching: Iowa City High '15-'18. '21- present
Important disclaimer: I have done nearly 0 research on this topic, and will likely not understand your acronyms without explanation. Please do not assume that I have a shared knowledge of the topic, and take time to explain things.
Important Disclaimer Addendum: I find myself not enjoying the insane speed and time skew of current policy debate. I would much rather have a slower, well developed round. I find it frustrating when a team reads 7 off and it's obvious that only 3 positions are remotely viable to make it into the block. My primary job is being an educator, not a debate coach. I love techy, interesting rounds with well-developed positions. I don't love when I can't understand a debate because everyone is going too fast.
I debated Policy all through high school and did some college policy as well. I mainly work with novices, now. Topic specific acronyms, let me know what they mean I won't know. Don't start your speeches full speed, start at 80% and work up to full speed.
I think most debates can/should be decided without reading evidence. This means it is the debaters' burden to tell me what the evidence says, and the implication of the evidence. This also means that I reward story telling/writing my ballot. I have no sympathy for debaters who ask about "well, what about this evidence that says x" after I give a decision. I will not be embarrassed to vote against an argument that I feel i do not understand. It is your job to tell me about that evidence and why it matters, not my job to read it and implicate it on the debate.
General Philosophy: I come from a team where our primary focus was "traditional policy debate" meaning we liked to read heg, environment affs, et.c. Our main neg strat was the DA and a CP, and that is the type of debate I prefer. I did do a lot of cap debating, and a fair amount of security debating, too. My knowledge of critical theory is very limited and I probably require a huge amount of work on the more "out there" ks to vote for you. That being said, I do believe a dropped argument is a true argument. I will vote on dropped arguments if they are dropped and explained. As a caveat, debaters tend to have bad flows and claim everything was dropped, when the reality is that they probably did not. Please do not use the term "functionally conceded" in front of me, that term makes no sense. Either they have dropped something or they have not.
Specifics:
Disadvantages- Probably my favorite part of debate is the top level interactions with case and good DA O/Ws and Case O/Ws and turns debates. These are probably where the majority of my decision calculus comes from. Obviously, you need to win risk/chance of your disadvantage being true, but good impact calc and turns debates are very convincing.
Counter Plans- there tend to be a lot of cheating counter plans, and as a 2a I am probably sympathetic to reasonable theory arguments and perm do the counterplan. That being said, most counter plan theory should be a reason to reject the argument, it will be extremely difficult to win that it should be a reason to reject the team
Ks- like I said above, i am mostly versed in cap and security. If you want to read too much beyond basic Ks, I am most likely not your type of judge. Floating PIKs are probably bad, don't let the negative get away with them.
"non traditional debate/ performance"- also not very versed in it. I am more than likely not the type of judge for this, but i will not reject any arguments out right. I am pretty sympathetic to FW arguments. However, if you are a "non traditional team" and you get stuck with me as a judge, don't lose faith, I can be persuaded. I enjoy critical affirmatives that actually engage the topic, not just reject debate outright, and plan texts are preferable.
T- I don't know much about this topic, so all the topic specifics should be slower and well explained. I think that most debaters try to go too fast in their final rebuttals on T, which leads to a lot of judgement calls. To remedy this, go slower in your final rebuttal, and you will be rewarded.
Theory- Most things are reasons to reject the argument not the team. I will probably not vote on dropped perm theory, even if you claimed it was a reason to reject the team.
Speech Docs/ Email chains
I like speech drop!
I can tell when you are wasting time and/or stealing prep. DON'T. it's annoying, wastes everybody's time, and will undoubtedly lose you speaker points. technical issues do happen, yes, but they should be resolved quickly and efficiently. I would prefer every speech to start as nearly as immediately after prep or CX as possible. We don't want to be the last round done.
Speaker Points
It's very easy to impress me, using technical skill and clarity.
I am okay with speed, but will yell clear once or twice before the speaks begin to get docked. Nobody likes kids who are fast but incoherent, going slower is in your best interest.
Being nice/reducing all hostility is very preferable.
I competed in LD for four years and have been judging for the last three. I've judged everything under the sun, but I'm most familiar with the debate events. For debate events, I am fairly traditional, though I can follow more progressive arguments. I prefer good logic and argumentation over just throwing evidence out there. Make sure you explain your links and impacts well. I don't flow cross ex, so make sure you bring up anything you feel was important in your speech. For speech events, I pay attention to overall presence as you present as well as the content of your speech itself. I look to be entertained and engaged, but I don't want to see things get to theatric (unless it's an interp of course). Make eye contact, be confident, be engaging. I love debate and I love judging. So as long as everyone's respectful, we should all have a good time :)
I truly enjoy judging speech and debate events. In the 1990s, I participated in Cross Examination Debate, Extemporaneous Speaking and Original Oratory at Douglas MacArthur High School in San Antonio. While in high school, I competed at the TFA State Tournament (in both CX and DX) and the NFL National Tournament (in CX), as well as debate tournaments such as St. Mark's, Emory, Glenbrook South, Harvard, and the Baylor Round Robin; my CX team either broke, placed, or won at those tournaments. I attended the national high school debate institutes at American, Northwestern, and Dartmouth. I finished my high school speech and debate career with the Outstanding Distinction/Quad Ruby Degree from the NFL. Currently, I am a volunteer coach for Incarnate Word Academy and a full-time lawyer in Houston. My favorite speeches are well-organized, analytical and persuasive. Please be sure to support your argument with credible evidence or authority. A good attention getter and closing go far in my book. Try your best to finish right around the end of your time limit. Overall, I value "stuff" over "fluff," but speaking style, clarity, and mannerisms do help to put gifted speakers at the top of my ballot. Don’t be afraid to offer differing viewpoints to provide balance to your argument; that demonstrates an intellectual appreciation of nuance. I view judging as a community service and am always available for comments after your round. Best of luck.
The most important indicators of a good debate are logical reasoning and good use of high-quality sources.
I started my judging career as a speech judge so I will always prefer a high-quality delivery over spreading.
As a judge, I am looking first and foremost at speaking skill. A well planned and spoken speech ranks high on my radar. I also place value on evidence based speeches. Your evidence should be current and relevant. Confidence, kindness, and professionalism are key, as well. No spreading hate or spreading, period.
I'm an assistant coach and have judged for four years. I have been an English teacher for 15 years, so I understand the art of rhetoric and can follow evidence and counter-arguments.
Don't waste time repeating yourself or your arguments. Ensure you understand your case. Ensure I understand your case.
I can follow spreading, but prefer quality over quantity. I will listen carefully, but I expect you to speak as clearly as you are able. I also lean toward evidence over analytics, but I like both. If a plan is weak, I won't care about the disadvantages. I would rather you prove that a plan would not work than emphasize the disadvantages. Additionally, don't waste too much time discussing the validity of cards, but focus on the topic.
I only judge what you bring up in the round. I may look at your speeches in speech drop, or I may focus on flowing.
I like policy; I prefer applicable arguments -- those could be put into actual practice for the benefit of real people.
Additionally, I don't like the argument that the debate round is not educational. All debate is educational, and whatever goes in the debate round goes.
You don't need to engage with me -- I listen to what you say to each other and usually focus on writing my notes over your speech. Some judges want you to make the case directly to them, but this doesn't matter to me.
I want sportsmanship. Show respect while being competitive. I know you will cut each other off sometimes, but I will dock you in speaker points if you are disrespectful to your teammate or opponents.
Lastly, while I will almost certainly think you are awesome, I'm not going to shake your hand due to having an immunocompromised son. Thank you!
I will judge participants on topicality, significance of harm, inherency, solvency, and advantage over disadvantage. Topicality standards will include precision, debatability, notice and fairness and reasonability. Inherency will be assessed on structural and attitudinal inherency factors. Solvency will be evaluated on impracticality, insufficiency and counterproducivity factors. Finally, command over the sources and effectiveness of the conclusion will be assessed.
Hi! I am an experienced parent judge. I have been judging LD for three years, including NSDA nationals last year. Please speak clearly. I also come from a history of mock trial in high school and college. Good luck!
Andrew Gibson
Director of Forensics at The Woodlands College Park High School
Speech Drop Preffered
Before the round/ During the round logistics
A big thing for me is staying on time at any tournament therefore I will be starting the round when both teams are present. Please pre-flow before the round starts. I should not be waiting long periods of time to actually start the round. I am the same way with prep time during a round I believe this has becomes extremely abused in todays circuits. Do not tell me "I will take 1.5 minutes of prep and then the timer goes off and you take another 5 minutes to get to the podium. It is always running prep When a speech ends and you are taking prep simply say starting prep now and keep a running clock. Once you are at the podium ready to speak say cease prep and start your roadmap. Sharing Speeches is INCLUDED in speech time
Policy (UPDATED FOR TFA STATE)
I am a more Traditional Style of Judge. Speed doesnt bother me too much as long as you are clear and dont spread tags/analytics.
T - I love Topicality debates if they are ran correctly make sure there is clash on standards and abuse is shown. Paint the story as to why this skewed the round in any capacity.
Theory -My theory threshold is High I have to see clear abuse
DA/CP/Case Debate - This is probably the easiest way to my ballot. Impact calculus is very important for me paint a picture as to what the affirmative plan looks like and what the world looks like either in SQ or Counterplan world.
Kritik -I am not a K judge this will be a tough way to my ballot. if you are going to run it I prefer case specfic not generic K's just to the topic not the case.
Role of ballot is big for me tell me what my ballot does and why I should use my power as judge to pull the trigger.
Any questions please feel free to ask!
Lay judge
Affiliation: University of Houston
I’ve been judging since 2011. As of January 2nd, 2022 I am the third most prolific college policy judge in the era of Tabroom. Ahead of me are Jackie Poapst and Armands Revelins, behind me are Kurt Fifelski and Becca Steiner. Take this how you will.
Yes, I want to be on the E-mail chain. Send docs to: robglassdebate [at] the google mail service . I don’t read the docs during the round except in unusual circumstances or when I think someone is clipping cards.
The short version of my philosophy, or “My Coach preffed this Rando, what do I need to know five minutes before the round starts?”:
1. Debate should be a welcoming and open space to all who would try to participate. If you are a debater with accessibility (or other) concerns please feel free to reach out to me ahead of the round and I will work with you to make the space as hospitable as possible.
2. Have a fundamental respect for the other team and the activity. Insulting either or both, or making a debater feel uncomfortable, is not acceptable.
3. Debate is for the debaters. My job, in total, is to watch what you do and act according to how y’all want me. So do you and I’ll follow along.
4. Respond to the other team. If you ignore the other team or try to set the bounds so that their thoughts and ideas can have no access to debate I will be very leery of endorsing you. Find an argument, be a better debater.
5. Offense over Defense. I tend to prefer substantive impacts. That said I will explicitly state here that I am more and more comfortable voting on terminal defense, especially complete solvency takeouts. If I am reasonably convinced your aff does nothing I'm not voting for it.
6. With full credit to Justin Green: When the debate is over I'm going to applaud. I love debate and I love debaters and I plan on enjoying the round.
Nukes thoughts:
The amount of time, reading, discussion, and even writing I have dedicated to American and International nuclear strategy is hard to overstate. Please treat this topic with respect.
The standard argumentative thoughts list:
Debate is for the debaters - Everything below is up for debate, and I will adapt to what the debaters want me to do in the round.
Aff relationship to the topic - I think affirmatives should have a positive relationship to the topic. The topic remains a center point of debate, and I am disinclined to think it should be completely disregarded.
"USFG" framework: Is an argument I will vote on, but I am not inclined to think it is a model that best suits all debates, and I think overly rigid visions of debate are both ahistorical and unstrategic. I tend to think these arguments are better deployed as methodological case turns. TVAs are very helpful.
Counter-plan theory: Condo is like alcohol, alright if used in moderation but excess necessitates appropriate timing. Consultation is usually suspect in my book, alternative international actors more so, alternative USFG actors much less so. Beyond that, flesh out your vision of debate. My only particularly strong feeling about this is judge kick, which is explained at the bottom of this paradigm.
Disads: I have historically been loathe to ascribe 0% risk of a link, and tended to fall very hard into the cult of offense. I am self-consciously trying to check back more against this inclination. Impact comparison is a must.
PTX DAs: For years I beat my chest about my disdain for them, but I have softened since. I still don't like them, and think intrinsicness theory and basic questions of inherency loom large over their legitimacy as argumentation, but I also recognize the role they play in debate rounds and will shelve my personal beliefs on them when making my decision. That said, I do not think "we lose politics DAs" is a compelling ground argument on framework or T.
Critiques: I find myself yearning for more methodological explanation of alternatives these days. In a related thought, I also think Neg teams have been too shy about kicking alts and going for the "link" and "impact" (if that DA based terminology ought be applied one-to-one to the K) as independent reasons to reject the Affirmative advocacy. One of the most common ways that other judges and I dissent in round is that I tend to give more credit to perm solvency in a messy perm debate.
Case debate: Please. They are some of my favorite debates to watch, and I particularly enjoy when two teams go really deep on a nerdish question of either policy analysis or critical theory. If you're going down a particularly deep esoteric rabbit hole it is useful to slow down and explain the nuance to me, especially when using chains of acronyms that I may or may not have been exposed to.
Policy T: I spend a fair chunk of my free time thinking about T and the limits of the topic. I used to be very concerned with notions of lost ground, my views now are almost the opposite. Statistical analysis of round results leads me to believe that good negative teams will usually find someway to win on substance, and I think overly dramatic concerns about lost ground somewhat fly in the face of the cut-throat ethos of Policy Debate re: research, namely that innovative teams should be competitively rewarded. While framework debates are very much about visions of the debate world if both teams accept that debate rounds should be mediated through a relationship to policy action the more important questions for me is how well does debate actually embody and then educate students (and judges) about the real world questions of policy. Put differently, my impulse is that Framework debates should be inward facing whereas T debates should be outward facing. All of that should be taken with the gigantic caveat that is "you do you," whatever my beliefs I will still evaluate warranted ground arguments and Affirmative teams cannot simply point at this paradigm to get out of answering them.
Judge Kick: Judge kick is an abomination and forces 2ARs to debate multiple worlds based on their interpretation of how the judge will understand the 2NR and then intervene in the debate. It produces a dearth of depth, and makes all of the '70s-'80s hand-wringing about Condo come true. My compromise with judge kick is this: If the 2NR advocates for judge kick the 2A at the start of 2AR prep is allowed to call for a flip. I will then flip a coin. If it comes up heads the advocacy is kicked, if it comes up tails it isn't. I will announce the result of the flip and then 2AR prep will commence. If the 2A does this I will not vote on any theoretical issues regarding judge kick. If the 2A does not call for a flip I will listen and evaluate theory arguments about judge kick as is appropriate.
Online Debate Thoughts:
1. Please slow down a little. I will have high quality headsets, but microphone compression, online compression, and then decompression on my end will almost certainly effect just how much I hear of your speeches. I do not open speech docs and will not flow off of them which means I need to be able to understand what you’re saying, so please slow down. Not much, ~80% of top speed will probably be enough. If a team tries to outspread a team that has slowed down per this paradigm I will penalize the team that tried for said advantage.
1A. If you're going too fast and/or I cannot understand you due to microphone quality I will shout 'clear'. If after multiple calls of clear you do nothing I will simply stop flowing. If you try to adapt I will do the best I can to work with you to make sure I get every argument you're trying to make.
2. I come from the era of debate when we debated paper but flowed on computers, which means when I’m judging I will have the majority of my screen dominated by an excel sheet. If you need me to see a performance please flag it for me and I’ll rearrange my screen to account for your performance.
3. This is an echo of point 1, but it's touchy and I think bears repeating. The series of audio compressions (and decompressions) that online debate imposes on us has the consequence of distorting the high and low ends of human speech. This means that clarity will be lost for people with particularly high and low pitches when they spread. There is, realistically speaking, no way around this until we're all back in rooms with each other. I will work as hard as I can to infer and fill in the gaps to make it so that loss is minimized as much as possible, but there is a limit to what I can do. If you think this could affect you please make sure you are slowing down like I asked in point 1 or try to adapt in another way.
4. E-mail chains, please. Not only does this mean we don't have to delay by futzing around with other forms of technology but it also gives us a way to contact participants if (when) connections splutter out.
5. The Fluffy Tax. If during prep or time between speeches a non-human animal should make an appearance on your webcam and I see it, time will stop, they will be introduced to the debaters and myself, and we shall marvel at their existence and cuteness together. In the world of online debate we must find and make the joy that we can. Number of times the fluffy tax has been imposed: 4.
6. Be kind. This year is unbelievably tiring, and it is so easy to both get frustrated with opponents and lose an empathetic connection towards our peers when our only point of contact is a Brady Bunch screen of faces. All I ask is that you make a conscious effort to be kind to others in the activity. We are part of an odd, cloistered, community and in it all we have is our shared love of the activity. Love is an active process, we must choose to make it happen. Try to make it happen a little when you are in front of me.
lake highland '21, fsu '25.
put me on the chain: sebastian.glosfl@gmail.com AND lakehighlandpfdocs@gmail.com or make a speech drop. (speech drop > email chains) Try to set this up before the round.
4 years pf, 4th year competing in nfa-ld, president of debate at fsu.
TLDR: tech > truth. I will evaluate anything on the flow as long as it's warranted and weighed.
How I evaluate rounds: First, I look to who is winning the weighing debate; if there is a weighing mechanism that is extended properly and comparative, it forces me to evaluate that case/argument first. From there, I evaluate whether that argument is extended properly; this should include the link, internal link, and impact at the bare minimum. Then, I look to see whether there are any responses to the argument; if there are responses, I hope you engage with the warrant of the response and respond to it and not just extend case evidence. I find myself calling a lot of debate washes simply because each team will just repeat responses from rebuttal and summary but not engage with the response itself. Thus, if I find that you are winning the weighing, case/argument, and extending properly, you should easily win my ballot. I would also like to preface that this is in the context of a case argument, but I have also happily voted on any type of offense that has followed this structure.
Some overall specifics:
Speed: I am good with PF speed, but it's more important that your opponent is okay with it rather than me. Also, if you are going to be spreading please just slow down on tags and author names, dont just go through it full speed.
Framework: I am cool with pretty much any framework read in PF, just nothing phil oriented. If a framework is read, and a counter framework is not read, I will default the framework read. Otherwise, if two opposing frameworks are read, I prioritize pre-fiat offense then post-fiat. I often find teams under prioritizing pre-fiat offense, you should go for these arguments instead of engaging with the post-fiat offense of the framework.
Weighing: Please use pre-reqs, link-ins, and anything on the link level. Also, weighing turns in rebuttal makes everyone's jobs easier. Carded weighing > analytics.
Prog: I think if you are competing in the varsity division of any national tournament you should be prepared to debate a shell or K.
Theory: I am not insanely versed in the norms of PF, but I think disclosure is good, paraphrasing is bad. I rather not judge a friv debate, if you wanna read one, i probably will not flow it. Otherwise, I have voted for disclosure, paraphrasing, and vague alts. As long as you win some kind of in round abuse, I will probably vote for it.
K’s: This is where I am more comfortable evaluating. I think K teams in PF don’t utilize the alternative to its full potential, please spend time explaining how the alternative resolves the link of the K. Otherwise I am somewhat familar in: capitalism, settler colonialism, psycho (lacan), virilio, and security.
Phil: nah.
T: please go for T more. So many PF teams get away with abusive things because of their interp of the resolution. Also a great way to respond to the K!
Evidence: I will not read ev unless explicitly told to evaluate evidence.
Presumption: I presume the first speaking team. However, if there is another warrant read in the round, I will evaluate that.
If you are blatantly racist, ableist, homophobic, sexist, etc., to either your opponents or within your argumentation, I will hand you an L and tank your speech. Strike me if that's an issue.
Message me on facebook if you have any questions!
Somethings I really enjoy:
- House music
- Tay-K
- Warrant comparison.
Somethings I dont really enjoy:
- Offensive overviews while speaking 2nd.
- Saying you outweigh on scope when you dont.
I’ve been coaching debate of all varieties for over 20 years now. I love this activity, and believe it teaches some important and useful skills.
What you want to know:
1. Speed is fine. Be clear.
2. Disclosure is preferable at circuit tournaments (I’m less concerned about it locally).
3. Progressive arguments, in general, are good by me. Some caveats:
A. I generally prefer to vote on substantive issues over procedural ones. My threshold for theory is fairly strict, and the abuse has to be pretty clear.
B. Tricks aren’t cute. They’re intellectually dishonest bad faith arguments that I think are bad for debate. Run them if you must, but I’m generally disinclined to reward them.
C. Kritiks based on identity arguments (fem rage/trans rage/etc.) are relevant and important, but if you do not identify with the positionality upon which the kritik is based, and are running the argument solely for its strategic value, you are doing a really bad thing by co-opting a discourse to which you have no right or claim, and commodifying it for wins. Do better.
4. Good impact analysis is important to me, explain clearly why you should win. Tell me the story you want me to believe.
5. Don’t tell lies. Bad debate math counts as lies. I’m happy to evaluate all arguments, but lies are not arguments. There isn’t room in this activity for intellectual dishonesty.
6. Have fun, be kind and generous and charitable. This is a really rewarding game, even when you take an L. Enjoy it, and help others enjoy it too.
Edit for 2024: This above considerations were written largely to apply to my approach to high school LD debate. I believe these things in general for all debate, but ask me if you have questions about specifics at a tournament. Thank you!
Update for CARD:
A lot of the same things as above apply to how I approach CARD. I really enjoy the nature of CARD, and believe strongly in its philosophy of academic discourse and community building. The ideal round of CARD, for me, would see two teams engaging the literature in a thorough and meaningful fashion, which means I'm looking for good evidence comparison work --why, perhaps, I should believe the warrants in the evidence being produced by one team, over that of the other. Debate is much more a game of listening than one of speaking, and so I'm looking for you to be listening to your opponents arguments, and engaging them on the line-by-line debate to do that kind of quality evidence comparison that the format calls for. Ultimately, I will be evaluating the round on who does the more effective job of convincing me on the merits or risks of the proposed advocacy. One of the nice things about a limited library of evidence is that it tends to curb some of the more ridiculous catastrophizing that can happen in other forms of debate, and concerns like probability and timeframe often become more important than assessing which version of existential doom seems bigger. Take some time when you're doing evidence comparison and impact analysis work to consider which outcomes might be more likely, or might happen quicker, and how that might impact whether a particular proposal will save us from what appears increasingly to be a very dark fate at the hands of anthropogenic climate change.
And above all, number 6 above applies strongly here. Have fun. Be kind, generous, and charitable to your opponent's arguments. Treat them with the same respect and dignity you feel that you deserve. Building community happens in round, as much as out of round. I notice when a question in cross-ex seems snarky or condescending. So do the people who are being asked such questions. Approach these debates in good faith, and with an aim to make this community a welcoming place that doesn't chase people off when they don't live up to some arbitrary standard of 'good,' or when they aren't part of the 'in group.' - My favorite thing about CARD is that I see this kind of behavior very rarely, so maybe none of this needs to be said explicitly here. But I will say it anyway as a word of encouragement to everyone who I've seen step up to make this event so enjoyable and welcoming.
I am a parent judge and relatively new to speech and debate. I appreciate a competitor who speaks slowly and clearly so that I can easily understand and follow their points.
This is my third year as a parent judge.
I appreciate careful and reasonably-paced speaking, good evidence and knowledge of your sources.
I find that there is plenty of time during the round for teams to present arguments cogently and marshall evidence. Usually the debate gets repetitive towards the end. So don't rush. Make eye contact with me and convince me with good evidence and a carefully made argument.
We are all influenced by implicit bias, or the stereotypes that unconsciously affect our decisions. I will always take a moment to reflect on biases that may impact my decision-making process.
Please add me to the email chain: sgoddardoe@olatheschools.org
I have coached for a few years and am always learning. Don't assume I know anything but I will listen to and entertain almost everything.
I do like to be included on the email chains if that's okay with everyone, at johng518@gmail.com.
With regards to speed, for speeches without any docs to send out or closely follow, just be sure to speak up and enunciate on the tag lines/citation and I should be fine to follow along. For speeches where you'll be adhering closely to a doc you sent me, you're free to go at whatever speed you'd like. Regardless of what speech it is, if I do want you to slow down, I'll either hold up a fist if I'm in your line of sight, or say "clear".
I've always tried to lean on the tabula rasa/clean slate approach to judging, where I don't approach a round with any pre-existing biases about a specific type of argument or format. For example, you won't find anything like "don't run topicality" in one of my paradigms. This gives me more flexibility to really weigh the round based on how well-developed your arguments are and how well you're able to use your evidence. And I do like to sit and read cards during prep time (I'm a paralegal in my day job so I love reading fine print lol)
I don't normally disclose a winner after a round unless I'm judging at a tournament where that is the norm/encouraged/required. As far as general feedback, I'm better in writing, so I usually point people to my ballot for that as well.
I'm a parent judge, former litigator, and currently a bank regulatory and policy attorney. I'm also a volunteer firefighter.
I'm fine with moderate speed, as long as it's clear and isn't spreading. Please frontline in 2nd Rebuttal, and weigh in Summary and Final Focus.
For the round, please time yourselves, and when time ends, then simply complete your sentence and defer.
Be respectful of your opponents, and during crossfire and grand crossfire please strive not to speak over your colleagues and remember to always ask questions (and not soapbox your contentions).
Best of luck!
I value clear communication and appreciate a regular speaking speed. Please avoid spreading because if I can’t follow your speeches, I’m unable to judge you fairly as well. I also would really appreciate any and all acronyms to be explained clearly, even if it’s something that might be common, just to make sure I’m on the same page as you. Thank you!!!
Third Year S&D teacher / coach, with ever-increasing knowledge of the fundamentals of the debate.
50 + rounds judged last season (mostly in LD and PF).
What I like to hear is a well-laid out case, clearly articulated, as well as solid and clear responses to the elements of your opponent's case. Additionally, extending your own arguments and weighing are important.
Spreading?? Generally, I'm against spreading. Talking fast is fine, but it's important for me to hear and understand your case, as well as taking an accurate flow. Without a good flow, it's hard to judge the round. Spreading, especially if it inhibits articulation and clarity, is hard for me to follow.
I'm also not opposed to K's, as long as they are articulated well, relevant to the topic, and that the debater has a nuanced understanding of the K. Being able to answer questions about your K in cross is key.
I will do my best to provide useful feedback, but forgive me in advance if the feedback seems short. Tournaments move fast, and getting ballots out fast is key.
Thank you for participating in Debate. It's a ton of work, so congratulations on being here.
Good luck!
Chris Goodson
I'm in my fourth year judging LD debate, including judging at nationals. I maintain a rigorous flow during rounds. Because I do take extensive notes, I prefer debaters to speak at a conversational rate or at least not too fast that I'll miss important points. Please particular speak clearly when articulating your value and value criterion - don't bury your main points in a deluge of evidence and quotations. I prefer well-reasoned arguments over direct quotes from sources. Quotes can be fine and obviously can support your argument, but when overused, they indicate reliance on others' critical thinking over your own.
I like off-time road maps, a summary of voting issues, and for debaters to identify which, if any, points they think their opponent dropped. Regardless of how competitive a round might be, I prize civility and recommend debaters treat their opponent with respect at all times. I also value substance and logic and encourage debaters to prioritize persuasive arguments and points over technical ones. In that vein, the overuse of jargon can be distracting and unpersuasive. When using acronyms, be sure you have been very clear at the outset about the meaning to avoid confusion.
Finally, I know how much time and effort goes into preparing for tournaments, so I try always to bring an open mind and my undivided attention.
I am an experienced judge in both speech and debate, having coached for 30+ years in all categories offered within the spectrum of S&D. I began coaching Lincoln Douglas and Congressional Debate in the 1990’s, have coached PF since its inception, having coached the first PF team that represented NJ at Nationals in Atlanta, GA. I currently coach the NJ World Teams.
I am a flow judge who looks for logical arguments, a valid framework, and substantiation of claims made within your case. As a teacher of rhetoric, I appreciate word economy and precise language. Do not default to speed and redundancy to overwhelm. Persuade concisely; synthesize your thoughts efficiently. Be articulate. Keep your delivery at a conversational rate.
A good debate requires clash. I want to see you find and attack the flaws in your opponents’ arguments, and respond accordingly in rebuttal. Cross examination should not be a waste of time; it is a time to clarify. It is also not a time for claws; be civil, particularly in grand crossfire.
Disclosure is not a discussion or a renewed debate. Personally, I am not a fan, in large part, because of a few unwarranted challenges to my decision. You are here to convince me; if you have not, that will drive my RFD.
Judging PF, LD, and Congress since 2018. Coaching since 2024.
Hello! This is my second time at Nationals and I'm really looking forward to it. I have been judging for the past 3 years and have judged both Debate and Speech events.
Please know that I am always listening, but I do look at my computer a lot or writing on my notepad during the round. I want to make sure I am giving fresh feedback, and I want to be sure that I am following the rules of your individual event if I haven’t judged your event before.
Please Do not spread. If I can’t keep up with what you are saying, I will drop you.
Additionally, please speak so that I can hear you. Enunciate and show your passion for your topic and event.
Finally, be respectful and try to have fun!
Add me to the email chain: eadriang17@gmail.com
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Last updated for Worlando Beach- 1/10/25
Debated for:
University of Wyoming 2021-23
Cheyenne East- 2017-2021
I have more knowledge and experience with policy rounds, but am not opposed to clash or K v K rounds- you guide the direction of the debate, not me
Things to help win my ballot
1. Impact Calculus- Succinct, well warranted impact calc is the key to my heart and can easily steal rounds away. Too many rounds happen where the aff assumes I hear something in the 1AC, and automatically assume their impacts are bigger than the negative's, that often not the case. Without explanation of why I should evaluate your impacts over your opponents, my path to victory should be obvious. The first 20 seconds of the 2NR/2AR should be what I write on my ballot.
2. Communication- If I can't hear you, I can't flow your arguments. This is especially true as we're mostly online, but I was never good at flowing 16, unlabeled arguments under one subpoint anyways, so probably best to slow down, even just a little bit. I'm okay with speed in general, but I'm not a machine, and if you're spreading to the point where nobody can understand you, it's impossible for me to evaluate those args. Especially on tags and in theory debates- noticing a trend of folks failing to take a breath, which in theory debates SUCKS for you :)
3. Timing- Grace periods aren't a thing. Who let y'all get away with this? When the timer stops, you're welcome to keep yapping, but know I've stopped flowing and I'm gonna give you weird looks until you sit down.
Argument Specific Stuff
Condo- probably good, but don't overdo it. I find debates where mooting as much of the aff as possible and then owning them on a thing you weren't going for anyways to be very sad, but it's a tool in the tool kit, so just don't abuse it, and for those aff teams out there who think three means go, I'm probably your guy. Also, this is probably the only theory argument that is reject the team, not the arg.
Kritiks- I'm down, just know my K lit base knowledge in general is terrible, and topic specific stuff is even worse. That doesn't mean you can't and shouldn't go for these arguments, it just means you need to do more explanation so I get the gist. Also, probably have an alt.
Tech > Truth
Theory args at the bottom of flows- I'll cry if your 3rd response to the CP is theory, your opponents will cry, and if you have another argument, followed by another theory argument, I'll cry some more. If theory becomes more developed we all need space to write them down, trying to sandwich your subpoint z as to why condo is a good thing between other spots on the flow is messy and unfun for everyone.
Judge Kick- I don't do it unless told otherwise by the neg, and can be convinced by the aff not to do so.
Tech- I'm probably like, medium tech on the scale. I get most complex args, but I won't pretend like my eyes don't glaze over a little bit in some clash rounds, or 20 minute framework overviews on a Kritik. Part of this is absolved by slowing down on these more complex topics (see above) the other part is absolved by not going off the rails.
Meta Debate Stuff
Don't steal prep. I will be upset if you say you're done taking prep, and continue to click things on your computer for up to a minute afterwards, especially if it's obvious other people are prepping. Save you and your opponents the shame of stealing prep and just learn how to save a word document in less than an hour.
Be kind- the world is sad sometimes, the last place we need it is in this activity where hopefully most individuals are really brilliant people. Don't be sexist, homophobic, ablest, or racist.
I was a PF debater in high school, have been judging for years and have recently started coaching.
PF: I am a flow judge and like to see a clean line-by-line in rebuttal. Be sure you are not only responding to the argument your opponents' present but also the impact. Tell me why they can't access their impact in rebuttal. In summary, you should begin tying up any loose ends and begin to weigh. Tell me why your opponents can't access their impacts or why your impacts are bigger and better. Lives are a good default impact that is easy to compare. Final focus should be almost entirely voters. Give me 2 or 3 good reasons why I should vote for you. Don't make final focus a mini rebuttal. A good final focus does go over the entire round or every argument. Only focus on what you think you're winning. In terms of framework, unless one is proposed by either team I will default to util. In summary and final focus, tell me how your arguments/impacts align with the framework and why your opponents aren't meeting the framework.
LD: I have less experience in LD but will be able to follow more complex arguments. Be sure to talk about impacts explicitly and how they align to your value and criterion. Focus on the topic at hand, not the nature of debate or how your opponent is debating, except if they are being discriminatory. I am a flow judge through and through. Spend time developing clear answers to values and impacts that your opponent brings up and counter any arguments brough up against your case. A lot of LD arguments can become convoluted so take time to be clear so I have a clear understanding of what you are trying to say.
Speed: I can understand speed, but the faster you talk the less I will write down. As a flow judge, talking incomprehensibly or too fast could be detrimental to your success in the round.
Roadmaps: I won't time your roadmaps as long as you identify them as roadmaps before you start talking. Keep them brief. Don't waste time by saying that the order will be con then pro during first rebuttal. If you are going to talk about specific arguments identify those in your roadmap.
Also if it sounds like you can't breath, you're talking too fast.
Overall: Be civil. Don't yell at your opponents, partner or me.
I coached and judged all speech and debate events for 16 years before becoming an administrator. I coached several state champions and students successful in UIL, TFA and NSDA. As an admin, I have remained active judging and running local, regional and state tournaments.
I believe that this is an educational activity. I am accustomed to spreading though my ear isn't especially adept to it not having judged debate much recently. Watch for NV cues that you are going too fast. I will not call out at you. Since leaving coaching I have mostly judged IEs. I Adm a policymaker policy judge. For LD I prefer more LD traditional value/ criteria style debate though ultimately the round direction is up to the debates. I DO NOT like to intervene in round because the debate is messy.
I coach beginning CX at summer camps in Texas and serve as an advisor for new coaches to the activity.
I work at the UIL Region 3-5A Director and the Judge Coordinator at the CX and Academic State Tournaments as well as running several invitationals and district meets.
Most importantly.... BE NICE! BE PROFESSIONAL! Your life will not be negatively impacted because of the outcome of a round so don't let emotions push you to behave inappropriately That won't bode well for you.
I am a parent judge, not a coach. I was active in theatre in high school and therefore competed in speech occasionally, primarily dramatic interpretation. When judging I believe the information should be communicated clearly and accurately. The information should be meaningful and interesting to the audience. I watch for engagement with the audience when appropriate. I value and give praise to those who have strong structured speech with focus. I encourage conversational speaking with clear enunciation and volume. (No need to rush, if I can't hear or understand your words, then it's likely a no go from me.)
I have experience judging traditional Lincoln-Douglas debate and will judge you down if you spread or rush your words so much that I have to work to comprehend at your speaking speed. While your time to speak is limited, cramming as much as possible into your allotted time does not mean you're adding quality, particularly if you aren't articulating ideas fully and clearly. Do not drop ends of words, either.
Use evidence and explain its relevance. The quality of your evidence (source type, recency) is as important as your explanation of it. Take time to explain what things mean and how the ideas support your case. In other words, connect the dots back to the value criterion.
Concede your opponent's reasonable claims. There will be times when your opponent makes a claim you can't defend; instead of trying to, just concede it, as all issues are complex and no one is ever in the right about every detail. Acknowledging the nuances of an issue is a sign of a sophisticated debater.
Don't get too hung up on the framework. In LD, framework is definitely important, but it won't usually win the round on its own for this judge unless your opponent grossly misuses a definition or philosophy or attempts to use one that counters yours but which they haven't provided. Use your framework as a way to hold your ideas together--but be sure you make those connections for your judge. Signposting is a must.
I love a heated cross-x. Heated, but respectful. There are times when one probing question can turn a round. Help your judge remember these key moments, as just one can make all other arguments moot.
KVIs stand out when you position the argument in a new way, simplifying the threads with a metaphor or scenario you haven't already used in the round. Even better when you can use your opponent's example, metaphor or scenario for your own means. Scenarios and novel examples are also appreciated earlier in the round. Simply repeating what you've been saying throughout the round is tiring; don't do it during KVI's.
Shouting won't win your round. You should be passionate about your case, but being louder or more aggressive doesn't mean you're making better arguments, and if you are loud or aggressive every time you speak, you won't show your judge that you can prioritize and emphasize ideas.
Avoid acting like your opponent is being ludicrous. They may be, but take the high road. Call them out on nonsense simply by providing evidence to the contrary. Your judge will be rooting for you to do this, as I can smell fallacies, circular logic, and misinformation from miles away.
This judge approaches each round hoping to hear something new and convincing. You'll win me over with a logical case presented with humble confidence and novel comparisons or anecdotes.
Good luck!
I am old. I have been coaching and judging for over 35 years. This means that much/most of my experience predates the existence of Public Forum. I competed primarily in Policy, Lincoln Douglas (in its first year of existence), and Extemp. I have coached Policy (in the Dark Ages), Lincoln Douglas, Public Forum, Congress, and assorted speech events.
Speed does not offend me. That said, I am OLD and have carpal tunnel syndrome, so my flow is sloooooow. I will not punish you with points if you are fast and clear, but there is a risk I may not get everything you want on my flow.
I do not like surprises, not even good surprises. I always peeked at my presents as a child. Arguments should be extended in the summary speech if you want to win on them in the final focus. I favor line by line until the final focus, which should crystalize the debate and provide clear impact calc.
I think topic wording is important and that it determines burdens. I like it when teams are explicit about what the topic wording demands. A kritik is just an argument. If you can explain how it affirms or negates the res, it's all good.
Plans and counterplans are not allowed. Don't blame me. I didn't make the rules. You chose this event, despite the rules. That said, I think it is fair (and even a good idea) to talk about how the resolution would be implemented (assuming it calls for action and is not simply a question of fact/value). One can do this by looking at real world, typical proposals for resolutional action. I also don't think that the affirmative should be stuck advocating the worst possible way to implement the resolutional policy.
Evidence is important. Cheating is bad. Read author and date cites. I will grudgingly allow paraphrased evidence, but the full text must be available and easily evaluable. By this I mean that it is not okay to paraphrase evidence and then, when asked to provide it, hand over a ten page document with no highlighting/underlining of the bits that you claim to be paraphrasing. If you cannot say, "this paraphrases these three lines of text in the original document," or something like that, I'm going to disregard this "evidence." Neither I nor your opponents should have to read through the entire document to assess whether your paraphrasing is accurate.
I hate crossfire, especially the Grand Cluster F*!k. Please don't yell or speak over each other. I recognize that this aspect of PF is conducive to chaos, and that you are not responsible for this design flaw. That said, I will punish you with speaker points if you make the crossfire worse than it has to be.
Argument > Style. This is debate. Style is reflected in speaker points.
I am a flow judge.
Speed is not an issue.
I prefer a road map at the beginning of the constructive/rebuttals, so I have an idea of where the information is going to be applied on my flow sheet.
Competitors should be clear where arguments apply on the flow and how/why its relevant to that particular value, criteria definition, etc.
Policy- Tab judge who defaults on who's impacts outweigh. Will listen to K's but need explanation. Prefer quality over quantity. Does not flow author's names; make sure to extend the warrant. Ok with speed just value clarity. I will not join an email chain because I am not reliant on the information but more of the presentation. If you are unable to A. adapt to a judges preferred style of debate and B. realize that this is still a communication event, then you will not win my ballot.
Congress- Highly value clash. Do not regurgitate information/arguments just for the sake of getting in a speech. If a speech is just a summary of what has been said so far on a piece of legislation, I will award it a 1 or 2. In order for me to rank you, you need to be an active member of the chamber (ask questions), give competitive speeches (clash and don't regurgitate info), and speak in a fashion that does not sound rehearsed.
Speaking- I want you to have a conversation with me, not sound like a news reporter. It is ok to bring humor into a speech instead of it being straight information. I need you to tie back each point you make to your question. Having your AGD work its way through each point and the conclusion are a favorite of mine as well.
Hullo! I'm excited to meet you and hope you're feeling okay as you come into round.
My paradigm is pretty simplistic - I am looking for good communication, strong cases, and for you to have fun! Depending on the format, my feedback will be a little more specific. I have experience either competing or judging all of the formats here.
I am a speech and debate coach and I have been coaching for the past 12 years. My teams compete in PF, BQ, IPDA, Congressional and Mock Trial. We also compete in all speech/IE events. We compete on the state (Arkansas), regional (MS, LA, TX), and national (NSDA, UKTOC, NHSMTC, EMPIRE) circuits in debate and speech events.
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DEBATE:
Decorum is of utmost importance - both verbal and nonverbal.
This should be a civil discourse between competitors.
Do NOT attack your opponent personally - attack the resolution and the claims.
Debate is a speaking activity, so, no, I do not want you to share/email/drop, etc. your case to me. I will judge what you say, not what's written in your case.
Speaking style is also critical. Do not spread or even talk fast - if I can't understand or if I struggle to keep up with what you're saying two things happen: (1) I will miss key information and (2) I will get frustrated and not be able to judge you. If I miss an argument because you are speaking too fast and are not clear, then you didn't make it.
Do not be monotone in your delivery and look up during speeches. KNOW YOUR CASE!!!
You should not have so much information that it requires you to speak faster than normal conversation pace/speed.
Be efficient with your words.
I want to know how to judge the round, so supply and use your MW or V/VC or Framework!
I want to see clear links between your claims and your WM, V/VC, Framework.
I want clear CWI's.
I want to hear logical application of research in your case - don't just recite sources, actually apply it!
You need to clearly and effectively refute all of your opponent's claims. Debate requires CLASH - if there is no clash, then you have not debated. It is the responsibility of each debater to add to and create clash throughout the round.
I flow the round, so I am well aware of what has/has not been dropped or deconstructed - don't claim your opponent has dropped points when they haven't!!! This can cost you the ballot!
Debate the resolution you have been given and nothing else! (HINT: K's)
Do not have a side debate about who has the best evidence - present the evidence and I'll decide as the judge, I don't need you to try and persuade me - or any other issues not related to the given resolution.
I don't need a road map - you should be clear enough in your round that I can clearly follow you. ______________________________________________________________________________
Congressional Debate - This is a role play debate ( you are not a high schooler, you are an elected representative with constituents).
You still MUST HAVE CLASH!! Without clash, it's just dueling oratories! Listen to the other representatives and address their arguments.
Don't bring electronics up and read your speech off of your computer/iPad/phone. Look up and address your fellow representatives.
Ask good questions - don't preface questions and don't ask/lob "softball" questions.
Don't debate during questions - ask your question ONLY!!!
If you did not offer to PO the round, then don't attack the PO if they make mistakes. If you want it done better, then you need to run/volunteer to PO.
If you do run for/volunteer to PO, please make sure you know parliamentary procedure and how a congressional round works.
When using parli pro, make sure it is for the benefit of the round/chamber. It should be used move the round forward - not just to receive parli pro points and never to insult, embarrass, or belittle another competitor. Do not weaponize parliamentary procedure.
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Speech/Forensics Events
Know your performance space and adjust your volume - I need to be able to hear you, but I also don't want my ears to hurt because you are too loud.
Yelling isn't acting!
Cussing & vulgar language is not necessary. Content should be appropriate - shock value is a no-go for me. If you're a talented performer, then you don't need a piece that is cringy.
Become that character from the very first words out of your mouth - I want to see that character in your eyes!
Every piece of blocking and movement should have a purpose and it should enhance your performance. Don't move just to move. Don't over block - allow the character to tell the story through their dialogue.
Know your piece! Your eyes should not be in your BB too much.
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Have fun!!! The world will not come to an end if you do not win this round!
Always be looking for what you can learn from each round you debate.
Win. Lose. Learn!
#lovenadrespect
#goodluckdontsuck
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On a lighter note, my favorite K-pop bands are The Rose, EXO, BTS, Seventeen, NCT 127 & NCT Dream -- if you work K-pop lyrics into your case/refutation, you won't receive any extra points, but it'll make me smile!!!!!!
Public Forum:
Let's start by saying this - I'm a wild card judge at times. There is no one thing that wins the round for me, and there's no one thing that loses it. I evaluate each debate on its own merit and set of circumstances. If you must know something that remotely looks like a paradigm/philosophy, though, here goes...
Although I am a coach, I still believe that public forum is an event intended for the layman. Throwing around fancy phraseology that shows me you've been to prestigious debate camps and have a diverse set of experiences on the national circuit doesn't impress me as much as you might like - it all boils down to effective argumentation and refutation. Framework/weighing mechanisms are extremely helpful. Otherwise, you've got a trigger-happy judge like me trying to determine standards upon which to evaluate the round, and you know as well as I do that people can be foolish doodyheads. Lead the horse to water, and it will drink on its own. Don't lead the horse to water, and it may gallop around everything but the water.
I'm getting off track. Not unlike a horse.
I can comprehend just fine in terms of speed, but don't spread because you think introducing eighteen different contentions will win you the round. It won't. "They dropped my really obscure point about the squirrel population and the environment - you're gonna flow that to us." No, I'm not. Just because an opponent doesn't address subpoint 3c of contention 2a doesn't mean they lose the round - that's tactics and strategy, and while it can assist you, it will very rarely be my RFD.
I do flow, but it will look like a deranged person's flow - I got thrown into debate by my own high school coach at the last second without any prep, so I made it up as I went along ("fake it 'til you make it," after all). Hopefully you won't notice it on Zoom.
Oh, and this whole notion of pre-flow? Yeah, that's definitely a thing - it's called prep time. If I, as the judge, am ready to go? You are ready to go as well. Do not ask me to wait on you beyond a minute or two - that won't start you off on the right foot.
Civil crossfires, please. This is where my pen drops the most; I interpret speaking over one another as rude and inconsiderate. I don't see that as much with virtual crossfires (#thanksalotcorona), but I thought I would mention it.
I can't do the pen twirly thing. I've tried, and I just don't have the coordination.
Hate to bethat guy, but I don't appreciate Ks in public forum. This is still an event ultimately designed for the layperson, and kritiks always have felt like a workaround to me - you're attempting to engage in your own version of the resolution, and that potentially leaves many an average Joe Schmo out to dry. Thus, for that reason, I would advise running something else. I'll still judge the round obviously, but you aren't going to get as much useful feedback as you could.
Hope that provides you some level of understanding of the claptrap that is my mind.
Policy:
Please don't make me judge policy.
I judge based on the quality of arguments that you advance on behalf of the resolution. That means you clearly state your claims, provide reputable evidence in support of those claims, and drive home the implications of your claims. Your arguments should be well-developed and category-relevant. Rarely do I find Kritiks persuasive.
Keep in mind that in public forum, the goal is for you to make arguments that are persuasive to a “citizen judge” or lay person. Thus, you should speak deliberately (at a reasonable pace) and clearly, avoid jargon, and demonstrate the logical connections between your evidence and claims, and the resolution. Style/delivery are important considerations but I am most interested in and persuaded by the quality of your arguments and evidence.
Please engage one another respectfully and respond directly to your opponents’ claims and evidence. Ad hominem attacks, grandstanding, and condescending remarks are not appropriate. Good debates, grounded in classical rhetoric, explore relevant claims and evidence, and empower the audience to make an informed decision.
My Background: More than 25 years of teaching argumentation, persuasion, and public speaking at the undergraduate level, a Ph.D. in communication and rhetoric, and a research focus on the implications of argumentation on public policy. I have been actively judging on local and national circuits since 2021.
I debated 4 years in high school but have only intermittently judged since then (I graduated in 2015). I was a Congressional debater my first year and a 3 year policy debater.
If I am judging you in Policy, I debated the national circuit and qualified to the TOC, so I am open to any argumentation style and comfortable with speed. I will vote as the flow dictates. In high school, I read policy affs and 1-off K on the neg, so I really will vote on anything. Procedural arguments and T are fine but I have been out of the activity for a few years, so please help me out with strong analysis of why you should win these flows in the 2NR/2AR. My only caution is that I am less familiar with this year's topic, so please do your best to draw out warrants and impacts from your evidence. Don't assume I am familiar with authors. As ever, show respect for fellow competitors and judges and have fun!
If I am judging you in Extemp debate, a lot of the same guidance applies. I will vote as the round dictates and, in accordance with competition format, you will not be penalized for not presenting cited evidence. You are more likely to get my ballot if you do strong impact analysis in your final rebuttal and present the reasons you should win the debate in a clear and organized fashion. Again, respect your fellow competitors and the judges and have fun! Congrats on pursuing a challenging supplemental event.
Welcome to the tournament! I expect good sportsmanship, without condescension or shouting. Thank you for your preparations and efforts.
I have been a registered nurse for 13 years, and am currently a full-time student earning my doctorate of nursing at Arizona State University.
Grand Canyon University - Master's of Science in Nursing Education
Arizona State University - Master's of Science in Clinical Research Management
Chamberlain University - Bachelor's of Science in Nursing
George Mason University - Bachelor's of Arts in English/Cultural Studies
I am most interested in hearing your own personal style of speaking that represents you as an individual and not a copy of other speakers.
My use of the word "speechiness"
There is a tendency for speakers to overemphasize certain words at the ending of sentences sometimes unconnected to the inherent concept of the text and more just for performance. Often this comes off as over the top, or even unnatural bc it is unfounded. I hear this A LOT and most often in novice speakers.
Please make an effort to discover your unique presentational qualities!! It takes time and is hard to do, but discovering this will not only do wonders for your speeches, but also follow you in your life forever making you a better communicator in all areas of your life.
Like Oscar Wilde said, "Be yourself. Everyone else it taken".
Opinion on crying: while this is most certainly a valid way to express sadness, anger etc. It is not the only way, and certainly not the most used method by the great actors. So many other ways to express emotions. Sometimes, crying feels like the the easiest. Force yourself to explore other subtleties. Watch Meryl Streep. She'll make us cry as the audience before she does.
Grammar: I hear the same mistake over and over again in speeches.
Woman - wuh-men. Singular.
Women - wih-men. Plural.
This is one of those examples of the English language that makes it virtually impossible for anyone to learn it. How in the world can we explain these pronunciations!!?? Truth is we can't explain them. Just need to memorize them. Very often I hear the singular used, when the speaker means the plural. Yes, I am standing on a soap box like a pedantic parent! hahaha....you're right. Call me out on it. But since this is a SPEECH competition, I feel it is the exact place to be critical of the way we speak. Yes?
Judging Philosophy
Robert Groven
Chair, Assoc. Professor, Communication Studies, Film & New Media, Augsburg University
Director, Minnesota Urban Debate League
Coaching policy at Eagan High School, Eagan, Minnesota
Email: groven@augsburg.edu (please add me to the email/file exchange)
Background: I started policy debate in the 7th grade, debated all through junior high, high school (Como Park, St. Paul, MN) and college (Concordia College, Moorhead, NDT out rounds, Kentucky Round Robin), and since then I've coached for more than 25 years at the college and high school level, both on the national circuit and locally in the Midwest. I have also directed and taught at multiple camps over the years. I’m one of the original founders and current head of the Minnesota Urban Debate League, and am a tenured faculty at Augsburg College where I teach argumentation, rhetoric, persuasion and various specialized forms of public address.
Debate Paradigm: When left to my own devices I function as an educational games player, which means I believe that competitive academic debate is an activity designed to educate, enlighten and improve its students and society. My primary responsibility is to serve the debaters as students, in my role as an educator, both in and out of rounds. Therefore, unless given a different framework, I resolve procedural issues by evaluating the impact the precedent would set for the educational value of the activity. If the debaters do not specify a substantive decision-making framework, I default to being a pragmatic policy maker. However, I have spent many years studying rhetoric and critical theory and I’m happy to function in non-consequentialist and discursive frameworks if the debaters defend them. I am sensitive to the important, manifold issues of identity and have devoted many years attempting to redress systemic injustices in and out of debate.
I greatly prefer specific links and specific evidence when I can get it, but vote without specific links when I must. Topicality is a default voter, but I’m persuadable and have voted for non-topical and non-policy advocacy statements many times. In general, I do my best not to intervene on any issue, and decide rounds based only on what the debaters do and say in the round.
Style Preferences: Respect, kindness, and fun in rounds are high values for me. I do not enjoy debaters who are rude or domineering and will reduce points accordingly. Debating and debate rounds should be intense, passionate, and enjoyable.
Speed is not a problem for me, but comprehensibility is crucial. As I hope you know, most judges, even experienced, well-regarded judges, pretend to understand most of most rounds. 20 years on, I am past pretending. If I cannot understand you I will ask you to be clearer, but I will only make that request three times per person. After that, I just do my best. But, I will not vote on an issue or argument that I could not understand in constructives. And, suddenly giving clear meaning to incomprehensible gibberish in rebuttals, although occasionally entertaining, is grossly unfair to the opposition.
Tag CX is fine as long as the debaters are all respectful to one another. I’ll time prep and time speeches along with you, but you must keep your own time too.
“Be kind whenever possible.
It is always possible.”
-His Holiness the Dalia Lama XIV
I am an experienced speech and Congress coach, and a former competitor.
In Congress, I value respect and courtesy, delivery, an analysis of real-world impacts, evidence and clash - so unless you are the first speech, you need to show me that you are listening and responding to the other speeches in the round. I don't want to hear the same arguments restated and rehashed at the end of the round - give me some new ideas, or some summative analysis. Even if you give a fantastically delivered and well cited speech, if you aren't trying to ask good questions at every opportunity throughout the round, I'm not going to rank you highly. It is, after all, a debate event.
In Lincoln Douglas and in other styles of debate, please don't treat debate like a game. I am very traditional, and treating it like a game with progressive argumentation, performance Ks, K Affs, and RVIs harms those in small schools who don’t have the advantage of many team members to teach them the game, and it creates more inequities in debate. I listen carefully, write down excessive amounts of information and I vote off my flow so if you want my ballot, give a strong final speech that addresses, crystallizes and weighs the key arguments in the round. Show that you were listening to and have evidence to counter arguments presented by your opponent(s). These speeches demonstrate your ability to think and interact with your opponents’ case, much more so than your ability to read a prepared case, that you may or may not have written yourself. Don’t spread. If I can’t understand what you are saying, I can’t flow your case. And no one spreads in real life. Off time road maps are a waste of time. Just as a good extemp speaker should not have to read me the prompt before they start the speech, I should be able to follow your road map within your speech.
In all debate events, and in life, the most important thing is to be kind.
6-year debate parent. Argumentation heavy.
First, let me say that I'm truly impressed by the caliber of person who invites this kind of challenge in their lives. Already, you win in my book. I appreciate the opportunity to witness your talent. I am generally new to judging, but if I had to categorize myself, I would say I'm a "flay" judge. I have a background in law and philosophy. I value logical arguments that are supported with evidence. I will not judge based on my prior knowledge, but on the arguments and evidence that you provide. I expect civility as a baseline. Present a strong enough case that you win on merits, not bravado. I appreciate if you can be specific when weighing instead of only talking in generalities. Also, I cannot give you credit for that which I cannot understand, so do not forsake communication for content. In other words, be careful when spreading. If your opponent(s) and I can't understand your arguments because you don't articulate, then you don't get credit for them. Lastly, because I will be flowing, I will know whether you provide an honest representation during summary arguments. Good luck!
I’m a communications judge. Please speak clearly enough that I can understand your ideas. I can handle a faster pace but make sure you're not speaking quickly so you can repeat yourself. Give me voters at the end. I ask that you maintain professionalism and that you're respectful to your opponent's and judges.
Policy: Don't argue the Neg begins at a disadvantage or there is an uneven playing field. I will take that to mean you believe you can't beat any of the Aff arguments.
My most pressing request for Policy Debate is for spreading (talking fast) not to be used in rounds. I value the quality of argument over the quantity of argument, and often spreading is used simply for the latter to win on flow. Beyond this, I am not opposed to any argument style as long as it is executed and explained correctly and thoroughly.
My second biggest request is courtesy and kindness toward your opponent and judges. I hate to have to put this in my paradigm, but I have judged too many rounds where decency is out the window.
Also, I prefer that Tag Team CX is not used.
I prefer genuine analysis and synthesis in rounds. Please do not just read cards and tell me to vote based solely on dropped cards and those that carry. Display and express why the cards you read ought to be important to the judge, and what they specifically address the case at hand.
FOR EVERYONE:
Do NOT bring up victims of police brutality just for your intros or as an additional piece of evidence you immediately move on from. people's lives should not be used as a piece of 'gotcha' evidence or a card to win a judge. if you are ignoring people's humanity to win a round you are not doing this activity correctly.
For Congress:
40% presentation, 60% content. There MUST be refutation in every speech after the authorship. your job as the author/sponsor is to explain how the mechanisms of your legislation work, not just give the first aff speech-explain what your legislation does and how it solves the problems in the status quo. If you speak twice on the same bill I will drop you. If you refer to male presenting competitors as 'representative/senator' and female presenting competitors as 'Ms.' I will drop you. If you are aggressive in direct cross I will want to drop you. Please give me clear impacts and ask questions often. I also coach extemp, so I don't want to see you just reading a prewritten speech off your legal pad. I love good POs and I will rank you high for it!
For PF:
I'm not going to time you. I'm not going to flow cross. As long as you're not an LD or Policy debater turned PF debater, I'll be fine with your speed (as long as your constructive is under 900 words you're probably fine). I need impacts and clear taglines. Organization is a huge thing for me. It is not my job to weigh the round for you, so you need to be doing impact calculus and giving me key voters all the way through. SIGNPOST. If you are rude in cross I will give you low speaks and I will want to drop you. If you run a K I will drop you. Also I do not flow the authors of your cards are so if you refer to cards by the author only I am not going to be able to find it on my ballot-give me a source name, a key word or phrase, something.
For IEs:
Your Infos/Oratories should all have quality cited evidence. Your Infos should give me impacts, and your Oratories should have solutions. For Interp, you should not be performing a character with a disability piece if you do not have that disability. In Humor ESPECIALLY, if you do a racist caricature/accent, I will drop you. Please use good judgement.
Email: erinmguiney@gmail.com
Hello! My name is Sonny and I am the assistant wrestling coach a Christopher Columbus. It is a pleasure to be able to judge your work.
I am a lay and new judge. Here are the things I would like to see in this debate:
- Be clear and concise with your points,
- Don’t speak too fast and annunciate,
- Please use and repeat your evidence in your speeches,
- Please be respectful to your opponents
Thank you, and good luck!
Judging Philosophy: I do not judge based on my personal position on a matter before me. I judge on whether the arguments are supported and defended between the teams or individuals.
Background: I am experienced Circuit and Classic judge having judged local, regional, and national tournaments for the past twenty years. Recently judged all preliminary 2024 NCFL Grand National Policy Preliminary and the Octo-Final Rounds and was the 2024 Grand Nationals Parliamentarian for Student Congress in Chicago, Illinois. Judged the 2023 NCFL Grand National Policy Rounds and the Octo, Quarters, and Semi-Final Rounds. I was the 2022 NCFL Grand Nationals Parliamentarian for Student Congress (Semi-Finals) in Washington, DC; 2022 NSDA Parliamentarian for Student Congress; 2022 NSDA National Tournament Supplemental Congress Parliamentarian (Finals); 2022 WACFL Student Congress Metrofinals; 2021 NSDA Policy Finals; 2021 Parliamentarian for Student Congress; 2020, 2019 NSDA Policy Finals (including qualifying rounds); 2018 NSDA Policy Rounds; 2017 National Qualifiers for NSDA Speech; 2016 NSDA Nationals for Congress (Parliamentarian); 2016 NCFL Grand Nationals (Policy Debate); 2016 Congress WACFL Metrofinals (Parliamentarian); 2015 NSDA CX Policy Semi-Finals; the 2015 NCFL CX Quarterfinals; 2014 NCFL LD Finals.
For Policy and Public Forum: I judge as a policy maker and not truly on a line by line (but will evaluate all arguments in the context of a policy making decision). Better debaters analyze the opponents' case/points and prove why their opponents' case is either without foundation or weak and the policy position should not be adopted.
Able to judge Circuit style policy arguments. However, to prevail with Circuit style arguments, the debaters must still ensure they meet their prima facie obligations. See Unusual Points No. 1 below as an example.
Speed is an issue if the speaker is unintelligible and the speaker points will reflect that problem. What I don't understand, I can't flow, and if it is not on my flow, I cannot evaluate. Clarity is the name of the game. Teams should properly provide clear "taglines" for their arguments in order for me to follow (I will not accept flash drives or links to arguments).
For LD: I judge on the basis of cogent and clear arguments without reaching the value and value criterion debate. The better debaters, however, will incorporate the philosophical rationale in their arguments. Unless both cases are weighted equally in terms of argumentation, do I then go to the value criterion debate. The better debater demonstrates that his value is met using his/her value criterion. If the debater does not have a value criterion, I will weigh that debater's value against his/her opponent's value criterion.
For Congress Debate: (1) As a Parliamentarian, I rank and judge the PO based on his/her effective control of the Chamber, fairness to the Representatives or Senators on recency, and understanding and implementing the Tournament Rules and Roberts Rules of Order when necessary. (2) As a Judge, I rank and judge a speaker on clarity of his/her argument for or against a Bill or Resolution along with appropriate evidence following Tournament evidentiary rules; the better speaker is one who does not read a speech and who rebuts another Representative's or Senator's points. I do not appreciate form (sounding good) over substance. I give less points and ranking for consistent "rehash" throughout the Session. The effective Congressor is one who blends persuasive speaking with substance and debates the other speakers.
For Speech: Speech is not "acting", it is interpretation of an event, a person's situation, or a story-line that is impactful. The use of one's voice, body, and facial expression all play into the scoring of an individual's performance. I am not a fan of "popping" to delineate characters, but do not take any points off for using that method.
Each event has particular rules that must be followed. For example, in prose and poetry, the individual uses a binder and must appear to be reading it to the audience. In duo, the partners must not look at each other nor touch. In dramatic interp, if you have multiple characters, your characters must be distinct by voice characterization or body language.
Now with Extemporaneous Speaking, I look to the speaker's ability to explain and answer a domestic or international question with poise and understanding of the topic question. I am not a true fan of the "Unified Analysis" ("UA") approach, but it is the standard in HS Speech. I coach a hybrid UA approach that stresses persuasive argumentation and analysis. I do not appreciate the "extemp walk", which is very stilted and not natural.
Impromptu Speaking, the ability to tell a story with an impactful meaning is what I look for between the competitors. Using the UA approach is fine, but any way of telling an impactful story or narrative will do.
Unusual points.
1. Burden of proof for all forms of debate. Because the AFF has the burden of proof of presenting a prima facie case, so too the NEG has the burden of proof when presenting its case. For example, if the NEG argues a Kritik without providing an alternative, it has failed, in the classic sense, to meet its burden of proof and I have the ability as a judge to mark down the argument as carrying little weight. A NEG Kritik without an alternative is nothing more than a non-unique disadvantage. To that end, the same goes with the AFF in terms of its failure to provide a Plan Text and Inherency if it is running an AFF K.
2. Kritik for all forms of debate. A Kritik as an AFF case in Policy can be run. However, be warned that as a classic judge, you must present the Kritik as an AFF by presenting a prima facie case and solvency through a detailed Plan. Failure to do that most likely will result, as in any case not meeting the burden of proof, a loss. The team must provide a Plan or Solution that solves the underlying Kritik whether it be Capitalism, Racism, Sexism, or any other "ism".
Although not favored by some, a Kritik can be argued in LD as a "classic" counterargument to realism or rationalism. To get around the prohibition, a creative student will argue that if the Affirmative fails to address the underlying "ism", the Affirmative Case in support of the Resolution cannot be accomplished because there will be more harm than good.
3. Cross-Ex for all forms of debate. Cross-examination information will be used in the decision making process. As in real life, cross and direct examination are oftentimes the key to resolving issues and the answers can and will be held for and against a team. In "Open CX", if one debater is answering all the questions, the one who should be answering will have a lower speaker point.
4. Topicality for Policy. If the Case and Plan directly link to the Resolution and appropriate definitions are provided to clearly establish that link, topicality is generally not a voter. However, this does not mean that I will not entertain all T arguments. As previously stated, the NEG has the burden of proof of demonstrating a violation.
5. Counterplans. If the Negative runs a counterplan, it must not be topical (i.e., using a federal government agency). Otherwise the Negative concedes that the Resolution should be upheld. In order to win a counterplan you must show that it is better than the Affirmative Plan and that it is net-beneficial to do only the counterplan as compared to the Affirmative Plan.
6. Document Share. I do not partake in document sharing. This is a communications event, not reading event, which requires the debaters to inform the judge of their arguments. However, when required, I do ask for evidence that has been challenged as incorrect or improperly cited for the position it advanced.
Qualifications.
1. Assistant Coach for Dominion HS, Sterling VA, for all Debate and Speech Events since its opening in 2003. Total time as a judge commenced in 2002.
2. Former HS policy debater at the Championship Level (dating myself) and Forensics (Dramatic Interp and Declamation).
3. Former HS Model United Nations Third Place North American Invitational Model United Nations winner (representing Belarus).
4. Former Judicial Clerk to the Honorable Roger J. Miner, US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, former Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, former USAF JAG Civilian Attorney, and former Assistant General Counsel for a Global IT Company. Current Legal Counsel to R&D IT Engineering Firm specializing in AI, AIOPS, ML, Cybersecurity, and Secured Cloud Operations.
I am a parent judge who has judged for 4 years now. I like a clear framework and when contentions clearly tie back to your value and criterion. I've found that a case is much more compelling when the points are delivered in a clear/concise way using logic vs trying to overwhelm your opponent with evidence and a mass of info via spreading. Hope this is helpful.
I prefer Stock Issues (I don't love T arguments unless necessary), but if the round moves that way.
CPs are ok, but running a K will be lost on me.
Ok with speed but I prefer not to see it unless necessary
Lisa Haddock
***IF YOU SPREAD, I’m warning you now that I will DROP you. If the average person wouldn’t be able to understand you, I won’t be able to either. I will NOT read off a doc so if I can’t understand you I won’t flow it
TLDR: Please send a copy of your speech to: lisahaddock68@gmail.com
Tech over truth
Rounds will be evaluated and final decisions made based on flow so don’t drop your arguments.
I’m good with any argument but discrimination of any type will not be tolerated and could result in an automatic loss.
THINGS EXPECTED IN A ROUND:
Please time yourselves as this is for your benefit more than the judge
Off-clock roadmaps are recommended for your benefit; however, please let your opponent and judge know so there is no confusion
When you take prep time, please make sure you are ready to begin once prep time is over
Make sure that cross-ex is used appropriately
PUBLIC FORUM:
Arguments will be evaluated based on how strong they are presented along with the weight of their impacts-this is very important.
Make sure to number and emphasize your arguments
Remember to extend your arguments
Keep rebuttals in a clear line-by-line format
Second rebuttal should focus on responses in rebuttal
During summary, remember to extend defenses and offenses or whatever you feel is most important in the round.
Do not try to take over in crossfire and try to ensure that grand cross is not one-person dominated
Final focus should provide clear weighing ground for judges to determine why either team should win the debate.
Kansas Wesleyan University Director of Debate and Forensics
Current Coach: I have several Private Coaching and Tutoring students in speech and debate :) But I'm a principal at McPherson HS now.
Former Coach: Salina South HS, Abilene HS, El Dorado HS, Buhler HS
College Competitor: NPDA and NFA LD
High School Policy 4 Years (I debated in the glory days of Champ Division. I’m getting old.)
I'm just going to say this up top: Flowing is literally the most important skill in debate. If you think you don't need to flow, or that a speech doc is a replacement for flowing you are wrong. If I'm flowing (and I will be) you should be too. A speech doc is not a replacement for a flow and often means that you miss valuable line by line analysis, logical arguments, theory, and can answer cards that weren't read into the round.
I will listen to whatever you choose to say, however you wish to say it. I will make every effort to fairly evaluate those arguments that you make in the round. (That means speed is fine in most cases. You will know if I can't understand you or can’t keep up. I’ll put my pen down. You may want to look up and check if you’re real speedy or at least have your partner check.)
I’m a fan of following the line by line, so you should tell me where to put the argument on the flow, and more importantly tell me why it matters (Impact Calc).I believe in the Toulmin model of argumentation and think that your evidence should matter and be of good quality with data and warrants and you should be able to articulate that information. Extending Claims or Tags isn’t enough to win an argument. Blocks are cool, but you should make an effort to directly clash with your opponents blocks as well. I also think that you should have an in round vision and that you and your partner should work to ensure that vision flows through the round to the end and that I get a completed picture at the end.
I'm not predisposed to certain types of arguments in a round as liking/disliking them more than others so I will try to listen with an open mind to the arguments that you make. You should also probably not make the decision to drastically alter your style or what you do in round based on my paradigm. I want to see what you do well, how you do it, not what you think I want to see or something you aren’t comfortable with.
Some Specific Argument Notes:
Framework:This is important. You need to give me a frame for the round and win that debate or I will more than likely default to policy maker. However, do not attempt to frame the debate in way that eliminates nearly all ground for one side of the debate. I probably believe that ground should be equitable and predictable for both aff and neg.
Theory:I will listen to it. I will weigh it. Tell me why it matters and have clear demonstrable abuse. Be able to articulate the impact and why Theory matters. I also think that to win a theory debate you probably have to give me more than fragment or single sentence. I need an argument and time to write it down, and if you think it’s important enough to merit a ballot, then I expect you to spend some time on the argument.
Topicality:I do feel that Topicality is an underdeveloped and under used strategic tool. Too many teams use it as part of a game with little strategic value or execution. A good T debate is a thing of beauty. I can default to competing interps or reasonability and be convinced either way depending on the debate, but I likely default to competing interps unless I have clearly articulated reasons not to. Please do work on the Standards/Voter level. And for the love of debate, if you are winning this argument and the aff isn’t topical please go for T in the 2NR…
Counterplans:I think they are strategic. I'm good with Topical CP's, Advantage Cp's, Smart PIC’s, Multiple CPs, etc. Delay Cp’s aren’t my favorite, but you can win that debate. I probably believe that all arguments are at the core conditional, but I will listen to debate on Status Theory and evaluate what happens in the round. I prefer specific solvency to generic on Cp’s and I don’t think that CP solves better is a net benefit.
Kritiks:Sure. Win the argument. I prefer more tangible alternatives rather than reject the team.I also think you should not assume that I know and/or understand your literature (Unless it’s Fem/Fem IR). You need to explain the literature and clearly articulate the impact and alternative and win the debate on how this matters. Critical Aff’s are fine too.
DA’s/Adv/Turns: Please utilize turns. I grant some risk to weak link stories. Make sure you still do the work and answer all levels. Impact Calc. is crucial.
Case: It’s important and neither side should neglect case debate. I love a good case debate. And smart analysis of evidence.
What not to do: 1. Be Rude or disrespectful. Be aware of the language that you use and how it’s employed. This is a communication activity don’t be racist, sexist, ablest, etc. I reserve the right to give you a loss, or at least penalize your speaker points. 2. Don’t steal prep time or abuse flash time. 3. Don’t Clip Cards.
I am a theatre director with a long background in performance, writing, and directing. My area of expertise is interpretive categories.
When judging speeches and interp categories, I expect to see confident, well-prepared, thoughtful, and honest speakers. I enjoy performances and speeches filled with creativity, emphasis on communication, and a heartfelt, honest quality that can't really be put into words. For any interp piece, your flashy tech and blocking is cool, but don't forget to ACT and make me BELIEVE what you're saying and doing! Please note that I judge also on your selection of literature. Any content with sexist, racist, classist, or ableist overtones will be scored accordingly. Speeches and interpretations on pieces regarding these matters are incredibly important, of course, but we must always consider whose voice is being amplified, and what exactly we are trying to communicate. Be wise and considerate!
In extemp & impromptu, speak confidently and passionately. Make good eye contact. Address the prompt in impromptu without going on random tangents that don't tie in. In extemp, make it possible for a layperson to understand. I enjoy extemps that are kind and educational, not just filled with tons of confusing facts and jargon.
For info, the visual is important. Be creative, or at least be neat. Be funny and engaging, but don't forget to INFORM!!
For duo, I expect to see balance between partners, strong emotional content, and some interesting tech and blocking. Tell the story with heart!
For DI, I expect to see something that I believe. That's really all I'll say.
For POI, I want to see something new, fresh, and original. Binder tech is cool and everything, but what are you saying? Why are YOU saying it? Make me believe what you're doing and talking about.
For HI, be creative with characters, have clean pops, have great forward energy, use an appropriate script, and don't choose something that just bags on women or minorities. Let's do better, yeah?
For all other speech categories, this is a SPEECH contest. The writing of your piece is extremely important of course, but it is your DELIVERY that really brings it home!
Plain and simple: communicate. If you don't communicate with me and your audience, you missed your mark. I will do everything in my feedback to help you improve. I am not the kind of judge who will just destroy you with rude feedback (unless you are rude to me). Problematic content and jokes will be pointed out, I have zero tolerance for them (and I'm not talking about language, I'm talking about openly promoting oppression). My goal is to help you improve wherever you are at. If you're at nationals ready to hit the final stage, great. If you're just starting, all the more power to you. Everyone can get better at this activity.
If you desire more feedback, you may always email me at ehageman@siouxlandchristian.org.
Benjamin Hagwood, Director at Vancouver Debate Academy
About me - former college policy debater, flow-centric, like all arguments but the politics DA (Elections gets a pass)
Debate is a game that can be played in a multitude of ways. It is the responsibility of the students to determine the parameters of the games and to call "foul" if they think someone has done something abusive. I will judge the round as it happens. Here are a few things about me that you might find useful when preparing for a round:
- Flowing - I do my best to have as accurate a flow as possible while trying to capture but the context and citation of your arguments. Dropping arguments could be detrimental if your opponents extend and weight those arguments properly.
- Observer not a Participant - I won't do work for you or insert myself into your debate. You will win OR lose based on the arguments in the round not my person opinion.
- Style over Speed - swag is subjective - bring yours.
- Petty but not Disrespectful - don't be unnecessarily rude to your opponent - but I must admit being petty is strategic.
- Challenges - if you challenge someone and lose the challenge you lose the debate (this could also apply on theory debates depending on the debate - but not RVI's)
Universal Speaker Point Adjustments: all students are evaluated on their level. A 29 in novice is not the same as a 29 in open. 28 is my base for completing all your speeches and using all your speech time.
- Wear a bowtie (+.5 point)
- Be entertaining (tell jokes...if I laugh...you get points...if I don't you won't be punished) (+.5 point)
- Be rude (-.5 point)
- Don't use all your time (-.5 point)
- Steal prep (-.5 point)
If you have any questions feel free to reach out to me and ask. Students may request my flow and written feedback at the end of the debate if they want. I will only share it with the students in the round unless they consent to the flow being shared with other opponents.
I am a parent volunteer judge who professionally works in medicine/science. I look for civil arguments with great logic, command of facts, and sharp minds who can find weakness in their opponents' arguments and further debate.
I'm the assistant interp coach for the Huron Speech and Debate team. My primary area of experience is in both interp and speech events after having competed on the Huron High School team in the past. I am comfortable judging any speech round (informative, oratory, extemp, and the different interps), and I most closely look at the physicality of a piece (how are you using body language, facial/vocal expression, pops, etc. to interpret the author's original intentions). Ultimately, I want to be drawn into a piece with such realism thanks to your motions and expression that I have to force myself to look away to make comments/critiques.
I have some experience with Public Forum debate and am able to judge it, but I cannot stand debaters that speak at mach speed. It is difficult for me to follow flow when information is presented so fast that the words themselves blend together. I will flow to the best of my ability during the round, but don't expect me to catch everything if you speak like a Policy debater. I also dislike when teams tell me to disregard entire speeches/rounds because the opponents don't have a 'framework' or other such terminology. Different teams coach with varying practices in mind, and some don't use such approaches. I prefer judging rounds that look to dismantle the integrity of the opposing side's position instead of trying to win on a technicality.
***Include me in your email chain.*** callieham479@gmail.com
It would be best for everyone if you kept your own time.
Public Forum
To be a true PF judge, I shouldn't have one of these...right? But see below...
Lincoln Douglas
LD debate should remain distinct from policy debate. While the passage of new policy may be deemed essential for AFF ground with some resolutions (i.e. Sept/Oct 2018), value debate should remain central to the round. I don't mind speed or progressive/policy-style arguments in an LD round as long as you provide analysis of those arguments and link them back to the value debate.
Policy - I haven't coached or judged CX since 2016...but just in case...
As a judge, I am open to all arguments and styles of policy debate. Your job as a debater is to convince me that what you have to say matters and should be preferred to your opponent. The way you go about that is entirely your choice (within reason…professionalism and decorum are key). If you have questions pre-round, please ask. Having said that, here are some specific likes/dislikes as a judge which you can choose to follow or completely ignore (because I will objectively evaluate whatever lands on my flow whether I really like it or not):
Case: I do love case debate. I find it hard to vote NEG when case goes relatively untouched and hard to vote AFF when rebuttals focus on off-case arguments. Rounds where case is essentially dropped by both sides are my worst nightmare.
K: Not my favorite, but I will evaluate K. I’m not really well-versed in kritikal literature, so if you choose to run kritikal arguments (AFF or NEG), please provide thorough explanation and analysis. Don’t expect me to know the ideals that Whoever promoted because, unless you tell me, I probably don’t.
T: I tend to be pretty lenient on the affirmative as far as T goes. In order to win on T, the negative must completely prove that the affirmative has totally harmed the fairness and education of the round.
CP/DA: Sure? Run them? Why not?
Theory/Framework: Don't love it, but sure. Whatevs. Just tell me how/where to flow it and why it matters in this round.
The Flow: Tell me how to flow the round. Roadmap. Sign post. Please slow down for clarity on tags and citations. If you insist on spreading tags and cites, please provide me with a copy of your speech. If your arguments don’t make it on my flow, they cannot be evaluated on my ballot. I also do very little (feel free to read that as “no”) evidence analysis following the round. It is your job as a debater to clearly articulate the argument/evidence/analysis during your allotted time.
Have fun! Be nice! (or at least reasonable)
Benjamin Hamburger 10/2022
Sure, you can add me to an email chain. benjamin dot hamburger at gmail. So you know, I probably will NOT follow along on your speech doc, though.
12/2024 update:
Like many other older judges I have observed a substantial post-COVID shift towards lack of clarity in speaking and overreliance on speech docs. vs. flowing the debate. I am heartened by the coaches and judges who have taken to holding the line on debate as a public speaking activity. In order to join them, I'll disclose these things about how I judge:
1.) I flow on my laptop on excel because flowing on paper for years hurt my fingers and now my hands are weak and uncalloused.
2.) Although I have cheated in the past couple of years because I feared it was my fault/getting old, I will no longer open speech docs until a piece of evidence is specifically debated about, and I will not flow from speech docs. I'll give you a 'clear' or two, and I have always been easy to read regarding how well I am flowing you. If you don't pay attention to that, it's your funeral.
3.) Prioritizing clarity over speed and signposting on line-by-line will both help your chances of winning arguments on the flow and boost your speaker points.
Information about me:
*I have judged and coached in what would be considered "national-circuit" style Midwestern high school policy debate since about 1998 as a card-cutting coach, as the primary policy coach, as a head coach, and now as a head coach at Central High School in La Crosse, Wisconsin. I am also a lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in the History Department. I am now getting old in debate terms--44 at the time of writing--which means I have old ideas and am grumpy about certain things.
*A Debate History:
1993-1998 Policy debater at Hastings High School, Hastings, NE
1998-1999 Judge/minor card cutter, Hastings Senior High School
1999-2005 Assistant Coach for Policy Debate at Fremont High School, Fremont, NE
2005-2007 Director of Forensics, Iowa City High School, Iowa City, IA
2007-2016 Assistant Varsity Coach, Cedar Rapids Washington High School, Cedar Rapids, IA
2016-Present Director of Debate, La Crosse Central High School, La Crosse, WI
*Academic Info that Might Be Relevant:
B.A. in Political Science (emphases in international relations and political theory) and History, a minor in Women’s Studies from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
M.A. in Secondary Social Studies Education and History from the University of Iowa.
Argument choice issues:
*Choose your arguments. I try to avoid evaluating rounds based on what I like to hear. Even if I don’t like your argument, it doesn’t mean you’ve lost it, etc. My self-estimation is that I am fairly even on the K vs. Policy question. I believe that both are very interesting and useful styles of debate. Most of the time framework debates aren’t particularly productive, the aff will win that they get to weigh the case, the neg will win that they get some form of an alternative, etc. (hint: if you are serious about winning framework, don’t waste your time on the rest of the debate—prove that you’re serious about it and go for it.)
Disad thoughts:
*One of the areas I am slightly old school. Left to my own devices, I am more likely than many judges to evaluate the risk of a disad as zero if there is a step which has been substantially defeated. I do not particularly prefer offense-defense paradigms, it is my feeling that it is necessary to win your arguments to get a DA. Similarly, I think you need to win a link to generate offense, so without justification I do not default to a uniqueness-focused decision-making process. In spite of these warnings, a justified argument can change those decision-making processes. Generally, though, a good politics debate with developed turns-case analysis is a thing of beauty. Quality of evidence comparison/warrants will always beat number of cards.
*I have increasingly found myself somewhat lost in fast debates about security policy which include multiple interacting internal links--not because I am incapable of understanding them, but because I am not as familiar with these arguments as you all are. On occasion debaters need to slow down and explain some arguments.
K Thoughts:
*My favorite negative strategies are about criticisms that isolate and condemn social injustice or reveal power relations and debate epistemology smartly. I have no problem with generic criticisms like security and the cap k, but to win them or to get decent points requires specific discussion of the 1ac—isolating the links and their implications for evaluating the aff is what makes it awesome. Affs lose lots of K debates largely because they pile up cards rather than planning what the 2ar endgame looks like. Often affs are better served defending their own assumptions than reading argument-specific cards that are not part of a specific strategy. To wit, affs regularly go for permutations or no link arguments when they claim an advantage which impact turns the k while conceding a utopian alternative. Because I am a sucker for well-developed analysis about epistemology/ontology, I don't think as a rule the 2nr needs to go for external case defense, at least if you can give examples of how aff authors have specific problems or biases. Wisconsin teams have proven to think that mindless tech can win you a permutation, this is not generally true--most neg args against one permutation work against all of them.
*I consider myself generally well-read on critical arguments, but that reading maybe stopped being so robust in like 2007 or 2008, and so I'm not as up-to-date on the more recent turns in that literature. I can observe some additional relevant tendencies: I often find myself frustrated in rounds that involve a lot of psychoanalytic arguments (I get the cap bad part of Zizek. That may be about it). I dislike the Nietzsche alternative viscerally. In each of these cases, if this is your only game, I am probably not a good judge for you. I will also explicitly note some critical arguments with which I am well acquainted: I’m fairly well read in Foucault, Heidegger, lots of feminisms, critical international relations business, cap bad, etc. Lots of experience now with Afro-pessimism, Orientalism, at least some entré into queer theory args. I still need someone to convince me that Bataille and Baudrilliard are more smart than confusing.
*I’m probably a decent judge for a T debate. Most of the theoretical issues are up in the air—competing interpretations vs. abuse as a standard, etc. If you concede a competing interpretations arg, though, be aware that you’ll need offense on your interp.
*I can enjoy a good theory debate, but if you actually want to win it you probably need to convince me early on in a debate that you are going to do something other than just read your block at full speed. i have a natural dislike towards theory debates that i see as unnecessary. I'm not the ideal judge if you *plan* on going for theory a lot, but again, i try to evaluate those debates fairly. I will note that I do not have a neg side bias when it comes to counterplan debates--be it issues of conditionality, fiat, or competition issues. Some people see that fact in and of itself as an aff side bias on those theoretical issues, but what it means is that i am more than willing to vote aff because a counterplan is cheating, if you win that debate.
*I have found that I am getting older and more dinosaur-like on counterplan theory: I think I have an aff bias on these issues: multiple counterplans, consult counterplans, and conditionality.
*Non-traditional affs: it seems that I am going to judge my share of clash-of-civs rounds, which is fine. I generally think that negative teams do not work hard enough to generate smart arguments against non-traditional affs, so I start with a slight lean against framework arguments, but a sophisticated execution of those debates are often successful. I will also say that aff teams that make efforts to meet some standard of topicality also will find me more forgiving than teams that do not; I think negs do deserve some degree of a starting point.
Decision-making Process:
*I believe my job as a critic is to evaluate a debate as it occurred, rather than retroactively applying my standards of what debate should look like to your round. I try as hard as I can to stay to this standard, but some intervention is inevitable. Read below in the “self-observed biases” section. I try to remain agnostic about the various frameworks for evaluating debates, so that means that if there is a difference in the round as to how I should evaluate it, you should propose your framework explicitly and defend it. My presumption is that debate should be an educational activity, and it would be hard to shake me of that idea, as I am an educator by trade. However, I am open to debates about what kinds of education debate should bring, and how it does so.
*My decisions are nearly always decided by a close review of the 1AR, 2NR, and 2AR, with references to the negative block as necessary. I am not, however, a perfect flow, and you should be aware of that and flag important arguments as such. I believe a part of persuasion is correct emphasis.
*It is fairly uncommon for me to read evidence after a debate--use the evidence yourself, refer to warrants, etc. If you think you have good evidence, you need to show it off. The "in" thing to say is that I reward a team for good research, but the most important part of good research is understanding why your evidence is good, and exercising your ability to explain and use the evidence. I do not plan to do evidence comparison for anyone.
*As regards "offense/defense" distinctions: I understand the importance of offense, but I do not discount the art of defensive argumentation. The fact that the other team does not have a turn does not mean you are winning. I have probably evaluated the risk of a disad or other impact as zero (or close enough to not matter) more than the average judge.
*I generally speaking will not seriously consider any independent issue that is not in your final rebuttal for at least 2 minutes--I do not reward a refusal to put all eggs in one basket. This is particularly true for theory arguments. If you feel that a theoretical issue is strong enough to justify a vote, plan to spend the better part of your final rebuttal on it, or don't expect my ballot on it.
In Round Decorum:
*Not much here--but I absolutely cannot stand when debaters talk audibly during an opponent's speech. Increasingly it is hard for me to follow what a fast speaker is saying anyhow--when you're talking too, I am liable to get angry at you.
*I think most of the time you will tend to get better speaker points if you stand up when you speak. Also, pay attention to where your opponent is and where you are when you cross-ex--it is a speech. Cross-ex's where all the debaters are sitting across the room from one another and staring at their computers is not a good persuasive strategy.
*I will also likely get grumpy at you about your paperless crap, especially when it makes a debate round last 20 minutes longer than it should. Don't worry about that too much. Unless it gets out of hand. If you don't know the difference, watch me, and you'll be able to tell.
This is my 40th year teaching and most of that I have also coached speech and debate. As far as my background in debate goes, I coached LD starting in the mid 80's running on and off through 2017. I coached policy on and off from 1990-2000. I have coached PF on and off since its inception. I have coached congressional debate since the early 80's. I don't have a paradigm for Speech events, but I have coached and judged all speech events since the early 80's as well.
As a Congress Judge:
Delivery: I embrace the role play. You are all portraying legislators from across the country and should behave with the decorum that role suggests. That being said, we have legislators from across the country with various styles and habits -- that makes congress debate AWESOME! There is no single, perfect way to deliver!
Evidence Usage: CD is, at its core, a debate event. Arguments should have sound, sourced evidence that follows NSDA rules. Empirical claims require empirical evidence.
Analysis - If I am judging Congressional Debate, chances are the tournament is a national caliber tournament (otherwise I would be working in some capacity). I expect high level analysis at a high level tournament. If you are the 4th speaker and beyond - I expect unique arguments and I expect analysis and refutation of earlier speakers. Crystallization speeches do not merely mention every speaker that spoke earlier on a piece of legislation. It literally crystallizes the two sides, weighs the impacts of the two sides, and persuades me of their chosen position.
Argument Impacts: Please identify who or what is impacted. Be specific. In CD, please explain real world impacts. The narrative of impacts is as important (if not more) as the numerics of impacts.
On the topic of cost benefit analysis and weighing... Be careful of playing the numbers game. A large number of persons harmed may not necessarily outweigh a single person harmed, if the single person's harm is total and complete and the larger number still enjoy existence.
Decorum: Behavior in and out of chambers is important. Respectful, educational, kind, and full of fun... these should be in balance! (I don't like boring debate)
I don't have a calculator on the above. Very seldom is there a debater who is awesome at them all... But all need to be part of the mix. If I am judging a top round, I suspect that all speakers will be amazing! That means the final ranking will come down to relevance in the round. If all speeches were brilliant, questioning and answering were spot on, and knowledge of topics is at the top, who stood out as the genuine, 'real deal'?
PF Paradigm - I embrace the notion that the event is intended to be judged by an informed public forum. That does not mean dumbing down arguments because you think the judge is dumber than you because they didn't go to camp (adults don't go to camp). I think most judges want to hear good arguments that pertain to the resolution and want to hear clash between positions. That being said, here is my more specific paradigm:
Speed - I love an energetic debate, but save spreading for policy (and sadly LD). You should have written a prima facie case that either affirms or negates. It should be written so that the first speaker can energetically deliver it. Most PF spread isn't really spread, it is spewing and incoherent choking due largely to the student's failure to adequately edit their case. I am fine with clean, clear, speed. Can I hear arguments delivered at 385 wpm? yes. Will I flow them? probably not.
Frameworks - Sure, if you really are running a framework. If it is legit (and stays up in the round throughout), both sides will be weighing impacts within that framework.
Observations - Sure, if they are observations. Observations are not arguments. They are observations. "It is raining - observation: things are wet." "If Trump wins the election it will trigger nuclear war" is an argument, not an observation.
Warrants and Impacts are your friends!! Numbers are just numbers - how do they happen? why do they happen? who is affected and why them? is there possible counter causality? Really good logic if well explained will beat blippy numbers. Well explained statistics that are connected and clear will beat poor logic.
Flowing - Yes, I flow. I expect you to do so as well. I don't flow card names and dates - so make sure when you refer to a piece of evidence you reference what it says, not a name.
Jargon - I am not a fan. Don't say de-link. It is often unwarranted. Explain how and why. Unique is a noun, not a verb. You cannot 'non-unique' something. I love turns, but don't just spout 'turn.' Explain why their argument works against them. Or show how their impacts actually are good, not bad. At its heart debate is a communication education activity; I take your education seriously.
Kritiks - They are arguments. I was okay with them in policy when they were a 'thing,' largely because policy is more game than debate. I was not okay with them in LD when used as a gimmick. I am the LD judge that still clings to the notion that we should have value debate. However, a well thought out K that communicates the impact of the issue being critiqued must be answered in any debate! In PF, I might be okay if a team ran a kritik that they truly believed in, and they clearly had the ethos and pathos to convince me it wasn't just a gimmick. I MIGHT vote on the K if it is argued well. OR, if their opponents clearly understood the K but just didn't want to deal with it. A K is still an argument, and the premise of the K needs to be responded to as an argument. If not, chances are I am going to vote for the K.
I am not a fan of: rude behavior, gender put-downs, dog whistle language, or individuals being mean/cocky just for the heck of it. =26s-27s. I would go lower, but most tournaments won't let me.
I love intense and lively debate. I love true arguments that are well researched, argued, and impacted. I love smart. Smart gets 29.5s and 29.9s. Smart debate with intelligent wit/humor might just get you a 30. It has been a very long time since I gave 30's but I do give them!
Assistant Director of Speech and Debate at Presentation High School and Public Admin phd student. I debated policy, traditional ld and pfd in high school (4 years) and in college at KU (5 years). Since 2015 I've been assistant coaching debate at KU. Before and during that time I've also been coaching high school (policy primarily) at local and nationally competitive programs.
Familiar with wide variety of critical literature and philosophy and public policy and political theory. Coached a swath of debaters centering critical argumentation and policy research. Judge a reasonable amount of debates in college/hs and usually worked at some camp/begun research on both topics in the summer. That said please don't assume I know your specific thing. Explain acronyms, nuance and important distinctions for your AFF and NEG arguments.
The flow matters. Tech and Truth matter. I obvi will read cards but your spin is way more important.
I think that affs should be topical. What "TOPICAL" means is determined by the debate. I think it's important for people to innovate and find new and creative ways to interpret the topic. I think that the topic is an important stasis that aff's should engage. I default to competing interpretations - meaning that you are better off reading some kind of counter interpretation (of terms, debate, whatever) than not.
I think Aff's should advocate doing something - like a plan or advocacy text is nice but not necessary - but I am of the mind that affirmative's should depart from the status quo.
Framework is fine. Please impact out your links though and please don't leave me to wade through the offense both teams are winning in that world.
I will vote on theory. I think severance is prolly bad. I typically think conditionality is good for the negative. K's are not cheating (hope noone says that anymore). PICS are good but also maybe not all kinds of PICS so that could be a thing.
I think competition is good. Plan plus debate sucks. I default that comparing two things of which is better depends on an opportunity cost. I am open to teams forwarding an alternative model of competition.
Disads are dope. Link spin can often be more important than the link cards. But
you need a link. I feel like that's agreed upon but you know I'm gone say it anyway.
Just a Kansas girl who loves a good case debate. but seriously, offensive and defensive case args can go a long way with me and generally boosters other parts of the off case strategy.
When extending the K please apply the links to the aff. State links are basic but for some reason really poorly answered a lot of the time so I mean I get it. Links to the mechanism and advantages are spicier. I think that if you're reading a K with an alternative that it should be clear what that alternative does or does not do, solves or turns by the end of the block. I'm sympathetic to predictable 1ar cross applications in a world of a poorly explained alternatives. External offense is nice, please have some.
I acknowledge debate is a public event. I also acknowledge the concerns and material implications of some folks in some spaces as well. I will not be enforcing any recording standards or policing teams to debate "x" way. I want debaters at in all divisions, of all argument proclivities to debate to their best ability, forward their best strategy and answers and do what you do.
Card clipping and cheating is not okay so please don't do it.
NEW YEAR NEW POINT SYSTEM (college) - 28.6-28.9 good, 28.9-29.4 really good, 29.4+ bestest.
This trend of paraphrasing cards in PFD as if you read the whole card = not okay and educationally suspect imo.
Middle/High Schoolers: You smart. You loyal. I appreciate you. And I appreciate you being reasonable to one another in the debate.
I wanna be on the chain: jyleesahampton@gmail.com
Competed for four years for Jackson Hole, Wyoming—NSDA national qualifier in Public Forum (2x), Congressional Debate (3x), Big Questions, and Duet Interpretation; most NSDA points in the U.S. for class of 2021; TOC National Champion Presiding Officer in 2021.
I won't vote you down for speed, but if I can't understand an argument, I can’t vote for it. The quality of your speaking and presentation matters. Please weigh and contextualize your arguments.
For any questions regarding my paradigm or an RFD, I can be reached at joshuahansen@college.harvard.edu.
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For Congressional Debate:
This is a debate, not just a platform speaking event. Speeches on a bill should flow coherently between one another, with rebuttal and refutation, not just existing in a vacuum. Outside of a sponsorship, I'll be much more impressed by a primarily extemporaneous speech that interacts with the round than a perfectly recited, pre-written speech read verbatim off your computer.
Additionally, I'm judging you for the entirety of the round—your questions matter, as does your behavior when you think no one is looking. Excessive whispering or disruption during another competitor's speech is grounds for losing ranks, as is talking over other competitors or otherwise lacking decorum during motions and segues between speeches.
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For the Ronald Reagan Great Communicator Debate Series:
I was a 2020 National Finalist, competed at and made out-rounds in four regional tournaments, and have judged multiple final rounds at regionals since graduating. I take the GCDS prescribed paradigm seriously—be polite, be presidential, focus on the big picture, and don’t treat it like a normal NSDA debate event.
I have been a coach for several years and during this time, I judge often. One of the most important things I look for when judging is that your arguments make sense and are supported with reasoning and evidence. The most unique and crazy argument will not necessarily win over a stock argument if you can't argue it well. But, if it is well supported and explained with solid links, then go for it! If you have a partner, you need to share the work load and have an actual partnership. Always maintain decorum! Do NOT speak so quickly that I cannot follow what you are speaking. I like to flow the round and if I can't write down what you are saying, then something important will be missed. There must be clash but don't get hung up on one point.
It's been a number of years since I've been an active coach or judge, so keep that in mind if your arguments rely on super deep background knowledge about the current year's topic. That said, I've judged many, many hundreds of debates in both college and high school, including the final rounds of most major college national tournaments; I'll work my hardest to keep up.
Meta Stuff
1) I think debates should be about the topic. This sentiment applies equally to affirmatives that don't want to discuss the topic and negatives that try to avoid clashing with the affirmative.
2) I am committed to the value of switch-side debating. I do not confuse my personal ideological beliefs with the educational value of an activity where we learn argumentation on complex issues.
3) I think that your choices about debate should reflect the value of hard work, not take shortcuts to avoid research, clash, or nuanced argument.
4) Technique matters more than the truth, but the closer your arguments hew to reality, the more likely they are to be persuasive.
5) Evaluation and comparison of your research materials is an intrinsic part of my judging. It’s the only grounded and non-capricious way to adjudicate clash.
6) Offense/Defense – The debate is a math equation, and I try hard to solve it in a consistent fashion. Never underestimate the power of introducing 0 or infinity as a term in the equation – there’s a universe of difference between 99 and 100%. It’s to your benefit to guide my decision with explicit evaluation frameworks.
7) Alternate use time if debaters ask unanimously
8) Impact defense is underrated, especially against particularly silly impacts. I’m also sympathetic to arguments related to relative impact evidence quality – a 6 word Mead card doesn’t constitute an argument.
9) CP competition – As a general guideline, I think CP’s shouldn’t contain a world where the entire plan could happen. I don’t think the affirmative is bound to defend either “immediacy” or “certainty” unless spoken to explicitly by the plan.
10) Reversion – If the 2NR extends a CP, I am willing to revert to the status quo if the CP isn’t competitive or doesn’t solve – but ONLY if the 2NR explicitly flags this as an option and explains why I should do so. And, the 2AR can obviously make arguments about why I shouldn’t. It is not sufficient for the neg to only say “the CP is conditional” or “SQ is a logical option” earlier in the debate and expect me to do the reversion on my own. I have found that this would lead me to vote negative too often. Basically, I’m willing to revert – but there’s a high threshold for the 2NR to set it up.
11) In my experience, if the neg exits the block without harm-related defense to the aff, they usually lose.
Critiques
1) I prefer when they’re not used as a shortcut to avoid topic-specific education. I don’t think winning the affirmative is “flawed” means the neg wins – I think you need offense for why voting aff is bad in order for the critique to be a a reason to vote for you, and I think that offense needs to outweigh the aff.
2) In general, I am unpersuaded by the (usually analytic) argument that the existence of a net benefit for a CP means it must link to the aff’s K.
Stupid arguments
I will listen to any argument you'd like to make, but there are a limited number of arguments which I think extensive community experience has proven over time to be particularly bad for both fairness and the educative value of the activity. As such, I am extremely unlikely to vote on them, and pursuing these lines of argumentation are likely to result in poor speaker points. 2AC's should feel free to dismiss these arguments with maximum flippancy. My current list includes:
1) Aspec and all derivatives
2) Consult CP's
3) Disclosure theory
Policy Debate Wichita East 1993-1997
Policy Debate Wichita State 1997-2000
Head Coach Wichita Heights 2002-2005
Head Coach Andover High School 2005-Present
I have judged many debate rounds over the years and honestly I am open to just about any style. I hesitate to call myself tabula rosa as I lean more towards policy maker, but have voted for K's on many occasions. If you are going to run a K, just make sure that you have a good explanation of how it works in the context of the debate. I do think that topicality is important and will absolutely vote on it if it's won in the debate. I am fine with generic positions, DA, CP, or K.
Speed - I don't see has many fast rounds as I used to, but I am generally fine with rapid delivery as long as you are clear. I would like to be on the email chain or in the evidence drop.
Things to avoid in the debate - One major pet peeve of mine is teams who overly use "cut the card here." I understand doing this a time or two during a speech, but if you are doing this for every card, this is a problem. I believe that this one of the key reasons clipping is such a problem.
If your opponent takes time to tell you their pronouns, I expect you to use them.
Feel free to ask many any specific questions that you have. Good luck!
I have been coaching Speech and Debate for Archbishop Mitty HS for 3 years now. I have a strong background mostly speech from when I competed for James Logan HS from 2002 - 2006: 3rd Place in Duo at the 2005 National Tournament. 2006 California State Champion in Duo.
I have a strong grasp on national and international topics. When judging debate, I will be looking for teams that are respectful to one another and make strong points for their cases while also effectively taking apart their opponents cases.
Special Section, NSDA Nationals
Welcome! If you’re reading this, then we are definitely going to be meeting each other. I wish you all the best: congratulations on being at Nationals. Below are the Public Forum paradigm, and an expansion of my normal National paradigm (building on the NSDA document you already have).
Some personal details: I have been coaching Public Address (Individual Events) and debate for 25 years, and have enjoyed significant success at the state level.
Public Forum
A lot of what I have in my Policy paradigm (below) applies here. Here’s what to keep in mind:
Audience. Unlike the more technical Policy, I understand Public Forum as Outward Facing whose intended audience is someone who is reasonably informed. Terms and ideas are expected to be accessible. Rhetoric (diction, vocal presentation) are important factors.
Spread. Keep it rapid and conversational (roughly 150 w.p.m.). Excessive speed violates Outward Facing. Further, with spread, clarity about tags and structure is critical, as is enunciation. I will seek to hear you and follow along and flow, but I may miss something; remember, I can only judge what I understand. Practically, if you break the speed limit it will be up to your partner and your opponents to clarify your points, which of course, puts you at something of a strategic disadvantage.
Comparative Advantage. I will compare the two sides relative to advantages and how they meet their Framework (below). I expect both sides to make affirmative cases as to why I should prefer their reasoning. You will not win by solely attacking the other side; your case matters. Be clear about your impacts; make your impacts rich, explain them, give them depth.
Framework. Show how your case fulfills or meets your framework (this is the core of Comparative Advantage for me). If given time you should explain why your framework is to be preferred.
And pay attention to the question of Rhetoric, above.
Policy
In formal terms I follow an open policy paradigm. I'm a realist; I come from politics and extemp. For me, debate deals with the questions and discussions we (community/society) deal with in the public, decision-making space. Of course, all discussions have social locations and thus can be profitably interrogated by critical theory or explored through CPs; just show me why it matters or how it connects to our decision-making.
Leave academic or debate theory arguments outside. I will find them interesting, even entertaining, but not decisive.
Some practical details:
• Impacts do not have to go to catastrophe to be persuasive (especially the N-war move). Plausibility counts.
• I pay attention to how links are made, how the internal logic works. If you call attention to a dropped argument, show me why it matters, otherwise, I will defer to the points of clash.
• Where the argument turns on a key piece of evidence, I may examine to determine how much weight to give it (i.e. reliable, authoritative etc.) I am open to voting on T.
• And last, as a practical matter, I have old ears, so make tags clear. Preferred delivery rate tops out at 180 wpm.
Now for some additional Nationals Specifics/extensions
Off-case: Kritiks
As noted above I am open to arguments that illumine where an argument is (culturally) situated. I tend to treat Ks as a relative of the DA or perhaps a CP
Ks that I am comfortable with:
structural racism, Afro-pessimism
Neo-liberalism , colonialisms
the Foucaldian suite of approaches, including biopower
Other critical theory approaches: be cautious. I will not be able to track you as fast. Practically this means I will lean into the card re: authority.
Meta theory, debate theory — no. I find these involve a host of tacit assumptions that I may or may not be willing to accede to.
Off-Case: CPs
On a continuum of the very focused or limited to the very broad, I lean to the focused side.
as CPs expand, I tend to defer to the Aff
Extensive CPs carry similar burden as the 1AC.
Conditionality — there are strategic reasons to drop a CP, I will accept this within reason. (NOTE on the NSDA paradigm I’m a bit more conservative)
PICs — Use with caution. I hear these as a stepping stone, a way to interrogate the AFF case. The idea of testing the case with a “what about” that isolates an issue… good. When it is a broader form, I want to know how you avoid the DAs of the AFF case
Bright Lines or what’s out of bounds
Abusive behavior in the round (language; overly aggressive CX).
Refuse polarization. Extending abusive behavior to culture. I realize this is a challenge in our polarized culture; stay clear of the easy ad hom attack on “them”.
Cases that advocate violence in order to work.
Arguments that advocate non-democratic solutions. This can crop up in Ks: how does Power not end up in oppressing the many?
Experience: I've been a coach for three years; two out of the three years I have qualified competitors in LD to NSDA Nationals. I don't consider myself a lay judge by any means nor do I totally ascribe to the qualities of a circuit judge. I like to think of myself as a happy in between. I have grown an affinity for LD over other styles. I understand jargon, but overuse will result in lower speaker points.
General Philosophy:
I consider myself a tabula rasa judge so I really try to evaluate rounds based on the arguments presented rather than my personal opinions. I don't mind the presentation of arguments that I don't personally ascribe to. With that being said, I do it should be well articulated and supported with proper links and evidence. I don't like when students just say things to say them. I like unique arguments, so don't be afraid to try running something new if you have it prepared.
- Weighing is key. I appreciate strong impact calculus—tell me why your framework or K matters more than your opponent’s arguments.
- I highly value good warranting—assertions without support won’t get much weight.
- I won’t intervene. If you want me to evaluate something, make sure you explain why it matters in the round.
- I appreciate a refutation that is just that. Don't give me your constructive. I've already heard it. I am looking for direct clash with your opponents case.
Framework:
I will evaluate framework debates seriously, and consider them too essential. If a side doesn't present a FW, then I will evaluate based on their opponents or if neither side presents a FW then I default to the logic of queen Beyonce. I don't vote down if competitors use Util, but I do think its lazy and appreciate variety. I prefer framework clash—if your opponent presents a competing framework, engage with it rather than just reasserting your own.I will award speaker points for unique or nontypical/nontraditional FW. I won't vote on it, unless its properly supported. SO MAKE IT MAKE SENSE. PLEASE.
Speed:
I can handle moderate (like very moderate) spreading. Clarity is key! If I can’t understand you, I won’t flow it. Spreading, that severely inhibits my ability to understand case will result in an automatic L.
K's:
I will vote on Kritiks as long as they are well-warranted, contextualized, and linked to the resolution. Please don't run a K because it sounds good; if you don't understand it or can tie it back then you've just wasted everyones time. Present a K that engage with the resolution and challenge assumptions baked into the debate space, again not a K for K's sake. Vague and generic links don't work for me.
I participated in High School Speech/Debate from 2005 to 2007 and Collegiate Speech/Debate from 2007-2011. I competed in a little bit of everything (Extemp, Policy, LD, Oratory, Dramatic). I have coached for the past twelve years. Listed below are my paradigms:
Policy Debate
At its core, I believe that debate is a truth-testing activity. What this means to me is that all arguments are on the table, and it is up to you to challenge and weigh the arguments. At the end of the debate, I will evaluate the logic that you presented to determine which side of the debate is more "true". I will consider any argument that you wish to run, whether it be a kritik, counterplan, theory, etc. It is your duty to explain each position and how it directly clashes with the opposing side. I will say that my experience in the more progressive styles of debate is limited, so if you choose to run a criticism, I am not super familiar with all the literature behind those positions, so you need to spend time explaining the issue and creating a solid link between your criticism and the affirmative team's advocacy. I keep a rather good flow, and I am annoyed when team's drop arguments and fail to extend.
Here are some of my other general thoughts specific issues in Policy:
-Speed: I will listen to however fast you want to talk IF AND ONLY IF you can speak quickly and still remain clear. If you are having to take gasps of air (in my opinion), you are speaking way too quickly and the likelihood of me understanding you is low.
-Conditionality:I am perfectly fine with conditional arguments, as long as the team is transparent about their conditionality. If you aren't transparent about it, I feel like you are a moving target that creates unpredictable ground for your opponents.
-Decorum: This is a formal debate activity. I expect each debater to treat the other debaters with humility and grace. All people in that room have invested time and energy into their positions. At the end of the day, THIS IS NOT A PERSONAL THING. Do not attack your opponent's character...period.
-Kritiks: The link must be direct, must be clear, and must be well warranted for me to even consider weighing. Your job is to do the work on establishing the position. Your alternative cannot just be reject the aff. If you read a kritik, I expect your alternative to actually do something.
If you have any other policy specific questions, ask me in round. I will be honest and transparent.
Hello! I'm a coach who didn't do speech and debate in high school because my school was too small to have a team. I love a good debate, though, and I currently coach LD, BQ, Impromptu, DI, OO, Info, Poetry Interp and OSW.
I'm a high school English teacher, and I read the news and studies for fun. Yes, really. I'm that person.
How to win my vote:
- BQ: Please no Policy jargon/setup in your case. I don't love burdens, and if I hear "solvency" I will absolutely count it against you. Those are CX jargon words and neither of them fit the point of BQ. Burdens CAN be done well, but basically every other CX term should stay in policy.
- Congress: I want REAL, off the cuff rebuttals. No AI. I will ALWAYS give more points to people who further the debate by addressing the points someone just made in a shaky but REAL way and not something that's been practiced or generated using AI.
- Don't spread. Seriously - I want the time to digest what you're saying, so you need to speak at a reasonable pace. I'll tell you to slow down by saying "Slower!" if it's an issue, but unless you're flying through your case you'll be fine.
- I'm ok with Ks, but your links need to be meticulously logical. Your link chain needs to be reasonable between individual links so that each OBVIOUSLY leads to the next; if you start at the resolution and end at global destruction, make sure each link makes this overall leap seem like it could actually happen. Prove to me that Point A automatically leads to Point B and that there's no other alternatives that can happen EXCEPT Point B.
During the round:
- I'm looking for framework clash. Why is your framework the one we need to look at this resolution through? What makes yours more favorable?
- I'm very interested in the impacts. If it doesn't touch our current reality, what's the point of debating the resolution? I want you to go through why it matters to us, in this world, right now. This is what I'd deem the most important part of the debate!
- I don't mind if you finish your sentence after time is called, but don't prolong this too much. I'll give you about a 5 second grace period.
- Please stand while giving speeches, but you can sit for cross-ex.
- Be respectful and have fun :)
My judging paradigm is straightforward. I believe debate aims to teach competitors to think critically and communicate effectively. Evidence is only important if a competitor can tell me why it's important. Competitors must demonstrate a true understanding of the arguments they are making. To that end, I think spreading should be avoided when possible, but I am fine with some speed.
I like to see clear clash and persuasive argumentation. Assertiveness is good, but rudeness is completely uncalled for and may cost a competitor the round if it is pervasive enough. Further, competitors should be respectful and deferential to judges regardless of the judge's experience.
Debaters should come prepared for technology catastrophes. Bring paper copies, USB storage devices, and contingency plans. I flow when I judge, so I only consider things that are said in the actual debate. If you are spreading to the point that your words are unintelligible, I will put my pen down. If that happens, you will not be getting credit for anything you say until you can be understood enough for me to resume flowing.
I am a quality over quantity judge. I am much more impressed by a few well-made arguments than by throwing everything at the wall and hoping something sticks. I understand that debaters have prepared their material ahead of time and are somewhat tied to the strategy that they have prepared; however, I will always value solid, well-reasoned argumentation, and good communication above some minor technicality. To me, this activity is about communicating your point of view effectively to an audience, and I am your audience. I have a fair bit of debate experience, and can usually keep up with whatever goes on, but that doesn't mean I want to. Speaking at an understandable pace, and using rhetorical techniques to drive home points will not be lost on me, and I prefer that to speed and shotgunning.
In LD I believe heavily in Value/Criterion or framework debate. Nit-picky contention argumentation is fine, but I want to see which side is true as a general rule, so dealing with your opponent's framework is very important. One reason here or there is not terribly meaningful unless they are in service of some grander principle.
For Policy, I think the first paragraph really covers most of it. I'd rather see relevant debate than kritiques, but I understand if that is all you brought. If you are going to sell me on a K, please be convincing, and commit to it. I don't like to see a K followed by, "But if you don't buy that here's a bunch of other stuff." I feel like a K should actually critique the resolution, and if you feel that way, then engaging with it immediately after feels cheap, and disingenuous.
For PF I don't have much of a particular paradigm beyond the one mentioned in the first paragraph. Forum was designed to be accessible, and while it isn't World Schools, I do think that a round of Forum should be understandable, at least mostly, to a layperson. They are short speeches and I get that there is a lot to get through, but making efforts to communicate clearly goes a long way in my book.
I am tabula rasa; did policy debate in HS and college. Fine with speed and K. Prefer progressive LD.
LD/PF
I am a professional musician so I appreciate creative interpretation. First and foremost I do not tolerate spreading, running Ks, running theory or attacking/belittling your opponents. Seriously, be respectful and debate the topic at hand.
I want to hear solid arguments with ample evidence and as little jargon as possible - quality over quantity. I am a stickler for proper citation of sources. Please don’t just give me the source, give me dates and authors.
Speaker points will be based primarily on demeanor, enunciation, clarity, command of the English language and organization. Your score will be negatively impacted for spreading. Being disrespectful or aggressive toward your opponents could result in an immediate loss. No low point wins.
SPEECH
Criterion |
Rating Excellent |
Rating Above Average |
Rating Average |
Rating Needs Improvement |
Score |
Points |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
|
Introduction |
|
Meets any three of the four criteria |
Meets any two of the four criteria |
Meets only one of the four criteria |
|
Body |
Main points are clear, and well supported |
Main points are somewhat clear, some support |
Main points need clarity and support |
Main points are not clear and have no support |
|
Conclusion |
|
Reviews main points, brings closure |
Brings closure |
Does not bring closure; the audience is left hanging |
|
Sources |
At least four credible sources, proper use of citations |
At least three credible sources, proper use of citations |
At least two credible sources, proper use of citations |
At least one credible source, proper use of citations |
|
Eye Contact |
Eye contact is maintained consistently |
Less than 90% eye contact |
Less than 75% eye contact |
Little or no eye contact |
|
Delivery (Clarity and Tone) |
Clear and distinct all the time, appropriate voice |
Clear and distinct majority of the time, pleasant voice |
Clear and distinct some of the time, inappropriate tone of voice |
Often mumbles, monotonous voice |
|
TOTAL SCORE |
Please note: This rubric is a general guideline. I am a stickler for sources and proper citation! Exceptions to ratings pertaining to sources are made for OO, HI, DI and DUO. I look forward to hearing you speak!
Hi! I'm Mac Hays (he/him pronouns)! I did 4 years of PF at Durham Academy. I have spent 4 years coaching PF on the local and national circuit. I have just finished debating APDA at Brown. After graduating, I will be coaching PF and Policy debate in Taiwan on a Fulbright. I just started a YouTube channel with PF debate lectures (https://www.youtube.com/@machays) - check it out if you're curious to know how I think. Debate however is most fun for you without being exclusive.
Disclaimers:
* The single most important thing to me is that you do your best to make sure that your opponents understand you when you are speaking. If your opponents do not understand you and you do not make a genuine effort to make sure that they can, I will drop you and I will tank your speaks. Don't risk it.
* If you are at the TSDA and you are fluent in English, do NOT a) read arguments faster than conversational pace or b) speak in a way that ignores English grammar structure when you are debating against a team for whom English is a foreign language. I will tank your speaks and, if it's really excessive, will feel fine just dropping you. Additionally, please offer your opponents a speech doc in addition to the above and answer any clarification questions in good faith.
* TLDR tabula rasa, warrant, signpost, extend, weigh, ballot directive language makes me happy, metaweighing ok, framing ok (I default "pure" util otherwise), theory ok, speed ok (don't be excessive), K ok, no tricks, be nice and reasonable, have fun, ask me questions about how I judge before round if you want more clarity on any specifics. Ideally you shouldn't run theory unless you're certain your opponents can engage.
* Nats probably isn’t the place for theory/Ks unless the violation is egregious and your opponents can clearly engage. Don’t run whack stuff for a free win
* Every speech post constructive must answer all content in the speech before it. Implications: No new frontlines past 2nd rebuttal/1st summary (defense isn't sticky, but that doesn't mean that 1st summary must extend defense on contentions that 2nd rebuttal just didn't frontline), any new indicts must be read in the speech immediately after the evidence is introduced, etc. New responses to new implications = ok. New responses to old weighing = not ok.
* How I vote: I look for the strongest impact and then determine which team has the strongest link into it as a default. See my weighing section for more details. If you don't want me to do this, tell me why with warranting.
* Add me to the chain: colin_hays@alumni.brown.edu.
* The entirety of my paradigm can be considered "how I default in the absence of theoretical warrants" - that is, if you see debate differently than I do, then make arguments as to why that's how I should judge, and, if you win them, I'll go with it. (exceptions are -isms, safety violations, speech times and the like, reasonability specifics are in the doc below).
Have fun!
My paradigm got unreasonably long so I put it in a doc, read it if you want more clarity on specifics:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lFX0Wja9W_h1xC1YBrUl8XZZzRenxOGOx7LCKd9liRU/edit
I am the coach of Advanced Technologies Academy, however, today I am judging for DO.
Debate:
Don't be rude and denigrating to your opponents. I am a truth over tech judge and I do not flow. I am an experienced judge and I listen well.
Make sure to watch your body language and facial expressions because I will mark speaking points. Along with this, also make sure to watch tone and the words used.
Please do not spread.
Speech:
Please be clear in your presentation. I value clarity over quantity of information and speed.
In Duo Interpretation, I tend to hold your ability to work with your partner quite highly.
Smooth transitions and quality content is valued above thorough memorization.
I did not debate in high school or college, but have served as a debate assistant for several years. I have judged about 10 rounds on this year's topic. I am policy maker or stock issue judge. I appreciate when teams listen to the evidence that the other team is reading and analyze it and check the warrants. I hate just reading blocks without explanation.
The Affirmative has the burden of proof to support the resolution. You will probably do better if you do not speed read to me.
I will listen to any arguments, but specific links are important. Explanation is important.
The last speakers should weight the round. Convince me to vote for you based on what was argued in the round.
I will penalize rudeness. Just be nice to each other.
I competed in high school debate in a small 4A/3A school for four years in the late 80’s, was part of K-State’s CEDA national championship team in the 90’s. I coached for about 10 years before taking a break to raise kids and I am now in my 5th year back.
I know debate and my coach's heart is strong. . . but I am better at the older style of debate than the newer style of debate.
Important:
-
My most important rule is “Be Kind.” There is a reason this activity needs to be accessible to all. Don’t pollute the activity that I love.
-
I used to say speaking fast is fine. I am editing my paradigm now to say that the recent fast rounds that I have judged have not been articulated clearly enough for me to understand. In the end, this is still a communication activity. Additionally, mindless reading of blocks without clash is not good debate. Please flow and put your arguments on the flow. You shouldn't be able to speak from just a preloaded block on your computer. I enjoy line by line argumentation. I expect summarizing and explanation in between. I appreciate speed most when it is utilized to analyze and weigh responses and dislike when teams spread through unwarranted responses to attempt to overwhelm the other team.
-
I am probably closest to a policy-maker or a stock issues judge, but am willing to consider other paradigms if you want me to.
-
I expect you to weigh the round and analyze the voting issues in the final rebuttals.
-
Please include me in any email chain or evidence sharing, but I will probably only look at the evidence if it's important to my decision and 1) someone asks me to or 2) I think it sounds misconstrued.
-
I will not evaluate any K's, or theory arguments unless you tell me how to approach the argument and how it weighs in the round. Don’t get me wrong, I am willing to listen to K's, although I have little experience reading or evaluating them. If you run these arguments, please avoid excessive jargon. You are going to have to be super clear.
-
Cross-ex is for questions not arguments. You will get a lot further with your argumentation if you save it for the speech. I don’t flow cross-ex and usually am working on the ballot during that time.
-
I will vote on topicality if necessary.
- I will not vote on vagueness unless clarifying questions are asked of the affirmative in cross-examination AND their case becomes a moving target.
- I will not vote on disclosure theory. Just debate the round.
- I know that I am old school, but I believe that feeding your partner what to say during their speech or cross-ex makes that partner look weak. Trust your partners. They are smart people.
- I hate rudeness and will penalize. Don’t put another person down and don’t try to make them look stupid . . . other than that, speaks are based on strategy/arguments, not style/speaking ability. I stick to 27 - 30 for speaker points unless you are rude, condescending, racist, sexist, homophobic, etc.
I am frustrated by excessive tech time (there is a reason that we added prep-time). Please keep a fair track of your time. I don’t want to have to worry about it. But don’t cheat on time.
If you have any questions, ask before the round. I will do my best to give you meaningful feedback about your strengths in the round and how I think you can improve on the ballot.
Best of luck! Have fun! Enjoy! Form connections . . . that’s what debate is all about!
For Debate Rounds:
I enjoy flowing rounds. I expect debaters to speak to be understood and to forward their arguments with meaningful warrants AND impacts. I caution the use of spreading. I should not have to read your case in order to be able to track your arguments if you are speaking to be understood. Evidence that is left to speak for itself carries less weight for arguments than evidence that is contextualized and explained how it is being used within the argument as well as the round. I focus on how well debaters utilize Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. Your delivery (respect for opponents, and connection with the judge) and use of evidence fits under ethos. Your pathos increases when you are able to explain how what you are arguing matters--don't just state that it does. Logos implies logic, so make sure that you make sense. Finally, don't hide and gloss over your definition of the resolution. I need to know what you are debating. Regarding speaker points: speakers who are respectful during CX to their opponent, who roadmap and signpost their speeches, and who speak to be understood are awarded higher points.
For Individual Speaking Events:
Utilize your voice and body to convey your message to the judge. Contextualize your sources as you cite them orally. Roadmap and signpost your presentations. Regardless of the event, make your topic matter for your audience.
I place significant emphasis on speaking skills. Consequently, I am not a fan of unnecessary speed. I prefer truth over tech and want to see solid argumentation with clearly explained links. The team that focuses on the resolution, explains the real-world implications, and debates in the most logical/polite/persuasive manner is likely to get my ballot.
Policy Debate
The Stock issues are the most important points for me in a policy round. I am not a Games Theorist (so ridiculous ideas like housing for bees and vaporizing the moon will not do well). Judges, like a jury, come from all walks of life. Debaters who can make the argument clear to any person are the ones who should win (regardless of impressive jargon or demands about who they think has won). Good speakers know their audience. So, I was a debate coach for almost ten years and an assistant for more than a decade. I have been in the debate world as a competitor, coach, and judge since 1983. I have coached policy, LD and PF as well as the individual speaking events. I have judged final rounds at nationals and in a broom closet in Reno High. Generally good public speaking is the same in all events: a speaker presenting clear and interesting ideas well to a listener. This is real. If you are trying to put me in a box to simplify how you should shape your argument, you may miss subtle opportunities. Paradigm sheets can be misleading, not because the judge lies or tries to intentionally mislead but because most judges are remarkably flexible and will evaluate a case using any means at her disposal. While traditional arguments are important, kritiks, plans, counterplans, theory, and narratives will all factor in to good debate.
I believe evidence is important (and, yes, I need to hear the author and date clearly). I don’t care about anything “in ink” because I am not reading your case. I am listening. I don’t generally read cards, but if it matters to the round, I will read one or more cards after round. I know that spreading the argument enlarges your case; however, if I cannot hear it, you don’t have much of a case. I have judged rounds at intense speeds and felt confident that I heard the important tag lines (while the evidence was fast), but most debaters get sloppy and can’t be understood when they speak quickly. If at any time you see me put my pen down, I have stopped flowing (which means your arguments are not on my papers. If you never take the time to look at your audience (so you will not know if I am flowing) you are not a good speaker. Eye contact, even in debate, is where you make your points “real”. I am not into cases that tend to be gimmicks and lessen the overall quality of debate. I am an educator and believe in learning good strategies. This is a debate round not a divorce court and your tone should match accordingly. If we are going to spend as many hours as we do at a tournament, we might as well not make it miserable.
Don’t extend through ink and pretend they "didn't respond". Don't oversimplify responses and, in the back half of the debate, make sure your extensions are responsive to the arguments made, not just rereading your cards. If they say something in cross that it is important enough for me to evaluate, make sure you say it in a speech. Line by line is important but being able to step back and explain the narrative/ doing comparative analysis makes it easier to vote for you.
Make it easy for me to see why you won and you'll probably win. If you want the ballot, make clear, compelling and warranted arguments for why you should win.
Finally, I love crystallization. At the end of the debate, I like a nice tidy list of things I should vote for you on and clear reasons why you are winning that list (it is also very helpful to weigh the arguments you are winning vs. the arguments your opponent might have won).
Etiquette is important. While I may not vote down a debater for rudeness or lack of etiquette, it will affect their speaker points. Since debate is about education, dialogue, discussion, etc., I personally believe that lacking manners is a major problem (since people do not want to engage with those who do not know how to treat others properly). You can be assertive, and even aggressive, without being a condescending jerk. Maintaining one's composure and displaying self-control (even in a heated round) is critical to me as a judge.
I will not disclose my decision after the round regardless of the rules of that tournament. That lends itself to a debate with debaters about the debate which I am not interested in. I will make detailed comments on my ballot.
I did PF, Congress, and Extemp at Madison West HS in Wisconsin. Since then I have been debating in college and judging for three years.
PF Paradigm:
If you have any questions or have any problems with my paradigm, please tell me before the round or after the round at heintzzachary@gmail.com. If you want additional feedback or advice, don’t be afraid to email me after the round.
I’m a flow judge but treat me lay for speed. Slow down. Never spread.
I like fewer pieces of quality offense, a strong narrative, and strong weighing in Final Focus.
No entirely new arguments after Rebuttal, no new supporting evidence or entirely new responses after first summary. Cards should only be used when they offer unique expertise, data, or examples to an argument, and I accept and encourage uncarded arguments.
Citation is author, source, date said once and then probably never again.
Don’t use authors, or sources as taglines.
I default to a utilitarian cost-benefit analysis framework. This means you need to provide arguments to prefer your framework over this default and your opponents can defend the default framework. I believe having a default allows for a wide range of arguments and forces debaters to actually engage with their frameworks rather than just try to sneak it in on fiat.
Use realistic impacts with smaller magnitudes and probability weighing over just pretending like everything causes World War 3 or financial crisis.
Please no Debate Theory unless its to address in-round unfair behavior, most especially discrimination. If your opponents, myself, or another judge discriminates against you in-round you should tell your coach and tournament organizers. I may drop you for discriminatory behavior, being excessively rude, or obviously and intentionally lying.
Speaker Points: Unless the tournament offers some sort of scale for judges to use for speaker points, I will award a 28-29 on average and will rarely go below 27 unless you were rude in round.
email: colter.heirigs@gmail.com
POLICY PARADIGM:
I have been coaching Policy Debate full time since 2014. Arms sales is my 7th year of coaching.
I view my primary objective in evaluating the round to be coming to a decision that requires the least “judge intervention.”
If debaters do not give me instructions on how to evaluate the debate, and/or leave portions of the debate unresolved, they should not expect to get my ballot. My decision will end up being arbitrary, and (while I will likely still try to make my arbitrary decision less arbitrary than not) I will not feel bad.
In the final rebuttals, debaters should be giving me a “big picture” assessment of what’s going on in the debate to give them the best chance to get my ballot. Extending 25 arguments in the rebuttals doesn’t do much for me if you’re not explaining how they interact with the other team’s arguments and/or why they mean you win the round. In my ideal debate round, both 2NR and 2AR have given me at least a 45 second overview explaining why they’ve won the debate where they dictate the first paragraph of my ballot for me.
Important things to note:
-I don’t ever think Topicality is an RVI (*this is distinct from kritiks of the neg’s interp/use of topicality*)
-If you don’t signpost AND slow down for tags, assume that I am missing at least 50% of your tags. This means saying a number or a letter or “AND” or “NEXT” prior to the tag of your card, and preferably telling me which of your opponents arguments I should flow it next to. Speech docs are not substitutes for clarity and signposting.
-I'm probably a 7 on speed, but please see above ^^^^
-High-theory will be an uphill battle.
-I would prefer not to call for cards, I believe it’s the debaters job to clearly communicate their arguments; if you tell me they’re misrepresenting their cards – I will probably call for them. But if I call for it and they’re not misrepresenting their evidence you’ll lose a lot of credibility with me and my cognitive biases will likely run amuck. Don’t let this deter you from calling out bad evidence.
-You can win the line-by-line debate in the 2AR but still lose the debate if you fail to explain what any of it means and especially how it interacts with the 2NR's args.
-Don’t assume I have any familiarity with your Acronyms, Aff, or K literature
-Swearing is probably word inefficient
-You’re in a bad spot if you’re reading new cards in the final rebuttals, very low propensity for me to evaluate them
-CPs that result in the aff are typically going to be a very hard sell, so are most other artificially competitive CPs. Perms are cool, so are time tradeoffs for the aff when this happens. If you really think you've got a sick techy CP make sure to go out of your way to win questions of competition/superior solvency / a specific link to the aff plan alone for your NB
-I think debate is a competition.
-the best “framework” arguments are probably “Topicality” arguments and almost probably don’t rely on cards from debate coaches and definitely don’t rely on me reading them after the round
-Impact everything out... Offense and Defense... I want to hear you telling me why your argument is more pressing and important than the other team's. I hate having to intervene... "Magnitude," "Probability," and "Timeframe" are not obscenities, please use them.
Arguments you shouldn’t waste your time on with me:
-Topicality = RVI (*this is distinct from kritiks of the neg’s interp/use of topicality*)
-Consult CPs
I am going to have the easiest time evaluating rounds where:
-warrant and evidence comparison is made
-weighing mechanisms and impact calculus guiding how I evaluate micro & macro level args are utilized
-the aff advocates a topical plan
-the DA turns and Outweighs the Case, or the CP solves most of the case and there's a clear net benefit that the perm doesn't solve for
-the negative has a well-researched neg strategy
-I am not expected to sort through high-theory
-the 2NR/2AR doesn't go for everything and makes strategic argument selection
Presumptions I bring into the round that probably cannot be changed:
-I’m voting Neg on presumption until the aff reads the 1AC
-Topicality is never an RVI (*this is distinct from kritiks of the neg’s interp/use of topicality*)
-There is no 3NR
-Oppression of humans = bad (note: I do not know how this compares to the end of the planet/human race, debaters are going to have to provide weighing mechanisms for me.)
-Earth existing = good (note: I do not know how this compares to other impacts like oppression of humans, debaters are going to have to provide some weighing mechanisms for me.)
-I will have a very difficult time bringing myself to vote for any sort of Consult CP if the aff even mumbles some type of “PERM”
-Once the 2AC perms, presumption goes to the neg to prove the perm unworkable or undesirable if the CP/Alt is not textually/functionally competitive
Unimportant things to note:
-Plz read your plan before you read solvency – I will be annoyed and lost if you don’t
-I really enjoy author indicts if/when they’re specific – it shows a team has worked hard and done their research
-I really enjoy case specific strategies – I enjoy it when a team can demonstrate that they've worked hard to prepare a case specific strategy
-I enjoy GOOD topicality debates
-I’ve been involved in policy debate in some capacity for 11 years now – Education is my 5th topic coaching.
-I put my heart and soul into policy debate for four years on high school. I worked tirelessly to put out specific strategies for specific affirmatives and I like to see debaters who I can tell have done the same and are having fun. So, show me you know your case better than anyone else if you're affirmative, or on the neg, show me specific links and answers to the affirmative... I tend to reward this in speaker points. ...That being said, generics are fun, fine, and essential for the negative team. Feel free to run them, you will not be penalized in any way.
Specific Arguments
I'm good for just about anything that is well debated: T, Theory, DAs, CPs, Ks... I can even be persuaded to vote solely on inherency if it is well debated - if the plan has literally already happened, for the love of god please punish the aff.
That being said, I enjoy seeing a strategy in argument selection, and appreciate when arguments don't blatantly contradict each other (i.e. the DA linking to the CP, or Cap Bad and an Econ Impact on politics). Especially in the 2NR.
********************************************************
LD Paradigm
I am pretty tab when it comes to LD. My goal is to reach a decision that requires the least amount of judge intervention.
Signpost and slow down on tags. Slow down even more for theory args. Spreading through tags and theory interps is absolutely not the move if you want me to be flowing your speech. I will not be flowing from the doc.
Slow down. No, you don’t have to be slow and you should certainly feel free to read the body of your cards at whatever max speed you are comprehensible at. If you’ve used signposting, slowed down on tags and pre-written analytics, you’re golden. It's inexcusable and unforgivable to not have signposting in the 1ac.
I come into the round presuming:
-the aff should be defending the resolution
-the aff is defending the entirety of the resolution
-my ballot answers the resolutional question
-debate is a game
These presumptions can likely be changed.
Stylistically agnostic, but probably not your best judge for:
-dense phil that you’re spreading through
-undisclosed affs that don’t defend the entirety of the resolution
-process CPs that result in the aff
-more than 2 condo
-friv theory - I ❤️ substance
-Probably not interested in hearing condo if it’s just 2 condo positions
-theory interps that require me to ignore other speeches
I think that I have a low propensity to vote for most arguments regarding things that happen outside of the round or prior to the 1ac. I am not interested in adjudicating arguments that rely on screenshots of chats, wikis, or discord servers.
Questions, or interested in my thoughts on particular subjects not covered in my LD paradigm? Check out my POLICY PARADIGM above!
Public Forum Paradigm:
First speakers get to ask the first question in crossfire. If you ask about the status of this in round, expect to get one less speakerpoint than you would have otherwise.
File Share > e-mail chain.
Depth > Breadth. You only have four minutes to construct your position, would far prefer to hear 2 well-developed contentions rather than 3-4 blippy ones unless they are incredibly straight-forward. Much less interested in adjudicating “argument checkers” than most.
I am a true public forum judge - I expect your case and your delivery to be clear, accessible, and layperson-friendly. I will be displeased if you speak too quickly or use too much debate jargon. Treat your opponents and their case with respect, as I don't appreciate snark or condescension. Roadmaps are "on the clock".
Answering questions or critique with as much specificity as possible - names, dates, sources, etc. - will positively affect my evaluation of your case.
Finally, as a historian I really like to see you using specific evidence, particularly context and background information, to weave a narrative that I can walk away from the round with. I don't need a framework as much as I need you to give me a theme or big takeaway.
Nikola Helixon
Assistant Coach @ BVSW
I don't know as much about the topic as you do. I am not as heavily invested in the activity as I used to be. Please speak slower and be clear.I will not clear you. There are some debaters who can be both very fast and clear. You are probably not that debater.
I will not read "inserted" evidence unless explicitly read.
I won't vote on out of round issues.
You don't need your computer as much as you think you do. Please look away from blocks or I will just take my hands off my keyboard and read alongside you.
I don't like to read evidence when making a decision. I will if I feel I need to. I don't want a card doc.
Whatever argument you read needs a clear reason why you win and you should tell me that reason explicitly.
- I've noticed a sharp increase in the amount of time between when prep ends and when you start speaking. There's very little reasons why this should take more than a minute, especially since you just have to click a button to send the document out.
- "Marked copy" does not mean "remove the cards you didn't read." You do not have to do that, and you should not ask your opponents to do that.
- You cannot use Cross-ex as prep.
I am a head coach for Speech & Debate.
I prefer traditional-style Lincoln-Douglas Debate, with a focus on Value Clash.
Evidence should be read throughout the debate.
I keep a good FLOW during the round.
I prefer debaters speak at a conversational rate.
I encourage you to give VOTERS. Tell me why you have won the round.
I really do not tolerate disrespect in the round. Being rude will lose you the ballot.
EMAIL CHAIN: mavsdebate@gmail.com
Name
Please do not call me judge - Henderson - no Mr/Ms just Henderson. This is what I am most comfortable with. I will do my best to offer you the same consideration.
Doc Sharing
Please share speech docs with me, your opponent in a timely manner. If it get long, your speaks drop.
Speed
I am old - likely 10 years older than you think if not more - this impacts debaters in two ways 1. I get the more triggered when someone spreads unnecessarily. If you are using speed to increase clash - awesome! If you are using it to outspread your opponent then I am not your judge. I can understand for the AC but I think a pre-round conversation with your opponent is both helpful and something as a community we should attempt to do at all time. If you do not adjust or adapt accordingly I will give you the lowest speech possible. If this is a local, I am likely to vote against you - TOC/State - you will likely get the ballot but again lowest speaks possible. 2. I just cannot keep up as well anymore and I refuse to flow off a doc. I only have four functional fingers on one hand and both hands likely 65% what they used to be. This is especially true as the season moves along and at any tournament where I judge lot of rounds.
General Principle
I am an educator first. This means that I am concerned about the what happens in the debate more than I do about what the debate claims to achieve. This does not lessen my focus on argumentation, rather it is to say that I am sensitive to the issues that concern the debaters as individuals before I am my concern about various claimed link stories. Be honest, fair and considerate to each other. This manifests itself in my judging when I pay particular attention to the division of prep time. Debater who try to steal prep or are not considerate of their opponents prep will irritate me quickly (read: very bad speaks).
Speaker Points
This is a common question given I tend to be critical on points. Basically, If you deserve to break then you should be getting no less than a 28.5. Speaker points are about speaking up to the point that I can understand your spread/read. Do not docbot. If you do not intonate you are not debating you are reading and that is just frustrating to me. Beyond that there are mostly about argumentation. Argumentation includes strategy, crystallization, and structuring of speeches. If you have a creative strat you will do well. If you are reading generics you will do less well. If you tell a full story on the implication of your strat you will do well. If I have to read cards to figure out what you are advocating you will not. If you collapse well and convene the method and meaning of your approach you will do well. If you go for everything (neg) or a small trick you will not. Finally, if you ask specific questions about how I might feel about your strat you will do well. If you ask, "What's your paradigm?" because you did not take the time to look you will not. Previously, I had a no speaker point disclosure rule. I have changed. So ask, if you care to talk about why; not if you do not want to discuss the reasoning, but only want the number.
Policy
Theory
I truly like a good theory debate. I went for T often as a debater and typically ran quasi topical cases so that I could engage in theory debates. This being said, what you read should be related to the topic. If the words of the topic do not occur in what you read you are in an uphill battle, unless you have a true justification as to why. I am very persuaded that we should learn about certain topics outside of the debate topic, but that just means you should create a forum or propose a topic to the NSDA, or create a book club. Typical theory questions: Reasonability is defense, competing interps are offense. Some spec is generally encouraged to increase clash and more nuance, too much should be debated. Disclosure theory is not very persuasive too me, unless debated very well and should only be used after you sought to have an actual conversation with your opponent prior to the debate. I am very persuaded by contact info at national tournaments - put up contact info and any accomodations you need - it makes for a safer space.
Kritiks
A kritik is a disad with a counterplan, typically to me. This means I should understand the link, the impact and the alternative as much as I would if you read a disad and counterplan. I vote against kritik most often because I have no idea what the alt does. This happens when the aff fails to engage and you think that you now just need to extend tags on the alt and assume that is enough. I need a clear picture of the link and the alt most importantly regardless of how much the aff has engaged or not. Gut check is a real thing. If your kritik is death good you are working uphill. If you are reading "high theory" know that I have not read the literature, but I will do my best. In the 1890s, when I debated, I was really into Cap and Gender based positions. My debaters like Deleuze and Cap (probably my influence, if I possession such).
Performance/Pre-Fiat
If you are trying to convince me that what you are doing matters and can change people in some way I really need to know how. If your claim is simply that this method is more approachable, well that is generally not true to me and given there is only audiences beyond me in elim.s you are really working up hill. Access trumps all! If you do not make the method clear you are not doing well. If your method somehow interrogates something, what does it interrogate? how does that change things for us and why is that meaningful? And most important you should be initiating this interrogation in round. Tell me that people outside the debate space should do this is not an interrogation. That is just a plan with a specific mechanism. Pre-fiat claims are fine, but again I need to understand the implication. Telling me that I read gender discrimination arguments and thus that is a pre-fiat voter is not only not persuasive it is not an argument at all. Please know that I truly love a good method debate, I do not enjoy people who present methods that are not explicit and full of nothing but buzzwords.
Competition
Arguments should be competitive otherwise they are just FYI. This means kritikal argument should likely be doing more than simply reading a topic link and moving on. All forms are perms are testable - I do not default to a view on severance/intrinsic - it's all debatable. I do default on perms being a test of competition. If you want to advocate the perm this should be clear from the get. A perm should have a text, and a net benefit in the opening delivery otherwise it is a warrantless argument.
Condo
In policy, (LD its all debatable) a few layers are fine - 4+ you are testing the limits and a persuasive condo bad argument is something I would listen to for sure. What I am absolute about is the default. All advocacy are unconditional unless you state in your speech otherwise. No this is not a CX question. You should be saying, I present the following conditional CP or the like, explicitly. Not doing this and then attempting to kick it means an advocacy shift and is thus debatable on theory.
Lincoln Douglas
See above
Theory - FOR LD
I note above that I cannot keep up as much anymore. If your approach is to spam theory (which is increasing a norm in LD) I am not capable of making coherent decisions. I will likely be behind on the flow. I am trying to conceptualize your last blip in a manner to flow and you are making the 3rd or 4th. Then I try to play catch up, but argument is in the wrong place on the flow and it is written as a partial argument. I am not against theory - I loved theory as a debater, but your best approach is to go for a couple shell at most in the NC and likely no more than 1 in the 1AR if you want me to be in the game at all. This is not to say I would not vote on potential abuse/norm setting rather keep your theory to something you want to debate and not using it just a strategic gamesmanship is best approach if you want a coherent RFD.
Disads/CPs/NCs
I was a policy debater, so disads and counterplans are perfectly acceptable and generally denote good strat (read: better speaks). This does not means a solid NC is not just as acceptable, but an NC that you read every debate for every case that does not offer real clash or nuance will make me want to take a nap. PIC are debatable, but I default to say they are acceptable. Utopian fiat is generally not without a clear method story. Politics disad seem mostly silly in LD without an explicit agent announcement by the AC. If you do not read a perm against a counterplan I will be very confused (read: bad speaks). If you do not read uniqueness then your link turns are just defense.
Philosophy/Framework Debate
I really enjoy good framework debate, but I really despise bad framework debate. If you know what a normative ethic is and how to explain it and how to explain your philosophical basis, awesome. If that is uncomfortable language default to larp. Please, avoid cliche descriptors. I like good framework debate but I am not as versed on every philosophy that you might read and there is inevitable coded language within those scholarship fields that might be unfamiliar to me. Most importantly, if you are into phil debating do it well. Bad phil debates are painful to me (read: bad speaks). Finally, a traditional framework should have a value (something awesome) and a value criteria/standard (something to weigh or test the achievement of the value). Values do not have much function, whereas standards/criterion have a significant function and place. These should be far more than a single word or phrase that come with justification.
Public Forum
I have very frustrated feelings about PF as a form of debate. Thus, I see my judging position as one of two things.
1. Debate
If this is a debate event then I will evaluate the requirements of clash and the burden of rejoinder. Arguments must have a claim and warrant as a minimum, otherwise it is just an assertion and equal to any other assertion. If it is an argument then evidence based proof where evidence is read from a qualified sources is ideal. Unqualified but published evidence would follow and a summary of someone's words without reading from them would be equal to you saying it. When any of these presentation of arguments fails to have a warrant in the final focus it would again be an assertion and equal to all other assertions.
Synthesis
- Paragraph - you lose. This does not need to be an argument in the debate.
- Read tags that is some like ….” Therefore.” I won’t flow it
- Read a card that does not include a read warrant. This is meaningless in the debate.
- Claiming a card says something that it clearing does not 25 spk loss. This does not need to be an argument in the debate. I will intervene period as you have no ethics for an activity that I care deeply about.
2. Speech
If neither debate team adheres to any discernible standard of argumentation then I will evaluate the round as a speaking event similar to extemp. The content of what you say is important in the sense that it should be on face logical and follow basic rules of logic, but equally to your poise, vocal variation and rhetorical skills will be considered. To be clear, sharing doc.s would allow me to obviously discern your approach. Beyond this clear discernible moment I will do my best to continue to consider the round in my manners until I reach the point where I realize that both teams are assume that their claims, summaries etc... are equally important as any substantiated evidence read. The team that distinguishes that they are taking one approach and the opponent is not is always best. I will always to default to evaluate the round as debate in these situation as that is were I have the capacity to be a better critic and could provide the best educational feedback.
If you adhering to a debate model as described above these are other notes of clarity.
Theory
I’m very resistant to theory debates in Public Forum. However, if you can prove in round abuse and you feel that going for a procedural position is your best path to the ballot I will flow it. Contrary to my paradigm for LD, I default to reasonability in PF.
Framework
I think the function of framework is to determine what sort of arguments take precedence when deciding the round. To be clear, a team won’t win the debate exclusively by winning framework, but they can pick up by winning framework and winning a piece of offense that has the best link to the established framework. Absent framework from either side, I default utilitarianism.
Finally Word for All
I am sure this is filled with error, as I am. I am sure this leaves more questions than answers, life has. I will do my best, as like you I care.
I'm an experienced head coach at Skyline High School. I have three experience as an assistant coach. I've mostly worked with speech events, but also congress, LD and Public Forum with limited experience in Policy,
Policy:
Overall: I'm not big on theory or Kritiks. I'm more likely to vote on impact calculus.
Speed: I'm OK with speed as long as you email me your speeches cases, but please slow down for your taglines.
RFD: I typically base my decision on the the stock issues of the plan on the Affs ability to defend it and prove that it is better than the status quo. The NEG wins if they can prove the plan is worst then the status quo or the status quo is better than the plan.
Todd Hering-PF Paradigm
I have coached debate since 1991 in a variety of formats.
Evidence ethics are important to me. Debaters should accurately represent the conclusions of credible authors. I do not support paraphrasing, but if you do, it needs to strictly conform to the original source.
I prefer fewer arguments that are well-developed with clear warranting. “Blippy” debate—many claims with limited explanation—is ineffective and unpleasant. I am unlikely to vote for an argument that isn’t developed over the course of the round. Please take the time when you first introduce an argument to clearly explain your reasoning. Arguments that have academic merit (rather than debate fiction) are more appealing to me.
Stylistically, I do not enjoy fast debate. In my ideal world, debate would develop and reward communication skills that are relevant beyond the world of competitive debate. I do understand that there are some competitive realities with time limits that force debaters sometimes to speak quickly. Also, being polite in cross-fire is expected.
Hi, I competed in speech for all four years of high school. I've now judged/coached for about 5 years! :) Here's what I have (in terms of my rules) to say about speech and debate:
For everyone: please don't try to shake my hand (it wont affect your score, i get its for being nice and thanking me for judging your round) but idk where your hands have been.
SPEECH: Have fun, don't be nervous, and do you best. I judge fully based off the performance. If you go over the grace period of your performance, cool, but like, know you can't be ranked the 1. I love topics of public health, healthcare, child/maternal health, and health equity.
DEBATE: I am a lay judge, however I've now been judging traditional debate for 3 years (mostly PF and LD, BQ, but I know it's not traditional debate lol). Don't be nervous to correct me on debate lingo or debate rules. If you want me to disclose, I can. However, I will not disclose during elimination/outrounds!
Please make sure you can take your own times! I will be taking my time from now on to make sure the round runs as fairly and efficiently.
I'm fine with spreading, just make sure I can understand your sources (Name, Date) plzzz
Have your cards ready and set to go, in case I want to see them!
Checking and reading cards is not a part of prep time, but if you go over like 2 1/2 min or more, I'll start counting it towards your prep time.
Have fun, be cool, make me laugh, you could get extra pts, idk (life is short, yolo). Also, no sexism, racism, or any kind of hatred because it will lead you into an auto-drop. ALSO, yes to the email chain! abhern12@asu.edu
CONGRESS: I love clash! Speak eloquently and loudly please! Answer all of your questions succinctly as you can during CX! If you make me laugh in the round, that could possibly help lol. Please keep the debate as creative and interesting towards the bills you want to pass. Repeating arguments are irrelevant, please always add a new/interesting point during your speeches :) Have fun too! :) (if u talk about public health, delivery of healthcare systems, access/utilization of healthcare, child/maternal health, or health inequity and disparities, maybe you might catch my eye and get ranked idk) ((public health is cool))
I'm comfortable with a variety of arguments, just be creative and explain things well. I'm comfortable with speed but articulate well. Slow down for complex arguments. Extend arguments properly with an explanation as to why you win the round off of it. Tech over truth. Email chains. Don't be a jerk, have fun. rehernandez1202@gmail.com
Phil/Traditional
Pretty much one of my favorite forms of debate, and it is largely unappreciated in the current debate world. There are a wide array of values and VCs out there with creative concepts and reasons to prefer, so get creative. Philosophy is an insane world with plenty of crazy ideas to choose from (so long as you argue why I should prefer a certain idea of philosophy). And if you are going to default to morality as your value, you better have a strong definition/evidence for why it should be valued or how it is even objective (basically, don't just have it to have some connection to a value).
TL;DR: explain it, give me a reason to prefer, get creative
DAs
I like this style of argumentation. It provides grounds for an interesting of chain events, widening our scope of the impact of our actions. That being said, you must explain the connections of one link in the chain to another logically. I don't want it to sound like some stars-align conspiracy theory. I also don't like that so much defaults to extinction. I get that it is the strongest impact possible for rational actors to take into account, but if you do run it, have a strong link chain with a high probability.
Plans/CPs
Go for it. I love arguments about flaws in plans, credibility, anything you have to offer. I expect a good weighing analysis on impacts, so explain why your impacts matter more and why your methods for weighing is better.
For CPs, get creative with it. I don't really like the generic CPs but I'm willing to evaluate it if you have a strong case for it. I also expect a clear line of exclusivity. I don't like CPs that can be easily permed. That being said, if you run a perm, I expect a good explanation of how the plan perms the CP. PICs are fine.
Ks
Run them, but err on the side of more explanation if it is an obscure K. And explain why I should care, all that jazz.
Other Notes:
Speed - I am comfortable with it, but please, for the love of Obama, articulate. Even if you are spreading, I expect to be able to understand you. I don't one one syllable per sentence.
Every argument should have a claim, warrant, and impact, with proper extensions on the impact. And please explain extensions. I don't want to hear "extend this" and no explanation on why it should be extended or why it matters. You shouldn't leave things up to interpretation. I can only judge what you show me.
I'd appreciate if you collapse stuff on the 1AR, 2NR, and 2A. Your speaks will suffer if you try to pull across a egregious amount of DAs and only end up needing one.
I err on the side of tech over truth, but if an argument is just egregiously false, I will not evaluate it.
I prefer email chains, especially if you are going to be spreading.
I am willing to disclose if you guys are willing to wait.
Please relax and have fun. I hate seeing debates get so vicious. I get that it is a competition but that shouldn't stop this from being a fun and accessible event if people are willing to put in all the effort. Don't be a jerk, relax, and have fun.
My email is rehernandez1202@gmail.com for email chains or questions that haven't been answered here.
Congressional Debate:
I have judged and/or been parliamentarian at local, regional and national tournaments, including Isidore Newman, Durham Academy, the Barkley Forum and and Harvard. My students have found success at both the national and state levels.
POs- I default to you. Remember, your tone as PO has a big influence on tone of the chamber. Be efficient, clear and consistent and have fun.
As far as the round and debate within the round, consistency is important to me. The way you speak and vote on one piece of legislation should most indeed influence your position on similar limitation unless you tell me otherwise. Debate and discourse does not exist in a vacuum.
Acting/characterization is fine as long as there is a reason and has a positive impact.
Finding a balance of logos, ethos and pathos is important. Difficult to accomplish in three minutes? Absolutely. The balance is what gets my attention.
I'll be honest. I don't like when debate jargon leaks into the chamber. SQUO, affirmative/negative, counterplan, link/turn, etc. This event is it's own unique event with norms.
Additionally, Student Congress is not Extemp-lite. If you are trying for three points in a speech, how do I know what to focus on? If everything is equally important then nothing is important. Take a stance, go for the impact and make the balance between logic and emotional to persuade. Include previous debate points, elucidate your point of view and have fun.
Email: Annaherrig2@gmail.com
General:
UTT 21-Present
Please send speech docs! (also if you say "mark the card here" please mark it)
Lets all learn something from each other. Debate is supposed to be fun, that being said, if you are having fun, I'll have a better time judging the round. The best judges will listen to any argument and style of debate. Do what you are best at. I try to leave predispositions out of decision-making as much as possible (it's not) and will work hard to adjudicate your round well. It's not my job to decide what you should debate, but to help you become better at how you choose to debate.
Signposting is important, please do this throughout your speeches and tell me the order beforehand.
Tech>truth.
If you say the words "for a brief off time roadmap," I am going to be sad.
Topicality
I will vote on T. I think you need to be explaining why you have the better internal link to either fairness or education. I think these debates have gotten increasingly shallow, and no one goes for it as a super compelling strategy in the block anymore. Explain why under your interpretation, debate is better and you method is better for debate at large. Arguing the spillover effects of your interp is an easy way to win this on the negative. Generics will not do it for me. I default to competing interpretations.
Disads
You should be cutting new uniqueness very often, and if you go for this strategy the quality of your evidence will have an impact on my decision. "If your link cards are generic and outdated and the aff is better in that department, then you need to have a good reason why your evidence is more qualified, etc. Make your scenario clear, DAs are great but some teams tend to go for a terminal impact without explanation of the scenario or the internal link args. Comparative analysis is important so I know how to evaluate the evidence that I am reading. Tell me why the link o/w the link turn etc. Impact analysis is very important, timeframe, probability, magnitude, etc., so I can know why the Da impacts are more important than the affs impacts. A good articulation of why the Da turns each advantage is extremely helpful because the 2ar will most likely be going for those impacts in the 2ar. Uniqueness controls the direction of the link, this goes for both sides. If you want to win a link turn, you must win that the disad is non-unique and if you want to win the link you must win that it is." -Kristiana Baez. There is such thing as 0% risk of a link.
Counterplans
Much more persuasive if they have a solvency advocate, just reading a line in the 1NC just to dump 6 minutes on it in the block means that I give the aff leniency in rebuttals to catch up, but that isn't an excuse for sloppy 2ACs. I really like counterplans, and I like process counterplans. I don't love super generic CP's with the same set of solvency cards each round. However, if the evidence is good then I am more likely to believe you when you claim aff solvency. There needs to be a good articulation for why the aff links to the net benefit and good answers to cp solvency deficits, assuming there are any. Permutation debate needs to be hashed out on both sides, with Da/net benefits to the permutations made clear.
Kritiks
Feel free to read them on affirmative or negative, but don't get lazy with them and engage with the arguments the other team is making. Just reading the blocks you wrote at the beginning of the season and not referencing specific authors, lines of evidence from either side and engaging with arguments without specificity is a good way to get really behind in these debates. You should have specific links to the aff. I am the best for cap. Anything else, especially anything pomo, you will need to explain to me like I am a 5 year old. If you're arguing that the k outweighs and turns case, you need a solid articulation as to why. You also need to be arguing specific impacts of the k, and how that compares to the claims made in the affirmative. I need a very clear explanation of framing here, and if you go for the K in the 2NR you should be writing my ballot for me. I also need a very clear picture of how the alternative functions, and why you solve the aff if you do.
K v K
I think that these debates can be really great because clash is kind of important. However, these debates tend to get really muddled, so you need to work extra hard to make things clear for me rather than just assuming I will lean one way or another. When it comes to K Affs v. FW, I think that you need to do a lot of work and don't just go for generic arguments like switch side without giving specific examples of things like in round abuse, etc. or interesting impact arguments. Ex: just saying roleplaying good/bad without a really good explanation is not going to be compelling.
Performance/Methodology debates
I am in no way biased in one way or another. I think that arguments need to be competitive. The things you may talk about in your performance/methodology may be true, but there needs to be a clear link articulated to the argument that you are debating. Many times competing methodologies start to sound really similar to each other, so teams need to establish a clear difference between the arguments.
Theory
Dumb theory or tricks won't do it for me. However, the less generic you are, the more I would be willing to vote on this. I believe theory that is done well and is well-articulated could be a compelling place for me to vote. I think proving in round abuse is important. Generally, I think condo is good.
Pref Stuff:
I am best for a policy v policy debate and or policy v k debate.
Kyle Hietala (he/him)
Program Director & Head Coach, Palo Alto High School
President, National Parliamentary Debate League (NPDL)
Vice President, Coast Forensic League (CFL)
- 4 years of traditional LD
- 4 years of APDA college Parli
- 11 years of coaching
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[DISCLAIMER for NPDL-TOC] The preferences expressed in my paradigm do not necessarily represent the views of the National Parliamentary Debate League, and my responsibilities as a judge are independent from my role as NPDL President. Feel free to reach out tonpdl.board+president@gmail.com with any comments or questions about the NPDL. For any comments or questions specific to my judging, please reach out to kylehietala@gmail.com.
PARLI SPECIFIC:
- "net benefits" is not a coherent framework (what's a benefit? to/for whom? how do we measure? etc.)
- take at least one POI per speech; call as many POOs as you need to
- there is NO grace period; I stop flowing on :01
SUMMARY:
- experienced “truthful tech” flow judge from a traditional background
- topical case debate > stock critical debate > necessitated theory > everything else
- you should weigh well-warranted, terminalized impacts to get my ballot
- big fan of strategic collapses, prioritize and go all-in on what matters
- smart analytics + good cards > smart analytics > good cards
- sit/stand/handstand, whatever’s comfortable for you works for me
- always be kind & respectful, try to learn something new in every round
CAUTIONS:
- not a fan of non-topical / clash-evasive progressive debate
- will probably hack against tricks, frivolous theory, and other meme-y tech
- I have a high threshold for warranting relative to other experienced judges
- I tend not to like race-to-extinction scenarios, am skeptical of futurism
- speed is fine, but never use it to exclude an opponent, L20 if you do
- I don't follow along in speechdocs; this is an oral communication activity
LARP/POLICY:
- write and pass the plantext please
- stronger links will win you most rounds
- AFFs must prove risk of solvency to win
- NEGs must disprove/outweigh the AFF
- love smart counterplans & perms
- don't love conditionality
THEORY:
- friv is L20, unless mutually agreed in a down round
- competing interpretations > reasonability
- education > fairness > access
- RVIs are probably good
- lean DTA > DTD
- please don't run tricks/blippy aprioris
TOPICALITY:
- please be topical; stable resolutions are good!
- reasonability > competing interpretations
- pragmatics > semantics
- RVIs are probably bad
- almost always DTD > DTA
KRITIK:
- most receptive to stock Ks (e.g. capitalism, anthropocentrism, securitization)
- links should be cited examples of wrongdoing; links of omission aren’t links
- explain the K’s thesis in plain English – don’t hide behind poorly cut gibberish
- I won’t evaluate anything that asks me to judge a student’s innate identity
- rejecting the AFF/NEG is not an alternative; the alt must advocate for something
- don't be shy about impact turns and going after alts; you don't need to left-flank
As of 2024, 20 years of debate experience as a student (Policy), judge (All events), and coach (PF for 9 years and Policy for 3 years)
Prefers traditional style debate. Evidence should be used to support arguments, but articulate analysis and explanation of your argument and why it is important is key
Tabula Rasa - I try to stay as neutral as possible on arguments. This means I expect you to explain your arguments and impacts during every round and you cannot assume that I will credit you with information that you did not say or extrapolate your argument/impact for you. You must carry arguments through all your speeches to win them at the end of the round.
Prefer a well structured narrative carried through the round to a bunch of arguments which are kicked in later speeches - but some strategic collapse is fine
Impacts should be realistic - I am not voting on extinction
I don't like kritiks.
I do not like speed and speakers should be articulate. I don't believe in spreading because it destroys the educational value of debate and students' ability to interact in a meaningful way.
Stick to time
Be civil. There is a difference between being confident and condescending.
I almost never make a decision until the final two speeches. Weighing your impacts is important. I will not vote on something you did not say (and continue to say until the end)
Email: jessmhilbrich@gmail.com
I have only judged a few tournaments and have not otherwise been involved with debate. Please do not talk too fast so that I will be able to evaluate the arguments fairly. Also, it would be helpful to describe your sources so that I can clearly understand what you are citing. Finally, I would prefer substantive arguments on the topic, rather than theory. Thanks!
I appreciate kindness, respect, and professionalism of competitors. I LOVE debates with excellent clash. Focus on the clash and the weighing mechanisms for the debate. I also appreciate going over voting issues because it is helpful, but it is not always necessary. Value clashes without mentioning any evidence aren’t as compelling to me, but there cannot be evidence or contentions that doesn’t tie to one’s value and value criterion. I don't mind on or off-time roadmaps. Ask me if you have any questions! :)
hannabethie@gmail.com
I am a parent judge. I have primarily judged speech. I have judged at the local and national level.
Speech:
I expect speeches to be well organized, clearly delivered, state a thesis early on and utilize a roadmap. Additionally, speakers should be dynamic and engaging and incorporate conclusions that effectively finish the speech.
Congress:
I am relatively new to judging congress. I appreciate organized, thoughtful speeches that move the debate along. I am familiar with debate; therefore, I expect members of the congress to respond to arguments presented by their fellow representatives/ senators.
Bellarmine '21
Harvard '25
Assistant coach for Bellarmine.
Email for the chain: ahiremath35@gmail.com. It would be great if you could make the subject "Year -- Tournament -- Round # -- Aff Team vs Neg Team."
Some people who have heavily influenced my views on debate: Surya Midha, Tyler Vergho, Debnil Sur, Dhruv Sudesh, Rafael Pierry, and Anirudh Prabhu. Feel free to check out any of their paradigms too.
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Berkeley Tournament '24 Update
- I haven't judged any rounds on the topic. Don't assume I know any topic specific jargon or accept any community consensus.
- Beliefs about AI: AGI is inevitable, actors like OpenAI are most likely to achieve AGI, it is possible to regulate AI, most open source AI is good, and misaligned AGI can pose an existential risk.
- I despise the trend of ad hominem attacks in debates.
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General thoughts
- I don't care what you read. While my partner Surya and I mostly read policy arguments, we occasionally read K affs and even went for the Baudrillard K in our TOC bubble round.
- Rebuttals should acknowledge and address the weakest parts of your own arguments. Reduce the debate to 2-3 core issues and clearly explain why winning those issues mean you have already won the debate.
- Hard numbering arguments is beautiful and makes it very easy to flow the debate. "One, two, three" > "first, second, third."
- Answer arguments in the order presented.
- Don't waste time calling arguments "terrible" or "stupid" or anything like that. Just directly explain the reason why the argument is poor.
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FW
- Clash, fairness, and movements can all be great impacts. If you go for fairness, lean into the "debate is a game" framing. If you go for movements / skills, explain why that solves their offense better.
- Please don't just read blocks straight down. Contextualize as much as possible, wherever possible. The first lines of your 2NC/2NR overview should point out a central problem in the aff construction or strategy.
- Impact comparison is crucial, especially in final rebuttals.
- I generally vote for the team that is more offensive in these debates.
- Counter-interpretations need to have a somewhat clear caselist. Negative teams should make fun of counter-interpretations that don't.
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CP
- Send all perm texts in the 2AC.
- Textual and functional competition are great standards to hold CP's to. 2A's should also be prepared to go for textually non-intrinsic but functionally intrinsic perms.
- Counterplans can solve for an advantage's internal links or an advantage's impacts. The best CP's do both.
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K
- The negative only gets to weigh the impacts of their links. How large the impacts are is up for debate.
- I don't have great background knowledge on the majority of these literature bases, so please be clear when explaining dense concepts. If I can't understand your arguments then I won't vote for you.
- 2A's should be mindful of what they need to win given 2NR pivots. They kick the alt? Winning framework basically means you auto-win the debate. They go for the alt? Winning a substantial DA to the alt can help you in multiple areas of the debate.
- Pick 1-2 pieces of offense on the framework debate and explain them well in the final rebuttals. These debates get muddled when either side tries to do too much.
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T
- Predictable limits are more important than limits for the sake of limits.
- Interpretations need to have a clear intent to exclude, otherwise the affirmative will have a much easier time winning "we meet." Surya's paradigm has a great explanation of this.
- Plan text in a vacuum is a better standard than most people give it credit for. If the alternative to plan text in a vacuum justifies the negative procuring violations from non-underlined portions of cards, then the aff should make fun of that.
- The 2AR/2NR should isolate 1-2 pieces of offense, explain why they outweigh, and explain why they solve/precede the other team's offense.
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Theory
- Please be as slow as possible.
- Things that are good: conditionality, 2NC CP's, kicking planks, CP's without a solvency advocate.
- Things that are bad: international fiat, multi-level / multi-actor fiat.
- Theoretical objections other than conditionality can be made into better substantive arguments. A CP doesn't have a solvency advocate? Probably means your deficit is more credible. A CP uses an archaic process to establish a precedent? Probably means the perm shields.
DEBATE ROUNDS
To win my ballot: Logical links and clear connections are important whether you're running a traditional or progressive case. Your argumentation skills and strategies is what your opponent is challenging, therefore; a clear, cut, concise connection is what wins the round. Listen to your opponent, (FLOW), provide impacts and know what your talking about. If you've got a few tricks up your sleeve, be sure you know how to use them.
I do not mind speed, but if you decide to spread make sure you slow down on tag-lines. Consider speaker points when spreading. I look to vote for a strong link and one's ability to prove why your case wins the round. Voters are extremely important to me so make sure you use the time in your last speech wisely.
I do my best to flow all arguments presented in the debate and rely heavily on my flow to determine the round winner. Make sure to signpost well, and please give me a roadmap of your speeches.
If you decide to do an email chain please, add me. mhix@neisd.net
Speaker Points
Positives: politeness, confidence, well-placed humor, preparation and well executed strategies/arguments.
Negatives: rudeness and unnecessary condescending comments, pointless cross examination, skirting the issues or avoidance
SPEECH ROUNDS
Staying true to the competition rubrics.
If I can't hear you, then I can't score you. Please, speak loud and clear.
I am an erstwhile LD/PF debater, and I have been called back to be a judge in this crazy world. Online debating and judging is new for most of us, but I am eager to assist in making this situation more normal-crazy than crazy-crazy. And if we are at a live, real, honest-to-God in-person tournament, then I promise you that the crazy ain't just in the internet: Here, There Be Dragons. I wish you the best of luck and skill as you debate this year!
Email for evidence chains and whatnot: will.hobson911@gmail.com
Ultra Important Ground Rules
In 85% of things, I am a laid-back and low maintenance judge, but I do have a few nonnegotiable rules that must be followed in order to have a fair and fun matchup. These should be common sense, but god knows common sense is less common than it should be.
-Courtesy is the most important thing I consider in rounds. If you do not treat your opponent with respect, chances are that I will not respect you on the ballot. If anyone harms the integrity of the round by being discriminatory, rude, or unprofessional, I will immediately stop the round. You do not have to like your opponent, but you should at least pretend to do so for about an hour. If you have a legitimate problem with the other team, please bring up your concerns before the final focus or final segment.
-Given the circumstances of having to rely on technology for some tournaments, tech problems are not rare. If you have had troubles with connections or hardware, please let me know beforehand so we don't have to trouble shoot problems during the round.
PF/LD Preferences
-Please, for the love of all that is holy, do not spread (i.e. speed-read). I will not be able to understand you, and that's gonna be rough, buddy. If for some reason you must, I will require you to drop your case in the file share for mine and your opponent's benefit so we can at least try to follow your barrage.
-Concision and clarity are key. If I can not follow your arguments or identify your contentions, links, or impacts in my flow, I will probably assume that you are being willfully obtuse which is not a good look. Reminder: Neither PF nor LD debate is about proving that you are the smartest person in the room or showing me that you have the best words; it is about proving that you have the most cogent and sensible argument. This is about communication, not obfuscation.
-Do not, do not, do not introduce new contentions in rebuttals, summaries, or final focuses. That is called playing dirty. Likewise, please refrain from introducing new constructive evidence in the last half of the debate round; defending evidence is still admissible and is encouraged.
-Nuclear Stuff (PF): I know every debater and their mother likes LOVES to throw in nuclear war as the ultimate harm or impact for either their case or rebuttal, so much so that it has become a meme of sorts. I find this to be an exceptionally tiring thing to listen to as a judge. Nuclear war is such a complex, and more importantly a serious and severe topic that using it frivolously in a debate comes across as childish at best, and cynical at worst. Trivially connecting the incomprehensible Horrors of nuclear war with a topic like urban development or education just comes across as intentional malpractice. If your topic justifiably includes nuclear war as an impact, I will need an iron clad link chain and evidence connecting the two, more than just asking me to assume that it will happen. Be professional.
-I will generally base speaker points on rhetorical skill rather than argumentative technicals.
-If you do plan on running a K argument, please let me know before the round starts. If you are, I will probably require you to drop your case in the file share or evidence chain for the benefit of myself and the other team. Likewise, theory arguments are cool (really!), but they must be constructed in a clear and cogent manner. I should not have to work to understand what you are saying.
-Constantly tell me why I should vote for you. In other words, weigh impacts and extend your arguments. Please don't just repeat your contentions for every segment. That ain't debate, friend-o.
-Don't assume that I am a genius. Signpost your contentions and your cards, if possible.
Hello! I am a high school English teacher in Illinois and have coached speech & debate since 2015.
PF & LD:
I love good organization - feel free to give an off-time roadmap and please signpost your speeches and arguments clearly. Card names & dates (evidence) are important - if you want me to flow it through, I need to hear & understand what it is.
Arguments should be concise but clear - lay out the warrants and the impacts for me and weigh impacts as the debate continues. I am not someone who judges every weekend, so sometimes I'll have trouble following if you speak too quickly. I try, though!
In Congress specifically:
If we're more than a couple of speeches into the debate, you should be providing clash, not standing up to rehash arguments we've already heard. In that same vein, do not keep debate going on a bill when it's clearly dead. You should be prepared to speak on every. single. bill. and shouldn't have to rely on having the opportunity to speak early or often on a certain topic.
Make sure you provide impacts. Make it crystal clear what the benefits or harms of passing/not passing said bill/resolution will be on people.
Make the real arguments. I will absolutely listen to you explain to me why a bill or resolution is not the appropriate or most effective way to solve a problem, but only to a point.
Again, structure and organization are important. Be sure to signpost!
Keep questions and responses concise. Be respectful of the judges' time and the time of your competitors.
If you have a question for the PO on their procedure, precedence, or recency, just politely ask it. There's no need to be a jerk about it, or about anything, for that matter. Extend kindness to the person who has volunteered to run the chamber.
I love this activity and believe it should be fun, inclusive, and useful to everyone who chooses to participate. Rather than taking advantage of or judging someone who might be debating for the first time, let's show them what a great community this is to be a part of by answering questions, providing guidance, and setting good examples! Leave the judging to the judges. Instead, be a coach. You'll have more fun. :)
Speed-Be clear and concise. Don’t speak too quickly.
Signpost and clearly state your contentions/value/criterion.
Quality over quantity.
Voting issues at the end of the speech.
Decorum at all times.
they/them
please add me to chain - jamdebate@gmail.com
important stuff not directly related to my opinions about debate:
after over a year of the most public display of genocide in history i am no longer going to pretend that defending “the u.s. led liberal international order” is not morally equivalent to defending the holocaust. if you say the u.s./nato/"liberal international order" is good then strike me. i am sick of listening to that fourth reich stuff. your speaks will suffer drastically for making those arguments and i will be extremely sympathetic to criticisms of them.
climate topic update - i have done no research for it
please be honest with yourself about how fast you are going. i need pen time! i don't need you to go dramatically slower than you normally would, but please do not drone monotonously through your blocks as if they are card text or i will likely miss some arguments.
if debating online: go slower than usual, especially on theory
how i decide stuff:
i am not a judge that thinks that any argument is true until disproven in the debate. as much as some consider themselves "flow purists," i think every judge agrees with this to a degree. for example, "genocide good" or "transphobia good" etc. are obviously reprehensible arguments that are harmful to include in debate and i won't entertain. that being the case, i have kind of a hard time distinguishing those "obvious" examples from more commonly accepted ones that are, to me, just as harmful and can even be outright genocidal, like first strike counterplans, interventions good, arms sales to israel are good, increasing police funding is good, etc.
despite how the above paragraph might be interpreted, i frequently vote for arguments i don't like, including arguments i think are harmful for debate. at the end of the day, unless something i think drastically requires my intervention, i will try to judge the debate as objectively as i can based on my flow
by default i will vote for the team with the most resolved offense. a complete argument is required to generate offense, so i won't vote for an incomplete argument (e.g. "they dropped x" still needs a proper extension of x with a warrant for why it's true). judge instruction is very important for me. if there is an issue in the debate with little guidance from the debaters on how to resolve it, don't be surprised if there is some degree of intervention so i can resolve it. i will also not vote for an argument that i cannot explain
opinions on specific things:
i am willing to vote on arguments about something that happened outside of the debate, but need those arguments to be backed up with evidence/receipts. this is not because i don't/won't believe you otherwise, but because i don't want to be in the position of having to resolve a debate over something impossible for me to substantiate. i know it’s somewhat arbitrary, but it seems like the least arbitrary way for me to approach these debates without writing them off entirely, which is an approach i strongly disagree with. however, if someone i trust tells me that you are a predator or that you knowingly associate with one, i will not vote for you under any circumstances.
plan texts: if yours is written poorly or intentionally vaguely, i will likely be sympathetic to neg arguments about how to interpret what it means/does. neg teams should press this issue more often
planless affs: i enjoy judging debates where the aff does not read a plan. idc if the aff does not "fiat" something as long as it is made clear to me how to resolve the aff's offense. i am very willing to vote on presumption in these debates and i yearn for more case debating
t-usfg/fw: not my favorite debates. voting record in these debates is starting to lean more and more aff, often because the neg does a poor job of convincing me that my ballot cannot resolve the aff's offense and aff teams are getting better at generating uniqueness. i am less interested in descriptive arguments about what debateis (for example, "debate is a game") and more interested in arguments about what debate ought to be. the answer to that can still be "a game" but can just as likely be something else.
k thoughts: not very good for euro pomo stuff (deleuze, bataille, etc) but good for anything else. big fan of the cap k when it's done well (extremely rare), even bigger hater of the cap k when it's done poorly (almost every time). if reading args about queerness or transness, avoid racism. i don't mind link ev being somewhat generic if it's applied well. obviously the more specific the better, but don't be that worried if you don't have something crazy specific. i think "links of omission" can be persuasive sources of offense. for the aff, saying the text of a perm without explaining how it ameliorates links does not an argument make
theory: please make sure you're giving me pen time here. i am probably more likely than most to vote on theory arguments, but they are almost always a reason to reject the arg and not the team (obvi does not apply to condo). that being said, you need a warrant for "reject the arg not the team" rather than just saying that statement. not weirdly ideological about condo (i will vote on it)
counterplans/competition: a perm text without an explanation of how it disproves the competitiveness of the counterplan is not a complete argument. by default, i will judge kick the cp if the neg loses it and evaluate the squo as well. aff, if you don't want me to do that, tell me not to
lastly, i try to watch for clipping. if you clip, it's an auto-loss. the other team does not have to call you out on it, but i am much more comfortable voting against a team for clipping if the issue is raised by the other team with evidence provided. if i clear you multiple times and the card text you're reading is still incomprehensible, that's clipping. ethics challenges should be avoided at all costs, but if genuine academic misconduct occurs in a debate i will approach the issue seriously and carefully
avoid saying slurs you shouldn't be saying or you'll automatically lose
Note for TOC: while I enjoy judging PF and I have judged 3 circuit tournaments this year, it is not my normal event. I am a Policy judge and coach most of the time. At the end of the day it's hard to turn that part of my brain off. So if you want a more traditional PF round, you should strike me.
Disclosure expectations for bid tournaments:I expect teams to disclose promptly after pairings come out. Don't show up to the room 1 minute before the round starts and then finally disclose the aff or past 2NRs (especially if it's not on the wiki). I consider this the same as not disclosing at all and thus am ok with your opponents running disclosure on you.
PGP: they/them
- I don't care what you call me as long as you don't call me broke (jk, I am a teacher so you can also call me that ig)
Email chain: Yes, I do want to be on the email chain (saves time): learnthenouns[at]the-google-owned-one.
Background/experience: Head coach at Lincoln East (11-ish years), 7 years of debating in high school (mostly LD with some Policy and Congress) and college (NFA-LD and NPDA/NPTE Parli)
Equity statement: I will not listen to you promote any kind of advocacy that says oppression good or structural violence denial (ie claiming anti-white racism is real). They are an auto-ballot against you regardless of whether your opponent points it out or not.
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Overview for all events
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Debate is both educational and a game. I believe the education comes from ideas engaging with one another and students finding their voice. The "game" element functions as a test of your effectiveness in presenting and defending your personal beliefs and advocacies. Thus, I consider myself a games player as it is a necessary component of the educational experience.
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I flow internal warrants and tags more often than author names so don’t rely on me knowing what “extend Smith #3 in 2k12” means in the grand scheme of the debate and, similarly, don’t power tag or plan to mumble your way through cards because I’m listening and will call you on it. I am more interested in the content of your arguments than the names of the people that you are citing.
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On that note, I want the speech doc so that I can check your evidence and appreciate analytics being included when the debate is online.
Delivery: I'm a bit over 20 years in the game at this point so I've started to get more picky about delivery stuff, especially with speed.
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In-person: speed is fine in everything except congress. I watch NDT rounds for fun, so I can handle it. But I do expect clarity in all events. I will yell "clear" once or twice if you're mumbling, and, after that, I reduce speaks. Enunciation should be a baseline in debate, not a bonus.
- Slow down a tiny bit + vary your pitch for your analytics and tags darn it. I am not a machine, I cannot flow your back-to-back analytics when you're going 400wpm with no pauses and no clear markers of where arguments begin and end.
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Online: if you are extremely fast, slow it down a little bit (but not a ton) when online, especially if you have a bad mic. The unfortunate reality is most people's set ups can't handle top policy speeds. On that note, I strongly encourage you to include analytics in the doc when online in case audio cuts out or there are other tech issues!
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PF
Note for TOC: while I enjoy judging PF, it is not my normal event. I am a Policy judge and coach most of the time. At the end of the day it's hard to turn that part of my brain off. So if you want a more traditional PF round, you might want to strike me.
Theory (since this will probably impact your strikes the most, I will start here)
In short, I think theory has an important role to play in PF as we develop clearer, nationwide norms for the event. When it's necessary and run well, I dig it. However,I do not like 'blippy' frivelous theory like tricks. In other words, it needs to be warranted and explained like any other argument.
- I have sat through enough painful evidence exchanges and caught enough teams misrepresenting their evidence that I would prefer teams to have "cut cards" cases and exchange them by the start of their speech (preferably earlier). If one side elects not to do this, I am willing to vote on theory regarding evidence ethics assuming it's argued and extended properly. Questions about this? Email me in advance (my email is up top).
- To clarify/elaborate on the above,I am specificallydown for: disclosure theory and paraphrasing theory. Irl I think both are true and good arguments. If you don't want to disclose or you refuse to run cut card cases rather than paraphrased cases, you should strike me or have some really good blocks ready.
- I am not quite as keen on other types of theory in PF (and especially hate friv theory)but given how quickly my attitude was changed on paraphrasing, I am very much open to having my mind changed.
Overview for PF
Generally speaking, I see PF as a more topic-centric policy round where the resolution acts as the plan text. This, of course, depends on the topic, but this view seems to generally provide for a consistent and fair means to evaluate the round.
Truth vs tech:
- I find that PF tends to demand a balance of tech and truth due to the fact that teams are rarely able to respond to every argument on the flow.
- "Truth" to me is determined by warranting and explanation (so still tied to an extent to tech). As such, better-warranted arguments will get more weight over blippy or poorly explained arguments.
Speed:
In short:
- speed for depth is good
- speed for breadth (ie more blippy arguments) is bad.
- I can handle pretty much any speed however, if you're going fast, your analysis better be more in-depth as a result.
- A final word of caution on speed is that PFers often suck at proper speed reading in that they lack any semblance of clarity and do not explain arguments. So be clear and warrant things out if you go fast.
Other PF specifics:
- I tend to prefer the final focus to be more focused on framing, impact weighing, and round story; and less focused on line-by-line. Though again, given my experience in LD and Policy, I can definitely handle line-by-line, just don't forget to warrant things out and I'd prefer you to not go for everything.
- All evidence used in the round should be accessible for both sides and the judge. Failure to provide evidence in a timely manner when requested will result in either reduced speaker points or an auto loss (depending on the severity of the offense). I also reserve the right to start a team's prep time up if they are taking an excessively long time to share their stuff.
- On that note,I will call for evidence and I appreciate it when teams help me know what to call for. I know that paraphrasing is the norm at this point but I do not love it as it leads to a lot of teams that excessively spin or outright lie about evidence. Tell me to call for it if it's junk evidence and I'll do so. I will apply the NSDA guidelines regarding paraphrasing when it is justified, so make sure you are familiar with those rules so that you can avoid doing it and know to call your opponents out when they slip up.
- I hate bullying/aggressive rudeness in crossfire. I dock speaker points for people that act like jerks.
- The team that speaks first does not need to extend their own casein their first rebuttal since nothing has been said against it yet. In fact, I prefer they don't as it decreases clash and takes the only advantage they have from speaking first.
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Congress
Background (you can probably skip this tbh): I am usually East's primary congress coach meaning I am working with the dockets every week. I have experience coaching and judging at both the state and national levels. I have had 4 TOC qualifiers, 14 (?) NSDA national qualifiers, a state champion, and an NSDA Senate finalist as well as a House semifinalist.
Generally, I see Congress as being best judged on 3 factors: the strength of argumentation, speaking abilities, and round presence. I will briefly outline my expectations for each below. Feel free to ask if anything doesn't make sense.
Also, for Nebraska debaters reading this before quals, please do not treat this like other debate events. If you speed read your speech, try to do 'line-by-line,' run a kritik, or anything else that is clearly not intended for Congress you can expect that you will not be ranked and your speech scores will be exceptionally low.
Argumentation:
A good portion of this comes from the logic and evidence presented in your speech. Things I consider include factual accuracy, logical consistency, recency of evidence, and internal warranting. I also will listen to questioning to assess how well you are able to defend your arguments, so please take questioning seriously!
Speaking abilities:
While I mostly did LD and Congress in high school, I dabbled in speech (by that I mean I was a state finalist) and I now teach communication studies. I feel that Congress is unique among debate events in that it encourages students to utilize more persuasive elements during their speeches. Thus, you should not operate under the assumption that I'm going to treat this like a Policy or LD round. I will factor the quality of the speaker into my assessment. This also includes during questioning.
I look for things like: body language/gestures, paralinguistic elements of vocal delivery (ie tone, pace, volume, emphasis, etc), speech structure (including your intro/preview, and internal argument structure) and word choice/diction.
Round presence:
By this, I mean your role in advancing the debate, questioning speakers, and ensuring the chamber is efficient. I will be looking for refutation and extension of prior arguments that help keep the debate. On this note, I hate rehash as it either indicates a lack of awareness of what prior speakers have said, or an inability to adapt your speeches on the fly. I also am looking at how your questions contribute to the debate as well as how they demonstrate an understanding of the round and topic. Finally, I am expecting that you help ensure the chamber is efficient by recognizing when motions are necessary and appropriate. For example, if the debate has clearly reached its endpoint on a bill, I really appreciate a representative that will move the previous question so that we aren't beating a dead horse.
A note for POs:
I will rank POs. My team has had several students who made a habit of winning tournaments as POs in the past, so I very much respect the skill of a good PO. However, it is not automatic. Typically, for a PO to get ranked, they should run an efficient house. A great PO is notable not because they are constantly inserting themselves, but rather because they have such clear and effective procedures in place that I barely have to think about them until they are needed. That said, I do think that if the house is 'out of order' (ie they are doing things like going over time, not following procedures, having a one-sided debate, or, god forbid, being offensive) a good PO will step in to remind the house of the rules and decorum that are expected of them.
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LD
LDers on the nat circuit: Sorry if you have to have me as a judge. I vastly prefer to stay in policy land because I am a judge that wants effective spreading and in-depth analysis rather than mumbled analytics/tags with no clear labeling and blippy arguments from people doing a cosplay of bad Policy. So in other words, I like everything that circuit LD seems to be allergic to right now. But my team needs their obligation covered so here I am. So read my paradigm and adapt or deal with my rant about how annoying circuit LD is.
Argument ratings
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K debate (pomo or ID tix): 10 out of 10
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Performance: 10 out of 10
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T/theory (when run correctly): 8.5 out of 10
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LARP/plan-focus: 8 out of 10
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Phil (aka trad): 6 out of 10
- T/theory (when blipped out and poorly argued): 4 out of 10
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Tricks: 0 out of 10 (boooo boooooo!!!)
These are just preferences though. I have and will vote for anything (even tricks, unfortunately, but my threshold is extremely high)
Speed (for context, conversational is like a 3 or 4 out of 10)
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Speed in person: 8.5/10
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Speed online: 6 or 7/10 (depends on mic quality)
In short, the order I resolved arguments**
ROB/ROJ/Pre-fiat Burdens > Procedurals (T/thoery) > Framing (value/crit) > Impacts
**Note: I am willing to rearrange the order I evaluate things in if you win that I should. See below ofr a detailed break down of this ordering.
The most important specifics:
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A lot of LDers I have seen don't seem to understand thatspeed should never come at the expense of clarity. I low key hate judging circuit LD due to this inability to spread well. I judge policy most weekends. I can handle speed. No one can understand your mumbling.
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That said, I generally feel that disclosure is good and spreading is fine (even an equalizer in some ways). However, there is a lot of debate to be had here (especially when topics like opacity and the surveillance of non-white debaters or ableism get raised), and I have voted for both sides of each issue multiple times.
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I consider myself a games player, so I primarily am looking to evaluate what 'wins out' in terms of argumentation in the debate.
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I love creativity and being intellectually engaged, so I’m a good person to run your Kritik/project/performance/non-topical aff/art case in front of. Of course, I still need you to make it an argument if you want me to vote for you (singing a song isn't an auto-win, especially if you sing it poorly), but otherwise, fire away.
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Strike me if you have to use tricks or similar bad strategies (i.e. blippy and arbitrary theory spikes/shells/tricks such as "aff only gets 2 contentions" or "aff auto wins for talking" or "neg doesn't get any arguments") to win rounds. They are not debating in any sense of the word, and I cannot think of any educational or competitive value that can be derived from promoting them. If you decide to ignore this, I will likely gut your speaks (ie a 26 or maybe lower).
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If you want to win any argument and especially theory debate, warrant your arguments in every speech. Really, it's true of all arguments, but it's most frequently a problem on theory. Don't just say "limits key to competitive equity, vote on fairness" and call it a day. I'm a T hack when it's run well, but most people don't like to take time to run it well.
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Beyond that, I like just about every style of LD (again, other than tricks). I have greatly enjoyed judging everything from hyper-traditional to fast and critical. I don't see any type as being inherently 'superior' to the others, so do what you do and I'll listen, just justify it well.
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For your reference in terms of what I am most familiar with arguments wise, I coach a team that has typically run more critical and identity lit (po-mo, anti-blackness, Anzaldua, D&G, cap, fem, neolib, Judith Butler etc) and often plays around with what some might call "nontraditional strategies." Though we often run more traditional philosophy (typically Levinas, Kant, util, or Rawls) and plan-text style cases as topics warrant.
- For a more detailed breakdown of how I judge certain arguments, please see "argument specifics" in my policy paradigm below. The only major difference is that I do think aff RVI's are semi-legit in LD because of time limits.
Not so short explanation of how I resolve debates if you do not tell me otherwise:
-First, the role of the ballot, the role of the judge, and the burdens of each side are up for debate in front of me (and I actually enjoy hearing these debates). I tend to believe that these are a priori considerations (though that is up for debate as well) and thus are my first consideration when evaluating the round.
- Next, I will resolve any procedurals (i.e. topicality, theory shells, etc) that have been raised. I will typically give greater weight to in-depth, comparative analysis and well-developed arguments rather than tagline extensions/shells. If you're going to run one of these, it needs to actually be an argument, not just a sentence or two thrown in at the end of your case (again, no "tricks").
-Absent a ROTB/ROJ or procedural debate I next look to the value/crit/standard, so you should either A) clearly delineate a bright-line and reason to prefer your framework over your opponent's (not just the obnoxious 'mine comes first' debate please) or B) clearly show how your case/impacts/advocacy achieves your opponent's framework better (or both if you want to make me really happy….)
-After framework (or in the absence of a clear way to evaluate the FW) I finally look to impacts. Clear impact analysis and weighing will always get preference over blippy extensions (you might be sensing a theme here).
Policy
In super-brief (or T/L as the cool kids call it):
See below for in-depth on different arguments
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Great for: Ks; T; K affs in the direction of the topic; unique and well-warranted plan affs; soft left affs; framework; performance args; most things that deal with critical lit (especially love Deleuze tbh)
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Ok for: blippy/big stick plan text affs; K affs with zero topic links; DAs with strong links; valid procedurals (ie vagueness, condo); basic CP debates; Baudrillard
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I would rather not judge (but have definitely still voted for): CP debates that get heavily into CP theory; generic DAs with minimal links, frivolous theory (ie inherency procedural, arbitrary spec shells, etc); most speed ks (unless they are grounded in something like ableism); orientalist China bashing
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Various things I especially appreciate: clash, debating and extending warrants, in-depth case debate, impacting T properly, an organized flow, prompt pre-round disclosure and open sourcing, creative arguments, sending analytics in the doc when debating online
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Various things I especially dislike: rudeness, not kicking things properly, mumbling when speed reading, disorganized flows, debaters who show up late to rounds and then ask us to wait while they pre-flow, extending author names or tags instead of warrants and impacts
Other basics:
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I am mostly down for whatever, but I prefer in-depth debate over blippy extensions. I am ultimately a games player though, so you do you.
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I want teams to engage with each other's arguments (including T, framework, and case). Debating off scripted blocks for the whole round isn't really debating and sort of makes me wonder if we even needed to have the round.
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I will evaluate things however they are framed in the round. That said, if there is no explicit framing, then I usually default to believing that real-world impacts are of more importance than imaginary impacts. Real-world impacts can come from policymaking cases and T as much as K debates. However, if you frame it otherwise and win that framing then I will evaluate the round accordingly.
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Weighing your impacts and warranting your solvency throughout the whole round (not just the rebuttals) is a quick way to win my ballot. Otherwise, I vote off the flow/what I’m told to vote for.
Argument specifics:
Kritiks/K Affs/performance/ID tix/whatever:
I’m a good person to run your critical case in front of. I love K’s/critical/performance/id tix/new debate/most things nontraditional.
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I'm familiar with a lot of the lit and ran a lot of these arguments myself.
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I do not believe that the aff needs to act through the USFG to be topical and, in fact, engaging with the res in other ways (personal advocacy, genealogy, micropolitics, deconstruction etc) can be reasonably topical and often can provide better education and personal empowerment.
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For clarity, as long as you are engaging with a general premise or an interpretation of the resolution then I believe the aff can claim reasonable topicality.
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That being said, to be an effective advocate for these things in the real world, you have to be able to justify your method and forum, so framework/T are good neg strats and an important test of the aff.
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I am increasingly persuaded by the argument that if you are going to be expressly nontopical on the aff (as in advocating for something with no relation to the topic and zero attempts to engage the resolution), then you need to be prepared with a reason for not discussing the res.
Trad/policy-maker/stock issues debate:
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Most of the circuits I debated in have leaned much more traditional so I am extremely familiar with both how to win with and how to beat a topical aff strat.
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My top varsity team the last few years have tended to run trad as much or maybe more than critical, but historically I've coached more K teams.
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I'm totally down to judge a topical debate but you shouldn't assume that I already know the nuances of how a specific DA or CP works without a little explanation as our local circuit is K-heavy and I only recently started coaching more trad teams.
Framework and theory:
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I love: debate about the forum, method, role of the judge/ballot, and impact calc. Making the other team justify their method is almost always a good thing.
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I strongly dislike: generic fw, arbitrary spec shells, K's are cheating args, and most debate theory arguments that ask me to outright dismiss your opponent for some silly reason.
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Real talk, almost none of us are going to be future policymakers (meaning alternative ways of engaging the topic are valuable), and wiki disclosure/pre-round prep checks most abuse.
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In short, I want you to engage with your opponent's case, not be lazy by reading a shell that hasn't been updated since 2010.
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Of course, as with most things though, I will vote for it if you justify it and win the flow (you might be sensing a theme here....).
Topicality:
I L-O-V-E a good T debate. Here are a few specifics to keep in mind:
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By "good" I mean that the neg needs to have a full shell with a clear interp, violation, reasons to prefer/standards and voters.
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Conversely, a good aff response to T would include a we meet, a counter definition, standards and reasons why not to vote on T.
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Since T shells are almost totally analytic, I would also suggest slowing down a bit when reading the shell, especially the violations or we meets.
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I usually consider T to be an a priori issue though I am open to the aff weighing real-world impacts against the voters (kritikal affs, in particular, are good for this though moral imperative arguments work well too).
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Reasonability vs competing interps: absent any debate on the issue I tend to default to reasonability in a K round and competing-interps in a policy round. However, this is a 51/49 issue for me so I would encourage engaging in this debate.
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There does not need to be demonstrated in-round abuse (unless you provide an argument as to why I should) for me to vote on T but it does help, especially if you're kicking arguments.
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Aff RVI's on T are almost always silly. K's of T are ok though the aff should be prepared to resolve the issue of whether there is a topical version of the aff and why rejecting the argument and not the team does not solve the k.
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One caveat: in a round where the aff openly admits to not trying to defend the resolution, I would urge a bit more caution with T, especially of USFG, as I find the turns the aff can generate off of that to be fairly persuasive. See the sections on K's and framework for what I consider to be a more strategic procedural in these situations.
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This is mentioned above but applies here as well, please remember that I do not think an aff must roleplay as the USFG to be topical. Advocating for the resolution can (and should) take many forms. Most of us will never have a direct role in policymaking, but hopefully, most of us will take the opportunity to advocate our beliefs in other types of forums such as activism, academia, and community organizing. Thus, I do not buy that the only real topic-specific education comes from a USFG plan aff.
Counterplans:
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I like the idea of the CP debate but I'm honestly not well versed in it (I probably closed on a CP twice in 7 years of debate). My kids have been running them a lot more recently though so I am getting more competent at assessing them ????
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Basically, I understand the fundamentals quite well but will admit to lacking some knowledge of the deeper theoretical and 'techy' aspects of the CP.
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So feel free to run them but if you are going to get into super tech-heavy CP debate then be warned that you will need to explain things well or risk losing me.
Speed and delivery:
As mentioned above, fine in-person. Mostly fine online unless you are super fast. Also, I really want clarity when speaking even more than I care about speed.
Slow down for analytics and tags. Especially analytics on things like T, theory of framework. These are the most important things for me to get down, so be aware of your pacing when you get to these parts if you want me to flow them.
Pet peeve: speed=/=clear. "Speed" is for how fast you are going. "Clear" is for mumbling. I can handle pretty fast speeds, I can't handle a lack of clarity. I will usually give you one warning, two if I am feeling generous (or if you request it), and then will start docking speaks. I am also good with you going slow. Though since I can handle very fast speeds, I would suggest you give some impacted out reasons for going slow so as to avoid being spread out of the round.
Bio (not sure anyone reads these but whatever): I have competed in or coached almost everything and I am currently the head coach at Lincoln East. I’ve spent over half my life in this activity (16 years coaching, 7 years competing). My goal is to be the best judge possible for every debater. As such, please read my feedback as me being invested in your success. Also, if you have any questions at all I would rather you ask them than be confused, so using post-round questions as a chance to clarify your confusion is encouraged (just don't be a jerk please).
Nebraska only: I expect you to share your evidence and cases with your opponents and me. It can be paper or digital, but all parties participating in the debate need to have access to the evidence read in rounds. This is because NSDA requires it, because it promotes good evidence ethics in debate, and because hoarding evidence makes debate even more unfair for small programs who have fewer debaters and coaches. Not sure why we're still having this discussion in 2023.
To be clear, if you don't provide both sides with copies of your evidence and cases, then I will be open to your opponent making that an independent voting issue. I might just vote you down immediately if I feel it's especially egregious.Oh and I'll gut speaks for not sharing cases.
Experience: 2 years of policy debate, 15 years of coaching debate.
email chain: jholguin57310@hotmail.com
*I believe systems of apartheid are unjustifiable because they do harm to the ethnic group that is not given full privileges in that society or government nothing you say will move me on that, saying we need to end Affirmative Action or other DEI things you lost me, you say racist/homophobic/anti trans rhetoric I will not only vote you down but request tab disqualify you for the rest of the tournament.
Delivery: I am fine with speed but Tags and analysis needs to be slower than warrants of carded evidence.
Flashing counted as prep until either email is sent or flash drive leaves computer. PUFO if you need cards call for them during CX otherwise asking to not start prep until the card is sent is stealing prep.
I do not tolerate dehumanizing language about topics or opponents of any kind. Public Forum debaters I am looking at you in particular as I don't see it as often in LD.
CX Paradigm
Topicality: T wise I have a very high threshold. I will generally not vote down an Aff on potential abuse. The Aff does have to put effort into the T debate as a whole though. If you don't, I will vote on T because this is a position that an Aff should be ready to face every round. Stale voters like fairness and education are not compelling to me at all. I also hate when you run multiple T violations it proves you are trying to cheap shot win on T. If you believe someone is untopical more real if you just go in depth on one violation.
Framework: I need the debaters to be the ones who give me the reasons to accept or reject a FW. Debaters also need to explain to me how the FW instructs me to evaluate the round, otherwise I have to ask for the FW after round just to know how to evaluate the round which I don't like doing or I have to intervene with my own interpretation of FW. If it becomes a wash I just evaluate based on impact calc.
Kritiks: As far as Kritiks go, I also have a high threshold. I will not assume anything about Ks. You must do the work on the link and alt level. Don’t just tell me to reject the 1AC and that that somehow solves for the impacts of the K. I need to get how that exactly works coming from the neg. This does not mean I think the Kritikal debate is bad I just think that competitors are used to judges already knowing the literature and not requiring them to do any of the articulation of the Kritik in the round itself, which in turn leads to no one learning anything about the Kritik or the lit.
Counterplans: If you show how the CP is competitive and is a better policy option than the Aff, I will vote for it. That being said if it is a Topical CP it is affirming the resolution which is not ever the point of the CP.
Theory: No matter what they theory argument is, I have a high threshold on it for being an independent reason to vote down a team. More often so long as argumentation for it is good, I will reject the arg not the team. Only time I would vote on disclosure theory is if you lied about what you would read. I beat two teams with TOC bids and guess what they didn't disclose to me what they read, I am not fast or more talented and only did policy for two years so do not tell me you cannot debate due to not knowing the case before round. I do believe Topical CPs are in fact just an affirmation and not a negation.
For both teams I will say this, a well thought out Impact Calc goes a long way to getting my ballot signed in your favor. Be clear and explain why your impacts outweigh. Don’t make me connect the dots for you. If you need clarification feel free to ask me before round.
LD Paradigm:
I think LD should have a value and criterion and have reasons to vote one way or another upholding that value or criterion. I cannot stress this enough I HATE SEEING CX/POLICY debate arguments in LD debates I FIRMLY believe that no LDer can run a PLAN, DA, K, CP in LD because they don't know how it operates or if they do they most of the time have no link, solvency or they feel they don't have to have warrants for that. AVOID running those in front of me I will just be frustrated. Example: Cards in these "DAs" are powertagged by all from least skilled to the TOC bidders they are not fully finished, in policy these disads would be not factoring into decisions for not having warrants that Warming leads to extinction, or the uniqueness being non existent, or the links being for frankness hot piles of garbage or not there. If you are used to judges doing the work for you to get ballots, like impacting out the contentions without you saying most of it I am not the judge for you and pref me lower if you want. In novice am I easier on you sure, but in open particularly bid rounds I expect not to see incomplete contentions, and powertagged cards.
PuFo Paradigm:
Look easiest way is be clear, do not read new cards or impacts after 2nd speaker on pro/con. I hate sandbagging in the final focus, I flow so I will be able to tell when you do it. Biggest pet peeve is asking in crossfire do you have a card for that? Call for the warrants not the card, or the link to the article. I will not allow stealing of prep by demanding cards be given before next speech it just overextends rounds beyond policy rounds I would know I used to coach it all the time. Cite cards properly, ie full cites for each card of evidence you cite. IE: I see the word blog in the link, I already think the evidence isn't credible. Don't confuse defensive arguments for offensive arguments. Saying the pro cannot solve for a sub point of their case is defense, the pro triggers this negative impact is offense. Defense does not win championships in this sport, that's usually how the Pro overcomes the Con fairly easy. BTW calling for cards outside of cross fire and not wanting to have prep start is stealing prep you want full disclosure of cases do Policy where its required. Cross is also not the place to make a speech. If out of the constructive I don't understand how you access your offense of your contentions you need to rewrite or start over with your cases.
Experience:
I am the head coach at Plano West. I was previously the coach at LC Anderson. I was a 4-year debater in high school, 3-years LD and 1-year CX. My students have competed in elimination rounds at several national tournaments, including Glenbrooks, Greenhill, Berkeley, Harvard, Emory, St. Marks, etc. I’ve also had debaters win NSDA Nationals and the Texas State Championship (both TFA and UIL.)
Email chain: robeyholland@gmail.com
PF Paradigm
· You can debate quickly if that’s your thing, I can keep up. Please stop short of spreading, I’ll flow your arguments but tank your speaks. If something doesn’t make it onto my flow because of delivery issues or unclear signposting that’s on you.
· Do the things you do best. In exchange, I’ll make a concerted effort to adapt to the debaters in front of me. However, my inclinations on speeches are as follows:
o Rebuttal- Do whatever is strategic for the round you’re in. Spend all 4 minutes on case, or split your time between sheets, I’m content either way. If 2nd rebuttal does rebuild then 1st summary should not flow across ink.
o Summary- I prefer that both teams make some extension of turns or terminal defense in this speech. I believe this helps funnel the debate and force strategic decisions heading into final focus. If the If 1st summary extends case defense and 2nd summary collapses to a different piece of offense on their flow, then it’s fair for 1st final focus to leverage their rebuttal A2’s that weren’t extended in summary.
o Final Focus- Do whatever you feel is strategic in the context of the debate you’re having. While I’m pretty tech through the first 3 sets of speeches, I do enjoy big picture final focuses as they often make for cleaner voting rationale on my end.
· Weighing, comparative analysis, and contextualization are important. If neither team does the work here I’ll do my own assessment, and one of the teams will be frustrated by my conclusions. Lessen my intervention by doing the work for me. Also, it’s never too early to start weighing. If zero weighing is done by the 2nd team until final focus I won’t consider the impact calc, as the 1st team should have the opportunity to engage with opposing comparative analysis.
· I’m naturally credulous about the place of theory debates in Public Forum. However, if you can prove in round abuse and you feel that going for a procedural position is your best path to the ballot I will flow it. Contrary to my paradigm for LD/CX, I default reasonability over competing interps and am inclined to award the RVI if a team chooses to pursue it. Don’t be surprised if I make theory a wash and vote on substance. Good post fiat substance debates are my favorite part of this event, and while I acknowledge that there is a necessity for teams to be able to pursue the uplayer to check abusive positions, I am opposed to this event being overtaken by theory hacks and tricks debate.
· I’m happy to evaluate framework in the debate. I think the function of framework is to determine what sort of arguments take precedence when deciding the round. To be clear, a team won’t win the debate exclusively by winning framework, but they can pick up by winning framework and winning a piece of offense that has the best link to the established framework. Absent framework from either side, I default Cost-Benefit Analysis.
· Don’t flow across ink, I’ll likely know that you did. Clash and argument engagement is a great way to get ahead on my flow.
· Prioritize clear sign posting, especially in rebuttal and summary. I’ve judged too many rounds this season between competent teams in which the flow was irresolvably muddied by card dumps without a clear reference as to where these responses should be flowed. This makes my job more difficult, often results in claims of dropped arguments by debaters on both sides due to lack of clarity and risks the potential of me not evaluating an argument that ends up being critical because I didn’t know where to flow it/ didn’t flow it/ placed it somewhere on the flow you didn’t intend for me to.
· After the round I am happy to disclose, walk teams through my voting rationale, and answer any questions that any debaters in the round may have. Pedagogically speaking I think disclosure is critical to a debater’s education as it provides valuable insight on the process used to make decisions and provides an opportunity for debaters to understand how they could have better persuaded an impartial judge of the validity of their position. These learning opportunities require dialogue between debaters and judges. On a more pragmatic level, I think disclosure is good to increase the transparency and accountability of judge’s decisions. My expectation of debaters and coaches is that you stay civil and constructive when asking questions after the round. I’m sure there will be teams that will be frustrated or disagree with how I see the round, but I have never dropped a team out of malice. I hope that the teams I judge will utilize our back and forth dialogue as the educational opportunity I believe it’s intended to be. If a team (or their coaches) become hostile or use the disclosure period as an opportunity to be intellectually domineering it will not elicit the reaction you’re likely seeking, but it will conclude our conversation. My final thought on disclosure is that as debaters you should avoid 3ARing/post-rounding any judge that discloses, as this behavior has a chilling effect on disclosure, encouraging judges who aren’t as secure in their decisions to stop disclosing altogether to avoid confrontation.
· Please feel free to ask any clarifying questions you may have before we begin the round, or email me after the round if you have additional questions.
LD/CX Paradigm
Big picture:
· You should do what you do best and in return I will make an earnest effort to adapt to you and render the best decision I can at the end of the debate. In this paradigm I'll provide ample analysis of my predispositions towards particular arguments and preferences for debate rounds. Despite that, reading your preferred arguments in the way that you prefer to read them will likely result in a better outcome than abandoning what you do well in an effort to meet a paradigm.
· You may speak as fast as you’d like, but I’d prefer that you give me additional pen time on tags/authors/dates. If I can’t flow you it’s a clarity issue, and I’ll say clear once before I stop flowing you.
· I like policy arguments. It’s probably what I understand best because it’s what I spent the bulk of my time reading as a competitor. I also like the K. I have a degree in philosophy and feel comfortable in these rounds.
· I have a high threshold on theory. I’m not saying don’t read it if it’s necessary, but I am suggesting is that you always layer the debate to give yourself a case option to win. I tend to make theory a wash unless you are persuasive on the issue, and your opponent mishandles the issue.
· Spreading through blocks of analytics with no pauses is not the most strategic way to win rounds in front of me. In terms of theory dumps you should be giving me some pen time. I'm not going to call for analytics except for the wording of interps-- so if I miss out on some of your theory blips that's on you.
· I’m voting on substantive offense at the end of the debate unless you convince me to vote off of something else.
· You should strive to do an exceptional job of weighing in the round. This makes your ballot story far more persuasive, increasing the likelihood that you'll pick up and get high speaks.
· Disclosure is good for debate rounds. I’m not holding debaters accountable for being on the wiki, particularly if the debater is not from a circuit team, but I think that, at minimum, disclosing before the round is important for educational debates. If you don’t disclose before the round and your opponent calls you on it your speaks will suffer. If you're breaking a new strat in the round I won't hold you to that standard.
Speaks:
· Speaker points start at a 28 and go up or down from their depending on what happens in the round including quality of argumentation, how well you signpost, quality of extensions, and the respect you give to your opponent. I also consider how well the performance of the debater measures up to their specific style of debate. For example, a stock debater will be held to the standard of how well they're doing stock debate, a policy debater/policy debate, etc.
· I would estimate that my average speaker point is something like a 28.7, with the winner of the debate earning somewhere in the 29 range and the loser earning somewhere in the 28 range.
Trigger Warnings:
Debaters that elect to read positions about traumatic issues should provide trigger warnings before the round begins. I understand that there is an inherent difficulty in determining a bright line for when an argument would necessitate a trigger warning, if you believe it is reasonably possible that another debater or audience member could be triggered by your performance in the round then you should provide the warning. Err on the side of caution if you feel like this may be an issue. I believe these warnings are a necessary step to ensure that our community is a positive space for all people involved in it.
The penalty for not providing a trigger warning is straightforward: if the trigger warning is not given before the round and someone is triggered by the content of your position then you will receive 25 speaker points for the debate. If you do provide a trigger warning and your opponent discloses that they are likely to be triggered and you do nothing to adjust your strategy for the round you will receive 25 speaker points. I would prefer not to hear theory arguments with interps of always reading trigger warnings, nor do I believe that trigger warnings should be commodified by either debater. Penalties will not be assessed based on the potential of triggering. At the risk of redundancy, penalties will be assessed if and only if triggering occurs in round, and the penalty for knowingly triggering another debater is docked speaks.
If for any reason you feel like this might cause an issue in the debate let’s discuss it before the round, otherwise the preceding analysis is binding.
Framework:
· I enjoy a good framework debate, and don’t care if you want to read a traditional V/C, ROB, or burdens.
· You should do a good job of explaining your framework. It's well worth your time spent making sure I understand the position than me being lost the entire round and having to make decisions based on a limited understanding of your fw.
Procedurals:
· I’m more down for a topicality debate than a theory debate, but you should run your own race. I default competing interps over reasonability but can be convinced otherwise if you do the work on the reasonability flow. If you’re going for T you should be technically sound on the standards and voters debate.
· You should read theory if you really want to and if you believe you have a strong theory story, just don’t be surprised if I end up voting somewhere else on the flow.
· It's important enough to reiterate: Spreading through blocks of analytics with no pauses is not the most strategic way to win rounds in front of me. In terms of theory dumps you should be giving me some pen time. I'm not going to call for analytics except for the wording of interps-- so if I miss out on some of your theory blips that's on you. Also, if you do not heed that advice there's a 100% chance I will miss some of your theory blips.
K:
· I’m a fan of the K. Be sure to clearly articulate what the alt looks like and be ready to do some good work on the link story; I’m not very convinced by generic links.
· Don’t assume my familiarity with your literature base.
· For the neg good Kritiks are the ones in which the premise of the Kritik functions as an indict to the truth value of the Aff. If the K only gains relevance via relying on framework I am less persuaded by the argument; good K debates engage the Aff, not sidestep it.
Performance:
· If you give good justifications and explanations of your performance I'm happy to hear it.
CP/DA:
· These are good neg strats to read in front of me.
· Both the aff and neg should be technical in their engagement with the component parts of these arguments.
· Neg, you should make sure that your shells have all the right parts, IE don’t read a DA with no uniqueness evidence in front of me.
· Aff should engage with more than one part of these arguments if possible and be sure to signpost where I should be flowing your answers to these off case positions.
· I think I evaluate these arguments in a pretty similar fashion as most people. Perhaps the only caveat is that I don't necessarily think the Aff is required to win uniqueness in order for a link turn to function as offense. If uniqueness shields the link it probably overwhelms the link as well.
· I think perm debates are important for the Aff (on the CP of course, I WILL laugh if you perm a DA.) I am apt to vote on the perm debate, but only if you are technical in your engagement with the perm I.E. just saying "perm do both" isn't going to cut it.
Tricks:
· I'm not very familiar with it, and I'm probably not the judge you want to pref.
Feel free to ask me questions after the round if you have them, provided you’re respectful about it. If you attempt to 3AR me or become rude the conversation will end at that point.
You do you and I'll judge accordingly. Run the arguments with which you are most comfortable.
Email chain, please! jhollihan18@gmail.com
he/him
I debated for four years in high school, most of that time being a 1A/2N, and on these topics: China Relations, Education, Immigration, and Arms Sales. Most of my 1ACs were soft left and I usually went for DA + case or the Cap K in the 2NR.
Some relevant predispositions:
- I have not debate competitively since high school, so please slow down. I'm not saying that you cannot go fast, but since being away from the national circuit, I have become more numb to it. If you are going at top speed, I may miss something and therefore, it won't go on my flow and therefore, I cannot evaluate it.
- I usually err neg on conditionality unless there are more than three advocacies. Personally, I think that perf con is a more interesting theory argument.
- My knowledge of critical scholarship ranges in the fields of antiblackness, capitalism, gender, and security.
- 1NCs with more than five off case positions annoy me. I won't stop you from reading more than five, but I will be sympathetic to new 1AR arguments.
Hello! Good luck and I look forward to watching you debate!
One of my huge paradigm is that I am pretty anti-spreading. I can listen and keepup - but I don't like it. I think a talented debater can make their case, in an articulate way, without needing to rapid fire information. Please make sure to speak loudly and clearly, so I can follow along with your debate case and can hear the impact of your arguments. Other than that - have fun! Be kind! Fight hard! Enjoy! :)
I judge based on the stock issues/voting issues. I appreciate well-mannered debaters who speak slow enough to be understood. Just because one speaks fast, doesn't make one better in the round. Evidence should be clear and in the appropriate context.
I like intelligible speech and stock issues. I'll vote for anything that's persuasive and supported with evidence, though.
I come from a Lincoln Douglas debate background and I apply a "classic" LD paradigm to most events. Speech and Debate are communication events. The better communicators of ideas will win rounds. In debate that means making, substantiating (with credible evidence), and defending rational claims.
I believe value - criteria cases make for a good framework of debate, and if you fail to present a specific value and related criteria, I will 'assume' one for you and flow voting points around how well you defended the (possibly assumed or inferred) value/criteria. Even for things like Policy Debate, Congress, and of course Public Forum, I can't help but apply a 'value - criteria' mindset to why I'll give a win. The debater who shows supremacy in defending WHY their argument 'matters more' (offers value), and offers HOW their case fulfills specific value(s) better than the alternative position will win the debate (or spar or public forum or name the event).
I believe good communication is the ultimate goal of all speaking and debate events. If you bring spreading to a level that is incoherent, you lose. If you fail to support logical claims with credible evidence, you lose. If you intentionally seek to offend the judge, your opponents, or others with overt and malicious attacks on belief structures, cultures, preferences, or other demographic or psychographic factors, you lose and are reported to authorities for recommended censure.
While NSDA guidelines allow for 'critique' cases, per MY paradigm I maintain that they are pronouncedly lame. I've never seen one executed properly. Per NSDA guidelines I see only ONE viable approach for a successful critique case. It must:
- represent a demonstrable ethical concern with the assigned topic of the debate from the perspective of the specific position (aff. or neg.) represented by the individual offering the case.
- limit the arguments to a distinctive critique of the specific topic at hand. I will not consider or evaluate any conversation about the viability of 'debate in general' or other non-resolution-related 'critiques'. Without a demonstration of absolutely pristine logic and unquestionable ethical interest in why the critique is more important than the resolution, the critique case will receive an automatic loss from me every time. It would be a very rare situation where, in order to win, the opponent of the critique case would need to say anything more about the critique than "my opponent has failed to address any of my arguments about the resolution, I therefore win the debate on the resolution."
Once a round begins, I do not afford time for "off-time roadmaps" or anything, really. If you're standing there speaking, then you're presenting and except for very brief checks to confirm your audience is ready, you should be logging time (either towards your speech or your prep time). If you're desperate to squeeze every second of time for your arguments, the classy way to sneak the "extra" speaking time would be to say something like, "please deduct the following off-time roadmap from my prep. time".
I am a parent judge. Please speak slowly, clearly, avoid any debate jargon, and be organized in your speeches. Give me a clear RFD in your last speeches.
Former PF debater, but have been out of the circuit for a few years. Look to Jeff Miller's paradigm for more specifics on how I view rounds.
For policy, not big into k's unless they are extremely compelling.
Competed:
2011-15 – Lawrence Free State, KS, Policy (Space, Transportation, Latin America, Oceans)
2015-17 – JCCC, KS, NDT/CEDA (Military Presence, Climate Change); NFA-LD (Bioprospecting, Southern Command)
2017-20 – Missouri State University, MO, NDT/CEDA (Healthcare, Exec Authority, Space); NFA-LD (Policing, Cybersecurity)
Coached:
2016-17 – Lawrence High School, KS, (China Engagement)
2017-19 – Olathe West High School, KS, (Education, Immigration)
2019-22 – Truman High School, MO, (Arm Sales, CJR, Water)
2020-Present – Missouri State University, MO, (MDT Withdrawal, Anti-Trust, Rights/Duties, Nukes); NFA-LD (Climate, Endless Wars)
2022-23- Truman State University, MO, NFA-LD (Elections)
2022-2024 - The Pembroke Hill School, MO, (NATO, Economic Inequality)
2024-Present - Lawrence Free State, KS (IP Law)
Always add:
phopsdebate@gmail.com
Also add IF AND ONLY IF at a NDT/CEDA TOURNAMENT: debatedocs@googlegroups.com AND the Tabroom.com DocShare email address. Hot Tip - add it to your email chain, and it auto upload your docs. Solves the risk an email server bounces and prevents delays. Use the tech at your fingertips!
If I walk out of the room (or go off-camera), please send the email and I will return very quickly.
Email chains are STRONGLY preferred. Email chains should be labeled correctly.
*Name of Tournament * *Division* *Round #* *Aff Team* vs *Neg Team*
tl;dr:
You do you; I'll flow whatever happens. I tend to like policy arguments more than Kritical arguments. I cannot type fast and flow on paper as a result. Please give me pen time on T, Theory, and long o/v's etc. Do not be a jerk. Debaters work hard, and I try to work as hard as I can while judging. Debaters should debate slower than they typically do.
Evidence Quality X Quantity > Quality > Quantity. Argument Tech + Truth > Tech > Truth. Quals > No Quals.
I try to generate a list of my random thoughts and issues I saw with each speech in the debate. It is not meant to be rude. It is how I think through comments. If I have not said anything about something it likely means I thought it was good.
Speaker Points:
If you can prove to me you have updated your wiki for the round I am judging before I submit the ballot I will give you the highest speaker points allowed by the tournament. An updated wiki means: 1. A complete round report. 2. Cites for all 1NC off case positions/ the 1AC, and 3. uploaded open source all of the documents you read in the debate inclusive of analytics. If I become aware that you later delete, modify, or otherwise disclose less information after I have submitted my ballot, any future debate in which I judge you will result in the lowest possible speaker points at the tournament.
Online debates:
In "fast" online debates, I found it exceptionally hard to flow those with poor internet connections or bad mics. I also found it a little harder even with ideal mic and internet setups. I think it's reasonable for debates in which a debater(s) is having these issues for everyone in the debate to debate at an appropriate speed for everyone to engage.
Clarity is more important in a digital format than ever before. I feel like it would behoove everyone to be 10% slower than usual. Make sure you have a differentiation between your tag voice and your card body voice.
It would be super cool if everyone put their remaining prep in the chat.
I am super pro the Cams on Mics muted approach in debates. Obvious exceptions for poor internet quality.
People should get in the groove of always sending marked docs post speeches and sending a doc of all relevant cards after the debate.
Disads:
I enjoy politics debates. Reasons why the Disad outweighs and turns the aff, are cool. People should use the squo solves the aff trick with election DA's more.
Counter Plans:
I generally think negatives can and should get to do more. CP's test the intrinsic-ness of the advantages to the plan text. Affirmatives should get better at writing and figuring out plan key warrants. Bad CP's lose because they are bad. It seems legit that 2NC's get UQ and adv cp's to answer 2AC thumpers and add-ons. People should do this more.
Judge kicking the cp seems intuitive to me. Infinite condo seems good, real-world, etc. Non-Condo theory arguments are almost always a reason to reject the argument and not the team. I still expect that the 2AC makes theory arguments and that the neg answers them sufficiently. I think in an evenly matched and debated debate most CP theory arguments go neg.
I am often not a very good judge for CP's that require you to read the definition of "Should" when answering the permutation. Even more so for CP's that compete using internal net benefits. I understand how others think about these arguments, but I am often unimpressed with the quality of the evidence and cards read. Re: CIL CP - come on now.
Kritiks on the Negative:
I like policy debate personally, but that should 0% stop you from doing your thing. I think I like K debates much better than my brain will let me type here. Often, I end up telling teams they should have gone for the K or voted for it. I think this is typically because of affirmative teams’ inability to effectively answer critical arguments
Links of omission are not links. Rejecting the aff is not an alternative, that is what I do when I agree to endorse the alternative. Explain to me what happens to change the world when I endorse your alternative. The aff should probably be allowed to weigh the aff against the K. I think arguments centered on procedural fairness and iterative testing of ideas are compelling. Clash debates with solid defense to the affirmative are significantly more fun to adjudicate than framework debates. Floating pics are probably bad. I think life has value and preserving more of it is probably good.
Kritical Affirmatives vs Framework:
I think the affirmative should be in the direction of the resolution. Reading fw, cap, and the ballot pik against these affs is a good place to be as a policy team. I think topic literacy is important. I think there are more often than not ways to read a topical USfg action and read similar offensive positions. I am increasingly convinced that debate is a game that ultimately inoculates advocacy skills for post-debate use. I generally think that having a procedurally fair and somewhat bounded discussion about a pre-announced, and democratically selected topic helps facilitate that discussion.
Case Debates:
Debates in which the negative engages all parts of the affirmative are significantly more fun to judge than those that do not.
Affirmatives with "soft-left" advantages are often poorly written. You have the worst of both worlds of K and Policy debate. Your policy action means your aff is almost certainly solvable by an advantage CP. Your kritical offense still has to contend with the extinction o/w debate without the benefit of framework arguments. It is even harder to explain when the aff has one "policy" extinction advantage and one "kritical" advantage. Which one of these framing arguments comes first? I have no idea. I have yet to hear a compelling argument as to why these types of affirmative should exist. Negative teams that exploit these problems will be rewarded.
Topicality/procedurals:
Short blippy procedurals are almost always only a reason to reject the arg and not the team. T (along with all procedurals) is never an RVI.
I am uninterested in making objective assessments about events that took place outside of/before the debate round that I was not present for. I am not qualified nor empowered to adjudicate debates concerning the moral behavior of debaters beyond the scope of the debate.
Things that are bad, but people continually do:
Have "framing" debates that consist of reading Util good/bad, Prob 1st/not 1st etc. Back and forth at each other and never making arguments about why one position is better than another. I feel like I am often forced to intervene in these debates, and I do not want to do that.
Steal prep.
Send docs without the analytics you already typed. This does not actually help you. I sometimes like to read along. Some non-neurotypical individuals benefit dramatically by this practice. It wastes your prep, no matter how cool the macro you have programmed is.
Use the wiki for your benefit and not post your own stuff.
Refusing to disclose.
Reading the 1AC off paper when computers are accessible to you. Please just send the doc in the chain.
Doing/saying mean things to your partner or your opponents.
Unnecessarily cursing to be cool.
Some random thoughts I had at the end of my first year judging NDT/CEDA:
1. I love debate. I think it is the best thing that has happened to a lot of people. I spend a lot of my time trying to figure out how to get more people to do it. People should be nicer to others.
2. I was worse at debate than I thought I was. I should have spent WAY more time thinking about impact calc and engaging the other teams’ arguments.
3. I have REALLY bad handwriting and was never clear enough when speaking. People should slow down and be clearer. (Part of this might be because of online debate.)
4. Most debates I’ve judged are really hard to decide. I go to decision time often. I’m trying my best to decide debates in the finite time I have. The number of times Adrienne Brovero has come to my Zoom room is too many. I’m sorry.
5. I type a lot of random thoughts I had during debates and after. I really try to make a clear distinction between the RFD and the advice parts of the post-round. It bothered me a lot when I was a debater that people didn’t do this.
6. I thought this before, but it has become clearer to me that it is not what you do, it is what you justify. Debaters really should be able to say nearly anything they’d like in a debate. It is the opposing team’s job to say you’re wrong. My preferences are above, and I do my best to ignore them. Although I do think it is impossible for that to truly occur.
Disclosure thoughts:
I took this from Chris Roberds who said it much more elegantly than myself.
I have a VERY low threshold on this argument. Having schools disclose their arguments pre-round is important if the activity is going to grow/sustain itself. Having coached almost exclusively at small, underfunded, or new schools, I can say that disclosure (specifically disclosure on the wiki if you are a paperless debater) is a game changer. It allows small schools to compete and makes the activity more inclusive. There are a few specific ways that this influences how ballots will be given from me:
1) I will err negative on the impact level of "disclosure theory" arguments in the debate. If you're reading an aff that was broken at a previous tournament, on a previous day, or by another debater on your team, and it is not on the wiki (assuming you have access to a laptop and the tournament provides wifi), you will likely lose if this theory is read. There are two ways for the aff to "we meet" this in the 2ac - either disclose on the wiki ahead of time or post the full copy of the 1ac in the wiki as a part of your speech. Obviously, some grace will be extended when wifi isn't available or due to other extenuating circumstances. However, arguments like "it's just too much work," "I don't like disclosure," etc. won't get you a ballot.
2) The neg still needs to engage in the rest of the debate. Read other off-case positions and use their "no link" argument as a reason that disclosure is important. Read case cards and when they say they don't apply or they aren't specific enough, use that as a reason for me to see in-round problems. This is not a "cheap shot" win. You are not going to "out-tech" your opponent on disclosure theory. To me, this is a question of truth. Along that line, I probably won't vote on this argument in novice, especially if the aff is reading something that a varsity debater also reads.
3) If you realize your opponent's aff is not on the wiki, you should make every possible attempt before the round to ask them about the aff, see if they will put it on the wiki, etc. Emailing them so you have timestamped evidence of this is a good choice. I understand that, sometimes, one teammate puts all the cases for a squad on the wiki and they may have just put it under a different name. To me, that's a sufficient example of transparency (at least the first time it happens). If the aff says it's a new aff, that means (to me) that the plan text and/ or advantages are different enough that a previous strategy cut against the aff would be irrelevant. This would mean that if you completely change the agent of the plan text or have them do a different action it is new; adding a word like "substantially" or "enforcement through normal means" is not. Likewise, adding a new "econ collapse causes war" card is not different enough; changing from a Russia advantage to a China, kritikal, climate change, etc. type of advantage is. Even if it is new, if you are still reading some of the same solvency cards, I think it is better to disclose your previous versions of the aff at a minimum.
4) At tournaments that don't have wifi, this should be handled by the affirmative handing over a copy of their plan text and relevant 1AC advantages etc. before the round. If thats a local tournament, that means as soon as you get to the room and find your opponent.
5) If you or your opponent honestly comes from a circuit that does not use the wiki (e.g. some UDLs, some local circuits, etc.), I will likely give some leeway. However, a great use of post-round time while I am making a decision is to talk to the opponent about how to upload on the wiki. If the argument is in the round due to a lack of disclosure and the teams make honest efforts to get things on the wiki while I'm finishing up my decision, I'm likely to bump speaks for all 4 speakers by .2 or .5 depending on how the tournament speaks go.
6) There are obviously different "levels" of disclosure that can occur. Many of them are described above as exceptions to a rule. Zero disclosure is always a low-threshold argument for me in nearly every case other than the exceptions above.
That said, I am also willing to vote on "insufficient disclosure" in a few circumstances.
A. If you are in the open/varsity division of NDT-CEDA, NFA-LD, or TOC Policy your wiki should look like this or something very close to it. Full disclosure of information and availability of arguments means everyone is tested at the highest level. Arguments about why the other team does not sufficiently disclose will be welcomed. Your wiki should also look like this if making this argument.
B. If you are in the open/varsity division of NDT-CEDA, NFA-LD, or TOC Policy. Debaters should go to the room immediately after pairings are released to disclose what the aff will be. With obvious exceptions for a short time to consult coaches or if tech problems prevent it. Nothing is worse than being in a high-stress/high-level round and the other team waiting until right before the debate to come to disclose. This is not a cool move. If you are unable to come to the room, you should be checking the wiki for your opponent's email and sending them a message to disclose the aff/past 2NR's or sending your coach/a different debater to do so on your behalf.
C. When an affirmative team discloses what the aff is, they get a few minutes to change minor details (tagline changes, impact card swaps, maybe even an impact scenario). This is double true if there is a judge change. This amount of time varies by how much prep the tournament actually gives. With only 10 minutes between pairings and start time, the aff probably only get 30 seconds to say "ope, actually...." This probably expands to a few minutes when given 30 minutes of prep. Teams certainly shouldn't be given the opportunity to make drastic changes to the aff plan text, advantages etc. a long while after disclosing.
PFD addendum for NSDA 2024
I am incredibly concerned about the quality of the evidence read in debates and the lack of sharing of evidence read.
Teams who send evidence in a single document that they intend to read in their speech and quickly send an addendum document with all evidence selected mid speech will be rewarded greatly.
I will ask each team to send every piece of evidence read by both teams in ALL speeches.
I am easily persuaded that not sending evidence read in a speech with speech prior to the start of the speech is a violation of evidence sharing rules.
Aloha from Hawai'i and the island of Oahu! I bring this to your attention because for virtual tournaments, I am 4 hours behind mainland Central time, so noon there is 8 a.m. for me. If you draw me in a morning round and I look like I just rolled out of bed, please know that it is probably because...well...I likely DID just roll out of bed and may or may not have finished my first (or third) can of Mtn. Dew yet! That said, let me get on to the real reason you came here and introduce you to my judging paradigm...
As an adjudicator in debate (going on 30 years on and off in the activity), I try to leave preconceived notions at the door so that both sides in the debate space are free to utilize the full range of style and strategy that they want during a round. Judge adaptation is a two-way street and judges need to accept that competitors in their presence bring differing styles and that we should give fair treatment to the same, even if their practices do not align with those that we personally favor/teach/have practiced.
My "style" of judging would best be described as tabula rasa with some tones of game player mixed in. We are here for competition, so regardless of "role of the ballot" arguments, my ultimate duty as a judge is to progress the better competitor in the round. I like to think of myself as a fairly "hands off" person when it comes to interjecting myself into a debate round, but you can make this more of a certainty by being absolutely sure you stress why YOU think you've won -- give voters, weigh out arguments, state the significance of points you think you win. At its heart, debate is a head-to-head story telling competition. For best results, your job is to tell me why your story is more believable than the one I'm hearing from your opponent. I am a judge, not a mind-reader, so do not leave your tournament future in the hands of fate by making me guess what you're trying to say! (remember, I probably woke up REALLY early today...)
For specific elements of debate that I commonly get asked about (much of what follows is specific to LD and Policy, PF is pretty clear within its event description with regard to what the event does/nʻt accept):
SPEED -- I would say on a scale of 1 (slow) to 10 (lightning fast), I probably log in at about a 7 (but be aware that this is for in-person...if you feel the need to go fast in an online tournament, you are putting yourself at the risk of technological glitches. This is still a communication activity, so arguments at least need to be intelligible to have merit and weight within a round. If there is an email chain being created, please add me to it -- rahorobi@ksbe.edu
THEORY -- I will vote on theory if you convince me that the argument has merit (usually this means convincing me that there has been a genuine abuse/loss of ground/skew of fairness as opposed to "my opponent dropped 3 of my 9 blipped one-liners from my last speech"). I am not a fan of theory as a time-suck argument, so if you run something please be serious about its application and utilization. I will only vote on disclosure theory if something in the tournament literature indicates that disclosure is expected.
K's -- I'll entertain them and will vote for them the same as any other argument in a round. Please be clear about the Alt.
SPEAKING POINTS -- Absent documentation from the tournament, here is my personal scoring range on a traditional 30-point scale: 30 = in my opinion, likely one of the top debaters in the tournament; 29 = Someone I expect to advance deeply into elimination rounds based off this performance; 28 = Clearly above average, good chance of making elim rounds; 27 = An average debater for this level, someone I would expect to finish near .500 based on what I see; 26 = Needs improvement as clear technical/speaking gaps were evident based on performance. ***I RESERVE THE RIGHT TO DELIVER LOWER POINT SCORES SHOULD YOU BE RUDE OR OFFENSIVE***
In closing, if there's anything here that you are still curious about, feel free to ask about it pre-round. You are here to compete and have fun. I am here to make sure the tournament runs smoothly and to do my part toward seeing the best competitors advance as deep into the tournament as they deserve. Live aloha, give aloha!
I am primarily a speech coach, so effective public speaking and rhetoric skills appeal to me. I prefer debates that stay centered on the topic to kritiks. Please no spreading. I don't mind fast-paced arguments, but I'd like to be able to flow what is happening effectively, and for that to happen, I don't want to be missing huge chunks of your argument because of speed. Thanks!
I was a former High School Policy debater. I competed for three years in Parliamentary debate for the University of Montana and have coached for 6 years now.
I am generally tabula rasa and will consider whatever arguments you make in the round. I don't think it's my job to tell you what positions to run or not to run. Your ability to decide on an effective strategy is part of debate. That said, everyone has their own preferences and biases, I have a few of my own and generally err truth>tech.
Debate is a communication-based event. As such, effective communication and analysis are just as important as evidence in a round.
Mutual respect and decorum are paramount in my opinion. If you are a jerk or disrespectful to competitors you might still earn the ballot, but your speaking scores will reflect your tone and behavior. I will not hesitate to penalize someone for abusive rhetoric, slander, or any kind of hateful/discriminatory speech.
I like to see good clash of ideas and thoughtful analysis of arguments. Quality often wins over quantity with me. I have voted for teams that only won one argument on the flow, but they were able to explain why that argument won the round.
Unless specifically instructed otherwise I will revert to a stock issue/net benefits style framework. I have and will vote on things like inherency if the argument is well-made and impacted properly.
Vague or overly generic positions, and poorly supported causal link chains are not exceptionally convincing to me unless I'm given very good reasons to prefer them-especially if you're reaching for terminal impacts without any kind of Brink or timeline. I generally don't like generic Kritiks and "you link-you lose" nonsense. Unless you have a very clear alternative from the start and a compelling in or out-of-round impact, I'm difficult to convince. I've seen too many rounds where the neg refuses to define the Alternative or their framework sufficiently until the Neg Block. Stop it.
I am decent with speed and jargon, but if it impacts clarity and understanding it might impact what I get on the flow. I will vote on what is on my flow- not whatever was sent through the email chain. My general rule is that if you are going too fast or are otherwise incomprehensible, I will put my pen down as a signal that I am not following you. If it's not on my flow, it probably won't be on my ballot either. Speed is not a substitute for substance. Your strategy should be something beyond talking faster than anyone else at the tournament and hoping they miss something.
Cross examination is binding and I will hold you to your word on how you choose to answer questions. Also, where I coach tag-team cx is against the rules. I won't penalize you if you do it, but each debater ought to be able to ask and answer questions without one partner taking over each time.
I don't consider new arguments in rebuttals. Evidence to support existing positions is okay but any attempt to bring up brand new arguments or resurrect dropped ones won't make it onto my ballot.
Do your own extensions, cross-applying, impact calculus and voting issues. Please don't expect me to do a lot of extra work for you on the flow at the end of the round. You might not like how I choose to weigh things when left to my own devices. It's a lot more productive to simply say: what the argument is, how you have won it, and why that should decide the round.
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
If you actually read my paradigm- use the word ameliorate before the round starts.
THIS HAS A POLICY, LD, PF, INTERP/SPEAKING PARADIGMS - SOME OF THE IDEAS OVERLAP, CNTRL F What you need.
I competed in Policy in 2009-2012 competed at UIL/TFA States (Texas), and NSDA. I consulted teams for 6 years and have coached for the last 5.
If there’s an email chain, please add me: brett.howard@canyonisd.net
TLDR:
If you have little time before the debate, here’s all you need to know: do what you do best. I try to be as unbiased as possible and I will defer to your analysis. As long as you are clear and POP TAG LINES, you can go fast, however if something does not make the flow it doesn't count in the round. I am from a slower circuit and thus have a hard time keeping pace at the highest speeds. Policy Debate is a game of Chess, not a truth seeking format for me. This means I want to see the strategies being played out by both teams, I want to see the clash, and I want you to tell me how/why you win. Do not assume that I will give you a win just because your argument is more "realistic." I try to be as much of a blank slate as I can.
POLICY DEBATE
General:
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Tech over truth in most instances. I will stick to my flow and minimize intervention as much as possible. I rarely make facial expressions because I don’t want my personal reactions to affect how a debate plays out. I will maintain a flow. However, tech over truth has its limits. An argument must have sufficient explanation for it to matter to me, even if it’s dropped. You need a warrant and impact, not just a claim. Claiming someone dropped something does not inherently mean it matters, do the work here.
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Evidence comparison is under-utilized and is very important to me in close debates.
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I don’t judge or coach at the college level, which means I’m usually a year or two behind the latest argument trends that are first broken in college and eventually trickle down to high school. If you’re reading something that’s close to the cutting edge of debate arguments, you’ll need to explain it clearly. This doesn’t mean I don’t want to hear new arguments.
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Please mark your own cards. No one is marking them for you. *Pet Peeve
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While I tend to believe that CX is not binding, if I feel that you are deliberately evading answering a question or have straight up lied, I will flow it against you.
Framework:
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Like any other debate, framework debates hinge on impact calculus and comparison.
Topicality:
- I enjoy a well ran T this year. I believe this topic lends itself to the T well as a way to correct lazy habits. This does not mean use them as time sucks.
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T is one place where I have a hard time going tech over truth, not that I have not voted tech on well run T’s but just keep this in mind. The work has to be done here for me to buy it.
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I'm a stickler for the quality of a definition, especially if it's from a source that's contextual to the topic, has some intent to define, is exclusive and not just inclusive, etc.
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Reasonability is a debate about the aff’s counter-interpretation, not their aff. The size of the link to the limits disad usually determines how sympathetic I am towards this argument, i.e. if the link is small, then I’m more likely to conclude the aff’s C/I is reasonable even without other aff offense.
Kritiks:
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The kritik teams I've judged that have earned the highest speaker points give highly organized and structured speeches, are disciplined in line-by-line debating, and emphasize key moments in their speeches.
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Just like most judges, the more case-specific your link and the more comprehensive your alternative explanation, the more I’ll be persuaded by your kritik.
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Framework debates on kritiks rarely factor into my decisions. Frequently, I conclude that there’s not a decisive win for either side here, or that it’s irrelevant because the neg is already allowing the aff to weigh their impacts. Kritiks that moot the entire 1AC are a tough sell.
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I don't mind the role of the ballot args, but you need to explain to me why that's the role and how I as the judge am impacted by it. I’m not a good judge for “competing methods means the aff doesn’t have a right to a perm”. I think the aff always has a right to a perm, but the question is whether the perm is legitimate and desirable, which is a substantive issue to be debated out.
- NO NEW K IN THE 2NC - There is literally not enough time to debate framework and grasp the depth of the K that is required for the debate. I literally will not flow this argument. It is a waste of my time and yours. Use your time well, create good clash.
Counterplans:
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I lean neg on PICs. I lean aff on international fiat, 50 state fiat, condition, and consult. These preferences can change based on evidence or lack thereof. For example, if the neg has a state counterplan solvency advocate in the context of the aff, I’m less sympathetic to theory.
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I will not judge kick the CP unless explicitly told to do so by the 2NR, and it would not take much for the 2AR to persuade me to ignore the 2NR’s instructions on that issue.
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Presumption is in the direction of less change. If left to my own devices, I will probably conclude that most counterplans that are not explicitly PICs are a larger change than the aff.
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I think that CP’s provide a good amount of clash whether Condo or Dispo. I will defer to the Neg strat being Condo unless specifically argued otherwise. Again I prefer Tech over Truth as much as possible.
Disadvantages:
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Most nuclear war impacts are probably not global nuclear war but some kind of regional scenario. I want to know why your specific regional scenario is faster and/or more probable. Reasonable impact calculus is much more persuasive to me than grandiose impact claims. DO THE ! CALC
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I believe that in most cases, the link is more important for determining the direction of risk than uniqueness. The exceptions are when the uniqueness can be definitively determined rather than probabilistic.
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Zero risk is possible but difficult to prove by the aff. However, a miniscule neg risk of the disadvantage is probably background noise.
Other
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I actually enjoy listening to a good theory debate, but these seem to be exceedingly rare. I think I can be persuaded that many theoretical objections require punishing the team and not simply rejecting the argument, but substantial work needs to be done on why setting a precedent on that particular issue is important.
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Debaters from schools with limited/no coaching, the same schools needed to prevent the decline in policy debate numbers, greatly benefit from judging feedback. I encourage you to ask questions and engage in respectful dialogue with me. However, post-round hostility will be met with hostility.
LINCOLN DOUGLAS DEBATE
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I am from a more traditional LD circuit and thus I prefer to see that style of debate. If you want to switch to a different style I am open to it just make sure you have a framework to justify it.
Framework
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If I am not told otherwise I will defer to a morality based framework. I am open to a policy framework but know that the burden of clash increases when this framework is used. I will defer to moral framework if the work is not done here.
Value/Criterion
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I love to see a good literature based value debate. The more that you know about what you are saying the better the debate is.
Policy in LD framework
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I love the CP/DA strat if you justify this framework but know that it is your burden to prove why the Aff must provide solvency and not just an ethical position, especially if you are going to reject the moral framework that is inherent to LD.
K's in LD
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I will listen to anything as I try my best to be Tech over Truth, but a K in LD is a high burden to assume. I am less likely to accept a K that has no link to the Aff position. The internal Link chain needs to have a good workup. Prove to me the role of the ballot, never assume I will just flow K neg.
- If you have specific questions refer to my CX K section.
PUBLIC FORUM DEBATE
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I am from a more traditional circuit and thus I prefer to see that style of debate. The intent of PF is to debate to the masses and prove your position. That is my expectation.
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K - I am generally opposed to the K in PF. If you want to run this perspective your link to either the topic or team must be crystal clear. Otherwise stick to topic discussion
- CP - Will instantly vote against CP/P. This is not a debate of policies, but preferability of position, keep it that way.
- Evidence analysis is underutilized here and clash in PF seems to be lacking as of late. The more you directly clash with the position, the more likely I am to believe your position.
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Speaking quickly is okay but please do not spread. The teams that get the highest speaks from me tend to talk at conversational or slightly faster than conversational speed.
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If you're goal is to qualify for and do well at the TOC, you probably wouldn't consider me a "tech judge" ; I'll flow the round line-by-line in the case, rebuttal and summary but also want to see a lot of summation / weighing / big picture breakdowns of the round in the summary and especially in the final focus. I like a nice, clean speech that's easy for me to flow - tell me where to write things. Signpost more than you would think you have to.
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I think that it is strategically smart for the second speaking team to defend their case in rebuttal, but I don't consider it a requirement. In other words, if all you do in your rebuttal is attack your opponent's case, I won't consider all of your opponent's responses to your case to be "dropped."
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-If you want me to vote on an issue, it should be present in both the summary and the final focus. The issue should be explained clearly by both partners in a similar way in each speech.
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-If you say something about the opposing case in rebuttal and your opponents never respond to it, you don't need to keep bringing it up (unless it's a turn that you really want to go for or something like that).
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-Speaker points - My 30 is "I feel like I'm watching someone debate out rounds at a national circuit tournament" and my 25 is "I'm going to go ask to talk to your coach about what I just saw." The vast majority of my scores fall in the 29-27 range.
SPEAKING/INTERP
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EXTEMP
- I coach UIL Extemp and use a UIL rubric when I am evaluating the speech, I prefer the speech to follow something like:
- Introduction (AGD, Background info (1 source), Justification, Question W4W, Answer question, Thesis/Preview), Body (Alliteration if possible/ Use of vehicle, 2 sources per point min, sources stated (Author, Publication, Date), Conclusion (Reference AGD, restate topic/preview, answer question)
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DI/HI/DUO/DUET
- I want to see a story that relates to the presenters that is also providing some critique of the world today. I will analyze your characterization, use of purposeful movement, and storyline/cutting. I will not make facial expressions most likely, but I will try. I am neurodivergent and sometimes get locked in to listening/controlling ticks and not making appropriate facial expressions (nodding, smiling, etc.) Don't let this discourage you. I value your voice, your story, and you.
- POI
- For POI I feel like there are currently two different opinions as to the direction of the event. I fall into the POI is Debate Through Lit
- I want to see an even use of material, transition songs that add and don't distract, and a clear message that ties the pieces together. The intro should be a clear connection point between the pieces/ argument and you as the presenter.
- I love this event, as a debate coach this event provides the ability for students to critique the world in a unique way. I want to see that. There is no topic that is off limits per se, but there are overused topics/themes. I want to see your unique perspective to topics not something that already won Nats/TOC/TFA.
- INFO/OO
- I evaluate these as I would a college speech, if you can make me engaged, and provide a unique message/information. Make purposeful movement, don't have distracting boards/VA's you will do well.
Judge Name: Laurence Howard
sechs.laurencehoward@gmail.com
No School Affiliation
Years Judging: 5
Specialty: LD
Specific Paradigm(s): Games Player & Speaking skills/communications
Importance of (Scale of 1-10):
- Evidence (Inclusion of "hard" empirical evidence): 8
- Analysis (Logical claims explain the inherent problems): 8
- Clash (Refutation of opposing positions): 10
- Questions (Answers to questions clarify with precision): 9
- Delivery (Speaks smoothly, clearly, controlled, and polished): 10
Other comments: For me, the most important things are the ability to follow the logic of your arguments and refutation of opposing points -- why are your points important? why do they outweigh the arguments from the opposing side? Delivery and speed are super important to me as well; I'm glad you are providing evidence to help your position, but if I, and even your opponent, are unable to follow you because of speed or the constant use of the word "like" that becomes a problem.
For Interp Events: I like to see relatable pieces. I enjoy seeing how your passion comes through as your give your speech. I also appreciate preparation; along with a topic that is close to you, I want to see that you have sufficiently practiced and are ready to give your speech. (besides impromptu and improv of course)
As far as judging in PF, Congress and Lincoln Douglas goes, I do not have a lot of requests. Just the few that follow.
Please speak slowly and clearly. I am not a fan of spreading, and in my books it has the potential to harm your score/rank. I also want to be able to understand your case, so speaking in a manner that is easy to follow is key.
I do not like disrespectful and overly aggressive competitors. I prefer a team who can convey their message in a respectful way, without talking over and being rude to the other team.
During the round, I weigh both arguments and style. I like to see a balance of both and will weigh them accordingly. As well as this, to win the round, I would like to see the arguments extended into the rebuttal and summary speeches. Lastly, I prefer arguments over statistics. Of course you need some stats to have a good argument, but I do not like the back and forth of stats. You can argue those all day, but in the end it comes down to which team conveyed their arguments better verbally not statistically.
Lastly, some thoughts on my preference on overall style. I enjoy listening to those who have a true passion for the event. I like arguments and cases that are well thought out, and have a new perspective that I have not seen yet. I also like to see good solid questions in cross x. Cross x can make or break a round for me. Anyone can read a speech, but to be able to ask well thought out questions and answer them in a quality way, really shows me you are well versed on the topic.
For the other speaking events, I enjoy people who show passion for their event. Someone who can grab my attention from the start and keep me there the entire time will score highly.
ejg4284@msn.com
I am what you would call "old school". I will entertain a progressive debate, but I much prefer a straight-up classic debate with value and criteria.
PF/LD:
E-mail:Hrenj@trinityprep.org
If you are looking for my paradigm in a few words:
I will start by looking at theimpactsas articulated in your final speech.I will thencompare them the way I was told to in your final speech(ex. Prefer on Timeframe. Prioritize probability). If there are competing comparisons, I will choose the one that is best articulated. I will then checkthe link to the impact and see if, in the final speech and previous speech, the other team told me a reason not to give the you access to your impact.If they did, I will make sure that this reason was articulated, at least from the second speech of that team.
My flow can be best described as chaotic, so make sure that you have been really clear and not blippy- if you are blippy, I am liable to miss it.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I have experience judging LD at the College and High School level (but it has been a little bit since I have consistently judged LD) and Public Forum at the High School level (fairly consistently). I would by no means say I am an expert. These are some things to keep in mind with me.
Assume that I know nothing. This includes shorthand, theory, or K literature. Even if I do know something, I will pretend I don't to avoid intervening in the round.
Speed Kills (your ability to win the round).I want to be able to flow everything.To this end, I will say “clear” two times and then I am able to flow what I can flow: if I miss something because you’re speeding then it won’t be considered.I do not want to look at cards unless you or your opponent have a tiff about what they actually say.
Additionally, I think that spreading should be a tool to allow for deeper and more specific arguments as opposed to allowing for more short, blippy responses.If you're speeding through a response and that response was only a sentence or two to begin with, it probably doesn't register as that important to me.
Tech over truth except in extreme cases.Tell me what to vote on, tell me what to care about. Clearly weigh your impacts against your opponents do not assume I prefer one over the other without you giving me a reason to prefer.
I care about dropped arguments- you need to extend and that means more than just saying “extend.”Functionally reiterate your arguments or at least summaries of them.
CX- I often will flow this, but it will not factor into my decisions unless you bring it up in your speech. Don’t shoot yourself in the foot, DO use this time to clarify, NOT make new arguments.
I hate hate hate people being hyperbolic or lying about what their opponent said or did: Ex. “they dropped this point” when they clearly did not. Just know if you do it I will be inclined toward your opponent. If YOU misheard or misunderstood your opponent’s argument, I get that, but pretending they didn’t respond to something they did is as good as dropping the arg. Also- don't tell me what my paradigm said- I was there when it was written.
Congress:
-The most important things to me are delivery and content.
-If two people are very close on both these aspects content will be more important than delivery.
-I pay attention to questioning, but it is more of a tie breaker for me. If you ask a particularly good question I will note it and you will be ranked higher than someone with the same scores on speeches and no notes about questioning.
-Very important to my ranking of speeches is whether you are moving the round forward or introducing new ideas.
-I prefer evidence usage, though in some analytic cases it is not strictly needed.
-I very much like interaction with the other speeches that have gone (rebutting directly or adding more to a previous argument).
-Taking risks with content or delivery in ways which push the boundaries of the norms will certainly earn some bonus points in my head.
-I think that decorum is important- pay attention to what others are saying, don't engage in personal attacks or generally be rude.
I am a parent who has judged middle school and high school speech events for the past four years.
I applaud all of you who have the courage and perseverance to compete in speech and debate tournaments. If you have made it this far, you are already a star in my book.
I am fairly new to LD, so I am still learning all the lingos and structures of debate.
I ask that each of you (either in speech or debate) speak clearly, without trying to cram too many ideas or arguments into your allotted time. I always appreciate a good roadmap of where your are going with your speech.
Even if you think your audience is knowledgeable in a certain field, explain from the beginning and make sure your listener understands your thought process.
There are many levels of experience amongst all the competitors and judges. I hope that everyone treats each other with respect.
Email chain: hu.yuliang@gmail.com
Please disclose! Disclosure is a real argument IF there’s a clear disparity between teams (i.e. Aff discloses everything, neg discloses fake args)
I expect clear 1AR warranting of arguments — saying labor stealing without an impact is not enough — and FULLY audible. Don’t bark through the 2NC Disads and shadow extend them as voters in the 2NR.
as Truf recommends I disclose, I don’t flow off the speech doc.
I have judged at the national circuit before.
I have minimal topic knowledge, but I’m most familiar with impact weighing and big stick escalation scenarios.
Debate: No spreading. Offer clear arguments and reasons to direct me in RFD of the round.
Speech Events: Interesting and unique topic that holds my attention the entire time. Simple and clear presentation of speech. Good use of humor and research throughout the speech.
Interp Events: Great use of characterization and blocking. The piece should paint a clear visual of the scene that holds my attention. The topic should be relevant and important to the competitor and society.
Hello!
My paradigm is rather simple. I tend to be an impacts judge and go for whichever side can impact calc. their arguments out. Students should debate the way they want to, just please make sure I can hear you. I can follow speed, just make sure that you enunciate clearly so that I can still follow. If you have any additional, specific, questions please feel free to ask me about them before the round. For the purpose of setting up email chains, my email is hubbchri@gmail.com
Hello! My name is Jazzmin Huerta and I have a background in English Language Arts, Science of Teaching Reading, and I am also a teacher in training at Texas Woman's University. All I am looking for in a competitor is that they speak clearly, concisely, and respectfully. I also want you to give strong and valid points in your argument. Other than that, do your best and good luck!
I am a Traditional and Flow judge. My decision is based upon the consideration of any or all of the following: Burden of proof, Value structure, Argumentation, Resolutionality, Clash, and Delivery.
LD/PF: I flow diligently, but I want you to speak pretty, too. I'm okay with speed, but not spreading. Don't make warrantless claims, please. I'll listen to any idea, no matter how bizarre, if you have cards for it. Be polite and sportsmanlike, above all else.
WSD: I'm most often a PF/LD judge. I want you to use lots of examples to illustrate claims you're making. This format of debate is 50% longer than the 40-ish minute attention span that PF and LD have cultivated in me as a judge, so I want you to speak engagingly. Command the room.
CX: I'm a traditional judge all the way. I do not care at all for jargon. This is a speaking activity; go slow and be clear and I'll flow it. Explain it to me like I'm 5.
I’m a novice judge, with little experience judging POI,HI, Duo and platform speaking. Not only do I have no experience judging Debate or Congress, but I also have never had the opportunity to watch any rounds.
I'm a lay judge so I mostly look for clear delivery. This should be obvious, but please make sure to respect your fellow competitors and try your best to not talk over others aggressively.
My name is Spencer Humphreys. I am a 5 year head coach with 4 years experience competing in Humorous interpretation, one year competing in Dramatic interp and Duo interp on the high school and college level. When judging interpretation events I focus on distinct voices, facial expressions to match the emotion you are trying to convey with each character, and clean blocking.
I do not consider cartwheels and flips "creative blocking".
PF
I am a lay judge.
"Please, speak as you might to a young child, or a golden retriever."
- Jeremy Irons in Margin Call (2011)
Parli:
After presenting initial research and evidence (cards), I would prefer debaters to think through logical outcomes of the evidence. It is OK (and preferable) to demonstrate that you can think through and suggest impacts that may not be supported by evidence, than to just stick with the 20 minutes of research you were able to complete.
Poetry and Radio
Speed kills. Especially in poetry. If you find yourself reading fast--understand that fast does not add any drama to your reading. As the reader, it may feel like it does; but to the listener, it doesn't. The words and phrases in poetry have inherent drama. If read correctly (without speeding it up), the drama will be apparent. Linger on words, draw-out syllables. Pause. Give time for words to sink in.
DEBATE GENERAL: I am not a fan of spreading/spewing; if I cannot understand the speakers, I cannot judge based upon the arguments. Fast is fine as long as enunciation is clear. If it gets to the point where I cannot flow, I will judge you based upon presentation alone. During cross, I want to know that you can answer the question, not only rely upon cards. I prefer a civil debate; it makes my job more difficult if I have to discern between what you're saying and how it's presented.
CON: I expect a debate. Unless it's the first aff/neg speeches, I do not expect canned speeches. I am not a fan of voting blocks to keep people low on priority because I think it's important to see how everyone is doing, not just the select few who are better at networking. That being said, if the debate is not being furthered because there are no new arguments or clash and the same speeches are given over and over again, I welcome a motion to PQ to move the session along. I expect the Chair to know the basics, like Robert's Rules, as well as the Orders of the Day, and keep everything running smoothly.
PF/LD: I am looking for evidence but I also want to know that you understand your cases. In LD, if you are going to run a CP, make sure all of the components are there. While a criterion is not required, I do prefer that you have one. In PF, if there is a framework, I expect it to be upheld.
CX: While the biggest impact is important, it should be a realistic one. I am not a fan of spreading or Cap Ks.
I am cool with off-time roadmaps!
I am generally a communications judge, meaning that good communication, clear signposting, and also being respectful of each other and the rules of debate is very important to me. I do judge based on the flow, but if I can't get info down on my flow, I won't be able to consider it in my decision
For PF, I am a policy maker judge, meaning I like to view the round as if it is a policy proposal and weigh the advantages and disadvantages of the resolution. For LD, I am a tabula rasa judge, so I will focus on and whatever argument is key in the round.
Since I judge a lot more Public Forum now than the other events, my paradigm now reflects more about that activity than the others. I've left some of the LD/Policy stuff in here because I end up judging that at some big tournaments for a round or two. If you have questions, please ask.
NONTRADITIONAL ARGUMENTS: These arguments are less prevalent in PF than they are in other forms. The comments made here still hold true to that philosophy. I'll get into kritiks below because I have some pretty strong feelings about those in both LD and PF. It's probably dealt with below, but you need to demonstrate why your project, poem, rap, music, etc. links to and is relevant to the topic. Theory for theory's sake is not appealing to me. In short, the resolution is there for a reason. Use it. It's better for education, you learn more, and finding relevancy for your particular project within a resolutional framework is a good thing.
THEORY ARGUMENTS IN PF: I was told that I wasn't clear in this part of the paradigm. I thought I was, but I will cede that maybe things are more subtle than they ought to be. Disclosure theory? Not a fan. First, I am old enough that I remember times when debaters went into rounds not knowing what the other team was running. Knowing what others are running can do more for education and being better prepared. Do I think people should put things on the case wiki? Sure. But, punishing some team who doesn't even know what you are talking about is coming from a position of privilege. How has not disclosing hurt the strategy that you would or could have used, or the strategy that you were "forced" to use? If you can demonstrate that abuse, I might consider the argument. Paraphrasing? See the comments on that below. See comments below specific to K arguments in PF.
THEORY: When one defines theory, it must be put into a context. The comments below are dated and speak more to the use of counterplans. If you are in LD, read this because I do think the way that counterplans are used in LD is not "correct." In PF, most of the topics are such that there are comparisons to be made. Policies should be discussed in general terms and not get into specifics that would require a counterplan.
For LD/Policy Counterplan concepts: I consider myself to be a policy maker. The affirmative is making a proposal for change; the negative must demonstrate why the outcome of that adoption may be detrimental or disadvantageous. Counterplans are best when nontopical and competitive. Nontopical means that they are outside of the realm of the affirmative’s interpretation of the resolution (i.e. courts counterplans in response to congressional action are legitimate interpretations of n/t action). Competitive means there must be a net-benefit to the counterplan. Merely avoiding a disadvantage that the affirmative “gets” could be enough but that assumes of course that you also win the disadvantage. I’m not hip deep sometimes in the theory debate and get frustrated when teams choose to get bogged down in that quagmire. If you’re going to run the counterplan conditionally, then defend why it’s OK with some substance. If the affirmative wishes to claim abuse, prove it. What stopped you from adequately defending the case because the counterplan was “kicked” in the block or the 2NR? Don’t whine; defend the position. That being said, I'm not tied to the policy making framework. As you will see below, I will consider most arguments. Not a real big fan of performance, but if you think it's your best strategy, go for it.
TOPIC SPECIFIC ARGUMENTS: I’m not a big “T” hack. Part of the reason for that is that persons sometimes get hung up on the line by line of the argument rather than keeping the “big picture” in mind. Ripping through a violation in 15 seconds with “T is voting issue” tacked on at the bottom doesn’t seem to have much appeal from the beginning. I’m somewhat persuaded by not only what the plan text says but what the plan actually does. Plan text may be topical but if your evidence indicates harm area, solvency, etc. outside of the realm of the topic, I am sympathetic that the practice may be abusive to the negative.
KRITIKS/CRITIQUES: The comments about kritiks below are linked more to policy debate than LD or PF. However, at the risk of being ostracized by many, here is my take on kritiks in PF and maybe LD. They don't belong. Now, before you start making disparaging remarks about age, and I just don't get it, and other less than complimentary things, consider this. Most kritiks are based on some very complex and abstract concepts that require a great deal of explanation. The longest speech in PF is four minutes long. If you can explain such complex concepts in that time frame at a comprehensible speaking rate, then I do admire you. However, the vast majority of debaters don't even come close to accomplishing that task. There are ways you can do that, but look at the section on evidence below. In short, no objection to kritiks; just not in PF. LD comes pretty close to that as well. Hint: You want to argue this stuff, read and quote the actual author. Don't rely on some debate block file that has been handed down through several generations of debaters and the only way you know what the argument says is what someone has told you.
Here's the original of what was written: True confession time here—I was out of the activity when these arguments first came into vogue. I have, however, coached a number of teams who have run kritiks. I’d like to think that advocating a position actually means something. If the manner in which that position is presented is offensive for some reason, or has some implication that some of us aren’t grasping, then we have to examine the implications of that action. With that in mind, as I examine the kritik, I will most likely do so within the framework of the paradigm mentioned above. As a policymaker, I weigh the implications in and outside of the round, just like other arguments. If I accept the world of the kritik, what then? What happens to the affirmative harm and solvency areas? Why can’t I just “rethink” and still adopt the affirmative? Explain the kritik as well. Again, extending line by line responses does little for me unless you impact and weigh against other argumentation in the round. Why must I reject affirmative rhetoric, thoughts, actions, etc.? What is it going to do for me if I do so? If you are arguing framework, how does adopting the particular paradigm, mindset, value system, etc. affect the actions that we are going to choose to take? Yes, the kritik will have an impact on that and I think the team advocating it ought to be held accountable for those particular actions.
EVIDENCE: I like evidence. I hate paraphrasing. Paraphrasing has now become a way for debaters to put a bunch of barely explained arguments on the flow that then get blown up into voting issues later on. If you paraphrase something, you better have the evidence to back it up. I'm not talking about a huge PDF that the other team needs to search to find what you are quoting. The NSDA evidence rule says specifically that you need to provide the specific place in the source you are quoting for the paraphrasing you have used. Check the rule; that's what I and another board member wrote when we proposed that addition to the evidence rule. Quoting the rule back to me doesn't help your cause; I know what it says since I helped write most or all of it. If you like to paraphrase and then take fifteen minutes to find the actual evidence, you don't want me in the back of the room. I will give you a reasonable amount of time and if you don't produce it, I'll give you a choice. Drop the evidence or use your prep time to find it. If your time expires, and you still haven't found it, take your choice as to which evidence rule you have violated. In short, if you paraphrase, you better have the evidence to back it up.
Original text: I like to understand evidence the first time that it is read. Reading evidence in a blinding montone blur will most likely get me to yell “clear” at you. Reading evidence after the round is a check for me. I have found in the latter stages of my career that I am a visual learner and need to see the words on the page as well as hear them. It helps for me to digest what was said. Of course, if I couldn’t understand the evidence to begin with, it’s fairly disappointing for me. I may not ask for it if that is the case. I also like teams that do evidence comparisons. What does your evidence take into account that the other teams evidence does not? Weigh and make that claim and I will read the evidence to see if you indeed have made a good point. SPEECH DOCUMENTS: Given how those documents are currently being used, I will most likely want to be a part of any email exchange. However, I may not look at those electronic documents until the end of the debate to check my flow against what you claim has been read in the round. Debate is an oral activity; let's get back to that.
STYLE: As stated above, if you are not clear, I will tell you so. If I have to tell you more than once, I will give much less weight to the argument than you wish me to do so. I have also found in recent years that I don't hear nearly as well as in the past. You may still go fast, but crank it down just a little bit so that this grumpy old man can still understand the argument. Tag-team CX is okay as long as one partner does not dominate the discussion. I will let you know when that becomes the case. Profanity and rude behavior will not be tolerated. If you wish me to disclose and discuss the argument, you may challenge respectfully and politely. Attempts at making me look ridiculous (which at times is not difficult) to demonstrate your superior intelligence does little to persuade me that I was wrong. My response may very well be “If I’m so stupid, why did you choose to argue things this way?” I do enjoy humor and will laugh at appropriate attempts at it. If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask. Make them specific. Just a question which starts with "Do you have a paradigm?" will most likely be answered with a "yes" with little or no explanation beyond that. You should get the picture from that.
I have been coaching debate since 1980. I was a policy debater in high school. I have coached policy debate, Lincoln Douglas, Public Forum, Big Question and World Schools debate. I am also a congressional debate coach and speech coach.
LD-
It comes as no surprise based on my experience and age, that I am a traditional judge. I do keep up on current theory and practice, but do not agree with all of it. I am a traditional judge who believes that LDers need to present a value to support based in the resolution. A criterion is helpful if you want me to weigh the round in a certain way. Telling me you won your criterion so your opponent loses doesn't work for me, since I believe you win the round based on your value being upheld by voting affirmative or negative on the resolution. Telling me to weigh the round though using your criterion makes me very happy.
Voting Issues- I need these. I think debaters ought to tell me what to write on my flow and on my ballot.
Not a fan of K's, performance cases, counter plans, or DA's in LD. I know the reasons people do it. I don't think it belongs in this type of debate. I know debate is ever-evolving, but I believe we have different styles of debate and these don't belong here.
Flow: I was a policy debater. I flow most everything in the round.
Speed- The older I get the less I like speed. You will know if you are going too fast --- unless your head is buried in your laptop and you are not paying any attention to me. If I can't hear/understand it, I can't flow it. If I don't flow it, it doesn't count in the round.
Oral Comments- I don't give them.
Public Forum-
I have coached Public Forum since it began. I have seen it change a bit, but I still believe it is rooted in discussion that includes evidence and clear points.
Flow: I flow.
Public forum is about finding the 2 or 3 major arguments that are supported in the round with evidence. The two final focus speeches should explain why your side is superior in the round.
I am not a fan of speed in the round. This is not policy-light. I do not listen to the poor arguments moving into the PF world.
I am a coach (Washington) with most of my skills and training in speech. My high school events (Oregon and Montana) were oratory and interps. When it comes to debate, I am not as experienced though I have been judging it regularly at smaller local tournaments. I have been coaching for over 5 years and attended nationals 3 times. I did judge Big Questions and LD at nationals one year.
I prefer traditional LD and a conversational speaking pace. This is a values debate so you should focus on convincing me that your value is more applicable and that your criterion uphold it better than the opponents. It isn't about how many points you win, but winning the most important ones. If you can show that your side also upholds your opponents value- even better.
Coming from the speech side of things, I appreciate clear organization and speaking skills. Make me want to keep listening (or at least not want to stop). You can have a personality.
I am not a fan of tricks or trying to make it so there's nothing your opponent can really argue against. I want to see both sides being able to bring good ideas and counter things their opponents says. I want this to be a tough decision. Respect your opponents and me and have fun.
Poor sportsmanship may result in an automatic loss.
If you talk so fast I can't understand you I don't put it in the flow
I also don't like arguments that are essentially--if everyone is dead then no one suffers.
PF PARADIGM:
I am one of the Assistant Speech & Debate Coaches at Montville Township High School. This is my fourth year judging. I have judged all aspects of speech and debate.
Please provide me with a clear case of why your side is the winning/more powerful side based on the resolution. I am looking for clear explanations. Context is key here. I vote off the flow. It needs to be in a speech format for me to flow it. Crossfire will not be used/counted for flow.
Please speak clearly and at a normal pace. The faster, more aggressively you speak, the less I will be able to follow, retain, and flow. Be aware of the speed you are speaking at.
Signposts are super helpful especially if you tell me where to flow.
I'm not the biggest fan of tech, although I will take it into account if used.
Speaks:
You will be deducted points in speaks if you are rude to your opponent. Please be respectful of each other. No need to be mean!
Cards:
I usually will not pull cards unless they are mentioned numerous times and/or challenged.
I have judged/coached debate for three years. I competed in public forum debate in high school back in 2012 but have spent a lot of time judging and coaching congressional debate.
I look for respectful & mature debate in round. I do track P & R whether I am parli or not. To me your performance is just as important as what you are saying. I judge by the quality not quantity of speeches.
I have not debated as a competitor before and this is my first year coaching at Manhattan High School in Manhattan, KS.
An overview is highly appreciated.
Speed: I would prefer a conversational pace and to not have to flow off of the speech document.
Don't be an awful person. I'll vote you down.
Please feel free to ask me questions. You all knowing my preferences benefits me just as much as you.
Lay judge debate paradigm.
Congressional Debate
Content/trigger warnings: when using content/trigger warnings, contestants should ask why they need one in the first place. Rather than using graphic imagery to describe traumatizing issues, it is far more meaningful for contestants to explain the scope and scale of the impact of the root causes of the problem and how the legislation will either remediate or exacerbate the problem and its causes; that approach provides a safer space for all participants in the chamber. That said, any participant in a chamber should feel free to excuse themselves at any time if they are feeling unsafe or emotionally traumatized – without any judgment.
The nature of Congressional Debate is an intellectual exercise in analyzing an issue from a multitude of perspectives, which are threaded together through the clash of ideas, and moderated by parliamentary procedure. While its discourse intellectually functions as debate, it operates with sectioning chambers and comparatively evaluating students in the same manner as interscholastic speech rather than the binary nature of head-to-head debate entries. Of all the speech and debate events, it models a real world process as a way for students to engage one another in a truly authentic and dynamic manner. As someone who has been a part of shaping rules and standards in Congressional Debate for over two decades, I understand how comparative ranking allows me to take the full picture of how a student contributes both to the intellectual richness of debate, as well as the circumstances by which debate happens – parliamentary procedure. Hence, the focal point of arguments should be on how people are affected by potential passage or defeat of legislation.
Role playing is a mindset that goes beyond simply "playing a part" as a member of Congress. Debaters should understand how issues impact constituents, citizens, residents, and the global community alike, and who and what should be prioritized at any given time and why. Members of Congress represent demographically and geographically diverse constituents as well as serve our country at-large. Therefore, debaters should consider how they frame their advocacy and avoid such possessive phrasing as "our low-income Americans" to make blanket statements about entire groups of people, rather than describing circumstances for which they do not have personal experience (see first section, above). I highly recommend theConscious Style Guide for guidance on appropriate language when discussing marginalized communities, and that debaters consider their own privilege when they address the nuanced issues in constituencies most vulnerable within problems addressed by legislation.
Organization and clarity: contestants should briefly seize attention in a memorable and meaningful way by connecting to the issue at-hand without trivializing it. Previews are inconsequential and waste time in a brief, 3-minute speech; rather, points should be signposted, and connect to a central, unifying thesis beyond just "supporting" or "opposing" the legislation at-hand. Speeches should be easy to follow, articulately crisp, and plainly explained, without needless jargon. Contestants should be concise, dynamic, and nimble with their language, and not repeat the same filler phrases and "debate-speak." Effective clarity also means avoiding unnecessary delving into "debate-speak," where a student uses such filler language as "take you at your highest ground," rather saying, "if your central intention is..." Other examples of concision alternatives filler phrases:
• Say "argued" instead of "came up here and said"
• Say "consider" instead of "we can look to"
• See "understanding" instead of "seeing as how"
• Omit "we can see that"
Finally, be elegant. Say "defeat" a bill instead of "fail.""Move the previous question, don't "motion to the previous question." Correct phrasing goes a long way toward demonstrating command of language in a linguistic activity utilizing the framework of parliamentary procedure.
Evidence: contestants should support arguments with cited, credible sources warranted to their own analysis. They should indicate a firm analytical understanding of the legislative/policymaking process, and the efficacy and jurisdiction of government agencies in addressing issues.
Impacts: speeches should explain how people are affected by policies and positions. Practical application and pragmatic interpretation is much more relevant that theoretical musings on an issue. Rhetoric should show sensitivity to people whose identities may differ from their own; a speech may address issues that impact real people, and shouldn't conjecture lived experiences for which the legislator may not have a personal frame of reference. Contestants should avoid overusing terms like "constituents," and consider as a national-level legislator, how policies impact both their own theoretical constituents, residents throughout the United States for whom their policies will impact, and for international relations – global citizens beyond the U.S.
Advancing debate: each speech should exhibit how it fits within the flow of debate on given legislation:
Authorship/sponsorship speeches should outline the problem, its causes, and why the legislation at-hand solves or mitigates the problem and its causes. The background is more important than the legislation itself, as we can all read the bill. I want to know the why behind the solvency.
First negative speeches should establish ground for the opposition to the legislation: why it exacerbates the problem and its causes, fails to address them effectively, or creates new or worse conditions.
Constructive speeches, often the first 4-6 speeches in a debate, should indicate a sound understanding of how legislation is introduced to solve/address a problem and its causes, deeply investigating important issues with detailed evidence.
Rebuttal speeches should defend a legislator's advocacy, extend complementary arguments by colleagues, and/or refute the opposition – acknowledging how those arguments are being built upon or fall short. As debate on legislation moves forward, there will be more extension and refutation and fewer constructive arguments. This is where a contestant can be nuanced with their advocacy, connecting arguments that respond to others with their own, unique ideas.
Crystallization speeches should come at the end of debate on legislation and summarize and weigh impacts to distill the debate to central voting issues and why one side wins over the others, and subsequent speeches on the same side should either explain why a preceding crystallization was premature/incomplete, or advance it further in a more sophisticated manner. Crystallizing prematurely, at best shows a lack of restraint and understanding of the "big picture" of the issue; at worst, it shows an impatient desire to weigh the debate before all the elements have had time to be explored rhetorically.
Questions should be substantive and carefully selected to help advance debate beyond superficial questions that are mere "gotchas." The dynamism of Congressional Debate requires legislators to respond within the flow of debate, so all speeches after the authorship/sponsorship speech introducing legislation should be more extemporaneous/spontaneous in nature. Exchanges should be a courteous give-and-take.
When to quit: it is entirely unimportant to me whether each contestant in a room speaks on each legislation; I'd rather debate stay fresh and dynamic than to get stale and mired in rehash because there's nothing new to say (and rehashing thoroughly debated arguments will negatively impact your ranking severely). I also place a higher premium on quality over quantity of speeches given -- as long as a contestant still stays active in questioning and other facets of a round.
Delivery: given the dynamic nature of exchange of myriad perspectives in Congressional Debate, debaters – especially those after the author/sponsor and first negative – should be more extemporaneous and spontaneous in their delivery, referring more to bulleted notes and their flow of the debate than reciting from a word-for-word manuscript. I don't care if a student transitionally walks between points (obviously, that doesn't/didn't happen in online debate and it's certainly not real-world); what matters to me is that the student engages their peers and judges through an appropriate projection of their voice, dynamic intonation and pause to convey meaning, meaningful eye contact, vivid facial expression, and natural gestures for emphasis.
Parliamentary procedure: rules of order exist to provide fairness and an opportunity for participation in sharing ideas before majority rules. Through a lens of accessibility and inclusivity, procedure should never be used by legislators to manipulate for personal advantage; rather, those students who advocate for fairness to others demonstrate the spirit of fostering involvement by others. This applies to all students in the room, and how they utilize procedure within a round, and includes decorum of using honorifics, third person references to others, and professional courtesy over snarky demeanor. This is especially important during questioning periods. Also, remember: recesses are a temporary reprieve from active debate, but the round is still happening.
Presiding officers: a PO whose priority is uplifting others in a fair, efficient, and transparent manner exhibits the values expressed in the "parliamentary procedure" section above. They are mindful of different schools and regions and do whatever they can to share and balance recognition, beyond those with whom they are most closely associated. I really appreciate when POs share some type of live document that shows how they are tracking precedence and recency of both speeches and questions. Effective POs should avoid needless phrases, such as "seeing as how..." and instead simply say, "those opposed (or 'in favor'), please raise your placards." Further, such elegant language shows command of procedure, such as "the ayes have it and the motion (or bill) carries," or "the noes have it and the motion (or bill) is defeated."
I am a lay judge with some experience in public forum and speech, and limited experience in Lincoln Douglas and Congress.
Please don’t spread or do anything that would make it hard for me to understand you.
Tell me why you are winning, tell me what’s important, don’t make it hard for me to figure that out. WEIGH.
If you have a speech document and are comfortable with sharing it, that would ensure that I do not miss anything you say.
My email is djacobs@mytruloan.com if you want to share anything.
Background
I got my bachelor's in Religion and Philosophy from Augustana University (SD) and I’ve been teaching coaching speech and debate for Brookings, SD for the last few years.
Ethics
Coming from the world of philosophy and ethics, I am particularly picky when it comes to respectful debate. Please keep good ethos form the moment you enter the room to the moment you leave.
SPEECH EVENTS
When it comes to Interp. and IEs, it’s all about delivery (and content where appropriate). Make sure your voice is loud and clear, but be careful in humorous / dramatic pieces. Things like laughter, screams, cries, etc. are often done too loud for a small room. I’ll comment on everything from movement, to clarity, to character and everything in between. For pieces that you’ve composed (orig. oratory, extemp., etc.), I’m looking for cohesive structure, good intros/conclusions, and clear main points that follow the purpose of the piece.
DEBATE
Overall:
I am fine judging however fast you feel necessary; however, go faster than conversational speed at your own risk. However fast you go, your presentation should be clear, understandable, and well structured. If I can't hear or understand it, I don't factor it into the debate or my decision. I also love clear and concise voters / clinchers in your final speeches!
Under the consideration of what’s listed below, I’m willing to listen to and judge based on what you deem important so long as it’s clear, relevant, and uses sound reasoning. As far as K’s, I’m open to listening to them; however, I’ve found them relatively ineffective, especially if they are not run well (you need to make sure they still have connection to the resolution).
LD:
This is my bread and butter. With a philosophy background, I’m pretty familiar with just about any philosopher you could throw my way. Particularly with the more popular philosophers, make sure you know how the philosophy you’re using works. If you don’t, it will show.
When it comes to how I judge a round, LD is a value debate and I think this should be the main focus. Your contentions should be purely to support your framework, not the only focus of the debate (it’s not PF).
PF:
I feel evidence plays a bigger role in PF than in LD, so I’m far more interested in hearing evidence-based reasoning in round. Just like LD, outside of this, I’m willing to judge what you, your partner, and the other team focus on throughout the round, just keep it clear and structured.
CONGRESS
Congress is one of my favorite events and I even had the pleasure of serving as the parliamentarian in the 2024 NSDA Senate Final! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me. When it comes to judging speakers, I'm looking for clear structure and well utilized evidence. The Authorship/Sponsorship/First AFF and First NEG speeches should set the stage for the corresponding side of the legislation while the following rebuttal speeches should ADVANCE the debate rather than consist of canned speeches that have little if anything to do with what has been said in the session. If you give a crystallization speech when you see debate is dwindling that's a nice plus along with references to the wording of the legislation or comments made by specific legislators. For PO, I'm more than happy to include a great PO in my ranking and will do so if I feel they were vital in the running of the chamber. A good PO keeps consistent times, gaveling procedure, accurate precedence/recency, and, most importantly, maintains decorum in the chamber.
If you want to do speech drop/email chain that's fine I guess. My email is katie.jacobs@k12.sd.us.
Most importantly, HAVE FUN!!
Spreading is not allowed and will be penalized.
Highland High School (AZ): Policy Debater 4 Years (2001- 2005)
Emporia State (KS): Policy Debater 1 Year (2005-2006)
Washburn University (KS): LD/Parli Debater 2 Years (2006-2008)
Overview: My background is mostly in policy debate with some time reluctantly dabbling in LD and Parli in college. I prefer rounds rooted in policy arguments and how they impact the round. I am not a fan of performance style debate as I find there is not a solid framework for why I should vote for you over the other team merely because you decided to make this a performance.
Topic/Resolution: The affirmative does not necessarily have to affirm the resolution, but they need to provide a clear framework and reasoning for their position. Negatives must also have a solid framework for why affirmatives should not be able to do this beyond they must affirm because they are affirmative. A solid framework debate is key to winning my ballot here.
Topicality: I believe in competing interpretations and whoever establishes theirs is best, wins. I do not need actual abuse to vote on T but can be persuaded on why that is important.
Disadvantages: Run them. Having a case specific link is always more persuasive than something general. I love a great Disad debate.
Counter Plans: Love ‘em. The trickier the better :D PICS are awesome but be prepared for the theory debate which will ensue. Make sure you have a net benefit to your CP other than solves case better.
K’s: I ran them in my debate career and loved them. I am comfortable with capitalism, feminism, colonialism, general K topic. I am not so comfortable with Baudrillard, Zizek, D&G, et al. I simply do not understand them and do not read their type of literature. I am a teacher not a philosophy student. If I do not understand your argument, I am not going to do the work for you. While I will read cards at the end of the round, I am not going to be happy if I must piece together whatever theory you are arguing. I will interpret it as best as I can understand, which may or may not be to your benefit. Use extreme caution if you are going to deep dive with these high-level arguments.
Case Arguments: Amazing. It has been a long time since I have seen a solid case debate. Paired with a DA or CP, golden. Make affirmatives work for it!
Performance: No. I am a firm believer if you want to perform, go into IEs. That doesn’t mean you wont win in front of me, just that you will have to have a solid framework for why you should.
Speed: Totally fine. Just watch articulation. I will yell at you to be clear if I cannot understand you.
Behavior: Don’t be a jerk. Don’t be mean/racist/sexist/elitist. I will tank your speaker points and could be compelled by the other team to vote you down. Also, clean up after yourselves and respect the area you are debating in.
As a former speech and debate educator and coach, I believe in the educational value of competitive speech and debate. As a judge, my role is to adjudicate the debates, speeches, and performances on the merits and efforts of the students. My background as a former competitor I realize the subjective nature of the activity by the perceptions of the judges. My role as a judge is to base conclusions on the efforts of the competitors in relation to the nature of the event and evaluate with that criteria in mind. At one time the term tabula rasa was used to explain an approach of evaluating the events without intrusion of biases and adjudicate what is observed in the competition, that is the approach I try to use as a judge.
I am a novice judge who has been judging for year and a half. I believe delivery is important but will prioritize evidence based arguments. Speaking fast, spreading, is ok as long as you are enunciating and speaking clearly.
My experience:
-Competitor @ Remington HS 2013-2016 (CX, primarily speech focused IEs)
-Competitor @ Sterling College 2016-2020 (IPDA, platform speeches + extemp)
-Coach @ Ashland HS (a.c. 2021, h.c. 2022-23; IEs only, but judged a few CX rounds here and there)
-Coach @ Nickerson HS (a.c 2018-2020, h.c 2023- present; CX, Congress, all IEs, some LD, PF, & BQ)
2-Speaker Policy:
Please include me when you share the SpeechDrop! I feel like I'm able to be a better judge when I can see your speech as you're giving it.
What type of judge am I? I am a stock issues judge, so I'll tend to weigh the round based on if the aff has supported the stock issues after negative speeches. That doesn't mean that I don't vote on DAs -- if you have a nuke war impact that goes unanswered, that seems like a pretty big harm of the aff plan.
I also want to see kids thinking, not just kids reading (which I see too much of). Read your cards and then give me some sort of analysis to prove to me 1) you understand the argument you're making and 2) it actually competes with the other team's position in some way. Providing this kind of analysis boosts your chance that I'm gonna follow along with your train of thought and potentially vote for you at the end of the round.
New in the 2? If you want to, go for it! But don't just do it because you think it'll make me happy. Just know that I'm fine with it.
Speed? As long as I can understand you and you're telling me where to flow things, go the speed you want to go. If I can't understand you anymore, you'll likely be able to tell because I'll stop writing stuff down on my paper or trying to follow along in the SpeechDrop, I'll just look at you until I can understand you again.
How do I feel about topicality? I'm willing to listen to legitimate topicality arguments, but would prefer you don't just run it as a time suck. I understand that people see that as strategic, but I would really rather hear more interesting arguments. If you can prove legit abuse as the neg, I'll probably vote on it.
How do I feel about DAs? I don't like generic DAs that link to all aff plans. I do like case specific DAs and I love big impacts (like nuke war), so long as you've got an internal link to get me there. If the link to the impact is too big a logic jump, though, I'm less likely to vote on that impact if the aff does a little bit of legwork.
How do I feel about CPs? I really like counterplans when they're run well. I think I'm in the minority of younger judges in saying I don't like when they're conditional. I'd much rather you run a competitive CP that is truly an alternative to the aff plan that I should vote on. If you kick the CP at the end of the round I will be very sad :(
How do I feel about Ks? I have minimal experience in judging K's, so run at your own risk. If you run one, you're REALLY going to have to explain it to me; I'm just not familiar with any K literature. Also, as much as I don't like judge intervention in a round, you are going to have a really hard time selling me on K's that just dunk on debate as an activity. (Along this same train of thought, if you run a justification that in-round fairness doesn't matter because of some out of round benefit, plan on spending some time explaining that because I'm REALLY hesitant to get behind that kind of logic.)
Finally, debate is an educational and professional activity (even if we're here because we think it's fun). When I'm deciding speaker ranks, I'm going to prefer your arguments and analysis's impact on the round more than how pretty a speaker you are. However, kindness is a voting issue. If you do something that is extremely rude or offensive to another debater (it doesn't matter which team!) I cannot and will not reward you with a high rank or the win. I like to see debate rounds. I don't like to see bullying. This activity provides an AWESOME opportunity to create connections with other people. Do not let the heat of the moment take that away from you.
I am a former policy debater and current speech and debate coach. I coach policy, LD, and PF. I am a flow judge. I want to see good communication in round.
Hello Debaters!
If you're reading this then you must have me as your judge. Depending on the event will depend on how I judge you. So please read carefully below. I'm the Head Coach at Viewmont HS and have been teaching and coaching for ~20 years. Debate has changed a lot over the amount of time I've been coaching and debating, and maybe not so much.
1) ADAPT TO YOUR JUDGE
Policy
I'm a Policy coach. I've been coaching Policy debaters to TOC/Nationals for nearly 2 decades. I've judged in TOC bid out rounds. I've judged quarter finals 3-0 panels Nationals rounds. I have a lot to say that about what I like to see in my Policy rounds:
Ya know... after 20 years, I just don't know anymore. I still hate Topicality but see it's value in the round. I've seen some pretty squirrely cases recently so it has its place. Framework has it's place as well. The only framework I accept is Condo bad. Can it win you the round by itself? Possibly, if you can prove the time-suck in-round abuse.
Trying to outspread your opponent hoping that they won't be able to answer all your arguments is a waste of my time so STOP IT! If you only have one line in a card, I'll cross it off my flow. Yup, I mean it. You need to have depth in your arguments. Without depth, education is lost and you're causing harm to this amazing form of debate. It causes people to quit because they just see you abusing them and winning. That needs to stop.
With the above said, you can go at any pace you like. If you're fast, but you have full cards, like 6 sentences in each card, AWESOME! You're actually increasing the depth of the debate. You're likely only going to be running a few off-case arguments at that point.
Traditional arguments are very legitimate. Running 2 DAs, a CP (PICs bad, but whatever), possibly a T, and Inherency/Solvency is a legitimate Neg strat. 10 off then on and I throw a pen at you.
Finally, be courteous, not condescending. Have sportsmanship skills. Adapt to me and the other team. Don't be cocky and you'll see that you'll get better with every round!
I HAVE TO SET UP LD AND PF AND BQ AND WORLD SCHOOLS AND SPEECH... :(
I've been judging tournaments since 2017 - mostly debate (LD/PF/Parli) but some speech events as well.
Things I like in debate:
- Debating on the resolution
- Running traditional framework and making it clear with clash and weighing mechanisms
- Good, explicit speech structure and signposting
- Strong clash
Things I do not like in debate:
- Spreading (if I don't hear it, I can't flow it)
- Kritiks / theory
- Falsified evidence
Things I am probably OK with in debate:
- CPs, where permitted by tournament rules
Things I am probably not OK with in debate:
- Highly implausible impacts
Good luck... and good skill!
I judge: Truth > Tech.
I value clear and concise arguments that have real life impacts (not impacts with extremely low probability.)
My non-negotiables
1. Be respectful, equitable, and civil.
2. Keep your rate of speech normal. If you talk faster than I can follow, then I cannot flow.
3. If an argument is dropped in the following speech, it's dropped.
4. Roadmaps are not considered part of your time.
5. Debate the resolution, do not run progressive arguments.
If there's anything I can do to make the round more accessible, please let me know before the round.
Hi! I am Isabel Jeronimo pronouns She/her/hers/ella. I competed in both traditional and circuit LD in high school and competed in Parli and Policy for Saint Mary's College of California (SMC) for four years between 2016-2020. The most recent partnership being with Kathryn Magee (SMC JM). I have coached LD and Policy at the high school level for about 7 years and coached Parli and Policy at the college level for 2 years.
General Preferences:
-Speed is Speed, go as fast as you want, I can handle it. Do slow down on tags, cites, Alts, plan texts. Those i want to have down verbatim. Judging over internet is kinda wonky though so air on the side of caution here
-I am probably more well know as a "K hack", which is probably true. I love the K, ran the K, coach the K, but that does not mean I won't vote on anything else. I am pretty well versed in sett-col, feminism, Chicano Futurism and Pessimism. I have basic understandings on pretty much any type of K out there at the time, but as I do not know authors or details so anything out of the specific lits i mentioned above will require some explaining for me. Me loving the K also probably means I have a higher threshold for Ks, I expect more out of the, so don't just run a backfile because you think I like Ks. You do you, I'll judge either way.
-Even though I did not really compete using "traditional debate", I am still good with judging that type of round. I won't say that I am happy about it, as I don't think its like the best way to be engaging in the debate space, but I won't hold that against you.
-If you misgender me, the other judges, or your competitors, or generally commit any acts of ableism/sexism/homophobia/racism/etc., I reserve the right to vote you down. I genuinely believe that the debate space has the ability to empower and bring about change, but it also has the potential to create serious damage or harm to people when certain things are done. I am willing to use my limited power as a judge to vote down behaviors that are deemed reprehensible and harmful.
Policy specifics:
-Yes I would like to be on the email chain: isabeljeronimo14@gmail.com
-I flow on paper so please give me pen time and time to switch between sheets.
-DAs/CPs/Plans: I'm down, just make sure its well explained
-Theory/T: So they aren't the same thing, but I do believe they should be structured the same way: Clear Interp, Clear Violations, Clear Standards, and Clear Evaluation/voters. Key word being clear. Good theory debates rock, bad theory debates are... well just bad.
-K V. K.: K's should always have some kind of framing so I know how I am supposed to evaluate the round, and this is especially critical in K debates. These debates often take me the longest to evaluate because framing gets so muddy, so the easy way to my ballot is through framing.
Matthew Johns, I am a Speech/Debate coach with a Social Studies background. I am a former Lincoln Douglas and Crossfire (Prehistoric caveman version of Public Forum Debate) Debater.
Email for Doc Sharing: matthew.johns@midlandisd.net
IMPORTANT NOTE: I am hearing impaired, I can keep up pretty well if you speak clearly. If you speak too fast, so that I can't understand and flow your argument, I will have a hard time assigning you a victory. Sharing a copy/digital version of the constructive/cards is a plus.
Theory Paradigm: This involves a combination of Policymaker and Game Theorist. I am well versed in Social Studies topics, a History/Political Science major, and am an AP teacher. This means I tend to focus on disadvantages and counter plans to an argument. (Policymaker) Whereas the Game Theorist paradigm suggests I am open to a provocative plan (that might seem absurd or crazy to others) provided it can establish a logical and distinct advantage over the opposing view/plan.
Civility and Decorum matters, so be polite to your opponents, including in the questioning period. You can be firm in cross while being polite. There is a decay of civility in American politics that is concerning to me, and I would like our experience to reflect what is very best about us.
General: I detest spreading as it cheapens the debate into a purely technical hot mess. A humorous thought...could you imagine an actual televised debate where candidates used spreading? Make my job of flowing easy, signpost accordingly and don't rush through your contention's main points. I will not make links and connections for you. I am noticing more and more that teams are failing or inadequately addressing links to impacts. Be sure to drive your impacts with good support. Be sure to clash and weigh where it is appropriate. Definitions are a great way to control the boundaries of the debate when clash is apparent.
Congress: Be sure to clash! Congress Debate often has people rehashing the same points. It gets tired quickly and I will assign low speaker points if you do not bring new arguments or significantly good analysis of previously stated contentions/evidence/points.
Lincoln Douglas: See definitions above; I don't love a debate that devolves into definitions, but it can be extremely advantageous to control framing. Framework does not matter if solvency is ignored, and solvency doesn't matter if framework is ignored. If framework and value/value crit are a wash, then I divert back to solvency. I've noticed Aff teams trying to sneak in new points/arguments in their last speech. I will completely disregard if you attempt it, and the speaker points will reflect this.
Public Forum: I've seen too many policy debaters creeping their spreading and incivility into Public Forum Debate. This is meant to be accessible to an educated public audience, not pure technical debate. Go to policy if that's more your cup of tea. I can technical flow, but argumentation and weighing are mechanisms that often wins debates in my paradigm. Evidence analysis matters as well. I've seen really suspect sources / outdated sources that debaters try to slip through.
Policy: If you strike me here, I understand. Spreading is a no go for me. Beyond that Policy lends itself to being a more technical debate than Public Forum that should be lucid, clear, and explained in great depth without spreading. Quality > Quantity.
About me: Former high school policy debater and college parli/BP debater. I have coached every debate event and most speech events as well. I have coached students to state championships and elimination rounds at nationals. I teach English, public speaking, and debate.
Note: Policy is its own event. It, and its argumentation style have their place; however, not every other event needs to be Policy. I prefer to watch and engage in other styles of debate when judging those events and engage in Policy when I am judging Policy.
Likes:
1) Clear argument structure and warranting. I really like when not only is a position well supported by evidence but also when a debater puts in the work to logical justify and explain their argument/impact clearly (more so on the argument front). Being able to logically justify your position past "this is what x expert says..." illustrates critical thinking which really makes this activity a joy to watch. This often means fewer more substantive arguments.
2) Debates about framework. I actually quite like meta-debate; however, I have a pretty high threshold for topicality and kritiks. My biggest issue with both of those positions is that they often ignore why they should matter to the listener. The impact is too nebulous like does my ballot actually prevent abusive AFFs? Alternatively, impacts are often glossed over. If you're taking time to impact your K on ecological destruction and your take is that's bad...no duh. Give sophisticated positions the time they need. I extend this beyond just policy, though. I quite like discussions on competing weighing mechanisms, and my RFDs often include some discuss about how debaters did/did not do on this topic. This should be done with care to ensure you are meeting the threshold of #1, though. I like whenever a debater can convince me to vote on something that isn't cost-benefit-analysis.
3)Voter issues. I like this first of all because I think they demonstrate a debater's overall understanding of the round. Being able to clearly articulate which positions you are winning, which you are losing, and how they all match up is probably one of the most important logical skills this activity develops. I am rarely convinced by claims one side of the debate has won everything (in many years of judging I have maybe seen it once or twice). Next, voter issues nicely bring closure to the round. I don't think it is ever wise to put the expectation of completely sorting out impact calculus to a judge. Tell me what issues mattered and how you want them weighed.
Dislikes:
1) Speed. The long and short of it is as follows: I believe this is an educational communication event, and I believe that endeavor is harmed by going too fast. I think part of being an effective communicator demands being able to speak to a broad general audience and paying attention to your audience. You much better hone these skills by seeking more clarity in your public speaking style. I have yet to see a "fast" debate that meets this threshold, and you are welcome to try to defy my expectations, but be aware that is what you are doing. If I put down my pen and stare at you for more than 3-5 seconds, you've crossed that speed threshold, and I am not flowing. I will not evaluate arguments that are not on my flow.
2)"What they said doesn't..." Debates/Arguments. I really detest arguments that devolve into a giant game of each side claiming what the other side said isn't true or doesn't work that way. Firstly, it is a relatively weak argument, but more importantly, these arguments often fail to address the issue of the debate in favor of hoping I agree with your position. I want arguments warranted out and clash to have an equal amount of thought put into it. I ultimately find these arguments reductive, and without a good warrant and analysis, you are not winning my vote here.
3)Rude people. I like to think that we're all good people and that the kids I see in round will go on to do awesome things. I don't enjoy having to sit down for an hour or more and listen to two sides scream at each other. I don't enjoy seeing people being smarmy to one other. I don't like jerks. I come here to see the awesome things kids can think of, and nothing takes me out of that frame of mind faster than seeing people be jerks. If I think you cross a line, it will most likely be reflected in speaker points. If I think you jumped over the line and are making a mad dash toward the next one, I may even consider voting against you. The latter is rare, but I have done it a couple of times. Please don't be that person.
In an LD round I tend to vote for the side with the most substantive arguments as opposed to the side who has pushed to most arguments through.
In terms of speed, fast conversational is fine but nothing faster.
Hey ya'll!
In High school I competed for Apple Valley in Minnesota, But currently, I am competing on the college circuit for Western Kentucky University.
I am mostly an IE judge but if I am being honest...debate is more fun lol.
First of all, have fun and be respectful - enjoy every performance - these years will go by fast!
Speech Interp - I want to believe you, engage me - show me that your story DEMANDS attention.
Speech PA - How is your speech structured? Is it accessible and easy to follow? ARE YOU TELLING ME SOMETHING NEW?! Deliver your speech like it is the most pressing/important information I as your judge will hear all day.
Debate - Please do not spread to quickly, I don't like scrolling through your cards - I would rather just hear and flow your contentions based off what you are saying. I would consider myself a lay judge in debate - break it down for me - tell me WHY you should win.
If you have any questions about your ballots feel free to email me...
jonahsolomonjohnson@gmail.com
I debated four years in high school, and judged off and on since. Head coach at Paola High School.
The threshold for refutation of arguments that I don't like is low, but not zero.
I’ll flow what you tell me, not what’s highlighted on your speechdoc.
If you cut a card for time, make sure you’ve read me the good stuff.
Run whatever you want. Seriously. If you can justify it and defend it, I’ll consider it.
Case debate is good, but I love a great offcase debate.
Theory is fine, and I’m well-versed. However, don’t spend too much time here, as I’ve probably already reasoned this out with you.
T is good but I’ll only vote for it if you run it correctly. This is also true for CPs and DAs. I expect Aff teams to tell me when Neg arguments aren’t structured correctly, but I also expect you to answer them anyway. If there’s no impact card, voters/standards are missing, etc., say so, then move on to your answers.
K’s are fine, but I’m a lot older now than when I used to run them. Be prepared to explain them.
Reading a big block of cards without any analysis from you doesn’t do much for me – in fact, it makes me grumpy.
If I don’t like an argument, you’ll know.
If I’m not flowing your speech, it doesn’t mean I’m not listening, but rather I have already made my decision. I am good at figuring out the round and will likely make a quick decision. However, I will never formally sign or write my RFD until the round is over – sometimes miracles happen.
Speed is fine, but please slow down for tags/dates so I don’t get lost on my flow. If I can’t keep up, I’ll let you know.
Impact calc at the end of the round is good. My RFD should ultimately sound like your 2NR/2AR.
Be kind, have fun, learn something.
Debate: I am not particularly picky on anything, but please be respectful to your opponent(s). Feel free to run progressive arguments, but beware that I may not get them if you aren't clear.
LD: Make sure to clarify how your criterion supports your contentions! Also, don’t drop all your contentions for the sake of the value debate. Do not make all of your arguments cross-applications of your own case unless there is a legitimate clash. I vote primarily on the quality of coverage.
PF: Any speaking speed is fine, just make sure you are coherent. A heated cross-examination is fine but please don’t spend the entire time yelling at each other. I vote on the quality of evidence and general coverage.
My email is johnson@muhs.edu
LD
I am a debate coach who was a competitor at Nationals in World Schools and Congressional Debate, and was mainly a PF debater when competing. That being said, I have coached and judged LD extensively in the past year.
Please ensure that we are debating the LD format, not Policy-lite. That means a few things.
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Values and Value Criterions are extremely important and are central to who will win this round. If you do not keep these well-connected to your arguments, it will be difficult for me to weigh your arguments as strongly if they do not connect back into your VC.
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All-out spreading is not necessary or appreciated. If you are speaking so fast that it is impossible to flow your arguments, then I cannot weigh them in good faith. Win on the strength of your arguments and analysis, not by trying to overwhelm the opponent. Quality over quantity.
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If you choose to use them, run K’s well. If they are not run in well, it ends up muddying the waters of the debate and taking time away from other approaches you could probably use more effectively. K’s are complex strategies- explain your points clearly and tie them into the larger debate.
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LD debates involve morals, values, philosophy. Please use these things that make this format distinct.
As for more general points, here are some preferences I have as a judge.
Signposting and roadmaps, both in the introduction and throughout the speeches, are greatly appreciated. Keep your points clear and well-organized. Just because something is clear in your head does not automatically mean you are communicating it effectively.
I am not a fan of T-Shells in general. I would prefer to see a debate about the topic at hand, not a debate about the format in a general sense. This does not mean it is impossible to win with one, but please engage with the topic and with your opponent.
Ask good questions, and build off of them in your speeches. In the same sense, try not to waste time on rambling, disorganized answers. Keep CX dynamic and fast, and make it valuable. If something is conceded in CX, don’t just ignore that it happened. I certainly won’t.
Be ethical. No racism, homophobia, ad hominem attacks, or anything of that sort will be tolerated. You are all capable of good decorum, so show it! Approach the round with good faith, and debate as such.
Please use weighing and voters in your later speeches. Analyze the round and show me why you win.
Want to be on the email chain? - Yes, please send docs to: jjohnston380@gmail.com
My paradigm, at its core, is to judge the debate as more traditional, but I am willing to see a good debate round that includes theory or a K. I do NOT prefer a performance case. I believe if you want to do a performance piece, you should enter a speech category. I am willing to decide the round on any arguments the debaters mark as the voting issues (including T, theory, and other procedural arguments, traditional policy affs, etc.). You need to be clear, your evidence should be good, and your authors should generally agree with each other (on solvency, Ks, etc.).
I don't especially enjoy reading cards after the debate to try to piece together what should have been explained more clearly in the debate. If you think the round hinges on the text of a piece of evidence, spell it out in the rebuttals. Alternatively, if the debate is really good and evidence must be read, I'm perfectly happy to do so; I encourage you to provide me the context necessary to read for you.
I prefer no spreading, and please be clear. I believe spreading is used as a debate tactic because you either don't understand the arguments well enough to defend them, or you don't have a strong enough case. Spreading takes away from the educational value of the debate round. Also, know that I flow on the computer. If you here my keys clicking, it is because I am flowing. Slow down on T, Theory, perms, CP texts, etc. If I ask you to be clear and you ignore me, I'm probably not going to be able to follow you on the flow. I keep pretty detailed flows and will be following the round closely.
Road maps are ALWAYS appreciated. Humor and personality are also a delightful addition to rounds, but should not detract from the debate. Also, clash is important! I want to see a good debate over the resolution. While I enjoy a good K, I do NOT PREFER an Aff K. Those are not usually about the resolution and tend to be quite off topic and sometimes don't lend to the educational value of the round.
Needless hostility or defensiveness is intellectually--and just at a human level--WRONG. Please don't. If you are racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, abelist, etc. please strike me--you will lose the debate.
Email chain info: nathanmichaeljohnston@gmail.com
The Paradigm:
Debate is meant to be a fun activity! I think you should do whatever you need to do to ride your own personal happiness train. So have a good time in our rounds. That said, remember that riding your happiness train shouldn't limit someone else's ability to ride their's. So be kind. Have fun, learn stuff, don't be a jerk though.
I've been around debate for over 15 years. You can read whatever arguments in front of me and I'm happy to evaluate them. I'm fine if you want to LARP, read Ks, be a phil debater, do more trad stuff, or whatever else. I'm good with theory as long as you're generating genuine, in-round abuse stories. Frivolous theory and tricks are not something I'm interested in listening to. If I'm judging you online, go like 50% of your max spreading because hearing online is difficult. I'd like to be on email chains, but we all should accept that SpeechDrop is better and use it more. Otherwise, do whatever you want.
Rankings:
K - 1
Phil - 2
Policy - 1
High theory - 2.5 (it'll be ok but I'm going to need you to help me understand if its too far off the wall)
Theory - 1 (but the good kind), 4 (for the bad, friv kind) - I find myself to be compelled by genuine in-round abuse stories more than potential abuse.
Tricks - you should probably strike me
The Feels:
I'm somewhat ideologically opposed to judge prefs. As someone who values the educative nature of our events, I think judge adaptation is important. To that end, I see judge paradigms as a good way for you to know how to adapt to any given judge in any given round. Thus, in theory, you would think that I am a fan of judge paradigms. My concern with them arises when we are no longer using them to allow students the opportunity to adapt to their judges, but rather they exist to exclude members from the potential audience that a competitor may have to perform in front of (granted I think there is real value in strikes and conflicts for a whole host of reasons, but prefs certainly feed into the aforementioned problem). I'm not sure this little rant has anything to do with how you should pref/strike me, view my paradigm, etc. It kind of makes me not want to post anything here, but I feel like my obligation as a potential educator for anyone that wants to voice an argument in front of me outweighs my concerns with our MPJ system. I just think it is something important and a conversation we should be having. This is my way of helping the subject not be invisible.
All Debates: Please be respectful to your opponents! :) I will NOT drop your speaks based on speaking differences (e.g., stuttering, sound errors).
Policy: I have experience, but am a little out of practice. I was usually more of a politics DA/ CP or T debater, but that does not bar me from voting for a well-done K. I am willing to hear just about any argument, but I need impact analysis! Tell me how/ why to vote. I am not willing to kick a position for you when I write my ballot. Speed is generally fine, but I need clarity. Please don't give opponents a ton of cards that you didn't even read. I expect competitors to be respectful of their opponents, partners, judges, etc.
LD: My primary experience is in Policy debate, but I have judged and coached LD for several years. I like for debaters to give me voting issues and tell me how to vote/ why they won. I do think values and criterion should be part of those voting issues. Off-time roadmaps are fine. Please be respectful to your opponents! :)
PF: My primary experience is in Policy debate, but I have judged PF for several years. I like for debaters to give me voting issues and tell me how to vote/ why they won.
Updated Last: May 4, 2023
Email: christian.d.jones[at]gmail.com (yes, I would like to be on the chain)
Experience: Head coach for 11 years.
My General Paradigm
Debates must be fair and winnable for both sides, but debaters may argue what is and is not fair. Debaters may try to convince me which particular instance of debate ought to occur in each round. I will try to have an open mind, but I do have likes and dislikes.
Speed
I prefer debaters to ensure clarity before trying to accelerate. I can handle speed, but if I can't understand it, it doesn't get flowed. If I am being honest, I would estimate that I can catch almost every argument at about 85% of top speed for the national circuit. But if you brake for taglines and present them in a unique vocal inflection, top speed is not a problem.
Decision Calculus
I will only intervene if I feel I absolutely have to. I prefer that debaters to help me decide the debate. Comparative arguments will usually accomplish this. Extrapolations in rebuttals are acceptable if they are grounded in arguments already on the flow. Arguments that are extremely offensive or outright false may be rejected on face.
Style
I enjoy and find value in a variety of argumentation styles as long as they do not preclude a debate from taking place. A debate must have clash.
Framework
The 1AC presents their argument to a blank slate. If you want to change this, you will need an interpretation and to be clear on the criteria for winning the round. This criteria should offer both sides the possibility of winning the debate.
Topicality (or any other procedural/theory argument)
If you want me to vote on a proposed rule violation, then you need to win the complete argument. You must win that you have the best interpretation, that the other team has violated your interpretation, that your interpretation is good for debate, and that the offense is a voting issue. If you want to argue that the other team is breaking the rules, then you have the burden of proof. Procedural arguments may also urge a lesser punishment, such as, excluding the consideration of an argument.
Kritik
I do not want to proscribe specifics when it comes to kritiks, but I do want to see clash and comparative argumentation in any debate. I prefer Ks that are germane to the topic or affirmative case in some way. I like kritiks that have a clearly defined alternative. Alternatives that propose something are preferable to 'reject' or 'do nothing' type alts. I am not a fan of ontological arguments, especially nihilistic ones. If you choose to enter the debate space, you have already ceded certain assumptions about reality.
Counterplans
I am open to any type of counterplan, but all arguments are subject to the standard of fairness determined in the debate round. That said, if you are going to read a counterplan, it should probably have a solvency card.
Don't speed read. If I can't understand you, I can't vote for you. Please stick to stock issues.
Extemp:
I competed in extemp for three years at Edina HS. My career highlights were reaching NCFL and NSDA National finals. Since then, I have coached MBA RR invites, NSDA, ETOC, UKTOC, and NCFL national finalists at Shrewsbury HS (MA) and Edina HS (MN), where I currently coach. I have also privately coached students in South Florida and South Texas and have some familiarity with those circuits.
I am what you might call a content judge. But I do care about time and time allocation (it’s not a fair competition if you get 8 minutes while your opponents get only 7; tough to make a good argument in only 30 seconds, etc.).
This is how I will rank you and your opponents, items rank-ordered:
1. Did you answer the question? If you answered the question, I evaluate you against others who answered the question. If not, vice versa. This is the most important point for me as a judge. He or she who provides the best answer to his or her selected question will win the round. If you do not answer the question — giving a “how should” answer to a “will” question, for example – expect to earn a bad rank. I've watched NSDA and TOC finalists fail to answer the question and I did not hesitate to give them the 5.
2. Did you emphasize the arguments? Did your claims have warrants? Did you terminalize your impacts back to the question? Importantly, were there contradictions within your substructure or between your points (even if these weren’t expressely articulated, the logical conclusion of one point may contradict that of another point)?
3. With what sources did you corroborate your arguments? Were your sources recent? High quality? Did you consider the key experts in the field?
4. How were the performative elements (delivery)? Did you exude confidence and use your voice and body to command the space? Did you offer a relevant AGD? Were you monotone or did you provide vocal variety? Did you have on-tops? Did they meaningfully contribute to the speech?
I care least about delivery because evaluations of delivery are necessarily subjective. Just as people react differently to jokes, judges will find performative elements (humor/emotions) differently entertaining/funny/sad/etc. In my mind, a content focus is the only consistently fair judging paradigm for extemp.
When deciding between two or more high quality extemp speakers, I find that four things set speakers apart (not rank-ordered, all items matter to me):
1. Difficulty of question. If two speakers provide equally good speeches but one speaker answers a much more difficult question (triads, obscure policies/issues, etc.) that speaker may earn a better rank (same logic as opp. averages as a tie breaker).
2. Quality of sources. Did you cite think tanks, esteemed professors/thinkers, journals, BOOKS?
3. Framing the question. Did you give me key background on the actors/terms in the question and tell me the gravity/importance of the question? Did you explain to me what an answer means in terms of the wording of the question (what it means for a policy to be “successful” or “effective” etc.)?
4. Delivery/wit.
Debate:
Add me to the email chain: tannerhawthornej @ gmail.com. I coach Edina HS PF and extemp speaking.
I debated LD and PF for Edina High School for three years. I’m now a junior at Dartmouth, I'm on the policy team. I personally know Raam Tambe.
I can flow fast and will evaluate all arguments. The winner of my ballot will be the better debater(s), not the the debater(s) that run args I like. As such, I won't draw arbitrary lines at certain types of arguments. Speaks will suffer if a debater is rude/offensive. If you have more questions feel free to ask before the round.
For PF, I will not evaluate offense that’s dropped in summary. If you go for something in final focus it needs to be in summary (except d). PF is more about persuasion than the other debate events, I’ll keep that in mind. Weigh or you’re asking for intervention. Don’t really care about speed for PF but I haven’t seen speed give much of a competitive advantage on PF. Evidence ethics is the biggest problem I’ve encountered in PF. I will call for cards so be ready to have good evidence ethics. I will give incredibly low credence to bad ev ethics. Analytic responses are fine, misconstruing evidence is lying.
For LD, I’m good at flowing the T/CP/DA/stock FW debate but often don’t know the K lit. This doesn’t mean I’ll drop Ks, I just need a clear articulation. It probably needs to be slower than you're used to. I won't flow what I can't understand. Slow down for theory. You’re calling out in round abuse not reading a card so I need to understand what you’re saying. I also have a high threshold for frivolous theory.
For Policy, my experience is one term competing in college on the NDT/CEDA circuit.
LD-I am a very traditional judge. I like VALUE/VC debate. Your contentions should support and link to your value. If you are not the 1AC, you should be attacking/countering things said from the previous speech(es). Otherwise, what's the point of debate?
I AM NOT A PROGRESSIVE LD JUDGE. No K's, CP's, or anything that belongs in CX.
I am ok with speed. I believe debate should be understandable and not an opportunity to cram so much information into 6 minutes that is not understandable and too much for an opponent to attack. With that said, I do like some speed, I just don't feel most people have been taught how to spread well. If I can't understand you, it doesn't get weighed into the round.
I tend to vote on who upheld their value the best and who dropped arguments. I also tend to vote on clash and providing counter evidence. Evidence can be read quickly, slow on taglines. WIN THE FLOW!
PF- I am a traditional PF judge. I should be able to have NO debate experience and walk in and judge a PF round. Treat your round as such despite my experience. This is not LD or CX, don't treat it as such. Persuade me. (Read more below)
CX- aka POLICY Debate. I want to hear the best plan. Who best SOLVES. Make tag lines clear. Be clear what you are dropping. Do not prompt ypur partner while either of you is speaking. I am a traditional judge who like rebutals and attacks. Cite your sources.
If you didn't read above, I do like speed with clarity. If you can't spread well, please don't. I'd rather you be clear than fast.
For ALL-
I am flowing your debates, so I am aware of what has been said or not said in a round.
Jargon does not impress me.
Speaker points:
Being kind is also a thing for me. I always tell me debaters to "win kindly". You will be docked speaker points if you are using foul language and/or obviously treating your opponent poorly.
Speaker points are important! I should be able to clearly understand you when you speak. Again, I am fine with speed, but most people do not spread well. This is where you will get docket. Practice recording yourself and see if your cousin can understand you word for word.
I do not weigh CX time into who wins the round, but it can/does affect speaker points. CX time is your time to clarify and gather info. Anything you want weighed into the round from CX must be brought up in your next speech.
About me:
I have coached debate since 2004 and run two successful programs qualifying students for state and nationals yearly. Multiple teams have placed in finals at the state level in various events: LD, CX, WSD, Extemp, PF.... My degree is in Speech Comm.
If you have specific questions before the round, ask me! (Just don't ask what my qualifications are, I am here, aren't I? )
To me, debate is debate just in a variety of formats. I do not like extensive road mapping before time starts. Debaters have an obligation to clash with each other on the arguments. I expect the neg to clash with the Aff and the affirmative arguments. I also expect the Aff to respond directly to the negative arguments. I expect that the debaters will communicate with me in an understandable manner. I don't object to speed as long as you are communicating with me. Debate is about arguments. Debaters should not be information processors but should offer and extend quality arguments. I will flow in detail and decide the round based on who wins the arguments.
I have coached and judged debate for over 40 years. I participated in policy debate as a competitor.
For Speech events, I like a clear introduction. Teasers are ok. I like to see clear differences between characters both by physicality and by voice. I like to connect to the performance and judge on skill and on effort.
Background
I am a speech and debate coach at Kickapoo High School. I have been doing speech and debate in some capacity for 11 years. I am versed in Lincoln Douglas and Public Forum mostly, but can keep up in a policy round.
Lincoln-Douglas
You must win the value-value criterion debate in order to win the round. I am a stickler for time management, so make sure you divide your time wisely in each speech to attack each argument with an emphasis on weighing values and value-criterion. I would like Key Voter Issues from both Aff and Neg in their last speeches. I will vote against spreading in an LD round due to auditory processing issues.
Public Forum
I prefer the 1st rebuttal to be fully spent attacking your opponents' case instead of using it to circle back around and re-build. It makes it less confusing. I like clear, offensive voting issues in the final focus.
Policy
I can follow a quick policy round, but warn me beforehand. I prefer analytics over cards and/or explaining why one card is better than another with logic or analytics. No "Refer to author B to cross apply to author C and D." I won't follow that because I don't have a photographic memory for evidence. If you're spreading, make sure to say your taglines very clearly or slow down so I can catch them. Provide a clear roadmap before and during each speech. If you do not tell me where to flow something, I will absolutely NOT flow it or vote on it. I prefer a full document for each speech with each argument typed out. I know that's annoying, but it ensures that I can follow your arguments even if they're fast or confusing because I have trouble with auditory processing. I like out of the box arguments if you have constructed them fully. I'd rather listen to something crazy and mentally engaging than the same old thing. I understand 90% of policy terms, but it is more convincing to me if you can explain them in your own words and explain how they play into the debate. It helps your ethos if I know you know what you're talking about.
My paradigm is clash. I would like to see you be able to defend your case and attack your opponent, not just read whatever case you have in front of you. I like a good nice debate that overlaps and weaves together.
Prior to the strength of the arguments, I take into consideration the following:
1. Organization: This is key. In order to make an informed and complete decision, I need you to speak in such a way that I can make a decision using an organized flow. SIGNPOSTING and TAGGING are essential for this. Speed is not.
2. Professionalism/Character: Rudeness will absolutely not be tolerated. Speech and Debate should help build better humans, therefore if excessive rudeness or words/actions showing poor character happen in the round, you'll be much less likely to win that round.
Only after these are met will I move on to:
3. Strength of Argument: Every round is unique - one round might be decided on framework, one on a single contention, one on lack of argument on one side or the other, etc. Be a good speaker and get your argument across in a complete and logical way? You are likely to win the round.
Yes, email chain: sohailjouyaATgmailDOTcom
PUBLIC FORUM JUDGING PHILOSOPHY IS HERE
Update:
- Probably not the best judge for the "Give us a 30!" approach unless it becomes an argument/point of contestation in the round. Chances are I'll just default to whatever I'd typically give. To me, these kind of things aren't arguments, but judge instructions that are external to making a decision regarding the debate occurring.
BIG PICTURE
- I appreciate adaptation to my preferences but don’t do anything that would make you uncomfortable. Never feel obligated to compete in a manner that inhibits your ability to be effective. My promise to you will be that I will keep an open mind and assess whatever you chose. In short: do you.
- Tech guided by Truth.All this means is that I recognize that debate is not merely a game, but rather a competition that models the world in which we live. This doesn’t mean I believe judges should intervene on the basis of argumentative preference - what it does mean is that embedded clash band the “nexus question” of the round is of more importance than blippy technical oversights between certain sheets of paper - especially in K v K debates.
Don't fret: a dropped argument is still a concession. I likely have a higher threshold for the development of arguments that are more intrinsically dubious and lack warrants.
- As a former coach of a UDL school where many of my debaters make arguments centred on their identity, diversity is a genuine concern. It may play a factor in how I evaluate a round, particularly in debates regarding what’s “best” for the community/activity.
Do you and I’ll do my best to evaluate it but I’m not a tabula rasa and the dogma of debate has me to believe the following. I have put a lot of time and thought into this while attempting to be parsimonious - if you are serious about winning my ballot a careful read would prove to serve you well:
FORM
- All speech acts are performances, consequently, debaters should defend their performances including the advocacy, evidence, arguments/positions, interpretations, and representations of said speech acts.
- One of the most annoying questions a judged can be asked: “Are you cool with speed?”
In short: yes. But smart and slow always beats fast and dumb.
I have absolutely no preference on rate of delivery, though I will say it might be smart to slow down a bit on really long tags, advocacy texts, your totally sweet theory/double-bind argument or on overviews that have really nuanced descriptions of the round. My belief is that speed is typically good for debate but please remember that spreading’s true measure is contingent on the number of arguments that are required to be answered by the other team not your WPM.
- Pathos: I used to never really think this mattered at all. To a large degree, it still doesn’t considering I’m unabashedly very flowcentric but I tend to give high speaker points to debaters who performatively express mastery knowledge of the subjects discussed, ability to exercise round vision, assertiveness, and that swank.
- Holistic Approaches: the 2AR/2NR should be largely concerned with two things:
1) provide framing of the round so I can make an evaluation of impacts and the like
2) descriptively instruct me on how to make my decision
Overviews have the potential for great explanatory power, use that time and tactic wisely.
While I put form first, I am of the maxim that “form follows function” – I contend that the reverse would merely produce an aesthetic, a poor formula for argument testing in an intellectually rigorous and competitive activity. In summation: you need to make an argument and defend it.
FUNCTION
- The Affirmative ought to be responsive to the topic. This is a pinnacle of my paradigm that is quite broad and includes teams who seek to engage in resistance to the proximate structures that frame the topic. Conversely, this also implicates teams that prioritize social justice - debaters utilizing methodological strategies for best resistance ought to consider their relationship to the topic.
Policy-oriented teams may read that last sentence with glee and K folks may think this is strike-worthy…chill. I do not prescribe to the notion that to be topical is synonymous with being resolutional.
- The Negative’s ground is rooted in the performance of the Affirmative as well as anything based in the resolution. It’s that simple; engage the 1AC if at all possible.
- I view rounds in an offense/defense lens. Many colleagues are contesting the utility of this approach in certain kinds of debate and I’m ruminating about this (see: “Thoughts on Competition”) but I don’t believe this to be a “plan focus” theory and I default to the notion that my decisions require a forced choice between competing performances.
- I will vote on Framework. (*This means different things in different debate formats - I don't mean impact framing or LD-centric "value/value criterion" but rather a "You must read a plan" interpretation that's typically in response to K Affs)That means I will vote for the team running the position based on their interpretation, but it also means I’ll vote on offensive responses to the argument. Vindicating an alternative framework is a necessary skill and one that should be possessed by kritikal teams - justifying your form of knowledge production as beneficial in these settings matter.
Framework appeals effectively consist of a normative claim of how debate ought to function. The interpretation should be prescriptive; if you are not comfortable with what the world of debate would look like if your interpretation were universally applied, then you have a bad interpretation. The impact to your argument ought to be derived from your interpretation (yes, I’ve given RFDs where this needed to be said). Furthermore, a Topical Version of the Affirmative must specifically explain how the impacts of the 1AC can be achieved, it might be in your best interest to provide a text or point to a few cases that achieve that end. This is especially true if you want to go for external impacts that the 1AC can’t access – but all of this is contingent on a cogent explanation as to why order precedes/is the internal link to justice.
- I am pretty comfortable judging Clash of Civilization debates.
- Framework is the job of the debaters. Epistemology first? Ontology? Sure, but why? Where does performance come into play – should I prioritize a performative disad above the “substance” of a position? Over all of the sheets of paper in the round? These are questions debaters must grapple with and preferably the earlier in the round the better.
- "Framework is how we frame our work" >>>>> "FrAmEwOrK mAkEs ThE gAmE wOrK"
-Presumption can be an option. In my estimation, the 2NR may go for Counterplan/Kritik while also giving the judge the option of the status quo. Call it “hypo-testing” or whatever but I believe a rational decision-making paradigm doesn’t doom me to make a single decision between two advocacies, especially when the current status of things is preferable to both (the net-benefit for a CP/linear DA and impact for a K). I don't know if I really “judge kick” for you, instead, the 2NR should explain an “even if” route to victory via presumption to allow the 2AR to respond.
“But what about when presumption flips Affirmative?” This is a claim that I wish would be established prior to the 2NR, but I know that's not gonna happen. I've definitely voted in favour of plenty of 2ARs that haven't said that in the 1AR. The only times I can envision this is when the 2NR is going all-in on a CP.
- Role of the Ballots ought to invariably allow the 1AC/1NC to be contestable and provide substantial ground to each team. Many teams will make their ROBs self-serving at best, or at worse, tautological. That's because there's a large contingency of teams that think the ROB is an advocacy statement. They are not. Even more teams conflate a ROB with a Role of the Judge instruction and I'm just now making my peace with dealing with that reality.
If the ROB fails to equally distribute ground, they are merely impact framing. A good ROB can effectively answer a lot of framework gripes regarding the Affirmative’s pronouncement of an unfalsifiable truth claim.
- Analytics that are logically consistent, well warranted, and answer the heart of any argument are weighed in high-esteem. This is especially true if it’s responsive to any combinations of bad argument/evidence.
- My threshold for theory is not particularly high. It’s what you justify, not necessarily what you do. I typically default to competing interpretations, this can be complicated by a team that is able to articulate what reasonability means in the context of the round, otherwise I feel like it's interventionist of me to decode what “reasonable” represents. The same is true to a lesser extent with the impacts as well. Rattling off “fairness and education” as loaded concepts that I should just know has a low threshold if the other team can explain the significance of a different voter or a standard that controls the internal link into your impact (also, if you do this: prepared to get impact turned).
I think theory should be strategic and I very much enjoy a good theory debate. Copious amounts of topicality and specification arguments are not strategic, it is desperate.
- I like conditionality probably more so than other judges. As a young’n I got away with a lot of, probably, abusive Negative strategies that relied on conditionality to the maximum (think “multiple worlds and presumption in the 2NR”) mostly because many teams were never particularly good at explaining why this was a problem. If you’re able to do so, great – just don’t expect me to do much of that work for you. I don’t find it particularly difficult for a 2AR to make an objection about how that is bad for debate, thus be warned 2NRs - it's a downhill effort for a 2AR.
Furthermore, I tend to believe the 1NC has the right to test the 1AC from multiple positions.
Thus, Framework along with Cap K or some other kritik is not a functional double turn. The 1NC doesn’t need to be ideologically consistent. However, I have been persuaded in several method debates that there is a performative disadvantage that can be levied against speech acts that are incongruent and self-defeating.
- Probability is the most crucial component of impact calculus with disadvantages. Tradeoffs ought to have a high risk of happening and that question often controls the direction of uniqueness while also accessing the severity of the impact (magnitude).
- Counterplan debates can often get tricky, particularly if they’re PICs. Maybe I’m too simplistic here, but I don’t understand why Affirmatives don’t sit on their solvency deficit claims more. Compartmentalizing why portions of the Affirmative are key can win rounds against CPs. I think this is especially true because I view the Counterplan’s ability to solve the Affirmative to be an opportunity cost with its competitiveness. Take advantage of this “double bind.”
- Case arguments are incredibly underutilized and the dirty little secret here is that I kind of like them. I’m not particularly sentimental for the “good ol’ days” where case debate was the only real option for Negatives (mostly because I was never alive in that era), but I have to admit that debates centred on case are kind of cute and make my chest feel all fuzzy with a nostalgia that I never experienced– kind of like when a frat boy wears a "Reagan/Bush '84" shirt...
KRITIKAL DEBATE
I know enough to know that kritiks are not monolithic. I am partial to topic-grounded kritiks and in all reality I find them to be part of a typical decision-making calculus. I tend to be more of a constructivist than a rationalist. Few things frustrate me more than teams who utilise a kritik/answer a kritik in a homogenizing fashion. Not every K requires the ballot as a tool, not every K looks to have an external impact either in the debate community or the world writ larger, not every K criticizes in the same fashion. I suggest teams find out what they are and stick to it, I also think teams should listen and be specifically responsive to the argument they hear rather than rely on a base notion of what the genre of argument implies. The best way to conceptualize these arguments is to think of “kritik” as a verb (to criticize) rather than a noun (a static demonstrative position).
It is no secret that I love many kritiks but deep in every K hack’s heart is a revered space that admires teams that cut through the noise and simply wave a big stick and impact turn things, unabashedly defending conventional thought. If you do this well there’s a good chance you can win my ballot. If pure agonism is not your preferred tactic, that’s fine but make sure your post-modern offense onto kritiks can be easily extrapolated into a 1AR in a fashion that makes sense.
In many ways, I believe there’s more tension between Identity and Post-Modernism teams than there are with either of them and Policy debaters. That being said, I think the Eurotrash K positions ought to proceed with caution against arguments centred on Identity – it may not be smart to contend that they ought to embrace their suffering or claim that they are responsible for a polemical construction of identity that replicates the violence they experience (don’t victim blame).
THOUGHTS ON COMPETITION
There’s a lot of talk about what is or isn’t competition and what competition ought to look like in specific types of debate – thus far I am not of the belief that different methods of debate require a different rubric for evaluation. While much discussion has been given to “Competition by Comparison” I very much subscribe to Competing Methodologies. What I’ve learned in having these conversations is that this convention means different things to different people and can change in different settings in front of different arguments. For me, I try to keep it consistent and compatible with an offense/defense heuristic: competing methodologies require an Affirmative focus where the Negative requires an independent reason to reject the Affirmative. In this sense, competition necessitates a link. This keeps artificial competition at bay via permutations, an affirmative right regardless of the presence of a plan text.
Permutations are merely tests of mutual exclusivity. They do not solve and they are not a shadowy third advocacy for me to evaluate. I naturally will view permutations more as a contestation of linkage – and thus, are terminal defense to a counterplan or kritik -- than a question of combining texts/advocacies into a solvency mechanism. If you characterize these as solvency mechanisms rather than a litmus test of exclusivity, you ought to anticipate offense to the permutation (and even theory objections to the permutation) to be weighed against your “net-benefits”. This is your warning to not be shocked if I'm extrapolating a much different theoretical understanding of a permutation if you go 5/6 minutes for it in the 2AR.
Even in method debates where a permutation contends both methods can work in tandem, there is no solvency – in these instances net-benefits function to shield you from links (the only true “net benefit” is the Affirmative). A possible exception to this scenario is “Perm do the Affirmative” where the 1AC subsumes the 1NC’s alternative; here there may be an offensive link turn to the K resulting in independent reasons to vote for the 1AC.
Style:
- Speed: Speak clearly regardless of your speed. Don’t use speed as a tool of exclusion. You should make sure your opponent is okay with spreading in order to have a productive debate. If you need to speak quickly to make all of your arguments slow down on the important points, I will only evaluate arguments that make it to my flow.
- Flex Prep: I have no problem if debaters choose to use some of their prep time for additional clarification questions.
- Be respectful and professional! This is supposed to be fun and educational, don’t be rude.
Content:
- Theory: Demonstrable, round-specific abuse is necessary for me to vote on theory arguments. I would rather hear arguments that address the substantive issues of the round so please consider the legitimacy of the argument on the discourse of the round before running Theory.
- Kritik: I love a good, thorough K argument! (with strong links and impacts)
- Of course counterplans and similar arguments are fine provided they are topical.
- Theory shells aren't my favorite, but I'll listen.
- I will entertain most arguments as long as you are deliberate about your choices and provide significant and high-quality impacts. If you can't explain to me how this argument weighs out in evaluation of the round, I am not likely to vote on that argument. If nobody does a good job providing me with a quality impact calculus, then I am likely to start looking for my own reasons to prefer one side over the other instead of remaining tabula rasa. Do your work so I don’t have to do it for you!
samuel.juhl@dmschools.org
I am in my 4th year of coaching speech at East High School in Des Moines. I competed as a student in LD in high school. I have judged every IE event and every debate event. I primarily view debate as an educational activity. If debate weren’t a place for students to develop speaking and argumentation skills, I think debate would have almost no value and I wouldn’t be spending my valuable time away from my small children coaching and judging debate. I’ve broken down my paradigm into sections so that you can skip to the portions of the paradigm that apply to you.
LD/PF
Because I primarily participate in debate for the educational value. I am a Truth>Tech judge but I want to explain what that does/doesn’t mean to me. Truth>Tech doesn’t mean that you don’t have to respond to your opponents’ factually spurious arguments. I’m still going to rely heavily on my flow to determine the outcome of the round. I think it is fundamentally unfair to insert my own arguments into a round though I will do it if a competitor is arguing something abhorrent ie: that it is morally good to kill children or something.
Truth>Tech does mean that unserious arguments do not require a response. Logical fallacies exist for a reason and modern debate is filled with logical fallacy abuse. If in LD, you use a non-topical nazi analysis to point to some problem with a moral framework I likely won’t take that argument as seriously as a resolution critique of the moral framework. Similarly, I don’t find many of slippery slope arguments that have 40 links to some colossal impact to be especially strong arguments either. This doesn’t mean that you can’t win with these arguments on my ballot it just means that I am going to be receptive to responses that point out the problems with slippery slope arguments or bringing everything back to the third Reich when we are debating public service or something.
I expect you to fully articulate your arguments. Don’t just tell me that your first contention turns their second contention tell me why your first contention turns their second contention. Similarly, don’t just make the claim that some behavior is bad for debate, tell me why the behavior is bad for debate. A claim isn’t an argument and won’t really get acknowledged as one on my flow.
I realize that this is debate and not speech and so I don't decide debate rounds on speaking skills but rather the argumentation. However, an argument rendered incomprehensible because of the rate of a person’s speaking is the same as an argument not made on my ballot. I will not read a speech doc unless the document is an accommodation to allow someone to participate in debate. Debate, be definition, is an oral activity and I think that reading speech documents invites the judge to understand arguments that have been ineffectively articulated in round and is a form of judge intervention.
Unless a tournament tells me not to, I will always disclose, and I almost always tell the losing competitor(s) what they could do to have won my ballot in the round. I will sometimes provide feedback about how I would have argued for or against a point but unless those arguments were made by students in the round, they won’t affect my ballot.
Congressional debate
Speeches should be well organized. By this I mean the listener should be able to clearly delineate between your points, introduction, and conclusion. If the delineation between these things is unclear to me, the listener, your speech isn't organized enough. This does not mean reading me a list. A list is better than no organization, but the lists are basic. Think about ways to organize a speech without just going 123
Your speech, when appropriate, should be well supported by reliable and relevant sources. If you can't find research or credible analysis to back up a point that doesn't necessarily mean you shouldn't make it but your speech shouldn't be entirely filled with this type of argument. Additionally, I would caution you to avoid simply making an appeal to authority in your speech make sure the source of your information is properly credentialed before making a claim
I prefer an extemporaneous delivery. Computers/notepads should be used as a reference rather than as a script. I also prefer a more polished delivery in which eye contact is more frequently maintained and a student’s movement is controlled so that it enhances the speech rather than distracts the listener. I can handle faster speech speeds but to a reasonable limit. I need people to speak at a reasonable volume. I need to be able to hear you, but yelling is also inappropriate.
Your speech should bring up new information. If your points have already been made in round, then don't waste everyone's time by repeating them. Secondly, While I understand that crystallization speeches are popular in the congressional "meta" they have to be well done and actually work to clearly delineate why one sides arguments are preferable to the other sides arguments. If all you have done is summarize the arguments the other speakers have made in round you have wasted everyone's time.
This is congressional debate not congressional speech. While I can understand a lack of clash in the authorship speech, I believe that all other speeches in a cycle of debate should make a clear attempt at refuting the specific arguments that other speakers have made in round. Bonus points if you can set up these arguments using a questioning block to draw attention to the flaws in your opponent’s logic.
If you are speaking in the negation, please don't center your argument around a problem that can be amended away. Write an amendment. If your problem with a bill is that it appropriates 20 million dollars instead of the 25 million that it should have fix that problem with an amendment.
While the PO is responsible for running a smooth and equitable chamber it is not only the responsibility of the PO. debaters that have a clear understanding of the rules and don't disrupt the chamber by making incorrect motions or violating chamber rules will be more highly ranked.
For PO’s: I care that you run a smooth and equitable chamber. Make sure you are properly following rules for recency and precedence. Additionally, where rules/procedural issues arise I expect you to be able to handle them without relying on the parliamentarian I will say that I typically have a hard time ranking POs at the top of the chamber unless the quality of debate is exceedingly low or the PO is exceptionally proficient. However, I will usually rank the PO in the top 5 if there are no serious errors in the way they conduct their chamber.
Speech
I consider your decision of what piece to perform one of the many decisions that I will evaluate in round. If your piece is problematic in its portrayal of people with mental illnesses or you are depicting an act/event I don't think is appropriate that will affect your final rank. I am tired of judging rounds in which students mine traumatic events that happen to real people in the real world to win a high school speech contest and that fatigue will start being reflected in the final ranks I assign after speech rounds.
Speeches should be well organized. By this I mean the listener should be able to clearly delineate between your points, introduction, and conclusion. If the delineation between these things is unclear to me, the listener, your speech isn't organized enough. This does not mean reading me a list. A list is better than no organization, but the lists are basic. Think about ways to organize a speech without just going 123
Your speech, when appropriate, should be well supported by reliable and relevant sources. If you can't find research or credible analysis to back up a point that doesn't necessarily mean you shouldn't make it but your speech shouldn't be entirely filled with this type of argument. Additionally, I would caution you to avoid simply making an appeal to authority in your speech make sure the source of your information is properly credentialed before making a claim
I don’t judge visual aids in informative speaking. If the visual aid detracts from your speech, it will hurt your score. If the visual aid enhances your speech, it will help your score. If you have no visual aid but deliver a stellar speech I will give you a high rank.
Finally, I place a high emphasis on actually answering the prompt in USX, IX and Spontaneous Speaking. Try to make sure you answer the question you’ve been asked and aren’t doing something adjacent to it. I will rank people who do not actually answer the question at the bottom of the chamber.
Judging I look for: speech suitability to the speaker, performance technique, creativity, understanding of the material.
tl;dr - tech and speed good, but I'm not doing work for you. The resolution must be in the debate. Though I think like a debater, I do an "educator check" before I vote - if you advocate for something like death good, or read purely frivolous theory because you know your opponent cannot answer it and hope for an easy win, you are taking a hard L. I tab more than I judge, but I'm involved in research. Last substance update: 2/22/25
Email chain: havenforensics (at) gmail - but I'm not reading along.
Experience:
Head Coach of Strath Haven HS since 2012. We do all events.
Previously coach at Park View HS 2009-11, assistant coach at Pennsbury HS 2002-06 (and beyond)
Competitor at Pennsbury HS 1998-2002, primarily Policy
Public Forum
1st Rebuttal should be line-by-line on their case; 2nd Rebuttal should frontline at least major offense, you get some leeway in extensions in Summary, but not to dump a bunch of new stuff in 2nd Summary.
Summary should probably be line-by-line and thus I recommend ditching some issues so you can add depth, not just tag lines. If it isn't at least on the flow in Summary, it probably isn't getting flowed in Final Focus.
Final Focus should continue to narrow down the debate to tell me a story about why you win. Refer to specific spots on the flow, though LBL isn't strictly necessary (you just don't have time). I'll weigh what you say makes you win vs what they say makes them win - I like defense.
I have a Policy background but believe that is a different event - if you want to have a Policy round, please do Policy, the speeches are longer for a reason. I am planning to flow this PF round on two sheets of paper. I do not believe counterplans or kritiks have a place in PF. I also have no problem intervening and rejecting arguments that are designed to exclude your opponents from the debate.
You win a lot of points with me calling out shady evidence, and conversely by using good evidence. You lose a lot of points by being unable to produce the evidence you read quickly.
I don't care which side you sit on or when you stand, and I find the post-round judge handshake to be silly and unnecessary.
LD
My LD experience is mostly local or regional, though I coach circuit debaters. I'm comfortable with traditional, value-centered LD and util/policy/solvency LD.I probably prefer policy debates, but not if you are trying to fit an entire college policy round into LD times. As in Policy, I like Ks that have real links, but aff must defend the resolution.
If somehow you are a deep phil debater and I end up as the judge, you probably did prefs wrong, but I'll do my best to understand. If you are a tricks debater, um, don't. Arguments have warrants and a genuine basis in the resolution or choices made by your opponent.
Policy
I almost never judge circuit Policy rounds at this point. I am a little old school in that I still think you should go slower on tags than on card text and would like you to explain your arguments in your overviews (but after the 1AC/1NC) - I'm not going to backflow from your speech doc, and I'm flowing on paper, so you probably don't want to go your top speed.
1. The role of the ballot must be stable and predictable and lead to research-based clash. The aff must endorse a topical action by the government. You cannot create a role of the ballot based on the thing you want to talk about if that thing is not part of the topic; you cannot create a role of the ballot where your opponent is forced to defend that racism is good or that racism does not exist; you cannot create a role of the ballot where the winner is determined by performance, not argumentation. And, to be fair to the aff, the neg cannot create a role of the ballot where aff loses because they talked about the topic and not about something else.
2. I am a policymaker at heart. I want to evaluate the cost/benefit of plan passage vs. status quo/CP/alt. Discourse certainly matters, but a) I'm biased on a framework question to using fiat or at least weighing the 1AC as an advocacy of a policy, and b) a discursive link had better be a real significant choice of the affirmative with real implications if that's all you are going for. "Using the word exploration is imperialist" isn't going to get very far with me. Links of omission are not links.
I understand how critical arguments work and enjoy them when grounded in the topic/aff, and when the alternative would do something. Just as the plan must defend a change in the status quo, so must the alt.
3. Fairness matters. I believe that the policymaking paradigm only makes sense in a world where each side has a fair chance at winning the debate, so I will happily look to procedural/T/theory arguments before resolving the substantive debate. I will not evaluate an RVI or that some moral/kritikal impact "outweighs" the T debate. I will listen to any other aff reason not to vote on T.
I like T and theory debates. The team that muddles those flows will incur my wrath in speaker points. Don't just read a block in response to a block, do some actual debating, OK? I definitely have a lower-than-average threshold to voting on a well-explained T argument since no one seems to like it anymore.
Notes for any event
1. Clash, then resolve it. The last rebuttals should provide all interpretation for me and write my ballot, with me left simply to choose which side is more persuasive or carries the key point. I want to make fair, predictable, and non-interventionist decisions, which requires you to do all my thinking for me. I don't want to read your evidence (unless you ask me to), I don't want to think about how to apply it, I don't want to interpret your warrants - I want you to do all of those things! The debate should be over when the debate ends.
2. Warrants are good. "I have a card" is not a persuasive argument; nor is a tag-line extension. The more warrants you provide, the fewer guesses I have to make, and the fewer arguments I have to connect for you, the more predictable my decision will be. I want to know what your evidence says and why it matters in the round. You do not get a risk of a link simply by saying it is a link. Defensive arguments are good, especially when connected to impact calculus.
3. Speed. Speed for argument depth is good, speed for speed's sake is bad. My threshold is that you should slow down on tags and theory so I can write it down, and so long as I can hear English words in the body of the card, you should be fine. I will yell if I can't understand you. If you don't get clearer, the arguments I can't hear will get less weight at the end of the round, if they make it on the flow at all. I'm not reading the speech doc, I'm just flowing on paper.
4. Finally, I think debate is supposed to be both fun and educational. I am an educator and a coach; I'm happy to be at the tournament. But I also value sleep and my family, so make sure what you do in round is worth all the time we are putting into being there. Imagine that I brought some new novice debaters and my superintendent to watch the round with me. If you are bashing debate or advocating for suicide or other things I wouldn't want 9th graders new to my program to hear, you aren't going to have a happy judge.
I am more than happy to elaborate on this paradigm or answer any questions in round.
Hello!
I am a new judge, so please slow down and speak clearly so that I can understand you. I understand the basics of debate, but still new to policy debate. Don’t be rude and don’t forget to have fun!!
Email- JKaminskii34@gmail.com
TLDR (updated 11/4/22)
- Speed is fine, you won't go too fast
- Win the flow=win the round
- Presumption =neg
- Theory is cool, run it well (Interp, violation, standards and voters. RVI's have higher burden)
- K debate is even better
- Defense needs to be extended
- I default to magnitude/strength of link weighing
- You can run any and all args you want, but they cannot be problematic/discriminatory/ attack your opponents. This will be an auto 20 speaks and L.
My debate experience:
Current assistant PF coach at Trinity Prep
3 Years of NFA-LD Debate
4 Years of Public Forum debate
Paradigm-
It should be pretty easy to win my ballot. In my opinion, debate is a game, and you should play to win. Here are the specific things most debaters would want to know.
PF
- I am cool with speed, so long as you don't use it to push your opponents out of a round. I will call clear if you become hard to understand, so keep that in mind.
- I will evaluate all types of arguments equally unless told otherwise.
- I am willing to listen to things like K's and theory arguments, so long as they are impacted out in the round.
- I really enjoy framework debates as well. I think these can be particularly beneficial for limiting the ground your opponents have in the round.
- I am tech over truth, which means so long as it is on my flow, I will evaluate the argument regardless of my own feelings on it. I will also not flow arguments through ink on the flow, so be sure to engage with your opponents answers in order to win the link level of your argument.
- Summary and FF should be somewhat consistent in terms of the direction they are going. Inconsistencies between these speeches will be harmful, especially when it comes to evaluating the strengths of your links and impacts
- On that same note, I want to see some sort of collapse in the second half of the debate- going for everything is typically a bad strategy, and I want to reward smart strategic choices that you make.
- I default to a net benefits impact calc, unless given a competing way to view the round. I am cool viewing the round through any lens that you give me, so long as you explain why its the best way for me to evaluate the round. If absent, I have to intervene with my own, which is something I hate to do.
- If you want me to call for cards, you need to ask me to do so. In that same regard, I wont intervene unless you leave me no other option.
- I dont flow CX, so if you want me to hold something that was said as binding, you need to bring it up in all of the subsequent speeches.
-Speaker points, in my opinion, are less about your speaking performance and more about your ability to present and explain compelling arguments, interact with the opposition, and provide meaningful analysis as to why you are necessarily more important. Content above style
-On a more personal note, I want the rounds that I judge to be educational and allow debaters to articulate arguments about real world issues, all of which deserve respect regardless of your own personal opinions. I have seen my partners and teammates experience sexism, racism, and other types of discrimination, and I have absolutely zero tolerance for it when I am judging.
-If you have any other questions about my paradigm, please feel free to ask me. I also will give feedback after rounds, you just have to find me and ask.
LD
- All of the above applies here as well. There are a few extra points that may be helpful.
- I will always evaluate framing first, so long as there are competing positions. If values are the same, just collapse and move on. These can be either traditional or more progressive/kritical frameworks.
- For the NR/2AR, don't go for everything- there simply is not enough time and debates are not lost by making strategic decisions to go for one or two arguments instead of extending the entire case.
- I dont need voter issues- just go top down the AC and NC and win your offense/extend defense.
- Impact calc is necessary- PLEASE weigh your impacts. I default to a net benefits impact calc, unless given a competing way to view the round.
I am a communications judge and will base my decision on who can be more persuasive in their arguments and communicate effectively. I know that there is a lot of information that you need to fit in a short amount of time, but please do not talk so fast that I can not follow your case. It is more important to me that you present information that has substance verses spouting out lots of facts just to fill your time. PLEASE do not spread! Imagine that you are talking to someone that knows nothing about your argument and you are trying to explain why I should agree with your side. I need to be able to hear and understand your key points each time you speak and please stick to the topic. Being able to back up your points with substantial and current evidence is a major factor. Please note that evidence sharing will cut into your prep time. We need to keep the round and tournament running on time as much as possible. Being truthful when pointing out flaws in your opponents case, don't make things up just to frustrate them. Keep it civil before, during, and even after your debate. A few things that I am not a fan of hearing about- nuclear annihilation, cannibalism, and mass extinction. Good luck!
Hello, my name is Anchal!
I was a policy debater in HS and I am currently an LD/PF coach.
Treat me as a flay judge.
If you are sharing evidence you can add me @ anchal.kanojia@ahschool.com If you call out a card or would like me to look at evidence- make that evident in your speech.
For prep and your speeches time yourselves and your opponents. For speeches I usually keep a timer and I don't flow anything after my timer goes off.
Don't use debate jargon in place of explaining args.
Tech>>Truth
I'm cool with speed but your opponents should be comfortable with your pace. Always be polite and respectful.
For PF
It's a public forum- I'm not a fan of theory, unless there's actual in round abuse. Running disclosure theory against a novice team is abusive. Frameworks are fine.
WARRANTING - please explain your arguments. Do not say "extend this" without explaining why. And please refrain from claiming that you already proved something earlier on without explaining what you did.
As a strat- give me voters and essentially write out my ballot.
For LD
Theory, Ks, etc. are totally fine.
I'm a fan of Ks and cool frameworks :)
Hello! I have judged several PF rounds and know the general layout of the round, and have some preferences.
- Please be respectful towards your teammates and judges - I do not and will not tolerate disrespect towards anyone in a round. Please have manners when speaking to opponents and refrain from acting aggressively or rudely.
- Please make sure you're speaking at a volume that is audible for both your opponents and judges. Try not to mumble, especially if you're spreading. Do not purposefully speak low to hurt your opponents. If you are going to spread, do it mindfully. If I cannot understand you, I cannot follow your argument, and if you know you're going to go very fast, offer to share cases.
- I judge based on your ability to defend your points. Being able to successfully make me believe that your points are stronger and better than your opponents will lead to you winning my ballot.
But most importantly, don't forget to have fun!
Rich Kawolics (he/him) - Recently Retired Director of Speech and Debate - Laurel School (OH)
I started the speech and debate program at Laurel School in 2004 and have judged PF, LD, Speech, and Congress regularly since then.
Update for the NSDA National Tournament 2024: Congratulations on qualifying to the National Tournament. That's an outstanding accomplishment and you should be proud. Remember that Nationals is the last bastion of traditional Lincoln-Douglas debate, therefore some of what I have written in the following paragraphs does not apply at Nationals. More specifically, you should avoid progressive arguments, kritiks, and theory-heavy cases. In fact, the only circumstance that would allow you to debate in a progressive style at Nationals would be if everyone in the room - you, your opponent, and all judges - were to agree to a progressive round. And absolutely NO SPREADING at Nationals! In fact, should you be lucky enough to make it to the final round, several of your judges will be community members and dignitaries who have little or no experience in evaluating contemporary LD. Spreading, or even speaking faster than conversational speed, would be a potentially fatal error. Beyond that, do not expect that your judges will be participating in an email chain, and do not expect that judges will call for cards. Moreover, pre-round disclosure is not a thing at Nationals, so do not expect that to happen. Debating at Nationals will require you to up your game in argumentation, warranting, and extending arguments without expecting your judges to do that work for you. Good luck and have fun!
LD Paradigm: I have spent most of my time judging on local circuits, but in the past few years that balance has shifted and I have judged many rounds on the National Circuit. I generally prefer traditional debate, but with a few exceptions (detailed below) I am certainly open to theory, kritiks, and other practices more common on the Circuit.
I will endeavor to judge every round from a blank slate, which means you should not attempt to classify my judging as "tech" or "truth." In general, I view debate as a truth-seeking exercise; the responsibility of each debater is to convince me that their side of the flow will result in a better world or society. That means that while I will keep a thorough flow of the debate, one or two or even many dropped arguments by one debater may not matter if that debater convinces me of the wisdom of their own side of the flow. Every debate collapses to one or two central ideas, and the debater who uses sound logic and thorough warranting to convince me that they have won those central ideas will earn my ballot. Of course, that means that if you want to make my job easy, you should provide KVI's at some point in your rebuttal speeches.
To further understand my perspective on tech vs truth, please read this excellent article which illustrates the nuance that is often missing from that particular comparison: https://www.debatedrills.com/blog/tech-and-truth-how-judges-are-ruining-debate
About Spreading: Although I vastly prefer a more conversational style, I can flow speed; no problem. However, I still view debate as an oral communication activity, and I quite honestly think that spreading / circular breathing sounds ridiculous from a speech perspective. Because I am still actively involved in trying to get more schools to take up this activity, I am frustrated by the fact that I can't tell a school superintendent or principal to watch a round on YouTube to see why this activity is so valuable. To the uninitiated, a typical elim round at a Circuit tournament is incomprehensible, and viewing such a round actually discourages schools from starting new debate programs. So I think every debater should go out of their way to make every round accessible, not only to the people in the room but also to those who might judge our entire activity by what the round looks and sounds like. If you choose to ignore this advice, so be it, but know that your choice may cost you speaker points.
About the Email Chain: Again, I still view debate as an oral communication activity. That means that I am interested in what you say, not what you ask me to read. If you want my ballot, warrant your arguments fully, and explain why your arguments are more impactful than those of your opponent. Therefore, while you are welcome to include me on the email chain (rich.kawolics@gmail.com) I will not read your cases and will only read a card if its meaning is bitterly contested and absolutely central to my making a decision. In my opinion, judges who read lots of cards are inclined to make decisions based on their own interpretation of the written cards instead of how effectively those cards are utilized by the debaters in the round.
About Disclosure: Debaters are certainly free to share cases in advance of the round. However, debaters are also free not to share cases. Disclosure provides a significant advantage to large squads with extensive resources to prep out every case at the tournament. Small squads do not have that same opportunity, and therefore should not be penalized for declining to make every bit of their own logic and research available for scrutiny before the round.
About Respect: You have a responsibility to make every person in the room feel safe and respected. That means you should consider both your opponent and your judges in deciding how to approach a round. If your opponent is a ninth-grade novice and you are a senior two-time TOC qualifier, don't exclude them from the round by debating in a way that is not accessible to them. If your opponent or judge asks you not to spread or to run tricks, please respect their wishes. Good debaters can adjust their styles to their opponent and judges.
Also, I shouldn't have to say this, but any action or behavior that is racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic, ableist, or diminishes any person's humanity because of their identity will earn you a loss and will also lead to your being reported to the tournament officials. If you make arguments that diminish the humanity of individuals or groups based on their identities, you are also probably going to lose. This is true for two reasons. First, diminishing the humanity of another person based on their identity is absolutely reprehensible. And second, arguments that do so are simply bad arguments. The central question in LD debate is how we create a better world and a stronger society. Arguments that exclude or disrespect marginalized groups do not achieve the goal of creating a better world.
About Identity: I do my best to avoid using pronouns at all, referring to debaters as "AFF" or "NEG" or by their chosen names. Despite that, I might make a mistake. If that happens, please correct me immediately and accept my heartfelt apology. Every person deserves to be respected as they are, and repeated misgendering of an opponent or a judge will not be tolerated.
About Theory and K Debate: I am fine with both with a few exceptions which should be obvious to you. In short, I want to trust you. So I will trust that if you run identity theory, you have the standing to own that theory and I will not question that. On the other hand, if you are a person of privilege, please do not attempt to trade on someone else's lesser privilege in order to win a debate round.
And Finally: Debate is one of the most valuable activities available to any student, and I hope it positively impacts your life just as it has for so many debaters before you. I hope you have fun; I hope you learn a lot; and I hope you always feel safe and respected by everyone you encounter throughout your debate career. Good luck!
Background:
I competed mainly in LD (Nats qualifier) and PFD. However, I also competed in extemp, impromptu, congress, and policy. realm. I work in marketing and have an MBA ascwell as fairly in-depth knowledge of public policy, economics, and history.
Preferences for the round:
LD: I prefer traditional philosophical and value oriented debate. This is the roots of LD and I much prefer this to the PF-esque LD rounds I've seen become the norm. I prefer discussions of the rational or the driving force rather than card battles over the implementation.
PFD: Give me a measuring system for how to judge the round. Unlike LD there are no values, so you must tell me what measuring system to use and why it is preferred to your opponent's system.
Generic debate preferences:
As far as progressive debate tactics vs traditional debate tactics, I have no real preference and am open to voting for kritics, etc. Speed is not a problem for me and neither is spreading. However if you do decide to use progressive tactics, I have a few caveats. Don't be abusive, clearly explain your argument/warrant/impact, and you must be articulate. If you are not understandable, I will stop flowing until you are able to be understood (this is still about the art of communication not just about speed reading). A round where debaters will receive high speaker points will include substantive argumentation supported by reputable sources, will have clear value clash, clearly link to values (LD) and the speakers will present the claim, warrant, and impact of each argument. I'm a traditional flow judge so I'm not a fan of dropped arguments. If there is a dropped argument, tell me what was dropped and why that drop is important. Not every argument carries the same weight so just because an argument was dropped, it does not mean that you instantly win or lose. It depends on the argument that was dropped. As far as organization of your speeches, signposting is a must but especially if you are running 3-4 contention cases with many cards.
Timing on your phone is fine with me and honestly every debater should be self timing. Reading cases and evidence off your computer is fine. However if your computer crashes, have a hard copy of your case and evidence available so that you can continue the round.
CX is for breaking down your opponent's case and logic. Use it wisely and do not waste time with pointless questions or questions that do not advance your goal. CX is not an extra 3 minutes to give a speech furthering your constructive.
Things that increase your speaker points:
Good understanding and use of philosophy. Strategic use of CX.
Things that lower your speaker points:
Definition battles (I think I can only remember 1 instance where the definition was truly that important to the result of the round).
Not knowing when to move on from a question that has been asked and answered in CX (just because you didn't get the answer you wanted does not mean that the opponent hasn't answered the question).
Don't attempt to box opponent into defending or advocating for something that is extra-resolutional (for example forcing opponent to create a viable plan of implementation instead of defending the theory of an action).
Being rude, abusive, et al.
My biggest paradigm is to be respectful to your opponents. I want to see a clean fair debate. I want debaters to speak clearly and don't rush so fast that I can't understand them.
I competed in college forensics for four years, so I am very familiar with speech and debate. In high school, I competed in PF so don't break the rules, I'll know. You can talk quickly if it's understandable, however do not cross the line into spreading. If you spread in PF, I will stop flowing.
In PF and CX/policy, I vote on the flow, that is to say dropped argument, evidence, and the such.
I like clean debates so don't be rude to your opponents. Personal attacks will result in an automatic loss regardless of the rest of the flow.
In Ld debate I vote on the Value, Value Criterion, so make sure to carry that through.
If you are here because you are a policy debater... treat me kinda like a lay judge. I can follow complex arguments but I need you to clearly explain any lingo and give a good justification for why you are running a T or K over engaging with the resolution. If you choose to spread, make sure to clearly signpost everything and annunciate like your life depends on it. If I can’t understand and follow you then your arguments won’t make it to the flow.
I feel most engaged when listening to speakers who speak clearly and from memory rather than just speed reading a case. Eye contact is also important. Having strong convictions while still being respectful to the other team is also quite a talent.
I am a parent Judge. I have three years judging LD, PF, most speech events and congressional debate. I have judged both locally and at NSDA nationals.
I want to be persuaded by arguments and moved by speeches. Please limit rehash by listening to each other. I will look for creative arguments and strong sources. Did you do your homework on the topic? I will also look at the way you are addressing and using the space. I will look for passion, logic and creativity - but most importantly a lively back and forth debate. Fundamentals of pathos, logos, and ethos are critical. Good sources and linkage should support the argument.
For debate spreading is acceptable, and while I am happy to have materials provided before debate, I will not dock for disclosure.
For dramatic and humorous interpretation, I will be looking at character and use of space. In general there should be a dramatic arc and I look for detail in the characters. I find the better you can stick to Aristotle's unities the more effective you will be - unity of action, time, character, place, etc.
In Congress - these should be shovel ready bills that will make a difference. Is your bill funded properly? Can the government do what the bill is suggesting? - is it within the powers provided by the Constitution? Philosophy matters, but in Congress you are designing bills that could be implemented. Details matter more.
Let me know how you want time indicated and I will be happy to give you the appropriate signals.
Debate is communication and it should hit me in both the head and the heart.
I am a Cancer with a Gemini moon and a Leo rising :)
I am currently a speech coach at the Potomac School with 10+ years of experience in the activity. Pronouns: He/Him
If you would like to send me docs my email isjacobkemp23@gmail.com
Debate - PF/Policy
I AM LAY! A SIMPLE SPEECH COACH!! PLEASE BE NICE TO ME, I WILL CRY.
With that being said, passion and clarity in speaking is very important to me (speech coach, OBVIOUSLY). If you don't SAY it, in terms of evidence/cards, I'm not likely to pay attention to it.
I WILL FLOW THOUGH!! I PROMISE!! AS LONG AS YOU DON'T GO TOO FAST.
I am interested in hearing Kritikal arguments and Theory debate, so do not stray away from that just because you see I'm a lay judge (I'm not the lay-est tbh).
Please make sure you are being as specific as possible in your description of arguments.
Logic and realism is important to me. Make me logically believe your argument and impacts. If its TOOO much of a stretch it may affect my decision. But I'll probably buy more than you think.
I am a very experienced speech coach with a strong background in extemp and impromptu, but am relatively new to debate. I also teach AP Language and Composition. I will appreciate strong use of logical argumentation and reference to quality sources. I do not appreciate speed/spread or kritik style arguments. I would like to see debates that an educated lay person would be able to follow and understand.
Sean Kennedy - Debated at: University of Kansas
Director of Debate at USC
In general I would prefer to judge based upon the perspective presented by the debaters in the debate. Framing issues are very important to me, and I think debaters should make it clear what they believe those issues are through tone, organization, or explicit labeling (ie "this is a framing issue for the debate" or some similar phrase). Embedded clash is fine, but I think that concept carries some limitations - there is only so far that I am willing to stretch my reading of a (negative/affirmative) argument on X page/part of the flow, that does not reference Y (affirmative/negative) argument on another page/part of the flow. Some of my more difficult decisions have revolved around this point, so to avoid any ambiguity debaters should be explicit about how they want arguments to be read within the debate, especially if they intend a particular argument to be direct refutation to a specific opponent argument.
Beyond that I will try to keep as open a mind about arguments as possible - I have enjoyed initiating and responding to a diverse set of arguments during my time as a debater, and I have had both good and bad experiences everywhere across the spectrum, so I think as a judge I am unlikely to decide debates based on my personal feelings about content/style of argument than the quality of execution and in-round performance.
As a caveat to that - I do think that the affirmative has an obligation to respond to the resolution, though I think whether that means/requires a plan, no plan, resolution as a metaphor, etc is up for debate. However, I am generally, although certainly not always, persuaded by arguments that the affirmative should have a plan.
I am also willing to believe that there is zero risk or close enough to zero risk of link/impact arguments to vote on defense, should the debate appear to resolve the issue that strongly.
Whether or not I kick a counterplan/alt for the 2nr (what some people call "judge conditionality" or "judge kick") depends on what happens in the debate. I will always favor an explicit argument made by either team on that score over some presumption on my part. I have similar feelings about presumption when there is a counterplan/alt. The reason for this is that although there may be logical reasons for kicking advocacies or evaluating presumption in a certain light, I think that debate as a pedagogical activity is best when it forces debaters to make their choices explicit, rather than forcing the judge to read into a choice that was NOT made or requiring that both teams and the judge have an unspoken agreement about what the logical terms for the debate were (this is probably more obvious and necessary in some cases, ie not being able to answer your own arguments, than I think it is in the case of advocacies).
Please be kind to your competitors and treat their arguments with respect - you don't know where they come from or what their arguments mean to them, and I think this community can only work if we value basic decency towards others as much as much as we do argumentative prowess. In that vein, jokes are good, but I'm certainly much less amused by personal attacks and derision than I am by dry humor or cheekiness.
- Current Forensics Coach at Pembroke Hill, 7 years of coaching experience and 7 years of competitive experience between NSDA and Collegiate Speech and Debate
- Flay-lay judge. Lightly flow to follow the debate and issues.
- Moderate-low speed preference.
- Voters in final speeches are appreciated.
- Policy- will vote strongly on issues of topicality and relevance to the debate.
Schools/Affiliations: Mathematics Teacher/Debate Coach - Edison Preparatory
I did not compete in policy debate in junior high/high, but I have been coaching policy debate for 4 years.
General Paradigm
I'm open-minded and take the stance from a policymaking point of view. I'm looking for an argument that is well-formed and well-explained. I don't care for just running a bunch of random stuff to try to spread someone out, this misses the point of policy debate.
Speed
Clarity. If I can’t understand you, then I can’t flow you and I likely won’t be inclined to vote for you or the position(s) I don’t understand. I slightly have a hard time hearing, virtual rounds sometimes get glitchy - as long as your argument is well-formed, you shouldn't have to speed. Look for cues (not flowing, a blank look on my face).
Line by Line
I prefer line by line debate. I believe you need to flow and I don’t think a team is obligated to share analytical arguments in a flash/speech doc. If the debate becomes disorganized because of your inability to stay on the flow, that’ll likely cost you in some way. Debate, at its essence, is about a clash of ideas...therefore clash is an essential ingredient to a good debate round. A round between two teams who neither extend their own arguments, nor address the specific attacks made on these arguments, is not a debate round, and such a round begs for intervention on my part.
Decision Calculus
I loathe to intervene in a round, but will do so if neither team presents a clear comparative analysis of the issues in the round. You need to tell me why I should vote for you and make that clear in the final rebuttals.
Framework
I’ll start with my paradigm, you tell me where to move to, and convince me of why I should do so, if you’d like to change the framework. Any framework should make it possible for both sides to win and shouldn’t be rooted in a rejection of debate as an activity (though it’s possible I could be convinced otherwise).
Topicality (or any other procedural/theory argument)
If the affirmative is not able to prove that they are topical, that's the first place I will vote. I believe that it is important for affirmative cases to meet the resolution if we are going to have fair and educational debate. That being said, it doesn't take a lot of work for the aff to convince me they are topical. A solid we meet, counter-interp, and reasons to prefer extended throughout the debate are good enough for me. I want it to be answered, but I don't really want to listen to a whole round of debate on T - get through it and move on.
Kritiks
Please don't run a K unless you actually plan to go for it in the round. Running Ks as a time suck and then kicking out of them halfway through the round is a move that I cannot get behind. If a K doesn't have real-world alternatives, it will take more work on your part to convince me that it's a good idea. If something is heavily theory-based, it needs to be explained well.
Performance
Do what you will, I’ll listen. Prefer they be relevant to topic.
Counterplans
I am good with counterplans, conditional is fine, but don’t get too feisty in this regard. Deep counterplan and pic theory give me headaches, so slow down and talk me through it.
Multiple Worlds
No thanks...multiple conditional positions are fine, but not contradictory advocacy. Can’t be convinced otherwise on the matter so save your time.
3NRs and My Decision
I will give an oral critique if time allows and reveal decision if permitted by tourney expectations, but I will not enter into an argument with either team about my decision. I can handle a question or two, but make sure it’s a question. Look, I am always going to do my best, but I’m sure I’ve gotten the decision wrong a time or two, and I hate it when I do. That being said, my usual answer when teams argue why they lost is: I’d feel the same way if I were you, but next time debate better. Then I mark their speaker points down for being rude. Live to fight another day and be aware that you might see your judge again down the road.
Prep Time
I will be lenient as we learn the online format, but that being said, I’m losing patience with the time taken up by flashing files even during in-person debates. Be efficient.
Things you should know:
I’m a community judge who used to coach LD. I’ve been judging for 4 years.
I am open to how you debate, and none of these items listed below are things I demand or will vote solely based on, but I will share preferences:
a. Please don’t speak too fast. I struggle to follow your arguments if you speak too quickly. That is the most important thing I care about.
b. I appreciate criterions.
c. I do like to hear your voting issues so I can see the debate from your view. This helps me focus how to make a choice.
d. I find empirical evidence very important to helping me make a decision.
In summary: If you speak too fast, that hinders my ability to understand your arguments. I am open-minded, but I do lean more toward traditional debate. (In essence, tabula rasa)
School Affiliation: Coach at The Episcopal School of Dallas
Coaching & Judging Experience: I have been coaching teams and judging tournaments since 2006. This includes LD, PF, Congress, CX and IEs at different schools in Virginia and Texas. I have had debaters qualify for NCFL and NSDA on multiple occasions which are both considered traditional tournaments.
Speed: Although I am personally not a fan of it, please make sure your spreading is clear and coherent. If I can't understand you, I probably will not flow it. If you see me stop flowing for an extended period of time then it would be in your best interest to slow down. I also heavily prefer if you go slow on your taglines, analytics and any theory arguments, especially during your rebuttals.
Types of Arguments: Although I prefer framework heavy debates, a lot of clash in the round, and good crystallization and overviews in your final rebuttal, I will still vote on topicality, counterplans, some theory arguments at times and kritiks if they are explained well by the debater. I am not a fan of non-topical Affs as I tend to favor whole resolution ACs. Make sure when you run T, that you are linking your violation to your standards/voting issues and that when you run a CP, you explain your net benefits and how it's competitive.
Theory Argument: If you run any disclosure theory or new affs bad arguments, make sure you thoroughly break down the reasons to prefer. Although I have never really been a fan of these types of arguments, I am willing to consider them if you can show the impacts of the abuse committed by your opponent and how this outweighs. Please make sure that whatever theory shells you plan on running are presented at a slower rate of speed.
Kritiks: Run at your own risk because I'm not really a fan of complicated philosophical arguments that have nothing to do with the actual resolution that should be debated upon. I'm not saying you can't win if you run them, but I might look at you funny and simply not flow the argument depending on the complexity of the K.
Speaks: Clarity over speed is prefered. If your spreading is incomprehensible, this will reflect on your speaker points. Any acts of rudeness or displays of an unprofessional demeanor towards your opponent will also be taken into account. If you go against an inexperienced debater or a traditional style opponent, it would be in your best interest to accommodate their format and invest some time clashing with or turning their value, criterion and contentions. Also, please do not ask me if I disclose speaker points. It's not going to happen. In addition, please do not use profanity at all during the round. It will impact your speaks and could also impact my decision so don't do it. Lastly, please refrain from attacking the character of any political figures or political parties as a whole. It's okay to discuss policies of the USFG but please avoid bashing politicians or parties that you may dislike as I consider that type of tactic in a debate to be very unprofessional and offensive. Debaters have lost my ballot over this in the past.
Tricks: Please don't.
Overview: Debate the resolution, clash with your opponent's arguments, provide framework, slow down during tags and analytics, throw in some voters at the end.
Email Chain: If and only if both debaters are sharing files, please include my email as well: kesslert@esdallas.org
Hi, I am a parent judge. I understand that since I am parent, I am not as qualified a professional judge, so feel free to strike me. With that said, I do have quite a bit of experience judging have judged several national circuit debates and late elimination rounds at nationals.
Overall, I really appreciate if you go slow and really explain your arguments. For me, while sounding pretty is good, I will look at who is winning the merit of the argument and throughout the round who most consistently rebuts and actually analyses the arguments better on a technical sense.
Crossfire is also important as well as other regular lay norms.
Parent judge. Keep complexity of arguments to a BARE MINIMUM. Conversational speed max, but slower if you really want me to catch things. I reserve the right to vote you down, even if you are winning on the flow, if you do not weigh arguments enough and literally write my ballot for me. I probably err truth>tech. Should be obvious, but no bad-isms. Be as professional as possible. Looking forward to a great round!
Hello competitors!!
My name is Francis (Sae-Rom) Kim,
I am a parent and an assistant coach at Redlands High School, have been judging Congress for about 6 years now, and I am very excited to see all the amazing, talented speakers today.
As a judge, I evaluate the "Best Legislator" in the chamber based on a demonstration of various skills, not just speaking. I often use the congressional debate rubric chart. This means I evaluate basic skills as well as participation in setting the agenda, making motions, asking questions, as well as content, argumentation, refutation, flow and delivery. Most importantly, I'm looking for effort, passion, and consistent participation in the round. Just because you gave a good speech doesn't mean you get an automatic good rank. You need to show you are engaged with the chamber. Also being a well rounded debater is very important for me. During rounds, I want to see a variety of type of speeches, and ability to switch sides, and flex to what the round demands. Any speech after the first cycle should be referencing other speakers in the round and you should be utilizing refutation. Arguments are claims backed by reasons that are supported by evidence. Providing evidence is very important for me.
I will try to be as fair and just as possible, so enjoy the experience and be respectful during the round!!!
Thank you.
if you are rude to your opponents, i will dock speaks.
I'm a debate coach at Riverside HS in SC. I believe debate is an educational activity where the skills you learn should help you for the rest of your life. Delivery is important. Respect for your opponent is a must.
Public Forum:
I don't think K's have a place in PF. This isn't policy. I also think theory has devolved from it's original purpose, and in most cases, has become a tool for teams to try to get a cheap win. If you think there was a serious evidence violation, do an official evidence challenge (check the NSDA rules if you don't know what this is) or call it out and tell me to read it if you're nervous about hinging an entire round on this one violation. If your opponent is being rude or malicious, I'll intervene.
While I flow everything and understand the lingo, treat me as a lay judge. Please do not spread. Please weigh.
Weighing is just a comparative analysis, so be sure to engage your opponents arguments when you weigh. If your weighing is all about your case, it tells me nothing about how it compares to your opponent's (so you didn't actually weigh anything). Also include why we should favor your weighing mechanism versus your opponent's if they differ.
I'm not a fan of extending anything through ink. If it's important enough for you to try to win off of it, you should be bringing it up well before FF.
Please sign post during your speeches.
When extending evidence, please also include the warranting behind the evidence. I’m human and don’t always catch everything about your evidence on my flow the first time around.
Please be quick about sharing evidence during rounds. It shouldn't take you more than a couple minutes to pull a card and send it (should be almost immediate if its from case).
Also I think crossfire is the most interesting part of most debate rounds. I'm definitely listening and may vote off of it if your weighing isn't comparative.
If you want clarification on anything on (or not on) my paradigm please don't be afraid to ask before the round.
Please email speech docs to: mei4judge@gmail.com
TLDR; Flay judge; did policy debate at the national level back in college (this was a REALLY long time ago), so treat me as somebody who mostly has no idea what you are talking about, I'm not up to date on the current policy meta.
General:
Tech>truth, tabula rasa until you're racist/sexist/homophobic/personally offensive in any way, in which case I will instantly drop you with the lowest speaks possible. Defense is not sticky, weighing in the 2AR is imperative, make sure you extend arguments made in the ac/nc clearly across the flow and signpost well so I can flow you, especially if you're speaking fast. Tell me why cards actually matter instead of just throwing around their names in rebuttal. Trad>circuit debate, give me voters in the 1nr/2ar, I will try to remain as noninterventionist as possible and evaluate based off the flow. I look for you to creatively extend your contentions and CPs and think out of the box in your 1ar/2ar/2nrs, those are interesting for me.
Prog arguments:
I hate speed, I'm not the best flower and I'll probably drop some of your arguments if you spread. I strongly dislike/don't really understand k affs, kritiks, friv t, and non-topical arguments. Avoid tricks as I wouldn't know what hit me and won't vote you up or down for them.
VC/phil debate:
Go for it. Phil debate is an integral part of LD. I default util in the absence of any framing, but if one side offers framing and the other side does not, I'll evaluate based off of framing presented. Just make sure to keep it understandable and don't throw singular cards from random philosophers around as a complete framework.
Harvard '25
Share Docs Email: novadebate.docx@gmail.com
Background
I have no personal speech and debate competition experience. I began judging in early 2014; I have been involved in the community ever since and have attended/judged/run tournaments at a rate of 30 tournaments per year give or take. The onset of online in early 2020 has only pushed that number higher. I began coaching in 2016 starting in Congressional Debate and currently act as my program's Public Forum Coach.
General Expectations of Me (Things for You to Consider)
Consider me "flay" on average, "flow" on a good day. Here is a list of things NOT to expect from me:
- Don't make assumptions about my knowledge. Do not expect me to know the things you know. Always make the choice to explain things fully.
- Post-round me if you want, I don't care. If you want to post-round me, I'll sit there and take it. Don't think I'll change my mind though. All things that should influence my decision need to occur in the debate and if I didn’t catch it, that’s too bad.
- Regarding Disclosures/Decisions. Do not expect me to disclose in prelims unless the tournament explicitly tells me to. I will disclose all elim rounds unless explicitly told not to.
- Clarity > Speed. I flow on paper, meaning I most likely won't be looking at either competitor/team too often during the round. Please don't take that as a discouraging signal, I'm simply trying to keep up. This also means I flow more slowly than my digital counterparts, so there may be occasions that I miss something if you speak too quickly.
- Defense is not sticky in PF. Coverage is important in debate; it allows for a sensible narrative to be established over the course of the round. Summary, not Rebuttal, is the setup for Final Focus.
Should other things arise, I will add them to this list at that time.
General Debate Philosophy
I am tech > truth by the slimmest of margins. I am here to identify a winner of a debate, not choose one. Will I fail at this? At times yes. But I believe that the participants in the round should be the sole factors in determining who wins and loses a debate. At its most extreme, I will vote (and have voted) for a competitor/team who lies IF AND ONLY IF those lies are not called out/identified by the opposing competitor/team. If I am to practice tabula rasa, then I must adopt this line of reasoning. Will I identify in my ballot that a lie was told? Absolutely.
Why take this hard line? Because debate is a space where we can practice an open exchange of information. This means it is also a space where we can practice calling out nonsense in a respectful manner. The conversations of the world beyond debate will not be limited by time constraints or speaker order nor will there be an authority or ombudsman to determine what is truth. We must do that on our own. If you hear something false, investigate it. Bring it to my attention. Explain the falsehood. Take the time to set the record straight.
Public Forum / Lincoln Douglas Paradigm
Regarding speaker points:
I judge on the standard tabroom scale. 27.5 is average; 30 is the second coming manifested in speech form; and 20 and under is if you stabbed someone in the round. Everyone starts at a 27.5 and depending on how the round goes, that score will fluctuate. I expect clarity, fluidity, confidence and decorum in all speeches. Being able to convey those facets to me in your speech will boost your score; a lack in any will negatively affect speaker points. I judge harshly: 29+ scores are rare and 30 is a unicorn. DO NOT think you can eschew etiquette and good speaking ability simply due to the rationale that "this is debate and W's and L's are what matter."
Do not yell at your opponent(s) in cross. Avoid eye contact with them during cross as much as possible to keep the debate as civil as it can be. If it helps, look at me; at the very least, I won’t be antagonistic. I understand that debate can get heated and emotional; please utilize the appropriate coping mechanisms to ensure that proper decorum is upheld. Do not leave in the middle of round to go to the bathroom or any other reason outside of emergency, at which point alert me to that emergency.
Structure/Organization:
Please signpost. I cannot stress this enough without using caps and larger font. If you do not signpost or provide some way for me to follow along your case/refutations, I will be lost and you will be in trouble. Not actual trouble, but debate trouble. You know what I mean.
Framework (FW):
In Public Forum, I default to Cost-Benefit Analysis unless a different FW is given. Net-Benefit and Risk-Benefit are also common FWs that I do not require explanation for. Broader FWs, like Lives and Econ, also do not require explanation. Anything else, give me some warranting.
In Lincoln Douglas, I need a Value and Value Criterion (or something equivalent to those two) in order to know how to weigh the round. Without them, I am unable to judge effectively because I have not been told what should be valued as most important. Please engage in Value Debates: FWs are the rules under which you win the debate, so make sure your rules and not your opponent's get used in order to swing the debate in your favor. Otherwise, find methods to win under your opponent's FW.
Do not take this to mean that if you win the FW debate, you win the round. That's the beauty of LD: there is no dominant value or value criterion, but there is persuasive interpretation and application of them.
Should other things arise, I will add them to this list at that time.
Regarding the decision (RFD):
I judge tabula rasa, or as close to it as possible. I walk in with no knowledge of the topic, just the basic learning I have gained through my public school education. I have a wide breadth of common knowledge, so I will not be requiring cards/evidence for things such as the strength of the US military or the percentage of volcanos that exist underwater. For matters that are strictly factual, I will rarely ask for evidence unless it is something I don’t know, in which case it may be presented in round regardless. What this means is that I am pledging to judge ONLY on what I hear in round. As difficult as this is, and as horrible as it feels to give W’s to teams whom I know didn’t deserve it based on my actual knowledge, that is the burden I uphold. This is the way I reduce my involvement in the round and is to me the best way for each team to have the greatest impact over their debate.
A few exceptions to this rule:
- Regarding dropped points and extensions across flow: I flow ONLY what I hear; if points don’t get brought up, I don’t write them. A clear example would be a contention read in Constructive, having it dropped in Summary, and being revived in Final Focus. I will personally drop it should that occur; I will not need to be prompted to do so, although notification will give me a clearer picture on how well each team is paying attention. Therefore, it does not hurt to alert me. The reason why I do this is simple: if a point is important, it should be brought up consistently. If it is not discussed, I can only assume that it simply does not matter.
- Regarding extensions through ink: This phrase means that arguments were flowed through refutations without addressing the refutations or the full scope of the refutations. I imagine it being like words slamming into a brick wall, but one side thinks it's a fence with gaping holes and moves on with life. I will notice if this happens, especially if both sides are signposting. I will be more likely to drop the arguments if this is brought to my attention by your opponents. Never pretend an attack/defense didn't happen. It will not go your way.
- Regarding links/internal links: I need things to just make sense. Make sure things are decently connected. If I’m listening to an argument and all I can think is “What is happening?” then you have lost me. I will just not buy arguments at that point and this position will be further reinforced should an opposing team point out the lack of or poor quality of the link.
I do not flow cross-examination. It is your time for clarification and identifying clash. Should something arise from it, it is your job to bring it up in your/team’s next speech.
Regarding Progressive: I'm not an expert on this. I am a content debate traditionalist who has through necessity picked up some things over time when it comes to progressive tech.
A) On Ks: As long as it's well structured and it's clear to me why I need to prioritize it over case, then I'm good. If not, then I'll judge on case.
B) On CPs: Don't run them in PF. Try not to run them in LD.
C) On theory: I have no idea how to judge this. Don't bother running it on me; I will simply ignore it.
Regarding RFD in Public Forum: I vote on well-defined and appropriately linked impacts. All impacts must be extended across the flow to be considered. If your Summary speaker drops an impact, I’m sorry but I will not consider it if brought up in Final Focus. What can influence which impacts I deem more important is Framework and weighing. I don’t vote off Framework, but it can determine key impacts which can force a decision.
Regarding RFD in Lincoln Douglas: FW is essential to help me determine which impacts weigh more heavily in the round. Once the FW is determined, the voters are how well each side fulfills the FW and various impacts extending from that. This is similar to how I vote in PF, but with greater emphasis on competing FWs.
SPEED:
I am a paper flow judge; I do not flow on computer. I’m a dinosaur that way. This means if you go through points too quickly, there is a higher likelihood that I may miss things in my haste to write them down. DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, SPREAD OR SPEED READ. I do not care for it as I see it as a disrespectful form of communication, if even a form of communication at all. Nowhere in life, outside of progressive circuit debate and ad disclaimers, have I had to endure spreading. Regardless of its practical application within meta-debate, I believe it possesses little to no value elsewhere. If you see spreading as a means to an end, that end being recognized as a top debater, then you and I have very different perspectives regarding this activity. Communication is the one facet that will be constantly utilized in your life until the day you die. I would hope that one would train their abilities in a manner that best optimizes that skill for everyday use.
Irrational Paradigm
This section is meant for things that simply anger me beyond rational thought. Do not do them.
- No puns. No pun tagline, no pun arguments, no pun anything. No puns or I drop you.
Should other things arise, I will add them to this list at that time.
Hello all,
I am a parent judge. I have been judging the student congress debate for the last three years.
For the contents of your speech, I would like to hear the debate about the harm and benefit analysis of the bill based on the flow of the chamber arguments and your data. I also look at the type of speeches you present during the round. A well-addressed bill agenda in the first speech is a critical start, and I value good first speeches on both sides if they address the core part of debating points. I expect an argumentative speech if you speak later. If you bring an applicable real-life impact to your speech, that also counts for a good ranking. For the delivery, it matters to me if a student speaks with a clear sound, a persuasive tone, and a natural talking style. I value students who participate actively in the debate with critical questions to weigh the side of the bill. I rank PO well if the PO runs the chamber efficiently. Good luck, and have fun!
I have coached several styles of Debate for two years now (mostly Congressional, LD, and PF). During a debate round, I will favor a debater(s) who is courteous/respectful, who presents organized and easy-to-follow arguments, and who gives clear/reliable/robust evidence to support those arguments. I don't mind spreading, but I prefer when debater(s) speak at a speed in which you can still fully understand every word they are saying. To win my ballot, please bring fully prepared arguments to the table and treat your opponents as you would like to be treated.
Preferred Pronouns: She/her
Current Affiliation: Rufus King High School
Conflicts: Rufus King High School
Debate Experience: 4 yrs policy in high school, 16 yrs policy coach
Rounds judged in 2024-25: 2 novice rounds, I primarily operate tournament tabrooms in Wisconsin
Email: stephak88@yahoo.com
I have not judged varsity this season. Please keep this in mind. Do not assume I have seen your argument before or am up on how the argument has progressed over the season. Due to this, I would also recommend a more moderate speed - especially on theory args/analytics or I will likely miss something.
Argument stuff:
- I dislike contradictory negative worlds. Totally fine with as many multiple worlds as the negative wants, but if they contradict each other, I am easily persuaded by this being an uneducational strat choice.
- Topicality: If you want to win on T, you will have to invest time in it (this means EXPLAINING your standards/voters, not just rambling off "Fairness, Education, and Jurisdiction"). Show me concrete in round abuse.
- I am fine with Counterplans but they need to compete with the aff. Also need to respond to theory or perms even if you kick the CP.
- If you are running a K that is based upon rhetoric, and you engage in the rhetoric yourself, you will lose. IE-if you are running something like Ableism and use language that links to it, you will not win in front of me. I enjoy K rounds when the debaters demonstrate knowing the arguments and not that they can just read off some blocks.
- If you are run a non-traditional affirmative, I would prefer it to be in the direction of the topic somehow & probably have some sort of advocacy statement/actionable item within the case that I could vote “for”. If there is a round of a traditional policy team vs a non-traditional team/in-round solvency args, I’d strongly encourage a fiat or framing debate of how I should evaluate impacts that occur in two totally different spaces.
Stylistic items:
- Clash is good. Roadmaps are good. Signposting is good.
- Last two rebuttals should be crystalizing the whole round down to the couple of main reasons why you win.
- I do not flow cross ex. If you are making arguments in cross ex I will not have them down.
- Tooling your partner to the point of scripting their speeches for them will mean lower speaks from me
- Saying “this argument makes no sense, so I don’t need to answer it” is NOT an answer. Tell me why it makes no sense and why that means I disregard it.
- Throwing jargon around, especially with regards to theory or critical debates. Most likely, I am familiar with your argument and completely understand what you are saying. However, that does not mean you can just throw around terms without demonstrating to me that you actually know what you’re saying.
I consider myself a policy judge, mostly because I think it is extremely unlikely a debate judge can be truly tabula rasa. I will listen and evaluate any argument presented in round, so long as it is not morally objectionable (e.g. no sexual violence good, racism good, etc.). I have coached teams across the spectrum of debate args- straight up policy arguments, one-off K teams, performance teams. At the end of the round, tell me why you should win. Give me the bigger picture beyond the scope of the round we are in and tell me how IT impacts the world/society-whatever “IT” may be (AFF plan, CP, K alternative, DA, Solvency Turn, whatever). Outside of debate, I was a substance abuse counselor for three years, have degrees in Psychology and am a Behavior Analyst working with individuals with special needs. I added this information a few years ago because some teams I've encountered have read arguments that misquote psychological theorists because these teams expect every judge to be pre-law.
I’m the head coach of the Mount Vernon HS Debate Team (WA).
I did policy debate in HS very, very long ago - but I’m not a traditionalist. (Bring on the progressive LD arguments-- I will listen to them, unlike my daughter, Peri, who is such a traditional LD'er.)
Add me to the email chain: kkirkpatrick@mvsd320.org
Please don’t be racist, homophobic, etc. I like sassy, aggressive debaters who enjoy what they do but dislike sullen, mean students who don't really care-- an unpleasant attitude will damage your speaker points.
Generally,
Speed: Speed hasn't been a problem but I don't tell you if I need you to be more clear-- I feel it's your job to adapt. If you don't see me typing, you probably want to slow down. I work in tabroom in WA state an awful lot, so my flowing has slowed. Please take that into consideration.
Tech = Truth: I’ll probably end up leaning more tech, but I won’t vote for weak arguments that are just blatantly untrue in the round whether or not your opponents call it out.
Arguments:
I prefer a strong, developed NEG strategy instead of running a myriad of random positions.
I love it when debaters run unique arguments that they truly believe and offer really high speaker points for this. (I'm not inclined to give high speaks, though.)
Any arguments that aren’t on here, assume neutrality.
Do like and will vote on:
T - I love a well-developed T battle but rarely hear one. I don't like reasonability as a standard-- it's lazy, do the work.
Ks - I like debaters who truly believe in the positions they’re running. I like critical argumentation but if you choose to run an alt of "embrace poetry" or "reject all written text", you had better fully embrace it. I’m in touch with most literature, but I need a lot of explanation from either side as to why you should win it in the final rebuttals.
Don’t like but will vote on if won:
“Debate Bad” - I DO NOT LIKE "Debate is Futile" arguments. Please don't tell me what we are doing has no point. I will listen to your analysis. I may even have to vote for it once in a while. But, it is not my preference. Want a happy judge? Don't tell me that how we are spending another weekend of our lives is wasting our time.
Very, very, very... VERY traditional LD - if you are reading an essay case, I am not the judge for you.
Not a huge fan of disclosure theory-- best to skip this.
Don’t like and won’t vote on:
Tricks.
Hello! I'm Peri (she/her) and I debated for Mount Vernon HS in Washington doing LD for 3 years in high school. I am also a part-time, de-facto assistant coach for the Mount Vernon team, and I'm starting my own at the school I currently teach at-- I've never really left the debate community, so I know a bit of the norms and I know what's going on. I have my Bachelor's in International Studies focused on Peace and Conflict Resolution in the Middle East and North Africa, and my Master's in International Relations (meaning I know more about the Middle East than the average person) Here is my email if you need it... periannakb@gmail.com
Congress:
A huge pet peeve of mine is 3...2..1 and my time starts on my first word. I wont start your timer until you start speaking. I promise.
Substance > Style
Don't rehash, bring up new points prevalent to the debate. I love to see refutation particularly after the first two speeches. Please, lets move on if we are just going to say the same thing over and over.
Every time you speak in a session, it gives me more reasons to rank you at the end of the round. Fight to give those speeches and use questions! Don't let any of that direct questioning time go to waste!!!
LD:
A huge pet peeve of mine is 3...2..1 and my time starts on my first word. I wont start your timer until you start speaking. I promise.
I did traditional LD in high school. I am a traditional LD judge. You can run some arguments but disguise them as more traditional and focus on that style to keep me a happy judge. Take that into account. Don't spread I won't understand. Explain your arguments clearly and you'll be fine. No Meta-Ethics or trix.
Side note: Please make sure you are educated on the 2024 Jan/Feb LD topic... I don't want to hear arguments that are factually untrue, and I'm excited for well-informed debates that get into the depths of this subject! I've written articles on this topic that you could use as a card-- I know it well.
PF:
A huge pet peeve of mine is 3...2..1 and my time starts on my first word. I wont start your timer until you start speaking. I promise.
I'm judging more and more pufo these days. I like clear, well organized constructives. Don't just read everything one note. I appreciate that public forum is supposed to be different than LD and Policy. Keep it that way.
Random framework arguments about the intent of the topic aren't going to work for me. If things change in the status quo, you need to be prepared to discuss them.
Last Updated 12/5/2021
Ishmael Kissinger
Experience: 3.5 yrs for The University of Central Oklahoma 02-05 (Nov/JV & Open)
14 yrs as Coach @ Moore High School, OK
Policy Rounds Judged: Local ~10
Policy National/Toc - 2
LD Rounds Judged Local: 0
LD National/TOC - 0
PFD - Local = 0
PFD Nat Circuit - 0
Email Chain: PLEASE ASK IN ROUND - I cannot access my personal email at school.
*Note: I do not follow along with the word doc. I just want to be on the chain so that I can see the evidence at the end of the round if necessary. I will only flow what I hear.
LD -
Just because I am primarily a policy judge does not mean that I think LD should be like 1 person policy. Small rant: I am tired of us making new debate events and then having them turn into policy... If you are constructing your case to be "Life & Util" and then a bunch of Dis-Ads you probably don't want me as your judge. If you are going for an RVI on T in the 1AR you probably don't want me as a judge. I don't think that LD affs should have plan texts. If I were to put this in policy terms: "You need to be (T)-Whole Res."
Affirmatives should have: a specific tie for their value to the resolution. An explanation on how their Criterion(a) operates in context of the value and the ballot. Contentions that affirm the whole resolution.
Negatives should have: a specific tie for their value to the resolution. An explanation on how their criterion(a) operates in context of the value and the ballot. Contentions that negate the whole resolution.
CX
I tend to consider myself a flow oriented judge that tries to be as tab as any one person can be. Absent a framework argument made, I will default to a policy-maker/game-theorist judge. I view debate in an offense-defense paradigm, this means that even if you get a 100% risk of no solvency against the aff, but they are still able to win an advantage (or a turned DA) then you are probably going to lose. You MUST have offense to weight against case.
Generic Information:
Speed is not a problem *Edit for the digital age: Sometimes really fast debaters are harder for me to understand on these cheap computer speakers.
T & Theory need to be impacted with in round abuse. As the debate season goes on I tend to err more toward reasonability than I do at the beginning of the year. This is usually because as the debate year goes on I expect Negative teams to be more prepared for less topical arguments. This is generally how much judges operate, they just don't say it. I typically don't vote on potential abuse, you should couch your impacts on potential abuse in very real-world examples.
Please make impact calculus earlier in the debate rather than just making it in the 2nr/2ar
Kritiks are not a problem, but I am not really deep into any one literature base. This may put you at a disadvantage if you assume I know/understand the nuances between two similar (from my point of view) authors. **If you are going for a K or an Alt in the 2NR but are unsure if the aff is going to win the Perm debate and you want me to "kick the alt" and just have me vote on some epistemic turn you're only explaining in the overview of the 2NR you are not going to enjoy the RFD. If you think it's good enough to win the debate on with only a :30 explanation in the overview, you should probably just make the decision to go for it in the 2nr and kick the alt yourself.
When addressing a kritikal aff/neg I will hold you to a higher threshold than just Util & Cede the political, I'll expect you to have specific literature that engages the K. If this is your strategy to answering K teams I am probably not your "1."
I don't have a problem with multiple conditional arguments, although I am more sympathetic to condo bad in a really close theory debate.
CPs are legit. Just like judges prefer specific links on a Dis-Ads I also prefer specific Counter-Plans. But I will evaluate generic states/int'l actor CPs as well.
Dispo = Means you can kick out of it unless you straight turn it, defensive arguments include Perms and theory. (My interp, but if you define it differently in a speech and they don't argue it, then your interp stands)
DAs are cool - the more specific the link the better, but I will still evaluate generic links.
Case args are sweet, especially on this year's (2019) topic.
Personal Preferences:
Really I have only one personal pref. If you are in a debate round - never be a jerk to the opposing team &/or your partner. I believe that our community has suffered enough at the hands of debating for the "win," and although I don't mind that in context of the argumentation you make in the round, I do not believe that it is necessary to demean or belittle your opponent. If you are in the position to be facing someone drastically less experienced than yourself; keep in mind that it should be a learning process for them, even if it is not one for you. It will NOT earn you speaker points to crush them into little pieces and destroy their experience in this activity. If you want to demonstrate to me that you are the "better debater(s)," and receive that glorious 29 or maybe even 30 it will most likely necessitate you: slowing down (a little), thoroughly explaining your impact calc, clearly extending a position, then sitting down without repeating yourself in 5 different ways. If you opt to crush them you will prob. win the round, but not many speaker points (or pol cap) with me.
Conflicts: Edina HS, Isidore Newman, University of Minnesota, Kenwood SW.
umnakdebate [at] gmail [dot] com -- add me to the chain please!
TOC Update:
The most important information about preffing me is that I believe that debate is a communication activity. If you're unclear, including during card text, I'll clear you, and I won't flow what I can't understand. If your card highlighting is incoherent fragments of words rather than sentences, I will not pretend that your arguments make sense. If you choose to abandon line by line refutation with signposting while giving your speeches, expect that I will do the same in your RFD.
NDT/CEDA Paradigm:
I believe debate is best when debaters give speeches using a line-by-line format. The way that many speeches are given now diverges from my understanding of how to evaluate debates technically. When debating in front of me, you should read in a way that is comprehensible, including card text. You should be flowing the debate. Answering arguments that weren't read guarantees low speaker points, and you must take prep or CX time to ask clarification questions about what was read from the doc. You should answer arguments in the order presented and use numbers or other signposts whenever possible. Avoid long overviews and cloud clash. As much as I believe in judge flexibility, you need to help me to give the decision that you would be happy with.
Flowing: I will flow either on paper or on my laptop, depending on the vibes that day. I have dysgraphia, so if I am flowing on paper, please be sure to slow down on analytics and give pen time. I will follow along on docs during the 1AC and the 1NC to check for clipping, and after that I will not look at docs at any point in the debate unless instructed to read evidence. For me, reading docs does not substitute for clarity; if you are so unclear that I can not understand the words coming out of your mouth, that constitutes clipping. I'll clear you twice, and then I will vote against you for clipping. I will attempt to line up arguments on my flow but will flow top down if your speech organization renders that impossible.
My convictions about debate:
Debate matters. What we do here has significance.
Debate is a game into which debaters put hundreds of hours. Debate to win, and try your best to have fun while doing it. Judges have the privilege of watching high quality debates and are trusted with the responsibility of adjudicating them, so I will put as much effort into making my decision make sense as possible.
Evidence matters. You should read high quality evidence, and you should understand the evidence that you introduce into the debate. You should debate about the qualifications of your evidence. Your evidence should be highlighted into sentences that make arguments, not incoherent fragments of nouns and verbs.
You should read good arguments. The debaters I enjoy watching the most make good arguments that show that they have researched and thought about the topic in depth. Of course, my decision will be based on the technical execution of arguments in the round, but bad arguments generally only necessitate bad answers.
Style matters. Judges are never just making their decisions purely off of the flow. You should debate like you want to win.
Debaters should treat each other with a modicum of respect. Every judge and opponent is a human being. I don't believe in enforcing notions of politeness or respectability, but you shouldn't needlessly make the debate a hostile place. If you behave in a way that is immediately hazardous to the safety of other debaters or say that racism is good, you will lose.
Relevant information about preffing me:
The style of debate that I spend the most time thinking about is critiques. I pretty much only ever read Ks while doing college policy, and most of my coaching since then has either been coaching critiques or coaching policy debaters on how to answer them. Given my background, that's the style of debate where I am most comfortable adjudicating debates and offering high-quality feedback. Don't let that deter you from doing you though. I have voted on all styles and types of arguments and I care more about proficient execution than seeing debaters pander to me based on how I debated.
I definitely wouldn't consider myself an expert on the topic. Most of my research has been on the critical side of the topic. I have a surface level understanding of the popular affs and off-case positions, but I probably won't understand all your acronyms or topic norms. Tread lightly.
I'm not a huge fan of generic counterplans that could be read identically from topic to topic, and usually I think that if evenly debated, they would not establish an opportunity cost to the aff. I understand concepts in counterplan competition like mandates of the plan, intrinsicness, limited intrinsicness, etc. but I probably judge less than 10 debates a season that involve these concepts.
Topicality is a relevant concern and should be debated against policy affs. I tend to view topicality as a question of interpreting the words in the resolution, and I won't check out on reasonability just because a bunch of other teams also read this aff.
Debates with planless affirmatives are often challenging for me to evaluate when the negative goes for topicality. Procedural fairness can be an impact, but you need to convince me that is the case by doing more than spamming "fairness paradox". I am increasingly frustrated in debates where the 2AC or 1AR catastrophically fumbles an off-case position that is not topicality, and the 2NR is T anyways. Don't introduce off case positions if you can't credibly go for them. I struggle to understand how to evaluate topicality without comparing different models of debate.
LD-style phil/tricks arguments: I am conversant in these given my LD background. I would strongly prefer not to adjudicate a debate where you read these arguments without understanding what they actually say, and I will hold you to a high standard in explaining them. Ethical questions around consequentialism vs. deontology are obviously relevant to the topic, but if you don't understand how to execute these arguments, don't read them.
I will not adjudicate arguments about conduct outside of the round I am presently judging.
About me: I debated (policy), did extemp, and dabbled in interp in high school--in the 1980s in Iowa. I became a lawyer, and practiced as a trial attorney for 27 years, until starting a teaching career in 2017. I have spent my life persuading REAL PEOPLE of REAL THINGS, so my orientation is always going to favor traditional, persuasive argumentation and sound rhetoric. Because that's real life.
I promise you all are 8 times smarter than me, and certainly 20 times better versed in the topic. So please don't forget, I will need things explained to me.
All forms of debate: what matters is what YOU have to say, not what I want to hear. I am open to most anything--but in all candor, I do not understand theory. I have never learned or studied it, and so far, no student in a round has ever adequately explained it to me. So you can try, but I doubt you will be able to do so. I just can't vote for something I do not grasp.
Probable real-world impacts are generally more meaningful to me than fanciful magnitude impacts.
That said:
For PF, I am mindful that the activity is designed to be judged non-technically, often by smart laypersons. If you are spreading or arguing theory, you are generally not communicating in a way that would persuade a non-specialist or citizen judge, so it's gonna be hard to get my ballot.
For L-D, I am a pretty traditional judge. It is a "value oriented" debate. I recognize that most everyone provides a "value" and a "criterion" but it's not a magical incantation. If you are quoting philosophers (Rawls, Bentham, etc.) make sure you really understand them--and in any case, I haven't read them since college, so I need a bit of a sketched refresher.
For Policy, I am inclined to stock issues. Topicality, counter-plans are fine. Want to be more exotic? EXPLAIN.
Congress--remember judges haven't read the bills, probably. An early speaker on a bill who explains what a bill does (or doesn't do) usually goes to the top of the room for me. I treat PO's fairly, and especially admire ones who step up to do it when no one else wants to.
World Schools--I am new to it, admittedly, and I have judged some this year, 23-24. Candidly I don’t know enough yet to have deep thoughts on preferences.
Remember: a tagline is not an argument, and English is always better than debate jargon. I probably understand your debate jargon, but do you want to risk it? I will reward debaters whom I can follow.
I also do NOT permit things like "flex prep" and "open cross" that are not specifically provided for in the NSDA and/or TFA rules. I don't care what "everyone does" where you are from. Sorry.
As for SPEED, I understand most debate forms are not "conversational" in pace, exactly. But if I cannot understand you, I cannot write anything down. I believe debate is an oral advocacy activity, so I do not want to be on the email chain. If I don't hear it and understand it, I won't credit it. AND BE MINDFUL THAT I AM 60!! Apart from understanding your words, which I probably can in most cases, age slows down the speed of cognition. I just can’t think as fast as a young person can anymore.
Finally, be nice. Feisty is good, being a jerk is not. Gentlemen, if you talk over non-male debaters or otherwise denigrate or treat them dismissively, I won't hesitate one second in dropping you. Be better.
IE's:
For interp, I value literary quality highly. I can sniff out a Speech Geek piece. All things being pretty equal, I am going to rank a cutting of a piece from actual literature more highly, because it's more difficult, more meaningful, and more interesting that something that's schematic.
For extemp, I have become cynical of citations like "The New York Times finds that..." You could say that for any assertion, and I fear some extempers do. Real people with credibility write for The New York Times. Much more impressive to me would be, "Ross Douthout, a conservative, anti-Trump New York Times columnist, explained in a piece in July 2022 that..." The whole point of sources is to demonstrate you have done some reading and thinking on the topic.
I am primarily a forensics coach who has judged Policy a handful of times (including one year of judging Policy at Nationals). I debated Public Forum in college.
My biggest thing is that you don't spread - if I have to stop flowing because you are going too fast or I am trying to understand what you are saying...you have already lost me and I will default to a policymaker paradigm.
It is important to me as a judge that you are kind to one another - a little sass is okay, but be careful of being hateful or rude to one another. That is not the point of this debate.
I care way more about clarity than speed. I appreciate signposting as a flow judge. Don't spread.
Also - off the clock roadmaps aren't a thing. Don't do them - I will count it towards prep time.
Parker Klyn, Director of Forensics at Theodore Roosevelt High School (Des Moines, IA)
Call me Parker, Mr. Klyn, or judge, whichever you're most comfortable with.
Email: klynpar@gmail.com
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Judging Philosophy
Tech over truth. The only arguments I won't vote on are unwarranted IVIs and "new affs bad." I am happy to adjudicate the round the competitors want to have, whatever that looks like. Judges have a moral obligation to evaluate debates as fairly as possible and any intervention at all does a profound disservice to the hard work and preparation of the students in this wonderful activity.
Write my ballot for me (utilize clear judge instruction) in the final speeches. Offense/defense, the flow determines all, go as fast as you want as long as you're clear. I do not flow off the doc.
Outside of that, to cast a ballot in your favor, I need two things. First, I need complete extensions of whatever argument you're going for in each speech. Second, I need to be able to articulate the link story that resolves your offense, whatever that offense might look like. If one or both of those requirements are not met, I am comfortable holding the line even if those arguments are "won" on the flow.
LD Prefs:
Policy/LARP: 1
K: 1
T/Theory: 1
Phil: 2
Tricks: 3
**********
About Me
I'm on the NSDA Public Forum Topic & Wording Committee. I coach the West Iowa District World Schools teams.
I lead labs at NDF/Summit Debate and Public Forum Boot Camp. I would love the opportunity to teach you at those camps.
I love judging. It makes me a better coach. You will always have my full attention in-round and I will do everything I possibly can to adjudicate the round fairly and completely. Ask as many questions before/after the round as you like.
Debate is the best part of my life. I feel so lucky to be able to do this as my calling and I'm proud of you for doing it too. Debate has allowed an awkward kid like me who grew up in Grinnell, IA (population: 9,000) to flourish as an educator and coach. I'm an open book: if there's anything I can do to help you learn, just ask. I value the educational aspect of debate far beyond any competitive result. If you want to read some of my opinions/takes on debate click here.
Do NOT spread. If you choose to read quickly, you MUST be clear. Debate is about public speaking and developing skills that go beyond the debate round. Please do not yell, be mindful of the space in the room, you need to find the balance between being heard and yelling.
General: Signpost and Voters. I will diligently flow the round but, you must tell me where to put it. I debated in high school and college. Now I have been coaching and judging for over ten years.
CX: I am a policymaker who loves a good Topicality. You must demonstrate clear and concise links to accessing your impacts and provide an analysis of magnitude, timeline, and probability. I will flow, you just need to tell me where you want me to flow the arguments, so make sure you sign post. I will avoid judge intervention at all costs, so if you drop down to a single argument, that is what I am weighing regardless of my flow.
Don't run a K or theory argument unless you are out of other options. I will not buy any sort of disclosure theory.
LD: Value and Criteria. I am an old-school LD judge, I prefer to hear a traditional debate, not one person policy.
Congress: Speak often and early. I will score a P.O. well if they run an efficient round. I would rather hear multiple bills and good debate. If you are giving the 11th Aff on a bill, you probably won't score as well unless you can actually advance the debate.
Debated for Fullerton Union High School - policy for 4 years
- 2a for my entire career only ran affs with plans. 2a's be creative. I want to give you credit, but you have to justify it. 2ns flag stuff and close doors.
- 2n senior year, only went for politics, process CPs, and T. Not too much T as a 2n tho, but I love it. Ev matters. Predictable Limits >
- cheating CPs are fun, but have a good theory block. If I don't catch your args and the 2a goes for theory, I will assume it wasn't said. I won't fill in gaps.
- not a fast flow. Explanation and clarity plz.
- I'm probably not the best for K affs. I didn't understand them when I debated at a high level, so the threshold of need for explanation in debates is probably much higher, but I will vote for them.
- I went for FW against K affs. Fairness impacts need to pair with an arg about why fw is good for skills or something.. try to solve their offense plz and not just complain.
- take advantage of drops
PF PARADIGM:
Head Coach at George Washington in Denver
I have watched some rounds on this topic.
I will vote off the flow if I can which means you need to sign post and keep the same names and structures for arguments as they were coming out of case. In other words, do not rename arguments later in the round. If I cannot figure out where to flow the argument, I am not listening to what you are saying, but rather trying to figure out where it goes. I am most happy when you guide my pen to the flow and tell me exactly where to write and what to write!
Make sure whatever you carry into Final Focus, is also part of Summary. All of the sudden extending arguments that have not been part of the debate is not a winning strategy.
Weigh the round, explain why your arguments outweigh your opponents'. Be specific; do not just say you "outweigh" leverage certain cards and contentions to explain
Dropped arguments only matter if you tell me why they matter!
Truth over tech; facts and reality matters. I will not vote off improbable, unrealistic or fundamentally flawed arguments. This does not mean opponents can just say they are improbable and move on, work must still be done to explain why the arguments are flawed, but if it is close and the arguments have been discredited with evidence and analysis, I will err on the side of "truth".
Dates matter and NSDA rules say you should at a minimum read the year of the card; please follow these rules or I will not flow your cards.
Views on Theory: Not a fan of it in PF. Run at your own risk.
Kritiks: See theory above
Views on Spreading: Do not spread! Reading quickly is not the same as a full out spread.
Please share all cards you are reading in a speech before the speech. Set up an email chain! This will avoid the annoying wait times associated with "calling for cards." All cards should be appropriately cut, please do not share a PDF or link and ask the other team to look for the relevant passage.
Pet Peeves
Please do not ask every single person in the room if they are ready before starting to speak. One simple, "everyone ready?" does the trick! Once you ask, give a little bit of wait time before you actually start speaking.
As far as I am concerned, the only road map in a PF round, is "Pro/Con" or "Con/Pro". Please do not use the term "brief off time road map." Or ask if I time them!
Avoid calling me "judge".
I stop listening to Cross-Fire if it is loud and the debaters talk over each other.
POLICY PARADIGM:
Head Coach George Washington High School.
If this paradigm isn't completely clear, please ask questions before the round! I'd rather you be informed than to be inconvenienced by a misunderstanding about anything said here.
Most Importantly: I haven't judged much circuit policy, but that doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doing.
If you want to have a good round in front of me, there's a couple things you should do/not do.
1. PLEASE take it easy on speed. Given that I do not judge on the circuit often, I'm a little out of practice flowing. This means that if you want me to understand what you're saying, you need to slow down. Obviously, this means you should far and away strive for clarity over speed.
2. If you are reading positions that are silly/don't make sense, expect to be disappointed with the decision that I make. Overly absurd Kritikal positions, and politics disads that seem to not have any internal links are definitely a no-go in front of me. I'm open to Kritikal positions, and I think they're interesting, but things like Death-Good aren't up my alley. Read a position that you know well in front of me and I'll enjoy it.
3. I'm comfortable evaluating Framework debates. I think affs should be at least tangentially related to the resolution. I'm not fond of just "Anti-USFG" affs. In addition, don't assume that I know all of the arguments that you're trying to make. On either side, the arguments should be explained clearly and concisely.
LD Paradigm
Although I come from a state that does primarily traditional value-criterion debate, I am an experienced policy coach (see the paradigm above). I can evaluate policy style arguments and am very open to them. I am much more persuaded by arguments that are related to the resolution and can be linked back to it as opposed to Kritikal arguments that do not link. I am, however, excited by some the resolution specific Kritiks and would love to hear them! I am familiar with a number of off case positions and theoretical arguments, please do not make assumptions and take time to give brief explanations.
I may not be able to easily follow or be familiar of all theory arguments. Slow down and explain them.
Dropped arguments only matter if you tell me why. You do not automatically win just because an argument is dropped.
As far as speed goes, I can keep up with it if it is clear and well articulated and has the purpose of covering more arguments. But I am not a fan of going fast just to go fast.
I coach SPEECH! Do not spread. If I cannot follow the speech you are giving because you’re speaking too fast, you will not win my vote. I must be able to follow the argument; if you speak in a way that prevents me from hearing your argument, how could I possibly vote for you? Moreover, evidence should relate clearly to your argument and resolution. Most importantly, HAVE FUN!
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1. Clash is LIFE: Don't avoid clashing. Get in there and don't be afraid of responding to your opponent's argument. It is what makes this DEBATE, otherwise, it's dueling Oratories.
2. What is a good piece of evidence? Your evidence should connect your arguments to a clear purpose in the round. "Why are you telling me this info" should never be a thought I have. Just saying there is a link does not mean there is one. Prove it with your evidence! Connect all the dots, don’t leave me guessing or trying to piece your argument together for you.
3. Speed: I NEED TO HEAR THE WORDS THAT ARE COMING OUT OF YOUR MOUTH! Speed for speed's sake is as if the UPS guy drives by my house at 90 mph and throws the package at my head. I'm mad, the package is broken, and UPS just lost a fan. So, if you have a lot to say, I recommend slowing down to make the tags and analysis of your arguments clear so I can write them down. I would hate to see a good argument die on the lips of a speed demon.
4. Reminder: Speak loudly and in a conversational manner. So, make sure to emphasize your points clearly and effectively.
5. Confidence is key! Exemplifying a confident attitude not only makes you a stronger debater, but an overall stronger competitor.
6. Finally, be kind. The worst thing in a round is when a bully decides their opponent is inferior. I am immediately turned off.
I have judged policy debate at national/regional levels. I expect clear articulation of arguments, reasoning & fully audible. Be respectful & have good spirit of debate. If you are going fast, I would prefer to have analytics so I can follow along better.
For me to evaluate debate, I need to understand arguments made.
LD-
I have coached Public Forum and LD for the past 11 years. I am a "traditional" judge that makes my decision off of the value and criterion. For the value you need to show me why it matters. Simply stating "I value morality" and that is all- is not enough. You need to show how your criterion upholds/weighs that value.
Contentions- need to be won as well. Dropping an entire contention and hoping I forget about it is not a good strat. I like to hear contention level debate as well, but I default to framework debate more often.
Voting Issues- I need these. Make it easy for me to vote for you. Give places to vote and provide the reasoning why. As a judge I should not have to do any type of mental lifting to get myself where you want me to be.
I do not listen to K's, performance cases, counter plans, or DA's. Keep policy in policy. I want to hear a debate about what is "right". For Ks and performance cases- I have very limited exposure to them so I have no idea how to weigh them or how they work in a round. If you run that type of argument you will probably lose that argument on the flow because I do not have enough experience or knowledge of how they work in a debate round.
Flow- I like to think I keep an ok flow. I don't get authors- but I get signposts and warrants.
Speed- I can handle a quick pace. I do not like spreading- especially when you struggle with it. If you are clear and sign post as you go so I know exactly where you are on the flow. I can keep up. When it comes to value debate and criterion- slow down. Kant and Locke are not meant to be speed read. This may be the first time I am hearing this argument.
Flashing- Make it quick.
Oral Comments- I have been verbally attacked by assistant coaches in the room who did not agree with my decision. This has really turned me off from giving oral comments. However, I will address the debaters and only the debaters in the round. will describe how I interpreted the round and what it would have taken to win my ballot. I am not there to re-debate the round with you but I want to offer clarity to what i heard and what I felt was made important in the round.
Public Forum-
I have coached Public Forum for the past 11 years and believe anyone should be able to listen to the round and decide the winner.
I try to keep a solid flow, but I will not get warrant, authors, dates, if you go a lot of points. I want you to boil the debate down to 2-3 major voting issues that are supported in the round with evidence. Closing speeches need to be weighed and if you run framework, you better be utilizing it throughout the debate and not just in the final focus to why you win the round.
I will not listen to speed, (faster than you describing a great weekend debate round to your coach) k's, counter plans, or disadvantages. If you want to run those- policy is available.
Be respectful to your opponent(s). Polite re-directing of a rambling response is reasonable, but cutting people off mid-sentence is just rude. That also includes talking over people, asking rhetorical questions that don't add to the debate but merely waste your opponent's response time and asking rambling questions that leave little or no time to actually respond. You will see your rankings drop like a rock if you do, I promise.
Off-time roadmaps are not permitted.
You can time yourself, but I am the official timekeeper. If your alarm goes off on your opponent, I find that unethical. If you argue with me, don't expect to win the round.
You can speak as quickly as you think I can understand you, but I won't tell you to slow down. Choose your speed wisely.
LD
Lincoln Douglas is fundamentally a value debate. If you attempt to make it into a policy debate, you will lose. I don't care if you run a counter plan, but again, it's a value debate, not a policy debate.
Your criterion is the yard stick to measure whether your value is upheld. Keep it simple; if I am unclear what your criterion is, I can't use it as the "weighing standard."
Congress
The first aff and neg are constructive speeches; I don't care if you refute during first neg or just set up your case. However, subsequent speeches should have at least some component of rebuttal. After all, this is a debate, not a series of speeches. This is especially true of 3rd, 4th, etc speeches.
While I appreciate debaters working to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to speak, I would much prefer that you move to previous question and have people speak on different bills/resolutions than have every representative speak on every bill. Seriously, you have nothing new to say when you're the 10th speaker. (Yes, I saw this at nationals.)
Extemp
It's okay to *briefly* glance at your card for references; if you never do, I have to seriously wonder if you're making up your sources.
Kyle Kopf (He/Him/His)
West Des Moines Valley High School ‘18 || University of Iowa '22 || Iowa Law '26
I want to be on the email chain (but I do my best to not flow off of it): krkopf@gmail.com
Conflicts: Iowa City West High School, West Des Moines Valley High School
Bio: I coached Iowa City West LD for 5 years. I debated LD for Six Years. Received one bid my junior year and 3 my senior year.
I don't like long paradigms so I did my best to keep this as short as possible. My opinions on debate aren't what matters anymore. I try to be as tech as possible and not intervene.
OVERVIEW:
I won’t automatically ignore any style of argument (Phil, Theory, K, policy, T, etc), I will only drop you for offensive arguments within that style (for example, using a policy AC to say racism is good). That being said, I am more familiar with certain styles of arguments, but that does not mean I will hack for them. Shortcut for my familiarity with styles:
Phil – 1
Theory/T – 1
K - 2
Policy - 2
Tricks - 3
Online Debate:
-Please speak at like 70-80% of your top pace, I'll be much more likely to catch your arguments and therefore vote for you if you actually slow and don't rely on me shouting "slow" or "clear" a lot. Also, slow down extra on underviews, theory, and author names because I'm extra bad at flowing those.
-Please keep a local recording in case your speech cuts out to the point where I miss arguments. If you do not there is no way for me to recover what was missed regardless of the reason.
-I find myself flowing off the doc more with online debate than I do normally
-If you think there are better norms for judging online I should consider, feel free to share before the round
-I will always keep my camera on when debaters are speaking. Sometimes I turn my camera off during prep time. Feel free to ask me to turn my camera on if I forget.
SPEAKS:
Based on strategy, quality of discourse, fun, creativity etc. Not based on speaking style. I will shout “clear” as needed without reducing speaks.
SPEED:
Don’t start speech at top speed, build up to it for like 10 seconds. Slow down significantly on author names and theory underviews.
IDENTITY AND SAFETY:
I've stuttered for my entire life, including the 6 years I was in debate. Speech impediments will not impact speaks or my evaluation of the round whatsoever. I default shouting “clear” if needed (I always preferred being told to clear than losing because the judge didn’t understand me) so please tell me if you prefer otherwise.
If there is anything else related to identity or anything else that might affect the round, please let me know if you feel comfortable doing so.
Ks:
This is what I primarily read in high school. I’m familiar with K strategy, K tricks (floating PICs need to be in some way hinted at in the 1N), etc.
Theory/T:
I read some theory although significantly less than Ks. Since I've started coaching I've become a lot more familiar with theory strategy. Assuming literally no argument is made either way, I default:
- No RVI
- Competing Interps
- Drop the debater on theory and T
- Text of interp
- Norms creation model
- “Converse of the interp/defending the violation” is sufficient
Phil:
I started reading phil in high school and I coach a lot of phil now. I'm comfortable in these debates.
Tricks:
I'll vote on just about anything with a claim warrant and impact.
Policy:
While I never debated policy arguments in high school, I've judged a lot of policy-style rounds and am much more comfortable with them now.
Postrounding:
I think post-rounding is a good norm for debate to encourage good judging, prevent hacking, etc. Always feel free to post-round me. I'll be VERY strict about starting the next flight/round, allowing debaters to be on time, etc but feel free to find me or email me later (email at top).
Misc:
*If you're kicking a CP or K, you need to explicitly say "kick the CP/K", not extending is not sufficient to kick
*All arguments must have some sort of warrant. The warrant doesn’t have to be good or true
*If an argument is new in the 2, I will disregard it even if it’s not pointed out. To clarify, you still should point it out in case I missed it.
I value dynamic debating- I would like to feel engaged, drawn in. Speak passionately, argue using facts, clash, and have fun!
I do not want to hear spreading. You can speak at a fast pace, but if you start spreading I will stop flowing and your arguments will get dropped. If I cannot make out the words you are saying your argument will not make it to my flow sheet. I do not think that speed reading is a skill. Thinking and communicating your arguments clearly, however, is critical.
Theory: only clear NSDA violations.
Topicality: Definitions: define terms reasonably. It is the responsibility of the Aff to define the resolution, neg can also offer definiton and if there is clash, argue why yours is better.
Ks/Counterplans are okay if you show that they are resolutional.
Framework: Value and Value criterion are required. If clash, argue why yours is better. I appreciate being given a roadmap, and outlining the voting issues.
Background: Former LD debater, Volunteer Judge
B.S. Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University 2023
Email: miriam.kopyto@yale.edu
Put me on the email chain brett.krambeer@gmail.com
four years in high school at Hutchinson High School (KS)
two years in college at The University of North Texas
Currently debating at Emporia Sate University (Stingers Down!)
Assistant coach for Lawrence High School (KS) for two years
Current assistant coach for Emporia High School (KS)
This happens more often than anyone wants to admit: If anyone in the room has made an offensive comment of a severe degree I will automatically vote against you. If an argument is not made in the debate about the comment, I will still vote against you if I subjectively decide it warrants that response. Your speaks will suffer regardless. I will only stop the debate if I am asked to by a debater, if I am I will.
Other than that, have fun and be nice to each other. You should do what you do, I'll adapt to you. I am comfortable with most everything. With that being said, I wish people did a better job of starting off slower, give me a sec to adjust to your voice by starting off at like 85% speed or so.. Especially if you're starting off with a theory or T argument.
An argument is a claim and a warrant. You need to win an argument AND a reason why that argument means I should vote for you. Don't just throw a bunch of cards at me, it makes me sad. I think the most important speeches are the rebuttals, write my ballot for me.. I like to be lazy, tell me what I'm voting on and why. I don't like reading evidence after a debate, I won't unless I have to or am told to.
I tend to be swayed by well-explained turns case arguments. Tell me how different flows and arguments interact with each other. I wish more people read impact turns.
Making choices is good.. I wont judge kick an alt or CP unless I am told to.
Specific arguments
Kritiks: I am most likely to vote for a K with a specific link and a well explained alternative (Do not assume I understand your alternative) and how it solves the aff/affs impacts. Furthermore, I think impact framing arguments are also very important and needs to be clearly extrapolated because I will use that to frame the rest of the debate.
Planless Aff’s: You do you, I have less experience with this style of affirmative. Yes, I will vote on impact turns to T.
I'm an administrator at Northland Christian that has been traveling with our debate team for over 10 years. Over the years, I have judged a variety of events like PF, Congress, and IEs. Each year, I judge at a couple of tournaments for our school like Berkeley and Glenbrooks. When making a decision, I will look mainly at content and style. Students should not speak too fast and should make logical arguments throughout the debate; they should be considerate to their opponents and the judge throughout the round. I will not keep a rigorous flow throughout the round, but I will take notes to help me make a decision. For Isidore Newman, I will be judging Worlds. I have seen a couple of practice rounds and understand the style and expectation of students in this format, but this will be the first time I judge this event.
Gordon Krauss
Background: Claremont '21, UCLA '25
Affiliation: Peninsula, ModernBrain.
Main
Debate would be incoherent and boring if every argument was evaluated as a yes-no question, e.g. "does the bill pass?" or "is there a link", and it leads to absurd outcomes, like judges voting on dropped "link turns case" when the aff has link defense and the neg does not have a reason the plan can't solve. Thus, I will evaluate debates probabilistically and will not grant zero or one-hundred percent risk to an argument, even if dropped, unless the full theoretical weight of the argument is explicitly conceded by the other team.
This means that if you're extending a permutation (that's not 'do counterplan'), you need a deficit. If counterplan, need a net benefit. If normative philosophical framework, need a reason the plan is good or bad according to that framework. It also means that kritik links need impacts--proving that the aff can't solve anything and doesn't make sense is important, but I won't vote on presumption, so you're better off developing offense.
The exception to this is topicality and other procedurals, like truth testing. I think that these are not like other arguments because they provide the neg with an escape hatch to avoid substantive debates. I am therefore persuaded by arbitrariness/reasonability arguments against these but will obviously vote for a topicality argument that's well supported by the topic literature.
--generally, an argument like "and/or" or "the s at the end of 'states' is a blare plural" are non-starters, unless dropped.
Outside of my strong preferences (1. offense-defense; 2. most neg theory/topicality arguments are cowardice), I will try to evaluate the debate as technically as possible, based on the arguments made in the debate and how well they line up with each team's evidence set. That said, I do care quite a bit about evidence quality. I wish more teams talked about it and did explicit evidence/warrant comparison but usually end up reading evidence to see if it actually says the things the debaters are saying. If it does not, I will reduce its risk significantly.
About me:
I have been coaching and judging PF for eleven years. I judge on local circuit tournaments and have also judged many national circuit tournaments, including the TOC. I am familiar with the topic, but that does not mean that you should not explain your arguments. As a coach I am very aware of all the nuances of Public Forum debate.
Put me on the email chain: nkroepel@district100.com and belviderenorthpf@gmail.com
Round specifics:
Tech>truth (I always try to be tabula rasa and not interject my knowledge into your round). I will vote on just about anything besides abusive, offensive arguments. I will take arguments as true, unless otherwise argued by your opponent for the scope of the round.
I can flow speed, but I prefer not to. I do not want you to use it as a way to exclude your opponents. In the end, Debate is about intelligible conversation, if you are going too fast, and don't do it well, it can get in the way of clarity of expression, which upsets me.
I do not flow cross-fire, but I do pay attention to it. However, if you make an excellent point in cross-fire, you will have to bring that information up in a subsequent speech. Also, DO NOT be rude, I will reduce your speaker points for it. It is inappropriate for teams to make their opponent's feel inferior or humiliate them in the round.
If you are speaking second, please address your opponent's responses to your case, especially turns. It does not have to be an even split, but make sure it is something that you do. Defense is not sticky, you need to extend it.
I expect that summary and final focus are cohesive to each other. First summary needs extend defense. Second summary needs to address responses on your case, especially in areas you are going to collapse on, and it should also respond to turns. I do expect that you collapse and not go for everything on the flow in summary. I WILL NOT vote on an issue if it is not brought up in summary. Please weigh in your final two speeches and clash your arguments to those provided by your opponent.
As I expect the summary and final focus to be consistent, that also means that the story/narrative coming from your partnership also be consistent. I may not give you a loss because of it, but it is harder to establish ethos. Defend a consistent worldview using your warrants and impacts.
Make it easy for me to fill out my ballot. Tell me where I should be voting and why. Be sure to be clear and sign-post throughout.
Extensions need to be clean and not just done through ink. In order for you to cleanly extend, you need to respond to responses, and develop your warrant(s). You cannot win an impact without warranting. In rebuttal, please make sure you are explaining implications of responses, not just card dumping. Explain how those responses interact with your opponents' case and what their place in the round means. DO NOT just extend card names in subsequent speeches.
The flow rules in my round for the most part, unless the weighing is non-existent. I will not call for evidence unless it is a huge deal, because I view it as interventionist.
DO NOT make blippy arguments-warranting matters!
DO NOT make the round a card battle, PLEASE. Explain the cards, explain why they outweigh. A card battle with no explanation or weighing gets you nowhere except to show me why I shouldn't vote on it.
And finally progressive debate-I'd strongly prefer you do not read atopical arguments. I think most kritikal positions are exceptionally unpersuasive on a truth level, but this should not explicitly influence how I evaluate them, except to say that I'm probably more willing than most to evaluate intelligent analytical defense to Ks even if your opponents have "cards" to make their claims. I am still learning when it comes to judging/evaluating theory. I need a slower debate with clear warranting-neither K or T are a big part of my judging experience either. You CAN run it in front of me but combining it with speed makes me even more confused. I can't promise that I will always make the right decision.
Paradigm
Email: Krousekevin1@gmail.com
Background:
Coaching:
Olathe North Assistant Debate Coach (2024-present) - Policy/LD/PF
Simpson College Assistant Debate Coach (2024-present) - LD focus
Olathe East Assistant Debate and Forensics Coach (2017-2024) - Policy and LD focus
Debate experience:
4 years competing in Policy and LD in High School
3 years competing in College Parli debate (NPTE/NPDA circuit)
If you only read one thing on this paradigm, it should be my thoughts below on extending arguments:
Extend your arguments. Extend your arguments. EXTEND YOUR ARGUMENTS! (THIS IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT FOR ME THAN WHAT TYPE OF ARGUMENT YOU READ) Some of the debates I've watched this year have me so frustrated cuz you'll just be absolutely crushing in parts of the debate but just not extend other parts needed to make it relevant. For example, I've seen so many teams going for framework this year where the last rebuttals are 5 minutes of standards and voters and just no extension of an interp that resolves them. Or 2ARs that do so much impact calc and impact-turns-the-DA stuff that they never explain how their aff resolves these impacts so I'm left intervening and extending key warrants for you that OR intervening and voting on a presumption argument that the other team doesn't necessarily make. So err on the side of over extending arguments and take advantage of my high threshold and call out other teams bad argument extension to make me feel less interventionist pulling the trigger on it. What does this mean? Arguments extended should have a claim and a warrant that supports that claim. If your argument extension is just name dropping a lot of authors sited in previous speeches, you're gonna have a bad time during my RFD. The key parts of the "story" of the argument need to be explicitly extended in each speech. For example, if you're going for T in the 2NR then the interp, violation, the standard you're going for, and why it's a voter should be present in every neg speech. Whatever advantage the 2AR is going for should include each part of of the 'story' of aff advantage (uniqueness, solvency, internal link, impact) and I should be able to follow that back on my flow from the 1AR and 2AC. If the 2AR is only impact outweighs and doesn't say anything about how the aff solves it, I'm partial to voting neg on a presumption ballot
Ways to get good speaks in front of me:
-Extend your arguments adequately (see above paragraph) and callout other teams for insufficient extensions
-Framing the round correctly (identifying the most relevant nexus point of the debate, explain why you're winning it, explain why it wins you the round)
-Doc is sent by the time prep ends
-One partner doesn't dominate every CX
-Send pre-written analytics in your doc
-At least pretend to be having fun lol
-Clash! Your blocks are fine but debates are SOOO much more enjoyable to watch when you get off your blocks and contextualize links/args to the round
-Flow. If you respond to args that were in a doc but weren't actually read, it will hurt your speaks
-Utilize powerful CX moments later in the debate
-If you have a performative component to your kritital argument, explain it's function and utilize it as offense. So many times I see some really cool poetry or something in 1ACs but never get told why poetry is cool/offense and it feels like the aff forgets about it after the 2AC. If it's just in the 1AC to look cool, you were probably better off reading ev or making arguments. If it's there for more than that, USE IT!
Speed:
I can keep up for the most part. Some teams in the national circuit are too fast for me but doesn't happen often. If you think you're one of those teams, go like an 8/10. Slow down for interps and nuanced theory blocks (ESPEICALLY IF THEY ARENT IN THE DOC). 10 off rounds are not fun to watch but you do you.
Argument preferences:
In high school, I preferred traditional policy debate. In college I read mostly Ks. I studied philosophy but don't assume I know everything about your author or their argument. Something that annoys me in these debates is when teams so caught up in buzzwords that they forget to extend warrants. EXTEND YOUR ARGUMENTS. Not just author names, but extend the actual argument. Often teams get so caught up in line by line or responding to the other team that they don't extend their aff or interp or something else necessary for you to win. This will make me sad and you disappointed in the RFD.
I'd rather you debate arguments you enjoy and are comfortable with as opposed to adapting to my preferences. A good debate on my least favorite argument is far more preferable than a bad debate on my favorite argument. I'm open to however you'd like to debate, but you must tell me how to evaluate the round and justify it. Justify your methodology and isolate your offense.
I don't judge kick CPs or Alts, the 2NR should either kick it or go for it. I'm probably not understanding something, but I don't know what "judge kick is the logical extension of condo" means. Condo means you can either go for the advocacy in the 2nr or not. Condo does not mean that the judge will make argumentative selection on your behalf, like judge kicking entails.
K affs- I don't think an affirmative needs to defend the resolution if they can justify their advocacy/methodology appropriately and generate offense against the resolution. I wish negs going for framework did more work explaining how the TVA articulated is sufficient instead of just reading their blocks with random TVAs v K aff, these debates are often shallow and too generic. I think being in the direction of the resolution makes the debate considerably easier for the aff as opposed to a full rejection of the topic, but I've voted for both a decent amount. I wish more negs would engage with the substance of the aff or innovated beyond the basic cap/fw/presumption 1nc but I've vote for this plenty too. I have recently been convinced that fairness can be impacted out well, but most time this isn't done so it usually functions as an internal link to education.
Document sharing:
I have no preference on email chain or speechdrop, but it does irritate me when debaters wait until the round is supposed to be started before trying to figure this stuff out.
Ev Quality:
I'm of the opinion that one good card can be more effective if utilized and analyzed well than 10 bad/mediocre cards that are just read. At the same time, I think a mediocre card utilized strategically can be more useful than a good card under-analyzed. I don't go back and thoroughly re-read every piece of evidence after the round unless it is a card that has become a key point of contestation.
Any other questions, feel free to ask before the round.
LD Paradigm:
I've coached progressive and traditional LD teams and am happy to judge either. You do you. I don't think these debates need a value/criterion, but the debates I watch that do have them usually don't utilize them well. I'm of the opinion that High School LD time structure is busted. The 1AR is simply not enough time. The NFA-LD circuit in college fixed this with an extra 2 minutes in the 1AR but I haven't judged a ton on this circuit so how that implicates when arguments get deployed or interacts with nuanced theory arguments isn't something I've spent much time thinking about. To make up for this bad time structure in High School LD, smart affs should have prempts in their 1AC to try and avoid reading new cards in the 1AR. Smart negs will diversify neg offense to be able to collapse and exploit 1AR mistakes. Pretty much everything applies from my policy paradigm but Imma say it in bold again because most people ignore it anyways: EXTEND YOUR ARGUMENTS. Not just author names, but extend the actual claim and warrant. Often teams get so caught up in line by line or responding to the other team that they don't extend their aff or interp or something else necessary for you to win. This will make me sad and you disappointed in the RFD.
I’m a parent volunteer judge in my for the last 2 years. I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to see the competitors in action!
POLICY:
Truth > Tech
Please ask me for my email in order to add me to the email chain. I'm not a big fan of spreading, but will not penalize debaters for doing so. However, I may not be able to keep up with it and it may ending up harming my understanding of your arguments and I may not be able to flow it. I prioritize clear speaking and factual arguments with clear evidence.
PFD:
As PFD is meant to be understood by a lay judge, please use clear delivery, everyday language, straightforward organization and credible evidence.
Please speak at an understandable pace. If you're speaking too quickly during an in-person round, I'll put down my pen as a sign that I can't understand what you're saying. In virtual competitions, I will place my hand near my ear to signal my inability to understand you at that pace. In both instances I will no longer be able to flow so those arguments will be dropped.
Don't overwhelm your case with numerous sources but rather select the best evidence to support your argument. Use reputable, unbiased sources and succinctly connect all evidence back to your contentions. If excessive time is spent trying to produce requested evidence, I will verbally warn you that I will soon begin to run prep time.
All jargon and acronyms should be clearly defined.
I expect you to be respectful and civil throughout the debate. Sarcasm and intolerance for your opponents will lose you speaker points.
Since I'll base my decision on the voters you provide in your Final Focus, it's your responsibility to convince me that you have won the round. Voters that do not accurately describe what occurred in the round will not be considered and speaker points will be lost.
CONGRESS:
Speak directly to the audience in a clear, loud voice and at a pace that allows your speech to be understood. Make frequent eye contact and only reference notes you have rather than reading your speech directly from paper.
Your speech should have distinct organization and be supported by credible evidence. Both the introduction and conclusion should clearly list your claims. Speeches with creative, memorable introductions that are then linked to your conclusions will earn more speaker points and improve your ranking.
After Authorship/Sponsorship, negative and affirmative speeches on legislation should present new perspectives or further refute opposing arguments rather than simply repeating previously stated points. Please do not merely read a speech that was entirely prepared beforehand.
When answering questions posed by other speakers, I'll be looking to see if you demonstrate a strong defense of your case as well as in-depth knowledge of the topic. Responses should be made with confidence and clarity.
While you won't be scored based on the questions you ask, your active involvement in the session will be noted by your participation in the question and answer periods.
SPEECH:
Speeches are ranked according to the following: (not in order of importance)
Originality of piece
Personal connection
Structure
Vocalization
Phrasing, pacing and fluidity
Speaker presence
Character development
Emotion
Transitions
Introduction/Conclusion
Looking forward to a wonderful competition!
Hello,
I am Yogapriya Kumaravel. I represent Dougherty Valley High School.
Even though my children do debate I have judged very few rounds but I will take notes and do my best.
I strongly value evidence.
Speech:
Impromptu:
- presentation is very important
- judge based on how well topic is incorporated in speech
- effectiveness of analysis will be considered
Humorous Interp:
- should feel real and not forced
Dramatic Interp:
- facial expression and voice inflection are very important for dramatic interp
- strong emotional connection to words being spoken
Alix Kunkle — Spring Hill High School
kunklea@usd230.org — Add me to your chain, please.
When judging rounds, I primarily vote on stock issues — have you convinced me that the AFF plan meets all of the stock issues beyond a reasonable doubt? I value clarity in arguments over words-per-minute. If I cannot understand what you are saying, I am very unlikely to follow your argument.
If evidence sharing is going to be more than a few seconds, evidence sharing should be done as prep. In the age of technology, we should be able to exchange evidence in a timely manner without it delaying the round. Please don't abuse your time.
Please be respectful — and most of all, have fun!
I am a parent of a competitor who does Lincoln Douglas, but I have never judged an event. I am a lay judge.
Paradigm:
Please speak relatively slowly and annunciate. I would recommend spelling out voter issues a little more than you're used to and really breaking everything down. Convince me.
On the point of time, I would prefer you kept your own time alongside mine, as I am still new to this. This does not mean I will tolerate any abusive behavior.
Please avoid using any jargon. Emphasize impacts and please quantify them if possible. If you are any type of ist or phobic, I will vote you down.
Most of all, be proud of yourselves and have fun with it!
(My daughter may have helped write this so do not mistake it as an in-depth understanding.)
Educational Background:
North Dakota State University (2014-16)- English Education
University of Jamestown (2020-2021) - Masters in Education- Curriculum and Instruction
Relevant Career Experience:
English Teacher/Debate Coach (2017-present)- West Fargo Sheyenne High School
Etiquette:
Make sure to be respectful in your round with your opponents and be polite.
Public Forum:
Within a PF debate, I am looking at main claims, evidence, and logic being used to help a side win in PF. Use your evidence to advance your point and clearly show how that advances your side of the resolution. I take a lot into account in rebuttals. Crossfire is important in my eyes, and I want your questions in crossfire to carry over to the connection and clash you make in your rebuttals. That is the time to really show why your side wins the debate based on your use of evidence and clash. Please do not run K's.
Policy:
I look for clear argumentation between the evidence being used and how effectively you are able to attack the opponent's points and strengthen your own. I am much more content with a slower speed. I am used to argumentation and the typical debate style and format of claim/warrant/impact. At the end of the day, I will be picking the side that wins based on their better use of evidence, clash, and argumentation style.
Lincoln-Douglas:
The value/criterion framework is especially important in this debate format. Evidence of course is important in this debate format but really make sure that you are clear about how your value and criterion fit with your contentions (claims) and evidence. It is a moral debate, and I am looking to see how you can make a more reasonable moral argument based on your chosen value/criterion that advance your side of the resolution.
Speed and Delivery:
Make sure not to spread and not to speak quickly. Make sure you are understandable and clear in what you say. Your delivery matters, and if you talk too quickly, I will not understand your logic and position. Your taglines and signposting are especially important because I need to be able to follow your points and your case to help me know why your side should win the round. Make sure your links and voters are clear in the round.
Disclosure:
I am not used to disclosing when the debate is finished as it is not standard practice in North Dakota. At the national tournament, if it is expected or required, I will do it. If it is not required, I will not disclose or answer questions. I will have my thoughts and feedback written in the ballot.
Cross Examination/Crossfire:
Make sure to answer questions and ask for points of clarification politely. Make sure to use this time to help you build your rebuttals. In addition to your cross examination and/or crossfire, the rebuttals are when I really start to look at who is making the better clash and arguments.
Contact: nkurtti@west-fargo.k12.nd.us
I am a lay debate judge that primarily works as a speech coach. Please don’t spread.
Make your arguments clear and concise in your constructives and make the winner of the debate clear in your rebuttals (voters, crystallization, weighing). I consider myself a rational person that values truth over tech in most cases.
I will not be favorable to anyone who makes any bigoted, harmful arguments (homophobic, racist, sexist, etc.).
Hello, My name is Autumn Kutsick. I am a senior at Northern Arizona University. I competed on the university's team in the past in Parli, IPDA, Extemporaneous, Impromptu, and Oxford.
Questions on my paradigm or your ballots email: aj.kutsick@gmail.com
You may use the same email to include me in the evidence chain.
General:
- Don't be a jerk, when it all ends debate is fun and you and your opponent should both learn something.
- Please weigh your rounds and your impacts, I don't want to do it for you, it's your job to tell me why something is important and why you deserve the vote.
- Definitions are important, if you are going to claim abuse on a definition tell me why and where it comes from. Don't just add on to definitions.
- A plan that lacks solvency is not a plan, you must be able to show your plan will actually accomplish something.
- Impact Calc is important!! If you want my ballot tell me why you deserve it!
- Do not weigh impacts in an icky way, especially pfers. I will take you down on ethos if you make an argument that clearly ignores important values.
- Dropped points are very important, especially if your opponent points it out.
- Do not lie to me, or manipulate source material. I will not use outside information but if you outright lie I will drop the entire point and your speaks. This goes for purposefully misinterpreting and misconstruing cards as well.
- Don't put words in your opponent's mouth, especially in the last speech. Listen and do not manipulate, using what they say against their case is fine but don't manipulate them to serve your purposes.
- Speak clearly, I dislike spreading because I don't want to hear 3 pages of evidence I want to hear the logical conclusions you came to from your evidence. You must make arguments not just use your evidence as your argument. This is a sport that requires critical thinking and I want you to show me where you did that thinking.
- Link your arguments, I don't need you to hold my hand through your case but I do need to see where you draw connections.
- Currency and uniqueness are important, if your opponent has older evidence that is less important than newer evidence for the issue at hand point it out. Same with unique impacts, while all impacts are important social media isn't the only cause of body image problems, etc.
- As being someone who did college parli I understand tech and am not lay, however, if you are going to run an out-of-the-box k it better be clear how everything links together.
Speeches:
- Signpost, I need to be able to follow you for it to make it onto my flow.
- Stay away from Ad Homonym attacks, these have no place in the education of any round. You and your opponent are both intelligent, show me that by clashing with their case not their personality.
Cross:
- Yes, it is binding but less important if it isn't mentioned in the speech.
- Don't be rude. Again this may be heated but no personal attacks.
- Make sure there is actually a question, don't drone on where it is unclear to both your opponent and I what you are asking.
- Statements made by those who are supposed to be asking a question will not be considered.
- If you are going to cut your opponent off do it respectfully at a natural breaking point.
Counterplans (For Policy):
- Must prove why they are better with less detrimental impacts. Please don't propose a counterplan without solvency.
- With a counterplan it should still solve the problem completely. IE.) Don't give me a counterplan for the terrible treatment of prisoners in workplaces saying you are going to pay them minimum wage, this leaves out safety, training, etc.
Voters:
- I vote on well-linked arguments if your plan solves everything but is poorly linked then the status quo outweighs.
- Show me how your case is better, and what is more important.
- Make sure the round weight comes back up at the end.
- Tell me why I'm voting for you and show the impacts if I don't. Please don't make me do the dirty work.
I will disclose and give a verbal RFD if you stick around. Don't be afraid to ask questions and most of all have fun :)!
Trent Kuykendoll (he/him)
Walpole High School
Add me to the chain: tkuykendoll@walpole.k12.ma.us
Top
I’m a TAB/flow judge. Tech > truth, however, will intervene (specifically in impact weighing) if those arguments go unaddressed by both teams. Also, I do judge kick if you're condo or uncontested. Here is a pref cheat-sheet before we go into the weeds:
Speed Clarity -----------------X----------- Spread
Depth More args ---------------------X------- More development
Topicality Non-voter --------X-------------------- #1 Issue
Inherency Non-voter --X-------------------------- #1 Issue
K Debate Maybe Cap ------------------------X---- Try your craziest strat.
Impacts Magnitude -------------------X--------- Probability
K Affs Nah ----------------------X------ Yeehaw
Performance Nah ---------------------------X- Yeehaw
Fairness I/L ------X---------------------- Independent Voter
Education I/L ---------------------------X- Independent Voter
Theory Vios DTA --------X-------------------- DTD
Condo Bad -------------------X--------- Good
PICs Bad ---------X------------------- Good
Agent CPs Bad ----------------------X------ Good
Adv. CPs Bad ------X---------------------- Good
Int. Fiat Bad -------------------X--------- Good
Note: I will not provide clear or speed checks. Debate is an inherently performative activity and I believe that it is not the judge's role to prompt or interfere with that performance once the round has already started. If you have questions about my speed preferences please ask before the first speech.
LD
I like progressive LD so I'm a good judge to be creative in front of. Spreading, plans, CPs, Ks, theory, etc, are all on the table. Please just be prepared with whatever you run. Some of my favorite and least favorite rounds have been performance cases. I like well-developed arguments, so if you run multiple off on the neg, try to collapse in your rebuttal. The cheatsheet above is more for policy but I'll leave it up as some also apply to LD and I think it provides a good reference point for what I like and will tolerate.
If you're going more trad, I'd highly recommend trying to be resolution specific. Hearing Morality/Util rounds all day can wear a judge down, so an interesting and specific V/C will make it a lot easier to vote for you. I think the definitional debate is often overblown in LD. It's one thing to go after a T/Theory arg or to bring in necessary/revelant defs, but reading 3 or 4 Oxford definitions at the top of case doesn't do very much. Use that time to more thoroughly develop the rest of case. I really dislike underviews. If you run out of cards, please don't just restate your case, save that for rebuttals. Don't be afraid to kick contentions on either side. Collapsing to your best args makes the round more interesting and competitive.
Ask pre-round for any further clarifications.
Theory
This is more applicable to prog LD/Policy, but I still wanted to include it if anyone is interested in getting into theory args.
I enjoy well developed (emphasis on well developed) theory rounds. I tend to skew condo good, unless the neg is running 3+ conditional counter-advocacies. I have a much lower threshold to buy DTA than DTD/DTT. If you go for drop the debater, I will expect the abuse, real and potential, to rise to the level at which only dropping the team is a sufficient sanction. For this reason, if you want me to buy a DTD argument, I would recommend going for that alone in the second rebuttal, regardless aff or neg.
Traditional judge / This activity is to prepare for life. It is not a game - Ask me in round.
I've been coaching for 16 years in SE Kansas at Pittsburg HS. I've qualified teams to NSDA policy, LD, PF nats the last 13 years. Coached the 5A State Championship Policy Debate Teams in 2022 and several teams to semi-finals in policy the last few years.
I did not debate in college. I was a high school debater for 4 years in the SEK at Field Kindley HS. I graduated 20 years ago.
I will want to join the speech drop or whatever you are doing to share evidence. julielaflen@usd250.org
I'm very much a traditional judge who considers myself a policymaker.
If you are neg and don't run a DA (even a generic one), don't expect a neg ballot.
CPs are great - make sure you've got a net benefit to go with it.
Ks are not my favorite. As a policy maker, I feel like the real-world impact debate from DAs vs Advs is more important. Have I voted on Ks? Yes. Do I enjoy the K debate? No. In my perfect debate round, are Ks run? No. Do with that information what you wish.
T is fine if it's super untopical, but don't do it for a timesuck reason.
I don't mind theory, especially when the other team can't/doesn't answer it.
Solvency my favorite stock issue.
Impact calc is a way to my heart.
On-case arguments are super fantastic.
New in the 2NC is totally fine - it is a constructive after all - but new DAs would be a hard no.
Weighing arguments in rebuttals is vital to winning my ballot.
Collapsing is a practice you should partake in as the neg.
Spreading is fine, but if you can't be understood, why do it?
Road maps, line-by-lines, and crystallization are all wonderful and important to being an organized debater, plus an organized flow is a happy flow in my world.
Speaking of the flow...I flow the speech based on what was ACTUALLY SAID and then use the shared docs as a helpful tool to look at cards and catch tags I missed. You not flowing will cost you the round if you don't pay attention. Flowing skills are important! If you don't flow, you don't know what happened.
Happy to answer any additional questions you have. Be nice to each other. I appreciate kind debaters.
Email: alake@tps501.org
I debated 4 years in High School, and 4 years for Washburn University for parliamentary debate. I now coach at Topeka West High School (8th year). I am a flow centric judge and I am willing to vote on anything that is articulated well with a clear framework. I can handle most levels of speed so long as you are articulate. It is in your best interest to start relatively slow and speed up as the speech progresses (crescendo). The rest of this judge philosophy is how I will default in the event that you DON'T tell me how to evaluate a position (but why wouldn't you just tell me how I should evaluate the position?).
Lincoln Douglas Debate
I believe that an LD round is decided by both the aff and neg presenting a value, and a criterion that measures the achievement of that value. I vote aff/neg on the resolution by evaluating the contentions through the winning criterion to see if it achieves the winning value. I am very flow centric and will weigh arguments that aren't answered in favor of the other team. I am not a super fan of turning LD into policy debate but if you argue for that and win that position then I will play ball. I am fine with speed. If you have any questions feel free to ask before the round.
Policy Debate
Overall, net-benefits.
Theory: I love theory debates. Generally I will evaluate them through competing interpretations based on the standards and which standards I am told are most important.
Advantages/Disadvantages: Generally, uniqueness controls the direction of the link; extinction and "dehumanization" are terminal impacts. A 1% chance of a disad/adv occurring gives that team offense for the ballot.
CP: Counterplans should be competitive and switch presumption from the negative to the affirmative. Thus, the CP has to give me a net-benefit over the case or a perm to warrant a ballot. I am willing to vote on CP theory if those arguments are won.
K: I wasn't a big K debater, but I have argued them and judged them frequently. You should be able to explain your K, its framework, link, impx, alt and alt solvency. Buzz words, and name dropping are not a substitute for the former explanation. I am willing to vote on framework and similar arguments if those theory arguments are won.
I'd like to start out by stating that I used to have a paradigm and now it appears to have fled. Please know that that paradigm was much better and more comprehensive than this paradigm, but this will have to do for now. Don't let this paradigm be a reflection on me as a person.
PF
Rate- As long as you enunciate and I can understand you, have at it.
Content- Some philosophy and broad application is fine, but your arguments should be grounded in real life context and specifics.
I'm a teacher-coach, in that order. Your content and the flow matters but so does your clarity, organization, tone, and decorum. If both teams have sensational arguments and it's close I have no problem giving the win to who I think are the better speakers.
Consider myself a flay judge. The RFD is going to read more like a narrative and less like you won at argument Tetris.
Please have fun. I promise I will or, at the very least, if it's late and we're worn out, I'm still going to look like I'm having fun, and I'm going to do the best I can to give you something to work with and a clear reason for my decision.
30 SPEAKS IS DEAD AND YOU HAVE KILLED IT - search "30 speaks" in the rant doc for specifics
i have (not so) recently shortened this paradigm cuz it was getting really ranty - if you would like to see my thoughts on specific arguments, feel free to look at my rant doc
Intro
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I’m Eva (they/them) - i prefer to be called Eva over judge but say whatever you're used to/makes you comfortable. I did traditional LD (Canfield ‘18) in HS and have coached since graduating - I currently coach at Hawken. I primarily coach traditional debate, but have qualed kids to the TOC and my kids are very all over the place with what they read, so I've coached basically every style
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Email: evathelamberson@gmail.com put me on the chain but speechdrop is better :) i think docs are a good practice even for lay debaters and i would prefer if you send analytics
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Sidenote: I judge every weekend in the season, but Ohio doesn’t use Tabroom so it doesn’t show up :( I've probably judged an additional 500+ local rounds
TL;DR FOR PREFS i actually care very little what you read and hold a minimal amount of dogma re: what arguments should be read and how they should be read. i am good for whatever barring anything offensive, obviously. i have judged & voted for basically everything - if you have good strategy and good judge instruction, i will be happy to be in the back of your round whether you're reading the most stock larp stuff ever or tricky phil or friv theory or a non-t aff, etc. read the rant doc if you're interested in my specific thoughts on specific types of arguments. basically, do whatever you want, seriously
i believe debate is a game and it's not my job to tell you how to play it; i will be happiest when you are debating the way you enjoy the most and are best at
i consider myself a fairly flexible judge and try not to be biased toward any particular style - hacking is one of the worst things a judge can do, other than just not paying attention. i enjoy clash debates where each debater is going for their favorite or most comfortable strategy. i try to make the decision that operates the most logically under the paradigm/framing that has been most robustly defended throughout the round - if a round feels difficult to resolve I will lean towards arguments that I feel make the most sense, are the easiest to vote on, have the most instruction on them, etc. my strongest preference is against doing work for you - non-applied implications, explanations, etc. are things i will not do for you
IF YOUR ROUND HAS BEEN RECORDED FOR VBI AT ANY TOURNAMENT you can contact me with questions or concerns regardless of who recorded it - i can not upload it, change the visibility, etc.
accessibility:
- round safety is very important to me, and if there is a genuine safety concern that is preventing you from engaging in the round, i would prefer it be round ending as opposed to a shell - if you are feeling unsafe in a round, please feel free to email or FB message me and I will intervene in the way you request.
- DO NOT try to SHAKE MY HAND, i'm a germaphobe.if there are covid/illness precautions or anything like that you want us to take in the round, please vocalize this and we will make that happen (open windows, masking, etc.) i'll always have masks on me if you want
I was an experienced competitor in PF, Extemp, and other speech events throughout high school and have attended nationals three times in the past few years.
As a debate judge:
I encourage: A speaking pace that is quicker but that I can understand, explicitly stating vc and cv are the beginning of your constructive, elaborating on the relevance of your vc/cv throughout the round OR using roadmaps and going down the flow, signposting, providing robust and concrete evidence that supports your pathos and rhetoric, using prep time, flowing, and being respectful to your opponent.
I discourage: Spreading (outside of cx), making abusive points against your opponent, speaking over and interrupting them, distorting evidence/cards, abusing crossfire time, not flowing, and exceeding time by more than 15 seconds. I do give hand signals from 2 minutes and down.
As a speech/interp judge:
I encourage: Creativity with hooks, smooth transitions/blocking, clear structure in pieces, confidence and precise delivery, and being mindful of time signals. I also give time signals if requested.
I discourage: "" as debate judge but in a speech/interp environment.
Thanks!
I'm the Director of Bellarmine's Speech and Debate program. I've been out the circuit game for years now. If you think the 2024 NSDA National final round of Bell vs. Bell was an atrocity, then we see debate very differently. These days, I coach lay/slow debate and adaptation for NSDA Nationals. I coach speech events like Original Oratory, Informative Speaking, and Impromptu. I love the art of getting to the core of complex ideas and phrasing them in a compelling way that anyone could understand and thinking through how to make the rhetoric of a speech stick. Obviously that's not the game of circuit debate - and while I did circuit debate in high school and went to Michigan 7-week - please don't treat me as a fully fast judge, especially for CHSSA State or NSDA Nationals.
I believe that those tournaments are excellent forums for a type of debate that prioritizes judge adaptation and a slower, more lay style of debate. So, do not feel you have to go fast to try to cater to me. At these tournaments, I'll hold you to much higher standards in terms of the evidence quality, the specificity of the link, and the logical coherence of your positions. I will love you if you successfully criticize contrived internal link scenarios, the squirelly/shady arguments, and blippy line-by-line analysis in your CXs and speeches.
How to get high speaker points and win my ballot:
My greatest frustrations with the vast majority of debate rounds are two-fold:1) a lack of comparative engagement with the other team's arguments and 2) a lack of well-impacted analysis of why your arguments are reasons I should vote for you. Speech docs have exacerbated both of these problems, as teams rely on reading pre-written blocks. More and more, I feel a sense of impending existential dread as I realize that nothing meaningful in the debate round is going to happen until the final three speeches of the debate and that everything else is a game of seeing which issues get undercovered. Let me break down my two biggest frustrations:
1) comparative analysis - I understand that you have beautifully constructed blocks to certain arguments but often times, those blocks are not directly responsive to the other team's argument, and so I'm left with huge blocks of text with no comparative analysis that engages with your opponent's warrants. The quickest way to get good speaker points with me is to listen critically to the warrants of the other team's arguments and give comparative analysis that explains why your warrants are superior.
2) impacting important arguments - Meaningful impact calc isn't exclusively about magnitude, timeframe, and probability. That's rarely how rounds are resolved. That type of impact calc presupposes that you're ahead on the core line-by-line args of the flow. The best impact calc explains why the arguments that you're ahead on in the round are reasons to vote for you and why those arguments are more important than the other teams arguments. It shows an understanding of what has happened within the round -- what issues you're ahead on, what issues your opponent is ahead on. So, to put it simply, explain why your arguments matter.
Also, please go much slower on theory or framework than you would with other judges.
Policy args
At this point, I've been out the game about how speech docs have killed clash in debate
The more case-specific you are, the better. Far too many teams do not engage with case in a substantive way. Also, don't be afraid to make analytics – smart, true analytics hold a lot of sway with me, and it’s very strategic to have them in the 1NC and 2AC. If I see that you’re actually engaging the debate and critically thinking instead of just reading blocks and ignoring what the other team said I will be much more willing to give you higher speaks. That said:
Topicality – you must do a good job of explaining your interpretation and why it’s good for debate (or why allowing the aff to be included in the topic is bad for the topic), as well as the terminal impacts to your claims about predictability and fairness and education, etc. I generally err towards interpretations that are the best for the literature base of a topic -- for substantive, deep debates at the core of the resolution -- rather than arbitrary lines which found their entire argument on generic disad link distinctions. Good topicality debates should be grounded in excellent evidence (T- subs. w/o material qualifications is a good example of a violation that does not fulfill this criteria).
DA – I love strategies that are either CP/DA or even DA/case. Generic DAs are okay, but I’m going to like you a lot more if you’re reading a tight case-specific DA that has good, specific links and internal links.
CP – don't be abusive or shady, otherwise I'll have sympathy for the aff on theory args.
Case – I love case and I will absolutely reward a great specific case-DA strat. Don’t let the 2A get away with the entirety of case and you have to defend on a CP to win. Make them defend the plan. I am down to vote on presumption.
K debates
I'm open to any argument that is well explained so I'm not ideologically opposed to Ks but I often hate the way they are read in policy rounds where the core concepts are rarely explained and left to be convoluted jargon. So take the time to explain the core thesis of the K in the neg block (or 2ac) and especially the link story. Contrived and jargon-filled tags that lack substance but just try to sound smart / catch the other team off guard is a huge pet peeve of mine. For the aff, definitely poke fun of the link, as well as the alt - if the K cannot explain an articulate non-generic formulation of these parts of the debate, it'll be hard for me to vote for the kritik. I'm fairly knowledgeable with regards to the K literature base, particularly Foucault, Nietzsche, Bataille, Marx, critical IR, but that means I hold kritiks to a high standard of explanation. If you are reading some variation on Lacan, for instance, you'd better understand exactly what kind of argument you're making. There are many moments in fast rounds when I feel an impending sense of existential dread but one of the more egregious examples of such moments occurs when teams completely and utterly bastardize a brilliant philosopher and have no idea what that author's argument actually is.
Also, please do not read framework at the same pace that you would read a card. Especially when you are talking about the role of the ballot, slow down.
I am some what new judge. I am a judge for Vel Phillips Memorial HS in Madison, Wisconsin.
My background is in State Government, and I am active in local politics, including standing for election on more than one occasion.
Please limit the use of any speed talking and debate jargon. Referring to arguments by their substance rather than card names is necessary.
Keeping a consistent narrative or story during the round between the partners is important. Any weighing should err on the side of realistic impacts, even if they are smaller, than large improbable arguments as realistic problems and solutions tend to be more persuasive.
Send me case/speech docs at the start please (lankella@wisc.edu) email or sharing a google doc is fine, I don't much care if I don't have access to it after the round if you delink me or if you ask me to delete it from my inbox. I have a little trouble picking up finer details in rounds where connections are fuzzy and would rather not have to ask mid round to finish my flow.
(WDCA if a team is uncomfortable sharing up front that's fine, but any called evidence should then be shared).
Against Theory
Off time roadmaps preferred
You can talk fast as long as you enunciate
Debate Jargon is allowed and understood
4 years of debate (KDC) at Lansing High (2017-2021)
KCKCC Debate (NPDA/NFA LD) (2021–2024)
Assistant Coaching at Olathe North, KCKCC (2024– current)
Formerly assistant coaching at Lansing (2021–2024)
I'm down for speech drop or email whichever works best for you. christopherlapeedebate@gmail.com
TLDR: I've learned that as I judge more the more I realize I don't particularly care for certain arguments over others. Rather, I care more about debaters doing what they're good at and maximizing their talents. Granted to whereas I'm ok with you reading whatever, do keep in mind that the experience I've had with debate/arguments might not make me the best decision maker in the back of the room for that round. So if you get me in the back of the room read what you want but be mindful it might need a little explanation in the Rebuttals.
Speed–I'm cool with it if I can't keep up i'll say speed if you arent clear i'll say clear. People never slow down on analytics so imma just start clearing folks if I cant understand what your saying without the doc. This will allow me to keep up better. If you ignore my speed/clear signals I'm gonna be bound to miss stuff so if you get an rfd you don't like after the round thats prolly why.
LD– All of the stuff below applies if you wanna read a plan and have a policy debate do it idc its your debate have fun!
More in depth version of how I evaluate
Top level:I default tech over truth. The only time I'll use truth as a means of decision making is to break a tie in an argument which usually will only happen if the debate is very messy.
T: On T I'll default to competing Interps unless I get a good reason to favor reasonability or if reasonability goes conceded. I think T is a debate about models of a hypothetical community agreement to what the the topic should look like, in this I think the debate comes down to the internal links like who controls limits and ground and who's limits/ground is best for education and fairness. I don't think you need proven abuse but if there is you should point that out.
CP: I think CP's can be a good test of solvency mechanisms of the aff I wont vote on a cp unless it has a net benefit. I think the CP is a reason why 1% risk of the DA means I should probably vote neg if the CP solves, even if case outweighs. I don't think the CP alone is a reason to vote neg, just because there is another way to solve the aff doesn't mean I shouldn't give it a try. Internal net benefits are real and I'll vote on a CP with one.
Condo: I tend to think condo is good unless the neg is just trying to time suck by reading like 5 CP's and then just going for whichever you cant get to in time
DA's: I have quite a bit of experience with these but not a lot to say on them, I think a DA being non uq means no risk. I think no Link means the same, I think the I/L strat is commonly underrated if the link doesn't actually trigger the mpx then there is probably no risk, MPX turning a DA is underrated too. If you go for the DA in front of me focus on the story of the DA and form a coherent story and focus on the internals if I understand how the plan actually causes the MPX I'm more likely to vote for the DA.
Spec: If you go for spec go for it just like you would T. I'll listen to 5 mins of spec and vote on it. Same thing as T I view it as a models debate and you should focus on the internals because that tends to show who actually controls the mpx debate.
The K: On the link level first. I think the links to the k page operate in the same way as links to the Disad. What I mean by this is that the more specific the better. Just vaguely describing "the apocalyptic rhetoric of the 1ac" seems like a very generic link which is prolly not that hard for a turn and or no link argument.
On the impact debate. I think you need to be weighing the impact of the kritik in the round I find that a lot of debaters get jumbled up in line by line and forget to actually weigh the impact. Just extending it and saying "they cause xyz" isn't good because it isn't developed and lacks the warranting of why that matters and why I should vote neg because they cause that.
On the alt debate. It's a common stereotype of K debaters that we can't explain the alt. What does the alt look like? Why is that good? And so on so forth. I think that while I hate this stereotype I dislike even more that in the rounds I've watched debaters have tended to just read their tag line of the alt solvency and the alt whenever asked in cx what does the alt look like, and or do that to extend the alt in later speeches. This is not a good way to debate and doesn't help you convince anyone your alt is good, you should be able to articulate the method of your alt whatever that may be and how that changes the debate space or the world. I don't think this means you need to be able to tell me exactly what goes on at every waking point of the day.
K aff:
On the case debate– I think k affs should link to the topic/debate in some way shape or form otherwise they feel very generic. specificity >>>>>>>> generics (on every arg tho). There should be a clear impact/impacts to the aff. I think where the aff falls short is in the method/advocacy debate I think that I should be able to understand the method and how it is able to resolve the impact in some way shape or form. I think the rob/roj should be clearly identified (the earlier in the round the better). That way I understand how I should evaluate the rest of the debate and process through things (I think in close debates both teams wind up winning different parts of the flow, I need to understand why your flow comes first). I think that performance K affs lose the performance aspect which sucks, I think that applying the performance throughout the rest of the debate is >>>>>> rather than losing it after the 1ac.
V FW– I tend to think debate is a game that shapes subjectivity – Ie y'all wanna win rounds and fairness is good, and also the arguments we make/debate shapes who we become as advocates. I will technically sway based off args made in the round (ie debate doesn't shape subjectivity/debate isn't a game) I think from the neg I need a clear interp with a brightline for what affs are and are not topical extended throughout the debate. I need a clear violation extended throughout the debate. I think standards act as internal links to the impacts of fairness and education. I think you should be able to win that your fairness is better than the affs fairness and that it outweighs their education. for the aff I also think you need a clear interp for what affs are and are not allowed under your model of debate extended throughout the debate. If you go for a we meet I think that the we meet should be clear and makes sense and also be throughout the debate. I think the aff should win that the TVA doesn't resolve your offense/education, that your fairness is just as good or better than the neg's model of fairness. And that your education outweighs. I think top level impact turns to t/fw are good. And use the rob/roj against the T debate (remember it all comes down to filtering what arguments are most important and come first)
KvK– uhhhhhhh I tend to get a little lost in these debates sometimes tbh bc I think its tough to evaluate and weigh two methods against each other especially if they aren't necessarily competitive with each other. I think in these debate the fw debate including the rob/roj is most important, and judge instruction is likely how you'd pick me up if I'm in the back of the room. If you don't tell me how to evaluate arguments and what they mean in context to the round we'll all prolly wind up frustrated at the end of the round bc I'll intervene or make a bad choice. (I'm not perfect and make mistakes so judge instruction is crucial to make sure I don't make them)
Email : chris.larcade@staff.muldrowps.org
BASIC NEED TO KNOW:
Spreading: Need taglines to be clear. If I can't flow it, I can't use it to vote for you
Argumentation | Rhetoric: I look for debate speaking. I love to see debate falsies being used to disprove arguments.
Topicality: I will vote on it if I feel the NEG proved it to be abusive.
K Arguments- I will vote on "K" if you break it down to an understandable level. The LINK must be clear and offset the impacts of the AFF.
Inherency: If the NEG proves it is already being done, I will vote on it
Things I DON'T like
- Framework: I am not a fan of heavy framework arguments. Your impact should provide the voters for me to make my decision.
- Abuse Arguments: I have heard a lot of these arguments this season. I can determine what is and is not abuse for myself throughout a round. If your entire case is based on abuse, it appears that your case is not solid on its own merit.
- Ignoring your opponent's argument just to extend your own arguments and hope that their argument goes away.
Things I DO like
- Confidence: Don't give me a reason to vote you down. If you show me that you lost an argument with your non-verbals, then you will lose the argument.
- CLASH: I love it! Especially in cross-examination.
- TAGLINES: Once again, if I can't flow it then I will not vote for it.
- Sportsmanship: Don't make personal attacks, be professional and HAVE FUN.
Hello - Is this thing on?
What did the Zen Buddhist say to the hot dog cart vendor?
Make me one with everything.
The Zen Buddhist gives the hot dog cart vendor $5 for a $3 hot dog. He asks the vendor, "Where's my change?"
The vendor says, "True change comes from within. Now go be the change you want to see in the world."
What do you call the wife of a hippy?
Mississippi
Do you know the last thing my grandfather said before he kicked the bucket?
"Grandson, watch how far I can kick this bucket."
For the person who stole my thesaurus, I have no words to express my anger.
I have been and English teacher for 30 years - I have judged debate (as an assistant Coach) for 6 years. Therefore, I like reason and intelligent argument debaters who have researched enough to know what they are talking about.
SPREADING IS STUPID.
I prefer actual conversational debate. Please use speechdrop.
I am basically a TABULA RASA judge. Counterplans, kritiks, disadvantages, topicality - it is all possibly a winning move if it is done well.
I respect debaters who know their evidence well and can concisely clarify during cross-x.
A big plus for actually understanding how government works so that you can formulate a reasonable plan/counterplan - know what the IRS is actually responible for - know the powers ennumerated to the federal government and therefore what is relegated to the states
I generally do not enjoy nuclear annihilation arguments - unless they link clearly. Sometimes it does, but most of the time it does not.
Policy Debate: I am more of a games player. To clarify, I see debate as an educational game that is being played. There are basic rules that are established (sides are set, time limits are set, a resolution has been established). I do reject moves that seek to create a completely unfair environment for either side (I can talk about what ever I want because resolutions don't matter attitude). I am good with almost any argument that is grounded in sound theory.
Specific Issues:
Kritiks- I like a good kritik that actually explores what the affirmative/negative is doing in a round, but the team running the kritik must understand what the kritik is actually doing. I do expect every K that is run to have a clear link to the K, implications for me to weigh and an alternative that goes beyond vote for us (in 99% of the K's). If it is an extremely complex concept, don't assume I already know what you are talking about. You will probably need to slow it down a step or two to make sure I am following the logic you are discussing.
Performance Debate: I am not a fan of these concepts. The reason is simple. You showed up for a debate round. You should debate the resolution. What performance debates do in my opinion is come to a Monopoly tournament and dance in the hallway and expect to win the Monopoly tournament. You can't not do the event and expect to win the event.
I am not a fan of the politics DA. The leap in logic of plan causes people to vote in a completely different way just has no theory behind it. I will listen to it, but the threshold for beating the argument is very low.
Concepts like topical counterplans and such are fine, if you can present a clear defense connected to theory that explains why they should be okay.
In the end, I look at the offense that is left on the flow. I prefer teams that go after more offensive style arguments then those playing defense on everything.
On speed, my expectations are that you must be clear enough for me to understand you and the evidence that you read (not just tags). If you are not, then I will not flow it and I will not yell "clear." It is your job to communicate.
Lincoln-Douglas: I am more of a traditionalist. I prefer more focus on the framework in the debate and connecting your observations back to the framework and the resolution. I am not a fan of disads/counterplans/and other traditional policy arguments being run in LD since it ignores the unique distinctions between the two events.
Running of K's- A recommend that you read what I said about it in the policy level and know that this can be a bigger problem because of a lack of time in presenting and defending the K.
Speed is fine, but you must be clear. I need to understand what you are saying. I am more forgiving on the line by line in LD than I am in policy, but you do need to address the main issues and just not ignore them.
Public Forum: Good debate that uses strong evidence throughout to prove your positions. I do not weigh the cross-fires heavily, but I do listen to them and will allow for answers to be used in the debate. You don't have to win every point on the flow, but you need to provide me with clear reasoning why you should win and less about why your opponent should not win. Weigh the round. When citing evidence, make sure that you are not relying on paraphrasing.
World School: Coaching it for the second year. Do not try to define people out of the round. Focus on the stated judging requirements of style (delivery) and content (logical reasoning and appropriate backing). The logical reasoning presented is not the same as strategy. The logical reasoning is content.
steve.larue@frontrange.edu
I judge regularly in Colorado, usually around 60-70 debate rounds a year, somewhat less this year. I've judged at Nationals for many years. I've coached debate as an assistant for about 20 years. What surprised me most in reading other paradigms is how much the PF paradigms sound like Policy paradigms.
I will be looking for:
Being on the e-mail chain.
Tab judging philosophy -- teams set the framework, and it's a debatable issue.
Weighing the round -- teams can collapse if they strategically decide to do so, depending on how the round is playing out.
Speed is not a problem. Clarity is better.
I am an Lincoln Douglas coach who has been judging Lincoln Douglas debate for 6 years. As far as speed goes I am ok if you talk quickly but if you are speaking so fast I do not have time to write your argument on my flow they will not make it on there and likely won't be considered in my judgement. In other words quick is ok for me but spreading to the extreme is not preferred. I prefer a traditional debate style that includes a mixture of argumentation and evidence not all one or the other. I also enjoy a good framework debate even if they are similar at least to show how your side best upholds it. I am also familiar with debate terminology if you choose to use it in round. I usually decide round based off who won the key arguments and prefer Key Voting Issues if time permits.
IMPORTANT; IN ANY DEBATE SETTING OUTSIDE OF NOVICE POLICY, CONSIDER ME A LAY JUDGE WITH NO ABILITY TO FLOW, PROCESS OR EVALUATE ANY COMPLEX THEORY OR AFF/NEG K FRAMEWORK DEBATES. IF YOU DEBATE IN THESE DISCIPLINES OR ARE THEORY HEAVY, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU STRIKE ME OR GIVE ME YOUR LOWEST POSSIBLE PREFS. YOU DESERVE A JUDGE THAT CAN COMPETENTLY EVALUATE YOUR STYLE OF DEBATE .
If you DO get me as a judge, do not spread analytics or send your analytics in a speech doc even in final rebuttals. If you are arguing theory, don't spread it and give me instructions on how you think it should be evaluated with special emphasis on identifying your offense that justifies a ballot
North Star High School, Newark, NJ: I am a lay Novice Policy Coach. Lay means that my personal debate experience was long ago and absent any theory or kritiks.
email: tlatta27@gmail.com
Comfortable with policy, but highly inexperienced with k, framework and theory.
General Preferences
Depth > breadth: spread has rapidly diminishing returns with me. Warrant quality will win out so...compare warrants.
I appreciate a speaking speed where individual words are distinct and discernible, at the bare minimum. I'm not receptive to speaking styles with purposely low volume or monotone and this will be reflected in speaker points and, if egregious and repeated, the RFD.
If you want your arguments reflected in my flow, I STRONGLY suggest you DO NOT spread analytics, particularly those not reflected in distributed speech docs or those related to T's and/or Frameworks.
In general, I will give you my full concentration as a judge, provide clear and reasonable feedback and appreciate your efforts to improve my understanding of policy debate and the round we are in.
Hello, I’m Makenzie Laurie. My pronouns are she/her. I do not have prior debate experience, but I’m excited to be participating! I expect all competitors to be considerate and respectful to each other and myself.
Please add me to the email chain: sdlavelle14@gmail.com (see below)
My experience is 4 years of high school debate @ St. Ignatius (toc/state/local/allthecircuits), one year of college debate @ Michigan State, and 9 years of coaching at St. Ignatius High School.
Tldr: you do you, fairly open to anything; clash, comparison, nuance, and impact calculus win debates; have fun, don’t cheat, and be engaged!
I will probably leave something out or not make something very clear. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ASK ME.
I try to let the debate play out and do my absolute best to let the debaters tell me how to evaluate the round. I’d think I’m fairly open to just about any argument one could make, as long as it’s relevance is well articulated and impacted out.
I place high value in the craft of the activity and debater’s engagement with the relevant arguments at stake. I guess this means the more interested and engaged you seem about the debate and your arguments, the more interested and engaged I will be. Debate is an amazing activity and it should be both fun and educational for everyone involved.
I ask for speech docs mostly for my post-round decision-making (instead of having to call for cards). I rarely will follow along ur speech doc (cuz its not your speech…) but I sometimes will refer to it if something peaks my interest, to follow certain cx threads, or if I suspect someone of clipping cards or other malpractice. I will not substitute any inferences or knowledge I happen to gain from reading your ev during the round for how the evidence and arguments are debated. I will make determinations about evidence quality if there is high-level of comparison/analysis done on ev by the debaters (or sadly, sometimes in the event that there is none of this and I have to decide myself).
Speed = # of arguments communicated per minute (not words per minute). Efficiency + clarity are important.
Tech > truth, but big-picture framing of the debate often dictates my ballot allot more than technical aspects of things like line-by-line.
I’m not strictly offense/defense minded, but that way of thinking does have some inevitability in my head. However, I do believe that it’s possible for something to have a risk of 0%, and a great defensive argument is better than a bad offensive argument.
I might (?) have a higher bar than other judges for what constitutes an “argument”. Short-blips, two-word buzzwords, etc. are things that I will likely either miss or not understand. I will not vote for an argument that I cannot explain back to you.
Politics/Generic DA: I’m a big fan of DAs with a high level of nuance, especially on the link/internal link story, that also implicate a lot of the affirmative. If you think you’re DA is “generic”, make sure to try to make sound more specific/unique to the aff (analysis on why your link/internal link ev would be true of the aff)… this is especially relevant to politics DAs. While I’m sad with the current state of politics DAs, I think it could be a wake-up call for teams to find and read more intricate and specific internal link/link stories.
Aff teams often foreclose opportunities to do some serious mitigation of DAs with well-thought out analytics, by instead choosing to just read more cards. That’s not always the best idea.
CPs: I’m a sucker for really well-thought out and strategic CPs, like certain PICs, advantage CPs, or well-researched mechanism CPs. That being said, I have a higher bar for CP competition. Not as good for CPs that result in the entirety of the affirmative (process/consult CPs). That instinct could easily be changed if the CP has a solvency advocate in the context of the affirmative (eg: if there is a process/or consultable actor that’s HIGHLY relevant to the affs plan or case)… but what a proper solvency advocate comprises is also debatable.
With regards to the states CP: I think its definitely legitimate negative ground and has lot’s of strategic utility, however, the more magic wands of fiat you have to use to get out of the aff’s solvency deficits the less inclined I am to buy its legitimacy. DO NOT READ THIS AS “don’t read a states CP with lot’s of planks to deal with different arguments”. This is about how you explain how the CP skirts through certain solvency deficits.
T/Theory: I think I’m a better judge than most for topicality, as long as you have a good argument and set a clear vision for the topic…. Why it’s a voting issue.. etc.. generally I default to competing interpretations, but can be persuaded otherwise.
Ks: I’ve become a lot better for the K since high school as I’ve delved into more of the literature/thought about the strategic utility of the K. However, that doesn’t mean you should assume I will understand your K. I’m better for Ks that have a high level of clash with the affirmative (the alt/impact level somehow implicates case). I think the aff should probably get to weigh the material effects of the plan. I also think I should be able to easily understand/conceptualize your alt.
Kritikal affirmatives: I think the affirmative team should generally have an advocacy/stable defense of SOMETHING, but I can certainly be persuaded that this does not require a ‘topical plan’. If you’re not a “topical discussion”, I’d like to at least hear a “discussion of the topic”. The framework/topicality debate is something I’m pretty open with and can see both sides of the debate. For the neg going for framework/topicality arguments, I’m more persuaded by advocacy skills/solvency type arguments than procedural fairness questions. But again this is something that’s open for debate.
Former ToC competitor (2009-2012) and Former Coach for The Harker School (2013-16). Been in out rounds and have coached students in outrounds at: Harvard (&RR), Cal Berkeley (&RR), Tournament of Champions, National Tournament, Glenbrooks, Apple Valley, Golden Desert, Stanford, and District Qualifiers in multiple states.
Do whatever you want in the round, it’s your debate. Just make sure everyone is being professional and furthering the round to the best of their ability.
I’m not going to do a whole bunch of work for you regarding linking and impact calculus so make sure to clearly articulate your KVIs towards the end.
There’s a good chance I will call for some cards so please make sure to have everything available! (NSDA Nats 23, I’ve seen a lot of teams just create an email thread and send evidence that way. As long as I can still see the evidence either way is fine! My email is Titanpride4949@gmail.com)
To be clear, I'm a speech coach. I am proficient enough in flowing rounds and can effectively keep up with the debate. However, if spreading is utilized, you run the risk of losing me entirely. Additionally, strategies such as running theory or K's are unlikely to lead to a winning outcome in my view. I prefer debates that are grounded in linking arguments back to a value or standard set during the rounds. Please signpost clearly so I can follow the flow more effectively. I don't want to direct the debate in any particular direction; structure it as you see fit, keeping my background and preferences in mind.
Crawford Leavoy, Director of Speech & Debate at Durham Academy - Durham, NC
Email Chain: cleavoy@me.com
BACKGROUND
I am a former LD debater from Vestavia Hills HS. I coached LD all through college and have been coaching since graduation. I have coached programs at New Orleans Jesuit (LA) and Christ Episcopal School (LA). I am currently teaching and coaching at Durham Academy in Durham, NC. I have been judging since I graduated high school (2003).
CLIFF NOTES
- Speed is relatively fine. I'll say clear, and look at you like I'm very lost. Send me a doc, and I'll feel better about all of this.
- Run whatever you want, but the burden is on you to explain how the argument works in the round. You still have to weigh and have a ballot story. Arguments for the sake of arguments without implications don't exist.
- Theory - proceed with caution; I have a high threshold, and gut-check a lot
- Spikes that try to become 2N or 2A extensions for triggering the ballot is a poor strategy in front of me
- I don't care where you sit, or if you sit or stand; I do care that you are respectful to me and your opponent.
- If you cannot explain it in a 45 minute round, how am I supposed to understand it enough to vote on it.
- My tolerance for just reading prep in a round that you didn't write, and you don't know how it works is really low. I get cranky easily and if it isn't shown with my ballot, it will be shown with my speaker points.
SOME THOUGHTS ON PF
- The world of warranting in PF is pretty horrific. You must read warrants. There should be tags. I should be able to flow them. They must be part of extensions. If there are no warrants, they aren't tagged or they aren't extended - then that isn't an argument anymore. It's a floating claim.
- You can paraphrase. You can read cards. If there is a concern about paraphrasing, then there is an entire evidence procedure that you can use to resolve it. But arguments that "paraphrasing is bad" seems a bit of a perf con when most of what you are reading in cut cards is...paraphrasing.
- Notes on disclosure: Sure. Disclosure can be good. It can also be bad. However, telling someone else that they should disclose means that your disclosure practices should bevery good. There is definitely a world where I am open to counter arguments about the cases you've deleted from the wiki, your terrible round reports, and your disclosure of first and last only.
- Everyone should be participating in round. Nothing makes me more concerned than the partner that just sits there and converts oxygen to carbon dioxide during prep and grand cross. You can avert that moment of mental crisis for me by being participatory.
- Tech or Truth? This is a false dichotomy. You can still be a technical debater, but lose because you are running arguments that are in no way true. You can still be reading true arguments that aren't executed well on the flow and still win. It's a question of implication and narrative. Is an argument not true? Tell me that. Want to overwhelm the flow? Signpost and actually do the work to link responses to arguments.
- Speaks? I'm a fundamental believer that this activity is about education, translatable skills, and public speaking. I'm fine with you doing what you do best and being you. However, I don't do well at tolerating attitude, disrespect, grandiosity, "swag," intimidation, general ridiculousness, games, etc. A thing I would tell my own debaters before walking into the room if I were judging them is: "Go. Do your job. Be nice about it. Win convincingly. " That's all you have to do.
OTHER THINGS
- I'll give comments after every round, and if the tournament allows it, I'll disclose the decision. I don't disclose points.
- My expectation is that you keep your items out prior to the critique, and you take notes. Debaters who pack up, and refuse to use critiques as a learning experience of something they can grow from risk their speaker points. I'm happy to change points after a round based on a students willingness to listen, or unwillingness to take constructive feedback.
- Sure. Let's post round. Couple of things to remember 1) the decision is made, and 2) it won't/can't/shan't change. This activity is dead the moment we allow the 3AR/3NR or the Final Final Focus to occur. Let's talk. Let's understand. Let's educate. But let's not try to have a throwdown after round where we think a result is going to change.
Experience - Judge 2023 National Speech and Debate Tournament - Main Tournament
I highly prioritize a contestant's ability to think on one's feet and the type of delivery they use.
Ability to think on one's feet - While content is important, I find that at the highest levels, much of the content is the same amongst competitors. Since content is often shared or similar, it is the ability to use that content at the right moments and in response to your opponents that separates contestants for me. Contestants who can shape their arguments instead of regurgitating pre-written points regardless of what their opponent has said is one of the big things I am looking for.
Delivery - a very speedy delivery is hard to do and impressive, but it should not be at the expense of the listener being able to fully appreciate the point you are trying to make. It is for these reasons that speeding through many contentions/points is not how things work in the real world (e.g. public speeches, courtroom battles, interviews, etc.).
Ed Lee
Judge Philosophy
Emory University
ewlee@emory.edu
Revised: November 2013(Remixed by KRS One)
My Philosophy
KRS-One (My Philosophy) Let's begin, what, where, why, or when / Will all be explained like instructions to a game / See I'm not insane, in fact, I'm kind of rational / When I be asking you, "Who is more dramatical?"
KRS-One (Stop The Violence) I want to be remembered as the ghetto kid to jump up for world peace, because the stereotype is that all ghetto kids want to do is sell drugs and rob each other, which isn’t fact. I came from the heart of the ghetto — there ain’t no suburbia in me.
1. We are playing a game and there is nothing wrong with that. I love games. I play a lot of board games with my partner. It is our primary form of entertainment. Collecting board games has actually become a little hobby of mine. Gaming teaches conflict negotiation, winning and losing with honor, and proper ways to respond to adversity. However, all of that is lost if we unfair, disrespect others at the table and turn the game into something it is not. Play hard. Play by the rules. Ignore the wins and losses. Do those three things and you got of a decent shot at your debate career and life turning out pretty well.
2. Competitive debate cannot be the cure all for everything that plagues us. It has a very limited range of things that it can do well and its incentive structures can actually be quite harmful to creating productive conversations over our most intransigent social ills.
I strongly believe that debate educators and students should use our skills to help move our communities to a place where we can engage difference without being divisive. A large part of my job has become the facilitation of conversations on Emory’s campus that encourage students to civilly and civically engage controversy. I wholeheartedly support the effort of the Barkley Forum to provide every student on Emory’s campus with the opportunity to meaningfully engage. Debate educators have the capacity to present an alternative mode of politics and deliberation that is not motivated crisis and inundated in vitriol. Unfortunately, I do not think competitive debate with its uncompromising zero-sum outcomes and time limits will serve us well in our attempt to negotiate interpersonal differences. I see the current crisis in intercollegiate debate as proof of that.
I would prefer that we allow competitive debate to do the few things it does well and utilize our collective expertise to develop other forms of deliberation to address these vastly more important issues. I look forward to talking to anyone who will listen about The Barkley Forums efforts to us debate in partnership with the content experts on our campus to address racism, sexual assault and religious intolerance and a myriad of other social ills. I am sure that the other Emory coaches and students will appreciate it if I had a larger audience for this conversation.
3. One of the unique values of competitive debate is its ability to train students to quickly assess and evaluate information from various sources. I do not think there is a better pedagogical tool for providing this much-needed skill. This has become critically important as the Internet has made information dissemination and access uncontrollable.
4. Competitive debate is a laboratory for experimenting with ideas and identities. It can only function as long as we are not beholden to or damned by every idea we put forward to test. I believe this type of space is essential for our personal and cultural development.
Judging
KRS-One (Know Thy Self) Sometimes you gotta go back to the beginning to learn.
KRS-One (My Philosophy) See I'm tellin', and teaching real facts / The way some act in rap is kind of wack / And it lacks creativity and intelligence / But they don't care 'cause the company is sellin' it
1. While I am a huge fan of quality evidence, my decisions will privilege a debater’s assessment of an argument over my reading of a piece of evidence. I do not believe that every argument needs to be evidenced. I routinely vote on un-evidenced arguments that are indictments of the opposition’s evidence or a defense of one’s claims based on historical analogies, counterinterpetations of political theories, and assessment of an author’s qualifications.
2. Topicality exists to protect the guiding principles articulated above. It will be very difficult to convince me that affirming the reading of 1acs that is outside the bounds of the resolution is more academically beneficial than topically affirming the resolution. While I am not certain, I sense that I am less hesitant to vote on topicality than many others in the judging pool.
I think that we should have topics where the Neg has the ability to and is incentivized to prepare a coherent set of argument strategies that are topic relevant. I don’t think that a model of debate that encourages the AFF to defend truisms is a productive way to utilize this intellectual space.
3. Topic rotation is good. We should encourage students to explore and unearth the unique set of arguments that are germane to each individual topic. I strongly discourage argument strategies that that create disincentives for topic explorations. Counterplans that compete based on immediacy and certainty and narrow interpretations of the topic that deny the Neg opportunities to generate offense are examples of the type of strategies that I find academically lacking.
4. 2As need to reign in the Neg’s counterplan power. They should be more aggressive about launching objections to certain types of counterplans. I am particularly concern with those distort the literature base to such a degree that an informed debate can’t happen because scholars have never entertained the possibility of the counterplan.
5. My weakness as a judge is my ability to flow very quick technical debates. This is particularly true for theory debates that occasionally evolve into a string of unsupported claims with very little engagement with the opposition’s args. Please keep in mind that cards provide enough pen time for judges to catch up even when they miss an arg. We do not have that luxury with theory debates. This also tends to happen in the 2ac on the case. I am a huge fan of efficiency. However, there are some forms of embedded clash that has has made it extremely difficult for judges (at least this one) to follow.
I tend to make up for this shortcoming by paying close attention to every aspect of every debate judge, staying on top of the evolution of a topic and having a pretty decent memory of things even when I fail to write to them. I will put in as much work listening and evaluating your arguments as you put in preparing and delivering them.
I will not vote on evidence/arguments I do not have explicitly extended through the block and contextualized in some way. This tends to hurt some hyper technical tag-liney debaters.
Specifics
KRS-One (South Bronx) “Many people tell me this style is terrific/It is kinda different, but let’s get specific.”
KRS-One (Step Into A World) I'm 'bout to hit you wit that traditional style of cold rockin' / Givin' options for head knockin' non stoppin' / Tip-toppin' lyrics we droppin' but styles can be forgotten
Topicality
1. Topic anarchy is unproductive. I truly believe we need some stasis in order to have a productive conversation. To be honest, I am not sure if that means you have to defend the state or you gotta have a plan. However, I do believe that it is much easier to encourage a clash of ideas when those things are present. Debates can’t happen unless the AFF is willing to defend something.
2. The most limiting interpretation is rarely the best. I can be easily persuaded that a larger topic is better because it incentivizes AFF creativity while preserving core Neg ground. Far to often the AFF fails to push back on the limits debate and allows topicality to be a referendum on which team has the most limiting interpretation.
3. Topicality is about guiding future research endeavors. That makes source qualification an important aspect of the discussion. Who is defining and for what purpose is worth evaluating.
4. I tend to lean towards “competitive interpretations” over “reasonability” because it feels less interventionists. However, I think there are ways to craft “reasonability” arguments to change the direction arrow on this.
Counterplans
1. I find some theory objections more persuasive than others. It is hard for me to get overly excited about counterplan status debates. While I have and will vote on conditionality, I just don’t consider it that great of an offense when there is only one counterplan. I have some concern about multiple conditional counterplans because of their ability to pervert 2ac strategic choices. It is such a rare occasion that a debate was improved with the addition of a 2nd or 3rd counterplan. I will go on record to say that I have never seen a debate with multiple CPs that would not have been improved by reducing the number of CPs to 1.
2. I think counterplans that compete by excluding a part of the plan text is good for debate. They encourage both the AFF and the NEG to research topic mechanism instead of focusing on impact debates that rarely change from one topic to the next. They also create opportunities for a more nuanced impact framing that is not oriented towards maximizing one’s magnitude.
3. I think Perm “Do the CP” is persuasive against counterplans that compete off of things that are not written in the plan. Neg research that supports the necessity of a particular action to do the plan will resolve this debate in their favor. However, the bar is one of necessity and not possibility.
4. I am not a big fan of States or International Actor CPs. They have each effectively narrowed the range of AFFs we can talk about to those that access US hegemony or a set of actions that can only be formed by the military. I am occasionally persuaded by the arg that they are necessary to functionally limit the size of the topic. Aff should keep in mind that topicality exist for that same reason.
5. We need to do a better job telling judges what to do with theory objections. The statement “vote against the arg – not the team” is not an argument. It is claim. Teams need to be more aggressive about telling me the impact of my decision in either direction.
6. My default is to stick the Neg with the CP if go for it in the 2nr. I do not think it is fair to force the 2ar to have to do impact assessment for a world that includes the counterplan and one that doesn’t. The “judge kick” model discourages the 2n from making choices, discourages the development of a coherent 2nr based on that choice and undermines the ability for the 2ar to properly compare relevant impacts.
7. I am starting to toy around with the notion that the AFF should be able to advocate permutations to compensate for the multitude of CP options we have created for the Neg. AFF needs to more creative. The vast majority of argument innovation since I have been around has occurred on the negative.
Critiques
1. The more germane you can make this set of arguments the better. The major problem is that I rarely find the grand sweeping totalizing claims of inevitability and the necessity of radical response to social problems persuasive. I am quite suspicious of claims that are grounded in an indictment of “all” or “every.” I tend to opt for permutations that prove that the AFFs reformist pursuits are in the same direction as the alternative.
2. 2. What is that alt again? I would be a much better judge for the neg if I understood what the alt was and its functionality. AFFs that exploit this weakness by carving out solvency deficits for the case impacts and the squo tend to win these debates. The best 2As highlight the internal links to the advantages and identify those as reasons the Alt can’t solve.
3. The Neg would get much more mileage with this category of arguments if they treated them like ethics/ontology/method DAs with an impact that was more important than the AFF utilitarian impacts. Many will think that is overly simplistic. Keep in mind that I spend most of my life thinking that I am a simple man living in an overly complicated world.
4. 4. The Aff is too dependent on framework args. The plea to weigh the 1ac is not a substitute for engaging the criticism. I kinda agree with the Neg that Aff framework args are arbitrary in their self-importance and exclusion of the Negs link args. A little research on the educational value of talking about your AFF gets you to the same place without appearing dogmatic.
5. The most persuasive critiques are those that challenge the way the 1ac encourages us to understand others and ourselves. They challenge the pedagogical force of the 1ac. These types of arguments are appealing to Ed Lee, the teacher.
Disadvantage
1. My general dispossession is that most impact claims are highly unlikely and the block gives the negative a structural advantage in the competition of lies. All other things being equal, I think a DA+Case strategy is the best path to victory. Keep in mind that the amount of DA you need to win is directly related to the amount of the case that the AFF is winning. You don’t have to win much of your DA if you are sufficiently beating up the case.
2. I believe uniqueness operates on a continuum where the terminal impact of the DA is more or less likely to occur in the squo. Both sides should be more sophisticated in assessing the probability of whether or not the impact will happen and why gradual shifts along the continuum are worthy of a judge’s evaluation.
3. “Turns the case” rarely means turns the case. Neg usually has uniqueness issues with winning this line of arument. A better direction to go in is to explain why the DA impact short-circuits the ability of the Aff to solve the advantage. It gets you to the same place and doesn’t have the uniqueness burden.
4. 2a should invest more time in reading the Negs DA ev. There are usually a goldmine of alt causalities, uniqueness args and impact takeouts. This is a place where you can get a lot of mileage out of witty analytics. I am wmore than willing to vote unevidenced assessment. Don’t just read. Debate.
5. Don’t ignore the internal link debate. Most debates seem to boil down to a limited number of impacts – Hegemony, Trade, Climate, Economy. The better teams will invest time winning that they have a stronger internal link to these impacts then their opposition.
6. 1nc should generate some offense on the case. Impact turns are useful because they force the 2a to read ev on the case and you usually have a counterplan (or 2) that makes this a risk free proposition for you.
Speaker Points
KRS-One (Tears) While you lay the flowers on the grave, let's talk about how you behave. Do you come out the neighborhood or out of the cave?
KRS-One (Health, Wealth, And Self) I'll give you the gift, but use the gift to uplift.
Criteria - Things I Like and will give the gift of points
I will start this discussion by identifying some of the styles/skills I like and tend to reward with high speaker points. It is easier for me to talk about specific people. Some of these folks are still in our community. Others you may find some videos of. All were exemplary in one form or another of what I think great debaters do and what I want to honor them with high speaker points.
Kacey Wolmers (Emory) – Fast, technical and clear. I actually find some beauty in this presentational style. Her 1ncs were artwork. I must emphasize the clarity component. She was one of the few extremely fast debaters that I had no problem following. That had a lot to do with her clarity. She also made arguments and not a random assertion of claims.
Martin Osborn (Missouri State) – Efficient and driven. Martin is a testament to fact that you don’t have to choose between being fast or being a "policy" debater. He was one of the most efficient debaters I ever judged with superb in-round argument selection skills. Words were never wasted and he rarely extended an argument in the final two rebuttals that were not necessary.
Julie Hoehn (Emory) – Dedication to preparation. I never judged Julie. I was her coach. However, I saw how her dedication to prepare won numerous debates. It created a situational awareness that was vast superior to most. Julie was rarely caught off guard and it never happen twice. She had the capacity to quickly diagnose and dismiss trivial and inconsequential arguments.
Gabe Murillo (Wayne State) – Argument Explanation. Some people ask me how they can get me to vote on critiques. I tell them to debate like Gabe. I know very little about most of his arguments. However, Gabe was fantastic at identifying my limitations and biases and developing argument strategies that resolve them. I distinctly remember the times that I voted against him and the post-round being a series of questions about repackaging the argument and ways to alter phrases. Gabe was constantly trying to figure out ways to connect with me as a judge. That was true even he disagreed with my decisions. Most people would be extremely shocked by how often I voted for him.
Naveen Ramachandrappa (UGA) – Research. The stories about his evidence production are absurd. Talk to Hays Watson about it. Much more impressive was that he demonstrated it debate. Naveen was a master at debating evidence and not just reading it. He understood not only the strength and weaknesses of his evidence but his opponents.
Seth Gannon (Wake) – Humor. Humor can stand in for any gift of persuasion you have. Be yourself. Have fun. I never judged Seth and didn’t look like he was having fun. Even during the stressful final round of the NDT, he looked like he enjoyed being there. That makes judging so much easier and pleasurable. The judge is your audience. Connect with them.
Debbie Lai & Varsha Ramakrishnan (Michigan State) - Hard workers. This is my favorite debate team of all time. They were two regional debaters who worked hard to become the best debaters they could be. It was and honor and pleasure to watch them growth and develop. I wanted to vote for them. They were not a first round team and didn’t clear at the NDT. However, they had a genuine love for the activity and were willing to invest a tremendous amount of time an energy to get better even though the odds were long and they started college debate at an experience deficit. I look forward to rewarding those who work hard and value the process.
Criteria - Things I don’t like and will reduce points
I implore you hold Emory’s debaters to the same standard. They should be expected to play fair, be clear and conduct themselves with respect and humility even if you don’t expect it from other debaters. Help me help them to be better people and debaters.
Cheating – Cross-reading, card-clipping, using disclosure/speech doc to gain an fair advantage. Your honor and integrity is far more valuable than winning the game. I don’t play games with cheaters and I will not reward them. I am a guardian of the integrity of this activity and will not wait for others to ask me to perform that role.
Lack of clarity – This is a communication activity. If I don’t understand it, I will not evaluate it. I don’t like the model of debate where students incomprehensibly read at me and then ask me to read a litany of cards after the round to determine who wins. Debate. Persuade. Analysze. Don’t just read.
Creating a hostile environment – Respect is a non-negotiable for me. It always has been. It is the primary reason I go out of my way to be civil and cordial to everyone I interact with. I know that there is no chance that we will have a productive conversation unless you are willing to speak to me in a way that acknowledges my humanity. I not only have that expectation for the way you communicate with me but the way you communicate with each other. It is not healthy for me or anyone else in the room to watch you verbally assaulting your opponent. If you are engaging your opponent in a way that you would not if you were in front of one of your professors or the president of your university then you should not do it in front of me. I am more than willing to have a conversation with anyone about where this line should be drawn. That conversation is long overdue.
My scale
I will the scale established by the tournament. Grandma taught me to never show up to someone's home and not eat the casserole. that's just rude.
29.6 -30: I think you are debating like a Top 10 debater at a national tournament.
29.3 – 29.5: I think you are debating like an Octos debater at a national tournament
28.8 – 29.2: I think you are debating like a 5-3 double octofinalist
28.5 – 28.7: Debating like you are 4-4 and on the verge of clearing at a national tournament
28 – 28.4: You are working to get better
Revised 2-16-94
NAME __Ed Lee_____________________ INSTITUTION __University of Alabama ___
POSITION _Director of Debate ___ YEARS OF COACHING ___5__________
NUMBER OF TOURNAMENTS THIS YEAR ___10____________________
I am a very flexible critic. Win a link and explain why the impact is more important than what the other team is winning. This holds true
regardless of what artificial box we decide to place the argument in - harms, critiques, disads, and theory.
Topicality
I consider topicality to be a discussion about the best way to interpret the resolution so that we create the fairest debates possible. I think about
topicality the same way I think about a plan vs. counterplan debate. Each side needs to explicitly discuss the benefits of their interpretation that
can not be co-opted by the counter interpretation.
Counterplans
Solve for the case harms and win a disad. It sounds like a decent strategy to me. Affirmative needs to offensive in this debate. It is more likely
that I will vote on a disad to the counterplan than theory. Don't take that to mean that you can't win the counterplan theory debate in front of me.
I think this statement stems from the difficulties I some times have flowing quick blippy theory arguments. (Bydaway: Tell me what you want
me to do if you when the theory debate and why. My default is that the line of argument should be evaluated. Winning theory is not an
automatic victory.) Not only are grounded claims easier to flow but they make better arguments. The best affirmative theory arguments use the
negative’s stance to justify a set of affirmative offensive arguments. I operate under the assumption that the negative must make a choice
between advocating the status quo and or the counterplan(s) in the 2NR. I think that it is your argumentative responsibility to stabilize your
position of inquiry.
Disadvantages
I do not believe in the risk of a link. One must first win a link and risk assessments are made when evaluating the probability of the impacts.
Critiques
What is the link and why is it more important than the affirmative? Why does it doom the entire affirmative's project (plan) just because one
piece of evidence uses “nuclear” “terrorism” etc? The affirmative should force the negative to articulate how the criticism interacts with the
1AC and why it is wholly cooptive. The negative needs to be explicit about the opportunity costs of not voting for the criticism. At times, I am
at a lost for what the impact is to the criticism even after the 2NR.
Affirmative needs to be more offensive at the impact level of these debates. Unlike disads, I think that the negative has an advantage at the link
level of this debate and the best Affirmative attacks come at the impact level. The most persuasive 2ACs have been those who turned the
alternative, counter-critiqued, and been generally offensive.
Speaker points
CX should be used for more than gathering cards and talking about tidbits of nothingness. CX is a powerful tool that can be used to setup future
arguments and provide the critic with a filter for evaluating the debate. I listen to CX.
My average speaker points are between 26-27. 28 is reserved for those performances that "wow" me. These debaters are usually able to make
my decision easy even when there are no conceded voting issues. Arguments no longer exist as disparate, isolated blocks on a sheet of paper
but live and interact. 28s are able to competently discuss argument relationships and consistently make link and impact comparisons. 29s are
performances of brilliance. It is a presentation that allows me to forget that I am judging a debate round. The presenter is on and everyone
knows it. I think that it is a measurement of near-perfection that I reserve for only the most amazing speeches. A 30 allows me to temporarily
forget that another speech in the round was worthy of a 28 or 29.
ed lee
Director of Debate
Alabama Forensics Council
University of Alabama
bamadebate@yahoo.com
michaellee32164 (at) gmail (dot) com; add me to the email chain
Northwestern, Middleton
Average 28.5 speaks, mostly within 27.7-29.3
CX:
* Neutral, very few strong beliefs on debate arguments
* Please say more than three words on 2AC perm arguments
* I am not accustomed to arguments based on psychoanalysis or postmodernism
PF:
Technical line by line ------x-------------------overviews/"narrative debate"
Old is gold --------------------------x-------surprise me
Policy arguments (k, cp, impact turns) -------x-------- normal PF arguments
LD cringe (tricks, rvis, dumb theory, etc.) --------------------x- anything else
Few arguments with well explained warrants -x---------- blips/only saying "they drop x"
Clarity over speed-x----------------------what did you expect
Cutting your own cards -x---------------------- frankensteining something from opencaselist
More cards good ---------------------x-------- long cards good
Not stealing prep -x--------------------------being a cheater
Not deleting caselist entries -x----------------being a coward
2nd case must respond to 1st case -------------x-don't have to do that
2nd rebuttal must respond to 1st rebuttal -x----------don't have to do that
Proper round reports -x------------------------"same as round X os"
".pdf"-----------------------------------x- ".docx"
Using verbatim properly -x---------------------please learn how to use verbatim properly
paraphrasing + cut cards------------x------------only cut cards
We’re here to make friends-----------------x------paint the walls red
Asking questions after round -x--------------- leaving the room asap
I have judged several years for speech events and believe speech and debate is a great platform for students of all level to participate and benefit from it. Since our competitors have worked hard to share their performance with us, I try to also share something useful for them to takeaway with them when I write my ballot.
Former HS Policy and NDT debater.
But, it has been a long time....
- Tabula rasa, if that is still a thing. Open to all lines of argumentation, but please tell me why I should care.
- Very rusty flowing, but should be able to keep up. Most important is that you speak clearly to help me follow your speech.
- Have fun, but please be respectful. Debate is not an excuse to be rude.
This is my fourth time judging. I am an amateur volunteer judge (aka someone's mom). I prefer the talking at a moderate to slow pace so I can understand and flow. I also value respectful discourse from both teams.
Competitors must speak clearly: volume, speed, and defined content. Spreading will result in deductions.
I am a judge for IE. My background is as faculty at various universities providing mentoring to Capstone and thesis graduate students who present their scholarly projects and research information.
I stay faithful to the judging criteria for content and relevance. Even if you are an animated and a well poised speaker, if you lack content or do not adequately develop and organize your information, my judging will reflect that you did not meet the criteria established. Conversely, a speaker who may not have the best presence but has great content will rank higher than a good verbal talker without good context. You will not get first if you go over the time limit and the established grace period.
Please let me know what type of hand signals you wish to have to help you with managing your time.
Thank you for the privilege of hearing you speak.
I have been a coach for about 16 years, working with students in all forms of speech and debate. As an educator, I see my role as a judge in helping you grow.
I usually inform competitors that I can handle just about anything that they wish to try in a round. I have an open mind and have seen just about everything as a coach and a judge. I don't have strong opinions on what debate should be, other than the guidelines provided by the rules for each event. I want you to explain why you should win the round based on the approach to arguing your position that you have chosen.
That being said, I do prefer certain stylistic techniques. Maintain a moderate speed when speaking. If I can't process your argument, it likely won't have much of an impact in my decision. Demonstrate camaraderie with your partner in PF and Parli and politeness toward your opponents, especially during cross. Emphasize the connections within your argument and show how your framework links to your contentions. Provide abundant examples and evidence. As you are wrapping up the round, show clear reasons to vote for your side. Please focus more on the arguments than on why your opponent violated some fundamental rule of debate.
I will not punish you through speaker points. Extremely low scores are only reserved for rude or inappropriate behavior.
Good luck in your round!
I am a 4-year LD debater and a 9-year debate coach. In Lincoln Douglas debate I believe in traditional debating (less policy), but I will vote for a K if done correctly. However, this is a value-based debate and excessive stats/evidence will not be weighed more than value; value and value criterion are essential. Also, off-the-clock roadmaps are not necessary, unless doing something from tradition.
If you use speech drop or you have an email chain (adamlevanger@gmail.com), adamlevanger@gmail.com.
My background: I have been involved in debate for a couple of years but am not an experienced or technical judge. I am a lay judge with a growing understanding of things...I almost know enough to be dangerous but sincerely try to stay in my lane. Clear sign-posting please. I will flow. I appreciate moderate speed but can deal with speed if I have access to the evidence.
Aff: I think Policy Aff's make the most sense and have a harder time with K-Aff's, although I have voted for K's. I prefer a strong, easy to follow link chain. Please explain arguments and impacts clearly. I have a preference for realistic impacts, but if your links makes sense, go for it. Sign-post strongly for me please.
Neg:
Topicality/theory: Make sure you have a clear interpretation and violation and link strongly to why it's un-topical.
Disadvantages: Prefer they link and have clear impacts.
Counterplans: Prefer if mutually exclusive and can solve for Aff and Neg impacts.
Kritiks: Not a huge fan.
Thank you!
David Levin
he/him/his
Email chain: davidlevindebate[AT]gmail.com
Current Affiliations: Speyer School; Berkeley Carroll
Previous Affiliations: St. Luke's: 2022-24 [Conflict]; Success Academy Charter Schools: 2019-20; Bronx Science: 2018-19
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Top-Level Expectations:
-Be decent to one another
-Be ready to debate at the start time, including an email chain/speechdrop
-(Online) - sound check before round, and check to make sure we're all ready before you start your speech
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LD:
~90% of my judging has been for Policy and PF.
-I like critical arguments, and policy arguments a close second.
-Phil is pretty new to me - I can't say I fully get it yet, but if it's your bread-and-butter strat, run with it. You'll benefit from slowing down and over-explaining.
-I'm not a fan of tricks, but it's your debate, not mine! I'll do my best to keep up, but I can't vote for an argument I don't understand by the end of the round.
-I've found LD to be more interpersonally prickly/uncomfortable than team debates. Lower the temperature. Be nice. Have some fun.
-Speed is fine but slow down for the start of your speeches, tags, and signposting between arguments. Neither of us want me to miss what you're saying, so help me help you. Once you're into the internals of the card, I am much more permissive.
-If you're going to spread analytics, it is in your best interest to send them in the doc. I won't consciously punish you if you don't, but I may inadvertently punish you if I miss a key warrant because you zipped through it.
-I will never "eval" after any speech besides the 2AR, save for clipping or safety concerns.
-Quality > Quantity for off-case! More than 4-off runs the risk of my flow becoming disorganized. While I am sympathetic to Condo Bad as an argument, I would strongly prefer not having to decide rounds on it.
-I prefer that you don't read frivolous theory arguments. Disclosure theory is not frivolous.
-Speaker Points:
30: You were an astounding speaker and strategist, while demonstrating tact, grace, and good humor through your presence in the round. Your performance represented debate at its best.
29.5-29.9: You sincerely impressed me. You spoke well, and executed your strategy nearly flawlessly with no stone left unturned. I will tell my own students about your performance.
29.1-29.4: Very strong performance; What I'd expect of a 5-1 or 6-0 debater.
28.7-29: Well done; What I'd expect of a 4-2 debater.
28.4-28.6: Default; I'd generally expect you to go 3-3, give or take.
27-28.3: Varying degrees of gaps to fill - keep pushing!
<27: Something happened which warrants a conversation/intervention with your coach
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Policy:
-I have a bit lower speed threshold than a lot of circuit policy judges. Start your speeches a bit slower to let me get acclimated to your voice/speed. Me "clearing" you wont affect your speaker points, but it could affect what i'm able to get on my flow.
-I have done very little research on the topic - keep this in mind for acronyms, terms of art, and normal means arguments.
-Clash > Ground > Limits > Predictability
-"Fairness" and "Education" are relatively squishy terms, and I've enjoyed rounds where those terms becomes objects of the debate.
-My favorite K affs have had some degree of relevance to the resolution, whether implicit or explicit. This fact is descriptive, not prescriptive.
-I thoroughly enjoy a good (i.e. well-organized) T debate. I especially enjoy competing interpretations on the substance of the resolution (words other than "Resolved:" and "USFG").
-Quality over quantity for off-case. 4-off is my general threshold for keeping a good flow these days - the cleaner I flow the more effectively i can adjudicate.
-If it happens, so be it, but I'd rather not decide debates on condo.
-Generally, no RVIs.
-Kritiks - I have at least a surface knowledge of most of the popular literature bases. If you're reading something more niche, give me some more explanatory depth. I love when debaters teach me something new!
-Process counterplans aren't cheating, but that doesn't mean they're good.
-Perms are tests of competition.
-I miss A-Spec. (That does not necessarily mean it's a good argument, just a happy nostalgia trigger for me)
-I love judge instruction - write my ballot in the 2N/AR.
-Signpost, Signpost, Signpost!
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Public Forum:
-Speed is fine if you're clear and loud
-Collapse on the argument you want written on my ballot
-Kicking an argument is distinct from not addressing an argument
-Weigh links, especially with similar terminal impacts
-Presumption defaults to the side closest to the status quo
-I flow each contention separately - keep that in mind for road maps/signposting
-Kritik and FW/T debates are my favorites - if you want feedback on a critical argument, I'm a good judge for you
-This trend of having a sentence on the wiki serve as "terminal defense" against theory is silly. if you're thinking about theory enough to have a blurb about it on your wiki, I expect you've thought about it enough to have substantive responses
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In Public Forum and Extemp: I value delivery & analysis supported by evidence from credible sources. I want to know the significance of your topic and what are the impacts of your arguments, tell me why it matters. I can't vote for points and impacts I can't hear or understand, so slow up for key points and explain them clearly. Understand that you are Debating not Arguing, this is an important distinction that must be known by each debater!
In Congressional Debate: I value the natural delivery of points and impacts and reasonable positions. I look for acknowledgment of prior speakers' points and clash leading to good argumentation and refutation, and for purposeful questioning leading to clarity, understanding, or insight. A lack of clash is frowned upon. Knowledge of and adherence to Parliamentary Procedure is expected in the chamber. Skillful Presiding Officers make sessions a positive experience for all and will be ranked accordingly.
In Oratory, Info, and Impromptu: I value your originality, creativity, and persuasive presentation of ideas of personal importance. Cite your sources, explain their importance, and tell me why it matters.
In DI, HI, DUO, Poetry, and Prose: It is crucial that you tell a story in a meaningful and impactful manner. Characterization, gestures and facial expressions, and, vocal variation will all add to the overall decision. Along, with the dramatic structure of the piece and mindful storytelling!
Overall speaking skills or/and argumentation are critical to winning! But remember the most important thing is that you learn!
Spoken Word: It is crucial that you tell a story in a meaningful and impactful manner. Characterization, gestures and facial expressions, and, vocal variation will all add to the overall decision. Along, with the dramatic structure, organization, clear theme, and mindful storytelling!
I am a lay judge. I tend to give high speaker points unless I see that you are being rude/disrepectful to other opponents.
Email: donaldli88@hotmail.com
Lay judge, first tournament, please do not use heavy debate jargon.
Spreading: please do not speak too fast. I can follow a conversational pace.
Prog elements: I do not understand progressive debate.
Timing: I will time for debaters, but they should time themselves as well. I will call time after a 10s grace period.
Evaluation: Most of the times truth>tech, will evaluate based on basic rules (like if it is brought up I will evaluate it) but will not vote on clearly unbased arguments. I also believe that reasoning is important during debate
Defaults: If both sides are even or close at the end of the round, I will default neg (status quo) because they are at a disadvantage during this topic (organic agriculture)
Prep: 3 minutes, both sides
RFD: I will not give a vocal RFD, I will write it in my ballot
TLDR: my paradigm is intended to
a) facilitate a fair debate and actively intervene against slime like making new arguments in the last speech, forcing progressive debate on unprepared teams, and misconstruing evidence.
b) emphasize the importance of preparation, research, and evidence interpretation.
c) encourage pre-round agreements between debaters in order to improve the quality of the round.
I’ve debated a mix of public forum and policy in high school and have judged PF, LD, and CX (not recently tho so explain everything pls ty) for a long, long time. I will occasionally coach one really strong PF partnership. Please mention the credentials and methodology for your evidence! If you do not explain why your numbers are true, I will not grant you the statistic. I don't care what evidence is there, I care about causality, confidence, and proof beyond reasonable doubt. Without empirical proof, your warrants are just claims.
At National Tournaments: please flash or email chain your cards to me and your opponents:
frankielidc [at] gmail.com
In PF I value truth >= tech and am neither a tabula-rasa judge nor a traditional judge. As long as the opposing team agrees before round, read whatever you want. In LD and CX I am tabula-rasa (I don't prep the topics for these formats anyways) with exceptions: no RVIs unless it is frivolous, I'm not experienced judging non-topical affs, I don't like listening to extinction level impacts but will vote on it, and I evaluate Theory above Ks unless the K interacts with our concepts of debate, fairness, education, or competition.
I am impartial to speed in most cases but will say "Clear" if it is difficult to understand and "Louder" if it is too quiet. Please don't spread faster than 300 wpm, flash or email the doc and please slow down at important taglines.
PF Specific: Unless the rebuttal is a stomp, the round is almost always determined in summary. I will grant sticky defense in first summary, unless it’s terminal. Second summary needs to extend defense if they want it in FF. All offense arguments in FF must have already been in Summary. No need to extend cards for impacts in Summaries, but you must weigh. I like line-by-line. If for some reason the running late and flagged by Tabroom, I will evaluate the Summaries to determine the round. This implies that you aren't forced to frontline in second rebuttal.
If you read anything new in second FF, I will drop you with the lowest speaker points. If there was a new argument in first FF, I will drop them with the lowest speaker points. A quick "z is new in FF" will make it easier for me to identify it. If both teams do it, I'll judge based on other parts of the round and just dock speaks.
You can loosely abstract that out to the other speeches in other debate events for my preferences there--just ask a question anytime during the round if you are unsure!
Citing Cards: Citing the affiliated organization or academic journal > a random last name. If you aren't reading a peer-reviewed study from a journal, government agency, or educational institution, I'm probably not writing that card down. I don't mind paraphrasing, but you leave the interpretation of the evidence up to me. I will call cards out of interest and I will drop teams based on NSDA evidence rules.
Calling Cards: If you enter "it says x; no it says y" over the specifics of a piece of evidence, you're wasting time in the debate. Call the card, say the indictment in a speech and request that I call the card myself. After this is mentioned, the evidence should not be contested anymore in the round and I will consider it credible until I have looked over it after the round and decided for myself on the relevance of the evidence. In addition, unless you specify, I will choose whether the indict drops the argument, evidence, or team. Telling me how to vote off of subtleties in evidence makes it so much easier for me.
If a card is called during the round, please don’t prep until the other team receives the card. If you're giving the evidence, please don't stand by your opponents' desk awkwardly...
Please time yourself and use the honor system. Please don’t communicate with anyone outside the round or spread without letting everyone else know before the round.
I will disclose after round with an RFD if time allows. I can give individual feedback as well after the round by email or if you track me down.
TOC update: If you read disclosure or paraphrase theory [especially given what I said about consent between both teams] I will automatically drop you with lowest speaker points and end the round.
Less serious stuff:
PLEASE interrupt your opponent in crossfire when appropriate with a quick statement or brief question. It isn't a 3 minute speech, just don't be excessive and don't raise your volume.
If your opponent doesn't know an answer to your question in cx or crossfire, don't move on. Let them stew in silence >:)
Don't say "Outweigh on scope, we have the largest number in the round."
On topics where I am actually coaching a partnership, I will know every single study back-to-front on the topic.
If you read a turn, bonus speaks if you physically turn around during the speech.
No off-time roadmaps. We all know you're trying to compose yourself before the speech.
If you define every word in a resolution, your speaks will drop by the number of words in the resolution.
Bonus speaks if you show off mental math and it's correct. If you're incorrect, I'll deduct speaks.
Down to listen to fun cases if you know you're not advancing to out-rounds.
3 "Clears" and you're out!
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Contention 2 is Drowning in Debt:
In states without right-to-work laws, companies anticipate demands from union negotiations and naturally increase their financial leverage, which the Corporate Finance Institute ‘22 defines as the amount of debt used to pay for a company’s expenses. This happens for two reasons:
First is To Limit Union Demands. Deere of the Quarterly Journal of Economics warrants, a union can demand no more than the value of future revenues. By borrowing money, a firm must pay the creditors and shareholders a portion of future revenues first. That’s why shareholders prefer unionized firms that use financial leverage.
Second is To End The Negotiations. Bronars of the Quarterly Journal of Economics explains what happens when a union doesn’t back down. As debt rises, the firm declares bankruptcy, forcing the union to now bargain with the creditors, who could simply replace the union with nonunion labor and restart the firm.
For these two reasons, Dalia of ISU ‘15 empirically concludes, a 0.1 percent increase in the probability of unionization increases a company’s debt by one million dollars and increases its debt-to-equity ratio by 12.3 percent. This relationship only exists in states without right-to-work laws as Chava continues, firms immediately decrease leverage within one year of right-to-work’s implementation. Thus, Dalia furthers, firms in right-to-work states use 13 percent less leverage than firms in non-right-to-work states.
The impact is a financial catastrophe. Debt quickly piles up as Patti of the Italian Economic Journal ‘14 quantifies, a 10 percent increase in leverage raises the probability of default by 6 percent. Disastrously, Campello of the Review of Financial Studies ‘17 reports, each bankruptcy of a highly unionized firm costs an additional $343 million to the firm and $51 million to shareholders. After the dust settles, Dalia concludes, firms in non-right-to-work states underperform by 9.5 percent each year.
We urge a negative ballot.
I am a parent judge. Please talk slow. I value clarity of argument and logic flow. I will not understand any debate jargon. Please do not use it.
For congressional debate judging, I would pay attention to the contents, the logics of evidence and how it supports the argument. In later rounds of delivery, I am emphasized on rebuttal to previous representatives, which is critical as we are in a congress debate. Most importantly, please enjoy your debate!
You have worked hard. Now is your time to shine.
Interp: I have been teaching speech for 8 years; and teaching, directing, and performing theatre for over 40 years. I know an engaging, well-rehearsed performance when I see it. I will give you the kind of quality feedback I give to my own Interp students.
I am looking for clear characterization(s) both physically and vocally. Establish setting with blocking and business. Pantomime should be realistic and establish object permanence.(ex: a glass of water must be picked up and put down while maintaining a consistent shape and size. Refrigerators don't move unless the character moves them as part of the performance.)
Every performance must tell a story. You must convey the who, what, when, where, and why. Emotion is borne out of action.
Drama is is not all screaming and crying. Pauses and soft spoken words can often covey far more than NOISE. Please, don't play the end of your piece at the beginning in terms of objectives and emotion.
Great acting may boost your rank, but I must understand what is happening and why. The performance must tell a story to receive a high rank in the round. Show that you have chosen material that is meaningful to you and with which you have a connection.
Humor arises from a character's total commitment to and belief in what they are doing and what is happening. Never TRY to be funny. It doesn't come off as humorous or believable. The absurdity of a situation should be evident to the audience, not the character. That's true comedy.
Most importantly, I want to be moved and entertained. Nothing is more thrilling than witnessing a great performance.
Please, let me know what time signals you prefer.
I truly appreciate all of the time and effort you put into preparing for these tournaments. Break a leg!
Debate: Please, make it clear to me what is happening. My audio processing issue makes it difficult to comprehend 350 wpm spreading. If I cannot understand you, I cannot flow the round. I can't tell if you are making a good case or argument. I have judged too many debaters who have ignored this part of my paradigm, and I am left HOPING that I have chosen the winning side.
I am a 6th year coach who knows enough about LD, PF, and Congress to judge, but I am not a seasoned veteran. I teach speech and interp as well, so I KNOW about speaker points.
Simply because "everyone" in the debate world knows a term's meaning, doesn't mean your judge knows it. Ex: Flow that through to the neg/aff, structural violence, disad, block, kritik, voters, etc. (I know what these mean, but most lay judges do not).
I prefer to judge a debate that is won on your skills as a debater rather than running a theory shell. Show me what you know about DEBATE. I'm not a big fan of kritiks.
If you want to ensure a fair decision, you must give VOTERS. That helps me make sense of my flow.
I am a parent judge, speak slowly and clearly and explain all your arguments efficiently. Avoid using debate jargon.
Important:
Evidence: 8
Analysis:8
Clash:7
Question:7
Extempore:9
Delivery:9
Persona:1
Atiitute:5
Even though debate is different from speech competition. But making a good speech always makes your opinion stronger.
I am looking for clear and well-paced speech, structural narration and well labelled claims and warrants.
Respect, professionalism, real knowledge and true confidence reflect my style. I will not reveal winners at the end of a round. My judging is fair and unbiased. If you are rude during the round that will be considered unprofessional. Respect for your opponent is a factor in my decision making. Seeking opinions from me after the round will not be given.
Debate is an exercise of exchanged ideas and philosophy to inform, persuade and compellingly lead the audience or opponent to the truth or their truth.
I am a parent judge, however I will flow. I recommend you consider me more of a flay judge. Slow down and speak clearly. Focus on a small number of well-supported arguments about what matters most, rather than trying to cram a long list of peripheral matters into the short time you have available. In other words, please do not spread.
While it's good to cite sources, I have not read your cards and prefer a logical argument to a blizzard of sources. If you extend a card in the back half, explain what it said. I may not remember based solely on the author's last name.
Feel free to stand or sit, but please don't stand awkwardly stooped over your laptop.
I am unfamiliar with progressive arguments. Please strike me if you plan to run theory or kritiks.
As a judge, my priority is to evaluate the debaters in front of me as fairly as possible, regardless of personal beliefs. I have experience with LD, PF, and Congress. You may choose Trad or Tech just be reasonable and if you plan on speaking over 250wpm+, you should send a speech doc to ensure all points are evaluated.
I have three absolute rules for round:
1. Do not be condescending /disrespectful to your opponent(s) unless you feel like losing speaks and possibly the round. Passion and energy are great, disrespect is not.
2. Do not misrepresent/power-tag your evidence. You will lose the point and possibly the round, depending on the severity. This includes misusing, statistics.
3. Do not mischaracterize your opponents arguments or actions in round. Ex: insisting they dropped arguments they clearly addressed. You are welcome to tell me when you believe an argument should flow to you, although I may not agree.
I have no bias regarding theory, K's, ect. that don't break tournament rules. However, you should approach the round as if I know nothing about the argument you are running. That being said, if it doesn't make sense, I will not vote on it, you must prove your argument should win you the round. Ex: Saying your opponents shoes are a voter does not make it so.
Some specific information:
On weighing: I do not automatically way in "layers" or give preference to any specific type of argument, you need to prove that your approach takes priority.
Kritiks: Generally acceptable.
Non-T K's: If you are reading a K that is not topical It needs to be excessively relevant to the round. By that I mean that you telling me that I should vote for you because debate is sexist, will not sway me. However, If your opponent called you a sexist term or used sexist language to undermine you, I will absolutely evaluate a Kritik that concludes your opponent is bad for the Debate space. A topical statistic that you find offensive, is not reasonable ground for the K, facts and logic are critical to a meaningful debate.
Topical K's: I am fine with topical Kritiks, however you must prove that you earned the vote. I'm unbiased, so I'm perfectly comfortable evaluating anything you would like to run, Cap, Anthro, Fem, Pess varieties (I have a very high threshold for link and impact evidence here), and whatever else you can think of. As long as I believe you proved it, and you defend it, it is acceptable.
Note: A large volume of illogical evidence will not outweigh well-reasoned logic.
Theory:
Friv: Do not waste my time with shoe theory, formal dress theory, apple-laptop theory, or any other variation, unless both teams decide they just want to have some fun.
General Theory: For theory to carry a round it needs to outweigh the original purpose of debate. If there is a legitimate offence and you are enriching the round or the debate space by reading the shell, go for it, even if I don't love it, I'm willing to vote on it. You will need to do a lot of work to prove that the offense was egregious enough to warrant me dropping substance on the ballot.
CI: Counter-interps always get offense unless the team reading the shell proves that their opponents were theory-baiting, or does significant work to prove that they should get a 0-risk timesuck for whatever reason they choose. If you are willing to win on the shell, you should be ready to lose on it.
Reasonability: If you prove the offence had no effect on the round, and that you have a bright-line to fairness, I will drop the shell.
Plans: Plans are fine if the rules allow them.
Tricks: I think these de-value debate.
Performances: I have no experience with these, but if you prove its a reason to vote, I'll vote on it.
If you plan on speaking above 200 wpm, you need to send a speech doc 2 minutes before you begin speaking. If you don't, I can't guarantee that I'll catch everything you say and if I don't catch it, I can't judge it.
Please be respectful to myself and your fellow contestants. If not, your speaker points will be docked and you may lose the ballot regardless of arguments made.
I am a traditional parent/judge who votes off the flow, so if you plan on reading progressive arguments, make sure you explain them well.
Offense and Defense is sticky within reason.
This is my third year judging LD as a parent judge. Please add me to the email chain: omicsoft@gmail.com
Preference: Traditional or Policy-oriented arguments > Mainstream Critical=Mainstream Philosophy > Theory > Esoteric concepts that can't be explained fully within the time limits.
I prefer traditional rounds with straightforward weighing and voter issues. I value clear logical connections between your arguments and your impacts. Furthermore, I will not extend anything for you. Please sign post, give an off-time roadmap, and try to stay organized.
Under any/all conditions on a lay circuit:
- No spreading
- No theory
- No tricks
- No spikes
- No Ad Hominem
- No Bigotry/Disrespect
For progressive debaters -
- Limit speed to <250 wpm for ALL your speeches - you don't need to email me your rebuttal speeches.
- DAs/CPs are perfect
- Keep your DAs topical
Good Luck!
My name is Mickey. I'm an English teacher from Taiwan. English is my second language. This means that I will be able to follow what you say, but you should not speak too fast. I do not have much prior debate experience, so you should not assume that I will know what debate jargon means or that I know much about the topic. I like to hear clearly communicated, logical arguments.
Hi y'all! I am a former speech and debater for Bellarmine College Preparatory in the Coast Forensics League. I have finished my undergrad at UC Berkeley, studying Political Science and Philosophy. Although I have done speech for a majority of my four years competing in high school, I have done a year of slow Policy Debate and was a Parliamentary Debater during my senior year of high school. I am now an Interp coach at Bellarmine College Prep and a Parliamentary/Public Forum Debate and Extemp Coach at The Nueva School. These past few years, I have been running Tabrooms at Tournaments as compared to judging. And even if I have been judging, I am almost always in the Speech and Congress judging pool.
The tl;dr: Be clear, concise, and kind during debate. I will listen to and vote on anything GIVEN that I understand it and it's on my flow. Spread and run arguments at your own risk. Evidence and analysis are a must, clash and weigh - treat me as a flay (flow + lay) judge.
If you want more precise information, read the event that you are competing in AND the "Overall Debate Stuff" if you are competing in a Debate.
Table of Contents for this paradigm:
1. Policy Debate
2. Parliamentary Debate
3. Public Forum Debate
4. Lincoln Douglas Debate
5. Overall Debate Stuff (Speed, Theory, K's, Extending Dropped Arguments, etc.)
6. IE's (Because I'm extra!) (Updated on 01/2/2024!)
7. Congress
For POLICY DEBATE:
I feel like I'm more policymaker oriented, although I started learning about Policy Debate from a stock issues lens, and am more than comfortable defaulting to stock issues if that's what y'all prefer. I'm really trying to see whether the plan is a good idea and something that should be passed. Offensive arguments and weighing are key to winning the debate for me. For example, even if the Neg proves to me that the plan triggers a disadvantage and a life threatening impact, if the Aff is able to minimize the impact or explain how the impact pales in comparison to the advantages the plan actually offers, I'd still feel comfortable voting Aff. If asked to evaluate the debate via stock issues, the Neg merely needs to win one stock issue to win the debate.
Evidence and analysis are absolutely crucial, and good analysis can beat bad evidence any day! Evidence and link turns are also great, but make sure that you are absolutely CLEAR about what you are arguing and incredibly explanatory about how this piece of evidence actually supports your argument.
Counterplans - They're great! Just make sure that your plan text is extremely clear. If there are planks, make sure that they are stated clearly so I can get them down on my flow! Make sure that you explain why the CP is to be preferred over the Plan - show how and explain explicitly how you solve and be sure to watch out for any double binds or links to DA's that you may bring up! Counterplans may also be non-topical.
Topicality - Yeah, it's a voting issue. It's the Negative's burden to explain the Affirmative's violation and to provide specific interpretations that the Affirmative needs to adhere to. Further, if T is run, I must evaluate whether the plan is Topical BEFORE I evaluate the rest of the debate.
For Theory, Ks, etc. see the "Overall Debate Stuff" below.
I'm not too up on most arguments on this year's topic, so again, arguments need to be explained clearly and efficiently.
For PARLI DEBATE:
In Parli, I will judge the debate first in terms of the stronger arguments brought up on each side through the framework provided and debated by the AFF (PROP) and the NEG (OPP). If you win framework, I will judge the debate based on YOUR framework. However, just because you win framework, doesn't necessarily mean that you win the round. Your contentions are the main meat of the speeches and all contentions SHOULD support your framework, and should be analyzed and explained as such. If it's a Policy resolution round, I tend to judge by stock issue and DA's/Ad's (see the above Policy Debate paradigm). If a fact or value resolution round, I tend to judge through framework first before evaluating any arguments that come afterwards.
Counterplans - They're great! Just make sure that your plan text is extremely clear. If there are planks, make sure that they are stated clearly so I can get them down on my flow! Make sure that you explain why the CP is to be preferred over the Plan - show how and explain explicitly how you solve and be sure to watch out for any double binds or links to DA's that you may bring up! Counterplans may also be non-topical.
Similar to Policy, by the end of the 1 NR, I should know exactly what arguments you are going for. Voting issues in each of the rebuttals are a MUST! Crystallize the round for me and tell me exactly what I will be voting on at the end of the debate.
In regards to POO's, I do not protect the flow. It is up to YOU to POO your opponents. New arguments that are not POO'd may be factored into my decision if not properly POO'd. POO's should not be abused. Be clear to give me what exactly what the new argument/impact/evidence/etc. is.
I expect everyone to take at least 1-2 POI(s) throughout their speeches. Anything short is low key just rude, especially if your opponent gives you the opportunity to ask questions in their speech. Anything more is a time suck for you. Be strategic and timely about when and how you answer the question.
For PF:
I strongly believe that PF should remain an accessible type of debate for ALL judges. While I do understand and am well versed in more faster/progressive style debate, I would prefer if you slowed down and really took the time to speak to me and not at me. Similar to Policy and Parli, I want arguments to be clearly warranted and substantiated with ample evidence. As the below section explains, I'd much rather have fewer, but more well developed arguments instead of you trying to pack the flow with 10+ arguments that are flaky and unsubstantiated at best.
For PF, I will side to using an Offense/Defense paradigm. I'm really looking for Offense on why your argument matters and really want you to weigh your case against your opponents'. Whoever wins the most arguments at the end of the round may not necessarily win the round, since I think weighing impacts and arguments matters more. Please make sure that you really impact out arguments and really give me a standard or framework to weigh your arguments on! So for example, even if the Pro team wins 3 out of 4 arguments, if the Con is able to show that the one argument that they win clearly outweighs the arguments from the Pro, I may still pick up the Con team on the ballot. WEIGH , WEIGH, WEIGH. I CAN'T EMPHASIZE THIS ENOUGH! Really explain why your impacts and case connect with your framework. Similar to LD, if both teams agree on framework, I'd rather you focus on case debate or add an impact rather than focus on the framework debate. Though if both teams have different frameworks, give me reasons and explain why I should prefer yours over your opponents'.
The second rebuttal should both focus on responding to your opponents' refutations against your own case AND should refute your opponents' case. If you bring up dropped arguments that are not extended throughout the debate in the Final Focus speeches, I will drop those specific arguments. If it's in the Final Focus, it should be in the Final Summary, and if it's in the Final Summary, it should be in Rebuttal. I will consider an argument dropped if it is not responded to by you or your teammate after the rebuttal speeches. For more information regarding extensions, please look at the "Overall Debate Stuff" section of this paradigm.
Please use the Final Focus as a weighing mechanism of why YOUR team wins the round. I'd prefer it to be mainly summarizing your side's points and really bringing the debate to a close.
Most of all, be kind during crossfire.
For Lincoln Douglas Debate:
Similar to PF, while I did not compete in LD, I have judged a few rounds and understand the basics of this debate. I am more old-school in that I believe that LD is something that focuses more on arguing about the morality of affirming or negating the resolution. The Affirmative does not need to argue for a specific plan, rather, just needs to defend the resolution. However, I have judged a handful of fast rounds in LD and do understand more progressive argumentation from Policy Debate. I have also judged policy/plan centered LD rounds.
So there's framework debate and then we get to the main meat with contentions. With the framework debate, I'm open to essentially any Value or V/C that you want to use. If you and your opponent's Value and V/C are different, please provide me reasons why I should prefer your Value and V/C over your opponents. Weigh them against each other and explain to me why you should prefer yours over your opponent's. Please also tie your contentions that you have in the main meat of your speeches back to your Value and V/C. For example (using the anonymous sources resolution from 2018-2019), if you're Neg and your Value is democracy and your V/C is transparency because the more transparent news organizations are the more accountable they can be, your contentions should show me that in the your world, we maximize transparency, which allows for the best democracy. The best cases are ones which are able to link the Value and V/C seamlessly into their contentions.
If you win the framework debate, I will judge the debate based on YOUR framework. However, just because you win framework, doesn't necessarily mean that you win the round. Your contentions are the main meat of the speeches and all contentions SHOULD support your framework, and should be analyzed and explained as such.
If you and your opponent agree with V/C and V, move on. Don't spend extra time on stuff that you can spend elsewhere. Add an impact, add a DA, add an advantage, add a contention, etc.
By the time we get to rebuttals, I should have a decent grasp about what voting issues I will be voting on in the debate. A lot of the 1 AR should really be cleaning up the debate as a whole and weighing responses by the Neg with the Aff case. 1 NR should really spend a lot of time focusing on really summarizing the debate as a whole and should give me specific voting issues that the debate essentially boils down to. Feel free to give voting issues at the end of throughout your speech. They usually help me crystallize how I will be voting.
I usually decide the winner of the debate based on which side best persuades me of their position. While this debater is the one which usually wins the main contentions on each side of the flow, it may not be. I usually think of offense/defense when deciding debates! As a result, please WEIGH the contentions against each other, especially when we get into the rebuttal speeches. Even if you only win one contention, if you are able to effectively weigh it against your opponent's contentions, I will have no issue voting for you. Weigh, weigh, weigh - I cannot emphasize this enough!
***Here's an example of how I decided a round with the Standardized Testing resolution: The AFF's value was morality, defined as what was right and wrong and their V/C was welfare, defined as maximizing the good of all people. The NEG's framework was also morality, defined in the same was as the AFF's but their V/C was fair comparison, defined as equal opportunities regardless of background. Suppose AFF dropped framework, I would then go on to evaluate the debate under the NEG's Value and V/C. AFF had two contentions: 1. Discrimination - Standardized testing increases discrimination towards low income and minority communities, and 2. Curriculum - standardized testing forces teachers to teach outdated information and narrow curriculum thus, decreasing student exposure to social sciences and humanities. NEG had two contentions: 1. GPA Inflation is unfair - standardized testing allows for the fairest comparison between students since GPA could be inflated, and 2. Performance Measurement - the SAT accurately measured academic performance for students. Thus, in making my decision, I would first ask, how do each of the contentions best maximize fair comparison and thus, maximize morality. Then I would go down the flow and decide who won each contention. I do this by asking how each argument and responses functioned in the debate. For example, did the AFF show me that standardized testing discriminates against people of color and low-income households? Or was the NEG able to show that adequate resources devoted to these communities not only raised scores, but also ensured that these communities we better prepared for the exam? Another example, was the NEG able to prove that if colleges no longer accepted standardized testing scores, would grade inflation result in impossible comparisons between students? Or could the AFF prove that grade inflation would not occur and that there would be heavier reliance on essays and not GPA? After deciding who won which contention, I analyze the debate as a whole - Was the GPA contention outweighed by other issues throughout the debate? (ex: Even if NEG won the GPA Contention, did AFF win the other three contentions and prove that the other three contentions outweighed NEG's winning contention? Or if AFF only won one contention, did that ONE contention outweigh any of the other contentions the NEG had?) Ultimately, the winner of the debate is who BEST persuaded me of their side through each of the contentions brought forth in the debate.
I'm also totally fine with policy type arguments in an LD round. However, while I did do a year of slow Policy Debate and feel more comfortable evaluating these type of arguments, I think that Policy and LD Debate are two different events and should thus be treated as such. Unless both debaters are comfortable with running Policy Debate type arguments in round, stick to the more traditional form of debating over the morality of the resolution. If both debaters are fine running more policy type arguments, go for it!
Overall Debate Stuff:
I'm kinda stupid - write my ballot for me. It is your job to help me understand complex arguments, not the other way around. Don't expect me to understand everything if you're spreading through an argument and you can certainly not expect me to vote on an argument that I don't understand. In other words, "you do you", but if it's not on the flow or I don't understand it, I won't vote on it.
Speed - Consider me a slow lay flow judge. While I can handle medium-slow speed, I'd prefer it you just spoke in a conversational manner as if you were talking to your parents at the dinner table. If you want to run a Kritik, Counterplan, Theory, etc. go ahead and do so, just make sure that you say it in a speed I can understand it in. Remember, if you go too fast to the point where I just put my pen down and stop flowing, your arguments aren't making it on my flow and I will not vote on them. I will yell "SLOW" and "CLEAR" a maximum of three combined times in your speech if you are going too fast or I cannot hear/understand you. If you see me put my pen down and stop flowing, you have lost me completely. Moreover, try to avoid using fast debate terminology within the round. I may not be able to understand what you are saying if it all goes over my head.
Truth v. Tech - I feel like I have a very rudimentary understanding of these terms, so if you are a debater who loves running K Arguments, Theory, 10+ DA's, likes to spread a bunch, and is unwilling to adapt to a lay judge, do us both a favor and strike me. I run a very fine and nuanced line with truth v. tech. I feel like I'm slightly tech > truth, but ONLY SLIGHTLY so. I will do my absolute best to evaluate the round solely based on the flow, but I do think that there are arguments that are just bad, like (generically listing) "racism/homophobia/ageism/poverty good" or just linking everything to nuclear war. Let me illustrate this with an example:
The Neg tries to prove that an excess of immigration within the United States will result in Trump starting a nuclear war against country "x" as a diversionary tactic because he is losing his hardline immigration battle. Personally, I do not believe this will happen, but if this is the only argument left in the round and the Affirmative drops this and the Negative extends this throughout the debate, I will have no choice but to vote Neg to prevent more lives from being lost. However, if the Affirmative is able to show me that nuclear war will not occur or can effectively delink or turn the Negative's argument of nuclear war or can outweigh nuclear war (i.e. benefits of passing plan outweigh the possibility of nuclear war, which only has a close-to-zero percent chance of happening), I will be more inclined to believe that the Affirmative has won this argument based on any evidence/turn they give me, but also based on what I personally believe will happen. I will not arbitrarily insert my own beliefs into the debate, but if the debaters create a situation in which that case occurs, as with the example seen above, I will be inclined to vote for the debater that has the more true argument and the argument that makes more sense logically with me.
Tabula Rasa - As seen with the example above, I'm not Tabula Rasa. I really don't think that any judge can truly be "tab," for who am I to decide what is true? Again, I won't arbitrarily insert my beliefs into the debate, but if the debaters have an argument that I believe is "true," I will be more inclined to buy that argument unless a team convinces me otherwise. In other words, there exist arguments that I am more likely to agree with and arguments I am more likely to buy and vote on. Either way, I will evaluate the round from what I have written on the flow. Furthermore, take these examples:
The Affirmative claims that Santa Fe is the capital of California while the Negative claims that Santa Fe is the capital of New Mexico. In making my decision, I will side with the latter based on outside knowledge and because it is the argument I think is more "true" based on outside knowledge.
The Affirmative claims that Santa Fe is the capital of California. The Negative does not respond to this claim. While I do not think that the Affirmative's claim is true, the Negative does not respond to this argument and thus, I will consider the Affirmative's argument as valid and evaluate the round as such.
Judge Intervention - Take this as you will, but I strongly also believe that I as a judge should not arbitrarily intervene during the debate and should listen to the arguments presented in the round as brought up by the debaters. So like what I wrote under the Policy Debate part of the paradigm, go ahead and run whatever argument you want. As long as I understand it, I will put it on my flow. See "Speed" and "K's/Theory" portion of this section for more information about what arguments you should run if I'm your judge. It is ultimately a debater's job to help me understand their/his/her argument, not vice versa. Moreover, I will not weigh for you - that being said, if neither team runs arguments that I understand and neither team weighs, I will be forced to intervene.
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Brief note: OK, so I get that the non interventionist approach contradicts the fact that I am more inclined to vote for an argument that I think is "true." As a judge I can promise you that I will flow what I can listen to and will evaluate the round holistically. I am an incredibly nuanced person and I think my paradigm reflects this (perhaps a little too much)...
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PLEASE CLASH WITH ARGUMENTS! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! Don't let the debate devolve into two boats sailing past each other in the night. At that point, it's completely pointless. I'd also prefer fewer well developed arguments over that of many arguments loosely tied together. Please don't brief barf or pack the flow with pointless arguments which aren't well developed. I may not include undeveloped arguments in my RFD if I deem that they are pointless or unimportant to the debate overall. Also, over the course of the debate as a whole, I would prefer fewer, but more well developed arguments, rather than a ton of arguments that go unsubstantiated.
Tag-Team CX/Flex Prep - I'm fine with this, just make sure that you're the one talking for most of the time. Your partner can't and shouldn't control your time. It is your Cross-Examination/Cross-fire after all. Same with speeches - essentially, don't have your partner be constantly interjecting you when you are speaking - you should be the one talking! If it seems as if your partner is commandeering your cross-examination or speech time, I will lower your speaks. Also totally fine with flex prep - you may use your prep time however you'd like, but since this time is not considered "official" cross-ex time, whether or not the opponent actually responds to the question is up to them. While I do not flow CX, I do pay close attention and if I look confused, I am more often thinking intensely about what you said, rather than emoting disagreement.
Roadmaps + Overviews - Please have them, and roadmaps may absolutely be off-time! I literally love/need roadmaps! They help me organize my flow make the debate/your speech a lot easier to follow! There should be a decent overview at the top of (at the minimum), each rebuttal - condense the round for me and summarize why you win each of the major arguments that comes up. Don't spend too much time on the overview, but don't ignore it.
K's and Theory - I'm not familiar with any literature at all! While you may choose to run K's or Theory (it is your round after all), I will do my very best to try and understand your argument. If I do not understand what you are saying, then I will not put it on my flow or vote on it. If you go slow, I will be more inclined to understand you and flow what you are saying. Again, not on the flow/don't understand = I won't vote on it.
Conditionality - This is fine. Though if you decide to kick anything, kick it earlier in the debate, don't wait until the 2NR unless it is strategic to do so. Please also make sure that your arguments are not contradictory - I have had to explain to teams about why running a Capitalism K on how the government perpetuates capitalism and then also running a CP where the Federal Government is the actor is ironic. In any case, kick the whichever argument is weaker and explain why Condo is good. Also, don't advocate for an unconditional position and then proceed to kick it or drop it. That would be bad.
Cross-applying - Don't just say "cross-apply my responses with Contention 1 on the Aff Case with Contention 2 on the Neg Case." This doesn't mean anything. Show me specifically how you group arguments together and explain how exactly your responses are better than your opponent's. Moreover, show me how your cross-application effectively answers their arguments - Does it de-link a disadvantage? Does it turn an argument? Does it effectively make Aff's actor in the plan powerless? Does it take out a crucial piece of evidence? What exactly does your cross-application do and how does it help you win the debate?
Dropped Arguments + Extensions - In regards to dropped contentions, subpoints, or impacts, I will personally extend all contentions, arguments, impacts, etc. that you individually tell me to extend. For all those arguments that were not extended and were dropped by the opponent, I will NOT personally extend myself. You must tell me to extend all dropped arguments or I will consider it dropped by you as well. All dropped contentions, subpoints, impacts, etc. should not be voter issues for the side that dropped it. I will drop all voter issues that were stated in the rebuttal if they were dropped by your side.
I did Interp, so my facial expressions will be turned "on" for the debate. If I like something, I will probably be nodding at you when you speak. Please do not feel intimidated if I look questioned or concerned when you speak. It does not show that you are losing the debate, nor does it show that you will be getting less speaks. However, if I seems like I am genuinely confused or have just put my pen down, you have lost me.
In regards to all debates, write the ballot for me, especially in the rebuttal speeches. Tell me why you win the round, and weigh arguments against each other!
ALSO, SIGNPOST, SIGNPOST, and SIGNPOST. The easier you make it for me to follow you in the round, the easier I can flow and be organized, and the easier you can win. Trust me, nothing's worse than when you're confused. KEEP THE ROUND CLEAN!
Don't be a jerk. It's the easiest way to lose speaker points. (Or even perhaps the round!) Good POI's/CX Q's and a good sense of humor get you higher speaks.
Links/Impacts - Be smart with this. I'm not a big fan of linking everything to nuclear war, unless you can prove to be that there is beyond a reason of a doubt that nuclear war occurs. So two things about impacts/links - the more practical and pragmatic you can make them, the better. I'm more inclined to buy well warranted and substantiated links to arguments. For example:
Plea bargaining --> incarceration --> cycle of poverty (These arguments are linked together and make logical sense. If we added "nuclear war" after "cycle of poverty," I'll just stare at you weirdly.)
Second, truth v. tech also applies with impacts and links, so if the Aff brings up a nuclear war will be caused by Trump as a diversionary tactic due to more immigration, and the Neg refutes that logically by taking out a link, I'll probably buy their argument (see the truth v. tech example I give). If the Neg doesn't respond, then the argument is valid. However, if the Neg is able to essentially group arguments and respond to them while weighing and shows me that even if they didn't answer this argument, Neg wins most everything else, I may still vote Neg.
I firmly believe that debate is not a game. It is an educational opportunity to demonstrate knowledge and to communicate efficiently between groups of people. Please don't try to make debate more complicated than it already is.
In regards to evidence in all debates: Yes, you need it - and should have a good amount of it. I know you only get 20 minutes to prep in Parli, and that you're not allowed internet prep (at some tournaments). But I need you to substantiate all claims with evidence. It doesn't have to be all subpoints and for every argument, but I will definitely be less inclined to vote for you if you only have one citation in the 19 minutes you speak, while your opponents have 7+ citations in the total 19 minutes they speak. Do not give me 7 minutes of analytics with no evidence at all. More evidence = more compelling. That being said, make sure that you also have a very strong amount of analytics as well. Don't just give me a lot of evidence without good analytics. Good analysis props up evidence and evidence supports good analysis. I would also much rather have a 4-5 good/solid pieces of evidence over 10+ trashy cards that don't help your case or add much to the debate. Essentially what I'm trying to say here is that good analysis > bad evidence any day, any round, and QUALITY > QUANTITY!!!
Do not CHEAT and make up cards, or clip cards, or anything of the like. Just don't. I will give you an automatic loss if you choose to do so. (Please don't make me do this...)
Time yourselves using whatever method you feel comfortable with! iPhone, SmartWatch, computer timer, etc. If you are taking prep, please announce it for me and your competitor to hear. Flashing or sending documents does not count as prep, though this needs to be taken care of in an expeditious manner. If you are caught abusing prep time, I will tank your speaks.
WEIGH - WEIGH - WEIGH!!! This is SO IMPORTANT, especially when debates come down to the wire. The team that does the better weighing will win the round if it's super tight! I won't weigh for you. Make my job easy and weigh. Again, as pieced together from previous parts of the paradigm, even if a team drops 3 out of the 5 arguments, if the team is able to show that the two arguments they do win outweigh the 3 arguments they lost, I will be more inclined to vote for that team that does the better weighing. I also love world comparisons, so weigh the world of the Affirmative and Negative and tell me which one is better for society, people, etc. after the implementation or non-implementation of the plan!
I will not disclose after the round (if I'm judging in the Coast Forensics League)! I usually disclose after invites though, given enough time. Either way, if you have questions about the round, please feel free to come and ask me if you aren't in round! I'll make myself visible throughout the tournament! If you can't find me, please feel free to contact me at xavier.liu17@gmail.com if you have any questions about the round! Please also feel free to contact me after the tournament regarding RFDs and comments!
FOR IE'S:
Ok. Now onto my favorite events of Speech and Debate. The IE's. First, I did Interp for a lot of my years competing, specifically DI, DUO, and OI. I've also done EXPOS (INF) as well. Take the Platform Events paradigm with a grain of salt. While there are many things that you could do to get the "1" in the room, I am particularly looking at several things that put you over the top.
PLATFORM EVENTS:
For Extemp (IX, DX) - I will flow your speech as thoroughly as I can. Please expect to have CITATIONS - at the minimum: news organization and date (month, day, year). An example: "According to Politico on February 13th of 2019..." If you have the author, even better - "John Smith, a columnist for Politico, writes on February 13th of 2019..." Please note that fabricating or making up citations or evidence is cheating and you will be given the lowest rank in the room and reported to Tab. You must have strong analysis within your speech. This analysis should supplement your evidence and your analysis should explain why your evidence is pertinent in answering the question. Good evidence and analysis trumps pretty delivery any day. Most importantly, make sure that you ANSWER THE QUESTION - I cannot give you a high rank if you do not answer the question.
For Impromptu (IMP) - I will flow your points as thoroughly as I can. I expect to see a thesis at the end of the intro and two to three well developed examples and points that support your thesis. While you do not have to have citations like Extemp, I would like to see specificity. Good analysis is also important and you need to make sure that your analysis ties into the thesis that you give me at the top of the intro. I also don't really like personal stories as examples and points in the Impromptu. I feel like personal stories are really generic and can always be canned. However, if done well and tied in well, personal stories do enhance the Impromptu! Use your discretion during prep time to decide if you want to use a personal story in your speech and how effective your personal story is. I also give bonus points and higher ranks to originality rather than canned speeches. Most importantly, make sure that you clearly develop your points and examples and explain why they apply to your thesis. I will default to California High School Speech Association (CHSSA) rules for Impromptu prep - 2 minutes of prep, with 5 minutes speaking - unless told otherwise by Tab/Tournament Officials.
Time signals for Impromptu and Extemp: With Extemp, I will give you time signals from 6 minutes left and down, Impromptu from 4 left and down. 30 seconds left will be indicated with a "C," 15 seconds left will be indicated with a closed "C," I will count down with my fingers for the last 10 seconds of the speech, with a fist at 7 or 5 minutes. I will show you what this looks like before you speak so you know what each signal looks like. With Impromptu prep, I will verbally announce how much prep is left: "1 minute left," "30 seconds left," "15 seconds." I will say "Time" when prep has ended. If I forget to give you time signals: 1. I fervently apologize; 2. This is probably a good thing since I was so invested in your speech or getting comments in; 3. You will NOT be responsible any time violations if you go overtime because it was my fault that you went overtime in the first place. #3 only applies if I literally forget to give you time signals; ex: I give you a time signal for 6 minutes left, but not 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1. If I forget to give you a signal for 4 minutes left, but get everything else, you're not off the hook then. I will also not stop you if you go beyond the grace period. Continue speaking until you have finished your speech.
For Original Advocacy and Original Oratory (OA/OO) - I will be primarily concerned with content. I will be looking for establishment of a clear problem (harms) and how that is plaguing us/society (inherency), and then I will be looking for a solution of some sort to address this problem (solvency). There must be some combination of these three in your speech. I will also be looking for evidence, analysis, and a strong synthesis between the two. Good speeches will have solid harms AND will explain how the solution solves their harms. Delivery should be natural, not canned or forced and facial expressions should not be over exaggerated.
For Expository Speaking/Informative Speaking (EXPOS/INF) - Again, primarily concerned with content. While Visual Aids (VAs) are important, they should serve to guide the speech, not distract me. That being said, I do enjoy interactive VAs that not only enhance the piece, but make me think about what you are saying. While puns and humor are both important, jokes should have a purpose in guiding your speech and enhancing it, and should not be included for the sole purpose of making anyone laugh. While I think that there doesn't necessarily need to be a message at the end of the speech, I should most definitely be informed of the topic that you are speaking to me about and I should've learned something new by the end of the 10 minute speech. Transitions from aspect to aspect in the speech should be clear and should not leave me confused about what you are talking about.
General Stuff for Platform Events:
1. Content > Delivery (Though I did Interp, so delivery is pretty important to me as well. Kinda like a 60-65% content, 35-40% delivery.)
What I have below is taken from Sherwin Lai's Speech Paradigm for Platform Events:
2. Projection and Enunciation are not the same as volume.
3. Repetitive vocal patterns, distracting hand gestures, robotic delivery, and unneeded micromovements will only hurt you.
4. Pacing, timing, and transitions are all important - take your time with these.
5. Natural Delivery > Forced/Exaggerated
6. Time Signals for OO, OA, and EXPOS - I am more than happy to give time signals, but since I am not required to give time signals for these events, I will not hold myself personally responsible if I forget to give signals to you or if you go overtime. It is your responsibility to have figured out time before the tournament started.
INTERPRETATION EVENTS:
I am most well versed in DI, OI, and DUO, but as a coach, I've worked with DI, OI, HI, POI, OPP, and DUO.
For Dramatic Interpretation, Dramatic Duo Interpretations, and Dramatic Original Prose and Poetry (DI, DUO, OPP) - Subtlety > Screamy, any day, any time. I'm not against screaming, but they should be during appropriate moments during the piece. Emotions should build over time. At no point should you jump from deadly quiet and calm to intense and screaming. Gradually build the emotion. Show me the tension and intensity over time. Screaming when you erupt during the climax is perfectly acceptable. Further, intensity can be shown without screaming, crying, or yelling. The quiet moments of the piece are usually the ones I find most powerful. THINK and REACT to what you are saying. Emotion should come nearly effortlessly when you "are" your piece. Don't "act" like the mom who lost her daughter in a school shooting, BE that mom! Transitions and timing are SUPER IMPORTANT, DON'T RUSH!!!
For Humorous Interpretation, Humorous Duo Interpretations, and Humorous Original Prose and Poetry (HI, DUO, OPP) - Facial expressions, characterization, and blocking take the most importance for me. I want to see each character develop once you introduce it throughout the piece. Even if the character doesn't appear all the time, or only once or twice throughout the script, I want to see that each character is engaged throughout the piece itself. Most importantly, please remember that humor without thought is gibberish. What I mean by this is that you should be thinking throughout your piece. Jokes are said for a reason - use facial expressions to really hone in on character's thought and purpose. For example, if a character A says a joke and character B doesn't get it, I should see character B's confused reaction. I will also tend to reward creative blocking and characterization. However, note that blocking should not be overly distracting.
For Programmed Oral Interpretation, Prose Interpretation, and Poetry Interpretation (POI, PRO, POE) - Regarding emotion, facial expressions, and character development, see the above text in the two paragraphs above regarding DI and HI. Personally, I place a little more emphasis on binder tech - the more creative the better! I think binder events are the synthesis of good binder tech, good script selection, and good facial expressions/emotion. Obviously, it's harder to do, since you have multiple characters in multiple parts of your speech and each have a distinct mood and personality.
For Oratorical Interpretation (OI) - Please err on the side of natural emotion over forced facial expressions. I am not a big fan when speakers try to force emotion or simply convey no emotion when speaking. Script selection is obviously a big deal in this event. Choose a speech with a promising and important message and see if you can avoid overdone speeches.
General Stuff for Interpretation Events:
A lot of this and my Interpretation paradigm is very much similar to Sherwin Lai's Speech Paradigm. He and I agree on a lot of things, including what I will write below.
1. Subtlety > Screamy - I tend to enjoy the small nuances of emotion. Build the emotion throughout, don't go from "0 to 100 real quick." Don't force emotion.
2. "Acting is reacting." - Each movement and action should have a purpose. Swaying or distracting micro-movements are bad. When one character or partner says something or does something, there should be a reaction from another character or by the other partner. Watch what is happening and react accordingly.
3. Let the eyes speak. Eyes are underutilized in Interp - I feel like everyone is so focused on facial expression and eyebrows/body language, that they forget about the eyes. Intensity can be portrayed in absolute silence.
4. If I am not laughing during your speech, it's not because it's not funny. I am just super focused on you and watching every little part of your blocking and your facial expressions.
5. Please watch body position - misplaced feet, hands, or mistimed blocking is a big no-no.
6. No blocking > bad blocking - you don't need to be doing something ALL the time. Sometimes, standing still and doing nothing is better than always doing something.
7. Use pacing and timing to your advantage.
8. Quality of cut is fair game.
9. Message of the piece - I don't think that there necessarily needs to be a super strong message to the piece itself. I'd be totally fine if the piece was literally 7 short stories that were interwoven together and each story had it's own little thing going on. I'm more concerned about the performance/technical blocking itself. That being said, if I literally do not understand what is going on in the piece, we have a big problem. Exception to this is OI.
10. THINK!!!!!!!! And do not let the energy wane!
11. Time Signals for DI, HI, DUO, OPP, POI/POE/PRO, OI - I am more than happy to give time signals, but since I am not required to give time signals for these events, I will not hold myself personally responsible if I forget to give signals to you or if you go overtime. It is your responsibility to have figured out time before the tournament started.
CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE
I have only judged Congress a handful of times, so please take what I write with a grain of salt.
In regards to speeches, I do not value speakers who speak at the beginning of a session more than those who speak towards the end, or vice versa. Opening speeches and the first couple speeches (around 1-2 on each side) afterwards should set up the main arguments as of why the chamber should be voting in favor or against the piece of legislation. After the 2nd speech on each side, you should really be clashing with arguments, impacting out both evidence and analysis, and weighing arguments against each other. Rehashing arguments made by other Congressional Debaters or "throwing more evidence" as a response to arguments is unimpressive.
During cross, if you just toss around random questions that do not actually pertain to the debate, your ranks will suffer. Remember to attack ideas and engage with the speaker who just spoke - save the argumentation for the speech. If you get the other speaker to concede something and you are able to use that in your speech, ranks will go up.
Respond to the actual links or the claims themselves and convince me why your claim is stronger. I welcome direct responses and refutations to another Congressperson's arguments, though please make it clear whom you are responding to and what the argument is. For example: "Next, I would like to refute Rep. Liu's argument that this bill would disadvantage states in the Midwest."
I'm a big stickler for Parliamentary Procedure, which means that if you are a PO, mistakes will be costly. Further, if you are acting like a biased PO, favoring certain speakers or debaters over other, you will be dropped.
Also, please note that "motion" is a noun. "Move" is a verb. So it's not: "I motion to adjourn." It would be: "I move to adjourn." PO's, remember that you cannot "assume unanimous consent" - a member of the chamber must ask for unanimous consent.
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Feel free to ask me any questions about the paradigm, both speech and/or debate before the round begins. Or feel free to email me questions about my paradigm at xavier.liu17@gmail.com.
If you are confused about the RFD/comments I have written for either speech and/or debate, please also feel free to contact me whenever you'd like to at the above email.
GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN!!! GO. FIGHT. WIN.
I'm glad you're doing Debate, I look forward to watching your round, and I wish you the very best of luck!
Before all else, I am a FLOW JUDGE. Here's more specifics on what I want to see in a round:
- All arguments need clearly explained logical warrants, as it's not my job to make logical leaps for you
- Claims must be grounded in evidence, and when there's contradictory evidence on both sides, I'd like an explanation of why to prefer your evidence/warrant, because otherwise I'm left guessing
- Structure your speeches how you feel is best, but signpost so that I know where you're at on the flow
- In a good round, both sides will have valid arguments left, so please WEIGH IMPACTS in later speeches
- I don't flow cross-ex, so if something important happens there, make sure it's in your next speech
- I expect you to stand your ground (this is debate after all), but maintain a baseline of respect/decorum
- I would much rather you ask a clarifying question than attack an argument that wasn't made (don't strawman your opponents, ever)
- I'm cool with a little speed, you have a lot to cover, but please don't spread, because that defeats the point of this activity (I also don't like K's/theory/progressive debate)
I'm always happy to answer any questions before or after the round, since this is an educational tool before all else, and you're here to learn (don't lose sight of that).
Have a great day, make a friend, learn something new, and enjoy it.
tldr - do what you do best; i'll only vote for complete arguments that make sense; weighing & judge instruction tip the scales in your favor; topic-specific research is good; disclosure is good; i care about argument engagement and i value flexibility; stay hydrated & be a good person.
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about me:
she/her
i coach policy debate at damien-st. lucy's
i'm not a full-time debate coach (i'm a full time data scientist), but i'm at a tournament almost every weekend. this means most of my interaction with debate is at tournaments and/or when i'm contributing to team research. more importantly, this means i care a lot about the debate community. i come to so many tournaments because i want to make debate better and i care about students -- i have almost zero tolerance for teams who are mean, actively try to make the activity worse, etc. so, be nice!
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My strongest belief about argumentation is that argument engagement is good - I don't have a strong preference as to what styles of arguments teams read in front of me, but I'd prefer if both teams engaged with their opponents' arguments; I don't enjoy teams who avoid clash (regardless of the style of argument they are reading). I value ideological flexibility in judges and actively try not to be someone who will exclusively vote on only "policy" or only "k" arguments. I am good for teams that do topic research and not the best for teams whose final rebuttals sound like they could be given on any topic/against any strategy.
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Topic Knowledge: I don't teach at camp but I do keep up with the topic. I'm involved in the Damien-St. Lucy's team research. My topic knowledge for events that aren't policy debate is zero, but I'll rarely be judging these events anyway.
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email chains:
please add both
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non-negotiables:
1 - speech times - constructive are 8 minutes, rebuttals are 5, each partner must give one constructive and one rebuttal, cx cannot be transferred to prep.
2 - evidence ethics is not a case neg - will not vote on it unless you can prove a reasonable/good-faith attempt to contact the other team prior to the round.
3 - clipping requires proof by the accusing team or me noticing it. i'll vote on it with no recording if i notice it.
4 - i will not evaluate out-of-round events. this means no arguments about pref sheets, personal beef, etc. i will evaluate disclosure arguments.
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i will not flow from the speech doc.
i will only open speech docs in the middle of a debate for the following purposes:
1 - checking for clipping (i'll do this intermittently throughout the debate)
2 - to look at something that was emailed out and flagged as necessary for my understanding of the debate (rehighlighted evidence, disclosure screenshot, chart that's part of a card, perm text with certain words struck out, etc)
i will download speech docs at the end of the debate to read all relevant evidence prior to submitting my ballot
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flowing: it is good and teams should do it
stolen from alderete - if you show me a decent flow, you can get up to 1 extra speaker point. this can only help you - i won't deduct points for an atrocious flow. this is to encourage teams to actually flow:) you must show me your flows before i enter the ballot!!
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Some general notes:
Accessibility & content warnings: Email me if there is an accessibility request that I can help facilitate - I always want to do my part to make debates more accessible. I prefer not to judge debates that involve theory arguments about accessibility and/or content warnings. I think it is more productive to have a pre-round discussion where both teams request any accommodation(s) necessary for them to engage in an equitable debate.
Speed/clarity – I will say clear up to two times per speech before just doing my best to flow you. Going fast is fine, being unclear is not. Going slower on analytics is a good idea. You should account for pen time/scroll time.
Online debate -- 1] please record your speeches, if there are tech issues, I'll listen to a recording of the speech, but not a re-do. 2] debate is still about communication - please watch for nonverbals, listen for people saying "clear," etc.
Disclose or lose. Previously read positions must be on opencaselist. New positions do not need to be disclosed. "I do not have to disclose" is a losing argument in front of me 100% of the time.
Evidence -- it matters and I'll read it. Judge instruction is still a thing here. Don't just say "read this card" and not tell me why. Ev comparison is good. Cutting good cards is good. Failing to do one or both of those things leaves me to interpret your bad cards in whatever way I want -- that's likely to not be good. The state of evidence quality these days is an actual crime scene. If you read ev that is better than the national-circuit average, I will be so happy and your points will reflect that.
Technical debating matters.I have opinions about what arguments in debate are better/worse. I think things like the fiat k and process counterplans probably produce less in-depth and educational debates than positions that require large amounts of topic research. I've still voted for these positions when the team reading these arguments executes a technical win. This means that you should not be too stressed about my predispositions -- just win the debate and you'll be fine!
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Opinions on Specific Positions (ctrl+f section):
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Case:
I think that negatives that don't engage with the 1ac are putting themselves in a bad position. This is true for both K debates and policy debates.
Extensions should involve warrants, not just tagline extensions - I'm willing to give some amount of leeway for the 1ar/2ar extrapolating a warrant that wasn't the focal point of the 2ac, but I should be able to tell from your extensions what the impact is, what the internal links are, and why you solve.
2ac add-ons must be coherent in the speech they are presented. You don't get to turn a random card on a random sheet into an add-on in the 2ar.
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Planless affs:
I tend to believe that affirmatives need to defend the topic. I think most planless affs can/should be reconfigured as soft left affs. I have voted for affs that don't defend the topic, but it requires superior technical debating from the aff team.
You need to be able to explain what your aff does/why it's good.
I dislike planless affs where the strategy is to make the aff seem like a word salad until after 2ac cx and then give the aff a bunch of new (and not super well-warranted) implications in the 1ar. I tend to be better for planless aff teams when they have some kind of relationship to the topic, they are straight-up about what they do/don't defend, they use their aff strategically, engage with neg arguments, and make smart 1ar & 2ar decisions with good ballot analysis.
I think framework is true but I will do my best to evaluate your arguments fairly.It is easier to win against framework when affirmative teams explain the warrants for their arguments and don't presuppose that I immediately agree with the warrants behind their impact turns to framework.
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T/framework vs planless affs:
In a 100% evenly debated round, I am better for the neg. However, either team/side can win my ballot by doing better technical debating. This past season, I often voted for a K team that I thought was smart and technical. Specific thoughts on framework below:
The best way for aff teams to win my ballot is to be more technical than the neg team. Seems obvious, but what I'm trying to convey here is that I'm less persuaded by personal/emotional pleas for the ballot and more persuaded by a rigorous and technical defense of why your model of debate is good.
I don't have a preference on whether your chosen 2nr is skills or fairness. I think that both options have strategic value based on the round you're in. Framework teams almost always get better points in front of me when they are able to contextualize their arguments to their opponent's strategy.
I also don't have a preference between the aff going for impact turns or going for a counterinterp. The strategic value of this is dependent on how topical/non-topical your aff is, in my opinion.
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Theory:
Theory arguments other than conditionality are likely not a reason to reject the team. It will be difficult to change my mind on this.
Theory arguments must have warrants in the speech in which they are presented. Most 2ac theory arguments I've seen don't meet this standard.
Conditionality is an uphill battle in front of me. If the 2ac contained warrants + the block dropped the argument entirely, I would vote aff on conditionality, but in any other scenario, the aff team should likely not go for conditionality.
Please weigh! Many theory debates feel irresolvable without intervention because each team only extends their offense but does not interact with the other team's offense.
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Topicality (not framework):
I like T debates that have robust and contextualized definitions of the relevant words/phrases/entities in the resolution. Have a clear explanation of what your interpretation is/isn't; examples/caselists are very helpful.
Grammar-based topicality arguments: I don't find most of the grammar arguments being made these days to be very intuitive. You should explain/warrant them more than you would in front of a judge who loves those arguments.
"Plans bad" is pretty close to a nonstarter in front of me (this is more of a thing in LD I think).
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Kritiks (neg):
I am best for K teams that engage with the affirmative, do line-by,line, and read links that prove that the aff is a bad idea. Good k debating is good case debating!
I am absolutely terrible for K teams that don't debate the case. Block soup = bad.
I vote for K teams often when they are technical and make smart big-picture arguments and demonstrate topic knowledge. I vote against K teams when they do ... not that!
In general, clash-avoidant K strategies are bad, K strategies that involve case debating are good.
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Disads:
Nothing revolutionary to say here. Teams that answer their opponents' warrants instead of reading generic defense tend to fare betterin close rounds. Good evidence tends to matter more in these debates - I'd rather judge a round with 2 great cards + debaters explaining their cards than a round with 10 horrible cards + debaters asking me to interpret their dumpster-quality cards for them.
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Counterplans:
I don't have strong ideological biases about counterplan theory other than that condo is probably good. More egregious abuse = easier to persuade me on theory; the issue I usually see in theory debates is a lack of warranting for why the neg's model was uniquely abusive - specific analysis > generic args + no explanation.
No judge kick. Make a choice!
Competition debates have largely become debates where teams read a ton of evidence and explain none of it. Please explain your competition evidence and I will be fine! I'll read cards after the debate, but would prefer that you instruct me on what to do with those cards.
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Speaker points:
Speaker points are dependent on strategy, execution, clarity, and overall engagement in the round and are scaled to adapt to the quality/difficulty/prestige of the tournament.
I try to give points as follows:
30: you're a strong contender to win the tournament & this round was genuinely impressive
29.5+: late elims, many moments of good decisionmaking & argumentative understanding, adapted well to in-round pivots
29+: you'll clear for sure, generally good strat & round vision, a few things could've been more refined
28.5+: likely to clear but not guaranteed, there are some key errors that you should fix
28+: even record, probably losing in the 3-2 round
27.5+: winning less than 50% of your rounds, key technical/strategic errors
27+: winning less than 50% of your rounds, multiple notable technical/strategic errors
26+: errors that indicated a fundamental lack of preparation for the rigor/style of this tournament
25-: you did something really bad/offensive/unsafe.
Extra points for flowing, being clear, kindness, adaptation, and good disclosure practices.
Minus points for discrimination of any sort, bad-faith disclosure practices, rudeness/unkindness, and attempts to avoid engagement/clash.
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Arguments that are simply too bad to be evaluated:
-a team should get the ballot simply for proving that they are not unfair or uneducational
-the ballot should be a referendum on a debater's character, personal life, pref sheet, etc
-the affirmative's theory argument comes before the negative's topicality argument
-some random piece of offense becomes an "independent voter" simply because it is labeled as such
-debates would be better if they were unfair, uneducational, lacked a stasis point, lacked clash, etc
-"tricks"
-teams should not be required to disclose on opencaselist
-the debate should be evaluated after any speech that is not the 2ar
-the "role of the ballot" means topicality doesn't matter
-new affs bad
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Arguments that I am personally skeptical of, but will try to evaluate fairly:
-it would be better for debate if affirmatives did not have a meaningful relationship to the topic
-debate would be better if the negative team was not allowed to read any conditional advocacies
-reading topicality causes violence or discrimination within debate
-"role of the ballot"
-the outcome of a particular debate will change someone's mind or will change the state of debate
-the 5-second aspec argument that was hidden in the 1nc can become a winning 2nr
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if there's anything i didn't mention or you have any questions, feel free to email me! i really love debate and i coach because i want to make debate/the community a better place; please don't hesitate to reach out if there's anything you need.
Hello everyone, my name is Emilian Lobodanescu. I have about a year and a half experience judging speech, and a little bit less in debate.
For Speech: I will judge off of the performance of your speech more so than the content. There are some exceptions, but I am looking to judge you off of passion and personal connection, as well as blocking, more so than the topic. Be kind and respectful, and my same disclaimer in debate goes for speech— hateful targeted content in your speech or in the room itself will not be tolerated.
For Debate:
As I am a lay judge, please refrain from spreading (if you must, be very loud and clear-- I will not take your points into consideration if you rush through them). Limit debate jargon, and if you use any, please define it.
Send me your cases/block files before the round begins to my email: emilmari99@cox.net
Things I judge on/ General Tips:
- Again, please speak clearly (and slowly if possible).
- Signpost: make sure your contentions AND impacts are very apparent to me (e.g. "Contention 1 is ____" or "Our impact is ___")
- Give me an off-time roadmap before your begin Rebuttal, Summary, and Final Focus.
- I prefer organized cases and clear chains of evidence.
- Assertive, not agressive.
- I enjoy quantifiable impacts (statistics, numbers, etc.), and a particularly effective way for you to convince me of your argument is to really double down on your impacts in Summary and Final Focus.
- I will not give comments after the round (you will find those in your RDF's once ballots come out), but I will disclose if you ask me to
Other:
*****Any kind of racist, sexist, or in any way discriminatory comments will not be tolerated. Immediate 0 speaks, and I will be very inclined to drop you. Please be respectful to each other, and do not be rude to your fellow competitors.******
LD: I look at the debate from a traditional lense. Value/Criterion -> link to your Contentions. I'm expecting clash throughout. You may read fast (but not too fast) you should enunciate. Voting blocks at the end help summarize the debate and that's my preference to hear in the final ARs. Unlikely to weigh counter-plans. LD is a value style of debate. Resolution is absolute unless specified. I'm very tabula rasa with 99% of arguments. However, if it's something completely off the wall I'm not going to weigh it. However, it's your opponent's job to still attack that specific argument (if it has some miniscule form of credence). You don't need to spend much time dismissing it in your rebuttals if it's non-sensical. No K's, Theories, Piks, other random things.
I want to see a Value and a Criterion. Both, that's TWO. What do you value, how do you get there (criterion).
CX: Most important part of CX for me: Would I rather live in Neg world or Aff world. But I will evaluate K's Kritiques, Theory. However, a large percentage of the round will come down to that. If you want to go off-case then do so. There will be no on-case ROB. You will need to thoroughly explain your off-case arguments. Don't assume I'm familiar with the literature. I would like to hear an overview attached to it. Doesn't need to be written but certainly needs to be explained. You will need to pass all mechanisms needed to earn my ballot.
PFD: Traditional lense. Clash is expected. Summarize key voting issues. The debate should center around the topic. Whoever can display their case is stronger than their opponents (makes more sense logically, with impacts) wins the debate.
Congress: Presentation is big for me. Think Extemp but with actual arguments and clash
Another thing; Let's say your opponent failed to attack your case in any of those speaking blocks where they must do so. In your next speech just go ahead and say that and save us all all this time so we can move on with our lives. No need to continue droning onward if your opponent just literally dropped the entire round unbeknownst to themselves. I wouldn't put this here if it didn't happen before.
Outside of the above you should be using all your time. I'm sure there's something either A.) You missed or B.) You can add some analytical analysis of something throughout the round.
Use speechdrop.net (Make everyone's lives easier)
At the end of every debate round there should be voters and weighing. Do that.
Also, let's not make it awkward after the round. If you want an RFD then just ask.
One more thing. Do Not say "Latinx." En lieu use the gender neutral term "Latino." ¿Entiendes?
I am both a speech and debate coach, who primarily works with speech events and IPDA style debate.
Speech Events:
In interp, I focus on technical ability but also your understanding of the emotions in the piece. I want to see sincere displays of emotional depth that appropriately connect with the overall theme.
In public address and platform speaking events, I value organization and clarity in your speech. I am a fan of visual paragraphing provided it is done well--your movement should look natural and enhance the presentation not distract. INFO should be well rehearsed with their visual integration, but I understand that accidents may happen due to travel/stands.
ALL Debate Events:
Above all, I value good sportspersonship! I will not tolerate rude behavior towards opponents because we are here to clash ideas, not clash each other. I am opposed to the practice of spreading, as it does not give judges enough time to process information and flow. I typically evaluate rounds based on the following criteria (in order): validity and logic of argument, organization of points, round decorum, and speaking presence.
LD and PF: Although I list myself as "Traditional," I am open to different arguments as long as they are explained well and related to the resolution. I believe that we are debating the resolution, not fixing society's ills. Yes debate will enable us to fix society's ills but a competition round is not where that will occur. Debate theory can be interesting to judge, but again, needs to still be connected to the resolution. Also, be sure that the theory you're arguing is correct and logical. In terms of speed, to me it's not speed it's clarity. If you are going 97 miles per hour and have to constantly repeat yourself because you trip over words, maybe going 60 is better.
Congress: As a scorer or Parli, I look for good speeches with good evidence and analysis, but also continuous participation. I believe Congress is an overall package, including activity with questioning, motions and amendments. PO's should be able to move the chamber along smoothly, and fairly. However, they must also recognize that sometimes this may be a new experience for someone in the chamber, and be sure that everyone understands how the PO is maneuvering the chambers, not just assume that it's just standard operating procedure for everyone. Be good to each other and you will often stand out from the competition.
Email: ronaldlongdebate@gmail.com
Competed in events through UIL, TFA, TOC, and NSDA circuits. UT Austin 2020, hook 'em horns.
You either win, you learn, or both.
2027 J.D. Candidate
2021-June 2023: Director of Speech and Debate, Callisburg High School
2018-2021: High School debate consultant
2018-2020: Policy Debate, NDT and CEDA circuits, University of Texas at Austin
2018-2020: Student Assistant, UIL State Office - Speech and Debate
2014-2018 years: Speech and Debate, Princeton High School
Sparknotes:
I think I am a gamer judge. For the most part, I treat debate as a game. You can run any argument, and it should have some claim, warrant, and impact. Do what you do best. I evaluate arguments by comparative analysis through a lens of offense/defense. I vote close to how I flow. I look for specificity, line-by-line, warrants, and contextualization. I’ll vote for any argument under any framework you explicitly put me in and win. Typically, I evaluate tech over truth. Around the neg block, I like a strategic collapsing of arguments. If you can't beat a bad argument, you should probably lose on it.
For other specific strategies and threshold questions, ask me before the round.
Don't...
make offensive or rude comments. I’ll probably start deducting speaker points.
cheat, for the most part, that means don’t clip cards.
Logistical Stuff:
Do not unnecessarily draw out flashing/speech drop/email chains.
Speaking:
Speed is fine; go as fast as you want (after GT-AM 500 WPM, I may yell “clear” twice before I stop flowing).
I like catching theory args, analysis, warrant-level debating, and sometimes authors, so slow down a bit there.
“My partner will answer that in the next speech” is NOT a cx answer; if you use it, it’s minus one speak.
Framework:
I'm fine with good framework debate and am okay with voting under any framework you explicitly tell me to. I think it usually comes down to winning some argument about why you have a better model of debate and/or some methodology. There should be an impact or offense to whatever standard you extend. You should probably be winning some piece of offense under that framework. Impact framing on arguments you plan on winning under the framework debate is probably helpful.
T:
I don't really default to competing interps or reasonability. It depends on the debate. There are general parts of T. If you go for T, then explain and have an impact or an explanation to your standards (like limits and ground) and voters (like fairness and education). This usually includes warranted reasons to prefer and comparative analysis. For Aff specifically, I think it is strategic that you have some offense, pre-fiat arguments against T, a discussion of case lists, and/or neg args.
Theory:
I think theory involves the rules and/or norms of debate that are challenged, changed, or presented. I think theory arguments have general components. I was never a theory hack or anything. If you go for a(n) potential/in-round abuse story, then it is probably offense, and you should give me warrants and have an impact story. Tell me how and why I should evaluate. If you run any theory (especially if it’s what you decide to go for), you probably need to warrant it and have some framing mechanism and some offense.
Note: I probably default to fairness as an internal link to education for impacts like education or fairness, but I can be convinced otherwise.
Disads:
When you win the disad, you should also be winning some disad-case comparison portion of the debate (disad outweighs case, disad turns case, case solves disad, case outweighs disad, etc.).
Counterplans:
Counterplans are cool unless you tell me otherwise. To win the counterplan, you probably need to be winning some net benefit and/or competitiveness argument. I like some comparative analysis discussions like counterplan uniquely solves, aff solvency deficit, aff solvency advocate or mechanism not key, etc.
Kritiks:
Disregarding my knowledge, you should always assume you know your literature better than me or that I am unfamiliar with it. In high school, I read Technocracy, Myth of Model Minority, Cap, Neolib, and Security. Planless Affs I read included a Disaster Cap and a Baudrillard one. Please give me an overview for the K (try not to make it too long, like minutes-on-end long, because you might as well do the line-by-line at that point). I like clear explanations and warrants, like pulling specific lines from the evidence or generating links off Aff ev. There should be a discussion of how the K functions in the round, probably some framework debate, and an alt explanation (or the linear disad explanation). Be mindful of the floating PIKs.
Perms:
Be specific. For example, I think that saying “Perm do both” isn’t enough. There should probably be a solvency discussion. The severance, advocacy, intrinsic, etc. could go on the top level, and/or the theory page.
Affs:
I am usually pretty good with any format. If it is performance, a planless affirmative, and/or K aff, I would prefer you give me a ROB and/or ROJ. Take clear stances and advocacies, and contextualize them. You should pull warrants and provide explanations of the arguments and the method/reps/advocacy, etc.
Otherwise...
Questions, comments, concerns, thoughts, musings, opinions...?
Blake Longfellow has over 20 years of forensics experience reaching back to his sophomore year of high school. Throughout his competitive career at Orange Coast College and subsequently Bradley University, Blake participated in all 11 of the speech events at the national level. He then earned his masters degree from Western Kentucky University, where he served as a graduate assistant coaching Communication Analysis. He is also the founder of Hired Judge, a company with over 2500 judges registered worldwide that provides judges for speech and debate tournaments and other academic competitions. He is the current Director of Speech at Concordia University Irvine, and formerly the Director of Forensics at Diablo Valley College when they won back-to-back state championship team sweeps titles.
Highlights of his competitive career include the 2011 NFA Informative National Champion, 2009 Phi Rho Pi Bovero-Tabor Award for Top Speaker, and 7 other national championship awards.
Debate Paradigm:
Don't go too fast.
Would prefer a traditional debate over a technical or theory debate.
Email: andrewjlopez120@gmail.com
Background: Debated for 4 years at Claremont High School (PF, circuit Parli, Congress, and, very briefly, LD). Currently coaching Parli, PF, and LD at my alma mater.
General: I try to be as non-interventionist as possible, so tech > truth. Although I list my argument preferences here, I won’t automatically disregard an argument just because I’m biased against it. If you run it well, I’ve got no problem voting on it. Just know that I’ll be more sympathetic to stock responses against certain arguments. Example: If Neg runs a conditional CP, and Aff says condo bad, I’m probably erring Neg if Neg just makes the standard responses to that shell. If they fumble it, I’m fine voting Aff.
Evidence: Ev ethics still matter! If I find that you are deliberately fabricating or misrepresenting a piece of evidence, I'll give you the loss and the lowest speaks the tournament will allow. Yes, this applies to ALL debate events. No, I won't wait for your opponent to call you out on it.
Lincoln-Douglas: In LD, I maintain the style preferences I list below. On substance, however, I’m far more receptive to Ks and Theory/Topicality. I’m also fine with all LD-specific strats (phil, skep, tricks, etc.). Another important thing to note: if you’re Neg, and Aff doesn’t run a plan, you’re probably not going to win if you run a counterplan. Just read specification theory instead.
Style: Keep roadmaps short. Speed is fine as long as you send everyone your doc and you enunciate. I'll shout "clear" if necessary. If I do this more than twice, you lose speaks. Using speed to confuse or exclude your opponents will cost you the round. Racist, sexist, queerphobic, or other bigoted remarks will do the same. If you start shouting at your opponents, you’re gonna have a bad time.
Speaker Points: I reward you for
- signposting THOROUGHLY
- impact and warrant comparisons
- being courteous
- being strategic
- being efficient
- being witty/humorous
Cross-Examination: Cross-ex is binding. PLEASE know when to end a line of questioning. Know when to cut somebody off and how to do it politely. Don’t tag-team and don’t use cross-ex time for prep. If nobody has anything left to say, it’s over. Time to start the prep clock.
Theory/Topicality: I rarely vote on it. I default to reasonability. With theory, I usually buy Drop the Argument, Not the Debater. I believe fairness is the gateway to education. I don't like RVIs, but I detest any strategy that involves regularly running Theory/Topicality as a means of just throwing things at the wall to see what sticks. These arguments exist as last-resort checks on in-round abuse. Please keep it that way. Also condo is good; winning Condo Bad in front of me is very difficult.
Kritiks: Don’t assume that I’m familiar with your literature base, because I’m probably not. I understand how Ks function, and I hit them a few times in high school, but don’t read a thousand layers of dense philosophy and assume I’ll get it.
It’s hard to woo me away from a policymaking framework, but it can be done. I don’t vote for most kritiks with "reject the aff" as the only alt; rhetoric/discourse Ks are an exception. I prefer specific kritiks with tight links to the aff and CPs as alts. Performance/Kritikal Affs hurt debate in my opinion, and I'm very sympathetic to arguments against them.
Counterplans: Go for it. I love almost all types of counterplans. Consult/study CPs are a notable exception; throw theory at them all day. Aside from that, I am far more receptive to a wider array of CPs than most judges you’ll find. Multi-actor fiat, non-institutional fiat, PICs, delay CPs, and agent/actor CPs are all fine by me. I assume conditionality and reserve the right to "judge kick" unless someone tells me otherwise. If you sever out of the 1AC, you’re going to lose.
Politics Disads: Not a big fan. I think fiat precludes any process-oriented disads (eg political capital), but results-oriented disads are fair game, though I find most high school debaters don’t construct or defend them well.
Impact Calc: Do it early and often. I default to util unless you tell me otherwise. Please weigh on the internal link level too, especially if you're going for the same impacts as your opponents. If neither side does proper impact calc, I’m left to do it for you. So for your sake and mine, please be thorough with warrants and impact calc at every point in the debate.
Other
- Please make copies of your plan text, CP text, T interp, and/or Alt available to your opponents and to me. Saves us all a ton of grief.
- I will not extend your arguments for you, but all you need to do to extend them in my mind is say "extend *insert tagline here*"
- I keep a poker face on and usually look down at my flow the whole time, so don’t stress.
I am a first diamond coach from western Colorado. I have some knowledge judging debate.
In a debate, I look for clarity and link. If your content has zero link to you are trying to solve, then I cannot consider it. I expect information and logic that help decide my flow.
Do not attack your opponents but you can attack the information that they provide.
I am a parent judge, please do not spread. I judge base on fluency, clarity of speech, logical reasoning, organization of thought and presentation. Please explain acronyms and have clear thought out arguments. Make strong links between impacts.
Please do not run Afropess, dedev, and other related arguments.
Be respectful to your opponents, the judges and your partner. Have fun.
Former policy debater from the late 90s. Coach of policy teams since 2004. I coach in Indiana which is a very traditional circuit, but I am well versed with other forms of debate.
I default to a policy option judge - preferably on advantages vs disadvantage models. Impact calc matters, but understand that I do focus on links more than most judges. Generics are fine, but you need to win more than a 1% link for me to let the impact carry you. Strategic drops are perfectly fine and encouraged. Conditional positions are fine, but you shouldn't get carried away. I will listen to condo good/bad and other theory, but there needs to be clear actual abuse for me to vote on it - I always prefer my ballot to based on policy decision rather than theory/technicalities.
On T - I will vote on T, but like most of our judges I will factor in reasonability. You DO NOT need to only go for T in the 2NR for me to consider it, but obviously should invest enough time on it throughout the debate round in order to win it.
On K's - I am not a huge fan of the K. I am conscious that this is your time to debate and your world; so I attempt to evaluate it the best that I can. Typically this means that I will view it in a fiated world view - meaning that I will weigh your alternative vs the plan action. This means that you must have a legit alt to the K for you to have any chance with me. Unless there is egregious action in round I don't usually vote on "real world impacts come before fiated arguments." Instead i will view the K through the lens of a policy maker.
On speed - I prefer a moderate debate. I can handle speed and I won't penalize you for it.
Open cross-x is fine.
Any other questions, just ask at the beginning of the round
Ian Lowery (also goes by "Izzy" and/or "Bishop"),
Assistant Director of Debate at George Mason University (2022 - Present).
Former Policy Debater at George Mason University (2014 - 2018).
Former Assistant Coach at James Madison University (2020 - 2022).
Former Head Coach of Speech & Debate at Centreville High School (2018-2019)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Top Level: I believe that my role as the judge is to absorb the information provided within the round and decide who wins based on the debater's ability to explain and defend their positions. Do whatever you were going to do before you saw my name on the pairing. Treat the following as proclivities that may make my decision easier or increase your speaker points.
I mostly ran kritical arguments during my time as a debater. In my earlier years I did traditional policy but most of my best experience is with the K.
Tech over Truth - I believe in voting on the flow, and unless I am more than 95% sure that a statement or argument is universally false, it can be debated and proven true on the flow. Beyond that, I will still try to be unbiased in my evaluation the argument, but you're rolling the dice.
I will evaluate arguments which suggest that I should not flow or not decide the round based on traditional policy argumentation standards - but I need to be given a clear alternative method of evaluating the truth-value of competing arguments. Otherwise, I don't see how I won't just end up voting for whoever I think was more technical or voting for whichever team I vibed with more (which might be the point... I guess. But trying to predict my vibes without knowing me very well is a dangerous game imo).
Conduct - Don't be a jerk. It's aight to be aggressive, if there's a point/reason behind it. At it's core, I think debate is a game, so everyone should have fun.
Time - I don't keep track of time well in my personal life or in debates. Please don't rely on me for that. Keep track of your own and your opponent's time.
E-mail - itlowery20@gmail.com
ONLY for College Policy: masondebatedocs@gmail.com
If you have any questions, feel free to email me.
--Congress--
Competitors should speak at a conversational rate, prioritizing analysis and development over number of arguments delivered. Students should use a variety of nonbiased evidenciary sources in their speeches. Industry publications and think tanks will be weighted over news sources and periodicals. Speehes should include roughly half new material demonstrating original thought and half in response to a previous speech or sentiment. Presiding officers should demonstrate mastery of parliamentary procedure and should be fair and transparent in their conduct.
--Speech--
Extemp: Competitors should speak at a conversational rate, prioritizing analysis and development of thoughts. Students should use a variety of nonbiased evidenciary sources in their speeches. Industry publications and think tanks will be weighted over news sources and periodicals. Speech should not be stilted or overly formal. Smooth transitions and incorporation of source material are key to seemless flow of the speech. Bonus points for incorporation of appropriate humor. I prefer speakers to stand. Speakers who are obviously reading from their screen will be penalized.
Prepared Speaking: Competitors should maintain credibility and professionalism while being engaging and entertaining. I prefer thorough explanation and analysis of a smaller number of sources over superficial exploration of many. Delivery should be done in a standing position if possible.
Interp: Pieces should domonstrate historic and contemporary relevence. Teasers and introductions should set up the piece and should tell me how the piece is unique to the performer, our time and all relevent stakeholders. Bonus points for carefully considered blocking and movement in the virtual world. Thorough character development and originality in blocking are appreciated.
As a judge who primarily coaches speech, debaters should know the following about my paradigm:
- I appreciate clear and strong evidence for any and all claims. Personal anecdotes are effective at garnering empathy but do very little to strengthen a point. Proper sourcing from credible sources (authors and dates) are effective for me.
- I like learning about the contexts of resolutions. Tying your framework to existing examples or case studies might help me visualize your argument better.
- I like clear analysis and speakers that demonstrate active listening in their rebuttals.
In short, the debate is about the resolution, not the participants in the round. Stay focused on upholding or clashing the resolution, as this is what I ultimately care about as a judge.
I will judge the round based on whether the Aff ultimately upholds the resolution through their V/vc, as weighed by empirical evidence, logical argumentation, philosophical theory, or other persuasive techniques, or whether the Neg has undermined these arguments through their clash. I don't have a preference between progressive or traditional styles, so long as the method of argumentation is done competently. Etiquette is a critical part of the debate space, and violations of general etiquette will not be tolerated in rounds I judge.
I prefer evidence-based arguments. Tempo can be fast, so long as the words are clearly enunciated. While I do not have a preference between progressive or traditional, in LD I find Utilitarianism is often poorly debated, and boring to judge as a result. (I will not vote an LD round down on Util, but if you're going to run it as a framework, it needs to be more than a placeholder philosophy.)
What my scoring means on a 30 point scale:
26- Significant improvement needed.
27-Slightly below average.
28-Slightly above average.
29-High quality performance.
30-Excellent performance.
***If you receive a 25 or below, you have done something that has been a noteworthy violation of rules or etiquette. I will not tolerate abusive behavior towards the topic, opponent, or debate space. (The exception to this is when ballot settings do not allow speaker point ties, thereby forcing low scores for the room.
I am a Coach, and I have been judging for close to a decade now. I am a teacher certified in English & Theatre, so my notes can get a bit technical, and come specifically from those perspectives. I tend to make notes and comments as I view, so they follow my flow of thought, and how I understand your developing argument, as your piece/debate progresses.
I have judged almost every event, including judging both speech and debate events at Nationals.
In true teacher and coach fashion, I WANT you to do well. So prove me right!
Paradigm for Congress
How I Rank: While the ballot on Tabroom only has a place to score speeches, it is not unlikely that room is full of great speakers. To fairly rank the room, I have a personal spreadsheet where I score individual speeches, as well as the categories below, to help separate the "great speakers" from the "great congresspersons". Think of it like a rubric for your English class project. Speeches are the biggest category, but not the only one.
Speeches: Do you provide a unique perspective on the bill, and not simply rehashing what has been said in the round already? Do you back up your reasoning with logos, ethos, AND pathos? Is your speech deep, instead of wide (more detail on one specific aspect of the bill, rather than trying to cover all angles of the bill)? Do you write with a clarity of style and purpose, with a good turn of phrase? Do you engage your listeners? Do you respond well to questions?
Questioning: Are your questions thoughtful and based on listening closely to the speaker, and what they actually said? Are your questions brief and to the point? Do you avoid simple yes or no, gotcha style questions? Does your questioning have a clear line of thinking? Do you connect questioning to previous speeches? Do you avoid prefacing?
Decorum: Do you follow the rules of the chamber? Do you follow speaking times? Do you speak calmly and collectedly? Do you ask or answer questions assertively, without being aggressive? Do you respect your fellow speakers?
Roleplay: Do your speeches reflect that you are a congressperson, and not a high school teenager? Do you think of your constituents? Do you consider yourself a representative of your state or District? Do you allow your RP perspective to make your speeches better, and not become a distraction? Do you participate in motions, seconding, etc?
Knowledge of Rules: Do you have an obvious and clear understanding of the rules? Do you follow them closely? Are there any egregious breaking of the rules?
Special Consideration for the Presiding Officer: The Presiding Officer is marked for one "speech" per hour. This score is a reflection of how well they perform the specific duties of PO. It concerns knowledge of the rules (at a higher expectation than the average congress competitor), the efficiency of the room, the fairness of the PO, and the demeanor of the PO (should be calming and welcoming). I also look at them for decorum and RP.
Paradigm for PFD
Construction of Message: Is your argument sound? Does your evidence support your claims? Are you claims tied together and supporting each other? Does your argument flow in a logically sound way, that makes it easy to follow by only listening, and not reading? Are you avoiding logical fallacies?
Delivery of Message: Are you speaking slowly and clearly enough that the judge can actually process what you are saying? (this is a speech and debate competition, not a race). Do you command the room when you speak, without being overbearing?
Evidence of Engagement: Are you actually listening to you fellow competitors? Do you make points in questioning and rebuttal that are based on what your opponents said, and not just what you thought they said? Are you adapting to the way the round is flowing? Are you cooperating with your teammate?
Construction of Rebuttal: Are your counterclaims based in evidence? Are you pointing out any logical fallacies? If you raise a concern about something in your opponents case (ex: you accuse them of cherry-picking), is your case safe from similar scrutiny?
Decorum: Are you behaving in a way that reflects well on your team-mate, your coach, your school, and the District?
Paradigm for LD
Construction of Message: Is your argument sound? Is your value interesting? Is your value criterion an adequate measure of your value? Does your evidence support your claims? Are you claims tied together and supporting each other? Does your argument flow in a logically sound way, that makes it easy to follow by only listening, and not reading? Are you avoiding logical fallacies?
Delivery of Message: Are you speaking slowly and clearly enough that the judge can actually process what you are saying? (this is a speech and debate competition, not a race). Do you command the room when you speak, without being overbearing?
Evidence of Engagement: Are you actually listening to you fellow competitor? Do you make points in questioning and rebuttal that are based on what your opponents said, and not just what you thought they said? Are you adapting to the way the round is flowing?
Construction of Rebuttal: Are you able to use their Value and/or Value Criterion to support your own argument? Are your counterclaims based in evidence? Are you pointing out any logical fallacies? If you raise a concern about something in your opponents case (ex: you accuse them of cherry-picking), is your case safe from similar scrutiny?
Decorum: Are you behaving in a way that reflects well on yourself, your coach, your school, and the District?
I've been judging for more than 15 years now. I've been a coach for more than 7 years. I competed in speech and debate in high school. I know how to do all of the events.
Policy: I very much dislike when the debate goes off into theory arguments for policy. Most of the time they aren't even actual arguments that have been fully formed with all the necessary attributes. Those arguments will be crossed out on my flow. If you can't fully form the argument and have all the parts to it then why should I care to have it as a voting issue? I don't mind reasonable speed. If you breathe anywhere where there isn't punctuation then I will completely cross that card/argument from my flow. That is my biggest annoyance with speed. I lean very strongly towards Policy maker but I'm a stock coms judge. I will always weigh the arguments with stock issues more heavily than I will the other issues. Topicality will be weighed over it when it's actually reasonable. I want a clear shift of policy with the Aff case. IF YOU SAY THEY DIDN'T ADDRESS AN ISSUE THAT THEY DEFINITELY HAVE I WILL VOTE YOU DOWN FOR WHINING, INCOMPETENT FLOWING, AND BEING ANNOYING!
LD: I very much love the Value and Criterion debate. I love traditional debate. I HATE progressive debate you lose a lot of the skills you would normally learn and gain weak skills instead. Give me clear reasons why we should weight the round off of your Value. Both logic and evidence based arguments have their place in this debate. Make sure you use them accordingly. I will drop the entire argument you're making if you breathe where there isn't any punctuation. I'm fine with reasonable speed. IF YOU SAY THEY DIDN'T ADDRESS AN ISSUE THAT THEY DEFINITELY HAVE I WILL VOTE YOU DOWN FOR WHINING, INCOMPETENT FLOWING, AND BEING ANNOYING!
Congress: I very much hate redundant, rehashed, speeches. You don't all need to speak on the same bill. It hurts you when you do that because the later speeches don't have new points and don't progress the debate. Direct, by name, refutation is absolutely going to help you. Using evidence AND citing your evidence is absolutely going to benefit you. You don't need to wave your arm like you're trying to conduct an orchestra. Movement can either add or detract from your speech. Move with a purpose and make sure that it adds to your speech otherwise it's a waste. If you use an intro, which is recommended, make sure you tie it into your conclusion because it ties everything into a nice little bow. I, also, use the NSDA guidelines for scoring speeches and PO time.
P.O. Be ruthlessly efficient. Cut out all of the unnecessary wording. You don't need to thank them for a speech. If we just had a speech in affirmation we don't need to tell everyone that. You can just say "negation" and tap and expect people to rise to be recognized. That saves a lot of time. Same thing for questioning. Cut out all the unnecessary words. It slows the round down and makes it so you don't get the maximum number of speeches. Shut down dilatory motions. Only recognize one motion at a time. Keep the chamber in order. Don't recognize motions that aren't a part of Parli Pro.
SPEECH:
So, I WILL NOT, emphasis on the NOT, judge a piece that has, or should have, a trigger warning in it. I will leave the round immediately if someone tries to run one in my round. Pieces can be very good without getting to the point where there needs to be a trigger warning. I will not judge those garbage pieces. Increase your quality of speeches by getting rid of those.
In Policy debate, I am a Stock Issues judge.
In LD debate, I am a traditional LD judge who values effective communication, philosophical analysis, and value clash. Very rapid speaking rates are antithetical to this.
I believe that every student has the potential to excel in speech and debate. I believe that constructive criticism is how we get better, and after reflecting, it helps to push us to our next best performance.
IE:
I look for Students to show the hard work into their selection. (are you memorized, is the character fleshed out?)
I like to see polished pieces (not rough drafts)
Students should show they have an understanding of the selection they are presenting, by delivering a thoughtful introduction for their piece.
Selection should be entertaining and be of literary merit.
I want to be able to sit back and watch you tell your story.
Author's intent is important, we should use our selections to tell the story the author has intended.
Exempt:
Please provide a roadmap that organizes your speech in your intro, tell us where we are going and then support it in the subparagraphs, be sure to use scholarly sources to support your assertions.
Debate:
As a judge, I prioritize evaluating the debate based on the quality of the arguments presented, the logical engagement between the teams or individuals, and how effectively each side frames and responds to key issues. The side that convinces me of the greater overall strength and logic of their arguments will win the round. I aim to be objective, focusing on the substance of the debate while also considering the clarity and delivery of the arguments.
Hi! I am a first-year parent judge for LD. I judged PF last year. I have no prior debating experience, so I hope that you have done plenty of research on your topic and that you will use credible evidence and sound logic to support your arguments!
My expectations for debaters:
--- Speak clearly and calmly in a medium pace when delivering your arguments.
--- Be enthusiastic and confident, but also act natural.
--- Follow the speech and prep time limits strictly and exchange evidence in a timely way.
--- State a clear set of contentions and subpoints in your case.
--- Signpost in your speeches.
--- Try not to interrupt your opponents or talk over each other during cross-examination.
--- Show good sportsmanship and make debate fun and enjoyable!
Thank you!
I am not a fan of speed debating or spreading. Please speak slowly and clearly enough for me to hear all of your arguments. Conversational speaking is fine.
I am more of an LD traditionalist, so using Policy terms and simply reading card after card without impacts seems counter to building an argument. I appreciate debaters who construct cohesive cases that develop from the framework to each contention. Evidence, when included, is clearly cited and impacted.
I want to see clash after constructive arguments. Engage with each other's ideas; don't simply talk over one another.
I also appreciate analysis and logical reasoning.
And finally, be nice to each other.
Experience: 4 years of judging IEs/Debate and 3 years coaching high school debate teams, with experience at local, state, and national tournaments.
Philosophy: As a tabula rasa judge, I remain neutral and judge based on the arguments presented. I value well-structured, logical arguments supported by credible evidence, with ethical and value-based arguments welcome if well-articulated. Evidence is crucial.
Preferences:
Argumentation: Appreciate direct refutation and clash; offensive arguments are more persuasive than purely defensive ones.
Speaking Style: Clarity and persuasion over speed; no spreading.
Framework: Establish a clear framework and weigh impacts accordingly.
Round Conduct:
Points of Contention: Summarize and crystallize key points in summary and final focus speeches.
Crossfire: Viewed as an opportunity to clarify and challenge arguments; not the primary basis of decision but can enhance presentation.
Other Considerations: Maintain respectful behavior; be clear, concise, and structured in speeches. Be open to different approaches if justified well within the round.
Email: hmacias1931@gmail.com
Hello Debaters!
Good for you at checking paradigms.... I judge several different types of debate:
As a communicator, you should be able to adapt to your audience...ie Judge.
Have fun! Debate is a wonderful activity where you can be smart, have fun, and learn at the same time.
Some items I think you should be aware of that I think weakens your presentation:
Being rude, forgetting to tag your cards, not having cards formatted correctly, and not making some kind of eye contact with judge during cross.
DO NOT say please vote for Aff/NEG...your argumentation and evidence should demonstrate your side should win.
Things to help your presentation: Smile, being polite, and organizing your arguments with internal signposting...sharing cards and evidence before using them.
Public Forum- DO NOT PROVIDE AN OFF TIME ROADMAP- I do not need it.***NO VERBAL PROMPTING**
Please have started the email chain and flipped as soon as you can.
include me in the email chain macleodm@friscoisd.org
Or use a speech drop
General Ideas
There is not enough time in PF for effective theory/K to run. I will not vote for you if tricks or theory are your only arguments. I expect the resolution to be debated and there needs to be clash.
I think you should be frontlining offense (turns and disads) in rebuttal. Straight up defense does not need to be frontlined, but I do think it's strategic. Summary to final focus extensions should be consistent for the most part. Overall, the rule of thumb is that the earlier you establish an argument and the more you repeat it, the more likely I will be to vote for it, i.e., it's strategic to weigh in rebuttal too, but it's not a dealbreaker for me if you don't.
To me warrants matter more than impacts. You need both, but please please extend and explain warrants in each speech. Even if it's dropped, I'll be pretty hesitant to vote on an argument if it's not explained in the second half of the round. Also, I have a relatively high standard for what a case extension should look like, so err on the side of caution and just hit me with a full re-explanation of the argument or I probably won't want to vote for you.
The most important thing in debate is comparing your arguments to theirs. This doesn't mean say weighing words like magnitude and poverty and then just extending your impacts, make it actually comparative please.
Technical Debate
I can flow most of the speed in PF, but you shouldn't be sacrificing explanation or clarity for speed.
I will try my best to be "tech over truth", but I am a just a mom of two seven year olds and I do have my own thoughts in my head. To that end, my threshold for responses goes down the more extravagant an argument is.
If you want me to call for a piece of evidence, tell me to in final focus please.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask me before the round.
Policy ***NO VERBAL PROMPTING**I am a stock issues judge when adjudicating Policy. I am fine with speed/spreading with signposting and roadmaps. I will say clear if you are losing me and going too fast so please slow down at that point.
I can't stand the K. Please don't run one. Most debaters do not understand their own ALT and have trouble defending it from our current world- again I like POLICY MAKING not pretending reality doesn't exist. Debate the resolution or run a T argument but very rarely will I vote off case arguments that are just theory or analytically based without actual reputable evidence- make sure your cards are formatted correctly I will ask for them if I need to and will not spend time trying to decipher.
Parli/World Schools- Need to see fully developed warrants, impacts and confidence. I love stories and learning new TRUE stuff...
LD- I love debates about Criterion and no neg cases are great if ran with logic, links, and detailed examples. Tell stories. I will buy it if presented professionally and with logic. I need weighing of worlds and chrystalization.
Congress- Please make sure to reference previous representatives speeches and show me you have been flowing and are responding to what has been said in round.
Showing decorum and being polite- like thanking the previous representative always a good thing :)
PLEASE DO NOT ask if I am ready- I am always ready or I will say to please wait.
World Schools- I love the decorum/Parli element and terminology usage. Attacking the premise of arguments, call out logical fallacies, and weigh the worlds please....Make sure to give examples that are not just made up- I know Harvard studies everything, but please refrain from making stuff up.
I do appreciate puns/tasteful humor and use those POI requests and answers strategically.
Pronouns: She/her/hers
Pre-req: I will not vote on any case arguments making in-depth arguments pertaining to sexual violence, rape, or suicide/suicidal ideations that were not preceded by a pre-round trigger warning. If, upon hearing this trigger warning, the opponent requests the argument not be made and that request is denied, I'll be very receptive to theory arguments about why I ought to vote against you based on the introduction of that issue.
I believe that problematic arguments are problematic whether the opposing team points them out or not. I believe that this is not a space where any argument can be made. Problematic arguments at minimum impact the people in the round and can impact discourse outside of the round. I want the opposing team to point out problematic arguments and abuse. However, arguments that promote sexism, racism, or other forms of hate will not be persuasive for me and are likely to result in a down ballot.
Style: I am one of those judges who responds very negatively to rudeness, disrespect, and offensive language
Speed: I don't like speed. Learning how to talk fast has no post-debate benefit, so I do not support it as a strategy in an educational debate round. I can follow fast talking, but if you are spreading, then I will put down my pen and stop flowing. If I stop flowing, it probably means I am confused; either because you are going too fast, or I don't understand what you are saying.
Style: I need to have a weighing mechanism in PF debate. I need to know how to decide who won the round, otherwise I will get very frustrated. I do not want to decide using my own metrics, I want YOU to tell me how to judge the round. I will be using this weighing mechanism as I look at my flow to decide who won the round. I want this in LD as well. Link your arguments back to your value and criterion for me.
I expect PF and LD debaters to make arguments related to the topic and what the impacts of that particular action are instead of just talking about general good or bad for an idea.
I tend to be a flow a judge. By that I mean that I flow and will be following the flow to see who has the strongest arguments at the end of the round.
Evidence This is also very important to me. By that I mean that I need evidence that is clearly cited and explained. Actually READ me your evidence, don't just give me your summary of the evidence. Analytical arguments are great, and I will vote there, but when disagreement is happening about what may or may not be true about the topic, I would like to hear evidence. This should also connect back to your weighing mechanism.
I also like to hear evidence in the rebuttal. If you are responding with an analytical argument to an argument that has evidence, I need you to do the work of explaining to me why your analytical argument is sufficient to off-set the argument with evidence. You can do this by telling me that sense the argument doesn't make sense/has a fallacy, then it doesn't stand even with evidence. Or you can make an analytical argument about the evidence itself. Otherwise, I am likely going to still prefer the argument with evidence.
Please call for evidence in a timely manner. Please use an email chain or the evidence sharing that Tabroom provides. I want to be included on the email chain.
If there is conflict about evidence, I need you to do the work of telling me why I prefer your evidence over your opponent's evidence. Just telling me, "It post dates," is not sufficient. What has changed since that date? Why is your source more reliable? Otherwise, I will just get frustrated.
If your opponent asks for evidence, per the NSDA rules, you need to provide them with the cut card and the full article in a way that allows everyone to see and read the evidence. I expect to be included in any email chain, so I can also see the card that was called for. I also expect this exchange of evidence to happen promptly (less than 30 seconds) when asked.
If there are questions about the validity of the evidence or the way evidence is being used, you are likely to lose my ballot.
On a related note, I do not believe that everything needs to be quantified. Just because numbers cannot or are not put to an impact, does not mean that it cannot be weighed. This is ESPECIALLY true when it comes to impacts to human beings. I do not find the argument, "we don't know how many people will be impacted," persuasive.
Nuclear Impacts: I think it is important that you know I have hard time believing that nuclear war is going to happen. If this is your terminal impact, you need to really set up the situation and chain of events for me to follow. Generally, there is an impact that happens before nuclear war or winter that is more likely, requires fewer links, and would be easier to convince me is true.
Prep Time: I expect competitors to keep track of their own time. I will also be keeping track of prep time. This will be official time used. If you use all of your prep time before the end of the round, I expect you to start speaking promptly. That means you should take no more than 10 seconds to begin your next speech.
Background: I am a math teacher, so if you are going to throw around math terms and mathematics, you need to be certain that you know what you are talking about and are correct. As an example, there is a difference between exponential, linear, and geometric growth, so make sure you say the right one.
I have debated PF 4 years in high school, 4 years of college PF, 4 years of NPDA/parli in college.
I am not a LD debater, so I have minimal understanding of the theory and technical arguments that exist within LD. You can absolutely still make those arguments, but you need to make sure that you are explaining those terms, otherwise I will be lost and frustrated.
I am happy to give you feedback after the round, if you find me. :)
Catherine Magaña
I appreciate when debaters show that they care and that they want to be debating and put energy into it. I will put as much effort into my decision and comments as you do into debating. Lots of good can come from this activity so I encourage you to be part of that.
Won't vote on events that happened outside of the round. I am not the person to adjudicate those experiences.
If I cannot hear what you are saying I will clear you once and then stop flowing. You may have made an argument but if you're unclear, the chances I write it down are slim. And if you're not flowing, I'm not flowing.
Prep ends when the email is sent. Don't clip and don't steal prep.
Specific evidence comparison is important, so do more than just surface level analysis. Pull lines out of cards, indict them, anything. People get away with reading lots of terrible evidence - don't let them!
As the judge, I will do my best not to intervene but if I have to come to my own conclusion about something that wasn't debated out then I will explain why I did and what could have prevented that.
CP and DA
If you want me to utilize judge kick then please do not wait until the 2NR to say it. I think zero risk can be a thing. I have been out of the game for a while now so not great for highly technical debates about CP competition.
K
If you're neg - I find myself persuaded most often by K turns case arguments and specific links. Talk about the aff more. I think speech organization is important here and will appreciate signposting instead of just reading down your document.
I vote for planless affs as much as anything else. Affs should probably be related to the topic. Tell me why spending time learning about x is better than learning about y, especially in that round.
T
I enjoy T debates. These debates can be shallow sometimes so I appreciate contextualization of the aff, in-round abuse, and telling me what precedent would be set by x definition. Not voting on plan text in a vacuum.
Other: Reading every word off of your computer is not impressive or innovative. Speaks will reward the use of your flow.
I like to see clear and concise arguments. I prefer speech at a normal speed. I do not like debaters talking so fast that it is difficult to understand. It is not a speed competition. I appreciate it when you cite your sources because debate should be based upon facts. I strongly dislike speed talking or spreading. I am 100% deaf in one ear so I need you to speak clearly.
I have judged several debate tournaments and judged at the national tournament in 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona.
I debated public forum at Shrewsbury High School and policy at GMU. Contact me at annamaymahowald@gmail.com.
Please tell me what to write down and where to write it.
Please don't be rude. Please do be honest.
If you're going to be fast, please also be clear.
I give off lots of non-verbal cues. If you're paying attention, you'll probably know what I think of your arguments before the RFD.
I view cross-ex, for the most part, as an opportunity for clarification between debaters.
In public forum or big questions debate, I won't vote on plans, counterplans, or critical alternatives.
Updated January 2025
The big update -- Be forewarned. If you lie to me about something that happens in the round (like claiming something is a new argument when it clearly isn't), I reserve the right to give you the loss, assign the lowest speaker points the tournament will let me give, and may hold a press conference in the student lounge to tell the world why I did it. Characterizations of what evidence says or doesn't say is understandable, but fabrications are not.
Caveat: This is my perception of what I think I do. Those who have had me in the back of the room may have different views.
The TL;DR version (applies to all forms of debate).
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The resolution is pretty important. Advocate for or against it and you get a lot of leeway on method. Ignore it at your peril.
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Default policymaker/CBA unless the resolution screams otherwise or you give me a well-reasoned argument for another approach.
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“Roles of the ballot” or frameworks that are not reasonably accessible (doesn't have to be 50-50, but reasonable) to both sides in the debate run the risk of being summarily thrown out.
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Share me to the speech doc (maierd@gosaints.org) but I’m only flowing what you intelligibly say in the debate. If I didn’t flow it, you didn’t say it.
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Fairness and reciprocity are a good starting point for evaluating theory/topicality, etc. Agnostic on tech v. truth debate. These are defaults and can be overcome.
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Rudeness, rules-lawyering, clipping, falsifying evidence and other forms of chicanery all make me unhappy. Making me unhappy reduces your speaker points. If I’m unhappy enough, you might be catching an L.
The longer version (for all forms of debate)
The Resolution: Full disclosure – I have been extensively involved in the NFHS Policy Debate Topic Selection Meeting since 2011 and written several topic papers (including the Latin America topic from 2013-2014), so I know the work that goes into crafting resolutions. If you advocate for/against the resolution somehow, I'll give you pretty wide latitude. Ignoring the resolution means the bar is pretty low for me to ignore you (though I have seen teams fail to navigate themselves over that bar).
File Sharing and Speed – Yes, I want to be in on any file sharing but I'm not going to refer to the document during a speech unless I feel like something happened that made me lose concentration or I'm snagging the odd cite. For speed, I don't flow as fast in my mid-50s as I did even in my 40s. I'll yell "clear" twice without repercussions; on the third "clear" in your speech, the pen goes down and I'm probably opening up eBay to shop for coins (and you're losing speaks) until you or your partner picks up on the cue. Getting things on my flow is your job, not mine. I will have no problem saying "you didn't say that in a way that was flowable."
Arguments: Arguments grounded in history, political science, and economics are the ones I understand the best – that can cut both ways. So, yeah, I understand things like Cap, CRT, and Intersectionality pretty well, your K based on some random European dude who says adopting his method is the only way for life to have value is going to take some explaining.It is your job to put me in a position to explain to the other team why they lost, even if they disagree with the decision. Framework or "role of the ballot" arguments that are not reasonably accessible to both teams are likely to get ignored. Example -- "use the ballot to affirm my identity" when the other team doesn't have that identity is probably getting tossed, but "use the ballot to combat structural violence being committed against a marginalized community" that you happen to be a part of and we'll be good to go.
Deciding Rounds – I try to decide the round in the least interventionist way possible – I’ll leave it to others to hash out whether I succeed at that. I will worka little harder than youto make sense of the round. If neither side does work, I'm going to find the first thing I can embrace and sign the ballot.Asking me to read evidence, particularlyyour evidence, is a tacit invitation to intervene.
Point Scale – Because I judge on a few different circuits that each have different scales, saying X equals a 28.5 isn’t helpful. I use the scale I’m asked to use to the best of my ability.
Things that will cost you speaker points/the round:
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Rudeness – Definitely will hurt your speaks. If it’s bad enough, I’ll look for a reason to vote you down or just decide I like to make rude people mad and give you the L just so I can see you get hacked off.
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Gratuitous profanity – Saying “damn” or “hell” or “the plan will piss off X” in a frantic 1AR is no biggie. Six f-bombs in a forty second span is a different story.
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Racist/sexist/homophobic language or behavior – If I’m sure about what I saw or heard and it’s bad enough, I’ll act on it unilaterally.
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Falsifying evidence/clipping cards/deliberate misrepresentation of evidence – Again, if I’m sure about this and that it’s deliberate, I’ll act on my own.
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Rules-lawyering – Debate has very few rules, so unless it’s written down somewhere, rules-lawyering is likely to only make me mad. An impacted theory objection might be a different story.
Lincoln-Douglas Observations
1. Way too much time on framework debates without applying the framework to the resolution question. I’m not doing this work for you.
2. The event is generally in an identity crisis, with some adhering to the Value Premise/Criterion model and others treating it like 1 on 1 policy, some with really shallow arguments. I’m fine with either, but starting the NC with five off and then collapsing to one in the NR is going to make me give 2AR a lot of leeway (maybe even new argument leeway) against extrapolations not specifically in the NC.
3. Too many NR’s and 2AR’s are focused on not losing and not on winning. Plant your flag somewhere, tell me why you’re winning those arguments and why they’re the key to the round.
Public Forum Specific Observations
0. Do not spread in Public Forum -- if you want to spread, there's two other perfectly good debate events for you.
1. Why we ever thought paraphrasing was a good idea is absolutely beyond me. In a debate that isn’t a mismatch, I’m generally going to prefer those who read actual evidence over those who say “my 100 page report says X” and then challenge the other team to prove them wrong in less than a handful of minutes of prep time. Make of that what you will.
2. I’ve never seen a Grand Crossfire that actually advanced a debate.
3. Another frustration I have with PF is that issues are rarely discussed to the depth needed to resolve them fully. This is more due to the structure of the round than debaters themselves. To that end, if you have some really wonky argument, it’s on you to develop your argument to where it’s a viable reason to vote. I will lose no sleep over saying to you “You lost because you didn’t do enough to make me understand your argument.”
4. Right now, PF doesn’t seem sure of what it wants to be – some of this is due to the variety of resolutions, but also what seems like the migration of ex-debaters and coaches into the judging pool at the expense of lay judges, which was supposed to be the idea behind PF to begin with.
5. As with LD, too many Final Focuses are focused on not losing instead of articulating a rationale for why a team is winning the debate.
I am a parent judge who is new to debate. I will not understand every nuisance of your case, but will be able to follow the gist of everything. Furthermore, do not run any K's or Theory. Speak at an understandable pace.
I teach math and serve as chair of the math dept at Isidore Newman School in New Orleans. I am a frequent tournament administrator (e.g., LD at Greenhill and Apple Valley, Speech at Glenbrooks, Emory, Stanford, and Berkeley). I retired from coaching high school at the end of the 2017-2018 school year. I coached Policy and LD (as well as most every speech event) for over 25 years on the local and national circuit. In the spring of 2020, we started a Middle School team at Newman and have been coaching on the middle school level since then.
I judge only a handful of rounds each year. I don't know trends and norms nearly as well as I used to when I was coaching high school debate. You will need to explain topic specific abbreviations, acronyms, etc. a little more than you would normally. You will also need to go slower than normal, especially for the first 30 sec of each speech so I can adjust to you.
My philosophy is in three sections. Section 1 applies to both policy and LD. Section 2 is policy-specific. Section 3 is LD-specific.
Section 1: Policy and LD
Speed. Go fast or slow. However, debaters have a tendency to go faster than they are physically capable of going. Regardless of your chosen rate of delivery, it is imperative that you start your first speech at a considerably slower pace than your top speed will be. Judges need time to adjust to a student's pitch, inflection, accent/dialect. I won't read cards after the round to compensate for your lack of clarity, nor will I say "clearer" during your speech. In fact, I will only read cards after the round if there is actual debate on what a specific card may mean. Then, I may read THAT card to assess which debater is correct.
Theory. Theory should not be run for the sake of theory. I overhead another coach at a tournament tell his debaters to "always run theory." This viewpoint sickens me. If there is abuse, argue it. Be prepared to explain WHY your ground is being violated. What reasonable arguments can't be run because of what your opponent did? For example, an aff position that denies you disad or CP ground is only abusive if you are entitled to disad or CP ground. It becomes your burden to explain why you are so entitled. Theory should never be Plan A to win a round unless your opponent's interpretation, framework, or contention-level arguments really do leave you no alternative. I think reasonable people can determine whether the theory position has real merit or is just BS. If I think it's BS, I will give the alleged offender a lot of leeway.
Role of the Ballot. My ballot usually means nothing more than who won the game we were playing while all sitting in the same room. I don't believe I am sending a message to the debate community when I vote, nor do I believe that you are sending a message to the debate community when you speak, when you win, or when you lose. I don't believe that my ballot is a teaching tool even if there's an audience outside of the two debaters. I don't believe my ballot is endorsing a particular philosophy or possible action by some agent implied or explicitly stated in the resolution. Perhaps my ballot is endorsing your strategy if you win my ballot, so I am sending a message to you and your coach by voting for you, but that is about it. If you can persuade me otherwise, you are invited to try. However, if your language or conduct is found to be offensive, I will gladly use my ballot to send a message to you, your coach, and your teammates with a loss and/or fewer speaker points than desired.
Section 2: Policy only (although there are probably things in the LD section below that may interest you)
In general, Affs should defend the resolution and propose action that solves a problem. The Neg should defend the status quo or propose a competitive alternative. HOW debaters choose to do that are up to the debaters to decide. Any team may choose to question the method or framework chosen by the opposing team. Although I have the experience with Affs who read topical plans, I will not reject an Aff team simply because those don't do that.
I think K's need a solid link and a clear, viable, and competitive alt, but I best understand a negative strategy if consisting of counterplans, disads, case args.
Section 3: LD only (if you are an LDer who likes "policy" arguments in LD, you should read the above section}
Kritiks. In the end, whatever position you take still needs to resolve a conflict inherent (or explicitly stated) within the resolution. Aff's MUST affirm the resolution. Neg's MUST negate it. If your advocacy (personal or fiated action by some agent) does not actually advocate one side of the resolution over the other, then you'll probably lose.
Topicality. I really do love a good T debate. A debater will only win a T debate if (1) you read a definition and/or articulate an interpretation of specific words/phrases in the resolution being violated and (2) explain why your interp is better than your opponent's in terms of providing a fair limit - not too broad nor too narrow. I have a strong policy background (former policy debater and long-time policy debate coach). My view of T debates is the same for both.
Presumption. I don't presume aff or neg inherently. I presume the status quo. In some resolutions, it's clear as to who is advocating for change. In that case, I default to holding whoever advocates change in the status quo as having some burden of proof. If neither (or both) is advocating change, then presumption becomes debatable. However, I will work very hard to vote on something other than presumption since it seems like a copout. No debate is truly tied at the end of the game.
Plans vs Whole Res. I leave this up to the debaters to defend or challenge. I am more persuaded by your perspective if it has a resolutional basis. There are some topics where a plan may actually be reasonable/necessary to contextually the topic. And even if the aff doesn't read a plan per se, examples of what it means to affirm are often helpful. Whether it's fair for an aff to have a fiat power over a specific plan is subject to debate. However, "plans bad because this is LD, not policy" is a really bad argument as to why plans are bad in LD.
Hi I'm Dhruva Mambapoor!
I debated for four years in LD at Westwood HS (2018). I qualified for the TOC and NSDA. I have been an assistant coach for Westwood and then Greenhill over the past 5 years.
email: dmambapoor+tabroom@gmail.com
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Pref Shortcuts:
LARP: 1
K: 2
Phil: 3
Theory: 4
Tricks: Strike
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Overview to How I Evaluate Debates:
I evaluate arguments based on credence. This may be a bad explanation of this or not even close to the actual judging style based on argument's credence values. Basically, I don't start of every argument at 100%. Instead each argument has a certain validity to it, from 0 to infinity and beyond.
How compelling or credible an argument is, I base on two factors:
1. If your justifications are true, how well does the conclusion logically follow.
2. How well does it fit my background knowledge on the subject.
The second usually happens unconsciously, but I've decided to mention it, so you know that I have biases. If I recognize the bias, I will account for it, but recognizing my own bias is a difficult task. You can override the second factor by simply filling in the gaps where I would put my background knowledge. If you say your shirt is green because you rolled around in the grass, that would make sense because I think grass is green and stains clothes. If I didn't, you simply have to say your shirt is green because you rolled around in a green grass field which stains clothes.
If there are no arguments in the debate that are compelling or have decent enough warrants, then I will lower my standards until someone has sufficient offense for me to vote. The more I lower my standards the riskier the debate becomes.
So then what's compelling and fits my background info? see below
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The Specifics of the Common Positions:
Topicality/Theory:
A debate whose key characteristic is often blitzing through analytics is very risky in front of me because I tend to miss a lot especially when I can't verify with another source of information like a doc or its a common shell I've heard before. You can read theory, just make sure you can really implement the solutions given at the top of this paradigm. That also doesn't mean you can be as abusive as you want. I will give more leeway to common T/Theory (Pics bad, 2+ condo bad, infinite NIBs bad, etc.). That given, reading theory strategically instead of reading it to check abuse (or often both), is ok, but because T/Theory is naturally harder for me to flow and understand, it probably isn't strategic anyways.
Extra note for topicality:
I read basically only plan affs in HS, so I will understand them and the subsequent T/Theory debates more. If you have an untopical K aff, great! I also understand that subsequent T/theory debate more than other T debates as well. As the aff, I just need a stronger defense of why you are untopical and a more easy to understand explanation of the theories behind the K aff. And No, I'm not going to reject the aff just because its untopical. Against K affs, I'm also more interested in an neg strategy that engages with case. That just means I will pay more attention (unconsciously) to neg strategies without T in it or at the least has substantive case answers.
Kritik:
Don't assume I know the lit behind, because I probably don't. In HS I read: Deleuze, Culp (Dark Deleuze), Cap. I have some knowledge on: Deleuze, Culp, Wilderson, Nietzsche, Foucault, Baudrillard, Bataille, Freud and Lacan, Marx, Zizek. I have a little knowledge on: Derrida, Fanon, Queer Pess, Buddhism.
I have high standards for the alt. It should, ideally, resolve the impact, or propose and thoroughly explain some shift in paradigm/lens that is competitive with the aff and is more net beneficial than continuing with the aff paradigm.
Phil:
Don't assume I know the lit behind it. In HS I read: Util, Generic Structural Violence, and Koorsgard (Kant-ish). I have some knoweldge on: Util, Koorsgaard, Kant, Hobbes, Pragmatism, Levinas. I have a little knowledge on: Scanlon, Jaeggi, Hegel, Grievability.
I love util and SV frameworks. As a good rule of thumb, I will like frameworks that are grounded in materiality more. However, I can like a good phil debate if each argument is developed and fleshed out. I do not like phil debates with a lot of dumps and blippy analytics.
CP:
If you run a CP, the burden of proof shifts to you. If the aff and the CP are very similar then I need a strong net benefit to vote neg. The CP alone needs to be better than the perm to win the CP.
Disads:
Easiest debates for me to understand. I love a good DA debate. If its big-stick (nuclear war, etc.), which it probably is, then I have high standards for evidence. It should at least indicate extinction (or whatever the scope) is possible, or it's paired with a compelling analytic that indicates extinction is possible or you explain why the evidence would imply this well in cross-ex.
Politics:
I'm not as informed as I would like to be. Given that, I won't be able to verify many analytics so most if not all arguments should have evidence. I will give more leeway to responses because its hard to have applicable evidence to strange politics scenarios or weirdly structured ones.
Disclosure:
Disclosing open source is preferred. Disclosing full text is functionally mandatory. If you read a disclosure shell, you must include a screenshot with a timestamp.
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Speaker Points:
- If you read circuit-style arguments (Theory, Tricks) against novice or traditional debaters, I will dock speaks (-2).
Final Remarks:
You can change any of the above with warranted arguments. No I don't mean just good arguments, I mean make arguments with claims like "Big-stick impacts don't need to indicate extinction", "Frameworks grounded in materiality are oppressive", etc. Be very explicit and clear with the paradigm you want me to adopt, and then warrant it well.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me, or ask before the round.
Good luck in today's debate! I am a veteran Lincoln-Douglas debater from Saint James School in Montgomery, where I debated locally and nationally in high school. I was excited about debate then and still am now! After I graduated college and law school I worked for a long time as an attorney and now serve as a federal judge. Free speech and advocacy are a big part of what makes our country special, and I am thrilled that you have chosen to invest your time and talents in civil discourse.
I'm a pretty traditional judge. You can trust that I'm completely unbiased (I maintain my impartiality as part of my everyday work life), and you should not expect to win my ballot if you're not a persuasive advocate. You'll have to speak clearly and make sure that I understand your argument before you can have any expectation that I'll accept it. Spread at your own risk. If your opponent spreads, think big thoughts about how you can slow the round down and still win. In this kind of debate, the gutsy debater with a few good arguments (or even only one) is often more effective than the fastest speaker with loads of weaker things to say. Proper decorum is a must - I'm completely confident that you can be effective without being rude. Stand up straight, make eye contact, and be your best self. Good luck!
Current Head Forensics, Assistant Debate Coach at Olathe North High School in Kansas, Previously Head Coach at Lansing 2018-2024 (mixed style debate 5A school), and Buhler High School 2015-2018 (traditional-style debate 4A school). I judge rounds regularly, and have for the last 15+ years.
I did not debate in High School or College but DID participate in Forensics @ the high school level at Eudora High and at the collegiate level at Northwest Missouri State University.
Interp / PA: I don't think you should change you performance based on your audience, HOWEVER, I have lived experience that makes it REALLY hard to stay with you if you mention harm to children. It will go better for both of us if you have a content warning for me. I do not need you to tell me anything explicit, I wont need to excuse myself from the round, but if I know its there its easier to listen to you and give you feedback.
General Debate Things
Speed - clarity is important, I'm more on the slow end of fast debate. Add me to the email chain and put your analytics in the docs and I can usually keep up ok. If you don't add your analytics to the doc, and I miss them on my flow that becomes a problem for you. lamaranell@olatheschools.org
FYI: I have a degree in Biology, this is included b/c my threshold for answering crap science args is low. I'm not gonna do the work for the opponent but they wont need to do much. Also bad logic hurts your ethos.
Debater Behavior: there is no good reason for any debater behavior that causes exclusion in the space. Debate should be a polite exchange. FROM MY DEBATE SYLLABUS: "As debaters we often implement multiple varieties of viewpoints and voices in order to make an argument. What is not acceptable at any point includes slurs or attacks intended to degrade others on the basis of gender, race, sexual preference, sexual identity; this list may not include all possibilities. We attack arguments, not people, in debate." I remove travel privileges from my teams engaging in this behavior, and if it happens in the scope of the round I am judging the offending team will receive the loss AND have a sportsmanship grievance to contend with.
Arguments vs Delivery:I will judge the round based on the division it is in. If we are at a KDC flagged event and you are spreading my threshold for an abuse argument is gonna be in the basement.
In Policy Rounds -
I am pretty Tabula Rasa but default to a flow policymaker with a high regard for stock issues if no one tells me how/why to vote.
Kritiks: I enjoy them but you have to make sure it makes actual sense, If you cant make sure your opponent understands the K its not productive to the round, to you, or to anyone. You also need to explain the logic of the K for me to vote on it. (TLDR- don't be lazy and I will weigh it)
I love a good T debate :) - IMPORTANT EXCLUSION - Ablest T arguments are NOT acceptable and will be voted down - Example: if your T argument is premised off of a typo in the AFF teams document (could be due to an intellectual disability) rather than what the words of the actual resolution are.
In LD Rounds -
Value and Value Criterion are not just buzzwords, they are central to the LD form of debate, if you read them just to move on to your policy framework that isn't the point. I realize this makes me a traditionalist.
In PFD Rounds -
PFD is not Policy. There should not be a plan text. This was intended to be whole-res debate.
Make sure you give me framework in the 1st speech, Judge instruction is key.
This is my fourth year as a parent judge. I value clear and convincing arguments, both in the context of debate and my day job as a professor. I want debaters to interact respectfully, and I appreciate it when you don't talk too fast.
Put me on the chain: tianamarion7@gmail.com
Background: I debated four years at Salina South High School (2017-21). I was also the 5A 2-speak state champion in 2021 on the prison reform topic. I currently debate in college at Kansas Wesleyan University (parli + LD), and I had a brief stint at Yale. I have assistant coached at Salina South, head coached at Sacred Heart high school, and assistant coached at McPherson High School.
Judging Philosophy: Tech over truth. I think debate is a game, whoever plays it best wins my ballot. With this, I have often voted against good plans or good counterplans that I think are good ideas, because they weren't argued correctly. I try to keep my own personal biases (in any way) out of the debate round. Do not change how you debate to adapt to me; I want to see how you debate at what you believe is your best. I'm comfortable with any speed from conversational to rapid spreading. Speech drop > Email chains. ****I am of the belief that all on case and off case arguments need to be read in the 1NC. Also no new in the 2NC. I will not vote you down because of this, but I will not be happy.
Topic Specific: This year, I have been judging and coaching on the 4A and 3-2-1 A circuit. I am not a big fan of "soft left" impacts which are huge on this topic, so it will be much easier for me to vote on high magnitude impacts (yes, I am an unironic nuke war impact enjoyer).
Topicality: I believe it is an a priori and will judge it first before examining the case. I judge topicality on whether you can prove specific in-round abuse and if it sets a precedent for bad debating. I have enjoyed debating and coaching topicality, so please do not be afraid to run it!
Counterplans: I believe every counterplan has to have a net benefit, and I don’t care about whether it’s topical or not. I don't think conditionality is abusive in most cases, but I can be convinced with a really good condo bad shell.
Kritiks: I am most comfortable with Capitalism, Settler Colonialism, Security, Queerness, and Anti-blackness. Anything further will probably require some explanation. Must have Framework to tell me how to weigh the K vs Case.
CX: Honestly, get out there and do what you do best... Debate! All I ask is that you provide me with decent clash and voters at the end of the round. I'll listen to pretty much anything, but be warned that CPs must be run correctly and adequately apply for them to be a significant voter for me. Also, just know that I can count the number of times I've voted for a K on one hand, as most of the time they are run incorrectly, provide zero education in the round, and/or are just vague and silly timesuck arguments. I'm not saying I won't vote on a K, just be cautious in doing so. I'm fine with DAs, Ts, Theory, and all other on-case, as long as it's relevant and applies. Additionally, don't be afraid to run new on-case arguments in the 2NC; after all, it is a constructive speech. Finally, please don't waste our time playing games with technology or running arguments you plan to kick later. Time is a very valuable resource, so if you don't plan on seeing an argument through to the end of the round, please just don't run it to begin with. Other than that, be decorous, communicative, and most of all have fun!
I don't mind speed. As long as you don't sound like an auctioneer or like you're about to pass out, we should be good. I will not tell you if you're going too fast or can't be understood. You should know if you're adequately communicating with the room or not. The biggest thing to remember is that this is a communication event and you should not expect me to figure out what you're talking about on my own. Explain, communicate, and remember that I don't have the cards in front of me to refer back to (nor do I want a copy to refer back to). Remember, if everyone in the room does not understand what is happening, then it isn’t debate.
LD: Probably the most important part of LD is the value/criterion debate. If you can show that your value/criterion frames the resolution better than your opponents, then that's a pretty easy win in my book. Otherwise, the main thing I look for is legitimate clash between opponents. I don't mind some progressive argumentation, but remember that at the end of the day value debate isn't about providing a plan to solve a problem. If you want to do that, you might consider switching to CX.
» Completed Cultural Competence Course «
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I have judged speech and debate events for more than 15 years, and have been a coach for about 10. I primarily coach interp and public speaking events, but I've also judged Public Forum Debate for years, and assist with coaching PFD. I have judged final rounds of PFD and DUO, as well as many break rounds, at the National Tournament.
I do not judge LD, WSD or Policy.
General thoughts
No matter what event I judge, I will do my best to be as prepared, professional and fair as possible. I expect no less from competitors. If you are unprepared, exhibit unprofessional behavior, are sloppy or waste my time (or another competitor's time), you won't be rewarded. Be professional. Be present. Be courteous. You will not be rewarded for being rude.
Public Forum Debate
My approach to PFD is pretty traditional. Be clear! Convince me you should win. Because of my speech background, I value presentation. Yes, I want your words and arguments to bring me to your side, but how you say those things is important (vocal variety, emphasis, eye contact, gestures). As you present your case, you've got to convince me your arguments are the right arguments, and guide me through your case. Your presentation skills — or lack thereof — play a big role in this process. I also expect you to be professional in every aspect of the round; you should look and play the part. Abusive or overly aggressive language or attitudes will not be rewarded. And, if you never look up from your laptop, tablet or pad, you're missing an opportunity to sell me on your case.
I've heard PFD was never designed to be Policy. It started out as Ted Turner Debate. Extreme speed or arcane debate jargon or argumentation theory won't win points with me. I am looking for persuasive and logical arguments that are clear and accessible. If you speak so fast that I can’t flow your argument, then how can it be on my flow?
While your analysis needs to be solid, I do want good information. Support your arguments. Cite your facts; I want to know where your information comes from. Good information is important, and I don't like teams that cite only one or two sources over and over — or rarely cite arcane sources. Solid warrants and citations will be rewarded, assuming you link everything together.
I try to intervene as little as possible, and I will not discount an argument because I strongly disagree with it — as long as you can support it and I understand it. I value facts and will judge a debate based on the information presented — not my opinions. How well do you support your contentions? Do you have sufficient warranting? Clear impacts? Do you understand the resolution beyond what is in your cases? That's the information that will help you deliver solid blocks and control cross. Some judges discount cross; I don't. If you don't know the subject, this is where it will show.
Time yourself (and your opponent, if you want), but I will also keep time using a dedicated app. I'm not a stickler for time — if you go a few seconds over time to finish a thought or respond during cross, that is OK. Just don't abuse it. And keep those off-time roadmaps super brief.
Interp/speech
I realize I don't need a paradigm for speech events, but since competitors do occasionally ask, why not? Here are a few general thoughts:
» Delivery: Clear, fluid delivery, whether you're presenting an oratory or doing a character in a DI, is a must. If I can't hear or understand you, or clearly identify your characters, that's an issue.
» Time signals: By default, I don't provide them. If you ask, I am certainly going to provide them, though I prefer something simple — three down, for example. At local tournaments, especially early in the season, time signals can be helpful as pieces get adjusted and you adjust to them. At national-circuit tournaments, while I certainly will provide them if asked, I find the increased reliance on time signals disappointing. Memorized pieces should be precise and within a few seconds or so during each performance. What will you do anyway? Cut a few parts? The reality is that is tougher than just getting it precisely memorized and timed. In summary, it's a crutch that you should work to avoid as the season progresses.
» Oratories, Expos, Info: I look for an interesting topic, clear points, effective and persuasive speech, good support and fluid movement/gestures. For an Info, a clear, effective prop need not be complex or consist of 50 things. Sometimes, simple is best. Does it add to the speech? Does it help the audience understand the speech better? If it controls you, then it's not effective. Do not neglect eye contact with me and the rest of the audience. If you don't connect with me, how can I connect with your speech? Finally, why do I care? Why should the audience care? Bring it back to the audience and let us know why we should care. In an OO, you are likely advocating for something. Tell me why I should care, or at least listen. In an info or an expository, what's the impact? For example, if the extinction of a little bug will cause a bigger bug to also become extinct, that's impact. But it's not necessarily the final impact to the audience. Bring it to us: The extinction of this little bug will cause a larger bug to become extinct, potentially impacting our food supply. An informative should tell me more than how to do something; it should tell me something (or an angle on something) I didn't know. And then, it should explain to me why I (the audience) care.
» DI/HI/DUO/POI: A good piece that is cut tightly and effectively is a great start (don't underestimate the cutting). From there, I look for good, clear, distinct and effective characterizations (TIP: focal points may be somewhat ignored these days, but I'm one of those judges who still look for them, and I like good eye contact with the audience during narration), effective blocking and purposeful movement. Tech is OK, if it doesn't overpower the presentation but rather enhances the piece. For DUOs, tight cue pickup, distinct characterizations and creative blocking are rewarded. In POI, do the pieces continually support your argument or thesis?
A note about POI: Per the NSDA, "The use of a manuscript during the performance is required." I expect you to refer to your binder, turn pages and — if you wish — use it as a prop. Never turning the pages or looking at the binder is not what I am hoping to see and won't be rewarded. Also, POI is not a DI — onestory — with a few poems thrown in as spice. It's a program.
» EXT: I look for clear structure, good support, good facts, fluid delivery. Answer the extemp question you received: Pivoting to some other angle of your preference won't be rewarded. Be sure, too, that I know your answer: be clear! Canned intros can work, but they need to be pertinent, and many are not. Sourcing is important; if you have (for example) three points, I'll look for two reputable sources per point. Varied sources work best and help support your overall argument. Do not neglect eye contact with me and the rest of the audience (if any). If you don't connect with me, how can I connect with your speech?
Final thoughts
Don't read too much into any of this. It's my opinion and opinions are cheap. At the end of the day, the most important thing is that your experience is fun and rewarding, and that we both learn something. If that happens, we were both winners.
Stay focused, and good luck!
Logistics…
1) Let's use Speechdrop.net for evidence sharing. If you are the first person to the room, please set it up and put the code on the board so we can all get the evidence.
2) If, for some reason, we can't use speechdrop, let's use email. I want to be on the email chain. janettmartinez83@gmail.com
DO NOT Be: rude, racist, sexist, homophobic, antisemitic, etc.
I prefer you speak at a conversational speed always. Slightly above is also good, but try not to spread, especially in PF (Super Fast Rebuttals/Summaries are pretty cringe and hard to flow).
I've found I'm a pretty expressive judge, and if i am confused or can't understand you my face will make that clear.
Have fun, be clear, be clever.
Please utilize off time roadmaps.
Keep track of your own time. Just let me know when you run prep is all.
Signpost so I can follow on the flow. If I miss an argument because you "Jump Around" without signposting, that is on you.
I will always vote in favor of the side with better quality arguments and better comparative analysis of the biggest impacts in the round, not the side that is necessarily "winning the most arguments."
I consider myself a flow judge (though not SUPER technical).
Frameworks should always be extended.If your opponent doesn't respond to it in 1st or 2nd rebuttal, it needs to be extended into 2nd rebuttal or 1st Summary in order for me to evaluate the arguments under that framework. Teams who speak 1st do not necessarily need to extend their FW into their 1st rebuttal, but should provide some context or clarification as to why the framework is necessary for the round (can be included in an overview). If there are 2 frameworks presented, please explain why I need to prefer yours over the opponent. If no explanation is provided or extended, I will default to my own evaluation methods (typically cost/benefit analysis)
I like when teams focus summaries on extending offense and weighing, more specifically explain to me why your impacts matter more than your opponent’s. Don’t just say “(...card) means we outweigh on...,” then move on to the next point. I love details and context, and will always favor quality weighing over quantity.
Please collapse. It helps to provide focus in the round rather than bouncing around on 20 different arguments. It just makes my life as a judge much easier.
Use FF to crystalize and highlight the most important points of contention and impact that you believe are winning you the round (things like offense and turns that go unresponded to, for example). Explain to my why I should vote for you, not why I should not vote for the other side.
Email: ethan3768@gmail.com
Hey! I'm Ethan and I debated for West Broward in Florida for 4 years. I received 9 bids and broke at the TOC - won the Valley Mid America Cup, Harvard RR, Florida States, etc.
There are a couple of things that generally contextualize my views on debate and how you should probably debate in front of me.
I am Tech > Truth. Naturally, if your arguments are both technical and true, that makes you a better debater. I will not assume something is true though just because a "claim" is dropped. It actually needs to be an argument with justified implications that follow.
My threshold for what constitutes a warrant is fair, but high for LD's standards - you need to justify the assumptions that your arguments make. The standard for what is considered a "votable" argument in LD has become exceptionally low and you should keep that in mind when you debate in front of me. I see this issue most when people "justify" theory paradigm issues.
General:
I won't evaluate
1] new 2nr arguments and/or implications that directly are used to answer something in the 1ac. Weighing is fine but I will not evaluate arguments that answer something from the 1ac. That means no GSP or skep turns case in the 2nr unless it was in the 1nc. Only exception is if new offense was read in the 1ar.
2] non-sequitur arguments or arguments where conclusions don't necessarily follow from premises.
3] won't evaluate speeches early INSIDE of the speech the argument was read in. Yes eval after 2n in 1nc, No eval after 2n in 2n.
Theory: One of the things I feel most comfortable evaluating. Coming up with a smart combo shell or making cool strategic decisions are awesome and make judging a lot more fun. I'm perfectly fine with theory as a strategic tool so if this is what you like to do, I'm all for it. There's no such thing as frivolous theory.
Defaults - DTA, Reasonability, No RVIs. NSM vs IRA assumption depends on offense to the shell. These are paradigm issues, not voters. These are the defaults because this is what any paragraph argument on any flow would look like as long as an external impact (fairness, bindingness, scope, etc) is justified.
I don’t default voters (Fairness/Ed/Etc) - they’re impacts to arguments. I will assume there’s no impact to the standards if you don't read an external impact.
You NEED to justify drop the debater and fairness is a voter. I do not like having to hold the line on the impacts to the shell but it has become considerably common for debaters to assume warrants that aren't there. Please warrant your paradigm issues; yes, that means you need to explain why dtd "deters abuse". I think the warrant is best when it's comparative to dta because if the baseline for why dtd matters is it just "deters" abuse, that's a low bar for dta to meet.
Don't read new paradigm issues for a 1nc shell in the 2n, it's new.
T: I view it as an endorsement > punishment model. It's a methods debate so winning the shell is prob enough to independently justify voting on it. These are just defaults if no one reads paradigm issues though. Obviously, I'll evaluate the shell under whatever metric you justify.
Policy: I never debated this way but I'll evaluate these debates the way you tell me to. The jargon is not exactly vernacular to me so I'd probably err on the side of explaining the implication of something for like 2 seconds if you think I wouldn't get it. Underrated strategy though against phil debaters and I do like it.
Tricks: Sure. I like warrants though. I'm also tired of analytic dumps where arguments are all over the place.
K: Better off preffing someone else. I'm a sucker for extinction o/w and frankly true arguments that say 1nc evidence has no warrants. If you cut good evidence though, that's solid. Bar for explanation is high and I don't listen to arguments that demean another debater's identity. Theory of power needs to be clear and 2n explanation needs to be found in the 1nc.
I have judged almost every form of debate possible. I have been involved in US policy debate since its invention. You must respond to the other teams arguments. Flowing is good. You be your best debater. I will try and be a fair judge. I am very familiar with the PF topics. Be nice to your opponents and your debate partner.
One last thing. I do not think PF debate has the capacity to provide space to have a good debate about arguments relating to "disclosure" and "paraphrasing" as a reason to lose a debate. It is an international event and those particular cultural norms are not accessible for everyone across the planet of debate.
Jan 18 2025
I will not base my decision on the flow of the debate if the debaters dont flow.
Love to be on the chain.... sfadebate@gmail.com
LD---TOC---2024
I'm a traditional leaning policy judge – No particular like/dislike for the Value/Criterion or Meta-Ethic/Standard structure for framework just make sure everything is substantially justified, not tons of blippy framework justifications.
Disads — Link extensions should be thorough, not just two words with an author name. I'm a sucker for good uniqueness debates, especially on a topic where things are changing constantly.
Counterplans — Counterplans should be textually and functionally competitive but I'm willing to change my mind if competition evidence is solid. I love impact/nb turns and think they should be utilized more. Not a fan of ‘intrinsic perms’.
Kritiks — I default to letting the aff weigh case but i'm more than willing to change my mind given a good framework/link push from the negative. I’m most familiar with: Cap, Biopolitics, Nietzsche, and Security. I'm fine voting for other lit bases but my threshold is higher especially for IdPol, SetCol, and High Theory. Not a fan of Baudrillard but will vote on it if it is done well.
K Affs — I'm probably 40/60 on T. If a K aff has a well explained thesis and good answers to presumption I am more than willing to vote on it. A trend I see is many negative debaters blankly extending fairness and clash arguments without substantial policymaking/debate good evidence. I default to thinking debate and policymaking are good but I'm willing to be persuaded otherwise absent a compelling 2NR.
Topicality — Big fan of good T debates, really dislike bad T debates. I don't like when teams read contradictory interps in the 1NC, you should have good T evidence, and I like a good caselist. Preferably the whole 2NR is T.
Theory — Not a fan of frivolous shells but i'm willing to be convinced on any interp given a good explanation of the abuse story. I default to In-round-abuse, reasonability, and have a high threshold for RVIs.
Phil — As an Ex-Policy Debater, my knowledge here is very limited. I'm willing to vote on it if it's very well warranted and clearly winning on the flow. But in a relatively equal debate I think I will always default to Util.
Tricks — Don't
edited for LD 2022-3
I have not judged a lot of LD recently. I more than likely have not heard the authors you are talking about please make sure you explain them along with your line by line. Long overviews are kind of silly and argumentation on the line by line is a better place for things Overview doesn't mean I will automatically put your overview to it. If you run tricks I am really not your judge. I think they are silly and will probably not vote for them. I have a high threshold for voting on theory arguments either way.
edited for Congress
Speak clearly and passionately. I hate rehash, so if you bring in new evidence and clash you will go farther in the round than having a structured speech halfway to late in debate. I appreciate speakers that keep the judges and audience engaged, so vocal patterns and eye contact matter. The most important thing to me is accurate and well developed arguments and thoughtful questions. For presiding officer: run a tight ship. Be quick, efficient, fair, and keep accurate precedents and recency. This is congressional debate, not congressional speech giving, so having healthy debate and competition is necessary. Being disrespectful in round will get you no where with me, so make sure to respect everyone in the room at all times.
Edited 20-21
Don't ask about speaks you should be more concerned with how to do better in the future. If you ask I will go back and dock your speaks at least 2 points.
Edited for WSD Nats 2020
Examples of your arguments will be infinitely more persuasive than analogies. Please weigh your arguments as it is appropriate. Be nice, there is a difference between arrogance and excellence
Edited for PF 2018-9
I have been judging for 20 years any numerous debate events. Please be clear; the better your internal link chain the better you will do. I am not a big fan of evidence paraphrasing. I would rather hear the authors words not your interpretation of them. Make sure you do more than weighing in the last two speeches. Please make comparison in your arguments and evidence. Dont go for everything. I usually live in an offense defense world there is almost always some risk of a link. Be nice if you dont it will affect your speaks
Edited for 2014-15 Topic
I will listen to just about any debate but if there isnt any articulation of what is happening and what jargon means then I will probably ignore your arguments. You can yell at me but I warned you. I am old and crotchety and I shouldn't have to work that hard.
CXphilosophy = As a preface to the picky stuff, I'd like to make a few more general comments first. To begin with, I will listen to just about any debate there is out there. I enjoy both policy and kritik debates. I find value in both styles of debate, and I am willing to adapt to that style. Second, have fun. If you're bored, I'm probably real bored. So enjoy yourself. Third, I'm ok with fast debates. It would be rare for you to completely lose me, however, you spew 5 minutes of blocks on theorical arguments I wont have the warrants down on paper and it will probably not be good for you when you ask me to vote on it. There is one thing I consider mandatory: Be Clear. As a luxury: try to slow down just a bit on a big analytical debate to give me pen time. Evidence analysis is your job, and it puts me in a weird situation to articulate things for you. I will read evidence after many rounds, just to make sure I know which are the most important so I can prioritize. Too many teams can't dissect the Mead card, but an impact takeout is just that. But please do it all the way- explain why these arguments aren't true or do not explain the current situation. Now the picky stuff:
Affs I prefer affs with plan texts. If you are running a critical aff please make sure I understand what you are doing and why you are doing it. Using the jargon of your authors without explaining what you are doing won't help me vote for you.
Topicality and Theory- Although I certainly believe in the value of both and that it has merit, I am frustrated with teams who refuse to go for anything else. To me, Topicality is a check on the fringe, however to win a procedural argument in front of me you need specific in round abuse and I want you to figure out how this translates into me voting for you. Although I feel that scenarios of potential abuse are usually not true, I will vote for it if it is a conceded or hardly argued framework or if you can describe exactly how a topic or debate round would look like under your interpretation and why you have any right to those arguments. I believe in the common law tradition of innocence until proven guilty: My bias is to err Aff on T and Negative on Theory, until persuaded otherwise.
Disads- I think that the link debate is really the most significant. Im usually willing to grant negative teams a risk of an impact should they win a link, but much more demanding linkwise. I think uniqueness is important but Im rarely a stickler for dates, within reason- if the warrants are there that's all you need. Negatives should do their best to provide some story which places the affirmative in the context of their disads. They often get away with overly generic arguments. Im not dissing them- Reading the Ornstein card is sweet- but extrapolate the specifics out of that for the plan, rather than leaving it vague.
Counterplans- The most underrated argument in debate. Many debaters don't know the strategic gold these arguments are. Most affirmatives get stuck making terrible permutations, which is good if you neg. If you are aff in this debate and there is a CP, make a worthwhile permutation, not just "Do Both" That has very little meaning. Solvency debates are tricky. I need the aff team to quantify a solvency deficit and debate the warrants to each actor, the degree and necessity of consultation, etc.
Kritiks- On the aff, taking care of the framework is an obvious must. You just need good defense to the Alternative- other than that, see the disad comments about Link debates. Negatives, I'd like so practical application of the link and alternative articulated. What does it mean to say that the aff is "biopolitical" or "capitalist"? A discussion of the aff's place within those systems is important. Second, some judges are picky about "rethink" alternatives- Im really not provided you can describe a way that it could be implemented. Can only policymakers change? how might social movements form as a result of this? I generally think its false and strategically bad to leave it at "the people in this debate"- find a way to get something changed. I will also admit that at the time being, Im not as well read as I should be. I'm also a teacher so I've had other priorities as far as literature goes. Don't assume I've read the authors you have.
Background: I primarily did PF, interp, and Congress in high school. Currently I'm a speech + debate coach. 3x National qualifier.
In all forms of debate, I prioritize clash and impact weighing. Tell me where to vote on the flow. Tell me how you've won your debate. Please also use strong warranting; reading card after card, or centering the debate on which evidence to prefer, rarely wins my vote over higher quality argumentation.
Parli: I love a good k. I dislike friv theory as it wastes time and contradicts the purpose of debate (education). Your job is to argue with your opponents, not use jargon or speed to exclude them.
PF: As a former PFer, I appreciate a traditional approach. This is not circuit policy. Clash! Weigh your evidence against your opponents' evidence! Tell me why I should pref yours! Cards without valid reasoning to demonstrate how they support your argument do not prove your point. Establish tangible impacts! Make sure your links are strong so you can access your impacts! Consider impacts beyond nuclear war (and if you're going to impact out to nukes, make sure your links are solid). Please signpost, warrant, and weigh.
LD: I prefer a traditional approach to LD. Set up a framework that explains how your value weighs more or solves for your opponent's case. Use the framework as you weigh voters. Prioritize quality over quantity when it comes to words/speed. LD shouldn't be treated like circuit policy.
Policy: I do my best to keep up with speed, although I'm less familiar flowing policy than other debate formats. I'll consider kritiks, counterplans, and disadvantages.
Speech: I vote based on emotional authenticity, delivery, content (topic, speech cutting), organization, and blocking. I value unique topics in platform events and believable acting + compelling character arcs in interp. Include a content warning before presenting about topics that may trigger or upset your competitors or judge(s). Not including content warnings for sensitive content will impact your ranking.
Decorum: To me, debate should be inclusive and welcoming to students of all identities and experience levels. If you make this experience hostile for someone, I cannot ethically vote for you, no matter the flow. Laughing at your opponents; excessively talking during others' speeches; or making implicitly sexist, racist, or ableist arguments will affect your speaks and my ability to buy your argument. I will deduct speaker points if I encounter students from the same program running the same arguments word-for-word. Share ideas in prepared debate events, but write your own cases.
Hi there,
My name is Kara, and I am a parent judge entering my third year of judging. I mostly do speech events but have also judged a variety of debate events. Since I am a parent of a competitor, I know how hard you work, how much effort you put forth and how incredibly courageous you are for putting yourself out there! With this in mind, I am always going to be upbeat, welcoming and full of smiles and words of encouragement for you! Since I know how nerve wracking these competitions can be, please don't let my presence ever be a source of stress for you as I truly want to see you do well!!
So far as my style is concerned, I must put "more volume" in just about every ballot I have filled out. Since every room you are in is different, make sure you adjust so that everyone in that room can hear every word you say clearly. I also appreciate it when you make eye contact throughout.
For debate events, I prefer slower speaking so that I know what you're saying. I LOVE politics so I have watched my fair share of politicians who go around in circles and don't answer the question. This means I can spot that technique from a mile away (i.e. you have a canned answer and pull it out even if it isn't what was asked of you). Please also make sure your sources are solid and referenced clearly.
I always check my biases at the door and while I may be vehemently opposed to something you are arguing or speaking about, I will judge you on how well you made that argument.
I can't wait to see what amazing speeches and debates you have in store!
Sincerely,
Kara Mathews
Debate coach. 3 year state qualifier with a focus in congress/extemp/public forum. I tend to focus on logic and argumentation first and foremost. While I appreciate good delivery, it won't overshadow analysis. I will be flowing the debate, so framework debate and dropped arguments will be noted. Try not to speak too fast, I can't give you what I can't flow.
Please give special attention to your closing speeches. Crystallize/summarize the discussion so that I can make sense of what is on my flow. I will not penalize you for every little dropped argument if they are ultimately extraneous to the debate, so please try to prioritize what is most important in the round.
I participated in debate all through high school and placed at State three years in a row. I am now the parent of a congressional debater.
When I judge, I look for strong organization, confident delivery, and logical arguments backed by research.
I am not impressed by anyone who tries to make other people look stupid. The way you treat your competitors contributes to the overall atmosphere and should allow everyone to do their best. I have no tolerance for arrogance or snarkiness, especially if someone acts that way in an attempt to look clever.
I appreciate creativity, enthusiasm, and professionalism.
You guys have worked so hard to get here! Enjoy the experience. Have multiple goals for yourself! Don't define success at this tournament too narrowly by only setting one goal, such as to break into semi finals.
Instead, identify at least FIVE goals that you hope to accomplish this week. :) That way, you will most likely achieve three or four of them! For example, your goals could be:
- to place
- to break into the final round (or semi or quarter)
- to give the best speech you have given this season
- to meet someone new at this tournament with whom you want to stay in touch
- to smile at or provide a pep talk to someone who seems nervous or stressed
- to make your judge laugh/cry/nod appreciatively/raise their eyebrows/respond in some way
- to support your teammates when they succeed
- to incorporate a story, personal example, or piece of research that you especially like
- to not pass out or throw up
- to go out of your comfort zone in some way
- to have fun
This approach makes a big difference, whether you are competing in a tournament, training for a marathon, going on a trip, or executing a large-scale event. Multiple goals help you focus on the varied and valuable aspects of the experience, not just the outcome!
Namaste.
My name is Dr. Michael Mattis and I am the Director of Theater and Debate at Grand Saline High School in Grand Saline, Texas. I have been a coach for 23 years and I am an NSDA Three-Diamond Coach who has coached Multiple National Qualifiers and State Champions.
I am very tab. I would much rather you do what you do best and I will adjust to you, rather than you adjust to me.
Elise Matton, Director of Speech & Debate at Albuquerque Academy (2022–present)
EMAIL CHAIN: enmatton@gmail.com
· B.A. History, Tulane University (Ancient & Early Modern Europe)
· M.A. History, University of New Mexico (U.S. & Latin America)
Competitive Experience:
· CX debate in NM local circuit, 2010 State Champion (2005-2010)
· IPDA/NPDA debate in college, 2012 LSU Mardi Gras Classic Champion (2011-2014)
Coaching Experience:
· Team Assistant, Isidore Newman (primarily judging/trip chaperoning — 2012-2016)
· Assistant Coach, Albuquerque Academy (LD & CX emphasis — 2017–2022)
Judging Experience:
· I judge a mix of local circuit and national circuit tournaments (traditional & progressive) primarily in CX and LD, but occasionally PF or other Speech events.
Note Pre-Jack Howe:
· Jack Howe is my 1st national circuit tournament in policy this season — I haven't seen or judged many rounds at all yet this year and definitely not too many fast/technical/progressive rounds on the topic. Do not assume I know Aff topic areas, core neg ground, abstract topic-specific acronyms, etc. Adjust accordingly!
General Notes (this is catered for policy and national circuit LD. PF notes are at the bottom).
· Speed is fine generally so long as it's not used to excessively prohibit interaction with your arguments. I do think there is a way to spread and still demonstrate strong speaking ability (varying volume, pacing, tone etc) and will probably reward you for it if you're doing both well. Go slower/clearer/or otherwise give vocal emphasis on taglines and key issues such as plan text or aff advocacy, CP texts, alts, ROB/ROJ, counter-interps, etc. Don't start at your max speed but build up to it instead. If you are one of the particularly fast teams in the circuit, I recommend you slow down SLIGHTLY in front of me. I haven't been judging many fast rounds lately, so I'm slightly rusty. I'm happy to call out "clear" and/or "slow" to help you find that my upper brightline so you can adjust accordingly as needed.
· Put me on the email chain (enmatton@gmail.com) but know I don't like rounds that REQUIRE me to read the doc while you're speaking (or ideally at all). I tend to have the speech doc up, but I am annoyed by rounds where debaters ASSUME that everyone is reading along with them. I flow off what I hear, not what I read, and I believe that your delivery and performance are important aspects of this activity and you have the burden of clearly articulating your points well enough that I theoretically shouldn't need to look at the docs at all for anything other than ev checking when it's requested. If someone who wasn't looking at your speech doc would not be able to tell the difference between the end of one card/warrant and the beginning of a new tagline, you need better vocal variety and clarity (louder, intonation change, inserting "and" or "next" between cards etc, etc.
· The most impressive debaters to me are ones who can handle intense high-level technical debates, but who can make it accessible to a wide variety of audiences. This means that I look for good use of tech and strategy, but ALSO for the ability to "boil it down" in clearly worded extensions, underviews, overviews, and explanations of your paths to the ballot. I strongly value debaters who can summarize the main thesis of each piece of offense in their own words. It shows you have a strong command of the material and that you are highly involved in your own debate prep.
· I believe that Tech>truth GENERALLY, BUT- Just because an argument is dropped doesn't necessarily mean I'll give you 100% weight on it if the warrants aren't there or it is absurdly blippy. I also have and will vote for teams that may be less technically proficient but still make valid warranted claims even if they aren't done formatted in a "Technical" manner. Ex: if you run some a theory argument against a less technical team who doesn't know how to line-by-line respond to it, but they make general arguments about why this strategy is harmful to debaters and the debate community and argue that you should lose for it, I would treat that like an RVI even if they don't call it an RVI. Etc.
· Use my occasional facial expression as cues. You’ll probably notice me either nodding occasionally or looking quizzically from time to time- if something sounds confusing or I’m not following you’ll be able to tell and can and should probably spend a few more seconds re-explaining that argument in another way (don't dwell on this if it happens — if it's an important enough point that you think you need to win, use the cue to help you and try explaining it again!) Note the nodding doesn't mean I necessarily agree with a point, just following it and think you're explaining it well. If you find this distracting please say so pre-round and I’ll make an effort not to do so.
· Use Content warnings if discussing anything that could make the space less safe for anyone within it and be willing to adapt for opponents or judges in the room.
Role as a Judge
Debate is incredible because it is student-driven, but I don't think that means I abandon my role as an educator or an adult in the space when I am in the back of the room making my decision. I believe that good debaters should be able to adapt to multiple audiences. Does this mean completely altering EVERYTHING you do to adapt to a certain judge (traditional judge, K judge, anti-spreading judge, lay judge, etc etc)? No, but it does mean thinking concretely about how you can filter your strategy/argument/approach through a specific lens for that person.
HOW I MAKE MY RFD: At the end of the last negative speech I usually mark the key areas I could see myself voting and then weigh that against what happens in the 2AR to make my decision. My favorite 2NR/2AR’s are ones that directly lay out and tell me the possible places in the round I could vote for them and how/why. 2NR/2AR’s that are essentially a list of possible RFDs/paths to the ballot for me are my favorite because not only do they make my work easier, but it clearly shows me how well you understood and interpreted the round.
Topicality/Theory
Part of me really loves the meta aspect of T and theory, and part of me loathes the semantics and lack of substance it can produce. I see T and Theory as a needing to exist to help set some limits and boundaries, but I also have a fairly high threshold. Teams can and do continue to convince me of appropriate broadenings of those boundaries. Reasonability tends to ring true to me for the Aff on T, but don’t be afraid to force them to prove or meet that interpretation, especially if it is a stretch, and I can be easily persuaded into competing interps. For theory, I don’t have a problem with conditional arguments but do when a neg strat is almost entirely dependent on running an absurd amount of offcase arguments as a time skew that prevents any substantive discussion of arguments. This kind of strat also assumes I’ll vote on something simply because it was “flowed through”, when really I still have to examine the weight of that argument, which in many cases is insubstantial. At the end of the day, don’t be afraid to use theory- it’s there as a strategy if you think it makes sense for the round context, but if you’re going to run it, please spend time in the standards and voters debate so I can weigh it effectively.
Disadvantages
I love a really good disad, especially with extensive impact comparisons. Specific disads with contextualized links to the aff are some of my all-time favorite arguments, simple as they may seem in construct. The cost/benefit aspect of the case/DA debate is particularly appealing to me. I don’t think generic disads are necessarily bad but good links and/or analytics are key. Be sure your impact scenario is fully developed with terminal impacts. Multiple impact scenarios are good when you can. I'm not anti nuke war scenarios (especially when there is a really specific and good internal link chain and it is contextually related to the topic) but there are tons more systemic level impacts too many debaters neglect.
Counterplans
I used to hate PICs but have seen a few really smart ones in the past few years that are making me challenge that notion. That being said I am not a fan of process CPs, but go for it if it’s key to your strat.
Kritiks
Love them, with some caveats. Overviews/underviews, or really clearly worded taglines are key here. I want to see *your* engagement with the literature. HIGH theory K's with absurdly complicated taglines that use methods of obfuscation are not really my jam. The literature might be complex, and that's fine, but your explanations and taglines to USE those arguments should be vastly more clear and communicable if you want to run it in round! I have a high threshold for teams being able to explain their positions well rather than just card-dump. I ran some kritiks in high school (mostly very traditional cap/biopower) but had a pretty low understanding of the best way to use them and how they engaged with other layers of offense in the round. They weren’t as common in my circuit so I didn’t have a ton of exposure to them. However, they’ve really grown on me and I’ve learned a lot while judging them- they’re probably some of my favorite kind of debate to watch these days. (hint: I truly believe in education as a voter, in part because of my own biases of how much this activity has taught me both in and out of round, but this can work in aff’s favor when terrible K debates happen that take away from topic education as well). Being willing to adapt your K to those unfamiliar with it, whether opponents or judge, not only helps you in terms of potential to win the ballot, but, depending on the kind of kritik you're running or pre-fiat claims, also vastly increases likelihood for real world solvency (that is if your K is one that posits real world solvency- I'm down for more discussion-based rounds as theoretical educational exercises as well). I say this because the direction in which I decided to take my graduate school coursework was directly because of good K debaters who have been willing to go the extra step in truly explaining these positions, regardless of the fact I wasn’t perceived as a “K judge”. I think that concept is bogus and demonstrates some of the elitism still sadly present in our activity. If you love the K, run it- however you will need to remember that I myself wasn’t a K debater and am probably not as well versed in the topic/background/author. As neg you will need to spend specific time really explaining to me the alt/role of the ballot/answers to any commodification type arguments. Despite my openness to critical argumentation, I’m also open to lots of general aff answers here as well including framework arguments focused on policymaking good, state inevitable, perms, etc. Like all arguments, it ultimately boils down to how you warrant and substantiate your claims.
MISCELLANEOUS
Flash time/emailing the doc out isn’t prep time (don’t take advantage of this though). Debaters should keep track of their own time, but I also tend to time as well in case of the rare timer failure. If we are evidence sharing, know that I still think you have the burden as debaters to clearly explain your arguments, (aka don’t assume that I'll constantly use the doc or default to it- what counts is still ultimately what comes out of you mouth).
I will yell “clear” if the spread is too incoherent for me to flow, or if I need you to slow down slightly but not if otherwise. If I have to say it more than twice you should probably slow down significantly. My preference while spreading is to go significantly slower/louder/clearer on the tagline and author. Don’t spread out teams that are clearly much slower than you- you don’t have to feel like you have to completely alter your presentation and style, but you should adapt somewhat to make the round educational for everyone. I think spreading is a debate skill you should employ at your discretion, bearing in mind what that means for your opponents and the judge in that round. Be smart about it, but also be inclusive for whoever else is in that round with you.
**PUBLIC FORUM**
I don't judge PF nearly as frequently as I do CX/LD, so I'm not as up to date on norms and trends.
Mostly when judging PF I default to util/cost-benefit analysis framing and then I evaluate clash and impacts, though the burden is on you to effectively weigh that clash and the impacts.
Final Focus should really focus on the ballot story and impact calc. Explain all the possible paths to the ballot and how you access them.
Compared to LD and CX, I find that clash gets developed much later in the round because the 2nd constructive doesn't (typically?) involve any refutations (which I find bizarre from a speech structure standpoint). For this reason, I appreciate utilizing frontlining as much as possible and extending defense into summary.
Impressive speaking style = extra brownie points for PFers given the nature of the event. Ultimately I'm still going to make a decision based on the flow, but this matters more to me when evaluating PF debaters. Utilize vocal intonation, eye contact, gestures, and variance in vocal pacing.
Grand Crossfire can be fun when done right but horribly chaotic when done wrong. Make an effort to not have both partners trying to answer/ask questions simultaneously or I'll have a really hard time making out what's going on. Tag-team it. If Grand Crossfire ends early, I will not convert the time remaining into additional prep. It simply moves us into Final Focus early.
I have a much lower threshold for spreading in PF than I do for CX/LD. I can certainly follow it given my focus on LD and CX, but my philosophy is that PF is stylistically meant to be more accessible and open. I don't mind a rapid delivery, but I will be much less tolerant of teams that spread out opponents, especially given email chains/evidence sharing before the round is not as much of a norm (as far as I've seen).
I am often confused by progressive PF as the structure of the event seems to limit certain things that are otherwise facilitated by CX/LD. Trying to make some of the same nuanced Theory and K debates are incredibly difficult in a debate event structured by 2-3 mins speeches. Please don't ask me to weigh in on or use my ballot to help set a precedent about things like theory, disclosure, or other CX/LD arguments that seem to be spilling into PF. I am not an involved enough member of the PF community to feel comfortable using my ballot to such ends. If any of these things appear in round, I'm happy to evaluate them, but I guess be cautious in this area.
Please feel free to ask any further questions or clarifications before/after the round!- my email is enmatton@gmail.com if you have any specific questions or need to run something by me. Competitors: if communicating with me by email, please CC your coach or adult chaperone. Thank you!
Rachel Mauchline
Durham Academy, Assistant Director of Speech and Debate
Previously the Director of Forensics and Debate for Cabot
she/her pronouns
TL;DR
Put me on the email chain @ rachelmauchline@gmail.com
speed is fine (but online lag is a thing)
tech over truth
World Schools
I truly love world school as an event. It is my favorite event to coach and I've been coaching worlds since 2018. I focus heavily on the event’s rubric to guide the ballot; however it ultimately is a debate event so remember to focus on the warranting and implication of your arguments. I do think there is a lot of room for stylistic flair that can add to a worlds round that can carry down the bench throughout the round. I see a lot of value in POIs for both sides - for the asking side to break up the flow of the debate and for the receiving side to clearly contextualize an answer that helps guide them to their next point of clash.
Policy
I typically get preferred for more policy-oriented debate. I gravitated to more plan focused affirmatives and t/cp/da debate. I would consider myself overall to be a more technically driven and line by line organized debater. My ideal round would be a policy affirmative with a plan text and three-seven off. Take that as you wish though.
Lincoln Douglas
I've judged a variety of traditional and progressive debates. I prefer more progressive debate. But you do you... I am happy to judge anything as long as you defend the position well. Refer to my specific preferences below about progressive arguments. In regards to traditional debates, it's important to clearly articulate framework.
Public Forum
weighing.... weighing.... weighing.
I like rebuttals to have clear line by line with numbered responses. 2nd rebuttal should frontline responses in rebuttal. Summary should extend terminal defense and offense OR really anything that you want in final focus. Final focus should have substantial weighing and a clear way for me to write my ballot. It's important to have legitimate evidence... don't completely skew the evidence.
Here are my specific preferences on specific arguments if you have more than 5 mins to read this paradigm...
Topicality
I enjoy a well-articulated t debate. In fact, a good t debate is my favorite type of debate to judge. Both sides need to have a clear interpretation. Make sure it’s clearly impacted out. Be clear to how you want me to evaluate and consider arguments like the tva, switch side debate, procedural fairness, limits, etc.
Disadvantages/Counterplans
This was my fav strat in high school. I’m a big fan of case-specific disadvantages but also absolutely love judging politics debates- be sure to have up to date uniqueness evidence in these debates though. It’s critical that the disad have some form of weighing by either the affirmative or negative in the context of the affirmative. Counterplans need to be functionally or textually competitive and also should have a net benefit. Slow down for CP texts and permutations- y’all be racing thru six technical perms in 10 seconds. Affirmative teams need to utilize the permutation more in order to test the competition of the counterplan. I don’t have any bias against any specific type of counterplans like consult or delay, but also I’m just waiting for that theory debate to happen.
Case
I believe that case debate is under-covered in many debates by both teams. I love watching a case debate with turns and defense instead of the aff being untouched for the entire debate until last ditch move by the 2AR. The affirmative needs to continue to weigh the aff against the negative strat. Don't assume the 1AC will be carried across for you throughout the round. You need to be doing that work on the o/v and the line by line. It confuses me when the negative strat is a CP and then there are no arguments on the case; that guarantees aff 100% chance of solvency which makes the negative take the path of most resistance to prove the CP solves best.
Kritiks
I’ll vote for the k. From my observations, I think teams end up just reading their prewritten blocks instead of directly engaging with the k specific to the affirmative. Be sure you understand what you are reading and not just read a backfile or an argument that you don’t understand. The negative needs to be sure to explain what the alt actually is and more importantly how the alt engages with the affirmative. I judge more K rounds than I expect to, but if you are reading a specific author that isn’t super well known in the community, but sure to do a little more work on the analysis
Theory
I’ll vote for whatever theory; I don’t usually intervene much in theory debates but I do think it’s important to flesh out clear impacts instead of reading short blips in order to get a ballot. Saying “pics bad” and then moving on without any articulation of in round/post fiat impacts isn’t going to give you much leverage on the impact level. You can c/a a lot of the analysis above on T to this section. It’s important that you have a clear interp/counter interp- that you meet- on a theory debate.
First off, I believe this is a debate event before anything. That means you should be adapting to the round as it goes. Everyone from the sponsor to the closer has an equal shot at my one as long as they do their job. The job for the sponsor and first negative speaker is to set up the round for strong debate. The sponsor should state the problem, how this bill fixes the problem, give one or two impacts from solving it, and if you're a superstar give me a framework for the round moving forward. The first negative should give us the main idea of what we should expect from a strong negation argument. This should take the problem the sponsor laid out and then give us the negative thought process on whether or not this legislation fixes it. After that I should see an increasing amount of refutations mixed with original arguments as to why this legislation is good or bad. Once we are 3/4 of the way through I should be seeing a lot of extensions as the debate is coming to an end. Still give an original POV but keep it within the frame of the debate. At the end, I should see nothing but refutation and crystalized speeches. Once again I want your own original analysis but use it to end the debate through a refutation of the other side instead of individuals. No matter where you speak I want to see your personality/style shine through. Take risks and you'll likely be rewarded.
All effective argumentation is based around a solid understanding of the status quo. If you cant properly depict the status quo then I cant buy an argument from you. What's happening right now? Is the effect that this legislation has on it good or bad? How well you answer these questions will dictate your ranking from me.
Effective cross examination is when you attack the flaws in your opponents argument or set up refutations for your own. As long as you have a clear goal for your cross examination period, I'll appreciate your time. Overall, I tune out when both sides start over talking each other and I prefer a calmer style of cross x.
When it comes to speaking I don't have a preferred style. I can respect all styles as long as it suits you. Picking a speaking style is like picking a baseball batting stance in that there isn't a wrong way as long as you're doing what is best for you based on your natural voice, range, and variation. If you stick to that then I'll probably think you're a great speaker. DONT BE AFRAID TO TAKE RISKS.
I do rank presiding officers pretty well as a scorer and if I'm a parli it can serve as a tie breaker between two debaters. If you do it well then I'll boost you but if you don't then I'll drop you pretty far.
This next part should go without saying but your arguments need to be backed by evidence at all times and have clear logic behind them. Remember that your logic creates the argument then the evidence backs it up. Your evidence isn't your argument.
Lastly, be respectful and have fun. If you aren't having fun then you're doing this activity wrong. Best of luck!
I'm a pretty traditional judge with an extensive background in LD, PF, and Extemp, on both the National Circuit and the local level. I've competed at both NCFL Grand-Nationals and at the NSDA National tournament, and reached late out-rounds in LD and Extemp, so just know that I'll be familiar with most things you throw at me, but that doesn't give you an excuse to breeze past clear explanations of your contentions, counterplans, kritiks, or theory. No tricks or blips.
Honestly prefer that you not spread, but I can generally follow if you email me the docs: my email's tristanmay44@gmail.com
If you say you're not going to spread, I won't ask for the doc, but I also won't yell clear for you; speak as quickly as you think a reasonable person will be able to flow.
Make sure to focus on matching your warranting with your evidence convincingly; I don't care if you have a card stating something unless you can actually explain why it's true and the reasoning behind it.
I have spent 8 years as a speech & debate coach, and I would say that if you needed to classify me I would likely be considered a "classical style" judge. That being said, this is how I would describe my beliefs for debate...
- Please make certain to link your arguments as I cannot assume your reasoning is valid.
- I will not say no to theory or kritik but will say that I've rarely seen it used well enough to convince me, so I would be careful in using these arguments.
- I am STRONGLY opposed to spreading. I flow fairly well, but I would say QUALITY over QUANTITY, and that if I did not hear you say it, then you didn't say it. As this is a "public speaking event" and as both opponents are supposed to receive equal time and consideration from the judge, I see very little value in flashing/sharing cases. Make your arguments during the round please, as I can only judge you on the arguments you make.
- At the end of the day I will be looking at your entire debate and want to feel that you are more "right" in the round. Please make certain to weigh your impacts and provide me with solid voters as to why you have won the debate. I will care much more about your arguments being presented and linked believably, authentically, and logically than being 'ahead" on the offensive flow.
La Salle College HS:
Policy Debater 2004-2007
Head Coach of Policy Debate, 2012-2016
Head Coach of Speech and Debate, 2016-2023.
As of September 2023, I am no longer actively involved in coaching, but will still judge from time to time.
I have judged debate (mostly policy, but also LD/PF) since 2008. I no longer judge with regularity and while I am fine with speed, etc. I am no longer a judge who does any topic research.
General Debate Thoughts
Policy--------------X------------------------------K
Tech-----------------------------X----------------Truth
Read no cards------------------X-----------------Read all cards
Condo good----X--------------------------Condo bad
States CP good-----------------------X-----------States CP bad
Politics DA is a thing------------X-----------------Politics DA not a thing
Always VTL-X--------------------------------------Sometimes NVTL
UQ matters most--------------------------X------Link matters most
Fairness is a thing----X---------------------------Fairness isn’t an impact
Try or die-------------------------------X----------No risk
Not our Baudrillard-------------------------------X Yes your Baudrillard
Clarity-X--------------------------------------------I’ll just read the docs
Limits--------------------X--------------------------Aff ground
Presumption------X--------------------------------Never votes on presumption
Longer ev--------X---------------------------------More ev
"Insert this re-highlighting"----------------------X-I only read what you read
- You should do what you do best and do it well – I think I am a good judge in that I will allow the arguments to develop themselves, and take the responsibility of the judge being a educator seriously.
- I will not vote on any argument that makes me uncomfortable as an educator. You should ask yourself, if my teachers/administrators were observing, would I make this same argument?
- Speed is fine, but clarity is important. Most debaters could slow down, get more arguments out, and increase judges comprehension.
- Tech>truth; however, when you have tech and truth on your side, it’s hard to lose.
I've been involved in policy debate since 2012 and a coach since 2018, currently Head Coach at Iowa City Liberty High School. By day, I'm employed as a reporter for a newspaper in Southeast Iowa.
TLDR: I'll vote on anything you can make me understand. I love DA/CP/Case debates, I'm not a bad judge for the Kritik, but I've been told I'm not a great judge for it either. Speed reading is fine in the abstract, but I do hold debaters to a higher standard of clarity than I think many other judges to. Speed-reading through your analytics will guarantee I miss something, and tank your speaks. Arguments pnly count if they make it onto my flow.
Detailed Paradigm: everything below this line is background on my opinions, NOT a hard and fast rule about how you should debate in front of me. I do everything in my power to be cool about it, check bias at the door, etc.
Speed Reading: is fine. But don't spread analytics, please. 250 WPM on analytical arguments is really pushing it. I know that some judges can flow that fast, but I am not one of them: my handwriting sucks and is capped at like, normal tagline pace. Otherwise, you're free to go as fast as I can comprehend. I'll yell "CLEAR!" if I can't.
Policy stuff: Yeah of course I'll vote on disads and counterplans and case arguments and topicality. Are there people who don't?
CP theory: Listen, I'll vote on it, but I won't like it. I strongly advise that theory-loving 2As give warranted voters in the speech, and that 1ARs do actual line-by-line rather than pre-written monologues.
Kritiks: are pretty rad, whether they're read as part of a 12-off 1NC or a 1-off, no case strat. I want to be clear, though: I REALLY NEED to understand what you're saying to vote for you with confidence. I find a lot of very talented K debaters just assume that I know what "biopolitical assemblages of ontological Being" or whatever means. I do not.
K affs: are fine. I myself usually stuck to policy stuff when I debated, but I'll hear it out. You should probably have a good reason not to be topical, though. Some people have told me I'm a bad judge for K affs, others have told me I was the most insightful judge at the tournament. (More have told me I was a bad judge for it though, for what it's worth.)
Other debate formats:
PF: PF is traditionally about being persuasive, whereas policy is about being right. If you can do both I'll be impressed and probably give you good speaks. Otherwise, I feel like I have a more or less firm grasp on your activity, but I certainly don't have all of its norms memorized.
LD: I have no idea how your activity works and at this point I'm too afraid to ask. Whoever successfully teaches me LD debate will get an automatic 30. Please dumb your Ks down for me, I'm a policy hack.
Congress: Listen, I did one congress round in high school and left it with 0 understanding of how it's supposed to work. If I'm in the back of your room, it means tabroom made a mistake. Because of my background in policy debate, I imagine I'll be biased in favor of better arguments rather than better decorum.
Rich McCollum - Judging Philosophy
Head Coach - Maplewood Richmond Heights High School, Eastern Missouri District
This is largely written for the Missouri circuit. If you have questions, ask.
Who I am-I love debate and believe it can be a life-changing educational experience. I have coached high school debate for seven years (Ladue and Maplewood Richmond Heights in Eastern Missouri). My previous experience is primarily as a competitor and coach in college policy debate at K-State and the University of Kansas. As a debater, coach, and judge, I have participated in several thousand rounds over three decades. I try to be familiar with the evidence and arguments in all three debate topics.
I think debate should be fun and ethical. Teams should be nice, but there is no need to be overly formal. The time limits and terms of the ballot are non-negotiable. I vote on arguments in a round, not school history, team reputation, or clothing style. I expect you to tell me why you and your arguments win the debate.
Pace of Speech and Decorum- I enjoy quick, evidenced debate, but am open to all style choices and forms of evidence. Please don’t go faster than you are able to do clearly. Never use speed or experience to be a bully; if you are much better than your opposition, then use the opportunity to educate and inspire. Insulting, personally attacking, or demeaning another debater is never, ever acceptable (I will intervene, as an educator, immediately and vocally). While there is no community consensus on pre-round argument disclosure, I think it’s admirable and makes for better debate.
Timing-I keep track of prep and speech time. Prep stops when you offer a drive/email/upload to the other team. My clock governs prep time and I start it the moment a speech ends. There is no extra time in debate-you are prepping or speaking (don’t steal time sauntering to the podium, jacking with a jump drive or long sips from your water bottle). Stop talking when the timer goes off; in CX, the timer sound means CX is done and you should stop. Tag team CX is fine if infrequent.
Evidence- I flow ev and will read cards. Do not mess with evidence. You must be honest about and consistent with a card’s context. Do not “clip” or “cut short” the read-aloud evidence from the written evidence. You can always make inferences from evidence to a claim, but don’t lie about what the evidence says. If you mess with evidence, you will lose and your coach will know why. You have to read evidence aloud for it to matter; claiming to “have cards” about an issue isn’t compelling if you don’t read them. Please remember I may not be a part of your digital evidence exchange; I only know what is on my flow (so you should flow too). The qualifications of your evidence source can be critical to its credibility. Asserted and unexplained arguments don’t carry much weight. On the other hand, a claim with a card can be, on occasion, a horrible argument.
Rules?-I do my best to decide on the framework and issues presented by the debaters and respect their ability to make choices about what to argue in the round. Please don’t confuse debate tradition (e.g. “stock issues”, which is just a traditional decision scaffold) with rules-there are very few “rules”. Again, I fully expect you to tell me why you are winning the debate. That said, I do critically analyze arguments/evidence and arrive with some assumptions. Here are some of those:
Public Forum-I listen carefully but do not flow, though I may make a note or two. I expect delivery to model a “Public Forum”, not be a shorter policy debate. I vote on who proves the resolution true or false based on developed arguments and ultimately weigh the competing claims. I’m open to innovation.
Lincoln Douglas-I flow and vote on whether the presented arguments prove the resolution generally true or false (feel free to argue otherwise). The framework and support of for/against the resolution is for the debaters to prove. Evidence is important but so are un-carded arguments. Values aren’t necessarily important just because some dead white guy said so. Delivery and style are up to you. Despite frequent claims, there is not an LD rulebook other than the resolution and what’s on the ballot.
Policy-I try to take a tight flow of claims and cards. However, I do not want to hear only cards; I want debaters to make comparisons and examine the assumptions of their opponent’s position. I generally expect the affirmative to present a plan that is a topical example of the resolution (though this is arguable). I prefer a debate that focuses on the advantages and disadvantages of the plan as compared to the status quo (or a counterplan vs. perms). I am not well-versed in the critical literature and it occasionally confuses me. So, if you run a critical perspective argument (K) based on epistemic/discursive assumptions or a performative framework, great. But you really need to explain why it matters in the debate and the resolution (and in words a 50 some year-old grandpa and English teacher can understand). On topicality, I care about your definition and the plan/CP ground it affords to each side. I expect advantages and disads to have a plausible, mildly unique link to the plan and that certain moral obligations can outweigh the negligible risks of large impacts. Almost always, the negative needs to win some risk of a disadvantage/CP net benefit to win the debate (or win T). The Aff only needs to be a teensy, tiny bit better than the SQ. PICs, conditionality, CP agent(s) are debatable issues. I expect the negative to kick out of arguments and go for a focused strategy in rebuttals, but you likely need to grant an answer to make it go away. Dropped arguments are conceded, but what that means is up to the debaters. The debaters should, above all else, weigh competing issues for me.
If you are in Novice Division, you must respect the tournament invitation pertaining to permissible plans and limits on CPs and critical theory arguments.
Final Thoughts-I promise to work hard to judge fairly and make a rational, understandable decision. This is part of my job and I take it seriously. Remember to have fun and be kind to each other. I love to give post-round feedback to the extent a tournament allows. So, feel completely free to ask questions and discuss the debate later. I will not tell you winners and losers unless your coach authorizes the ballot disclosure.
Please don’t attempt to exclude observers from a debate. Debate is, at its heart, a public event in a public space and one that celebrates the tradition of free expression. Everyone is welcome in a room I am judging (parents, coaches, teammates, non-participating schools, whoever). Also, the arguments I hear in a debate are not secret. Ask me what I heard and I will happily tell anyone about the round.
Revised 2024
Hayden '22
KU '26
Add me to the email chain:
Smcconnell.debate@gmail.com
TLDR: I've gone for a mix of policy and critical arguments. I don't have preferences about what you read. Just do what you do well.
Speed is fine---Slow down for analytics and give some pen time
Unique strategies and in-depth explanation = Increased Speaks
Tech>Truth, but truth is a tiebreaker
Impact calc is good
LD/PF Note:
I did LD a few times in high school, but don't know too much about the event.
I've never done or judged PF, but know the basic structure.
This means I don't really have any preconceived notions about these events, so you have to explain how I evaluate certain arguments in the round.
Just debate your best and I will try to adjudicate the debate my best.
If you have any questions just ask!
Liberty University '04-'08
Policy Debate Coach @ Theodore Roosevelt High School `14-`18
contact me via email at cpmccool at gmail dot com
Hello debaters, coaches, or other judges interested in my judge philosophy. I feel that the debate round is a unique environment where almost any argument can be utilized so long as it is justifiable. I say "almost any" because some arguments are highly suspect like "racism good" or "torture good". What I mean by "justifiable" is that the argument made, to me, becomes more persuasive when coupled with good evidence. What follows are my preferences on theory, Topicality, CPs, Kritiks/Performance, and Style.
Theory
I do not consider my mind to be tabula-rasa (i.e., blank slate). To me, the most persuasive theory arguments contain a claim, some support, and an impact. Just saying "voting issue" does not make it so - I need to be convinced that voting for your interpretation is justifiable, which means that I can cogently explain to the opposing team why they were deficient and should lose the round.
Topicality
See my comments on Theory. I like it when Neg can show that the Aff's interpretation is bad for debate. Like many other judges, I am annoyed by messy T debates. The side that clashes the most, organizes the T debate, and shows why their interpretation is better for debate will most likely win my ballot.
CPs
I am a huge fan of creative and competitive CPs. If Neg can give a couple of reasons why the CP solves better/faster than the Aff, I feel more comfortable finding that the net-benefit outweighs case. The perm is a test of competitiveness. I will not consider the perm a legitimate policy option unless there is some good evidence read to support it as such.
Kritiks/Performance
I think that Aff should have a written plan text, but does not necessarily have to advocate for the USFG. Aff, if you think that USFG is bad, be ready to defend the theory onslaught by the Neg. I prefer the policy making framework, but understand the value of the K and Performance debate. The key for me is justification. Make sure you clash with opposing and show why voting for you is net-beneficial for debate.
Style
I do have some preferences regarding style that you should consider in order to obtain one or two extra speaker points from me: 1) Clarity outweighs speed - it's ok to spread your opponent, just make sure you pick the arguments you are winning and go for them in the rebuttals 2) I lean negative - I believe that Aff must thoroughly defend the plan. My standard is that it should be more probable than not that the plan is a good idea in order to vote Aff. 3) Civility and charm go further for me than pretension and hate. Being classy and focusing on the arguments and generally making everyone feel good during round are skills that are valuable and actually useful in the real world. 4) Have fun and enjoy this amazing sport! Energy can be communicated through your arguments and when it does, it makes me want to listen.
Interp Events:
My rankings are usually based on who is able to create the most believable characters and moments. There should be multiple levels within your piece and in the portrayal of your characters ~ not everything should be intense, or fast/slow, or super loud or quiet.
Everything you do in your performance should have a purpose. If you give a character an accent, be consistent with that accent. Make sure that each movement, mannerism, or gesture makes sense within the scope of the story you are telling. Additionally, I should be able to easily differentiate between multiple characters. Facial expressions, moments, and character development are very important for the overall performance.
Speaking Events
A clear structure is important: your delivery should be cohesive, and flow logically from point to point. A natural delivery style that allows for your personality to shine is preferable to the “Platform Speaker”. Put simply: avoid speech patterns.
Extemp: The most important thing is that you answer the question. A polished speaking style is important, but I will often default to a speaker that has stronger analysis and evidence over a pretty speech with fluffy content. Do not rely on canned introductions - creativity is important when trying to engage me. Be sure you have several cited sources and have at least 5 quoted pieces of evidence to support your claims.
Oratory/Informative: Your attention getter, vehicle, and conclusion should be creative, but they also need to fit well with the topic. Again, I will default to stronger analysis/evidence over fluffy content. Again, use several cited sources and have quoted evidence for claims you are making in your speech.
https://judgephilosophies.wikispaces.com/McCormick%2C+Amy
Hello Debaters!
I competed in both LD and Policy while I was in high school; two years of both at open level. Ever since then, I've been judging both formats when available for quite a while, and as of late have begun picking up Policy, LD, and Public Forum ballots.
Due to my history, my judging style is still heavily based upon how I acted in round as a competitor. I rely predominantly on the flow, but I still strongly look to any well-constructed policy/case arguments in round.
Philosophy-wise, I am first and foremost a Tabula Rasa judge. Playing against a clean slate with your opponent (and with your partners) creates the most pure form of debate; it is in my mind that entering the round attempting to meta-game the debate by over-analyzing what your judge is biased towards butchers the debate itself. I will try my hardest in round to be as impartial and accepting as possible to begin with; however, I am human, and all humans have biases. If you can glean these (hopefully small) edges in round, then all the better for you!
The only other major factor of debate that I feel necessary highlighting is my perspective on K's/ Theory arguments. To put it bluntly, I will be having a much harder time accepting these arguments as compared to my judging peers. I've seen K's used almost exclusively as a method to steer the round toward a certain argument, regardless of resolution, as a form which are designed to be a lot less preparable than anything actually topical. I've had far too many negative experiences as a judge to accept any of these as a strategical decision; Anything short of a K being used for in-round insults is strongly discouraged.
1AC K's are right out.
As far as speed is concerned... It probably won't be much of an issue? I wasn't the fastest debater in the world, and I am a touch rusty, but I should be able to keep up with the speed of most standard debate rounds that I'm operating in. What may be an issue, however, is clarity. I will try my best to warn any and all debaters who are not speaking clearly in round, and if said warnings are ignored, your speeches will simply not be flowed.
One final note - I'm a judge, and judges like things easy for them. Concise, clear, and signposted speeches (especially towards the end of a round!) make it a lot easier for me to follow arguments without having to apply too much mental horsepower after the round, and it makes my life easier to make yours better. Please don't just blindly signpost covered arguments as dropped, however - I'm not quite that lazy!
-Eric McCormick
SPEED. You can speed through reading text evidence, but I need you to clearly and slowly give me a tag prior to each card. I'm a former PF debater and a current speech coach -- show me that you can communicate effectively. I primarily flow and make decisions based on tags. I will not look at your doc share.
VOTERS. I judge as clean-slate as possible. Your job is to tell me the reasons I should vote for you at the end of the round, and you should weigh those against the other team's voters.
KRITIKS. Performative, posturing Ks will result in a loss (ie, don't run a cap K from your three Macs, expensive suit, and smart water). Performative Ks amount to lying to win a ballot, which is wholly unethical. The only time a K is acceptable is when a team legitimately does something abusive enough or inappropriate enough that they should be educationally corrected with a loss. If your 1AC or 1NC has a K, you're going to lose -- we all came here to debate the topic. I didn't fly across the country into the desert with 14 kids for a week so that I could listen to you not debate the topic. Please respect my time.
ETIQUETTE. Use the restroom before the round, not during. Don't prompt during your partner's speech. Don't interrupt your opponent's speech with the sound of your own timer going on. Cross-Ex is 1 on 1. Don't ask me to yell "clear" -- use your communication abilities and evaluate the nonverbal feedback you can read from me.
I'll flow the round and won't vote for any argument I don't understand.
I have been judging speech events since 2021, including at Nationals in 2022, where I attended a class on judging. I work hard to be well versed on the criteria for all the speech events and judge them accordingly. Overall I consider the choice of piece/quality of cutting; emotional connection to the piece and audience; confidence and eye contact; organization; and pacing.
LD: I'm pretty traditional. I like values and criteria and evidence and clash. If you read a K or a bedtime narrative, I will stop flowing the round and take a nap. I have a speed threshold of "don't" and if you could please keep the jargon to a minimum, that would be great. Theory is cool, in theory, but it shouldn't be an entire framework. I like long walks on the beach, and a good tennis match. Also, don't shake my hand at the end of the round.
PF: Um....win more arguments than the other team. Go. Fight. Win.
Debated @ UNT 2009-2014
Coach @ St Marks since 2017
Coach @ Kentucky since 2024
If you have questions, feel free to email me at mccullough.hunter@gmail.com
For college rounds, please add ukydebate@gmail.com to the email chain
For me, the idea that the judge should remain impartial is very important. I've had long discussions about the general acceptability/desirability of specific debate arguments and practices (as has everybody, I'm sure), but I've found that those rarely influence my decisions. I've probably voted for teams without plans in framework debates more often than I've voted neg, and I've voted for the worst arguments I can imagine, even in close debates, if I thought framing arguments were won. While nobody can claim to be completely unbiased, I try very hard to let good debating speak for itself. That being said, I do have some general predispositions, which are listed below.
T-Theory
-I tend to err aff on T and neg on most theory arguments. By that, I mean that I think that the neg should win a good standard on T in order to win that the aff should lose, and I also believe that theory is usually a reason to reject the argument and not the team.
- Conditional advocacies are good, but making contradictory truth claims is different. However, I generally think these claims are less damaging to the aff than the "they made us debate against ourselves" claim would make it seem. The best 2ACs will find ways of exploiting bad 1NC strategy, which will undoubtedly yield better speaker points than a theory debate, even if the aff wins.
- I kind of feel like "reasonability" and "competing interpretations" have become meaningless terms that, while everybody knows how they conceptualize it, there are wildly different understandings. In my mind, the negative should have to prove that the affirmative interpretation is bad, not simply that the negative has a superior interpretation. I can obviously be persuaded either way, but I generally find T debates rarely come down to this regardless.
- My view of debates outside of/critical of the resolution is also complicated. While my philosophy has always been very pro-plan reading in the past, I've found that aff teams are often better at explaining their impact turns than the neg is at winning an impact that makes sense. That being said, I think that it's hard for the aff to win these debates if the neg can either win that there is a topical version of the affirmative that minimizes the risk of the aff's impact turns, or a compelling reason why the aff is better read as a kritik on the negative. Obviously there are arguments that are solved by neither, and those are likely the best 2AC impact turns to read in front of me.
- "The aff was unpredictable so we couldn't prepare for it so you should assume it's false" isn't a good argument for framework and I don't think I've ever voted for it.
CPs
- I'm certainly a better judge for CP/DA debates than K v K debates. I particularly like strategic PICs and good 1NC strategies with a lot of options. I'd be willing to vote on consult/conditions, but I find permutation arguments about immediacy/plan-plus persuasive.
- I think the neg gets away with terrible CP solvency all the time. Affs should do a better job establishing what counts as a solvency card, or at least a solvency warrant. This is more difficult, however, when your aff's solvency evidence is really bad. - Absent a debate about what I should do, I will kick a counterplan for the neg and evaluate the aff v. the squo if the CP is bad/not competitive
- I don't think the 2NC needs to explain why severence/intrinsicness are bad, just win a link. They're bad.
- I don't think perms are ever a reason to reject the aff.
- I don't think illegitimate CPs are a reason to vote aff.
Disads
- Run them. Win them. There's not a whole lot to say.
- I'd probably vote on some sort of "fiat solves" argument on politics, but only if it was explained well.
- Teams that invest time in good, comparative impact calculus will be rewarded with more speaker points, and likely, will win the debate. "Disad/Case outweighs" isn't a warrant. Talk about your impacts, but also make sure you talk about your opponents impacts. "Economic collapse is real bad" isn't as persuasive as "economic collapse is faster and controls uniqueness for the aff's heg advantage".
Ks
- My general line has always been that "I get the K but am not well read in every literature". I've started to realize that that statement is A) true for just about everybody and B) entirely useless. It turns out that I've read, coached, and voted for Ks too often for me to say that. What I will say, however, is that I certainly focus my research and personal reading more on the policy side, but will generally make it pretty obvious if I have no idea what you're saying.
- Make sure you're doing link analysis to the plan. I find "their ev is about the status quo" arguments pretty persuasive with a permutation.
- Don't think that just because your impacts "occur on a different level" means you don't need to do impact calculus. A good way to get traction here is case defense. Most advantages are pretty silly and false, point that out with specific arguments about their internal links. It will always make the 2NR easier if you win that the aff is lying/wrong.
- I think the alt is the weakest part of the K, so make sure to answer solvency arguments and perms very well.
- If you're aff, and read a policy aff, don't mistake this as a sign that I'm just going to vote for you because I read mostly policy arguments. If you lose on the K, I'll vote neg. Remember, I already said I think your advantage is a lie. Prove me wrong.
Case
-Don't ignore it. Conceding an advantage on the neg is no different than conceding a disad on the aff. You should go to case in the 1NC, even if you just play defense. It will make the rest of the debate so much easier.
- If you plan to extend a K in the 2NR and use that to answer the case, be sure you're winning either a compelling epistemology argument or some sort of different ethical calculus. General indicts will lose to specific explanations of the aff absent either good 2NR analysis or extensions of case defense.
- 2As... I've become increasingly annoyed with 2ACs that pay lip service to the case without responding to specific arguments or extending evidence/warrants. Just reexplaining the advantage and moving on isn't sufficient to answer multiple levels of neg argumentation.
Paperless debate
I don't think you need to take prep time to flash your speech to your opponent, but it's also pretty obvious when you're stealing prep, so don't do it. If you want to use viewing computers, that's fine, but only having one is unacceptable. The neg needs to be able to split up your evidence for the block. It's especially bad if you want to view their speeches on your viewing computer too. Seriously, people need access to your evidence.
Clipping
I've decided enough debates on clipping in the last couple of years that I think it's worth putting a notice in my philosophy. If a tournament has reliable internet, I will insist on an email chain and will want to be on that email chain. I will, at times, follow along with the speech document and, as a result, am likely to catch clipping if it occurs. I'm a pretty non-confrontational person, so I'm unlikely to say anything about a missed short word at some point, but if I am confident that clipping has occurred, I will absolutely stop the debate and decide on it. I'll always give debaters the benefit of the doubt, and provide an opportunity to say where a card was marked, but I'm pretty confident of my ability to distinguish forgetting to say "mark the card" and clipping. I know that there is some difference of opinion on who's responsibility it is to bring about a clipping challenge, but I strongly feel that, if I know for certain that debaters are not reading all of their evidence, I have not only the ability but an obligation to call it out.
Other notes
- Really generic backfile arguments (Ashtar, wipeout, etc) won't lose you the round, but don't expect great speaks. I just think those arguments are really terrible, (I can't describe how much I hate wipeout debates) and bad for debate.
- Impact turn debates are awesome, but can get very messy. If you make the debate impossible to flow, I will not like you. Don't just read cards in the block, make comparisons about evidence quality and uniqueness claims. Impact turn debates are almost always won by the team that controls uniqueness and framing arguments, and that's a debate that should start in the 2AC.
Finally, here is a short list of general biases.
- The status quo should always be an option in the 2NR (Which doesn't necessarily mean that the neg get's infinite flex. If they read 3 contradictory positions, I can be persuaded that it was bad despite my predisposition towards conditionality. It does mean that I will, absent arguments against it, judge kick a counterplan and evaluate the case v the squo if the aff wins the cp is bad/not competitive)
- Warming is real and science is good (same argument, really)
- The aff gets to defend the implementation of the plan as offense against the K, and the neg gets to read the K
- Timeframe and probability are more important than magnitude
- Predictable limits are key to both fairness and education
- Consult counterplans aren't competitive. Conditions is arguable.
- Rider DA links are not intrinsic
- Utilitarianism is a good way to evaluate impacts
- The aff should defend a topical plan
- Death and extinction are bad
- Uncooperative federalism is one of the worst counterplans I've ever seen (update: this whole "we're going to read an impact turn, but also read a counterplan that triggers the impact so we can't lose on it" thing might be worse)
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About Me: I am an attorney by training and business person now. But I was a competitor in debate and speech for 10 years. I was predominantly a policy debater, including 4 years of NDT debate at USC. I also coached and judged NDT debate part-time for a couple of years.
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Judging Philosophy:
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I am a flow judge – and will vote on the arguments presented in the round. I will evaluate the structure of your arguments, the links between the various elements, and the evidence presented. In the end, I will weigh impacts to get to a final decision.
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Strong and persuasive delivery, critical thinking skills, and organization will be rewarded.
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I am very open minded about arguments. But, I also don’t believe it is possible for a judge to be a complete “blank slate”. In evaluating competing arguments, common sense and arguments that have narrative fidelity or “ring true” tend to be more persuasive.
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Rebuttals (summary / final focus) are a great opportunity for you to clean up the flow, use your persuasive skills and help write my ballot. Don’t be afraid to narrow down your focus and kick out arguments that aren’t going to help you win the debate.
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Final Thoughts: Be professional, have fun and always keep learning. Congratulations for being a part of an incredible activity and a wonderful community.
English Teacher (middle school) 30+ years. Philosophy Major. I value creativity, critical analysis, honesty, and professionalism. This is an opportunity to really learn to think and explore many different perspectives!
Debate experience: 1970's/80's debated in Arizona--high school and ASU. Policy debate was the only option and it was the beginning of spreading, when the speed of speaking became important for success when aligned with strong logic/analysis. Spreading is a tool--being able to also clearly articulate and extrapolate is the key to a strong debate. For the round, I only consider what is actually said in the round for the voting issues, not what may be written on a brief. I appreciate signposting and avoiding logical fallacies when cutting evidence. (ie. if it says it might happen and you drop that word in your speech to say it will happen, that is a logical fallacy-- something that might happen, doesn't mean it will!) When discovered that evidence is misrepresented or strip-quoted--changing the impact or intent of an article by eliminating words/context-- it is thrown out and may result in a loss for ethicality reasons.
Follow Robert's Rules of Order and/or rules specified by tournament hosts to insure fairness and consistency: adhering to time limits, speaking routines, and questioning rules in debate--ie. no new arguments in rebuttals, dropped issues are dropped, tag teaming restriction, current/relevant evidence, credible sources, etc.
The best debaters are those who are able to get specific as to why they are winning a round, not just saying they won the first advantage or issue--but explain how their argument won and the impact it will have on the world.
Have fun, learn, make friends, and do your best.
Chris McDonald (He/Him) - cmcmcdonald58@gmail.com
Use the above email for any email chains during the round.
Head Coach Eagan High School in Minnesota
While I mainly have coached and judged Policy Debate for the past 37 years I do judge my fair share of LD, Public Forum and Congressional Debate Rounds.
Items for all formats to consider:
- Disclosure theory: While I understand why this started out as something good for the community it has unfortunately morphed into an abusive argument and as such I will not consider it in my decision for the round.
- Evidence sharing: Have a system for sharing evidence setup before the round begins. This will make this more efficient and your judges happier. If you are asked for a piece of evidence you just read and it takes you more than 10 seconds to find the card, you can use your prep time locating it or the argument will become unsupported by evidence.
- Paraphrasing in Debate: I dislike paraphrasing and even though the rules allow it I find that is has become abused by some debaters. I would ask that teams read actual quotes from evidence and not paraphrase. If you do paraphrase your evidence must comport with current NSDA rules concerning how paraphrasing works in line with MLA standards.
Policy Debate - Please know that while I used to judge a lot of rounds throughout the season in policy debate it has been a few years since I judged more than a handful of policy rounds. I do work with my school's novice and varsity policy teams, so I should be fairly up to date on key arguments on the current on topic.
My philosophy has pretty much remained consistent throughout my career. I consider policy debate to be a test of policy based ideas between two teams. How those teams approach the topic and frame the debate is entirely up to them. Below are a few things to know about me on some specifics but please know my primary objective is for us to have an enjoyable round of debate.
Delivery Speed - Since it has been a few years for me since last judging lots of policy debate my ability to listen to really fast debate has faded. Please keep it to a slightly slower speed of delivery especially when using the online platforms. I will let you know if you are unclear or going too fast by verbally indicating such during your speech. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being oratory speed and 10 being approaching the sound barrier (only joking here) I would place myself as a 7 these days.
Topicality - I enjoy a good topicality debate but have found that over the years teams are taking too many shortcuts with the initial development of the topicality violation. I prefer topicality to have a clear definition, a clearly developed violation, standards for evaluating the violation and reasons why it is a voting issue. For the affirmative side you really need to engage with the topicality violation and provide a counter interpretation that supports your interpretation of the resolution. Topicality is distinct from framework.
Framework - I also enjoy evaluating a debate when framework is clearly articulated and argued by both the affirmative and negative sides. Framework is focused around how you would like me to evaluate the arguments in the round. Do you prefer a consequentialist framework, a deontological framework, etc..
Critiques - I am fine with critical approaches by the negative and the affirmative sides. For the affirmative please keep in mind that you will need to defend your critical affirmative as either a topical representation of the resolution or why it is important for us to debate your affirmative even if it isn't necessarily within the boundaries of the topic.
Flow - Please label all arguments and positions clearly throughout the debate. Signposting has become a lost art. Debaters doing an effective job of signposting and labeling will be rewarded with higher speaker points.
Disadvantages - Please be certain to articulate your links clearly and having clear internal links helps a great deal.
Counter plans - I think counter plans are an essential tool for negative teams. Please note that I am not a big fan of multiple conditional counter plans. Running a couple of well developed counter plans is better than running 4 or 5 underdeveloped counter plans. Counter plans should have a text to compete against the affirmative plan text.
Theory - General theory in debate rounds like conditionality are fine but have rarely been round winners without a lot of time devoted to why theory should be considered over substance.
If you have any questions please let me know and I will happily answer those questions.
Lincoln Douglas
1. I am not a fan of theory as it plays out in LD debate rounds. Most of the theory that is argued is pretty meaningless when it comes to the topics at hand. I will only consider topicality if the affirmative is presenting a plan text in the round or isn't debating the resolution we are supposed to be considering at that given tournament. I ask that the debaters debate the topic as it is written and not as they would like it to be.
2. Beyond my dislike for theory you are free to pretty much debate the round as you see fit. Please keep your speed to a level where you are clear.
3. Evidence should be shared using an email chain. Please include me at cmcmcdonald58@gmail.com
4. If you have specific questions please ask. I will disclose at the end of the round but I will also respect the tournaments schedule and work to keep it on time.
Public Forum
1. Evidence is very important to me. I prefer direct quotation of evidence over paraphrasing. Please make note of the NSDA rule regarding paraphrasing. Source Citations: make sure that you present enough of a source citation that I should have no problem locating the evidence you present in the round. This would include the author or periodical name and date at a minimum. So we are clear Harvard '23 is not a source citation. Harvard is a really great University but has, to my knowledge never written a word without the assistance of some human that attends or works at Harvard.
2. There is to be no game playing with regards to evidence sharing during or after the round. If you are asked for evidence by your opponents you must produce it in a timely manner or I will discount the evidence and only treat the argument as an unsubstantiated assertion on your part. Even if it means handing over one of your laptops you must provide evidence for inspection by the other team so that they may evaluate it and respond to the evidence in subsequent speeches.
3. Prep Time - you are only provided with 3 minutes of prep time, unless otherwise stated by the tournament you are attending. Please use it wisely. I will only give a little latitude with regards to untimed evidence sharing or organizing your flows, but please be efficient and quick about it.
4. Argument choices are completely up to the debaters. I prefer a good substantive debate with clear clash and that the debaters compare and weigh the arguments they feel are important for their side to prevail as the debate comes into focus but the substance of those arguments is completely within the control of the teams debating.
5. Please respect your opponents and treat everyone involved in the debate round with the utmost respect. Speaker points will be effected by any rude behavior on the part of a debater.
6. I will disclose and discuss my decision at the end of the round so long as there is time and the tournament stays on schedule.
7. Finally, please remember to have fun and enjoy the experience.
Hello! I am a parent and an Assistant Coach at our High School. I judge Congress at both our state level and have done multiple national circuit tournaments over the past two years. In addition I judge speech events. I do not judge PF, LD or CX.
In judging congress I find the following important:
- Respect in the chamber, at all times, even during recess ( if you are in chamber and judges are present you are still being evaluated)
- you should be prepared to speak on either side of a bill - which also means you understand both sides of the bill and can ask well informed questions.
- I understand base 2 but that doesn't mean you will necessarily be able to give your favorite speech
- Sponsor speeches are critical and no one should shy away from them. As a judge, I know there are no refutations and this isn't a crystal speech. But if we don't have a sponsor we don't get the debate going. You can earn my top speaker score by giving a sponsor speech. Show me you can refute by asking good questions of the other side.
- I do not like to break the cycle of debate. As stated before you should be prepared to speak on either side of the bill.
- Congress is the perfect combination of debate and speech. I expect sources, relevant points, a well organized speech and I expect style. You are speaking to convince the chamber to vote with you and I expect to see some passion in your speech to do just that.
- I expect you to be involved in the chamber while the chamber is in session. When watching the chamber I want to see you listening to your peers and attempting to ask questions.
I look forward to a great tournament. I know how much work goes into this event. I applaud all of you!!
I prefer Speechdrop, but if you insist on using an email chain, add me: fedupblackgurl@gmail.com
4/12/2022 addition: The strangest thing happened to me last weekend. I have been judging since I graduated from Lamar HS in 2006. I use similar language on my ballots in every round, and a problem has never been brought to my attention. However, two coaches at an NSDA recently complained about the language used on my ballots. I am including that language here:
Comments for *the debater*
"Do you have a strategy for reading the AC? Because you sent me 35 pages and only got through like 24. Is the strat just to literally spread as much as you can? Would it not be better to structure the case in a way where you make sure to get through what is important? For example, you read the stuff about warming, but you did not even get through the "warming causes extinction" stuff, so you do not have a terminal impact for the environmental journalism subpoint.
New cards in the 1AR?! As if you do not already have enough to deal with?! This strategy is still making no sense. And then, you sent this doc with all these cards AGAIN and did not read them all. This is so weird to do in the 1AR because the strat should be really coherent because you have so little time. This was SLOPPY work."
RFD: "I negate. This was a painful/sloppy round to judge. Both debaters have this weird strat where they just read as much stuff as they can and I guess, hope that something sticks. This round could have gone either way, and I am in the rare situation where I am not even comfortable submitting my ballot. To be clear, there was no winner in this round. I just had to choose someone. So, I voted neg on climate change because it was the clearest place to vote. I buy that we need advocacy in order to solve. I buy that objectivity decreases public interest in climate change. I buy that we need advocacy to influence climate change. I buy that "objectivity" creates right-winged echo chambers that further perpetuate climate change. These args were ineffectively handled by the Aff. The other compelling line of argumentation from the neg showed how lack of advocacy on issues like climate change harm minorities more. I think neg did a good job of turning Aff FW and showing how he linked into SV better. This round was a hot mess, but I vote neg... I guess."
If I am your judge, these are the types of ballots you will get if you give me a round that it messy and hard to adjudicate. I should not have to say this because my reputation precedes me, but ASK ANYONE. LITERALLY ANYONE. I AM NICE. I AM KIND. MY BLACK MAMA RAISED ME WELL. I show up at tournaments and hug people and smile (even people on the circuit who are known to be racially problematic and even coaches who are known to be sore losers). I am literally good to everyone because as a Black woman, I do not have the luxury of raising my voice, making demands, or throwing tantrums. Actions that coaches in other bodies with other body parts are allowed to get away with are prohibited and result in career suicide for me and humans who look like me. So, if these ballots offend you, STRIKE ME NOW. Request that I not judge you/your students NOW. Do not wait until you get the ballot back and paint me into a villain. It isn't that I will not try to make my ballots less harsh. It is that IN MY QUALIFIED OPINION and in the opinion of many other qualified coaches and judges, the ballots ARE NOT HARSH. Communication styles are largely CULTURAL. And as a Black woman, I do not think that I need to overly edit myself just to make white people comfortable or happy. I have done enough to make white people love me, and my entire life, I have adjusted to their passive and overt aggression, including the white coach who most recently told me in a call that he "better not see my ass again at a tournament." I responded with an apology text.
I love students and I love debate. I am never tired of debate. I come to tournaments happy and leave fulfilled because debate is all I have loved to do since I found it. It is (or maybe was) my safe space and my happy place. *Ask me the story of how I joined Lanier debate as a 6th grader :)* Please do a Black woman a favor, and don't treat me like the world treats me. Do not read a tenor or tone into my ballots just because they are not fluffy or favorable. Unlike a lot of judges, I am flowing (on paper -- not hiding behind my computer doing God knows what), and trying to write down every single helpful comment I can come up with (and still submitting my ballot expeditiously to keep the tournament on time). As a result, I do not always do a great job of editing my ballots to make sure they don't sting a little. But students and coaches, if I say something hurtful, find me after the round. I guarantee you that it was not intentionally hurtful. You can talk to me, and I always smile when people approach me :)
Notice the parallels between how I write in my paradigm, in the "controversial" ballot, and in the new stuff I added above. If anyone would have taken the time to read my paradigm, they would know that this is how I ALWAYS communicate.
Students, TBH, a lot of the stuff I am writing on the ballots is not even your fault. Sometimes, as coaches, we do not know things or forget to tell you things, and that is ON US, not on you.
MY ACTUAL PARADIGM IS BELOW:
I don’t know everything nor will I pretend to. Please don’t hold me to such an impossible standard. But I read; I try to keep up with you kiddos as much as I can; and I’ve made speech and debate a priority in my life since 1999. So even though I don’t know everything, I know a lot.
Before you read my paradigm, hear this: Good debate is good debate. Whatever you choose to do, do it well, starting at a foundational level. At the end of the day, just know that I’m doing my very best to choose the best debater(s)/the person/team who showed up and showed out :)
General debate paradigm:
*I do not keep time in debate rounds, and I am always ready. If you ask me if I am ready, I will ignore you*
The older I get, the less I care about tech, and the more I care about truth.
1. ARGUMENTATION: Line-by-line and big picture are two sides of the same coin. It’s crucial not to drop arguments (but I won’t make the extension or fill in the impact for you. It is your job to tell me why the drop matters w/in the larger context of the debate). At the same time, the line-by-line is a lot less useful when you don’t paint the picture of what an Aff or Neg world looks like.
2. EXTENSIONS: When extending, I like for you to extend the claim, warrant, and the impact. I’m old school that way.
3. WEIGHING: Weighing is crucial to me. A bunch of args all over the flow with no one telling me how heavily they should be evaluated is a nightmare.
4. FRAMING: I understand that not all the debates have framework per se, but do tell me which impacts to prioritize. That’s helpful.
5. VOTERS: I like voters. I’m old school in that way too.
6. SPEED: I am generally fine with any level of speed and will indicate if this becomes an issue. I do appreciate that PF is designed to be a little slower, so I would like it if you respected that.
7. SPEAKS: If you cross the line from snarky to mean, I will dock your speaks, esp if your opp is being nice and you are being mean. I will also dock your speaks if you do to much unnecessary talking (e.g., constantly asking if I am ready, saying "Threeee.... twooooo....one" and "tiiiime....staaarts....now" or any similar phrase.) Basically, just run the round and make all your words count rather than just talking to hear yourself talk or nervously rambling.
LD:
1. STYLE: I’m indifferent to/comfortable with the style of debate you choose (i.e, “traditional” v. “progressive”). This means that I’m fine with value/vc framing as well as pre-fiat “framing” args (or whatever you fancy kids are calling them these days) like ROB/ROJ args. I love a good critical argument when done well. I’m also fine with all policy-style arguments and appreciate them when properly and strategically employed.
2. FRAMING: framework isn’t a voter. It’s the mechanism I use to weigh offensive arguments. To win the round, win/establish framework first; then, tell me how you weigh under it.
3. IMPACT CALCULUS: Offense wins debate rounds. I vote on offense linked back to the standard. Weigh the impacts in both rebuttals.
Policy/CX:
1. POLICY-MAKING: generally, I vote for the team who makes the best policy.
2. TOPICALITY: While I default reasonability and rarely vote on topicality, I do appreciate a good competing interp. I will vote on topicality if your interpretation blows me away, but I do need coherent standards and voters. Don’t be lazy.
3. THEORY/KRITIKS: I’m a sucker for philosophy. Give me a well-contextualized alternative, and I’ll be eating it all up.
4. IMPACTS: I respect the nature of policy debate, and I realize that hyperbolic impacts like nuclear war and extinction are par for the course. With that said, I love being able to vote on impacts that are actually probable.
5. TOPICAL CPs: No, just no.
PUBLIC FORUM: your warrants should be explicit. Your terminal impacts should be stated in-case. You should extend terminal defense and offense in summary speech. Give voters in the final focus.
HOW TO WIN MY BALLOT: I am first and foremost a black woman. I don’t believe in speech and debate existing in an academic vacuum. If you want to win my ballot, tell me how your position affects me as a black woman existing in a colonial, white supremacist, patriarchal, capitalist, heteronormative society. Show me coherently that your advocacy is good for me, and you’ll win my ballot every time.
PUBLIC SPEAKING AND INTERP:
I judge based on the ballot criteria.
I like to see binder craft in POI.
I like a good teaser with lots of energy.
I do not like ACTING in the introductions. That should be the REAL YOU. Showcase your public speaking ability.
I like pieces to fall between 9:10-10:10 time range.
EXTEMP SPECIFICALLY:
I like a good AGD.
Restate topic verbatim.
Most important thing in extemp is directly answering the prompt.
Three main points preferred.
I like at least 2 sources per main point.
Do not get tangential.
Do not be stiff, but do not be too informal.
No colloquialisms.
STRONG ORGANIZATION (Intro, 3MPs, and a Conclusion that ties back to intro.)
I LIKE ALL THE STANDARD STUFF.
I have been judging WSD for 10 years at the National level and have had students on the USA World School Debate travel team. I love it!
When judging a WSD round I am looking for students to lean into the WSD model. Bring in the skills and tools you have from any other debate or speaking event and using it to as a scaffold to build and grow in this new format. Using things like taglines, narrative, and conversational speed lead to a thorough and enjoyable debate. Use the POI structure and engage with clean clash in the round. Humanize the motion and really weigh those principals and pragmatics in the round.
I will provide you will plenty of clear feedback and suggestions. Please note, I do remember the rules of how WSD is supposed to work - you do not need to cite them in the round for me.
I have no prior experience in speech and debate. I have never competed and only recently started judging. I understand basic debate argumentation but am still learning specific jargon and technicalities. Please try not to speak too fast but I understand that this is a space that requires time constraints. I want to hear any kind of arguments that you have prepared. Please clearly extend your arguments throughout the round, with author names or taglines so I know exactly what you’re extending. I am excited to see what all of you have to say, but please be respectful of each other in round.
Ryan McFarland
Debated at KCKCC and Wichita State
Two years of coaching at Wichita State, 3 years at Hutchinson High School in Kansas, two years at Kapaun Mt. Carmel, now at Blue Valley Southwest.
email chain: remcfarland043@gmail.com, bvswdebatedocs@gmail.com
Stop reading; debate. Reading blocks is not debating. You will not get higher than a 28.3 from me if you cant look away from your computer and make an argument.
I've seen deeper debates in slow rounds than I've seen in "fast" rounds the last couple years. "Deep" does not mean quantity of arguments, but quality and explanation of arguments.
Talk about the affirmative. I've judged so many debates the last couple years where the affirmative is not considered after the 1AC. Impact defense doesn’t count. I don't remember the last time my decision included anything about impact defense that wasn't dropped.
2024-2025 things ----
I haven't done as much topic reading at this point in the year as I have in the past. I think the topic is incredibly boring and neg args are pretty bad. I think the K links are much more persuasive this year than previously. I'm not sure how I feel about being very anti-process/ridiculous advantage counterplans in a world where the best DA is court clog, but I could see myself being much more sympathetic to negative teams in this regard. That said, I still think affirmative teams should get good at theory against these arguments.
I've left my paradigm from last year below. That should still filter how you pref me, but I will likely find the K much more strategic and persuasive, which is probably the most significant change.
Old ----
I am not a fan of process counterplans. I’m not auto-vote against them, but I think they’ve produced a lazy style of debating. I don’t understand why we keep coming up with more convoluted ways to make non-competitive counterplans competitive instead of just admitting they aren’t competitive and moving on with our lives.
I'm not good for the K. I spent most of my time debating going for these arguments, have coached multiple teams to go for them, so I think I understand them well. I've been trying to decide if it's about the quality of the debating, or just the argument, but I think I just find these arguments less and less persuasive. Maybe its just the links made on this topic, but it's hard for me to believe that giving people money, or a job, doesn't materially make peoples lives better which outweighs whatever the impact to the link you're going for. I don't think I'm an auto-vote aff, but I haven't voted for a K on this topic yet.
If you decide to go for the K, I care about link contextualization much more than most judges. The more you talk about the aff, the better your chances of winning. I dislike the move to never extend an alternative, but I understand the strategic choice to go for framework + link you lose type strategies.
An affirmative winning capitalism, hegemony, revisionism true/good, etc. is a defense of the affirmatives research and negative teams will have a hard time convincing me otherwise.
I think K affirmatives, most times, don't make complete arguments. They often sacrifice solvency for framework preempts. I understand the decision, but I would probably feel better about voting for an affirmative that doesn't defend the topic if it did something.
Zero risk is real. Read things other than impact defense. Cross-ex is important for creating your strategy and should be utilized in speeches. Don’t be scared to go for theory. Conditionality is good. Argument legitimacy is not a reason to reject the team, but should be a strategic tool for affirmatives. I will not vote on something that happened outside of a debate, or an argument that requires me to make a judgement about a high school kid's character.
Don't clip. Clarity issues that make it impossible to follow in the doc is considered clipping.
EMAIL CHAIN: katie.mcgaughey@usd497.org
ABOUT ME: I did not participate in the activity in high school or college. However, I have judged several policy rounds and speech events in the last 6 years. I have judged everything from local Kansas City tournaments to NSDA Nationals in 2020, 2023, and again in 2024 as well as Speech Events like NIETOC in 2024. I have a Bachelor's degree from University of Kansas in Exercise Kinesiology & Physiology and in Psychology with an emphasis in Cross-Cultural Communication, and I am currently working on a Masters of Science in Data Analytics at Northwest Missouri State University. I work as a Sales Rep at Macmillan Learning where I sell online courseware to community colleges and universities in Kansas and western Missouri, and also serve as an Assistant Debate & Forensics coach at Lawrence Free State High School. Sko' Birds!
APPROACH: Winning an argument is not the same thing as winning the round on an argument. If you want to win the round on an argument you've won or are winning, take the time to win the round on it. Anybody can read cards, good analysis, and strategic decision-making are harder to do and frequently more valuable. I am a big fan of Ethos and persuasiveness and I think that this may be somewhat of a lost art with many debaters just spreading through prewritten blocks as fast they can in their rebuttals. In my opinion a slow, technical, and logical rebuttal is almost always better than a fast rebuttal that does not have the same level of tech and logic.
SPEED: I am somewhat comfortable with speed, but slowing down during taglines and authors is imperative. Also, spend time on why each card matters to the case, the status quo, and your argument. I don't care about the author's background so don't spend valuable time on it.
POLICY ARGUMENTS: These are the things that I will be the most comfortable evaluating. Case debate, DAs, and smart CPs that are all supported by quality evidence and analytics that reflect your knowledge of the topic will be rewarded. Generating clash through warrant comparison and setting up the end of the round through comparative impact calculus are critical for shaping my ballot. Probability and timeframe are the most important parts of impact calculus to me, and time spent explaining (or breaking down) internal link chains is never wasted.
KRITIKS: I'm willing to listen, but you should deploy them at your own risk. Don't assume that I know your literature base or am well-versed in the way that your offense interacts with theirs. Narrative explanation and easy-to-follow structure will be important for me to effectively interact with your arguments. Link articulation is particularly important in this vein; having all of the offense in the world doesn't matter if I don't know how or why it's relevant in the round.
The best way to win my ballot is to be logically consistent, generate clash, and tell me how to vote and why. It is more important to be right than to be the most clever. I want to see that you have a nuanced global knowledge of the topic, not just reading cards that were cut for you. I am open to answering questions about my style of judging before the round, and always feel free to email me post-round with any questions.
I am the assistant debate coach at Taylor High School and was the Mayde Creek Coach for many years in Houston, TX. Although I have coached and judged on the National Circuit, it is not something I regularly do or particularly enjoy. I was a policy debater in high school and college, but that was along time ago. My experience is primarily congress and LD. In the past several years I have been running tab rooms in the Houston area. That said, here are a few things you may want to know:
Congress
I am fairly flexible in Congress. I like smart, creative speeches. I rate a good passionate persuasive speech over a speech with tons of evidence. Use logos, pathos, and ethos. Clash is good. I think it is good to act like a member of Congress, but not in an over the top way. Questions and answers are very important to me and make the difference in rank. Ask smart questions that advance the debate. Standing up to just ask a dumb question to “participate “ hurts you. I don’t like pointless parliamentary games (who does?). I like a P.O. who is fair and efficient. The P.O. almost always makes my ballot unless they make several mistakes, struggle with procedures and or are unfair. (Not calling on a competitor, playing favorites etc.) . If you think your P.O is not being fair, call them on it politely. Be polite and civil, there is a line between attacking arguments and attacking competitors. Stay on the right side of it.
Debate
Civility: I believe we have a real problem in our activity with the lack of civility (and occasional lack of basic human decency). I believe it is discouraging people from participating. Do not make personal attacks or references. Be polite in CX. Forget anything you have ever learned about "perceptual dominance." This is no longer just a loss of speaker points. I will drop you on rudeness alone, regardless of the flow.
Speed: I used to say you could go 6-7 on a 10 point scale... don't. Make it a 3-4 or I will miss that critical analytical warrant you are trying to extend through ink. I am warning you this is not just a stylistic preference. I work tab a lot more than I judge rounds, and do not have the ear that I had when I was judging fast rounds all the time. Run the short version of your cases in front of me. This is particularly true of non-stock, critical positions or multiple short points. I tend to flow arguments over card names. Be very clear with your signposting or I will get lost.
Evidence: I think the way we cut and paraphrase cards is problematic. This is closely related to speed. I would prefer to be able to follow the round and analyze a card without having to read it after it is emailed to me (or call for it after the round). That said, if you feel you have to go fast for strategic reasons, then include me on the chain. I will ignore your spreading and read your case. However, be aware if I have to read your case/evidence, I will. I will read the entire card, not just the highlighted portion. If I think the parts left out or put in 4 point font change the meaning of the argument, or do not support your tag, I will disregard your evidence, regardless of what the opponent says in round. So either go slow or have good, solid evidence.
Theory: I will vote on theory where there is clear abuse. I prefer reasonability as opposed to competing interpretations. Running theory against a stock case for purely competitive advantage annoys me. Argue the case. I don't need a comprehensive theory shell and counter interpretations, and I do not want to see frivolous violations. Tricks are dumb. I will not vote for them except as a RVI against the trickster. See my assumptions below.
Assumptions: I believe that debate should be fair and definitions and framework should be interpreted so that both sides have ground and it is possible for either side to win. Morality exists, Justice is not indeterminate, Genocide is bad. I prefer a slower debate focusing on the standard, with well constructed arguments with clash on both sides of the flow. Fewer better arguments are better than lots of bad ones. I am biased towards true arguments. Three sentences of postmodern gibberish cut out of context is not persuasive. Finally, in LD I think the affirmative should be trying to prove the entire resolution true and the negative proves it is not true. (a normative evaluation). You would need to justify your parametric with a warrant other than "so I can win."
Progressive stuff: I will not absolutely rule it out or vote against you, but you need to sell it and explain it. Why is a narrative useful and why should I vote for it? A K better link hard to the opponents case and be based on topical research not just a generic K that has been run on any topic/debater. If you can not explain the alternative or the function of the K in CX in a way that makes sense, I won't vote for it. I am not sure why you need a plan in LD, or why the affirmative links to a Disad. I am not sure how fiat is supposed to work in LD. I do not see why either side has to defend the status quo.
Policy Debate: I am a fairly traditional judge who naturally defaults towards a policymaker mindset. I do appreciate the stock issues and am willing to vote on Topicality. Spamming the affirmative with 18 off annoys me. Label your off case arguments. I am not well versed in a lot of policy theory or critical arguments. Explain what you are doing and tell me how arguments should work in the round.
Conclusion: If you want to have a fun TOC style debate with tons of critical positions going really fast, preference a different judge. (Hey, I am not blaming you, some of my debaters loved that sort of thing cough-Jeremey / Valentina / Alec/ Claudia -cough, It is just that I don't).
Speaking rate should be normal. Focus on quality of arguments and clash. Formulate accurate analyses of evidence: what does it mean for the resolution? Civility and poise under all circumstances is appreciated.
tl;dr: I coach speech primarily and when needed, I judge debate; I don't mind speed and tech, but I should be able to follow the argument without reading along. Evidence should relate clearly to your argument and resolution. Most importantly, HAVE FUN!
You can share cases with me, please go ahead. I may not read the case along with you as you present it, but will use it as a reference.
I am also inviting you and your coach (please, obtain their permission first) to email me for anything you need. I would be happy to clarify my RFD, to answer any questions about my paradigm, or even if you feel unsafe in a round, I will do everything in my power to help you.
On to the good stuff:
________________________________________________________________________________________
1. Clash is LIFE: Don't avoid clashing. Get in there and don't be afraid of responding to your opponent's argument. It is what makes this DEBATE, otherwise, it's dueling Oratories.
2. What is a good piece of evidence? One that is clear. "I have a card" is not clear, nor is it persuasive. Your evidence should connect your arguments to a clear purpose in the round. "Why are you telling me this info" should never be a thought I have. Just saying there is a link does not mean there is one. Prove it with your evidence!
3. Speed: I NEED TO HEAR THE WORDS THAT ARE COMING OUT OF YOUR MOUTH! I am not anti-speed, but speed for speed's sake is as if the UPS guy drives by my house at 90 mph and throws the package at my head. I'm mad, the package is broken, and UPS just lost a fan. Speed for argument depth is great, but I recommend signaling or slowing down to make the tags and theories clear so I can write them down. I am not a silent judge. I will say something in between speeches if I cannot understand you, but if I cannot write down your argument in the flow, then guess what? The other person wins because I could hear them. I would hate to see a good argument die on the lips of a speed demon.
4. Traditional or Progressive? I'll be honest, I have leaned towards more traditional when it comes to LD in the past, but the past few years I have become more inclined to some fun progressive debates. I do believe that LD at its core is a value debate. If you are going to run a progressive case, be sure it still fits the idea of a value debate on THIS resolution, not the one you wish NSDA voted for, but THIS resolution.
5. To K or Not to K? Why not? Challenge the system, make the debate interesting and captivating, BUT also remember what I said in number 4. This is a value debate and should ultimately be about the resolution at hand. If you want to run a K about how your opponent's shoes are unlaced; therefore, they are unprofessional, I really think you could do better.
6. Finally, be kind. The worse thing in a round is when a bully decides their opponent is inferior. I am immediately turned off and while it will not affect what I vote on, it will affect how much attention I can give you.
EMAIL: mcgin029@gmail.com
POLICY
Slow down; pause between flows; label everything clearly; be aware that I am less familiar with policy norms, so over-explain. Otherwise I try to be more-or-less tab.
LD
I am the head coach at Valley High School and have been coaching LD debate since 1996.
I coach students on both the local and national circuits.
I can flow speed reasonably well, particularly if you speak clearly. If I can't flow you I will say "clear" or "slow" a couple of times before I give up and begin playing Pac Man.
You can debate however you like in front of me, as well as you explain your arguments clearly and do a good job of extending and weighing impacts back to whatever decision mechanism(s) have been presented.
I prefer that you not swear in round.
Debaters must prioritize effective delivery to engage the audience and convey their ideas clearly. Simultaneously, they should provide strong reasoning, supported by evidence and logical analysis, to strengthen their arguments. I will assess both aspects to determine the most persuasive debaters. Good luck to all participants!
Current coach/DOF at Lindale High School.
For email chains: mckenziera @ lisdeagles.net
CX - This is where I have spent the majority of my time judging. While I am comfortable judging any type of round, my preference is a more traditional round. Debate rounds that are more progressive (kritikal affs, performance, etc...) are totally fine, but you'll do best to slow down and go for depth over breadth here. I think that judges are best when they adapt to the round in front of them. Writing the ballot for me in the last few speeches can be helpful.
LD - Despite judging policy debate most, I was raised in a traditional value and criterion centric area. Still, I think that policy debates in LD are valuable. See my notes above about progressive argumentation. They're fine, but you'll probably need to do a few things to make it more digestible for me. Again, though, you do you. Writing the ballot for me in the last few speeches can be helpful.
PF - I judge only a few PF rounds a year. I'm not up-to-date on the trends that may be occurring. I naturally struggle with the time restraints in PF. I generally feel like teams often go for breadth instead of depth, which I think makes debate blippy and requires more judge intervention. I'd rather not hear 20 "cards" in a four minute speech. Framework is the most reliable way to construct a ballot. Writing the ballot for me in the last few speeches can be helpful.
Congress - Speeches should have structure, refutation, research, and style. Jerky Parliamentary Procedure devalues your position in the round.
Speech - Structure and content are valued equally. I appreciate, next, things that make you stand out in a positive way.
Interp - Should have a purpose/function. There's a social implication behind a lot of what we perform. I value great introductions and real characters.
Hello to anyone who is reading this paradigm. For a quick outline to find specific information it will go My Experience, LD Paradigm, Policy Paradigm, PFD Paradigm, and Congress Paradigm.
Experience - I have been involved in competitive speech and debate for over a decade either competing or judging. In high school, I competed in all of the public address events specializing in the Extemps. On the debate side, I regularly competed in Congress, and I also did WSD, PFD, and BQD. College I competed on the national circuit in IPDA, NPDA, and British Parli. For a brief academic background, I am a Masters Student in Communication Studies specializing in rhetoric and persuasion with a background in political theory. I have judged many times and have judged late-out rounds at several large tournaments, including several state final rounds in all formats. I am a Coach at the high school level as well, coaching the debate events and extemps.
LD Paradigm
Value/VC Debate——X———————Contention debate
(Clear) Speed—————————X—Normal Speech (I will drop for excessive speed)
Competing interps——————X——Resonability
Tech———————————————X Truth
“This isn’t policy”—X————————“Policy arguments” fine (If you make a policy argument link it directly to the Value)
Credentials ----X-------------------- Smith 19
K———————————————X—Not K
More Cards——————————X—Better cards
More Cards———————X————Longer Cards
Links more important————X-———Imp more important (Make sure to explain why xyz is persuasive/influential.)
Policy Paradigm
Policymaker paradigm
(Clear) Speed—————————X—Normal Speech (I will drop for excessive speed)
CP------------------------X-----No CP (I prefer traditional debates, however, if you run a CP make sure it is mutually exclusive and please signpost it before the speech so I can prep my flow.)
Topicality --------------------X----- No Topicality (In my opinion, T is not to be used as a weapon. Thus I only consider T if you are only running T and pretty much nothing else.)
Credentials ---X--------------------- Smith 19
K———————————————X—Not K
More Cards——————————X—Better cards
More Cards———————X————Longer Cards
Links more important————-——X—Imp more important (Make sure to explain why xyz is persuasive/influential.)
PFD Paradigm
(Clear) Speed—————————X—Normal Speech (I will drop for excessive speed)
Credentials --X---------------------- Smith 19
K———————————————X—Not K
More Cards——————————X—Better cards
More Cards———————X————Longer Cards
Links more important————-——X—Imp more important (Make sure to explain why xyz is persuasive/influential.)
Congress Paradigm
• Style - First 4 speakers on a bill must lay out foundational arguments with the 3rd and 4th speakers doing light refutation. Every speaker after that must at least attempt to respond to other speakers before them or will not likely place high on my ballot.
• CX - Remain active in asking cross as I use it to break ties. For those answering, be on your toes, as I do take cx answers into account for your rank.
• Arguments - I do not generally find arguments saying the bill is unconstitutional very interesting or persuasive. I will read the legislation, so if you quote a line make sure to use it correctly.
• Professionalism - Try not to emulate the behavior of some current members of congress. Be respectful to your opponents and engage constructively with their arguments. You will lose ranks for being unprofessional.
Hi!
I debated (Policy, Student Congress) at Andover High School for four years (Education, Immigration, Weapons, CJR)
Currently the policy assistant for Andover High/debater at WSU.
Yes, add me to the email chain, my email is gracemcmanus22@gmail.com
Top level
I don’t care how you debate just don’t be violent in the round. This doesn’t mean you can’t be mean, but rather that you need to be respectful. Meaning your attitude needs to have purpose. If you are just mean for the sake of being mean, your speaks will be hurt and if it goes to far I will end the round and you gotta take an auto L.
Tech over truth. The arguments you make in the debate can be outrageously false but if you are winning on the technical side I will vote for you. If it is a debate where both teams are even on the tech level and impact level, I will have to default to truth. Truth is the last option for me in a debate and if I default to it, usually it means something has gone seriously awry in the debate.
Planless affirmatives
Totally ok with these debates. I will say however that not defending a method in the 1AC means the only way to really win the debate is winning an impact turn on the framework flow, so do with that what you will.
You need to defend the purpose of the ballot. I’m fine with arguments about the ballot being healing for xyz reason but you need to extrapolate that to me.
Framework/T-USFG
I’ll vote for framework any day of the week, if you are winning your impacts. You need to explain why your impacts matter in the space that we are in. Fairness is fine as an impact but saying things like “they have made the debate unfair so reject them” isn’t convincing to me. Tell me why your impacts matter in the context of the debate.
KvK
Method v Method debates are always fun to partake and adjudicate in. If you want to win my ballot you need to give sufficient defense to your alt/advocacy and significant offense against the other teams alt/advocacy. Offense/defense is super important in these debates and if you are too defensive you will likely lose my ballot.
K's on the neg
Run whatever arguments you want. I’m pretty knowledgeable with a lot of k lit but my knowledge does have short falls.
K lit where I have done extensive research: antiblackness, cap, and security.
- go for whatever arg you want on these, you can assume I understand the ins and outs of these arguments, so long framing explanations are unnecessary but you do you.
K lit where I lack research: anthro
- I’m not saying anthro is a bad argument to read in front of me but there are certainly better ones to read. I will vote for you if you win, but you will just need to explain every part of the k in front of me like I’m a silly parent judge.
Every other area not mentioned are areas that I have knowledge on but haven’t done research in so you don’t need to explain the ins and outs of their theory of power but good explanation of the alt would be chill.
Explanation is usually much better when contextualized to links, alt, f/w, etc... and not a chunk of text for a minute at the top of a speech.
Topicality
I will evaluate topicality as offense/defense just like every other argument in debate.
Evidence quality is not that important to me. But if you have evidence that is specific to the topic and debate you will find it easier to win my ballot.
I was never a T debater in high school, and I am certainly not one in college. You can absolutely read T in front of me and I will vote on it, but if I looked bored in the back it’s because I am.
Counterplans
Read whatever you want and do whatever you want. I will vote for whatever theory argument you want if you are winning on it. With that being said if you want me to vote on a theory argument in the 2AR it needs to be the entire 2AR. There is zero point in extending condo in the 2AR for like 3 minutes and then moving on to case.
I default to judge kick but just please say it in the block.
I use sufficiency framing when evaluating counterplans.
Disadvantages
Read whatever you want, if you are winning the debate I will vote for it.
Uniqueness: I am unconvinced by generic “our uniqueness is two days newer, prefer it” args. Tell me why those “two days” matter for your argument. Uniqueness usually becomes a wash in most debates anyways.
Link/Link turns: If the 2AR wants to win a link turn to the da ima need more than 20 seconds on the link debate. If you want to win a link turn you need to win the link debate. For the neg, impact framing at the top means nothing for the link turn. It’s not a try or die to prevent x scenario if you’re losing the link turn.
impact: do whatever you want, make sure you have impact framing at the top of your rebuttals.
Case
Try or die is important to me. If the negs only answer to case is solvency pushes but concedes the squo causes extinction and doesn't have a CP to remedy that then even a small risk the aff solves will almost certainly win them the debate. The opposite is true if aff drops an internal net benefit to a process CP, as the neg now controls try or die.
0% risk is definitely possible on both sides.
Impact Turns: I’ll vote for whatever impact turn you go for. I have no morals so read whatever you want.
Misc
I do not flow cross x unless you ask me to.
Speaker points range:
28 - 28.4 = More work needs done on executing your speeches.
28.5 -28.8 = Average: room for improvement
28.9 - 29.3 = Above Average: perfect
29.4 - 30 = Perfect + vibes were good + creative
I won’t give you extra points if you ask.
I am a new (first year) lay judge, so my notes will be more simplistic, free from debate "jargon" and will not be in the "flow" format. I apologize if they are not as thorough as you would prefer, but it's my hope you can still find something helpful from them. Thank you for your understanding!
WORLD SCHOOLS DEBATE
Welcome to Nats! Here’s a comprehensive outline of my judging paradigm to help you understand how I will evaluate the debate.
1. Content (40%)
WHAT you say in the debate.
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Substantive Arguments and Rebuttals: Your arguments should be well-developed, logically sound, and substantiated with relevant examples. Avoid mere assertions; explain why your outcomes are likely.
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Rigorous Logic: Ensure clear links between your premises and conclusions. A strong analytical approach is key.
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Relevance and Importance: Focus on making your arguments relevant to the debate and highlight their importance in the real world.
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Tracking Evolution: Keep track of how arguments develop throughout the debate, responding to rebuttals and adding new layers of analysis.
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Quality of Examples: Use global examples effectively. Don't just state an example; explain why your examples are important.
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Good Faith Rebuttal: Address your opponent's arguments thoroughly and fairly.
2. Style (40%)
HOW you say something in the debate.
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Decorum: This is the most important element of Style. Always remain respectful to your opponents. Follow WSD norms.
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Appropriate Word Choice: Select words that are suitable for the context and audience.
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Eye Contact and Body Language: Maintain good eye contact and use appropriate gestures to enhance your delivery.
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Voice Projection and Control: Speak clearly and at an audible volume. Control your pace to ensure comprehension.
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Variation in Delivery: Use changes in tone, pace, and emphasis to keep your speech engaging.
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Signposting: Make it clear what you are addressing. The easier it is for me to flow, the better.
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Humor: Use humor effectively but respectfully.
3. Strategy (20%)
WHY you say something in the debate.
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Motion Interpretation: Stick to a natural and reasonable interpretation of the motion. Avoid abusive definitions and focus on what an average intelligent individual would understand the motion to mean.
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Time Allocation and Prioritization: Manage your time wisely, prioritizing key arguments and structuring your speech coherently.
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Issue Identification: Correctly identify and address the central issues of the debate.
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Consistency: Ensure consistency within your speech and across your team’s speeches.
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POIs: Take at least two or three POIs and respond strategically. Avoid taking more than five. When offering POIs, keep them brief (under 15 seconds) and spaced out (at least 20 seconds apart).
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Weighing Arguments: Compare and weigh arguments effectively, showing why your side’s points are stronger.
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Teamwork: Your team’s arguments should be cohesive and mutually reinforcing. Each speech should contribute to a unified strategic whole.
Additional Notes:
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Realistic Impacts: Present clear, realistic, and practical impacts.
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Voting Issues and Worlds Comparison: Clearly outline voting issues in the Reply speech and provide a comparative analysis to guide my decision.
I look forward to a well-argued, respectful, and engaging debate. Best of luck to all teams!
OTHER DEBATE EVENTS:
As a teacher and coach, I approach each round as an educational opportunity. Debate should be a good discussion. I find spreading counterproductive to this so I generally dislike it, though I won't automatically vote against a debater for their rate as long as I can still follow each argument. Just don't be mad if I miss an argument because your rate was too fast; my job is to listen and decide, your job is to communicate your arguments clearly and persuasively.
I don't mind jargon as long as both debaters define their terms the same way.
I don't flow cross, so make sure to bring anything substantive from cross into your next speech if you want it on the flow.
I am a truth over tech judge.
I am not a flow judge, but I am an experienced judge and I listen well. Make sure to watch your facial expressions, as well as general body language. I will mark speaker points off for that. Along with this, make sure to watch tone and the words used. I do not appreciate negativity against the other team
I am also not able to support spreading and ask that you do not talk fast.
Alex McVey - Director of Debate at Kansas State University
Yes Email chain - j.alexander.mcvey at gmail
Online things - Strong preference for Camera On during speeches and CX. I'm willing to be understanding about this if it's a tech barrier or there are other reasons for not wanting to display. But it does help me a ton to look at faces when people are speaking.
I flow on paper. I need pen time. Clarity is really important to me. I'll always say "clear" if I think you're not being clear, at least 1-2 times. If you don't respond accordingly, the debate probably won't end well for you.
I tend to be expressive when I judge debates. Nodding = I'm getting it, into your flow, not necessarily that it's a winner. Frowny/frustrated face = maybe not getting it, could be a better way to say it, maybe don't like what you're doing. I would take some stock in this, but not too much: I vote for plenty things that frustrate me while I'm hearing them executed, and vote down plenty of things that excite me when first executed. All about how it unfolds.
The more I judge debates, the less ev I'm reading, the more I'm relying on 2nr vs 2ar explanation and impact calculus. If there are cards that you want me to pay attention to, you should call the card out by name in the last rebuttal, and explain some of its internal warrants. Debaters who make lots of "even if" statements, who tell me what matters and why, who condense the debate down to the most important issues, and who do in depth impact calculus seem to be winning my ballots more often than not.
Debating off the flow >>> Debating off of speech docs (ESPECIALLY IN REBUTTALS). I'd say a good 25% of my decisions involve the phrase "You should be more flow dependent and less speech doc dependent." Chances are very little that you've scripted before the debate began is useful for the 2nr/2ar.
I am agnostic on most debate meta or theory questions.I certainly have some opinions about meta debate questions that I've tried to highlight throughout this paradigm, but at the end of the day, I'm just watching the debate in front of me and voting on who my flow tells me did the best debating in that debate.
My experience and expertise is definitely in kritik debate, but I judge across the spectrum and have been cutting cards on both K and Policy sides of the legal personhood topic. Run what you're good at. Despite my K leaning tendencies, I’m comfortable watching a good policy leaning debate.
Don't assume I've cut cards in your niche research area though. I often find myself lost in debates where people assume I know what some topical buzzword, agency, or acronym is.
Theoretical issues: Blippy, scatter-shot theory means little, well-developed, well-impacted theory means a lot. Again, pen time good.
I have no hard and set rules about whether affs do or don't have to have plans. Against planless/non-topical affs, I tend to think topicality arguments are generally more persuasive than framework arguments. Or rather, I think a framework argument without a topicality argument probably doesn't have a link. I'm not sure what the link is to most "policy/political action good" type framework arguments if you don't win a T argument that says the focus of the resolution has to be USFG policy. I think all of these debates are ultimately just a question of link, impact, and solvency comparison.
I tend to err on truth over tech, with a few exceptions. Dropping round-winners/game-changers like the permutation, entire theoretical issues, the floating PIC, T version of the aff/do it on the neg, etc... will be much harder (but not impossible) to overcome with embedded clash. That being said, if you DO find yourself having dropped one of these, I'm open to explanations for why you should get new arguments, why something else that was said was actually responsive, etc... It just makes your burden for work on these issues much much more difficult.
Be wary of conflating impacts, especially in K debates. For example, If their impact is antiblackness, and your impact is racism, and you debate as if those impacts are the same and you're just trying to win a better internal link, you're gonna have a bad time.
I intuitively don't agree with "No perms in a method debate" and "No Plan = No Perm" arguments. These arguments are usually enthymematic with framework; there is an unstated premise that the aff did something which skews competition to such a degree that it justifies a change in competitive framework. Just win a framework argument. That being said, I vote for args I don't agree with frequently.
I like debate arguments that involve metaphors, fiction, stories, and thought experiments. What I don't understand is teams on either side pretending as if a metaphor or thought experiment is literal and defending or attacking it as such.
A nested concern with that above - I don't really understand a lot of these "we meets" on Framework that obviously non-topical affs make. I/E - "We're a discursive/affective/symbolic vesting of legal rights and duties" - That... doesn't make any sense. You aren't vesting legal rights and duties, and I'm cool with it, just be honest about what the performance of the 1ac actually does. I think Neg teams give affs too much leeway on this, and K Affs waste too much time on making these nonsensical (and ultimately defensive) arguments. If you don't have a plan, just impact turn T. You can make other defensive args about why you solve topic education and why you discuss core topic controversies while still being honest about the fact that you aren't topical and impact turn the neg's attempt to require you to be such.
RIP impact calculus. I'd love to see it make a comeback.
RIP performance debates that actually perform. My kingdom for a performance aff that makes me feel something.
Affs are a little shy about going for condo bad in front of me. I generally think Condo is OK but negatives have gotten a bit out of control with it. I'm happy to vote for flagrant condo proliferation if the neg justifies it. I just don't think affs are making negs work hard enough on these debates.
Negs are a little shy about making fun of 1ac construction in front of me. Ex: K affirmatives that are a random smattering of cards that have little to do with one another. Ex: Policy affs where only 2 cards talk about the actual plan and the rest are just genero impact cards. I feel like negatives rarely ever press on this, and allow affirmatives to get away with ludicrous 2AC explanations that are nearly impossible to trace back to the cards and story presented in the 1ac. More 1nc analytical arguments about why the aff just doesn't make sense would be welcome from this judge.
In a similar vein, many affirmative plans have gotten so vague that they barely say anything. Negatives should talk about this more. Affs should write better plans. Your plan language should match the language of your solvency advocate if you want me to grant you solvency for what is contained in said evidence. I'm going to be trigger happy for "your plan doesn't do anything" until teams start writing better plans.
Debaters should talk more about the lack of quality the other team's evidence and the highlighting of that evidence in particular. If you've highlighted down your evidence such that it no longer includes articles (a/an/the/etc...) in front of nouns, or is in other ways grammatically incoherent due to highlighting, and get called out on it, you're likely to not get much credit for that ev with me.
Stop cutting off your opponents before they've had a chance to answer your CX question. If you think their answer is bad, talk about it in the speech, or wait til they're done saying it, and ask them a follow up. The whole point of CX is to use your opponents answers strategically, so talking over them is the opposite of smart debate strategy.
Be kind to one another. We're all in this together.
I have been competing, coaching, and judging in forensics for over 3 decades. I have judged, competed, or coached just about every type of debate that exists at the high school and collegiate levels. That being noted, my paradigm is as follows.
The debate is defined within the round by the competitors. However, I do prefer full arguments and positions rather than blip arguments. I do not mind any arguments being offered as long as there is a rational, logical, and coherent justification to do so. I prefer there is cogent argumentation rather than tricks or K for the sole purpose of trying to win, this cheapens the activity and reduces it to a game. I believe there are valid reasons for running a K, but those justifications need to be made apparent within the debate.
I also have the highest respect for this activity and hope that students do as well. This activity is about arguments. As such, any ad homs or discrimination of any kind will result in a loss. These are antithetical to the fundamental principles of debate and the respect that competitors deserve.
I will admit that I am not a huge fan of speed. I can flow fast debates, but if the arguments are incoherent, I cannot judge them. I do not believe that my reading of a case or arguments is an actual debate. That is not to say that I won't interrogate or call for evidence, but I do not want to rely on reading cases to be able to understand the debate.
I love debate and want to make sure that students are holding this incredible activity in the highest esteem.
Hi! My name is Divya Mehrotra (she/her), and I'm a third-year at the University of Chicago! I competed for Dougherty Valley in primarily Congressional Debate & Extemporaneous Speaking for 6+ years, and I still coach for the Dougherty Valley team. I do have some experience in the other debate events, but I spent most of my debate career in Congress and Extemp.
Congress:
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Presiding Officers: I highly respect you all for sacrificing speaking time to serve as a PO. However, that doesn't mean automatically being in my top 6. You are still expected to lead the chamber well and make minimal mistakes to be ranked by me. There is no guarantee that you will rank by solely serving as PO. My idea is that you've done a great job if I can't tell you were there in the first place. I will not penalize you for taking some extra time to be correct. Other things are that I'll definitely smile if I see a colorful PO sheet (it won't influence my rankings, but it does make me happy) and that I like funny and personable POs! A few occasional comments to liven up the round don't hurt! Also, as an update for the Tournament of Champions, I expect that all presiding officers are keeping track of precedence and recency on paper or on the chalkboard/whiteboard available in the room (basically, NO use of computers/tablets to track precedence and recency).
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Cross-Examination: Being ranked in my top 3 means constantly participating in cross-ex. No one is above cross-ex, so please be sure to participate whether it is before your speech or afterward. In terms of evaluation, cross-ex can be the deciding factor in my ranks. I'm not big on having to remain civil during cross-ex. This is one of the only instances where you can clash with others' arguments, so feel free to be more aggressive if that's your personality.
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Indirect: Please ask questions that are not answerable with a yes/no. Point out flaws in their argument and force them to confront any loopholes or flaws in their argument.
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Direct: Please do NOT talk over each other constantly if you can. However, if you need to cut someone off to continue your line of questioning or reclaim the ability to speak, that's all good. These questions need a strategy to them; please have a direction that you are trying to take the speaker in.
- For the TOC/Nationals: it is unacceptable for you not to participate in cross-examination. I will NOT rank you if you do not participate in questioning. You are supposed to be the best competitors in the country; there is no reason for you not to be questioning and participating in the round.
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Flow of Debate: I greatly value all types of speakers. Whether you are giving the authorship or the final crystallization speech, you are contributing to the flow of debate. PLEASE be sure to give the appropriate speech for the part of the debate that you are in. Nothing peeves me more than crystals in the 2nd & 3rd cycle and constructives in the last cycle.
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Authorship/Sponsorship: Intro should be relevant to the bill & organic. Indicate the problem to me, how your bill solves the issue, and the impact of passing this bill. The speech should set up affirmative advocacy. You need to address both the solvency and impact debates with this speech. If you set up a solid framework, I'll be incredibly happy!
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First Negative: Intro should also be relevant to the bill & organic. Tell me why the aff doesn't solve the issue and what the general net harm of passing this bill is. You NEED to address both a lack of solvency and a net harm; the absence of either will hurt you in my ranks. If a net harm is difficult on a bill, I LOVE points like complacency or the bill's failure in the political realm (being meta like that is something I enjoy). Be sure to either address the author's framework or CONTEST it.
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Constructives: I don't mind the speech structure here. Just be clear about your impacts, include refutations, address solvency if you can, and add nuance to the debate. NO rehash (I'll feel so sad). However, do not use arguments that are so nuanced that they are out of the realm of the legislation. Intros can be creative and organic here (I love humorous intros)! Overall, just do what you do best with these speeches. Everyone brings their own style to them, and they are valuable because of that.
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Refutation Speeches: These can be more line-by-line refutations. That does not mean just namedropping someone and going into your completely different arguments. You need to fulfill the FULL requirements of a refutation: address their point with evidence or logic and tie it up with why your argument therefore wins. I would also LOVE it if you weigh impacts against each other. I love the debate jargon, so feel free to use it in front of me.
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Crystallization Speeches: I'm okay with canned intros here. I prefer the content in these speeches anyways. You should either categorize the round through general arguments that have been covered or through questions that the round has been centered on. This is NOT the speech to introduce new arguments. Weigh on what the round has been focused on & tell me which side wins and why they do. If you don't weigh impacts in this speech, I just won't consider it as meeting the requirements of a crystal. You can and should introduce evidence that you use to weigh impacts. For example, "the aff wins b/c we prevent the most number of lives from being lost by decreasing air pollution" can be followed by evidence that explains how many lives can be lost to air pollution. Other than that, be VERY clear about structure in this speech & try your best to explain the round to us. The best crystallization speakers know how to posit themselves as the clarifying voice in a very confusing round.
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Motions/Parliamentary Procedure: It honestly doesn't matter to me when ranking whether you were participating a lot in pre-round discussions or proposing motions a lot. What will positively influence my ballot is someone using parliamentary procedure to help include their fellow competitors. The use of parliamentary procedure to shut out someone or to exclude someone WILL drop your rank regardless of how phenomenal your speeches were.
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Content v. Presentation: 80% content v. 20% presentation --> I firmly believe that this is a debate event. I will judge you accordingly. Please have solid warranting, arguments, refutations, weighing, and clash. Props to you for creative introductions & conclusions though (you'll definitely see me laugh if it's funny)! Though, you still need to value eye contact, an aspect of presentation that is even more important in person. It makes you all the more personable.
PF, LD, Policy:
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I'm not too familiar with progressive arguments, so you can consider me to be more of a traditional judge in that sense.
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I'm mostly comfortable with faster speakers, but I will indicate for you to slow down if I can't understand you.
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I will not flow cross, but I will be paying attention. Please be strategic with the questions you ask; they can contribute to your rebuttals if successful.
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I'm truth > tech. PLEASE make sure that you are warranting well & that you are weighing impacts.
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Speaker Points: I start off at 29 and go up or down based on your fluency and overall presentation. I will not give you below a 27 unless you have made the round unsafe or uncomfortable.
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You all can time yourselves for prep. I'll defer to your timing unless there are any issues raised.
General:
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Do NOT create an unsafe space (no sexist, xenophobic, racist, homophobic, etc. language)! I will drop you in that scenario, and your speaker points will be quite low.
- Please reach out to me if you have any questions! I'm more than willing to clarify anything said above and to add additional information. My email: divyamehrotra08@gmail.com
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I'll be flowing regardless of the event!
- Also, feel free to eat small snacks & drink any appropriate beverage as you see fit! I know that everyone has their own circumstances, plus y'all are probably prepping a lot in between rounds & forget to eat. So, I'm not going to penalize you for making sure that you're staying healthy by snacking during the round!
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Overall, have fun! I loved this activity as a competitor, and I hope that you enjoy it too!
General
- Don't be rude to your opponents during, before, or after the round.
- I have some difficulty hearing and processing information, so I would appreciate it if you send speech docs! I will dock speaking points if you don't send speech docs.
- I prefer if you send them as PDFs!
- I do not understand K's or Theory, unless it is it is disclosure theory, trigger warnings theory, or paraphrasing theory. I flow it, but it may not weigh heavy in my decision.
- Email: blmeints1@gmail.com or bmeints@lps.org
PF
All evidence used in the round should be accessible for both sides. Failure to provide evidence in a timely manner when requested will result in either reduced speaker points or an auto loss (depending on the severity of the offense).
I prefer the final focus to be focused on framing, impact weighing, and round story. Second rebuttal should extend their case. Lastly, not sure this is still a thing anywhere but I want to mention it still. The team that speaks first does not need to extend their own case in their first rebuttal since nothing has been said against it yet.
Congress
In Congress I like to see sound use of evidence and non-repetitive speeches. I appreciate congress folks who flow other speeches and respond to them. I also like to see extension and elaboration on arguments, referencing the congressperson who initially made the argument. Questioning is also important, because I want to make sure that you are able to defend your arguments!
General
Add me to the email chain -- colbymenefee@utexas.edu
I'm a tab judge but default to an offense-defense heuristic.
The best thing you can do to win my ballot is provide very explicit judge instruction. Tell me explicitly what to evaluate and how to evaluate it. My goal is for you to be able to debate in the way that you debate best.
K
I'm more comfortable evaluating policy v. policy and policy v. k rounds than k v. k rounds, but again, I want you to debate however you debate best. Assume that I am probably not familiar with your specific K literature; provide a clear explanation of the thesis of the criticism.
I expect a coherent explanation of how your alt resolves the link. Again, this explanation should not be contingent on me having background knowledge on the specific literature you're reading.
Topicality/theory
I default to competing interps but will evaluate the reasonability argument as it's given.
I have a very high threshold for RVIs -- unless the neg is reading a truly absurd number of frivolous t/theory shells, this is just an argument that I am not likely to find persuasive.
If you have a question you don't see the answer to, ask me.
I am primarily a policy coach/judge, but do have experience with LD and PF. I have been judging for more than 15 years and have judged on the UIL, TFA, and NSDA circuits.
In CX, I consider myself to be a policymaker judge, but what it comes down to is that the debater that convinces me is the debater that is going to get my vote. This means that I am looking for strong evidence as well as good analysis. I am looking for arguments that make sense. I am looking for cases that not only prove their own points but counter the opponent's points, as well. I strive to start the round with no preconceived notions. I want to see strong framework and strong impact calcs.
Do not make the mistake of presenting your case without arguing your opponent's. Yes, I am repeating that statement. It bears repeating.
Speed is ok, but at the end of the day, I still like to hear good speaking. If I cannot understand what you are saying, then your speaking habits are not showcasing what you should be doing. I would rather hear fewer quality arguments than to have so much crammed into your time that I am unable to see clearly how it all works together.
While I do not judge as much LD as I do CX, my paradigm remains much the same. I like very structured speeches with clear signposting, clear organization, and delineation between arguments. I want to see evidence early in the round but more analysis as the round progresses. Make sure that your Value and Criterion are strong and show me why I should vote on those - and back that up with what you are presenting with your evidence and analysis.
In Congress, it is important that you are active in the session. I know it becomes a game to see who can get the most speeches in, but unless they are quality speeches, it's going to backfire. Speeches should be quality speeches. And on that note, while I know it is super easy to read straight from notes while competing virtually, I don't like it and will not score a speech high if you are reading straight from your paper. Evidence is important and I want to hear sources. You should have at least one, and preferably two, sources per point. Once the initial speeches are made, it is vital that new arguments to keep things fresh and to promote clash are essential. The PO should have control of the chamber and be confident in his or her style and movements. A good PO will keep things flowing without stifling competitors and will manage to get an optimal number of speakers in. '
In IEs, I look for poise and confidence, good speaking style, strong movements and posture. In INF and OO, as well as extemp, quality evidence is essential but should flow seamlessly with the information. In all events, including interp, I would like to see you far enough away from the camera that movement is natural and not distracting. In OO and INF, as well as in interp, I would like to see a connection to society and/or to your own experiences. For me, the best pieces do both.
In interp, intros should be casual and conversational. Tell me why your topic is important, even in HI. What is the connection to society? To yourself? Blocking, movement, and bookwork (POI) should be natural and not distracting. Characters should be distinct and recognizable, vocally and physically. I don't mind the use of curse words, but do want to see pieces that are true to the author's intent.
LD
-Speed: I can handle speed up to 200 words per minute. This means I am comfortable at 70-80% of spreading for top debaters. If you spread full speed, you will lose me. So far I have been fine with prelim rounds, but not out rounds with a 2-tech-judge panels.
tech>truth - but high threshold for stupid arguments. I'll vote for it if it's dropped, but if your opponent says no, that's all I need. Noting I will give you an earful in rfds if such an argument comes up!
-Topicality: I understand progressive arguments are the norm. However, I am a firm believer that we debate a topic for a reason. No one should walk in the round without looking at the topic and just win off an argument that is not directly related to the topic. The educational value is maximized when people actually research and debate the topic. All tools are at your disposal as long as it's on topic per the NSDA website for the tournament.
-LARP: My favorite arguments. Warrant well.
-Theory: I default fairness and education good. If you don't like fairness or education, then I will vote for your opponents just to be unfair to make sure your opponent does not get educated with your argument per your value. I default to education first but I'm easily swayed. I default reasonability, I tend to gut check everything, consider me as a lay judge.
-K and Phil: not well versed in these, so don't assume I get your argument by saying a few phrases. Warrant your arguments, I don't know any jargon.
-Trix: Not a fan of it. You are unlikely to get my vote if you run trix even when your opponent drops/concedes it. I don't think they're real arguments.
-Argumentation: A clean link chain is highly appreciated. Solid warrants will also help a lot.
-Organization: Sign-post is very helpful.
If you want to talk science, make sure you get the facts right. I am an engineer by training and I am very quick to spot mistakes in scientific claims. Even though I would not use it against you unless your opponent catches it, you may get an earful from me about it in RFD.
PF
I assign seats based on who is AFF and who is NEG, so flip before you unpack.
General things:
- I like to describe myself as a flay judge, but I try my best not to intervene. Sometimes I hear ridiculous arguments (usually "scientific" arguments), and I will tell you while I disclose why they are bad. That said, I will always evaluate the round based on what is said in the round, and my own opinions/knowledge won't make an impact on the decision.
- Be clear on your link chain; during the summary and final focus, you must explain your argument's logical reason.
- Speed threshold: if you go above 200 words per minute I'll start missing details on my flow
- Evidence: I only call evidence if asked; it's up to you to tell me when evidence is bad.
- Jargon: Public Forum is meant to be judged by anyone off the street, so don't use jargon.
- Progressive Argumentation: Don't read it. Topicality is essential. The side that deviates from topicality first loses.
- Weighing: if you don't weigh, I'll weigh for you and pick what I like.
If you have any questions, just ask me before the round.
I am a HUGE SpeechDrop truther, please do not use an email chain.
I am the head coach at De Soto (KS).
Tech/Truth, Ev Quality
For both of these things, I try to limit judge intervention as much as I possibly can. I'm probably 70/30 tech v truth and I think your evidence should actually say what you claim it says. That being said, because of my intervention philosophy, you need to call this out deliberately in the round for me to evaluate it. I will absolutely vote on "untruthful" arguments if there are no responses (or responses too late in the debate) claiming otherwise. However, I am increasingly realizing how much I dislike meme-y arguments in debates so at least make an attempt to say things that are moderately real, otherwise I might embrace my grumpy old man mentality and vote it down on truth claims.
K
I will listen to and evaluate critical positions. I have become a lot more K-friendly over time, but please don't interpret that statement as a green light to read something just because you can. Accessibility is a very important (and, in my opinion, undervalued) part of any kritik. As such, be very explicit on what the role of the ballot is and what the intended impact of the alt and/or performance is. I will vote on no link to the K and I will default to policy impacts if told to do so. Don't be a moving target or change advocacy stances between speeches (obviously you can kick out of the K but some of those things might haunt you on other flows). Perf con arguments are very persuasive to me.
CPs
Competition > nearly everything else. For this reason, I really have a hard time voting for advantage CPs. I am typically persuaded by PICs bad arguments unless the neg can prove competition/lack of abuse in round. Be sure to have a clear net ben (internal or external) and articulate what it is: I've seen far too many CPs without them gone for. For the aff, I don't love hearing a laundry list of every perm you can think of. Read and articulate perms that actually test competitiveness (i.e. "perm do the aff" isn't a thing) and explain how the actions can coexist.
DAs
DAs should be unique. Generics are good but link quality is important.
Condo
I have no threshold for the amount of conditional CPs or Ks or whatever the neg wants to run. However, if the aff wants to read abuse or condo bad I will certainly listen to it. Watch out for those pesky perf cons.
T
Explain your definitions and make sure the card you use has warrants that actually state (or strongly imply) your interp. Competing interps need to be evaluated in terms of both the definition's contextual value to the resolution as well as the warrants of the definition read. Explain your limits/ground. No laundry list here; articulate how exactly in-round abuse has occurred or how what the plan text justifies is bad. Explain your voters. If you want to read and actually go for T, I need to see contextual work done early and often.
Theory (General)
In terms of other theory arguments like spec, disclosure, etc. I need to have clear voters. Make sure to articulate the sequential order of evaluation when multiple theoretical stances are being taken. On this note, RVIs are a *silly* thing and I will *begrudgingly* vote for them but they need to be weighed against the initial theory claim well.
CX
I don't flow CX. I view CX mainly as a means to generate (or lose) ethos in the debate, not necessarily to win arguments on the flow. Don't make this a shouting match please, otherwise I'm just going to ignore both teams and nobody wants that. We're all friends here.
Speed
I am okay with speed. However, if your argument is 1) intricate and requiring significant analytical explanation 2) not in the speech doc or 3) rooted in accessibility literature slow it down. It will help you if I can understand what's going on. I'd prefer you be organized, clear, and slow instead of messy, unintelligible, and fast. I won't ever give up on your speech if you have a hard time with clarity, but just know I may not pick up all of your arguments (obviously a bad thing for you).
Spreading will not be rewarded and please keep impacts realistic.
In Brief: I am a PF and LD coach at Phillipsburg High School and a pretty standard PF judge. I value impacts, weighing, argumentation, and argumentative structure.
PF Paradigm:
Email Chains: I don't want to be a part of email/evidence chains, I trust that you are presenting your evidence fairly and accurately. If there is a specific piece of evidence which keeps being brought up, I will call for it to evaluate, but I would prefer not to.
Progressive Debate: I’ll never tell anyone that they lose just based solely on their case (unless it is offensive or otherwise egregious) but I will say that running theory or a K won’t get you very far with me. I’m open to the idea of a good faith criticism of the logic of a particular resolution but just I would say don’t do it unless you have something really good.
Weighing: To me, comparative weighing and clear impacts are the bread and butter of debate. Impacts should be explicit and clearly backed up. I value clear PF debate: good frameworks from the start of the debate, I care very heavily about impact-driven debates, and good weighing.
Logic and Reasoning: Your cards are important, but they are not the end-all-be-all of the debate. I will typically side for a logically constructed argument without a specific card over a logically weak argument that has a card.
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Frontline in second rebuttal.
- Spell out links, turns and extensions clearly : links, turns, and extensions ex: Don't just say "Extend Connor 22" say "Extend Connor 22 which says..." You know what your cards say, I do not.
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Signposting is important, please please please do it. I don't like messy debates and I want to know exactly where we are on the flow.
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Keep it civil during crossfire and grand crossfire.
- It is the judge's prerogative on calling for cards. It is usually not a problem, but if you are calling for 5 cards after every speech and holding up the tournament, I will intervene.
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I am usually good with speed but if you start spreading, I will stop writing. If you are going too fast i will motion for you to slow down.
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I will almost certainly not buy your nuclear war or extinction impact unless it is directly related to the resolution.
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If you are racist, homophobic, xenophobic, sexist, ableist, etc. I can and will drop you.
LD judge:
On Speed, your welcome to spread your evidence however, I would prefer you slow the rate of speed for the actual articulation of your argument.
-A participant can likely sway me to their persuasion with strong empirical evidence. While more recent generally is stronger, but depending upon the topic, some evidence/data can be older if tied to a relevant argument.
I prefer qualitative supporting contentions that link to your philosophical framework. I prefer traditional LD.
-I prefer debate rounds that are on the actual resolution...you may note when you feel the opponent is abusive and will be considered...but if your entire argument shifts to become non-topical (aka theory or kritiks)...it will be tough for you to win the round.
PF Judge:
All of the above applies.
My favorite type of PF round is when the competitors argue the pros and cons of the policy proposal imbedded in the resolution.
You can reach on your impacts, but the more practical go further with me in most cases.
Updated for Fall 2019.- Yes, include me on any email chain. jessemeyer@gmail.com
I am currently an assistant PF debate coach at Iowa City West HS. I am also under contract by the NSDA to produce topic analysis packets and advanced briefs for LD, PF, and Biq Questions. I am also an instructor with Global Academy Commons, an organization that has partnered with NSDA China to bring speech and debate education, public speaking, and topic prep to students in East Asia. In my free time, I play Magic: The Gathering and tab debate tournaments freelance. I am the recipient of the Donald Crabtree Service Award, 2 diamond coach (pending April 2020), and was the state of Iowa's Coach of the Year in 2015.
I say all of this not to impress people. I'm way too old to care about that. I say this to point out one thing: I've dedicated my life to speech and debate. Since I was 14, this activity was a place where I could go to find people that cared about the same things as me and who were like me. No matter how bad of a day I was having, I could go to practice and everything would be ok. This is what debate is to me, and this is what I have worked towards since I became a coach. So it upsets and angers me when I see people that try to win debate rounds by making the world a worst place for others. There is a difference between being competitive and being a jerk. I've had to sit with students who were in tears because they were mistreated because they were women, I've had people quit the team because they were harassed because of their religion, and I've had to ask competitors to not use racial slurs in round. And to be honest, I am tired of it. So if your All Star Tournament Champion strategy revolves around how unconformable you can make your opponent, strike me.
With that being stated, here is how I view arguments.
In LD, I prefer a value and criterion, even if you are going non traditional in your case structure. I don't care if you are traditional, progressive, critical, or performative. I've judges and coached all types and I've voted for all types too. What I care about more is the topic hook you use to get your arguments to the relationship of the topic. If I can't find a clear link, if one isn't established, or if you can't articulate one, I'm going to have a really hard time voting for you.
I weight impacts. This is a holdover from my old college policy days. Clearly extend impacts and weight them. I view the value and criterion as lens for which I prioritize types of impacts. Just winning a value isn't enough to wind the round if you don't have anything that impacts back to it.
If you run a CP, the aff should perm. Perms are tests of competition. Most will still link to the DA so the neg should make that arg. The more unique the CP, the better. CP's should solve at least some impacts of the aff.
If you run a K, throwing around buzz words like "discourse, praxis, holistic, traversing X, or anything specific to the K" without explaining what those mean in the round will lower your speaker points. To me, you are just reading what the cards you found in the policy backfile said. Also, finding unique links to more generic K's, like cap or biopower, will be beneficial in how I view the round. But also note that on some topics, the K you love just might not work. Don't try to force it. A good aff needs to perm. Perm's on K debates tend to solve their offense. I do not like links of omission.
Case debate- Love it.
Theory- Do not love it. When I was in my 20's, I didn't mind theory, but now, the thought of people speed reading or even normal reading theory shells at each other makes me fear for my 50 minutes in round. If theory is justified, I will vote on it but there is a big barrier to what I count as justified. I need to see clear in round abuse. In lue of that, the potential abuse story needs to be absolutely 100% on point. This means that a theory shell that is zipped through in 10 seconds will not be getting my vote. No questions asked. Do the work because I don't do the work for you. Oh, I will not vote on disclosure theory. Disclosing probably is good but I do not require it and unless the tournament does, I don't see a reason to punish the debaters for not doing this.
Reformative arguments- I coached kids on these arguments and I've voted for them too. The thing is that because I don't see them often I have the reputation of not liking them. This creates a negative feedback loop so I never see them and so on... I'll vote for them but you need to have a topic hook and some justification or solvency mech for your performance. I will also be 100% honest because I owe it to the debaters who do this style of debate and who have put in so much time to get it right, I'm probably a midrange judge on this. At large bid tournaments there are probably judges that are better versed in the lit base who can give you more beneficial pointers.
PF Debate
Unless told otherwise, I use the pilot rules as established by the NSDA.
I hold evidence to a high standard. I love paraphrasing but if called out, you better be able to justify what you said.
If I call for a card, don't hand me a pdf that is 40 pages long. I will not look for it. I want it found for me. If you expect me to find it, I will drop the card.
I am still getting on board with pf disclosure. I am not the biggest fan as of now. I can see the educational arguments for it but it also runs counter to the basis for the event. I do not require teams to share cases before round and arguments in round as to why not sharing put you at a disadvantage won't get you ground.
I appreciate unique frameworks.
This event is not policy. I don't drop teams for speed or reading card after card after card but I will dock speaker points.
I weight impacts. But with this stipulation; I am not a fan of extinction impacts in pf. I think it goes a bit too far to the policy side of things. Use your framework to tell me how to prioritize the impacts.
Treat others with respect. I will drop people for being intentionally horrible to your opponents in round. Remember, there is a way to be competitive without being a jerk.
Should also go without saying but be nice to your partner too. Treat them as an equal. They get the W the same as you.
Policy- Honestly, I kind of used the majority of what I wanted to say in the LD section since they are so similar nowadays.
T- Love it. Won most of my college neg rounds on it. Be very clear on the interp and standards. If you go for it, only go for it. Should be the only argument in the 2NR.
I am an experienced LD,PF and Policy Judge, I can handle above appropriate speed for each category and enjoy respectful clash.
Policy, K, Counter Plans etc encouraged. Spreading with contention signposts.
LD/PF, I am more of a traditionalist. No spreading, no K's, Counter Plans etc. I need to be able to understand you. If you spread an eleven contention case of over 14,000 words you will lose. Convince me of you position.
Cal '24 Update:
I have been out of competing and coaching debate for two years now. I do not have any familiarity with the current topic. So many people have just become so mean in debate. This is part of why I left and makes me sad. I wish people were nicer and had a basic level of respect for others.
Background
1. Bellarmine '21.
2. Georgetown '21 - '23 (on leave).
3. Assistant Debate Coach at Bellarmine '21 - '22.
The Basics
1. I have no preferences about the arguments you read. My senior year, my partner Adarsh and I defended affirmatives that administered the death penalty to super-intelligent AI, established criminal justice for future space colonies, and endorsed “viral tactics of resistance through hacking digital infrastructure” which destroyed “data that furthers the state’s necropolitical functions.” We spun the most contrived link for the elections DA against affirmatives that modified obscure cyber statutes but also went for the Baudrillard K in our TOC bubble round. Despite that, my heart lies with well-researched positions. My favorite memories in debate are getting into the mechanics of the China appeasement debate and combing through IR journals to cut updates. In short, read the arguments you wish to read and I’ll accommodate you.
2. At the end of the debate, I ask myself what the two or three nexus questions are and use whatever frameworks the final rebuttals have left me with to answer them. It would behoove you to begin your rebuttals with what you think these important issues are and why I’ll resolve them in your favor. This includes impact calculus, but also goes beyond it. Did the 1AR drop case arguments that were applicable to both advantages? Did the 2NR get to the revisionism debate with 15 seconds remaining? The best rebuttals are reflexive; don’t tell me why you’re winning, tell me why you have already won.
3. Add suryamidha [at] gmail [dot] com to the email chain, format the subject as “Year -- Tournament -- Round # -- Aff Team vs Neg Team,” send every card in a Word document (not in the body of the email), and always compile a card document (unless the 2AR is just a theoretical objection).
Stylistic Concerns
1. Number everything. "One, two, three" is preferable to "first, second, third." If your gripe with numbering is that it "interrupts the flow of your speech," you have incidentally just articulated the most compelling justification for the practice.
2. Speed should never come at the expense of clarity.
FW
1. I’ve mostly been on the negative side of this debate.
2. Fairness being/not being an impact begs the question of what an impact is. Fairness, skills, self-questioning and the gamut of negative framework impacts all seem important, but so are other values. The way to my ballot is impact comparison. Choose your 1NC standards wisely and explain why they outweigh the Aff’s framework offense through discussions of their relative importance and the ability of framework to access them.
3. I have no preference for either the skills-based or fairness-based framework strategies. Be cautious that defending standards like movement-building opens you up to Aff impact turns since you’ve granted them debate has value outside of the ballot.
4. Hyperbolic claims about limits can be easily overcome by a well-developed explanation of functional limits.
CP’s
1. Perm texts must be sent in the 2AC.
2. Textual and functional competition seem like good standards to hold CP’s too. Defending positional competition will require a robust definition of what an Aff “position” is.
3. Speak to the normative implications of definitions in addition to reading cards. Forcing Affs to be immediate would justify “do the Aff after our politics scenario” while certainty would allow for “end arms sales to Taiwan, but only if China gives us a dollar.”
4. The “mandates vs effects” articulation of competition has made more sense to me than “yes for DA’s, but not for CP’s.” Mandates are what the plan text defends. Effects are how they would likely be implemented. The mandate of the plan can be ambiguous about immediacy, but the effects could likely be immediate. All of this defends on the Aff winning how the plan would be interpreted (and, more importantly, who gets to interpret it). Negs are best served by complaining about plan shape-shifting and explaining why immediacy and certainty are necessary for DA links.
5. Recognize when it’s strategic to couple/separate the competition and theory debate. That being said, I don’t know about “competition justifies theory.” The CP “China should not go to war with the US” is competitive, but seems theoretically suspect in every direction.
6. Creative permutations have a special place in my heart.
7. For process CP’s, the unprecedented nature of the CP is often what grants the Neg an internal net benefit, but Affs should be ready to generate smart solvency deficits based on those same claims.
8. No one goes for perm shields anymore. It breaks my heart. Think about the political implications if every one of the 50 states (including conservative ones) for the first time in US history unanimously affirmed a certain policy option. There are both sides to this debate but 2N’s seem terrible at answering intuitive presses.
Theory
1. I would love to watch a well-developed theory debate, but block-reliance has ruined everything. If you plan to read your standards straight down and not explain anything comparatively, you’re better off going for a substantive strategy in front of me.
2. Arguments about conditionality are most persuasive when couched in a descriptive claim about the current topic. Is the neg so hosed that they need to throw CP’s at the wall to catch up? Or, is there sufficient literature for in-depth debates? The ability to read DA’s to CP planks is meaningful to me. If the negative can introduce dozens of policy options (some of which would definitively cause a civil war) and choose to go for any combination of them at whim, the affirmative policy literally needs be the 11th commandment to generate a substantive deficit.
3. Other than conditionality and a few other theoretical objections, I’d rather you turn your poor standards into good substantive arguments. For example, the lack of a solvency advocate seems like less of a reason they shouldn’t get the CP and more of a reason why your uncarded solvency deficits should be given an enormous amount of weight. Plan vagueness begs the question of what is “vague.” A much better strategy is reading solvency cards that interpret the plan differently or punishing them for including words in the plan they aren’t ready to defend.
4. Theoretical objections are rarely “dropped.” Either the block made new arguments extending it or you had cross-applicable offense from other flows.
T
1. This is probably the position where I diverge the most from other judges. I suspect I have a higher threshold for what constitutes a negative interpretation and does not immediately lose to “we meet” given some Aff pushback. For example, take the T-Criminal Justice is not Criminal Law piece of evidence that won dozens of debates (including a TOC elim). It reads “Criminal justice, interdisciplinary academic study of the police, criminal courts, correctional institutions (e.g., prisons), and juvenile justice agencies, as well as of the agents who operate within these institutions. Criminal justice is distinct from criminal law…” What? How is this an interp? Just because something is NOT something else does not mean that it cannot be a part of that thing. Texas is NOT the US, but it is part of the US. In fact, this interpretation of the card belies all logic because it defines criminal justice as an “interdisciplinary academic study.” That limits out NOTHING. To be clear, if you have well-researched negative evidence with an intent to exclude, go for it. But, I’m very willing to vote on we meet against poorly written interpretations that do not definitively establish a violation.
2. Affs lose these debates when they’re too defensive. Isolate one or two core pieces of offense (Aff ground, predictability, etc.) and develop them at the top of the 1AR and 2AR.
3. Reasonability is always about the interps and never about the Aff.
4. If the affirmative advances an argument about reading the "plan text in a vacuum," the negative should propose an alternate model of either understanding the plan text or the affirmative's policy.
K’s
1. Technical framework debating will matter more to me than most judges. What it means to “weigh the aff versus the K” is far from a settled controversy and interesting to think about. I’d appreciate guidance on how to resolve offense from both sides.
2. That being said, I’m continually confused by how the Neg’s links interact with their own framework interpretation. For example, if you have said scholarship is the only thing that matters, but then have read links to the effects of the plan, it feels like you’re asking me to evaluate all the bad parts of the Aff and none of the good parts. There are many ways to overcome this: make your framework a sequencing question, narrow the scope of the links, or (my preference) significantly reduce the risk of the case.
3. I think Affs lose these debates most often when they don’t recognize Neg pivots (kicking the alternative, going all in on framework, etc.).
DA’s
1. Often contrived (more a fault of the topic than debaters), but I have very little remorse for new 1AR’s when the 2AC fails to make substantive arguments.
2. Turns case arguments need to be carded if not immediately intuitive.
3. I’d rather you just explain why the parts of the DA you’re winning matter contextually rather than throwing out “link controls the direction of uniqueness” or vice-versa.
4. Evidence comparison is important to me. I will not sift through the card document after the debate digging for a warrant. I expect the final rebuttals to provide the author name and the warrant for most of the cards they are citing in their analysis.
Impact Turns
1. No argument is too presumptively incoherent to answer. If you are correct about how inane an argument is, you are better served by completely obliterating it rather than complaining about its pedagogical value.
2. Risk calculus matters a lot to me. For example, the reason why SPARK seems inane outside the context of debate is because we’re gambling with the survival of the human race. We would have to be incredibly confident that future technologies would actually end civilization for us to roll the die. In debate, a card citing 20 scientists published in a peer-reviewed journal might exceed this threshold. But should it? It almost certainly wouldn’t be enough for us to endorse human extinction in a more legitimate policymaking setting. How confident must we be? Arguments along the lines of “the risk that we are right outweighs the risk that we are wrong” and explaining them contextually is persuasive to me.
3. If a team is going for an impact turn, Aff teams should recognize that they now have the full weight of their internal link. If the Neg is going for DeDev but the internal link to Econ was tech development, Affs should be strategic about explaining how rapid technological progress might be helpful in staving off climate change.
Miscellaneous
1. I learned everything I know from Anirudh Prabhu and Tyler Vergho. Ideologically, I align completely with Adarsh Hiremath. If there’s an issue that’s ambiguous on my paradigm, I would suggest looking through theirs for additional clarity.
2. Rehighlightings can be inserted to demonstrate the other team’s reading of the article was incorrect. They need to be read if they’re introducing new claims.
3. My email response time is always a fault of me and never an annoyance with you.
Preferred Rate of Delivery:Rapid conversation speed. Rate does not factor heavily into my decision. I will not vote against you if you exceed my preferred rate of delivery.
Criterion:May factor into my decision depending on how it's used in the round. I do feel that value and criterion are required elements of a case.
Rebuttals and Crystallization: Voting issues can be given either as you move down the flow or at the end of the speech. Jargon or technical language is acceptable. Final rebuttals should include both voting issues and line by line analysis. Voting issues are not necessary.
Decision:The winner of the key argument will get precedence but I do take into account other arguments as well as how well you speak.
Evidence:necessary
Flow:I keep a rigorous flow
Currently Head Coach at Campbell Hall (CA)
Formerly Head Coach of Fairmont Prep (CA), Ransom Everglades (FL) & Pembroke Hill (MO), and Assistant Coach for Washburn Rural (KS), and Lake Highland (FL).
Coached for 20+ years – Have coached all events. Have coached both national circuit PF & Policy, along with local LD and a bit of Parli and World Schools. Also I have a J.D., so if you are going to try to play junior Supreme Court Justice, please be reasonably accurate in your legal interpretations.
Address for the email chain: millerdo@campbellhall.org
Scroll down for Policy or Parli Paradigm
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Public Forum Paradigm
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SHORT VERSION
- If you want me to evaluate anything in the final focus you MUST EXTEND it in every speech, BEGINNING WITH THE 2ND REBUTTAL. That INCLUDES defensive case attacks, as well as UNANSWERED LINK CHAINS AND IMPACTS that you want to extend from your own case. JUST FRONTLINING WITHOUT EXTENDING the link and impact stories MEANS YOU HAVE DROPPED THOSE LINKS AND IMPACTS, and I won't evaluate them at the end of the debate.
- Absent any other well-warranted framing arguments, I will default to a utilitarian offense/defense paradigm.
- Please send speech docs in a static format (Word Doc or PDF - Not a real-time editable Google Doc) to the other team and the judge WITH CUT CARDS BEFORE you give any speech in which you introduce new evidence. If you don't, A) I will be sad, B) any time you take finding ev will be free prep for your opponents, and C) the max speaks you will likely earn from me will be 28. If you do send card docs I will be happy and the lowest speaks you will likely earn will be 28. This only applies in TOC & Championship-level divisions.
- Don't paraphrase. Like w/ speech docs, paraphrasing will likely cap your speaks at 28. Reading full texts of cards means 28 will be your likely floor.
- Read tags to cards, or I won't flow them.
- Narrow the 2nd half of the round down to one key contention-level impact story and 1-2 key answers on your opponents’ case. This should start in the 2nd Rebuttal.
- No new cards in 2nd Summary. No new cards in 1st Summary unless directly in response to new 2nd Rebuttal arguments.
- I'm OK w/ Theory & Ks - IF THEY ARE DONE WELL. Read below for specific types of arguments.
DETAILED VERSION
(Sorry for the insane length. This is more an ongoing exercise for me to refine my own thoughts, but if you want more detail than above on any particular issue, here you go.)
1. 2nd Rebuttal & Summary extension
If you want me to evaluate anything in the final focus you MUST extend it in BOTH the 2nd Rebuttal & Summaries. Yes, that includes defense & turns from the 1st rebuttal. Yes, that includes unanswered link chains and impacts in the 2nd Rebuttal. For example: 1st Rebuttal just answers your links on C1. If you want to go for C1 in any meaningful way. you not only need to rebuild whatever C1 links you want me to evaluate at the end of the round, but you also need to explicitly extend your impacts you are claiming those links link to in at least a minimum of detail. Just saying" extend my impacts" will not be sufficient. At least try to reference both the argument and the card(s) you want me to extend. You need to explicitly extend each of the cards/args you will need to make a cohesive narrative at the end of the round. Even if it is the best argument I’ve ever heard, failure to at least mention it in the 2nd Rebuttal and/or Summary will result in me giving the argument zero weight in my decision. And, yes, I know this means you won't be able to cover as much in 2nd Rebuttal. Make choices. That's what this event is all about. This is # 1 on my list for a reason. It plays a major factor in more than half of my decisions. Ignore this advice at your own peril, especially if you are the team speaking 2nd. Also, if you do properly extend your links and impacts, and your opponents don't, call them out on it. I am very likely to boost your speaks if you do.
2. Offense defense
Absent any other well-warranted framing arguments, I will default to a utilitarian offense/defense paradigm. Just going for defensive response to the the opposing case in FF won’t be persuasive in front of me. I am open to non-traditional framing arguments (e.g. rights, ontology, etc), but you will need to have some pretty clear warrants as to why I should disregard a traditional net offensive advantage for the other team when making my decision. You need warrants as to WHY I should prefer your framing over the default net benefits. For example, just saying "Vote for the side that best prevents structural violence" without giving reasons why your SV framing should be used instead of util is insufficient.
3. Bad Debate Practices
A. Send Speech Docs to the other team and judges with the cut cards you are about to read before your speech
This is the expected norm in both Policy and LD, and as PF matures as an event, it is far past time for PF to follow suit. I am tired of wasting 15+ min per round while kids hunt for cards that they should already have ready as part of their blocks and/or cases to share, and/or just paraphrasing without the cut card readily available. To discourage these bad practices, I choose to adopt two incentives to encourage debaters use speech docs like every other legitimate form of debate.
First, if you do not send a speech doc w/ all the cards you are about to read in that next speech to the email chain or by some other similar means in a timely fashion (within the reasonable amount of time it should take to send those cards via your chosen means - usually a couple of minutes or so) before you begin any speech in which you read cards, you can earn speaker points up to 28, with a starting point for average speaks at 27. If you do send a speech doc with the cut cards you are about to read in order, it is highly likely that the lowest speaks you earn will be a 28, with a starting point for average speaks at 29. If you don't have your cards ready before the round, or can't get them ready in a reasonable amount of time before each relevant speech, don't waste a bunch time trying. It defeats the part of the purpose aimed to speed up rounds and prevent tournaments from running behind because kids can't find their evidence. If speech docs are not a thing you normally do, don't let it get into your head. Just consider me as one of the many judges you'll encounter that isn't prone to hand out high speaks, and then go and debate your best. I'll still vote for whomever wins the arguments, irrespective of speaks. Afterwards, I would then encourage you to consider organizing your cases and blocks for the next important tournament you go in a way that is more conducive to in-round sharing, because it is likely to be the expected norm in those types of tournaments.
Several caveats to this general rule:
1) the obvious allowances for accidentally missing the occasional card due to honest error, or legitimate tech difficulties
2) if you engage in offensive behavior/language/etc that would otherwise justify something lower than a 25, providing a speech doc will not exempt you from such a score,
3) I will only apply these speaker point limitations in qualifier and Championship level varsity divisions - e.g. state, national, or TOC qualifiers & their respective championship tournaments. Developmental divisions (novice, JV, etc) and local-only tournaments have different educational emphases. So while I would still encourage timely sharing of evidence in those divisions, there are more important things for those debaters to focus on and worry about. However, if you are trying to compete for a major championship, you should expect to be held to a higher standard.
4) As referenced above, these artificial speaker point limitations have no impact on my ultimate decision regarding who wins or loses the round (unless one team attempts to turn some of these discouraged practices into a theory argument of some kind). I am happy to give low-point wins if that's how it shakes out, or else to approximate these same incentives in other reasonable ways should the tournament not permit low-point wins. The win/loss based upon the arguments you make in-round will always take priority over arbitrary points.
Basically, I won't require you to provide speech docs, but I will use these two measures to incentivize their use in the strongest possible way I feel I reasonably can. This hopefully will both speed up rounds and simultaneously encourage more transparency and better overall evidence quality.
B. Don't Paraphrase
It's really bad. Please don't do it. As an activity, we can be better than that. In CX & LD, it is called clipping cards, and getting caught doing it is an automatic loss. PF hasn't gotten there yet, but eventually we should, and hopefully will. I won't automatically vote you down for the practice (see my thoughts on theory below), but I do want to disincentivize you to engage in the practice. Thus, I will apply the same speaker point ranges I use for Speech Docs to paraphrasing. Paraphrase, and the max speaks you will likely get from me is a 28. Read texts of cut cards, and 28 is your likely floor. This penalty will apply even if you have the cut cards available at the bottom of the document. That's still card clipping, and is bad. The same relevant caveats from speech docs apply here (minimums don't apply if you're offensive, only applies to higher-level varsity, and it won't impact the W/L).
C. Read Tags
I can't believe I'm having to write this, but READ TAGS to your cards. "Anderson '23 furthers..." or "Jones '20 continues..." without anything els isn't a tag. It is hard enough to flow the super blippy cards that seem to be everywhere in fast rounds these days, but if you don't give me a tag, it makes flowing functionally impossible. Have some respect for the work your judge has to do to get everything down, and give us a tag so that we can both be more accurate in our flow, and also be able to know what to listen for in the cards. Simply put, if you don't give me a tag for a card, I won't flow it. I don't have time to go back to the speech doc and read every card after you read it in an attempt to reconstruct what argument you think it is making so that I can then take a guess at what you want me to write down. That's what a tag is for. That's your job, not mine. If you want to go fast, that's cool. But you have to meet your judge at least part way. Read tags. That's the price you have to pay for spreading.
4. Narrow the round
It would be in your best interest to narrow the 2nd half of the round down to one key contention-level link & impact story and 1-2 key turns on your opponents’ case, and then spend most of your time doing impact comparisons on those issues. Going for all 3 contentions and every turn you read in rebuttal is a great way to lose my ballot. If you just extend everything, you leave it up to me to evaluate the relative important of each of your arguments. This opens the door for judge intervention, and you may not like how I evaluate those impacts. I would much rather you do that thought process for me. I routinely find myself voting for the team that goes all in on EFFECTIVE impact framing on the issue or two they are winning over the team that tries to extend all of their offensive arguments (even if they are winning most of them) at the expense of doing effective impact framing. Strategic choices matter. Not making any choices is a choice in itself, and is usually a bad one.
5. No new cards in Summary, unless they are in direct response to a new argument brought up in the immediately prior speech.
1st Summary: If you need to read cards to answer arguments first introduced in opponents case, those needed to be read in 1st Rebuttal, not 1st Summary. Only if 2nd Rebuttal introduces new arguments—for example a new impact turn on your case—will I evaluate new cards in the 1st Sum, and only to specifically answer that new 2nd Rebuttal turn. Just please flag that your are reading a new card, and ID exactly what new 2nd Rebuttal argument you are using it to answer.
2nd Summary: Very rarely, 2nd summary will need to address something that was brought up new in 1st summary. For example, as mentioned above, 2nd Rebuttal puts offense on case. 1st Summary might choose to address that 2nd Rebuttal offense with a new carded link turn. Only in a case like that will I evaluate new evidence introduced into 2nd Summary. If you need to take this route, as above in 1st Summary, please flag exactly what argument you say was new in the 1st Summary you are attempting to answer before reading the new card.
In either case, unless the prior speech opened the door for you, I will treat any new cards in Summary just like extending things straight into FF & ignoring the summary—I won’t evaluate them and your speaker points will take a hit. However, new cross-applications of cards previously introduced into the round ARE still OK at this point.
5A. No new cross-applications or big-picture weighing in Final Focus.
Put the pieces together before GCF - at least a little bit. This includes weighing analysis. The additional time allotted to teams in Summary makes it easier to make these connections and big-picture comparisons earlier in the round. Basically, the other team should at least have the opportunity to ask you about it in a CF of some type. You don't have to do the most complete job of cross-applying or weighing before FF, but I should at least be able to trace its seed back to some earlier point in the round.
6. Theory
I will, and am often eager to, vote on debate theory arguments. But proceed with caution. Debaters in PF rarely, if ever, know how to debate theory well enough to justify voting on it. But I have seen an increasing number of rounds recently that give me some hope for the future.
Regarding practices, there is a strategic utility for reading theory even if you are not going for it. I get that part of the game of debate, and am here for it. But if you think you want me to actually vote on it, and it isn't just a time suck, I would strongly encourage that you collapse down to just theory in the 2nd Rebuttal/1st Summary in a similar fashion that I would think advisable in choosing which of your substance-based impact scenarios to go for. Theory isn't the most intuitive argument, and is done poorly when it is blippy. If it is a bad practice that truly justifies my disregarding substantive arguments, then treat it like one. Pick a standard and an impact story and really develop it in both speeches AND IN GCF in the similar way you should develop a link story and impact from your substantive contention. Failing to collapse down will more than likely leave you without sufficient time to explain your abuse story and voter analysis in such a way that it is compelling enough for me to pull the trigger. If you are going to do it (and I'm good with it if you do), do it well. Otherwise, just stick to the substance.
In general, I tend to start any evaluation of theory arguments through a lens of competing interpretations, as opposed to reasonability. However, I can be moved out of that evaluative framing, given the right well-warranted arguments.
My leanings on specific types of theory arguments:
Fiat & Plans – For policy resolutions, while teams cannot utilize a "plan or counterplan,"—defined as a "formalized, comprehensive proposal for implementation"—they can "offer generalized, practical solutions (GPS)." If you can figure out what that word soup means, you are a step up on me. The PF wording committee seems hellbent on continuing to give us broadly-worded policy resolutions that cry out for fiating some more specific version of the resolution. I used to be very much in the "Aff must prove their advocacy is the most likely version of the resolution" camp, but I am starting to move away from that position. I'm pretty certain that a 12 plank proposal with hyper-specific identification of agency, enforcement, and funding mechanisms would constitute a "formalized, comprehensive proposal," and thus be verboten as a "plan" under the above quoted NSDA rule. But does a single sentence with a basic description of a particular subset of the resolution meet this same threshold? IDK. I think there is room for interpretation on this. I haven't seen anyone get into the weeds on this as a theory argument, but I'm not sure just saying "plans aren't allowed" cuts it anymore, especially given the direction the topic committee seems to be moving. Does that also arguably leave open similar room on the Neg for some sort of "counter-solution" or an alternative? I honestly don't know. I guess that means I am open to debates on this issue, if people want to try to push the boundaries of what constitutes a "generalized, practical solution." One thing I am certain on, though, is that if you do attempt to offer some sort of plan-esque "GPS," you probably should have a written text somewhere in your case specifically committing to what exactly the solution is your are advocating. Moving target advocacies that can never be pinned down are insanely abusive, so if you are going to go the "GPS" route, the least you can do is be consistent and up front about it. It shouldn't take a series of CF questions to figure out what exactly it is you are advocating.
Multiple conditional advocacies – When teams read multiple advocacies on the Aff and then decide “we’re not going for that one” when the opposing team puts offense on it is the zenith of in-round abuse. Teams debating in front of me should continue to go for their unanswered offensive turns against these “kicked” arguments – I will weigh them in the round (assuming that you also extend the other team's link and impact stories), and am somewhat inclined to view such practices as a voter if substantial abuse is demonstrated by the offended team. If you start out with a 3-prong fiated advocacy, then you darn well better end with it, or kick out of it properly. Severance is bad. If teams are going to choose to kick out of part of their advocacy mid-round, they need to effectively answer any offense on the "to-be-kicked" parts first.
Paraphrasing - Don't paraphrase. I come down strongly on the side of having cut cards available. This doesn't mean I will automatically vote for paraphrasing theory, as I think there is minimal room for a conceivably viable counter-interp of having the cards attached to blocks/cases or something similar. But blatant, unethical, and lazy paraphrasing has, at times, really threatened the integrity of this activity, and it needs to stop. This theory arg is the way to do that. If your opponents paraphrase and you don't, and if you read a complete paraphrasing arg and extend it in all of the necessary speeches, it is going to take a whole lot of amazing tap dancing on the part of the guilty party for me not to vote for it.
Trigger Warning - I am likely not your judge for this. I'm not saying I won't vote on it, but it would be an uphill battle. Debate is a space where we shouldn't be afraid to talk about important and difficult issues, and opt-outs can too easily be abused to gain advantage by teams who don't genuinely have issues with the topics in question. There would need to be extensive use of graphic imagery or something similar for me to be likely to buy a sufficiently large enough violation to justify voting on this kind of argument. Not impossible, but a very high threshold.
Disclosure - Disclosure is good. My teams do it, and I think you should too. It makes for better debates, and the Wiki is an invaluable tool for small squads with limited resources and coaching. I speak from experience, having coached those types of small squads in policy against many of the juggernaut programs with armies of assistants cutting cards. Arguments about how it is somehow unfair to small teams make little sense to me. That being said, I don't think the lack of disclosure is as serious of a threat to the integrity of PF as the bad paraphrasing that at one point was rampant in the activity. Disclosure is more of a strongly suggested improvement, as opposed to an ethical necessity. But if the theory arg is run WELL, I will certainly vote on it. And that also includes arguments about proper forms of disclosure. Teams that just post massive blocks of unhighlighted, ununderlined text and/or without any tags read to me as acts of passive aggression that are just trying to get out of disclosure arguments while not supporting the benefits that disclosure provides. Also, responses like "our coach doesn't allow us to disclose" or "email us 30 minutes before the round, and this counts as terminal defense against disclosure arguments" are thoroughly unpersuasive in front of me. I'm sorry your coach doesn't support disclosure, but that is a strategic decision they have made that has put their students at a disadvantage in front of judges like me. That's just the way it goes.
Where to First Introduce - I don't yet have a strong opinion on this, as I haven't had enough decent theory rounds to adjudicate for it to really matter. If you force me to have an opinion, I would probably suggest that theory be read in the first available speech after the infraction occurs. So, disclosure should probably be read in the Constructives, while paraphrasing shells should likely be in either the 2nd Constructive or 1st Rebuttal, once the other team has had a chance to actually introduce some evidence into the round.
Frivolous Args - I am totally here for paraphrasing and disclosure as arguments, as those practices have substantial impact on the quality of debate writ large. Ditto for conditionality arguments, arguments on the nature of fiat in PF, or other arguments about intrinsic or severance-based alterations of advocacies mid-round. However, I am less likely to be receptive to silly cheap shot args that don't have the major benefit of improving the activity. Hence, leave your "no date of access" or "reading evidence is bad" theory args for someone else. You are just as likely to annoy me by reading those types of args than to win my ballot with them. Reading them means I will give the opposing side TONS of leeway in making responses, I will likely shift to the extreme end of reasonability, and I will likely look for any remotely viable reason I can to justify not voting on them.
Reverse Voting Issues - Theory is a perfectly acceptable strategic weapon for any team to utilize to win a round. I am unlikely to be very receptive to RVIs about how running theory on mainstream args like disclosure or paraphrasing is abusive. If a team properly narrows the last half of the debate by kicking substance and going for theory, that pretty much acts as a RVI, as long as the offending team still at least perfunctorily extends case. Now, once we stray more into the frivolous theory territory as referenced above, I will be much more likely to entertain a RVI, even if the team reading theory doesn't kick substance first.
7. Critical Arguments
In general, I would advise against reading Ks in PF, both because I think the event is not as structurally conducive to them, and because I've only ever seen one team in one round actually use them correctly (and in that round, they lost on a 2-1, because the other two judges just didn't understand what they were doing - ironically emblematic of the risk of reading those args in this event). However, since they are likely only going to increase in frequency, I do have thoughts. If you are a K team, I would suggest reading the Topicality and Criticisms portions of my policy paradigm below. Many of the thoughts on argument preference are similarly applicable here. A couple of PF-specific updates, though:
A) Alternatives - I used to think that since PF teams don't get to fiat a counterplan, they don't get to fiat an alternative either. But as my ideas on plans vs "generalized, practical solutions (GPS)" evolve, so do my thoughts on alts. I used to think that the only alt a Neg could get was some variation on "reject." But now, I think there is more wiggle room for a traditional alt under that "GPS" language. I think most alts definitely are generalized solutions (sometimes overly generalized to their detriment). The question is, then, are they "practical" enough to meet the "GPS" language in the NSDA rules. Maybe, maybe not. My gut would tell me more often than not, K alts are not practical enough to meet this threshold, but I could certainly be convinced either way in any given round. That being said, I see no rules-based problems with reject or "do nothing" alts, although they usually have some serious problems on the solvency end of things, absent a good ROTB arg. And of course, you can garner offense off of all of the traditional ontology and/or epistemology first in decision-making framework args you want.
B) Role of the Ballot args - "Our role of the ballot is to vote for the team that best reduces structural violence" isn't a role of the ballot. It is a bad impact framing argument without any warrants. Proper ROTB args change what the judge's vote actually represents. Normally, the ballot puts the judge in the position of the USFG and then they pretend to take or not take a particular policy action. Changing the ROTB means instead of playing that particular game of make believe, you want the judge to act from the position of someone else - maybe an academic intellectual, or all future policy makers, and not the USFG - or else to have their ballot do something totally different than pretend enacting a policy - e.g. acting as an endorsement of a particular mode of decision-making or philosophical understanding of the world, with the policy in question being secondary or even irrelevant to why they should choose to affirm or negate. Not understanding this difference means I am likely to treat your incorrectly articulated ROTB arg as unwarranted impact framing, which means I will probably ignore it and continue to default to my standard util offense/defense weighing.
8. Crossfire
If you want me to evaluate an argument or card, it needs to be in a speech. Just mentioning it in CF is not sufficient. You can refer to what was said in CF in the next speech, and that will be far more efficient, but it doesn’t exist in my mind until I hear it in a speech. Honestly, I'm probably writing comments during CF anyway, and am only halfway listening. That being said, I am NOT here for just not doing cross (usually GCF) and instead taking prep. Until the powers that be get rid of it, we are still doing GCF. Instead of just not wanting to do it, get better at it. Make it something that I should listen to.
9. Speaker points
See my policy on Speech Docs & Paraphrasing. If I were not making the choice to institute that policy, the following reflects my normal approach to speaks, and will still apply to how I evaluate within the 25-28 non-speech doc range, and within the 28-30 speech doc range. My normal reference point for “average” is 27.5. That’s where most everyone starts. My default is to evaluate on a scale with steps of 0.1, as opposed to steps of 0.5. Below a 25 means you did something offensive. A true 30.0 in HS debate (on a 0.1 scale) doesn’t exist. It is literally perfect. I can only think of 3 times I have ever given out a 29.6 or higher, and each of them were because of this next thing. My points are almost exclusively based on what you say, not how you say it. I strongly value making good, strategic choices, and those few exceptional scores I’ve given were all because of knowing what was important and going for it / impact framing it, and dumping the unnecessary stuff in the last half of the round.
10. Ask for additional thoughts on the topic
Even if you’ve read this whole thing, still ask me beforehand. I may have some specific thoughts relating to the topic at hand that could be useful.
11. Speed
Notice how I didn't say anything about that above, even though it's the first questions like half of kids ask? Basically, yes, I can handle your blazing speed. Aren't you cool. But it would still probably be a good idea to slow it down a little, Speed Racer. Quality > quantity. However, if you try to go fast and don't give a speech doc with cut cards before you start speaking, I will be very, VERY unhappy. The reason why policy teams can go as fast as they do is that they read a tag, (not just "Smith continues..." or "Indeed...") which we as the audience can mentally process and flow, and then while they are reading the cite/text of the card, we have time to finish flowing the tag and listen for key warrants. The body of the card gives us a beat or two to collect ourself before we have to figure out what to write next. Just blitzing through blippily paraphrased cards without a tag (e.g. "Smith '22 warrants...") doesn't give us that tag to process first, and thus we have to actively search for what to flow. By the time we get it down, we have likely already missed your next "card." So, if you are going to try to go faster than a broadly acceptable PF pace, please have tags, non-paraphrased cards, and speech docs. And if you try to speed through a bunch of blippy paraphrased "cards" without a doc, don't be surprised when we miss several of your turns. Basically, there is a way to do it right. Please do it that way, if you are going to try to go fast.
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Policy Paradigm
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I debated for 4 years in high school (super old-school, talk-pretty policy), didn't debate in college, and have coached at the HS level for 20+ years. I am currently the Head Coach at Campbell Hall in Los Angeles (focusing mostly on national circuit PF), and previously was an Assistant Coach at Washburn Rural in KS, and head coach at Fairmont Prep in Anaheim, CA, Ransom Everglades School, in Miami, and The Pembroke Hill School in KCMO. However, I don't judge too many policy rounds these days, so take that into account.
Overview:
Generally, do what you do, as long as you do it well, and I'll be happy. I prefer big-picture impact framing where you do the comparative work for me. In general, I will tend to default to such analysis, because I want you to do the thinking in the round, not me. My better policy teams in the past where I was Head Coach read a great deal of ontology-based Ks (cap, Heidegger, etc), and they often make some level of sense to me, but I'm far from steeped in the literature. I'm happy to evaluate most of the normal disads & cps, but the three general classes of arguments that I usually find less persuasive are identity-based strategies that eschew the topic, politics disads, and to a lesser degree, performance-based arguments. But if any of those are your thing, I would in general prefer you do your thing well than try and do something else that you just aren't comfortable with. I'll go with the quality argument, even if it isn't my personal favorite. I'm not a fan of over-reliance on embedded clash, especially in overviews. I'd rather you put it on the line-by-line. I'm more likely to get it down on my flow and know how to apply it that way, and that's the type of debating I'll reward with higher speaks. Please be sure to be clear on your tags, cites, and theory/analytic blocks. Hard numbering/”And’s” are appreciated, and if you need to, go a little slower on those tags, cites, and theory/analytic blocks to be sure they are clear, distinct, and I get them. Again, effort to do so will be rewarded with higher speaks.
Topicality:
I generally think affs should have to defend the topic, and actually have some sort of plan text / identifiable statement of advocacy. There are very few "rules" of debate, thus allowing tons of leeway for debaters to choose arguments. But debating the topic is usually a pretty good idea in my mind, as most issues, even those relating to the practices and nature of our activity and inclusion therein, can usually still be discussed in the context of the topic. I rather strongly default to competing interpretations. I like to see T debates come down to specific abuse stories, how expanding or contracting limits functionally impacts competitive equity, and exactly what types of ground/args are lost/gained by competing interps (case lists are good for this in front of me). I usually buy the most important impact to T as fairness. T is an a priori issue for me, and K-ing T is a less than ideal strategy with me as your judge.
Theory:
If you are going to go for it, go for it. I am unlikely to vote either way on theory via a blippy cheap-shot, unless the entire argument was conceded. But sometimes, for example, condo bad is the right strategic move for the 2AR. If it's done well, I won't hesitate to decide a round on it. Not a fan of multiple conditional worlds. With the notable exception of usually giving epistemology / ontology-based affs some flexibility on framework needing to come before particulars of implementation, I will vote Neg on reasonable SPEC arguments against policy affs. Affs should be able to articulate what their plan does, and how it works. (Read that you probably ought to have a plan into that prior statement, even if you are a K team.) For that reason, I also give Neg a fair amount of theoretical ground when it comes to process CPs against those affs. Severance is generally bad in my mind. Intrinsicness, less so.
CPs:
Personally, I think a lot of the standard CPs are, in any type of real world sense, ridiculous. The 50 states have never worked together in the way envisioned by the CP. A constitutional convention to increase funding for whatever is laughable. An XO to create a major policy change is just silly (although over the last few administrations, that has become less so). All that being said, these are all legit arguments in the debate world, and I evaluate and vote on them all the time. I guess I just wish Affs were smart enough to realize how dumb and unlikely these args actually are, and would make more legit arguments based on pointing that out. However, I do like PICs, and enjoy a well thought out and deployed advantage CP.
Disads:
Most topic-related disads are fine with me. Pretty standard on that. Just be sure to not leave gaping holes / assumptions in your link chains, and I'm OK. However, I generally don't like the politics disad. I would much rather hear a good senator specific politics scenario instead of the standard “President needs pol cap, plan’s unpopular” stuff, but even then, I'm not a fan. I'll still vote for it if that's what is winning the round, but I may not enjoy doing so. Just as a hint, it would be VERY EASY to convince me that fiat solves for most politics link stories (and, yes, I understand this places me in the very small minority of judges), and I don't see nearly as much quality ground lost from the intrinsic perm against politics as most. Elections disads, though, don't have those same fiat-related issues, and are totally OK by me.
Criticisms:
I don’t read the lit much, but in spite of that, I really kind of like most of the more "traditional" ontological Ks (cap, security, Heidegger, etc). To me, Ks are about the idea behind the argument, as opposed to pure technical proficiency & card dumping. Thus, the big picture explanation of why the K is "true," even if that is at the expense of reading a few more cards, would be valuable. Bringing through traditional line-by-line case attacks in the 2NR to directly mitigate some of the Aff advantages is probably pretty smart. I think Negs set an artificially high burden for themselves when they completely drop case and only go for the K in the 2NR, as this means that they have to win 100% access to their root cause, “Alt solves the case,” or framework args in order for the K to outweigh some super-sketchy and ridiculous, but functionally conceded, extinction scenario from the 1AC. K's based in a framework strategy (e.g. ontology first) tend to be more compelling in front of me than K's that rely on the alt to actually solve something (because, let's be honest here - alts rarely do). Identity-related arguments are usually not the most compelling in front of me (especially on the Aff when teams basically put the resolution), and I tend to buy strategic attacks against them from the left as more persuasive than attacks from the right.
Random:
I understand that some teams are unbalanced in terms of skill/experience, and that's just the way it goes sometimes. I've coached many teams like that. But I do like to see if both debaters actually know what they are talking about. Thus, your speaks will probably go down if your partner is answering all of your cross-ex questions for you. It won’t impact my decision (I just want to know the answers), but it will impact speaks. Same goes for oral prompting. That being said, I am inclined to give a moderate boost to the person doing the heavy lifting in those cases, as long as they do it respectfully.
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Parli Paradigm
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Parli is not my primary debate background, so I likely have an atypical paradigm for a parli judge that is influenced by my experiences coaching policy and circuit PF. Please adapt accordingly if you want to win my ballot.
First, I honestly don't care how you sound. I care about the arguments you make. Please, don't read that as an immediate excuse to engage in policy-style spreading (that level of speed doesn't translate super well to an event that is entirely analytics and doesn't have cards), but I will likely be more accustomed to and be able to handle debates that are faster than most of the HS parli rounds I have seen to date.
Two general things that I find annoying and unnecessary: 1) Introducing yourself at the top of each speech. I know who you are. Your name is on the ballot. That's all I need. This just seems to be an unnecessary practice designed to turn an 8 minute speech into a 7:30 speech. Forget the formalities, and just give me the content, please. 2) I don't need a countdown for when you start. We aren't launching a rocket into space or playing Mario Kart. Just start. I am a sentient enough of a being to figure out to hit the button on my timer when you begin talking.
I'll go speech by speech.
1st Gov/PMC: Spending the first minute or so explaining the background of the topic might be time well spent, just to ensure that everyone is on the same page. Please, if you have a contention-level argument, make sure it has some kind of terminal impact. If it isn't something that I can weigh at the end of the round, then why are you making the argument?
1st Opp/LOC: Same as above re: terminal impacts in case. Any refutations to the Aff case you would like me to evaluate at the end of the round need to be in this speech, or at least be able to be traced back to something in this speech. That means you probably shouldn't get to the Aff case with only a minute or two left in the speech. If your partner attempts to make new refutations to the Aff case in the 2nd Opp, I won't evaluate them.
2nd Gov/MGC: Similar to the 1st Opp, any parts of your case that you want me to consider when making my decisions need to be explicitly extended in this speech. That includes all essential parts of an argument - link, internal link, and impact. Just saying "extend my Contention 2" is insufficient to accomplish this task. You will actually need to spend at least a modicum of time on each, in order for me to flow it through, in addition to answering any refutations that Opp has made on it in the prior speech. Considering that you will also need to spend some time refuting the Neg's newly introduced case, this means that you will likely NOT have time to extend all of your contentions. That's fine. Make a choice. Not all contentions are equally good. If you try to go for everything, you will likely not do anything well enough to make a compelling argument. Instead, pick your best one (or maybe two) and extend, rebuild, and impact it. Prioritizing arguments and making choices is an essential analytical skill this activity should teach. Making decisions in this fashion will be rewarded in both my decision-making at the end of the round, as well as in speaker points.
Opp Block: If you want me to evaluate any arguments in the these speeches, I need to be able to trace the responses/arguments back to the 1st Opp, except if they are new answers to case responses that could only have been made in the the 2nd Gov. For example, 2nd Gov makes refutations to the Opp's case. New responses to these arguments will be evaluated, but they need to be made in the 2nd Opp, not the 3rd. However, to reiterate, I will absolutely NOT evaluate new refutations to Gov case in these speeches. Just as with the 2nd Gov, I also strongly advocate collapsing down to one contention-level impact story from your case and making it the crux of your narrative about how the debate should be decided. Trying to go for all three contentions you read in the 1st Gov is a great way to not develop any of those arguments well, and to leave me to pick whatever I happen to like best. I don't like judge intervention, which is why I want you to make those decisions for me by identifying the most important impact/argument on your side and focusing your time at the end of the round on it. Do my thinking for me. If you let me think, you may not like my decision.
Both Rebuttals: Just listing a bunch of voters is a terrible way to debate. You are literally just giving me a menu of things I could vote on and hoping that I pick the one you want. You would be much better served in these speeches to focus in on one key impact story, and do extensive weighing analysis - either how it outweighs any/all of the other side's impacts, or if it is a value round, how it best meets the value framing of the debate. As I stated in the Opp Block section, please, do my thinking for me. Show that you can evaluate the relative worth of different arguments and make a decision based upon that evaluation. Refusing to do so tells me you have no idea which of your arguments is superior to the others, and thus you do not have a firm grasp on what is really happening in the round. Be brave. Make a choice. You will likely be rewarded for it. Also, there is very little reason to POO in these speeches. I keep a good enough flow to know when someone is introducing new arguments. If it is new, I won't evaluate it. I don't need you to call it out. I largely find it annoying.
Jeffrey Miller
Current Coach -- Marist School (2011-present)
Lab Leader -- Institute for Speech & Debate (2024-present), National Debate Forum (2015-2023), Emory University (2016), Dartmouth College (2014-2015), University of Georgia (2012-2015)
Former Coach -- Fayette County (2006-2011), Wheeler (2008-2009)
Former Debater -- Fayette County (2002-2006)
jmill126@gmail.com and maristpublicforum@gmail.com for email chains, please (no google doc sharing and no locked google docs)
Last Updated -- 10/8/2024 for 2024-2025 season
Overview
I am a high school teacher who believes in the power that speech and debate provides students. There is no another activity that provides the benefits that this activity does.
I wear a lot of hats as a debate coach - I am heavily involved in argument creation and strategy discussions with all levels of our public forum teams (middle school, novice and varsity). I work closely with our extemp students working on current events, cutting cards and listening to speeches. I work closely with our interp students on their pieces - from cutting them to blocking them. I work closely with platform students working with them to strategically think about integrating research into their messages.
I have been involved with the PF topic wording committee for the past eight years so any complaints (or compliments) about topics are probably somewhat in my area. I take my role on the committee seriously trying to let research guide topics and I have a lot of thoughts and opinions about how debates under topics should happen and while I try to not let those seep into the debates, there is a part of me that can't resist the truth of the topic lit.
As your judge, it is my job to give you the best experience possible in that round. I will work as hard in giving you that experience as I expect you are working to win the debate. I think online debate is amazing and would not be bothered if we never returned to in-person competitions again. For online debate to work, everyone should have their cameras on and be cordial with other understanding that there can be technical issues in a round.
What does a good debate look like?
In my opinion, a good debate features two well-researched teams who clash around a central thesis of the topic. Teams can demonstrate this through a variety of ways in a debate such as the use of evidence, smart questioning in cross examination and strategical thinking through the use of casing and rebuttals. In good debates, each speech answers the one that precedes it (with the second constructive being the exception in public forum). Good debates are fun for all those involved including the judge(s).
The best debates are typically smaller in nature as they can resolve key parts of the debate. The proliferation of large constructives have hindered many second halves as they decrease the amount of time students can interact with specific parts of arguments and even worse leaving judges to sort things out themselves and increasing intervention.
What role does theory play in good debates?
I've always said I prefer substance over theory. That being said, I do know theory has its place in debate rounds and I do have strong opinions on many violations. I will do my best to evaluate theory as pragmatically as possible by weighing the offense under each interpretation. For a crash course in my beliefs of theory - disclosure is good, open source is an unnecessary standard for high school public forum teams until a minimum standard of disclosure is established, paraphrasing is bad, round reports is frivolous, content warnings for graphic representations is required, content warnings over non-graphic representations is debatable and I probably err that they silence a majority of debaters.
All of this being said, I don't view myself as an autostrike for teams that don't disclose or paraphrase. However, I've judged enough this year to tell you if you are one of those teams and happen to debate someone with thoughts similar to mine, you should be prepared with answers and "our coach doesn't allow us" is not an answer.
I am not your judge if you want to read things like font theory or other frivilous items.
I am also not persauded by many IVI's. IVI's (like RVI's) are an example of bad early 2000's policy debate. Teams should just make arguments against things and not have to read an 'independent voting issue' in order for me to flag it to vote on the argument. Implicate your arguments and I will vote.
Do teams need to advocate the topic?
Like I said above, arguments work best when they are in the context of the critical thesis of the topic. Thus, if you are reading the same cards in your framing contention from the Septober topic that have zero connections to the current topic, I think you are starting a up-hill battle for yourselves.
Links of omission are not persuasive - teams need to identify real links for all of their positions.
In terms of the progressive debates I've watched, judged or talked about, it seems like there is a confusion about structural violence - and teams conflate any impact with marginalized group as a SV impact. This is disappointing to watch and if reading claims about SV - the constructive should also be explicit about what structures the aff/neg makes worse that implicate the violence.
Saying "structural violence comes first" doesn't automatically mean it does or that you win. These are debatable arguments, please debate them. I am also finding that sometimes the lack of clash isn't a problem of unprepared debaters, but rather there isn't enough time to resolve major issues in the literature. At a minimum, your evidence that is making progressive type claims in the debate should never be paraphrased and should be well warranted. I have found myself struggling to flow framing contentions that include four completely different arguments that should take 1.5 minutes to read that PF debaters are reading in 20-30 seconds (Read: your crisis politics cards should be more than one line).
How should evidence exchange work?
Evidence exchange in public forum is broken. At the beginning of COVID, I found myself thinking cases sent after the speech in order to protect flowing. However, my view on this has shifted. A lot of debates I found myself judging last season had evidence delays after case. At this point, constructives should be sent immediately prior to speeches. (If you paraphrase, you should send your narrative version with the cut cards in order).
Rebuttals should also probably be emailed in order to check evidence being read.
When you send evidence to the email chain, I prefer a cut card with a proper citation and highlighting to indicate what was read. Cards with no formatting or just links are as a good as analytics.
Evidence should be attached in a document, not in the text of an email. It is annoying to have to "view more" every single time. Just attach a document.
If you send me a locked/uneditable google doc, I will give you the lowest points available at the tournament.
What effects speaker points?
I am trying to increase my baseline for points as I've found I'm typically below average. Instead of starting at a 28, I will try to start at a 28.5 for debaters and move accordingly. Argument selection, strategy choices and smart crossfires are the best way to earn more points with me. You're probably not going to get a 30 but have a good debate with smart strategy choices, and you should get a 29+.
This only applies to tournaments that use a 0.1 metric -- tournaments that are using half points are bad.
Derby High School
Derby, Kansas
Debate Experience:
4 Years High School (1980s)
3 Years College - CEDA and NDT (circa 1990s - old guy!)
Coaching: Current head coach of Derby High School and former head coach of Kapaun Mount Carmel High School.
lmiller@usd260.com
Updated: August 17, 2016
I have been around for a long time and I have remained progressive in my coaching and views on debate. I am fine with theory and/or non-traditional debate strategies, but I will try to outline some predispositions.
T:
I will vote on it and I think it is still an issue. I prefer CI but teams need to explain their interpretation and why it is better. I prefer to see some link that indicates a loss of strategic ground for the negative. I may be persuaded by potential abuse, but prefer some in-round loss of ground or strategic disadvantage.
FW:
I honestly think clash is very important. Teams who try to frame the debate in ways in which ground is extremely limited or non-existent for their opponent tend to lose my ballot when this is properly debated. I evaluate this on the flow based on what was presented in the round, not what I think about the position. I am not persuaded by FW that says Ks are bad/illegitimate - they are part of debate get over it!
CP:
Not particularly fond of conditions CP or plan + CP positions. Fairly open to anything else, but CP solves better is not a net benefit!
K:
I have read some literature, coached some successful K teams, open to hearing whatever you like, but don't expect me to vote on (or catch) K buzz words and vote because you said something that sounds cool. K teams have a higher threshold for me in establishing a link and point of clash with opponents. Just because someone told you, "say this phrase and you will win" probably won't work with me. However, a solid K position with clear link/impact/relevance will get my ballot if well defended.
DAs/Advs:
I tend to give some risk to even sketch link stories. That works for both aff and neg. Focus on timeframe and magnitude for me.
Solvency:
Again, I tend to give the aff some risk of solvency usually. I expect both teams to do solid impact calc and weigh everything in the round.
Bottom-line - I like debate which for me means clash. Not too concerned about what you are presenting, but I am concerned that a debate happens and I can make a decision based on how arguments are presented and who best explains why they should win. In the few instances where teams have been disappointed with my decision it usually revolves around what they "thought" they said in the round and what I "heard" in the round. I will not do work for you, so explanation trumps reading a ton of cards in most of my decisions. Any more questions, just ask me.
In debate rounds I expect:
Organization
Sign-posting
'Clash' as needed
Professional Behavior
In debate rounds I have difficulty with:
Spread (overly rapid delivery) - Due to tintinitis (ringing in the ears) I cannot fully understand 'spread' and thus if I cannot understand what the competitor is saying, I cannot give credit for what is being said, or the ability to 'flow' my notes so that I can judge accurately.
In Individual Event rounds I expect:
To hear a 'well polished' speech.
I'm currently debating at Western Kentucky University (Lincoln Douglas and IPDA).
I'm a Ukrainian immigrant so your Ukraine arguments better be good!
Basically, do whatever you feel confident doing and don't be a jerk. I don't really want to keep time or make a speechdrop for you. I'll give you more speaker points if you're funny.
Counterplans: Love counterplans, but they need to have a strong link if you want me to vote on it.
Disads: Really, really love a good disad. Please go for it. Just have a strong link, and please weigh the impacts.
Topicality: T is important, but I hate it when it's used as a time drainer, so try not to make it obvious if that's your tactic. Explain the violation, explain your standards, basically just don't throw in a T shell frivolously if your opponent is topical.
K's: I love K debates! I absolutely hate when you don't understand the K that you're running. I hate a super vague K, especially with no clear alternative. If your opponent asks you "how do we do the K like right now?" and you can't answer them, you're probably screwed.
Theory: I will not vote on disclosure.
Spreading: Speed is fine, as long as it's not absolute gibberish. Please respect your opponent when they ask you to match their speed!
I have been an assistant Speech & Debate Coach for two years but I have no history of debating in either High School or College. I have worked in Educator as a teacher, instructional leader, and now assistant principal for 15 years.
In a debate, I am looking for an argument to flow and for each point the opponent makes to be addressed. I don't adhere to any formal paradigm but am a fairly open slate. I wait to make any decision based upon who ends with the strongest, most convincing case, backed by numerous sources and consistent arguments.
Topshelf -
Impact weighing is near the top of my priorities when making a decision it influences how i frame the rest of the debate and the offense/defense of the debate.
Kritiks - Fine by me but i prefer they have solid links to the opposing side and that they are based in the topic literature.
Theory. Fine as long as they have clear standards and a reject the team arg, i have a high threshold for reject the team args.
The looking at cards off of prep time is somewhat okay but don't use it super often it makes the round unnecessarily long
I think 2nd rebuttal should cover opponents case and offense but this isn't something i will vote on its just something to keep in mind.
Email for email chains - Joshuadalemitchell@gmail.com
Parker Mitchell
[unaffiliated/SME] - based in NYC
Updated for: NCFL - May '25 - Link to old paradigm (it's still true, but it's too much. This is a shorter version, hopefully less ranty. If you have a specific question, it's likely answered in the linked doc.)
Email: park.ben.mitchell@gmail.com
He/They/She are all fine.
Not working in debate at the moment: I'm a big policy debate fan, but I am not actively coaching or judging. I consume debate like I consume other niche sports - I'll watch livestreams, read docs, follow tab and try to keep up as much as I can. That said, I have limited hobby time and I currently spend most of it cooking and playing Geoguessr.
'25 Update: I've not judged at all this year :/ which I am not happy about - but I am judging NCFL! This will be my only tournament of the season, take that how you will. I still do think about the activity a lot and watch debates on YouTube (its sad I know), there's just less policy debate activity around New York than Kansas.
NCFL SPECIFIC
I know you have little time - I am probably not the limiting factor on your panel re: "How Fast"/"Can we read a K" etc. Do what you do best and you'll be ok. However, I have not judged a round this year and also I have no background topic knowledge.Anything topic specific (acronyms, Topicality meta etc.) will need extra explanation.
General Opinions
I view debate as a strategic game with a wide range of stylistic and tactical variance. I am accepting (and appreciative of) nearly all strategies within that variance. Although I do try to avoid as much ideological bias as possible, this starting point does color how I view a few things:
First, fairness is an impact. But economic collapse is also an impact, yet I'm willing to vote for DDev. The same holds here. I view Ks and K Affs as a legitimate, but contestable, strategy for winning a ballot. In other words, I will vote for K affs and I will vote for framework and my record is fairly even.
Second, outside of egregiously offensive positions such as Racism, Sexism and Homophobia good, I have very few limitations on what I consider "acceptable" argumentation. Reading arguments on the fringes is exciting and interesting to me. However, explicit slurs (exception - when you are the one affected by that slur) and repeated problematic language is unacceptable.
Third, it affects my views on ethos. I assume most debaters don't buy in 100% to the arguments they make. This is not to say that debate "doesn't shape subjectivity," but it is to say that I assume there is some distance between your words and your being. In other words: There is a distant yet extant relationship between ontology and epistemology.
I find I have an above average stylistic bias to teams that embrace this concept. In other words, teams that aggressively posture (unless they are particularly good and precise about it) tend to alienate me and teams that appear somewhat disaffected tend to have my attention. This is not absolute or inevitable - I can think of many exceptions where highly expressive speakers moved me and less emotive speakers lost me - yet it is a general trend. This operates on the ethos and style level and not on the substance/argumentative level.
Fourth, I will attempt to take very precise notes. My handwriting is awful, but I can read it. I will flow on paper. I will flow straight down and I will not use multiple sheets for one argument (I'm talking Ks too, this isn't parli). I will not follow along with the doc. I will say "clear" if you are unclear during evidence, but not during analytics, that's a you problem. Clarity means I can distinguish each word in the text of the evidence. Cards that continue to be unclear after reminders will be struck from my flow. I flow CX on paper but will stop when the timer does. I will not listen during flex prep, I don't care if you take it.
Experience
14 years of experience in debate. I'm currently working in the legal technology world, not teaching or coaching for the moment.
Formerly: 6 years assisting at Shawnee Mission East (KS, 2015-2021), 2 years as Director of Debate and Forensics at Wichita East (KS, 2021-2023). 4 years as a debater for Shawnee Mission East (KS, 2010-2015), 5 years for the University of Missouri-Kansas City (MO - NDT/CEDA, 2015-2020). I have worked intermittently with DEBATE-Kansas City (DKC, MO/KS), Asian Debate League (aka. ADL, Chinese Taipei, 2019-2021), Truman (MO, 2021) and Turner (KS, 2019). 2 years leading labs at UMKC-SDI. Assisted/judged on a volunteer/occasional basis for both Wichita East (KS, 2023-24) and SME (2023-25).
Topic Experience (HS)
None. I have almost zero knowledge about this topic area.
Topic Experience (College):
None. I debated on many climate topics in the past though, so my lit knowledge and understanding about how these debates play out is pretty ok.
Argument Specific Notes
T - my favorite. Competing interps are best. Precision is less important than debate-ability. "T-USFG" will be flowed as "T-Framework." No "but"s. It's an essential neg strat, but I'm equally willing to evaluate impact turns to framework.
CPs - Condo and "cheating" counterplans are good, unless you win they're bad. Affs should be more offensive on CP theory and focus less on competition minutiae. Don't overthink it.
DAs - low risk of a link = low risk of my ballot. Be careful with these if your case defense/cp isn't great, you can easily be crushed by a good 2AR. I find I have sat or been close to in certain situations where the disad was particularly bad, even if the answers were mostly defense.
Ks - I feel very comfortable in K debates and I think these are where I give the most comments. Recently, I've noticed some K teams shrink away from the strongest version of their argument to hide within the realm of uncertainty. I think this is a mistake. (sidenote - "they answered the wrong argument" is not a "pathologization link", but don't worry, you're probably ahead) (other sidenote - everyone needs a reminder of what "ontology" means)
Etc - My exact speaks thoughts are in the old paradigm, but a sidenote that is relevant for argumentation: my decision is solely based on arguments in the debate (rfd), my speaks arise from the feedback section of my ballot - I will not disclose speaks and I won't give specific speaks based on argument ("don't drop the team, tank my speaks instead" "give us 30s for [insert reason]") I'm much more concerned with your performance in the debate for speaks, argumentation only has a direct impact on my vote and not other parts of my ballot.
AI
I have now unfortunately judged a debate where Chat GPT was used to write speeches. If you are considering this, I would highly suggest you don't. Chat GPT is not good at debate. If you think I won't be able to tell, you are wrong. I used to teach students who tried to pass off AI work as their own and I currently work in the AI space. AI is not good at writing speeches, it sounds inhuman, saccharine and ugly. And while AI might be great at a lot of things, it is quite bad at efficiency and pathos, two things that are key to balance when you are debating. You'll get horrible speaks. If somehow you managed to write and deliver a GPT-sounding speech on your own without AI assistance, that might actually be worse.
What I love about this activity is the multitude of different ways you can approach it. Nearly every one is legitimate, but if you choose this one, I will be sad.
****************************************************
that should be all you need before a debate. there are more things in the doc linked at the top including opinions on speaks, disclosure, ethics as well as appendices for online debates and other events.
Century High school Asst. Coach
college student/Debater
Major: Political Science, Philosophy, Economics
4 year high school debater.
2x Nats Attendee in Policy
4 time State Qualifier.
Debate: Policy, LD, BQ.
Speech: Panel, Impromptu, Informative.
creativity in debate is sought.
terminate impacts.
tech > truth as long as you support with reasoning, do the leg work. (default to truth)
speed is fine.
k's are fine.
pic's are fine.
Aff k's are fine.
Remember Debate is a game you play with your friends, Have Fun!
Please forgive me - my paradigm of a billion years got erased somehow and I'm bit by bit trying to re-write it....
HS Policy Competitor - St. Mark's - 2007-2010
College Policy Competitor - Trinity - 2010-2014
Consultant - New Trier/St. Mark's - 2015-2016
Assistant Director of Speech and Debate - Hendrickson - 2017-2023
Director of Speech and Debate - Sandra Day O'Connor - 2023-Present
(yes I am old now)
CX/Policy:
Affirmatives:
I far prefer affirmatives with strong internal links and solvency even if their impacts are "common" or non-extinction based than affs that use contrived internal links with weak, underhighlighted evidence to get to the most random impact they think their opponent won't have impact defense to. Shallow debate is bad debate - good debaters don't run from the fight.
Framing:
It matters a lot in my decision making. If it is a point of contrast between the two sides, time spent here is worth it.
Negative Strategy:
A little bit about me: I competed in speech and debate for three years during high school, specifically in PF, Congress, limited prep, and interp events. I even dabbled a little in LD and World Schools. Now, I stay involved with the speech and debate community by coaching PF at Phoenix Country Day School in AZ.
As far as paradigms go, I'm open to pretty much any argument you can warrant properly and impact out. I will vote off the flow, but that means your arguments need to be made clear to me. I can keep up with speed, but if I put my pen down, you've lost me. At the end of the round, I am looking for offense, which includes both the impact and the link into that impact, that has been extended cleanly through the debate. Then, it comes down to the weighing that you have done for me on that offense. Don't make me do that work for you because it probably won't turn out the way you want it to!
General things to note:
- Please stand for your speeches unless there is a legitimate reason you are unable to. It helps your public speaking, your persuasiveness, your confidence, you name it.
- For the love of all things holy, SIGNPOST, SIGNPOST, SIGNPOST!!!! I want clear taglines and numbered responses. The more organized you are in your responses, the more likely I will follow every piece of your argument, meaning the more likely I am to vote for you.
- I like off-time roadmaps. That means something short like, "I'm going aff then neg," or, "The order will be overview, their case, our case." It shouldn't be anything more than telling me where I will be flowing.
- I will not call for a card unless you specifically ask me to during one of your speeches.
- If something important happens during CX, bring it up during a speech.
- Don't be rude to your opponents. I love a little sass and sarcasm because debate definitely calls for that sometimes, but don't blatantly disrespect one another.
Technical things to note:
- Second rebuttal should frontline (quickly) anything that will be extended in summary.
- Extend important defense. Defense is sticky, but it strengthens your position if you hang onto important defense throughout the round.
- Counterplans: These don't belong in PF. They are a clear violation of rules. Counter advocacies with the necessary probability weighing are fine, but no plan text or specific implementation plan.
- Kritiks: I find Ks really interesting, and I am all for their entrance into PF when you have a tech judge/panel. I want you to read your K to me as if I have not read the literature surrounding the issue though. Just because you say a buzz word, does not mean I understand the argument. Make sure it is well formulated if you want my ballot.
- Theory: If there is a clear violation of PF rules, don't run a shell. Just tell me about the violation during a speech, and that will suffice. If there is a violation of norms that you feel is genuinely worthy of bringing up (i.e. no frivolous theory), I am willing to hear it out. That being said, I am not super well-versed in theory debate, so you just need to make sure you explain to me what the impact of your argument is on the round and why I should care about it. In all honesty, if a team runs theory, you are probably more likely to get my ballot without running a counterinterp and just responding to it the way you would any other argument. All the jargon starts to get lost on me.
I started this technical section based on questions I am frequently asked in round. It is nowhere near exhaustive, so if you have any additional questions or concerns, feel free to ask me when both teams are present before the round!
Also, please include me in the email chain: mittelstedt.taylor@gmail.com
I am a lay judge. Please talk slow. I prefer thoughtful arguments over long lists of brief evidence from cards. Speak clearly. Avoid emotional or angry tones. Do not spread. Do not overload your speech with debate jargon. I do appreciate good weighing. I do take notes but I do not flow.
I will ask each team to sit on the side that lines up with my tab room ballot. It helps me to use the right timers. I will try to time you. I mess this up sometimes so time yourselves and opponents time each other. I do not like opponents to set an alarm, simply raise your phone or timer when time is up. An exception to this is if both teams prefer to set alarms. Then that is fine.
I do not judge you on your crossfire so please do not use it as a time to try to sway my opinions. Crossfire is for you to better understand your opponents case so you can address it in your next speeches. Treat it as if I am not listening. Make your case in the next speech.
If you are running an extinction argument be sure it plausible. For example I have a hard time believing affirming or negating health care for all (a LD topic) would lead to nuclear war and thus extinction yet both sides argued it in different rounds. If you opponents run an extension argument that is not plausible do be sure to address it, as it can not just be the judge who thinks it is not plausible.
I evaluate your speaker points on clarity, articulation, appropriate speed, eye contact. So I do sometimes give low speak wins.
Be kind and courteous to your opponents.
I am a non remediated dyslexic so please excuse my short amount of feedback. I will not disclose unless required to by the tournament officials, but I will get my RFD in fast and publish it. If the debate was good I am often still deciding when you walk out. I will talk to you or your coach between rounds (not Flights) to give verbal feedback if you would like.
For speech docs or evidence sharing use jenmize2020@gmail.com
Please do not be late to a round. That puts extra pressure on me as a judge. Please do not tell me you know my daughter before during or after the round. I do not know if that would make me judge you harder or be more lenient and I don't want to find out. I would of course try not to let it sway me in either direction.
I don't flow CX so bring up anything you want on the flow in following speeches.
If a question is presented before CX time expires an answer can be provided.
Avoid circular debate, if you see mass repetition, summarize key points and move on.
Try to minimize flow hopping.
Make sure you sign post. If you don't tell me where to put content on the flow it may not get on the flow.
Extend arguments and impacts, don't just extend author's names. Example, don't say: "Extend the Locke Card" Do say, "In Locke, extend the impact of the social contract..."
Explaining impacts and why they matter is crucial.
Decorum matters.
Spread at the peril of your speaker points and ballot decision.
If speech time ends wrap up final thought, there is not a grace period in debate.
I am a traditionalist, LD should revolve around the V and VC debate, policy should address stock issues, etc.
Call Africa a Country and lose.
I try to keep an open mind but arguments must be feasible. Global extinction, nuclear war, etc default to slippery slope fallacies for me unless you can really show a direct and likely path specific to resolution.
Ask me for final paradigm to open possibility of getting perfect speaker points.
Hi everyone!
First of all, congrats on getting to Nationals in CX debate! It's a huge accomplishment and all of you are incredible debaters.
I am a parent judge, and unfortunately this is going to be my first time judging a policy round. I have a daughter who is a cx debater here at Nationals, and I am chaperoning.
So here are a few preferences:
Put me on the email chain. If you cut arguments/cards, send out a marked copy and tell me where you skip/end.
gmpcutah@gmail.com
Debate is meant to be a fun, respectful and educational space, if you are rude or outrightly abusive in the round, you will be marked down and potentially voted down. I have no problem not advancing you if you are being mean towards anyone in the round.
A lot of judges tell you to assume they know nothing about debate/the topic - in this case it's very true. I know the basic structure of policy debate, and I know enough about the topic to keep up. You should explain everything to me in simple terms, not just in debate terms.
Arguments:
Again, keep it simple. Your constructs can include a lot of complicated terms and definitions, but by your rebuttle speeches you should boil it down to just the basic bones of the argument - this will help me judge you not just on your topic, but on how well you can argue it. You are all amazing debaters, I'm sure it will not be a problem for you to explain your case in a smart way without hiding behind complicated ideas.
Policy affs are great - not saying K affs are bad, but I'm more comfortable with policy making arguments.
CPs/DAs are great, but go heavy on the link argument to tell me why they link to the aff plan and why you are winning them
Ks - great, but make sure to explain them well, don't assume that I know the philosophy behind your Baudrillard or Security K. Explain them in simple terms and tell me why I should vote on that
Theory: if you're going to run theory, make sure that a) it fits in the round and b) you know what it says. I don't like people running theory as a time suck, it doesn't help you argument. Again, same as the other things - explain to me why your opponents arguments are abusive to the debate space, it will help me to better evaluate your argument.
All in all, I know I'm not the most qualified judge, but I'm going to do my best to evaluate the round in a fair way. If you know your arguments and know how to debate, then you should be able to explain each part of your case in its simplest form to me.
Good luck, and have fun!
Affiliation- I am currently the policy debate coach at Perry High School. I debated at George Mason University from 2012-2016.
I use him/he pronouns
Please include me on the email chain:tmohney29@gmail.com.
General notes- Honestly, do what you do best. I will evaluate any argument at the end of the round and will try to intervene as little as possible. I plea/beg/demand that you impact your arguments and give me warranted reasons to vote for you.
I do not flow from the speech doc and will read evidence doing down time in the debate. That being said, please slow down on theory, counterplan texts/multi planks arguments.
Do not assume I know your argument.
My personal presence for what arguments I like to read/coach has no correlation to how I will evaluate your round. I might not read philosophy or critical literature in my spare time but that doesn't mean I dislike K debates or will only judge affs that are a defense of the resolutions.
DAs-. make sure to explain the impact scenario(s) and why it turns the case. If you lose the uniqueness debate you will probably lose (uniqueness almost always controls direction of link). If you are Aff in front of my try to be sneaky - Things like having the 1ar straight turn the DA for the majority of the speech goes a long way for me. This will increase your speaker points.
Politics theory- really don’t like arguments like “vote no,” “fiat solves the link,” “intrinsicness”…but that doesn’t mean I wont vote on them. I find these arguments to be cheap shots but debate is a strategic game and if you are winning fiat solves the link and it’s well warranted I will probably vote for the winning argument.
Counterplans- the more specific counterplan to the aff the happier I am, but I do think there is something to be said about the teams reading generic counteprlans and still out debating their opponents. Counterplans that have internal net benefits are also preferred, I find them to be more strategic and debate is a game. Process counterplans and mutilplank counterplans need to be well explained. Please slow down on your planks.
Kritiks- topic specific K’s are best. I am open to any kritik but you need to clearly explain the link, impact, and what the world of the alternative looks like. Both teams normally mishandle framework but I traditionally default to consequentialist policymaking paradigm…K DEBATERS DON’T MISREAD THIS. That is what I deault to when no framework is presented. I am open to hearing the framework debate (from both sides) and why each side doesn’t meet the others interp. Make sure to impact your framework arguments.
non topical affs -If you are going to read these in front of me the best thing to do is explain the importance of my ballot, and what voting for you does. Really enjoy clash of civs debates. I've read untopical aff's that dont defend a plan/resolution. totally down with this debate.
Topicality- I feel that T is a voting issue and comes before anything in the round, even theory. Make sure to explain why your interp is important and why the other teams interp is bad for debate. Teams need to spend more time on impact level of the debate. there is a lot that is needed to go for T which is what makes it such a good strategy due to the technicality of the flow and arguments.
Theory- I find them to be muddled and something that is only read so in hopes the other team will drop it. I most likely will reject the argument and not the team. If the opponent concedes a theory argument you still need to explain the abuse, and reasons to reject the team, etc.
Novice: Novices are incredibly important to the activity in both college and high school levels. If you are an experienced debate team competing against a novice team please be mindful and polite. Reading things to out spread them, reading arguments hoping they wont have an answer, or being rude are things that are unnecessary and if you feel the need to do that to beat a novice t
be nice. stay humble. debate is what you make of it.
I have a lot of experience in mainly speeches.
I currently teach Speech & Debate. I have done this for the past three years along with coaching speech/debate.
.
I am a traditional judge. I normally judge speaking events and interpretation. I have also judged LD.
In interpretation, I appreciate natural acting in most events with the exception of Humorous. I believe you can be fully animated in Humorous Interpretation. ALWAYS have purpose for your blocking. If you have blocking just for the sake of blocking, I will rank you down. It is better to have real emotion than "fake crying" or a "crying voice." Always be true to your character(s).
In speaking, speeches should be delivered at a pace that is easily understandable. Organization is key as well as keeping the audience interested with a great vehicle.
I do not flow spreading. I believe debate is a communication event, not who can get the most arguments in the least amount of time (there is not a difference in "fast speaking" and "spreading"). If you spread, you'll get low speaks and have a hard time winning my ballot.
Debate was created to communicate and compare your points against your opponent's points. If you don't create a clear story and explanation, I will not vote you up.
I will immediately vote you down if you are rude or aggressive towards your opponent. It is one thing to debate and clash against an argument, it's another to attack your opponent.
If you plan on emailing the case to your opponent, please include me in email: molina_kody@yahoo.com
My name is Robin Monteith and I am the coach for The Overlake School in Remond, Wa. I am a parent coach and was introduced to speech and debate through being a parent judge. This is my8th year judging at speech and debate competitions. All years, I judged PF, LD, Congress, and many speech categories, more recently I have coached and judged WSD, Big Questions, and Middle School Parli. I have no policy experience. I became a coach in the 2019-2020 school year. My educational background is in psychology and social work.
I am looking for students to convince me that the side they are arguing on is right. I like statistics, but am also looking for the big picture, but with enough specifics to understand the big picture. It will help if you give a clear and highly organized case. Make sure that you don't talk so fast that you lose your enunciation. Also, remember that I am trying to write and process what you are saying so if you are talking really fast some of your arguments may be missed. While the point of debate is to take apart your opponents case, I do not like it when teams get too aggressive or cross the line into being rude. I value both argument and style in that I think your style can help get your argument across or not get it across well. Don't do theory or Kritiks. I am not a flow judge, but do take extensive notes. You need to extend arguments in your summary and final focus and I will disregard any new arguments presented in final focus and second summary as this is unfair to your opponents. In summary I like for you to summarize the important parts of the debate for me: both your side and your opponents. In final focus I want to hear voters. Why do you think you won the debate. What evidence did you present that outweighs your opponents evidence, etc.
Preferred email: rmonteith@overlake.org
I am an experienced speech and debate coach. I am usually on the tournament operations side of the house, but I have experience judging multiple speech and debate events. I have judged at the local, state, and national levels. Please be respectful of all competitors and all judges at all times. I have zero tolerance for inappropriate behavior during speech and debate rounds. Keep in mind that you are representing your school and your school's speech and debate program. Enjoy your rounds!
Debate Events
Always be sure to ask your judge and your opponent if we are ready before you begin a speech.
Remember that presenting a clear argument takes precedence over speed.
If you are in the middle of a sentence and time is up (either during a constructive or cross-examination), I will allow you to finish your sentence.
I look for a well-developed case that includes clear identification of the value, value criterion, contentions, points of clash, and voting issues. Although I am more traditional when it comes to debate, I am open to progressive debate. Your job is to convince your judge(s) that you have the stronger argument.
You may use your electronic device to time yourself, but keep in mind that your judge is the official timekeeper in the round. Please be sure that your device is in silent mode.
For virtual tournaments please mute yourself if you are not speaking. You can unmute during your speeches and cross-examination periods.
Speech Events
I will be happy to provide you with time signals. Please let me know before you begin the specific time signals that you would like (i.e.., 5 down, fist at 10, etc.) Please be sure to know the rules of your event before you arrive in the round (i.e., maximum speaking time, use of props, etc.)
For virtual tournaments please keep yourself muted when you are not performing.
Please refrain from texting and playing on your phone during other students' performances. It is disrespectful to your fellow competitors who, like you, have worked very hard to prepare for tournaments.
World Schools Debate
World Schools Debate is not the same as policy or Lincoln-Douglas Debate, so please refrain from spreading during the round. Your speech should be delivered at a conversational pace. Be sure to make eye contact and deliver your speech instead of reading word for word from your paper. World Schools Debate focuses on both the quality of the arguments and the quality of speech delivery.
Please make sure that your POIs are limited to 15 seconds each. If you do not wish to entertain an opponent's POI at a given time, please do so respectfully. Use your discretion about when to address a POI, but please make sure that you are not rejecting EVERY POI attempt during your speech. There are no POIs during the first and last minute of each constructive speech. POIs are also not permitted during reply speeches.
You may use a cell phone (placed in airplane mode) to time yourselves during the round. The judge is the official timekeeper.
I am the debate sponsor at JCIB in Birmingham, AL. I do not have personal experience as a debater and have learned what I know about debate from my students. My main request is that you do not speak at such a quick speed that it is impossible to understand what you are saying. If I can't understand you or follow your speeches, I can't vote on it! I will keep track of time on tabroom but I also encourage you to keep time yourself.
I’m good with any arguments - most important thing is you understand the args you're making. Good with speed, no preferences on anything in particular. Feel free to ask me any questions.
I did 4 years of policy in high school, 4 years of parli in college, and I’ve been coaching policy at Solon for 5 years.
Arguments that are blatantly racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, islamophobic, anti-semitic, etc. are not okay. You will lose if you run them. Graphic imagery cards (ie. graphic descriptions of violence/sexual assault) without a trigger warning are not acceptable. Additionally, if you plan to discuss potentially traumatic topics please make sure you give a trigger warning.
Overall (Speech):Speech is a game of engagement with the audience, and your efforts should be towards engaging the audience with the message of your piece. My ranks are always based primarily on this. Of course, there are many tools to engage an audience, and your choice to use them and your effectiveness with them will vary.
Oral Interpretation: In interpretation events (HI, DI, DA, DUO, POI, PR, PO), I am looking for a performance that creates a significant personal or social meaning from the literature chosen. I am also looking for a performance that shows emotional and tonal complexity and a range that is both suitable for the piece and is demonstrative of the skills of the interper.
There should also be intentionality in the decisions made in the interpretation of the piece. For example, all the blocking employed in the piece should have a purpose and should not seem haphazardly included in the performance. This also goes for what is included in the cutting of the piece, for the words spoken, the emotions, sound effects, etc. conveyed should all contribute to the message you are trying to convey in your interpretation.
Public Address: In Public Address or Platform events (IX/FX, USX/DX, OO, INFO), I am looking for speeches that add novelty and insight to the topic of the speech. Making the topic relevant and understandable to a general audience is necessary for success in these speeches.
Speeches in these categories are more effective and engaging when they employ a variety of pacing and tone that convey to the audience the significance and emotional stakes of the points you make. On top of clear speaking and style, one needs to create the engagement for the audience with their voice through these tools. In general a conversation
Speeches should be well organized and easy to follow for the audience. They should have clear but original signposting to help the audience keep track of where they are in the speech.
Congress:
In congressional debate I'm really looking at the analysis of the argument and the ability to create a logical and well-backed chain of arguments to why we should pass or fail. Generally awareness of the round is highly valued, and I want arguments from competitors to be well addressed. Obviously, fluency and rhetorical impact are important as well, and I'm not a huge fan of Jargon in Congress. Speeches should generally be broadly approachable.
The people who will score high in the round are going to bring in novel arguments and ideas, and dive into the language and the implications of the bills as well as the claims of their competitors. Ask good questions! Be a balanced speaker.
Don't take being P.O. for granted, you still have to present yourself among the top in the round. Judges should seldom have to get involved.
Lincoln-Douglas:
I'm a speech coach, and this is not my preferred event. That being said, I am rather traditional when it comes to judging LD with heavy emphasis on the battle of values and achievement of the value criterion through your use of your evidence.
I have some debate experience through high school, but consider me more of a lay/UIL circuit judge.
Speed is okay if you are understandable, but I should not have to read along to understand you, if I can't flow it, it didn't happen. Elements of progressive debate such as theory and K are fine but have to be well justified within the context of the debate, otherwise, I'm not sure it'll make it to my flow.
Speaks are awarded on quality of debate based on speaking and presentation with 28 being the average debate performance, lower being, well, lower, and being among the best I've seen will be awarded a 29-29.5. If you are somewhere in between you will be awarded somewhere in between.
Lincoln Douglas Debate -
I generally prefer a more conversational style. If I miss something because you're talking fast, that's on you.
I evaluate the importance of your value and value criterion depending on how its used in the round. Several times, I've found that the winner of the framework debate isn't necessarily the winner of the round.
I strongly prefer when students give explicit voting issues at the end of the round. Tell me how you want me to evaluate the round.
I don't love jargon but cross-apply, extend, turn, etc are fine
I generally decide the winner based on who won the key argument of the round
Evidence is great. I strongly prefer it, but if you have a strong logical argument a lack of evidence won't hurt you.
I'm a flow judge, and I prefer traditional debate and am not a fan of K or theory.
Public Forum -
I am a traditional flow judge and former extemper and public forum debater who prefers clear analysis, well-cited arguments and clearly outlined voting issues in summary and final focus.
I look extremely unfavorably upon theory arguments in public forum. I believe they undermine the educational value of the activity. I still vote off the flow, but import the worst aspects of policy debate into public forum at your own risk.
I try and balance my final decision between who had persuaded me more of their position overall and who won the key arguments of the round. I find that the winning team almost always is stronger in both regards, but if it is close I typically award the win to the team who has persuaded me more of their position overall.
Along those lines, I don't score the rounds based on a strict win-loss basis for each contention. For example, if the affirmative had the better argument on several contentions, but negative had the stronger argument on the main contention at issue in the round, I typically would award the win to negation.
Teams that clearly outline their reasons for decision/voting issues in the third and fourth speeches tend to do better than those that do not. I like it when teams clearly tell me what issues they believe defined the round and why I should vote for them.
I will not hold the speed of your delivery against you, but spread at your own risk. I can only judge based on the arguments I hear. I prefer a more conversational style but am fine with some faster reading - but if I miss points because you read too fast, that's on you.
If you are asked to provide a source and you are unable to provide it, I follow PHSSL rules and consider that an automatic loss. Providing analytical and empirical evidence is always necessary. Citing sources is essential for you to formulate your argument, for your opponents to accept the statistics you provide, and to give me the judge a basis to judge the data both teams are using to convince me their argument is superior. Technology or wifi issues are not an excuse - you should be prepared and have downloaded your case and cards so they're accessible offline before the tournament - as we all know, wifi can be spotty at debate tournaments.
My background: I am a public forum coach. I have judged more public forum rounds than any other event combined over the last three school years. I have an educational background in international affairs and a professional background in public policy and education. I do my best to not allow my prior knowledge to influence my decision-making and strive to decide every round by the arguments brought to bear within the four walls of competition room.
Policy -
No spreading. It's poor communication and a sign of an inability to deliver your argument competently, concisely and persuasively. Is it standard in policy? Yes. Do I care? No.
No K's or identity arguments. I love substantive debate - it's why we're here, right? To debate policy?
Limit theory only to topicality. Need to have proper warrants, links, and impacts. Proper use of impacts is essential to policy formation.
Credentials:
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My name is Marissa (she/her/hers)
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I am a student at the University of Missouri majoring in Chemical Engineering with an emphasis in Biochemistry; I also work in a research laboratory where I make biomodulatory materials and related products (e.g. medicines and vaccines). This has influenced my opinions in certain rounds, but I try to not let it affect my overall decision.
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My email is mam9k2@umsystem.edu (add me to your email chain/evidence doc, feel free to ask me any questions about anything after the round is over and I have submitted a ballot)
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Debated for Battle High School in the Eastern Missouri Circuit from 2017 - 2021
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Primarily PF, Inform, OO, and DX
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I qualified for Nationals in PF and Inform
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I went to State in DX and PF
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I’ve also done CX, LD, and almost every IE (in the state of Missouri).
- Assistant Coach for Rock Bridge High School in the EastMO Circuit since 2022
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Do not use topic-specific jargon without explaining it (general debate jargon is fine). Ex) UBI, BRI, etc. Only hurts you because I'll get distracted trying to figure it out.
How I Will Vote/Weigh:
- LD
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Framework debate comes first ofc.
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Every contention and subpoint on the aff needs to connect to your V and VC. Every attack on the neg should show how they don't support whatever Value won framework OR flaws in evidence and arguments.
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Philosophy/Logic/Morals > Empirics > Anecdotal Evidence.
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Pls no K's in LD unless you can directly tie them to the framework or resolution.
- PF
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Key Voter Issues, Weighing, and Impacts are the most important things to me
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I do not want to hear you repeat the same empirics over and over again, explain WHY they matter.
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I don’t care for evidence debates. Soley going line-by-line will not help you. Only arguing morals with no evidence will also not help. PF should have an equal distribution of these.
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I generally dislike frameworks in PF; I absolutely do not like K’s or theory in PF
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Being civil in crossfire, especially grand, is especially important
- CX
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I cannot emphasize this enough, be logical and clear. Logical arguments will always beat out anything else for me.
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I am not a big CX fan, so I will be fairly lay. I will make some assumptions in judging such. For example, solvency is most important to me. I just straight up don't know any of the CX lingo so I will be confused :(
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I don't understand K’s or theory well so please explain them in a lay way. I would love to hear an K on the CX Nationals stage being a misrepresentation of the event though. Especially at any association tournaments :)
- Tech > Truth; My job isn't to prove you wrong, but truth informs better arguments.
- If you tag team, clarify that with your opponents before the round.
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If I can’t understand you, I can’t give you the win.
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Only if your arguments are equally strong/equally weak/no clash/I cannot otherwise decide a winner, I will vote based on the better speaker
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Quality > Quantity
General:
- Evidence:
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Add Me to Your Email Chain/Evidence Document: mam9k2@umsystem.edu
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If possible, add all of the evidence in your speech to this email chain
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If you are spreading, I expect this.
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If it takes you longer than 15 seconds to find/share a piece of evidence that has been asked for, I will count it as your prep. (in person, I'm a bit more lenient virtually)
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I may ask for evidence, so don’t leave immediately
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I do not care if your opponent refuted a specific card or not in PF/LD.
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This is because I want you to refute each others’ overall ideas, not what someone else has to say (obviously, if there are numerous cards dropped I will care, but I'm less concerned with 1 statistic vs a pattern of evidence)
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I won’t even remember your specific author or date, don’t solely use it to signpost. I won’t know what you are talking about.
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I DO care if it is something that has been signposted (contentions/most subpoints) because that will be on my flow
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These don’t all need to have unique rebuttals for each point, but it does need to be clear what all you are refuting.
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On this note, don’t tell me what to do. Tell me why.
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Don’t tell me “they dropped this, vote them down.” Explain that “They dropped this, which is problematic for XYZ, therefore we should win.” If something is dropped and you want to bring it up, I still want to hear why it mattered. I will probably forget you saying it dropped for the same reason it was dropped, so you need to explain it.
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Once again, Tech > Truth, but exceptions (blatantly false, no-contest statements that a lay judge would know) exist.
- Off the Clock Roadmaps:
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Use it when you are arguing in a unique order (anything that’s not 1,2, 3)
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Do not give any off-the-clock “arguments”, if you do I will begin my timer.
- Timing:
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10-second grace period, beyond that I will stop listening/cut you off. 30 is when I mark you down.
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Don’t stall, we all have more rounds
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About 15 “free” seconds before you need to start speaking
- I don't time at Nat Circuit Tournaments, NCFL, or NSDA. If you've made it this far, you should be able to time yourself and each other.
- For extemp debate, please no extensive roadmaps. If it's off the clock it increases the time spent in the round by a huge margin and if it's on the clock, you actively hurt your own speech.
- Other/Really The Most Important Things:
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Be Kind and Civil: NO personal attacks
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I generally dislike it when you call me or your opponents by their names unless asked to. I prefer to be called "the judge" and as a competitor, I found it extremely frustrating to be called "Marissa" in round (particularly when I was being cut off in cross... so maybe trust your gut on that one)
- Don't let your spectators be rude to me/others. I won't vote you down but I will be less unengaged.
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Ask me if I am ready before you begin a speech unless I say I'm always ready. I'm always ready for cross.
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Remember your goal is to convince me and not your opponent
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I take a lot of notes and will give you feedback on everything from your argument to your speaking style.
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On that note, sign-post with 1, 2, 3, etc and/or a, b, c, etc.
I have been an assistant coach for Andover for 15+ years and did debate in HS. My default is Policy Maker. I am fine with speed if you are very clear, but be prepared for me to not flow nearly as details because I'm gonna be focused on actually absorbing your arguments.
K:
These are fine, but you better know how to run it well and not just use it to waste your opponents' time and kick out in the end.
Framework/T:
If you run T (which I highly encourage), make it good! It is everything in a round and, yes, grammar matters. Make it a voter and don’t drop it. Same goes for Framework for the most part.
DAs:
Have specific links to generic disads. If I start hearing the exact same DAs run over and over with literally zero changes from the last round, I know there are alt causes and I can't ignore that.
Counterplans:
Can be topical but don't have to be; also you must convince me that you absolutely cannot effectively perm. The more generic the counterplan, the less I will give it weight in the round. Convince me that this CP is actually the best alternative for the specific harms that Aff addresses.
Plan:
As a policy maker, I will take a very, very, hard look at the plan text (yes, including grammar and word choice). I don’t expect you to have answers for every single nuanced thing, but at least have basics covered (specific AoA, answers to funding, timeframe…etc.). The later into the season we get, the more I expect you to have answers to basic questions and not punt to the "my partner will bring that up in the next speech."
CX:
Yes, I will flow your answers and, yes, your answers matter. The point of CX is "clarification" and I consider it binding in the round. If you provide an answer in CX and contradict it in the next speech, I weigh this against your evidence/plan. You are the advocate for your plan, using the evidence you have gathered as a means to support your ideas. If you aren't consistent in your idea or advocacy, it undermines my confidence in the plan itself.
"It's Against the Rules of Debate":
Don’t try to run nonsense “rule violations” that aren’t actually violations as a strat. And if you try to tell me that the other team is “violating the rules of debate” be prepared for me to ask if you actually want to bring a formal complaint and stop the round.
Avoid spreading and try to keep a reasonable pace please. If I can't hear your arguments they might as well not happen.
Clear signposting is appreciated
Explaining the point behind your evidence is helpful, I don't want to spend my time reading it when I could be listening to your other arguments
Essentially, if it doesn't come out of your mouth during the round, it does not matter
In general, speak at a moderate speed and be considerate of your teammates, opponents, and judges. Refrain from hyperbole. Please be clear, concise, and organized—connect the dots for me.
I am not a technical judge. I will flow the best I can and evaluate your arguments, but I am not comfortable with progressive rounds. Keep the round traditional (no tricks) or risk losing my ballot. There is no need to speed read. Please do things to make your speech easier to follow. Slow down and emphasize taglines. Signpost and Roadmap off-time for clarity.
Debate and arguments must be persuasive. If the argument does not persuade me, I have no reason to vote for it. I do not intervene so debaters must tell me what is important and why I should vote for them. Be clear about what I am weighing and what I should value most highly. Impacts should be realistic. Not every action could or will cause a nuclear war. Your argument should be clear and plausible. I appreciate a clear analysis of why you should win in the final rebuttals.
It is important to show respect to your competitors and approach every speech as an opportunity to teach and learn.
flow. Don’t run ks without a strong link and an alt. Theory is fine but link to a standard. Advocating on neg for something that isn’t in the squo either requires a counterplan or an explanation of how the advocacy is for something probabilistic.
please collapse, don’t only go line-by-line after the constructives are over (some line by line is obviously fine)
I did primarily PF for 4 years and have coached PF and some Extemp at Theodore Roosevelt since 2019. I'm an average flow judge who's on and off the national circuit.
Email chain: morgandylan183@gmail.com
Tech > Truth, love the game, though I think the way PF debaters think of tech debate at the moment harms their overall debate skills,round clarity, and personal growth. Constructing and defending arguments rooted in at least some truth, being ok with having to adapt to anyone in front of you, and narrative debate will help you after you graduate much more than spreading 4 kinda stupid contentions, card dumping blippy responses, and hoping your opponents miss something. Cheap tricks anywhere will never get you far, and yeah, you're cheating yourself. That being said, I don't dislike those types of rounds at all if they are done well, and I definitely enjoy extinction rounds, but I think the tendency to value those debates over anything else without question is bad for PF.
I’m not going to answer any questions before the round unless both teams are present. Ask me anything you'd like afterward.
Do not wait for me, start setting up asap
Do not go over time or prep steal. Call your opponents out if they do this. I try to time, but keep track of each other.
I don't like flex prep or talking to your partner in cross or speeches. Cross is binding, and defense is never sticky.
I evaluate the round: first, by looking to framework, then, if there is none, weighing to see where I should look to vote first. If the team that wins the framing or weighing extends and wins their argument, they win. If neither framework or weighing occur, I look to what's left in final focus and whichever team has the path of least to their impact. I default to scope. Tell me in a speech what I should do instead if you want.
I would prefer it if you told me how I should evaluate the round or write my ballot and WHY. judge instruction is a lost art.
Framework: Tbh I don't really have a ton of of experience with anything more advanced than util, SV, etc. just explain it to me and why I should prefer it
Speed: I will not follow along in a doc. I usually like flowing faster rounds, but you're risking me not catching or understanding what you say, especially online. I can keep up ok,probably about 225-240 wpm that's clear. I flow on paper, so my hand starts hurting sometimes. We'll see if I move to my laptop. I hate blippy and frantic speed; make it intentional and remain clear. I will clear you twice, but do not clear the other team.
Slow down on tags, stats, if your arguments are less common, and a bit in the back half
Evidence: only read cards. If it is misrepresented, I'll strike it from the flow, but you must tell me in a speech to look at it and why. I don’t like having to look at evidence, but I will if it’s essential for my decision. I’d strongly prefer if you resolve the evidence debates in speeches. I despise teams that lie about evidence.
General Preferences of Arguments:
You need to fully (u + l + il + impact) extend your arguments. Not extending your argument means I cannot vote for it, even if your opponents do not call it out.
Quality over quantity (collapse on your offense and defense, or you will lose)
Resolve clash, and you will win.
Frontline in 2nd rebuttal. The best 2nd rebuttals frontlne and collapse on what they're going for, frontline turns, and maybe weigh. If you try to frontline your whole case, I won't catch all the frontlines, and you'll probably undercover their case. If you can do it well without causing those problems, go for it.
Anything in final focus needs to be in summary, no new weighing mechanisms in final focus, only expansion of ones from summary, responses to the opponent's weighing, new meta weighing is ok.
I love logical warranting, smart analytics, knowing your evidence, and real-world knowledge. It should be obvious that this is what every judge wants, but PFers increasingly lack this and rely on evidence/arguments from the wiki without doing their own work cutting cards or following the news :(
you do not need a card for everything. If you use “they have no evidence” as a response against a smart analytic using background knowledge, I will scoff.
You need consistent responses starting in rebuttal; entirely new arguments that need evidence to be true starting in summary is not a good strategy. This is why you can't spread yourself thin in 2nd rebuttal, especially.
MORE WEIGHING AND COMPARISON OF ARGS CAN START IN 1ST CROSS, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD
Progressive Arguments
If I have to, I’ll listen to and vote on anything within reason.
I'm familiar with most theory arguments, but honestly, I don't really like them. I really don't want to listen to frivolous theory. I get a bit lost with the jargon and specifics on my flow sometimes. I do my best not to be biased, but I despise bad evidence ethics and improper disclosing. I'm going to give you very low speaks and have a low threshold for responses to frivolous shells like Comic Sans.
I prefer K’s to theory, but I'm unfamiliar with nearly all the K literature, so just simplify it for me. I understand the basic structure and have decent real-world knowledge. Know your links, alt/s, run it well, and we won't have a problem. None identity K’s would be fun to listen to.
Slow down and explain everything more for prog debates. I require sending speech docs to everyone. Do not run progressive arguments against clearly inexperienced debaters in front of me. If you haven't run into prog arguments before, don't just complain about how you don't know how to respond.
PF has very short speech times, so I will be a particularly bad judge if there are a lot of offs and you go fast.
Speaks: I range from 27.5-29.5, nothing crazy. My favorite things are comfort and confidence, humor, smart strategies, efficient word economy, and good comparison/weighing. Also good warranting/nuance. Basically everything I said above
Lincoln Douglas Debate Judge Philosophy
Your experience with LD Debate (check all that apply)
Current LD coach, current Congressional Debate coach, former Speech coach
How many LD rounds have you judged?
200+
What is your preferred rate of delivery?
7 -8 (quick conversational style)
--Dislike spreading
Does the rate of delivery weigh heavily in your decision?
No
Will you vote against a student solely for exceeding your preferred speed?
No
How important is the criterion in making your decision?
It may be a factor depending on its use in the round
Do you feel that a value and criterion are required elements of a case?
Yes: Clear value and applicable VC are needed to establish framework.
Rebuttals and Crystallization preferred
Voting issues should be given:
KVIs are important; sign post for your judge to aid flow
The use of jargon or technical language ("extend", "cross-apply", "turn", etc.) during rebuttals:
--Acceptable
Final rebuttals should include:
Voting issues, crystallization
Voting issues are:
Absolutely necessary
How do you decide the winner of the round?
I decide who is the winner of the key argument in the round by presentation/defense of contentions and any drops that flow through
How necessary do you feel the use of evidence (both analytical and empirical) is in the round?
9 = Always necessary
Please describe your personal note-taking during the round
I keep a rigorous flow
Be a storyteller in your IE. Captivate me with your words, your use of body language and gestures, and pull me in to your story or speech. Make me want to hear more. I also want a very organized speech. Make sure that I can follow you and know where you are going and what you want me to take away. You should use all of the voice, emotion, and emphasis you need to help me believe in you and what you are saying.
Please put ryanpmorgan1@gmail.com and vanguarddebatedocs@gmail.comon the email chain.
I normally judge Nat Circuit policy.
I am judging LD this weekend. Some notes on how I judge LD....
- I am good for either trad value-criterion debates or policy debates (including Ks imported from policy).
- I am not a good judge for skep or tricks. I will vote on either, but my threshold is going to be higher than a lot of judges you are used to.
- RVIs - I'll vote on them in two scenarios and two scenarios only. First, if the other team out-right drops the RVI, and the RVI is at least a coherent argument that passes a basic cogency test. Second, I'll vote on it (even if answered) if the RVI does actually make sense as a good measure to deter something absolutely nonsensical from being read in future debates. I will NOT just auto-vote on an RVI because it was dropped.
- Ditto with identity arguments that avoid any engagement with the topic. I'll vote on them, but I am less inclined to do so than a lot of nat circuit LD judges. I'm far better for K affs that actively grapple with the topic in some way.
- I am fine for non-condo CP theory - international fiat, pics, whatever. That's not to say I'm a good judge for those arguments, but I'm not dogmatically opposed to voting on them.
- Please, if you are going to spread incoherently, just share the analytics in your docs. I do not understand why debaters have decided that there is an advantage to hiding analytics in docs. You are essentially gambling that your opponent wont be able to flow you and will miss stuff, but somehow I will be able to flow you. That's a bad bet; your opponent probably is better at flowing then I am.
- I think LD speech times make it nearly impossible for the aff to give a coherent 1AR against a multi-condo NC, and that does impact how I view condo debates when I judge LD.
- I think the NR can and should read cards to answer 1AR arguments. But I think if you are doing so because your NC positions were fundamentally underdeveloped in an attempt to timeskew the 1AR....that's going to hurt you on the condo debate.
- I have some familiarity with the topic from cutting lots of cards for Vanguard and from past debate topics but I haven't actually judged any debates on this topic.
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Policy paradigm:
In accordance with this article - https://debate-decoded.ghost.io/judges-should-disclose-if-they-are-flowing-the-doc/
- I flow on excel.
- I try to flow everything in traditional line-by-line, but if you give up on it, I may too and just flow your speech straight down. I will not be happy about this.
- I will have the speech doc open. I will look at it. I will use it to error-correct my flow if I can't keep up with you, but I try really really really hard to only use it as a last resort.
- I usually flow the 1AC and 1NC positions, and I try to flow CP and perm texts well enough that I can know what is going on without looking at a doc
- I highly advise not stripping analytics out of the doc, unless you are in the top 1% of most clear debaters.
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Policy paradigm
Especially for online debate, slow down a little, particularly from the 2NC on.
Please include Ryanpmorgan1@gmail.com and interlakescouting@googlegroups.com for the email chain. Please use subject lines that make clear what round it is.
I wrote a veritable novel below. I think its mostly useless. I'm largely fine with whatever you want to do.
Top level:
- I am older (36) and this definitely influences how I judge debates.
- Yes, I did policy debate in high school and college. I was mediocre at it.
- Normal nat circuit norms apply to me. Speed is fine, offense/defense calc reigns, some condo is probably good but infinite condo is probably bad, etc.
- I have a harder time keeping up with very dense/confusing debates than a lot of judges. Simplifying things with me is always your best bet.
Areas where I diverge from some nat circuit judges:
- I am more likely to call "nonsense" on your bewildering process CP or Franken K. If the arg doesn't make any sense, you should just tell me that.
- Aff vagueness (and in effect, conditionality) is out of control in modern debate. I will vote on procedural arguments to rectify this trend.
- Bad process CPs are bad and shouldn't be a substitute for cutting cards or developing a real strategy. Obviously, I'll vote on them, but the 2AR that marries perm + theory into a comprehensive model for debate is usually a winner.
- I'm less likely to "rep" out teams or schools. I don't keep track of bid leaders and what not. Related: I forget about most rounds 20 minutes after I turn in my ballot.
Stats:
- Overall Aff win rate: 48.7%
- Elim aff win rate: 42.3%
- I have sat 6 times in 53 elims
Core controversies - I'm pretty open so take these with a grain of salt.
- Unlimited condo | -----X-------- | 2-worlds, maybe
- Affs should be T | ---X----------- | T isn't a voter
- Judge kick | ----X--------- | No judge kick
- "Meme" arguments | --------X- | You better be amazing at "meme" debate
- Research = better speaks | --X--------- | Tech = better speaks
- Speed | -------X---- | Slow down a little
- Inherency is case D | -X--------- | Inherency is a DA thumper
My Knowledge:
- I went for politics DA a lot. Its the only debate thing I'm a genuine expert in, at least in debate terms.
- I do not "get" the topic (IPR) yet. I did not go to camp.
- I have some familiarity with the following K lit - cap, Foucault/Agamben, Lacan/psychoanalysis, security, nuclear rhetoric, nihilism, non-violence, and gendered language.
- I'm basically clueless RE: set col / Afropess / Baudrillard / Bataille. I have voted on all of them, though, in the past..
K affs
I prefer topical affs, and I like plan-focused debates. I'm neg-leaning on T-framework in the sense that I think reality leans neg if you actually play out the rationale behind most K affs that are being run in modern debate. But I vote aff about 50% of the time in those debates, so if that's your thing, go for it.
T/cap K/ ballot PIK and the like are boring to me, though. I think that unless the K aff is pure intellectual cowardice, and refuses to take a stand on anything debatable, there are usually better approaches for the neg to take.
I'm a great judge for impact turning K affs - e.g., cap good, state reform good.
Word PIKs are a good way to turn the aff's rejection of T/theory against them.
Or, you could simply, you know, engage the aff's lit base and cut some solvency turns / make a strong presumption argument that engages with the aff's method.
Some other advice:
- "Bad things are bad" is not a very interesting argument. You should have a solvency mechanism.
- Affs should have a "debate key" warrant. That warrant can involve changing the nature of debate, but you should have some reason you are presenting your argument in the context of a debate round.
- I think fairness matters, but its obviously possible to win that other things matter more depending on the circumstances.
- Traditional approaches to T-FW is best with me - very complicated 5th-level args on T are less persuasive to me than a simple and unabashed defense of topicality + switch-side debate = fairness + education. "We can't debate you, and that makes this activity pointless" is usually a win condition for the neg, in my book. St. Marks teams always do a really good job on this in front of me, so idk, emulate them I guess, or steal their blocks.
Topicality against policy affs
I have not read enough into this topic's literature to have a strong opinion on the core controversies.
I think I tend to lean into bigger topics than most modern judges do. That a topic might have dozens of viable affs is not a sign of a bad topic, so long as it incents good scholarship and the neg has ways to win debates if they put in the work.
Speaker points
When deciding speaks, I tend to reward research over technical prowess.
If you are clobbering the other team, slow down and make the debate accessible to them. Running up the score will run down your speaks.
I frequently check my speaker points post-tournament to make sure I'm not an outlier. I am not, as near as I can tell. I probably have a smaller range than average. It takes a LOT to get a 29.3 or above from me, but it also takes a lot for me to go below 28.2 or so.
Ethical violations
I am pretty hands off and usually not paying close enough attention to catch clipping unless it is blatant.
Prep stealing largely comes out of your speaks, unless the other team makes an appeal.
Tabula Rasa
Road maps are always on the clock.
Hey, please add me to the email chain crownmonthly@gmail.com.If you really don't want to read this I'm tech > truth, Warranted Card Extension > Card Spam and really only dislike hearing meme arguments which are not intended to win the round.
PF and LD specific stuff at the bottom. All the argument specific stuff still applies to both activities.
How to win in front of me:
Explain to me why I should vote for you and don't make me do work. I've noticed that I take "the path of least resistance" when voting; this means I will make the decision that requires no work from me unless neither team has a ballot which requires zero work from me. You can do this by signposting and roadmapping so that my flow stays as clean as possible. You can also do this by actually flowing the other team and not just their speech doc. Too often debaters will scream for 5 minutes about a dropped perm when the other team answered it with analytics and those were not flown. Please don't be this team.
Flowing Practices
I flow 1AC and 1NC cross-x just in case it becomes important to the debate. For 2AC and 2NC cross-x I am mostly listening and writing feedback about the constructive. I will flow 1AC & 1NC with the speech doc open next to the flow. I am reading along with the speech and will catch if you do things like hide aspec so don't worry about that. For the other 6 speeches I am probably not looking at the speech doc. and just flowing what I hear. Don't read into it if I close my eyes or look up and away; I'm just trying to increase my focus to flow better.
Online Debate Update
If you know you have connection/tech problems, then please record your speeches so that if you disconnect or experience poor internet the speech does not need to be stopped. Also please go a bit slower than your max speed on analytics because between mic quality and internet quality it can be tough to hear+flow everything if you go the same speed as cards on analytics.
Argumentation...
Theory/Topicality:
By default theory and topicality are voters and come aprior unless there is no offense on the flow. Should be clear what the interpretation, violation, voter, and impact are. I generally love theory debates but like with any judge you have to dedicate the time into it if you would like to win. "Reject the argument solves all their offense" is an unwarranted claim and teams should capitalize on this more. Lastly you don't need to prove in round abuse to win but it REALLY helps and you probably won't win unless you can do this.
Framework:
I feel framework should be argued in almost any debate as I will not do work for a team. Unless the debate is policy aff v da+cp then you should probably be reading framework. I default to utilitarianism and will view myself as a policy maker unless told otherwise. This is not to say I lean toward these arguments (in fact I think util is weak and policy maker framing is weaker than that) but unless I explicitly hear "interpretation", "role of the judge", or "role of the ballot," I have to default to something. Now here I would like to note that Theory, Topicality, and Framework all interact with each other and you as the debater should see these interactions and use them to win. Please view these flows holistically.
DA:
I am comfortable voting on these as I believe every judge is but I beg you (unless it's a politics debate) please do not just read more cards but explain why you're authors disprove thier's. Not much else to say here besides impact calc please.
CP:
For the neg I prefer that you have a solvency advocate. For the aff I think solvency deficits to the CP probably win most in front of me. I'm alright for competition debates if you are good at them. Spreading one liner standards in the 1ar and then exploding on them in the 2ar will make me have a very low threshold for 2nr answers look like. Similar for the 2nr, but I think the 2nr needs to flag the analysis as new and tell me it justifies new 2ar answers.
K:
I am a philosophy and political science major graduate so please read whatever you would like as far as literature goes; I have probably read it or debated it at some point so seriously don't be afraid. Please leave the cards in the file and explain the thought process, while I have voted on poorly run K's before those teams never do get high speaker points. For aff v K perm is probably your best weapon, answer the theory of power especially if there is an ontology claim, and FW which outright excludes the K is probably weaker than a FW which just says the aff gets to weigh their impacts.
K Affs:
Look above for maybe a bit more, but I will always be open to voting and have voted on K affs of all kinds. I tend to think the neg has a difficult time winning policy framework against K affs for two reasons; first they debate framework/topicality most every round and will be better versed, and second framework/topicality tends to get turned rather heavily and costs teams rounds. I'll vote on framework/topicality, for negs running it I think the "role of negation" is particular convincing and I need an offensive reason to vote, but defense on each aff standard/impact is just as important.
Perms:
Perms are a test of competition unless I am told otherwise. Perms test mutual exclusivity and I normally think they do this by resolving links through the perm. Multiple perms good/bad is a question to be debated on theory.
Judge Intervention:
So I will only intervene if the 2AR makes new arguments I will ignore them as there is no 3NR. Ethics and evidence violations should be handled by tab or tournament procedures.
Speaks:
- What gets you good speaks:
- Making it easier for me to flow
- Demonstrate that you are flowing by ear and not off the doc.
- Making things interesting
- Clear spreading
- Complete line by line in the order that the opponents made the arguments
- Productive CX
- What hurts your speaks:
- Wasting CX, Speech or Prep Time
- Showing up later than check-in time (I would even vote on a well run theory argument - timeless is important)
- Being really boring
- Being rude
PF Specific
- I am much more lenient about dropped arguments than in any other form of debate. Rebuttals should acknowledge each link chain if they want to have answers in the summary. By the end of summary no new arguments should made. 1st and 2nd crossfire are binding speeches, but grand crossfire cannot be used to make new arguments. *these are just my defaults and in round you can argue to have me evaluate differently
- If you want me to vote on theory I need a Voting Issue and Impact - also probably best you spend the full of Final Focus on it.
- Make clear in final focus which authors have made the arguments you expect me to vote on - not necessary, but will help you win more rounds in front of me.
- In out-rounds where you have me and 2 lay judges on the panel I understand you will adapt down. To still be able to judge fairly I will resolve disputes still being had in final focus and assume impacts exist even where there are only internal links if both teams are debating like the impacts exist.
- Please share all evidence you plan to read in a speech with me your opponents before you give the speech. I understand it is not the norm in PF, but teams who do this will receive bonus speaker points from me for reading this far and making my life easier.
LD Specific
- 2AR should extend anything from the 1AR that they want me to vote on. I will try and make decisions using only the content extended into or made in the NR and 2AR.
- Don't just read theory because you think I want to hear it. Do read theory because your opponent has done or could do something that triggers in round abuse.
- Dropped arguments are true arguments, but my flow dictates what true means for my ballot - say things more than once if you think they could win/lose you the round if they are not flown.
Quick Bio
I did 3 years of policy debate in the RI Urban Debate League. Been judging since 2014. As a debater I typically ran policy affs and went for K's on the neg (Cap and Nietzsche mostly) but I also really enjoyed splitting the block CP/DA for the 2NC and K/Case for the 1NR. Despite all of this I had to have gone for theory in 40% of my rounds, mostly condo bad.
Policymaker
Will vote on anything.
Do what you do best.
Feel free to ask specific questions in round.
Miles Morton
Policy/LD:
Speed is fine
Not a fan of non-t critical affs
Don't love Ks either
I enjoy t debates
PF:
Speed is fine, but it's mostly up to your opponents. If they say "clear" or "speed" or something you should slow down.
Please just flash cases, if you don't I'm going to be annoyed if you call for like a half-dozen cards.
I'll evaluate most arguments barring anything offensive or insensitive.
Disclosing boosts speaks
Flashing cases probably means perfect speaks
If you flash cases or disclose and your opponents don't theory is super viable and a voter imo.
Be nice.
Weigh... That's what the decision is based on, don't focus on the line-by-line in FF, instead explain why your impacts matter more than the other teams.
Parli: PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do not feel obligated to fill time if you're a beginner or just don't have 7 or 8 minutes worth of argumentation. I would much rather you give a 4-minute rebuttal than an 8-minute rebuttal where half of the speech is you just repeating the same things over and over again. Speed is cool so long as your opponents are fine with it. Any arguments will be evaluated unless they're discriminatory
Let me know if you have any questions
email for chain: milesmorton2@gmail.com
Have fun!
I judge and coach primarily LD Debate and Public Forum, though I have coached some CX, and I married a CXer! I have an Extemp Debate paradigm at the bottom also.
LD Debate:
I consider myself traditional. I do not like what LD has become in the TFA/TOC/National circuit.
I do not like speed. Debaters who spread their opening cases because they are not ready for a traditional judge have not done their homework. Speeding up at the end of a rebuttal because you are running out of time and want to get to the last few points is somewhat forgivable.
I do not like you spouting 27 cards and trying to win the debate just by having more evidence and more points than your opponent. I want you to explain your position clearly. I want you to explain how the evidence you are providing is relevant and how it helps to make a logical argument.
I dislike debate jargon. Debaters tend to develop bad speaking habits as they go through their careers. I like a debater that can talk like a normal human being. For example, rather than saying, "Counterplan" as some overarching title, say, "I want to suggest we do something different."
I do believe that LD Debate is at its core still a values debate. I want to hear you talk about values and explain how a value is reached or not. That said, I prefer a contention level debate to an overly long framework. Think about it...we call it FRAMEWORK, yet some debaters spend nearly the whole speech on it! Give a brief framework and move on to explain the argument that supports your V-C and connects clearly to the resolution.
I like a summary at the end of the NR. For the 2AR, please do NOT think you have to do line-by-line. Stick with a simple explanation of why you won.
PFD:
See the LD paradigm on speed, etc. PFD is about simply convincing me your side is right. If both of you have contradictory evidence for the same point, then point that out, and try to win the argument somewhere else. Presentation matters in PFD more than in any other debate event, except maybe Congress.
CX/Policy:
I'm a stock issues judge. Slow down! Give me clear Harms--Plan--Solvency. Provide clear funding if applicable. I'm good with CP's and like disads. However, I think the nuclear war impact is rather silly and could be destroyed by someone that got up and pointed out that it hasn't happened and likely won't happen just because Russia gets mad. T's are okay, but I don't suggest you put all your eggs in that basket. Knowing that I'm an old LDer, the best CX teams will appeal to my logical side, rather than my "I think I have a card around here somewhere" side.
EXTEMP DEBATE
This is NOT a shorter version of LD or Policy. You have two minutes. Just give me a clear explanation on why your side is correct. Essentially, this is a crystallization debate. Brief evidence is necessary, but this is not a card v. card debate. Don't chastise your opponent for not having evidence for things that are generally known. Don't chastise your opponent for not addressing your case in the Constructive; they don't have to. Don't provide definitions unless it is truly necessary. Don't be FRANTIC! Calm, cool delivery is best.
I've been judging LD debate since the fall of 2000. I prefer more conversation delivery as opposed to spread. I still put a lot of weight into framework arguments vs my card is better than your card arguments. Speaking of that it is possible to persuade without a card if using a common sense argument it then falls upon the opponent to use common sense to rebut the argument rather than just: "My opponent doesn't have a card for that." This does not apply to specific amounts. For example, if you were to claim that Mossism has 50,000 adherents, I'd need a card. Common sense arguments follow lines of basic logic. Also, please please please please Signpost as you go down the flow.
They/them pronouns
IMPACT CALC AND JUDGE INSTRUCTION WIN DEBATE ROUNDS.
LGBTQ+ rights/litigation attorney during the week, debate coach by weekend.
Coaching/judging CX for about 15 years now, but definitely not a topic expert. Please explain your topic specific jargon. I don't judge a ton on the nat circuit because my work schedule limits my ability to travel, but in general, I'll adapt to your style.
Tech over truth, insofar as it minimizes my own intervention. But that's not an excuse to throw out a bunch of poorly developed/bad quality args. I also find that debaters sometimes lose the forest for the trees- even if you're ahead on tech, you still need to synthesize and explain WHY that matters in the round.
In general, it's your debate, not mine. You can choose to follow my preferences on here if you want to, but never limit your ability to debate based on my personal preferences.
I find that case debate is frequently underdeveloped on the high school level. At the end of the round, I'm basically going to ask myself if the aff is a good idea. As the neg, don't make it harder than it needs to be- tell me why it isn't. As Aff, give me good impact calc and spend time weighing the impacts of case v. off.
T- I have a relatively high standard on T. The standards debate is important and needs to be fleshed out well. I tend to default to reasonability in a world where the standards debate isn't developed or impacted out properly, but I think that's kind of a gross standard because of the potential for judge intervention. That being said, if you do the work in the standards debate thoughtfully, you can definitely get my ballot.
Theory- Make it interesting. Super generic theory is lame, and it makes me very sad, especially when you use it to avoid poignant and interesting debate. I really hate rounds that are just people reading blocks at each other instead of actually engaging. That being said, I appreciate nuanced framework and pre-fiat args, so go for it- tell me all about how fiat is illusory. Tell me all about how policy debate is inherently elitist and how valuing procedural fairness is a bad idea. Or tell me it's a key prereq to structural fairness. Or not. Engage and have critical thought.
Condo is fine, PICS are fine, dispo is silly, but you can go for it if you want. Perm DB probably solves your uniqueness CP unless you VERY clearly articulate why it doesn't.
I love good K debate. However, you need to truly know and understand your K and articulate it well. Even if I know your cards and lit base, I'm not going to interpret them or argue them for you- that's your job. Good analysis always preferred over bad cards. I'll appreciate it if you do a nice job with the alt debate- make me understand the post alt world and flesh out alt solvency. Perf con matters on a reps focused K.
Framework debates can sometimes really frustrating to judge when they are just block vs. block. If the framework debate is what really matters, engage in it with critical thought and clash, and explain to me your vision for the debate space.
K affs are fine, with some notes. If there's absolutely no potential for clash, that's difficult to evaluate as a judge. I don't need a plan, but I appreciate an advocacy statement. I think non-resolutional debate can be really valuable, but I also think that topic education is important, and I hate when either Aff debaters or neg debaters use the K as a way to bypass engaging with the topic lit, unless you can give me a compelling reason why engaging in the topic lit is uniquely bad.
Other Notes:
Speed is fine as long as you're clear. I'll tell you if you aren't. I appreciate it if you slow down on your tags, especially super long ones. For the love of all that is holy, if you spread those Lacan blocks at me, we will not be friends.
If you are racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, etc., you will absolutely pay for it in your speaks, and we're gonna have a post-round chat.
A good analytic is always better than a bad card.
Be conscious of how you are communicating with your opponents. Give meaningful trigger warnings. Respect pronouns. Be kind. Don't talk over people in cross. Be good humans.
At the end of the day, debate is a game. Have fun and learn stuff.
I am new to the national tournament but not to the world of speech and debate. I graduated from Missouri State studying Speech and Theatre Education and have accepted a position coaching at Republic High School in Missouri for the upcoming school year.
Delivery is the most important aspect for me. Demonstrate a confident command of the topic literature. You should read lots of evidence, I'll read your evidence. Speak clearly. Communicate to the judge. Have a clear plan for cross-examination. Your speeches should reflect the thoughtful execution of an intentional strategy.
I appreciate signposts and clarity through speaking ability. Speaking skills are very important to overall success and are the foundation of having a successful debate. I cannot emphasize enough how much clarity matters to me. If you have dramatic tone changes between tag and card, where you can barely be heard when reading the text of evidence, you will get lower points from me. If I can't understand the argument, it doesn't count. There is no difference between being incoherent and clipping. Reading directly into the screen at top speed, no matter how clear you are, is still nearly impossible for me to understand. Engage the core of their position.I care far more about your ability to speak clearly and refute arguments than the type of arguments you read.
Hello! I’m a 1 Diamond Assistant Speech Coach with 8 years of speech coach experience and 25 years of active participation in the speech and debate community. I competed interpretation events as a high school student between 2000-2004. I have 22 years of speech judge experience on the local and national circuits.
In interpretation events, I appreciate strong character development, unique and distinct characterizations, and authentic and meaningful storytelling.
In public address events, I appreciate a clear and persuasive thesis/argument, extensive examples, a compelling analysis, cited research, and strong performance elements (e.g. use of humor, interesting topics, excellent speaking skills, and thoughtful gestures/movement).
I have no experience judging or competing in Congress. I have only judged 1 round of LD, and less than 10 rounds of PF.
I value the quality of presentation and reward things like eye contact, slowing down when highlighting impacts, weighing/organizing in later speeches, and persuasive rhetoric.
Bring any meaningful cx points into your main speeches.
Be respectful to one another.
Rounds should not have any theory arguments.
Hello,
I am a parent judge, 4th year judging. Please avoid spreading. I prefer a traditional debate. Also, please be respectful of your opponent. Good luck!
I keep to NSDA/TFA/UIL rules and regulations. Debate to the given topic. Arguments about whether or not we should be debating a given topic will not be accepted. No spreading or speed, these are communication events. Road maps count as time.
Assistant Coach at Spring Woods High School Speech & Debate for Victoria Beard.
Interp: Source of the majority of my experience in Speech & Debate. I look for multiple levels to a performance; character portrayals by students with an understanding of the emotions and stakes of their piece; a concise plot to the cut, coherent from beginning to end; the greater the attention to minor details (mannerisms, gestures, inflection, etc.), the better.
Public Speaking: I enjoy interp-flair, but it cannot supersede the content, argument, or sources of your speaking. I will call you out on inaccuracies.
Debate: Rank your Spread from 1 (slowest) to 10 (fastest), then keep at 5 maximum -- quantity will never match quality. I appreciate excellent enunciation and clarity, and support debaters providing roadmaps for judges. Dropped contentions are watched for. No disclosures after round end.
Montana is a traditional debate style. Therefore, your speed and K's will likely not be effective with me. I prefer real arguments on the topic to theories and games. I generally default to stock issues and policy making so keeping things grounded in real world is key. The topic is given for a reason and I want to hear arguments and plans about the topic.
Decorum matters. Do not treat the debate space as a place to act unprofessionally and attack your opponents just because they say something you don't like. If you claim debate is abusive and then proceed to degrade and abuse your opponents you will lose. I won't vote for K's on words, pronouns, etc.
I will listen to your style and do my best to adapt and be open minded but things that are far off topic, too rooted in just philosophy with no real world impacts will likely not work. If you cannot explain your arguments or your K in your own words dont run it. Speed is only effective so long as you are clear and understandable. If I cant understand the argument it doesnt get flowed. I dont have the evidence in front of me so spread at your own risk. Remember debate is about effective communication more than anything.
Overall, clash is key. Respond to your opponents arguments. Debate the arguments and stay grounded in reality. You can claim all the terminal impacts you want but logic and analysis are likely to shoot those links down with empiric/uniqueness alone.
Hi, my name is Teddy! I am currently the JV/Varsity coach at Tartan Senior High School and the Head Coach at John Glenn Middle School. I've been coaching Policy Debate in some capacity for the past 4 years. I've also coached/judged LD, PF, and various speech events. I debated in high school for 2 years and college for 3.
Pronouns: He/They | Email: tmunson.debate@gmail.com
Topics debated: Arms Sales, CJR, Anti-trust, Legal Personhood, & Nukes
Topics coached: Water, NATO, Fiscal Redistro, IPR, & Arctic
Paradigm:
I think that debate is a game which tests hypothetical actions aimed at resolving problems outlined by the resolution and/or the 1AC--the affirmative should identify an issue, propose a solution, and then prove that that solution resolves the issues identified. The burden of the negative is to disprove the 1AC. I generally default to tech over truth, but I can be persuaded to adopt an alternative lens as long as it's substantiated.
I prefer when links are unique or specific to the 1AC/plan. I don't think you have to win the alt to win the K if it's been articulated as a disadvantage to the 1AC. I don't think I'm the best judge for theory debates--slow down your spreading and send out your blocks. Framework & theory arguments framed around education are particularly convincing to me. Rhetoric matters.
If you're an LDer reading this paradigm, all of what I said above/below still holds true to the way that I'm going to evaluate your rounds.
Feel free to ask me questions before the round!
Additional notes:
If your position requires a trigger warning, don't read it in front of me if it's graphic/describing traumatic situations.I think ridiculous tech/AI impacts are really entertaining (3-D printed WMDs <3).
General:
I am a lay judge. I prefer traditional style debate with logical analysis over a technical debate with poorly explained cards. I do NOT prefer spreading. If I do not understand what you said, then I would not be able to flow or give you credit for those arguments. I prefer high-impact & high-probable arguments with a strong link structure. Make sure you provide framework and crystallize impact. Break it down and tell me what the most important voting issues are.
I will not look at cards unless it is heavily contested or the team asks me to call for one. Clash is king in the round and I fully expect direct refutations and spirited, clever, cross fire sessions.
I expect you to be courteous to your team mates and opponents.
PF:
Okay with Ks and Theory. Make it good or I will be less inclined to vote on it (structure it properly and explain it well in the context of the round).
No Tricks please.
LD:
I understand the mechanics of value/criterion debate and expect the debater to use the established criterion to measure the value. Crystallize the debate and clearly articulate voting issues. If you are using technical jargon, be sure to explain them in the round.
I am a lay judge only familiar with traditional debate. So, I am not comfortable with fast spreads.
Please make sure you’re being respectful of other competitors. I understand that debates can get intense and heated, but remember: attack the argument not the competitor.
gmuralles4@gmail.com
I have been a coach for 8 years. Debates are about persuasion and communication, not cramming the most arguments into a time span. I prioritize debate as an educational activity, so prioritize addressing the resolution over theory. Treat me like a lay judge...explain all of your arguments with a minimum of jargon, spell out your analyses. If I am not flowing you, I can’t judge you, so while you can speak at a relatively fast pace, please do not spread. I have the most experience with LD and PFD. For CX, I vote on stock issues. PFD Crossfire should be disciplined about asking and answering questions, not arguing back and forth. I value civility and respect in debates.
As a surgeon, scientist and educator, I value confidence, diction, organization, data and presence for speech events. Have a little fun with it.
For debate events, I will flow. I value data and speaking ability. It is in your best interest for me to be able to understand your argument. You run risk of being marked down if you are speaking so quickly I can't understand you. I will weigh your citations. I am less likely to weight impact especially if this is taken to an absurd extreme (e.g, I have lived long enough to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that not every offense leads to nuclear war)
Salutations, I am Zeque (pronounced: Zeek) Murillo. I am so stoked for the exposure to the topics you are all bringing to the table and using this platform to bring attention to the passion of the future.
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BACKGROUND:
Competitive Experience: I competed on the high school level from 2010-2014. My main events of the competition level were Duo Interpretation, Dramatic Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Original Oration, Impromptu Speaking. I definitely understand what it's like to Double/Triple/Quadruple/Penta/Hexa - Enter, so I'm always understanding of individuals who do multiple events.
Judging/Coaching: I've been part of the judging circuit from local, state, and national level since the fall of 2014 season - Current. I've judged all speech categories and even up to a few quarter final rounds at varying national years. I was an Alumni volunteer assisting with the NSDA program for 2-3 years. I then started Assistant coaching specifically for speech from 2017- Current. My main expertise is in the Interpretation events, but I am also well versed in assisting with the Public Address Events & Judging Argumentation Events.
JUDGING:
Interpretation:
Content: An introduction in the piece that states the title and author is weighed heavily into account. I also really enjoy the details in the piece and if it's from a play/book/media content that is typically longer than 10 minutes, how is it cut? I enjoy material that has a nice flow and reflects the message that you are trying to get across whether that is humorous or serious in nature. Your piece should still make sense and leave an impact.
Blocking: I do love seeing the choices that students make to elevate the piece and create an environment. I notice the details in pantomime and the consistency of items that you have created out of thin air. For example, if you are holding a cup and then all of a sudden it disappears because you never put it down, I'ma notice :) Blocking is such a beautiful technique to help transport me to the environment of the scene. I think it's super cool when you can play with the dimensions of your speech.
Characterization: I take into account the emotion that you flesh out in your characters and utilizing voice, attitude, posture, and mannerisms to create an easily recognizable character. If you have multiple characters in a piece, I also will evaluate the technique in how you are transitioning from character to character. Lastly, I also consider facial expression and emotional invocation that allows us to better understand the character.
Public Address Events:
Content: Originality of the topic or stance on topic is an item I will take into consideration pretty heavily. I also am dissecting how you structure your speech and how the information is flowing into each other to develop one systematic idea. If you are providing sources, are you citing the original source, & dates.
Delivery: How are you using your movement, tonality, & gestures to engage with the audience? I look for effective speaking tools through using your natural instruments as a speaking tool to elevate the information and bring us in. I also listen to the words you are emphasizing to show how you are highlighting the information and playing with pace.
Impact: I need to know your take/stance on the presentation. Why do you feel passionate about this topic or how do you truly believe this will be resolved. Why should we be listening to this speech and what will be the major take aways?
Lincoln Douglas:
As I flow your round, I’ll be looking to see how your value and criterion work in tandem to prove the moral rationale that LD rests; furthermore, I don’t like when crossfires engage in obnoxious back-and-forths with questions that don’t add any substantive value to the round. Lastly, it's imperative that you underscore the credibility of your cards, especially when making claims including stats, data, points, and political and historical claims that attack your opponent’s arguments.
Public Forum:
I enjoy PF and like to flow the rounds I judge to provide you with the best feedback I can. I love to see link chains and impacts that are substantial to the case; rather than just reading the cards, I’d appreciate you explaining and further reinforcing your points, data, and stats, to let me know that you know your case all around. If you speak too fast, I’ll try to keep up as I flow but once you’ve lost me, I’ll stop flowing. I am not a fan of voters that are reliant on ethos; I prefer you use logic in voters that explain to me what you’ve argued in round. Don’t forget that I’m also flowing the round so if your claim is that they’ve dropped certain points, I’ll refer to my flow to assess that claim.
I am a platform speech and debate coach with experience coaching kids in oratory, informative, extemporaneous speaking, and congressional debate. I also have past experience helping kids write cases for debates and cut literature for poetry, drama, and poi.
As a platform or interpretive events judge, I try to follow the recommended rubric and rate speakers on the quality of their logic, their development, their delivery, and their physical presence.
The one event you absolutely do not want me to judge is humor. However, I would be best suited to judging oratory or extemporaneous speaking.
As a debate judge, I pay attention to the logical flow of arguments and prefer to hear sound logic without reliance on logical fallacies. I can judge any of the debate formats, but my personal preference is Lincoln-Douglas due to the added requirement of adhering to a value and criterion throughout the debate.
I have coached, competed in, and judged various debate events for the past 5 years. I am a flow judge, and I appreciate when arguments are consistently carried throughout the round. I ask for clean, honest debate where both sides are respectful and mindful of their opponents.
Experience- 4 years high school as competitor, 2 years competing on my college team, and 5 years coaching my high school team.
What I like to see- I joined the dark side of debate as a parli. debater on my college team. Because of this I value the logistics of the debate rather than cards/evidence. Meaning, I am not putting any ink down while you are throwing out information off of all the cards you are reading. I think that you should read your card and then explain why this is relevant in your case. Any type of debate is suppose to be a persuasive speech, not a competition of evidence. As far as technical debate I will vote on those arguments alone if they are done well. I don't appreciate spreading or just dropping arguments as a strategy, I think that is a waste of time. K's are welcome, especially if they are done right. Speed is fine, but if I have to ask for your case because you read so fast nobody could understand you I will vote you down. I believe that if I have to do the work and read over your entire case in order to understand it that you are not debating. Don't make me do the work for you! I will not flow during any cross x. I believe that the time is for opponents to clarify and get information. If you want to bring up what is said during your speech I am cool with that. Lastly, during cross x I would appreciate letting opponents finish their thoughts and being respectful, I don't think being rude during cross x should be used as a strategy.
I am a parent judge who is a school educator. My daughter is a policy debater but I don't frequently watch debate rounds. Things to avoid:
- Spreading- I won't be able to follow a spreading round, especially with topic literature I am not familiar with.
- Kritiks- I do not have a base of knowledge for k literature and would tend to view more generic K's like the Cap K with a highly critical eye. I would avoid kritikal arguments unless you plan to explain them really really well
- Theory- I am ok with T, but theory arguments about the rules of debate/ function of a round will be useless, since I don't know the norms of fairness etc. in debate.
Things I like-
- Stock issues- solvency, inherency etc.
- Disadvantages- Makes a clearer round for me to judge
- Counterplans- Open to tests of solvency and alternate advocacies.
Please include me on the email chain- eaglecy1@gmail.com
I am an experienced judge with a background primarily competing in British Parliamentary debate and Lincoln Douglas debate, and I have judged or competed in all other debate formats numerous times. I am comfortable with clear fast speaking, but not spreading. I am familiar enough with debate, public policy, and current events to assess your evidence, adherence to the rules, etc. I am comfortable with theory debates to the extent that they are relevant and persuasive, but I have little patience with theory debates that are done with the intention of simply confusing or tripping up another debater.
In LD, I hope to judge rounds based on the values debate, and based on impact weighing of contentions as assessed by the value and criterion debate. Debaters who effectively engage in the values debate and assess the impact of their arguments through the lens of their value/VC or both values/VC will be in good shape to win by my paradigm. If both debaters effectively do this, the win will go to the debater who has the greater impacts associated with the value/VC debate and/or to the debater who wins the value debate, if the impacts are fairly even. Sometimes debates are not conducted in a way that allows this level of judging to occur, and then I will default to judging the round based on who had the more impactful arguments generally, the better evidence or logic, or the best general persuasion. I believe in low point wins, and I do enjoy good speeches as a part of the debating process. I expect debaters to be generally courteous to one another and I am not opposed to speaker point penalties for debaters who treat one another unnecessarily rudely.
I view the PF format as intended to be publicly relevant and engaging, and its primary purpose as weighing the pros and cons of an idea. By and large, PF is not a value debate or a plan debate, unlike LD or policy - and I do not enjoy debaters who try to pigeonhole their opponents into defending a specific plan or value. Rather, PF is a format that is designed to be weighed generally by which world is the "best". I expect debaters to weigh the round and help the judge determine how we "know" that their world is "best" - be that the number of arguments won, the nature of the impact of an argument that was won, etc. In the realm of weighing, my hope is that debaters will directly clash with the other team's arguments; the lack of value and plan can sometimes leave debates feeling unachored. You have so much time for rebuttal and it is therefore important to dig into the meat of your opponents' arguments. Explain why an argument is false, or why your argument outweighs it, or why it is non-unique to the debate at hand, etc. And, as with LD, I expect debaters to be generally respectful to one another.
Hey, I'm a lay judge! This is my second year judging.
Some things I'd like to make the round easier for me and for you:
I'd prefer it if you weren't spreading as much so that I can thoroughly understand your argument.
Also, since I don't know much about the topic, I'd appreciate it if you could explain your argument well to me.
Good Luck,
Narendra
Extemp:
Extemp is my favorite event and, I believe, the one with the most long-term practical applications after leaving the world of debate. The best extemp speeches are ones where I forget to flow because I am so engrossed in learning about your topic. I believe strongly in clear structure and substructure - please do not simply ramble for 7 minutes. I would much prefer an organized 5 minutes to a 'stream of consciousness' 7:30. Please have a clear AGD, link, statement of significance, and background in your intro. Ideally, you will have 6-10 sources in your speech. Do NOT makeup sources - I read a lot and will know. I have definitely checked sources mid-speech if something seems fishy.
WSD:
I love WSD. Please do not try to turn it into a different form of debate than it is. It should be cordial, professional, and focused on communication. That being said, I am not of the mindset that 'sources don't matter' in WSD - they absolutely do. Again, I will fact check mid-round if I think you are lying or making things up. While you should NOT be 'reading cards' like you do in CX, it is both acceptable and, in my opinion, necessary to back up your arguments with sources when writing WSD cases (for prepared motions).
Public Forum:
I think that public forum is, at its core, the melding of sound argumentation and solid speaking. You should present well-structured, rational, and strongly warranted arguments in a way that can be relatable to whoever is in the back of the round.That being said, I don't mind some speed - but be sure you are articulate and clear, especially with tags and authors. Sacrificing quality for quantity is a poor choice if you cannot handle (or your judge cannot handle) the speed. Make wise choices.
In terms of 'atypical' arguments. I think that it is very hard to run a K argument well in PF. I don't believe that it cannot be done, just that it is very rare. If you are running theory, then you better have extremely solid warrants and you should have it explained to the level of access of understanding fitting to this style of debate. DO NOT just read cards that you got from your Policy friends/teammates and call it a day. ALSO...YOUR ADVOCACY SHOULD MATCH YOUR ACTIONS. Do NOT use theory arguments as a cheap tool to surprise unwitting opponents and get the ballot when you have engaged in no actions that match the advocacy of your theory arguments. If you are running disclosure theory, there better be a history of you disclosing at EVERY round and you engaged in multiple forums, workshops, and discussion boards where you are ACTIVELY engaged in increasing disclosure in a way that promotes education and fairness. If you get up and read disclosure in front of me and do not have this, it will be an automatic loss. I am not joking.
I think that framework is a solid strategy - if there is a purpose. Frequently teams have f/w just to have it and then don't touch it for the rest of the round. If it is there, then you should extend.On the issue of extensions, be sure that your arguments are carried through the debate. Do not read at the beginning and then bring back up in the final focus and expect me to grant them to you.Finally, there should be a clear advocacy in the round - and a clash between teams. I hate debates that are like ships passing in the night - no clash.
A bit of background:
I debated policy 4 years at the University of Oklahoma and 4 years at Edmond Santa Fe High School. I've judged policy/LD/PF debate since then.
Yes put me on the email chain:
parkerstephennelson@gmail.com
POLICY:
I believe that debate is a game that fosters a multitude of positive things: critical thinking, problem solving, logical decision-making, communication skills, and exposure to an abundance of topics that no other activity provides. Because of this, I try to give back to this community and support it in every way I can. There is no wrong way to debate, and bringing your own flavor/style is encouraged. I have an extensive amount of experience with critical arguments but I can get down to a good policy debate too. The best judges I had were the ones willing to listen to positions from every possible angle, and that's what I strive to emulate.
Thus, I try to outline my general preferences in technical terms:
-- Each argument must have a claim, warrant, and be properly impacted out. The other team dropping the argument doesn't mean putting a 30 second blurb at the end of the 2NR/2AR, expecting my unequivocal vote.
-- Coherence is a must, and your evidence should say what you claim it says. Don't under-highlight to put out incoherent arguments. Evidence quality wins more debates.
-- I'm a big advocate for framing arguments, which make my evaluation of the round easier.
-- My argument preference in my past debates/decisions won't grant you any type of benefit in the next round.
-- Understand and adequately explain how your argument interacts with the specific nuances of the opposing teams. So many debaters get bogged down in jargon instead of properly explaining how these concepts should shape my decision.
-- There is a significant difference in being strategic and being squirrely; the latter is incredibly annoying.
LD:
The Value/Criterion debate is what is integral mostly in my evaluation of LD debates; if given no meaningful clash by debaters it makes it significantly difficult to weigh contention-level clash. Making arguments surrounding each Framework and how they interact/should be evaluated/prioritized with regards to contention-level claims will make the end of the debate infinitely easier to decide. You don't want me deciding who accesses what on my own.
I am good with all means of jargon -- cross applications, turns, links, etc. these are encouraged and allow for sprinkling offense across the flows, so feel free to use them as long as they're coherent.
I am fine with progressive argumentation, but I'm not the judge to pref for one-off, throw-away theory shells -- if the argument is warranted and impacted out properly, I will evaluate it, but prefer meaningful topical engagement from both teams.
PF:
Framing/Impact calculus is probably the most important aspect of PF debate for me nowadays. The easiest way to my ballot is to do the weighing for me and tell me exactly how I'm supposed to evaluate each impact/how they interact with regards to each other within the debate space. Impact prioritization based on criteria, formalized Framework/theory arguments, etc. are encouraged.
I am fine with progressive argumentation, but I'm not the judge to pref for one-off, throw-away theory shells -- if the argument is warranted and impacted out properly, I will evaluate it, but prefer meaningful topical engagement from both teams.
Voters in Final Focus are extremely helpful, even more so if they're presented during Summary, but not required.
I am good with all means of jargon -- cross applications, turns, links, etc. these are encouraged and allow for sprinkling offense across the flows, so feel free to use them as long as they're coherent.
The Specifics:
Framework/Topicality:
You NEED evidence/definitions for what portion of the resolution is being debated.
Ideally, the affirmative defends a position that is controversial, with plenty of literature granting ground on both sides and predictable elements to it. I probably have a reputation as a fairness/limits voter, but that's because it's the debate I hear the most. I also enjoy "clash" debates, but the biggest issue I run into is one side not engaging with how the other side portrays the debate, and instead hyper-focuses on turning every offensive standard without providing the over-arching context.
Topical versions of the Aff aren't required to solve all the world's problems. The 1AC is 9 minutes.
Impact framing on the Topicality flow is just as important as anywhere else.
Kritiks:
***You need a link to the Plan itself--or at least to the representations of the Aff. One of the biggest reasons I vote Aff in Policy Aff vs K debates is that either:
a) Not enough work was put into establishing a specific link to the Aff or
b) work is put into establishing a link to the status quo, which the negative assumes automatically links to the Affirmative. That isn't the case.***
Using direct quotations from the Affirmative evidence in your link claims will get you leaps further than you think.
Permutation defense is just as important as link offense -- voting on links of omission aren't super compelling.
Expect me to allow the affirmative to weigh the advantages of the Aff unless there is an overwhelmingly explicit reason not to, aka violent representations of the plan, flawed epistemologies, etc.
No separate sheet of paper for overviews.
No underviews; please god.
Note: "Perm do the alt" is not a perm.
While I'm here, overview debates are exhausting. Spilling a prewritten 5 minute word-salad about your K, and expecting it to answer literally everything on the line-by-line is a meme and is bad debating. Debate the line-by-line.
You need an alternative. A coherent alternative. I keep using the coherence word, because discussions need to be had on how the alternative interacts with both the status quo, and advantages of the affirmative plan. It also must solve your links.
I'm most familiar with: Nietzsche, Capitalism, Heidegger, Reps, Fem IR, Anthro, Security, Anti-Blackness, SetCol and various flavors of such. I'm not your Deleuze/Baudrillard aficionado.
K Affs:
You do not have to have a plan, but you need to answer the question of advocacy. Why am I voting for whatever it is you're doing? Why is it good? If I'm left in the dark, typically it's due to teams thinking that obscurity is advantageous. It isn't.
I am persuaded by good presumption arguments made by the negative. Engaging with these is paramount to success with critical affirmatives. Ignoring them is a great recipe to lose.
Your advocacy--at minimum--needs to have a critical element that is tangential to the resolution, and a mechanism for achieving/overcoming/resolving this element.
CPs:
Counterplans? Yes.
Advantage Counterplans? Yes.
Plan Inclusive Counterplans? Ehhh, but acceptable, given proper justification/solvency advocates.
In all cases, the negative needs to win a few things:
1) The counterplan is competitive (textual and functional to be safe)
2) There is a uniquely accessed net benefit
3) Complete solvency of the affirmative harms WITH a solvency advocate (unless you weigh other things against the remaining portions of the Aff).
I will vote for permutations -- use your net benefits as offense.
DAs:
Love them. I absolutely adore specific link stories, or better yet case-specific disadvantages, but I will still take all of your generic links.
I find Affs hole-punching their way through weak link-chains to be the easiest way to dismantle a DA. Point out logical leaps in internal links.
Read the cards, especially the un-underlined portions. Point out cards having no warrant in your speeches.
I believe 0% risk is possible, but it's not always probable, so don't rely on only uniqueness take-outs or link defense.
Specificity of Uniqueness > stacks of cards that all have two sentences highlighted. The under-highlighting is proliferant and teams getting away with it is insane to me.
Please. Do. Impact. Calculus.
Theory:
I am a believer in theory interpretation debate and it's a hill I'll die on. It's also, coincidentally enough, a great way to defend/persuade your judge by having a basis for evaluation.
I probably lean more towards condo/multiple-worlds good, assuming the negative isn't trying to run away from the debate/spread people out of the round.
Going for the theory in the 2NR/2AR is a bold move, and I will vote on it, assuming you impact the debate well and answer back defense overwhelmingly, preferably with some in round-abuses tied to a violation of some sort by the opposing team.
This does not mean running incoherent, superfluous theory arguments and expecting a W.
MISC:
Clipping: I request a copy of all speech docs due to how egregiously offensive I find this to be. You will not pass GO. You will lose the round. You will receive 0 speaks.
I *will* vote against you without the other team claiming you are clipping.
I *will* give you minimum possible speaks if you have the un-underlined/highlighted portions of your evidence at a 1 point font. STOP.
Have a copy of your evidence for your opponent. This can be physical or digital.
Do not be rude to each other in Cross-Ex. Be engaging, but not overly aggressive.
I have no issues with speed -- I do have issues with people who think they're fast, but aren't clear. I only flow what I hear, and if I have to yell clear more than twice, I'd suggest slowing down and checking if my pen has stopped moving.
Please respect preferred pronouns. Mine are he/him.
Hello debaters, I am a lay judge with a preference for logical reasoning and sound argumentation. Here's what you need to know about my judging style:
Speed and Style: I appreciate a conversational, natural speaking style and prefer a pace that allows me to follow your arguments easily. High-speed speaking (spreading) will not work well with my judging style.
Language: I prefer everyday language over technical jargon. The goal should be to make your argument as clear and understandable as possible, not to impress with complexity.
Argumentation and Evidence: I value logical, plausible arguments backed by quality evidence. I expect your impacts to be reasonable and well-explained - extreme exaggeration or theoretical plausibility without strong warranting won't persuade me.
Crossfire: I'm fine with respectful interruptions, but make sure you allow your opponent to answer your questions fully. I value clear, direct questions and responses.
Final Speeches: I'm looking for you to clearly explain why your team should win based on the arguments presented. I value logical reasoning with reasonable impacts, and clarity is key.
Respect: Respect for everyone in the round is non-negotiable. I will not tolerate rude, condescending, or bullying behavior.
If I Don't Understand: If I don't understand your argument, it's your responsibility to make it clearer. I might not have time to ask for clarifications, so please ensure your arguments are accessible from the start.
Good luck, and I look forward to hearing your arguments.
Hi
General Info:
-I use she/her pronouns
-I want to be on the email chain ( email is delanie.n0214@gmail.com)
-I debated for Millard North High School 2018-2021, I ran both policy and kritical arguments, I have a slightly more than a basic understanding of most (some niche) philophical arguments, ibnlt: Puar, Preciado, Camus, Derrida, Satre, most cap arguments, and set col.
-I am a law student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, college of law. I also have a B.A. in Political Science from UNL and Graduate Certificate in Public Policy Analysis.
- I don't care if you sit, stand, walk, or look at the wall when you speak
- Please be kind.
- if I am judging your LD round- I am fine with any kind of debate- LARP or otherwise- I'll listen to whatever you read in front of me
- if I am judging your PF round- I think PF is generally way underdeveloped in argumentation, that being said, please PLEASE have substantive clash in your rounds, especially in relation to evidence
TLDR:
-Read what you like, debate well and respectfully
My preferences:
- I have an extremely high burden for evidence, if you do not have a warranted piece of evidence attached to your argument at the end of the round and your opponent does- I will default to the evidence every single time. this means you need to extend your evidence well- explain your evidence and contextualize it- you can read as many cards as you'd like but if you're powertagging and it's caught, it's hard to win.
-Tech > truth almost always
-Do not assume I will read your evidence unless you tell me to and why (if you have a fantastic piece of evidence that answers every single argument your opponent is making, tell me how. Don't just tell me to extend it.)
-PLEASE extend author names when you extend a card (not only author name, but please put it in there) but if I don't know what card you're referencing (especially if you have multiple cards that basically say the same thing), I can't evaluate it, and tend to buy responses when it is answered by your opponent.
-PLAN TEXT AFF: If you do not garner solvency or do anything due to your case ( performance, etc.), it will be hard for me to vote for you. Defend your solvency or prove you do something.
-I love Kritical arguments, but I need an extremely clear path to solvency to buy your argument.
- Tagteam cross ex is fine
- I frequently give advice for future arguments in my RFD. If you do not want that, let me know, I will not be offended.
- I will and have (more frequently than I would like) vote(d) neg on presumption,at the end of the round, if I have no reason to believe that the affirmative does anything other than the squo ( or worse), I will vote on presumption.
- don't steal prep; emailing/flashing is not prep
-condo is not my fav, but I won't outright reject it.
-I love a good theory argument; you need to flesh out the impact.
-T is a fun and good time, but I need the impact of a nontopical case.
- Speed is fine, read as fast as you want, i'll clear you
-DisAds: I need specific links, but I'm willing to vote on a link of omission if I'm given a reason to.
-Debate is a game, but I don't think cheaters should always lose. Always following the rules of debate takes away the fun. Tell me why cheaters should lose.
-Trigger warnings and generally not okay behavior: if you have a case that involves sensitive material in any form, you should add a trigger warning. If you choose to add a trigger warning, you need another option for a case if the material triggers someone. If you fail to provide another option, you will concede the round. I will not allow you to make this space unsafe for anyone. That being said, if you misgender someone and/or are racist/ sexist/ homophobic /transphobic /generally a bigot, I will stop the round.
Speaker points:
I generally think speaker points are a terrible way of determining success; my rules are:
30 - I think you should win this tournament
29-29.9- little to no criticism
28-28.9- few strategic issues
27-27.9- more than a few issues or multiple critical errors
26 or lower- you owe someone an apology
I default to 28 for the loser and 28.5 for the winner unless I feel compelled to think about it harder.
Bottom line:
-Do whatever you're comfortable with and do it well. If you don't make an effort to get better, you're wasting everyone's time
They/She
Speech drop or Email
Experience: I participated in policy, LD, and NFA-LD (college LD), mainly reading phil and the k.
Judging Philosophy: Tech over Truth. I come into debate as a judge, educator, and learner — please feel free to perform as you would like to. Any argument with a warrant is an argument, regardless if I agree with it. Don't be sexist, racist, ableist (etc.) in round.
Speed is fine,I try to flow off the speech rather than the doc. Please don't zoom through analytics.
1 = pref me; 5 = strike me
K = 1
I love a K debate that is explained well, don't word salad. LBL>Long overview
cool w/ any lit base, but won't fill in explanations
I evaluate the K through whatever framing is given. Then I look to how the K interacts with the aff (turn, serial policy failure, etc).
cool w/ reps k's
Going for the alt isn't necessary. you can kick a cp and go for the da; you can kick the alt and go for links and fw.
If you go for the alt, it has to either: a) resolve the links or/and b) solve the aff.
K Affs= 1
I love K-affs,but I've equally voted for negative strategies that interacted with or explained the aff's theory of power better. It's not about what argument you've made, but rather how it interacts with your opponents.
K affs aren't different from "normal" debate: give me an impact that I can vote on, whether you are doing performance or reading heavy POMO.
TFW: I'm 50/50, not biased towards either: Tell me why fairness isn't an impact or tell me why fairness outweighs the k-aff's pedagogical benefits
LARP = 1
impact calc is important to my decision in these debates
Plan affs are fine
Counterplans are cool. The CP is just an opportunity cost da; tell me either how it solves some of case and produces a net benefit elsewhere or how it avoids some DA that outweighs the case.
- will judge kick the cp
- if you are using the CP to solve some of case, do the work of explaining how
Phil = 1
single standards are fine, don't think any meaningful clash happens in value-value debates
open to variety of non-consequentialist theories, but explain the implications of you winning framing
warrant explanations are especially important here, don't dump tag re-reads.
Theory = 2
don't be blippy
if you go for theory, collapse. I find that a 1 min abuse story in the last rebuttal is often unsubstantiated
eval theory through offense/defense
competing interp>reasonability
norms>actual abuse
friv theory is fine, but i'd prefer theory rooted in some substantive portion of debate, rather than germane norms like clothing. good = cp theory, topicality, plan-bad, alt theory, disclosure, x arg is violent for debate, 3-tier, etc
not preferred = chess, shoe, mask theory
Trix = 5
Trix = one line blips that auto-affirm/negate. They are not warranted and developed. I think this is distinct from skep or determinism which are more philosophically justified and warranted.
I don't buy 30 speaks theory
Just win a debate normally; strike me
PF Debate -
As an educator my role is to make sure the debate space is inclusive. I will take actions to ensure racist, sexist, anti-LGBT, and ableist arguments be not condoned within the round.
Framework - If you don't provide any, I'll assume cost-benefit analysis.
Extensions - Make sure your extensions are crystal clear and not blippy. If you want me to evaluate an argument it should be sufficiently explained.
Final focus and summary - Arguments that are presented in the summary should be consistent throughout the whole round. Make sure the arguments that you are going for in the summary exists in your final focus too.
Impact crystalization - Make sure you clearly crystalize the impacts of the round and weigh it against your opponents.
I am an ex-traditional policy debate coach (Stock issues judge) who has been coaching LD since 1990. I usually administrate tournaments rather than judge except when I have been at Catholic Nat's and NSDA Nat's.
Speed: Adapt to the judge who prefers a few well-developed arguments to spreading. I will flow as fast as I can, but it is up to you to communicate to me the compelling/persuasive reasons why you should earn the ballot. Speak clearly and articulate your words and you'll do fine.
Flex Prep. No. Speak within the time constraints and use prep time to see Evidence.
Evidence Challenge: If you doubt the veracity of evidence, then challenge it at the next available opportunity. Remember evidence challenges are all or none. If the evidence has been proven to be altered or conjured, then your opponent loses. If the evidence is verifiable and has NOT been materially altered, then you lose for the specious challenge.
Arguments: A few well-reasoned claims, warrants, and impacts are very persuasive as opposed to a laundry list of underdeveloped assertions/arguments.
Theory Arguments: Not a big fan of sitting in judgment of the topic and/or its framers with critiques. But I do weigh the issue of topicality as germane if made during the constructives.
Philosophy: It's been labeled Value debate for a reason. I encourage the discussion of scholarly philosophies.
Framework: There is a Value that each side is pursuing as their goal. There is a value criterion that is used to measure the accrual of the VP. The last steps include why the Value is superior and why the VC is the best way to measure that value.
Decision-Rule. While repetition often aids learning, I prefer that you tell me what the established standard for judging the round has been and why your arguments have met/exceeded the threshold. Write the ballot for me.
PFD: I have coached and judged PFD since the event started.
I prefer a framework and a few well-developed arguments to the spread. Point keywords as you read your case. Be polite in C-X and ask closed-ended questions. Tell me why your arguments are better by weighing impacts.
I've assistant coached for 15 years mainly as an IE coach. I recently received my first diamond. :D
Debate:
In terms of debate the school I have judged many rounds of Public Forum, Parli, and LD.
I know how to flow, but depending on the round I may not vote solely on flow. As in: An opponent dropping an argument that makes no sense... is still an argument that makes no sense.
I understand most debate jargon, but if you are going to run something really off the wall you may want to take some extra time to explain it.
If you aren't saying anything important I won't flow. If I am lost, I won't flow. If you aren't clear in speaking, I won't flow. I hate spreading with the passion of 1000 burning fiery suns.
I did IEs in high school, so to me the essential part of speech and debate is learning the ability to communicate. So make sure you explain things clearly and concisely. I feel that louder/faster doesn't always equal smarter.
I really like strong (but respectful) clash in crossfire and cross-ex. Really dig into the arguments and show me you know what is going on!
Voters and voting issues in your final speech are key to me inside of whatever framework you have set up. For LD this includes your value and value criterion as well as your opponent's.
IEs:
These events are my jam. I will do my best to write you as much feedback as I can. :)
Tab judge (I.E. I will not connect the dots for you). Any and all arguments need to have offense behind them for them to be counted Stock issues, DA's, CP's, are all good. Theory and K's I will listen to and weigh as long as they are not being run just to run. This is a speaking event and not a speed reading event is my take on speed in a debate round. Meaning, if it is not on my flow, it does not exist in the debate. I do not like new off-case arguments in the 2 NC unless the affirmative opens the door.
Case/evidence email: k3n.nichols@gmail.com
Lincoln Douglas
Background: I've been judging high school Lincoln Douglas for over 6 years and work in the tech industry.
Speed: I'm a native English speaker, so faster than conversational delivery is fine, but debaters should attempt to be persuasive and not speak just to fill time. (I do appreciate good argumentation and have noticed that faster speakers tend to rush past important points without fully exploring their significance, so keep that in mind.)
Criteria: I consider myself to be a "traditional" LD judge. I value logical debate, with analysis and supporting evidence... co-opting opponents' value & criterion and showing how your case wins is completely fair and certainly a winning strategy. I do weigh delivery and decorum to some degree, but generally it isn't a factor... in the event of a tie, Neg wins. Neg owns the status quo, so the burden is on Aff to show why changes must be made.
Note: I don't care for "progressive" arguments... most of the time they're just a cheap ploy to ambush unsuspecting opponents instead of expanding our understanding of the problem and the philosophical underpinnings guiding our decision. (If you'd rather be doing policy, there's a whole other event for you to enter.)
Public Forum
Public Forum is based on T.V. and is intended for lay viewers. As a result, there's no paradigm, but some of the things that help are to be convincing, explain what the clash is between your opponents position and yours, and then show why your position is the logical conclusion to choose.
I am a coach and teacher at Isidore Newman School in New Orleans. I have been involved with debate on the local, regional, and national circuit as a competitor, judge, and coach for more years than I care to put in print.
Non-traditional Debate Warning: If you are looking for a judge that is into non-plan, non-topical K affs, poetry, or other interp affs, I am definitely not the bestjudge for you. I love a good POI, Oratory, and DI, but I love them in those event categories.
Speed: Once upon a time, I kept a fairly fast and thorough flow. I think that I still keep a good flow, but I'm probably not as fast as I once was. I suggest starting at a mid-rate and then pick up speed, which will allow me to get used to your cadence. Another issue concerning speed is that debaters, more often than not, think they are clearer than they actually are. Paperless debate has made this worse. I'll usually try give one "clearer" or "louder" warning per speaker, but after that, either you or your partner need to be paying attention to my facial expressions and whether I’m flowing. I have a terrible poker face, so it will be pretty obvious. If I don’t flow the argument or card text then that argument or card text it is not in the round and I am definitely not going to ask about it and I will not use the speech doc to fill it in for you. I am inclined to be more impressed with a debater who is clear, efficient, and persuasive who speaks slightly slower than a debater who feels the need to show me their mad spreading skills. In terms of speed and T, theory, and k’s: SLOW DOWN - slow way down (see notes on kritiks). Please read my comments at the end of this page concerning the ever growing negative aspects of paperless debate.
The Role of the Affirmative: I expect the affirmative to advocate the resolution through TOPICAL PLAN actionclearly stated in the AC. If you want to run a critical aff stating that the resolution is racist, ablest, ageist, or anything else that suggests an unwillingness to affirm the resolution at hand, as written, then I am not going to be a good judge for you. I am possibly willing to listen to a critical aff that advocates the resolution. (Please see my notes on kritiks later). Performance/Project teams may find it a challenge to meet my view of the affirmative's role.
Topicality: It’s a voter. I like a good T debate that involves actual evidence and a description of why the aff does not meet the interpretation. The standards debate should include a viable limits argument. Why is the affirmative's interpretation of limits bad for debate? If you are going for ground, make sure you impact why it's a big deal to you in the round, and/or even for debate as a whole. Negative teams who plan to go for topicality should be prepared to go “all in." At best, you could weigh “T” and one other position. You’re unlikely to get much ground or be terribly persuasive if T is one of 3 or 4 positions in the 2NR (And really, why have four plus positions remaining in the 2NR?). Impact analysis on T is just as important as it is on any other position. Don’t bother to kritik T with me in the room. T is not racist. Do not run RVI’s on T. It is worth noting that a T debate needs to be a bit slower due to its needed explanation, but it does not need to be handled as slowly as a kritik.
Counterplans: Preferably, counterplans are non-topical, which creates a clearer division of ground. Counterplans also need to be clearly competitive. A CP that is basically just steals the plan is probably not competitive and is just stealing ground, but the idea of PICs can be debated in round. Conditional CP’s are probably a bad thing, but the debate as to why must be specific. A clear net benefit is better for competiveness. If going for the CP in the 2NR, the negative does not automatically get the assumption of the Status Quo as the alternative in place of the CP as a voting issue. This choice must be explained in the 2NR. The aff should definitely argue whether the neg can operate in multiple worlds, or must treat the CP as their new advocacy. Note: I find most severance perms abusive. When I have voted on such a perm, it has usually been because the neg mishandled the flow and allowed the aff to get away with it. The neg needs to note that it is the affirmative’s job to advocate their plan, in its entirety, through the 2AR. It is one thing for the Aff to kick an advantage, but it's an entirely different thing to sever part or all of the plan. Affirmatives should not argue that the "neg does not get any fiat." That's ridiculously limiting.
Disadvantages: I’m old school policy, so I like disads. Disads should have a comparable risk to the net benefits of the AC and/or serve as a net benefit to the CP. There should be a significant link debate (offense/defense) and a clear impact calculus. I hate it when teams wait until the 2NR/2AR to finally weigh the impacts. Reading more cards is not weighing an impact; it’s just reading more cards. An impact calculus requires clear analysis. I will put as much effort into weighing the disad risk as a decision calculus as you spend trying to persuade me that the argument is worth the vote.
Kritiks: I still have not grown to love kritiks. This is definitely true in terms of non-topical K affs and neg kritiks that probably have little to do with the actual plan. Some teams have become overly reliant upon them (running the same position every single year) and use them to avoid having to debate the topic or debate policies they don’t like. I find that most kritiks have ambiguous implications at best and the alternative (if there is one) is often not an alternative at all. I have found myself voting for some of these arguments, despite my not even understanding the position, because the other team failed to explain clearly why the argument has little bearing in the round or fails to point out the shortcomings of the alt. You should also be aware that I most likely have not read much of the critical literature you are referencing and citing. Although I use philosophy in my English class, I do not use at a grad school level. If you plan to run any critical positions in my presence, you must do the following:
1) Slow Down. Really. Slow down. I mean conversational speed slow down
2) Explain your position clearly – no blippy tag lines or argument extensions
3) Have a specific link
4) Have a clear alternative – something more tangible than “being part of the ___ mindset," “avoiding the evils of capitalism,” or "do nothing." Huh??
Despite my personal disposition on the kritiks, the opposing team will still need to say more than “The K is bringing down policy and should go away.”
Performance/Project Debates: I’m still a cost-benefits analysis policy judge at heart. I have not changed my mind on the position that performance/project positions leave little ground for the opposing team. I have no idea how to weigh your performance against the other team’s position (performance or traditional) for the purposes of winning a debate.
Cross Ex: CX is important for fleshing out a strategy and provide clarification of arguments; I generally think that answers in cross ex are binding. I actually listen to cross ex, often take notes and even find it interesting. I also find it not that interesting on many occasions. Tag team CX is okay, but avoid taking it over. Not being able to handle your cross ex will result in lower speaker points. Taking over a partner’s CX will also result in lower speaks. CX starts when the speaker is finished. If you need 30 seconds to “set up” then that will come out of prep.
Role of the Ballot: My ballot determines who wins the round. That is all. If you win, you are (perhaps) one round closer to clearing. If you lose, you are (perhaps) one round closer to not clearing. My ballot does not send a message to the debate community; it is not a teaching tool; it is not an endorsement of a particular action or philosophy.
Theory: Save theory debates for when they really need needed and warranted. Too many debaters are running theory as their “go to” argument. Debating theory as a "default" argument every round cheapens the arguments and makes judges less likely to take them seriously. Do not run any theory arguments against Topicality (see above).
Miscellaneous:
Paperless Debate: Speaking style has simply become worse with paperless debate. Card reading has become choppy, debaters have problems toggling back and forth on the computer, debaters are taking liberties with prep while flashing or emailing speech docs, and instead of flowing the arguments as they are being presented, debaters are back-flowing from flashed material that may or may not have actually made it into the speech. Some judges have resorted to reading the email chain. These are all poor debate practices. Teams are saving paper and tons of money when flying, but debates have become sloppy. If I don't/can't flow the argument/card, then it isn't in the round.
Prep Time: Your prep ends when you have finished loading the flash drive and hand it off to the opposing team. If an email chain is set up, your prep ends when you hit “send.” This means that you are standing up to speak. If you start conversing with your partner, I will continue to run prep and I will probably dock your speaks for stealing prep.
Flowing: Do it. Follow the flow, not the “flashed” cards. Do not mess up my flow!!
Label Arguments: “First off, A-uniqueness” is not a label for my flow. Label each off case – every single one of them. When you move to the case debate, be clear as to where you are and when you are moving on to another advantage, etc. This is also true for the 1A; the AC needs to be crystal clear.
Reading Cards Post Round: I rarely do so. To get me to read a card requires a specific request during your speech and an explanation as to why and what I am looking for exactly. If I am part of the email chain, this does not mean I am automatically going to read cards. If I call for a card without you requesting it or go to the email chain without direction then something was so unclear that I felt I had no choice. This presents an opportunity to intervene, which I do not like doing if I can avoid it.
Card Clipping: It’s cheating. Don’t do it. If an accusation is brought up in the round, I will take it seriously (even stop the round if necessary). If you bring it up as an accusation, you need to be darn certain you are correct. Be clear where you stop reading a card if you do not finish. "Stop card" is probably not clear enough.
As we say in New Orleans, “Be Nice or Leave”. It is fine to be competitive, but have fun. You are competitors in the round, but you should be friends outside of the round. Being a jerk in the round will not lead to friendships and it will definitely hurt your speaker points.
I am a Debate Coach at McKendree University. We compete primarily in the NPDA, NFA-LD, and IPDA formats of debate. We also host and assist with local high school teams, who focus on NSDA-LD and PF.
Email: banicholsonATmckendreeDOTedu
I have sections dedicated to each format of debate I typically judge and you should read those if you have time. If you don’t have time, read the TLDR and ask your specific questions before the round. If you do a format of debate I don’t have a section for, read as much as you can and ask as many questions as you want before the round.
TLDR
I view debate as a game. But I believe games are an important part of our lives and they have real impacts on the people who play them and the contexts they are played in. Games also reflect our world and relationships to it. Debate is not a pro sport. It is not all about winning. Your round should be fun, educational, and equitable for everyone involved. My favorite thing to see in a debate round is people who are passionate about their positions. If you play hard and do your best, I'm going to appreciate you for that.
The quick hits of things about my judging that you might want to know before the round:Specificity wins.
- Most of the time, the debater with the more well-articulated position wins the debate. Get into the details and make comparisons.
- I like debaters who seek out clash instead of trying to avoid it. Do the hard work and you will be rewarded.
- I assume negative advocacies are conditional unless stated otherwise. I think conditionally is good. Anything more than two advocacies is probably too much. Two is almost always fine. One conditional advocacy is not at all objectionable to me. Format specific notes below.
- I love topicality debates. I tend to dislike 1NC theory other than topicality and framework. 2AC theory doesn’t appeal to me most of the time, but it is an important check against negative flex, so use it as needed.
- I don’t exclude impact weighing based on sequencing. Sequencing arguments are often a good reason to preference a type of impact, but not to exclude other impacts, so make sure to account for the impacts you attempt to frame out.
- I will vote on presumption. Debate is an asymmetrical game, and the negative does not have to win offense to win the round. However, I want negative debaters to articulate their presumption triggers for me, not assume I will do the work for them.
- I think timeframe and probability are more important than magnitude, but no one ever does the work, so I end up voting for extinction impacts because that feels least interventionist.
- Give your opponents’ arguments the benefit of the doubt. They’re probably better than you give them credit for and underestimating them will hurt your own chances of winning.
- Debates should be accessible. If your opponent (or a judge) asks you to slow down, slow down. Be able to explain your arguments. Be kind. Debate should be a fun learning experience for everyone.
- In evidence formats, you should be prepared to share that evidence with everyone during the round via speechdrop, email chain, or flash drive.
- All debate is performative. How you choose to perform matters and is part of the arguments you make. That often doesn’t come up, but it can. Don’t say hateful things or be rude. I will dock speaker points accordingly or vote against you.
General
Everything is up for debate. For every position I hold about debate, it seems someone has found a corner case. I try to be clear and to stick to my philosophy’s guidelines as much as possible as a judge. Sometimes, a debater changes how I see debate. Those debaters get very good speaker points. (Speaking of which, my speaker points center around a 28.1 as the average, using tenth points whenever possible).
I flow on a laptop in evidence-based formats (LD, CX, PF) and on paper in extemporaneous formats (NPDA, IPDA). If I don’t ask you to slow down, you’re fine – don’t worry about it. I don’t number arguments as I flow, so don’t expect me to know what your 2b point was without briefly referencing the argument. You should be doing this as part of your extensions anyway.
One specific note about my flowing that I have found impacts my decisions compared to other judges on panels is that I do not believe the “pages” of a debate are separate. I view rounds holistically and the flow as a representation of the whole. If arguments on separate pages interact with each other, I do not need explicit cross-applications to understand that. For instance, “MAD checks” on one page of the debate answers generic nuke war on every page of the debate. That work should ideally be done by debaters, but it has come up in RFDs in the past, so I feel required to mention it.
In theory debates, I’ve noticed some judges want a counter-interpretation regardless of the rest of the answers. If the strategy in answering theory is impact turns, I do not see a need for a counter-interp most of the time. In a pure, condo bad v condo good debate, for instance, my presumption is condo, so the negative can just read impact turns and impact defense and win against a “no condo” interp. Basically, if the aff says “you can’t do that because it is bad” and the neg says “it is not bad and, in fact, is good” I do not think the neg should have to say “yes, I can do that” (because they already did it). The counter-interp can still help in these debates, as you can use it to frame out some offense, by creating a lower threshold that you still meet (think “some condo” interps instead of “all condo”).
I look to texts of interps over spirit of interps. I have rarely seen spirit of the interp clarified in the 1NC and it is often used to pivot the interp away from aff answers or to cover for a bad text. If you contextualize your interp early and then stick to that, that is fine. But don’t use spirit of the interp to dodge the 2AC answers.
I start the round with the assumption that theory is a prior question to other evaluations. I will weigh theory then substance unless someone wins an argument to the contrary. Critical affs do not preclude theory in my mind unless a debater wins a compelling reason that it should. I default to evaluating critical arguments in the same layer as the rest of the substantive debate. I am compelled by arguments that procedural issues are a question of judging process (that non-topical affs skew my evaluation of the substance debate or multi-condo skews the speech that answers it, for instance). I am unlikely to let affirmative teams weigh their aff against theory objections to that aff without some good justifications for that.
A topicality interpretation should allow some aff ground. If there is not a topical aff and the aff team points that out, I'm unlikely to vote neg on T. That means you should read a TVA if you’re neg (do this anyway). I am open to sketchier T interps if they make sense. For instance, if you say that a phrase in the res means the aff must be effectually topical, I can see myself voting for this argument. Keep in mind, however, that these arguments run the risk of your opponent answering them well and you gaining nothing.
NPDA
My philosophy has changed over time – especially in relation to NPDA as a format. I think you’d do well to read through this in detail if you feel like you already know me as a judge. I still want you to explore arguments you care about and are interested in, but there are new boundaries explained here that I feel are necessary to the maintenance and growth of this activity that I will not negotiate. Please, still advocate for your positions, but you may need to adapt your arguments to me more than you have in the past.
I’m going to start with the three biggest changes in my NPDA philosophy.
- Debates need to slow down. To help enforce this rule, I am flowing on paper again. I will try to be proactive in calling speed issues early and often in rounds to help debaters who may be used to my previous threshold adapt to a slower speed threshold.
- Affirmative teams must affirm the topic. If you “reject the topic” in the 1AC, I will vote negative on presumption. (This is explained in more detail below.)
- NPDA should be a rigorous, extemporaneous debate format. I expect you to read new arguments that you wrote in prep that talk about the topic in some detail. Generics are a critical part of the prep process, but we should all be adapting our generics better to the specifics of each topic.
NPDA is a strange beast. Without carded evidence, uniqueness debates and author says X/no they say Y can be messy. That just means you need to explain a way you want me to evaluate them and, ultimately, why I should believe your interpretation of that author’s position or the argument you’ve made. In yes/no uniqueness questions, explain why you believe yes, not just that someone else does. That means explaining the study or the article reasoning that you’re leaning on and applying it to the specifics of the debate. Sometimes it just means you need an “even if” argument to hedge your bets if you lose those issues. I try to let these things be resolved in round, but sometimes I have to make a judgment call, and I’ll do my best to refer only to my flow when that happens. But remember, the evidence alone doesn’t win evidence debates – the warrants and reasoning do the heavy lifting.
Arguments in parliamentary debate require more reasoning and support because there is no printed evidence available to rely on. That means you should not just yoink the taglines out of a file someone open-sourced. You should explain the arguments as they are explained in the texts those files are cut from. Use your own words to make the novel connections to the rounds we’re in and the topics we discuss. This is a beautiful thing when it happens, and those rounds show the promise that parli has as a productive academic endeavor. We don’t just rely on someone else saying it – we can make our own arguments and apply what others have said to new scenarios. So, let’s do that!
Affirmative teams must affirm the resolution. How you do that is up to you. The resolution should be a springboard for many conversations, but criticizing the res is not a reason to vote affirmative. You can read policy affs, value affs, performance affs, critical affs, and any other aff you can think of as long as it affirms the res. Affs should include an interpretation of the resolution and a weighing mechanism to determine if you’ve met this burden. That is not often necessary in policy affs (because it happens contextually), but sometimes it helps to clarify. I am not asking the aff to roleplay as oppressors or to abdicate their power to pose questions. Instead, I want the aff team to reframe questions if necessary and to contextualize their offense to the resolution. Be creative and adapt your arguments to the topic of the debate. Do not read the same, unmodified argument in every round.
Negative teams must answer the affirmative. How you do that is up to you. You should make sure I know what your objections to the aff strategy are and why they are voting issues. That can be T, DAs, Ks, performances, whatever (except spec*). I vote on presumption more than most judges in NPDA. The aff must win offense and affs don’t always do that. I think “risk of solvency” only applies if I know what I’m risking. I must be able to understand and explain what an aff, CP, or alt does on my ballot to run that “risk” on their behalf. With all that said, articulate presumption triggers for me. When you extend defense in the MO, explain “that’s a presumption trigger because…”.
I can buy arguments that presumption flips aff in counter-advocacy debates, but I don’t see that contextualized well and is often just a “risk of solvency” type claim in the PMR. This argument is most compelling to me in PIC debates, since the aff often gets less (or none) of their 1AC offense to leverage. Absent a specific contextualization about why presumption flips aff in this round (bigger change, PIC, etc.), I tend to err neg on this question, though it rarely comes up.
*On spec: Spec shells must include a clear brightline for a ‘we meet’ – so ‘aff must specify the branch (judicial, legislative, executive)’ is fine. Spec shells often only serve to protect weak link arguments (which should be improved, rather than shielded by spec) or to create time tradeoffs. They are sometimes useful and good arguments, but that scenario is rare. In the few cases where spec is necessary, ask a question in flex. If that doesn’t work, read spec.
Condo: 1 K, 1 CP, and the squo is fine to me. Two Ks is a mess. Two CPs just muddles the case debate and is worse in NPDA because we lack backside rebuttals. Contradictory positions are fine with me (procedurally, at least). MGs should think ahead more and force bad collapses in these debates. Kicking the alt doesn’t necessarily make offense on the link/impact of a K go away (though it often does). I am open to judge kicking if the neg describes and justifies an exact set of parameters under which I judge kick. I reserve the right to not judge kick based on my own perception of these arguments. So probably don’t try to get me to judge kick, honestly.
I don't think reasonability (as it is frequently explained) is a good weighing mechanism for parli debates. It seems absurd that I should be concerned about the outcomes of future debates with this topic when there will be none or very few and far between. At topic area tournaments, I am more likely to vote on specific topicality. That does not mean that that I’ll intervene on T if you’ve attempted to affirm the topic; it just means you need better T answers if topics are released in advance of the tournament. Reasonability makes more sense to me at a tournament that repeats resolutions (like NPTE).
NFA-LD
I tend to think disclosure of affs (once you’ve read them) is good and almost necessary and that disclosure of negs is very kind, but not necessary. The more generic a neg position is, the more likely I am to want it disclosed, but I’ll never expect it to be disclosed. I won’t take a strong position on any of this – disclose what you want to disclose (or don’t disclose at all) and defend that practice if necessary.
Affirmatives should stake out specific ground in the 1AC and defend it throughout the round. I don’t care how you do this, whether it is a plan, an advocacy, a performance is up to you. I think that topical plan debate is often the easiest to access, but I don’t believe that makes it the only accessible form of debate or the only good form of debate. So, read the aff you want to read, but be prepared to defend it. Affirmative debaters can (and sometimes should) kick their advantage offense to go for offense on a neg position. I don’t see this enough, and I really wish it was more common in plan debates, especially.
Negatives should answer the aff. How you answer the aff is your business, but I like specific links for negative arguments. On case, I love a good impact turn, but I’ll settle for any offense. In terms of DA choice, I think you benefit from reading high magnitude impacts most of the time, because the aff likely outweighs systemic DAs or has systemic impacts of its own.
For criticisms, I just want to understand what is happening. Most of the time that’s not a problem, but don’t assume I’ve read your lit or understand the jargon. I would prefer if you can articulate your criticism in accessible language in CX. I tend to prefer a K with a material impact, but I can vote for impacts that are less material if they’re explained well and interact with the aff impact in a meaningful way.
Negative procedurals should be limited to topicality if possible. T isn’t a voting issue because of “rules”. It’s a voting issue because of how it impacts debates. I default to competing interps and don’t usually hear a good justification (or even definition) for reasonability. I will still weigh based on reasonability if it is explained and won.
Spec, speed bad, and norm-setting arguments (like disclosure) generally don’t appeal to me. I understand their importance in some strategies and sometimes they are required. If someone refuses to slow down, I understand the need to say speed is bad. But I don’t care about rules, I care about how people are being treated – so make speed debates be about that. Spec and norm-setting arguments should be about the impact on research practices, education, and fairness in rounds.
2AC/1AR theory is not my favorite. I want debates to be about the aff case and when the affirmative debater decides to introduce additional issues, that often takes away from discussion of the aff itself. I know sometimes people go too far, and you have to read condo or delay bad or whatever. That’s fine. But use your best judgement to avoid reading theory in unnecessary situations and when you do have to read theory, keep the debate about the aff if possible.
I expect clear interpretations and voting issues for theory shells. I’ve noticed that this is not always the case in the NFA-LD theory debates I’ve seen, and teams would benefit from a specific statement of what should and/or should not be allowed.
Negative debaters should prioritize impact framing and delineate a path to the ballot for themselves. I have seen quite a few debates where the NR gets bogged down in the line-by-line and the aff wins by virtue of contextualizing arguments just a bit. In your NRs and 2ARs, I’d like to see more comparative analysis and focus on what my ballot should say, rather than exclusively line-by-line. You still need to answer and account for arguments in the line-by-line, but absent a clear “mission statement” for your speech paired with necessary analysis, it is hard to vote for you. Aff debaters can’t go all big picture in the 2AR. You have to deal with the line-by-line. I can’t ignore the NR and let you give a 3-minute overview. Get short and sweet with your overview. Clarify your path to ballot and then execute that strategy on the flow.
IPDA
Most of the NPDA notes will tell you how I feel about extemporaneous debate formats. Here are some quick hits from my experiences with IPDA that might influence your decision-making.
1. If you read a value, you need a criterion. (The NSDA-LD section has more on this subject.)
2. I prefer more academically, and policy slanted topics, strike down accordingly.
3. Make a clear statement of why you should win. I prefer overviews to underviews and one or two sentence I win statements to a list of disconnected voting issues.
NSDA General
I’ve heard many things referred to as “cards” that are not cards. A card needs to be a direct quotation, read in part (marked by underlining and highlighting) with a citation and a tagline that explains that argument. Present it in this order: Tagline, Author/Year, Evidence. Referencing a study or article is not a “card.”
You should be reading cards in debates. And you should be prepared to share those cards with your opponents. If you’d like help learning how to cut evidence into cards and how to share those cards quickly with your opponents and judges, I’ll gladly walk you through the process – but there are many resources available to you outside of me so seek them out.
Seek out clash. Don’t say “my partner will present that later” or dodge questions. Find the debate and go to it. We’re here to answer each other’s arguments and learn from the process, so let’s do that.
Time yourselves and each other – you should keep track of your prep time and your opponent’s prep time and time every speech in the debate. This is a good habit that you need to build.
NSDA-LD
Values and value criteria are a weighing mechanism for evaluation of arguments. Winning the value debate matters because it changes how I view impacts in the round and prioritize them. I understand the idea of “upholding a value” as the end goal of an LD round, and I can buy into that as a way to win a round, too. However, if that’s what you do, I probably won’t vote for impacts outside of that framework. You should choose between (1) upholding a value as a virtue or good in itself or (2) winning impacts that you will frame using your value/criterion. Both are valid, but I am inclined toward the impact style (option 2) by default.
I tend to think of LD debates in four parts: Definitions, Value, Aff Contentions, and Neg Contentions. I think it makes sense to flow LD on three sheets: One for definitions and values, one for aff contentions, and one for neg contentions. That makes the clash in definitions and aff/neg value easier to isolate and prevents a lot of strange and usually unnecessary cross-applications. Thinking of negative values as “Counter Values” that answer the aff value makes a lot more sense to me. You don’t have to do this in your round or on your flow, but it should help you conceptualize how I think about these debates.
I have not judged many plan-focused rounds in NSDA-LD, but I’m open to that if that is your style or you want to experiment. If you do this, I’ll flow top of aff, advantages, and neg positions on separate sheets like I would in a policy debate, and you can ignore the stuff about values above.
I am open to the less traditional arguments available to you. I love to see the unique ways you can affirm or negate using different literature bases than just the core social contract and ethics grab-bag.
Public Forum
I don’t have a ton of specific notes for PF. Check out the general section for NSDA and feel free to ask questions.
I like when the aff team speaks first. It makes debates cleaner and encourages negative responsiveness to the aff. You don’t have to choose first if you’re aff and like speaking second. But keep it in mind and do what you will with that information.
I don’t flow crossfires. I pay attention, but you need to bring up relevant crossfire moments in your speech and explain why they matter for me vote for them or include them in my decisions.
I am a teacher and assistant forensics coach at Garden City High School. I have minimal experience judging policy debate, but I judged World Schools Debate at NSDA nationals.
I teach/have taught world geography and sociology classes.
I will approach policy debate as a person who wants you to make arguments I can understand at a rate I can understand them. I will take notes about the round.
Please don't spread, it makes it difficult to follow. I do not vote on theory. When judging, I focus more on impact but stock is also important. Please do not include me in the email chain. Speaker points are based on knowledge of the topic, eye contact, and speaking instead of just reading.
This is my first year judging PF. This means that you must do your job to adapt to me as a judge, but at the same time I will do my best to follow what you say, take notes and provide feedback. I understrand that you have spent time and effort on it so I take judging very seriously.
You can speak as fast or as slow as you want, however, explain everything that you are saying very clearly. Do not skip any steps in your logical chains – things that are intuitive to you might not seem that way to me.
I will do my best to judge the round fairly as long as you do your best to convince me why you should win. Please speak in a conversational tone – don’t yell – and be as persuasive as you can. Be respectful!!
For the October Topic, I do have a little topical knowledge on it and I've seen unique arguments for both sides!
- LD + PF background
- Trad preference
- Tech judge/ Flows
- Don’t mind speed/ if you’re spreading share the doc
- Not a fan of prog
- Disclosure theory <
- No other preferences
- Email is: aekiandgilette@gmail.com
No paradigm. 1st time judge.
First and foremost, I am not a former debater and have been introduced to speech and debate through my daughter. I've been judging for two full years now and make most tournaments so I do have a fair amount of experience judging debate. Although this is a debate, good speaking characteristics are definitely a portion of your score. Off time road maps to start a speech are always helpful. I like to see good eye contact while speaking, signposting, clear and concise communication along with other good speaking habits help the audience stay engaged. Please don't go too fast as it can cloud up what your audience is hearing. Quality over quantity is usually always best.
I will somewhat flow each round I judge to help me ensure both teams are paying attention to what the other is stating. I like to hear arguments that are well constructed and well presented with supporting evidence that is clear and easy to follow. The same also applies when you are refuting an attack against your case.
As a judge that hasn't done debate before, strong voters to close out the debate do help in making my decision. They are the last thing I hear from you as a judge, so make them count.
Lastly, RESPECT for your opponents is mandatory in rounds I am judging. I expect to hear a good educated argument during a debate, not a shouting match.
Update: My daughter is no longer in debate as she has graduated and we haven't judged as much as we did then. Everything else stated above is still accurate.
For Congress:
Please remember this is Congressional debate, not congressional speech. Although the speeches are what we are judging, they need to address points brought up during previous speeches or questioning. The only speeches that shouldn't address arguments/points brought up by other legislators are the authorship/sponsorship speeches given to start debate on a piece of legislation.
During questioning, please ensure your questions are to the topic at hand. I do reward participants for involvement in the questioning period after each speech as long as the question is relevant to the legislation being discussed.
When reading a prepared speech, make sure to still make good eye contact and use other good speaking practices while giving your speech. I write a lot of comments stating "please speak to me, not just read to me"
I'm a former policy debater. That said, for policy, stock issues. Not a big fan of topicality arguments, but raise them before the rebuttal. Spreading should stay on the farm.
LD--its a values debate. Tie your contentions to your value. Tell me why your value outweighs your opponent's.
PF--I want impacts. This debate is short. Impacts are critical.
Overall--I pay attention to evidence, so it helps if you CLEARLY give me the citation up front. I guess I'm a comms judge, because if I cannot understand, or you speak too fast, it isn't counting in your favor.
Be able to summarize, in layman's terms, what your evidence means. It's obvious on a cross ex when you can't.
I did 4 years of PF at Cypress Bay in Weston, Florida (2016-2020). I'm currently a senior at duke.
My paradigm is just random notes and bullets because I'm a pretty boring and receptive judge. Generally flow, emphasis on weighing, implicating, offense. I'll evaluate anything, just explain it. Feel free to ask me anything before the round.
-Extend offense pls, I wont do it for you
-Weigh like the W depends on it, because it does. Respond to your opps weighing if you're cool.
-Cross is for you, does not impact I evaluate a round (unless it comes up in speech ofc)
-Don't read responses you won't implicate/explain/understand, makes the whole debate better
-please don’t shake my hand. I'm sick rn
-3 min summary is cool and all but collapse
-Weigh, weigh, weigh, weigh, weigh. Which weigh? Dat weigh.
-Please have fun. Like actual fun and not like fun in pursuit of a W.
-I normally vote for the best singular piece of offense in the round. (collapse please)
-not paradigmatically/morally against them at all, but reading a K (or theory) in front of me is probably not the best idea unless you REALLY take the time to explain everything. I’m out of practice and never totally learned it all to begin with
- If you have any other questions feel free to email me matthewnorman2002@gmail.com or ask me before the round. Hated my decision? send all complaints to sepul.fabiola@gmail.com
At the end of the day, debate is up to the debaters. Do what you enjoy/are best at and I'll do my best to be receptive and evaluate it all fairly.
TLDR:
Wired: Collapse, weigh, signpost, tom brady slander, being nice, talking slow
Tired: being mean, friv theory, partial quads (i dont know what partial quads are), tom brady, being mean.
******If both sides agree to settle the debate with a mutually agreed upon test/competition of strategy or skill, I will not intervene. Only valid if both teams are definitely breaking or definitely not.
Tldr: top 5 things to know (applies to any debate event you do in front of me)
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policy coach, tech > truth, tabula rasa critic of argument - details below but basically this means i'm tabula rasa as long as you have complete claim-warrant-impact arguments, and i place a premium on logical analytical work, evidence comparison, and impact comparison; importantly, quality logical analysis can easily beat subpar evidence
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be excellent to each other - "Keanu Reeves & Alex Winter explain "Be Excellent to Each Other" ": this video gets the spirit right (minus Alex Winter's gendered language)
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doing your own style = good & respected (i'm just as happy in a stock issues or case / DA round as in a circuity policy or K round as long as there's clear clash, weighing, & analysis, not just a card & block war)
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in national circuit style - esp policy or ld - i prefer the depth and clarity of 80% of toc style speed and fewer off [much happier with the depth in a 1-4-ish off situation] rather than full fast
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please no blippy unwarranted args - esp not for theory (you need claim-warrant-impact for it to be a voting issue - and reasoning for the voting issue when you first assert it's a voter)
everything below this line mainly includes background info, advice, and event-specific predispositions which you can override w/ skillful debating as long as you focus on the basic ideas above!
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about you:
thanks for being here and for your commitment to speech & debate! i deeply respect your work in this life-changing activity. please communicate with me if you need any support or accommodation during the round!
about me:
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she/her...and you can call me Michaela; michaelanorthrop@gmail.com – put me on the chain (unless it's a chssa tournament...)
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current debate & speech coach at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, CA
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policy: i've coached a spectrum from slow lay debate to fast circuit style but have recently focused more on lay & "medium" debate for regional tournaments, CHSSA [California] State, nsda , & cat nats; i enjoy all formats of policy!
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former head coach with experience coaching all speech & debate events
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competed in hs & college speech & debate (policy, extemp, congress, duo, oratory, & parli) in the late 1990s
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tabroom experience is deceptive; i normally judge 40-50+ practice rounds a year
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coaching experience:
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2000-2003 - head speech and debate coach at Lynbrook H.S. in San Jose (California and some national circuit tournaments)
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2003-2006 - head speech and debate coach from at Chantilly H.S. in the Washington D.C. metro (D.C. metro and some national circuit tournaments)
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2006-2008 - assistant coach for policy debate at Wayzata H.S. in Minnesota & Twin River (formerly Henry Sibley) H.S. (Minnesota and some national circuit tournaments)
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2015-2024- policy & impromptu coach at Leland High School in San Jose (California and some national circuit tournaments) + assistance for other events as needed
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2024-present - debate & speech coach at Archbishop Mitty
SPEAKER POINTS
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i adjust to a particular tournament’s level of challenge and objectives; on the national circuit, i hold the line more on substance and relative skill in the pool
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speaks are earned by a combo of:
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style (art, creativity, accessibility, memorability, ethos/pathos/logos balance)
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+ substance (tech, strategy, demonstrating knowledge and control of the flow + clearly writing my ballot)
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+ adaptation (i think this shows your ability to pave a way to persuasion and willingness to make a speech act connect; as a critic of argument focused on education, to me that seems like part of the mission; you make a clear effort to reach out to my understanding of and goals for debate; it’s flagged; it’s obvious; bonus points in paneled prelim round situations if i can tell you're doing this for the whole panel)
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the College Debate Ratings speaker point scale from a few years ago is a good guide for toc-qualifying tournaments but here's my personal rubric so you see more of what i’m looking for per level:
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29.7+ – exceptional; top few speakers; you’ve blown me away in style + substance + adaptation
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29.5-29.6 – should be top 10 speakers; the force is strong with you across style + substance + adaptation
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29.3-29.4 – still high points for top 10 speakers; very strong in at least one subset of style + substance + adaptation and other areas are still high
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29.1-29.2 – median for top 10 speakers; by here, you may not have the full package of style + substance + adaptation but you are excellent in at least some of those areas
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28.8-29.0 – roughly 75th percentile at the tournament; bubble territory; i see a bright spark in at least one of the areas of style + substance + adaptation but the breadth isn’t there yet / today
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28.5-28.7 – roughly 50th percentile at the tournament; emerging strengths in style + substance + adaptation but some clear deficits in skills or effort across the areas
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28.3-28.4 – roughly 25th percentile at the tournament; not projecting certainty in style + substance + adaptation; clearly uneven performance
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28.0-28.3 – roughly 10th percentile speaker at the tournament; not projecting certainty in style + substance + adaptation
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27.5-27.9 – having a tough day / round or looking early in your journey for style + substance + adaptation; some skills which seem basic for the tournament mission aren’t clear yet
GENERAL PARADIGM FOR ANY DEBATE EVENT: (see below for more specific paradigms for Policy, LD, PF, Parli, and Speech)
i’m a critic of argument open to most arguments (exceptions below in terms of arguments which marginalize or create harm).
If you’re unfamiliar with “critic of argument” as a paradigm, think of me as a tabula rasa judge who is:
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tech > truth, as long as arguments have a claim-warrant-impact
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open to whatever role of the judge / ballot you want...but i first view myself as an educator seeking the outcome of advocacy skills and informed activism in / beyond the debate space
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will default to the best-warranted logical argumentation (analysis and judge direction held in nearly equal weight with strong evidence) and the best control of comparative impacting throughout the debate (not just in final rebuttals).
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evidence quality + analysis quality instead of evidence>analysis:
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Arguments like “I read evidence, so you must prefer it over a high school debater’s analysis” aren't persuasive for a critic of argument. Reading evidence alone doesn't trump analysis or judge direction. Instead, the quality and quantity of warrants - and the comparisons of these warrants - will be persuasive.
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Contextualized analytics with clear logical warrants / reasoning (empirics, cause and effect, etc.) easily beat evidence missing clear warranting other than having a non-impressive source.
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Flagging fallacies and a lack of warrants in opponents’ arguments moves you up the believability spectrum.
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Source quality is persuasive as a separate metric.
5. most impressed by these things (highly rewarded with speaks):
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in-depth comparison of evidence (source quality, internal analysis, warrants);
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detailed, well-substantiated analytics;
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clear advocacy (applies to condo / dispo as much as any other advocacy - tell me what this advocacy means and why it's good);
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cross-examination as an art form which i'm flowing and applying highly to speaks - and then to the round IF you apply cx concessions during speeches;
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a good balance of ethos, logos, and pathos
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comparative overviews BEFORE FINAL REBUTTALS telling me your path to the ballot via the avenues above, the flow, and clear impact calculus (saving all your impact comparisons for the final rebuttals seems unfair and poorly develops the debate)
General Preferences Across Debate Formats:
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rate / speed: speed is fine but needs to be clear; no predisposition for or against a rate as long as it's clear but I'm happiest and doing the best processing and evaluation when debaters choose a *moderately* fast rate. Please include the whole panel’s preferences when deciding a rate. If you're not clearly communicating (too fast, not enough articulation or separation of words, etc.), I'll indicate that once by typing "clear" in the chat or in person by saying "clear." If you don't change and i've already indicated an issue, don't expect me to flow.
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Debate needs to be a safe space for all participants. Be kind. We're all here to learn and grow. Ad hominem, rudeness, and exclusionary behavior are unacceptable. At a minimum, you will lose speaker points. Personal attacks or marginalizing behavior - whether careless or intentional - which are repeated without apology after an objection is raised (by myself or anyone else in the room) may also be grounds for a loss, especially (but not only) if your opponents raise the issue.
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i won’t vote on an individual's behavior *outside* my ability to observe it within the round.
POLICY DEBATE ADVICE / PREFERENCES (remember it’s all up for debate / persuasion)
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Number of off case / depth vs. breadth in arguments & cards: as a critic of argument, you'll fare better with me in a 1-4 off round than a 5+ off round. i'd much rather see a few well-developed arguments. i'd rather hear more internal analysis in a smaller set of quality cards than lots of cards highlighted down to bare bones.
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CX: love it, pay attention to it, actually flowing it for reference, but waiting to hear you integrate it in speeches to factor it in beyond speaker points and general credibility / foundation for arguments
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Overviews: love them! impact calc and a clear lens for the round at the top of a speech and / or on top of the core issues is strategic starting in the 2ac and in most subsequent speeches. (just make sure the line by line is developed enough to substantiate this work!)
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Clash rounds: i don't have a strong default for sequencing, so please argue which impact / implication comes first and why.
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Theory / condo: enjoy it but cannot be blipped - i don’t vote on tagline theory debates, even if conceded; limited conditionality is probably good, as long as it doesn't force the aff into untenable advocacies
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no automatic judge kick for cps: waiting for the neg to pick an advocacy and i’d prefer it by the neg block
- Topicality / Framework
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i default to competing interps / models with an eye on education unless given another lens
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i appreciate distinctly warranted standards & voters, case lists, & descriptions of the quality of debate those case lists create, plus the *importance* of the ground you've lost; no preference for potential abuse vs. in-round abuse arguments
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a counter-interp that hones in on one impact turn and how you solve it is often pretty persuasive
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framework specifically: what does your model of debate do? why is it better? both sides can provide a lot of clarity by throwing down on a TVA and what it does and doesn't resolve.
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willing to vote on old school T metrics like jurisdiction and justification if you tell me why i should; i’ve loved T debates forever including reading 1980s backfiles so do with that what you will…T theory is cool!
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Case debate - yes! offense is great but case defense can also be very helpful in the overall decision (assigning relative risk). yes, i will vote on presumption (if you tell me how & why i should)
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K affs and K v K: looking for a clear thesis, connection to the resolution, clear method or solvency, and a clear role of the judge and ballot; though i'm open to hearing K v K rounds, i wouldn't call them my wheelhouse. don’t assume i know your lit and give me strong sequencing arguments, please!
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Performance: be very specific in telling me how to evaluate it with the role of the ballot and judge; explain how your performance is uniquely valuable and effective
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Disads: yes zero risk exists; i heavily lean towards link strength + analysis ; love to hear about how the world of the disad implicates case claims and solvency; well-explained uniqueness + link specificity > long uniqueness walls & link walls
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Ks: excited to hear Ks but i'm not steeped in high theory lit, so you need to use overviews and analysis to develop those; the link story and overall position need to be clear, as well as your role of the judge & role of the ballot; please contextualize specific links to case / speech acts instead of relying on generic links alone; please separate sections (framework / perm / links / implications / alt); also, alt specificity matters and it's frustrating and unfair when debaters are evasive about their alts
- Counterplans: if your CP doesn't have a solvency card / advocate, you're way behind and probably have to justify that with how small the aff is + some reasonable indication of solvency based on facts in the round (e.g. aff evidence)...or exploiting a plan flaw…but in general, i think the playing field needs to be level and counterplans should have solvency, given that affs should have solvency
DEBATE EVENTS BESIDES POLICY:
i'll go w/ the standards the debaters set as opposed to judging your LD, PF, and Parli rounds "like a policy judge" unless you give me no guidance, in which case i default to being a critic of argument with some policy offense / defense flavor
PF Debate:
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my ideal PF round has debaters setting a clear framework for the round and pointing their contentions and their impacts towards this goal
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conceded args / defense / whatever is NOT sticky - you need to say it in summary for it to be valid in final focus; my policy brain treats summary speeches like 1ar / 1nr in policy and can't figure out how it's fair to view that otherwise (makes final focus too unpredictable)
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can you please just share your ev w/ one another before speeches rather than making everyone wait for these vague and lengthy specific card requests?
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crossfire / grand crossfire are important for argument testing and argument resolution - and i'm flowing them; however, debaters should apply cx concessions in speeches if they want crossfire to be part of the decision
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theory - fine if substantiated and impacted, though i think PF lacks adequate time for impacting theory without placing yourself significantly behind on clash, so choose wisely
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will follow / enforce the specific rules of a tournament (e.g. "no plans" / "no counterplans") as directed by debaters' objections or formal protest (e.g. CHSSA or NSDA rules) in those particular settings
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cards, not links or vague paraphrasing - "[author name] says X in 2022" where X is not a direct quote or at least mentioning a very specific data point / argument rather than a broad claim is absolutely not evidence to me. i'm dismayed by the paraphrasing i've seen in PF lately: paraphrasing brief claims without warrants or drop quotes...or simply providing a pile of author names. These things truly aren't persuasive if there's no quoted evidence or warranted analysis based upon specific conclusions. I also often see PF debaters adding their OWN power-tagged claims to these paraphrases and this really seems unethical and superficial.
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this isn't to say you need giant paragraphs like policy evidence…but actually cite specific details and quotes with warrants for your claim if you want me to view that as a supported claim.
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i won't go through your separate evidence doc to find the support for you if you haven't read it into the round.
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you don't get to summarize a whole book or article w/o any tether to detail in your evidence. i believe this whether or not a tournament explicitly follows NSDA rules, but NSDA rules (which apply to CHSSA & CFL tournaments as well as NSDA tournaments) are very clear on this point: See NSDA High School Unified Manual (Feb. 2025 updated version) (command F "Evidence Rules for Policy, Public Forum, Lincoln-Douglas, and Big Questions Debate" and in particular, rule 7.2.B.3 on p. 38: "If a student paraphrases from a book, study, or any other source, the specific lines or section from which the paraphrase is taken must be highlighted or otherwise formatted for identification in the round.")
LD Debate:
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rate & style: any rate is fine unless your opponent requests a slow round based on access or comfort concerns; i'm comfortable with traditional or progressive LD but let's be real about what's reasonable to cover in a 1ar and not get too wild with the number of positions; i thinkdepth is more important than breadth anyway; sooooo open to condo bad in LD when the 1nc is 5+ off
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i rely heavily on the criterion debate in assessing my decision, unless the debaters argue another approach
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theory is fine if substantiated and impacted
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will follow / enforce the specific rules of a tournament (e.g. "no plans" / "no counterplans")as directed by debaters' objections or formal protest (e.g. CHSSA or NSDA rules) in those particular settings
Parliamentary Debate:
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fine with larp or K but i hold the line on T
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mainly looking for clear warranting & impacting & a tight case debate linking plan provisions to advantages and the weighing standard for the round; will apply other frameworks if you argue them
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theory is fine if substantiated and impacted; "drop the argument" or "drop the team" need to be heavily substantiated - preferably with potential or in-round abuse
I am a lay parent judge. Please avoid spreading, speak clearly and concisely. Make your information and arguments palatable to the general public, and stick to the merit of the debate. I do not appreciate K's and theory. I value civility in debaters, overall just be civil and respectful. Be well researched and prepared for your topic, and for logic based arguments make your link chain clear. Signposting is absolutely necessary for clarity in the debate, and is greatly appreciated and aids in flowing the debate. Most importantly, have fun!
Stay on topic. Make sense. Have your evidence ready to share. Do not speak so fast that I can't understand you. Watch your aggressions, above all respect yourself and your opponents.
Updated Longhorn Classic '21
Chris O'Brien
he/him
forever student at UT Austin
please put me on the email chain: chrisob26@utexas.edu
I debated policy in high school all 4 years in Athens TX, and have been judging/coaching on the Austin circuit since 2013.
Also, if anything in this paradigm isn't clear enough, feel free to ask me before the round, I'd be more than happy to clarify.
General Thoughts
I am tab but default to policymaker if not given a clear alternative evaluative framework.
The most important thing is that you give me the easiest path to the ballot. Tell me how to vote, on what, and why. Other than that, give me overviews, keep the debate organized, and please extend things correctly. Technical debating ability determines your speaker points in large part, unless there is reason to dock speaks for hate speech/immoral arguments.
I am generally more confident in my ability to evaluate policy v policy and policy v k debates, than k v k due to a literature knowledge deficiency, especially in high theory kritiks (read: Baudrillard, Heidegger, Deleuze/Guattari, etc.), so expect to explain the thesis of your critical position and how they interact with the topic thoroughly when reading those arguments.
Performance Affs are fine as long as you are very thorough in your explanation of what my role as a judge is and what the ballot does.
I will try to evaluate rounds to the best of my ability based on the information I am able to flow from your speech. That means despite what is in the speech doc, I will only be evaluating what you actually say in your analysis and a lot of close rounds are won or lost in the rebuttals over this issue. There should be clear extensions from the 2AC to the 1AR/Block to the 2NR and 2NRs/2ARs should be going for a specific strategy that is writing my ballot.
Tech over truth in most cases. If an argument is dropped, I still need a proper warrant extension and implication given for that drop to matter, unless given some other model of judging the round. I will rarely decide a round on a single drop and that argument must still be implicated in the broader aspects of the round.
I flow on paper despite the advances in technology since I first started debating. Speed is fine, but in a world of virtual debate please slow down. I expect any theory standards to be read at a pace that gives me adequate pen time, if not they should be in the speech doc.
I will always listen to CX - open CX is fine, but do not talk over each other. Flashing/Email doesn't count towards prep unless it is egregious.
Don't be offensive, rude, homophobic, racist, ableist, derogatory, sexist etc.
Always try to have fun - if you're not acting like you want to be there, it is a real drag to judge your round.
Framework/T-USFG
I default to debate is a game, and I think the k aff bad debate comes down to a question of fairness, whether used as an impact or an internal link by the neg. I am not usually persuaded by topic education vs critical lit education through an aff specific method since that doesn't interact with the fairness question a lot of the time, and the aff team usually has better evidence about the importance of their particular educational outlet anyway, especially given the fact that they know what it is and can adequately prepare for it. The most important way for the aff to get me to vote for a non-resolutional based affirmative is their ability to describe to me what the role of the negative would be under their model of debate. However, I grant K affs a lot of grace if there are clear resolution-based links that are able to answer ground loss claims.
My threshold for granting neg offense on clash is directly determined by how abstract/immaterial the aff explanations of the k method are.
TVAs are under-utilized in my opinion as ways to take out Aff standard offense. SSD is a must-have argument to even compete on the education debate.
I default to k affs getting perms but have a pretty high threshold for these arguments in context to the ground/clash debate, if brought up.
Topicality
I default to competing interpretations, but can be persuaded otherwise in round. Bad/unpredictable T interps are worse for debate than predictable ones, so I expect neg teams to read interps that are actually making an argument about what the literature base should be for the topic. Barring the block dropping reasonability, I will most always focus on the standards when evaluating the T debate, so teams that do the work on explaining how limits are improved/destroyed by the other team, what case lists/neg generics look like, and which interp provides the most sustainable form of debate for the year are most likely to win.
I typically don't vote on RVI's here unless there is a multitude of T's that the aff meets on face, which puts the neg more in the realm of reading frivolous theory, not just T args.
Kritiks
I really enjoy policy aff vs k debates, however I have very limited knowledge of critical literature outside of Cap/Neoliberalism, Abolition, SetCol, Security, Biopower (Foucault/Agamben), and small amounts of Ahmed. As said above in general thoughts, if you are reading a kritik you feel I may be unfamiliar with, or are pulling multiple theories from critical bodies of literature, I fully expect you to clearly explain the thesis of the criticism and how your method is able to possibly resolve the links you present.
I am very tech based in my evaluative approach to kritiks and hold a high standard for both teams in order to win the sheet. I evaluate the K sheet first by framework then K proper, where the line-by-line is very important - reading massive overviews that don't specifically interact with 2ac arguments hurt your chances of winning those parts of the K if the aff does the work you don't do in the 1ar. I believe the aff should be able to be weighed against the kritik, it is up to the neg to win why that is not the case in this round with a clear counter-interp.
Links are important and must be contextualized to the affirmative, but it is also just as important to be able to explain how the alt method is able to resolve those links. I hold alt solvency to a high regard, you must be able to explain what the alt does to create change in the world after I vote neg. I have found that there is big trend recently by neg teams to ignore solvency deficits/turns because they aren't specific to the (usually obscure) alt method the neg is choosing to read this round - you still need to interact with those arguments and disprove their warrants!
I think perf con is voter as long as there is a clear link in contradiction of advocacies - I believe the neg is able to spin out of this, but depending on the positions read that might be hard at times.
Floating PIKs are bad, but if you get away with it, I will still vote on it.
Disads
I would love to hear a good DA+Case collapse in the 2nr. I believe the top level of the disad should be thoroughly fleshed out in the block and there be clear turns case analysis given that is contextualized to the aff scenarios/solvency. Generic link walls are fine as long as you are doing that contextualization as well. I don't think winning case outweighs is all the aff needs to do when turns case analysis is competing against it, but I do think it is underutilized in the 1ar when paired with other arguments on the disad proper.
I really enjoy politics disads when their scenarios lean closer to plausible rather than just fiat spin +"and x is at the top of the docket now". I think warrant interaction on the uniqueness/link uniqueness question is where this sheet is usually won on either side. Generic pc is fake and winners win args aren't too persuasive unless contextualized to the current political climate.
Counterplans/Theory
I really love good counterplan debate. Generic counterplans are necessary and good. I think specific counterplans are even better. Counterplans that read evidence from the 1AC or an aff author are even better than that! I think process cp's are legitimate but prefer neg teams to explain how the net benefit is still a disad to the aff. Plan plus multi-plank advantage cp's are my new most hated CP on this topic - do with that info what you will.
Neg teams need to be sure to have a clear story/explanation for how the aff/perm links to the net benefit and the CP alone avoids it. I do not think the answer to solvency deficits is to go for "lens of sufficiency" or fiat, you need to explain how those deficits still allow the cp to solve the aff/avoid the net benefits. Severance/Intrinsic perm debates seem to be less common these days, but I still think they are important tools against "creative" aff perms.
I am okay with aff teams making multiple perms but those perms need to be explained and how they work before the 2ar is going for them. In that same regard, solvency deficits/perm shields the link analysis and implications must not be made for the first time in the 2ar either. Aff should be leveraging their "creative" permutation with their cp theory if the cp is even close to abusive, but I really don't like when rounds come down to just a theory question.
Theory that is more specific to the argument it is read against will typically have a higher chance of being viewed as a voter. I typically lean neg in most cases, except for bad PICs or convoluted process cp's. I think theory should also be used as a justification for other arguments you make in the round based on substance, not just a reason to reject the team.
My threshold for condo is very easily shifted by circumstances, but I generally believe it is a good idea for the aff to read condo in the 2ac if the neg is reading 3 or more counter-advocacies, though the likelihood of me voting on it largely depends on the amount of in-round abuse/sand-bagging strategy the neg is choosing to do. Aff needs to have a clear interpretation, and I find "no difference between 2/3/4 off" not very convincing by the neg, especially if the aff gives any type of intelligent analysis on time tradeoffs.
I believe frivolous theory bad is a voter, especially on procedural questions that the aff/neg themselves violate, but you need to do the work of showing how in round abuse is occurring and how the theory is frivolous.
On judge kick - if the neg tells me to and it's unanswered or the neg is ahead on the question of whether I should, then I will. Neg teams, you should tell me to do this in the block if you want it to be considered for the same reason 2ar condo strats are bad, you wouldn't want the aff to win on 5 minutes of judge kick bad in 2ar and it gives the aff plenty of time to respond/not respond to it by the 2nr.
I am an old school "Get off my lawn" kind of judge. I have been an assistant debate and forensics coach since 2004 and I was a high school debater but not college. I prefer real world arguments with normal impacts nuke war and extinction really annoy me. I hate spreading and will stop listening if you word vomit on me. I can handle speed but double clutching and not clearly reading tags will be a problem. I am being forced to do an electronic ballot but that DOES NOT mean I want a flash of your stuff. I HATE KRITIKS but will vote on it if it is the only thing in the round. I prefer nontopical counterplans and will tolerate generic DAs if the links are specific. I like stock issues and policy impact calculus. I like quality analytical arguments. Teams who read good evidence not just camp and wiki stuff will get my vote.
I have been teaching Theatre/ Speech and Debate for 34 years, and participated in High School. I am an IE Coach primarily. Although I have coached and judged debate rounds for LD, PF, and most recently Congress and CX.
Articulation is key for me. I need to understand you, the use of the voice and body is also pretty important. The emotional connection to the character needs to be very clear, and there should be motivational beats that I discover in your performance.
Simply put, I am looking for the total package for performers, someone who can immerse themselves in a character but also show me differentiation between characters.
For all debate events and especially policy debate:
I have coached all the events at the national level and I have been coaching for 20 years. I spent the first 10 of those years coaching college policy debate. I like all forms of argumentation except cheap theory tricks. What I like is less important than what you are good at. I would like to see what you are best at.
There are two things that I despise about how debate has evolved:
1) I despise the emphasis on the speech doc: this is a speaking activity. I value persuasive speaking. I will be flowing on paper and I will not be looking at a speech doc while you talk. I will be looking at you, listening to your voice, and flowing. I also call for very few cards after the round so as to put the emphasis on the round that happened not the one in your coaches' heads. Persuasion matters. Pathos matters. Nuanced Evidence comparison in the round matters. Tactical ability matters. Style matters.
2) I despise the lack of creativity that I observe in the arguments: I am especially bored by the way that jargon flattens our characterization of things to ready made labels so that everyone speaks and thinks the same. My favorite DA debaters I have ever watched have their own singular ways of characterizing impacts and even their 1NC shells have unique structure and emphasize different internal links than the standard form. My favorite Kritik debaters of all time see the connection between the content that they are presenting and the form that they use to communicate. They try to do something new and they take some risks.
One last note: I understand that debates can get heated but when the debate gets personal I get cynical and I wonder why I am still giving time to the activity.
For speech events:
Exaggeration seems fake to me. Realness and subtlety draw me in. When a student puts an emphasis on the ideas and the scholarship of the activity they get extra points from me. Polish and perfection are not everything. I would rather see a speaker with some rough elements of their delivery who is taking a chance to express something of meaning than a perfectly rehearsed speaker delivering a safe speech without a lot of conceptual depth.
Lincoln-Douglas
I am a traditional/classic style judge as I like a discussion of the resolution from the standpoint of a value and value-criterion and contention debate.
You can speak fast, however I must be able to follow the debate. If I can't understand you, your chances of winning the debate are slim.
I look for a friendly/polite debate. Rudeness will not help your case.
I do not disclose my decision.
Good Luck.
Presumption
I am one of the most naturally neutral individuals I know. I will NOT favor a side because I SHOULD. I will favor a side because you convinced me to... hence the purpose of effective argumentation. Don't assume -- just explain.
Speed
Be understood. Be clear. If I don't flow it... IT NEVER HAPPENED. Remember this during warrants / impacts / extensions. I rarely call for cards, so if I need to hear it, make sure you set the scene for optimal results.
Theory/ K
Debating about debate is fun and engaging -- if it makes sense. Silly theories are just silly, but go back to my section on presumption - I will favor a side because you convinced me to... hence the purpose of effective argumentation. If you convince me that the theory is valid, then it is for the round. I will not assume how it functions or the reasonability of it. Prove that it does or doesn't. A good K with clear explinations, links and impacts are refreshing to me. Neg must explain why aff can't perm the day away -- why is the alt superior? Aff, why is the perm better than the alt and case solo? This is where speed choices are important.
Evidence
Here are a few questions you should ask yourself: Do you understand the card? Does it link to the argumentation presented? Is it topical to the context you're using it in? Do the warrants exist in the text? Is it qualified? Is it dated? ....is clipping truly worth it?
T's, DA's, CPs
Policy was my niche back in the day. That being said -- I'll buy it if its clear, all conditions are met, it makes sense, and if it actually does something / proves a point. I will follow the flow, and the flow alone. Keep it clean!
Finally... most importantly... tell me WHY I should be voting for you. Yes. I want voters. Explain why a drop is catastrophic. Tell me why case outweighs. You know what happens when you assume... don't assume that I'm rolling with you. Explain why I should be.
Spkr Point Breakdown
30 Likely to take the tournament
29.5 Contender to the crown
29 Excited to see how deep you go!
28.5 Highly likely to clear
28 Clearing is possible
27.5 On the bubble, keep pushing
27 Congrats on earning entry into the tournament!!
*email chain: - use file sharing software if available instead of email chain pls
I am a rhetoric coach, so I look for strong structure and clear arguments. Speed will not win you any points with me. This is a public address activity. Your arguments need to be understandable and substantiated. I will consider framework, but I will not vote solely on it. Make sure that you understand what your evidence is saying.
Email: spencer.orlowski@gmail.com
please add me to the email chain
New Paradigm 1/11/25
For PF - I am sick of seeing people read nonsense to win rounds. Please read educational arguments. I don't care if your opponent is wearing shoes and IVIs are getting really overused. There are obvious instances where you need theory, but I am sick of people using it to avoid learning anything about the topic.
Top level thoughts
I have voted on pretty much everything. I prefer depth and clash to running from debate. Engaging will be rewarded.
Don’t be a jerk to your opponent or me. We are all giving up lots of free time to be here. I won't vote on oppressive arguments.
I think preparation is the cornerstone of the value this activity offers. You shouldn’t rely on theory to avoid reading.
I don't think it’s possible to be tab, but I try not to intervene. Arguments must have a warrant or they aren’t an argument. This applies to all debate styles. (Ex. "6-7-4-6-3" is not a full argument)
I shouldn’t have to have background on your argument to understand it. I have read and seen a lot, but that will be irrelevant to my decision. I won’t fill in gaps for you.
I think most debates are way closer and more subjective than people give them credit for.
Collapsing is a good idea generally.
I will not flow off the doc. That is cheating.
Don’t let my preferences determine your strategy. I’m here for you! Don't over adapt to me.
General thoughts on arguments
Ks: My favorite literature. I have a fair bit of experience with most lit bases commonly read and I really enjoy clash and k v ks debates. I wish I saw more K v K debates. I dislike long overviews and super generic links. I think critical literature is great, but I think you should at least attempt to tie it to the topic if possible. Spec advantage links are great. I will vote on non-T affs and I will vote on T.
Policy Args: I have the most experience evaluating these arguments (I debated them for 8 years). I think comparing evidence and links is more important than generic impact weighing. Turns are OP, and I will vote on smart analytics. I only really read evidence if debaters don’t give me a good mechanism to avoid it. I tend to default to offense/defense paradigm, but I’m open to whatever framing you want to read.
Frameworks: I find phil frameworks interesting and fun. I wish these debates were a bit deeper and used actual phil warrants instead of just extending tricky drops. I think LD is a really great opportunity to get into normative ethics.
Theory – I find frivolous theory a bit annoying (despite what my pf teams might have you believe), but I flow these debates pretty thoroughly and evaluate them pretty objectively. I will accept intuitive responses even if they are light on proper terminology. (i.e not explicitly saying the word counter-interp)
Tricks – Lots of different tricks that I view differently. Things like determinism and skep are better than mis-defining words or 15 spikes. I find good apriories interesting. I have a fairly low bar for intuitive responses. I will probably not vote on “evaluate after x speech”. If I cant flow it I wont vote on it. Hiding one-line paradoxes in tiny text after cards is obviously a waste of everyone's time
For PF
2nd rebuttal should collapse and frontline
If it takes you longer than a min to produce evidence, it doesn't exist. I think you should just send all cards before you read them.
If I think you inappropriately paraphrased, I will ignore evidence. Read cards to avoid me thinking your paraphrasing is bad.
Use email chains. Send cases and cards before you start your speech. Stop wasting everyone's time with outdated norms
I am a very traditional judge who prefers good analysis and traditional case structure. I am ok with progressive ideas if they are well explained. Moderate speed is ok
Paradigm: This isn’t my first rodeo! Although I may not be a professional debater, I stay informed of today’s political issues. I’m most interested in how the status quo is affected by these issues. I appreciate a debater who can present both facts and real world applications. I also appreciate when two debaters can refute each other and there is some good clash! It also doesn’t hurt when you treat this as an actual congressional debate (mini congressmen and women).
I’m a new judge for PF so don’t speak too fast.
Be clean on your flow
Don’t interupt each other during cross X. Ask a question and listen for an answer and vice versa.
0. General:
chain for policy/general questions
chain for ld (pls add both)
Coaching: Isidore Newman, Coppell, IVA High
Conflicts: a few LAMDL teams.
Debate Shoutouts: Deven Cooper, Dayvon Love, Diego "Jay-Z" Flores, Erika Linares, Geo Liriano, Jaysyn Green, Daniel Medina, Destiny Popoca, Lauren Willard, Cameron Ward, Isai Ortega, Andres Marquez, Elvis Pineda, J-Beatz, Dorian Gurrola, Aless Escobar, Jean Kim, and all of #LAMDLGANG.
"IR topics are cool bc we learn abt the world and stuff" - E.C. Powers, Wyoming Debate 5/22/23.
1. Pref Guide:
General: Currently entering my junior year and currently debate for CSULB (2 years of NDT-CEDA debate, 3 1/2 of LAMDL Debate) and have about 2 years of circuit judging experience. I care a lot about debate. Whether or not I should can be changed by persuasive argumentation.
Judging Style: I judge based what's on the flow, and the flow only. Judge intervention is silly and I try not to do it unless I absolutely need to fill in the gaps. Offense/Defense paradigm is how I evaluate debates, and will vote for the team that did the better debating unless told otherwise. Dropped args are true args, but need to be impacted out. No judge kick, make your own decisions and for the love of god start the round on time. Speaks will reflect all of these instances.
There are little predispositions that I have about debate that cannot be changed by good debating. Any endorsement of violence/racism/homophobia/transphobia is an auto-L + nuked speaker points. Ev-ethics includes shifty citational practices/ev misconstruction or clipping. All ethics challenges stop the debate with no room for continuation. In most scenarios I'm not looking at the doc, which means you should probably have a recording of the speech as proof.
I care about evidence quality far less than most judges. In most instances, substantive debating overrides bad debating with assertion of (X) piece of evidence or (X) author, however I prefer both a good combination of both. I care more about line by line, 3rd/4th level testing, and in-depth clash as opposed to just "how good evidence is". If I wanted to read evidence, I would read a book. I judge debates to see debaters debate out arguments, and reading evidence as a starting point for an RFD when not contested seems paradoxical to the activity.
I do not yell clear during C.I.A. level ear-torturing tactics. Clarity is important, and if you are unclear, the decision and speaks will reflect such. If you ask me about an argument that you "made" that didn't have the effect on a decision you thought it did, it's because you either a. did not explain it well enough to make it that way or b. it was absolutely incoherent and I did not hear or understand it.
LD Specific: Do what you want, everything else applies from above applies.
2. Random/Misc:
Good Speaks Guide: Please do not delay the round/lallygag around, be excessively rude to your opponents, or endorses/argue for any isms. If you start the round on time, set up the email chain before I get into the room, and be generally funny/charismatic, you will get good speaks.
Song Challenge: I usually start speaks at 28.5 and move up/down depending on performance. On a softer note, I usually will listen to music while I write my RFD. Most times, I already have decided a winner after the 2AR has ended, but I always go over my flow/notes one last time before I write or submit my ballot. I love listening to new music, and I listen to every genre imaginable. That being said, I love to hear the tunes y'all have been jamming to recently. To encourage such behavior, debaters have an opportunity to garner extra speaks based on their music suggestions. Each team is allowed to give me one song to listen to while I write my RFD. It cannot be a song I've heard before. If I like the song, you will receive a +.1 to your speaker points. If I don't like it, you won't receive any extra, but I also won't redact any from your original score.
Advice/Help: If you are from LAMDL, debate for a UDL or public school without coaching, I'm willing to help with advice or questions y'all may have.
I am a former South Dakota debater who competed in PFo, oratory, and interp. I’m now the head debate coach at Mitchell High School. I’m a traditional Public Forumer; this event was created for lay judges and heavy Public Forum jargon should be left to the side.
- This isn’t policy. Slow down and give me a quality delivery for higher speaks. Throwing delivery by the wayside for a fast and robotic presentation is a massive mistake so many debaters commit. I’m an Aristotle girlie - persuade me with your ethos, logos, and pathos!
- I'll be closely following the arguments presented, and if you believe there's a pivotal point crucial for winning the round, please ensure to address it in one of your subsequent speeches.
- Please time yourself in speeches. I'll keep track of prep, but I encourage you to do so as well. If you call for a card your prep starts once you start reading the card.
- Direct quotes > Paraphrasing. I won't immediately downvote you for paraphrasing, but if your debate opponent can provide a compelling reason, I might reconsider. The same principle applies to the misuse of evidence. If your opponent requests a card citation, and it contradicts your argument or the way you presented it, it could be deemed abusive, potentially leading to a loss in the round.
- Creativity in arguments is encouraged, as long as you have the link chain to back it up. Using abusively creative arguments is not my favorite (ie., student loan debt forgiveness will lead to nuclear war.)
- Weighing metrics are SO IMPORTANT! Even if it seems obvious to you, lay it all out for me so you ensure it gets weighed how you see fit.
- Summaries should not be utilized as second rebuttals; use your summary for voters and to tell me why I’m preferring you on each flowed contention.
- Be assertive, not aggressive! I’m such a firm believer of “If you have to be mean to get your point across, you’re a bad debater.” Aggressiveness will cost you speaker points.
- I have come to despise off-the-clock roadmaps and asking if every individual in the round is ready; you can begin and we’ll catch up.
- Telling me what I’m going to be voting is such a pet peeve of mine. Tell me what to weigh, what to prefer, what to analyze, what to flow through - do NOT tell me what I’m going to vote. :)
I am a parent judge who has been judging congress at a local, state, and national level for about 6 years.
PARLI
I am often selected as a parliamentarian for prelim rounds. As a parliamentarian, these are my top issues:
- Adjust to the flow of the debate. You may give me a fantastic speech, but if it has nothing to do with what others have said in the debate, I cannot rank it high. I love dynamic rounds where a lot of things are happening and everyone adapts quickly to the round.
- Similarly, I love dynamic cross-ex. I want to hear a lot of questions and answers. Don’t ramble on. Don’t yell over each other. It’s okay to interrupt if someone is going on too long, but don’t scream. If someone is talking over you incessantly, don’t escalate — they already look bad and it’s a win for you. At least in my book.
- As a parli, I love a chamber that can run itself. Help each other out! In this event, you have to collaborate with each other to compete against each other. If you sabotage each other or get in each others’ ways, that will always reflect on the quality of the round. I reward constructive and productive leaders in the round. That being said, don’t try to domineer the “politics" of the chamber.
- As a parli, I don’t give detailed feedback for each individual speech. I try to give you actionable advice based on what I see across all the rounds. I will use your speeches as examples.
PRESENTATION
- I pay a lot of attention to delivery and presentation.
- Good delivery is necessary to get your point across! I don’t judge it on a rubric. It’s just a critical component of actually communicating your argument. Often, competitors make unique or nuanced arguments — I absolutely do appreciate it, but you have to work extra hard to communicate that argument clearly to your judges.
- iPads are OK. If they hurt your presentation, I’ll mark you down for poor presentation. If they don’t, no problem.
- No laptops. You won’t get a rank from me if you speak off a laptop.
CONTENT
- I like structured speeches. I’m just a parent judge. Don’t lead me along a wild goose chase. If you have some kind of round-winning impact at the end of your speech, I want you to preface it at the beginning before you jump right into the content.
- All speeches in a round are equally important, from the sponsorship to the last in a round. You can win my 1 speaking from any point in the round. For example, if an early speech is essential to the round, I will reward it more than a later speech even if it does have more refutation/adaptation etc.
- Late round speakers who are repeating or rehashing arguments don’t get ranked well.
- I don’t like short speeches. 3 minutes is already so little time to engage in a debate that is 90-120 minutes long. Use your time and use it well! I consider anything under 2:30 a short speech and will probably mark it on your feedback.
PRESIDING OFFICERS
- Please please please elect someone who knows how to do their job. I’ve seen people who are perfectly capable of POing pressure someone who has no idea what they are doing into POing, and then the chamber is awful for the next two hours. Don’t do that to me.
- Don’t “backseat PO.” Yes, correct the PO for substantive mistakes like precedence/recency slip-ups, but don’t be a smartass. Don’t get in the way of chamber business. Correcting technicalities will slow us down and that can often deny people a chance to speak.
- POs have to be assertive and play at least some kind of role in leading the chamber.
- A good PO will always get a breaking rank from me.
Have fun! Don’t take yourself *too* seriously.
I've been judging seven years and have judged all events in both Speech and Debate except World Schools. Regarding Debate, I follow the NSDA criteria for each event in terms of how a team frames and flows their cases. I look for you to lay the foundation for your case in your opening speeches and to build your case as the round progresses. While your prepared speeches establish your case, how you respond to your opponent's arguments extemporaneously in your later speeches and in Crossfire / Cross X, will influence my decision. Dropped arguments or those of your opponent not responded to may weaken your case. Statistics (Percentages, dollar amounts, population figures, e.g.) without a cited source will be considered speculative and may weaken your case. While I do not discourage Spreading, I am more interested in the quality of your content than the quantity! If I can't understand what you are saying, I may miss something that could affect my decision.
When judging Speech, again, I follow the NSDA criteria for each event. I look for how a speaker blends the standards for the event with their interpretation and delivery of the material. I take notes, but, will give you my full attention as you have a short time to make an impression.
Regarding timing in debate, I encourage you time yourselves, but I will also keep track. I allow some leeway if you go over the allotted time for a round, but I will cut you off if it becomes excessive. If you are in the middle of an answer in Crossfire / Cross X and time expires, I will allow you to complete your response.
I will enter my RFD and feedback as soon after the end of a round as I am able. I am okay with giving verbal feedback at the end of a round, but it will be very general so as to not hint at my decision! I don't reveal my decision at the end of a round. Overall, I hope you enjoy your Speech and Debate experience as much as I enjoy judging. It is truly an honor to be a judge.
Please include me on the email chain: miles.owens43@gmail.com
General Thoughts – I try to be as tab as possible. However, I think everyone inevitably comes in with some preconceived notions about debate. Don’t feel like you have to adapt to my preferences--you should do whatever you do best. But if what you do best happens to be judge adaptation, here are some of my thoughts:
Framework – All I ask is that you engage each other's interpretations and arguments--don’t just read and extend. Look to my comments on topicality if you're interested in how I try to evaluate standards-based debate.
Case Debate – I think case-specific strategies that integrate intelligent on-case arguments into the 1NC can be really compelling.
DA/CPs – The more specific the better, but I’ll vote on anything.
Critiques – Most persuasive when they interact explicitly with the 1AC/2AC. For example, I like specific 2NC link analysis (doesn’t necessarily need to be carded) that points to arguments being made in the 1AC/2AC. I'm fine with critical affirmatives so long as you explain the significance of voting affirmative. A general note: given that I'm trying to evaluate your arguments as though I'm hearing them for the first time, please operate under the assumption that I'm completely unfamiliar with the literature you're reading.
Topicality – My threshold for T is the same as any other type of argument, but like all other positions, there are central issues that the 2NR needs to resolve in order for me to vote on T. If neither team articulates a framework within which I can vote, then I’ll default to competing interpretations, but I’d much rather not have to default to anything. Assuming I’m voting in a competing interpretations framework, I think of standards as external impacts to a vote for a given team’s interpretation. That means comparative impact calculus has a huge place in a 2NR that’s going for T. Explain to me what debate looks like if I vote for your interpretation and why that vision should be preferred to one that would allow for cases like the affirmative.
Theory – Please engage the other team's arguments--don't just read blocks and talk past one another. If you expect to win on theory (independently), you should probably give me some kind of substantive reason why a given violation merits rejection of the team, and not just the argument.
Nontraditional Debate – As long as I’m provided with a standard for evaluation that I feel both teams can reasonably be expected to meet, you can do whatever you'd like.
In Round Decorum – Don’t be mean. Try to have fun.
Speed – As long as you’re clear, I’m fine with speed.
Speaker Points – 28.5 is average. I'll add points for things like clarity and efficiency, and I'll subtract points for particularly messy debating.
If you have any specific questions, please ask. Feel free to email me after round with questions: miles.owens43@gmail.com
Please don’t spread. Please be kind/polite to your opponent; you can be assertive and confident without being rude.
Value is essential—convince me that your value is more important than your opponent’s, and convince me that your side better upholds that value (even better if you can also convince me your side also better upholds your opponent’s value, too).
Hello! I am a former high school debater for Okoboji where I did LD all three years. Currently a high school science teacher and NSDA speech and debate coach for Waukee High School. This is my third year of coaching and judging. I frequently judge LD and IEs.
DEBATE:
tldr: I flow and should hear clear extensions, turns, and weighing; Speed is fine, but check with your opponents before spreading; be thorough and respectful.
PF: I am more traditional in PF - this event was created to be accessible to all. Some speed is fine, arguments should be warranted with evidence or logic.
Flow: I will judge based on what I've flowed and what you tell me the voters are. Evidence should be prevalent and should also be clearly linked and explained. Don't just read a card without telling us why it's important. When extending, tell us what you're extending and why. You do not need to reread the entire card or your entire point when extending, but make sure we know why it should be extended
Speed: Speaking quickly is fine, but it should not come at the price of your clarity or depth of argument. I prefer not to flow spreading, especially on the local circuit. If myself AND your opponents are not able to keep up, you need to slow and speak clearer. Debate should still be accessible to all, so please check with your opponents on whether they are comfortable with spreading before the round
Weighing: Need to link to your framework; if what you're weighing doesn't match the value/criterion of the round, it won't have much strength.
Theory, Ks, etc: Have limited experience running and responding to these in LD. Generally not preferred in the local circuit or PF. If you make a warranted argument or there is a legit rules violation, I will judge it. I will not automatically vote against you for running it, but these are not the preferred main arguments to be run.
Speaks: Generally give speaks between 26-29. Use your time, try to make solid arguments, respond to your opponents, be courteous during the round for higher speaks. Lower speaks if you are rude, make short speeches without addressing all relevant arguments, or are lying.
I was the head debate coach at Lyndon High School in Kansas for thee years before I retired from education. I have been an assistant coach at Washburn Rural High School for 25 years. However, I didn’t coach the varsity teams. I mainly worked with the open teams. I have not listened to a round at speed for over four years. So I would not decide to pick it up any more than just a moderate competition speed. I don’t listen to K’s. Mainly because I am not current on the literature. So I wouldn’t suggest taking that risk. I will vote on a good T argument. However, if it is frivolous I can be convinced to vote against you. Generic DA’s are ok with specific link analysis. Finally, I default to a Policymaker paradigm. Good luck and have fun.
Hello and Welcome!
I prefer clear and CIVIL debates. Personal attacks, targeting based on non-topical issues, continuously talking over someone, and any abuse of prep time are all things that will drop your speaker points very, very low.
I'm fine with speed, but you have to be both clear and organized. If you will be spreading, please include me on the email chain.
Clear signposting is essential. I also prefer to see attacks going down the flow (cont. 1 first, cont 2. second, etc.) rather than jumping around. It makes for easier flowing and a more ordered argument.
Also, please note that I don't flow cross. If something comes up in cross and you want to make sure it's on my flow, you need to mention it in the following speech.
I'll weight voters if they're provided, otherwise I'll vote on the flow.
If you have any specific questions about my judging style or experience that are not addressed here, please feel free to ask before the start of the round.
Hey! My name is Sam Padmanabhan (he/him/his) and I've been in and out of the speech and debate scene in the Upper Midwest for the better part of the last decade. I've competed in and coached most PA and debate events (my main events were Oratory, Congress, IX/USX, and PF).
Email: samuelpadmanabhan@gmail.com
General Debate Things
- Evidence ethics is super important. Don't fabricate or misrepresent evidence
- Be respectful at all times. Any language or arguments that is/are hurtful or hateful (ableist, racist, transphobic, homophobic, etc.) will get you the 20 L or bottom rank. On this note, I don’t mind a little bit of snark but being disrespectful/rude is never okay.
- Be smart → don’t just repeat meaningless cards. I want to see smart analytics that show you understand what you’re saying (this goes for all debate formats)
- Have fun! Debate should be fun :)
Congress
- Top ranks will always go to the students who move the debate forward
- Speeches: quality over quantity
- Presentation is important but argumentation is more important
- Cite complete sources → Author, Publication, Month, Year. Also be cognizant of source quality. I want to see expert analysis, empirical data, etc.
- POs should make the round feel seamless. The ideal PO runs the chamber so well that I don't even know they're there. I will rank good POs very well.
- I need to see clash. People often mischaracterize Congress as a speech event; this is not true. Congress is debate so I need to see clash, refutation, clear interaction between arguments. Especially if you give a later cycle speech, make sure you’re engaging with what’s been said in the round (either by refuting it or crystallizing the issues). New arguments in the 4th or 5th cycle won’t help you. When doing refutation, the preferred style is line by line OR picking the major arguments and arguing at the warrant level.
*Simply offering competing evidence or analytics is not a refutation. Show me why I buy your argument MORE THAN the opposing side*
- Play the game. As a judge and former competitor, I’m observing how you conduct yourself at all times. Getting my top ranks can only happen if you engage in the chamber the entire session. Ask questions, give speeches, make motions. Show me you want to be there.
- Never ever break cycle in front of me. If you give the speech that breaks the cycle, it’s pretty much an automatic 9. I’m expecting preparedness and breaking cycle is a sign you aren’t prepared. Showing up to debate PF with only an Aff case prepared wouldn’t be acceptable so why should it be acceptable in Congress?
- ^That being said, if you save the chamber from breaking cycle, this will give you a major boost. My bar will lower (slightly but still lower) for impromptu speeches that keep the cycle intact
- Don’t waste questioning time by: asking softballs (especially in Varsity), asking only one question, yelling, making statements and not questions, etc.
- The easiest path to my ballot: speak often, play the game, be smart.
LD (never competed but I have a working knowledge of LD and I've judged it a bit so here are some of my preferences)
- I'm good with speed
- I enjoy a good theory debate but make sure to prove the violation and the interpretation (just spamming buzzwords is not enough here)
- I'm good with Ks as well but make sure the K links in with the argument being made (see above parentheses)
PF (familiar enough with most styles of PF)
- Tech over truth. I'm more flow than lay but persuasiveness is still important
- Don't extend through the ink --> tell me why I prefer your analysis more than your opponent's
- I won't call for cards unless explicitly asked to in round or if there is a major controversy over evidence (avoid these problems by maintaining high evidence ethics)
- Speed is fine but if I can't understand you, it's not ending up on my flow
- Clear signposting is a must
- Give me clear voters and make sure you weigh
- Smart analytics + good evidence >>> just evidence
- Source citations: author + qualifications + publication + month + year (i.e. Dr. Daniel Byman of Georgetown University writing for the Brookings Institution in December 2017)
- The warrant level debate is key
- Notes on Progressive Argumentation: My thoughts on progressive argumentation have really changed over the years. I do see the importance for it in the debate space and thus, if progressive arguments (K's, Theory, CPs, etc.) are run, I will evaluate them. In PF, I don't enjoy seeing progressive args as much but I will still evaluate. That being said, please don't use progressive args purely as a tactical move. If I catch you doing this, it will result in the 20 L. In order to get me to properly evaluate progressive args, you need to prove the connection to the arguments being made (i.e. prove the link to the arg with Ks, the violation and the interps with theory, etc.) --> as long as they are clear/substantiated, I'm willing to listen and evaluate.
I use she/her pronouns.
I have coached all forms of debate, with students as state champions, national qualifiers, and national outrounds (mainly in LD, but also CX, PFD, and congress). While I am a coach of 20+ years, I like to be treated as a lay judge. My philosophy is that regardless of the style of debate, you should never assume that your judge knows more than you and it is your responsibility to educate them on the topic. That means:
1) I prefer speech habits that emphasize persuasiveness and understanding. Don't spread, make sure to signpost, and think about how you can use your voice to emphasize key points.
2) Avoid topic-specific jargon. We are not researching this stuff to the level that you do as a competitor. Don't throw out an acronym without telling me what it stands for, unless it is a universally-known one (i.e. NATO). Sometimes even terms of art in the resolution aren't really known to the judge, so it is helpful to clarify. That also goes for complex ideas and theories.
3) Explain your arguments/contentions. Just reading card after card does not showcase your logic. Remember the warrant -- WHY does that evidence matter? And with that said, what is the impact? I love a good impact.
UPDATED slightly on 3/2/24:
PLEASE EMAIL ME CASES BEFORE THE ROUND SO IT IS EASIER FOR ME TO FOLLOW THEM: ppaikone@gmail.com. THANK YOU!
Personal Background:
Since 2023, I am the speech and debate coach of George School in Pennsylvania. From 2000-2023, I was a coach of the speech and debate team of University School in Ohio. I have coached and judged virtually all high school speech and debate events over the years, but I’ve devoted the most time and energy to Public Forum debate and Lincoln-Douglas debate. I have experience at all levels: national, state, and local. Probably my biggest claim to fame as a coach is that my PF team (DiMino and Rahmani) won the NSDA national championship in 2010. If any of the points below are unclear or if you want my view on something else, feel free to ask me questions before the round begins.
LD Judging Preferences:
1. VALUE AND VALUE CRITERION: I think that the value and the value criterion are essential components of Lincoln-Douglas debate. They are what most distinguish LD from policy and public forum. If your advocacy is NOT explicitly directed toward upholding/promoting/achieving a fundamental value and your opponent does present a value and a case that shows how affirming/negating will fulfill that value, your opponent will win the round – because in my view your opponent is properly playing the game of LD debate while you are not.
2. QUALITY OVER QUANTITY: I think that speed ruins the vast majority of debaters, both in terms of their ability to think at a high level and in terms of their effective public speaking, which are two things that are supposed to be developed by your participation in high school forensics and two things I very much hope to see in every debate round I judge.
Most debaters cannot think as fast as they can talk, so going fast in an attempt to win by a numerical advantage in arguments or by “spreading” and causing your opponent to miss something, usually just leads to (a) poor strategic choices of what to focus on, (b) lots of superficial, insignificant, and ultimately unpersuasive points, and (c) inefficiency as debaters who speak too fast often end up stumbling, being less clear, and having to repeat themselves.
I would encourage debaters to speak at a normal, conversational pace, which would force them to make strategic decisions about what’s really important in the round. I think it is better to present clearly a few, significant points than to race rapidly through many unsubstantial points. Try to win by the superior quality of your thinking, not by the greater quantity of your ideas.
While I will do my best to “flow” everything that each debater presents, if you go too fast and as a result I miss something that you say, I don’t apologize for that. It’s your job as a debater not just to say stuff, but to speak in the manner necessary for your judge to receive and thoughtfully consider what you are saying. If your judge doesn’t actually take in something that you say, you might as well not have said it to begin with.
Because I prioritize quality over quantity in evaluating the arguments that are presented, I am not overly concerned about “drops.” If a debater “drops” an argument, that doesn’t necessarily mean he/she loses. It depends on how significant the point is and on how well the opponent explains why the dropped point matters, i.e., how it reveals that his/her side is the superior one.
As a round progresses, I really hope to hear deeper and clearer thinking, not just restating of your contentions. If you have to sacrifice covering every point on the flow in order to take an important issue to a higher level and present a truly insightful point, then so be it. That’s a sacrifice well worth making. On the other hand, if you sacrifice insightful thinking in order to cover the flow, that’s not a wise decision in my view.
3. WARRANTS OVER EVIDENCE: If you read the above carefully, you probably realized that I usually give more weight to logical reasoning than to expert testimony or statistics. I’m more interested in seeing how well you think on your feet than seeing how good of a researcher you are. (I’ve been coaching long enough to know that people can find evidence to support virtually any position on any issue….)
If you present a ton of evidence for a contention, but you don’t explain in your own words why the contention is true and how it links back to your value, I am not likely to be persuaded by it. On the other hand, if you present some brilliant, original analysis in support of a contention, but don’t present any expert testimony or statistical evidence for it, I will probably still find your contention compelling.
4. KRITIKS: While I may appreciate their cleverness, I am very suspicious of kritik arguments. If there is something fundamentally flawed with the resolution such that it shouldn’t be debated at all, it seems to me that that criticism applies equally to both sides, the negative as well as the affirmative. So even if you convince me that the kritik is valid, you’re unlikely to convince me then that you should be given credit for winning the round.
If you really believe the kritik argument, isn’t it hypocritical or self-contradictory for you to participate in the debate round? It seems to me that you can’t consistently present both a kritik and arguments on the substantive issues raised by the resolution, including rebuttals to your opponent’s case. If you go all in on the kritik, I’m likely to view that as complete avoidance of the issues.
In short, running a kritik in front of me as your judge is a good way to forfeit the round to your opponent.
5. JARGON: Please try to avoid using debate jargon as much as possible.
6. PROFESSIONALISM: Please be polite and respectful as you debate your opponent. A moderate amount of passion and emphasis as you speak is good. However, a hostile, angry tone of voice is not good. Be confident and assertive, but not arrogant and aggressive. Your job is to attack your opponent’s ideas, not to attack your opponent on a personal level.
PF Judging Preferences:
I am among the most traditional, perhaps old-fashioned PF judges you are likely to encounter. I believe that PF should remain true to its original purpose which was to be a debate event that is accessible to everyone, including the ordinary person off the street. So I am opposed to everything that substantively or symbolically makes PF a more exclusive and inaccessible event.
Here are 3 specific preferences related to PF:
1. SPEED (i.e., SELECTIVITY): The slower, the better. What most debaters consider to be slow is still much too fast for the ordinary lay person. Also, speed is often a crutch for debaters. I much prefer to hear fewer, well-chosen arguments developed fully and presented persuasively than many superficial points. One insightful rebuttal is better than three or four mediocre ones. In short, be selective. Go for quality over quantity. Use a scalpel, not a machine gun.
2. CROSSFIRES: Ask questions and give answers. Don't make speeches. Try not to interrupt, talk over, and steam-roll your opponent. Let your opponent speak. But certainly, if they are trying to steam-roll you, you can politely interject and make crossfire more balanced. Crossfire should go back and forth fairly evenly and totally civilly. I want to see engagement and thoughtfulness. Avoid anger and aggressiveness.
3. THEME OVER TECHNIQUE: It is very important to me that a debater presents and supports a clear and powerful narrative about the topic. Don't lost sight of the bigger picture. Keep going back to it in every speech. Only deal with the essential facts that are critical to proving and selling your narrative. If you persuade me of your narrative and make your narrative more significant than your opponent's, you will win my ballot - regardless of how many minor points you drop. On the other hand, if you debate with perfect technique and don't drop anything, but you don't present and sell a clear narrative, it's highly unlikely that you will win my ballot.
For online debate:
(1) GO SLOWLY. I cannot emphasize this enough. Going more slowly will greatly improve the thoughtfulness of your arguments and the quality of your delivery, and doing so will make it much easier for me to comprehend and be persuaded by your arguments. No matter how many pieces of evidence or blocks or turns or rebuilds you present, if your opponent just clearly presents ONE intelligent point that strikes me as pertinent and insightful, I am likely to side with him/her at least on the particular issue, and perhaps vote for him/her altogether.
(1a) In terms of your case, to be as specific as possible, in the hopes that you will actually heed my words about speed, the ideal PF case should be no longer than 600 words total. If your case is much longer than that, and you go faster in order to squeeze it into 4 minutes, it's highly likely that I will simply not catch and process many of your words - so you may as well not have said them in the first place.
(1b) In terms of the later speeches in a round, be selective, be strategic, and sell me the goods. In rebuttals, give me your ONE best response to your opponent's argument - maybe two responses, at the very most three. In the second half of the round, collapse to your ONE best voting issue and give your ONE strongest reason why it is true and your ONE strongest reason why it should be considered significant. I'm not going to count all your points just because you said them - You just have to make ONE good point count. (But don't try to do that just be repeating it again and again. You have to explain why your opponent's attack on it should be considered insufficient.) And point out the ONE most critical flaw in your opponent's argument.
(2) More advice on presentation: because we are doing debate through Zoom, it is MORE important that you pay attention to your delivery, not less. It's much harder to hold people's attention when you are speaking to them online than when you speak to them in person. (I'm sure you know this to be true as a listener.) So if you just give up on presenting well, you're making the obstacle practically insurmountable. On the other hand, if you put some real effort into speaking as well as you can in this new online format, you'll likely stand out from many of your opponents and your points will likely be understood and appreciated more than theirs.
(2a) Be clear: Do everything you can to be as clear and easy to understand as possible, both in your writing and your speaking.
(2b) Vary your delivery: Indicate what are the most important points in your speeches by changing up your voice. You should emphasize what is really important by changing the pace, the pitch, the volume, and the tone and also by using pauses. Your speech should not be one, long unbroken stream of words that all sound the same.
(2c) Eye contact: I know it's very hard but try to look up at your camera as much as possible. At least try to show me your face as much as you can.
(3) I don't believe that theory or kritiks should be a part of Public Forum debate. If you run either, you will almost certainly lose my ballot. I don't have time now to give all the reasons why I'm opposed to these kinds of arguments in PF. But I want you to have fair warning of my view on this point. If your opponent has not read this paradigm (or is blatantly disregarding it) and runs a kritik or theory in a round and i am your judge, all you need to say for me to dismiss that argument is that PF debate is intended to be accessible to all people and should directly address the topic of the resolution, and then continue to debate the resolution.
My name is Louise Palardy, I am from Notre Dame Preparatory High School in Pontiac, Michigan. I am a Chemistry and Engineering teacher. I also am the moderator for the Podcast Club and our VEX Robotics program.
I am looking for debaters to follow their contentions with clear claims, well-researched evidence leading to strong impacts.
Tabroom.com is mostly my fault. Therefore I'm out of the active coaching game, but occasionally will stick myself on a pref sheet as a free strike so I can judge in an emergency.
I prefer using the Tabroom docshare system (which I did not write as it happens) because it scrubs your personal data. I will not read along with your docs though and only consult them after. If I don't hear it I don't vote on it.
My history in the activity includes competing in parliamentary debate and extemp, coaching and judging a lot of extemp, PF, LD and some other IEs, policy and congress along the way. I've coached both champs and people who are lucky to win rounds, and respect both. I coached at Milton Academy, Newton South HS and Lexington HS in that order.
All: Racist, ableist, sexist, trans- or homophobic, or other directly exclusionary language and conduct is an auto-loss. Debate the arguments, not the debater. I will apply my own standards/judgment, it's the only way I can enforce it.
Policy & LD: I'm not active but do regularly see debates. I'm OK with your speed but not topic specific jargon. Be slower for tags and author names. If you're losing me I'll say clear a couple times, but eventually will give up flowing and you won't like what happens next. I won't lean on the docs to catch up and have zero shame in saying "I didn't get it so I didn't vote for it." If I don't understand it until the 2N/2AR I consider it new.
LD: I did a lot of LD in the late 90s until the mid 2000s, then mostly stopped, then started again at Lex and coached them for about eight years. So I'm comfy with both older-school framework debates and the LARP/policy arguments my kids mostly ran.
My threshold on theory tends to be high; dumb theory debates are part of why I stopped coaching LD. I wrote an article that people still card about how theory should be relegated to actual norm creation instead of tactical wins -- though if you card me as an attempt to flatter instead of actually understanding the point, I will probably be cross.
I also dislike debates about out of round conduct or issues. I can't judge based on things I did not see, such as disclosure theory, pre-round shenanigans, or "he said last debate that he'd do X and he didn't." I also will take a dim view towards post-rounding that crosses from questions into a 3AR/3NR and will adjust points to reflect that.
Don't tell me that the tab room won't let me do that. I can always do that.
K: I am sympathetic to the aims of K debate, and will vote for it if it makes sense in the round, but Ks get no more gimme wins from me than any other argument. If it doesn't link or I don't get the impact or the alt sounds like we're supposed to stop all the world's troubles by singing campfire songs you'll probably lose.
I take a dim view on the type of K or identity debates that demand disclosure of identity from anyone in the room. I'm part of the LGBTQ spectrum, and when I was competing, I could not disclose that without risk to myself. I therefore flinch reflexively if you seem to demand to know anyone's place on various identity spectrums as the price of winning a debate. A place in debate should not be at the cost of their privacy.
That said, if you put your own identity in the round you risk your identity being debated. Don't try to run a K and then call no tag-backs if someone actually engages and answers it.
Policy: I have less background in your activity than I do in LD. So I know the general outlines fine, as the events have converged, but I'm definitely going to need you to slow down just a titch especially if you're running topic specific T or policy specific theory/condo stuff. I'm not a fan of the politics debate and have a very low threshold on no-link args there, since I tend to believe politics almost never links anyway.
Also see the K section under LD.
PF: I mostly enjoy PF rounds and coached it as my only debate event for about 4 years at Newton South. I don't sneer at it like a lot of coaches from the LD/Policyverse might. However, there are a few things I really dislike that proliferate in PF.
1) Evidence shenanigans between speeches. Have your evidence ready for your opponent to read/review immediately. Your partner can create a doc while you speak, for crying out loud. If you fumble around with it and can't get your act together, you'll see your speaks dropping.
2) Evidence shenanigans during speeches. Look, PF speeches are short. I get it. But ultimately the decisions as to whether you're abusing evidence are mine to make and I will make them. Don't fabricate, make up, or infer things your evidence doesn't say because I will read and check anything that sounds suspicious to me, or your opponents call out. This includes PF Math™: taking numbers out of your ev and combining them in ways the author did not. I read a lot of news so the likelihood I know when you're making it up is rather high.
3) Good God most crossfires, especially the free-for-all at the end, make me want to stab my ears out. Here's where I import prejudices from LD and policy more than anything: cross is about setting up arguments and confirming things, not trying to corner and AHA! your opponents or sneaking in a third contention. Set up arguments, don't make them. If you try to extend something out of cross, that's not going to go well for you. If you are an obnoxious talkshow nitwit, that's REALLY not going to go well for you.
4) If you're playing the game of "Look How Circuit I Can Be Mr Policy/LD Judge!" and your opponent has zero idea of what's going on, I'm not impressed. Debate is engagement, and giving your opponent no chance to engage by design is pretty much an auto-loss in my book. That does not mean you should shy away from creative arguments. It means you must explain them so that everyone in the room can be expected to understand and engage with them as long as they're trying to.
Hi! Here’s what you need to know about how I judge debates:
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Clarity Matters More Than Speed – I don’t like spreading (talking super fast). I have a hard time following it, so if I can’t understand you, I won’t flow it. Speak clearly and at a reasonable pace. Well-explained arguments are always better than a huge number of rushed ones.
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Link & Impact Your Arguments – I weigh how well you connect your arguments to your case and why they matter. Don’t just throw out claims—explain them, support them with evidence, and link them to your value or criterion. If you don’t show me why your argument matters, I won’t vote on it.
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Be Assertive, Not Aggressive – In cross-examination, I expect you to be confident but respectful. Don’t interrupt too much, and if your opponent says, "It’s my cross time," respect that. I appreciate strategic, well-thought-out questions over just trying to dominate the time.
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Organization Helps You Win – Signposting and roadmaps help me follow your case. If I can easily track your arguments, it makes it easier for me to vote for you.
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How I Decide – I vote based on who has stronger, well-supported arguments that link back to their case and impact the round. If both sides are close, I’ll look at how well you responded to your opponent and how effectively you defended your arguments.
Overview
Hi, I am Jacob Palmer (he/they). I did 4 years of policy at Emory. I also did 4 years of LD at Durham and have coached at Durham since I graduated. I mostly judge LD but occasionally find myself in a PF or Policy pool, so most of this paradigm is targeted at LDers. Regardless of the event I am judging though, I will do my best to adapt to you and evaluate the round solely off the flow. TDLR: Don’t cheat. Be a good person. Make real arguments. Do those things, and I will adapt to you.
Add me to the chain: jacob.gestypalmer@gmail.com. I won't backflow off the doc, and I will yell clear or slow if needed. Docs should be sent promptly at the round start time.
Feel free to read the arguments that interest you. If you make warranted arguments and tell me why they matter in the broader context of the debate you will do well. I will evaluate any argument that has a warrant, clear implication, and isn't actively exclusionary. I am tech in that I will keep a rigorous flow and evaluate the debate solely off that flow, but there are some limits to my tech-ness as a judge. I will always evaluate every speech in the debate. I will not evaluate arguments made after speech times end. I think arguments must be logically valid and their warranting should be sound. I think lazy warranting is antithetical to technical argumentation. As a logical extension of that, spamming arguments for the sake of spamming arguments is bad. Reading truer arguments will make your job and my job substantially easier. I won't vote on something not explained in round.
Be a good person. Debate often brings out the worst of our competitive habits, but that is not an excuse for being rude or disrespectful. Respect pronouns. Respect accessibility requests. Provide due content warnings.
Since other people do this and I think its nice to respect the people that helped me in my own debate journey, thank you to the all the people that have coached me or shaped who I am as a debater: Jackson DeConcini, Bennett Dombcik, Allison Harper, Brian Klarman, DKP, Ed Lee, Becca Steiner, Gabe Morbeck, Mikaela Malsin, Marshall Thompson, CQ, Nick Smith, and Devane Murphy. Special thanks to Crawford Leavoy for introducing me to this activity.
Specifics
Policy – Advantages and DAs shouldn’t be more complicated than they need to be. Plan and counterplan texts should be specific and have a solvency advocate. Spec is fine against vague positions but the sillier the shell the harder it will be to win an actual internal link to fairness or education. I'm generally fine with condo, but the more condo you read the more receptive I'll be to theory. To win the 2ar on condo the 1ar shell needs to be more than a sentence. Judge kick is fine, but I won't do it unless you tell me to. The 2nr in LD is not a 2nc. If your 2nr strategy relies on reading lots of new impact modules or sandbagging cards that should've been in the 1nc, I am not the judge for you. To an extent, carded 2nr blocks are fine, e.g. when answering a perm, but all the evidence you should need to win the 2nr should just be in the 1nc.
T – Don't be blippy. Weigh between interps and show what Affs, Advantages, DAs, etc. are actually lost or gained. The worst T debates are an abstract competition over ethereal goods like fairness. The best T debates forward a clear vision of what debates on the topic should look like and explains why the debates based on one interpretation of the topic are materially more fair or educational than others. I think affirmatives should generally be predictably limited. I think functional limits can solve a lot of neg offense if correctly explained.
K – These debates are also probably where I care the most about quality over quantity. Specificity matters - Not all Ks are the same and not all plans are the same. If your 1nc shell doesn’t vary based on the 1ac, or your 1ar blocks don’t change based on the kritik I will be very sad. I generally think I should vote for whoever did the better debating, but y'all are free to hash out what that means.
More often than not, it seems like I am judging K debates nowadays. Whether you are the K debater or the Policy/Phil debater in these rounds, judge instruction is essential. The 2nr and 2ar should start with a clear explanation of what arguments need to be won to warrant an aff or neg ballot and why. The rest of the 2nr or 2ar should then just do whatever line-by-line is necessary to win said arguments. I find that in clash debates more than other debates, debaters often get lost in extending their own arguments without giving much round-specific contextualization of said extensions or reasons why the arguments extended are reasons they should win the debate. You need to tell me what to do with the arguments you think you are winning and why those specific arguments are sufficient for my ballot.
Non-T/Planless Affs – I am happy to judge these debates and have no issues with non-t affs. Solvency is important. From the 1ac there should be a very clear picture of how the affirmative resolves whatever harms you have identified. For negatives, T USFG is solid. I’ve read it. I’ve voted on it. Turn strategies (heg good, growth good, humanism good, etc.) are also good. For T, I find topical versions of the aff to be less important than some other judges. Maybe that’s just because I find most TVAs to be largely underdeveloped or not actually based in any real set of literature. Cap and other kritiks can also be good. I no qualms evaluating a K v K or methods debate.
Phil – I love phil debates. I think these debates benefit greatly from more thorough argumentation and significantly less tricks. Explain your syllogism, how to filter offense, and tell me what you're advocating for. If I don't know how impact calc functions under your framework, then I will have a very hard time evaluating the round. If your framework has a bunch of analytics, slow down and number them.
Theory – Theory should be used to check legitimate abuse within the debate. As with blatantly untrue DAs or Advantages, silly theory arguments will be winnable, but my threshold of what constitutes a sufficient response will be significantly lower. Slow down on the analytics and be sure to weigh. I think paragraph theory is fine, but you still need to read warrants. I think fairness and education are both important, and I haven’t really seen good debates on which matters more. Debates where you weigh internal links to fairness and/or education are generally much better. I think most cp theory or theoretical objections to other specific types of arguments are DTA and really don’t warrant an RVI, but you can always convince me otherwise.
Tricks – If this is really your thing, I will listen to your arguments and evaluate them in a way that I feel is fair, granted that may not be the way you feel is most fair. I have found many of the things LDers have historically called tricks to be neither logically valid nor sound. I have no issue with voting on arguments like skep or determinism or paradoxes, but they must have a sufficient level of warranting when they are first introduced. Every argument you make needs to be a complete argument with a warrant that I can flow. All arguments should also be tied to specific framing that tells me how to evaluate them within the larger context of the debate. Also, be upfront about your arguments. Being shady in cx just makes me mad and sacrifices valuable time that you could spend explaining your arguments.
Independent Voters - I think arguments should only generate offense through specific framing mechanisms. Somewhat tied into this I feel incredibly uncomfortable voting on people's character or using my ballot to make moral judgements about debaters. I also don’t want to hear arguments about events outside of the round I am judging. If something your opponent did truly makes you feel unsafe or unable to debate, then you should either contact me, your coach, tab, or the tournament equity office. We can always end the round and figure something out.
Pronouns: she / her
Style: I respond negatively to speakers who are rude, inappropriate/disrespectful, and grandstanding (my def = talking just to talk / pontificating / using inflated language / using words without knowing their meanings).
Background: I have been teaching for 28 years in Iowa and Texas, and I have been Hoover's head debate coach for several years (and judged for several years prior to that). I also have legal assistant training; this, too, informs my perspective as a judge.
I teach speech, argumentation, and persuasion daily – same concepts, different venue.
I’m here because I prize lifelong learning, and I find these experiences are fun, rewarding, and add insight into both my classroom teaching and debate coaching. I hope you, too, find these experiences fun and rewarding and that you learn and improve from each interaction… even if you don't win your round. :)
What I look for in a PF round:
I view my role in the round mainly as a trained observer and judge as teams do their work; I prefer teams to time themselves (and report the time) and I will rarely interrupt, direct, or ask for a card. However, I will note called cards and how they are subsequently used. If cards aren’t called or if points are left unchallenged, my assumption is your team agrees to their use – barring fundamentally untrue things ("racism good"). Teams should extend the card’s argument and not just shorthand the author’s name.
Teams should independently, explicitly, at the beginning, address and agree upon how the round should be weighed; if not, my assumption is cost-benefit analysis.
Please provide roadmaps and clear signposting throughout the round as these features allow all parties to be on the same page and assist me in rigorous note-taking.
I can follow moderate speed – especially if it’s because you truly have a lot of strong links and evidence to present -- but if you go so fast that I miss your point, that’s on you. Same if you’re spreading or spending a lot of time talking but not actually saying anything, such as entire rounds spent on agreeing on definitions or other minutia.
Additionally, jargon doesn’t impress me; I spend my days breaking down jargon and complex topics for students, so I expect you to practice this real-world skill as well. Seeing your ability to adapt, contextualize, and show mastery without needing to resort to jargon is key for me.
During cross, ask questions to which you legitimately want answers and don't steamroll your opponents by interjecting so they can’t respond.
In your final focus, I prefer the focus to be on your case -- what are the main voters in the round and why your evidence should be preferred, why your impacts outweigh, why you should win, etc. – instead of your opponent’s case. This is your chance to explicitly tell me why your team should win my ballot.
Hey, I'm Shaan. I did PF for 4 years at Jackson High School in Ohio. I'm a senior at OSU. Email: shaanparikh12@gmail.com
NSDAs 2023 Policy:
Keeping it straight up with y'all, I haven't judged a ton of policy. That said, run whatever you want -- I have experience judging every type of argument (theory, Ks). In general, I'm tech > truth and will pretty much vote for anything if you explain it to me. Spread however much you want, but don't spread tags so I can write them down. Really don't like voting for blippy args so if you are going to go for something, go for it and tell me why you win it through framing.
Lord have mercy please do not be racist or any of the -ist things or I'll drop you.
PF:
I don't wanna write it all out so read this:
https://www.tabroom.com/index/paradigm.mhtml?judge_person_id=85168
Ryan Parimi - Lincoln-Douglas and Public Forum Paradigm
Email: ryan.parimi@gmail.com
About me
- UGA law student
- I coach/teach college, high school, and middle school debate (LD, PF, WS, Parli)
- I've taught summer debate camps at Yale, Drew, U. of Washington, and even one way out in Jakarta, Indonesia
My debate philosophy
- Although I enjoy some progressive arguments, my debate philosophy still centers on clear argumentation and persuasive speech. I want you to try to win me—not only win arguments in a vacuum. I try to award speaker points accordingly. If a tournament doesn't allow low-point wins, I will say in the RFD that I would've given a low-point win with x points.
- I generally vote on the flow. Tech over truth (within reason).
- I like aspects of both traditional and progressive debate. I wish the traditional community wouldn't let its fear of everything turning into policy keep it from adopting some helpful circuit norms, and I wish the progressive community would stop trying to convince itself that a total departure from traditional debate turns the activity into anything but an esoteric, nonsensical game with no real-life application or educational value.
Speed
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Prioritize clarity. Spreading is lame, but I won't vote you down solely because you chose to spread. If you spread, please be good at it. Bad spreading will 100% tank your speaker points. Email me your case or give me a printed copy before the round if you plan on spreading.
Evidence
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I know the evidence rules, and I have no problem deciding a round on a legitimate evidence violation.
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LINCOLN-DOUGLAS:
In general
-
I love LD.
- Please remember that you need to make your attacks on your opponent's case in the rebuttal portion of NC (if neg) or 1AR (if aff). NR or 2AR = too late. I have to disregard those as new arguments.
- Don't forget fiat exists. Fine with you arguing to what extent.
- Counterplans are fine.
Framework
- I enjoy a good framework debate.
-
Traditional and modern frameworks are fine. Just make whatever you’re using clear. I know my philosophers pretty well...don't try to BS me on Kant or Rawls or something. I will know. That being said, I believe it's on the debaters to call each other out. I'm going to flow it even if it's a little painful to listen to (unless it's crazy).
Kritiks and Theory
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A well-developed K could certainly convince me. I'm familiar with the critical theories behind most Ks.
- Theory arguments are fine when there's actual abuse--clearly explain the norm and the violation. Don't waste my time with arguments like "he didn't put his contact info on the debate wiki so drop him."
- For me, K and theory are above substance. I'm fine with you arguing about that though, and you're especially welcome to argue whether K > theory.
- I hate disclo and will not vote on it with one exception: if you didn't disclose and you're spreading so fast that flowing is nearly impossible, I will give you the L if your opponent runs disclo (unless they're also spreading and didn't disclose).
- Condos are a little sus but I don't have a strong view on them.
Examples of cases that would be great for my taste
- Traditional case that demonstrates a deep understanding of the philosophy behind its framework
- Cap K that links reasonably to the resolution, argued in a more traditional style
- Tech case that restores my faith in humanity by making semi-reasonable arguments and doesn't force me to flow 10 subpoints of copy-paste garbage from the debate wiki
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PUBLIC FORUM:
In general
-
Did you know that PF is the only debate event that explicitly mentions lay judges in its description? Indeed, "Students who do Public Forum must be prepared to debate in front of judges without any formal debate training. Being able to persuade a range of judges is a central component to this event."
- ^That means I prefer you lean more traditional in this event. I will not, however, vote you down solely because you went more progressive.
Kritiks and Theory
- In general, I'm skeptical of Ks and theory in PF.
- Still open to theory when there's actual abuse--clearly explain the norm and the violation.
Plans/Advocacy
- Just going to remind you of the rule: "In Public Forum Debate, the Association defines a plan or counterplan as a formalized, comprehensive proposal for implementation. Neither the pro or con side is permitted to offer a plan or counterplan; rather, they should offer reasoning to support a position of advocacy. Debaters may offer generalized, practical solutions."
- I'm really not in the mood to hear a CX round given this rule + time limits that don't work.
- I'll assume basic fiat for pro.
Weighing
- Please give a clear metric(s) to weigh arguments with AND weigh your arguments against your opponents'. Don't expect me to weigh for you.
Evidence
- Not sure what it is about PF, but it seems to have uniquely bad evidence in terms of source quality and questionable cutting. If you did good research and cut cards ethically, you're already making me happy.
- I don't want us to spend more time asking for cards than actually debating. I know most of you have never judged, but trust me, it's mind-numbing to sit for 5 minutes after every single speech and watch you drag your feet pulling up 10 cards when only one card is relevant. Please call for cards sparingly.
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OTHER STUFF:
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Chinese rap enjoyer. Flip phone believer. Manual transmission user.
- I follow NSDA rules whenever questions that the rules address come up. I follow tradition for pretty much anything else. If you have questions about specific preferences, just ask before the round.
I’m a co-owner of a speech and debate academy and head speech coach with kids who’ve done well nationally. I’m a professional actor and a member of SAG-AFTRA. I am also a licensed attorney in CA with a background in civil litigation. I enjoy traditional LD, especially helping students learn about different philosophies, effective research and writing and developing great analytical and persuasive skills.
What I Value: I value organized, clear and coherent debate with clash. I value traditional debate and especially appreciate creative but applicable values and value criteria. A thoughtful framework and clear organization is very important, both in the framework and argument. I really enjoy hearing well-structured cases with thoughtful framework and value/Value Criterion setups. I have seen cases decided on framework and I think it is very educational for students to learn philosophy and understand more of the philosophical underpinnings of resolutions and even democratic society. Don't forget to show me how you achieved your value better than your opponent, or even how your value and VC achieve your opponent's value better. Don't forget to show your organization of claim-warrants-impact in your arguments. I don't think solvency is necessary in LD, but if you have a persuasive way to bring it in, I am okay with it.
Speed: A proper pace and rhythm of speech is important. I am fine with coherent, articulate fast talking that has a purpose, but I really do not liked spreading. I find it and double-breathing very off-putting and contrary to the fundamentals of public speaking and good communication and the notion that debate should be accessible to all. Normal people sit bewildered watching progressive, circuit-level debaters, unable to comprehend them. Furthermore, it appears that progressive debaters typically give their cases via flash drive to judges and opponents who then read them on their computers during the round and during decision-making. This then becomes an exercise in SPEED READING and battle of the written cases.
Theory: I don’t know much about theory and all the tricks that have trickled down from policy into progressive LD. However, I am open-minded and if done intelligently, such as a valid and applicable spreading K, I believe it can be an interesting way to stop abusive practices in a round.
Final words: I think all of you should be very proud of yourselves for getting up there and doing this activity. Please remember that being courteous, honest and having values you follow are going to take you much further in life than unethical practices such as misrepresenting your evidence cards or being rude to your opponent. Good luck!
---PERSONAL INFO---
I'm a coach. I did PF + Extemp.
I prefer flowing traditional cases, but I'll accept Theory and Kritiks that I can understand. I will default to clean rhetoric over spread jargon unless you read a shell that explains that spreading should be preferred.
In my opinion, a good debater is somebody that can make it abundantly clear why they are winning. Make the structure of your argument clear and meaningful in your speech. Not very persuaded by performative debate. Not very persuaded by K Affs. Stay respectful while trying new things.
--- GENERAL DEBATE ---
Speed
CONVERSATIONAL ONLY, PLEASE.
I can't vote for cases I don't understand. Practice brevity. Jargon's fine. Slow down for tags you want me to copy down exactly (if I miss it, that's on you!).
Speaks
GOOD FAITH DEBATING > EVERYTHING ELSE. Attitude, respect, and accuracy count. I give better speaks in better rounds.
Eval
Theory > Kritik > Case
Tech > Truth.... ig... can y'all just tech the truth. pls. thx.
Theory
Topicality of your case should be obvious. Ground-skewing framework in the first constructive is ok with me if you can justify that it is necessary. Shells need to be read in the very next speech after the violation. I'm usually not persuaded to buy disclosure arguments against smaller schools.
Kritik
If possible, avoid against novice/trad. Please don't spread these, especially the more complex ones; I won't follow. I like interesting new K's; I'm also here to learn! But, I see bad faith K's as an automatic RVI. Run relevant K's please. Running a K in bad faith guarantees a loss.
Counter-plan
If possible, avoid against novice/trad. Yes in LD. No in PF.
Tricks
If possible, avoid against novice/trad. I'd vote for a good trick. Remain respectful of the format. Show me something cool.
Turns
If one side kicks an argument and the other side extends a turn on it, I will still evaluate the turn. You can't just kick things lol.
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With the technical stuff out of the way, above all I want to make sure everyone enjoys the round thoroughly. Have fun with your cases; I am always interested to hear unorthodox methods! Happy Debating!
Hi everyone! I have over 20 years of judging & coaching experience, and while I spend the majority of my time on the interp side of speech & debate, I also enjoy judging Congressional Debate and Public Forum Debate now and then.
The best way to win my ballot is to be a good community member and a respectful debate opponent. I believe that you can make strong, compelling arguments without being rude, snarky, or condescending to your opponent. And please, do not yell at one another like you are fighting with a sibling who stole the last popsicle. Being strong and assertive is not the same as being loud and aggressive. I am all for clash (I look forward to it) just be a respectful opponent.
You winning my ballot is really up to you, not me. Do your research, make strong arguments, and present them compellingly. I appreciate a clear structure, roadmaps, and signposting.
I don't love the crazy fast talk. I would much rather you make solid, clear arguments on the most important points rather than list off at lightning speed everything you have read about the topic.
Tell me why should win the round, be specific, and make it about what YOU did in the debate. Of course, you can mention the errors of your opponent, but please do not tell me "our opponents didn't respond" when they clearly did. No tricks, no gimmicks, no trying to pull a fast one.
Finally, stick to the debate topic. You will NOT win my ballot if you are running a wacky case that has nothing to do with the actual topic, I find that to be a complete lack of respect for the activity.
TLDR: Substance first. Depth over Breadth. Speed mostly fine (Yes Clarity still matters -_-). K's n stuff fine. Not the biggest fan of T. Be organized.
I don't usually count flashing as prep unless it becomes a problem. Only ever had a problem in Policy and (funnily enough) Pufo rounds.
Email: graythesun@gmail.com
Pronouns: He/Him
Prep:
All Prep is running prep. I'm not setting a timer, I'm using a stopwatch for all prep. Watch your own time.
Flex-Prep is valid. As in, asking questions during Prep time. I prefer if Flex-prep is more used for clarifying arguments rather then finding tricky questions... you had your chance in CX.
Framework:
As a judge I really like framework, it tends to make for an easier decision. I.E. some arguments that are argued don't really fit within frameworks in round, and I can just drop them. If there are competing frameworks I expect you to debate them, and end up with one superseding the other. That being said... if you have the same or similar frameworks, unless you're gonna describe what the nuanced difference is and how that changes the valuation in round, it's almost better to just agree that the Fw's are the same.
Contention level:
I definitely prefer depth of argumentation over breadth, knowing your evidence is key to educating yourself on the topic. I will always buy a warrant from your evidence that's well explained and utilized over one that isn't. A lot of responses to arguments made against a card can be found within the card itself. This doesn't mean you should just re-read the card. This does not mean that you can reread your card or tagline and be good.
Debate:
I want a clean debate, no spreading at all. Please make sure to speak clearly and slowly.
If a debater asks for evidence, show me the evidence as well so I can cross-verify.
No crazy arguments or defending clearly bad viewpoints, I will probably down you if you do so.
Speech:
Speak clearly, I must be able to understand you.
I do think that body language is also a key part of speaking, so keep that in mind when giving your speech.
Don't go too over the top with emphasis, but don't be dull and boring either. Use the right amount of inflection.
If I'm judging a limited-prep event (Exempt/Impromptu), please give me the topic that you have before speaking, and time yourselves please.
If I'm judging any other speech event, please give me the title of your speech before speaking.
Congress:
11/22-11/23 (Big Cat only): I have never judged congress before, but I am registered for this event as per judging obligations. I am trying to learn how congress works, but if I am in your chamber (especially if you are the PO), please help me out as much as possible so I can do my best to judge everyone fairly.
I competed in PF for Eagan High School for 4 years and have extensive experience on the national circuit... but I haven't been in the debate space for 3+ years.
SPEED: I'm used to fast speeches, but that being said, spread at your own risk. It's your job to make sure that I get what you want me to evaluate on my flow. If I miss something, it's on you.
SIGNPOSTING: please. Please. PLEASE SIGNPOST!!! From rebuttal onward, it should be very clear to me where I should be flowing the responses/arguments you are making. Give me a brief roadmap before your speech.
THEORY AND "K": Don't run them in front of me. I have minimal experience with both. On the off chance that you disregard this warning and decide to run them anyway, odds are I will drop you unless you are very explicit on how I should be evaluating the argument.
EVIDENCE: I REALLY would prefer if you do NOT paraphrase, it allows for too much misconstruing of evidence. However, I understand that paraphrasing seems to be the direction that evidence standards in PF are shifting towards. If your opponents ask to see evidence, show them the ORIGINAL evidence, not your paraphrased version. If I ask for evidence at the end of the round and you cannot produce the original, unparaphrased version, I will not evaluate that piece of evidence when making my decision.
EXTENSIONS: If you want it to be in final focus, I better hear it in summary. The exception to that rule is DEFENSE (that went unresponded to in 2nd rebuttal) in FIRST SUMMARY only. Framework, warrants, links, impacts all have to be in both speeches if you want me to evaluate them. If you extend through ink, I will most likely ignore whatever it is that you are extending.
Tech>Truth
If you have questions regarding anything from above or anything that is not specifically addressed in my paradigm, feel free to ask me before the round starts.
LD: As I flow your round, I’ll be looking to see how your value and criterion work in tandem to prove the moral rationale that LD rests; furthermore, I don’t like when crossfires engage in obnoxious back-and-forths with questions that don’t add any substantive value to the round. Lastly, it's imperative that you underscore the credibility of your cards, especially when making claims including stats, data, points, and political and historical claims that attack your opponent’s arguments.
PF: I enjoy PF and like to flow the rounds I judge to provide you with the best feedback I can. I love to see link chains and impacts that are substantial to the case; rather than just reading the cards, I’d appreciate you explaining and further reinforcing your points, data, and stats, to let me know that you know your case all around. If you speak too fast, I’ll try to keep up as I flow but once you’ve lost me, I’ll stop flowing. I am not a fan of voters that are reliant on ethos; I prefer you use logic in voters that explain to me what you’ve argued in round. Don’t forget that I’m also flowing the round so if your claim is that they’ve dropped certain points, I’ll refer to my flow to assess that claim.
CX: I like to flow Policy rounds - please be mindful that I will flow the round and I appreciate signposts. If you’re speaking too fast (spreading) and I lose track of what you’re arguing, I may not be able to appropriately flow the round. I like policy and I’ll be looking for which side proves the resolution is true or false. I’m not a fan of off-cases (T, XT, FX, or Ks) unless they’re CPs. If you must absolutely run a K because you believe you have an edge over your competitors, please explain it to me if it’s an obscure or unpopular K.
I am a parent who has judged Congress since 2019, including multiple national tournaments. I am always impressed at how our young people debate politicized topics so maturely and respectfully.
Introductions - needs to grab my attention and is your opportunity to bring personality & style to your speech. I also appreciate stating the arguments upfront.
Delivery - have energy, make eye contact, pause to let points sink in, don’t talk too fast, and avoid being too scripted.
Rhetoric - use good word choice and weave in emotional appeal within arguments
Arguments - develop the argument through simple, straightforward explanations. Explain the impact.
Clash - do more than just state who in the room opposes you, deepen the debate.
Q&A - pay attention to all speakers and ask specific questions. This shows me you are engaged and listening to your peers even when not speaking.
Empathy/Respect - understand where the other side is coming from but point out flaws. Always be respectful, especially in cross-examination.
I try to approach each round with a Tabula Rasa philosophy. I am willing to listen and evaluate any type/form of argumentation. I will want debaters to evaluate and frame arguments as the round progresses with emphasis on comparative analysis between those competing arguments.
Speed is generally not a problem.
Overall, I sway toward a Policy Making Paradigm. With a heavy emphasis on speaking ability and how well the argument is made. Additionally, I disdain off-time road maps, (if it is important enough to include, please use your time for it).
For Email Chain:lutyl@parkhill.k12.mo.us
Experience: I debated primarily CX at the high school level (2016 graduate) for three years, but I am familiar with all forms of debate. However, I was much more invested in interp. I have four years of experience as an assistant coach in northwest and southwest Missouri, and as a judge at the state and national level (NSDA and NCFL) for several years after graduating. I'm one of those weird flow/lay mixes that you probably dislike.
Disclaimer: I was in debate for the respectful, argumentative skill-building and enjoyable experience. If you are not actively learning and/or having fun in every round, speech and debate has lost its meaning. I do not tolerate disrespect or deceit from anyone (i.e. clipping cards, using time spent flashing evidence to prep, hurtful cross ex/rebuttals, rolling eyes/sighing while other team is speaking, etc.) PLEASE DO NOT SCROLL ON YOUR PHONE/PACK UP UNTIL THE ENTIRE ROUND CONCLUDES. By getting on your phone in the last speech and stopping your flow, you are implying that because YOU are done speaking that the entire debate is done, therefore undermining the learning space.
General: Ultimately, I want a majority of on-case arguments with specific links to the case. That being said, I believe T should not be used as a crutch. If you have complied specific evidence against it, it is probably topical.
I love a good K or other theoretical arguments, but be sure that you make clarity your top priority. I enjoy a well-run Counter-Plan as well. I'm pretty flexible when it comes to arguments being made- just make sure you are analyzing and telling me why I should pref.
Analyze the evidence, don't just read it. I need evidence and arguments in human terms. This might not be typical of a flow judge with experience in policy, but remember, I was an interp kid from the midwest. We DO NOT spread where I'm from. Be quick and efficient, but be aware I have a very hard time understanding spreading. Debate should be an inclusive space that is accessible for all.
Good luck and most importantly, learn from each other!
I'm primarily a lay/local circuit judge in New Mexico. I run a team with close to 80 students on the roster; and as such I have a medium amount of knowledge in all NSDA events, but I'm not an expert in any one event. I spend most of my time on team logistics, food orders, and permission slips, not studying debate theory. I'm the mom of a former 4 time National Competitor, who took over a team when no one at the school was willing to take on the work load. I'm sort of a soccer mom judge, but with a little more experience. I greatly appreciate judge adaptation and wouldn't be offended if you cater to me as if I'm a beginner. Please state your contentions clearly and explain your arguments in your words vs. just reading cards. I don't vote for arguments I don't understand. Slow down on theory and analytics. Feel free to over-explain. Please weigh. Tell me why you won the round.
To add me on email chain: jenpecasting@gmail.com
I am a parent judge with some experience judging speech and public forum. I will try to take notes, but I am not a flow judge. I look for competitors with a clear and smooth speaking style, solid gestures, but most importantly, logical and well-supported arguments.
I believe debate is a communication event, so I'm not too fond of speeding through cases and using too much jargon. You can have off-the-clock road maps and can use your phones as timers. Cross-examinations need to be respectful and thoughtful. Please provide voters with your final speech.
Sandra Peek
CX Judging Paradigm
I have been teaching 32 years and coaching 17 of those. I did policy in high school and CEDA in college. Keep in mind that that was in the 80’s, and I do not have the tolerance for extreme speed that today’s college debaters often have.
EVALUATION-I will evaluate the round through the framework/interpretation provided and argued by the debaters. In other words, if the aff wins framework, I will evaluate that way; if the neg wins framework, I will evaluate that way. In the absence of a framework, I will revert to policy maker, which is my personal preference. Unless you have an exceedingly strong policy advocacy and an exceedingly clean link story, I do not want to see a performance aff or neg.
SPEED- I prefer a moderately-paced debate. I understand the need for speed in the 1AR, and I can follow well-signposted fast argumentation. However, I want to hear the text of the evidence. I am not okay with speed so fast that the words in the evidence are not enunciated.
ORGANIZATION-Organization is critical to me. I need you to give a succinct road map before your speech starts and then signpost as you go including numbering. Additionally, before you speak put your speech on the flash drive or email chain so that it is easy to track prep time. I prefer most negative positions to be started in the 1NC . Disads,CP, and T should always be started in the 1NC.
PARTICULAR ARGUMENTS
KRITIKAL ARGUMENTS- I generally will accept well applied, resolutionally focused kritiks and affs. K’s need to have a clear alternative beyond rejection.
DISADS/ADVANTAGES- I feel that disads are almost essential for the negative. I will vote a disad down if the aff articulates and wins that the link fails. I generally will not vote on a minuscule chance of the disad or on a “try or die” analysis from the affirmative. In sum, I want impacts to have a reasonable chance of happening before I consider them in my impact calculus.
TOPICALITY- I will vote on topicality as it is a key limiter.
INHERENCY-I will not vote on inherency unless the negative proves outright that the aff plan is already happening. I don’t think I have ever actually voted on inherency.
SOLVENCY- I like solvency and vote on it often usually in conjunction with another argument.
COUNTERPLANS- I vote on them and generally accept that they can be topical.
THEORY-I buy warranted ground loss based theory arguments and will vote on them.
FUNDING- I cannot remember a time when I found funding arguments convincing (by saying this I am NOT saying that I do not like funding-based DA’s).
GENERAL- Open CX is fine if both teams agree except at UIL tournaments where the rules forbid it. Be certain that one gender is not preferred over the other through interrupting or condescending. I will not vote for those engaging in overtly racist or homophobic speech. Kicking is fine but be certain to make it clear. I do prefer the negative to sit on the right and the affirmative to side on the left.
LD Judging Paradigm
I have been teaching 30 years and coaching 17 of those. I did policy in high school and CEDA in college. Keep in mind that that was in the 80’s, and I do not have the tolerance for extreme speed that today’s college debaters often have.
EVALUATION-I will evaluate the round through the framework/interpretation provided and argued by the debaters. In other words, if the aff wins framework, I will evaluate that way; if the neg wins framework, I will evaluate that way. In the absence of a framework, I will revert to value/criterion, which is my personal preference.
SPEED- I prefer a moderately-paced debate. I understand the need for speed in the 1AR, and I can follow well signposted fast argumentation. However, I want to hear the text of the evidence. I am not okay with speed so fast that the words in the evidence are not enunciated.
ORGANIZATION-Organization is critical to me. I need you to give a succinct road map before your speech starts.
PARTICULAR ARGUMENTS
KRITIKAL ARGUMENTS- I generally will accept well applied, resolutionally focused kritiks on both aff and neg. K’s need to have a clear alternative beyond reject.
DISADS/ADVANTAGES- I feel that disads are sometimes out of place in LD. I will generally vote a disad down if it is not intrinsic to the resolution.
TOPICALITY- I will vote on topicality as it is a key limiter.
PLANS/COUNTERPLANS- I'm not a huge fan of these in LD but will not automatically vote them down. When there are policy-based resolutions, they often get my vote.
THEORY-I buy warranted ground loss based theory arguments and will vote on them.
GENERAL- Rude/sexist behavior and/or racist speech will result in lower speaker points. I will not, on principle, vote for those engaging in overtly racist or homophobic speech. I do prefer the negative to sit on the right and the affirmative to side on the left.
PF Judging Paradigm
I have been teaching 30 years and coaching 17 of those. I did policy in high school and CEDA in college. Keep in mind that that was in the 80s, and I do not have the tolerance for extreme speed that today’s college debaters often have. In PF in particular, I think slower debate is better since the intent of the event is for everyone to be able to understand it.
EVALUATION-I will evaluate the round through the framework/interpretation provided and argued by the debaters. In other words, if the pro wins framework, I will evaluate that way; if the con wins framework, I will evaluate that way. In the absence of a framework, you put yourself at risk of me simply judging on policy impacts.
EVIDENCE- I think paraphrasing is fine, but be sure those that paraphrasing can be defended with actual correctly cited evidence.
ORGANIZATION-Organization is critical to me. I need you to give a succinct road map before your speech starts.
PARTICULAR ARGUMENTS
KRITIKAL ARGUMENTS- In my opinion, there is very little time to flesh out arguments like this in a PF round, so unless they are extremely easy to understand and carefully linked to the resolution, I would prefer debaters not use them.
DISADS/ADVANTAGES- While the arguments do not have to be labeled as advantages or disadvantages, in most PF rounds I actually weigh impacts to make my decision so regardless of what you call the arguments, you should impact out this way.
TOPICALITY- I will vote on topicality as it is a key limiter.
PLANS/COUNTERPLANS- In my opinion, plans and CP's are rarely a good use of the limited time in PF. Occasionally, CP's work if they provide a counter-narrative to the resolution.
THEORY-I buy warranted ground loss-based theory arguments and will vote on them.
GENERAL- Rude/sexist behavior and/or racist speech will result in lower speaker points. I will not, on principle, vote for those engaging in overtly racist or homophobic speech. I do prefer the con to sit on the right and the pro to side on the left.
1/8/24-edited to update years experience
Add me to the email chain: alonso.pena91@gmail.com
***The big picture***
1. I have 18 years of involvement with debate. I debated in high school and in college at Garden City (2006-2010) and Kansas State (2011, 2014-2017), respectively. In high school I did "traditional" policy debate, and in college I did critical and performance style debate. I read poetry and talked about queer and trans people of color, Chicanx people, decolonial feminist studies, performance studies, etc. I coached high school debate in Kansas for the last 7 years, and this is my second year coaching at UTSA.
2. Debate is a persuasive activity, so your primary objective should be to persuade me to vote for you.
3. I try to be as open-minded as possible, and I will base my decision on the things that happen in the round. That being said, I embody a lived experience, and I will not pretend that I can separate myself from that. I am a queer chicanx man, and I acknowledge that my positionality influences how I move in the world.
4. Do "you" - Be yourself to the best degree possible, and I will be happy. I believe the beauty of debate is that students get power and control over how they express themselves through argumentation.
5. Please don't annoy me about these two things. Prep-stealing and evidence sharing. When you say you are done with prep, I expect you to be ready to give your roadmap and share evidence.
***The Details***
Disads
Disadvantages are very important and underutilized in debate. I love a good disad debate. To win a disad in front of me you will need (at least) a unique link and an impact. You should explain why the disadvantage turns and outweighs the case, and you should compare impacts. If you're reading politics, then you should know that I am NOT a news watcher, so you should be explaining your politics disad. Also, I generally dislike politics disads because their stories feel like pieced together lies. I'm not saying I won't vote for them, but it'll be an uphill battle for you.
Counterplans
Counterplans are cool. I am more likely to be persuaded by counterplans that do the following: (1) have text that is clear and understandable and/or well explained, (2) solves the affirmative, or at least enough of the affirmative to outweigh the aff impacts, (3) have a net benefit or external impact that only the counterplan can solve.
Process counterplans (such as executive orders CPs, courts CPs, etc.) are typically less persuasive to me, but I will vote for them if they solve the aff and have a net benefit.
PICS (Plan inclusive counterplans) are cool, but they should have some basic theoretical defense as to why PICing out of part of the aff is legitimate and good.
Critiques
I enjoy them. To win a K in front of me you will need to win a framing question, a link to the affirmative, and an impact or implication. You should read an alternative, but I am willing to consider voting for a K without an alternative if you tell me why I should. I have a pretty good foundation on critical literature, but you should not assume I have read your literature base. Dense theoretical concepts should be unpacked. Explain how the alt solves the links/impacts.
On the affirmative, if you don't answer the K's framework I will be less persuaded by the affirmative.
Topicality
I think topicality debates can be really good and fun to watch when they are done well. I am persuaded by the following: (1) A reasonable definition and interpretation (2) A well-defined violation, or an explanation of how the affirmative is outside of the resolution, (3) Standards, or defense of why your interpretation is the best way to determine what is topical/untopical. and (4) voters, or reasons why I should vote on topicality in this particular debate.
If the negative doesn't win standards and voters I am way less likely to be persuaded to vote negative on topicality.
Speed
I don't have the quickest ear any more. I need pen time and I need moments where you are speaking to me and not at me. Spreading on zoom doesn't work for me. I cannot keep up and I'm going to be fully honest about it.
Hello! I am a parent lay judge, please do not spread. I don't super love nuclear extinction arguments unless you have a very very very clear reason why it imminent.
I mostly did PF in HS.
email: just_mar25@yahoo.com
read bolded for a quick rundown if you're unwilling to go through the whole paradigm.
1. Truth>Tech. That being said, I will not prescribe my own understanding of argumentative substance to bail you out when you're confronting bad substance/bad faith arguments. If the content of your opponents' arguments is fundamentally false, they should be especially easy for you to answer without any help from me.
2. On Speed/Spreading - Speed is fine but it must be purposeful. Speed is not purposeful if you're unclear and lack diction (I will yell 'clear' or 'louder' if I struggle but if I need to keep doing that I'm going to nuke your speaks). Speed is not purposeful if all you're doing is introducing blippy arguments in hopes that one makes it across and wins you the round (you could literally just read more cards on legitimate arguments to strengthen your links instead of the blips). Speed is not purposeful if you're actively disenfranchising the other team by spreading (you do NOT need to spread versus a novice team, just out-debate them). Just because I might have your case doesn't mean it's all on my flow, I am not as familiar as you are with your own literature. If you're incomprehensible all you're doing is making me uninterested.
3. On Ks - Kritik arguments should NOT depend on my understandings of terms of art/common terms from your authors, whose viewpoints I am likely unfamiliar with. Just because you're running doesn't a K doesn't mean you don't have to DEBATE and explain why you're winning on the K flow. Yeah if the K goes unresponded then its a winning argument but if you don't extend/explain to me why the K wins (aff or neg) beyond "they had no response to the K" then presume I drop the K. Extend the K.
4. On Weighing - Rhetoric impacts are bad arguments. Explain/Weigh why your impacts are impactful. Don't just tell me 'poverty bad', explain why poverty is bad and what poverty actually causes. You can't outweigh on "Scope". There is no implication to what "Scope" means unless you give it context. Impact calculus takes into account Magnitude, Probability, Timeframe. Implicate what your advocacy has in terms of contextualized warranting versus just yelling out "scope" and praying it works out (it won't).
5. On Evidence Sharing - Just use an e-mail chain/Speechdrop. Please don't be the reason the tournament is running 30min-1hr longer than needed. I'm not saying you have to send over your cases (PF), I know that the norm on that is still being established (in PF) but no judge wants to watch you stand awkwardly over someone's shoulder while waiting for a card, just send it electronically and that way judges can have it too if it becomes a point of contention. If a card you called out for is miscut/misleading and this is enough to win you the round TELL ME THIS. TELL ME TO READ THE CARD BEFORE I MAKE MY DECISION BECAUSE IT TURNS THE ROUND. Don't get mad at me after the round because you didn't explicitly tell me to read a card.
6. On New Arguments - I try my hardest to give debaters as much agency as possible to actually debate. That being said, DO NOT introduce new arguments in the last speech of the debate, I will - at best - ignore them or - at worst - vote you down if the team after you argues that the introduction is a voting issue (fairness/time, etc.) This happens enough that it needs its own section.
7. On Framework - I will default to a utilitarian framework to weigh unless given an alternative by either team. In terms of defaulting to utilitarianism, unless a team in the round offers an alternative framework then this is generally what people would end up arguing under anyway (I literally don't trust teams to weigh appropriately so I'll just save us all the time and say this in my paradigm to at the very least mentally prepare you to weigh in some capacity). You can lose the framework debate and still win the round. Winning framework does not inherently mean you win the round. It is entirely possible to lose (or concede) the framework debate and still win. Framework is about who operates better under that given paradigm.
8. On Crossfire - I don't flow crossfire. If anything happens during Cross that you feel is relevant to winning then refer to it in your next speech so it is on paper. This doesn't mean saying something like "In Cross they said Nukes aren't real so they lose C2." I want you to tell me the other team conceded the link on C2 so I can put it on my flow (SIGNPOST WHERE THE RELEVANT CROSS INTERACTION SHOULD/WOULD BE ON MY FLOW). Aff always gets first question. Why are we doing the whole "may I have first question" song and dance still?
9. On Extensions - Summary and Final Focus should be aligned - whatever you extend in Final Focus should also have been present in Summary. I don't believe defense is sticky. You should still extend defense on an argument unless the other sides explicitly kicks out.
10. On Tricks - Don't. Deliberate attempts to subvert clash by lying, misleading, hiding arguments, being unethical will be poorly received. What're you trying to prove by doing this? That you can't win a round by actually debating? I'll nuke your speaks since I believe this actually "kills debate". To be clear, a funny tagline is funny and okay, but you know when something is a pun and when something is deliberately misleading.
11. Don't be rude - Personally abusive language about, or directed at, your opponents will have me looking for reasons to vote against you. There are more important things in life than winning while also being mean to other human beings. We're all trying to partake in something that we enjoy/makes us happy. Don't be the reason someone has a terrible day.
12.Post-rounding - Post-rounding is educational. Be polite/curious - I’m not going to change my decision. Ask to learn more about why I wasn’t persuaded, but there is no debate between you and me.
1. Be respectful to each other. We should all leave a debate round, having gained something from the round.
2. Keep me on the flow. Organization is key to a successful debate. Signposting is helpful. Spreading is OK, but if it's unreasonable, I will not be able to flow your speeches.
3. Make sure all claims are warranted, with reasoning: Every claim must include clear reasoning and evidence, and you should explain how it ties back to the resolution or your position.
4. Tabula Rasa: I will never make a connection/conclusion unless it is specified outright.
Not actively coaching anywhere at this time. I typically judge a couple tournaments a year split between LD and Policy.
I have 2 years of high school LD debate, 2 years of high school policy, and 2 years of college parli & LD experience. I coached every debate event in Nebraska over the course of 10 years in various Nebraska high schools. I'm comfortable judging all events, but the paradigm is oriented towards LD and Policy debaters. Absolutely feel free to ask me questions before the rounds about my judging practices. I spend most tournaments behind the scenes these days in the tab room.
Speed - This will be challenging in the digital debate era. I would recommend starting at 75% of your top speed and working your way up. I will call clear if I can't hear you (either due to speed or due to technical issues). The most important thing if you want to speed read in front of me is that you MUST be organized. Number or label your arguments, clearly indicate when you are moving to the next flow/case, etc. and use those references as the debate continues.
Fiat - I handle this different in LD and Policy. I will evaluate arguments about how fiat isn't real or doesn't matter in policy debate, but my default paradigm is that fiat exists in every policy round. The opposite is true of Lincoln Douglas debate where I do not believe that fiat exists by default. If you choose to, for example, read a counter plan in LD against a traditional values case, the burden will be on you to bridge the theory gap and prove that fiat should exist in LD.
Truth matters and I will not tolerate racism, sexism, etc.
I enjoy clash! I expect debaters to be respectable; however, I love students who make my flow easy to follow. Although the standards: inherent and solvency, I often need the plan to be solid and well- thought out. Think outside the box. Explain all details. Think quickly. I am not a topicalit voting judge.
**For Nationals Policy Paradigm, scroll to the bottom**
General Debate Paradigm:
Experienced Coach and Flow Judge and 4 Year High School Debater, World History/Psychology/Sociology Teacher with previous career as a Community Corrections Officer (Probation and Parole).
In my experience, all forms of Debate are a synthesis of examples, evidence, and analysis. Competitors need to dive deep into the resolutions presented and wrestle with the ideas, evidence, philosophy, experiences, and impacts that stem from the resolution while tying back the original intention of the resolution. (Framer's Intent)
In my estimation all possible areas of inquiry are on the table, but be mindful that some styles of debate depend more on some mechanics then others. If you run inherency in a LD case, it feels off. If you try to solve for BQ, that's just wrong. Debate styles need to stay in their own lanes and crossover is risky if I'm judging your round. Debate is about connections and persuasion and connection with your judge.
I believe in the Burdens of Debate. Aff must prove the resolution's premise as true and correct via the Burden of Proof, regardless of the style. If not they lose. Neg must attack and uphold the Burden of Clash (Rejoinder) and if they do not they can not win.
A quick word on preferences for case presentation. Constructives need to be clear cut and purposeful, lay out all your arguments and evidence, simply open doors or you to walk through in the next speech. Extension evidence is always welcome to expand your points in support in 2nd speeches. Cross should allows be respectful and civil, I do take notes on cross but the points made there highlight your style and ability to think on the fly. Use of canned questions in any form are looked down on.
Rebuttals are fair game but you should always attack, rebuild and expand your arguments in this speech. Repeating points in Rebuttals doesn't increase the weight of the argument.
Consolidation Speeches are for crystalizing the main ideas and presenting voting issues in and overall persuasive and final presentation of your case through points. Please respect the format, arguments that extend well past the rebuttals do not carry more weight with me and are presented too late, make sure to do your job in each segment of the round.
A word about style within the round:
Using excessive speed (defined as 145 or more words per minute, above regular conversational speed of speech) or use excessive points or stylistic tricks to try to disadvantage your opponent in a round will win you no style points with me. If you are speaking beyond my ability to flow or use excessive points within a case I will put my pen down and this signifies that I am no longer constructively in the round. This is to be avoided at all costs, keep your judge “in the round” and go slow, standard conversational pace.
A word on technology and style choice: I have noted in my time as a judge and a coach that reliance on your computer makes you sound robotic and read faster than running off paper. Although I won't ever vote someone down who reads off the computer, you need to make sure to get the message home to the judge with emphasis and good speaks to do well in the round. Having a flat monotone computer voice, spreading evidence, card slamming, and hyper-aggression will not win you any points with me and arguably makes your job harder.
Other Points:
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Case Points for case clarity are gladly accepted.
- Tie things back to framework to impress me and get me on your side. If you "set and forget" a framework or weighing device, its on my flow but not helping you win. This is true for Value Criteria, Weighing Mechs, and Frameworks generally.
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Running Logical Fallacies are strongly encouraged. If you spot one, feel free to call an opponent out for it provided it is valid and you can explain the logical flaw clearly and directly (thus avoiding committing a fallacy of your own.)
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Unique arguments hold more weight then generic arguments, so look for a new angle to gain the upper hand. You have got to prove links to the resolution and prove topicality, if you can't then the claim is bound to fail.
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If you are Aff/Pro and doesn't rebuild and/or extend in later speeches, they lose. If you are Neg/Con attack doesn't attack, clash, and disprove, they lose.
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Observation is good, Observation + Analysis is better, Observation + Analysis+Evidence is best.
- In this world of "technological wonders", I am not on team AI, the expectation is that you write your own case, have your own thoughts, and defend your own ideas. If it is clear you didn't write it and don't know how to run it, I'm not likely to vote for it. Play with AI toys on your own time, not mine.
- NATIONALS 2024 POLICY PARADIGM-
Going to be honest here, policy is not my favorite style. I am not a fan of spreading, speed dropping cards, and theory arguments before the resolution. I won’t buy card formatting arguments or other fringe or minor arguments that do not deal directly with the administration of the cases in the round.
Aff Burden: I am an old school Policy Judge. Aff needs to set a Plan that is well thought out, supported with cards, and a detailed and nuanced Plan that takes into account the harms/ads/disads and impacts of the Plan. Plan needs to think through all the standard planks.(• Topicality • Harms / Inherency • Significance • Solvency • Advantages / Disadvantages) If you run something that is not a plan, it is hard to address/solve the burden of the Aff which is to propose a Plan.
Neg Burden: I’m ok with the Neg focus on counterplans and but my main focus as the judge is if the plan is well supported, funded, enforced and FESABILE. Neg should pressure test the Aff plan and be able to show how the plan presented, originating from the three possible policy applications, may have flaws/shortcomings/disads/impacts that the Aff may not be looking at or see. Neg needs to keep it topical though, I will not be buying any argumentation that reducing Social Security would lead to nuclear war, or anything of the like. If Neg does not establish and maintain strong link chains and impacts its going to be hard to show the flaws and get around or past the Aff plan.
Disclosure Note: So when it comes to disclosure, I am not going to factor into a decision disclosure of cases online well before the round. I would love a copy of the case in paper or digital form before you start, I feel it is required if you plan to spread. If you expect me to flow your spreading without some form of your case I will not flow your case, I will just put my pen down. If you go at a moderate speed, I can and will flow with you but would still appreciate a copy of the case to look at in case I have questions. If you are doing a piecemeal Neg case that is Straight Refusal and line by line, then no case is needed but make sure you go slow enough that I can flow it out.
Cards Note: If you have the card, be able to provide it if asked. I prefer paper cards, but know that is way Old School so make sure I have your Linktree/Drive or something established so if I have a question on a card I can see it. If it sounds too good to be true don’t be surprised or offended if I ask to see it. Also, do not try to discredit cards due to templating, without a National template I am not the style police for carding, if they made an effort, can provide it and it makes sense it is admissible to use in the round.
Spreading Note: Honestly, not a fan of spreading, it is a choice in delivery, and not a requirement. You have 8 mins to set the case, if you need to sacrifice speed for speaking I think that your case is overloaded and you are card slamming just to give the opponents more to answer. I think spreading takes away from the communication of debate and would rather hear the arguments and experience the clash then hear someone mumble their case at me. Set the case as you choose but then give the spreading a break and advocate for why your case is a good thing and should win. If you spread every speech at me with no real application or connection it will be a hard win. Just being honest.
Importance of Impacts: I am a impacts debater, meaning I want to see the impacts that a line of argument of questioning have on the status quo or proposed Aff/Neg world. I often follow the line for impacts to a ballot so be sure to apply the impacts of your attacks all the way through. Don’t just stop at the evidence and ask me to apply it for you, show me your warrants to get that impact!
What doesn’t Flow: I flow cross if it applies to advancing argumentation. I don’t flow ad hominum/personal attacks. I will flow case side extensions but not too late in the case and will always flow impacts and stock issues flowovers if set up and backed up with cards.
Plan Planks Priority: For me the order goes, from most to least important:
Topicality, Solvency, Advantages/Disadvantages, Harms/Inherency, Significance
This is my second year as a judge. I am a parent of a LD competitor. I think it is important that a debater states a clear value. Please keep your delivery slow and clear.
SPEECH
EXTEMP -- I want to see a conversational style but with a decent amount of evidence. I'm not just voting for the person with the most sources though. There should be a clear analysis of the topic and a clear answer to it too. (Virtually, I don't mind sitting or standing, whatever is more comfortable for the student -- but either way I am looking at your body language too.)
OO/INFO -- In these events, I want to learn something. I don't want either event to be too much "interp," it should be a bit more formal. Evidence in both events are important. Tell me why I should believe you and why I should care.
INTERP -- I like teasers, they pull me in right away. Introductions are a must. Good, clean blocking should be done with purpose. Don't do a flip just because you know how to do it. There should be a meaning for everything you do. Another thing that is important in interp is the author's intent. Be true to the nature of the piece. Profanity should be used at a bare minimum or not at all. One or two words, FOR PURPOSE, aren't necessarily bad, but really consider if they are worth it.
I am a volunteer judge. I have judged both forensics and PF Debate both in state and at national tournaments.
According to the coach I work with, these are the things I need to tell you:
Consider me a "Lay" judge, and I can handle (at most) a fast conversational speech.
I have zero background in debate, so I don't understand the debate-specific vocabulary.
I do have a good understanding of politics and a basic understand of philosophy. When laying out your Value and Value criterion, make sure you are really clear about what you want me to know about the particular philosopher/theory you are working with.
Please... do not run Kritiks, crazy weird cases, or anything wild in front of me. I can guarantee I won't understand what you are trying to do and might have to drop you since I don't know what it means. I STRONGLY encourage you to only run standard lay debate cases in front of me.
andrea.peterson-longmore@neenah.k12.wi.us thats my email before you ask.
I have shrunk my paradigm after reading so many for prefs. If you want to see some of the longer sections, feel free to go here. Its nothing particularly interesting. I also have a rant section if you care about my hot takes on debate.
I have sections below for LD and Congress. If I am judging you in something else, click the link above.
Experience: I'm qualified to be your judge, no matter what style you are in. Enough said. If you don't believe me, just flip over to my judging record. I think its super cringy to read paradigms that list accomplishments from high school or whatever.
In round behaviors: I am early to my rounds, please be as well. I want to start on time to help tournaments run smoothly. For every minute we are late starting I start docking speaks from the opponent causing us to be behind. Also, please think about the space when choosing where to sit/stand. You don't want to be too far away or in a position that makes you difficult to understand (like facing away from me or sitting under a vent) or unable to charge your device if you need to. I tell my team all the time that they have been a human long enough to know how to care for one. Please care for your human. Go to the bathroom before round. Bring water or snacks in case your human gets hungry. Make sure your human is comfortable in the room. I will do the same.
"I have 5 minutes and wanted to check your paradigm quick, whats the headlines?"
I F**King HATE disclosure theory. Stop it. seriously, stop. It makes me want to stab myself in the eye every time I hear it. No one believes you when you try to claim you couldn't possibly have been prepared for what they run when you follow this up with 12 blocks and a disad.
Congress is my JAM. I love it and I prefer to see that level of enthusiasm/preparation from the participants.
Be nice to each other- respect will get you far with me
Don't try to shake my hand. I really don't like it. I love the thought, but the germs and lack of handwashing I've seen at tournaments icks me out.
Impact calc and weighing of final arguments is the best with me
Don't argue with me in RFD. If I drop you and you think you should have won, explain it better next time. Post round me and I will go to tab to lower your speaks. I am fine with a quick question or two, but usually I am jonesing for more coffee so let me go back to the judges lounge!
I can handle spreading, but if you can't... don't. It's awkward to have to tell you that you don't make sense.
Use a timer, and stick to it- I hate it when kids go over time. I stop flowing within 5 seconds of the end of your time. I will not warn you about this- you know your time limits.
Congress
Behavior: You are acting as a member of congress- keep that in mind in how you behave! Please make sure to respect the rules of your parli and PO. For the love all that is good, please pay attention to the round. This is far more fun when everyone participates! If I see you on your phone for more than a minute at a time I will be annoyed. Obviously you can answer a text or check the time quick, but if you are disengaged I will notice and I will not be happy.
Speeches: I LOVE *actually* extemporaneous speeches. Please breathe some life into your words- you are trying to make your fellow congresspeople vote for or against the bill! Make sure you include stats, citations, and some analysis of other speaker's points. I believe that if legislation is up for debate, there is current research to be read about it, thus I expect you are only using sources from AT MOST the last 5 years. Better if they are from the last 3. A good, weird AGD is fun. Please avoid the common Taylor Swift/Disney/over used quote choices though. Bonus if you can make me a crack a smile with it! (not really a "bonus," but I remember them when I am doing my rankings- which helps your placement)
PO's: Have a CLEAR sheet for people to follow, keep it updated. If you make a mistake, fix it and move on quickly. LEARN your chamber's names. It is so awkward to hear POs continually mess up the names in the chamber. If you need it, put a phonetic pronunciation spot in your sheet and ask them to put their name in that way for you. I tend to rank PO's high, as long as they are engaged and well versed in the congress rules, (or at least learning them!) if they are not engaged and EFFICIENT, they can expect a low ranking. I can't stand it when a PO says a whole 30 second thing after every speech and questioning block.
Questioning: Ask short, clear questions. Don't have a ton of lead up. I don't mind if you need to argue with each other a bit, but keep it civil and don't cut each other off unless its clear they are wasting your time or are not answering the question. It drives me insane to have a silent room for questions and no opposition to a bill, please ask lots of questions! It plays into my ranking- great speeches will only get you so far with me! If you don't ask any questions in a bill cycle, don't expect a rank of over 6 from me. This hold true even if you didn't speak on the bill. It doesn't require research to think critically and ask thoughtful questions.
Recesses: Keep them short. Do not ask for more than 5 minutes between bills- I am not willing to extend the end of the session to accommodate the chamber wasting time during the session. I hate seeing chambers take tons of recesses and then complaining that they didn't all have a chance to speak.
Overall Preferences: I can't stand it when kids want to break cycle to just give a speech. I realize this isn't your fault, but that means the debate is stale and we need to move on. Unless you are giving a whole new perspective on the bill, you are far better off moving on to a new bill and giving a speech there. I am especially critical of these speeches in terms of quality of content and sources, because if you are insisting we listen to your extra speech, it must be REALLY good and worth not moving on.
Lincoln Douglas
Preferences: This is what the majority of my students do. I encourage you to run whatever you like, but explain it very well, especially if it is not something common. Err on the side of caution if you are not sure if it is common- like I said I am not well versed in most of the different arguments.In terms of speed I can handle pretty much everything I have seen on the circuit so far in my judging career, but if you aren't clear, I will raise my hand to let you know I can't understand you. I don't flow from the doc, but I will open it in case I I hear you say a word I didn't understand. I also will look at evidence on occasion, especially if I have reason to believe it might be miscut.
K's: I help my kids write them. I listen to them regularly, and I feel like I understand them. I am a decent judge for them, but if your K is built around your identity or is tied to your mental health, please strike me. I don't like being put in the "if you don't vote for me you are telling me my voice isn't meant to be heard" position. I almost always drop these cases, simply because I believe that is abusive to run and puts your opponent is an unwinnable position.
Theory: I enjoy legit theory debates, as long as it is debate theory- not things from outside the round (ESPECIALLY not disclosure) However I default to drop the arg, not drop the debater. I don't consider time skew or disclosure to be legitimate theory debate. If you run a "fairness" argument that you couldn't prep against your opponent and then you have a case against your opponent, expect me to completely drop your fairness argument. You just proved that you lied about the fairness since you prepped that argument. Use your time to prepare blocks and responses instead of wasteful and lazy theory shells.
Topicality: I have a pretty high threshold for T arguments. For the living wage topic my kids ran a bee case (bees deserve a living wage!) and a birthday balloon case for the fossil fuels topic last year just to help you understand how I view Topicality. You have to be way out of left field for me to buy that your opponent is outside the expected realm of topicality.
Phil: It has become more and more common to use really dense philosophies in your framing- this is something I have little experience with. Make sure to explain your super specialized philosophy carefully or I can't use it as a weighing mechanism. I enjoy learning about new philosophies, but if you are being intentionally confusing about your philosophy to try to win the round, I will tank speaks. Win fairly or don't win. I hate watching rounds where one kid is clearly lost and trying to ask about the phil on CX and the other kid is being confusing on purpose to make sure their opponent can't respond.
Tricks: I have little experience with this- my students have just started getting into this. I am probably not your best judge for this type of argument, but I will try if you can explain it to me.
Misc. Stuff for any style debate:
-I am not about speaker points- I think its a really biased system, but I do it because its required. I would not consider myself generous with points, but I try to be fair with the way the system is set up. That said, if you’re mean to your opponent I will substantially dock your speaks. If you can’t control your round without being disrespectful there is something wrong. Since I have been asked, I average about 28.4 for speaks.
-I don't flow/weigh things from CX unless I am told to. I find it to be one of the more telling parts of any round about who has stronger arguments and better understands the content, but if you want it to weigh in to my decision, you need to bring it up in speeches.
-Please understand whatever you’re running before you run it in front of me- it is super frustrating to hear kids hem and haw about defining terms when they didn't take time to understand what they are saying.
-I dislike timing rounds and I've found I'm extremely inaccurate. I will keep time, but it is best if we have multiple timers going to ensure accuracy. Please time yourselves and hold your opponent accountable so that I don't have to. I HATE having to cut people off because they are over time- I actually prefer if their opponent has a timer that goes off so I can hear it.
TLDR: Be respectful, know & define your stuff, use current sources, watch your time.
Congratulations on qualifying for Nats! It is through hard work and dedication that you have made it.
My criteria for judging is as follows. I use a framework. whether this is the traditional value criterion or just a statement of what is more important, I need some lens to view the round. I am more familiar with the traditional side, but do not feel that a debater has to necessarily uphold that tradition as long as I have a way presented to look at the round. Basically, you both define the realm of the debate. I will put myself in that space and determine within this guideline who wins.
What happens then? I don't have a leaning toward structural violence, util impacting or rights based approaches to the topic. While my debate time was spent in policy, I won't default to that unless there is nothing else for me to do. I enjoy rights v util rounds. This topic may have a few of those. If you are running something you consider not mainstream, I am ok as long as you prove the tie in to the topic. An example would be a specific country vs a US based democracy approach. I do not like voting on topicality but again, if neg is winning it I will vote there. I am not a fan of lots of debate theory, as a preference, let's debate the topic. That said, if you are a theory debater, debate well. I am not a fan of defining what you do and don't do, I just don't really from a selfish perspective want to see a round of tricks and rvi's.
I am antiquated so I write on paper. I can write down what you are saying if you stay organized. Please stay organized. Explain why your position is better than your opponents and things will work out.
If there is an email chain please add me russellphelps@gmail.com. If not, I will not ask for evidence unless it is part of the argument that I consider essential to the ballot. Please have fun and be respectful. If feedback is allowed without revealing the decision, I will share my thoughts. If not, find me after and I will talk to you about what happened in your debate. This is an educational activity. I hope when you walk out of the round something has been learned and you will continue to be a part of this activity in some form. Good luck.
Put me on the email chain: bobby.phillips.debate@gmail.com
Coach and former debater at Wichita State.
They/Them
When I debated I was pretty much exclusively reading policy things. I think that my judging is probably a lot more middle of the road. I really don't care that much what kind of debate you wanna have I just hope it is interesting but my experience is certainly more in the policy direction. This year I have been much less involved in debate than I have for about a decade. Don't assume I am super in the know about the topic.
This is both a research and a communication activity. I will reward well executed rhetoric and good research. I will probably read most cards over the course of the debate but will likely care about specific pieces of evidence only as much as I am instructed to by you all. Judge instruction above everything else.
Fine judge for silly impact turns. I am not asking for you to read bad arguments, but I am expecting you to be able to answer bad arguments.
Be bold and make decisions in the debate. Confidence is valuable. Straight turning things is highly underrated.
Disads
- Aff offense is usually really helpful on disads and can get you out of a jam. Trying to diminish the risk of a disad with a bunch of small arguments is usually less effective than a big defensive argument in the 2ar. Obviously the 2ac should have some diversity.
- Link/ internal link turns case is a big deal. My nuclear war also causes your nuclear war is not a big deal.
- Believing that there is always a risk of DAs/ advantages assumes that A) big mistakes are never made OR B) you can't just be "right" about something. I think both of those are possibilities. Just because you said the word "impact" does not mean there is a risk of an impact. Zero risk is still rare.
Counterplans
- Now I am just going to default to judge kick, but can certainly be convinced its bad if the 1ar says it. If you are a 2N you might want to remind me that it's an option by the 2nr, ideally the 2nc. I really don't want to be put in a position where kicking the counterplan wins the debate for the neg and the 2nr did not tell me I could.
- I will evaluate conditionality bad the same as any other argument. Debated equally, I think that the best arguments suggest unlimited conditionality is good. I will do my absolute best to hold the 2ar to what I have on my flow from the 1ar, which will not be a perfect transcription of you reading theory blocks at max speed.
- I don't mind big counterplan competition debates on face, but typically 2Ns don't do a lot of debating and just throw as many definitions at the wall as possible. I just want some comparative analysis about why someone's evidence is better or creates better debates.
- "they have conceded sufficiency framing" grandstanding in the 2nr is about as useful as saying that they have conceded the neg gets fiat.
T
- I tend to care more than most about what cards in T debates actually say. I feel like 80% of the time that a T card is good, I have to read a lot of the unhighlighted parts for it to make sense. I tend to care more about evidence quality on T than most other pages. Substance crowd out is a real argument that I will evaluate but I do not have any internal moral problem voting for topicality.
Ks vs policy affs
- If the round is just going to be a framework debate that's fine but I do like it when when a case debate happens. If reading 4 minutes of impact defense on case gets you nothing, then don't do it? I will pick one of the framework interpretations at the end of the debate and use it to decide the rest. I will not divine some arbitrary middle ground of the two. You are obviously welcome to have a more "middle of the road" interpretation.
- Making you link arguments interact with/turn case can be a rounding winning strategy. This is when actually debating the case will get you far and will probably be more difficult for the aff to answer than another 2nr that is 3 minutes of framework.
K affs
Framework
- I probably default to thinking about these debates in terms of models, but that seems to be less of the trend from the neg these days (usually to their detriment in my opinion). I think it can be interesting when the aff defines some words and goes for a we meet but it usually doesn't get you across the finish line unless the neg messes it up. I am okay with the 2ac going all in on impact turns.
-These debates typically get hard to decide for me when both sides have very different types of offense and don't instruct me on how to weigh them. Tell me how to judge the debate and you will probably win.
- I think that you need to present me with reasons to vote affirmative early and often in the debate. I am okay with voting aff "because it's a good idea" but you need to have some explanation why that is a good framework for debate that achieves something. Presumption is always an important argument and is usually quite helpful to push the aff into various link arguments. I will certainly listen to impact turns to presumption but I generally find them unpersuasive without some alternative explanation of some standard for what the aff must do to win.
- Fairness, like everything else, may or may not be an impact. Every framework block from the aff and the neg is massively improved by taking any amount of time before the debate and during prep to at least attempt to contextualize them to the debate in front you. Framework impacts and impact turns increase in quality by comparing them to the other teams arguments, not explaining them in the abstract for longer.
K v K
- Offense is always important but it is at a premium when the disagreements between the aff and the neg get even more narrow. Just give me lots of judge instruction in these debates because I will have less generic dispositions about how to weigh certain arguments. The aff probably should get a perm but who knows what exactly it means to compete.
Grumpy old person opinions
- I will not consider inserted re-highlighting of the other team's evidence. Text must actually be READ if you want it to matter. If you read a line of a card in CX and then send it out in the next speech doc, that seems reasonable. If a 1nc on case is just inserting re-highlighting I will be very unhappy.
- I am willing to listen to and vote on arguments about the stock issues. "No solvency" and "no inherency" can be round winners on their own. I do not think that try or die framing makes sense to me if I am unable to explain to the neg a way the aff could possibly solve some harm no matter how bad the status quo is. The burden of proof is a burden. This risk of an incoherent argument is zero.
- I really dislike the trend of using your CX time as prep instead of asking questions. It is a speech and failure to use it will, at minimum, cause your speaks to suffer. You simply failed to use all of the speech time available to you. I also think that the person being asked is still allowed to speak if you forgo your right to ask questions. It is a speech for both participants that will I will flow, influences my decision, and will matter for your points. Use it wisely. I stop flowing when timers go off.
I have been the Head Speech & Debate coach for my high school for a few years now. I was a collegiate national champion and runner-up in extemporaneous speaking. Evidence and argumentation is very important to me.
Congress: I want to see CLASH, not prewritten speeches. I enjoy some sass, but don’t push it. Racism, homophobia, xenophobia, etc. will be an automatic bottom rank in my book.
PF: I am big on the weighing mechanism in round. If you can’t convince me (in anyway) that your side is better overall, that’s automatic L. I don’t care too much for structure, as long as you can convince me your side will cause less harm, i’ll be with you. I look for empathy specifically in pf, if you exclude empathy you’ll be getting an L. This includes empathy towards your competitors, not just empathy in your cases. As a smaller note, I’m okay with speed, I actually enjoy it quite a bit, but if you’re using speed in round, make sure to use it to your advantage.
I also listen to crossfire, and will take notes on it.
For all events: I look up sources. Do NOT source in anyway that is unethical or you will be dropped by me.
Policy
I still believe debate is a communication event. I do not like rounds consisting of throwing as much as humanly possible at the proverbial wall and hoping that something will stick. Debaters should focus on well-reasoned arguments that actually apply to the case being debated. If I can't understand what is being debated because of speed or because it isn't clearly explained, I will not consider it in my decision. I do not prefer kritiks or other random theory arguments. I will vote as a stock issues or policy maker judge.
LD
I am a traditional LD judge. I like to hear a value and contentions that apply to the value and the resolution. Communication is important to me. Debaters should weigh arguments and tell me why they should win the round.
Public Forum
Debaters should communicate and run arguments that clash with those of the other team. I flow arguments and do consider drops, but debaters need to point out which issues are most important. The final focus for each team should be where the debaters frame the round and tell me why I should vote for them. I expect debaters to be polite.
I am a lay judge. I would prefer if debaters spoke slowly and clearly.
I have an Electrical Engineering degree and work in semiconductor and software development.
I am looking for a logical extension of arguments supported by evidence to support your contentions leading to the impact.
please email all documents
My e-mail: pillay_sanjay@yahoo.com
-- Paradigm
Debate is a competitive research activity. The team that can most effectively synthesize their research into a defense of their plan, method, or side of the resolution will win the debate. During rounds, this means that you should flow the debate, read good arguments based in good evidence, and narrow the focus of the debate as early as possible. I would strongly prefer to evaluate arguments that are grounded in the most recent and academically legitimate topical research of any kind, as opposed to theory or a recycled backfile. I won't hack against arguments just because I dislike them, but your speaker points will likely suffer. The best debaters are a compelling mix of persuasive, entertaining, strategic, and kind.
-- Biography
he/him
School Conflicts: Seven Lakes (TX), Lakeville North (MN), Lakeville South (MN), Blake (MN), and Vel Phillips Memorial (WI)
Individual Conflicts: Jason Zhao (Strake Jesuit), Daniel Guo (Strake Jesuit)
I run PFBC with Christian Vasquez of the Blake School. I'll also be conflicting any current competitors not affiliated with the programs listed above that have been offered a staff position at PFBC this summer. You can find a current list of our staff at our website.
Experience: I've coached since 2016. I've been at Seven Lakes since 2020 and have been the Director of Speech and Debate there since 2021. Before that, I coached debate at Lakeville North/South (MN) and did NPDA-style parliamentary debate at Minnesota in college (think extemp policy). A long time ago I did PF and Congress in high school. Most of my experience is in circuit PF and Congress, but I coach all events.
-- Logistics
The first constructive speech should be read at or before the posted round start time. Failure to keep the tournament on time will result in lower speaker points.
Put me on the email chain. You don't need me there to do the flip or set one up. Use sevenlakespf@googlegroups.com. For LD/CX - replace "pf" with "ld" or "cx".
The subject of the email chain should clearly state the tournament, round number and flight, and team codes/sides of each team. For example: "Gold TOC R1A - Seven Lakes AR 1A v Lakeville North LM 2N".
If you're using the Tabroom doc share/Speechdrop, that's also fine. Just give me the code when I get to the room.
-- Misc
I'd love to have you at PFBC this summer. Application is on our website.
Here's some information about me per the NSDA Judge Paradigm Guidelines:
- Since 2008, I've proudly served as the teacher and head coach of the Miramonte High School Public Speaking program in Orinda, CA, USA. Our co-curricular program focuses on competitive Speech, Congress, and Public Forum Debate. I competed in speech for Miramonte High School, Class of 1996, and my specialty was Humorous Interpretation! I enjoy judging several times a year, often including the Cal Invitational and NSDA Nationals!
- I believe Speech & Debate should be accessible to a general audience. I prefer SLOW rate of delivery and to AVOID jargon/technical language. When debaters speed-read, I cannot keep up.
- My personal note-taking during the round involves writing down key arguments. I take notes throughout, but I do NOT keep a rigorous flow.
- I value argument and style. Clear communication, accessible by a general audience, should be the priority. Off-time road maps are discouraged.
- The criteria I consider when assessing a debate round: "In short, Public Forum Debate stresses that speakers must appeal to the widest possible audience through sound reasoning, succinct organization, credible evidence, and clear delivery. A team should not be penalized for failing to understand [their] opponent’s unclear arguments." (2009 NFL Guide to Public Forum Debate)
- I find topical, logical, and narrative arguments more persuasive than theory. Do not assume your audience knows the topic, much less specific cards.
- We must embody the NSDA Honor Code and pledge to uphold the highest standards of humility, equity, integrity, respect, leadership, and service in pursuit of excellence. I reward honorable conduct as it enhances the debate and helps me to focus on learning.
Thanks for your participation! I am grateful to continue my learning by judging speech and debate!
Experience
4 years HS debate: Topeka HS, Fall 1982-Spring 1986
6 years assistant coaching: Topeka HS Fall 1988-Spring 1990, Lawrence HS Fall 1992-Spring 1994, Topeka-Hayden HS Fall 1996-Spring 1998
24 years head coaching: Lyndon HS Fall 1994 - Spring 1996, Topeka-Hayden HS Fall 1998-Spring 2001, Lawrence HS Fall 2004-present.
General Overview
My political views trend liberal with a smattering of libertarian thrown in. But do I try hard to be aware of my own biases, and counter them when evaluating policies and arguments.
I will intervene on the ballot if I think you are being rude, sexist, racist, or deplorable to your opponents or partner. I've sat with too many kids in tears because of how they were treated in a round. I will not accept it, nor will I enable it. Play nice.
I am not a particularly fast flow; if you go too fast you will lose me - especially your analytics. If I don't write it down, you didn't say it. My suggestion is that you start at 3/4 speed and watch my non-verbals. (Yes, I still believe a speaker should at least occasionally make eye contact with the audience.) I will not tell you to slow down, but if you think I should be writing and I am not, you have probably lost me.
In Policy Debate, I default policy maker. I default to probability over magnitude in most impact debates. (e.g. Russia invaded Ukraine, and no nukes have been used. But the trauma and destruction are still real and awful, and are a compelling reason to make policy.)
I will vote on topicality if the Aff is not at least reasonably topical, and the Neg wins the argument.
I have a rather high threshold for voting on kritiks that are not intuitively linked to the topic. (e.g. on the 2023-2024 topic, Cap K seems intuitively linked, Spinoza and Confucius do not) Very few policy decisions based solely on the views of dead philosophers have been successful. Having said that, I'm willing to listen to a kritik, and have voted for a number of them. Just keep in mind, my policy maker lens is difficult for me to put down here, so you better be able to tell me how your advocacy can actually solve something. In a K v K debate, this still applies - you need to prove you actually solve something.
When deciding a round, I begin with the arguments in the 2NR and 2AR. Those will be my primary concerns, as those should be the the salient points for each team if they made good choices. Make sure in those speeches to explain clearly how the positions interact, and why you believe I should vote for you.
Extend your key arguments through the debate - it is a good habit to form. Failing that, evidence read in the first constructive that is not contradicted by the opponent does still exist in my understanding of the round, even if not explicitly extended. I will presume if there is no argument against, the opponent is willing to stipulate its truth, at least temporarily. Making reference to it in rebuttals is still legit, but only if the other side has not argued it. If you don't want the argument/evidence to carry through, make an argument.
In Lincoln Douglas, I will focus primarily on the Value and Criterion debates. I believe this is where LD should differ from policy and PF debate. Policy implications are only important to me if the topic specifically calls for it. But keep in mind, I will be looking closely at how those implications interact with the value and criterion you establish.
kplunkett@stmdhs.org for cases/cards
Traditional judge, I prefer no spreading, Ks, plans, etc. I won't drop you for running these, but I very much dislike them.
- I like to see claim-warrant-impact. I flow what you say, not what I think you mean.
- If I can't understand you, I can't flow you. I'll yell clear, but I won't flow your entire case off the email chain if you are mumbling through it at lightning speed.
- Clarify the voting issues and prove how and why you outweigh. Hit framework/V/VCs early and often.
- I prefer conversational speed and good delivery. Quality, not quantity, for arguments.
- Cards should be clearly cited and available for review should there be a conflict over source validity or context. Clipping will not be tolerated.
- Signpost - reference the contention # or subpoint in speeches and CX.
- I dislike off-time roadmaps.
- CX is for questions, not rebuttals.
I am the Director of Debate at Sioux Falls Roosevelt High School in South Dakota.
Email:zcpogany@gmail.com
Please include me on any email chains prior to the round starting.
JUDGING PHILOSOPHY:
I feel like my primary goal in adjudicating debates is to have to do the least amount of work possible. If I have to do the work for you, it’s probably going to be a decision you don't like.
In terms of an actual "paradigm" or framework for how I evaluate debates, I don't really have one. I'm generally cool with whatever you all want the round to be. However, there are a few things about me to note that might be helpful to you:
-In my older age I've become a little bit more hard of hearing then I thought I would. So please speak up. If you don't, I probably won't have flowed everything you've said
-I flow on paper
-Speed is cool with me but realistically on scale of 1-10 (10 being the fastest round ever) I'm probably a 6.5-7
-I don't flow author names and dates. If you're referencing /cross applying evidence cite specific analysis.
-Tech over truth always.
-The arguments I feel most comfortable evaluating are what some would consider more "traditional arguments". However, that's not to say I won't listen to or evaluate progressive argumentation. In fact, I've judged quite of few of these rounds this year and have thoroughly enjoyed them. When going this route, please slow down as much as you can and be clear in what the argument is and how my ballot functions.
-Theory debates are pretty hit or miss for me. I need to have some sort offense or reason as to what your reading warrants my consideration.
-Do not post round me. I have no problem answering any questions or clarifying anything in my decision but the second you are combative I will walk out of the room.
-Ultimately, you should have fun and learn from debate. Don't do anything in the round takes away from either of those things.
Feel free to ask me anything else before the round starts!
Policy Debate:
I have not judged very many rounds on this topic.
I'm trying to revitalize this event at my school and my state so I thank you for letting me be apart of the rounds you are competing in! I will be learning a lot.
If I am not told how to evaluate the debate, I will default to a very basic offense/defense paradigm.
LD:
I very rarely judge this event. LD debate in South Dakota is very traditional.
Most of the information I have posted above is probably going to be useful to you in terms of framing my LD ballot. I have no predisposition to how an LD round should go but here are my specific preferences for LD (1 meaning I love it and 4 meaning I don't love it):
Tricks- Absolutely not
Ks-1
Policy/LARP- 1
Philosophy- 4
T/Theory-4
PF:
I competed in public forum my senior year where I primarily debated in my local South Dakota circuit. My first three years I was a policy debater.
Most of what I mentioned in prior sections should be helpful to you in this event as well.
I love a good framework debate. Just make sure you utilize that as a way to make me evaluate your arguments vs your opponent's. Reference it throughout the round. Too many times I see teams read framework and then never utilize it ever again
Make sure you have extensions throughout the round of the arguments you will be going for. I need to understand the link story and how it resolves the offense. If I don't, you probably won't win the round.
When using evidence, make sure it is clearly cited and read. Additionally, when opponents ask for evidence you should have it ready to give to them. There is nothing that upsets me more than waiting an excessive amount of time for evidence to be handed over. If I feel like it is getting excessive I will warn you once, after that I will start taking prep/speech time.
Judging Preferences
DEBATE
Flow
I am a flow heavy judge, so organized debate is good debate for me. Clash in arguments is a priority for me, and I would prefer you go in order of the flow, or at least let me know where you are in it. I want to give you your best chances, so don't leave it up to me where to put your arguments.
I do not flow cross, but I will evaluate it if you bring it up in your speeches.
Tech v. Truth
I lean more toward tech. If you don't say it, it doesn't exist for me in round. That being said, if it is a blatant lie, it will not be accepted. If it is completely analytical, I will weigh it less than arguments supported by in-round evidence. If they take the time to give me evidence as to why I should believe it, I expect the same level of consideration when people tell me why I shouldn't.
Cross
Again, I do not flow cross. It is up to you to bring it up in your speeches.
I also appreciate assertiveness in cross (you don't have to let your opponents walk all over you), but it is possible to be assertive without being aggressive. Will I make my decision based on cross? No. But I will be sure to include it in my RFD, and I will also take when you say your opponent didn't answer with a grain of salt if you don't let your opponent give an answer at all.
K Debate:
I am very open to K debate. Explain your framework to me and do significant work linking your Kritik to the specific resolution. The better you are with this, the less likely I am to buy arguments talking about how "the same K's are rehashed no matter the resolution"
K v. Policy/Topical
K Teams: I need significant work done on framework. You know a policy-oriented team is going to have framework. Tell me why I should prefer yours.
Policy/Topical: If you give me framework, make sure you have answers to how the specific K interacts with the framework. I would pay extra attention to the role of the ballot. Interact with the K; don't completely rely on your framework to solve everything for you.
K v. K
I need to know how your K's intersect and interact with each other. I don't just want to hear "but mine is better". I want to hear how each part affects systemic issues addressed by the other side. I will have a hard time with teams that read independent K's, don't do the legwork on clash, and just end up making parallel arguments that I as a judge have to weigh alone.
Other
I always appreciate when debaters frame the round for me. Of course, I will evaluate my decision for the round independently, but I'm much more swayed when you tell me WHY you won. Which arguments are your strongest? Which ones can you admit that you may be behind on, but aren't going to lose you the round because [insert explanation]
HATE SPEECH WILL NOT BE TOLERATED IN ROUND, ESPECIALLY IF DIRECTED TOWARD YOUR FELLOW DEBATERS. At best, you can expect a CONSIDERABLE loss in speaker points. At worst, I will be stopping the round and contacting your coach.
Experience
I did speech in high school, but debate in college. I was a policy debater for Fresno State for two years, then another year at Fresno City College. I was one of the coaches for Fresno City College's Forensics team, and I currently co-coach Clovis North's Forensics Team.
Message to debaters:
As long as my paradigm is, what I really want is for you to have a good time and enjoy what you're doing. I'm very specific on here to give you all the best chance and be very clear so you're not stressing out, wondering in round. As much as debate is an amazingly educational and useful activity for your future, it is also something that should be fun and community building.
SPEECH
I have the same standards for interp events as I do for original.
When you speak, I try to look at everything, from the structure of your content to the actual presentation. I am a firm believer that what you choose to include in your speech has as much sway as your actual presentation. This goes for interp events as much as original; while you don't have the same freedom, you are able to choose what you include and where it is cut, and that has a huge bearing on the message you get across.
In terms of content, I'm looking for something that has impact. Whether you are first, last, or in between, I want to remember your speech after the round has finished. I'm looking for a cohesive structure of course, and I'm looking to see if everything you include does something to forward the point or the message. Think of Chekhov's Gun: “If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don’t put it there.”
As for presentation, I want your performance to make me feel as much as the content is asking me to. If you are doing an interp, it's not enough to tell me that someone has died; I want to see it in your movement. In my opinion, every movement should be intentional, whether it's interp, persuasive speaking, or anything in between.
Also, don't be afraid of silence! I'm looking for what you don't say as much as what you say out loud!
But overall, I really want you to have fun and to deliver a speech that you've worked hard on. You deserve to be proud of yourself for all the work you put in throughout the year. Let this be the moment it pays off.
I wish you all the best!
Hello debaters,
Please add me to the evidence share: email: patrick.pope@k12.sd.us
I approach debate with a focus on substance and argumentation, emphasizing the importance of clear communication and effective case development. Here are key aspects of my judging philosophy:
-
Flow-Centric Evaluation:
- I prioritize the flow as the primary tool for decision-making.
- Debaters should clearly articulate and extend arguments throughout the round.
- I appreciate organization and signposting to enhance the flow.
-
Impacts Matter:
- I give weight to well-developed impacts that are linked to the resolution.
- Impact calculus is crucial. Clearly explain why your impacts outweigh those presented by your opponent.
-
Technical Proficiency:
- I value technical proficiency in debate. Solid understanding of debate theory and effective cross-examination will be rewarded.
- However, I do not automatically vote on theory. Make sure to connect theoretical arguments to tangible impacts on the round.
-
Clarity and Signposting:
- Clear, concise, and organized speeches are key. Clarity in communication helps me understand your arguments better.
- Signpost consistently to help me follow your line of argumentation.
-
Adaptability:
- I appreciate debaters who can adapt their strategy based on the flow of the round.
- Flexibility in argumentation and the ability to adjust to your opponent's arguments will be recognized.
-
Framework and Weighing:
- Framework is essential for framing the round, but it should be applied in a way that enhances substantive clash.
- Effective weighing of impacts is crucial. Explain why your impacts are more significant in the context of the round.
-
Disinclination towards Theory Arguments:
- I am not a fan of theory arguments. While I expect debaters to engage in substantive clash, relying heavily on theory arguments may not be as persuasive to me. I will listen to them though.
-
Respect and Sportsmanship:
- Maintain a respectful and professional demeanor throughout the round.
- I don't tolerate any form of discrimination or offensive language. Such behavior will have a negative impact on your speaker points.
-
Evidence Quality:
- Quality over quantity. Well-analyzed and relevant evidence will carry more weight than a flood of less meaningful sources.
- Reference your evidence appropriately and be prepared to defend its relevance.
Remember, this paradigm is a guide, and I am open to various debating styles and arguments. Adapt your approach to these guidelines, and feel free to ask for clarification on any specific preferences before the round begins.
Tell me where your argument goes on the flow. In deciding the round, I'll look at my flow to determine who won. Signposting will make sure I write your arguments in the right place.
Speed at the expense of clarity, or thoughtful analysis, or that comes with a significant increase in volume, is unwelcome. Ultimately, I only vote on what is on my flow. I will make an obvious motion of putting my pen down if I cant flow the speed.
Give me voters. Please don't make me pick what I think are the most important issues in the round. You might not like my picks.
Debate, to me, is ultimately educational. As such, I find competitors who talk down or demean their opponents, or who otherwise evince the same attitude using snide comments are sarcasm, underwhelming.
Given competing views and a lack of clear winner on an issue I will prefer evidence and analysis over rote evidence, I will prefer an international view over a strictly national one, and I will prefer a depth and nuance of understanding.
Policy: Moderate speed is fine, but if it's too fast I'll stop flowing, and I won't vote on positions I don't flow. Critical positions are fine. Open to all theory arguments. Don't just give me taglines, give underviews and tell me, in your own words, why it applies and why I should care.
PF: While evidence is necessary, showing you understand the topic using thoughtful, logical extensions of analysis are welcome. If you're going to paraphrase a piece of evidence, my expectation is that you stick to that words common meaning, not the one that's been made up for debate.
LD: Showing me an understanding of the underlying moral and philosophical theory and how it applies to the topic, and each of your contentions, will go a long way.
WSD: Open to everything, stylistically, especially some humor. A few, deeper discussions are generally more convincing than more, shallower points. Make sure you understand your examples thoroughly. Don't make arguments over examples eclipse the point the examples are trying to make.
--Speech--
What are your stylistic preferences for extemp? I enjoy the traditional format of extemp speeches, but prefer them to be as conversational as possible. if you're going to have a standard opener that you use religiously, be sure it makes sense. also be sure it isn't the exact same as every other person on your team. Use what YOU know and lean into that so that conversation flows naturally.
How much evidence do you prefer? quality over quantity for me. cite your sources with the date included, and use varied sources. at least 3 different ones! and make sure if you're bluffing that i can't tell you're bluffing.
Any preference for virtual delivery? acknowledge the camera if we're competing virtually! make sure you are in a space where you can be seen and heard.
What are your stylistic preferences for Oratory/Info? CONVERSATIONAL. Do not make it seem like this is the umteenth time you've competed with this piece. The beauty of oratory/info is that this is, or should be, your passion piece! YOU wrote every word. and if you're going to speak on something for 10 minutes over and over again, you should love it. And no matter how many times you've run it, it should feel like the first time every time. Your topic is near and dear to you and it's your job to make it near and dear to us. Universality is key. Though I may not be a part of the community or group or conversation, I need to understand why i MUST become a part of it or aware of it. Your passion and excitement for your speech should be palpable. Make it feel like the first time every time because for most people in the room it is the very first time we've gotten to hear this speech. and you have ten minutes to use this room as your platform and speak on what's important to you. make sure we leave this room talking about YOU! Your goal should be for us to be at our family dinner table telling everyone who will listen about this moment we took away from your speech. your gestures need to make sense and be natural. do not simply fall into gestures that you see being done just for the sake of doing them. if you wouldn't normally use particular hand gestures or vocal variations DONT DO IT for the sake of a round.
How much evidence do you prefer? I need enough statistics to not feel like you're just giving me your own personal think tank. back up what you're saying with multiple different credible sources. offer viewpoints that challenge yours, and then back them up with your facts.
Any unique thoughts on teasers? Your teaser sets the tone for the entire piece. Think about how you want to introduce us to the next ten minutes that we are going to watch!
Any unique thoughts on introductions for Interpretation events? Make them personal to YOU! Tell me why this piece matters to you while also telling me about the piece. What qualifies you to speak on this? Why should we listen and care? If you don't know who/what you're speaking on don't waste your time. oftentimes we are lifting up and bringing awareness to a community or an issue that is very delicate. use your intro to tell us why you're doing this and why it matters. Even in HI!!! i LOOOOVE a good tie in to real life. leave us talking about what we learned regardless of whether we are laughing, crying, or everything in between. take me on a JOURNEY.
Any preferences with respect to blocking, movement, etc: Make every movement a moment. I should be able to snap a photo of you and tell what you're doing and where you are. make movements and pantomimes intentional and thoughtful. break the mold! take me somewhere I've never been.
What are your thoughts on character work? you absolutely must BECOME your character. you need to study people who have experienced what your character has experienced. embody them wholly. whether it's in a humorous or serious way. do not halfway commit to something and expect us to buy in.
How do you feel about author's intent and appropriateness of a piece? For example: an HI of Miracle Worker (author's intent) or a student performing mature material or using curse words (appropriateness)? Author’s intent- doesn’t bother me too much. Appropriateness is BIG for me. You’re in HIGH SCHOOL- crude sexual humor and excessive cusswords just aren’t necessary. It’s also cheap comedy IMO. If you’re that “mature” aim higher for your content. A few innuendos are okay, but don't get crazy. There are far more ways to get laughs then to take it literally below the belt.
Hi y'all! I did four years of policy debate in highschool, 2 as the 2n, 2 as the 2a. I'm not debating in college now, so the extent of my connection to the activity is periodic judging and chatting with current debaters.
For the purposes of email chain: spencer.powers726@gmail.com
Please ask questions before round if you have them. I’m probably forgetting something.
For Dulles 2023:
Haven't judged since nationals of 2023, so I may be a bit slow on the uptake. I should be able to warm back up pretty quick though. Key issue will be a lack of topic knowledge. I don't know the full resolution off the top of my head (although I am vaguely aware of it!), and I'm not familiar with common topic arguments.
Policy:
Sparknotes/before round:
-Less is more—I’ll evaluate a lot of offcase arguments but I will be sad if i have to use a lot of sheets of paper that get tossed in the block
-I flow on paper--I can understand you speaking fast, but I can only write down so many arguments so quickly
-You can run generic arguments, but I'm generally not a fan of entirely plan inclusive counterplans.
-K framework that takes away the plan is fine. Probably more receptive to it than most.
-I'll default to offense/defense framing, but you can persuade me out of that. Zero risk is hard but possible.
-Conditionality’s fine. 2 is probably a good limit, but I'm open to hearing both sides debate it out.
-Tech>truth, but if I can't explain the argument and its warrants it's not going into my consideration
-I don't take prep for flashing.
-I'll shout clear twice. For online debating, this is especially relevant. You are not going to be as clear as you are in an in person debate, so slow down.
-I tend to take a long time to make my decisions. Don't read too much into it, I just like to cover all my bases.
Full thing:
My goal as a judge is to let the debaters do what they do, and judge accordingly based on who most persuaded me that they are correct. "Persuasion" here may be a bit of a misnomer because debaters oftentimes think that their only goal is to sound pretty when the judge wants to be persuaded. Let me be clear: you should sound pretty, but I will be flowing and taking into account technical concessions as well. But the effect that technical concessions have on my decision will be dependent on how well you persuade me to vote in a direction. I am human, I have biases, and you should use your ability as a debater to make rhetorically strong arguments that make me vote for you.
Kritiks:
As a I 2n, I went for mainly very basic kritiks (as I was a younger debater at the time) such as capitalism and security. As I got older, my partner and I experimented with psychoanalysis, gender, and nietzsche. I have a strong familiarity with all of those kritiks, but my ability to understand them in the context of debate has declined over time without the frequency that competing with them brought. I have a passing familiarity with other kritiks, and will depend highly upon strong negative explanation on both the framework and alternative level to give you a win.
I have found as I have judged that I have oftentimes voted for kritiks that I don't think were very strong. I think this is a symptom of affirmative teams that struggle to explain why state policymaking is valuable and why their affirmative is good. I also think that negative teams have moved towards a "meta" of going for framework really hard, which has turned out to be quite effective for me. Framework really is the central question of the round, and I generally find myself not doing what most judges seem to be doing and kind of evaluating it on their own as "aff gets a plan and neg gets discursive DAs." I really will just let you completely void the plan or completely say Ks aren't allowed. But you need to work for it.
Do more impact work. Teams don't do enough impact work on the K. Aff teams should impact turn more. Neg teams should explain more impact work in general.
K affs:
Sure. I've read a few in my time. I strongly prefer them to be related to the topic, and generally look down upon affs that are critiques of debate in general. I think that having a predictable topic is good, and K affs that are closer to a traditional model of topicality will get more leeway with me.
I don't think it makes sense just to impact turn framework. How can you win if you don't have a counter interpretation? Defend a counter interpretation of the topic and explain its standards in relation to the neg's interp if you want my ballot.
Performance:
Sure. It should exist for a reason, otherwise you're just handing links to your opponent.
Counterplans:
I prefer advantage counter plans and PICs that remove something from the plan. Not a fan of entirely plan inclusive counter plans, such as consult, reg neg, delay, or any other procedural counter plan. Agent counter plans only make sense to me when the aff has a clearly defined agent other than "the USfg". I haven’t made up my mind on 50 states. Not a fan of word pics that don't change the function of the counter plan (No "The" PICs please).
If you feel up to it, you can still run all those counter plans I don't view favorably. Just know that I'll probably align closer to aff theory arguments against them if the affirmative decides to go for theory against you.
I don’t default to judge kick, but I will if you tell me.
Disadvantages:
Judging DA and Case 2NRs is difficult when people don’t do impact calculus. Please do impact calculus.
I’m alright with generic politics DAs. I understand that you might not have a specific strategy for every affirmative. But please, try to get specific with the link if you can.
Theory:
Cheap shots make me sad. If you want to go for one, shame me into voting for you because I will likely feel like I shouldn’t. I’ll default to reject the argument.
Topicality:
I went for topicality a lot, both in my 2NRs and my 1NRs. Predictability/precision standards are probably the most persuasive to me, followed by generic limits and generic ground. Remember to connect them to education (I mostly view fairness as an internal link to education) or I won’t know why to vote for it.
I default to competing interps, but I'm not very strong on that. Affs can win reasonability if they work to.
For the neg: I'm somewhat receptive to dubious T interps. Feel free to explain why your interpretation of the topic is so obviously true, even if the aff is also probably pretty easy to predict generally. It's about the interpretations, not the aff specifically.
Neg Framework:
I am more amenable to skills based/“State policymaking is really great actually” arguments than I am fairness based arguments.
I also think limits as necessary for effective topic education is a good argument. I like smaller topics.
Speakerpoints:
I've found that I'm very kind with speaker points. I'll try to turn it down a notch but I'll probably still be above average. Be kind, rhetorically effective, make good arguments, and make strategic decisions if you want to get high points.
LD Section:
Everything above is true. If you’re doing LD in front of me, you’ll have an easier time persuading me if you treat it like mini-policy. I have preliminary knowledge of Kant, Rawls, Hobbes, and some other weird philosophers but I don’t know anything about how they’re used in LD. LARPing is a good idea. I’m much more likely than any given LD judge to wave away theory arguments as a reason to reject the arg. RVIs are not my thing.
PF Section:
PF evidence standards are not great. Paraphrasing is technically allowed in my book but you need to be very careful about it. Don't say the evidence says something it doesn't, or your speaker points will be bad. You should have quick and easy mechanisms by which your opponent can read the evidence you bring up in your speech. Arguments supported by evidence your opponent can't read will be understood as made without evidence. If you provide the full evidence to your opponents and me before your speech with highlighting of what you've read, your speaker points will be dramatically improved.
I will evaluate the debate by weighing impacts at the end of the round, comparing each team's solvency for their impacts as well as which ones are more important.How I determine which ones are more important is up to you.
I am a new debate coach at Summit HS! Therefore, I am a lay judge, but I do know how to flow your cases. I am a biology teacher, so I love science! Any science jokes are greatly appreciated! I can also take debate joke suggestions! My one joke is getting old ):
No points if you are a bully.
Preferences: No spreading! If I don't hear it and it's not on my flow, then you didn't say it. The purpose of debate is not trying to get as many words in as possible but it is to convince me of your argument, whether if it is a lay judge or not. I am not a tech judge but I try my best to make sense of your case. I always ask myself the WHY and HOW on my flow. I should be able to answer this based on the information you provided to me. I do not usually flow crossfires however I do listen to pick up any information I may have missed during case/rebuttal/summary. During the RFD I try my best to provide you with an exact reason why I voted for or against your ballot based on my WHY and HOW, but I don't have enough experience with case writing/debate to really go into specific links within the argument. I would not mind judging a theory/K round I am open to trying it, as long as you are thorough in you explanations. I would love the experience!
Most importantly... you do this for fun! Don't stress about winning/losing/bids you are still going to do great post debate regardless.You are learning a new skill from this.
[last updated 3-15-2025]
Hi my name is Tanya (she/her), I'm a debate grad assistant coach at WKU. I did 2 years of NPDA parli and then 2 years of NFA-LD when I was a competitor.
Add me to the email chain: tanyaprabhakar1@gmail.com
!!! IF YOU'RE IN PF SKIP DOWN TO THE PF SECTION AT THE BOTTOM PLEASE !!!
Short version:
DA/ DA + CP > K > T > Theory (but you should do what you feel most confident, I'll evaluate whatever)
I'm fine w non-t affs, I default to T-FW coming first. I think T is about accuracy over ground.
I'm fine with speed.
More elaborate version:
How do you feel about speed?
I'll vote on speed bad in novice and JV. If your opponent slows you on something you should probably slow.
Should I disclose?
I am pro aff (wiki) disclosure. I am willing to vote on aff disclosure theory if it is not responded to properly. I don't like any disclosure shell that puts extra burdens on the aff beyond putting affs they read on the wiki (ex. you have to use full cites, no breaking new, needing contact info). I also expect people to share docs in round, even if you aren't spreading, either in an email chain or speech drop.
Substance
I like case/DA/CP debate, and I would consider myself more qualified to evaluate this than anything else.
K
I like and will vote on Ks, but there's a lot K lit that I'm not very deep on so I can't guarantee I'll pick on all the nuances of the K unless they're made very explicit.
To vote aff I need you to win: offense against the alt OR a perm
To vote neg I need: the aff to not win that stuff
Also, make sure that there are clear, ideally carded, links to the aff. I probably won't vote on just a no link, but it's a pretty good justification for the perm, which I will vote on. Links of omission are generally a no go for me, unless you have a well warranted (ideally carded) explanation for why not considering X in policy making is uniquely bad.
Can I read non T affs?
Yeah that's fine, as long as it has a topic specific link. As a default T FW comes before the aff.
T
I like T. You can read T and not go for it. You can read multiple Ts. I don't need proven abuse, but there does need to be some clear impact (ie link to fairness and education). Default to competing interps.
Theory/Procedurals -
I don't mind theory debate, and I don't need proven abuse. Again, default competing interps. You also have to win that kicking the arg doesn't resolve the offense. I think theory is frivolous based on the interp, not the amount of theory read (for example, time cube theory is frivolous even if its the only theory you read, but reading, like, disclosure and A spec and speed together isn't necessarily frivolous).
I don't vote on RVIs. Make sure your standards link back to your interpretation. Have fun and be yourself.
PF Only:
1 - Evidence sharing: If I don't have your evidence, I cannot evaluate it, and if you don't have each other's evidence I can't trust you and your opponent to evaluate it. And at that point it's going to come down to drops and analytics. The easiest way to resolve this is to send your docs to each other - it is more important to me that your opponent has your evidence than it is that I have it. If I don't have your evidence my cap for your speaks is gonna be a lot lower than it would be if I did, because for all I know you made everything up.
2 - Progressive/technical debate: I understand that I would be considered a tech judge in most PF pools. However, I have few caveats around tech in PF: Firstly, the norms on the circuit mean that most debaters have no idea how to respond to theory or the K and will completely mishandle awful theory or Ks because they don't know how to respond. You can still read these args, just know I will be much more likely to intervene if I think the argument is badly executed than I would be in LD or Policy, even if it is conceded/poorly responded to by the other team, simply because I think there's no educational value to bad technical debate in a lay event, and I don't want to incentivize that.
Secondly, a lot of technical args just don't translate well to PF (imo) because of the lack of plan texts. T doesn't work, and neither does a significant amount of (the most compelling) theory. The lack of plan also means you can't have a counterplan or alt. Without alts the k loses all uniqueness and no longer functions. I'm not saying that you can't read any technical arguments but you also can't just read old LD or Policy backfiles as-is and expect me to vote on them.
I am a traditional judge. Read anything you want, but make sure not to go past a regular talking speed and you argue it well. In your final speeches, made it evidently clear who's won the round, and explain why you have. Make the path to my ballot as clear as possible. My email is satyaptiwari@gmail.com
Good luck to both teams!
Welcome back and I'm glad to be back for another year. Here is my updated paradigm. This has general information and then items specific to LD
PERSONAL:
I have been a coach for 22 years and I have judged all forms of speech and debate. This means I am pretty open to any time of argument. I will go with what I hear in the round and will not input myself into the debate. I am a judge, not a competitor so I will not inject myself into the debate. You don't need to send me your case. I only want to judge what I hear, not what I can read. So while I am okay with speed and I can handle spreading, only use spreading in Policy.
DEBATE:
Don't be condescending in your cross ex. Acting like you don't care about the answer the other person gave or interrupting them before they get the answer out is not okay. If you wanted a shorter answer then ask a more succinct question. All debates need to clash. I don't want to only hear prepared speeches on both sides. Show me that you are listening to what the other person/team is saying and advance the debate.
LD
I am definitely more traditional than progressive but I will listen to progressive arguments IF they still fall under the philosophical ideas of LD. I do not want to hear a plan or use the motion as the plan text. That doesn't do anything for me. Don't use a K to avoid debating. That's not what debate is about. I WILL NOT vote on disclosure theory so don't take the time to run it. That is not debating the topic but finding a way to not have to debate. Otherwise, I will listen to Ks, Ts, Disads, etc if they are relevant to the debate. If you don't have a V and a VC, you won't get the win from me!
Also, I am creating this paradigm for you so don't ask me about other items before the round. Everything else is fair game as long as it is done well! Address the resolution and give me reasons for your claims. I don't need to be on your email chain. Also, I do not disclose unless required to and it will be brief. As a coach, I want the coaching to come from me and not the judges. As I said earlier, I am not here to relive my competitive days so I won't explain all that I am thinking.
Good luck!
Updated 4/1/25 for Last Chance Qualifier
It is a privilege to support the speech and debate community and I do not take this privilege lightly. I value your voice and want to engage with you and your critical thinking and creativity.
"Debate doesn’t simply just change lives—it makes lives better. It gives us a space to grow, to give back, and to find the best people by our sides." Jeff Miller
Note: The vast majority (80%+) of LD judges are parent/lay/community most who have judged less than 10 rounds. Thus slow, simple and a single argument well developed are recommended as well as the comments below. The LDers I find most persuasive are orators and I wonder how Aristotle would evaluate the typical circuit LDer or local LDer who is a circuit LD wannabe. Rhetoric is the artful use of all the available means of persuasion. Excessive complexity, reading cards, debater math, extinction impacts, and counterplans are not persuasive.
Lincoln Douglas Short Summary
Quick summary -T W W
Traditional Framework Judge -I base my ballot on value
Warrant your argument (evidence is secondary)
Weigh - if you don't I will and you may not like the result
DO NOT SPREAD - I vote for the slowest speaking debater. Always. Yes, its true.
Don't spread. And if you normally spread and decide not to spread in a round because it's a lay judge (a very wise decision), you are probably still spreading from the perspective of the judge. Slow it WAY down.
I do not vote solvency, progressive, critique, counterplans, reject all extinction impacts and am the most traditional LD judge you will encounter and begin and end my ballot with value - so invest your time on framework. I am very skeptical of C/B/A, utilitarianism and generic, poorly defined values. IE - justice v redistributive justice, restorative justice, procedural, substantive, etc so if your choice is C/B/A, util or a generic value your task is to provide me with rationale that overcomes this skepticism and it is impossible to have me vote any extinction impact. If you hear one in round merely weigh probability and if you don’t I will.
Truth > tech,
Simple > complex
Less > more
The reason my weigh on "research" based evidence is close to 0 - replication crisis.
Lincoln Douglas Debate Long Form
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Delivery: conversational in both pace and tone, connected directly to me through eye contact and a sense of concern with my comprehension, simple rather than complex with no jargon particularly debate jargon and minimal use of evidence. Debaters who choose an alternative delivery lose credibility and I will be skeptical of all analysis presented by debaters who reject this delivery preference. Ted Kim paradigm (scroll to the bottom) says it best.
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Resolution Analysis: Clear, concise, well-supported analysis of the resolution. You can assume your judge has basic knowledge of the resolution.
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Argumentation: Simplicity, clarity, and effective are preferred in the comparison/contrast or weighing of competing arguments. I am hostile to extinction impacts and debater math use of which negatively impacts my assessment of the credibility of the team making use of these techniques.
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Evidence: Quality of reasoning and argumentation over quantity or complexity. Evidence plays a minimal part in my decision and debaters who read cards particularly in rebuttal will be challenged to earn my ballot.
Click on Frederick Changho paradigm for a clear set of expectations I support and share with the exception of the truth
Click on Scott Wood's paradigm for another paradigm that reflects my expectations, particularly good v bad form.
Super short form - click https://www.tabroom.com/index/paradigm.mhtml?judge_person_id=3556
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Don't spread. And if you normally spread and decide not to spread in a round because its a lay judge, you are probably still spreading from the perspective of the judge. Slow it WAY down.
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Lay judges don't flow, they take notes. You win them over via persuasion, not technical tech>truth stuff. That means simple, clear arguments, delivered TO them, not read at them. This is important, talk with the judge do not read case or rebuttal.
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Make your argument to them the same way you would to your friends or relatives. IK, this is point 2 repeated but is it critical.
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In fact, a good model for debating successfully in front of a lay judge is to imagine the debate was being conducted in a darkened auditorium talking to general audience that is interested in the topic, doesn't know much and wants to learn more. You would never talk to that audience they way you talk in a debate. The lay judge is a member of the public sitting in that darkened audience. That means presentation, organization, clarity and connection are critical.
LD - the 2024 National final is worth reviewing. Note speed of debate, clarity in argument and delivery to the audience. Both finalists qualified via the Last Chance Tournament!
Adapt to speed, please. At a late December 2024 tournament 3 of my 4 ballots were default ballots as in each of these rounds one debater failed to adapt, spread their case and lost. I despise this type of ballot as I really am interested in your analysis so don't exclude me from the round.
This topic is - should - so I value philosophical reasoning related directly to your value as you advocate. See below for my view of efficacy and implementation as arguments that I tend to dismiss.
Summary LD Expectations - Next to advice #1 below this is your most important piece of advice: In your last 3 minutes of speaking you should collapse to your single most important or valid argument, provide me with voters, and weigh the round
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Do not spread. Let me repeat do not spread. I know it's in your DNA but do not spread. I always vote for the debater who speaks slower. Always.
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I am a traditional values judge as this is the foundation for this event. Therefore invest your time and energy on value. Clarity in defining this value will go a long way to earning my ballot. Investing time in side by side comparison to your opponent's value with a clear and simple explanation for why I should prefer your value will go a long long way to earning my ballot.
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This is not policy debate therefore there is no requirement for a plan or for implementation. Invest your limited time in value analysis, resolution analysis and rebuttal, not on implementation. I tend to dismiss all solvency arguments in LD.
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Traditional debate therefore no progressive debate or critique.
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Counter plans - these must be directly tied to the resolution and utilize argumentation, evidence and data that would be a part of the research considered by a well prepared AFF. If any of these elements are absent, I will reject the counter plan and ballot accordingly.
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I reject on their face all extinction impacts.
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I value analysis and warranting over evidence. The best way to lose my ballot is to read a list of cards, indicate your opponent has no cards and unleash some debate math - ie "Judge my view of resolution will reduce recidivism by 150.3% resulting in a reduction of poverty world wide of 173,345,321 and leading to growth in Georgia of 13.49% which will increase the standard of living in Athens by 22.32% and reduce polarization by 74.55% which will ensure that representative democracy will . . . . blah, blah, blah. BTW, when I am exposed to debater math you should know what I hear is blah, blah, blah. So . . . invest your time in simple, clear (hopefully logical) warranting - no need for cards or debater math. You know, I know, your parents know that statistics/empirics prove nothing. If Nobel winning social scientists have the humility to acknowledge that it is virtually impossible to determine causality, you should too, so avoid the correlation/causality offense or defense.
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Quality over quantity, less is more, therefore those debaters who collapse to a single argument and weigh this argument earn my ballot. In fact, those rare (delightful) debaters who provide a logical narrative based upon a clear value and throughout the round, focus on a single, clear, simple argument make for a breath of fresh air, meaningful 45 minutes of debate and a lasting learning experience. These types of rounds are as rare as a lunar eclipse and I value and treasure these rounds and debater(s) - less than a dozen over my years of adjudication.
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Simple is preferred to complex. I am a lay judge and while I have over 20 years experience and have judged over 160 rounds of LD in both face-to-face and online environments I find that the simplest argument tends to earn my ballot over the many arguments that are complex and/or poorly developed. When I hear: "I have 12 responses to my opponent's first contention, subpoint A" I think, oh no.
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A negative debater who collapses to the Aff framework and definitions and then clearly explains a rationale for why negating the resolution achieves that value is from my point employing a very sound strategy when arguing before a community judge and overcomes the initial time disadvantage, The AFF debater who uses the 3rd AFF to only review the SINGLE most important argument, weigh clearly and simply and end with valid votes makes the most efficient and strategic use of speaking last.
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Remember to clearly define all relevant terms in the resolution most importantly your value. Where there's a difference in approach on a term you'll need to clearly warrant for me why I should prefer your definition. PLEASE no cards or debater math.
BTW If you say it and I don't hear it or I don't understand it *(remember I am very old and not so smart) it will not be a part of my decision. It is impossible to be too simple or basic with me, impossible. So, the simpler (and slower) the better. Also, time permitting read Scott Wood's paradigm - I wish it was mine so I incorporate it into this paradigm. Now it is mine. Thank you Scott.
Quickly reflect on how you integrate framework into case construction and rebuttal AND if the debate does not collapse on this essential element of ballot be prepared to, simply summarize, compare and weigh your value to your opponent's and in the simplest (*well warranted) manner explain why I prefer your value. This will be where I begin and end by ballot.
Google LD Paradigm Click
Congressional Debate short form
PO ranked, do not read a speech, do not break cycle-ever. See more below.
Public Forum
Collapse in Summary, Voters and weigh only in Final Focus. See below for link to full set of preferences.
IE - scroll to the bottom for details - I LOVE EXTEMP and value analysis over evidence cited and weigh content of speech equal to delivery. One fluency flub in a well developed extemp will not impact ranking.
Lincoln Douglas
Quick summary T W W
Traditional Framework Judge -I base my ballot on value
Warrant your argument (evidence is secondary)
Weigh - if you don't I will and you may not like the result
DO NOT SPREAD - I vote for the slowest speaking debater. Always. Yes, its true.
I do not ballot on solvency, extinction impacts, progressive,/kritik, or counterplan
LD Click here
PF Click here
Congress Click here
IE Click here - I judge to the standard outlined in Welty Wisdom.
What lay judges vote on. I encourage you to read as I am a lay judge as are over 80% of all judges you will encounter.
Why I love speech and debate
Concerns I share about debate
Still scrolling? Good. Paradigm most similar to mine at from tournaments judged this year *(Stanford) Darnov
" I simply do not follow .... speed particularly well, and I find it frustrating that debaters often seem to ignore this (no matter how clearly it's written on my paradigm). keep in mind that if you’re at any any kind of speed above a brisk conversational pace (think of a particularly energetic weatherman, for example), I’m probably not going to be terribly interested in trying to follow the argument." And, as I indicate below, I always ballot for the slowest speaking debater - always. Yes, it is true.
Like Darnov I am frustrated, bewildered, confused, and yes judgmental of debaters who IGNORE the speed admonition - so odd and to quote an Arizona coach - very disappointing.
I am a teacher and coach at Eastview High School (MN) - the 2023-2024 school year is my 21st year coaching and my 25th year involved in speech and debate. Full disclosure: I don't judge a whole lot. I'm usually doing other things at tournaments. But: I do actively coach, I enjoy judging almost every time I get to, and I like to think I'm fairly predictable in terms of what I look for and prefer.
You can ask me questions in round if you wish.
PF: I can "handle speed", though I don't know that I've seen many fast PF debaters. I have seen many blippy PF debaters. To me, speed does not equate to 40 cards, of varying word count, that are blippily extended. I very much prefer depth and extension of ideas than extension of tons of author names that all don't say a whole lot.
Congress: What I most value in this event include:
(1) Debating! Pre-scripted speeches (with the exception of an authorship) don't do much for me. Each speech should be somehow moving the debate forward; when speeches are merely read, they don't have that power. This also means that rehashing of points should be avoided. If you do discuss arguments previously made, what can you do to move them forward and develop a deeper line of analysis? Some type of impact analysis, new weighing, perhaps a new facet of the problem? Just repeating argumentation doesn't help move the debate forward.
(2) Thesis-driven speeches. I like to see a clear framework, clear organization, and a coherent structure that all supports some major theme within your speech. A hodgepodge of impacts and arguments that feel unrelated don't have as much weight as a speech that has a central, core idea behind it.
(3) Evidence. Moreso than an author name, I do like to hear credentials and dates. Not only that, evidence comparisons are so often key to the debate - why should I prefer your evidence over other evidence that has been heard so far in the round?
(4) Diversity of Cycle Position. If I hear a debater give me four first negative speeches, I don't feel like I get a true sense of the skill of that debater. Preferably, I'd like to hear each entry speak in different parts of the cycle. If you give me a first negative, maybe work to have a speech near the end of the debate to show my your crystallization skills. If you have a mid-cycle speech, maybe work to have a constructive speech next time. Obviously, your precedence and recency determines some of your order, but work to showcase differing skills in the round.
(5) Cross-x is important, but not everything. Speeches carry far more weight than questions. I do listen to questions, take into account your chamber activity, and really enjoy hearing c-x's that bring up holes in a position (or expertly bolster a position). But too often, I see debaters hurting themselves in c-x more than helping themselves. Overly aggressive, snippy, demeaning c-x's just don't help build a debater's eithos. Two competent debaters can have a good discourse without resulting to being mean. In c-x, I like to get proof that you truly "know your stuff" - that you're researched, have a handle on the topic, and didn't just read some brief that was given to you.
(6) Knowledge. The very best debaters, in my opinions, are the ones that have a fundamental understanding of the issues and can communicate them in a clear, impactful way. That simple statement is really hard to master. It is fairly clear when a person is well read, can respond to arguments with substantiated claims on fly, and can think on a deeper level. Show me your mastery of the content and you will be rewarded.
Finally, (7) Just Debate. I enjoy Congress - but when debate devolves into games and tricks designed to disadvantage any given speaker, I get frustrated. In my humble opinion, the very best debaters work to get their wins through mastery of the content, clear argumentation, and a firm but kind debating style. Resorting to games is beneath that. Have fun, for sure, but don't do so at the expense of others.
My experience is as follows:
I competed in high school for 4 years policy debate, student congress and forensics (speech).
I have judged the last 3 years in PUFO debate and speech events.
My paradigm is as follows:
Speak clearly and articulate your thoughts. If I can’t understand you then I can’t give you credit for providing evidence or making a point. I was a debater so I can flow when someone speaks quickly I just need you to enunciate.
Make sure you have evidence to back up your main arguments and be organized enough to provide the evidence to the other team if they ask for it.
Make sure to not drop an argument.
It doesn't matter what you say, it matters what I hear so watch your speed and clarity. Communicate ideas in an organized and professional manner. You WILL NOT win by trying to confuse your opponents.
Looking for solid evidence-based logic, reasoning, and depth of analysis.
Clearly state contentions, your own and your opponents, both in constructive and rebuttal
Willing to give progressive a chance.
I am the head speech and debate coach for my school. I keep a rigorous flow, but I'd still consider myself a traditional judge. Speed for its own sake is something I disdain, but I can follow it somewhat. I would only vote for theory on topicality grounds or for actual abuse. Theory breaks debate, so you will need to convince me that the debate is impossible because of a real violation. Just because your opponent drops or mishandles your thin T shell does not mean a concession has occurred: tread carefully. I suppose I'd vote for a K but you will need to explain it very well. Your opponent dropping a poorly linked K is not an auto-victory.
In LD the Negative must refute the Affirmative case in the first speech. An unaddressed argument in this first speech is a drop/concession. I would allow Neg to cross-apply arguments from the NC in later speeches if they naturally clash with the aff case.
P.S. I have decided that most circuit-style debate is pretty embarrassing from a performance standpoint. I think it gives competitive debate a silly aspect that undermines its credibility and therefore undermines the value of the activity. I would probably say linking into this argument would get my ballot most of the time so long as one side is not also engaging in silly debate stuff. If both sides are super silly in performance and/or argumentation. I will decide based on the most outrageous dropped argument.
Hello! My name is Madison Pritchard. I debated for 3 years in high school with experience in LD, Congress, and mainly Public Forum. I am also the debate captain at CSI, with my highest achievement being getting 5th in IPDA Ireland at the International Forensics Association tournament, so safe to say I am very experienced. I have organized my paradigm by events that I am familiar with, as well as some general preferences. In speech I have experiences in all 3 areas, platforms, interpretations, and limited prep and I have earned awards in all. Happy debating and speeching, good luck!
General:
Be kind! This is high school debate and at its core needs to be about respect and understanding. I love clash but you need to make sure it is respectful, clash makes the debate interesting, without clash a debate ends up being bland. Make sure you are not interrupting your opponent a lot during cross examinations. Be sure that you have all of your evidence on hand and that it is properly cited, if I catch you falsely representing evidence then you will probably get a loss, unless your opponent does something somehow worse. If you choose to run a definition argument, be completely sure you can make it work, I don't love these but sometimes they are needed, make sure it is necessary if you do run one. I am fine with spectators as long as your opponents are fine with it, and as long as they are respectful (NO BEING ON THEIR PHONES). If you have any further questions, feel free to ask in round! Good luck debaters!
Public Forum:
This was my event in high school so you will not be able to get a lot past me here. A good balance of evidence and ethics are the core of this debate. I flow, so make sure your attacks stand and not to drop any main arguments, that will lose you the debate. DO NOT PLAY IN THE REALM OF COUNTERPLANS. Do not make the whole debate about evidence, evidence validity debates are not fun for anyone. If I feel a piece of evidence needs addressed, I will take a look once the debate has concluded. Speed reading is not loved but I can follow to a degree, just remember this is not policy.
Lincoln Douglas Debate:
I have a decent amount of experience with this event, so I can follow a lot of the jargon and ideas. My main problem sometimes with this debate is when people make it solely about the value/criterion, don't forget to attack the actual case and not just the value it is based on, you will win this debate if you can prove why you win on both value frameworks. If there is no plan, there is not point in presenting a counter-plan, I will still see the argumentation but a CP is a mode of rebuttal that doesn’t make sense when there is no plan. Remember this debate is about morality, you need to convince me that yours is the morally correct argument, I will carry these over on the flow more than solely logic arguments.
Policy:
I don't have a lot of experience participating in this one, but I have ended up judging it a lot, so I have experience in that sense. A lot of the jargon I can understand but still be sure to explain some of your terms if you think there is a chance they could not be understood. Make sure your links are very clear. When your links get muddy, especially on a counterplan, you can lose me. I don’t love K’s, especially Aff K’s, I don’t see how you can be Aff and still run a K so perhaps do not try with me. Topicality arguments can be great, but again, just make sure they are completely clear and explain how it meets the standards of a T. I do not love speed reading; I can usually follow but tread carefully, this can be a reason for me to drop you from the round.
Congress:
I just thought I would put some things in here I like to see in congress just in case someone looks for it. Make sure your speeches have substance, I really hate throw away speeches. If you are getting up just to get a speech in, it will not get you any points with me. Everyone needs to be respectful, do not be rude or personally attack other representatives. Please DO NOT use questioning periods to debate, use your speeches, if you do this it will not reflect greatly in your ranking. PO’s need to maintain order and be efficient, as well as have a good knowledge of the rules of order to get a perfect PO rating from me.
I have over 22 years in speech and debate. I have experience judging every style of debate on both the state and national level.
I have not judged many debate rounds this year, so I prefer a moderate speed of speaking. In my opinion, speaking rate should be motivated by how much you have to say/cover (so if you need to speed it up...go for it!).
I don't usually flow cross examination, but will make notes of concessions and new critical points.
Just because you use a certain term does not mean that I believe your argument.
I am impressed by the use of argumentation skill not jargon.
I like when a debater is organized and signpost.
I expect for debaters to behave respectfully.
Rude, profane, and silly behavior will result in a loss.
I prioritize clarity, comprehension, and effective communication in my judging philosophy. While I value strong argumentation and logical reasoning, I believe that students should focus on delivering their points in a way that is accessible and easily understood by their audience. Speaking too quickly can undermine the strength of an argument, as it risks losing clarity and preventing judges and the audience from fully processing the presented information. Students need to speak at a pace that ensures their points are both persuasive and comprehensible. Effective communication is not just about the content of the argument but also about how well the speaker connects with their audience through thoughtful delivery. I encourage students to balance speed with clarity, ensuring that their arguments are presented in an engaging and easy way to follow.
Greetings,
I am Jonathan Pusavat, The Speech Coach for Stockdale High School, and I have been passionate about Forensics ever since my high school days. I have competed in TI, HI, OPP, just to name a few, and I was also a Policy Debate Student.
For my Debate Standards, I am a Flow Judge, I am writing down whatever takes place during the round in order to help make my decision. I will base my decision on the flow, so if you wish for something to count, make sure to say it and to say it clearly. I also write copious notes for Speech Judging.
As an Asian American son of Thai Immigrants, I hope to bring a diverse and unique worldview.
For congressional debate:
it is called debate not repetition. Clash is not optional.(there is a fine line between clash and disrespect, tread carefully)
I value the ability to adapt, control the room don't let it control you. Earn respect and you win the room.
if you cause the room to not move to previous-question, you better have the most important speech of the legislation.
if you volunteer to PO, have a very good understanding of parli-procedure
you know the rest.
For LD/PF:
keep spreading to a minimum (will say "clear" if needed)
keep the debate traditional
impact based debate
Tech over truth
I competed in speech & debate in both high school and college, but never in policy. I have coached & judged public forum and parliamentary debate for ~10 years, but this will be my first time judging policy. I don't like speed, I'd say. I tend to value the quality of the arguments over style. I will be flowing the round on my computer. I don't like when debates get bogged down in technicalities that aren't core to the heart of the debate. I prefer when debaters treat each other with respect, even if they feel like they're winning the round or they think a particular argument is absurd. I tend to vote for the side that establishes the stakes of the debate clearly and makes a compelling case based on those merits.
Gregory Quick: ggquick@gmail.com | He/They
TLDR: Debate should be about having fun and learning. Debate what you want but nothing matters to me until you explain why it should.
Round Framing:
"My ideal round is one where both teams are cordial and having fun. I think too often we attach our self-worth to the activity. My favorite thing about debate is the people I've met along the way. I hope that the trophies and placements at the end of the tournaments don't hurt our ability to appreciate the genius of ourselves and the people next to us. If any part of my paradigm limits your ability to enjoy the round, please let me know." - Melekh Akintola
My Weird Judge Things:
- Tag Team Cross Ex means you have to tag your teammate in. I think it increases camaraderie and decreases teammates fighting for speaking in CX. Do this to increase your team's speaker points by +.5 pts.
- If you ask for a marked copy of the opponent's speech before CX, and DO NOT reference it throughout the rest of the debate I will be sad. This should not discourage you from asking, but instead I hope it forces you to consider what they highlighted before the round, but were not able to read.
- Banter is allowed/encouraged, we are all humans (I hope), and being able to make me relate to you is a key networking skill that is underdeveloped. When you are meeting debaters and judges from across the country, finding common ground or small jokes before speeches is a good way to build rapport. Do not be disrespectful to anyone but yourself. If you cannot have non-elicitory small talk then it would be better to focus on the round and being respectful.
Speaker Point Scale: (What does the # speaker points actually mean):
25 - I physically cringed at something you said. Not sure I've given this out.
26 - I don't want you to do something you did in the round again. IE: Giving up large (Vibe check @20%) amounts of speaking time, being rude to the other team.
27 - You are a decent speaker, but you can improve on your persuasiveness. You need to make "The Point" of your speech more apparent, and specifically highlight why you believe that I should vote for you.
28 - I think you clearly explained to me your position and were a good participant in the round. You have some areas to improve on to become the best debater you can be, such as; signposting within arguments, fully warranting out your arguments, and explaining how the the points you are winning affect the rest of the position and round.
29 - Great debating, might have missed some of my specific requests or I believe that there are some areas that you could improve in to make your speech smoother, more efficient, or make some better arguments.
30 - Fantastic debating, hitting major points with clarity and efficiency, requires meeting best practices listed below. I attempt to limit awarding 29.7+ to 1 debater/team in a tournament.
Best Practices:
- Explain the warrants behind the tag when you extend them.
- Use prep time until you have clicked save. If it takes >2m to attach and send the email, you should count that as prep time.
- Look at the judge during your speech, and face them during CX.
- Say "Next!" between cards.
- Also, number your arguments and use your opponents' argument's number when replying in Line-By-Line. (You should still explain what arg you are referencing ie: "They say the economy is strong in their 1st card on econ, Timothy 1820, but our williams 1821 card shows that the economy is really weak in the horse market!!!"
- I think you should send analytics to the other team in your doc. If it is typed it for your speech and you are reading it then you should give it to the opposing team. Also means you should probably fill in the "[Insert Specific]" portions of your varsity's block.
Why? See the conclusion in https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1044670.pdf.
- De-escalating CX when it gets very heated, but still pushing the opponent on key points of the debate. It is key to use CX to develop common ground assumptions that your evidence makes different conclusions on and REFERENCING those answers in the next speech.
- Be a good person outside of the competitive debate round, don't be a gremlin.
I will use these best practices as benchmarks for evaluating your speech and your speaker points. This is a non-inclusive list, but will bring up specifics through feedback told or written after the round.
Debater Experience:
I debated policy debate for 4 years at Eagan High School in Minnesota and debated 4 years in NFA-LD at UNL, and dabbled in NDT-CEDA. I was mostly a CP+DA debater, but I've gone for plenty of K's and ran a K Aff with some success.
What do you view your role as the judge in the debate?
I think that my role as a judge is to evaluate the round. In the history of judging I find policymaker/educator/games playing to be some of the best philosophical roles of the judge. Most teams don't explain how the Judge's perspective affects how I should evaluate the impacts, which would bereally good analysis to make.
Overall Practices:
- Don't take excessive time to email the documents, if emails are taking forever just make it obvious you aren't stealing prep.
- I will say clear a few times during your speech if I am not able to understand your words, but I don't want to keep interrupting you. That means it is up to you to make sure that I'm flowing your arguments, especially in the rebuttals. I will put my pen in the air to communicate that I am not following your speech, so you should take a step back and re-evaluate what you are saying.
- I will read evidence the debaters point out to read after the round, please use specifics as to how you think my evaluation of it should effect the whole position or ballot. I will not use the unhighlighted portions of your cards for your benefit, only to your detriment. If you want parts of the card to be evaluated, you should read them.
Predispositions:
Topicality:
Topical affirmatives are probably good, but see more details on untopical affs below. I like a good T flow but most debates don't access the level of depth to fully explain their interpretation of affirmative/negative ground. Compare standards, and analyze which interpretation/definition has the best access to the standards that both teams put forward.
You need to explain what im voting for, most people are shallow with their explanations. Unique but comprehensible standards that aren't just bland limits and ground would be really nice.
I default to competing interpretations (Offense > Defense), but that can be changed based on the arguments in the round.
Theory:
I do like non-abusive theoretical arguments that actually explain what debate practices should, or should not, exist. Being specific on your interpretation, violation, how you are measuring 'good' practices, and explain how meeting your 'good practice' would make debate better.
Increasing the amount of different theories perceptually decreases the persuasiveness of each theory.
Untopical Affirmative Rounds:
I find that this can be some of the most interesting rounds as it immediately gets to underlying reasons that debate is good. This is winnable by both sides, but you must outline the specific reasons that you think I should vote for you (Aff or Neg) at the end of the debate. I will be voting for teams that paint the best vision of what my vote does or what I'm voting for.
I ran Anthropocene Horror at a couple of NDT-CEDA tournaments I went to, and have even voted for a violin K aff that was beautiful. I will not be the preferred judge for K affs, as I will not be as well versed in the specific literature, but am open to new education and perspectives brought into this key space.
In these rounds, I will default to as tabula rosa as I can be, but unless teams fill in the entire line of reasoning from coming into the round to receiving the ballot, judge intervention is inevitable. My tabula rosa means that I am an empty computer that speaks English poorly, has access to Google to fact-check general knowledge and statistics, and may have a heart.
CP's:
I was mainly a CP+DA debater myself, so I have gone for quite a lot of different CPs.
In most CP rounds, it is crucial to compare your solvency vs the risk of the link. It is also beneficial to explain even if statements and explain the internal links to solving each impact.
Competition Theory is underutilized by the affirmative. Explaining your vision of what competition means and why certain actions are not a trade-off with the affirmative is an interesting argument that I have not heard much.
I find multiple plank counter plans ugly, especially when they are massive (meaning >3 planks). I have not seen theory on this, but I imagine a well-run theory on conditional planks in a CP bad would probably be pretty persuasive in front of me.
DA's:
Fully explaining the story of the DA should happen in every negative speech it is extended. Re-reading tags and author names is not "explaining the story".
Both teams should deal with the timeframe of the impacts of the DA versus the timeframe of the Aff. Lots of affirmatives solve the impacts of the DA even without a link turn. This analysis is mostly analytics but deals with the realities from cards both teams.
Other Random Thoughts (as if this isn't long enough):
Even if statements are your friend.
If you cannot defend underlying assumptions about debate. Like; why is debate good or what is debate for, don't expect to win theory or topicality arguments. Put real thought into your arguments.
I don’t consider myself an interventionist, but I think intervention when the arguments you want me to vote on have not been continued throughout the round. I probably won’t support your 5-minute 2NR from a 1-card 1NC Offcase when it's barely extended and forgotten in the 1NR. Applies to Ks, CPs, DAs, and Theory. Negatives shouldn't go for a 5 minute 2NR from one barely highlighted NC card without a lot of additional explaination. Affirmatives shouldn't go for their :10s 2AC condo bad arg without a lot of additional explaination.
Emphasize key arguments, and do good evidence comparison throughout the debate. Qualifications are important and you should back up your author's claims.
Argument Structure (For Extensions):
When extending your arguments, make sure that you fully explain:
Topicality: Interpretation of the Topic, Definition, Violation, Standards, Voters.
The A2 K Aff version of Framework/Gamework should be similar but substantially more robust on your interpretation of the Topic and your voters.
Disadvantages: Uniqueness (Inherency in MN Novice Packet????), Link, Internal Link, and Impact.
Aff's Advantages: Status quo, Impact, Solvency.
Kritik's: Link, Impact, Alt.
Counter-Plan's: Your Counter Plan text, Solvency for Aff's impacts.
Kyle - He/Him/His
Updated for NSDA Nats, if I'm judging you in CO it's obviously less strict but I still have preferences :)
My email is kyle.quinlan6045@gmail.com. Please add me to an email chain. Flashing seems to be especially important with online debate. Use a descriptive subject line to help me keep track of rounds. Note I will not pull up the doc to follow in round, but want your evidence to read if needed.
I did CX and PF in high school.
PF (CX is going to be similar vibe):
I'm a flow judge. You'll probably be best adapting as if I'm flay - I strongly prefer slower, well warranted argumentation with a clear collapse. In general I prefer traditional debate, but I'll definitely listen to a progressive round. I don't have any super strong preconceptions of what your round should look like. Don't lie about evidence (paraphrasing is fine). I use an offense-defense paradigm to help me evaluate who won. Make sure you at least win some offense. Defense alone never wins rounds (unless you fully unironically have terminal defense on everything and make a case for why I vote your side on presumption). I will flow everything but cross, but I'll still pay attention and jot down notes if something important happens. Also my preference for case format is a doc with a paraphrased version that you read and then all cut cards included below it, but that's just a preference so do whatever you want.
Some extra stuff
1. Front Lining is necessary. If you're speaking second, you need to defend your own case in rebuttal. If you leave your side of the flow empty going into summary, you just dropped all your opponents attacks on your case. I used to disagree with this, but second speaker is a huge advantage otherwise and I think this makes for better debates. Feel free to drop a contention so you can do more attacks, but you have to front line or you'll almost certainly lose the round.
2. Please collapse. We both know you aren't winning everything, and you don't need to win everything to win the round. Just tell me what you are winning and why that should win you the round.
3. Analytics. You don't need a card to make an argument. Strong, specific card > strong, specific analytic > weak card. Just make good arguments
4. Speed is fine, but if your opponents ask you before or during the round to slow down try to honor that. Debate should be accessible.
5. Tech > Truth. I will try my hardest not to step in and do any work for either side. The bar is much much lower for you to respond to a bad argument, but you still need to respond.
6. Theory in PF is kinda lame, but there is a place for it and I'll give you the ballot if you actually win it. Bar is lower to respond in PF w/ shorter speeches but again, you still need to respond.
7. Evidence calls shouldn't take too long (like 2 minutes tops). If you can't find the card I'm just dropping that argument. Be able to show your opponents the quote you use and a little context around it. That being said, if you're paraphrasing in case and you heavily misrepresent or outright lie about evidence, I will most likely just give you the L. Let me know at the end if you think your opponent did this and I'll read a card or two and make a decision.
If you have any more questions, just ask me before the round. If you want more feedback after a round just email me and I'll probably tell you more. Be nice and have fun :)
Random stuff I'll keep adding as I watch rounds:
1. Time yourself, I'll forget.
2. If I'm timing I'll just stop listening after ~5 seconds over time. If I forgot to start a timer just stop your opponent when they're like 10 seconds over.
3. Cross is usually zzz. I'm listening but I'm not flowing so if something important happens say it again when I am flowing :))
Used to do policy. I don't like spreading but you can do it if you want and if your opponent(s) is ok with it. I listen to arguments more than cards. While evidence is important, how you use that evidence is usually much more important. I will accept arguments I know are flawed/false until the opponent disproves them. I don't like nuke war arguments being shoehorned everywhere. Feel free to make them if you feel like they fit well, but I don't find them very convinving most of the time. It's certainly not an "automatic win" like a lot of people believe.
I am not afraid to tank your speaks if you are being a bully or really rude. I'll even vote you down if it's egregious enough. Be nice.
ryqu7867@colorado.edu for email chains or questions after the round
No talking fast. No philosophical contentions. No citing philosophers as evidence. Persuade me with your excellent public speaking skills and a little bit of empirical evidence.
The tenets for nailing my ballot are:
- Clarity - In structure & expression
- Creativity - In thought and rendition
- Energy - In inspiration and transformation
I debated for 4 years on the PF national circuit for duPont Manual High School from 2015-2019 and I graduated from Vanderbilt in 2023. Let me know if anything is unclear or if you have any questions!
1. Make it easy for me to vote for you with well-warranted and weighed arguments in the 2nd half
2. Plz rebuild in 2nd rebuttal (and even start collapsing!)
3. SIGNPOST I will be forever grateful
4. WEIGH COMPARATIVELY: don't just say magnitude, tell me how you have 3 more magnitudes than your opponent
5. I'm fine with speed; just make tags and signposts especially clear
6. Please come to the round with pre-flows completed and try to keep evidence calls as short as possible
7. Have fun! Be comfortable! Be nice to your opponents!
2nd Half (Summary/FF): Collapse needs to happen in summary and these speeches should mirror each other. Make sure you are telling me why things matter when extending it. Extend the warrant AND impact in BOTH speeches for me to vote off of it (weigh it and you'll win!)
I don't require defense in 1st summary but mentioning it will always work in your favor.
Cross: I kind of enjoy watching cross so take it as an opportunity to clarify arguments or just to be funny. That being said, it won't factor into my decision at all unless it's brought up in a speech.
Evidence: I'll call for it if someone tells me to or if it's super key to my decision. If it is sus, I will not be a happy camper.
Theory n stuff: I have no idea how to properly run or evaluate it but I will try my best if you read it (my best is not very good). Please do not use this as a tool to be exclusionary. Be sure to emphasize the roll of the ballot.
Please enjoy yourselves while debating and have a fun (and educational) time!
As a IE judge I look for a clean and polished performance. Good Analysis and Interpretation of characters and a powerful performance.
For Speaking events - Structure and Sources are important as well as a polished performance.
For Debate - LD I prefer a traditional format and value debate. PF I want to see clash, evidence and a clear job going down the flow to show rebuttals of arguments.
I am conflicted with Cypress Park High School
Joseph Ramirez
Introduction
Hello, my name is Mr. Ramirez, and I am a new judge in the debate circuit. I have three children: two in college and one in high school. My son is studying political science, and my daughter is pursuing biology. As a new judge, I recognize that my expectations for rounds may differ from yours.
Expectations
First and foremost, please remember that debate is intended to be a recreational and enjoyable activity for everyone involved. I do not tolerate disrespectful behavior toward myself or your opponent, which includes yelling, insults, or similar conduct. I understand that emotions can run high during rounds, but I encourage you to maintain respect for one another.
Secondly, clarity in communication is essential. I want to hear your arguments clearly, as your words matter to me. Please refrain from spreading, as I may have difficulty understanding rapid speech. I appreciate well-supported and recent data or evidence. Additionally, please do not introduce new evidence in your final affirmative rebuttal; this is not fair to the opposition and will be taken into account in my final decision.
Regarding K’s, T’s, Tricks, and Counterplans
As a new judge, I may not be fully familiar with certain advanced concepts. If you choose to utilize K’s, T’s, tricks, or counterplans, please define them clearly at the outset. Ensure your counterplans are well-supported to facilitate fair judgment. I would also like to emphasize that I do not condone trickery. If you disregard my preferences regarding clarity and employ deceptive tactics, I will take note of that. My judging criteria focus on who presents a more compelling case, and while I consider both performance and content equally, I value integrity in the debate.
Thank you for your understanding, and I look forward to a productive and respectful debate.
I am a parent judge
1. Speak clearly, do not speed. I need to be able to follow your arguments as is your opponent.
2. Present a well thought out, logical case - I like to be able to connect the dots. A systematic analysis, even a fair attempt at one is easier to judge than a haphazard one.
3. I dislike rudeness. You can debate and be assertive and make your points without belittling your opponent verbally or non-verbally
4 For Public Forum
a) Your constructives to set me up for your arguments - build your case, tell me the story.
b) Your rebuttals to give me reason to disagree with your opponent. Don't just attack, you need to defend.
c) Your summaries to clean up anything vague or muddled.
d) Your final focus to make me vote for you.
Background: I am a physician and also the head coach of a Speech and Debate team. I was a former high school policy debater, but that does not mean I like spreading or progressive arguments. I'm a dinosaur. See below.
PF
General: The team that is able to support their offense with strong logic and good evidence while having effective defense against their opponents' case will win the round. Duh.
Speed: I am okay with some speed. You will see me flowing during the round, but this is a no spread zone.
Cases: I like strong links to your impacts, which is why I usually find stock arguments to be the strongest. However, I also like squirrels, but only if your links are convincing. I don't believe in tabula rasa judging. If something doesn't make sense or the link is weak, I will be less likely to vote on it. I am a judge after all and that's what I get paid the big bucks to do. Actually, I don't get paid, but if I did get paid, I'm sure it would be big bucks.
Progressive arguments: Please, for all that is good in the world, do not bring progressive LD nonsense into PF. OK? PF is the last bastion of debate purity left. My ROB is to drop progressive arguments and don't try to RVI me.
Crossfire: Be courteous. If someone is trying to be a time hog, I am okay with polite interruption. I sometimes vote on something that comes up in CF, but you should mention it in your speeches if you want me to not forget. Word to the wise: I've dropped many debaters because CF sometimes reveals their lack of knowledge and/or incoherent warranting. That's why I will flow CF.
2nd Rebuttal: You should probably start frontlining now. Starting frontlines in 2nd Summary is a little late in the round and puts too much of a burden on the 1st FF to backline for the first time. Luckily this is a rarity in PF.
Summary: You should extend all offense and defense. I don't believe in sticky defense. If you don't extend in Summary, don't expect me to vote on it if it suddenly shows up in FF. You should start weighing in Summary. In fact, you could start weighing in rebuttals. Don't wait until FF. For Rebuttal, Summary, and FF, please give me logical warrants beyond just reading the cards. In other words, explain the card with logical analysis. I frown on debaters who rely solely on card reading.
Grand CF: This should have balanced involvement of all debaters.
FF: When rounds are close, I will use the FF to write my RFD, so I hope you are a good writer. Weigh impacts, cases, links, evidence. Metaweigh if needed, although I often find metaweighing too subjective unless you can convince me that you outweigh on prereqs. Make sure to extend at least your most important if not all offense. I'm fine if you drop a contention and collapse on one or two, but be careful. I have dropped debaters because they chose the wrong contention to drop (it was actually their best offense).Offense is what wins rounds. But to make sure your offense is better than your opponent's offense, your defense better be legit. It doesn't matter to me when you weigh and give voters...after each issue or at the end...it's up to you.
Evidence ethics: I HATE power cutting where you pull single words from one sentence and attach to a single word two sentences later and think that is a legit way to cut. If the two sentences are logically linked, then okay. But most power cut cards are atrocious. They often end up being straw arguments or horribly paraphrased. I won't necessarily call for a card myself. This is where I need teams to be proactive. If you suspect bad evidence, call for it in round. Call it out in your speech and request that I look at it at the end of the round.
Calling cards: Yes, include me on an email chain when sharing evidence. When requesting evidence, I will consider prep time to begin once the evidence is received. Please announce when that happens and that you are taking prep. Don't be sneaky.
LD
Although I am a former policy debater, I am not a fan of Kritiks, Theory Shells or ROBs. I prefer debate on the substance of the resolution. So in that respect I consider myself more of a traditional LD judge. However, I am okay with plans and CPs because that totally appeals to my policy debate background. However, if you run a plan or CP, make sure you check the boxes on solvency, topicality, uniqueness, and inherency. Even if your opponent doesn't identify all the problems with your plan/CP, I won't be able to weigh your impacts if I don't believe that your plan is going to get you there.
Please don't just read cards. This is a definite problem I've noticed with progressive debaters trying to adapt to a traditional round. You need to give me some solid warranting so I can effectively weigh your arguments and also so I know you know what you are talking about.
In terms of framework, I will go with whoever makes the best case for theirs. But what I've often found is that the contention level debate ends up fitting many frameworks, so it really comes down to your arguments. However, if you go all in on something like util, make sure you have some terminal impacts for me to see exactly how you benefit the majority or maximize pleasure/minimize pain.
Crystallization and more extensive analytics and voters in the 2AR and 2NR is helpful, especially when the round gets muddy. I don't care as much if you drop an opponent's argument as long as that argument is not effective offense.
I don't believe in tabula rasa judging. If I did, then we could use computers to determine the winner of a round and we wouldn't need human judges. So I WILL cast my own opinion on an argument if I think it makes zero sense or is not well warranted. After all, I am a judge and that's my job. I am going to judge your arguments on their merits. I will extend a solid argument unless your opponent applies some good defense or turns.
I am not a fan of spreading. I am okay with some speed, but if I can't understand you, then it is not going on the flow. Even if I get your case via email, I'm not going to be reading it while you spread. This is a verbal activity and, therefore, I will only flow things that are verbally communicated and what I can hear and understand.
At the end of the day, I'm going to give the win to whoever I think had the most offense at the end of the round.
World Schools
I will judge based on traditional World Schools debating i.e. proper terminology, appropriate use of POIs, persuasive style and rhetoric, good logic and argumentation, and most importantly examples and statistics from around the world if appropriate. You will not win if you try to debate using PF or LD technical arguments, squirreling, or spreading. Do not try to burden opponents with limiting definitions or frameworks.
* Quality of argumentation
* I don't like people getting angry, personal, or condescending during debate
- Please do not spread
- Please do not use any discriminatory terms or else you will be immediately removed
- Pretend as if I am a tabula rasa
- I did speech and debate in high school in India, it is very different now
- Please do not cut each other off during cross examination, that will not look good
- Thanks!
In an LD debate I will not flow more than 3 off case arguments!
Debate for me first and foremost is an educational tool for the epistemological, social, and political growth of students. With that said, I believe to quote someone very close to me I believe that it is "educational malpractice" for adults and students connected to this activity to not read.
Argument specifics
T/ and framework are the same thing for me I will listen AND CAN BE PERSUADED TO VOTE FOR IT I believe that affirmative teams should be at the very least tangentially connected to the topic and should be able to rigorously show that connection.
Also, very very important! Affirmatives have to do something to change the squo in the world in debate etc. If by the end of the debate the affirmative cannot demonstrate what it does and what the offense of the aff is T/Framework becomes even more persuasive. Framework with a TVA that actually gets to the impacts of the aff and leverages reasons why state actions can better resolve the issues highlighted in the affirmative is very winnable in front of me.
DA'S- Have a clear uniqueness story and flesh out the impact clearly
CP's- Must be clearly competitive with the aff and must have a clear solvency story, for the aff the permutation is your friend but you must be able to isolate a net-benefit
K- I am familiar with most of the k literature
CP'S, AND K'S- I am willing to listen and vote on all of these arguments feel free to run any of them do what you are good at
In the spirit of Shannon Sharpe on the sports show "Undisputed" and in the spirit of Director of Debate at both Stanford and Edgemont Brian Manuel theory of the TKO I want to say there are a few ways with me that can ensure that you get a hot dub (win), or a hot l (a loss).
First let me explain how to get a Hot L:
So first of all saying anything blatantly racist things ex. (none of these are exaggerations and have occurred in real life) "black people should go to jail, black death/racism has no impact, etc" anything like this will get you a HOT L
THE SAME IS TRUE FOR QUESTIONS RELATED TO GENDER, LGBTQ ISSUES ETC. ALSO WHITE PEOPLE AND WHITENESS IS NOT THE SAME THING
Next way to get a HOT L is if your argumentation dies early in the debate like during the cx following your first speech ex. I judged an LD debate this year where following the 1nc the cx from the affirmative went as follows " AFF: you have read just two off NEG: YES AFF: OK onto your Disad your own evidence seems to indicate multiple other polices that should have triggered your impact so your disad seems to then have zero uniqueness do you agree with this assessment? Neg: yes Aff: OK onto your cp ALL of the procedures that the cp would put into place are happening in the squo so your cp is the squo NEG RESPONDS: YES In a case like this or something similar this would seem to be a HOT L I have isolated an extreme case in order to illustrate what I mean
Last way to the HOT L is if you have no knowledge of a key concept to your argument let me give a few examples
I judged a debate where a team read an aff about food stamps and you have no idea what an EBT card this can equal a HOT L, in a debate about the intersection between Islamaphobia and Anti-Blackness not knowing who Louis Farrakhan is, etc etc
I believe this gives a good clear idea of who I am as judge happy debating
Joe Rankin
Bettendorf High School
UPDATED: March 25th, 2025
My name is Joe Rankin and I am the head coach at Bettendorf High School in Bettendorf, IA. I have been the head coach at Bettendorf since the 2005-2006 school year. I have coached long enough to say I've done just about everything, but I have the most experience in: Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Public Forum Debate, Congressional Debate, Extemporaneous Speaking, Informative Speaking, and Original Oratory.
In terms of my coaching paradigm, I'd generally consider these the 'highlights:'
- I prefer topical debate. The resolution was voted on by coaches and students through the NSDA voting process. That's what I want to hear about. In LD, I prefer a value/criterion structure to evaluate the resolution through. In PF, if you are giving me a lens to view the round through, that should be there from the first speech.
- I can generally handle 'speed,' but that doesn't mean I enjoy it. I'd rather help you develop skills that you will actually utilize interacting with other human beings outside of this one particular subset of existence - so I'd much prefer a rate that is more akin to real-world applications. I'm not going to yell clear or give you any indication of your success rate on speed...it is a risk/reward strategy of your choosing...but if it isn't on my flow, it doesn't really matter. If it is important to you, I'd likely spend some time emphasizing and making that clear to me. You can share a doc with me, but that will only be used as a last resort and when necessary.
- You can make whatever arguments you want to make...but I generally haven't voted on many things associating with theory, kritiks (or however you want to misspell the word critique), or other generally non-topical arguments you make in the round. It takes more work for me to believe those types of arguments are true and not a whole lot of work to make me believe those types of arguments are generally not applicable to the debate at hand. I'd generally not encourage that strategy in front of me, unless you are going to provide clear, in-round issues that you can specifically reference from what your opponent actually said, not what they did by...existing.
I figure that is sufficient for now. If you have any questions, I tend to give you that window before the round begins while setting up to judge. If not, please feel free to ask before the round. The end goal of the round for me is a competitive academic environment that is focused on education. I don't mind answering questions that will help all of us improve moving forward.
I work as a political consultant and policy advisor. I also teach speech and debate courses along with civic education courses in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. With regard to LD debate, I prefer typical conversation style but will not factor rate of delivery in my decision-making. The quality of evidence in a debate is my primary criterion for judging. I prefer that final rebuttals should include a line-by-line analysis. Voting issues can be given moving down the flow or at the end of the final speech. Jargon should only be used when and where it may add value. I decide the winner of the round by selecting the winner of most arguments in each round. I take notes keeping a tally of key arguments in each round.
I competed in Policy (CX) for 3 years in high school. I am a Chinese/Arabic/Serbian linguist and have worked in military intelligence for 20 years. I am a current debate coach and I teach Policy, LD, PF, Congress, and World Schools debate.
Email for questions/file sharing: lvdebateleague@gmail.com
Judging style
I believe that debate is a competitive event, and having its own specialized jargon does not necessarily hurt the event so long as using the jargon does not become the event. I do not mind the use of terms such as "drop," "extend," "turn," "flow," or "cross-apply," but they should not replace the substance and do not automatically add impacts. I am not big on technical wins, so your opponent dropping a contention or card does not automatically win you the round. I will not intervene: You must impact. You have to do the work: Impact and link back to the value structure and/or provide me with a clear weighing mechanism for the round.
I prefer well-argued and supported points to spreading. Being able to say so many points that your opponent is not able to address each one in their rebuttal is not truly a skill and does not show me that you understand your position. Don't spread!
Please time your speeches and prep time. I may not keep accurate time of this since my attention is to the content of your speeches. Flex prep is fine if all debaters in the round agree.
Signposting = GOOD! Flipping back and forth from AFF flow to NEG flow then back to AFF Flow to NEG Flow....BAD.... VERY, VERY, VERY BAD!
I will not vote for arguments that are ableist, racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic, anti-Semitic, etc. This should go without saying, but for the sake of anyone who needs to see it in writing, there you go.
Speaker Points
Being aggressive is fine, just make sure you don't say or do anything that is offensive
I judge on a 5-point scale, from 25-30.
25 is a terrible round, with massive flaws in speeches, huge amounts of time left unused, blatantly offensive things said, or other glaring rhetorical issues.
26 is a bad round. The debater had consistent issues with clarity, time management, or fluency which make understanding or believing the case more difficult.
27 is average. The speaker made no large, consistent mistakes, but had persistent smaller errors in fluency, clarity, or other areas of rhetoric.
28 is above average. The speaker made very few mistakes, which largely weren't consistent or repeated. The speaker was compelling and used rhetorical devices well.
30 is perfect. No breaks in fluency, no issues with clarity regardless of speed, and very strong use of rhetorical devices and strategies.
Argumentation does not impact how I give speaker points. You could have an innovative, well-developed case with strong evidence that is totally unresponded to, but still get a 26 if your speaking is bad.
While I do not take points off for speed, I do take points off for a lack of fluency or clarity, which speed often creates.
Please please please cut cards with complete, grammatically correct sentences. If I have to try to assemble a bunch of disconnected sentence fragments into a coherent idea, your speaker points will not be good.
Glendale ’21
Missouri State ‘26
rauhoffdebate@gmail.com. Please put me on the chain.
Coach at Glendale. Current NDT-CEDA debater at Missouri State. High familiarity with topic lingo and community consensus.
Tech over truth, but conceded arguments only have the implications you say they do. Nothing you say will convince me to stop flowing or abandon the line-by-line. Otherwise, any of my predispositions can be easily reversed by out-debating the other team.
I flow and decide the debate on said flow. I’ve voted on several different types of arguments, though arguments that promote the death of any individuals will have a very low threshold.
I will judge kick CPs unless instructed otherwise.
Competition is always preferable to theory.
Bad for T against policy AFFs unless the violation is obvious or it’s a new AFF.
In order to win my ballot on the kritik, I must be convinced that my ballot in this particular round is key and that you have sufficiently out-teched your opponents.
The growing trend of personal attacks and out-of-round issues being introduced into debates is highly concerning to me. Debaters introducing these arguments will receive 27.5s. I do not view respectability politics as an adequate way to adjudicate a winner and loser, but I firmly believe that expressing kindness and sincerity to your opponents is crucial to fostering an environment that individuals feel welcomed in. Being unnecessarily rude will affect speaker points in a negative way. If it’s egregious, it is possible for me to vote you down, but this is a line that I’ve only come close to crossing once.
Hi! My name is Prakriti, she/her. Coached at Wichita East High school.
Add me to the chain: prakriti.ravianikode@gmail.com. I'm also fine with SpeechDrop.
Policy:
General--
I am new to this topic so please explain all acronyms and topic-specific language!!
I will not evaluate anything that happens outside the round.
I follow along the doc - if I see you clipping its an automatic L.
Speed is fine, please add analytics to the doc if you're going fast. If I can't understand you, I will clear you! If I still cannot understand you, I will start dropping the speaks.
If you have any other questions about specific arguments please ask before the round.
I don't like case overviews. Just debate down your flow.
I flow cross-ex! I also stop paying attention to cross-ex and speeches once the timer goes off.
I'll vote for anything. Tech over truth. You should be well-versed in your arguments. Nothing annoys me more when debaters stand up for speeches after the 2ac and just read cards/analytics straight down without interacting with your opponents' arguments. Please use judge instruction and tell me exactly how I should evaluate the round.
Kritik--
More familiar with policy args, as far as K's, I'm familiar with Cap and Fem. Other than that you should over-explain. I am not the best with theory so I will need clear judge instruction and voters for K theory args. Also if you are just using jargon without explaining it, I won't understand what you mean and I cannot vote for it. I want to know what the world of the alt looks like and why I should prefer it to the aff.
Topicality--
I default to competing interps. Explain what your model/interp means for the topic. That will convince me more than generic blocks. Pls slow down on the T flow.
DA--
Impact calc is important!! I evaluate the link level of the DA first and weigh it with the impacts of the aff. I am not very familiar with economic literature. If the 2NR is the Econ DA, please give me a story on what exactly the economy will look like in the world of the aff/DA.
I am a United States history teacher and Speech & Debate teacher. I have judged at NIETOC, TOC, and NSDA Nationals.
LD: I believe all debaters should discuss and argue the chosen resolution. I will listen to Ks but will not give them much regard. As a judge my role is to establish how well competitors can effectively argue an unbiased resolution that was selected by vote. I feel K's are written for and by debaters who choose to ignore the rules of debate. I can accommodate spreading. I rarely request evidence and consider myself truth over technique.
PF: Debaters should have a good balance and knowledge of their research. I expect debaters to argue either in favor of the change suggested by the resolution or defense of the status quo. I typically ignore policy suggestions made in public forum as I feel public forum is not a debate meant to argue for the development of a policy. I will support arguments for solvency as long as those arguments establish a clear likelihood. I can accommodate spreading. I value evidence in PF rounds.
Assistant speech coach for five years, head coach for three.
Speech paradigms are tough because you can't change your piece on the fly but..
Rhetoric: I want to see your personality! I look for a balance of feeling like we're having a conversation while still being clean physically.
Interp: I'm going to look for the little things - clean transitions, clean blocking, clear characters.
Extemp: I'll flow your speech, so I'll look mostly at analysis. However, I look for a clean and easy to follow presentation as well. I also love to see your personality come through here.
Overall, I want to see you enjoying your performance!
PF:
Speed preference: Moderate
Voting: I like a balance of evidence and logic. If you don't explain why your evidence is important, it won't hold much weight with me.
Cross: Keep it polite
Public Forum Debate - Purist when it comes to style and argumentation. No spreading please. Arguments should be simplistic and accessible for any person to understand. In the end the biggest impacts will win the debate.
If you wish to have one, please set up the email chain before round so you can hit send at start time.
Conflicts: Sehome HS, Bellingham HS, Squalicum HS (WA)
* are new/significant
*UPS 2023- I will vote on anything yall are likely to read and am somewhat in the literature for coaching. I've noticed a lot of good LARRP debaters on our circuit, but haven't judged a very high level LARRP v LARRP round in a while, so if you plan on doing any kinda crazy stuff like plan tricks or plan repair maybe explain it in a tiny bit more depth.
*online debate note* from my limited experience judging online, I/my wifi seem to generally be able to follow a pretty good speed, though if you are very fast your mic will probably clip words. Know your mic quality, it changes how fast you can go and be clear. I will 'clear' 2-3 times, watch chat messages. I flow speeches not docs. Also, somehow, some of ya'll steal prep more than in-person with less stuff to do, don't do that.
Overview-
-Do good and win arguments. The more rounds i judge, the less i feel like the type of argument/style of debate you do matters as much in my evaluation of a round as i expected it would when i first started judging.
-Read what you want, if it has a warrant and some kind of framing mechanism to impact into.
-Also, don't intentionally be a bigot if you don't want to lose w/bad speaks. *This includes the cards you read and strategies you go for*
-Feel free to go fast, but signpost, differentiate tags, be clear, and SLOW DOWN AT INTERPS and PLANS! I flow speeches, not docs, and it is just good debate/spreading to differentiate tags and cards this way. also somewhat applies to important analytics
-*dont be sus: don't clip. dont message/talk to your friend or coach about the debate round in progress. dont have teammate in the room whispering tips to you. It really isn't complicated. I've disqualified teams over all of these. Most of the time, the team doing this stuff would win straight up if they would just think and debate normally. I may give you a warning, especially in JV, but I don't have to.
I try to base speaks on how well you debate, with some focus on technical performance but more on strategic choice, with 28.5 being average. Not too stingy, but i think point inflation is bad and rarely give 29.5 and above. I appreciate really good debates and try to reward good/ outstanding performances, technically or in 'the vibe'. Creativity gets rewarded pretty heavily
if you think my paradigm is odd and want to ask questions about it, feel free to.
specifics-
I debated LD in HS and got a few bids. I also did policy debate for NYU in college. I am probably more familiar with LD still, but I've judged and debated a lot of good CX rounds. I mostly read critical or performative arguments (especially in policy), and thats the style of debate I understand the best generally, but in HS i was very flex and fundamentally I will vote on whatever.
*note here for Washingtondebaters *- i mostly debated on the east coast and Texas, so i am way more familiar with tricks, phil, and pomo than the average judge on our circuit, despite my somewhat policy background. Feel free to read any of this stuff (well please) and i will appreciate it.
I also think disclosure is in general good and the best responses to disclosure theory are kritical rather than about small schools or fairness. about disclosure- i do not like deployment of disclosure theory outside of norms. If the aff has not been broken, or the debater has not competed at a tournament yet (or even worse, at all this year), I will likely reduce speaks for reading disclosure, even if i will vote on it. I really really don't like contact info theory as a way to establish a violation for a debater who is otherwise disclosing and following norms. I will absolutely reduce speaks for this in all instances. Other stuff (full text vs cites, must disclose to black/other group of debaters/ other reasonable deployments) is totally fine.
i wont vote on- the resolved a-priori (other a-priories are fine), arguments cut from the SCUM manifesto, *trans-exclusionary feminism/gender args*, oppression of any kind good, evaluate theory after the 2nr (some debate about what to evaluate when is fine, but this being shelled out is a really tough buy for me).
I strongly dislike how the DSRB 'must talk about personal experience/positionally' framework shell is deployed in some (both LD and CX) rounds. If you read this arg, at minimum, your performance should meet the interp. Reading it, for example, with a ton of tricks, nibs, skep, and fairness first without any discussion of your own identity is anti-black and insulting to the context these arguments originated in (and, often, very violent in round). I have not intervened against this argument, but I have and will reduced speaks. I am also very very open to voting on prefcon and other offensive arguments when this shell is deployed in an anti-black way.
Don't be violent, and pay attention to social position. I dock speaks for microggressions, sometimes subconsciously, so try to not. (for example; there is nothing less impressive to watch in a debate round where a dude condescends a woman on something she understands better than he does)
defaults- presume neg (i think me writing aff here previously was a typo), flips if neg reads an advocacy. other ones are probably not important: ****Im more likely to discard a flow/impact as irresolvable and look for other offense in other places, rather than default on a million paradigm issues to make a ballot story make sense****
I'm cool with more weird/innovative arguments and i tend to like them a lot, as well as impact turns like extinction good that some judges don't like. make sure your justifications are good (and no fascist stuff please)
PF
*this section was written several years ago. I don't know how it holds up to the current meta, assume my ideas are still similar, if maybe somewhat more mellowed out*
I do NOT evaluate rounds based on persuasion. I evaluate the flow. If i should evaluate the round different, that's possible, but you have to win a warrant for your role of the judge. Any progressive stuff yall want to do is cool, but don't do it really badly. None of yall can spread too quickly so go whatever speed. Also uuuh 'rules of pf' isnt an argument in 99% of cases
I really do not like paraphrased evidence. PF already has huge issues with evidence integrity, and paraphrased evidence can say whatever you want it to say. Analytic arguments are almost always better because they normally actually have a warrant and don't teach bad academic practices. I also call for cards after the round and will go through the effort to check cites- do not fabricate evidence in front of me *this also applies to any other debate event when allowed by tournament*
ALL basic debate things actually do still apply to yall. For example- no new in the 2 (your arguments other than weighing/comparison in the final focus u want me to vote off of must be in a previous speech, and ideally before the summery. To clarify further, you also do not have to extend all arguments from earlier speeches, rather you should collapse down to your best arguments), dropped arguments are conceded arguments (including the first speech for whoever is speaking second!), you need offense to win a round, ect.
Another issue i often have in pf rounds is that teams expect me to take something bad-sounding for granted as an impact. You should not to this- 1. you de facto have to warrant all of the pieces; a) that your impact exists, and (b) that its bad, and (c) that its worse than your opponents impacts. 2. Things you think are intuitively bad may not be the same as what i think is intuitively bad
Experience:
3 years High School Debate
4 years College Parliamentary Debate
1 year CEDA College Debate
12 years Coaching High School Debate
Tabula Rasa but default to Policy Maker.
Please tell me how and where to vote so I don’t have to make that decision for you because you probably wont like it.
I favor quality of arguments and evidence over quantity.
Speed: I am ok with speed to the point that it is applicable to real life. The reading so fast you gasp for breath has no purpose in real life. Slow down on tags.
Make sure you give me a roadmap and signpost! Staying organized is key to a successful debate if you are jumping around and not indicating what you are arguing or where I should flow it may lead to trouble. I will flow it where I think it goes but that may not be what you want.
Analyze cards and weigh their relevancy in the round.
I don't love theory or T but I will listen to it and flow it if you present the argument well and it's explained correctly.
Impact calculus is key in the round and whoever can prove that has the best chance of getting the W on the ballot.
For email chain: empireofme@gmail.com
currently teach and coach debate at Saint Mary's Hall in San Antonio.
experience:
high school 4 years cx/ld debate at laredo, tx united
college: 3 years policy at the university of texas at san antonio
coaching: 2 years coaching policy at the university of texas at san antonio, coached nine years as director of debate for reagan high school in san antonio, tx. 1.5 years as the director of speech and debate at San Marcos High School, 2.5 years as director of speech and debate at James Madison High School... currently the director of debate at Saint Mary's Hall.
former writer/ researcher for wisecrack: this does not help you.
***note: please don't call me Matt or Matthew, it is jarring and distracts me. If you must refer to me by name please call me reichle [rike-lee].
(updated sections are marked with a *)
*TOP SHELF COMMENT*
Please, please, please slow down a bit, stress clarity when speaking, and give me pen time during analytic/ theoretical arguments. I AM NOT FOLLOWING ALONG IN THE SPEECH DOCUMENT--I genuinely believe that debate is a communicative activity and I should not have to rely on the speech document to decipher the arguments you are making. If this sounds real grouchy and sounds like "get off my lawn" old man talk... fair enough.
What I mean is this: I like to think that I am working hard to listen and think during the debate and looking up from my flow makes me think about all sorts of things that are not helpful for the debate... (the posters in the room, fashion choices, the last few words of episode 12 of Andor, the amount of Hominy I should add to Pazole... etc.)... all sorts of things that are not helpful for your decision. So help me out a bit. Please.
***The Rest***
*Digital Debates:
Please consider the medium and slow down a bit/ be more purposeful or aware of clarity--the added noises of a house (animals, small children, sirens, etc.) make it a bit harder for me to hear sometimes.
Please try to not talk over one another in cross-examination: it hurts my head.
*proclamation:
I proclaim, that I am making a concerted effort to be "in the round" at all times from here on out (I suppose this is my jerry maguire manifesto/ mission statement moment) . I understand the amount of time that everyone puts in this activity and I am going to make a serious effort to concentrate as hard as possible on each debate round that I am lucky enough to judge. I am going to approach each round with the same enthusiasm, vigor, and responsibility that I afford members of a writing group--and as such I am going to treat the post round discussion with the same level of respect.
Ultimately debate is about the debaters, not about the ways in which I can inject my spirit back into the debate format. That being said there are a few things that you might want to know about me.
I debated for four years in the mid-to-late nineties in high school and three years at UTSA. I have debated ‘policy’ debates in several different formats. Because I ended my career on the ‘left’ of the debate spectrum is in no way an automatic endorsement for all out wackiness devoid of any content. That is not saying that I don’t enjoy the ‘critical’ turn in debate—quite the opposite, I like nothing better than a debate that effectively joins form in content.
*I prefer explanation and examples in debates, these make sense to me. The more depth and explanation the better.
*strategy is also something that I reward. I would like to know that you have either thought about your particular strategy in terms of winning the debate round--and I don't mind knowing that you accident-ed your way into a perfect 2nr/ar choice. Either way: the story of the round is important to me and I would like to know how the individual parts of a round fit together (how you understand them). I think this is part of effective communication and it's just helpful for me in case I am missing something. Illumination brought to me (by you) seems to be the crux of getting a decision that is favorable (to you) with me in the back of the room.
*I flow. I may not flow like you, but I keep a flow because my memory isn’t the best and because at some point I was trained to… it just kind of helps me. But I flow in a way that helps me arrange my thoughts and helps me to keep what is said in the debate limited to what is actually spoken by the debaters. I flow the entire round (including as much of the the text of the evidence as I can get) unless I know a piece of evidence that you are reading. That being said… If I can’t understand you (because of lack of clarity) I can’t flow you. also, some differentiation between tag, card, and the next piece of evidence would be great.
Topicality—I don't know why teams don't go for topicality more... it is a viable strategy (when done well in most rounds). In high school I went for T in the 2NR every round. In college I went for T (seriously) no times in the 2NR. While I give Aff’s lenience on reasonability—there is something hot about a block that just rolls with topicality.
*Counterplans/ disads. Sure. Why not. Win net benefits. Answer the perm. Make it competitive. Win your framework (if an alternate framework for evaluation is proposed by the aff). more and more i find the quality of the evidence read for most cp and da's to be shaky at best--not that there isn't great evidence on political capital and the role of popularity in certain aspects of the political economy as it pertains to pending legislation... i just find more and more that this evidence is either written by some rand-o with a blog or is great evidence that is under-hi-lighted. please read good evidence, not evidence that can be written by one of my children on the cartoon network forums section.
Performance/ The K/ the Crazy/Whatever you want to call it: Do what you have to do get your point across. If you need me to do something (see the way I flow) let me know—I will comply willingly. Just warrant your argument somehow. As before, this is in no way a full on endorsement of ridiculousness for the sake of ridiculousness. Win your framework/ impacts and you should have no problem. Please help me out with the role of the ballot. Please.
*theory: I need to flow. I can not flow a theory debate where the shell is read at the speed of a piece of evidence--tag line speed at the fastest for theory, please. Also if you have no differentiation between tag speed and card speed (good for you) but people are only pretending to flow what you are saying.
*paperless issues: prep time is up when the speaker's jump drive is out of their computer/ when you are ready to email your cards (not continue to write blocks as you 'send' your email). Completely understandable if you send the other team a few more cards than you are going to read but please do not jump the other team an entire file or seventy cards in random order. Learn to send evidence to a speech document.
It becomes harder every year for me to think of a way to encapsulate how I view debate in a way that somehow gives a useful suggestion to debaters. It seems that each philosophy follows a formula--assure everyone that you were a good debater up to and including past experience, make sure they know that you are either open or receptive to all types of argumentation while still harboring resentment to anything progressive and different from what is deemed acceptable by personal debate standards, which is then followed by a list of ways the judge hopes everyone debates.
While the formula will apply to some extent I would like to say that i am in every way honest when I say this: do what you do best and read the arguments that you prefer in the style that you prefer in front of me. Do this and I say unto you that it will do less harm than running around in circles in round for the sake of a paradigm. Be the debater that you are, not who you think I want you to be.
That being said; this is who I assume you should be: kind. Be kind to your opponent and avoid shadiness and we’ll have no problems. There is probably a list that defines shadiness but it follows the same rule as inappropriateness: if you have to ask if something is shady--it is.
have fun. have a nice year.
Charlotte Reid has been teaching for 17 years, but coaching debate for only 7 of them. While she has no specific preferences towards style, she is conservative and a traditionalist. She keeps a detailed flow, weighs arguments and their impacts, she doesn't like dropped arguments, she likes medium-high speed, clash, appreciates courtesy, and prioritizes clear and concise communication skills. Thank you for engaging in a fun and moving debate round!
I have been a Speech and Debate teacher and coach for over 20 years. I prefer pragmatic arguments with reasonable application. I do not like spreading, as debate should be understandable and the skills should transfer to the real world. A balance of strong argumentation and delivery skills is important, but the content is of higher priority. For LD, a solid framework with the value and criterion upheld throughout the contentions is helpful. For PF, I appreciate a lay judge approach, as is the intent of the event. For Policy, I am a policymaker judge and will weigh the stock issues with practicality. For WSD, I evaluate the overall arguments and look for strong refutation of the opposition. For Congress, I look for solid research and a well-written speech. I listen for quality source citations and appreciate clear organization. Your participation, questioning, and answers factor in to my evaluation.
I am a coach and teach my kids the traditional formats of speech and debate for all events.
Congress: I am looking for an AGD and proper sign posting in the introduction. I want to see evidence for each point and clash unless you are the first speaker. I don't want to see you bring up a laptop. You should use a paper tablet. Make sure you leave time for a short conclusion. Make sure your pacing and verbiage are in a conversational manner. Answering questions are just as important, make sure you know the topic thoroughly. Activity in the chamber is also important, especially when I'm trying to break ties in my mind. Make sure your questions are well thought out before asking.
Lincoln-Douglas: As stated above, I teach the traditional format for LD Debate. I expect value, value criterion, contentions, warrants, and impacts. If you were taught policy jargon, make sure and convert it to LD Debate format. I do not want spreading. Make good sound arguments. The person who upholds their framework will win the round.
Public Forum: As stated, I am a teacher/coach and I teach and expect traditional form of debate. PF is intended for anyone to be able to judge, therefore, use evidence for your facts and provided impacts to your points. There should be no policy/LD jargon in PF debate. There should be NO spreading in PF debate.
Speaking Events: I am much better at judging Extemp, Original Oratory, and Informative speaking events over the interp events. However, I have judged all interp events at local, state, and national levels.
Hi! My name is Brenda Reiter (she/they) and I’m a graduate student at the George Washington University. I competed in Public Forum for 5 years. I am a flow judge, and I will be open to most arguments. I minored in philosophy and peace studies in undergrad. Hence, I am very familiar with philosophical theories which makes it difficult for me to vote for teams that misconstrue basic philosophical theories.
Truth over tech. The fact that public forum has become an environment where reality can be ignored and misconstrued to win a ballot takes away the actual purpose of debate which is to discuss real world issues and provide useable solutions.
I hate evidence debates. I know evidence is essential to a debate but it’s somewhat pointless to be throwing out cards that aren't being explained logically or have a sound warrant.
I don’t have a problem with terminal defense (extension from 1st rebuttal to 1st FF) but if you must bring it up in summary.
Summary and FF should tell a similar story (voters, warrants, evidence)
I will probably ask to see evidence that is conflicting and or evidence that is winning you the round. If your evidence is incredibly complex and I a graduate student cannot understand it, your opponents probably won’t and I won’t evaluate it.
Don't get lost in the technicality of the debate, but rather focus on the bigger picture. Also, remember you are debating the resolution.
Theory shells/debate:
My last debate tournament was in 2019 and a lot of things have changed since then. When I competed in PF theory was not big at all and you would often lose a round if you ran it. No longer the case so as I continue to judge I have to adapt. I don’t know debate related theories so if you run something please explain it to me! I will vote for any argument that stands through the round but EXPLAIN!!
In terms of disclosing cases and evidence in Wiki, I don’t care if it happens. I don’t think it’s abusive if a team doesn’t post their case. The thing about PF is being able to take down arguments with logic which is more compelling for me than evidence that is not properly understood.
Don’t be afraid to ask me any questions!!
Congress: Speeches should not just be read. Ideal is performed without reading except for statistics. Each speech should add to the conversation, not just rehashing. Perspective should be of a representative not a speech and debate participant. Try to give specific examples of people or events when possible. Stats should add credibility and value to the speech. Use the space you are provided, don't just stand in one place. Voice should be clear, audible and most importantly, confident. Questions should be direct and relevant. Approach to questions should be assertive but professional. Participation is key.
Debate: Focus on clear points that support your argument. Voice should be clear. Clarity over speed. Rebuttals should show understanding of the issue and dissect the argument. All arguments should be tied back to value premise.
SPEECH: Clarity above all. Clear voice. Clear transitions and clear story. I want to be immersed in the presentation. Create imagery using your voice, posure, and pantomiming (Where applicable).
Name: Christian Renteria
Current Affiliation:Sumner Academy of Arts & Sciences - Kansas City, KS
Debate Experience:Assistant coach for 3 years.
Judging:
I don't really have a preference of what is ran as long as the evidence clearly supports it and you aren't just reading as many cards as you can get through. Personally I don't really care about speed as long as you are clear and i am able to follow along with your cards. When it comes to casting my vote I give it to whoever makes the most sense and make it seem more possible. To elaborate, I want to hear the effects that it has on the real world as of this moment and how realistic those effects are. If you are running a K, I would enjoy hearing it as long as the opponents arguments are not ignored. I enjoy hearing your arguments but if you completely drop the opponents arguments it no longer feels like a debate round. I really do appreciate the realism of the debate and if it feels like there is no substance to back up your arguments my vote will automatically go to your opponents. I also really enjoy CX, I want to see a clear understanding of the material presented and the ability to go beyond and elaborate. While CX can get aggressive and sometimes rightfully so, I dislike rude behaviors and side comments so steer away from that. For Rebuttals don't spend your entire time summarizing your arguments, I want to hear the debate in your own words and shooting reasons as to why my vote NEEDS to go to you.
Centennial UPDATE: Try to set up that email chain/speech drop/etc ahead of time pls. Flight 2 also feel free to enter and set up the doc share asap pls.
Last updated - 12/12/24
Garland HS - '20
The University of Texas at Austin - '24
Put me on the email chain: imrereddy@gmail.com
Conflicts: Garland (TX), McNeil (TX), Westwood (TX), Isidore Newman (LA)
Pref shortcut:
LARP - 1
T/Theory - 2
K - 2-3
Phil - 2-3
Tricks - hurts me physically (pls strike)
TLDR: Please at least read the bolded stuff, speaks at bottom
Background: Hey I'm Ishan (pronounced E-shawn). My pronouns are he/him and I'll use they/them if I don't know yours. I debated for Garland High School for 4 years in LD and competed on the national circuit for almost 2. I broke at several nat circuit tournaments, got a bid round, but never bid - do with that what you will - also broke at NSDA nats and was in octos and trips of TFA State for my last 2 years. Debate focuses/expertise include: LARP, T/Theory, and generic Ks and phil (Cap, Security, word PIKS, Kant, etc.)
People I agree with/have been coached by who I may or may not have modeled this paradigm after: Khoa Pham, Alan George, Bob Overing, Devin Hernandez, Vinay Maruri, Patrick Fox
Defaults:
debate is a game
Tech>Truth with the caveat that burden of proof>burden of rejoinder - I'm not going to vote on a conceded argument if I can't explain the warrant/impact - the bare minimum is saying this argument is bad because of XYZ.
CX is binding
DTA>DTD (except for T/condo)
No RVIS
CI>R
1AR theory is cool
Theory>K
Text>Spirit
Condo good
CW>TT
Epistemic confidence>modesty
Presumption goes neg (absent an alternate 2NR advocacy)
(Tbh these don't matter as long as you make the argument for the other scenario)
Ev Ethics: (PLS READ)
- I didn't enjoy rounds that were staked on this a debater so I obviously won't as a judge. However, this doesn't mean you should not call out your opponent for a violation.
- If/when an accusation is made, I will stop the debate and determine if the accusation is true/false. Whoever is right about the accusation gets a W30, and whoever is wrong gets an L0.
- Reading an ev ethics shell is not the same as an accusation and I will evaluate it like a theory debate, so you might as well go for the accusation. That said, winning "miscutting ev good" is a hella uphill battle and probably the wrong decision.
- PLEASE have complete citations - if you don't and it is pointed out by your opponent, I will not evaluate the argument/card and your speaks will drop. Make it a voting issue! It's your responsibility as a debater to cut good ev.
- Don't intentionally clip cards - I will follow along in the doc to prevent this as much as I can. If I notice this in prelims, it's an L0, if I notice this in elims, it's an auto-L. Seriously, don't do it. >:(
- Don't miscut your ev (cutting out counter-arguments/modifiers, breaking paragraphs, etc.) - If I notice this in round, it's an auto-L.
General notes I think are important:
- BE NICE, bigotry of any kind will result in an L0 and me reporting you to tab.
- I will not vote on morally repugnant arguments (racism, sexism, homophobia, death good, etc.) - I will vote you down.
- Debate is fundamentally a game, but it is also a very competitive game that can get very messy. If at any point in the round you feel uncomfortable/unsafe, let me know verbally or by some sort of message and I will stop the round to help you in any way I can.
- If you are hitting a novice or someone who is clearly behind in the debate, don't be mean. Go for simple strats (2 or less off, no theory, 50% speed, etc.) and err on the side of good explanations. Doing so will result in me bumping your speaks.
- I'll call clear/slow as many times as a need to be able to flow. If you don't listen after 5+ times, that's your fault and your speaks will suffer.
- Please do NOT start off your speech at max speed, just work your way there.
- If the tournament is online, I understand tech issues will happen, so I'll be pretty lenient.
- Get the email chain set up ASAP. Sending docs in between speeches shouldn't take that long. Don't steal prep, I'll know and drop your speaks.
- Speech times and speaker order are non-negotiable.
- I'd really prefer you don't interrupt another person's speech, even if it's a performance. CX is obviously an exception.
- Performances that justify voting for anything outside of the debate realm (e.g. dance-off, videogames, etc.) are not persuasive to me. If you're conceding the round (exception), however, just let me know ahead of time.
- I know my paradigm is not short and you might not have time to read it, so ask questions if needed - I won't be an ass about start time unless tab forces me to - I think debaters should always read their judges' paradigms and take them to heart since it often results in better debates/speaks. That having been said, I'd rather see you debate well with a strategy you know than a strategy you're bad at just because you're trying to model what I did as a debater.
Policy/LARP:
- My favorite style of debate and the one I'm most familiar with
- Link/impact turns require winning uniqueness!
- I think doing your impact calculus/weighing in the 2NR/2AR is fine - idk how the alternatives are feasible - making your weighing comparative/contextual is a must. I think debates about impact calc are really interesting and carded meta-weighing will get you far.
- If your extensions don't have a warrant, you didn't extend it - I won't do your work for you. (Ex: The aff does X and solves Y by doing Z)
- I'm perfectly fine with reading evidence after round, especially if was a key contestation point. Also, call out your opponents on having bad evidence. Debate fundamentally requires well-researched positions.
- Having clever analytic CPs, especially when the aff is new, can be really strategic - negs should always exploit aff vagueness, especially on questions of solvency.
T/Theory:
- I really liked going for theory as a debater, but often felt discouraged by judges who hated frivolous theory. That's not me though so feel free to go for it - with the exception of egregious arguments like policing people's clothes - also keep in mind that intuitive responses to friv theory are pretty effective. Reading bad/underdeveloped shells does not equate to reading friv theory and will make me sad.
- Please slow down on theory interpretations and analytics and number/label your arguments - especially in underviews - I don't type very fast - seriously tho stop blitzing theory analytics
- I think paragraph theory is cool and prefer it most of the time. I don't think you need paradigm issues, but if you know your opponent is going to contest it, you might as well include them.
- I think going for reasonability is under-utilized and strategic, so doing it well with up your speaks. However, you need to have a counter-interp that you meet, even when you go for reasonability. I don't think a brite-line is always necessary, especially if the shell was terrible and you have sufficient defense.
- I'll resort to defaults absent any paradigm issues, but they are all soft defaults and I'd rather not, so literally just make the argument for the side you are going for.
- Winning the RVI isn't a super uphill battle with me, but I find that it often is a poor time investment.
- Having CIs with multiple planks (provided you actually construct offense with them) is cool/strategic.
- Weighing between standards, voters, and shells is just as important here as it is in LARP!
- I ran and debated Nebel T a lot as a debater, so I'm quite familiar with the nuances. If I can tell you don't know what this argument actually says e.g. you don't know what semantics being a floor/ceiling means, your speaks will suffer.
- I'm quite fond of topicality arguments and think they are a good strat, especially against new affs. That being said, if your shell is underdeveloped or you can't properly explain an offensive/defensive case list, the threshold for responses drops.
- Having carded interps and counter-interps is key.
- I don't care about your independent voters unless you can actually explain why they're a voter.
T-FW:
- T-fw/framework (whatever you wanna call it): I read this argument a lot as a debater and this was often my strat against k affs.
- Procedural fairness is definitely an impact, but I will gladly listen to others e.g. topic ed, skills, clash, research, etc. and I often find these debates to be very interesting.
- Contextualized TVAs are a must-have.
- Contextualized overviews in the 2NR are a must-have as well. If I wanted to hear your pre-written 2NR on framework, I'd go read my own.
Disclosure:
- I think disclosure is good for debate, but I'm open to whatever norm is presented in round. I think reading disclosure theory, even at locals (provided you also meet your interp) is fine. I was a small-school debater and I disclosed all my stuff with full cites and round reports. I think the first 3/last 3 is a minimum, but you do you. Open-source, full text, round reports, new affs bad, etc. are all shells I feel comfortable evaluating like any other theory debate.
- This is the only theory argument about out-of-round abuse I will vote on.
- Don't run disclosure on novices/people who literally don't know about the norms - maybe inform them before round and just have a good debate?
K:
- I have a good understanding of Marxist cap, security, afropess, and humanism. I have a very basic understanding of Deleuzian cap, Baudrillard, and Saldanha. That being said, I can't vote for you unless you properly explain your theory to me and you should always err on the side of over-explanation when it comes to the links, alternative, turns case arguments, and kritiks your judge doesn't know front and back.
- For afropess specifically (cause apparently this needs to be on my paradigm) - if you are making ontological claims about blackness as a non-black debater, I will vote you down.
- The K needs to actually disagree with some or all of the affirmative. In other words, it needs to disprove, turn, or outweigh the case. Actual impact framing>>> bad ROB claims.
- Please don't spend 6 min reading an overview - if I can tell someone else wrote it for you, I will be very sad and drop your speaks - if your overview is contextualized to the 1ARs mistakes, however, I will be very happy and bump your speaks up.
- I think CX against the aff and CX against the K are very important and I make an effort to listen. Pointing out links in the aff and using links from CX itself is cool. I also find that sketchiness in CX is acceptable to some extent (ex: it's a floating PIK), but I'd prefer you not be an ass to your opponent. If you make an effort to actually explain your theory, links to the aff, and alternative sufficiently, I will make an effort to up your speaks. Absent a sufficient explanation, the threshold for responses to K plummets.
- I think K tricks/impact calc args (alt solves case, K turns case, root cause, floating PIK, value to life, ethics/D-rule) are under-utilized.
- Please have a good link wall with contextualized links from the case!
- The words pre/post-fiat are inconsequential to me. Just do proper impact framing.
K affs:
- I think these strategies can be very interesting and these debates tend to be very fun to listen to. However, I'm not the best person to evaluate dense KvK rounds (not that I won't).
- If your K aff has no ties to the topic whatsoever, don't read it in front of me, it won't be a fun time for either of us.
- Your aff should be explained with, at the bare minimum, a comprehensible, good idea. If I can't explain what I think your affirmative/advocacy does, the threshold for responses along with your speaks drops.
- The 1AR vs T-FW/T-USFG should have a robust counter-interpretation that articulates a vision for the topic. Having counter-definitions is a good thing to do. "Your interp plus my aff" is not convincing.
- I'm more lenient to 1ARs with case arguments that apply to T, but I'm very hesitant to vote on new cross-apps in the 2AR unless they're justified.
Phil:
- I'm most familiar with Kant since it was one of my generic strats, although I know some basic Hobbes/Testimony/Rawls.
- Please slow down on phil analytics/overviews as well.
- Be able to explain the difference between confidence and modesty and go for one in a rebuttal.
- If you can't explain your NCs syllogism in a way that I can explain it back, I'm not gonna feel comfortable voting on it.
- I think using examples to prove how a philosophy allows for some morally repugnant action is strategic.
- Please do proper weighing between framework justifications (if both sides keep repeating my fw precludes/hijacks yours without comparison, I will be sad and dock speaks)
Tricks:
- This is likely the type of debate like/want to see/feel comfortable evaluating the least. However, if this is your bread and butter, don't let that discourage you. That being said, if even I can tell you don't know how the trick you read interacts with the debate, your speaks will suffer.
- I'm from Texas and never debated in the Southeast or Northeast, so if you're from those states, err on the side of over-explanation.
- I'm probably going to be more lenient to you if you're not reading 30 hidden a prioris and skep triggers, so just keep that in mind.
- If you aren't winning truth testing, I'm probably not going to evaluate any of the tricks.
- I view presumption as a reason the judge should vote aff/neg in the absence of offense. I view permissibility as whether the aff/neg actions are permissible under some ethical theory/ in a world without morals. Winning skep will rely on you winning either 1- moral facts don't exist, 2- moral facts are unknowable, or 3- all moral statements are false.
Speaks:
- I'm generally pretty nice with speaks so long as you're clear and debate well - I prefer strategy over clarity but hey why not have both - I'll start from a 28.5 and go up or down depending on the round.
I'll up speaks for doing the following:
- ending a speech/prep early (<2 min) - up to +0.5 depending on strategy (I would prefer a shorter/concise and conversational speech to a repetitive long one, especially when debating a novice)
- if you make an arg with a funny analogy - up to +0.3 depending on quality
- keeping me interested in the debate (interesting affs, bold NCs, good/funny CX, etc.) +0.1
- including funny/relevant/topical memes in the doc +0.1 if it's funny
- playing good music during cx - up to +0.3 depending on song choice
I have been coaching all debate events for the past 9 years.
LD:
I'm a stock issues judge. I prefer traditional formatting and style of debate. I love to see a lot of framework debate in LD. I do understand at TFA tournaments a more progressive style is the norm. I will judge progressive rounds fairly and will not vote against someone because they are more progressive. I just prefer traditional.
I will not vote on Ks. I do not like to see them in round.
I'm not a fan of spreading. I have found that in a virtual format it is next to impossible to understand you when you are spreading. I don't mind if you are speaking fast and clearly.
Respect and professionalism are important to me. There is no reason to be disrespectful to your opponent. Professional language is important for you to be credible in a round. I don't like to hear ums, uhs, likes in rounds. This is a speaking event as well as a debate event and I want to hear excellent speaking.
Congress:
I've been coaching congress for 9 years. I have coached UIL, TFA, and NSDA state/national qualifiers.
Clash is what I look for the most.
I hate re hash. I do not rank people who do not bring new information into the round. I think 45min is a great time cap for debate on each piece of legislation. That helps prevent rehash and allows for better debate.
I appreciate representatives moving to previous question when the debate turns into only re hash. I very rarely rank representatives who break the aff neg cycle.
Quality of speeches is more important than the quantity. I do want representatives to be really active in the chamber. I want to see great content and great presentation. Content and presentation are equally important to me. Keep content organized and clear. Speed should be slow and clear. I do not like yelling in a congress speech.
Remember to have fun and enjoy the round! As a judge I'm always rooting for you to do your best and enjoy the debate. :)
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Overall Structure: I look for speeches that are well-organized and coherent. A clear introduction, body, and conclusion are essential, with smooth transitions between ideas.
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Choice and Cutting of Literature: I assess the selection and editing of literature for its relevance, depth, and impact. The chosen pieces should resonate with the audience and enhance the overall message of the speech.
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Social Relevance: I value speeches that address pressing social issues and offer meaningful insights or solutions. The relevance of the topic to contemporary society and its potential to provoke thought and discussion are crucial factors in my evaluation.
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Portrayal of Honest and Truthful Moments: Authenticity is paramount. I look for speakers who convey genuine emotion and vulnerability, as well as honesty in their delivery. Authenticity fosters connection with the audience and enhances the impact of the message.
These qualities contribute to a compelling and impactful performance that resonates with both the audience and myself as a judge.
About Me:
I'm the head coach at Blackfoot High School in Blackfoot Idaho. I competed 4 years in high school and 3 in college. Won nats twice in college- seems super cool, but it was a close out in an online format both times but hey Idaho State University is just goated like that I suppose. Competed at state every year in high school, broke at nats in PF in college and advanced to elimination rounds in WSD in high school nats. I did Public Forum all 4 years in high school because I couldn't find a policy partner, but I learned to debate policy then branched to other forms also I love policy debate it's my favorite event to coach and I've taken teams to state every year I've coached. Enough not so subtle bragging about myself, I'm sure you want to know how to win my ballot so here we go:
General Debate:
- I'm typically a tech over truth kinda guy. I love the games of debate and seeing fun strategies makes me happy. However, that does not mean truth cannot beat tech and that you should be hella abusive for the sake of strategy. That being said, if no one calls you on being abusive in my eyes you weren't.
- I consider myself a flay judge, not because I can't keep up/ don't understand, but rather my experience with high level circuit debate is minimal. For Idaho probs consider me a flow/tech/ almost prog judge, but if we're anywhere else slow it down for me. In general prog debate is super cool, but I get lay versions of cases all the time and that's fun to judge as well (I actually really love lay debate, not so much you get chosen based on comms, but slowed down thought out debate is pretty neat). - I'm ready to only get lay debate now.
- I'm going to flow, if you want me to believe something on that flow matters, tell me. I will not make assumptions in the debate, you need to do all the work for me.
- Do impact calc, I don't weigh any type of impact above another inherently, so you tell me what's the most important.
- A common theme of my paradigm is going to be do the work for me. I hate guessing, take away all my guess work. Additionally, this is yours and your opponent's debate do what you want. I'm here to judge you on what you do best, so have fun with it. I'll vote on almost anything you tell me to (except like structural violence good impacts). That being said, keep the round accessible. I don't mind K, theory, speed, etc., so don't ask me if I'm okay with it, ask your opponent if they are okay with it. If they say no speed, don't do it, be good people.
- Clearly signpost, slow down on tags, you know- the usual.
Evidence Sharing
Add me to the email chain: reynolds3809@gmail.com. Typically evidence exchange will not cut into your prep time, unless it becomes excessive and people are prepping. No stealing prep on my watch. So during evidence exchange no one should prep and if it takes longer than 30 seconds to find the cards and get them sent over, I'm going to start taking out of the finders prep time. Cards should be readily available upon request, so I think that's more than fair, if you got an issue with that or there is tech complications let me know and we can readjust.
Public Forum
I prefer traditional pf over prog pf. The event is meant to be accessible to everyone, lets keep it that way. No tag teaming.
Policy
No tag teaming. In-n-outs are fine, just let me know ahead of time so I don't get confused. I love T, just don't make it a time suck only, that can become annoying. Make sure your theory shells are correct. Make you K alts really clear. CPs need to be mutually exclusive and nontopical. Provide clear reasons to vote for you. Typically I default to stock issues when examining the Affirmative.
Lincoln Douglas
VC debate is the most important part of the round. If you drop the VC debate you have an uphill battle. Additionally, you need to do more than "my value supersedes theirs," "my value comes first," or anything similar. Really debate the moral philosophy behind the topic. I don't think LD should inherently become single person policy, but I like policy enough that I'm cool with plans, CPS, theory, etc.
Congress
Ew gross. Just kidding, Congress is totally a debate event that I like judging -_-. If I end up as a Congress judge for you I apologize, I might be a coach, but I have no idea what I'm doing. I obtained a severe disdain for Congress in high school and it carried over into my coaching so I coach it like public forum, which is wrong I know, but that's what you got as a judge.
Big Questions
BQ became a thing my junior year of high school, so I've been able to watch it become what it is today. I understand the original intention was meant to be a more public forumy PF debate, but I don't think that's super fun. I think BQ lends itself well to K and theory and oftentimes thats the only way you get any real offense in the debate. However, as previously stated, if your opponent wants it to be traditional, keep it traditional.
I think I covered everything I can think of, if you have questions, just ask. I might have resting judge face on all the time, but I'm open to answer questions.
Hi Welcome to my Ted Talk
Prologue: I’m just a chill guy. I did PFD, Extemp, and OO for four years in high school. I did a little bit of acting for the meme, but have an appreciation for it. I studied photography and film in college, so as an artist, I like the working parts of pieces and the purpose behind every choice. I assistant coach debate at Westmoore, so my forte is debate, but I have unlimited prep time so I am comfortable with all events. All judges should have clear paradigms for every type of event so students can adapt accordingly. TELL YOUR JUDGES FROM YOUR SCHOOL! SPREAD THE WORD!
Debate PF/LD/CX
In Round Conduct [I WILL DO THESE]:
1. Tech > Truth
I am a blank slate judge. I will pretend I have zero knowledge in the round and only learn things from the context you give me. Reasonability is non universal, so I should not apply my own logic of what is “true”. I do this to avoid my own research of topics and prevent ANY potential for bias. Pretty much any argument goes as long as I cannot deduce it is fake, like purple dinosaurs are taking over the world or something (If you are memeing please tell me so I can enjoy it and evaluate it in context of the round, it'll be harder to win against fairness and topicality, but I will still weigh it). EVIDENCE AND WARRENTING ARE KEY. HITTING AS MANY AREAS OF THE AS POSSIBLE ARE KEY.
2. Flow
I am a writing heavy judge so make sure to emphasize the important stuff and tell me what to weigh in the round. I use paper and pens, so I guess I’m a fossil in my twenties. I will not flow (but listen and enjoy) cross periods, bring the points into your speeches for concessions and speeding up fluff in points.
3. Frameworks/Value-Criterion/Framing/ROTB/etc.
If you tell me how to vote in the round, that becomes the ballot pathing. If your opponent does the same you must directly engage with each other. If there is no clash or engagement of framing I will default to Frankensteining the ballot directions together from both sides. Framing is not the sole reason, but a major reason to win. Regardless, I usually try to narrow down the debate to three different main arguments (most clash) or one linear path, if the debate is one sided. If the debate is confusing I’ll default to clash areas [most brought up arguments] as the path to the ballot. I don't want to do the debating for you and that would be a disservice if I just looked at the flowsheet and decided that way, VOTER ISSUES ARE IMPORTANT :)
4. Concede/Concessions/Drops/Extensions:
EXPLICITLY state and explain the merit of why this matters. If you try to game over an opponent I need to know why the drop is good. I will assume it doesn’t weigh unless you tell me. Arguments will have more weighing if extended in each speech. If you extend a dropped portion of the case, give me a quick impact statement or something of importance with it.
5. In-round context
I only evaluate what is read during speeches, sorry if you have 26 pages you didn’t read I won’t weigh it. Yelling your arguments during prep for me to hear won’t help you set up or swing my judging. Again, bring up attacks made from cross into speeches, I heard them so you can spend way less time setting those claims up.
6. Evidence sharing
Don’t hide evidence from opponents, be able to provide a copy if asked. If you can’t provide it I will default to it doesn’t exist. If it is not asked for it is fair game for plausibility.
7. Speaker Points
My philosophy is strategy first. Conciseness and effectiveness are keys to higher speaker points. Don’t spend 2:00 minutes explaining something you can say in one sentence, or don’t spend 15 seconds on a very key argument your opponent is clearly going for (slam them with lots of reasons). Speaking gooder or not, might affect my score by -1 or +1, but moves made in speeches and cross will determine my rankings. If you have a partner, give them some room in crossfire for PF. I like assertive cross, but do not obliterate your opponent or bully each other.
Specifics: (Ignore for traditional circuits, keep everything on case)
Kicks - STATE EXPLICITLY. If it is not kicked I’ll assume there is some merit to the argument. You cannot kick a turn. Kicking after turn concedes it and goes against you. If an argument is kicked that means it has been yeeted out of the round and I will no longer consider it under ANY circumstances. If there are excessive kicks it will lower speaker points. Make intentional strategic choices.
Theory - Must be brought into the debate the speech after the violation occurred, or the proposed violation sticks. Theory must be addressed first as usually it is a “think of the out of round implications” type of argument. I consider RVIs if they are strong enough, but to win off theory alone has to be blatantly clear.
Tricks - You can run them, but I’ll allow RVIs. The trick takes over the debate.
Ks - Keep them topical and lay out links to resolution. I weigh alts and roles of the ballot/judge very heavily.
CP - I rarely hear these but love a good counterplan or PIC, solve for the Aff if you are going for this. Word PICs can get messy and have theory run against real easily. Perms need to be properly explained. Let me know what the world looks like under the perm, and the one getting permed against should test the validity of the perm by explaining the implications of what it actually looks like.
DAs - Usually links are pretty clear so the best strategy is to aim for the impacts on both sides.
K Affs - Better have a topicality response ready, either say you meet or diss the notion of topicality. Pick one and stick with it. I’ll evaluate these types of arguments, but there has to be some justification of predictability.
Topicality - Needs to be brought up in 1NC. I am down for debates that say topicality is bad or good.
Personal Preferences in round [PREFER, but adaptable]:
Coin flips - If the round has a coin flip, I carry giant coins so I can flip. The first team to arrive gets to call it in the air.
Disclosure - Dependent on circuit norms. If a tournament calls for disclosing evidence do it with each other 30 minutes before the round or as soon as postings blast. I will use tabroom’s evidence drop system. Email chains have difficulty or people forget to hit reply all, so this simplifies it.
Spectators - I will always allow spectators as long as they are not actively competing on the same topic. Swiper no swiping prep, other than that debate is an educational activity so even watching can provide value.
Speed - I will adapt to the speed both debaters are comfortable with, if both debaters want spreading: let the games begin. Please slow down taglines and author citations [say AND, when you are moving on to the next card if spreading, say NEXT if I need to switch papers]. Respect your opponent’s decision, but I will expect that speed from both of you (or slower) or I’ll lower speaker points to reflect it. Don’t just use speed as a way to make the debate lack clash or outspread your opponent.
Standing or sitting - I understand there may be conditions or factors that permit needing to sit for speeches and cross periods. I am good for either, if the teams cannot agree I will default to standing.
Prep time/Timing - Keep your own, but I'll use mine to verify. Tell me when to start and stop the clock. Tell me how much you used so we can compare. If I am slightly off I will default to yours. Keep your own time, I’ll have a timer but keep your own as well so I don't chance mess up.
Signpost - Make clear references about where you are attacking your opponent, cite taglines/contentions to help me keep the flow organized.
Vibe Check
Don’t be a professional hater if you are racist, sexist, transphobic, or make any other personal attack you will speedrun yourself into a loss and lowest speaks. Debate should not have any hateful agendas.
Feel free to casually tie in pop culture references, brain rot terms, modern slang, or other quick quips during speeches. I like to see the personalities of speakers, just don’t let it distract from your case, arguments, and the round. I’ll reward .5 (if possible) extra points if you incorporate this well, at least once. I won’t evaluate the quality of the joke into the weighing my ballot, so have some fun.
I'll give feedback if asked after the round but both sides will hear it, I won't say who won unless it is tournament norms. I do not disclose speaker points as they can be viewed as “subjective”, and lead to arguments over who got what.
Have fun! Good luck! Don’t be nervous, have a good time. My secondary goal for judging the round is passing the vibe check. Debate is a game of strategy and moving pieces to set yourself up for success.
If you have any other questions please ask me before the round when all competitors are in the room.
Congress
Tech > Truth: I pretend I know absolutely nothing about the topic even if I have researched it. My out of round knowledge, or potentially lack thereof, should not get in the way of the results of the round. I look who best forwards the debate versus which side wins or loses a vote in Congress (parliamentarian role might change this a bit).
Weighing: Personality, Organization, and Strategic Argumentation, CX will affect this by -1 to +1, but in extreme cases could be swayed by 2 points either way. For PO, it is round contribution.
Wrong side: If you speak for the wrong side called for, per NSDA rules I have to dock you at least three points.
IF Parliamentarian: My job is to assess the entire debate, not individual speeches. Every person has to get a rank. I will not get the privilege of autofilling 9 after the top 8 have been decided. My number 1 consideration will be contribution to the debate. Basically, how pivotal were you to the progression of the debate. The more speeches the better, but they still have to have quality (Refer to below for how I judge speech quality). Another consideration is CX, do you give yourself any additional offense or defense or do you let people push you over? The more people that reference your arguments shows you are participating in more clashes (clash is the third main voter, engage with the most important arguments and prove why I should prefer your side: Other people could do this on behalf of you if you are pivotal enough to the debate).
IF Scorer, or any other judge: My job is to assess the quality of individual speeches over the quality of the debate. Getting a bill passed does not affect my score, but how strongly do you support/defend your position will. I will assign points to every speech and add them in the end to get my ranks. I’ll show the different scales in accordance with NSDA rulings (1-6 or 1-8), but they will have the same reasoning.
{Speakers}
1 / 1-7 / 60-69: [Bare minimum] You at least gave a speech. This tier either means you were very nervous and did what you could to get through it, or you did not add strategic contributions to the debate. Organization was probably all over the place. You might have stated what side you are arguing for, but not much substance to really convince me why I should buy your argument.
2 / 8-12 / 70-76: [Lacked Fundamentals] You put in more effort than the bare minimum for a speech, you just may not have all of the parts together. You might have been slightly nervous or monotone and it affected your delivery. You had an idea of structure but deviated from it, I probably got lost halfway through. There was either little substance to your arguments or the substance did not directly connect to the points you are wanting to make.
3 / 13-17 / 77-83: [Average] You gave a standard quality speech. You did not seem very nervous or had little slip ups, but your personality as a speaker did not do anything to enhance your speech. You had some semblance of structure, but it could have been more effective. You give me points and make efforts to persuade me why I would buy your side. The arguments you made could have had holes that were poked in CX or following speeches, or it did not have much sway offensively or defensively.
4 / 18-20 / 84-86: [Sound Fundamentals] This is a little better than standard, everything is at least decent quality in this tier. You have developed some kind of a personality, but there are ways to make it more intentional or effective. I can follow your structure clearly, but time management needs to be utilized more effectively. The arguments and substance you brought into your speech can at least make me consider your side. (If 6 point system combine 4-5 to be 4)
5 / 21-22 / 87-89: [On to Something] The intentionality of your speeches is starting to show. I can at least tell why you are making the personable move you are making. Your personality slightly enhances the speech, you are at least a somewhat likeable speaker. You start to use time management and your structure has a semblance of strategy, but it may not have been the most effective at the moment. Your arguments are sufficient enough where I could weigh them holistically in the debate. (If 6 point system combine 4-5 to be 4)
6 / 23-25 / 90-93: [Very Convincing] Your speech is intentional, each part has a purpose. Your personality enhances the speech and you are a generally likable speaker who can keep the audience engaged. Your time is managed well and you have a strategy in your structuring. Your arguments are effective enough where I have to weigh them in the entire debate. The factor that stops you from ranking higher is did you make the most effective moves or were there better options? (If 6 point system combine 6-7 to be 5)
7 / 26-27 / 94-96: [Almost Perfect] There are only a few things that would deter me from giving you the highest score possible. Your speaking personality has to be on point for the top tier, I can’t notice any real mess ups and the audience needs to be engaged the whole time. Your time management has to be stellar and your organization has to be effortless to follow, obviously you can’t hit all points, but the points you choose to go for need to be timed right and be necessary to shift the direction of the debate. This tier is reserved if I think your speech is great but there are enough things to critique where I can’t justify the top tier. (If 6 point system combine 6-7 to be 5)
8 / 28-30 / 97-100: [Game Changing] Everyone is on their toes because of you and your speech was super significant to the quality of the debate. Your speaking personality makes me want to root for you, I find no issues with your organization, and your argumentation is flawless in your speech and CX is used to enhance your arguments further. If I start having physical reactions to your speech you either hit this tier or are close. (If 6 point system, this is a 6).
{P.O.}
Don’t worry I didn’t forget about you. Without a P.O. The round literally cannot run, so your contribution matters to the debate. Since you do not get ranked for each speech you give, I will rank you based on, mainly, on how well you keep the round organized and give the right people their speeches and CX. Personality and memorization/quick referencing of motions are good bonuses but will not make or break my ranking, but not taking every chance you can use could prevent you from getting into the top 3. If the round is smooth and you have minimal help from the Parliamentarian (evidence disputes don’t count), you will at least 90% of the time make the top 8, the question becomes how high up will you get ranked?
I have to put the P.O. on a separate metric, then once the round ends I will compare the P.O. to the other speakers, based on round contribution and leadership. While speakers have to argue for specific positions, the P.O. has to “argue” for being the most neutral. Deciding who gets to speak can make or break the round for debaters, so the P.O. must prove to judges that they are giving everyone a fair chance to speak and following speaking order properly. The Parliamentarian should only have to step in when there are rule disputes and anything pertaining to round integrity. The P.O. must carry the boats of the round fluidity, the smoother the round the path to the ballot. Bonuses will be given to you if you can properly dispute challenges to parliamentary procedure and prove you are keeping the round as fair as possible.
What will get you into the top 3 is your control of the room; If someone needs clarification on motions, provide it. If someone challenges you, beat the challenge in a proper manner without being condescending. Provide energy to the room and make your role exciting. You are leading the room so show me you are necessary to lead to the room, don’t let the parliamentarian or other debaters do the lifting for you.
The point system is simpler than for speakers because it is less subjective if you are leading the room. 1 = Complete Dependance, 2 = Some Decision making, 3 = Average, 4 = Sound Fundamentals, 5 = Complete Independence, 6 = Dependant on you/No Major Failed Disputes
Worlds/West Ok Extemp Debate
West OK Qualifier Overview: Since the district has chosen this method of extemp debate to pick who is going to nationals I will follow the rubric from the NSDA on World Schools and use a point system to score the round. Because all speeches are two minutes they will all follow the same rubric of 1-8 for content, 1-8 for style, 1-4 for strategy (CX will have 1-2 point total score variations if used effectively or ineffectively). This means yes, YOU CAN WIN THE ARGUMENT, BUT LOSE THE ROUND, same as in worlds since all aspects of debate matter. Read below for world’s scoring specifics…
Worlds Overview: Tech > Truth, I know nothing outside of the round unless you tell me in the round. If there is a sound argument no matter how unorthodox the argument is I’ll evaluate it. I flow speeches. Don’t be a D1 hater, don't make personal attacks, keep the arguments on the topic at hand. With Worlds debate do not limit the actor of the resolution unless it specifies, if there is no spec, the actor is the “World Government” passing a motion that affects the entire world.
Note - I will refer to points on a scale of 1-8, for the West OK Qualifier this will be the correct conversion. For NSDA Worlds debate the conversion rate will be as follows for all speeches except the reply add 24 to the conversion rate. For the reply speech add 24, then divide by 2 (I don’t subscribe to PEMDAS).
Content (40%): This section is measured based on argument quality.
1 to 1.5; [Unsubstantiated] This is the purely yapping category. There is no consistency or attempt to develop the argument. Ethos is not properly established.
1.6-3; [Plausible] The analysis is very surface level and could have more substance behind it. I somewhat am inclined to believe it can happen, but you’ve got to explain more.
3.1-4.5 [Substantiated] Evidence backs up the logic you are making and the claims did not come from nowhere. There are some gaps in your arguments, but I can see where the logic comes from.
4.6-6 [Fully Developed] The arguments are well explained and the logic is consistent. The use of ethos is credible.
6.1-8: [Won the argument] The highest you can naturally get on my content side is two points below the maximum for main speeches and one point below maximum for the reply speech. Basically I believe there should be a factor that rewards the team I believe won the “debate”, but not disenfranchise the other scoring categories. Therefore, whichever side wins the “debate” in my eyes will get +5 added to the total score using the content category.
Style (40%): This section is measured based on presentation and speaking
1 to 1.5; [Showed up] There is a large degree of incoherency. Can barely understand the speaker or the speaker is getting too aggressive for no reason.
1.6-3; [Needs Improvement] There were too many distracting elements that took away from your speech, whether it be verbal crutches, choppy speaking pattern, projection, or speed. If your partners get on to you that is a large indicator to me.
3.1-4.5 [Average] Nothing too noteworthy either positively or negatively, I can understand the speech, but there may be breaks or pauses, or lack of enthusiasm
4.6-6 [Solid Fundamentals] The preciseness in speaking is starting to show, there were only a few nit picks with your speech. I see you are trying to be a personable speaker.
6.1-7.9 [Almost perfect] There is at least one factor holding me back from giving you a perfect score, either a mess up that was noticeable or it lacked the wow factor to make me view the speech as perfect.
8 [Flawless] I found no issues with your speech and most likely had a physical reaction to how engaged I was with the speech.
Strategy (20%): This section is measured based on intentionality of speeches.
“Remember to cue the one who knocks”
0 [No Organization] Either spoke less than half of the speech time or went 45+ seconds overtime. Arguments had zero links to the topic. Conceded a lot of vital ground.
1-2 [Little Organization] Missed core arguments to the round, didn’t use close to all of your speech time. Your points were easy to refute by opponents. I had to scramble to follow the flow of your speech.
3-4 [Average] You basically used your whole speech time. I can follow along with your speech. It may not be the most effective point, but I didn’t have to struggle to see where you were going.
5-6 [Sound Fundamentals] You put your time to all of the central issues in the round, you gave your opponent an avenue to go down and didn’t close all of the gaps.
7-7.9 [Almost Perfect] You put all of your time to all of the central issues and closed most of the gaps the opponents could make a potential escape with a convenient argument.
8 [Gave em’ nothing to work with] Wow, hit all issues and was very efficient on time.
Points of Information: Will sway the point totals by 2 points, positively or negatively, depending on how effective the points are and how strategic you are when taking them. Did you take too many? Did you take none? Did you make a point without strategy in mind?
Extemp
Overview: Extemp should be an event where you give a non-biased review of the current political state of the world, think of yourself as a political commentator. Opinions should be backed by evidence. I flow all speeches on tabroom so you can see what your speech looks like from an outsider's perspective.
Tech > Truth - Backup YOUR answer.
AGD: Do something please, I want to see personable speakers give me good arguments. It doesn’t have to be earth shatteringly funny, but hook me in and get me ready to listen.
Source count: I believe this matters for ethos and logos. I believe 7 (one in the intro and two in each body point) is the minimum you should hit. I need you to explicitly state your source so I can count it.
Structure: MOST IMPORTANT SECTION FOR EXTEMP. I want to see you have intentionality in each point. Time management is key. Everyone teaches a different structure so I won’t say what is the best version, but I want it to be clear you are organized.
Intro: Give me context about your topic. I will pretend I know nothing even if I do. My own knowledge should not stop your reasoning. Define the scope of the question, who or how many?
Points: Each point should answer the question, tie back to the question.
IE Speaking
Overview: Purpose is the biggest thing I look for. Speeches should have each part be intentional and add to the overall speech. I will not judge you based on the topic you choose, but how you deliver it [EVERY THESIS IS WORTH SHARING]. In speech IE events I am more tech over truth, but not entirely (I’ll get to that below). I use a point system to avoid personal preferences, based on a -1, 0, +1. I only write down what is noteworthy. -1 means it took away from your performance or took me out of the moment. 0 is where I get to add commentary, ideas, or suggestions. These do not affect your score. +1 means it enhances your performance or you should continue to do that thing in future performances. A NEGATIVE SCORE DOES NOT MEAN I THINK YOU ARE BAD AT THE EVENT. It could mean the opposite, but it means I think you have potential and adjusting will get you where you want to be. Here are factors to consider in what I score off of;
Time: Use at least 80% of the maximum time in your event. I knock points for being under time as you could give more context, pause for moments, etc.
Tech > Truth: I pretend I know nothing about the topic even if I do, my own research should not get in the way of your delivery. Your points should develop and answer your thesis. Your solution should be tangible. I want to leave the round feeling like a general person can apply your solution.
Structure: MOST IMPORTANT SECTION FOR OO/INFO. I want to see you have intentionality in each point. Time management is key. Everyone teaches a different structure so I won’t say what is the best version, but I want it to be clear you are organized.
AGD: Do something please, I want to see personable speakers give me good arguments. It doesn’t have to be earth shatteringly funny, but hook me in and get me ready to listen.
Physicality: Does your body language give you more ethos? Do they showcase the emotions you want the audience to feel?
Transitions: Were transitions clean or were they rough?
Memorization: Make it look natural if you forget, this is a quick way to lose points. I don’t know if you forgot if you don’t show me. I will add a point if there are no slip ups.
Specific points: Do certain points of logic add to your thesis or take away from it?
INFO ONLY Board tech/Propping: Do your boards look clean? Do your props add to the message? Do you switch between boards in a clean manner?
IE Acting
Overview: Purpose is the biggest thing I look for. Pieces should have each part be intentional and add to the overall performance. I will not judge you based on the topic you choose, but how you deliver it [EVERY STORY IS WORTH SHARING]. As someone who studies and creates various art, I do not always view acting from a technical lens but a big picture one. I use a point system to avoid personal preferences, based on a -1, 0, +1. I only write down what is noteworthy. -1 means it took away from your performance or took me out of the moment. 0 is where I get to add commentary, ideas, or suggestions. These do not affect your score. +1 means it enhances your performance or you should continue to do that thing in future performances. A NEGATIVE SCORE DOES NOT MEAN I THINK YOU ARE BAD AT THE EVENT. It could mean the opposite, but it means I think you have potential and adjusting will get you where you want to be. Here are questions to consider in what I score off of;
Time: Use at least 80% of the maximum time in your event. I knock points for being under time as you could give more context, pause for moments, etc.
Physicality: Does your body language make the character clear or will the audience be left confused?
Pantomiming: Do you draw imagery with the scene around you? Does your environment interaction make sense?
Transitions: Were transitions clean or were they rough?
Character Development: Was your character(s) fleshed out? Do you get their motivations across? Do I get attached to them?
Memorization: Make it look natural if you forget, this is a quick way to lose points. I don’t know if you forgot if you don’t show me. I will add a point if there are no slip ups.
Scenes: Does the cutting of a scene add to the story or take away from it?
I debated in high school and college but that was in the 1980s; I have coached the past 38 years but at a 5A or 4A school in Kansas. With those two pieces of information, I'm pretty traditional in my approach to debate. I am a policymaker. I like communication, but I will try to keep a good flow if you will PLEASE signpost and label arguments; real words make it easier for me to flow than big gasps and high-pitched droning noises. I will NOT be looking at any electronic copies of arguments or evidence; I believe that debate is an oral communication activity, so I will be listening to and flowing what you actually say. I try to avoid being interventionist in the round, but I will struggle with believing things that are unrealistic. I don't care for a lot of theory discussion; I would prefer to hear about this year's resolution. I LOVE direct clash!
The best way to my ballot is to weigh. Weighing is inherently comparative. Warrant your weighing and compare links/impacts to your opponents'. If both teams have offense left by the end of the round, I need to know why yours matters more. This is also true with weighing mechanisms themselves (I appreciate meta-weighing). The earlier you start weighing, the better. I don’t get why teams say, “I’ll weigh at the end if I have time.” This makes no sense. Weighing is a crucial aspect of the round.
Run whatever you want. Theory should be used to check abuses. I won't auto-drop the K, but I wouldn't call myself the most qualified in K-debate. I don't see this a whole lot in PF, so the more progressive your debate becomes, the more you need to explain it to me.
Any speed is good, just be clear.
Please don't give me a soliloquy for your "off-time roadmap." Just tell me which side of the flow you're starting on.
Signpost in every speech following the constructive. If I look lost, I probably am.
I don’t pay attention to cross. If something important happens, then bring it up in your next speech.
For the love of god, give me warrants and extend the warranting throughout the round. Literally everything needs warranting (case, responses, weighing, framing, evidence weighing, theory, etc.). I do not understand why more teams do not spend more time at the warrant-level.
Offense needs implications.
Evidence clash is good. Tell me why your evidence is better/more important.
Collapse. The. Flow.
If you don't frontline, it will be incredibly hard to win my ballot. Not impossible, just very difficult.
If you want it in the final focus, it needs to be in the summary. This is true for extensions, weighing, framing, etc. If you drop it, you will be hard pressed to find me evaluating it by the end of the round.
If we are on a virtual platform, please don’t spread. Some speed is okay, but I really value clarity when online.
I am looking for topicality does the thesis of the affirmative really meet the standards of debate. I also look and see what evidence is being used and if it used effectively and not just some random piece of evidence that is biased. You see their is the subjective and objective facts in each debate. I also look at see when you quote evidence is up to date and plausible to support your thesis. I expect language to be respectful to each other if you are aff or neg. I do not like to use profanity in this educational setting. Do you use your time wisely? Does someone leave two or three minutes left in a rebuttal if so why? Doing crossfire do you answer questions properly or ask probing questions to help you win the debate. I value good speakers and good flow.
I am a blank slate as soon as your debate begins. Explain the crux of your argument, and weigh your impact.
As much as I can recognize research and hard work, I cannot give someone a win/high rank if all they share are facts about a topic without explaining their importance. That being said, I will provide feedback on information that is misunderstood during critique. So long as there are no major misrepresentations (i.e. vaccines cause autism), my decision will not be impacted.
You may spread if you can do it well.
P.F.
The biggest thing is to debate P.F., don't treat it like policy, meaning don't talk at 500MPH and no crazy "reality is a hologram" type arguments. Please be clear about when you are switching contentions and be sure to weigh your impacts clearly, don't assume that us judges are making the same connections that you are. If you run a one contention case, please have strong links. Please spell out your impacts, Imperialism isn't an impact, you need to tell me why imperalism is bad. As a judge, I won't let my background influence my decision, but that does mean you need to tell me exactly what your impacts mean in terms of quantifiable impacts, number of deaths, cost of money, increase in crime, global destabilization, the kind of thing.
L.D.
I'm a traditional-style debater, meaning I'm not usually a fan of Ks or crazy theory shells; if you run one anyway, be sure to pay some attention to defense; even with a K, you should still respond to their line-by-line arguments. I was a policy debate, and I've been judging LD on the local and national circuit for 3 years, so I'm fine with whatever speed you can do well. One thing that I think LD debaters need to pay more attention to is extending your evidence, too many debaters will just say "Cross-apply my contentions to their DA," and you need to do more then that; you need to actually say how your evidence specific counters theirs and what specific evidence you are citing.
Congress:
I've been judging Congress for 6 years now, and of course, all the basic things are important: good projection, good variation in vocal tone and volume for emphasis, and most importantly, a cohesive, original argument. In addition, please be respectful of your competitors; assertive speech styles are fine, but avoid ad hominem attacks. Similarly, when asking questions, don't interrupt the answerer when they haven't even finished a sentence yet; again, find the line between assertive and just plain rude. Make sure your introduction doesn't have a jarring shift in tone when compared to the rest of your speech. Lots of people enjoy funny intros, but they don't really work if you give a speech about war crimes, for example. Crystalizing is good, but if you have an entire speech that's just crystalizing, you end up with something that is more like 6 30-second long speeches instead of a single 3-minute speech, so don't go overboard with it. Make sure if you use the same arguments as a previous speaker, you do something new with it, or go in greater depth in a specific aspect of the argument. Otherwise, all you're doing is telling the judges that you thought the previous speaker did a really good job.
A smaller thing, but it still bugs me when it happens; please don't use debate lingo in Congress when it doesn't make grammatical sense without a debate background; for example, "sqo solves" is not something that makes sense unless you do debate and this isn't the place for that.
Email: Oscarh.rich@gmail.com
Spreading should not be in PuF and should be reserved for Policy debate.
Debaters should value definitions of words and be open to clarification when necessary.
Debaters must have a complete understanding of NSDA rules, if a rule is broken it may be noted in ballots.
Debating over policy in PuF is not appropriate.
This is a professional debate, so debaters will be required to act in a respectful manner.
Avoid spreading and defining unambiguous terminology. This material, if your case does not hinge on this matter, burns up precious time. Use the time saved for presenting your case more slowly.
Signposting, including the firm repetition of pivotal points, is preferred.
I can only assess what I hear and understand; all else is sound signifying nothing.
Making sure the audience (judges) understands (as opposed to addressing your opponent as the main audience), convey confidence in your own case: you're so convicted, you want your points understood.
I am a parent judge with a moderate number of tournaments. I discourage progressive argumentation, including theory, Ks, etc... I value speaking at a reasonable pace and logical presentations. Include me on the email chain: kenrieger@gmail.com
I have been the head coach at Blue Valley High school for the last 28 years. Before that, I debated in college at the University of Missouri Kansas City and in High School at Shawnee Mission West.
I am primarily a policy maker as a judge. I will filter all arguments through the lens of what policy I'm voting for and if it's the best policy on a cost-benefits analysis. Kritiks should also be filtered through this lens unless the team issuing it presents really compelling reasons why my policy lens should be suspended. I have a high threshold for the Negative on Topicality. The plan has to show clear abuse to the negative or future negatives through its interpretation in order for me to be persuaded on topicality. I would rather see counterplans run non-conditionally since affirmative plans rarely get to be conditional. However, this could change based on who convinces me in the round.
Stylistically, I still feel like debate should have some element of persuasion to it. You should be able to speak extemporaneously at me at times and not just read off your laptop. Talk to me about why you deserve my ballot through the issues presented. I hate open cross examinations because I feel like they tend to make one of the debaters look weak and another look domineering. I can listen to a fairly fast round but I don't like speed being used when it is not necessary to the the round. I should be able to understand your evidence as it is read to me and only have to look at it if I need a deeper understanding or context. Be polite and be efficient in sharing files so we're not all abusing prep time.
im a first-year out, ex-DCI debater from Lawrence.
i will listen to and believe any argument assuming you can sell it. that being said, i think that actual discussion and debates about the aff are better than running like twenty da's and wacky t args.
i don't believe in tabula rasa. stock issues don't matter to me as much as a coherent argument. i won't vote you down if you don't "prove" harms or inherency.
if you tell me that you don't understand what USFG or some other acronym stands for, you've lost my ballot.
truth = tech, its more about the framework, in my opinion. you could honestly convince me either way, but i tend to lean towards truth > tech. i think there is an inherent value to the debate space but that's a different tangent.
i am most read on kritikal arguments and enjoy watching them but do what you do!
if you say anything sus i will vote you down.
if you have any questions feel free to ask.
CX Philosophy
As a judge, I look to you to tell me the rules of the round. I try to be as fluid as possible when it comes to framework and arguments. I only ask that you make sure you explain it and how it impacts the round. In regards to speed, I would say I am more comfortable with mid level speed, however it would be smart to speak slower on tag lines. Remember, if I am part of the email chain/Speechdrop then that makes speed much less of a factor in my decision. I am good with CPs, DAs, Ks, and pretty much any other style of argument as long as it is run properly. If you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask.
LD Philosophy
I consider myself traditional.
I do not like speed. Debaters who spread their opening cases because they are not ready for a traditional judge have not done their homework. Speeding up at the end of a rebuttal because you are running out of time and want to get to the last few points is somewhat forgivable.
I do not like you spouting 27 cards and trying to win the debate just by having more evidence and more points than your opponent. I want you to explain your position clearly. I want you to explain how the evidence you are providing is relevant and how it helps to make a logical argument.
I dislike debate jargon. Debaters tend to develop bad speaking habits as they go through their careers. I like a debater that can talk like a normal human being.
I do believe that LD Debate is at its core still a values debate. I want to hear you talk about values and explain how a value is reached or not. That said, I prefer a contention level debate to an overly long framework. Give a brief framework and move on to explain the argument that supports your V-C and connects clearly to the resolution.
I like a summary at the end of the NR. For the 2AR, please do NOT think you have to do line-by-line. Stick with a simple explanation of why you won.
If you run theory in front of me, you are wasting your time. I will not vote on theory.
I do not disclose at the end of a round so no need to ask.
Growing old is mandatory...growing up is optional!
Put me on the email chain: dustinrimmey@gmail.com
I think you should have content warnings if your arguments may push this debate into uncomfortable territory.
Mandatory Autobiography:
I debated in High School in the 1900's (Lansing HS, KS, '02), College 2002-2006 at ESU (RIP!), and coached at the following places: ESU (06-07), Topeka High School (2007-2024), Lawrence High (2024-present).
What I used to Read in the 1900's:
In terms of my argument preference while I was actively debating, I dabbled in a little bit of everything from straight up policy affirmatives, to affirmatives that advocated individual protests against the war in Iraq, to the US and China holding a press conference to out themselves as members of the illuminati. In terms of negative arguments, I read a lot of bad theory arguments (A/I spec anyone?), found ways to link every debate to space, read a lot of spark/wipeout and read criticisms of Language and Capitalism.
My Coaching Present
For the first time in decades, I am not actively teaching a debate class. This means that if it comes to rounds which might get faster or more tech-y, my brain might take a second to boot up to these. If this is your cuppa, then take a second and slow down a little bit, let me get use to your voice and speaking pattern, and then once you see my odd nodding and moving back and forth, you are probably good to go off to the races!
My coaching past
In terms of teams I have coached, most of my teams have been traditionally policy oriented, however over the last 2-3 years I have had some successful critical teams on both sides of the ball (like no plan texts, or slamming this activity....). For the past 2-3 years, I have been working with teams who read mostly soft left affirmatives and go more critical on the negative.
My Philosophy in Approaching Debate:
I understand we are living in a time of questioning whether debate is a game or an outreach of our own individual advocacies for change, and I don't know fully where I am at in terms of how I view how the debate space should be used. I guess as a high school educator for the past two decades and a current middle school teacher, my approach to debate has been to look for the pedagogical benefit of what you say/do. If you can justify your method of debating as meaningful and educational, I will probably temporarily be on board until persuaded otherwise. That being said, the onus is on you to tell me how I should evaluate the round/what is the role of the ballot.
This is not me being fully naive and claiming to be a fully clean slate, if you do not tell me how to judge the round, more often than not I will default to an offense/defense paradigm.
Topicality
I tend to default to competing interpretations, but am not too engrained in that belief system. To win a T debate in front of me, you should go for T like a disad. If you don't impact out your standards/voters, or you don't answer crucial defense (lit checks, PA not a voter, reasonability etc.) I'm probably not going to vote neg on T. Also, if you are going for T for less than all 5 minutes of the 2NR, I'm probably not voting for you (unless the aff really messes something up). I am more likely to vote on T earlier in the year than later, but if you win the sheet of paper, you tend to win.
I do think there is a burden on the negative to either provide a TVA, or justify why the aff should be in no shape-or-form topical whatsoever.
In approaching T and critical affirmatives. I do believe that affirmatives should be in the direction of the resolution to give the negative the basis for some predictable ground, however in these debates where the aff will be super critical of T/Framework, I have found myself quite often voting affirmative on dropped impact turns to T/Framing arguments on why the pedagogical model forwarded by the negative is bad.
Hack-Theory Arguments
Look, I believe your plan text should not be terrible if you are aff. That means, acronyms, as-pers, excessive vagueness etc. are all reasons why you could/should lose a debate to a crafty negative team. I probably love and vote on these arguments more than I should.....but....I loved those arguments when I debated, and I can't kick my love for them.....I also am down to vote on just about any theory argument as a "reject the team" reason if the warrants are right. If you just read blocks at me and don't engage in a line-by-line of analysis....I'm probably not voting for you...
I am on the losing side of "condo is evil" so a single conditional world is probably OK in front of me, but I'm open to/have voted on multiple conditional worlds and/or multiple CPs bad. I'm not absolutely set in those latter worlds, but its a debate that needs hashed out.
I also think in a debate of multiple conditional worlds, its probably acceptable for the aff to advocate permutations as screens out of other arguments.
The K
Eh.......the more devoted and knowledgable to your literature base, the easier it is to pick up a ballot on the K. Even if you "beat" someone on the flow, but you can't explain anything coherently to me (especially how your alt functions), you may be fighting an uphill battle. I am not 100% compelled by links of omission, but if you win a reason why we should have discussed the neglected issue, I may be open to listen. The biggest mistake that critical debaters make, is to neglect the aff and just go for "fiat is an illusion" or "we solve the root cause" but....if you concede the aff and just go for some of your tek, you may not give me enough reason to not evaluate the aff...
I am the most familiar with anti-capitalist literature, biopolitics, a small variety of racial perspective arguments, and a growing understanding of psychoanalysis. In terms of heart of the topic critical arguments, I've been reading and listening to more abolitionist theory, and if it is your go-to argument, you may need to treat me like a c+ level student in your literature base at the moment.
Case Debates
I like them.....the more in depth they go, the better. The more you criticize evidence, the better...
Impact turns
Yes please......
Counterplans
Defend your theoretical base for the CP, and you'll be fine. I like clever PICs, process PICs, or really, just about any kind of counterplan. You should nail down why the CP solves the aff (the more warrants/evidence the better) and your net benefit, and defense to perms, and I will buy it. Aff, read disads to the CP, theory nit-picking (like the text, does the neg get fiat, etc.) make clear perms, and make sure you extend them properly, and you'll be ok. If you are not generating solvency deficits, danger Will Robinson.
I think delay is cheating, but its an acceptable form in front of me...but I will vote on delay bad if you don't cover your backside.
Misc
I think I'm too dumb to understand judge kicking, so its safe to say, its not a smart idea to go for it in front of me.
Don'ts
Be a jerk, be sexist/transphobic/racist/ableist etc, steal prep, prep during flash time, or dominate cx that's not yours (I get mad during really bad open CX). Don't clip, misrepresent what you read, just say "mark the card" (push your tilde key and actually mark it...) or anything else socially unacceptable....
If you have questions, ask, but if I know you read the paradigm, and you just want me to just explain what I typed out.....I'll be grumpier than I normally am.
I.E
The speaker captivates its audience. Is very precise on the approach of persuading or informing. Whether you use your body or not, nonverbal communication represents 93% of my understanding. Speech and debate is a great stage for inclusion and creativity, but use of vulgar words and content should be communicated before hand as to show respect to judges and audience. It is important to protect avenues we use to grow and uphold values of professionalism.
Debate
Purpose of debate at its core is argumentation. Winners in debate events bring not only the passion they have for their side but clear communication that judges and opponents can understand in attempt to create a well exchanged debate. Successful debate research hit the core of the cause at hand, assertions are impactful and are supplemented with recent/reliable evidence. Winners in debate do not always have to prove they are right , just that you are wrong.
Maria Rios-Gerstner
I have been serving as a parent volunteer judge for a little over two school years, and I have had the pleasure of judging many forms of debate. I have enjoyed the experience—your courtesy and intelligence are like a breath of fresh air.
Whatever your style of debate, the best way to win my ballot is to be a respectful opponent and a good community member.
You can win my ballot by doing your research, making strong well-supported arguments, and presenting them in a convincing and believable manner. I appreciate good structure, a clear roadmap, and well-organized speeches. Above all, assume it is your responsibility to educate me on your topic. (Please note that I take notes during "flow" and cross.)
Here is a quick outline of what I consider to be of most importance:
- Kindness: Approach every interaction with empathy, understanding, and patience. A kind, albeit sometimes passionate, tone keeps your opponent/audience engaged.
- Courtesy: Always show respect for others' time, thoughts, and feelings. “The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.” (Louis XIV).
- Adaptability: Be flexible and open-minded. Tailor your responses to the topic rather than the person. Replace “you” statements with “my opponent”.
- Humor: Use wit to lighten the mood and create a shared sense of joy, but always be mindful of timing and appropriateness.
- Tone Control: Adjust your tone to match the situation, maintaining a balance between warmth and professionalism. You can be strong & assertive without being loud or aggressive.
- Cleverness: Bring insight and creativity into conversations, engaging your audience without overcomplicating things.
- Engage: Listen actively, ask questions, and involve others. A great conversation is a two-way street.
- Analyze: Advance the debate by responding accordingly. Avoid repetition.
I will be in TAB so don't waste a strike on me.
Policy Debate
It is the responsibility of the debater to look at the paradigm before the start of each round and ask any clarifying questions. I will evaluate the round under the assumption it has been read regardless if you did it or not. I will not check to see if you read my paradigm, nor will I give warnings of any kind on anything related to my paradigm. If you don't abide by it you will reap what you sow I am tired of debaters ignoring it, and myself in a debate round my patience has officially run out.
1. I hate spreading slow down if you want me to flow your arguments if it is not on my flow, it is not a part of the round. It doesn't matter how well it is explained or extended. At best, depending on the speech, it will be a new argument or analytical argument and will be evaluated from then forth as such. I do want to be part of the email chain, my email is thehitman.310@gmail.com, note that just because I am part of the email chain does not mean I flow everything I read. I only flow what I hear so make sure I can hear your arguments. Beware I will be following along to make sure no one is cutting cards and I will call out teams for cutting cards so be sure to do things correctly. I will drop cards before the team and continued cutting will result in me stopping the round and contacting tab. Additionally, I will not yell clear, and I will not give time signals except to inform you your time is up. I find doing this splits my attention in a way that is unfair to the debater and often distracts debaters when called out. You will have my undivided attention.
2. I hate theory and have only voted on it once (current as of 1/8/25). In particular, I do not like disclosure theory and think it's a bogus argument, as I come from a time when there was no debate wiki; as a result, I am highly biased against this argument and don't advise running it in my round. Also, regardless of the argument, I prefer they be related to the topic. I am just as interested in the topic as I expect debaters to be. On that note, I am willing to listen to just about anything as long as they are well articulated and explained(See 3). I have heard some pretty wild arguments so anything new will be fun to hear. Know in order for me to vote on an argument, there needs to be an impact on it, and I need to know how we arrive at the impact. But I want to know more than A + B = C, I need to know the story of how we arrive at your impact and why they matter. I will not simply vote on a dropped argument unless there is no other way to vote and I need to make a decision, I consider this Judge intervention, and I hate doing this. You, as a debater, should be telling me how to vote I will have to deduct speaker points if I have to do any work for you. Keep this in mind during your rebuttals.
3. At the beginning of each round, I am a blank slate; think of me like a 6 or 7-year-old. Explain arguments to me as such. I only evaluate things said in a round; my own personal knowledge and opinion will not affect me. For example, if someone in a round says the sky is purple, reads evidence the sky is purple, and it goes uncontested, then the sky is purple. I believe this is important because I consider anything else judge's intervention which I am highly opposed to and, again, will result in a speaker point deduction. That being said, I default to a standard policy-making framework at the beginning of each round unless I am told otherwise. This also applies in the context of evidence, your interpretation of the evidence is law unless challenged. Once challenged, I will read the evidence and make a decision based on my understanding of the evidence and how it was challenged, this may result in my decision on an argument flipping, the evidence being disregarded, and/or the ballot being flipped.
4. Be aware I do keep track of Speech times, and Prep, and go solely by my timer. My timer counts down and will only stop when you say stop prep. Once you say "Stop prep" I expect you to be ready to send the file. I do not want to hear I need to copy arguments to a file to send as a part of an email chain. I will run prep for that. It should not take long to send a prepared file through the email chain, and I will wait until all participants receive the file before allowing the following speech to start but do not think you can abuse this I will restart prep if it takes an abnormal amount of time. Also extremely important to note I will not stop my timer for any reason once speech has started for any reason outside of extreme circumstances, and technical difficulties do not count. If you choose to stop your timer to resolve your issue before resuming, know that my time has not stopped and your speech time is being consumed. Also, aside from using your phone as a timer, I expect all debaters to not be on their phones during the round (this includes in between speeches and during prep). I think it is disrespectful to debate as an activity and to your opponent(s), and will deduct speaker points for it. Keeping that in mind, I will not evaluate any argument read off a phone, especially if you have a laptop in the round.
5. In JV and VCX, Cross-X is closed, period. NCX, I will only allow it if you ask. If you don't, it is closed. If you decide to have an open CX anyway, I will deduct speaker points.
6. Last but not least, be respectful to me and to each other, and I would appreciate a good show of sportsmanship at the beginning and end of each round. Any disrespect will result in a speaker point deduction on a per-incident basis. Continued disrespect will result in notifying tournament staff and lower-than-average speaker points. Although I do not expect it will go that far.
E-Debate:
A. Cameras must be on at all times. I will not flow teams with cameras off. Do not be surprised if you lose because I did not flow it you have been warned. I will not be lenient with this as I have been in the past.
B. Prep time will be run until speeches are received in the email chain. DO NOT assume you control the time as mentioned above. I am keeping time and will go by my timer. I WILL start the speech timer if you end prep AND THEN send the speech. I have zero tolerance for this, as teams consistently abuse this to steal prep. You should know how to send an email; it should not take long. If you are having genuine technical issues, let me know as the tournament has Tech Time, I can run that timer instead, otherwise, I will run speech time. DO NOT make light of this I am tired of being ignored as if I am not a part of a debate round.
C. Make sure I'm ready this should be common sense, but for some reason, I have to mention it. If you start a speech before I am ready, I will miss some arguments on my flow, and I will be highly annoyed. Your speaker points will reflect this, and you may lose the round as a result if it was a key argument that I did not flow.
D. Also, spreading on camera is a terrible idea, and I highly advise against it from a technical perspective and my general disdain for spreading. E-Debates are tricky enough with varying devices, internet speeds, and audio equipment affecting the quality of the stream, spreading in my experience is exceptionally disadvantageous, do so at your own risk.
E. REMINDER, I Control speech and prep timers, and speeches DO NOT stop because you are reading the wrong speech or can't find where you are at on a document; once the timer has started, it stays running until speech time is over. I do not know why I have to mention this, but recent judging experiences have told me it must be mentioned.
Lincoln-Douglas
I am very new to judging Lincoln-Douglas Debates. As such, I am relying on the debater to frame the debate for me, particularly in the rebuttal. Arguments should always be responsive to what your opponent is saying if you wish to win them. Explain how your arguments interact, and your line of argumentation means that line of argumentation weighs in your favor. In general, I think all arguments should be filtered through the lens of your values and criterion. That work must be done by the debater, not the judge. Additionally if what you say matches what is on my flow the chances of you winning are high.
I want to be on an email change, I ike to follow along as evidence is being read. My email is thehitman.310@gmail.com
Particularly in rebuttals make sure you are filtering aregumens through Value, Criterion and FW.
Jonathan Roath
I Co-teach High School Biology
11 years working in SPED at the elementary and high school settings.
1 year Speech and Debate assistant coach.
Took 2 Debate classes in High School.
I like facts and supporting those facts. I like honesty in a speech and do not hold back information that is supported and not just an opinion. Enlighten me !!
BACKGROUND:
Please include the following emails in email chains: ccroberds@spsmail.org and khsemailchain@gmail.com - sometimes my spsmail account is really slow in receiving emails. I honestly prefer speechdrop, but email is ok if that's your norm or what your coach prefers. My least favorite option is the file share.
I am the debate coach at Kickapoo High School in Missouri. I have been involved in policy debate since 1994 as a student and/ or coach. The 2022-23 topic marks my 27th. I have coached in very critical circuits (one round with a plan read by any team in an entire year), very community judge oriented circuits (that don't allow CPs or Ks), TOC qualifying circuit, ELL circuits, and combinations of all circuits. If you have questions, please email ccroberds@spsmail.org
Update - 1/20 - a note about prepping your speech before you speak
My expectation is that you send out a doc BEFORE you speak that includes the evidence AND analytics that you intend to read in the speech if they are typed up. They should also be in the order that you are going to speak them. It is an accessibility issue. If you type them up in the round, that's one thing - but if they are your blocks (or your team blocks) they should be sent. This includes AT A MINIMUM the text of perms, the texts of counterplans, the text of interpretations of why you reject a team, etc. Also, if you choose to just randomly jump around in a document please know that it will dramatically impact your speaks. Nobody is as good at flowing in online debates as we are in person, having the doc and reading it in order helps improve the activity.
Important norms to keep tournaments running on time
Please show up to the room to establish email chains/ speechdrop, disclose the 1ac/ past 2nrs, do tech checks, etc. AS SOON AS POSSIBLE after pairings have been released (read at least 20 minutes prior assuming pairings come out 30 minutes prior to round). The 1ac should start when the pairing says unless there is a tournament related reason. Once you get to the room and do tech check, feel free to use the rest of the time to prep, etc. If it's an in person tournament, please show up when the pairings get released, set up an email chain or speechdrop, disclose the 1ac/ past 2nrs, and then go prep - just come back to the room before the round is supposed to start. If you can't get to the room for some reason, it is your responsibility to email me and the other team to let us know.
Please know that if you don't do this, it will negatively effect your speaker points by .5. Choosing to show up late makes tournaments run behind and gives unfair advantages to teams with multiple coaches (I have to be here to judge and coach my team - if you choose to be late, I assume it's because you're getting extra coaching which gives you an unfair advantage over teams whose coaches are judging).
Cliff's Notes Version (things to do in the 10 minutes before the round):
- As long as we are online, please make sure you are adding intentional breaks between arguments. These can be verbal or non-verbal but they are necessary to make sure flowing is happening from the oral arguments instead of just from the speech doc. As an example, clearly say the word "next" or "and" after each card/ subpoint/ etc. or slow down for the tags to where there is a noticeable difference between the card or warrants and the next tag. This is one of those things that the technology just isn't as good as being face-to-face, but it may make debate better down the line.
- Disclose on the wiki pre-round unless you are breaking a new case. I can be persuaded, relatively easily, that this is a voting issue (this is not about small details in the case, but overall picture). Once a case is broken, please put it up as soon as possible. If you read it at last tournament and haven't found time to put it up, that's a problem. Also, at a minimum, the negative should be posting their main off case positions. Before the round, the aff and neg should both know what the opponent is reading as a case and what positions they have gone for at the end of debates on the negative. Having coached at a small and economically disprivileged school most of my life, the arguments against disclosure literally make no sense to me.
- I like politics a lot more than Ks - My perfect generic 2NR is politics and an agent CP. The best way to win a K in front of me is to argue that it turns case and makes case impossible to solve.
- I don't like cheap shots - I think plan flaws are a reason to ask questions in the CX or pre-round. Make debate better.
- K Framework - I prefer to do policy making. However, you need to answer the project if they run it.
- Cheating CPs - I don't like backfile check type CPs (veto cheato) or "I wrote this for fun" CPs (consult Harry Potter/ Jesus). I do like topic agent CPs (like have China do the plan, have the private sector do the plan).
- Link vs Uniqueness - Uniqueness determines the direction of the link - if it is not gonna pass now, there is no way the link can make it pass less.
- Cross-ex is always open unless another judge objects.
- Be Nice and FLOW!
High School Policy Specifics:
- I know that the last couple of topics don't have core stable offense for the neg. This definitely makes the neg more intuitively persuasive to me on questions of topicality and on the threshold that I need for the negative to win some kind of a link. I don't like CPs that aren't tied to topic specific literature. This includes, but is not limited to, contrived fiat tricks designed to garner net-benefits. This includes NGA, ConCon, etc. It doesn't mean I won't vote for it, it just means my threshold for aff theory, etc. is really low. If you are choosing between a CP that I have listed above and a disad with a less than ideal link (not no link, just less than ideal), it would be more persuasive to me to read the disad.
Here is a crystalized version of this stolen from Will Katz but it explains what I think about contrived CPs - "I am over contrived process cp's. If you don't have aff/topic specific evidence for your cp, I probably won't care if the aff's perm is intrinsic. If you don't have evidence about the plan, why does the aff's perm only have to be about the plan?"
I am a high school coach who tends to be at TOC tournaments about 3/4 of the time and local tournaments (with community judges) the other 1/4. However, I do cut a lot of cards, coach at camps, and think about the topic a lot which means that I have a pretty good grip on the topic. This means I may not know the intricacies of how your particular argument may functions in the high school environment you are competing in right now.
High School LD Specifics:
My default is that I don't need a value and value crit. in order to vote for you. However, I can be persuaded that it is needed. If the affirmative reads a particular interpretation of the topic (i.e. they read a plan) then, absent theory arguments about why that's bad, that becomes the focus of the debate. If the affirmative does not read a plan then the negative can still read disadvantages and PICs against the entirety of the topic. I don't terribly love NRs and 2ARs that end with a series of voting issues. Most of the time you are better off using that time to explain why the impacts to your case outweigh your opponent's case as opposed to describing them as voting issues. If you are going to make an argument in the NC that there is a different framework for the debate than what the affirmative explains in the AC, you need to make sure you fully develop that position. Framework functions very differently in LD compared to policy so make sure your blocks are written out for that reason.
I'm not a big fan of a big theory pre-empt at the end of the 1ac. I think the aff case is the time when you should be making most of your offensive arguments and most of the time theory is set up to be defensive. This is particularly silly to me when the aff has more time in rebuttals than the neg does anyway.
NFA LD Specifics:
I am relatively new to this format of debate but I like it a lot. I think debate should be viewed through a policy framework in this style of debate, but I can be persuaded out of this belief. However, if your main strategy is to say that the rules of NFA are problematic or that you shouldn't have to weigh the case and the DA, then I think you fighting an uphill battle.
Also, given the limited number of speeches, I tend to err on the side of starting aff framework as early as possible (probably the AC). This is mostly to protect the aff since if it's not brought up until the 2ac/ 1ar it is possible for the NR to straight turn it and leave the 2ar in an unwinnable position.
In Depth Stuff:
GENERAL-
I tend to prefer policy oriented discussions over kritikal debates but I will be happy to evaluate whatever you want to run. My favorite debates come down to a clash between specific arguments on the flow of the advantages and disadvantages. On theory you should number or slow down your tags so that I get the clash. I can flow your speed if it is clear, but if you want me to get the 19 reasons why conditionality is a bad practice you should slow down to a speed I can flow the blips. That said, I tend to prefer fast debate to slow debates that ultimately don't point to the resolution of the topic.
Read warrants in your evidence. Full sentences are how people speak. They have things like nouns, verbs, and prepositions. Please make sure that your evidence would make sense if you were reading it slowly.
If the round is close, I tend to read a decent amount of evidence after the round if there is a reason to do so. If you want me to call for a specific card please remind me in the 2nr/ 2ar.
Also please give reasons why your offense turns their offense besides "war causes x."
SPECIFICS-
Disclosure theory note:
I have a VERY low threshold on this argument. Having schools disclose their arguments pre-round is important if the activity is going to grow / sustain itself. Having coached almost exclusively at small, underfunded, new, or international schools, I can say that disclosure (specifically disclosure on the wiki if you are a paperless debater) is a game changer. It allows small schools to compete and makes the activity more inclusive. There are three specific ways that this influences how ballots will be given from me:
1) I will err negative on the impact level of "disclosure theory" arguments in the debate. If you're reading an aff that was broken at a previous tournament or on a previous day and is not on the wiki (assuming you have access to a laptop and the tournament provides wifi), you will likely lose if this theory is read. There are two ways for the aff to "we meet" this in the 2ac - either disclose on the wiki ahead of time or post the full copy of the 1ac in the wiki as a part of your speech. Obviously, some grace will be extended when wifi isn't available or due to other extenuating circumstances. However, arguments like "it's just too much work," "I don't like disclosure," etc. won't get you a ballot.
2) The neg still needs to engage in the rest of the debate. Read other off case positions and use their "no link" argument as a reason that disclosure is important. Read case cards and when they say they don't apply or they aren't specific enough, use that as a reason for me to see in round problems. This is not a "cheap shot" win. You are not going to "out-tech" your opponent on disclosure theory. To me, this is a question of truth. Along that line, I probably won't vote on this argument in novice, especially if the aff is reading something that a varsity debater also reads.
3) If you realize your opponent's aff is not on the wiki, you should make every possible attempt before the round to ask them about the aff, see if they will put it on the wiki, etc. I understand that, sometimes, one teammate puts all the cases for a squad on the wiki and they may have just put it under a different name. To me, that's a sufficient example of transparency (at least the first time it happens). If the aff says it's a new aff, that means (to me) that the plan text and/ or advantages are different enough that a previous strategy cut against the aff would be irrelevant. This would mean that if you completely change the agent of the plan text or have them do a different action it is new; adding a word like "substantially" or "enforcement through normal means" is not. Likewise, adding a new "econ collapse causes war" card is not different enough; changing from a Russia advantage to a China, kritikal, climate change, etc. type of advantage is. Even if it is new, if you are still reading some of the same solvency cards, I think it is better to disclose your previous versions of the aff at a minimum.
4) At tournaments that don't have wifi, this should be handled by the affirmative handing over a copy of their plan text before the round.
5) If you or your opponent honestly comes from a circuit that does not use the wiki (e.g. some UDLs, some local circuits, etc.), I will likely give some leeway. However, a great use of post-round time while I am making a decision is to talk to the opponent about how to upload on the wiki. If the argument is in the round due to a lack of disclosure and the teams make honest efforts to get things on the wiki while I'm finishing up my decision, I'm likely to bump speaks for all 4 speakers by .2 or .5 depending on how the tournament speaks go.
Topicality- I believe the affirmative should affirm the topic and the negative should negate the plan. It is fairly difficult to convince me that this is not the appropriate paradigm for the affirmative to operate under. The best way to think about topicality in front of me is to think about it as drawing lines or a fence. What does debate look like for a season when the negative wins the topicality argument vs. what does it look like when the affirmative wins. Affirmatives that push the bounds of the topic tend to be run more as the season progresses so the negative should be thinking through what the affirmative justifies if their interpretation because the standard for the community. This also means that there is no real need to prove real or potential *problems in the debate.
If the affirmative wants to win reasonability then they should be articulating how I determine what is reasonable. Is it that they meet at least one of the standards of the neg's T shell? Is it that there is a qualified source with an intent to define that thinks they are reasonable? Is it that there is a key part of the topic literature that won't get talked about for the season unless they are a topical affirmative?
If you want me to vote on Topicality the 2nr (or NR in LD) should be that. Spending less than the entire 2nr on a theoretical issue and expecting me to vote on it is absurd. I would only vote neg in that world if the affirmative is also badly handling it.
Counterplans- I love counterplans. I typically believe the negative should be able to have conditional, non-contradicting advocacies but I can be persuaded as to why this is bad. Typically this will need to be proven through some type of specific in round problem besides time skew. I think that the permutations should be more than "perm: do both, perm: do the plan, perm: do the CP."
Kritiks- I am not as deep on some of this literature as you are. You should take the time in CX or a block overview to explain the story of the K. Performance style debate is interesting to me but you will have to explain your framework from the beginning. I probably tend to be more easily swayed by the framework arguments about clash compared to exclusion. I will tend to default to preferring traditional types of debate.
Politics- I like good politics debates better than probably any other argument. I like interesting stories about specific senators, specific demographics for elections d/as, etc. With this being said, I would rather see a fully developed debate about the issue. I tend to evaluate this debate as a debate about uniqueness. Teams that do the work tend to get rewarded.
My perfect debate- Without a doubt the perfect round is a 2nr that goes for a pic (or advantage cp with case neg) and a politics d/a as a net benefit.
*Questions of "abuse" - This is a soapbox issue for me. In a world of significant actual abuse (domestic abuse, child abuse, elder abuse, bullying, etc.), the use of the word to describe something as trivial as reading a topical counterplan, going over cross-x time by 3 seconds, or even not disclosing seems incredibly problematic. There are alternative words like problematic, anti-educational, etc. that can adequately describe what you perceive to be the issue with the argument. Part of this frustration is also due to the number of times I have heard debaters frustrate community judges by saying they were abused when the other team read an argument they didn't like. Please don't use this phrase. You can help make debate better.
Paperless and speaker point stuff-
I used to debate in a world where most people had their evidence on paper and the one thing that I believe has been lost through that is that people tend to look more at the speech doc than listening to the debate. I love paperless debate, just make sure that you are focusing on the speech itself and not relying exclusively on the document that the other team has sent you. Flowing well will often result in improved speaker points.
If you are using an online format to share evidence (e.g. speechdrop or an email chain), please include me in the loop. If you are using a flashdrive, I don't need to see it.
I don't expect teams to have analytics on the speech document (but if you are asked by your opponent for equity or accessibility reasons to have them there, please do so). I do expect teams to have every card, in order, on the speech document. If you need to add an additional card (because you've been doing speed drills), that's fine - just do it at the end of the speech.
If you let me know that your wiki is up to date including this round (both aff and neg) and send me the link, I'll also bump speaker points by .2.
Masks stuff for in person (last updated 4/7/23)
COVID and other diseases are still real. If I'm feeling at all under the weather, I will wear a mask. I ask you to do the same. All other things being equal, you are free to debate with or without a mask. However, if you are asked to wear a mask by an opponent or judge who is also wearing a mask, and you choose not to, it is an auto-loss with the lowest speaker points that I am allowed to give. This is a safety issue.
Along those lines, with the experiences that many have gone through in the last year, please don't make arguments like "death good," "disease good," etc. While there may be cards on those things, they very violent for many people right now. Please help make debate a safe space for people who are coming out of a very difficult time.
I am an inexperienced parent / lay judge. Please articulate and explain all your points and speak clearly and persuasively. I start at 27.5 speaker points and go up or down based on your argumentation and persuasiveness. Please be nice to your opponents.
I respect civility between competitors. Debate hard, but be courteous.
Watch your speaking pace. Saying points really really fast does not automatically make them count if they are impossible to hear and note.
I like clash much more than arguing debate technicalities.
I appreciate all the hard work you do! Go speech and debate.
I teach rhetorical analysis and argumentation; consequently, I carry that awareness with me in my judging. I do my best not to let prior knowledge impact my opinion of arguments.
In judging LD, I concentrate on the values and contentions; I am more excepting of far-reaching contentions as long as you can make the connections. Definitions aren't everything, but I like to know which ones you are using; subtle differences matter. My focus will be on the actual argument, the claims and rebuttals, and the crosses in the debate. I find "arguments" that rely on exhorting the rules of the process to be disingenuous.
In PF, I appreciate seeing a cohesiveness in the team. I focus on the structure of the argument, are adequate supports provided, and is everything rebutted. Again, I do my best not to let prior knowledge impact my decision. Unnecessary speaking over each other and attempting to drown each other out is uncivilized and irritating. It also works against following your argument.
In Policy, I am looking for a logical argument that should pass, and for the negation, I am comfortable with nearly all on-topic and off-topic measures. I do find continuous definition attacks to be pedantic. As for spread, not an issue. I have clear hearing and have taught English to non-native speakers, so enunciation is not really an issue.
I believe that first and foremost all debate should be based on communication. To that end be sure that you do not utilize forms of debate which leave the audience more bewildered than informed.
When it comes to speed, don' get a ticket. But, I will hang with you until about 350 words per minute. Exceeding that barrier will leave me with the impression that you are yet another lost narcissist with dreams of sugar TOC fairies dancing through your head.
Style, I consider myself a policymaker, although my wife seldom agrees. In argumentation, I like most arguments, however, I hate K debate when it turns totally ridiculous, i.e. time machines, comfort (keep your clothes on), pinkwashing, etc, I like theory arguments to be justified and tied to other arguments in the round that warrant their use. Humor is a plus when used appropriately.
I don't care about your WIKI. I won't ask you for your evidence after the round (Unless one of you is lying, then the liar loses). And, I don't care what your coach thinks. You're the one debating. Speak like your life depends on it.
In everything, ...decorum!
In the end, I want to think, wow he/she would make a great president, not argh, ...another cute dog catcher. Represent the sport well.
Let the games begin.
Experience: Teacher and Coach of Speech & Debate! Although I have a few years of experience I am BIG on public speaking skills!
What I look for: A speaker who keeps the audience in mind by applying speaking techniques that keep the listener interested. (Eye contact, non-verbal communication, body language is important to get an overall perspective of the speaker).
Each speech or performance needs the basics: intro, body conclusion.
For extempers, I love to see the waltz during your delivery.
I am always open for the speakers to find their own unique ways to make their topics interesting and purposeful! I am all about the persuasion and emotion behind a performance (THINK ethos, pathos and logos).
*Treat the round as a "communication experience" and remember to have FUN!!
For debaters, DO NOT spread during a round. I like to flow during rounds and understanding your arguments is most important.
I enjoy clash during CX and voter reasons! (Remember part of a debate is in the art of persuasion)
Put me on the email link chain dinaellis@paulhastings.com
Parent Judge. Please speak clearly, identify your main arguments at the beginning, and make clear transitions. I can't follow people that talk too fast, have too many citations or use debate lingo. I spent most of my career on Capitol Hill working on House Financial Services and Senate Banking Committees. I currently am an attorney at Paul Hastings where I represent fintech, crypto and blockchain companies before Congress and the agencies.
Mark your contentions or I can's follow the arguments.
Nuclear destruction is not something that I think is credible. Your arguments would have to be very good against the other team.
Facts matter but don't bring up brand new arguments at the end.
Hi my name is Reuben. I'm from Washington DC. I go to school at the University of Utah. This is my first time judging debate. My sister debates for Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS. Please speak slowly. If you don't understand basic government instituitions it won't bode well for you.
Experience
I am a new Speech and Debate coach, so I am still learning the ins and outs of each event. Feel free to clarify times, norms, or format for your event if you would like to. I have been teaching English for 10 years, so I know a great argument when I hear it.
What I like to see
I look for organization, logical arguments, and compelling examples. Dynamics in your pace, tone, and expressions are crucial. Being pointed but respectful during cross x is important! I prefer a roadmap and, ultimately, I am looking for the most logical well well-developed framework in debates.
What I don't like to see
I do not like to see overly aggressive behavior in cross x, logical fallacies, or extremism on either side. I do not enjoy speakers who fall into a monotone and expressionless script. Help me feel connected and passionate about your case!
Hey hey I'm Shannon! I competed in Pittsburgh for 3 years in high school in a traditional circuit and have been coaching at Fordham Prep since 2020. I understand most progressive stuff, but if you plan on running high level T's or insane RVI's with wacky interps thought my coffee order is an iced oat vanilla latte and I will need it to dissect what you are saying thank you.
Big believer that debate is a game, I just don't want to have to be the one to determine the rules of the game. Think how the rules of Uno change based on who you're playing with, I don't want to have to decide the rules of the round, every round.
please put me on the email chain, esp if you're spreading: scrodgers22@gmail.com
Please don't spread.
For Presiding Officers, I consider in the top half of rankings, provided they are seamlessly running an efficient chamber. I lower ranking based on blatant errors that run counter to the momentum of the session.
I have been involved in competitive speech and debate since 2005 as a competitor and a coach. While more of my time has been spent on the speech side of things, my primary events were Extemp and Impromptu. I have served as a debate coach for University High School in Normal, IL since the fall of 2015. I teach high school Oral Communication, Argumentation and Debate, Contemporary Rhetoric, and AP Language and Composition.
In terms of Public Forum Debate, I am looking for a combination of appeals to the average person as well as to a more nuanced audience. Progressive Debate strategies are OK, but the link to the resolution better be solid. I also am OK with some speed, but not full on spreading. If I can't hear/understand something, it doesn't make it on my flow. DO NOT BE AFRAID OF COMPLICATED ARGUMENTS, but you have to be able to explain them to a diverse audience. At the end of the day, links are everything! I need to see how your evidence actually links together and to your argument as a whole. I also want impact analysis. Explain to your judge(s) how and why your side will impact more lives, I won't do the work for you. If you are the second team to speak in a debate, I expect your Rebuttal to respond to the first team's Rebuttal as well as their case. Second summary is too late to bring in something new as your opponents will not have adequate time to respond. Please consider everyone impacted by a debate resolution. I do care if we are saving lives in the US or in another country. I am only a flow judge in the sense that if you do not mention something in your summary speech, I will not weigh it in my final decision, even if it is brought up in final focus. At the end of the day, I also want a professional debate. It is OK to get heated in the moment, but please refrain from crossing the line into completely unprofessional! Finally, in PF, please be ready to exchange evidence in a timely manner. (Oh, and I don't flow cross, so if something good is happening there, make sure you mention it in the next speech if you want me to weigh it).
In Speech, I am looking for the best combination of speaker and content. In Extemp, I am going to vote up students that answer the question and provide compelling evidence as to why that answer is true. I will vote those students up over the cleanest speakers every time if the cleanest speakers do not answer the question. In Oratory and Info, I am looking for an easy to follow structure and compelling delivery. I am OK with older sources as long as they are justified by the topic. In interp, I want to feel something. I typically vote up students that have a clear connection to their piece that connect with the audience in the room.
No off the clock roadmaps, your time begins when you start speaking.
Don't tell me you are going to begin, we all know why we are in the room. Just read the room, and start speaking.
Clear organization and signposts are important.
I am good with speed, I flow, and I allow just about everything. I prefer tech over truth, depth over breadth, and don't mind if you group arguments. I am an impact calculus junkie. I don't mind if you want to debate progressively or traditionally. I am open to all arguments. I don't like to set limits on how you debate because I want you to enjoy your round and try new things. I have entertained a conversation kritik (LD) and love letters to the ocean (CX) in the past. I still have my treasured flows from the Beetle Kritik (CX China Resolution). Don't make a mess, keep your arguments clear. Now for some specifics:
In Lincoln Douglas debate I only value the V & C if you do.
For those of you in Congress, I only have one thing to say: warrant your claims with credible evidence. I immediately drop you two ranks if you don't warrant your claims.
Bottom line: have fun and enjoy your rounds. Good luck!
Better than a lay judge but definitely not TOC finals panel material. I was a tech debater trapped in a trad circuit when I competed in high school.
Did IPDA in college. Was okay at it. Nothing spectacular.
Slow on taglines, authors, and sign posting. Spread on everything else. Stick to the order. If your speed exceeds my ability to follow along I will say “clear” or drop my pen.
I listen to the debate in front of me and hope that you are respectful, courteous, and inclusive with how you approach your opponent and the debate space (ie: please don't argue in favor of indefensible things, like racism, sexism, etc.). I flow each round, but am also fine with you consolidating or responding to the big picture if that's what you want to do (and if you want to do a line by line instead, that's fine, too).
A little about me: I have been a part of the speech and debate community for over 20 years, as a competitor, coach, and now state association leader. I've coached and judged every event from LD to CX to WSD at all different levels. Have fun, learn a lot, and be a good community member in round and I will, too.
⬅️Also, that is my dog, Petey. He serves no purpose other than hey, you might be a little stressed reading paradigms before your round and *look at his little face*.
I am a parent judge. Please speak clearly so I may best understand all your arguments. Place importance on rebuttals and empirical evidence in debate. Also place importance on logic.
My name is Diane Rosenblath. I'm a parent judge judging congress debate for the very first time.
I'm a member of the baby boomer generation, which means, yes, I'm very old, so I appreciate clear speaking and eye contact. I like seeing personality.
I appreciate decorum and old-fashioned good manners. If you are antagonizing or intentionally rude in the chamber, I will so note.
Although my education has been mostly in medicine, I have lifelong exposure to the legal system and politics. Please road map and be as clear as possible.
Today's youth inspires real hope for a promising future and I look forward to spending this exciting time with you this week.
I prefer a clean, traditional public forum round. I prefer that you debate the actual topic rather than theory or topicality. This isn't supposed to be policy. Good luck!
Public Forum:
Name: Tyler Ross
School Affiliation: Normal West
Number of years judging the event you are registered in: 10+
Please share your opinions or beliefs about how the following play into a debate round:
Speed of delivery- No auctioneer speed. A point I can't understand is a point loat
Format of Summary Speeches (line by line? big picture?)- no preference
Extension of arguments into later speeches.
Keep the winning arguments/ voting issues
Do you value argument over style? Style over argument? Argument and style equally?
Argument over style
If a team plans to win the debate on an argument, in your opinion does that argument have to be extended in the rebuttal or summary speeches?
Yes
If a team is second speaking, do you require that the team cover the opponents’ case as well as answers to its opponents’ rebuttal in the rebuttal speech?
Yes
Do you vote for arguments that are first raised in the grand crossfire or
final focus?
No
I was a public forum debater and extemporaneous speaker throughout high school. I have been judging for the past two years.
Rate of delivery has no impact on my voting decision. However, I’m only human and if I physically cannot comprehend your argument because you are speaking that fast, expect the argument to be missed
I will be keeping a rigorous flow throughout the debate. This means that during rebuttal I will expect debaters to move down the flow when attacking. Voting issues are necessary and expected. If neither side lists an argument as a voting issue, I will assume the point has been dropped.
I will make my decision based on who persuaded me on their arguments the most effectively. This means not only must you win the voting issue, you must make a case for why your voting issues outweigh your opponents.
Evidence is necessary, however I understand that there is evidence out there to prove virtually every point. These debates should not turn into “he said, she said” in terms of articles. Either be able to explain why your evidence holds more weight than theirs( in a more impactful statement than the date on the article) or move on.
I flow cross-examination and I do make note of who appears to take control of the time.
Keep the debate respectful. I have and I will drop debaters who are egregiously rude, arrogant, and demeaning to their opponents At minimum, rude and condescending debaters will lose speaker points.
I prefer off-time road maps.
Chris Rothgeb
Parkview High School, Springfield, MO
Head Coach
I currently coach the following events: Policy, LD, Public Forum, Congress, Interp (HI, DI, Duo, POI, Storytelling, Prose, Poetry, Duet Acting), USX, IX, OO, Info, Radio Speaking.
Former Assistant and Head Coach at Jefferson City High School, Jefferson City, MO
I debated Policy, LD, and PF in High School. I debated Policy for 2 semesters in college at Missouri State University. I have also judged NFA LD and College Policy/CEDA/NDT.
Policy Debate (below)
In high school and in college, I almost always gave the 1AR.
Role as the judge - I tend to not define what judge I am in a single term. Basically, whatever you present, I will listen to and evaluate that.
Flash Time - When someone is flashing evidence, NO ONE IS PREPPING!! I will count off your own prep time if you are prepping while someone is flashing.
Please provide me with the documents that you flash/email over. This makes my life a little easier and I can be a better judge for you.
If you are unclear, I will yell for you to be clearer. If you continue to be unclear, I will dock speaker points.
I will read evidence if I believe that it is important. Sometimes I do, and sometimes I do not. I will only read the un-underlined portion of evidence if it is brought up in the round and I believe it to be important to decide the outcome of the round. I don't usually do this though.
Topicality - I have voted on T in the past, but that does not mean I like it. If the aff is being blatantly untopical, then T is clearly going to matter. If there is no offense from either side, I will discard T. Make it count.
Theory - Theory debates are so tricky. I was never really exposed to theory until college and it still confuses me today. If you decide to go this route, make it count and explain it well. You do not have to dumb it down, but you need to explain it.
Kritiks - Again, I never debated K in high school. It just wasn't a thing in my circuit. I only did K debates in college because my partners wanted to. I never understood them which made it difficult to convey to the judge. This is important to know. If you do not fully understand your K position, then you cannot explain it that well to me. This presents a problem when it comes down to me making an evaluation of the round. The other thing I find with most K debates is that no one ever tells me the "why" component - or the Impacts. The theory behind the K may be super interesting, but what is the actual application to the round? If you cannot explain this, odds are I will have a hard time making the K matter in my decision.
AFF duties - You must read a plan in the 1AC. This is non-negotiable to me. Waiting until after the 1AC to read a plan is abusive and we just wasted 16 minutes of good speaking time.
Performance debates - I have only ever seen 1 performance debate in my entire career. I didn't vote for it. Not because it wasn't effective, but because they couldn't defend it. Keep that in mind.
Speed - I am "okay" with speed. Most people seem to think that if they read it fast enough, that counts. This is incorrect. If I cannot perceive your words, then I cannot digest the information that you are presenting. BE CLEAR!! Just because you can speak fast, does not mean that I can digest it that fast. I need to be able to understand what is going on in the round in order to make the most accurate decision after the round. On the standard 1-to-9 scale from the NSDA (with 1 being slow and conversational and 9 being rapid and fast), I would go with a 5. If you are speaking and I am not flowing, you are going too fast. I will tell you to be clear, but I will NOT tell you to slow down.
In-round K - I put Language K and Speed K here. Unless the other team is ACTUALLY being abusive, then this should NOT happen. Again, I need impacts.
Abuse - Potential abuse is not a reason to vote someone down. If you feel you were actually at a disadvantage in the round caused by the other team cheating, or what-not, then show that to me.
TL;DR - Impact your arguments.
Have fun with the debate! This is supposed to be fun! So enjoy it! A bad attitude is so easy to see for a judge and it makes me not have fun either. Then we are all sitting there with bad attitudes for an hour and a half. No one wants that.
I really enjoy case and DA debates the best. Impact analysis is always fun to judge. I will listen to all of your arguments - that I can promise you. But you need to make it count.
World Schools (below)
Summer 2022 is my first time judging WSD. All I ask is to be respectful towards each other with POI. Turning down too many points will lose some speaker points. Be sure to carry your arguments from the first speech all the way through (unless you are strategically kicking out of arguments). Make sure you are keeping the big picture in mind. This is a holistic debate -be holistic.
My name is Rachel Rothschild (she/her) and I'm the head coach of Laurel School in Ohio.
I competed in Speech in Ohio from 2015-18 and primarily coach speech events, but I've coached our district's World Schools teams for the last two years. I've also judged a lot of local LD and PF (meaning I've never judged circuit debate and I don't want to start now - sorry!).
WSD:
- Keep the debate jargon to a minimum
- Cohesion is key -- refer to your teammates and what they mentioned/will mention within their speeches as much as possible
- Evidence is useful and appreciated, especially in terms of examples and historical precedent, but logic is just as important (if not more!)
PF:
I don't have many preferences and will judge the debate based on a combination of how clearly you articulate and win your evidence and impacts.
Hard & fast rules:
- Under no circumstances should you read new evidence in the FF. That's just a PF rule, anyway.
- Please be respectful, especially in cross.
I am a coach of over 15 years for policy, pf, ld and all speech events at North Sanpete HS, Mission San Jose, Alta and Summit Academy, at Westlake High School and currently an Assistant Coach for Salem Hills High School.
In HS I competed in Speech events, LD and coached policy teams (there was no pf then).
I am the Chair for the NSDA Sundance District and former president for the UDCA. I have judged IE and debate events at the Nationals Level and have served on the pf wording committee. In other words, I know what I'm doing and know speech and debate very well!
I believe that you should give a well organized logical argument in any debate or speech. Topicality is imperative to a debate, and supporting and explaining your position on that topic is vital to a clear argument construct. If you don't say it, I didn't hear it. Don't assume I will know what your evidence means the same as you...
Policy debate should be relevant, and well understood by the competitors otherwise it will not be understood by the judges. I do not mind speed, but if it is so fast that I can no longer understand your words, then I can no longer understand your argument to judge it. K's and theory are fine as long as they go toward the overall value of the debate and topic. They should in no way demonize or devalue any individual or group of people asa part of the K. Analysis and connection of evidence/cards to the plan and solvency is imperative in making a good argument and being a good debater. Cards do not a case make, the debater does. Know your cards, know your plan, and know how they work to support and solve the inherency of the issues involved.
Public Forum should be a thoughtful discussion and not overly repeat questions and answers. Don't just read evidence and think it will make your argument for you. PF IS NOT just policy light....it is its own event with no plans and merits. Treat it well. Weighing and analysis of the topic, evidence, and oppositions arguments are imperative.
Lincoln Douglas should have a clear value and criterion from which to work from, and stay focused on topic and argument. Don't just read evidence and think it will make your argument for you. CARDS and EVIDENCE DO NOT A CASE MAKE...the debater does. Analysis, rebuttal, and connections to the value criterion are paramount in an LD round Plans are ok, as long as they are relevant, on topic, and are shown how they connect to the value criterion like any other argument in the case.
IEs should be unique, appropriate, and follow all structures outlined in their respective events. I look for organization, relevance, creativity and thoughtfulness as well as the presentation being engaging, and suitable for piece and audience. Remember when trying to engage an audience, one should want to help them understand, be brought into the conversation, and allowed to learn another perspective while still maintaining their own in the end. Try not to preach, demean, or ostracize your judge in your piece or presentation---even when controversial topic---they can be great, if done right.
I enjoy a spirited debate full of strong logical arguments, passionate presentation, and professionalism/civility between the parties.
Some competitors speak so fast, trying to get in as many words as they can. I find it more persuasive if you speak a bit slower, emphasize your main points, and walk me through your analysis point by point. I do not vote for spreading, critiques, counterplans, theory arguments, or tricks.
I served as team captain of my high school Speech and Debate team (Half Hollow Hills East, NY, 2003) and care deeply about the community. I've competed in LD Debate, Extemp, and Congress. I've also coached the Yeshiva High School of Arizona's We The People team. I currently work as a Prosecutor in Phoenix, and have previously served as a law professor, Dean of National Paralegal College, and Pro Tem Judge for the Trial Courts of Arizona and for the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Court.
You can learn a bit more about me here: https://mitchellhamline.edu/biographies/person/jeremy-rovinsky/
My personal email is rambam@gmail.com.
I have been judging individual events for approximately 27 years, and I love it! Over this expanse of time, I have been a head speech coach and assistant coach at the high school level. Not only do I have an English Education Degree, but one in theater as well. Additionally, I and have directed plays and musicals for approximately 15 years. As far as judging policy, debate, or congress, I do not have much experience.
When judging individual and duo interp events, I look for believability and connection to the story first. Next, when evaluating these events, I look for versatility in the performance. If you are performing a DI or an HI, I should be able to see the rising and falling of emotions. If your piece has multiple characters, you should have clean and crisp focal points and easily discernible voices. Duo partners should respond honestly to the actions of each other,and I should see chemistry even though you don't look at each other. I also look to see if you are playing your character objectives and actions beyond the text. In Program Oral Interp, I'm looking for the argument you are trying to make and smooth transitions from piece to piece along with skillful book work and movement throughout your piece.
When judging public address events such as OO, INFO, and Extemp, I look for a clearly defined outline for where your speech is going. I look for credible sources that support the thesis and purpose of your speech. Audience connection should be natural and used throughout your speech. Movement across the floor should also be natural and be motivated by the points in your speech.I look for thoughtful transitions and fluidity. With Extemp, answer the question you were given with relevant points and thorough evidence.
I have taken the NSDA judge trainings for all PA and Interp events.
I have been a debate coach for the last few years. I am experienced in both LD and PF. I prefer a conversational pace as opposed to spreading. You can easily speak so quickly that the merits of your arguments can go unnoticed. Above all, be respectful to your fellow competitor.
Emma has been coaching speech and debate for 8 years. Before coaching, she competed for 8 years in speech and debate. During her time in speech, she competed in categories such as HI, DI, Duo, POI, Prose, OP, Worlds Schools, and ADS, winning titles at both the state and national levels. Currently, she is in her 3rd year of teaching and is the director of theater at Fishers High School.
Speech and debate should be accessible. Excessive speed and stacked evidence alienate your audience (including judges). Pathos is often overlooked. Make me feel something (laughter counts!).
Citations should be functionally traceable. Simply saying a last name and a number is useless. Tell us, at minimum, the full year and the name of the source's container (i.e. the University of Michigan, the Department of Justice, the New York Times). If the source is not a household name, take a moment to legitimize it (i.e. the Watson Group, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank devoted to promoting holistic health).
Hello! I’m Morgan Russell and I am the head coach for Norman North High School in OK. We're relatively traditional style debaters, but part of my team does compete on the circuit 8 or so times a year. Before that, I competed in CX and PF in high school, assistant coached through college. So I’ve dabbled in it all.
Overall: My philosophy on debate whoever debates better should win. However, my personal opinion of arguments or strats shouldn't matter, so I default to weighing brought up by debaters whenever possible. I do believe Aff and Neg need to interact with each other's cases.
I’ll judge the round based off what you give me, and won't judge based off what I'd do, but what y'all did.
Add me to the email chain! morgannmrussell@gmail.com
LD: I think framework is important, but it’s not everything. You need evidence and solid analytics to back it up. I prefer we not spread, but I'm fine with some speed, if I can't understand I will say “clear” once or twice. From there, if it doesn’t make my flow, I can’t weigh it. I’m fine with Ks and Plans in LD.
PF: PF was made to be more accessible, so I don’t like when it gets too new wave. It’s not “mini-policy.” You can use debate jargon, but don’t just read cards the whole time. I need impact calc.
CX: It’s all fair game. As far as spreading, I’m okay but with Zoom it’s more difficult to understand. I will say “clear” once or twice if I can’t understand. From there, if it doesn’t make my flow, I can’t weigh it.
I debated in High School and College and am in my seventh year coaching.
I have experience in judging Policy, LD, Parli, PuFo, World Schools and Congress. My primary experience is in Policy.
Address for the email chain: chris.ryan@lmusd.org (this is a relic that may completely disappear soon).
Judging Preferences:
I am big on courteous debate. A national champion or top talent must to be able remain professional under all circumstances, whether debating other top talent or a heavy mismatch. I can and will drop arrogant debaters for violations of decorum (ie disrespecting of any participant in the room, competitor, judge or otherwise). No one should leave a round and be discouraged because of how they were treated by their opponent(s). Similarly, partners that write speeches or handle all of the CX are not "partners". When will your partner learn if they are not given the chance to succeed or fail on their own merits?
I enjoy hearing creative arguments/positions but am not willing to follow you down a rabbit hole with weird authors and alt philosophies.
Policy Specific:
I would like a well debated round. The resolution is for conflict between the Aff and the Neg. Speed should not be at the expense of logic and well crafted arguments. Barfing cards or precanned responses is not debate (declaring ASPEC does nothing for me). Just because you've shared your case/evidence doesn't mean that you can be unintelligible in the pursuit of speed. I can understand speed (and regrettably deployed it as a student) I just don't think that it furthers our activity (unless auctioneer is your desired profession). Explain why your arguments are important and how they create a narrative to capture my ballot. I can be convinced to evaluate kritiks but pleasedon't test my patience.
I typically am a policy making critic.
LD Specific:
I prefer classic LD that warrants deep philosophical thought about a topic. I'd prefer if it not devolve into single competitor policy debate, (ie, plans, counter-plans and kritiks).
Jay Rye - Head Coach - Montgomery Academy
Experience- I have been involved with L/D debate since 1985 as a former L/D debater, judge, and coach. I have been involved with Policy debate since 1998. I have coached Public Forum debate since it began in 2002. I have served as part of the CAP for World Schools Debate at the NSDA National Tournament for the last 3 years, and I have judged, while limited, some Big Questions Debate over the past 6 years. While at many tournaments I serve in the role as tournament administrator running tournaments from coast to coast, every year I intentionally put myself into the judge pool to remain up to date on the topics as well as with the direction and evolving styles of debate. I have worked at summer camps since 2003 throughout the United States.
Philosophy
I would identify myself as what is commonly called a traditional L/D judge. Both sides have the burden to present and weigh the values and/or the central arguments as they emerge during the course of the round. I try to never allow my personal views on the topic to enter into my decision, and, because I won't intervene, the arguments that I evaluate are the ones brought into the round - I won't make assumptions as to what I "think" you mean. I am actually open to a lot of arguments - traditional and progressive - a good debater is a good debater and an average debater is just that - average.
While for the most part I am a "tabula rasa" judge, I do have a few things that I dislike and will bias me against you during the course of the round either as it relates to speaker points or an actual decision. Here they are:
1) I believe that proper decorum during the round is a must. Do not be rude or insulting to your opponent or to me and the other judges in the room. Not sure what you are trying to accomplish with that approach to debate.
2) Both sides must tell me why to vote "for" them as opposed to simply why I should vote "against" their opponent. In your final speech, tell me why I should vote for you - some call this "crystallization" while others call it "voting issues" and still others just say, "here is why I win" - whatever you call it, I call it letting your judge know why you did the better job in the round.
3) I am not a big fan of speed. You are more than welcome to go as fast as you want, but if it is not on my flow, then it was not stated, so speed at your own risk. Let me say that to the back of the room - SPEED AT YOUR OWN RISK! If you have a need for speed, at the very least slow down on the tag lines as well as when you first begin your speech so that my ears can adjust to your vocal quality and tone.
4) I am not a big fan of "debate speak" - Don't just say, cross-apply, drop, non-unique, or other phrases without telling me why it is important. This activity is supposed to teach you how to make convincing arguments in the real world and the phrase "cross-apply my card to my opponents dropped argument which is non-unique" - this means nothing. In other words, avoid being busy saying nothing.
5) Realizing that many debaters have decided to rely on the Wiki, an email chain, or other platforms to exchange the written word, in a debate round you use your verbal and non-verbal skills to convince me as your judge why you win the round. I rarely call for evidence and I do not ask to be on any email chain nor will I accept an invitation to do so.
6) I do pay attention to CX or Crossfire depending on the type of debate. Six to nine to twelve minutes within a debate are designated to an exchange of questions and answers. While I don't flow this time period, I will write down what I believe might be relevant later in the debate.
Jay Rye - Head Coach - Montgomery Academy
Experience- I have been involved with L/D debate since 1985 as a former L/D debater, judge, and coach. I have been involved with Policy debate since 1998. I have coached Public Forum debate since it began in 2002. I have served as part of the CAP for World Schools Debate at the NSDA National Tournament for the last 3 years, and I have judged, while limited, some Big Questions Debate over the past 6 years. While at many tournaments I serve in the role as tournament administrator running tournaments from coast to coast, every year I intentionally put myself into the judge pool to remain up to date on the topics as well as with the direction and evolving styles of debate. I have worked at summer camps since 2003 throughout the United States.
Philosophy
I would identify myself as what is commonly called a traditional L/D judge. Both sides have the burden to present and weigh the values and/or the central arguments as they emerge during the course of the round. I try to never allow my personal views on the topic to enter into my decision, and, because I won't intervene, the arguments that I evaluate are the ones brought into the round - I won't make assumptions as to what I "think" you mean. I am actually open to a lot of arguments - traditional and progressive - a good debater is a good debater and an average debater is just that - average.
While for the most part I am a "tabula rasa" judge, I do have a few things that I dislike and will bias me against you during the course of the round either as it relates to speaker points or an actual decision. Here they are:
1) I believe that proper decorum during the round is a must. Do not be rude or insulting to your opponent or to me and the other judges in the room. Not sure what you are trying to accomplish with that approach to debate.
2) Both sides must tell me why to vote "for" them as opposed to simply why I should vote "against" their opponent. In your final speech, tell me why I should vote for you - some call this "crystallization" while others call it "voting issues" and still others just say, "here is why I win" - whatever you call it, I call it letting your judge know why you did the better job in the round.
3) I am not a big fan of speed. You are more than welcome to go as fast as you want, but if it is not on my flow, then it was not stated, so speed at your own risk. Let me say that to the back of the room - SPEED AT YOUR OWN RISK! If you have a need for speed, at the very least slow down on the tag lines as well as when you first begin your speech so that my ears can adjust to your vocal quality and tone.
4) I am not a big fan of "debate speak" - Don't just say, cross-apply, drop, non-unique, or other phrases without telling me why it is important. This activity is supposed to teach you how to make convincing arguments in the real world and the phrase "cross-apply my card to my opponents dropped argument which is non-unique" - this means nothing. In other words, avoid being busy saying nothing.
5) Realizing that many debaters have decided to rely on the Wiki, an email chain, or other platforms to exchange the written word, in a debate round you use your verbal and non-verbal skills to convince me as your judge why you win the round. I rarely call for evidence and I do not ask to be on any email chain nor will I accept an invitation to do so.
6) I do pay attention to CX or Crossfire depending on the type of debate. Six to nine to twelve minutes within a debate are designated to an exchange of questions and answers. While I don't flow this time period, I will write down what I believe might be relevant later in the debate.
WS
I have been a coach for over 20 years, but like most people (especially on the East Coast) I am relatively new to this event.
I will do my best follow the NDSA norms and judge with 40% content, 40% style, and 20% strategy. I believe that the debaters should provide their own warrants based on statistics and examples. Do not spit evidence. I value debaters that can think on their feet and clearly explain their arguments.
Not a fan of a team standing constantly for POIs, but a couple of well thought out and timed POIs are appreciated. Also unless otherwise noted or argued in the framework, I will assume the motion is global.
PF
Good with speed up to a point, if you go blazing and I miss it, I can't weigh it.
I need each team to tell me why they think they won the round, so I don't have to figure it out on my own.
I have no strict rules about what has to be said in summary, but I expect consistent argumentation. Something from the first four speeches should not just pop up in the final focus as a voter.
It is important that your evidence says what you say it says. If the debaters make a card(s) important to the round, I may call for evidence.
I prefer that you do not do off road time maps, if you choose to do one please keep it short.
Be respectful to your competitors. I enjoy a good debate, however you still need to be kind and respectful of others views and opinions. Do not get snarky with each other or talk too fast.
For Congressional Debate, I am focused on clear organization, impacting, and NO breaking cycle.
I care about argumentation and analysis more than most all else. I emphasize the flow, and care about the credibility of evidence. I'm not the biggest fan of theory debate for the sake of theory debate. I prefer topic centric debate.
I have about 10 years of experience in the speech and debate world. I primarily exist in speech land, but I have judged a lot of debate and love a strong argument and good links. That being said, I enjoy when a speaker can clearly articulate their arguments, and use delivery based methods of persuasion to help sway the ballot.
I am always hopeful for a debate where there is a lot of clash, and a clear path to the ballot.
I love when debaters give me voters and a clear articulation of why they believe that they have won the ballot.
I competed in Speech and Debate for all four years of high school in just about every event/debate and have coached for 6 years now (again, coaching all events/debates). In all debates, I'm looking for solid analysis, logic, and advancement of arguments. If your opponent responds to your argument, please do not refute their response by once more citing your original argument/evidence. Advance the discussion and provide additional analysis, evidence, etc. I also value good organization and sign posting as you speak. If you don't see me writing or if I'm making a funny face, you're probably speaking too fast, and I can't understand you. Debate is about communication. Remember that your number 1 priority should be to communicate effectively.
LD Specific Paradigm:
Lincoln Douglas is all about framework, framework, framework. I want a good clash that focuses on framework. Please do not nitpick the tiny differences in framework, but if your framework differs, you need to discuss why yours is preferred. If they're virtually the same, that's fine. Show me why you uphold the framework better. I want solid logic and analysis. I'm not writing down your evidence tags because, quite frankly, I don't care to have a discussion on sources. I want you to connect back to your framework and focus on the conceptual ethics. Please, do not give me an off the clock road map. We know you're going to talk about your opponent's case then rebuild your own or vice versa. There's not a lot of surprises here.
CX Specific Paradigm:
For policy, I want to hear good, well-developed arguments at a speed that I can actually follow. I'm looking for strong links, clear impacts, and solid analysis. I'm not impressed by how quickly you read other people's arguments. I'm looking for how you synthesize evidence into a compelling argument for the specific round. The winning side will have consistency in speeches and arguments throughout the round and spend time weighing arguments and explaining why their arguments are superior. I do not want to be on the email chain. I believe firmly that debate is an oral communication activity, and if I have to read to understand your argument, something has gone very wrong with your communication. Please make sure you're clearly sign posting verbally so that I know what you're addressing.
Please do not spread. I cannot follow. A great strategy for me is to read tags slowly and then speed up on evidence (as a former LDer, I prefer your argumentation over your evidence anyway). I don't know all the CX jargon and acronyms. Be kind and explain what you're talking about. Ex: "Our first off case is a Plan-Inclusive-Counterplan, or PIC." <--That would have been such a helpful line in the first couple rounds I judged. If I can access the round, I will engage fully. I'll nod when you have me, smile when I think you've said something really smart. If you start to lose me, you'll see me squint and lean forward. Eventually, you'll lose me completely if you don't correct, and you'll know that because I'll stop typing/looking at you.
PF Specific Paradigm:
Public Forum debate should be universally accessible. I'm looking for kitchen-table debates; I'm not looking for policy on double speed. Your evidence should enhance your argument, but it shouldn't BE your argument. I'm looking for good analysis and links to an overall claim that is reasonable and easily understood. I do not want a bunch of stats thrown at me or a book of expert opinions: I want to hear you synthesize the information and explain it to me. Public Forum debaters should refrain from overly-cumbersome jargon and consider their audience as more of a "town hall" style. Please, do not give me an off the clock road map. We know you're going to talk about your opponent's case then rebuild your own or vice versa. There's not a lot of surprises here.
Pronouns: he/him
Email chains: Yes, please add me. johnsamqua@gmail.com
speech drop is fine as well.
TLDR:
I coach.
I don't coach that many fast teams. Clarity is what I put the most stock in.
Speed=4-6/10
Debaters that clean messy debates up will get my ballot.
I understand the K to a serviceable degree, but I wouldn't stake your hopes on winning on it in front of me unless you're just miles ahead on it.
Experience:
I competed in Kansas in both speech and policy debate for 4 years in high school. I did not do debate in college. It has been over a decade since I've been in a competitive round.
I've judged and coached for 10 years. I tend to judge infrequently.
Judge Philosophy:
Generally: Run the things you want to run. My background basically makes me a policy hack. If you want to read something out of my wheelhouse just make sure you have good explanations. I coach teams that compete on a mostly traditional (meaning there's an emphasis on communication, and the debates are much slower) debate circuit, where it is seldom we see that type of argumentation. However I have coached a handful of varsity teams that do contemporary varsity style debate and I'd say they're pretty damn good. Put it this way, I got absolutely cooked in a demonstration debate we did for the novices. I may not be the most qualified judge when it comes to very fast and very technical debating.
Inclusion: I think that the debate space should be accessible to everyone, and if you engage in behaviors that negatively affect the people in the round then I will vote you down. I do not care if you are winning the debate. It's simply over. I've voted teams down in the past for being rude, racist, sexist or otherwise problematic. Just don't be a horrible person, don't talk over people, if you must interrupt try to do it politely.
Style: It's seldom that I see really good line by line. The more organized that you are during your speech the better chance you have of winning in front of me. Otherwise it's hard for me to parse where one argument ends and another begins and things get missed which is going to cause you to be not happy with me. Basically I'm saying that you're the master of your own destiny here.
Delivery:
Speed 4-6/10 (please interpret this as I'm not great with speed)
I emphasize clarity
If I'm on panel with other judges that can handle more speed, I understand if I get left in the dust.
I mostly coach teams that are slow.
Argument Specific:
Disads: Yes.
Counterplans: yep.
T: yep. If you're going for it, make sure you spend a lot of time on it!
K: I have pretty limited experience with K's. But that doesn't mean you should avoid them in front of me. My wheelhouse in terms of critical theory is Cap, and Biopower.
Theory: This is usually very hard for me to wrap my head around unless it's something like a spec argument. But also if we're reading spec then maybe you've already lost? Condo debates are just really hard for me to render a decision on. Like why is it my burden to do the heavy lifting here?
National Tournament Paradigm Available through National Tournament Site.
Beyond the filled out card NSDA requires, I'm interested in accessible debate. Don't gatekeep the activity by making it harder to understand. (This is especially applies to K's, some kinds of Theory, speed/spread, and unnecessary jargon that clutters the debate space). Every time you use the phrase "cold concedes", J Scott Wunn sheds another tear.
Debate IS an educational communication activity first and foremost. To that end, passing a card to your opponents and not reading it aloud, or any other version of the debate being "on paper but not verbal" (which includes reading at a pace that exceeds public retention of ideas) is a self-defeating practice in the activity that I strongly discourage. If you're right, but you can't articulate it in a way someone who has never watched a debate before can appreciate, it doesn't matter!
If you can't trust your partner to give their speech without your constant input, don't do a team debate. I want to vote for good teams, not someone trying to carry or someone who is too controlling to maintain decorum.
In every form of debate, there should be detailed voting issues!
If you cannot appear civil, it doesn't matter if you're right in a space like this. People don't want to listen to shouting. Decorum is a part of debate, always.
More words don't make better arguments.
Judging Paradigm:
I. Core Values:
- Clarity and Control:
- I prioritize clear and controlled speech over sheer speed.
- Logical Persuasion:
- My vote will be based on compelling evidence and logical arguments that demonstrate a clear advantage.
- I will not be swayed by mere assertions; reasoned analysis is paramount.
- Roadmaps are appreciated for clear organization.
- Professionalism and Courtesy:
- Debaters should maintain a courteous and professional demeanor towards teammates and opponents.
- Represent your school with pride and respect.
- Passion and Engagement:
- I value debaters who demonstrate genuine enjoyment and passion for debate.
- I value debaters with a strong understanding of their case.
II. Key Evaluation Areas:
- Case Construction and Argumentation:
- I will evaluate the strength and relevance of the debaters' case construction.
- I will focus on the logical coherence and evidentiary support of their arguments.
- I will not tell you how to debate, I am looking for the debaters to show me they are the clear winner.
- Speaking Skills:
- While not the sole determinant, effective speaking skills are important.
- Clarity, organization, and persuasive delivery will be considered.
- Crossfire Utilization:
- Crossfire should be used strategically to expose weaknesses in the opponent's arguments.
- Asking clarifying questions or demanding repetition is an inefficient use of time.
- Crossfire is not a time to try and sell your case.
- Evidence and Logic:
- The strength of evidence and the logic of arguments are the most important factors.
- I will be looking for relevant and sound arguments.
III. Decision-Making:
- My decision will be based on which team presents the most compelling and persuasive case, supported by strong evidence and logical reasoning.
- I will not be giving teams instructions on how to win my ballot.
- I want the debaters to show me, why they won the round.
IV. General Guidance:
- "Show me that you are the clear choice based on compelling evidence and a logical argument."
- "Ask questions that help your case."
- "No matter what, you're already a winner for choosing debate as your passion!"
Debate Experience
Law Magnet High School: 2012-2016
The University of Texas at Dallas: 2016-2019
Former assistant debate coach at Coppell HS: 2018-2024
sanchez.rafael998@gmail.com - I would like to be on the email chain :)
Specifics:
Case: You should read it. Lots of it. It's good, makes for good debates and is generally underutilized. Impact turns are best when they are debated correctly.
Topicality: I enjoy T debates. If you're looking for a judge willing to pull the trigger on T, I'm probably a good judge for you.
DAs: DAs are a core debate argument and I love judging DA(& CP) v. case debates. Specific DAs are always a plus, but obviously that's not always possible. I tend default to an offense/defense paradigm.
Counterplans: A well thought out specific counterplan are one of the strongest debate tools that you can use. I will vote on almost any cp if you can win that it is theoretically legitimate and that it has a net benefit.
Kritiks: I have a pretty good grasp of a lot of the more popular Kritiks, but that isn't an excuse for a lack of explanation when reading your argument. But be aware that if you are reading more PoMo/high-theory args, you might have to explain the arg a bit more.
K AFFs: I have no problem with teams running untopical affs but this doesn't mean that I wont pull the trigger on FW, you still have to win the affs model ow the negs model of debate.
Theory: I have no problem voting on theory if it is well warranted. I honestly believe affirmative teams let the negative get away with a ton of stuff, and shouldn't be afraid to not only run theory but to go for it and go for it hard.
*Note for online debates: I'm very forgetful and my keyboard is loud af, so if I forget to mute, remind me to mute myself if the keyboard noise is being bothersome.
quest.sandel@ascendspeech.org for any and all questions. Please CC your coach if you reach out with a question. This paradigm is written for Congressional Debate.
Hey,
I am the Founder/Camp Director/Co-Owner at Ascend Speech & Debate, Director of Congressional Debate at James Logan High School, and former Director of Speech and Debate at John F. Kennedy High School in Sacramento, California.
First off, I believe this is a debate event before anything. That means you should be adapting to the round as it goes. Everyone from the sponsor to the closer has an equal shot at my one as long as they do their job. The job for the sponsor and first negative speaker is to set up the round for strong debate. The sponsor should state the problem, how this bill fixes the problem, give one or two impacts from solving it, and if you're a superstar give me a framework for the round moving forward. The first negative should give us the main idea of what we should expect from a strong negation argument. This should take the problem the sponsor laid out and then give us the negative thought process on whether or not this legislation fixes it. After that I should see an increasing amount of refutations mixed with original arguments as to why this legislation is good or bad. Once we are 3/4 of the way through I should be seeing a lot of extensions as the debate is coming to an end. Still give an original POV but keep it within the frame of the debate. At the end, I should see nothing but refutation and crystalized speeches. Once again I want your own original analysis but use it to end the debate through a refutation of the other side instead of individuals. No matter where you speak I want to see your personality/style shine through. Take risks and you'll likely be rewarded.
All effective argumentation is based around a solid understanding of the status quo. If you cant properly depict the status quo then I cant buy an argument from you. What's happening right now? Is the effect that this legislation has on it good or bad? How well you answer these questions will dictate your ranking from me.
Effective cross examination is when you attack the flaws in your opponents argument or set up refutations for your own. As long as you have a clear goal for your cross examination period, I'll appreciate your time. Overall, I tune out when both sides start over talking each other and I prefer a calmer style of cross x.
When it comes to speaking I don't have a preferred style. I can respect all styles as long as it suits you. Picking a speaking style is like picking a baseball batting stance in that there isn't a wrong way as long as you're doing what is best for you based on your natural voice, range, and variation. If you stick to that then I'll probably think you're a great speaker. DONT BE AFRAID TO TAKE RISKS.
I do rank presiding officers pretty well as a scorer and if I'm a parli it can serve as a tie breaker between two debaters. If you do it well then I'll boost you but if you don't then I'll drop you pretty far.
This next part should go without saying but your arguments need to be backed by evidence at all times and have clear logic behind them. Remember that your logic creates the argument then the evidence backs it up. Your evidence isn't your argument.
Lastly, be respectful and have fun. If you aren't having fun then you're doing this activity wrong. Best of luck!
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Policy:
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Background: I debated HS Policy for 4 years, but it was way back when Policy was centered around case/stock issues and quite a bit simpler than most Policy is today. I didn't hear the word "condo" or "PIC" until I was already a man... by then they were nothing to me but blinding. I'm interested in all the "new" Policy arguments and have tried to learn and understand them, but it would probably still be best for advanced Policy debaters to consider me lay, maybe flay at best.
Paradigm: Tech>truth and tabula rasa. I view Policy debate as a verbal strategy game. I can be persuaded to view it some other way. I can be persuaded of almost anything in Policy.
Arguments: I'll vote on anything you can explain, win, and weigh (as long as it is not completely reprehensible or clearly harmful to people in the round). Policy should be a space where we can question assumptions that we would probably not question in other debate formats. I'll vote on Ks but you will need to explain the argument in a way that a layman can understand. If you are going to tell me in a K that your "buddy is without Oregons" with no further explanation of what that means, I feel bad for you and your buddy both because you are probably going "de lose". Explain what you mean clearly and I am fine with Ks. I am open to non-traditional cases as long as there is some way for something resembling a debate to still take place and there is still some way for me to evaluate the round.
Speed: I prefer moderate speed, I give no speed warnings, and I don't flow any words that are not clear, so it would probably be strategic for you to only go 80% of your full speed with me. I am of only average intelligence and average flowing ability, and I would hate to vote the wrong way because I missed a good argument you made because you were going too fast for me to understand or flow it. I don't like making a bad decision any more than you like receiving one; help me help you. I don't look at doc files unless a piece of evidence has been called into question.
How I evaluate the round: I vote on the impacts that got extended into the final speeches, weighing them according to the weighing mechanisms I was instructed to use within the round.
Keep it civil: I will never vote down a rude debater just for being rude, but I will add your grandma on Facebook and message her and tell her how rude you were being and she will be very disappointed, so please be courteous to everyone in the round.
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PF:
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Background: I debated HS Policy for 4 years, but it was way back when Policy was centered around case/stock issues and quite a bit simpler than most Policy is today. Back then it kind of resembled what we would see today in fast PF rounds. So I feel pretty at home in most PF rounds.
Paradigm: Tech>truth in PF, but unlike with Policy I will not believe statements that are plainly untrue, so maybe tech≈truth. In general I think Policy-style debate should stay in Policy and PF should be its own thing.
Arguments: There is nothing wrong with running an obvious contention and simply researching it to death, in fact I think that is the clearest path to victory in PF. Unique oddball contentions are fun though. Please don't run really weird definitions or frameworks that attempt to trickily obliterate the opponent ground or make the resolution tautological, all this accomplishes is to make the entire debate about your definition, which is not fun or educational for anyone. I won't believe that the framers intended the resolution to be interpreted in a way that makes debate impossible for one side. That said, if you get hit with something weird, I expect you to engage with it and debate it. Please don't just tell me something is against the rules; in reality the rules for all styles of debate are pretty vague and open to interpretation, so give me a better reason to vote against squirrely arguments than an appeal to the rules. I am personally open to non-traditional cases as long as there is some way for something resembling a debate to still take place and there is still some way for me to evaluate the round, however I would strongly discourage you from running silly meme cases when the judge panel includes volunteer judges from the community; in this case, it actually does real harm to our activity.
Speed: Speed good... up to a point. Rounds that are too slow often end up lacking substantive argument and just becoming "talk pretty" competitions, while rounds that are too fast become speed reading competitions and then fall apart dramatically and disastrously during final focus when there is not enough time to collapse your arguments properly and summarize the round in a way that makes sense. So I recommend aiming for a medium "goldilocks" speed. Try to cover the whole flow and keep your voters extended throughout the round, BUT also don't be afraid to let your opponent have some things and go for what you are winning. There is never enough time in PF to cover everything, so be very careful not to get sucked into wasting time on the wrong arguments. Know what you have hopelessly lost and don't waste your time repeating an answer from an earlier speech that is not going to win the clash anyway, let that argument go and focus on something else that you can win.
Theory: I'd prefer not to hear theory unless there is a real reason for it. I am certain there are situations that warrant the use of theory, but do not think theory should be in every PF round. My opinion on paraphrasing in PF is that it is probably fine in the abstract and is not fundamentally different than highlighting evidence or inherently abusive. But in practice, paraphrasing often has the unfortunate consequence of speeding up PF rounds too much and making them very difficult to flow. Due to lack of taglines, a paraphrased PF case read with speed can be more difficult to flow than a Policy case read at the same speed. PF should not be harder to flow than Policy, that is just silly. But I am open to being persuaded either way on paraphrasing good/bad. I'm unlikely to vote on trigger warning theory unless there is an egregious issue in the round that the theory is addressing. I'm neutral on disclosure.
How I evaluate the round: I vote on the impacts that got extended into the final speeches, weighing them according to the weighing mechanisms I was instructed to use within the round. If the round comes down to an unlikely nuke war impact vs a smaller more likely impact, I would love to see some debate on how the relatively small likelihood of a nuclear war should be weighed against a smaller but more likely impact. There are good arguments on both sides, but if nobody makes them, this type of round becomes hard to evaluate fairly. Don't make me try to decide between apples and oranges on my own, please do the weighing for me.
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LD:
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Background: I debated HS Policy for 4 years. I've coached and judged some trad LD. I have near zero exposure to progressive LD. I do not have a strong knowledge of philosophy.
Paradigm: Tech>truth in LD, but unlike with Policy I will not believe statements that are plainly untrue, so maybe tech≈truth. In general I think Policy-style debate should stay in Policy and LD should be its own thing. But with that said, I am okay with judging a progressive LD debate if both competitors can agree before the round that they want to debate progressively. If not, I default to a traditional perspective on LD.
Speed: Moderate speed is fine.
Theory: I'd prefer not to hear theory unless there is a real reason for it.
How I evaluate the round: I see two separate but related debates taking place in LD:
The first debate decides which value/criterion is most important when considering the resolution. This debate can be won by analyzing the resolution, using examples or thought experiments, preempting, subsuming or underlying your opponents value, using logic, getting admissions in CX, etc. Winning this part of the debate does not mean that you win the round, but it lets you set the weighing mechanism for the rest of the debate since your value/criterion will become the standard that all impacts are weighed against.
The rest of the debate centers around whether we should affirm or negate the resolution, when considered in light of the winning value/criterion. I look at the impacts that were extended into the final speeches and decide which weigh most heavily under the winning value. If the winning value is justice for example, I look at whose arguments best achieve justice. If you have a great nuke war impact but you do zero work relating it to justice, it has zero weight, I will not do the work of relating impacts to the value for you.
If you think there is no strategic reason to defend your value over your opponents, you are more than welcome to kick your own value and concede to your opponents value and then simply tie your arguments to their value and outweigh them on their own value. There's no shame in that.
Email for cards, cases and what you need to send me: emma.sasser9@gmail.com
*This makes it very easy for me to flow and follow along in your case! Please send me your stuff!*
I don't know prog debate, so if you choose a prog case run at your own risk. I am unlikely to vote on disclosure. I am a trad judge, if you are not discussing the resolution I am unlikely to vote for your case.
Please be early to your round as possible! We should be ready to go when the posted time arrives!
Joke debates are fine during the last prelim round. I have a very high threshold for extinction, it needs a really good link chain.
LD Debate: I will not give a verbal RFD, you will see it online. I will disclose (even when disclosure is optional)
World Schools: I will talk to you after the round once I disclose
I never did debate in High school or college.
Do not spread, its hard for me to follow.
I do not care if you sit or stand, do what is comfortable for you.
Please be respectful during the debate, only use your phone when it is pertinent to the debate/timing, and then just use your common sense and be respectful in general, don't call abuse unless an abusive action as occurred.
Info about me: I was a high school competitor and have done LD for about 2 years. I know the rules and I will not tolerate any harassment or abuse during a round. This is mainly for personal attacks, and if this happens, it will be an automatic loss and taken to the tab room. Keep the debate civilized.
For speed, I do not mind if you are talking fast, be careful do to the tournaments being online. I do not allow spreading in my rounds. If you are speaking to fast for me, I will signal you to slow down
I do flow my rounds, so if I am looking down, I am still paying attention. I also listen to cross and that may be included with my judgment, however please don't only use the cross for clarification, makes the debate lose speed and clash.
For arguments, I am looking for a logical debate from both sides, I do not want a debate over definitions, or only framework, debate the cases as a whole. Evidence is encouraged for attacking and blocking, however do not rely on it entirely, too much information is just as bad as too little. If you are going to use hypothetical, please don't give the most extreme because that is unrealistic and brings down the debate.
ALL TOURNAMENTS: I learned of the topic the morning of the tournament. PLEASE assume I know nothing. I havent judged a round in a year, I am a washed up cooked has-been. Treat me like a flay judge.
Background:
Competed in Public Forum @ Cypress Bay HS (2013-2017)
BA in Political Science @ University of Central Florida (2017-2021)
MA in Bioethics, Tech Ethics and Science Policy @ Duke University (2021-2022)
AML Investigator @ Goldman Sachs (2023-Present)
PF (If you have me for another event go lay) Paradigm
- Look, I know NSU is a tech school and all, but they hire me to coach lay debate i havent cut a card in maybe 8 years (but like ive been around the circuit so i sometimes know what's going on) . if you're spreading or speaking too fast i probably wont catch a lot of it and will probably look confused
- if possible, number your responses so i know if I missed anything
- Set up email chains/preflow before the round. I am a big believer in sending case docs to make it easier for everyone but I won't force yall to do so. You'll get a bump in speaks if you do. sharansawlani@gmail.com and uschoolpf@gmail.com
- Please don’t shake my hand.
- Please collapse. Quality of voters> Quantity of voters.
- Weigh, weigh, weigh, weigh, weigh. Which weigh? Dat weigh.
- READ and SEND cut cards. paraphrasing is whack. i wont penalize you for it but if the other team reads theory or tells me to evaluate paraphrased evidence as analytics and not real evidence, and you dont respond, it's going to be a really uphill battle.
- Your final focus should be telling me what to write on my ballot. If i don’t have to spend time thinking about how im voting after the round, you and i will both be happy (half of you at least).
- Apparently this needs to be clarified now but regardless of speaking order, in the rare situation where there is no offense on either side at the end of the round I will presume neg.
If you have any other questions feel free to email me sharansawlani@gmail.com or ask me before the round provided your opponents are present as well. Hated my decision? send all complaints to Slam@jd25.law.harvard.edu and hold nothing back.
I am the head debate coach at James Madison Memorial HS (2002 - present)
I am the head debate coach at Madison West HS (2014 - present)
I was formerly an assistant at Appleton East (1999-2002)
I competed for 3 years (2 in LD) at Appleton East (1993-1996)
I am a plaintiff's employment/civil rights lawyer in real life. I coach (or coached, depending on the year) every event in both debate and IE, with most of my recent focus on PF, Congress, and Extemp. Politically I'm pretty close to what you'd presume about someone from Madison, WI.
Congress at the bottom.
PF
(For online touraments) Send me case/speech docs at the start please (timscheff@aol.com) email or sharing a google doc is fine, I don't much care if I don't have access to it after the round if you delink me or if you ask me to delete it from my inbox. I have a little trouble picking up finer details in rounds where connections are fuzzy and would rather not have to ask mid round to finish my flow.
(WDCA if a team is uncomfortable sharing up front that's fine, but any called evidence should then be shared).
If your ev is misleading as cut/paraphrased or is cited contrary to the body of the evidence, I get unhappy. If I notice a problem independently there is a chance I will intervene and ignore the ev, even without an argument by your opponent. My first role has to be an educator maintaining academic honesty standards. You could still pick up if there is a path to a ballot elsewhere. If your opponents call it out and it's meaningful I will entertain voting for a theory type argument that justifies a ballot.
I prefer a team that continues to tell a consistent story/advocacy through the round. I do not believe a first speaking team's rebuttal needs to do more than refute the opposition's case and deal with framework issues. The second speaking team ideally should start to rebuild in the rebuttal; I don't hold it to be mandatory but I find it much harder to vote for a team that doesn't absent an incredible summary. What is near mandatory is that if you are going to go for it in the Final Focus, it should probably be extended in the Summary. I will give cross-x enough weight that if your opponents open the door to bringing the argument back in the grand cross, I'll still consider it.
Rate wise going quick is fine but there should be discernible variations in rate and/or tone to still emphasize the important things. If you plan on referring to arguments by author be very sure the citations are clear and articulated well enough for me to get it on my flow.
I'm a fairly staunch proponent of paraphrasing. It's an academically more realistic exercise. It also means you need to have put in the work to understand the source (hopefully) and have to be organized enough to pull it up on demand and show what you've analyzed (or else). A really good quotation used in full (or close to it) is still a great device to use. In my experience as a coach I've run into more evidence ethics, by far, with carded evidence, especially when teams only have a card, or they've done horrible Frankenstein chop-jobs on the evidence, forcing it into the quotation a team wants rather than what the author said. Carded evidence also seems to encourage increases in speed of delivery to get around the fact that an author with no page limit's argument is trying to be crammed into 4 min of speech time. Unless its an accommodation for a debater, if you need to share speech docs before a speech, something's probably gone a bit wrong with the world.
On this vein, I've developed a fairly keen annoyance with judges who outright say "no paraphrasing." It's simply not something any team can reasonably adapt to in the context of a tournament. I'm not sure how much the teams of the judges or coaches taking this position would be pleased with me saying I don't listen to cards or I won't listen to a card unless it's read 100% in full (If you line down anything, I call it invalid). It's the #1 thing where I'm getting tempted to pull the trigger on a reciprocity paradigm.
Exchange of evidence is not optional if it is asked for. I will follow the direction of a tournament on the exchange timing, however, absent knowledge of a specific rule, I will not run prep for either side when a reasonable number of sources are requested. Debaters can prep during this time as you should be able to produce sources in a reasonable amount of time and "not prepping" is a bit of a fiction and/or breaks up the flow of the round.
Citations should include a date when presented if that date will be important to the framing of the issue/solution, though it's not a bad practice to include them anyhow. More important, sources should be by author name if they are academic, or publication if journalistic (with the exception of columnists hired for their expertise). This means "Harvard says" is probably incorrect because it's doubtful the institution has an official position on the policy, similarly an academic journal/law review publishes the work of academics who own their advocacy, not the journal. I will usually ask for sources if during the course of the round the claims appear to be presented inconsistently to me or something doesn't sound right, regardless of a challenge, and if the evidence is not presented accurately, act on it.
Speaker points. Factors lending to increased points: Speaking with inflection to emphasize important things, clear organization, c-x used to create ground and/or focus the clash in the round, and telling a very clear story (or under/over view) that adapts to the actual arguments made. Factors leading to decreased points: unclear speaking, prep time theft (if you say end prep, that doesn't mean end prep and do another 10 seconds), making statements/answering answers in c-x, straw-man-ing opponents arguments, claiming opponent drops when answers were made, and, the fastest way for points to plummet, incivility during c-x. Because speaker points are meaningless in out rounds, the only way I can think of addressing incivility is to simply stop flowing the offending team(s) for the rest of the round.
Finally, I flow as completely as I can, generally in enough detail that I could debate with it. However, I'm continually temped to follow a "judge a team as they are judging yours" versus a "judge a team as you would want yours judged" rule. Particularly at high-stakes tournaments, including the TOC, I've had my teams judged by a judge who makes little or no effort to flow. I can't imagine any team at one of those tournaments happy with that type of experience yet those judges still represent them. I think lay-sourced judges and the adaptation required is a good skill and check on the event, but a minimum training and expectation of norms should be communicated to them with an attempt to comply with them. To a certain degree this problem creates a competitive inequity - other teams face the extreme randomness imposed by a judge who does not track arguments as they are made and answered - yet that judge's team avoids it. I've yet to hit the right confluence of events where I'd actually adopt "untrained lay" as a paradigm, but it may happen sometime. [UPDATE: I've gotten to do a few no-real-flow lay judging rounds this year thanks to the increase in lay judges at online tournaments]. Bottom line, if you are bringing judges that are lay, you should probably be debating as if they are your audience.
CONGRESS
The later in the cycle you speak, the more rebuttal your speech should include. Repeating the same points as a prior speaker is probably not your best use of time.
If you speak on a side, vote on that side if there wasn't an amendment. If you abstain, I should understand why you are abstaining (like a subsequent amendment contrary to your position).
I'm not opposed to hearing friendly questions in c-x as a way to advance your side's position if they are done smartly. If your compatriot handles it well, points to you both. If they fumble it, no harm to you and negative for them. C-x doesn't usually factor heavily into my rankings, often just being a tie breaker for people I see as roughly equal in their performance.
For the love of God, if it's not a scenario/morning hour/etc. where full participation on a single issue is expected, call to question already. With expanded questioning now standard, you don't need to speak on everything to stay on my mind. Late cycle speeches rarely offer something new and it's far more likely you will harm yourself with a late speech than help. If you are speaking on the same side in succession it's almost certain you will harm yourself, and opposing a motion to call to question to allow successive speeches on only one side will also reflect as a non-positive.
A good sponsorship speech, particularly one that clarifies vagueness and lays out solvency vs. vaguely talking about the general issue (because, yeah, we know climate change is bad, what about this bill helps fix it), is the easiest speech for me to score well. You have the power to frame the debate because you are establishing the legislative intent of the bill, sometimes in ways that actually move the debate away from people's initially prepped positions.
In a chamber where no one has wanted to sponsor or first negate a bill, especially given you all were able to set a docket, few things make me want to give a total round loss, than getting no speakers and someone moving for a prep-time recess. This happened in the TOC finals two years ago, on every bill. My top ranks went to the people who accepted the responsibility to the debate and their side to give those early speeches.
In Congressional Debate, I am a big proponent of a well structured speech that includes a thesis and preview of your points. It goes along way to help me score your speech when I have a roadmap. I will be looking for CLAIM, WARRANT, and IMPACT each time. Please have cited evidence to support your claim but also provide real-world impact for your argument so it shows that it matters. Anything else will sound just like an opinion speech.
I believe that being a clear, concise speaker is integral part of Congressional Debate. I prefer quality speeches over the number of speeches given.
I value clash and non-repetition. Avoid rehashing the same arguments and please refute the points of specific representatives and show how you differ by pointing out specific arguments. I want to hear the debate advance and not get stuck on the same point. I will lose interest no matter how well-spoken of a speaker you are.
Be clear and concise during the question and answer period. Above all, be respectful and kind to each other during this process.
I expect the P.O. to be fair administering the parliamentary procedures. Make sure you call on people fairly. I will be understanding when it comes to other procedures that arise and it can be a tough task.
I expect professionalism and proper decorum throughout the session. No bigotry or disrespect of your fellow representatives will be tolerated.
Have fun and make it an enjoyable round! Stand out and give unique arguments. Be passionate and confident because that will come through and make me more engaged.
I am an Assistant Coach for Milpitas High School. I have been judging since 2009. I have judged mostly LD and Public Forum and some policy. I PREFER persuasive delivery, NOT speed. I flow every round, but I do not flow at spread speed.
My Preferred Pronouns: she/her
For all debaters:
When you are speaking, stand up. I've noticed in some rounds that competitors do not even stand up and just sit and stare at their computers and talk as fast as they can. With me, their speaker points would be incredibly low for this. (Under 15) - This is a big no-no. Always stand up during your speeches. I WILL give low speaks for not standing during speeches.(You do not have to stand during grand crossfire in PF- this is the only exception).
Will I disclose results? Is it required? No? Then probably not. I will write feedback on the ballot though, including an RFD and other relevant information for you to read. I am a flow judge. Keep that in mind and try not to drop things on the flow.
LD
For novices:
I look for logic, good evidence, and DO NOT drop contentions. Support your value and criteria well with your contentions - there needs to be a link.
For Varsity:
Speed: No spreading. I do not flow spread speed. If you spread, I will not get everything you are saying down and I'm a flow judge. I've had top seeds lose a round to low seed because two judges split their decision and I was the deciding judge and the top seed spread the round. Just do not spread in a round with me if you want to win the round.
I do not have a particular philosophy concerning what I will vote on. If you can convince me, I'm open to it. This means almost anything... I'm open to theory, philosophy, Kritiks...If you are running a K, It may be more difficult for you to convince me but not impossible. IF you run a plan or CP though, keep in mind that I will judge you like I judge policy debates and I am a stock issues judge for policy - that means you have to meet ALL FIVE stock issues in order to win on AFF. (Topicality, Solvency, Harms, Inherency, and Significance). If you drop one or lose one, you lose the round. Also, do remember to be at least borderline respectful of each other. Stand up during speeches and during cross ex or I give reduced speaker points.
Public Forum
Always have framework. If you don't have framework, be prepared to consent to whatever framework your opponent lays out and prove that your case supports their framework better. Framework matters.
Be sure to have evidence to back up your claims (that you can show when asked for it by opponent or judge). Make sure you attack your opponents case as well as offer your own. Just offering your own case without attacking your opponents is not enough to win usually. I look for logic as well as evidence when attacking an opponent's case - it's always good to use both to support your own case and to attack your opponent's case. I like tags and cites and DATES. Use credible evidence. If I do not hear an author/date, I typically just write "blah blah" or "no source" on the flow, since I assume you are saying it yourself and it is not coming from a source. Do not cite Fox News or Wikipedia. Also do not use Huff Post unless you are saying the author name and credentials. Do not drop things on the flow. As a flow judge, that means if you drop something, you agree with it.
Policy
I have some experience with judging policy. I do not like speed. Speak clear, and in a reasonable pace or I will not be able to keep up with what you say and judge accordingly. If I put down my pen (or stop typing if I am using my computer at the time) while you are giving a speech and stare at you, it's because you are talking too fast and I can not write anything - it's a hint to slow down or you are not getting credit for anything you say. (In other words, do NOT spread with me). You do not have to talk slow though, as I've been judging for 5 years and can keep pace reasonably well.
I am a Stock issues judge and I generally follow this paradigm.
I do not have an issue with tag team cross ex. I also do not have an issue with flex prep. (Asking questions for clarifications during your own prep time)
Parli
Generally speaking AFF sets up how the round will be run in Parli debate. Depending on what type of debate AFF decides to run, see above on how I judge each type of debate. I'm a pretty consistent judge so if you run a plan count on me judging like I judge policy debate. If you run a Value debate, count on me judging you like I judge LD and so on.
I have a background in debate, having competed at the high school level in both policy and Lincoln Douglas debate - (including at state and national tournament levels). I also competed in speech events including extemp, original oratory & storytelling.
I have been judging Public Forum for the past five years. I would say I am a purist to the idea that the debate should be directed to the well-informed citizen. So, I can follow speed/spread to a point, but I would strongly prefer the debaters concentrate on clear communication, solid analysis and reasoning - skills that will serve them well beyond debate! I particularly look for analysis, strong speaking skills, and development of clash in the debate.
I am a traditional debate judge. I like clash, weighing of arguments, and substantive, not blippy arguments. I do not believe that Kritiks and theory have any place in PF debate. Speed should be reasonable. I can handle speed, but again, I don't think it belongs in PF.
I focus the most on the summary and final focus speeches where the debaters should be funneling the round down to the key issues and comparing and weighing them.
I am new to BQ. Because of this I want to make sure I give everyone a fair shot. A few things that I am looking for is a good mix of fact based and anecdotal evidence to support your position. Additionally I expect you to treat your opponent with respect and dignity. At the end of the round I expect you to tell me why I should vote for you. If you fail to do so you may not like the way I vote.
Good luck and have fun!!!
I competed in policy in high school and in NDT for four years in college. However, my high school years were 1981-85, and my college years were 1985-89. Since that time, I coached national level policy debate from 1992-2007, and then retired for 13 years. From 2020 through 2023 I have been coaching LD for Edina HS. I have also been a labor and employment lawyer (representing employers) since graduating from law school in 1992.
I believe debate is a verbal activity. I will flow your speeches and will yell clear if I cannot understand you. If I yell clear, slow down and ensure that I am tracking your speech. I will not flow based on your speech doc. I will consult the speech doc if there is a dispute about what evidence says.
Given my policy history, my default evaluation is policy in orientation. However, I'm more than willing to evaluate a debate based on a philosophical framework or a kritical/in-round framework. I am not a big fan of tricks debate, as I apply a Toulmin-style evaluation of arguments and expect a claim, data and warrant, and in my experience a lot of tricks debate arguments lack the data and warrant elements of a Toulmin argument. However, I do judge the debate based on the flow, and I've certainly voted on a lot of theory arguments in my time.
I think debate is a wonderful activity and I value everyone's contribution and participation. As a result I will react negatively to any conduct or argumentation that devalues or diminishes debaters. If you're rude, nasty or mean, expect me to reduce your speaker points. If your rudeness or nastiness is related to gender, race or some other protected characteristic, expert me to reduce them a lot.
I love to watch debaters having fun. It's a great activity. Try to enjoy it.
schmittkyla@gmail.com
BIO
Hey, I'm Kyla! I did speech and debate throughout high school (class of '20); I spent the most time in public forum, but I also did some parli, a little policy, and (once) BQD. Now, in college, I do CARD—which is pretty much just policy for schools that don't do policy.
PARADIGM
Housekeeping
Yes, I'm fine with off-time roadmaps (page order only, please), self-timing, and open cross (just don't abuse it, and don't talk over your partner when they are the lead examiner/examinee). Speed is cool, but I dislike spreading that lacks clarity (i.e., please make sure you're saying intelligible words). I'm generally not going to flow off the email chain—it's your job to be understandable and clear in your speaking about the things you really want me to factor into my decision.
Philosophy
I strive to be tabula rasa, unless whatever you’re saying exceeds my most generous levels of reasonable doubt. In other words, I'll do my best not to let any implicit argument not made in the round influence my decision—however, I will also not vote on arguments that I know to be blatant misinformation (e.g., that the "median American voter" would know to be untrue). That being said, it's still your job as debaters to oppose these arguments when you encounter them. I'll probably make a note of it on your ballot if you don't.
As for what I personally value, evidence is important and I will weigh it as such, but I LOVE analytics and would much rather hear incisive analysis in your own words than just a bunch of cards read at me. I will pretty much automatically like teams that actually engage in substantive in-round clash, evidence analysis, etc.
Speech Organization
Throughout the round, please signpost and be organized in your responses and extensions. I love a good, orderly line-by-line analysis, and I strongly dislike not knowing where to flow your arguments (I’m coaching/judging a debate tournament—there’s a 99% chance I’m going to be sleep-deprived, so make your arguments easy to follow). If you have time, overviews are great. In your last speech, be clear about why you've won. Voting becomes harder (and more biased) when you don't give me explicit, technical reasons why I should vote a certain way. Substantive voters, impact calc, or comparing worlds are a few good ways to do this. My personal preference is for impact calc.
I was a policy debater in high school and college, but have been coaching other formats for the past 20 years. I would prefer that you don't speak too fast, as my ear is no longer able to catch everything like it once was. This doesn't mean you have to speak at a conversational pace, just that if you go too fast, I am likely to miss things on my flow.
I will only read evidence after a round if there is a debate about what it actually says. This means you are responsible for articulating the warrants within your evidence throughout the debate if you want those warrants evaluated. Author name extensions are useless in front of me, as unless you are debating about someone's qualifications, it won't matter in my decision calculus, and a name on my flow is nowhere near as useful for you as using that time to articulate the argument itself. Quality of evidence only factors into my decision if there is a debate about why it should.
I will vote in the way I am told to. If there is no debate over the method for deciding between competing claims, I will usually default to voting for the team that wins more arguments overall.
LAST UPDATED: NOV. 4, 2023
My previous paradigm preferences are four years old at this point and likely outdated. I have deleted them for now.
I am likely much, much worse at flowing these days than I was when judging all the time. I have been a tournament tab resident for years on end now, and that likely means I'm not as up to date on new progressive developments in rounds.
Here's what I'll say:
- Don't treat me like I'm a dummy, but don't presume I understand everything you're saying. I need you to do the work of explaining arguments, articulating impacts, and explicitly weighing within the round.
- I expect that a PF team going 2nd will have a rebuttal that both answers the opponent's case and rebuilds their own. Any argument not addressed in the 2nd team's rebuttal is a conceded argument, and if the first team makes it a voter, that's likely ballgame (assuming there is offense on the argument for the 1st team).
- I'm watching everything, but if you don't make it matter, it doesn't matter.
- In PF, I'm not going to break my back to follow you at a thousand miles an hour, so if you're fast, I'll give you one verbal "CLEAR" in the round to let you know you're leaving me behind. I will not feel at all responsible for what you might think is a bad decision if the way you're speaking disregards my ability/inability to follow and flow you.
- I expect clear and explicit voters in the final speeches.
- I'm not at all impressed by debaters who are jerks to opponents. This is a community, and everyone in it should be a steward of that community. Decorum, in extreme cases, is a voting issue for me, and I do consider my ballot my greatest means of discouraging outlandish and abusive behavior.
- I want full text reading of evidence, not paraphrasing. Upon the request of the opponent, cards not provided in a reasonable timeframe will be disregarded as if they don't exist.
If you have any specific questions, ask them pre-round.
kschwab@pinescharter.net
I've been coaching and teaching Debate (as well as the AICE courses Global Perspectives & Thinking Skills) for the past 14 years.
For LD/PF/Policy
Even though I have experience on the circuit and enjoy different types of cases, I am not a buyer of the belief that the technical should rule because sometimes format is not as important as content & understanding what you are running. I would consider myself a truth over tech although it will come to the clash provided not my own opinion on the truth. I will stick to the flow unless someone gives me a good reason to vote for them that is true and benefits the debate/educational event. I believe that kritiks, theory, LARP, etc... are all beneficial to learning and play into strategy, so I will vote in favor of anything IF you are able to prove the link is logically clear and strong enough in regards to what your opponent says is the reason for why I should not accept.
I do NOT have a preference for framework/cases - I've heard almost every kind by now and all types have won and lost my vote. Extinction impacts bore me without link work done, so I'd appreciate you at least have some linked harm impacts before extinction level even if final impact is extinction.
I can handle speed (even spreading) pretty well by now - if there is an issue with understanding or hearing I will say "clear" and will also check cards at the end for anything I missed...but please keep in mind that there are certain aspects in a construction that maintains well with speed and other areas that don't (i.e. - if you need me to understand how a philosophy or theory applies then allow me to absorb each part before rushing to the next because those are building block arguments, so missing one part can make the whole thing fall).
Congress:
This is a role playing event - I would like you to act better than our current congress :) I'm big on arguments... not on summation evidence (the kind that is just a quote that someone said the same thing as your claim). I like you to talk to us...be charming or intelligent or both if you really want my top scores. I love this event because when it's good it's so good. Have fun, be smart, and don't leave the chamber during session unless an emergency - there are plenty of breaks and I appreciate when students that don't take extra ones. Overview below:
Speech score based on: intro purpose, argument basis & hard evidence warranted, impacts clear...answers in questioning can impact your speech score. - not a fan of "I'm sure you can tell me" or responding in anger. Remember you are trying to prove your knowledge on topic and convince others to vote with you.
I am new to judging Policy Debate.
Four of my children have been ardent Policy Debaters, so I had some exposure over the years. I have a keen interest in international politics and history. As a foreign born US resident, my expertise of the US political system is considerable.
Some of my preferences:
An argument should be reasonable and nuanced: Not everything ends up in Fascism and world destruction -- though I am the first to admit that some things do.
In rebuttals the best speakers truly address the other side's argument. This requires careful listening and thinking on your feet. Assuming that you know what the other side will argue can lead to poor rebuttals.
Finally, I find quotes convincing if the quoted person is a widely accepted expert on the situation or the person is a stakeholder and decision maker themselves. E.g., about an economics issue, Milton Friedman qualifies as an expert and Jerome Powell as a decision maker. However, I may not know enough about Sarah Tinkler, Professor of Economics at Portland State University, to evaluate a quote by her.
I, at one time, was a Speech and Debate competitor. That was more than 20 years ago. I do not work in education but love giving back to my speech and debate community. The skills I learned during and preparing for competitions have lasted my lifetime and I can honestly say I have used them in my current profession, teaching Nuclear Operators.
When Judging debate, I flow well but if I cannot understand you, because you are speaking too fast, I cannot judge you. Evidence is important, it is also crucial how you apply the evidence in your arguments. This is also a speaking competition so tone of voice and meaningful gestures should be used. I have judged BQ, LD, and PF most often.
When Judging IE, I look for meaningful gestures, good differentiation of character voices, and how the entire piece fits together. I also appreciate the emotion and energy used in delivering your selection.
ASK ME ABOUT THE TEXAS DEBATE COLLECTIVE AND/OR THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON HONORS DEBATE WORKSHOP
EMAILS - yes, “at the google messaging service” means @gmail.com
All rounds - esdebate93 at the google messaging service
Policy - dulles.policy.db8 at the google messaging service
LD - dulles.ld.db8 at the google messaging service
QUICK GUIDE- My preferences/self-assessment. You are free to decide that I am great/terrible for any given form of argument.
Policy - 1
Kritiks - 1
Topicality/Framework - 1
Philosophy - 2
Theory - 3
Tricks - Strike
ABOUT ME
I am currently the program director at Dulles High School, where I also teach AP Psychology and AP Research. I primarily judge Policy and LD. I've been in debate since 2007 and have judged at every level from TOC finals to the novice divisions at locals; you are not likely to surprise me. I have no significant preferences about the content of your arguments, except that they are not exclusionary in nature. I like research dense, content heavy strategies. As such, I am best for Policy v Policy, KvK, substantive phil debates, and Clash Debates. Quality of evidence is more important than the quantity of evidence for me. I believe that Aff teams, regardless of style choice, must identify a problem with the status quo (this can be the state of the world, the state of thought, the state of debate, or something else) and propose some method of solving that problem. I believe that Neg teams, regardless of style choice, must disagree with the viability, desirability, and/or topicality of that method.
DECISION MAKING
I am deciding between competing ballot stories in the 2NR and 2AR, evaluating their veracity and quality using my flow. Tech > Truth, but blatantly untrue things are harder to win. Spin control > me reading a card doc, but I will read evidence if the spin is roughly equal in quality. Judge instruction is the highest layer of the debate. Speaks start at 28.5 and move up or down from there. 30s should be rare, it is unlikely you earned it. Don't ask for one.
THINGS I CARE ABOUT
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Respect for Others - Don't be a jerk. Use people’s preferred pronouns, provide accommodations when they are requested, be prompt and ready to go at start time, and be mindful of the power dynamics in the room. I will defer to how the aggrieved party wants to handle the situation should an issue arise. If I’m not picking up on something, let me know.
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Investment - Apathy sucks. Caring about stuff is cool. Whether you’re more invested in saying stuff that matters or chasing competitive success, I just want to see that you care about some aspect of the thing you are giving up a significant amount of time to do. Take notes during feedback and ask questions.
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Transparency - I believe that disclosure is generally good, as it enables people to read, think and prepare better (obvious exception for when it raises safety issues). Don't be a jerk about it with people who don't know better. Shiftiness and lying are bad. If you are reading arguments that implicate the desirability of transparency, that is perfectly fine. This is just a starting point.
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Flowing - Do it. Preferably on paper. Definitely not in your opponent's speech document. If you answer a position that was in the doc but was not read, your speaks will be capped at 26.5. There is no flow clarification period. If you're asking questions, it's CX or prep time.
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Clash - Compare warrants and weigh. Rehighlights are fine, but your speech should explain why it matters. I am not sympathetic to strategies that attempt to dodge clash, like tricks. Specific links, counterplans, topicality interps, etc. are way better than generics. K links should quote the aff.
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Line by Line Organization - The negative team sets the order for arguments on the case page. The affirmative team sets the order on off case positions. Number or label your arguments as you go down the flow. Overviews are fine, but your whole speech should not be a blocked out overview with no attempt at line by line argument/evidence comparison. Jumping around between pages is extremely annoying and will impact speaker points.
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Debating the Case - Both the affirmative and negative teams should center the case. If you’re aff, the case should go first. If you’re neg, don’t treat the case page like an afterthought, and certainly don’t focus solely on the impact level. Contest uniqueness, link, internal link, and solvency claims. Making the case page K 2.0 with nothing but cross-applications is both boring and unstrategic.
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Judge Instruction - The top of the 2NR/2AR should be what you want my ballot to say. Tell me how I should be thinking about arguments and their interactions. Tell me what matters most. When Neg, anticipate 2AR arguments, prime me for skepticism, and tell me where which lines to hold. When Aff, assume I'm voting Neg, figure out why I would vote Neg, and beat that ballot.
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Complete Arguments - Arguments have a claim, warrant, and implication. I will evaluate arguments, not isolated claims. If you make a warranted claim without explaining the implication for the debate, you invite intervention.
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Projection and Enunciation - I like fast debates, but if you are unclear I am not going to pretend like I understood you and flow it.
Other than these 10 things, don’t overadapt. Do your thing, do it well. Feel free to ask any questions you have before we start, and I'll do my best to answer.
I coach at American Heritage and have been coaching privately for 6 years now. My email for speech docs is: Stevescopa23@gmail.com.
General: I'm tech > truth, read whatever you want. I have a low threshold for extensions of conceded arguments but they need to be extended in each speech. Also, if I don't think an argument has a warrant I won't vote on it. Speaks are inflated by good strategy and execution and capped by how bad i think your arguments are. If you're reading a bunch of unserious nonsense you might win but most likely won't get good speaks.
- I default to truth testing if no other RoB is read.
- I don’t evaluate embedded clash unless there is an argument as to why I should or the round is irresolvable without it.
- I do not believe you get new 2n responses to AC arguments unless an argument is made for why you get those arguments in the NC.
- Even if something is labeled an independent voter, if there is no warrant for why it is one, I won’t evaluate it as such.
Theory: Go for it - this is probably one of the easier things for me to judge, and I really enjoy judging nuanced theory debates. Slow down on the interpretation a bit if it’s something more nuanced.
T: T debates weren’t nearly as nuanced when I debated so you may have to explain some of the particulars more than you may be used to. Otherwise should be fine.
T “framework”: To be honest I am agnostic on whether affs should be T. I probably lean yes, but I also find non-T affs pretty interesting and fun to judge at times.
Tricks: Sure, but speaks might suffer depending how they're executed and how dumb I think they are.
Ks: I really enjoy a good K debate. Especially psycho, baudrillard, nietzsche, and warren. The more specific the links the better.
Larp: Probably the worst for this but will listen to it, just need to explain things a little more than you normally would. It is probably an uphill battle to win util vs other phil or Ks but possible if that's your thing.
Framework: This is my favorite type of debate and really want it to make a comeback. Great speaks if you can execute this well and/or read something that interests me.
Speaks: I average probably a 28.5. I assign them based on mostly strategy/execution with a little bit of content, but content can only improve your speaks not make them worse really (with the exception of disclosure probably). I like unique and clever arguments and well executed strategy - I would not advise you to go for a tricks aff if you are a larp debater just because I am judging you, do what you do well to get good speaks. Also, if I can tell your 1ar/2n/2ar is pre-written your speaks will probably suffer.
How do I get a 30?
I won’t guarantee a 30 based on these strategies but it will definitely increase your chances of getting one if you can successfully pull off any of the following:
1) Going NC, AC really well with a phil NC
2) A good analytic PIC
3) Any unique fwk/K/RoB that I haven’t heard before or think is really interesting
4) A true theory shell or one I haven’t heard before
5) Execute a Skep trigger/contingent standard well
6) Successfully going for an RVI
Lay debates: If you are clearly better than your opponent and it is obvious that you are winning the round, please, dear lord, do not use all of your speech time just because you have the time - win the round and sit down so we can have a discussion and make it more educational than just you repeating conceded arguments for 13 minutes.
Sorry for being really extra about Congress. I just want to make it clear what I think of each speech
Congress
I judge a lot of Congress. Congress to me is half speech and half debate. The best congress students have a mix of both qualities. I find myself in prelim rounds and local tournaments frequently rewarding better speakers because there is a greater talent disparity in those rounds, and kids who are phenomenal speakers break. However, you likely are only reading this if you are a student who takes Congress seriously and expects to get into break rounds. Here’s the thing, once you are in Congress break rounds, everyone is a good speaker and the gap between 1 and 12 is really often negligible to me. Therefore, if you expect to make it into the top 6 and move on, you have to give the appropriate speech at the appropriate time. Here is how I classify different speeches. Each one is judged differently
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1st Aff/Authorship/Sponsorship
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Judged to a higher evidence standard since you are literally setting the table for the entire round
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Needs exceptional structure and argumentation. This should read like a debate case in PF/LD. No claim should go unwarranted, no argument should lack a variety of strong evidence, the impacts should be clear and heavily emphasized
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Speech is generally easier since it is prepared in advance, so this speech needs to be very well written
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1st Neg
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Same standards as the 1st Aff/Authorship/Sponsorship
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Difference, you must directly refute what the previous speaker stated. You do not need to refute everything necessarily (although better speakers will), but you should definitely pick out whatever was the key point of their case and directly refute.
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2nd Aff/2nd Neg-7th Aff/7th Neg (roughly, this depends on chamber size)
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Speeches need to address what is happening in the chamber. A good rule of thumb is to always address the claims of the speaker who went right before you plus the key issues of the round up to that point. If you are not making the debate unique by refuting previous speakers and extending previous speakers from your side, you will have a tough time being ranked top 6
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Unique arguments are great and you should draw attention to them. However you are not going to win the debate with a rando argument at the very end with limited impacts. Unique arguments are not a replacement for refutation and extension of previous speakers
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Closing Affs and Negs (like the last 4 speeches or so)
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Crystalize/Weigh voting issues. At the end of a cycle of debate, it needs to be like a final focus in PF or a 2AR in LD. Isolate the key issues of the round and explain why your side is winning. Speeches that do not weigh this late in the cycle do not add anything to the debate and are judged as unnecessary.
General Congress Speaking Tips
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Remember to always use decorum and professionalism
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Be consistent in the language you use (don’t flip between bill and legislation randomly)
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Important. At the end of the day, you are acting. You are a legislator, not a high school student. You are a legislator whose personal worth is attached to either the passage or failure of this bill because of how it affects the United States citizens. You delivery and disposition should be that of someone who is desperate to see its passage or failure. Show me this is important to you
Role of Cross Examination
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I am not paying attention to how many questions you guys ask. I am only really paying attention to the person’s answers. Cross ex should be a time you try to get the opponent to make concessions or show the judges they don’t really know what they are talking about. Be aggressive, but be respectful
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Ask lots of questions though. I may not be noting it down, but if you ask a lot of questions, I’ll remember that and it can be used to break ranking ties
Evaluating the PO
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If the PO does the following, I am going to rank them top 3 no matter what
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Maintains excellent professionalism and decorum
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Showcases strong knowledge of parliamentary procedure
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Maintains control of the chamber
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Makes no mistakes with recency or frequency
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One more thing to point out. Running an effective chamber also involves encouraging motions in order to continue facilitating legitimate debate. If there are 3 negs in a row with no Aff, and the debate has been done to death - you should be actively asking for motions and reminding the chamber about how we frown on one sided debate and can move on
One final note about Equity
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It is important to be fair to everyone in the chamber. However, this is a competition. You are trying to destroy your opponents and proceed in the tournament. You have no obligation as competitors to ensure all speakers get to speak the same number of times. Now I will admit, other judges may frown on this - so it is risky behavior. I am just letting you know that I will not take points away because you force a motion to call the previous question and end debate when the debate is clearly over and keep someone from speaking.
- Tabroom will not let me eliminate this stray bullet
LD/PF Paradigm
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Speed kills. Spread at your own risk.
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In LD, you need to win the framework to win the debate
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Case needs to tell a cohesive story. You should not include arguments that don’t function under your framework for the sake of just having extra offense
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You have to weigh the debate
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Respect your opponent. Ideally you should be stone faced when your opponent is speaking and never snicker or make any comment of any kind. I’ll drop you
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Voting issues. Gotta have them. What are the key issues of the round in your view? How do I know what to vote off of if you don't tell me what matters?
- There is no 7, tabroom will not let me backspace
Speaker Points
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If you are competent and minimize mistakes, you automatically finish with 28.5 speaker points (29 if decimals are forbidden). To improve on that, there need to be zero mistakes, zero arguments that go unrefuted, clear weighing of impact analysis, etc. If you get lower than 28.5, it means you missed something somewhere. I’ll try to put it on the ballot. Overall, if you do your job, you are not finishing with less than 28.5. Going to be honest though, I can't tell you what a 30 is. You have the impress me in some way that I really can't quantify
IF YOU ARE READING THIS, THAT MEANS I AM (PROBABLY) YOUR JUDGE. YIPEE!!
*:・゚ ₍ᐢ•ﻌ•ᐢ₎*:・゚
HE/SHE/HIM/HER
BACKGROUND: Debated for four years for Horizon High School in Arizona, graduated 2019 and now I judge for Collegiate Academy in New York. I mostly ran performance/queer rage Ks in high school, if that matters to anybody reading.
CRASH COURSE: The floor is truly yours, run whatever you like I want to hear it!! Please explain your complicated lit, I really hate having to read a bunch of fine print in order to judge the round.Oh my gosh please please please use speechdrop.net I ABSOLUTELY DESPISE EMAIL CHAINS THEY TAKE SO STINKIN' LONG. STOP. I am fine with spreading, but please pause and emphasize important bits of your speeches. Card tags/authors, impacts, links, anything that you think NEEDS to be on my flow, take .5 seconds to pause and emphasize. Even raising your voice helps if you dont have the time to pause, it really helps me out on my flow. WEIGH WEIGH WEIGH, IMPACT ANALYSIS IS KEEEEYYY to winning my ballot! Also please extend, otherwise I will LITERALLY drop anything you did not extend by the end of the round.
PF: I never really was a PF person, so it's hard to say what I like to see in a PF debate. My big thing is impact analysis, I don't really care for "my evidence is better than YOUR evidence" debates. I feel like a lot of PF debates focus too much on things that don't really affect /my/ ballot (how recent your evidence is, statistics, etc.) which I personally don't like, but I also know thats just part of the event.
FRAMEWORK: I love me some good framework debate. If you're running traditional I think you should REALLY focus in on framework.Please, add some extra meat to your framework beyond "value: [BLANK], criterion: [blank],"I want to know why you chose your framework and how it fits into the round before you even get into contentions.
LINKS: To me, anything is a link. And Imean anything.You tell me it links, and I'll believe you.That is not the same for delinking, please tell me why a link is BS and I will believe you.Too many debaters have simply tried to tell me "this doesn't link, drop the argument," without telling mewhyit doesn't link.
IMPACTS: You need to really hammer in why your impacts win the round!! EVEN WITH EXTINCTION IMPACTS, TELL MEWHY IT MATTERS.YOU CANNOT JUST GIVE ME EXTINCTION IMPACTS AND EXPECT ME TO VOTE FOR YOU WITHOUT DOING THE PROPER WEIGHING!! Magnitude, scope, whatever,weigh. all. of. the. impacts. in. round.
PLANS/COUNTERPLANS: I'm lukewarm on plans, I think if you're gonna run a plan it should be very fleshed out otherwise why not just run a trad aff lol? Counterplans are cool too, but please just let me know when you ARE running a counterplan. Obviously plans and counterplans can be run as trad, but it's just to help me flow and keep track of what is being said, thank you!
KRITIKS: My faaaavooritteeeeee!!! I love em all!However, I have not competed in almost 5 years(ohgeezthatscrazyimgettingold)and I am NOT college edumacated. Please explain your lit!Add some extra analytics after cards, something, anything like that. I have a pretty good understanding of a lot of phil, but I just need my hand held a little bit.Also if your opponent clearly is confused, PLEASE DO NOT CONFUSE THEM MORE BY NOT EXPLAINING THINGS.That is really, really mean and I do not like it ONE BIT.This is why I encourage flex prep, let your opponent ask clarification questions and answer themHONESTLY.Oh and also please LABEL each section of the K!! Makes it a lot easier for me as a judge.
THEORY: Personally, I am not super big on theory. I like that debate doesn't have any rules, why argue about made up rules? Either way, I encourage theory, but please make the violation very very clear to me. AND PLEASE MAKE IT A WELL FLESHED OUT THEORY SHELL. IF I HAVE TO MAKE AN ENTIRE NEW FLOW FOR THEORY JUST FOR YOU TO SPEND 15 SECONDS ON IT I WILL BE SO MADD!!! Basically, if you are trying to win my ballot, do not think that a theory shell will do it.
TOPICALITY: I personally don't see why ANYBODY has to be topical in LD, so please please give me some clear impacts. Again, I'm willing to listen to it, but you really need some good impacts for me to vote on it.
DISCLOSURE: Same for above, I NEED a valid violation for disclosure especially. I think a lot of disclosure theory is very frivolous, so please flesh out your shell if you're going to run it in front of me.
PERFORMANCE: I love performance in debate. I come from a theatre background, so if you've always wanted to run performance and you've never done it before, I am the perfect judge to do it front of.Please do not drop your performance after your first speech because I will be so sad):
SPEAKER POINTS: Much to tabroom's dismay, I am not a fan of speaker points. It is my least favorite part of judging I hate having to give a number value to your speaking ability I think it is kind of dumb and doesn't make any sense in a debate setting. I'll almost always give pretty high speaks, unless you're like crazy offensive or something.
Well, that is basically everything I can think of. I encourage all debaters to have fun, debate is a really stressful activity and you all need to remember to prioritize yourselves and your own mental wellbeing. Please feel free to email me with ANY questions that you have before AND after the round! I am always happy to answer any questions and provide extra feedback as needed.
If you are still reading, pet this cat!
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Dear Congress and Speech Candidates,
I am excited to be judging your Congress session or Speech round. I now have four full years judging Congress and Speech categories, and I am starting my fifth year. Please indicate what time signals you would like when you enter the room. I usually like to write down the title of your speech if applicable. Kindly work with me if questions arise. Let us make this a great, productive session.
I have had two full years judging at Nationals in '22, 23, Emory in '23, ASU in '23, the TOC in '23, Glenbrooks in '23 and multiple AZ local tournaments. I have learned a lot as a judge and hopefully can bring to you useful information to propel you forward... to the next round!
Good luck, godspeed, and please enjoy yourselves.
I come from a 3A high school where I debated for three years and participated in forensics for four.
K's - I don't understand them. Please either spoon feed them to me or don't run them at all.
Generic DA's - Link it and convince me of the link.
Impacts - PLEASE no extinction impacts. Make it realistic so it's harder to right them off.
Topicality - Don't be stupid with it.
Speed - As long as everyone (including yourself) can understand what you are saying we are fine while reading cards. Please slow down during analysis.
USE ANALYSIS. The evidence is important so read it but then tell me why it's important.
AFF - GOOD POLICY IS KEY.
NEG - PROVE WHY POLICY DOESN'T WORK or STATUS QUO BETTER.
I am a Tabula Rosa with a default in Policy.
New coach here. I'm familiar with speech and forensics, but new to debate.
Please don't spread. I'm not savvy enough to figure out what you are saying and flow your case.
Please be respectful to your competitors.
I value truth over tech and focus on the impacts for my decisions.
I'm looking forward to your debate, best of luck.
Background-
I did basically all events in high school and am comfortable and experienced judging everything. In college I debated parli for 4 years at Texas Tech University and was very nationally competitive by the end of my career. I have been coaching for 15ish years and judging for even longer than that.
1)DEBATE (LD, CX)
2)PLATFORMS (I include Congress here)
3)INTERP/ACTING
DEBATE:
What I vote on-
I default Netben unless told otherwise. Impacts and solvency are the best things to convince me to give you my ballot. Be civil or be tanked on speaks.
LD-
I don't mind hearing policy style or critical arguments, but you still need to engage with opponents that use Value and Criterion. You can't just format your opponents out of the round. For me, it is all about the line by line and how you structure your framework. The easiest thing for me to vote on are solvency and impacts. I will listen to theory, but there needs to be clear abuse. I am probably not the guy to run super experimental or out there arguments with. I don't mind hear critical stuff, but it is very easy for me to attach myself to arguments that simply say your K has no impact, perm do both, or just reading theory. I would say K's are not my strong suit, but I'll listen to them.
CX-
I used to say I was good with everything, but in my old age, some of the performative arguments lost me. Run whatever you want in front of me, I don't want to restrict your arguments, but know that if I can't see a practical application for your performance or I just see it as a way to subvert the topic and avoid links, I will probably vote against you. I have a super low tolerance for saying "theory is oppressive" or "topicality is elitist." I just think that it is a little lazy and an attempt to be nonexclusive in your movements/philosophies. That being said, I won't interfere with the round, the other team has to run the T or prove the abuse, but I will definitely be listening for those arguments and would welcome them.
Speed-
I'm ok with decent speed. Especially if I have a doc share before the speech starts. Don't blow my doors off with speed though, I am getting older and really need the pen time. I will not let a team spread a non-speed team out. I am only ok with speed if both sides are cool with it. I will say, non-speed readers, that there is a difference between spreading and speaking quickly. Don't rely on saying "they are going too fast for me."
K-
Don't name drop and assume I know what your talking about. I expect links, solvency and impacts just like any other argument. Also read my opening paragraph under "CX" about performances and non-topical/critical affs.
T-
Need to prove abuse, don't just say it is unfair.
CP/DA-
Absolutely my favorite thing to listen to in debate.
PLATFORM EVENTS:
Information and argumentation are so much more important to me than speaking ability. Extempers should answer the question with evidence and be specific. Oratory and Info kids should have loads of evidence/research and they should be able to have a good and clear position or thesis. If everyone's info is good in the round or your speaking is just so disorganized, then yes, my tie breaker is typically who spoke the best. However, know that a few "ums" and "uhs" don't write you off of my ballot. A lack of info or argumentation will.
INTERP/ACTING EVENTS:
In these events, I am looking for a few things. Purposeful movements and voices is first. I don't like ad-libbing movements or voices (you don't have to make one of the characters British just because it's an accent you can do). Second, energy and consistent characterization throughout the entire piece. Third, dynamic emotions and voices. Give me range on what I am supposed to feel and don't just scream the whole time. Sometimes the quiet moments are more powerful than the loud ones. Lastly, it needs to entertain me! If you aren't into your piece, I won't be either.
Competed personally while in HS, Primarily in Duo Interpretation. Have been Judging since completing HS and have judged multiple tournaments and many various events. Prefer judging Duo, HI, DI, POI, or impromptu.
Wish everyone the best of luck in any event!
2024-2025 Season
Howdy! I've been actively judging every year since I graduated in 2018, so this will be year 7 of judging for me.
PF/LD General:
- NO EMAIL CHAINS. If you ask me to be on the email chain, this indicates you have not read my paradigms.
-If you are FLIGHT 2, I expect you to be ready the second you walk in the room. If you come in saying you need to pre-flow or take forever to get set up, I WILL doc your speaks. Pre-flows, bathroom, coin-flips, and such should be done beforehand since you have ample time before your flight.
Prep time: I will usually use my timer on Tabroom when you take prep to make sure you're not lying about how much time you have left. When someone asks for cards, please be quick about this because if you start taking too much time or wasting time, I will run your prep.
-I will not disclose. Info will be on the ballots.
-Please be respectful in round and have fun!
PF: Truth > Tech. I will vote for a more moral argument, I do not want to hear a lot cards being dumped throughout with "Judge vote us because of XYZ cards." Show me an argument that makes sense. Second rebuttal must respond to first rebuttal and please no spreading. Moderate speed is fine, it's PF, not CX.
Treat me like I don't know anything about the topic, it's not rocket science.
LD: Traditional debate is what I would like you to do. Conceding framework throws away essentially the validity of LD debate. Framework is what I value the most in a round, please uphold it throughout the round. Spreading is not allowed, moderate speed is fine. Do not ask me about K's, Tricks, etc. I'm trying my hardest to figure it out like y'all are in round.
Congress: If you author or sponsor, please EXPLAIN the bill and set a good foundation. For later speeches, I don't want to hear the same argument in different fancy words. Be unique and CLASH is NOT OPTIONAL throughout cycles.
PO's: If there is no one who can PO and you know how to, please step up. I used to PO so don't worry. If there's no one who can PO, don't be afraid to step up and try, I'll take that into consideration when I do ballots.
Remember this is DEBATE, not repetition. I don’t wanna hear the same thing for 5-6 speeches straight.
Competitive Experience
High School - CHSSA/NSDA - Extemp, OA, PuFo, LD
Collegiate - NFA - Policy/CX
Coaching Experience
High School - CHSSA/NSDA - Assistant (Alumni) Coach; Head Coach/Program Coordinator; League President
Judging Experience
High School - CHSSA/NSDA - All events
Collegiate - NFA - Policy/CX; IEs
Background
I have been involved in speech & debate in some capacity since high school and competed at the collegiate level. My emphasis has namely been geared towards extemporaneous speaking and debate (PuFo, LD, and Policy/CX). I've been in this community of wall takers for over 10 years and love every minute of it!
In terms of my general judging philosophy I'd say two phrases should be considered, those being "tabula rasa" (clean slate) and "sell me!". My perspective is that it's the competitors burden to prove to the judge or show why their performance is equipped to pick up the ballot. Certainly I can make the connection and piece together the narrative/story, but the more you ask me to intervene the more I have to implement my biases into the round. Long-story short it's disheartening to see competitors lose rounds because they leave ambiguity to be pieced together, and as a former competitor who has lost more than one round to this - I don't want to do the same to other speakers/debaters.
In general, from a technique standpoint it's easier to ramp up than it is to tone back.
Debate Cues
1) Procedures - Card quals, roadmapping, and signposting
These make for a smooth round and much more efficient! Do your judge a favor and get things moving. The longer the day, the less quality the adjudication- we get tired too haha
2) Arguments - Impact Calculus, Topicality, and Solvency
I generally am pretty open to what is brought forth, hence my "tabula rasa" spiel, but need to see a clear end result from either team in the debate. Whoever has the more believable and soluble impact narrative will pick up the ballot.
3) Evidence - Needs to be there, this is debate...
No matter the style of debate, if you make an argument it needs to be proven in some way. If not then you ask me to be an "activist judge" where bias takes precedence over argumentation, in my view this is unfair to the competitors and bad for debate.
4) Sportsmanship - We all want to learn from this experience
Compete with honest intent and assertion, but not to cause harm. Too many a time debates get ugly and personal, that's not why we're here. This is a learning opportunity and academically stimulating. Let's keep it civil and competitive.
Speech Cues
1) Structure - Clear and concise
My coach taught me this rule and it's what I teach unto others: a) "Tell them what you're gonna tell them"; b) "Tell them"; c) "Tell them what you told them". There should be a logical pattern in your speech.
2) Impact - Make it personable
Cultural competency is a really big aspect of public speaking that goes unsung. Find someway to connect with your audience and give us something tangible to take away from the speech.
3) Creativity - Bring it to life
I have a really special place for Interps and OPP because it brings forth the creative energy and so too can other speeches. Make this speech an experience for us to enjoy!
4) Authentic - You are the centerpiece
With speaking you are the epicenter, give the audience a reason to divert their attention to you! Also, bring some creativity to the forefront this makes for a more compelling speech.
I debated throughout high school for Lincoln-Sudbury (in Massachusetts). I currently work with the Public Forum Academy during the summer and throughout the year.
Crossfire:
I will be paying attention to crossfire, unless I am obligated to write down comments within the ballot. I believe that crossfire is a key part of the debate round, and any concessions and answers to questions will be binding.
Frontlining:
I believe that defense should be somewhat sticky. My likelihood of believing/accepting frontlines decreases as the round progresses. For instance, if a response is made in 1st rebuttal, a basic response to it in the second rebuttal would suffice, but a more well-explained response in second summary would be required.
This means that I think it is strategic to frontline in the second rebuttal. But you certainly shouldn't feel obligated to.
Extensions of Defense:
With a three minute summary, I think it's not too difficult to extend defense in the summary speeches. So please do so. At all times, extending defense is a great way of reinforcing your point and persuading me more.
More specifically, you must extend defense in first summary if they frontline their arguments in second rebuttal, or else I think your defense is essentially dropped.
Second summary should definitely be extending defense, but I will allow defensive extensions from second rebuttal to second final focus, because I think frontlining is super important to debate. But, again, the more you repeat/extend an argument, the more likely it is that I understand it and I factor it into my decision.
Extensions of Offense:
an extension of an argument is only accepted if BOTH the link AND the impact are extended. Extend the warrants behind both of these parts as well. This means that if I don't have BOTH of these parts of an argument extended in both the second half speeches, I won't vote for it unless there are severely unusual circumstances
keep your summaries and final foci consistent based on the most important issues in the round (they should be about the same arguments)
Please consolidate the debate as early as possible (2nd rebuttal + First summary) into the most important arguments, then focus on those arguments. I prefer 1 well-explained, well-extended, well-weighed argument over 100 that aren't done very well.
Weighing:
don't just weigh using random buzz words, do comparative weighing between your offense and your opponents' to help me vote for you. If you just repeat your impact and attach a "magnitude" or "scope" to it, I won't evaluate it as weighing.
Evidence Stuff:
I will not call evidence until it is absolutely crucial to my decision. This means that if I don't understand your argument by the end of the round, (link-story or impact scenario), I will not call for your evidence to clarify it, you just won't generate much offense. Please warrant well With this in mind, there are three scenarios where I will call for round-changing evidence.
1. I am explicitly told to call for it as an implication of an indict.
2. There are competing interpretations from the teams and neither team gives me a compelling reason to prefer theirs.
3. The meaning of the evidence has been changed/misconstrued when extending it throughout the round.
I recommend qualifications of sources. Saying Smith 19 doesn't quite do it for me, who is smith and why should i trust his opinion? Oral citations should preferably include Last name, qualification, and the date. If you don't read qualifications, which can be as basic as the website you are citing from, your speaker points won't be over a 28.5
Speed:
You can go pretty quickly in terms of speed for a PF round, but don't be full on spreading unless a) you can be super clear while doing it and b) your opponents are ok with it. I really won't tolerate it if speed is used to exclude more inexperienced debaters from competing.
Tech vs Truth:
i'm more tech than truth. But, I'll have a lower threshold for analytical responses when an argument is super out there, and be more likely to buy the defense it. If you wanna go crazy, do so, but make sure you're not misconstruing evidence, and explain your argument and the warrants behind it super well.
Miscellaneous:
i vote for the status quo on presumption
i will always prefer the more clear, specific, and well-warranted argument.
i am wholly inexperienced with theory and K debate. I don't think you should run it in front of me.
Speaks - they'll be based on your ability to convince me rhetorically, not necessarily on your strategy. This is still Public Forum Debate, it's the name of the game.
please ask any questions you may have before the round
Feedback:
at the end of the round, i will disclose the result and provide feedback. Ask me any questions about anything and I'll be down to give you whatever answer I can provide. I think providing feedback after round is the most direct way to convey my thoughts to you as debaters, so I'll prioritize that over writing down comments when I need to. who knows if this is allowed at nats so if i judge u there you could just find me after or something
I am a LAY judge.
Speak at a normal pace and explain everything and try to be as clear as possible.Be polite to your opponent and be respectful.
The more I understand your arguments, the more likely I will vote for you. I appreciate a clear analysis of why you should win in the final focus.
Please send me your case at erdeepika2@gmail.com before we start our round .
Background: 4 years at Baylor University, 1-Time NDT Qualifier. Assistant Coach at the U.S. Naval Academy, 2018-2022, Assistant Coach at Dowling Catholic High School, 2019-Present. Currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science and I work for the Legislative Services Agency in Iowa.
Yes I want to be on the email chain: Sheaffly@gmail.com. Also email me with questions about this paradigm.
Paradigms are difficult to write because there are so many potential audiences. From novice middle schoolers to varsity college debaters, I judge it all. As a result, I want everyone reading this paradigm to realize that it was written mostly in terms of varsity college debates. I think about debate a little differently in high school and a little differently when it comes to novice debates, but I hope this gives you a general idea of how to debate in front of me
== TL;DR ==
Do line-by-line. I do not flow straight down and I do not flow off the speech doc. I am a DA/CP/Case kind of judge. I am bad at understanding kritiks and I am biased towards the topic being good. Be nice.
== Top Level - Flowing ==
It has become clear to me after years of judging that most of my decisions center not around my biases about arguments (which I won’t pretend not to have), but rather around my ability to understand your argument. My ability to understand your argument is directly related to how clean my flow is. Thus, it is in your best interest to make my flow very clean. I used to think I was bad at flowing, but I've come to the conclusion that line-by-line and organized debate has become a lost art. Debaters who learn this art are much more likely to win in front of me.
You are NOT as clear on tags as you think you are. Getting every 4th word of a tag is okay only if every 4th word is the key nouns and verbs. This is never true. So slow down on your tags, I am NOT READING THEM.
I’m not gonna flow everything straight down and then reconstruct the debate afterwards. The 1NC sets the order of the debate on the case, the 2AC sets the order of the debate off case. Abide by that order. Otherwise, I will spend time trying to figure out where to put your argument rather than writing it down and that’s bad for you.
Another tip: Find ways to give me pen time. For example, do not read 4 perms in a row. It’s impossible for me to write down all of those words. Plus, it’s always first and you haven’t even given me time to flip my paper over. And then your next argument is always an analytic about how the CP doesn’t solve and then I can’t write that down either. So stop doing things like that.
== Top Level – Arguments ==
Basic stuff: I love creativity and learning from debate. Make it clear to me how much you know about the arguments you are making. I don’t think this means you have to have cut every card you read, but understanding not just the substance of your argument, but the tricks within them is important.
As I said above, the thing that will be a problem for me is not understanding your argument. Unfortunately, this probably impacts Kritik debaters more than policy debaters, but I’ll get to that in a minute.
I am probably a little more truth > tech than most judges. I believe in technical debate, but I also believe that debate is a place where truth is important. I don't care how many cards you have that say something, if the other team asserts it is not true and they are correct, they win the point.
== Top Level - Community Norms ==
1) For online debate, prep time stops when you unmute yourself and say stop prep. A couple of reasons for this. a) I have no way of verifying when you actually stopped prep if you come out and say "we stopped 15 seconds ago" and b) neither do your opponents, which means that you are basically forcing them to steal prep. I don't like it so that's the rule.
2) Debate is a messed-up community already. Don't make it more so. Be nice to each other. Have fun in the debate while you are disagreeing. If you make it seem like you think the other team is stupid during the debate, it's gonna make me grumpy. I love debate and I love watching people do it, but I hate confrontation and I hate it when people get angry about debates that don't matter that much in the long term. Be nice. Please.
3) This is mostly for high schoolers, where I see this issue all the time: If you are going to send a document without your analytics in it, making the version of the doc without the analytics in it IS PREP TIME. You don't get 45 seconds to send the document. Y'all are GenZ, I know you can send an email faster than that. You get 15 seconds before I break in and ask what the deal is. You get 20 seconds before I start prep again.
== Specifics ==
Affirmatives...
...Which Defend the Topic - I enjoy creativity. This includes creative interpretations of topicality. You should also read my thoughts on DAs as they apply to how you construct your advantages. Clear story is good.
...Which Do Not Defend the Topic - I am likely not a great judge for you. I think I may have a reputation as someone who hates these arguments. That reputation is not unearned, I built it up for years. But over time I’ve come to become a lot more accepting of them. There are many of these affirmatives that I think provide valuable debate. The problem I have is that I cannot figure out an interpretation of debate that allows the valuable "K Affs," but limits out the affs that I think are generally created to confuse their way to a win rather than provide actual valuable propositions for debate. I will always think of framework as a debate about what you JUSTIFY, rather than what you DO, and every interpretation I have ever seen in these debates simply lets in too much of the uneducational debates without providing a clear basis for clash.
I realize this sounds like I have been totally brainwashed by framework, and perhaps I have. But I want to be honest about where I'm at. That said, I think the above makes clear that if you have a defensible INTERPRETATION, I am willing to listen to it. You should also look at the section under kritiks, because I think it describes the fact that I need the actual argument of the affirmative to be clear. This generally means that, if your tags are poems, I am not ideologically opposed to that proposition, but you better also have very clear explanation of why you read that poem
Negative Strategies
Framework: See discussion above. Good strategy. Impact, impact, impact. Education > procedural fairness > any other impact. “Ks are bad” is a bad argument, “their interpretation makes debate worse and uneducational” is a winnable argument. Topical version of the aff goes a long way with me.
Topicality: Good strategy. Impact, impact, impact. Case lists. Why that case list is bad. Affirmatives, you should talk about your education. I love creative interps of the topic if you defend them. But for the love of god slow down.
Disads: Absolutely. Well constructed DAs are very fun to watch. However, see truth vs. tech above – I have a lower threshold for “zero risk of a [link, impact, internal link] etc.” I love Politics DAs, but they’re all lies. I am up-to-date on the news. If you are not, do not go for the politics DA using updates your coaches cut. You will say things that betray that you don’t know what you’re talking about and it will hurt your speaks. Creative impact calc (outside of just magnitude, timeframe, probability) is the best impact calc.
Counterplans: I'm tired of the negative getting away with murder. I am VERY willing to listen to theory debates about some of these crazy process CPs which compete off of a net benefit or immedicacy/certainty. Theory debates are fun for me but for the love of god slow down. Otherwise, yeah, CPs are fine.
Kritiks: Eh. You can see the discussion above about K affs. I used to be rigidly ideological about hating the K. I am now convinced that the K can make good points. But because I was so against them for so long, I don’t understand them. I still think some Kritiks (here I am thinking mostly of French/German dudes) are basically designed to confuse the other team into losing. Problem is, I can’t tell the difference between those Kritiks and other Kritiks, because all Kritiks confuse me.
Very basic Ks are fine. Realism is bad, heg is bad, capitalism is bad, I get. Get much beyond that and I get lost. It's not that I think you're wrong it's that I have always been uninterested so I never learned what you're talking about. I cannot emphasize enough how little I understand what you're talking about. If this is your thing and I am already your judge, conceptualize your K like a DA/CP strategy and explain it to me like I have never heard it before. Literally, in your 2NC say: "We believe that X is bad. We believe that they do X because of this argument they have made. We believe the alternative solves for X." I cannot stress enough how serious I am that that sentence should be the top of your 2NC and 2NR. I have had this sentence in my judge philosophy for 3 years and this has been the top of the 2NC once (in a JV debate!). I do not know how much clearer I can be. Again, I am not morally opposed to Kritiks (anymore), I just do not understand them and I will not vote for something I do not understand. I believe you need a good link. Yes, the world is terrible, but why is the aff terrible. You also need to make your tags not a paragraph long, I never learned how to flow tags that were that long.
Timothy E. Sheaff - Dowling Catholic
I have been coaching various events both speech and debate for 30 years.
I am very good at getting students started and then passing them on to experts in the specific events. I am a generalist.
I entered this activity because I am pretty dyslexic and so I am a slow reader and terrible writer, this activity allowed me to SPEAK...I like SPEAKING.
ALL EVENTS
I have a fairly policy mindset. I like that kind of pretend.
Per above I am a BAD FLOW for fast....I am not opposed to fast..we try to be fast...but I can not make my hand write what I am hearing if I am also thinking...just a struggle...maybe that means something to you...I am trying to let you know here in advance, I will try, I will not be mad at you...but I may not get it all down.
LD
Old school, not MILITANTLY so, its just what I actually know and understand.
I feel I can evaluate best when the debate is about the resolution being a truth claim.
POLICY
I LOVE POLICY...If a genie came and gave me 3 wishes I would use one to perpetually understand the arguments better than I do (esp if I could trick the genie into letting me also add "flowing perfectly" on to that wish and still counting it as 1)
Policy maker
I just do not comprehend why we can't do the plan and work on the valid issues in the K as well..if you can explain why really that can not happen, I suppose you could get my ballot with it...otherwise I am probably not your guy
PF
I feel it is a short policy round with less time to develop arguments. Again I am probably better suited for a round about the merits of the truth statement than a contest over who has read who's meta study in more detail)
OVERALL
I have been around a long time in a lot of venues, be kind, use the activity to grow in a way that means you will actually make a difference in the world going forward.
TLDR- This guy is stupid and does not get the K and he can't even flow
debatesheff@gmail.com
If policy ALSO add lcandersoncx@gmail.com
If LD ALSO add breakdocs@googlegroups.com
Policy debater at the University of Houston '26
Coach for Seven Lakes HS, LC Anderson WS, and Break Debate
Basics
1. I flow top down on an excel template and do not have the document opened during speeches. I will read evidence while making my decision, but my decision lay solely in the words the debaters use on my flow. I will email debaters a copy of my flow if requested.
2. I am deaf in my left ear which makes clarity very important. If I cannot hear every work in the card text, then I will say clear. If I say clear twice and nothing changes, I will stop flowing.
3. I do not like wasting time in debates. 1AC should be sent before start time. You must use either prep or cross if you seek to ask flow clarification questions.
4. Don’t misgender people.
5. Tech over truth, but dropped arguments are only as good as the dropped argument itself. I have a higher threshold for a warrant than most i.e. If someone makes the argument “Severance is a voting issue pink fuzzy monster”, I will not vote on the argument because there is not a warrant attached to the claim that makes logical sense.
6. The people who receive the highest speaks from me are the people who do good judge instruction, clean line by line, smart strategic decisions, and are generally pleasant in round. My speaks start at 28.5. If you want an easy 27.5, answer a position that was not read in the 1NC.
7. when debating an opponent of low experience,i will heavily reward giving younger debaters the dignity of a real debate they can still participate in(i.e: slower, fewer off, more forthcoming in CX). if you believe the best strategy against a novice/lay debater is extending hidden aspec,i will assume you are too bad at debate to beat a novice without hidden aspec, and speaks will reflect that. these debates are negatively educational and extremely annoying. (Thanks Pat)
8. not adjudicating the character of minors I don’t know regarding things I didn’t see.
9. I have been most influenced in the way I think about debate by the following people: Michael Wimsatt, Patrick Fox, Sripad Yadagiri, and Brett Cryan.
Details:
The burden of proof comes before the burden of rejoinder
Most of my expirence debating is in policy and I have equally gone for planless affirmatives and framework Ks as I have plan affs and process counterplans. This means for LD that I am not great for a lot of detailed phil debates outside of Kant v. Util, in depth theory debating, or moral skepticism.
Evidence-
Qualified authors & solid warrants in your ev are important. Evidence comparison and weighing are also important. In the absence of evidence comparison and weighing, I may make a decision that upsets you. That is fundamentally your fault.
I normally read the important pieces of evidence that the 2NR/2AR tell me to read while making my decisions. I really enjoy quality evidence that looks good and makes the argument you tell me it does. However, as stated above, this does not make up for evidence comparison.
Counterplans-
I default judge kick unless argued otherwise. I am firmly neg on condo and thus have an extremely low bar for answering it. If the negative somehow messes up condo it can still be a 2AR.
I lean neg on most questions of counterplan theory outside of I-fiat, private actor fiat, and multi actor fiat. However, I feel like all these arguments are better made as competition arguments rather than theory arguments.
Equally fine for text and function vs just function. Textual alone doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
I love quality advantage counterplan writing. Most affs do not have a plan-key warrant in 90% of their scenarios, and negative debaters should exploit this fact far more than they are currently doing.
Disadvantages-
Please stop putting together slop and calling it a DA. I think 1NCs can sacrifice their throwaway DA that they will never go for in favor of more cards on their good DAs.
2NRs need more big turns case pushes on both the impact and link level. 2NRs also need more time on the comparative level of internal link and impact scenarios. Simply saying the DA is faster than the aff does not mean anything absent judge instruction tied to why that matters.
Kritiks-
I am unsure of what the words role of the judge/role of the ballot means outside of framework justifications. I am best for delete the plan and plan focus.
I am not great for performance teams. I am good for more “techy” teams that read good evidence.
Policy Aff v. K
Aff: Talk about the aff more, read less generic cards, No you probably didn’t do a microagression, Go for what the aff is built to defend, the more defensively you debate the more likely the negative will get a link.
Neg: Talk about the aff more, read less generic cards, no the aff probably didn’t do a microagression, Apply the theory of power more, det rid of the overview and do line by line.
K v. K
I go for Maoism 99% of the time when I negate K teams. I think K teams are bad at responding to the Cap K and people should be far more comfortable going for it.
Aff: Apply the theory of power to explain the links, make framework arguments, read better cards, explain the net benefit to the permutation
Neg: Do the theory of power debating on the link debate and delete your overview, pull more lines from the aff, explain how the alt solve the links, explain why the links are DAs to the permuations.
Planless affirmative v. topicality
Aff: Biggest problem aff teams have is lack of picking a strategy and instead just trying to throw everything at the wall and hope it sticks. You should delete the fluff from the 1AR and over develop the strategy you want to go for in the 2AR.
Neg: Fairness is good, do the explanation of why fairness matters/outweighs, better for carded skills than whatever clash means. I think of T as a DA to not reading a plan, explain it that way.
Email chain: lfsdebate@gmail.com
Who Am I: I debated four years at Field Kindley High School in Coffeyville, KS, did not debate in college, and have been an assistant coach at Lawrence Free State High School in Lawrence, KS since 2013. I have a Master's degree in International Relations.
General Approach: Tell me what I should be voting on and why. If you want me to evaluate the round differently than they do, then you need to win a reason why your framework or paradigm is the one that I should use. If no one does that, then I'll default to a policymaker paradigm. I don't view offense and defense as an either/or proposition, but if you do then I prefer offense.
Standard Operating Procedure: (How I will evaluate the round unless one of the teams wins that I should do something different) The affirmative has a non-severable duty to advocate something resolutional, and that advocacy must be clear and stable. The goal of the negative is to prove that the affirmative's advocacy is undesirable, worse than a competitive alternative, or theoretically invalid. I default to evaluating all non-theory arguments on a single plane, am much more willing to reject an argument than a team, and will almost always treat dropped arguments as true.
Mechanics: (I'm not going to decide the round on these things by themselves, but they undeniably affect my ability to evaluate it)
- Signposting - Please do this as much as possible. I'm not just talking about giving a roadmap at the start of each speech or which piece of paper you're talking about during the speech, but where on the line-by-line you are and what you're doing (i.e. if you read a turn, call it a turn).
- Overviews - These are helpful for establishing your story on that argument, but generally tend to go on too long for me and seem to have become a substitute for specific line-by-line work, clash, and warrant extension. I view these other items as more productive/valuable ways to spend your time.
- Delivery - I care way more about clarity than speed; I have yet to hear anybody who I thought was clear enough and too fast. I'll say "clear" if you ask me to, but ultimately the burden is on you. Slowing down and enunciating for tags and analytics makes it more likely that I'll get everything.
- Cross Examination - Be polite. Make your point or get an answer, then move on. Don't use cross-ex to make arguments.
- Prep Time - I don't think prep should stop until the flash drive comes out of your computer or the email is sent, but I won't police prep as long as both teams are reasonable.
Argumentation: (I'll probably be fine with whatever you want to do, and you shouldn't feel the need to fundamentally change your strategy for me. These are preferences, not rules.)
- Case - I prefer that you do case work in general, and think that it's under-utilized for impact calc. Internal links matter.
- CPs/DAs - I prefer specific solvency and link cards (I'm sure you do, too), but generics are fine provided you do the work.
- Framework - I prefer that framework gets its own page on the flow, and that it gets substantive development beyond each side reading frontlines at each other/me.
- Kritiks - I prefer that there is an alternative, and that you either go for it or do the work to explain why you win anyway. "Reject the Aff." isn't an alternative, it's what I do if I agree with the alternative. I don't get real excited about links of omission, so some narrative work will help you here.
- Performance - I prefer that you identify the function of the ballot as clearly and as early as possible.
- Procedurals - I prefer that they be structured and that you identify how the round was affected or altered by what the other team did or didn't do.
- Theory - I prefer that theory gets its own page on the flow, and that it gets substantive development beyond each side reading frontlines at each other/me.
- Topicality - I prefer that teams articulate how/why their interpretation is better for debate from a holistic perspective. TVAs and/or case lists are good. My least favorite way to start an RFD is, "So, I think the Aff. is topical, but also you're losing topicality."
Miscellaneous: (These things matter enough that I made a specific section for them, and will definitely be on my mind during the round.)
- I'm not planning to judge kick for you, but have no problem doing so if that instruction is in the debate. The Aff. can object, of course.
- Anybody can read cards, good analysis and strategic decision-making are harder to do and frequently more valuable.
- Individual pages on the flow do not exist in a vacuum, and what is happening on one almost certainly affects what is happening on another.
- Comparative impact calculus. Again, comparative impact calculus.
- You may not actually be winning every argument in the round; acknowledging this in your analysis and telling me why you win anyway is a good thing.
- Winning an argument is not the same thing as winning the round on an argument. If you want to win the round on an argument you've won or are winning, take the time to win the round on it.
- The 2NR and 2AR are for making choices, you only have to win the round once.
- I will read along during speeches and will likely double back to look at cards again, but I don't like being asked to read evidence and decide for myself. If they're reading problematic evidence, yours is substantively better, etc., then do that work in the debate.
Zen: (Just my thoughts, they don't necessarily mean anything except that I thought them.)
- Debate is a speaking game, where teams must construct logically sound, valid arguments to defend, while challenging the same effort from their opponents.
- It's better to be more right than the other team than more clever.
- A round is just a collection of individual decisions. If you make the right decisions more often than not, then you'll win more times than you lose.
I'll be happy to answer any questions.
I've been judging speech/debate since the beginning of the season.
I prefer a slower debate, as it allows for more enunciation and an overall clearer and coherent style of speaking. Being able to make eye contact as best as possible in this online format and using hand gestures helps connect me to your speech a lot more. Confidence is something I always look for, as you need to state your points like you agree with everything you're saying (even if you personally don't) because the confidence factor always make speeches a lot more engaging.
I would rather you go through just a few points in detail and analyze them, than speeding through many points without any explanation.
Furthermore, it is your burden to make your speech clear and understandable. If I miss an argument because you spoke too quickly and/or rushed through and I wasn't able to catch it, then you didn't make it.
Interpret and public speaking, should leave a judge, wanting to know more answering questions I never thought of getting insight into a topic or character that is not just on the surface
Curtis Shephard - cshephard@usd266.com for chains please
I debated for four years in high school, and four years in college. That said, I am 45 now with 2 kids and a mortgage.
Upfront:
Not the judge you want for planless affs.
Be nice. If you can be nice AND funny, that's speaker points.
Won't vote on out-of-round indicts on your opponent's character.
Debate is a game.
Neg gets some condo, but not an infinite amount.
Hello! I am Jharick Shields. I am a speech and debate coach at St. Andrew's Episcopal School. I have been coaching for about 20 years and have coached debaters into late elimination rounds in a number of national circuit and NSDA/NCFL tournaments. I have also been fortunate to watch them win a few. Debate allows us the ability to critique the world and to substantively engage with those criticisms. It is a forum in which we communicate those ideas. How you communicate in front of me will directly correlate to the ballot I write. I am truth with tech. I think that you should be able to create a cohesive ballot story while also understanding the fundamentals of LD argumentation. You need to show me that you are reading the sources you are citing. You need to prove that you understand the context behind the arguments you run. You should engage with the arguments of your opponent. Is T engagement with an aff that is nontopical? I would say yes. However, the debater that will earn higher speaks from me will also critically think and engage the affirmative.
Speed is an part of the game of debate. Judge adaptation is also part of the game. I have no problem saying that I missed something on my flow. If the argument is super important, signpost and weigh it. Don't assume that an extension through ink is enough for me to pull the trigger. A lot of times in great debates, amazing weighing tends to win out on cold concessions. Great debaters explain why the argument was conceded. I think that the best debaters figure that out, and close the door on them. I prefer few, well developed arguments to many. However, its your world. I tend to get excited when I am asked to bring out a lot of paper. Just don't assume I got everything you said if you aren't utilizing good communication skills.
I am an old fashioned policy kid, who was fortunate enough to do LD as well. Policy arguments are my heart. I like great plan texts, plan flaws are a thing, CPs with net benefits, strong case debates, Ks(bonus for Ks with policy alts). If thats what you do, I am a really good judge in those rounds. You still have obligations to communicate...
If you are a traditional debater, I still have plenty of love to share. Some of the best rounds I have seen on the national circuit are kids reading a traditional aff. I watch as their opponent gets ready to run 5 off and case. The 1ar gets up, extends their conceded criterion/case evidence, no links the DAs/Ks, perms the CP/Alt and sits down. And maybe the debater doesn't use those terms, but if you make the argument clearly and labeled, I will bridge the educational gap in debate jargon. I am also a very good judge for you.
If you caught me during high school, maybe I could have gotten into tricks/skep stuff. Basically, I can evaluate it, and if both debaters are going down that road together, I won't be as upset going there. I think HEAVY weighing is the only way that I won't gut check for anything else in that debate. Maybe not the best for you, but maybe you just need a somewhat tech judge in a small pool then I am good.
Honestly, I just am really excited to see debates. Run what you want, be respectful, have fun! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me prior to the round.
For MS Local Touraments:
Everything above applies. There are some things that students do in front of me that don't really help them win the ballot. Here are a few:
1.) Rules Lawyering: I get it, you want to show the judge that you know more about LD or at the very least have a lot of ethos. I must say, through my experience, these cases only end up with that debater losing some ethos. Telling me that something is an NSDA rule when we abide by MSHAA rules is sort of a bad argument. Telling me that a student must have a value, can't run a plan/CP, can't have a criterion, etc is just wrong. In theory, a student can run a case with just 1 contention and nothing else and it is fine. They don't lose the debate, they aren't disqualified, they live to debate another round. Win on the flow.
2.) New arguments: I don't flow these. If the new argument transcends the debate: a student has done something harmful in round, then its fine(but I will most likely intervene, since that is my duty). New evidence that supports arguments already made are fair game. A lot of debaters think that new evidence is the same as a new argument. It isn't.
3.) Mismanaging Drops: Debaters will tell me that an argument was dropped, but it wasn't. They will tell me that they have responded to an argument. They have not. Make sure that you are flowing. After the round, if you show me a quality flow of the debate(and if I have them on me). I will give you a candy/treat or something.
Okay, thanks!!
Hello,
I am a parent of a LD debaters (my son and daughter), who have been debating for 6 years. I have been judging for 6 years as well. So I can flow some speed and understand the framework debate very well. Please do not use your highest spread with me. I understand the logical arguments if explained well. I like confident debaters. My average speaker points would be 28.5.
Last Updated: January 2025
Speech and Debate at Olathe Northwest High School for 4 years (2014-2018)
Speech and Debate Team at Texas Christian University (2019-2021)
Email me with further questions, or just ask in the room: a.shively30@gmail.com
POLICY DEBATE
* Put me on the email chain
* Racist/sexist/transphobic/homophobic/ableist rhetoric will lose my ballot
* Disclosure Theory: I'm not going to vote on it. Debate is an activity in critical thinking - you should be able to provide argumentation on your opponents claims whether you know their case ahead of time or you find it out in the 1AC.
*Speed:Just make sure I’m on the email chain or SpeechDrop, and that analytical arguments are clear.
*Topicality: If you genuinely think there is a violation of the resolution, go for it! Otherwise, I promise you I'm not going to be sad if I don't hear a T argument. I default to competing interpretations, but I'll accept reasonability if it's uncontested. T debates are all about the standards for me - make sure there is clash. Just because their block says "____ Good" and yours says "____ Bad," that doesn't mean you've refuted your opponents claims. Specificity and actual engagement is how you win on T.
*Theory/Framework: If you feel that a theory argument is a reason to reject a team, be very thorough in your explanation. For framework, really detail why your framework is better than your opponent's.
*DA's: I'll listen to anything. I understand the need for generic DAs, but specific links are always preferred. All DA debates should include discussions of uniqueness, links, and impacts. Strongly against terminal impacts unless you can provide a very, very realistic link story. Impact turns are always great if you can explain it.
*K's: I'm not well-versed in most of the K literature that's out there. I'm open to hearing a K if you are confident that you understand it and can explain it in detail to me. Keep it real, and explain why the K is important. Again, I'm not going to be sad if you don't run a K.
*CP's: Any CP is an acceptable CP if you can effectively prove how it solves the aff. Aff - creative perms or doesn't solve arguments are your best bet. Negative - Advantage CPs are fun.
*Other Notes: Open cross is fine if you can keep it civil. The more "real-world" you can make the debate, the better. Explanations are the key to winning - I care more about how YOU are debating, and what analysis YOU can provide. Simply reading tags, cards, and pre-made blocks will not win you the round.
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CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE
* Direct clash is very important to this event. Reference other speakers and analyze the pros/cons of what they are saying.
* If you repeat a pro or con point that is very similar to another speaker, make it meaningful and add something new to the argument. Additionally, explain why the addition you made was necessary/important to recognize.
*Presiding over a chamber is just as important as giving speeches. A nearly flawless PO, who is confident in their rulings, is one of the most impressive things in student Congress.
* Act like you're in congress. That's what the event is for. "At my school" claims and high school jokes are only going to hurt your ranking. Be creative and fun, in a professional matter, and you'll be happy with the results.
*Discrimination or bigotry of any kind will not be tolerated.
PF Paradigm: I am an experienced PF judge and PF coach on the national circuit. I am a flow judge. I find real-world impacts to be the most persuasive. Of course, it isn't the magnitude of your impact alone that matters. You need to give a clear link story backed up with logic and evidence. Framework is important. Weighing is very important. It is better to acknowledge that your opponent may be winning a certain argument and explain how the impacts you are winning outweigh than it is to ignore that argument made by your opponent. Don't extend through ink. If your opponent attacks your argument you need to respond to that attack and not just repeat your original argument. I don't mind rapid conversational speed - especially while reading evidence, but I would strongly prefer no spreading. I will keep a good flow and judge primarily off the flow, but let's keep PF as an event where persuasive speaking style, logic, evidence, and refutation are all important. Although I will listen to any arguments that you present, in public forum, I find arguments that are directly related to the impacts of the resolution to be the most persuasive. Theory arguments as far as arguing about reasonable burdens for upholding or refuting the resolution are fine, but I don't see any reason for formal theory shells in public forum and the debate should be primarily centered around the resolution.
LD Paradigm: I am an experienced LD judge. I do prefer traditional style LD. I am, however, OK with plans and counter-plans and I am OK with theory arguments concerning analysis of burdens. I am not a fan of Kritiks. I will try to be open to evaluate arguments presented in the round, but I do prefer that the debate be largely about the resolution instead of largely centered on theory. I am OK with fast conversational speed and I am OK with evidence being read a little faster than fast conversational as long as tag lines and analysis are not faster than fast conversational. I do believe that V / VC are required, but I don't believe that the V / VC are voting issues in and of themselves. That is, even if you convince me that your V / VC is superior (more important, better linked to the resolution) than your opponent's V / VC that is not enough for me to vote for you. You still need to prove that your case better upholds your V / VC than your opponent's case does. To win, you may do one of three things: (1) Prove that your V / VC is superior to your opponent's AND that your case better upholds that V / VC than your opponent's case does, OR (2) Accept your opponent's V / VC and prove that your case better upholds their V/VC than their case does. OR (3) Win an "even-if" combination of (1) and (2).
CX Paradigm: I am an experienced LD and PF judge (nationally and locally). I have judged policy debate at a number of tournaments over the years - including the final round of the NSDA national tournament in 2015. However, I am more experienced in PF and LD than I am in policy. I can handle speed significantly faster than the final round of NSDA nationals, but not at super-fast speed. (Evidence can be read fast if you slow down for tag lines and for analysis.) Topicality arguments are fine. I am not a fan of kritiks or critical affs.
I enjoy clear, succinct arguments.
Think fast speak slow.
Volume and tone matter.
Respectfully communicate.
Attended:
- Klein Oak/Klein Collins HS
- Tarrant County College
- The University of Texas at Arlington
email: cecilia@reflect.us
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History & Overview:
- Debated throughout middle school when that was still a thing, throughout HS with KO and KC competed in LD, PF, Congress and all IE's. In Undergrad, I competed in LD, Parli, and all IE's. Competed at various tournaments throughout the country. Also spent time with MUN during undergrad which felt like a rip off of Congress tbh.
- PLEASE BE NICE! Debate is competitive but also meant to be fun and educational. Please respect your opponents and your partner.
Specifics:
Do's:
- Topicality
- Theory
- Disads
- Counterplans
- Kritiks
Dont's:
- Be rude
- Be sexist
- Drop arguments
- Introduce new evidence in final speeches (HUGE pet peeve of mine)
- Most of all, don't worry about the win. Be both familiar and confident with your work and research and it will speak for its self.
No preference for speed.
I have been teaching/coaching for 26 years.
When it comes to speech events, I like content and evidence above jokes. Although, I can appreciate humor. Please have clear cut organization that's easy to follow, and make sure that delivery is as strong as the content.
As far as interp goes, I do like teasers, but not the ones that last 2 minutes and break me from the moment. Make sure that you have clear cut characters that are consistent. Tell your story, even in HI, there should always be a story. I don't like the wide use of space, but when done well and with a purpose, I can find it acceptable. Make sure you have emotional levels so that you're not screaming at me throughout the whole piece, and try not to rush either.
Name: Phelan A. Simpkins, Esq.
School Affiliation: University High School
Were you previously affiliated with any other school?: No
Number of years and/or tournaments judging the event you are registered in: 2.5 years
Have you judged in other debate events? Please describe if so.: Yes, judged Congress at a Central, IL tournament earlier this year.
Please share your opinions or beliefs about how the following play into a debate round:
Speed of delivery preference (slow, conversational, brisk conversational, etc.): Highly important for ease of following the argument and understanding the stance and points couched within.
How important is the value criterion in making your decision?: It plays a role, but isn’t the end all be all.
Do you have any specific expectations for the format of the 2nd Affirmative Rebuttal and 2 Negative Rebuttal (i.e. line by line/ direct refutation and/or big picture?):I like to see direct refutation to the the previously presented counter points and, if possible, the big picture tie in.
Are voting issues necessary for your decision? No
How critical are ”extensions” of arguments into later speeches - It can’t be the sole crux of the next argument.
Flowing/note-taking: I flow based on the way the arguments are presented in totality to see each side and the direct counters.
Do you value argument over style? Style over argument? Argument and style equally? Argument and style are equal.
In order to win a debate round, does the debater need to win their framework or can they win using their opponent’s framework? The debaters framework should be strong on it’s own and if they finding openings and opportunities to use their opportunities to assist in completing a sound argument that gets credit and credence.
How necessary do you feel the use of evidence (analytical and/or empirical) is in the round? Evidence is key because support is necessary to the points presented our it all is unfounded opinion.
Jude Sims-Barber, as featured on https://www.change.org/p/keep-the-public-in-public-forum?source_location=search
Hello debaters! I’m a university student studying philosophy and sociology, and was a debater throughout high school for three years. My main proficiency was with Lincoln-Douglas debate and Congressional debate but I am very familiar with Public Forum, Policy, and IDPA debate (and, to a lesser extent, British Parliament and World Schools Debate).
I use any and all pronouns and my email is njudesims@gmail.com.
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NOTE: I have minor hearing loss. My inner ear tissue is scarred and my speech perception is affected as a result. This is not an issue of volume, it is an issue of clarity and enunciation. As a result, I cannot understand spreading. It is simply out of my ear's reach. And before you ask, no, you don't magically have the perfectly understandable spreading cadence.
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General Notes (please read):
Debate is educational first and foremost. Yes, it is competitive (a "game"), but you should always debate in good faith and not use cheap arguments or tricks just to win. Try to understand your opponent and their arguments, and try to make the debate reach a point of conclusion rather than simply making cheap dunks or disingenuous attacks. Communication relies on mutual trust and a desire to learn, not a desire to dominate or win.
Truth over tech. Techy truth is generally fine. I will not disclose. I don't have time to argue with high schoolers about why they lost.
While I understand the desire to make as many arguments as possible, the default should be using an ordinary, pedestrian speed to communicate well-researched ideas. Do not be disingenuous, either in the arguments you choose to run (knowing that they're designed or cut in a manner to disorient your opponent) or the way you explain/extend them.
-Stay topical. You chose to come to this tournament, you paid the entry fee, you know the topic. It's different when academics decide to discuss the weaknesses of our discourse models or the symbolic violence inherent in... English syntax. You aren't an academic, you're a high schooler competing in a competitive tournament you voluntarily signed up for--debate what the resolution says.
Time limits exist as a statement of how long the statements you need to make should take. They are not an excuse to cram as much stuff into that time by spreading.
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For Lincoln-Douglas:
-Keep it traditional. The most engaging LD debates are those that speak in concrete terms about abstract ideas, using what we examine on a surface level (mere political issues) and revealing hidden moral assumptions or frameworks (theory).
-Is is not ought. Merely because something is the case in the real world says nothing about whether such a thing is morally justified. No, you don't have the solution to the is-ought gap.
-You must have a Value and Criterion. Lincoln Douglas is all about framing topics with an ethical framework. When we say that something is moral or immoral, we must do so with an ethical framework (i.e., consequentialism, deontology, etc.). A value of Morality is meaningless, as the purpose of LD is to normatively prescribe a special importance to a particular value or good (it tells me nothing as a judge if you value morality. You might as well say "it is good to do good things and bad to do bad things").
-Ethical theories are not values. You cannot 'value' utilitarianism--it is an ethical framework through which we quantify or evaluate that which we hold important. We can examine the utility of 'positive freedom' as a value, but we cannot simply value utilitarianism.
-Avoid criteria that are bulkily worded ("ensuring healthcare access" or something similar). Try to limit criteria to established philosophies, ideas, methods, or theories.
-I highly value philosophical consistency and a solid understanding of the philosophical ideas and ethical theories argued for. I know judge intervention is frowned upon, but if you misrepresent a philosophical position or idea, it will be hard for me to trust your proclaimed level of expertise on the topic. Simple mistakes are perfectly okay, as a lot of philosophy is rather impenetrable.
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For Public Forum:
-PF is not policy. You used to be prohibited from citing evidence in PF until after Ted Turner sponsored it. PF is the lay debate in high school circuits. Keep it simple. To clarify, I do expect you to use evidence, but also your own proficiency for debate.
-If you know a piece of evidence is deeply flawed or even wrong, why run it on the chance that your opponent won't know how to respond? Does that not seem disingenuous to you?
-I'm primarily a flow judge, and I care deeply about clear statements of arguments and rebuttals. If you don't signpost, I'll likely miss it. Tech mainly bores me, so do try to make quality arguments--if you make bad arguments, then I won't prefer them solely because the opposing team couldn't mention the sixth drop of the fourth subpoint in a three minute speech. If the argument is bad, then it's bad--simple as. (By bad, I mean poorly explained, incoherent, frivolous, or cheap.) Drops are only a point in your favor insofar as the dropped argument is actually substantial to the overall debate.
-Focus on broader impacts. Remember that the burden of the CON is not to propose any comprehensive plan of action, merely demonstrate why the PRO is ineffective or harmful.
-Do not spend too much time on one specific point with one specific point of evidence. Give weight to what's important. Collapse by the end. The earlier, the better.
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For Big Questions:
-Big questions is a descriptive debate, which means that you are debating on what is (descriptive) rather than what ought be the case (normative). What this means is that you are, on aff or neg, answering the big question at hand. What's more, big questions require big answers, and any reasonably big answer contains quite a lot of philosophy. Your case should include some measure of balance between raw theoretical material (philosophy, broadly) and hard science. Depending on the topic, you might lean more to one side (e.g., objective morality exists vs. humans are naturally self-interested).
-In my experience (for the few years BQ has been around), disputes over evidence in BQ shouldn't be boiled down to "well our sources disagree." Generally, a dispute around a big question is epistemological, about how we come to know things and how certain that knowledge really is. For example, saying that "humans are naturally protective of their young" is not really disagreeable on a factual basis, but whether that information is significant as to whether humans are self-interested is a matter of specific theoretical framing and definition.
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For Policy:
-Don't spread. If you go too fast, I'll say 'clear' until you slow down. This has resulted in me saying clear within the entire 8 minutes of a speech, so please do slow down.
-Please do not force me to rely on an email chain to decide the round.
-On T: I am pretty lenient when it comes to whether a plan/counterplan is topical or not. My standard for determining this is whether or not the plan fits in what I conceive as the "spirit of the resolution." Something may not be strictly topical as per the verbiage of the resolution, but is still topical as it fits the resolution's intended spirit as written. The only times I will flatly reject a plan on topicality is (1) if it is too large in scope, as to encompass the resolution rather than the other way around, or (2) it is so disconnected from the topic that it may as well be a non-sequitur. As an additional note, please don't waste time making a bunch of topicality arguments. It is often time-consuming.
-K's are most commonly a cheap trick, in my view--I know that they're used topic to topic and round to round with little change, as a means to minimize exhaustive prep and real engagement with the topic. The only exception I'll give is to specific instances of abolition/discourse K's, in which you argue (in good faith, I'll be able to tell) that the verbiage or framing of the resolution overly limits available/acceptable discourse. Regardless, don't anticipate a vote in a K's favor. You signed up for this tournament, after all, and your decision to sidestep the topic reflects at least partially on your intellectual honesty.
Hello, my name is Suzanna Sinapyan. I graduated from Woodbury University with a Masters in Business Administration.
I've judged several PF rounds and have some preferences when it comes to rounds.
- Please be respectful towards your teammates and judges - I do not and will not tolerate disrespect towards anyone in a round. Please have manners when speaking to opponents and refrain from acting aggressively or rudely.
- Please make sure you're speaking at a volume that is audible for both your opponents and judges. Try not to mumble, especially if you're spreading. Do not purposefully speak low to hurt your opponents. If I cannot understand you, speaker points might be docked. If you choose to spread, keep it at an understandable pace and if you know you're going to go very fast, offer to share cases.
- I judge based on your ability to defend your points. Being able to successfully make me believe that your points are stronger and better than your opponents will lead to you winning my ballot.
I did PF for four years, graduating in 2021. I qualified to Gold TOC and Nationals and finaled Blake and Harvard my senior year, so I can keep up with most rounds.
Tech > Truth
I'll vote for anything, but there is an inherent burden of proof that needs to be met for me to consider an argument. I won't assume something functions as offense/defense solely because you tell me it does.
I'm not super strict on evidence ethics. I think it's very easy to respond to evidence the way you respond to any other argument, and I encourage you to do so. Paraphrasing is totally fine. It's more realistic, and you have to actually understand the content. I've seen way more evidence ethics issues with cut cards than paraphrased evidence. That said, please still have all your cards cut so evidence sharing runs smoothly. If you take too long, I'll dock speaks. I'll only call for evidence if it's disputed, and I actually need to read it to make a decision.
I have a surface-level understanding of progressive arguments (Theory, K, etc.). I understand the basics, but if you read them, there needs to be a lot of warranting. I will not vote for your argument if your warranting is just a bunch of jargon smushed together. Generally, I think paraphrasing is fine and disclosure is good, but I can be convinced either way.
If you're going to read an actual warranted framework, it needs to be read by first rebuttal at the latest. "Offensive overviews" in second rebuttal are dumb, and my threshold for a good response is much lower.
evidence < warrant < evidence + warrant
Cross doesn't matter (I'll still listen), but concessions are binding. Also, please be nice, it's really not that hard.
Frontline in second rebuttal. Conceded defense doesn't need to be extended in first summary (but definitely in FF)
Earlier the weighing the better. I'll allow new weighing in first final if there's no other weighing in the round, but nothing expanding on existing weighing (no new evidence, prereq analysis, etc.)
If you're going to do weighing, please do more than just pointing out that your impact number is larger. Obviously, I'll still evaluate it, but I want actual comparisons between arguments. Weighing impacts on probability makes no sense, please stop doing it. Strength of link means nothing to me if I don't have some kind of metric for comparing the strength of different links and a reason for why I should care about a link's relative strength.
I prefer slower tech rounds. Speed is still totally fine, just remember that the faster you go, the more likely it is that I miss something, and I'm not flowing off a speech doc. If you go fast in the first half, please at least slow down a little in the back half, especially in final focus.
If you don't signpost in summary and final focus, I will have no idea what is going on in the round, especially if you're going super fast and ignoring the line-by-line
I don't flow card names. If you say a card name, you need to tell me what the card says (including when you're extending stuff in sum/ff).
Please time each other. No grace period, finish what you were saying if you started before time was up, anything else won't be flowed
Extend the full link chain + warrants + evidence for whatever argument you're collapsing on in both summary and final focus. I will not evaluate something if it's not in both speeches or you just skip over your entire link story. Please don't make me drop you because you didn't extend something.
Pleeeeeease collapse.
Nothing new in summary or final focus unless it's responding to something new the other team read in their previous speech, except for weighing.
I default first speaking team.
I start at 28 speaks, and I'll go up or down based on how well I can understand you and how well you debate. Debating well with poor clarity warrants higher speaks than speaking clearly but debating poorly. I will probably give somebody a 30. I won't go lower than 27 unless you say something bigoted or are just straight up being mean.
Post rounding is fine. If you really think you won, odds are I missed something because you went too fast, and it was super blippy.
You don't have to call me judge, Arjun is fine and kinda preferred
For email chains, use arjunrsingh333@gmail.com
If you have any other questions, you can ask me before the round. I am willing to change any part of my paradigm if both teams agree (speech times are non-negotiable).
TL;DR
Extend through summary/final focus and weigh to win
Affiliations:
2010-24: Lakeville North High School (MN)
2024-: Edina High School (MN)
Did Policy Debate in the late 90s & coached Policy and then later LD in the 00s. In that time, my students qualified to NSDA Nationals and the TOC. Since 2011 I have primarily coached limited prep and platform Speech events and some Congress. I taught at Gustavus Speech and PF camps when those were still around and have taught Extemp Speaking at ISD since 2018.
When I coached Debate, I preferred a faster, more technical approach. But time away from active coaching means I've not kept up with how the events have evolved. If fast and technical is your preferred style, I'll try to keep up but no guarantees. Podcasts at 2.5x aren't quite the same so please watch and adjust. I'm not cutting cards or actively coaching Debate so you may need to do more connecting of the dots to keep me on the same page as you. For familiarity and thresholds for types of arguments, please feel free to ask before the round.
Email chain: yatesh.singh@gmail.com
Yes email chain (I prefer Speechdrop if it's all the same but good with whatever) -eskoglund@gmail.com
POLICY DEBATE
Background
Olathe South 2001, 1 year at KU
Head coach, Olathe Northwest HS, Kansas (assistant 2006-2016, head 2016-present)
90%+ of my judging is on a local circuit with varying norms for speed, argumentation, etc.
1) My most confident decisions happen in policymaker-framed rounds. That is more of a statement of experience than philosophy; I will do my best to follow you to other places where the debate takes us.
2) If your aff doesn't advocate a topical plan text, the burden is on you to ensure that I understand your advocacy and framework. If you don't make at least an attempt to relate to the resolution, I am likely to struggle to understand how you justify an affirmative ballot.
3) Debate is an oral activity. While I will want your speech docs, I flow based on what I hear. If I don't hear it, I will not fill in my flow later based on what you send.
4) I will follow speech docs to watch for clipping. Egregious clipping will lead me to decide the round even if a formal challenge is not filed. (See below for my detailed approach to clipping.)
5) Whether you've got a plan, an advocacy statement, or whatever - much of the work coming out of camps is so vague as to be pointless. You don't need a six plank plan or a minute of clarification, but a plan should be more than the resolution plus a three word mission statement.
6) I don't judge kick unless given explicit instruction to that effect. I don't generally believe in a conditional 2NR.
7) Flow the debate, not the speech doc. Very little moves my speaker point calculation down faster than debaters responding to arguments that were not made in the debate.
8) Anytime you're saying words you want on my flow, those need to not be at 400 wpm please. If you fly through a theory block at maximum evidence speed, it probably won't all make it onto my flow.
9) On T, I primarily look for a competing interpretation framework. "Reasonability" to me just means that I can find more than one interpretation acceptable, not that you don't have to meet an interp. While I can explain to my students a more modern offense-defense framework, I do still largely view T as a true-false question.
10) Long pre-written overviews in rebuttals are neither helpful nor persuasive.
11) I will not lie to your coach about the argumentation that is presented in the round. I will not tolerate the debate space being used to bully, insult, or harass fellow competitors. I will not evaluate personal disputes between debaters.
12) I think disclosure probably ought to be reciprocal. If you mined the aff's case from the wiki then I certainly hope you are disclosing negative positions. My expectations for disclosure are dependent on the division and tournament, and can be subject to theory which is argued in the round. DCI debaters in Kansas should be participating in robust disclosure, at a minimum after arguments have been presented in any round of a tournament.
Clipping Policy
Clipping - Representing, through sending a speech doc or other means, that you have read evidence which was not read in the round. If evidence is highlighted, skipping any un-highlighted words is clipping; if evidence is not highlighted, skipping any un-underlined words is clipping. Verbal indications to "cut" or "mark" a card are acceptable indications that you have chosen not to read all of a particular card in the doc, and you should be prepared to provide a marked version of your speech to your opponents if requested.
Clipping continues to be a major issue in our activity. You are welcome to make a formal challenge, and if you do so, the relevant KSHSAA/NSDA/etc rules will control rather than my personal approach, which is:
1) If you clip a card, I will make my decision as though you did not read that card at all. It will be removed from my flow.
2) If you, as a team, clip four or more cards, you will lose my ballot on poor evidence ethics without the need for a formal challenge.
3) If both teams in a debate violate #2, I will decide the debate as normal based on any un-clipped cards from both sides.
CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE
First and foremost, this is a debate event. Any speech after the authorship/sponsorship speech should be making direct, meaningful reference to prior speakers in the debate. Simply repeating or rehashing old points is not an effective use of your, or my, time. Several speeches in a row on the same side is almost always bad debate, so you should be prepared to speak on both sides of most legislation.
The fastest path to standing out in most chambers is to make it clear that you're debating the actual content of the legislation, not just some vague idea of the title. Could I get your speech by just Googling a couple of words in the topic, or have you actually gotten into the specific components of the legislation before you?
I come from the policy debate planet originally but that doesn't mean I want you to speed. We have different events for a reason.
Role playing is generally good, particularly if we're at a circuit or national tournament where your constituents might be different from others in your chamber.
I notice and appreciate effective presiding officers who know the rules and work efficiently, and will rank you highly if your performance is exemplary.
LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE
I come from a fairly traditional LD circuit, so while I can understand policy type argumentation, my decision calculus may be a bit unpredictable if you just make this a 1 on 1 CX round with too-short speech times.
I am watching for clipping and will directly intervene against you if you clip cards in a way that I judge to be egregious, even if the issue is not raised in the round.
My default way of evaluating an LD round is to compare the impacts presented by both sides through the lens of each side's value and criterion, if presented. If you want me to do something different please run a clear role of the ballot or framework argument and proactively defend why your approach is predictable enough to create fair debate.
Your last 1-2 minutes, at least, should be spent on the big picture writing my reason for decision. Typically the debater who does this more clearly and effectively will win my ballot.
PUBLIC FORUM
Clash is super important to all forms of debate and is most often lacking in PF. You need to be comparing arguments and helping me weigh impacts.
Pointing at evidence (i.e., paraphrasing) is not incorporating it into the round. If you don't actually read evidence I won't give it any more weight than if you had just asserted the claim yourself. Smaller quotations are fine, but the practice of "this is true and we say this from Source X, Source Y, and the Source Z study" is anti-educational.
Bentonville West High School Speech & Debate Coach
I have been a coach and competitor in the forensics/speech/debate world for 20+ years. I specialize in speaking. Speaker points are important to me. Sloppy or disorganized speeches can cost you the round. Please don't just read to me. I want to see your speaking & delivery skills as much as I want to see your arguments. Make clear arguments and focus on line-by-line analysis. When it comes to splitting hairs for a win, I will go with the team with the best line-by-line argumentation.
Back your claims and counterclaims with solid cards. I'm an analytical thinker when it comes to debate rounds. I want to hear your claims back with more than your opinion.
I am a tab judge and willing to listen to any argument. However, don't kill a dead horse or bet your case on minuscule points. Support your claims with professional backing. Make your points clear and understandable. Make sure you link to the resolution.
I enjoy a clearly organized debate with strong signposting, road-maps, and line-by-line analysis. Organization is key to keeping the flow tidy as well as maintaining clash throughout the round.
PLEASE DON'T SPREAD IN PF & LD.Adapt your case structure/speaking style, to adhere to this request. I'm a speaker. I expect solid speaking skills. I can deal with fast speaking as long as you are clear. However, I'm a traditional judge. Don't spread in styles outside of CX. Just because I am a traditional judge does not mean I won't evaluate or vote up progressive arguments. They just better be good. :)
Be sure to read arguments that have a clear link to the resolution/framework. If I don't understand the argument itself or don't understand how it links, there is no way I can evaluate it.
You're not going to win rounds with me in cross. Just because you bring a point up in cross does not mean I will flow it. If you want it considered, bring it up in your rebuttal. Keep it professional. A true debater can give their points without sounding demeaning or disrespectful. It will cost you the round with me. Learn to disagree respectfully.
I am by no means a lay judge, but I judge PF & WSD rounds as if I am. Don't use debate jargon in these rounds. Speak to me as if I had never heard the word debate before. That's the design of these styles.
If you have any questions, please ask me prior to the round.
Avoid arguments that are homophobic, sexist, racist, or offensive in any way. Be respectful to your opponent and judge. Use professional language at all times.
Email for chain: jskordal@bentonvillek12.org
This is your debate so have fun with it! Best of luck to you!!
Background:
4 years of policy and LD in high school
4 years of NFA-LD & parli in college
1.5 years of coaching speech/debate in college
3rd year of coaching high school policy.
General In-Round Info:
Keeping the flow clean is the easiest way to win my ballot. I have based the info below on my previous decisions. Note the points where I have found the analysis in round was most effective in making me vote aff/neg.
LD (Highschool):
Value/Criterion-not necessary but if you are not engaging with the traditional structure of the event then at least make it clear what you are doing and why I should (or should not) vote one way. I think definitions are exceptionally important in value debates. Don't just say you value you "justice." Tell me what "justice" is.
LD (College) CX (Highschool):
*Speed* If you keep the flow clean, you can go as fast as you want. I will say "clear" if I cannot understand your rate of delivery. Please note, I am slightly bad of hearing. The wonderful result of growing up in a rock-musician's house.
Topicality is a priori until a counter framework is presented. The negative needs to show me how their definition directly relates to the affirmative case. If you want my ballot on T; explain the violation.
Ks and all manner of dark sorcery-My wheelhouse in college was the Cap K, but near the end I started to venture into feminist literature and I have since fallen into a wide array of different perspectives that I now generally, at least in part, embrace. That said, in the following section I have included my general view of debate's relationship to the individual and society because I think that is the best way to explain my understanding of Kritiks.
Debate is a performance like any other event. Policy presentations have their place and are not inherently contradictory to critical evaluation. However, policy debate is a social associate of power in the status quo. For me, that is true for psychic, bio, and material power within the American system. That said, debate, as a collective idea, is not a state of counter/anti-fascist praxis, but it can be a space for that.
Debating as a practice for evaluation by means of competitive information processing is important to me because debate questions (i.e. resolutions) are not only an attempt at examining competing positions and placing one over another, but also the reassertion of a primary mode of processing. A traditionalist would contend that primary mode is policy. Indeed, the most recent NFA rules for Lincoln-Douglas maintain the event should be a "policy-oriented dialogue." That places policy discussions inherently abovealternative mechanisms from the outset. Thus, in my mind, the Kritik is about rejecting not only a previous position but also the recognition of the inherent bias of organized debate. This is true, at least, for arguments operating in a pre-fiat frame.
I myself am game for any rejection of status quo politics. I just like clash. :)
That is a very general synopsis of my view on critical debate. Please feel free to ask more specific questions before rounds.
Impact Calculus-While my background would indicate a desire for a clear, concise line-by-line, I've found the BP style of rebuttal has a greater capacity for keeping my attention. I also recommend that people collapse to as few arguments as possible. Use your time efficiently.
I find systemic (violence) implications far more compelling than existential/terminal ones. That said, I have voted for extinction many times and wipeout at least once. What can I say? I snorkel in the abyss.
I've been judging LD and PF debate for 12 years, mostly locally but also at nationals and some circuit events.
LD
I tend to prefer traditional V/VC debate, as that is what I am most experienced in, but I am open to progressive LD with some exceptions (see below).
This is my preferred form of debate: I look for strong framework threads from contentions up through criterion and value. I pay close attention to cross-ex questions and answers. I prefer quality over quantity, which means I like focused, robust, tightly-knit, well-reasoned arguments, and not an evidence barrage designed to overwhelm your opponent. Ultimately, I'm looking for clear clash.
Counterplans are fine only if topical. If you are planning to read a K, do so at your own risk. I tend to be more receptive to Ks that directly challenge an assumption within the resolution as opposed to calling some aspect of your opponent's presentation offensive or unethical. If you are running anything complex, explain it thoroughly and avoid jargon, because I likely will not be familiar with it given my traditional judging background. I am OK with fast talking, but do not spread. If you have a quick delivery, please share docs. I do flow. Anything beyond Ks and plans (tricks, spreading, theory, etc.) are a no-go.
PF
Like LD, I prefer a traditional PF debate with clearly delineated contentions, a strong framework and good linkage between contentions. Because a close round usually comes down to evidence clash, I want you to make clear to me which evidence you consider strongest and why it should sway me. Similarly, I expect you to help me understand how your evidence and arguments stacks up against your opponent's. On cross-ex I look for good, probing, thoughtful questions that help me see potential weaknesses in your opponent's case. Gotcha questions are a non-starter and should be avoided.
PF is not CX — do not spread. That said, I am OK with a rapid delivery, but please share docs if that is your tendency.
General notes:
- Don't forget the resolution — a good argument that does not effectively address the resolution can be a loser.
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I will vote for anything that is not racist, sexist, abusive, etc. as long as you win the argument.
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Do not be abusive or try to win simply by overwhelming your opponent (you likely will not win this way).
- I will ask to see evidence at the end of the debate if I need clarity or better understanding. My asking to see evidence should not be construed as meaningful for either side.
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If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I am happy to talk about myself and my paradigm.
Pronouns: he/him/his :)
Happy to judge an informed debate on the given resolution.
Been a while since I judged PF or LD.
Speed is fine (but must be crystal clear for high speaks), jargon is fine. Whatever you put on the flow I will evaluate but prefer evidence to analytics.
I have judged for 10+years on the local Minnesota circuit and competed in LD before that. My knowledge of specific higher level national circuit strategies is limited as I haven't judged many national circuit rounds but I am confident that I can follow as long as you keep the round clear.
Please add me to any email chains: alsmit6512@gmail.com
If you have specific questions, feel free to ask before the round.
I am a relatively inexperienced parent judge. I want to hear what you have to say, so I prefer clear, understandable speech - no spreading/fast-talking, no obscure references to debate terms that are likely foreign to parents who didn't debate in high school. If I can't understand you, then I can't count what you say in your favor.
I expect a courteous, respectful debate - and hope you have fun too.
add me to the email chain - emersondsmith1@gmail.com
Top-level:
I try to be as tab as possible. Please be nice to each other (including to your partner).
Note that I have judged zero rounds on the IP topic, so please don't assume I know acronyms, core of the topic arguments, etc.
Here are some other specific thoughts:
Speed:
Speed is generally fine as long as you're clear. I'll say "clear" or "slow" once, otherwise you'll have to check if I'm still flowing to know if I'm following along. Please note that my ear is rusty after not hearing speed in 12+ months (especially important for earlier rounds in the tournament).
Slower on analytics than evidence (I'm serious, I won't be reading the speech doc for this stuff) and ramp up to your top speed in the first ~15 seconds to give my ear a moment to adjust.
T:
Make sure there's an impact if you go for it. I default to competing interpretations.
DAs/CPs:
I'm most familiar with evaluating arguments here.
Kick planks, run PICs, UQ CPs, whatever. Haven't heard a DA I won't at least entertain. The more specific the better.
Ks:
I'm most likely to vote for the K when there's specific link analysis in the block (quotes from 1AC ev, specific cards, etc) and an alt that understandably resolves the impacts of the K (if it resolves the aff as well that's even better). I almost certainly don't know anything about your lit base.
Nontraditional Debate:
I have judged a single round of this type, but feel free to do whatever you'd like as long as I'm provided a standard of evaluation that both teams can be reasonably expected to meet.
I competed in PF at Nova High School in South Florida from 2014 to 2019. I just graduated from Duke University and am finishing up my fourth year coaching PF at Durham Academy.
For Nats 2023, please put me on the email chain- smith.emmat@gmail.com.
How I make decisions-
I tend to vote on the path of least resistance. This is the place on my flow where I need to intervene the least as a judge in order to make a decision. Explicitly identifying your cleanest piece of offense in the round, winning that clean piece of offense, completely extending that clean piece of offense (uniqueness, links AND impacts in BOTH summary and final focus), and then telling me why your cleanest piece of offense is more important than your opponents' cleanest piece of offense is usually an easy way to win my ballot.
General Stuff-
- Do all the good debate things! Do comparative weighing, warrant your weighing, collapse, frontline, etc.
- Please preflow before the round. Holding up the tournament to take 15 min to preflow in the room is really annoying :(
- Warrants and full link chains are important! I can only vote on arguments I understand by the end of the round and won't do the work for you on warrants/links. Please do not assume I know everything just because I've probably judged some rounds on the topic.
- I won't read speech docs, so please don't sacrifice speed for clarity.
- I have a really low threshold and 0 tolerance for being rude, dismissive, condescending, etc. to your opponents. I'm not afraid to drop you for this reason. At the very least, I'll tank your speaks and write you a kindly worded educational ballot about making rounds unnecessarily hostile.
Evidence-
- I personally feel that calling for evidence as a judge is interventionist. I will only do it if 1- someone in the round explicitly tells me to in a speech or 2- reading evidence is literally the only way that I can make a decision (if this happens, it means both teams did a terrible job of clarifying the round and there is no clear offense for me to vote on. Please don't let this happen).
Progressive Stuff-
- I'll vote on Kritiks if they are clearly warranted, well explained, and made accessible to your opponents. (I am admittedly not a fan of K's but will vote on them if I absolutely must.)
- I will also vote on theory that is clearly explained, fleshed out, and well warranted. I believe that theory should ONLY be used to check egregious instances of in-round abuse and reserve the right to drop you for frivolous theory. I won't buy paraphrase or disclosure theory.
- HUGE DISCLAIMER: My biggest pet peeve in PF right now is the use of progressive args to make rounds inaccessible to teams who don't know how to handle them. Reading progressive args against a clearly inexperienced team to get a cheap win is an easy way to auto lose my ballot. ALSO I am really not confident in my abilities to evaluate progressive arguments. If you choose to run them, you take on the risk of me making the wrong decision despite doing my best. Proceed with caution!
- If you plan on reading arguments about sensitive topics, please provide a content warning before the round.
Put me on the email chain please - jettsmith7@gmail.com and smithj3@sd25.us They/He pronouns
Background Info: I am the head Coach at Highland High School, located in Pocatello, Idaho and the former assistant coach at Rigby HS in Idaho. I have been coaching for 7 years, I competed for 5 as well. I co-lead the Gate City Debate Camp, serve on the IMR District board, and was Idaho's debate commissioner, so the activity means a lot to me. I have a bachelors in Communication, Media, and Rhetoric, and I double minored in Advocacy, and Gender and Sexuality studies.
Competition History: I did mostly Policy in HS but I dabbled in LD and PF as well. I qualified to Nationals in LD and CX but went in worlds instead to debate with friends. I have coached debaters to out rounds in CX and world schools the last 3 years, a BQ national runner up, and multiple LD and PF debaters to latefrom other schools in my circuit as well.
All Styles: I am a flow judge, speaking skills only matter / factor into my decision insofar as it helps with efficiency/word economy. I am pretty much cool with whatever, but I think accessibility is really important. Speed is great (I am good at like an 8 out of 10 if 10 is college policy and 1 is novice congress) but accessibility matters a lot to me so please be cognizant of your opponents speed preferences, triggers, etc. I will vote on anything except impact turns to structural violence (IE homophobia/racism/sexism, etc good)
Trad Round LD Paradigm:
I default to judging off offense weighed on the value premise/value criterion debate. Essentially, I pick one value at the end of the debate based off of who proves theirs is the best/most important standard to judge the round off of, and then I see the criterion for that value as a scale. Only arguments that apply to that specific criterion factor into my decision.
LARP/PROG LD Paradigm: I can be convinced to judge under any system/standard/role of the ballot. Kritiks and Theory are great when not friv. No 1AR Theory isn't very persuasive to me. I am open to voting on condo and other non-friv Theory arguments. Since Neg only gets two speeches I prefer 2-4 well fleshed out off case positions than 5+ super short ones you can't really blow up in NR without making a bunch of new arguments. 2AR's don't go for too much please challenge. Make sure you layer the debate/tell me what comes first. Not really convinced by most RVI's that are halfway decently responding, but especially on Topicality.
PF Paradigm:
I theoretically prefer traditional PF because I want it to be accessible to debaters at all levels and from all backgrounds, but I have judged Nat Circuit PF a lot and find it way more fun to judge and coach. Accessibility is important to me. If your opponents don't do K's, Theory, or Speed, I would ask that you don't either, or do them in an educational manner. I believe that second rebuttal needs to both defend and attack, and I do not weigh new arguments given by the second final focus. Weighing also needs to be answered in the speech following it. For offense if I can't draw a clean line from final focus back to the speech the argument started at I won't vote on it. I am open to voting on Theory that isn't friv (no shoes, no formal clothing, etc.)
CX:
I love policy debate. I default to stock issues/comparative worlds if not given any standard to judge on. I will vote on anything except impact turns to structural violence. Make sure you layer the debate for me (what comes first). Collapsing onto your most important arguments in the last two rebuttals is essential, as is splitting the Neg Block. I love Topicality but need your shell to be complete with standards, voters, and a standard to judge it off of. I love Kritiks but they need to have a clear link, impact, alternative, and framework to judge off of. I love Disadvantages but they need to have clear uniqueness, link, internal link(s), and impacts. And I love Counterplans but they need to have a text, be competitive, and have a net benefit. I love On Case debate but it should be more than just generic impact defense. Analytical arguments are great as long as you can tell me why you don't need evidence for it.
Jimmy Smith has over 45 years of coaching and is a 5 Diamond Key along with a very proud member of the NSDA Hall of Fame. Over the 45 years he has been honored to 9 students on the Final Stage with one National Champion. After retiring in 2017 Jimmy re-entered the classroom because to quote him, "this isn't work, it's fun"
Include me on the email chain: jmcshb@gmail.com
Policy Maker is my paradigm. As such, I regularly vote negative on counterplans and am not biased against a team that goes for it in the 2NR. I like all kinds of counterplans and the key in my paradigm is a net benefit that would outweigh affirmative advantages. I will vote negative on topicality especially if the negative clearly has won the line by line debate on it. Clarity on the line by line is essential for an argument to be won. I enjoy fast debates and can keep up with most clear debaters. You should know at what speed your speech becomes unintelligible and adjust so clarity is maximized. Tech over truth as the line by line debate needs to be won and clearly won for my ballot.
The only type of arguments that I do not like are Kritiks where the team running them does not actually know them or assumes that I will do work for them. HS debaters doing K often devolve a policy debate round into a philosophical mash with little clarity. As an alternative to a Kritik, I would suggest a counterplan which would demonstrate a policy that would create whatever "alternative" you want thus allowing this policy making judge the ability to select the best policy available in the round. I have been judging policy debate rounds for over 30 years and been involved in the activity since 1984 so while I might not like certain arguments, like Kritiks; this is a game of logic and speed in which the round most often goes to the most strategic thinking team. If you run Kritik with framework and actually demonstrate your competence, then you will still win my ballot. You should weigh the round at the end of the final two rebuttals so that it is clear what you really think I should vote on in the round.
Current Role:
Wooster High School Policy Debate Coach (since Fall of 2020)
Previous Policy Debate Background:
Debated 4 years of Policy in High School (St. Edward, Ohio)
Debated 3 years of Policy in College (John Carroll University CEDA)
Coached 1 year of Policy at Sophia University (Tokyo, Japan)
Coached 2 years of Policy at Queens' College (NY, NY)
Judged Policy Debate for over 30 years
Email: joshbutdebate@gmail.com
College: UT Tyler 21-24
High School: Lindale 17-21
General philosophy: Feel free to read whatever you feel most comfortable with. I went for critical arguments almost every debate my senior year, but the previous three years I spent reading exclusively policy arguments and I read a mix of the two in college. You know what is and is not appropriate to say within rounds and if you don't adhere to that, your points and ballot will reflect it. If you have any questions about your argument and whether or not I'd be receptive to it, it's better to ask than be bothered by my ballot.
Comments:
If you say the words "for a brief off time roadmap," I am going to be sad.
Tech>truth. A dropped argument isn't assumed true without an extended and weighable warrant.
Depth>breadth. I'm not the best judge for more than 6 or 7 off, but if you feel like you need 13 pages to win a debate, I'll just be sad.
I prefer you to not read 30 cards in a speech. Evidence quality is really important and if you throw that out of the window just to throw the other team off, your speaks will reflect it. Comparing evidence quality is a great way to turn the tide in your favor in debates in front of me, as I will do my absolute best to evaluate only what was said in the round.
If it gives you better context, the most influential people to how I view debate are Cody Gustafson, Quaram Robinson and Nico Juarez.
Disads
-Uniqueness controls the direction of the link, this goes for both sides. If you want to win a link turn, you must win that the disad is non-unique and if you want to win the link you must win that it is.
-Zero risk is possible
Counterplans
-Much more persuasive if they have a solvency advocate, just reading a line in the 1NC just to dump 6 minutes on it in the block means that I give the aff leniency in rebuttals to catch up, but that isn't an excuse for sloppy 2ACs
-This is one place I am very up for a theory debate, whack counterplans that wipe out much of the aff lit base are probably bad for everyone, but the amount of times I've gone for counterplans that definitely cheat on some level puts me in the middle here.
-Doesn't really bother me if they're specific or not, but even if you don't have specific cards you should be able to explain why the counterplan solves the specific harms of the aff with a risk of a net benefit
-Generally for judge-kick, you just need to actually say it. This doesn't mean I can't be dissuaded by the other team in the final speech though.
Kritiks
-Feel free to read them on affirmative or negative, but don't get lazy with them and engage with the arguments the other team is making. Just reading the blocks you wrote at the beginning of the season and not referencing specific authors, lines of evidence from either side and engaging with arguments without specificity is a good way to get really behind in these debates.
-Framework isn't as important to win on negative in a lot of these debates, but if winning a research method through framework is what your critique is all about, of course you must win it.
-Most familiar with critiques of capitalism, settler colonialism and various areas of literature involving anti-blackness. Have read a bit of PoMo, but it is probably the argument you will need to spend the most time explaining. Regardless of my familiarity with your argument, you should be doing the work as if I've never heard your argument before.
-Specific links and explanations of links to either the topic or the affirmative are really important. Even if your link is generic and fits into every shell, that doesn't mean your 2NC or 2AC should sound the same every round. Great link explanation and application is a great way to get better speaks. The inverse is true as well.
-Impact and alt debates are often very muddy. Explaining your impact in a way that it can result from the links and be resolved by the alternative is something that is important. Alt explanation doesn't have to be hard, you just need to do it. History is your greatest resource in these debates, don't forget about it. Examples and explanations are great ways not just to get better speaks, but to win my ballot.
Framework
-Do your thing here and go for the impacts you are most comfortable going for. These debates often get lost in the internal links and fall short in the impact debate, be very careful there.
-Topical versions are important, but you need to make inroads outside of them to implicate why they're important within the debate. Don't just shallowly extend it or acknowledge it and move on, these can shred most of your offense on either side, but are very important to win when aff.
-Impact turns and impact defense are important here, but fleshing these arguments out is something a lot of teams don't do.
Topicality
-I have a higher threshold for voting for this against policy affs, some of these T interps are getting out of hand. That being said, T and advantage counterplans were my favorite arguments to go for, so feel free to read it if you think you can win it. Sometimes you might need to take these debates a little more slowly, it will benefit my comprehension given there are generally fewer pieces of evidence in these debates.
-Having good definitions (that define words in the resolution) is important.
-Please don't refer to a sheet by the authors name, instead refer to it by the word/phrase that the author intends to define.
Theory
-Please no tricks, they're bad for everyone
-Reasons to reject require warrants and weighable impacts
-Counterplan theory is probably a good idea, look above.
-IVIs/RVIs are cool, but not every sheet is an IVI. For example, if the negative reads a topicality shell in the 1NC and then choose not to go for it, that isn't a reason to vote affirmative.
I'm the head coach of speech and debate at The Pembroke Hill School in Kansas City, MO. I competed as an LD and Policy debater in high school. I coach all events. My team competes in the Kansas City region as well as national circuit tournaments (on occasion).
Universal things:
Extensions: in order for an argument to be properly extended in the debate, the warrant of that argument must be extended through the necessary speech. It is not enough to say, "Extend Smith '20". You must extend the warrants as well.
Respect/decorum: debate is historically an unequal place for women, non-binary students, and BIPOC. Debate is also an activity that is meant to educate and empower young people. You are allowed to make mistakes, and you should apologize when that mistake disrespects an opponent/judge. You are not allowed to make debate an unsafe space for anyone, and you deserve to lose if you do. While all debaters deserve your respect and professionalism, you should pay extra attention to ensuring that you are not engaging in culturally normalized behavior that makes spaces unsafe for the people I've listed above. I will happily listen to and vote for arguments I disagree with. I will not allow debaters to demean or dehumanize their opponents.
Policy
I am not fast enough to flow fast TOC rounds, I will not flow off of speech docs unless technical issues require me to do so--If I can't hear the tag/author/warrant, it doesn't go on the page. So, fast is fine, slower spreading is fine, but I don't judge enough super fast rounds to keep up with you. If you are concerned about this, two tips: 1. watch me, if I'm not holding my pen I'm not flowing. 2. Ask for verbal cues to slow if you want them.
I'll listen to every argument with the exception of positions that advocate racism/sexism/bigotry in the debate space.
Ks-Its fine to argue and go for Ks in front of me, but you must be able to articulate your warrants/impacts through both the warrants in the card and your own words. If you can't explain the K, you can't extend the K. Generic Ks are fine, but I prefer link/uniqueness debate over impact debate. Obviously, impact calculus is essential as the debate crystallizes.
T-I'm happy to watch a 2NR completely focused on T, don't be shy about reading T in front of me. Sub T should have specific, contextual language on the interp and violation.
DAs-I tend to give very little access to "any risk of the link" arguments on generic DAs. I much prefer link debate and uniqueness debate over impact debate. Obviously, impact calculus is essential as the debate crystallizes, but the arguments I am most persuaded by are link and uniqueness arguments.
ROTB-I try to be as open to ROTB claims/arguments from both teams as possible, but your position must make an AFF ballot possible in the 1AC and a NEG ballot possible in the 1NC. Debate is a game, but its purpose is educational.
Language/Abuse/Rules-I am persuaded by arguments that call for a stop to the debate for immediate adjudication on these issues. If you are accusing your opponents of breaking a rule/doing something abusive or disrespectful at a level in which you believe they should lose the round then I encourage you to advocate for that position. If that is your true point of advocacy, call for a stop and adjudication when appropriate.
LD
LD is a Value debate. I tend to favor cases with specific values and value criterions.
Speed: See policy
Plans and CPs: Totally fine, make sure you have solvency evidence in the case
Ks: I don't really get Ks in LD, the structure of LD as a V/VC debate allows debaters to make these arguments inside of the traditional structure. That's what I'd prefer. I'm not opposed to voting for a K in theory, but I think my barrier to voting for that position is higher than if it was advocated for inside of the traditional framework. You are welcome to change my mind, but tell me why the presentation of this position as a K is important and how I should weigh it against the V/VC framework of your opponent.
Impacts: I'm happy to evaluate LD under a deontological or consequentialist framework, but you should be consistent with your advocacy. While I default to "LD is a debate of moral questions" the reality is many topics ask debaters to imagine the moral calculus of policymakers. So, how to frame these impacts is up for debate.
PFD:
Plans and counter plans are against the rules in PFD. Period. Now, I know topics frequently put the PRO team in the position of advocating for a plan, and in those cases, supporting the resolution is functionally supporting a plan. That does not mean the CON is afforded CP ground. The CON (in these situations) is welcome to advocate for the status quo or the opportunity/loss of endorsing a PRO plan when alternative plans may be available.
Example: let's say PRO ground is the US passing Medicare for All. The CON may not advocate for Medicare for most with a private option--that's a CP. But, the CON may argue that voting PRO costs the opportunity of Medicare for most with a private option as Medicare for All explicitly forbids a private option. They can even try to establish that the status quo (in terms of solvency) will ultimately lead to Medicare for most with a private option if we just wait it out and don't pass Medicare for all. But they can not endorse the advantages of a private option as a function of CON ground. In these cases, you must establish these positions as general advocacy or solvency arguments.
Role of speeches: I believe the role of the first speech is to present the case, the second is to attack the case, the third is to defend the case, and the fourth is to crystalize and weigh the debate. I will not punish you if your interpretation is different (just please signpost so I know what's coming), but I will also not punish a second speech that doesn't extend the case nor a third speech that doesn't extend attacks).
Role of the ballot: it is the job of the debaters in the round to frame the role of the ballot in the final speech. You tell me what I'm supposed to weigh/vote for.
My paradigm is pretty simple. Speak slow enough and concise enough to be understood. Make your points directly and clearly. :-)
Don't spread and don't make excessive evidence calls.
Updated 4/11/23 -I haven't judged circuit debates in a hot minute, don’t go your top speed and develop your arguments more thoroughly than you normally would.
Email for speech docs: smitnich91@gmail.com. Make sure there’s parity in document access during the round. I won't flow from the doc and I won't backflow.
My background: I did LD for 3 years. I was the director of debate at Hopkins for 4 years, coached at St. Thomas Academy & Visitation for 2 years, and have been the head coach at Apple Valley since 2017. I’ve worked at VBI since 2012 and I’m currently the director of instructional design and curriculum.
· Good debate involves well developed arguments and genuine interaction/clash with the other debater’s arguments.
I’m not going to be able to flow twenty back-to-back 1-sentence arguments at 400 WPM. If I didn’t initially catch the argument, then I’m not going to evaluate it.
· Quality >>>>>> quantity of arguments.
· I’m going to be skeptical of arguments that start out as 7 seconds of content but suddenly become multiple minutes of a final rebuttal. If the argument isn’t adequately developed in the speech that you initially make it then I’m likely not going to give you credit.
· Generally open to most arguments, but don’t forget that this competitive activity is also an educational activity. I understand progressive argument mechanics, but don’t assume I’m up to date on recent developments in the meta.
· Strategies designed to avoid meaningful engagement probably isn’t given me evidence you are doing the better debating.
Speed
Nope |---------------------X--------------| Heck ya
Stock/Traditional
Nope |----------------------------------X-| Heck ya
Policy
Nope |-----------------------X------------| Heck ya
· I think Nebel T is correct but am totally game for y’all to have a throwdown on this.
· There’s this odd trend to stray far from the core of the topic literature for some far-fetched x-risk scenario. Not a huge fan of this trend.
· You have to establish a baseline of credibility for me to care about your scenario. @ folks reading extinction impacts on the standardized tests topic.
Philosophy
Nope |-------------------X----------------| Heck ya
· Cases should be built around the topic literature, not just the author/theory you want to read. If your contention is just analytics and/or cards written in a wildly different context than what the topic is about then it probably isn’t a very strong case.
· I think phil has mainly become a vehicle for tricks, which makes me sad.
Kritiks
Nope |-------------------X----------------| Heck ya
· I used to be a giant K hack because I love critical theory. Unfortunately, K debates have become increasingly convoluted and clashphobic.
· I think the aff should probably defend the topic. That doesn’t mean there’s only one way to interpret a topic. I’ll listen to non-t affs, but framework debates will be an uphill battle for you. Just reading a 1NC link card isn't a very persuasive argument for you not having to defend the topic.
Theory/T
Nope |------------X-----------------------| Heck ya
· Theory/T obviously has a place in debate since debaters are true artisans at inventing & discovering arguments & strategies that skew the playing field or rob the round of any educational value.
· That being said, theory/T debates happen way more frequently than they should.
· Theory/T needs to be sufficiently developed in the first speech that the argument is made.
· If the violation is absurd or silly it isn’t going to pass my sniff test. But once the sniff test has been passed, I’ll evaluate the theory/T debate as tab as I can. Default competing interps. Neutral on RVIs.
· You need to actually show that the crime fits the proposed punishment. I think offering an alternative punishment to solve the violation is a criminally neglected response to theory/T.
Tricks
Nope |---X--------------------------------| Heck ya
· Winning through tricks is rarely evidence that a debater is doing the better debating. When a hyper-focus on strategy comes at the expense of having an enriching experience in the round then I get sad.
· I almost never vote on presumption/permissibility/skepticism since there’s usually a risk of offense.
· I default to comparative worlds and need some convincing to adopt truth testing.
MISC
An important note for progressive debaters: if you’re debating someone that is a traditional debater or significantly less experienced than you then you should adjust what you do so that there can be an actual debate. Don’t read a non-topical Baudrillard AC at 450 wpm against a new novice. Don’t have your 1NC be skep and a PIC against a traditional debater who hasn't had the opportunity to learn about the mechanics of such arguments. Slow down and/or read arguments that your opponent can actually understand. Use your best judgement. If I think that you knowingly made choices that functionally preclude your opponent from engaging then I may murder your speaker points and/or drop you.
I care deeply about inclusion and accessibility within debate. I’m more than happy to vote against debaters who engage in practices that promote exclusion or inaccessibility, even if they’re winning on the flow. I’ll be a tab judge until you give me a good reason not to be.
I will yell clear or slow once or twice; after that it is up to you to pick up on non-verbal cues. I expect you to make serious alterations to your delivery if I’m forced to yell. I won’t vote on an argument, even if it is in the speech doc, if I didn’t flow it or understand when it was initially read in the round. I’m a trashcan judge to have in the back of the room when the rebuttals are filled with hundreds of 1 sentence arguments (especially for T/Theory debates) without real clash, impact analysis, and framing.
Speaker Points: The factors I focus on for determining speaker points are: strategic choices, execution, and how persuasive I found your argumentation. My normal range is 25-30, with 20-24.9 being reserved for super rough or problematic debating. My speaker points are relative to the strength of the pool: 30 = how you debated is on par with what I expect from the tournament winner, ~29 for a performance I'd exepct of an elim participant, and I aim for ~28 as an average performance.
I don't care if you are traditional or more progressive, but I personally prefer traditional. If one party is traditional and one party is progressive I tend to vote for the traditional side more often, but not 100% of the time. If you run a K, you better have a good link, and the impact should be something substantial and applicable. If there is a .000001% probability in your impact calc for K's specifically I will vote them down. Other than that, I really don't mind what you run but I am picky about K's. You can ask me before the round for more of my thoughts on a K. DO NOT POWERTAG!!!! If you powertag and I or your opponent calls for evidence I WILL NOT vote for you. Your citations should be representative of what the original author's message was.
For PF specifically:
I like good framework.
I probably won't vote for your nuclear war argument unless the probability is something substantial.
In cross don't prep your partner please and in grand cross both teams and both partners should be involved.
I love a really well done summary speech...I look for a speech that isn't just going to address everything. I want the summary speech to hone in on one or two issues that says why you win. I don't care about drops, what I care about are the specific reasons you win and why you win them.
I coached at Plano West Senior High School in Texas: Policy debate, LD, Public Forum, Congressional Debate and extemp.
I coached from 1999 through July 2019, when I retired from the classroom. Now I do consulting for students who want private coaching and for school districts as well as for UIL.
I can handle speed, if you are clear; if you aren't being clear, I will let you know.
My highest priority is impacts in the round. Having said that, I expect clear warrants that substantiate the impacts. Know the difference in a claim with a citation and a warrant. If nothing explains why it's true, I'm not likely to buy the argument.
I like big picture debate, but I will vote on specific arguments if they become a priority in the round.
I'm pretty straightforward. I want debaters to tell me HOW to adjudicate the round, and then tell me WHY, based on the arguments they are winning and the method of adjudication. In LD and PF, the HOW part would be something like a standard, or burdens, in policy debate, this is the link from the plan to the topic on aff or the CP or simply delinking on the neg. The WHY part would include the warrants and impacts/link story for the arguments being extended. I am not at all particular about HOW you go about accomplishing those two tasks, but without covering those components, don't expect a W.
In LD and PF, I need a clear framework, so I like it when some time is spent laying the groundwork at the top of the case. If you don't give me a framework, I will formulate my own.
I'm not a big fan of theory, but if a true abuse exists, I will vote on it. Keep in mind that if your opponent has a unique argument for which you are not prepared, that means you are not prepared, not that abuse exists in the round. I do not expect case disclosure and will not consider arguments that it should exist.
I want to see clash from the negative.
I fundamentally believe that the resolution is a proposition of truth and that if a truth claim is made, the burden falls on the person proving it true. Having said that, I'm totally open to other articulated strategies.
Policy debate - same rules apply as other debates regarding evidence/warrants. I will vote on T but don't prefer it. Be clear on how aff and neg interact. I'm pretty meh on stock issues, but I do pay attention to them.
All time is either speech time or prep time. I don't provide extra time for sharing cases/evidence/etc.
I've coached policy debate since 2007 in the UDL and the MO circuit in both head and assistant coach roles. I absolutely love this activity and have seen it transform the lives of students, giving them opportunities they never would have dreamed of in college and beyond.
This activity should be fun and educational. I've always said I'm a stock issues judge, so don't bring DA's without clear unique links, etc. I flow, so I should know if something is "dropped." If you want to make that a point in the round, explain why it's problematic that the argument was dropped (vs. kicked for instance).
Additional notes:
Speed/Clarity: I don't mind spreading, and I flow everything I can hear/understand. If I'm not writing, I'm not getting your arguments, so be mindful.
Timing: I will be timing and I'll be paying attention if you abuse the time with untimed prep to send files, stopping to organize, etc.
Signposting/Evidence: Please make it clear, use numbers, punch the author's name, etc. If you're using speech drop, I may or may not be following along in the files, so make sure it's clear when you transition between arguments. If there's a discussion about clipped evidence, I'll probably take a look.
K's, T, Performance, etc.: I enjoy it all. If you can back up your claims with tangible impacts, I'm open to whatever you've got! I fundamentally believe that if you are going in on T to the end of the round though, then own it.
CX: I'm not flowing this, so use it strategically. Clarify arguments and ask questions. Don't debate your case here. Don't be rude. Open CX must be mutually agreed upon by all debaters.
Excited to hear what you've all prepared!
Experience
Currently the Director of Debate at Casady School.
Competed at the University of Oklahoma and Owasso High School.
Put me on the e-mail chain: snidert [at] casady [dot] org
On Evidence
Evidence quality and consistency is very important to me. I can easily be convinced to disregard a piece of evidence because it lacks quality, is insufficiently highlighted, or is not qualified.
Author qualifications are under debated and if a piece of evidence lacks a qualification then that should definitely be used in debate.
K Things General
One line should dictate how you approach reading the K in front of me:
“You are a debater, not a philosopher.”
This should be your guiding principle when reading and answering a kritik in front of me. Debaters seem to rely more on jargon than actually doing the work of explaining and applying their argument. Unnecessarily complex kritiks won't get good speaker points (90% of the time you could have just read the cap k).
I will not flow overviews on a separate sheet of paper.
If you plan on reading the K
I've got good news and bad news. I'll start with the bad news: You are very unlikely to convince me not the weigh/evaluate the aff. I'm not persuaded much by self-serving counter interpretations on framework.
That said, the good news is that I think people give the aff too much credit and most of the reasons why I shouldn't evaluate the plan are typically offense against it. For example while I don't find the FW interpretation "Debate should be about epistemological assumptions" very convincing, I will definitely vote on "the affirmative's plan relies on a flawed epistemology that ensures serial policy failure, which turns case."
If you're answering the K
While the above may seem like good news for the aff answering the K, I tend to hold the aff to a higher threshold than most in K debates. I don't think "you need a specific link to the plan" is responsive to a K of the aff's epistemology. Likewise, aff framework interps that exclude Ks entirely are pretty much a non-starter.
Theory Issues
Condo seems to be getting a bit excessive, but no one goes for condo anymore so I'm sort of stuck with it.
Tech vs Truth
I think of this as more of a continuum as opposed to a binary. I lean more towards tech than truth, but I'm not going to pretend that I evaluate all arguments with equal legitimacy. For example, I have a higher threshold for arguments like “climate change not real” than “plan doesn’t solve climate change.” I traditionally evaluate the debate in offense/defense paradigm, but there is a such thing as a 0% risk.
K affs/T-FW
I enter every debate with the assumption that the resolution is going to play a role in the round. What role it plays, however, is up for debate. I don’t have a preference between skills or fairness standards.
Common reasons I vote aff on FW:
The neg goes for too many “standards”/"DAs"/whatever-youre-calling-them in the 2NR.
The neg doesn’t even try to engage the aff’s 2AC to FW.
Common reasons I vote neg on FW:
The aff doesn’t have an offensive reasons why the TVA is bad.
The aff doesn’t even try to engage the neg’s standards on FW.
Misc
I only flow what I hear, I won't use the doc to correct my flow. If I don't catch an argument/tag because you're too unclear then *insert shrug emoji*. That said, with online debate I will flow what I hear and use the doc to correct my flow after the speech. Including your analytics in the speech document will make correcting my flows much easier.
Guaranteed 30 if you’re paper debate team #PaperDebate
My facial reactions will probably tell you how I feel about your arg.
Likes:
Clear debate and rebuttals (cite what you are refuting)
Clear weighing mechanism
Organized debating (prefer line-by-line, but can handle if not)
Dislikes:
Spreading and unnecessary speed
Rudeness
Off topic arguments
Poor links to arguments
Me:
13 year coach of CD, LD, PF, BQ, Speech
Former competitor
Ethical debating is paramount to my judging decisions. Behaviors such as interrupting, bullying, dismissiveness and others that indicate disrespect will cause me to rate a debater poorly, regardless of the strength of their arguments. I expect respectful civil discourse. I am also not a fan of the strategy of speaking rapidly in order to get in as many arguments as possible that must be rebutted. In my view, the best debaters do not need to resort to this ploy.
4 years (2016-2020) of high school policy debate for highland park (mn) (and 3 years of middle school debate :-) )
Put me on the email chain: snowbeckdebate [at] gmail.com
In general: If you win it I'll vote on it. I was a very policy-leaning debater so I am probably somewhat biased towards those types of args but am open to hearing whatever you run best! I like being nice to your opponents and partner, I care about ev quality. Signpost, be clear. Speed is fine. This will be my first time judging on the NATO topic so I don't have a lot of topic knowledge. As such, stay away from buzzwords.
CPs: Yes please! Cut CPs from the aff's ev, run Cps without solvency advocates if they're smart, run Cps with net benefits (<3). Probably the best 2NR in front of me is going to be CP + DA or a CP with an internal nb. Please have a reason your agent CP is a) competitive and b) uniquely BETTER than the aff. I am willing to flow and vote on cheat-y CPs, but you do have to win the theory flow.
DAs: nothing really new to say on the subject. Run them well.
Topicality: A necessary part of debate to check squirmy affs. Impact out your voters.
Ks: The interaction between the aff and the alt needs to be clear. The links need to be clear and specific -- show your understanding of how the aff causes the impacts. Explain how the alt functions. Stay away from the abstract when discussing your impacts - what is happening in this round that is problematic and what does your model of the world do to stop hurting people. Have impact D for the aff if you're running a reps k. I'm not super familiar with Deleuze, Baudrillard, etc so be sure to explain it for real.
K affs: If the aff is in the direction of the topic you're in a better spot. Affs that you can run topic disads and CPs against are going to have an easier time winning framework. Negs, run counterplans and contest the core of the aff - look through their ev.
Theory: Unless there is clear in-round abuse, I will likely reject the arg and not the team if you win it. (If you make a good case for rejecting the team I'll obviously vote on it, I'm not going to do work for any team, but saying "reject the team" without impacting it out isn't enough). I will vote on well-run disclosure theory, especially if you ask for disclosure preround and they refuse. This goes for new affs too, btw: tell the other team what your plan text and advantages are.
Speaks: be nice. please. if you are rude to your opponent your speaks will be very skinny indeed. if you are racist, sexist, or homophobic, you will get the lowest speaks tab lets me award. Depending on the degree of the transgression I reserve the right to stop the round. I am good with speed. Golden rules: Have a different voice for tags/analytics and text of cards. Be clear on tags/analytics.
Debate is a game but it's a very valuable one. It should be fun, constructive, informative, and pleasant!
Amanda Soczynski’s Judge Philosophy
A little about myself; I have been involved with forensics for 19 years as a student, judge, and coach. I am currently in my 8th year as the congressional debate coach at Edina High School. My background was originally in speech where I competed and coached. In High School, I learned policy debate as a class rather than competition on a local level, so I competed but not in a typical local circuit. I have been judging debate for the last 13 years, in all categories. I judged CX for the first 5 years and the last 7 years in LD, PF and mostly Congress. I graduated with a Mass Communications degree from University of Minnesota School of Journalism and a J.D. graduate from William Mitchell College of law. I work at Thomson Reuters on legal software & research, as a content expert. I really love congress, watching, coaching. I always try to strive to do my best! If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask. My goal is always to be an educator and help you succeed!
If for some reason my parli notes don't end up in your results packet, email me at amandasoc@gmail.com or amanda.soczynski@edinaschools.org. I will send you my google doc. I parli a lot and I always take lots and lots of notes and try to give RFD's when I can. If you don't get the link. Please ask, I put a lot of work into them.
I have a congress paradigm and CX,LD,PF one included in here.
Evidence / Citations / Warrants for all categories: *note - Statista is not a source, it's like Wikipedia, it's a congregation website not actually doing any of the studies that are on there. If you copy and paste the title of the stat you're looking at it will likely take you to the original source. Also the little (i) icon often will tell you where it can from. DON'T USE STATISTA as a source with me. I am a professional researcher by trade, so I care about citations! They matter and if they are from a source I don't know or if they're suspicious to me, I will google them.
Congress Paradigm:
General:
One thing to remember - judging congress is hard! It's just as exhausting for us as it is for you. We're trying really hard to compare a lot of people who have vastly different styles! I try to write as much as I can, but I spend a lot of time listening, so sometimes my comments can be lite at times. I'm working on that, the three mins go so fast. I'm hoping this will help shed some light on how I evaluate debaters.
When it comes to national level tournaments, at this point, almost everyone is a proficient speaker, so I really focus on the quality of arguments and ability to be flexible in round. Being a well rounded debater is important for me, especially as a Parli. I want to see a variety of type of speeches, and ability to switch sides, and flex to what the round demands. Make sure you are listening and not rehashing, if you're doing a rebuttal make sure you are extending or further attacking an argument.
I REALLY APPRECIATE A GOOD AUTHORSHIP OR SPONSORSHIP. Nothing is worse than judging or watching a semi-final round where there is no first aff, and having to take an in house recess immediately. Come prepared, have one. Spend the rest of your time doing great questions and defending your position there. I feel like people don't like to do this because they feel like they will be dropped. Rebuttals and Crystals are great, but there's a lot of them. If you can do this well, we'll know. It comes with the most amount of questioning time that if you know a lot about the topic you can show boat.
Linking: This is a debate skill you should have, you should able to link your impacts with others, link arguments together for rebuttal. Most national level congress debaters are great at linking within their own argument, but make sure you link and contextualize to the round. I want to see that they go together rather be a stand alone. That being said, contextualizing by: "I want to separate myself from the other AFF or NEG arguments", that's okay because you are still contextualizing within the round. Do not operate as an island in the debate, it's a good way to be dropped by me. Also remember, you can have great speeches, but if you don't ask questions, you're going to find your way to the middle of my ballot. It's a crucial part of debate.
Impacting:
THIS IS SO IMPORTANT. Again, at the national level, most people can impact to lives or economy etc. But what I find people aren't as good, is contextualizing the impact. Example: You tell me that thousands of lives are being lost in Yemen, take it one step further tell me what percentage of that population is being killed, or how that compares to another genocide for context. Make it hit home for all of us. Just giving generic #'s, sure it's the impact, but it doesn't show me the impact. Make sense? Remember I come from a policy background where pretty much everything leads to nuclear war.
Questioning:
Direct questioning is great, but make sure you're not too long winded or too brief, there's a nice sweet spot, where you have maybe a sentence or two question and answer. I've seen people basically run out the time by doing a really long answer, and I've also seen debaters ask such long questions that there's no way the opponent can answer. You only have 30 seconds, make it count.
Participation in Round:
Leadership is important. Remember, I'm comparing a lot of kids, participation with motioning and making sure that all students get to talk is important. This can help make up for bad presidency etc.
PO:
I almost always rank P.O.s in the top 5. It's a hard job, and as a parli, we appreciate good POs. A good way to get to the top 1/2 of my ballot as a PO. The round runs so smoothly I barely know you're there. You are able to solve issues of people not being prepared / docket issues. (This happens so often, time restrictions make things complicated. Especially since lots of tournaments have their own rules).
Mistakes happen, one mistake is not going to tank you. Continuous mistakes, or failing to help chamber resolve issues. This makes it harder. Fairness is also important, I notice when you pick your teammates repeatedly or if you always start in the middle of the room.
Inclusiveness - especially on the local circuit. I don't like parliamentary procedure used to limit people talking. It is also important to encourage those who haven't talked to go. Do your best to make sure the chamber is inclusive.
DON'T ALWAYS PICK YOUR FRIENDS FIRST. I know this happens. And it's easier to pick up than you think it is. Presidency means a lot in congress. Make it fair.
There's a reason I love coaching congress, it's a fun event!
CX/LD/PF Paradigm
General: As I’ve previously mentioned I come from a legal background. I am a “big picture” judge. I do appreciate the attention to detail, however, I don't like when it devolves into a debate that’s myopically focused on one thing. Make sure you take the time, especially in rebuttals to do a “birds eye view” of the debate. Remember, the rebuttal is the last time I hear from you before I make a decision, make it count. I appreciate good crossfire, and cross ex, specifically using information obtained in these for an argument.
Topicality: I like topicality, especially in varsity level debate. I think it makes a for a boring debate to have a non-topical aff. So it’s a pretty garden variety argument for the neg to make.
Critical Arguments: As I wasn’t a debater in high school, I don’t have the technical experience dealing with these arguments, however, I don’t mind critical affs on-face. Since I don’t have the technical experience, I appreciate all critical arguments to be understandable and explained properly. I catch on to arguments quickly, however I loathe having to have to fill in the gaps of an argument because its poorly argued. Make it logical, make it understandable. I generally dislike affs that are anti-topical or affs that critique the topic. I’m not saying I’ll never vote for a critical aff, whiteness aff, performance aff’s, etc, but its the one area where an affirmative is asking the most out of me as a judge. Again, I have less experience with these types of aff’s so extra explanation of sources and philosophies. For kritiks from the negative, I prefer ones that are topic-specific rather than K’s that are broad or philosophical. I’m pretty familiar at this point with cap k, neolib, fem, eco-k, anything outside of these again you’ll have to communicate more effectively as it is a bigger burden for me to decipher.
Theory: I don’t have the background in this, so this won’t be very successful with me as a judge. I overall prefer substantive arguments over theoretical or procedural arguments. My training in law, and my work, deals almost exclusively with substantive arguments, so I tend to prefer and understand those better. If you do decide to go this route, it must be very well done. My flow can’t be muddy, and the explanation must be very logical and understandable.
Speed: I have no problem with speed. I do ask two things. 1. Slow down enough on the tags so that I can understand them 2. Make your tags count. I dislike deciphering poor tags that do not tell me anything about the evidence. Keep tags like 5-8 words, long tags suck.
Post Round Discussion: Please be respectful, I don’t appreciate a “shake down” when I’m explaining my decision. I don’t do speaker points till after the round is over and all the debaters have left the room and I take decorum into account. I am a bit of a non-traditional judge and I do make a concerted effort to bring up constructive criticism and positive comments. Please take these comments as an opportunity to learn!
email chain: cammiesoderquist@gmail.com
History: Former LDer and policy debater in previous century. LD state champ, nationals, etc.
Side note: I get that 21st century LD has become more like policy in regards to solvency, plans, spreading and the like. I like direct clash, thus I prefer LD stay in LD camp ("should we...?") and policy stay in policy camp ("how do we solve...?"), but I'll judge fairly on what's presented. I'm a flow judge.
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Specifics:
Framework. If two are presented, tell me why yours is superior or, better yet, how you uphold both.
Argumentation. Claim, warrant, impacts. Please weigh everything in rebuttals and explain why I have no choice but vote for you.
***This is probably the most important point I can make. Don't just say your evidence says the opposite of your opponent's evidence. Explain WHY your evidence is superior, and if both are saying the opposite, WHY yours still outweighs. I want to hear the analytics.***
Theory. Explain why critical. I will not vote on frivolous theory, but I have voted on educationally-sound theory before (ex: time skew spreading abuse).
DAs. Be explicit on uniqueness. I'd love to see interesting impacts other than the tiresome environmental extinction, nuke war. (ex: DA with impact of losing one's soul/loneliness/isolation. It was awesome!)
Ks. These can be interesting, but this is often less clash. Explain why you would choose this strategy instead of direct clash. (If you can't explain why, don't do it.) Make link obvious. I rarely vote for Ks because I have seen many debaters reuse them to avoid preparing on the new topic. I have voted on a few which were extremely well executed and applicable. (ex: Trans K ran on "The illegal use of drugs ought to be treated as a matter of public health, not criminal justice." with examples of hormone therapy--expertly applied to topic.)
Plans/CPs. Not my fav at all. We're not solving things in LD, that's policy, but I will judge fairly provided links and uniqueness are strong and why yours is clearly better.
Spreading. Don't. Although I was a policy spreader, this technique should stay in policy debate, simply due to the evidentiary requirements to support plans. LD doesn’t require proof as it’s asking “should?”, and I want to hear the reasoning not blasting of evidence. Instead of spreading, convince me with your amazing and unique analysis and weighing. I won't call "clear". That's not a speed appropriate for clash and crystallization.
Tricks. Don't like 'em. Instead of these tactics, wow me with your analytics, CX and and knowledge of reso.
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Things that make me happy:
• Argument clash, crystallizing why your position is superior and why you win the round. Make it easy, do the weighing for me.
• Strategic CX. Lay foundation for args in speech and I'll be singing Pharrell Williams. I LOVE CX! (Unless it's brought up in speech, though, it won't flow, but just say "as I showed in CX, or as my opponent agreed to in CX.")
• Key voters. (Don't just list contentions, have the REAL KEY VOTERS of that round and why you win.)
Things that make me sad:
• Giving a win due to a dropped arg instead of why.
• 1NC spreading for the express purpose of the above (weak tactic).
• Referring to cards by citation only in rebuttals. You’ve heard your case 20x, I haven't. Don't just refer to the citation (ex. "williams '20"), please use tag and cite (ex. "my williams '20 card that explains the negative psychological impacts blah blah")
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Random:
• There's a word I love (mentioned 10x above). Use it often, and it will make you a superior debater.
• Evidence is important, but a logical, well-thought-out argument to question evidence is even better. Analytics is what I see missing from LD nowadays, and it's very sad. It shouldn't be who can blast as many pieces of evidence, it should be who can logically and thoughtfully use the evidence to make an argument and support it the best. I love unique arguments based on simple logic. (ex: "The US ought not provide military aid to authoritarian regimes" where Neg explained the psyche of dictators is that they ONLY speak in terms of weaponry thus applying Aff's examples to Neg and gaining those impacts. Unique and brilliant strategy!)
• I leave bias (political, social, etc.) at the door and only judge on what is in round. Do not worry about any arg that I might personally disagree with--doesn't matter. I was a debater; I get it. Tech over truth, except for totally obvious historical facts.
• Casual/friendly. Be comfy, take off jacket, heels; hope opponents can be friends--joke and laugh
I am a lay parent judge so I value truth > tech.
Some specifics:
Constructive: Present the arguments clearly. Be specific on the warranting and impacts so it's easier for me to flow.
Overall, make it crystal clear on why I should be voting for your side and please provide rhetoric. It makes it so much easier to believe what you are saying.
When the time is over please stop your speech. My grace period for speeches is 10s but please don't abuse it.
Be respectful with your prep time and opponent.
Good Luck!
Updated National Tournament 2024
If you plan on going fast, please put me on the email chain or speech drop (bsondrup@gmail.com). He/Him pronouns
I was a four year debater in high school and college, and now a coach.
I am a tab judge. This means I have no preference and I expect you to tell me how I should vote through framework and role of the ballot analysis. If I am not given this, I tend to default to a utility framework. Feel free to ask me any specific questions before round.
PF: I am a parent judge, and this is my 2nd year judging PF. I have judged local tournaments and at 2023 NSDA Nationals in Phoenix, AZ.
- Please talk at an understandable speed
- Avoid debate jargon
- Most importantly, remember to be polite and respectful to everyone.
CD: I have judged locals, Sunvite 2024, TOC 2024, 2024 NSDA in Des Moines, IA, and Yale 2024. This is my 2nd time judging Congress for Sunvite 2025, but I will do my best to be fair. I am not familiar with parliamentary procedure, so I will focus my judging on your speeches. As mentioned above, please talk at an understandable speed. I appreciate a clear structure and signposting.
He/him/his. wsoper03@gmail.com
I am the debate coach at Manhattan High School. I did NDT/CEDA debate for four years at the University of Kansas. I worked at both the Michigan and Kansas debate camps this summer and I've judged a lot of debates on the topic.
How I judge. A lot of judges are absolutely tech over everything. I think there is a lot of value to that judging philosophy (it's logically consistent, it results in decisions which feel more objective and fair) BUT that is not how I have ever thought about debate. I think of myself as tech over truth, but to me, that phrase means that I will flow the debate and make a decision based on the arguments in the final rebuttals, as long as those arguments were present earlier in the debate. That does not mean that I will ignore things like argument and evidence quality when I'm comparing two competing claims. I think every judge has biases related to argument quality and I will try to use this paradigm to be transparent about those biases.
One of my biggest biases is against process counterplans. If technical execution and evidence quality is even close to close, I will try to vote aff in these debates. I am a great judge for "perm do both solves the net benefit," "perm do the counterplan (as long as you counter-define neg definitions)," the limited intrinsic perm, or theory. I honestly think these types of counterplans promote lazy debating, discourage topic research, and represent a big barrier to entry for less experienced coaches and programs. I understand the line between a process CP and a topic-related CP which demonstrates an opportunity cost to doing the plan can be hazy, but if any of your competition arguments are based off of certainty, immediacy, or "the butterfly effect," I am probably not your ideal judge.
Another of my biggest biases is against planless affirmatives. In every debate I judge, I will attempt to make a decision based on the arguments made in the debate and provide educational feedback, regardless of the type of affirmative you read. That said, I should probably be lower on your pref sheet if you choose to read a planless affirmative. The arguments that fairness, clash, and education are unimportant make very little sense to me. Debate seems inevitably competitive. Now, I think I am a fine judge for teams who interpret the resolution in creative ways and argue that a counter-model of debate is more fair and educational. I also think teams should be held accountable for what they say in debates, but reading topicality or answering the wrong theory of power are not microaggressions.
Clarity. Clarity is very important to me. I flow on my computer in an excel spreadsheet BUT I do not have the speech document pulled up when the debate is happening. If I don't understand you, I will not vote for your argument. I am very comfortable giving decisions where I say "if you wanted me to vote on that blip, you should have emphasized it more in your speech" or "I didn't read that card because I couldn't understand you when you read it." I will tell you to be clearer during your speech if it becomes an issue.
Evidence matters a lot. Debaters should strive to connect the claims and warrants they make to pieces of qualified evidence. If one team is reading qualified evidence on an issue and the other team is not, I'll almost certainly conclude the team reading evidence is correct. I care about author qualifications/funding/bias more than most judges and I'm willing to disregard evidence if a team raises valid criticisms of it. The best final rebuttals mention the author names of key pieces of evidence and spend time comparing the evidence both teams have on crucial issues.
Presumption/Vagueness. I am willing to (and have) voted negative on vagueness and that the affirmative has not met its stock issues burdens.
Plan text in a vacuum. I think there are two ways the negative can demonstrate a topicality violation. 1. Explaining why the affirmative's plan text does not meet the specific requirement set by the interpretation or 2. referencing a CX where the affirmative clearly committed to a mandate of their plan.
The plan text is the focus of the debate. If you think the affirmative's solvency advocate or advantages describe something other than their plan text, that is a solvency argument, not a topicality argument.
I am extremely anti-prompting/"parroting" your partner. Past the first time, I will not flow any argument that a person not giving the speech prompts the speaker to make. I think that's the most fair way I can discourage the practice.
Things which will make your speaker points higher: exceptional clarity, numbering your arguments, good cross-x moments which make it into a speech, specific and well-researched strategies, developing and improving arguments over the course of a season, slowing down and making a connection with me to emphasize an important argument, not being a jerk to a team with much less skill/experience than you.
You're welcome to ask me questions after the debate or email me if you have questions or concerns about my decision.
I'm a PF coach and big advocate of empowering student voice. The fact that you’re here and well prepared is already impressive. It does not matter to me whether you speak quickly or slowly. That's a matter of your own comfort. Be respectful of all in the room. Theory is not my favorite. If it's used in the spirit of undermining your opponents rather than encouraging debate, it won't go over well with me.
I am interested and doing my best to learn World Schools too, so in this format, bear with me as I learn. Thanks!
In PF, focus on the resolution and your position. Challenges against well intentioned preparation are off-putting and focussing on details outside the round often don’t work for me. If you have triggers to sensitive material, let your opponents know in advance..
I will be impressed by sound research, original critical thinking and persuasive argumentation. Outline your intentions and accomplishments clearly. More important than anything is respect for your opponents and the experience of debating. They will present valid arguments too, so don't tell me everything they said was wrong. Be judicious yourself as a debater and consider arguments that are more convincing in terms of impact. Consider your flow. Concede to their strengths, but convince me that yours have a greater impact. Please weigh your impact in final focus and don’t bring up anything new there. Quantifying an impact is helpful, but only if it comes from a credible source. Please don’t make up numbers.
Use crossfire to clarify any misconceptions and be strategic with your questions. It's not a place to bring up new information.
Call cards only when seeing them will bring true value. Sometimes this is done to stall for time and often that exposes less than stellar evidence. Be careful not to set this trap for yourself.
I'm not American and believe that democracy really should represent the will of the people. Stay away from political arguments if your impacts are too speculative. If you think that a pro democrat argument has inherent value, for example, I urge you to remember republican voters are equally human and are voting for policy and candidates they believe represent their interests. I consider all citizens and their views equal.
Ks can work for me when well linked. I need you to spell out the probability of extreme impacts and what chain of events could set them off in an aff/neg world. Be careful with theory. It’s risky and I won’t vote for it unless you prove the purpose makes for a better debate.
Most of all, enjoy, reflect and grow from every debating experience. I will try to give you the best feedback I can to help you learn and grow.
Please add me to email chains of evidence exchange: dsorobey@ssis.edu.vn
I'm not very fancy with my language, so put simply, here's some general things I look for across the multiple debate styles:
-Clear articulation of arguments with evidence
-I not only like to see how you substantiate your claims and ideas, but also I like to see how you make them interact with those of other members of the round (this just really engages me).
-I was not a debate competitor when I was in high school, so I don't know all the terminology, but I'm familiar with most. Therefore, it's not really the terminology that impresses me, but rather your knowledge and comprehension of the topic.
-I like for you to give context to your arguments. I like to know that you fully comprehend what you're presenting. I love a deep level of analysis to the topic, especially during cross ex (although I'm guilty of getting lost with the unfamiliar- so what). If you know what you're talking about, then you know.
-I like to see competitors advance the debate; don't stick around to the same points unless you have something new to offer.
-Lastly, I'm not a brainiac (although sometimes I try to be), so I always feel like it's the competitor's job to help me understand the topic as much as possible, without watering down the content. Relating the topic as much as possible to someone who doesn't necessarily keep up with all the current events is key.
My name is Jonathan Spencer. I would like to applaud you first and foremost for dedicating the time to such a useful and enriching activity. I am a proud member of generation X and don't believe in voting straight ticket in any election. I have a graduate degree from Westminster College of Utah and I work in the financial services sector. Some of the items I will be looking for when I am evaluating your round or event:
1-Preparation. Chance favors those who have spend the time to prepare and put in the hard work to have a successful round.
2-Passion. I want to be moved to feel why your point of view is relevant and valid even if I may disagree with you.
3-Decorum. Its important people are treated with respect and show validation even when a point of view is not in alignment with your own perspective.
4-Be concise. I am not counting words & I'm not overly sensitive to the time you use (however some judges may be).
5- Politics. It is not important to me what political slant you bring into your topic. As stated earlier I want to sense your passion and energy from your presentation. My assessment of you is not swayed by your political views and this does not factor into my evaluation. However I am very interested to learn & become informed from your perspective. Please do not alter your words or content by compromising yourself on the grounds of trying to pick up points by appealing to what political lenses you believe I want to hear.
I'm looking forward to hearing what you have worked so hard to prepare and eager to be a part of your adventure in your next round.
JS
Rick Spoonemore
Background: I was the 1985 Washington State Debate Champion in Policy (LD had just started way back then), 1st in State in Impromptu Speaking, and 2nd in State in Extemporaneous Speaking. I went to college on a debate scholarship, then to law school at the University of Washington School of Law where I was inducted into the Moot Court Honor Board, and won the Falknor Appellate Competition during my third year. I have been a Seattle litigator since 1992, and have been named a Washington State Super Lawyer every year since 2005, including six years as a "Top 100" lawyer in the state. I am currently the managing partner of Sirianni Youtz Spoonemore Hamburger PLLC, a Seattle-based litigation firm. I have taught speech and debate, moot court, and trial advocacy to high school students, law students, and young lawyers. My professional profile is here: www.sylaw.com/
How to Lose a Debate Round: I have a great deal of respect for speech and debate and have little tolerance for those who disrespect the process or their competitors. If you are rude, you'll likely lose. If you are sexist, racist, or anti-LGBTQ+, you'll likely lose. If you are unprepared, then you are not respecting the process and that will hurt you. If you attempt to bend or break the rules, that also shows a lack of respect for the process. Don't bring up brand new arguments in rebuttal -- a twist or spin on an existing area of contention is good, but wholly tangential new arguments will hurt you. Speed is fine -- see below -- but if you attempt to spread, make sure you can do it with sufficient enunciation to make it intelligible.
How to Win a Debate Round: Clash, clash, clash! A good debate round is not two ships passing in the night with pre-canned arguments that fail to clash with the points advanced by the opponent. Sure, openings are set, but once the case moves to rebuttal I expect to see real engagement. I will give a win to a speaker or team who advances the most logical, reasoned, and supported arguments over a speaker or team who is smooth, but lacks depth, every time. I will flow all your arguments, make sure you engage all the positions advanced by your opponent. Dropped arguments can kill in policy, and will hurt in LD. I can handle speed, but make sure you can too if you decide to spread. If I can't understand you, I can't flow it. It took me years to unlearn speed after I got into the real world, so I don't penalize lack of speed, especially in LD. I generally buy problem area arguments and positions in both policy and LD. I like humor, where appropriate. Core principles, standards, burdens of proof/persuasion are key: I'll pay a lot of attention to the fight over the playing field in LD, so make sure you don't just engage on the details but neglect the superstructure.
Individual Events:
Impromptu: I admire any student with the guts to do impromptu. I am open to any form of speech in this genre -- from a story to a serious discussion about a current event. Give me a structure or roadmap, and attempt to tie in your conclusion to the introduction in some form. Pauses, stumbles, gaps and the like will not surprise me in this event, so chill if that happens to you. Just, please, don't go fast -- I know many people who do impromptu are also debaters, but this is the time to slow down and make a speech that has resonance with normal, non-debate people. Speed kills in this event. Finally, I really hate pre-canned impromptu speeches where the speaker takes one of the prompts and attempts to shoehorn it into a canned speech. That's not impromptu in my view, even if many students make it to nationals with this approach. If you do it, then make sure I don't know that you are doing it because I think it undermines the purpose of this event.
Extempt: See Impromptu. You have time to create a roadmap and structure (and hopefully a message or theme) so I view those elements as important. Like impromptu, this is a time to slow down from your debate tempo. I am not looking for volume of information -- don't spread extemp -- but a well-constructed outline with a theme or message that is, hopefully, thought-provoking.
Informative/Oratory: I have definite thoughts about good speeches in each of these events, but understand that by the time you are reading this there is nothing you can do. I'll make constructive comments on the ballots. In general, I think both of these events have become too formalistic and patterned. If you have a unique approach, you will likely be rewarded. The same tired formula (espicially in OO) has existed far too long, in my view. If you have a formula speech because that is what you have been coached to do (because the coach was coached the same, etc., etc.), just do it well.
Interp Events: Interp is far outside of my wheelhouse, and if the tournament decides to have me judge one of these events then treat me just like a "parent judge." I'll do my best . . . .
Spending all of 2024 tapping a sign that says, "The biggest liar loses is a perfectly justifiable way of judging any debate and probably what the Founding Fathers would have wanted!"
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A debate is a search for the truth. That's why, along with voting, debating is at the heart of America's democratic process.
So please call out people who just make things up.
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Also important:
* Intros that are directly about the topic always beat generic intros that could apply to any topic.
* Quotations always beat paraphrase.
* Fully-cited evidence I can hunt down always beats "The New York Times tells us that . . ." (Remember: NSDA-minimum is name or publication and year. That's an absurdly low standard that makes zero sense for the new-resolution-every-hour world of Congress. Many Congress debaters still fail to meet it.) The challenge posed by AI will make attention to sources even more important.
* An authorship without an expert solvency advocate--a credentialed source who advocates what's in Section 1 of the bill or the Resolved clause--is cursed. An authorship which has an expert solvency advocate is blessed. I hold cursed bills against their authors/sponsors and reward blessed authors/sponsors. It's considered rude to point out that the only people in the whole world who think the bill is a good idea happen to be the handful of AFF speakers, but that argument is an automatic winner for NEG. A great nation doesn't make policy based on a random hunch. If you can't quote an expert who says "We should spend X billion on Y program" (for instance) then your bill is cursed. I won't, of course, hold cursed first-AFFs against speakers, because someone has to kick off. TL;DR: Find your Section 1 in your research. Don't just wing it.
* Giving the right kind of speech (constructive, rebuttal, summative/"crystallization") at the right time always beats giving the kind of speech you're best at without thinking about what the debate needs. I think I can tell an "oops, thought I'd PO" crystal from one that groups and clinches the best arguments in the round.
* Rehash is a venial, not a mortal, sin. And if you're a novice, always give the speech. That said, giving a third- or fourth-in-a-row is an admission of under-preparation.
* Flipping is bad, actually. No real-world elected official would do it. And flipped evidence seems usually paraphrased to within an inch of its life. Instead of flipping, speak on the next bill.
* The assumption that everyone is going to give two speeches in a round seems fair, but it has pernicious effects. It discourages folks from speaking early. That in turn results in several "please, someone give a speech" moments in the round. It also discourages people from prepping the full agenda. I have mixed feelings about people ruthlessly taking speeches whenever they can. It's not friendly, but neither is stonewalling until some novice buckles and agrees to kick off the debate, and it's hard to blame someone who grabs a speech opportunity that's just sitting there.
* POs start at 1 on my ballot and lose ranks from errors. They can also be displaced by truly excellent speakers. The PO starts at 1 because the PO is the only indispensable contestant in the round. Can't have a round without the PO. The more people there are who run for PO, the faster the winning PO loses ranks from errors, because you're claiming you're better than everyone else who wanted it.
* Congress is speech *and* debate, so be sure you're listening and responding (debate) and keeping me focused on what you're saying (speech). Congress is getting too fast and burdened with jargon. The ideal Congress speaker is perfectly intelligible to someone who wandered in off the street. A conversational pace is a supreme sign of confidence, and if your arguments are also the ones the round needs, you get the one.
* Respect the role-play, which is the only thing that has kept Congress from joining the long list of last decade's big new debate event that will solve everything but which is now moribund because the college kids got hold of it.
* My feedback more often plays the doubting game than the believing game. For instance, I often suggest arguments I think would be better. I do this to help debaters, which helps Congress, which is something I love. Anyone who spends a perfectly good weekend trying to honestly hash out trade policy etc. is a hero, and I encourage everyone to be their best, which is why my feedback is more full of "grows" than "glows." But you're glowing just by playing.
I have 8 years of debating experience and currently compete in the NFA-LD (1 person policy) circuit at Washburn University. Email is huntersquires4@gmail.com
This activity should be centered around debaters, not judges, so it's the judge's responsibility to adapt to the debaters, BUT judges will always have preconceived notions of debate, so it is strategically beneficial for debaters to adapt to judges as well. By this I mean I will do my best to make a decision based on what the debaters make the round about, but knowing my opinions of debate could be the difference between a win and a loss in close rounds.
I won't judge kick unless I'm told to.
I really like unique arguments, even if they are kind of silly.
On specific arguments
T/theory- I will pull the trigger on theory so fast. Just PLEASE make sure you have all four parts of the shell, including a CLEAR interpretation. Something like "Condo bad" is not an interp.
Case- Defense is good, but make sure you're generating offense because I probably won't vote on presumption except in rare scenarios because try-or-die often makes sense.
Disads- Generic links are good. Specific links are better.
CPs- Love em. Presumption flips aff.
Ks- Ks are one of my favorite arguments when ran well. Please just understand what the literature says (or seem like you do). I know a lot of lit but don't assume I know your lit. I'm most well-versed in cap and Baudrillard. I have yet to see a good psychoanalysis K.
K affs- You can read a K aff, but you need to have a really good reason for not being topical. In great rounds, I often find it hard to evaluate the K aff v Framework debate because I genuinely find both sides of this argument incredibly convincing.
Sliding scale to illustrate my views of some things:
*These are simply my prior held beliefs. If you make arguments one way or another I will evaluate them as I would evaluate anything else.
Policy------X----Kritik
Competing interps----X------Reasonability
Condo good---X-------Condo bad
Perf cons bad-------X---Multiple worlds good
Presumption--------X--Try-or-die
Speed good---X-------Speed bad
Cheater CPs good (Consult, delay, etc.)-X---------Cheater CPs bad
Tech--X--------Truth
I will read all the ev----X------You have to point out things you want me to read
Disclosure good-----X-----Disclosure bad
Summary- Run whatever you are the most comfortable running. I think every type of argument in debate has value. In your last speech tell me what you win and why that makes you win the round. I need to know why to vote for you. If you have any questions feel free to ask before round!
Most importantly, don't make debate a negative space for anybody. Don't be rude to the other team and your objective shouldn't be to make the other person feel dumb and want to quit. Sometimes one team is a lot better than the other team. If that's the case just be nice, take the W, and move on to the next round.
Being mean is a voter :)
I am a parent judge on my fourth season of judging.
I do not like spreading and prefer a traditional style debate. Do not assume I know anything about the resolve so, for example, avoid speaking in acronyms without explaining them first. I will also do my best to judge what is presented without any outside prejudice.
I have many years of experience in theater production so I like smooth concise speaking, voice projection/modulation, casual eye contact, and to see your face now and again, not heads down or looking above the judges heads. I will intently listen to your speech/debate and then flow periodically.
I extremely respect the amount of time, effort, and energy you put into this activity and even though I am a parent who never competed in speech and debate, I will do my best to judge with the same dedication.
I have judged Speech, Interp, and Debate events (excluding Policy) at local, state, and national levels.
My primary coaching event is Congressional Debate. Don't freak out, I prefer the debate portion of the event as my high school background is in PF/LD.
For CD: I’ll always consider a balance of presentation, argumentation, and refutation. If you happen to drop the ball on one of those traits during a speech, it won’t ruin your rank on my ballot. I look for consistency across the board and most importantly: What is your speech doing for the debate? Speaking of which, pay attention to the round. If you're the third speaker in the row on the same side, your speech isn't doing anything for the debate. I definitely reward kids who will switch kids or speak before their ideal time for the sake of the debate, even if it's not the best speech in the world.
For both PF/LD: As long as you're clear/do the work for me, I have no preference for/against what you run/do in the round. I'll vote off of what you give me. With that, I really stress the latter portion of that paradigm, "I'll vote off of what you give me". I refuse to intervene on the flow, so if you're not doing the work for me, I'm gonna end up voting on the tiniest, ickiest place that I should not be voting off of. Please don't make me do that. Respect the flow and its links.
PF specific: I love theory. I don't prefer theory in PF, but again I'll vote off of where the round ends up...it'd be cool if it didn't head in that direction as a good majority of the time you can still engage in/ win the debate without it.
I don't time roadmaps, take a breather and get yourself together.
Speed isn't an issue for me in either event.
Avoid flex prep.
I prefer googledocs to email for evidence sharing (brittanystanchik@gmail.com).
Email: haltonstancil@gmail.com
---For everything---
- NO SPREADING PLEASE!
- Remember to speak clearly and concisely!
-Make sure your arguments are explicitly explainable
-Roadmap and signpost, keep consistent organization throughout the round, number your points
- Refer to your tags/author’s content for referencing cards instead of “author date”, makes evidence way easier to identify during rebuttals and extensions
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This year, regarding "the Econ DA" or "the Econ Adv:" I will not accept the argument that "THE economy will be worse/better off after X." You must reference or be able to reference a specific economy (the job market, the stock market, the bond market, etc.) that will be affected if X occurs.
General: I have experience with debating/judging policy and congress. Clash is the #1 biggest thing I want to see in a round.
Stock issues/T: Stock issues debate makes for a great round, style is not always imperative. T is fine, but I often find that the argument chains don't provide the debate with a meaningful/educational impact.
K's/CPs: K's and CP's are great! My experience is financial/economic IR-interrelated theory, but please be creative. I do not reward generic links to case. I tend not to go for artificial NBs on CPs. Multiple advocacy is fine, but stick to "even if..." language to save yourselves from certain performance contradictions. Ks that discuss or accuse opponents of marginalizing or silencing viewpoints of a protected group should be reported to the tournament as an issue with institutional equity.
Johnathen_standifer@roundrockisd.org andJohnathen_s@hotmail.com - do both, email issues suck.
But, set up a speech drop. It's 2024, there is no need to fight school emails for email chains. share your cases, move things forward.
TFA STATE -
1. in spite of what it is about to say below about arguments for me, I don't think this is a great topic for Policy ground. Like run it i'll evaluate it, but don't just do it because I used to do policy.
2. Please for the love of god understand the difference between AGI and AI.
General:
Experience in PF, CX and LD. I was an LD/CX debater in high school. (mostly LARPing/K in LD)
I try to run as close to a tab judge as I can, I'm willing to judge anything you run I just ask for justification in the round for why I should care about debating for it. Don't just read a trick in the constructive and drop it and expect me to flow it. extend that stuff and make it a voting issue.
I'm fine with speed, I'm fine with theory and I'm fine with progressive arguments.
LD -
Prefs -
Policy/K/Theory - 1
Phil - 2
Tricks - 3
Did policy and Ld in school.
If you want me to vote on something, tell me to vote on it. I don't want to have to do the work for you, the easier you make my ballot the more likely you are to pick it up. the more you're relying on a random response in the 1ar to be flowed and evaluated by me, the less likely you are to win. I'm not that good on the flow, just being honest. Collapse into a main argument or two, if you're asking me to do the work on evaluating between multiple meta layers, tell me how to do that work and make it easy for me.
STEALING THIS LINE because I love it: Judge instruction is the highest layer of the debate
Read K's and Theory, I'll evaluate anything as long as you justify why I should care about it. I'm familiar with all the stock K's, if we're running anything fun just be sure to signpost it well and give me some solid voting issues. Make sure to hammer out why the theory arguments are actually important in the round, don't just run it tell me to vote it and leave it.
I'm fine with Policy based arguments, its the phil based ones i'm less familiar with. Fine with the basics (rawls, Kant, Hobbes) When we get outside of those, I'm totally down to evaluate them, just hold my hand a little bit more.
Tricks I'm just less familiar with. not saying I won't vote for them, just that i might....miss them? try me I guess.
PF - Don't play the "I can share this card if you want me to, oh which card was it? Hold on let me find it..." game. you read a card? Drop it in the speech drop. every other debate event is efficient with this, let's do better if we want to be taken seriously - this is one place i'll drop some speaks
Cool with K's and Theory in pf. Let's have some fun.
Policy:
Tab judge - Tech > Truth, speed is fine. If we are running any advanced K's give a good overview on how it relates to the round, i'm probably a little less familiar with them. share all evidence. Theory shells are fine.
Congress: I can't think of anything I hate more than everybody giving a speech on a single bill in a congress speech. Rehashing only goes so far, I don't need 5 crystallization speeches.
MOVE THE PREVIOUS QUESTION. My points for speeches tend to go down the more an argument goes on and the more rehash we get. Forget equity, move the round forward and you'll be my favorite. If you're the 7th person to give me an argument and add nothing new....I don't care how good the speech is, my brain will be off.
Be competitive. this is a competition, not a friendly game of "What is every single person in the room's opinion on the topic"
Extemp - I'm usually rating structure and content over performance, If i'm not staring you down don't feel bad i'm writing about your speech and evaluating your argumentation. Time balance is important, don't try to inflate your speech time by having a huge 1st point and tiny second and thirds, etc. Performance aspects are important, but are usually second to content for me.
Interp - I am not what I would consider an interp coach, but I have coached multiple state/national qualifiers and a state finalist over the last couple of years. As a musician, I tend to look for variety in interp events, contrast in volume, tone, etc. blocking is...not something i'm great at feedback on? but I know it exists! cutting is always important to me. A well performed piece that doesn't make any sense isn't going to do well (I'm looking at you HI)
OO.Info - I am an English teacher on the side, so I'll be watching for general writing conventions more than performance aspects. (although I will 100% be watching for those as well) My comments are going to be more on structure and ideas for improvement. these events are interesting because it is YOUR writing and your voice, I enjoy them.
I prefer speechdrop but here is my email for document sharing/evidence chains if you need it:betty.stanton@jenksps.org
I'm the head coach of a successful team, and have been coaching for 18 years. I did CX in high school so long ago that Ks were new, and I competed in college.
LD: I'm a very traditional judge. I like values and criteria and analysis and clash. I want framework debate to actually mean something.
PF: I’m a very traditional judge. If the round becomes a very short CX round instead of a PF round, we have a problem. I want evidence and actual analysis of that evidence, and I want actual clash.
CX: I can handle your spread and I will vote where I'm persuasively told to with the following exceptions: 1) I have never voted on T. I think it's a non-starter unless a case is so blatantly non-topical that you can't even see the resolution from it. That's not to say it isn't a perfectly legitimate argument, it's just to say that I will probably buy the aff's 'we meet's and you might have better uses for your time than camping here. 2) If you run a K, you should firmly and continuously advocate for that K. 3) I, again, will always prefer actual clash in the round over unlinked theory arguments.
General Things ~
Don't claim something is abusive unless it is.
Don't claim an argument was dropped unless it was.
Don't advocate for atrocities.
Don't be a jerk to your opponents (This will get you the lowest speaker points possible. Yes, even if you win.)
i am a speech coach and a former competitor, with a background in theatre arts and a bachelor's in persuasion and argumentation. I have been coaching for 4 years and judging for 6. i enjoy adjudicating debate because it facilitates a process where we can adapt to one another. there should be speech folks in debate rounds, just as there should be debate folks in speech rounds, because that is good for education. adaptation is an opportunity, not an obstacle.
i am a tabula rasa judge who is comfortable with debate jargon but does not have an ear for speed. a conversational pace (~120-150 wpm) is advised. roadmaps and signposts are encouraged. outline formats are preferred. style is an important consideration, because debate is a performance. But the veteran speaker without sound argumentation loses to the novice speaker with sound argumentation every time, and low-point wins make that distinction clear.
I am a lay judge, but have been taught to flow and have five years of experience judging PF. I prefer clear, slower speaking. Signposts are also super helpful. I don't intervene; I will judge your contentions by your ability to extend them and your opponents' ability (or lack thereof) to undermine them. I look for a logical argument. I like summaries and final focuses that both weigh a team's contentions as well as cover key attacks. I've never called a card, but if an email chain is created, I would like to be on it. I'll give my email in the chat during the round. Speaking with passion is cool; aggressiveness is not. I do not like debates run on theory.
WEIGH. WEIGH. WEIGH. Otherwise I will be forced to do link/impact comparison for you, and you may not like how I do it.
I have been debating and doing IE's as a competitor and judge since the 1970's with a long break in the 90's and 2000's while working in the private sector. I have coached teams in Oregon and Arizona over the past ten years, and I'm experienced with all the main formats of debate, particularly Oregon Parliamentary, Public Form, and LD.
I judge as a policy maker looking for justification to adopt the resolution and will accept well-justified arguments on both substance (the issues of the resolution) and procedure (framework, theory). In policy rounds I have a bias against affirmative K's, because I believe the Aff prima facie burden requires that I be given a reason to adopt the resolution by the end of the first Aff constructive in order to give the Aff the ballot. Arguments founded in social justice approaches are fine as long as they lead to a justification for adopting the resolution and changing the status quo.
I can handle speed but remember I'm not seeing your documentation--a warrant read 600 words a minute at the pitch of a piece of lawn equipment might as well not be read from the judge's seat. You flash each other, but not me, so make sure I understand why your evidence supports your argument. I won't debate for you, and I don't flow cross-ex/crossfire. If you want me to consider an argument, introduce it during one of your speeches. In formats other than policy, particularly in Public Forum, I expect a slower rate and more emphasis on persuasion with your argumentation as befits the purpose of those other formats. In LD, I expect arguments to be grounded in values, not "imitation policy."
I will automatically drop any debater who engages in ad hominem attacks--arguments may be claimed to have, for example, racist impacts, but if you call your opponents "racists," you lose--we have too much of that in the contemporary world now, and we are trying to teach you better approaches to argument and critical thinking.
Above all else, I like good argumentation, clash, and respectful conduct. No personal attacks, no snark. Humor welcome. Let's have some fun.
My 1st year judging any type of Debate was 1962 so it is rare when I am not the "old guy" on the panel. When I first started judging, there was only one type of Debate, Policy. I have always tried to stay current with the various "new types of Debate" and regularly follow the various discussions published by NSDA and the various HANDBOOK PUBLISHING COMPANIES and I consider myself to have a good knowledge of the possible approaches that I may encounter in my assigned rounds.
Please include me on the email chain at jstewartdebate@gmail.com. Feel free to ask questions always.
I competed for Barbe High School, McNeese State University and Western Kentucky University. I competed in IEs in both high school and college. I debated L-D and policy in high school on the local, Louisiana circuit. I also competed nationally in college in IE’s, Parli, NFA L-D policy and some CEDA/NDT. I have judged in Louisiana and around the region for the last 15 years.
TLDR: I was a policymaking type debater. Weighing net-benefits is what I am most familiar with. I try to be as “tab” as possible and will evaluate any argument. It needs to be well warranted, well impacted and well weighed against the rest of arguments in the round. You might need to do slightly more work fleshing out newer forms of argumentation with me, but I will vote on them if I feel like you are winning them.
I am self-professed “lazy” judge. I want to feel like I am doing the least intervening possible at the end of the round. I would love for you to tell me which arguments are important enough for me to vote on, what their comparative impacts are and why you are winning those arguments. I appreciate you telling me how I should sign my ballot.
I am still somewhat old school around paperless debating- it just wasn’t a thing yet when I was competing or judging the first go around. I use e-mailed/flashed evidence mostly for reading internal warrants. I will use this to follow along the speech, however I’m not a fan of reading speech docs/blocks in a vacuum. Signposting and clear organizational structure are important for me and I tend to award higher speaker points for them.
POLICY-
K/Kritikal Aff- I have a pretty good familiarity with critical theory/thought. I am probably less familiar with the intricacies of Kritik debate theory. You would probably be helping yourself out with me to spend a bit more time on setting up your framework and giving really clear impact stories. Explicit arguments about “how we win” or “the role of the ballot” would help me better understand how/why to vote for you on these types of positions. This is especially true if there are situations like perms put on the alternative. I want to know why the alternative alone solves best on its face, in addition to any theoretical objections to the perm. I also appreciate clear pre-fiat/post-fiat analysis. If the impact is post-fiat (“turns case”) and the alternative is pre-fiat (“discourse/radical space/etc”) I want you to tell me how to navigate the multiple levels of your advocacy.
T/Procedurals- I tend to have a slightly lower threshold on procedurals. I do not need an iron clad in-round abuse story necessarily. I will evaluate these more often than many.
LD-
I tend to vote on framework first. That is just how I was taught. But with more progressive styles I will evaluate framework in light of case advantages/disadvantages. As with the Kritik info above, you may need to do a little more hand holding with me around the alternative and/or role of the ballot. I tend to prefer crystallization at the end of the round with clear impact analysis and tend to give higher speaks to those that show good round vision and can ‘boil down’ the round effectively.
PF-
I’m comfortable with the newer trend of giving an explicit framework at the top of case. If you don’t give me one then I’ll default to something like policymaking/comparative advantages. I tend to appreciate probability over magnitude in PF because of the lack of depth of evidence. Things that are intuitive and make sense on their face seem like a more natural fit to this style of debate. I will evaluate anything that is argued in front of me, though. It needs to be well warranted, well extended (including extending the warrants), well impacted and well leveraged against the other argumentation in the round for it to be most persuasive. I like final focus speeches that crystallize the round for me and give me good impact analysis. Feel free to take the ballot out my hands by telling me what arguments are most important, how they function in the round and why you are winning on them.
IE’s-
I tend to think about most IEs in terms of argumentation. This is more obvious for events like Extemp, Impromptu and Original Oratory. But even interp events use a text to craft a narrative with a unique point of view for each competitor. I usually evaluate IE’s on the clarity of your thesis (argument) and then how well you do at expressing/supporting it (advocacy). The more you can distill down an idea into its clearest form and then use multiple rhetorical tools to express it, the better chance you will have of getting higher ranks and higher speaks from me. FYI I’m a big fan of variety as a rhetorical tool (fast and slow rate, loud and soft volume, high and low intonation, etc). These tend to keep me more engaged in the speech/performance and tend to make me trust you more as a speaker/performer.
My history is such that I have participated in Lincoln-Douglas, Policy, Public Forum, and Congressional debate. The vast majority of it was spent in a very traditional district in Lincoln-Douglas. That being said, I do believe that my varied background does allow for an understanding of progression in each format of debate. I am not entirely shut off to hearing anything, I might not wear a smile on my face about it... but I have voted on things like topicality and theory stuff. Now, if we want to get down to the specifics.
LD: First and foremost, Lincoln Douglas is evaluative debate. It is not asking the question of what specific action must be taken, that's policy, what it is asking is for us to justify an action to be taken, or arrival at a particular state of existence. I HIGHLY value topical debate, (I mean really highly, like really, really highly). I start with the idea that role of the ballot is to determine who best debates the topic, I like it to remain there, but am open to having that change. I highly (and I cannot stress this enough) value topical debate. I value clarity in the round, and giving me a clear direction as to why you win gives me a roadmap that I can use to find your winning argument, use that time to wrap things up at the end of the round.
PF (UPDATED): Having judged and coached for a few years, I've learned to let a lot of the round play out. I HIGHLY value topical debate. It is possible to have critical stances while maintaining some relationship to the resolution. Additionally, I think PF is designed in such a way that there is not enough time to really argue K or T stances in a truly meaningful way. In my mind, Theory is there to check abusive arguments and tactics, don't make it frivolous please. The worst offender of this in my mind is disclosure theory. Take advantage of the back half of the round and CLARIFY the debate, what is important, why is it important and why are you winning? Tell me what I'm voting for in the final focus, make my job easier, and there's a good chance I'll make your tournament better.
One last note, please don't be mean spirited in the round, don't say that something "literally makes no sense," tell me why that argument fails to hold water.
In summation, run whatever you are happiest with, I might not be, but it's your show, not mine. Be great, be respectful, have fun. And if you have any other questions, feel free to ask! I'm not a mean judge (Unless I am decaffeinated, or someone is being disrespectful).
My full paradigm is accessible at the link below. It's pretty long so take what you want. You can ask me questions before round if I've missed something, you want me to explain more, or you don’t want to read this.
TL;DR Former traditional debater. I always vote off the flow, can handle speed, and understand the jargon (in fact prefer that you use it). Warrant your points, give me a framing mechanism, and be respectful. Regretfully I'm Tech>Truth and try not to intervene. Overall, debate the way you know best and I'll try to catch up (unless I don't like what I see).
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1al8Ezm9IeCK-iriZXpn-IQtxNeUj7RxShl2-69E6pr4/edit?usp=sharing
For Policy,
I am largely a policy and stock issues judge. While I am not an absolutist (meaning if you're not 100% on these I reject your case) I do largely want your case to fulfill the burdens of the topic within a reasonable plausibility or ability. This means I want clear eloquent presentations and do not like arguments that are NOT related to the actual topic. I have learned that in this topic I am a "truth" over "tech" judge. This means that you can use theory but it had better have standing.
I then focus on the policy itself looking at the advantages and disadvantages of a case and the impact of these. This means that if you like to throw in "game theories" those will be entertained if they accept and help argue the topic and the team can prove that "blowing up the moon" will have a net positive impact on the case. This also means that I am not a fan of "K"s as the students that have come to the tournament have learned, prepared for and are ready to argue the case not some attempt to "not compete". If you don't want to argue the topic, go to LD. If you are going to use a K it should be topical.
If you are going to spread, then you should email me a copy of your case so that I can look for the issues you are arguing.I can keep up.
I truly try hard to ensure that I only flow and weigh what the competitors have brought to the round and not my own knowledge or understanding. Having said that, a good policy team clearly drives what they want their judge to see.
For Public Forum, an event I have judged for nearly ten years now, I find that I am an impact-focused judge.
A team can win on impact and values, but since its PF , values alone will not yield victory. I have found I vote based on the following criteria:
-
Significant Impacts:
I want to hear why your arguments matter in the bigger picture. Whether you’re debating policy, philosophy, or critical perspectives, explain the magnitude, timeframe, and probability of your impacts. -
Value-Based Argumentation:
In value debates (e.g., Lincoln-Douglas or Public Forum), I want to see how your arguments align with the value or value criterion. If no value framework is established, I will default to evaluating which side provides the greatest overall benefit to society or individuals. -
Clarity in Comparison:
If both sides have strong impacts, tell me which one matters more and why. Is it more urgent? Does it affect more people? Is it more probable? This kind of comparison makes your case stronger.
I appreciate when teams know their subject matter and can adapt their case "on the fly", are able to be specific about numbers, locations, names etc.
Disclosure theory: I am not a fan of disclosure theory. I believe that it distracts from meaningful discussion about the resolution or important issues. Students coming to the tournament know that some schools have many coaches and large teams to help them and some schools are small and of limited resources. They arrive anyway and compete. They did not come to debate the socio-economics of high school debate, but rather the topic they have worked on all month.
I extend my attitude about disclosure theory to "K"'s. While there are some K's that are applicable to a topic, most a distraction from the debate.
Lastly, NOT EVERYTHING leads to NUCLEAR WAR. Please use this threat and outcome as lightly as possible (unless it applies) as I will be naturally skeptical that you have chosen the largest morality and most dire outcome to create the largest impact no matter how probable.
Speak in a normal speed and tone. When you speak fast, it comes off very monotone. Debate is a conversation about specific topics. Be CONVERSATIONAL in your speaking. It's not about who gets the most information, but about who has the best information and presents it best. DO NOT SPREAD!!!
Please make sure your cameras are turned on.
Please don't tell me how to vote. You may SUGGEST how I should vote. But, when one says "you must vote in favor of (insert side here)," it sounds more like a demand.
Affiliation: Winston Churchill HS
email: s.stolte33@gmail.com
**prep time stops when the email is sent, stop stealing prep**
Updates 24-25 (more recent towards top)
-I did not spend my summer looking at IPR evidence or cases coming out of camp.Like zero.Do not assume based on past knowledge that I know what the acronyms you are using or what your plan does. You should be explaining things as you would to any other judge who did not work a summer camp/does not know the topic well
-maybe this is really "get off my lawn" of me, but the correlation between teams who under-highlight evidence and who are incomprehensibly unclear is becoming increasingly frustrating to me. It won't necessarily lose you the debate, but surely these practices don't help anyone
-LD living wage: See above ^ It feels like almost every "give a living wage to XYZ worker" aff has some 'creatively' highlighted ev that more often than not indicates a lack of competitive wages, but not lack of living wages
_________________________________________________________________
Do what you do well:I have no preference to any sort of specific types of arguments these days. The most enjoyable rounds to judge are ones where teams are good at what they do and they strategically execute a well planned strategy. You are likely better off doing what you do best and making minor tweaks to sell it to me rather than making radical changes to your argumentation/strategy to do something you think I would enjoy.
-Clash Debates:No strong ideological debate dispositions, affs should probably be topical/in the direction of the topic but I'm less convinced of the need for instrumental defense of the USFG. I think there is value in K debate and think that value comes from expanding knowledge of literature bases and how they interact with the resolution. I generally find myself unpersuaded by affs that 'negate the resolution' and find them to not have the most persuasive answers to framework.
-Evidence v Spin: Ultimately good evidence trumps good spin. See above statement about highlighting, but it's hard to buy an argument when the card read supporting it consists of like 3 disparately highlighted sentences and no warrants read. I will accept a debater’s spin until it is contested by the opposing team. I often find this to be the biggest issue with with politics, internal link, and permutation evidence for kritiks.
-Speed vs Clarity: I don't flow off the speech document, I don't even open them until either after the debate or if a particular piece of evidence is called into question. If I don't hear it/can't figure out the argument from the text of your cards, it probably won't make it to my flow/decision. This is almost always an issue of clarity and not speed and has only gotten worse during/post virtual debate. Things you can do to fix this: pen time on theory args, numbering responses, not making a bunch of blippy analytical arguments back-to-back-to-back.
-Inserting evidence/CP text/perms: you have to say the words for me to consider it an argument
-Permutation/Link Analysis: I am becoming increasingly bored in K debates. I think this is almost entirely due to the fact that K debate has stagnated to the point where the negative neither has a specific link to the aff nor articulates/explains what the link to the aff is beyond a 3-year-old link block written by someone else. I think most K links in high school debate are more often links to the status quo/links of omission and I find affirmatives that push the kritik about lack of links/alts inability to solve set themselves up successfully to win the permutation. I find that permutations that lack any discussion of what the world of the permutation would mean to be incredibly unpersuasive and you will have trouble winning a permutation unless the negative just concedes the perm. Reading a slew of permutations with no explanation as the debate progresses is something that strategically helps the negative team when it comes to contextualizing what the aff is/does. I also see an increasingly high amount of negative kritiks that don't have a link to the aff plan/method and instead are just FYIs about XYZ thing. I think that affirmative teams are missing out by not challenging these links.
FOR LD PREFS (may be useful-ish for policy folks)
All of the below thoughts are likely still true, but it should be noted that it has been about 5 years since I've regularly judged high-level LD debates and my thoughts on some things have likely changed a bit. The hope is that this gives you some insight into how I'm feeling during the round at hand.
1) Go slow. What I really mean is be clear, but everyone thinks they are much more clear than they are so I'll just say go 75% of what you normally would.
2) I do not open the speech doc during the debate. If I miss an argument/think I miss an argument then it just isn't on my flow. I won't be checking the doc to make sure I have everything, that is your job as debaters.
3) I'll be honest, if you're going to read 10 blippy theory args/spikes, I'm already having a bad time
4) Inserting CP texts, Perm texts, evidence/re-highlighting is a no for me. If it is not read aloud, it isn't in the debate
5) If you're using your Phil/Value/Criterion as much more than a framing mechanism for impacts, I'm not the best judge for you (read phil tricks/justifications to not answer neg offense). I'll try my best, but I often find myself struggling to find a reason why the aff/neg case has offense to vote on. I don't offhandedly know what words like 'permissiblity' or 'skep' mean and honestly everytime someone describes them to me they sound like nonsense and no one can actually articulate why they result in any sort of offense for the team reading them
6) Same is true for debaters who rely on 'tricks'/bad theory arguments, but even more so. If you're asking yourself "is this a bad theory argument?" it probably is. Things such as "evaluate the debate after the 1AR" or "aff must read counter-solvency" can *seriously* be answered with a vigorous thumbs down.
7) I think speaker point inflation has gotten out of control but for those who care, this is a rough guess at my speaker point range28.4-28.5average;28.6-28.7should have a chance to clear;28.8-28.9pretty good but some strategic blunders;29+you were very good, only minor mistakes
Background:
I did Congress for four years at Ursuline HS in Youngstown, Ohio. I was a four-time state and NSDA qualifier in Congress (plus a meme NSDA qualification in IX my senior year), won the 2017 Ohio state tournament, was state runner-up the following two years, and made NSDA House finals in 2018. I've remotely coached MS and HS Congress at John F. Kennedy in Warren, Ohio for four years. Outside of debate, I'm in graduate school at MIT pursuing a PhD in chemical engineering.
Congress Paradigm:
Sparknotes version: I'm content > presentation, but both are important by the nature of the event. Give compelling speeches with clear argumentation that advance the debate, and make sure you (and others!) have fun.
As a baseline, I look for all of the following: intro uniquely connected to topic, clear warrants/analyses/impacts, high-quality evidence, clash/refutation in every speech after the first affirmative, zero rehash, clear speech structure (especially if deviating from two contentions), mostly extemporaneous speaking, clear delivery (whatever that looks like for you), questioning activity throughout session
More niche stuff I particularly like: unique/off-the-wall contentions that show deep research into a topic (don't be afraid to give new arguments late in debates!), humanized and quantitative impacts when possible, clever rhetoric and turns of phrase related to topic, humor when appropriate, high-quality sponsorships that set up the debate well, different types of speeches over the course of the session/round (assuming you can given P/R position and/or having me as a parli)
Pet peeves: super canned intros and rhetoric, fake clash/namedropping, being arrogant, rude, and/or patronizing
Speech count philosophy: I value quality > quantity with speeches. Don't feel the need to give an extra speech just to have more than the rest of the chamber. If it's a good speech, it'll help (if it's better than your previous one(s)), and if it's a bad speech, it'll hurt, but the extra speech itself is irrelevant.
POs: I like to rank POs high. Efficiency is key for me, because extra speeches = more debate, but speed isn't an excuse for frequent errors. My tolerance for mistakes is inversely related to the stakes of the round.
Fairness/equity: I expect all competitors to be included and respected in discussions concerning POs, legislation, and general chamber activity. This is non-negotiable for me.
Fun: Competition can be intense, but it's easier to watch (and compete in!) a round that everyone is enjoying. I'm also probably more likely to remember someone who's having a good time.
My best advice: If you have any questions, please ask! It's a lot easier to give a helpful paradigm in person, especially in response to pointed questions.
(The above is a distilled version of my previous paradigm, which was a lot more detailed, so for those who want a deeper dive into my judging philosophy, here's a link: https://tinyurl.com/ADSparadigm)
Background: I have been coaching for nearly 30 years - a combination of coaching at Boise State University for the Talkin' Broncos (15 years) and now 14+ years at the high school level.
Speech Events: While it is unusual to have a paradigm in speech, here are my thoughts. Each event is unique and has expectations for performance. I follow the IHSAA rules and speech rules and ajudicate according.
Overall Debate Philosophy/Preferences: I believe debate is a game we play with our friends, so please respectfully present your arguments but do so in a way that is positive and reflects well on this activity. I appreciate organization, tell me where your clash is, and impact out your points. Tell me WHY your arguments and points take priority or should be considered above those of your counterparts.
Policy Debate: I am fine with moderate speed. If I can't understand or follow you, I will stop flowing the round. Great debate can be won or loss in cross-examination. Ask pertinent questions, answer directly. I prefer stock issues but am open to most arguments if you can JUSTIFY why it is preferred.
PF/LD Debate: As these debate formats ask you to perform specific duties, it is imperative that you meet that expectation for me to win my ballot. In LD, make sure you link your value and criterion to all your contentions. I must hear impacts - don't leave it to me to do your work. Don't just give me tag lines and evidence and expect me to figure it out. That is your job! In PF, each debater has a very specific role so make sure to fulfill it. Case, Rebuttal, Summary, and Final Focus are each important and a well-balanced team tends to look better.
Congressional Debate: Be professional, well organized when speaking, ask pertinent questions, and stay engaged throughout the session and you'll move up in chamber rank. Be that representative that takes the other side and challenge your fellow reps. I enjoy clash, respectfully done, and be the consummate debater and colleague. Give me impacts, cite your evidence to support your arguments, please. "Would I want this person to representy me in DC?" is what I ask myself so show me why!
Summation: I believe that Debate, in any format, is a combination of research, organization, refutation, and being stylistic. For organizations' sake, please road map and sign post, provide a brief summary conclusion that leaves me impressed with your skills as a public speaker, strong researcher, and believing your arguments and impacts.
Be brilliant, be persuasive, be nice. Your fellow debaters, no matter where they are from, are your friends!
I care a lot about disasters, fires, floods, and killer bees.
Experience: Competed in 4 years 3A Kansas High School Policy and 4 years Midwest-regional and PKD/NCCFI College Parli. I have a background of coaching LD, Parli, IPDA, the occasional very rare Worlds tournament; but IEs are the real undercurrent of my coaching career. I've coached a Parliamentary National Championship at Phi Rho Pi and PKD, but only rarely have been involved with NPDA-circuit competition. Current ADOD/F at Whitman.
Because metaphors are the cool thing to do these days, I view debate like Professional Wrestling; theatrical spectacle with ambiguous rulesets that are sometimes "broken" to up the entertainment and education factor. National-level rounds are hopefully grandiose back-and-forth engagements where either side, made up of larger-than-life personalities, is winning speech to speech. Please don't have me evaluate a Dusty Finish, I'd like a clear winner, so clash like champions and give your best Impact Calc promo.
TL:DR: Cool with anything, don't advocate for genocide or advocates of genocide. Might be a step behind on my flowing ability ("he's still got it *clapclap clapclapclap*"...hopefully). Again, with the wrestling metaphor; please be kind through the round, but especially before and after. We are a reviving community, and our future is in our hands.
PF
I am a judge who listens for Impacts on why your Impacts outweigh others. I am not a huge fan of speed. I am more concerned with the content of the speech rather than the amount of information given. I do understand the PF jargon. It is up to you to persuade me to vote for your side. I am not a huge fan of using FW and definitions as a weighing mechanism but will consider it if the other arguments are well-balanced. Make sure to clearly state your Impacts and how these impacts link to the resolution. I will do my best to flow the arguments presented. I am a judge who will listen to cross X but will only count it in my decision if there is no other way for me to vote.
LD
I have judged LD a few times so I am familiar with the structure of the round. My suggestion for you to win my ballot is to lay out your arguments for or against the topic and convince me why your side means more than the other. I do not appreciate speed when presenting your arguments. I am a quality over quantity when it comes to judging. If you try any tricks, theory, or K's, I will not be able to vote for your side. I have extensive experience judging PF and know argumentation and Impacts. This will help you win your round with me.
Congress
Presiding officers:
I expect you to use preset recency unless otherwise determined by the competition. I pay attention to pre-session, in-session, and post-session politics and expect to see the presiding officer as a leader in those discussions. Remember that your job is to run things quickly while adhering to parliamentary procedure - Exercise your power if necessary, but don't skip the essential processes.To get a 6 from me, you must be efficient, clean, and commanding. Time signals should be obvious and consistent.
Structure: The structure of the round is extremely important - The first few speeches should be constructive, the next few speeches should be heavy on refutation and extension, and the final few speeches should crystallize the debate. Keep in mind that Congress is a debate event, so every speech past the author/sponsor needs engagement.
Your intro is a way to add value to your speech and enhance my understanding of the topic. I have a strong preference for intros that feel specific and unique to the particular bill at hand and your speech. If it feels generic or recycled, then I don't think it's a good use of your limited time.
Authorship and sponsorship speeches are very different from 2nd or 3rd pro speeches. Since you aren't being asked to refute, the expectation is that you frame the debate: set up the problem and how this bill addresses it.
Your contentions should be the most important reasons for the bill, not necessarily unique arguments that no one else thought of. 1st con should similarly help frame the debate for the neg side. There needs to be a clear warrant and impact. Avoid making assumptions of what we should/shouldn't know by being explicit with your logical steps to connect each cause and effect. Impacts should be the consequences that are reasons we should pass/fail a bill. Try not to reiterate points that have already been given unless you have a particularly unique perspective or piece of evidence to add to the debate.
Ethicality: Evidence is borrowed credibility; borrow honestly. A source should necessarily include its date & the publication in which it appeared, & should not be fabricated. No evidence is better than falsified evidence.
Presentation: Congressional Debate is the best blend of speech skills & debate ability; what you say is just as important as how you say it. The best speakers will maintain a balance of pathos, ethos, & logos in both their content & delivery style. There's a performance element and an argumentation element to each speech. Do not speak quickly and make sure to enunciate so you are clearly heard. Make sure that your tone doesn't change for your flow but that your tone changes for emphasis.
Participation: Tracking precedence & recency is a good way to participate – it helps keep the PO accountable, & demonstrates your knowledge of Parliamentary Procedure. Questioning is an integral part of Congress; I like thoughtful, incisive questioning that doesn’t become a shouting mach. Both your questions & your answers should be pertinent & to the point. Above all, I am a big fan of competitors who are as invested in making the chamber better as they are in bettering their own ranks.
Questioning: A skilled questioner either leads the speaker down a line of reasoning to where the speaker arrives at a conclusion that contradicts themselves or asks a question that immediately forces the speaker to acknowledge a hole in their argument. Furthermore, do not condescend, gaslight, or otherwise be rude to the speaker. Do not bring in new evidence. Keep the questions short and to the point.
Speech:
I have been coaching speech for 8 years. In terms of content, as long as the topic being covered is not vulgar or offensive, I am fine with it. In interop events, I want to understand the climax of the piece. Take me on a journey through your piece. Loud does not necessarily mean you will get a good score from me. Provide dynamics to the piece so that when you do go big, you catch me off guard. For the other categories, I want you to have structure in your speech. I want you to either convince me of your position or inform me about a topic or question you are presented with. Memorization is key!
Cajon High School, San Bernardino, CA
I debated Policy for one year in high school a hundred years ago. I have been coaching LD since 2015, judging it since 2009. I like it. I also coach PuFo and have coached Parli. I have limited experience with Policy as an adult.
LD: Briefly, I am a traditional LD judge. I am most interested in seeing a values debate under NSDA rules (no plans/counterplans), that affirms or negates the resolution. I want to see debaters who have learned something about the topic and can share that with me. I am much less interested in debates on theory. Engage in an argument with the other person's framework and contentions and I will be engaged. Go off topic and you had better link to something.
Parli: I definitely don't like to hear tons of evidence in Parli, which should be about the arguments, not the evidence. Please ask and accept some POIs, and use them to help frame the debate. Manufacturing of evidence has become a real ethical problem in Parli. I don't really want to be the evidence police, but I might ask how I can access your source if the case turns on evidence.
Public Forum: Stay within the rules. Don't dominate the grand crossfire. This was designed to resemble a "town hall" and should not get technical or be loaded with cards. It is a debate about policy, but it should not be debated as if it was Policy debate.
In more depth:
Crystallization: It's good practice. Do it. Signpost, too.
Speed/flow: I can handle some speed, but if you have a good case and are a quick, logical thinker, you don't need speed to win. IMO, good debating should be good public speaking. It's your job to understand how to do that, so I am not going to call "clear", and I am certainly not interested in reading your case. If you're too fast, I'll just stop writing and try to listen as best I can. I will flow the debate, but I'm looking for compelling arguments, not just blippy arguments covering the flow. If you're not sure, treat me as a lay judge.
Evidence: Evidence is important, but won't win the debate unless it is deployed in support of well constructed arguments. Just because your card is more recent doesn't mean it's better than your opponent's card on the same issue - your burden is to tell me why it is better, or more relevant. Be careful about getting into extended discussions about methodology of studies. I get that some evidence should be challenged, but a debate about evidence isn't the point.
Attitude: By all means challenge your opponent! Be assertive, even aggressive, but don't be a jerk. You don't have to be loud, fast, rude, or sarcastic to have power as a speaker.
Speaker points: I don't have a system for speaker points. I rarely give under 27 or over 29. I have judged debaters who have never won a round, and have judged a state champion. I am comparing you to all the debaters I have seen. It's not very scientific and probably inconsistent, but I do try to be fair.
Theory: I generally dislike the migration of Policy ideas and techniques to other debates. If you want to debate using Policy methods, debate in Policy. In my opinion, much of the supposed critical thinking that challenges rules and norms is just overly clever games or exercises in deploying jargon. Just my opinion as an old fart. That said, I am okay with bringing in stock issues (inherency, solvency, topicality, disads) if done thoughtfully, and I will accept theory if all of the debaters are versed in it, but you'll do better if you explain rather than throw jargon.
Kritiks: I don't care for them. They seem kind of abusive to me and often fail to offer good links, which won't help you win. Even if your opponent doesn't know what to do with your kritik, by using one you transfer the burden to yourself, so if you don't do it well you lose, unless the opponent is very weak. I generally find them to be poor substitutes for a good debate on the resolution - but not always. I suppose my question is, "Why are you running a K?" If it's just because it's cool - don't.
Other: Unless instructed to do so, I don't disclose decisions or speaker points in prelims, though I will give some comments if that is within the tournament's norms and you have specific questions.
I believe debate is arguably the most important extracurricular a student can participate in, as it teaches writing, speaking, and critical thinking skills that are the bedrock of our democracy.
You put significant amount of effort into preparing for your competition, so out of respect for you, I will do my best to provide detailed feedback listing what you did well and 1-2 suggested ways to pick up more points in the future.
Resilience
One of the true values of this activity is learning how to engage with ideas you don't agree with. You will often have to argue positions you are fundamentally opposed to. This teaches students that they should be disagreeing with ideas, not speakers, while also giving a more nuanced view of the world by understanding that reasonable minds can differ. With reasonable actors, both sides often have valid reasons supporting their views--they simply assign different importance to the different factors during the weighing. So be resilient. Challenge yourself. Don't be afraid of embarrassment--trust that reasonable, kind people will respect you for trying.
You cannot and will not offend me with arguments so long as they are justified in light of your overarching case, but it had better be justified by the topic and not done solely to offend because I frown on incivility.
Remember, although it is a competition, you are first and foremost supposed to be having fun and engaging in shared exploration of knowledge with your peers as you grow as human beings.
Congressional Debate:
I won't mince words: I believe a sizable number of congressional debate judges are doing this activity a disservice by rewarding the reading of written speeches as "polished" vs extemporaneous speeches in direct contradiction to both the spirit of the event and the NSDA rubric.
I adhere to the NSDA scoring rubric religiously. See, e.g.:
https://www.speechanddebate.org/wp-content/uploads/2017-Congressional-Debate-Guide.pdf
That means I expect Congressional Debate, not Congressional Script Reading. If you are reading from a script, you will not get top placement and points if other, equally skilled competitors are delivering extemporaneously. (See p. 14). (Note, however, that the use of notecards containing your source cites is acceptable.)
I taught my 8th grader to give middling extemporaneous speeches in a single night. I say this because I know you can all do it if you just give it a try. As near as I can tell, many competitors don't because other judges are penalizing you for "ums" and "ahs" and pauses. I won't. This is debate, not Original Oratory.
If you are not the 1st speaker on a topic, you'll need to be specifically referencing arguments brought up by prior speakers if you want full points and don't just read a canned speech. This is where the extemporaneous speakers really shine, too. Extemp delivery that engages with prior speakers will be rewarded over canned scripts every day of the week.
If you only have 1 speech, don't be afraid to just get up and wing another. Think of an opening hook and 3 points. Talk about each point for one minute. When you reach the next point, move to a different part of the room. Done. You just earned middling points. I will reward you for pushing your comfort zone, especially if you did it because a piece of legislation needed a sponsor to move debate forward.
*** 2024/2025 Update ***
A not-significant number of students now appear to be reading ChatGPT scripts. For this reason and others, extemporaneous speakers are very likely to be ranked above script readers.
LD/PF:
Be nice. And speed is not always your friend. There can be too much of a good thing. I can keep up with any of you, but will ding you stylistically if you trade persuasiveness for speed and talk 200 words a minute thinking a verbal tsunami is the way to win.
You are highly unlikely to trick me by tell me the other side dropped an argument when they didn't. I'll likely give you the benefit of the doubt by assuming you didn't hear them, but not always.
Anthony Cade Streich
Judge
Previous high school debater, current college debater
I was primarily a Public Forum debater, but also participated in Lincoln Douglas and Impromptu.
The role of my judging in a debate room is to determine which person and/or team has made the more realistic and effective argument. This encapsulates so many different areas, but my chief paradigm is presentation. If you are unable to effectively communicate your arguments to your judge, you will not win the debate. I value utilitarianism, justice, and equality above all else.
It is my understanding that it is your judge's responsibility to keep track of preperation time, and that is how I've always done prep time. I provide running prep time or blocked prep time.
Mostly a flow judge who appreciates, in cross, civility, clear questions, and direct answers to said questions—experienced in Worlds, PF, LD and Congress. Speak clearly; don't play stupid evidence games. I'm not into K's or attempting to win a round on things not topical to the round. Sometimes in PF I won't flow all the way through focusing more on who wins the offense of the round.=
Congress specific: Advance arguments, challenge one another and know procedure. I will vote up great POs, great congressional-style speakers, and those who are functioning in debate mode (not just speech mode).
In dramatic events, I am looking for clear characterization, strong emotional connections, and understanding of the piece. I want you to draw me in and let me feel with your characters.
In humorous events, I am looking for clear and concise characterizations that are easy to differentiate and follow, and a good sense of comic timing with the piece.
Duo and Duet, I am looking at the same things, but also strong interactions between the different characters.
In Informative, Oratory, and the Extemps, I am looking for a good conversational style with good use of gesture and confidence in your speeches. Know your stuff, or at least look like you know your stuff.
I am overall going to also look at technique and seek for it to be clean and clear.
Whether you are in person or speaking virtually, public speaking skills stand out. Work for "eye contact" as opposed to reading speeches in debate events. Keep in mind that I need to be able to see and hear you clearly. Stand up and speak up. Speak with conviction and confidence. Perform with confidence. NO ONE knows your material better than you! (Even if you do not know your topic/material/case as well as you or miss a word, how would I know?! You need to sell me your side/piece/speech. Make me want to keep listening to you after the time has run out!)
As a congress judge, I will remind you that it is called Congressional DEBATE and not Congressional Speechmaking. Take time to refute the Representatives/Senators before you. Answer and ask questions with purpose and confidence. Be clear about evidence--in other words: HAVE SOME! Anyone that is brave enough to PO needs to know the procedure and must be able to be fair and unbiased.
For CX and LD, speed is not always your friend-- especially if we are virtual. Slowing down and articulation are the keys to a good debate. Also, Clash is not just a band from the '80s. I expect to be given solid reasons to vote for you. Perhaps use the last 30 sec of your last speech to crystalize the round for me. Tell me what is important. I may not be a fan of your K or CP, but if you present it well and defend it against attacks, I will vote on it.
Name: Jay Stubbs
School Affiliation: Bellaire High School
Number of Years Judging Public Forum: Since the event was introduced
Number of Years Competing in Public Forum: PF did not exist when I competed
Number of Years Judging Other Forensic Activities: 38 years
Number of Years Competing in Other Forensic Activities: High School and College
If you are a coach, what events do you coach? Public Forum, Congress, Extemp
What is your current occupation? Debate Coach
Please share your opinions or beliefs about how the following play into a debate round:
Speed of Delivery Clarity for understanding is most important
Format of Summary Speeches (line by line? big picture?) Line by line on most important issues along with big picture to guide the way the debaters want me to vote.
Role of the Final Focus Final resolution of key issues along with framing the decision for the judge.
Extension of Arguments into later speeches Essential for key arguments in the round.
Topicality Can be run if there are blatant violations…anything can be found to be non-topical via definition…that is a waste of time.
Plans This is a function of the wording of the resolution. Acceptable when the resolution suggests a specific action.
Kritiks Are not going to persuade me.
Flowing/note-taking Is a function of the clarity of debaters in the round. Clarity makes it much easier to keep all issues organized on the flow.
Do you value argument over style? Style over argument? Argument and style equally? Clarity is most important to me. Just because a debater makes an argument doesn’t mean that I understand it or know how to weigh it in relation to other arguments without intervention. Clarity brings meaning to important arguments…clarity explains how to weigh arguments against other issues. Providing clarity early in the round is essential when it comes to evaluating arguments as the evolve throughout the round. Waiting until the end of the round to provide clarity can be too late.
If a team plans to win the debate on an argument, in your opinion does that argument have to be extended in the rebuttal or summary speeches? Yes
If a team is second speaking, do you require that the team cover the opponents’ case as well as answers to its opponents’ rebuttal in the rebuttal speech? Yes
Do you vote for arguments that are first raised in the grand crossfire or final focus? No…new arguments should have been introduced earlier in the round. An extension of a key argument is a part of argument evolution.
Congress
I evaluate your arguments in a Congress session in relation to your effectiveness in delivering them. An effective Congressional Debater is one who is committed to making sure that the judge understands the arguments and information they are presenting. When a debater's commitment is limited to getting information into the debate they are assuming that I will gain the same understanding of the information that they have.
Introductions should be creative when possible. Generic intros are frowned upon greatly.
Good arguments should contain both evidence from qualified sources AND analysis.
Devoting time to the summary/conclusion is very important.
Ending speeches at 3:00 is very important. Speeches ending at 3:10 show a lack of discipline and preparation.
Questioning should be focused on exposing weaknesses in opponent's arguments. Questions that cause little to no damage are of marginal value. There should never be a time when the questioner and respondent are both talking at the same time for more than a brief moment.
Respondents should view questioning as an opportunity not an adversarial activity. Attitude and unnecessary aggression will be scored lower. "I don't know" is perfectly acceptable if there is no reasonable reason why you should know the answer. I would like to NEVER hear the answer "I am sure you could tell me." I can not tell you how much I really don't appreciate that response in a questioning period.
I am an experienced coach who has coached both speech and debate for the past 25 years.
Policy: Policy Maker judge who is not a fan of game-playing, kritiks, etc. I want to hear a solid debate centered on the resolution. Will vote for Topicality if it is a clear violation.
LD: Values/Criteria are important to the round and should be presented/used accordingly. Evidence (both empirical and hypothetical) should be used as appropriate. LD is a values debate.
PF: Public Forum should not be considered Policy Lite. Solid arguments defending a team's position should be used with specific evidence (not vague references to "sources").
Congress: I like to hear clash from speakers later in the round. Don't restate the same arguments stated by the previous 10 representatives/senators. Speeches should offer clear use of persuasive techniques and logic.
For IE’s and Interpretation Events, just be yourself! Show me you have passion in your topic and perform like it’s your last performance. For extemporaneous speaking, have your points down in a clear structure that I can follow. For all competitors, have fun!!!
I am a newer judge, so I am not going to be in the loop on all the technical aspects of your event. If you are the first speaker (or any speaker) in the room, please tell me how timing will work as I do not know how you want it. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to help judge you.
I coach Extemp and Congress at Bellarmine and also have experience with Policy and Original Advocacy.
If I am your judge in an Interp round: I'm sorry. I don't know much about the events and honestly, much of the way I judge simply has to do with whether I am interested in the story you are telling. I am not good at evaluating blocking and so forth. It does seem to me that having multiple characters adds a degree of difficulty, so that tends to go a long way with me.
For INFO/Expos: I really want to LEARN something from your speech. You might have kind of a run-of-the-mill topic with lovely VA's and dynamic delivery, but if the content is pretty bland and I am not learning anything, then I will rank you low. I tend not to get too snowed by nice VA's. Some kids come from more money than others and if a student has a really original idea with strong research behind it, I don't want to penalize them for not having the money or access to a program that can help them get great VA's. I will say, though, that you really should not have a speech of nothing but content. That is HARD to sit through for 10 minutes. Aim to inject some humor or levity where you can.
When it comes to things like Oratory and Advocacy, I like to see RESEARCH and EVIDENCE. Your OO or OA should not be like a DI or HI. I am interested in your reasoning and analysis. Please don't try to cover for lack of empirics and analytical rigor by resorting to excessive pathos.
The event with which I have the most experience is Extemp. I love Extemp. However, I deplore the manner in which final rounds of Extemp at Nats have devolved into stand-up comedy routines. I find that more and more students say very little, they just say it in a very entertaining way. Extemp is an event where you should have an argument, you should have evidence, you should rely upon a range of sources. Students should have a sophisticated argument based upon multiple sources (1 per point...um, no) that are accurately cited. Don't say that the Washington Post had an article on something. Tell me WHEN it had the article. In addition, I am quite pleased to see students stretch beyond standard sources like the NYT, WSJ, Economist, etc. When you show me that you are relying upon sources beyond those that everyone uses, I think that reflects well upon you. Bear in mind: the topics you are speaking about are by and large serious. So students who are smarmy and pleased with themselves and their puns really rub me the wrong way. Finally, I fundamentally reject the movement to enable competitors to bring a notecard or the outline into the room with them to rely upon when delivering. This a tough event. It has many moving parts. The best extempers can handle all of them, including memorization, well. I will in all likelihood not rank you in the top half of the room if you are using a notecard or your outline. I also am glad to check your cites and evidence. There are people who go really far in this event making things up. Extemp is not supposed to be fiction. I wish we had more routine cite checking. If tournaments don’t do it, I certainly will on my own.
If I am judging you in Policy debate, you should know that I rarely vote on T. I don't mind a good K, but you need to understand the author. If you are just reading cards that your coach cut for you, the round is not terribly interesting because you don't understand what you are talking about. I can handle medium speed, largely because I find spreading to be really unpleasant to listen to. Plus, if debate is an academic activity, then I am not sure what the value of talking crazy fast is. Please, please, please: do not make me listen to multiple speeches about whether or not the round is educational. That is my nightmare. You have a resolution, you have a topic. ENGAGE WITH IT. But when you dance around with T too much or go nuts about the round not being educational, I truly feel like my time is being wasted. Also, I get that there is often the incentive to go to extinction and nuclear holocaust, etc. But I encourage you to consider whether that always makes any sense. Sometimes debaters go from zero to extinction so quickly as to be farcical. I don't mind CP, framework or generic DA's, not a big fan of conditionality. If I think of anything else, I'll add to this. Basically, I want to see the students wrestle with ideas and do so in a mature, polite manner. Finally, if you and your partner are clearly crushing the other team, there is no need to be arrogant about it. I have no problem with low point wins if you are incapable of showing respect.
My priorities for judging any debate are
1) the use of factual evidence that shows understanding of the topic.
2) clear and organized arguments.
3) each team's ability to support their value, weighing mechanism, or other framework throughout the entire debate.
4) professionalism and appropriateness.
I will judge objectively and respectfully; still getting familiar with debate jargon and appreciate a conversational pace to insure I clearly hear each participant.
Overview:
I enjoy a good debate. I dislike unnecessary rudeness (sometimes rudeness is called for) and I dislike lazy argumentation. Run whatever makes you feel comfortable and I’ll evaluate it in the context of the round to the best of my ability and not the context of my own personal preferences. Of course, removing all implicit bias is impossible but I encourage all forms of effective argumentation. As long as you are persuasive and educational, you’ve got a fair shot. That being said, I do enjoy a nice critical debate, just make sure you’re not lazy with it and clearly articulate the arguments. Otherwise, I love to see folks having a good time in a round. Don’t be so uptight! We gotta spend at least an hour with each other in a little room. If we’re not all relaxed it’s gonna be painful.
Arguments:
T- I never ran this so I don’t have much experience on the argument just like anything else flesh it out and articulate all areas like the definition, violation, voters etc. Overall, not something I default to reasonability unless you convince me otherwise.
DAs- Dope arguments, depending on how they’re framed can be super devastating or just ok.
CPs- Fine with me all the way.
K’s- Love ‘em but don’t be lazy just cuz you think you can win me over with one.
Condo- Up to the round, tell me what’s up and I’ll evaluate accordingly. However, if your strategy involves running a K and a traditional FW arg, then you're digging a deep hole for yourself.
Framework- I have a high threshold for a traditional FW argument. You really gotta go all in and be way better than your opponent to convince me that they should have stuck to traditional policy structure.
Experience: I debated for 4 years at Sumner Academy and have debated a few years at KCKCC. I believe that debate is a dope activity through which people can shape their own realities.
I can flow but I prefer a more "lay" type of debate.
If you're going to make an assertion, you better back it up with evidence and analysis.
If you have evidence, you better give me analysis to tie back to your point. Don't assume the evidence speaks for itself.
If you make a point you better give analysis to show it proves that supporting/negating is the way to go.
NOTE: I get REALLY cranky if I suspect debaters are manipulating (or outright faking) evidence. I also get really cranky if debaters try to claim the other side did something they did not do, or did not do something they did do. It's shady debate. Don't do it.
If you're a PF debater, don't waste your time with off-time roadmaps, because there are only two things you should ever be doing--hitting their case, and defending yours (this includes teams running a non-traditional case. Even if you're running a k, you should still be hitting their case, and defending yours). Even when you are weighing, it is just hitting their case, and defending yours. If you are organized in presenting your points it will be clear what you are doing. I'm ok with paraphrasing, but if the other team asks to see the original text and you can't produce it, I'm ignoring your evidence. I'm also ok with non-traditional approaches, but you better make it CLEAR CLEAR CLEAR that it's necessary, because I will always pref good debate over acrobatics.
If you're an LD debater, you better be giving analysis that shows your points are proving that you have achieved your value criterion. Articulate the connections, don't assume they speak for themselves. As far as non-traditional cases, I won't automatically vote against, but you better sell me on the necessity of going there, and that it's enriching the debate, and not hobbling it. (Particular note: I really hate pure theory cases, but won't automatically vote against. That being said, let me reiterate-- You better prove that what you have to say is improving the quality of the debate, and that your theory is a better/more important debate than the debate over the resolution. Which means you will have to still talk about the resolution, and why your debate is more important. If you're just doing it for the sake of being fancy, it's a no-go for me.)
I don't ever judge CX, so if you're reading my paradigm as a CX debater-- why?
No one should ever tell me when or how to time. You can self-time, but I am the final arbiter of time.
If you are excessively rude, aggressive, shouty, or derisive you will see it in your speaks. If you are racist/sexist/homophobic, or any other type of bigoted I will vote against you every single time. This includes denying a person's lived experience.
If you post-round me, I will shut you down-- you might as well put me down on your permanent strike list (this does not include students who ask me questions for the purposes of improving their debate in the future. I am always happy to answer those questions.)
JANUARY, 2025 UPDATE:I prefer to judge lay rounds as indicated in my paradigm below. However, in the last few months, I have judged K rounds, theory rounds, and elim rounds where one or both teams have spread. Please note that I have so far never squirreled in an elim round where teams have run either Ks, theory or have spread (though I ask for the docs)...and often I am the lay/flay on a panel with 2 tech judges. Coincidence? Who knows? But I feel like I should provide this information so that teams can decide what arguments they want to read. Good luck, all! :)
MY PARADIGM, IT DOES RHYME
A reluctant judge who’s a parent,
Better make your speeches coherent!
Don’t run theory or a clever K,
Risky strategies because I’m lay.
Surely, you don’t dare to spread.
Rely on good warranting instead!
Fake a conflict, and I’ll hold a grudge--
Use a proper strike to remove me as your judge.
I’ll do my best to keep a good flow,
Of all the arguments apropos.
Don’t falsely say an argument was dropped,
Or your score will unceremoniously be chopped.
Near impossible to earn 30 speaks--
Lay appeal combined with incredible techniques.
My ballot is truth over tech,
Especially when probability is but a speck.
Terminal impact of nuclear war,
When farfetched, is a claim I abhor.
I end this with typical lay dross—
Have fun and be respectful in cross!
--Parent Paradigm Poet
PS. Add me to the email chain (smsung@post.harvard.edu). I do actually read the cards and cases, if needed for my RFDs
********************************************************************************************************************************
April 2024 update...I feel I must step it up for TOC, so I'm adding another version:
PARADIGM TO THE TUNE OF “ANTI-HERO” BY TAYLOR SWIFT
PERFORMED BY THE TALENTED FIONA LI, THE OVERLAKE SCHOOL '24
I try to flow where I get speeches but just never crossfire
Debates become my sacred job
When my confusion shows with nonsense claims
All of the students I've downed will stand there and just sob
I should not be left to my own devices
They come with prices and vices
I end up in crisis (tale as old as time)
I write my ballot from habit
Extend contentions for retention
Left on my flow sheet with intention
(For the last time)
It's me, hi, I'm the lay judge, it's me
I dis-close, everybody will see
I'll vote directly if you weigh but never with no cards cut
I find it annoying always spreading for the useless word glut.
Sometimes I feel like disclo-theory is a sexy case read
And I'm a substance judge for real
Too lay to judge tech, always leaning toward the actual factoids
Truth through and through, to me appeals
Did you read my covert activism--I drop speaks for chauvinism
And same goes for racism? (Tale as old as time)
I write my ballot from habit
Extend contentions for retention
Left on my flow sheet with intention
(For the last time)
It's me, hi, I'm the lay judge, it's me (I'm the lay judge, it's me)
I dis-close, everybody will see
I'll vote directly if you weigh but never with no cards cut
I find it annoying always spreading for the useless word glut.
I have this dream the teams that I judge signpost and speak clearly
Collapsed and covered, showing skill
The impacts weighed well with data and then someone screams out
"She's writing up her RFD!"
It's me, hi, I'm the lay judge, it's me
It's me, hi, I'm the lay judge, it's me
It's me, hi, everybody will see, everybody will see
It's me, hi (hi), I'm the lay judge, it's me (I'm the lay judge, it's me)
I dis (dis) close (close), everybody will see (everybody will see)
I'll vote directly if you weigh but never with no cards cut
I find it annoying always spreading for the useless word glut.
**PLEASE ADD ME TO THE EMAIL CHAIN: SMSUNG@POST.HARVARD.EDU
Former High School Policy Debater (before PF even existed) in Wisconsin and on National Circuit. Assistant Coach at STRIVE Prep - RISE in Denver, CO. Former coach of DSST: Cole High School in Denver, CO.
PF Specific Updates:
Read Evidence Call me old-school, but I'd like to hear you actually read evidence. I'm really not enjoying the paraphrased tag-line strategy that supposedly brings in the entire card of evidence and warrants without reading the actual warrants in the round. Some teams are "reading" more cards than a policy debate round would, but it is really just citing a bibliography with tags. Furthermore, this then can become a bunch of overtagged claims linked together to some extremely illogical argument that isn't supported by the literature. So, read more evidence. This would also make the rounds so much better because we could go more in depth rather than breadth and actual get to the warrants and clash between arguments.
Summary Speech I do think that summary speeches should be "summarizing" the round down and include all the arguments you plan on going for in the final focus. If you don't argue everything in summary then the round can get very messy with new story-lines/cards reappearing in the final focus speech from way back in the rebuttals but hadn't been talked about since, which seems borderline abusive but definitely makes the weighing and story of the round more confusing. Therefore, if your partner didn't talk about it in Summary I won't listen to your argument in Final Focus.
Overarching thoughts for both PF and Policy:
- Evidence: I am evidence-focused and will ask for evidence if it is up for Debate (in both PF and Policy).
- Warrants/Analysis/Links: The lost art of debate from what I've seen at a lot of local tournaments this year - please explain the warrants, analysis, and links/internal links of your arguments to be strong. If you do not adequately do this, don't be surprised by a decision that you might not agree with as I should not be doing any work on my end to make connections - that is your job to prove it to me.
- Clash: The most successful debaters in front of me will clearly clash with their opponents arguments in the line-by-line and explain why those arguments are flawed or not as good as your counter-analytics/evidence.
- Speed: I can handle speed (as long as your speed is clear), but for the fastest teams will require some slight slowing on tags/authors and analytics/non-evidence based arguments (for example when reading your Aff Plan Details or arguing Topicality) so I can adequately capture everything. If during the round it becomes clear you are a lot faster than the other team, please do not continuing spreading to the point of being mean or your speaks will drop. (Also, for PF when you aren't actually reading evidence even slow speed can be hard for me to flow because I just can't keep up flowing a million tag lines.)
- Flow/Drops: I am a flow judge, and do take dropped arguments seriously. However, I also much prefer argumentation and analysis than a ticky-tack debate about who dropped what. Furthermore, if all you say is "they dropped it, so it flows for us" - I will not give it much weight as you need to explain the importance of the argument and how it matters in the round for me to care about it otherwise you effectively dropped it as well by not explaining it. Also, for PF teams that don't talk about a particular contention after their constructive until the Final Focus and then say "our opponents dropped our contention, so we should win on that" I will not take that seriously as you also effectively dropped it throughout the round.
- Social Etiquette: Do not be bigoted or racist in anyway despite the fact our country seems to currently be okay with that - this is the only time you would ever see judge intervention from me.
Policy Specific Paradigm:
- Policy Maker: I would consider myself a policy-maker that evaluates the impacts of the round for Aff vs Neg. Therefore, 2NR and 2AR would do well to frame the round in term of impact analysis and explain why their impacts are the most critical to be solved - this can be argued and justified in many ways, so convince me.
- Like Well-Argued Kritiks/Critiques: I really enjoy Kritik/Critique arguments. However, most teams do not do them super well as they are deeply philosophical arguments that are often very nuanced. If you argue that fiat is illusory (this is not required, and I actually appreciate the kritiks that have real policy impacts more as they are often more believable and interesting in the debate), you better not link harder to the Kritik in your on-case arguments than your opponent. Also, if fiat is illusory, I do want to hear convincing arguments for your alternative and how voting for you actually achieves this alternative goal (and why the Aff can't just perm it and talk/acknowledge the problems in the pre-fiat world but still debate a hypothetical post-fiat policy world). Also as a recommendation, if you are truly going for a Kritik, you should spend substantial time dedicated to it from both evidence and analytic standpoints as they are complicated topics that should be in some ways outside the "game" of debate.
- Limit Topicality/Theory Arguments: While I will vote on topicality/theory arguments if forced to, I do not enjoy them in any way. I understand running T is a negative strategy as a time suck, so I am okay with one or two T arguments and won't hold it against you, but I hope the round doesn't come to Topicality and the quicker they get punted the better. For someone to win on topicality/theory it will have to be largely dropped or actually show very real abuse (with open-evidence project and familiarity of cases/topics, I have a hard time believing there is very much actual abuse that is happening though, so it better be convincing and don't be surprised if I give leeway to reasonable arguments from the other team.)
he/him/his
Pronounced phonetically as DEB-nil. Not pronounced "judge", "Mister Sur", or "deb-NEIL".
Policy Coach at Lowell High School, San Francisco
Email: lowelldebatedocs [at] gmail.com for email chains. If you have my personal email, don't put it on the email chain. Sensible subject please.
Lay Debate: I care deeply about adaptation and accessibility. I find "medium" debates (splits of lay and circuit judges) incredibly valuable for students' skills. In a split setting, please adapt to the most lay judge in your speed and explanation. I won't penalize you for making debate accessible. Some degree of technical evaluation is inevitable, but please don't spread. If both teams explicitly tell me they want a lay debate before hand, I will gladly toss out all my knowledge about debate and judge like a parent (think San Jose Indian father). Speaks will range from 28.5 to 30, and like a lay judge, I will choose random numbers in that range based on your aesthetic appeal.
Resolving Debates: Above all, tech substantially outweighs truth. The below are preferences, not rules, and will easily be overturned by good debating. But, since nobody's a blank slate, treat the below as heuristics I use in thinking about debate. Incorporating some can explain my decision and help render one in your favor.
I believe debate is a strategy game, in which debaters must communicate research to persuade judges. I'll almost certainly endorse better judge instruction over higher quality yet under-explained evidence. In most debates, voting for either team is defensible; I will likely vote for the team that does more comparison and requires less intervention in terms of resolution. I flow on my laptop, but I only look at the 1AC and the 1NC. Subsequent evidence is only read when deciding the debate. (When online, I always have docs open.) I will only read a card in deciding if that card was contested by both teams or I was told explicitly to and the evidence was actually explained in debate.
I take an above-average time to decide debates. My decision time has little relationship with the debate's closeness, and more with the time of day and my sleep deprivation. (I am typically the sole coach and judge with my teams, so I'm quite tired by elim day.) I usually start 5-10 minutes after the 2AR, so I can stretch my legs and let the debate marinate in my head. Debaters work hard, and I reciprocate that effort in making decisions. My decisions themselves are quite short. Most debates come down to 2-4 arguments, and I will identify those and explain my resolution. You're welcome to post-round. It can't change my decision, but I want to learn and improve as a judge and thinker too.
General Background: I work full-time in tech as a software engineer. In my spare time, I have coached policy debate at Lowell in San Francisco since 2018. I am involved in strategy and research and have coached both policy and K debaters to the TOC. I am, quite literally, a "framer", as a member of the national topic wording committee. Before that, I read policy arguments as a 2N at Bellarmine and did youth debate outreach (e.g., SVUDL) as a student at Stanford.
I've judged many excellent debates. Ideologically, I would say I'm 60/40 policy-leaning. I think my voting records don't reflect this, because K debaters tend to see the bigger picture in clash rounds.
I am judging some college debate, mostly to help the return of Stanford's team. No topic knowledge or college judging experience. I'm likely a policy-leaning clash judge in college prefs?
Topic Background: I judge and coach regularly and am fully aware of national circuit trends. I'm not super in the weeds as a researcher. I don't cut as many cards as I did in the pandemic years, and I don't work at debate camp.
I do work in software and have applied for patents on my day-to-day work. This personal experience will make me more skeptical of sweeping innovation or tech impacts. But if you're detailed, granular, and apply technical knowledge well, your speaks will benefit.
Voting Splits: I haven't updated these in a couple of years. I've been too busy with my non-debate life post pandemic. I think the trends exhibited on water are likely still accurate.
As of the end of the water topic, I have judged 304 rounds of VCX at invitationals over 9 years. 75 of these were during college; 74 during immigration and arms sales at West Coast invitationals; and 155 on CJR and water, predominantly at octafinals bid tournaments.
Below are my voting splits across the (synthetic) policy-K divide, where the left team represents the affirmative, as best as I could classify debates. Paradigm text can be inaccurate self-psychoanalysis, so I hope the data helps.
I became an aff hack on water. Far too often, the 2AR was the first speech doing comparative analysis instead of reading blocks. I hope this changes as we return to in-person debate.
Water
Policy v. Policy - 18-13: 58% aff over 31 rounds
Policy v. K - 20-18: 56% aff over 38 rounds
K v. Policy - 13-8: 62% aff over 21 rounds
K v. K - 1-1, 50% aff over 2 rounds
Lifetime
Policy v. Policy - 67-56: 55% for the aff over 123 rounds
Policy v. K - 47-52: 47% for the aff over 99 rounds
K v. Policy - 36-34: 51% for the aff over 70 rounds
K v. K - 4-4: 50% for the aff over 8 rounds
Online Debate:
1. I'd prefer your camera on, but won't make a fuss.
2. Please check verbally and/or visually with all judges and debaters before starting your speech.
3. If my camera's off, I'm away, unless I told you otherwise.
Speaker Points: I flow on my computer, but I do not use the speech doc. I want every word said, even in card text and especially in your 2NC topicality blocks, to be clear. I will shout clear twice in a speech. After that, it's your problem.
Note that this assessment is done per-tournament: for calibration, I think a 29.3-29.4 at a finals bid is roughly equivalent to a 28.8-28.9 at an octos bid.
29.5+ — the top speaker at the tournament.
29.3-29.4 — one of the five or ten best speakers at the tournament.
29.1-29.2 — one of the twenty best speakers at the tournament.
28.9-29 — a 75th percentile speaker at the tournament; with a winning record, would barely clear on points.
28.7-28.8 — a 50th percentile speaker at the tournament; with a winning record, would not clear on points.
28.3-28.6 — a 25th percentile speaker at the tournament.
28-28.2 — a 10th percentile speaker at the tournament.
K Affs and Framework:
1. I have coached all sides of this debate.
2. I will vote for the team whose impact comparison most clearly answers the debate's central question. This typically comes down to the affirmative making negative engagement more difficult versus the neg forcing problematic affirmative positions. You are best served developing 1-2 pieces of offense well, playing defense to the other team's, and telling a condensed story in the final rebuttals.
3. Anything can be an impact---do what you do best. My teams typically read a limits/fairness impact and a procedural clash impact. From Dhruv Sudesh: "I don't have a preference for hearing a skills or fairness argument, but I think the latter requires you to win a higher level of defense to aff arguments."
4. Each team should discuss what a year of debate looks like under their models in concrete terms. Arguments like "TVA", "switch-side debate", and "some neg ground exists" are just subsets of this discussion. It is easy to be hyperbolic and discuss the plethora of random affirmatives, but realistic examples are especially persuasive and important. What would your favorite policy demon (MBA, GBN, etc.) do without an agential constraint? How does critiquing specific policy reforms in a debate improve critical education? Why does negative policy ground not center the affirmative's substantive conversation?
5. As the negative, recognize if this is an impact turn debate or one of competing models early on (as in, during the 2AC). When the negative sees where the 2AR will go and adjusts accordingly, I have found that I am very good for the negative. But when they fail to understand the debate's strategic direction, I almost always vote affirmative. This especially happens when impact turning topicality---negatives do not seem to catch on yet.
6. I quite enjoy leveraging normative positions from 1AC cards for substantive disadvantages or impact turns. This requires careful link explanation by the negative but can be incredibly strategic. Critical affirmatives claim to access broad impacts based on shaky normative claims and the broad endorsement of a worldview, rather than a causal method; they should incur the strategic cost.
7. I am a better judge for presumption and case defense than most. It is often unclear to me how affirmatives solve their impacts or access their impact turns on topicality. The negative should leverage this more.
8. I occasionally judge K v K debates. I do not have especially developed opinions on these debates. Debate math often relies on causality, opportunity cost, and similar concepts rooted in policymaking analysis. These do not translate well to K v K debates, and the team that does the clearest link explanation and impact calculus typically wins. While the notion of "opportunity cost" to a method is still mostly nonsensical to me, I can be convinced either way on permutations' legitimacy.
Kritiks:
1. I do not often coach K teams but have familiarity with basically all critical arguments.
2. Framework almost always decides this debate. While I have voted for many middle-ground frameworks, they make very little strategic sense to me. The affirmative saying that I should "weigh the links against the plan" provides no instruction regarding the central question: how does the judge actually compare the educational implications of the 1AC's representations to the consequences of plan implementation? As a result, I am much better for "hard-line" frameworks that exclude the case or the kritik.
3. I will decide the framework debate in favor of one side's interpretation. I will not resolve some arbitrary middle road that neither side presented.
4. If the kritik is causal to the plan, a well-executing affirmative should almost always win my ballot. The permutation double-bind, uniqueness presses on the link and impact, and a solvency deficit to the alternative will be more than sufficient for the affirmative. The neg will have to win significant turns case arguments, an external impact, and amazing case debating if framework is lost. At this point, you are better served going for a proper counterplan and disadvantage.
5. I will not evaluate non-falsifiable statements about events outside the current debate. Such an evaluation of minors grossly misuses the ballot. Strike me if this is a core part of your strategy.
Topicality:
1. This is about the plan text, not other parts of the 1AC. If you think the plan text is contrived to be topical, beat them on the PIC out of the topic and your topic DA of choice.
2. This is a question of which team's vision of the topic maximizes its benefits for debaters. I compare each team's interpretation of the topic through an offense/defense lens.
3. Reasonability is about the affirmative interpretation, not the affirmative case itself. In its most persuasive form, this means that the substance crowdout caused by topicality debates plus the affirmative's offense on topicality outweighs the offense claimed by the negative. This is an especially useful frame in debates that discuss topic education, precision, and similar arguments.
4. Any standards are fine. I used to be a precision stickler. This changed after attending topic meetings and realizing how arbitrarily wording is chosen.
5. From Anirudh Prabhu: "T is a negative burden which means it is the neg’s job to prove that a violation exists. In a T debate where the 2AR extends we meet, every RFD should start by stating clearly what word or phrase in the resolution the aff violated and why. If you don’t give me the language to do that in your 2NR, I will vote aff on we meet." Topicality 101---the violation is a negative burden. If there's any uncertainty, I almost certainly vote aff with a decent "we meet" explanation.
Theory:
1. As with other arguments, I will resolve this fully technically. Unlike many judges, my argumentative preferences will not implicate how I vote. I will gladly vote on a dropped theory argument---if it was clearly extended as a reason to reject the team---with no regrets.
2. I'm generally in favor of limitless conditionality. But because I adjudicate these debates fully technically, I think I vote affirmative on "conditionality bad" more than most.
3. From Rafael Pierry: "most theoretical objections to CPs are better expressed through competition. ... Against these and similar interpretations, I find neg appeals to arbitrariness difficult to overcome." For me, this is especially true with counterplans that compete on certainty or immediacy. While I do not love the delay counterplan, I think it is much more easily beaten through competition arguments than theoretical ones.
4. If a counterplan has specific literature to the affirmative plan, I will be extremely receptive to its theoretical legitimacy and want to grant competition. But of course, the counterplan text must be written strategically, and the negative must still win competition.
Counterplans:
1. I'm better for strategies that depend on process and competition than most. These represent one of my favorite aspects of debate---they combine theory and substance in fun and creative ways---and I've found that researching and strategizing against them generates huge educational benefits for debaters, certainly on par with more conventionally popular political process arguments like politics and case.
2. I have no disposition between "textual and functional competition" and "only functional competition". Textual alone is pretty bad. Positional competition is similarly tough, unless the affirmative grants it. Think about how a model of competition justifies certain permutations---drawing these connections intelligently helps resolve the theoretical portion of permutations.
3. Similarly, I am agnostic regarding limited intrinsicness, either functional or textual. While it helps check against the truly artificial CPs, it justifies bad practices that hurt the negative. It's certainly a debate that you should take on. That said, if everyone is just spreading blocks, I usually end up negative on the ink. Block to 2NR is easier to trace than 1AR to 2AR.
4. People need to think about deficits to counterplans. If you can't impact deficits to said counterplans, write better advantages. The negative almost definitely does not have evidence contextualizing their solvency mechanism to your internal links---explain why that matters!
5. Presumption goes to less change---debate what this means in round. Absent this instruction, if there is an advocacy in the 2NR and I do not judge kick it when deciding, I'm probably not voting on presumption.
6. Decide in-round if I should kick the CP. I'll likely kick it if left to my own devices. The affirmative should be better than the status quo. (To be honest, this has never mattered in a debate I've judged, and it amuses me that judge kick is such a common paradigm section.)
Disadvantages:
1. There is not always a risk. A small enough signal is overwhelmed by noise, and we cannot determine its sign or magnitude.
2. I do not think you need evidence to make an argument. Many bad advantages can be reduced to noise through smart analytics. Doing so will improve your speaker points. Better evidence will require your own.
3. Shorten overviews, and make sure turns case arguments actually implicate the aff's internal links.
4. Will vote on any and all theoretical arguments---intrinsicness, politics theory, etc. Again, arguments are arguments, debate them out.
Ethics:
1. Cheating means you will get the lowest possible points.
2. You need a recording to prove the other team is clipping. If I am judging and think you are clipping, I will record it and check the recording before I stop the debate. Any other method deprives you of proof.
3. If you mark a card, say where you’re marking it, actually mark it, and offer a marked copy before CX in constructives or the other's team prep time in a rebuttal. You do not need to remove cards you did not read in the marked copy, unless you skipped a truly ridiculous amount. This practice is inane and justifies debaters doc-flowing.
4. Emailing isn’t prep. If you take too long, I'll tell you I'm starting your prep again.
5. If there is a different alleged ethics violation, I will ask the team alleging the violation if they want to stop the debate. If so, I will ask the accused team to provide written defense; check the tournament's citation rules; and decide. I will then decide the debate based on that violation and the tournament policy---I will not restart the debate---this makes cite-checking a no-risk option as a negative strategy, which seems really bad.
If you could have emailed the other team about your ethics violation, I will only evaluate it if there's proof you contacted the other team. Prepping ethics violations as case negs is far worse than any evidence ethics violation I've seen.
Note that if the ethics violation is made as an argument during the debate and advanced in multiple speeches as a theoretical argument, you cannot just decide it is a separate ethics violation later in the debate. I will NOT vote on it, I will be very annoyed with you, and you will probably lose and get 27s if you are resorting to these tactics.
6. The closer a re-highlighting comes to being a new argument, the more likely you should be reading it instead of inserting. If you are point out blatant mis-highlighting in a card, typically in a defensive fashion on case, then insertion is fine. I will readily scratch excessive insertion with clear instruction.
Miscellaneous:
1. I'll only evaluate highlighted warrants in evidence.
2. Dropped arguments should be flagged clearly. If you say that clearly answered arguments were dropped, you're hurting your own persuasion.
3. Please send cards in a Word doc. Body is fine if it's just 1-3 cards. I don't care if you send analytics, though it can help online.
4. Unless the final rebuttals are strictly theoretical, the negative should compile a card doc post 2NR and have it sent soon after the 2AR. The affirmative should start compiling their document promptly after the 2AR. Card docs should only include evidence referenced in the final rebuttals (and the 1NC shell, for the negative)---certainly NOT the entire 1AC.
5. As a judge, I can stop the debate at any point. The above should make it clear that I am very much an argumentative nihilist---in hundreds of debates, I have not come close to stopping one. So if I do, you really messed up, and you probably know it.
6. I am open to a Technical Knockout. This means that the debate is unwinnable for one team. If you think this is the case, say "TKO" (probably after your opponents' speech, not yours) and explain why it is unwinnable. If I agree, I will give you 30s and a W. If I disagree and think they can still win the debate, you'll get 25s and an L. Examples include: dropped T argument, dropped conditionality, double turn on the only relevant pieces of offense, dropped CP + DA without any theoretical out.
Be mindful of context: calling this against sophomores in presets looks worse than against an older team in a later prelim. But sometimes, debates are just slaughters, nobody is learning anything, and there will be nothing to judge. I am open to giving you some time back, and to adding a carrot to spice up debate.
7. Not about deciding debates, but a general offer to debate folk reading this. As someone who works in tech, I think it is a really enjoyable career path and quite similar to policy debate in many ways. If you would like to learn more about tech careers, please feel free to email me. As a high school student, it was very hard to learn about careers not done by my parents or their friends (part of why I'm in tech now!). I am happy to pass on what knowledge I have.
Above all, be kind to each other, and have fun!
If you are starting an email chain for the debate, I would like to be included on it: psusko@gmail.com
Default
Debate should be centered on the hypothetical world where the United States federal government takes action. I default to a utilitarian calculus and view arguments in an offense/defense paradigm.
Topicality
Most topicality debates come down to limits. This means it would be in your best interest to explain the world of your interpretation—what AFFs are topical, what negative arguments are available, etc—and compare this with your opponent’s interpretation. Topicality debates become very messy very fast, which means it is extremely important to provide a clear reasoning for why I should vote for you at the top of the 2NR/2AR.
Counterplans
Conditionality is good. I default to rejecting the argument and not the team, unless told otherwise. Counterplans that result in plan action are questionably competitive. In a world where the 2NR goes for the counterplan, I will not evaluate the status quo unless told to by the negative. The norm is for theory debates to be shallow, which means you should slow down and provide specific examples of abuse if you want to make this a viable option in the rebuttals. The trend towards multi-plank counterplans has hurt clarity of what CPs do to solve the AFF. I think clarity in the 1NC on the counterplan text and a portion of the negative block on the utility of each plank would resolve this. I am also convinced the AFF should be allowed to answer some planks in the 1AR if the 1NC is unintelligible on the text.
Disadvantages
I am willing to vote on a zero percent risk of a link. Vice versa, I am also willing to vote negative on presumption on case if you cannot defend your affirmative leads to more change than the status quo. Issue specific uniqueness is more important than a laundry list of thumpers. Rebuttals should include impact comparison, which decreases the amount of intervention that I need to do at the end of the debate.
Criticisms
I am not familiar with the literature, or terminology, for most criticisms. If reading a criticism is your main offensive argument on the negative, this means you’ll need to explain more clearly how your particular criticism implicates the affirmative’s impacts. For impact framing, this means explaining how the impacts of the criticism (whether it entails a VTL claim, epistemology, etc.) outweigh or come before the affirmative. The best debaters are able to draw links from affirmative evidence and use empirical examples to show how the affirmative is flawed. Role of the ballot/judge arguments are self-serving and unpersuasive.
Performance
I judge around 2-3 performance debates a year. The flow during performance debates usually gets destroyed at some point during the 2AC/block. Debaters should take the time to provide organizational cues [impact debate here, fairness debate here, accessibility debate here, etc.] in order to make your argument more persuasive. My lack of experience and knowledge with/on the literature base is important. I will not often place arguments for you across multiple flows, and have often not treated an argument as a global framing argument [unless explicitly told]. Impact framing and clear analysis help alleviate this barrier. At the end of the debate, I should know how the affirmative's advocacy operates, the impact I am voting for, and how that impact operates against the NEG.
Flowing
I am not the fastest flow and rely heavily on short hand in order to catch up. I am better on debates I am more familiar with because my short hand is better. Either way, debaters should provide organizational cues (i.e. group the link debate, I’ll explain that here). Cues like that give me flow time to better understand the debate and understand your arguments in relation to the rest of the debate.
Notes
Prep time continues until the email has been sent to the email chain. This won't affect speaker points, however, it does prolong the round and eliminate time that I have to evaluate the round.
I am not a fan of insert our re-highlighting of the evidence. Either make the point in a CX and bring it up in a rebuttal or actually read the new re-highlighting to make your argument.
The debaters that get the best speaker points in front of me are the ones that write my ballot for me in the 2NR/2AR and shape in their speeches how I should evaluate arguments and evidence.
Depth > Breadth
(updated Oct 2024)
Dylan Sutton (he/him/his)
dylan.sutton@gmail.com go ahead and include me on email chains please, but I try not to read evidence to make decisions unless it is unavoidable.
Background:
Debated national circuit policy for Fremont (NE) 2000-2004. TOC qualifier.
Debated at UMKC for a hot second in 2004-2005.
Assistant policy coach various schools in NE from 2005-2019.
Head Coach & English teacher, Millard North (Omaha, NE) 2021-present.
Quick Prefs: (1=best, 4=worst, 5=strike me)
truth>tech. That doesn't mean I intervene against arguments I don't like, but it does mean I don't care very much if the 2 second theory blip you shadow extended is dropped. For more insight, read more than the "quick prefs" section.
LD:
Speed: 5 (I come from nat circuit policy. I can handle the flow. In my experience, LD is significantly worse than policy in terms of spreading things that shouldn't be - specifically theory and large chunks of analyticals. I'm done begging. If you spread those things, just assume I'm not flowing it).
K/Phil: 1
LARP: 1
Theory: 4
Tricks: 5
CX:
CP/DA/Case: 1
K (aff or neg): 1
T: 2-3
Theory: 4-5
exclusive frameworks ("no Ks", etc): 5
PF:
paraphrasing: hard 5
General judging philosophy (all events):
I’m an educator first. This means I view debate rounds as extensions of the classroom and believe the primary value of debate is education. That perspective causes me to value the truth of your argument over your argumentative technique and also informs a number of my argument preferences. It also means if you do things in debate that create a hostile environment I will intervene against you. This primarily means no violent actions or hate speech, but it is not strictly limited to those things. Basically, behave as you would in school. Violations of this sort will be brought to the tabroom’s attention as well.
More generally, kindness/positivity is encouraged and will help your speaker points. Nothing will cause me to have a stronger bias against you than if I perceive that you are being needlessly negative/rude/mean/etc. There’s enough negativity in the world.
I try to be objective in the sense that I try not to let my preferences influence my decisions. This is why I try not to read cards after debates, as I believe part of being objective is evaluating the words spoken in the debate rather than literature that is vaguely referenced. If you want credit for a warrant, state the warrant out loud rather than repeating an author’s last name or a tagline (a claim). That said, I am not perfectly objective. My social location influences how I understand the world, including debate rounds. The preferences for certain arguments over others that I will express in other places in this paradigm also evidence a lack of total objectivity.
I generally prefer depth of analysis over breadth. What that means is I would prefer you spend your time debating a small number of things very well, rather than a larger number of things at a lower quality. Specific practices that line up with this preference: Know the warrants for the evidence you read and be able to explain them. Read your opponents cards, read the underlined portion of them even and use those lines to make arguments. Make arguments about the quality of their sources. Debate the case.
I’m fine with speed reading (I have a background in national circuit policy). That said, debate is a communicative activity. This means 1. I flow what you say out loud. For example, if you say “the Smith evidence proves this” you get credit for those 5 words, which don’t contain the warrant for the Smith evidence. If I need to read cards to pick a winner I will, but I will actively resist doing so until it is absolutely necessary. 2. I can’t vote for arguments I can’t hear/understand. I don’t think it’s my job to say things like “clear” to tell you you are giving an unintelligible speech, so watch for nonverbals and err on the side of caution. This is especially true for analytical arguments (arguments that aren’t direct quotes from research/evidence). If you’re reading theory or an overview or that sort of thing, slow down a bit.
Cross-x is both important and binding. I don’t flow it but I listen and often do take notes, and it does influence my decision.
I think disclosure is good because it fosters higher quality, more educational debates. I’m aware disclosure isn’t the norm in every region or activity, but my general preference is for disclosure when reasonable. That said, I’m not interested in listening to debates about the minutiae of how teams ought to disclose. If they don’t disclose at all, read the theory and have a debate about disclosure in general. If they disclose something, it’s probably good enough. I would encourage full source/round reports, but the distinction isn’t significant enough for me to want to listen to a whole round about that.
The more you can do to write my ballot for me, the more likely you are to win. While I’m here as an educator, I’m also not trying to work harder than is necessary. Do things like compare warrants for competing claims, weigh impacts, create layers of ways you win (“even if” statements), and when appropriate engage in ‘meta weighing’ or ‘framework’ debates about which kinds of arguments I should prefer as a judge/critic. In the absence of these framing devices I generally default to a cost benefit analysis, usually pretty utilitarian. I’m not particularly beholden to that though. Defense wins champions. I believe offense is necessary but defense can result in zero risk of an argument, so it is also a good idea. Good defense beats mediocre offense.
Online debate - The biggest concern here is audio/technology. I will try to be as lenient and understanding as possible, but also understand that the tournament is on a schedule and ultimately if I can’t hear you I can’t vote for you. I will follow tournament instructions on this issue, but my patience for tech issues is going to be fairly low given that we’ve been at this remote stuff for two years now and most tournaments have ample opportunities for you to test equipment before the rounds begin.
I’ll have my camera on, I would ask that you do as well because I believe your nonverbal communication is part of debate and is important. That said, I understand there may be equity related reasons you’d prefer not to have your camera on so it is not something I require. You don’t have to explain yourself if that is your situation.
Speaker points - On a 30 points scale, I tend to give a 26 if your speech contained numerous egregious speaking errors. Anything below that is reserved for things like hate speech. You get more points as you speak better moving up to 30. I very rarely give a 30. Since it is the top of the scale, I interpret that to me there couldn’t be a better speech. So if I can think of ways the speech could have been better, it’s not a 30. If the tournament has a different scale I will comply with tournament instructions.
Lincoln Douglas:
Everything from the policy section of my paradigm also applies to LD. The things in this section are things that are unique to LD.
My big thing about LD is that the round/speech time is significantly shorter than policy so it can’t just be a one person policy event, in particular with regard to theory. I would also suggest that this means that speed probably isn’t as desirable in LD, again particularly in regard to theory. I think these are factors that make the 1AR harder, not easier. I’m new enough to judging LD though that I’m still developing my belief system about the best pedagogical practices here, so nothing is set in stone. Except tricks. Those will always be bad.
Topicality/Theory - 4
I’m not your guy for this debate in LD. I’ve only really gotten into judging LD since 2019, but in my experience there is FAR too much theory debate happening in LD and much of the debate that is happening is very shallow. I think the AR in LD is very hard and am willing to make appropriate accommodations, and the neg gets some reasonable amount of flexibility, but I would strongly prefer to hear debates about the topic and not about theory.
That being said, if you insist on going for theory you need to actually develop and warrant it, and respond to all the opposing arguments. This is what you would do when going for any other position, but for some reason in theory students seem to believe they can successfully go for theory in like 30 seconds. To “go for” any position in your last rebuttal should probably take at least 2 minutes, theory included.
I strongly prefer examples of in round abuse to potential for abuse arguments. I default to competing interpretations but can be easily persuaded to adopt a reasonability framework.
RVIs are way less popular in policy so if you want me to vote there I need more work than most. I find the arguments that are specific to the format of LD to be most persuasive on this question.
"Tricks" - 5
To my understanding, these are arguments that attempt to avoid clash and are primarily anti-intellectual. As such, I hate them and am very unlikely to be persuaded that they are a reason to vote for you. I’m fine with y’all having fun, but not at the expense of the value of the activity.
LARP- 1
I approach this as I would a policy round. I was primarily a K debater in my time in policy but we did a ton of DA/CP/Case debate as well.
K/Phil - 1
Again, policy paradigm. I have experience with most areas of critical scholarship with the exception of psychoanalysis. I don’t have a problem with psych, I'm just not as well versed in the literature. In K v LARP or framework debates, I generally dislike framing arguments that are just “this type of impact shouldn't be allowed” ie “no Ks” etc. On the other side, I strongly encourage K teams to have a defense of your prefered impact framing and your solvency method/mechanism (ie, I’m fine with you singing a song to create change, but you need to explicitly defend that as a method that is successful and not just do it to do it).
Policy :
In my general info section I talk about how I try not to read cards to evaluate debates because I feel like that is me judging more than the words spoken in the debate. That means that my absolute favorite thing for you to do is to directly quote from your evidence. You explaining specific warrants from your evidence or re-reading parts of your opponents evidence to make a counter-argument are perhaps the best way in general to increase your chances of success in front of me.
CP/DA/Case 1
If this type of debate is your thing, go for it. I read a politics DA almost every round and have coached teams on these strategies many times.
I strongly prefer specificity over breadth. This means things like:
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As I said in the general advice section, debate the case. The more specific to the aff, the better.
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DA links should be specific to the action/advocacy of the affirmative
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CP text and solvency should be very closely related. The CP solvency evidence should say the text of the CP solves.
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Permutations are more persuasive and harder to answer when you explain the combination, how it works/what it looks like rather than just saying “do both”.
T v traditional aff : 2
I’m an English major, so I find debates about words interesting. The best version of T debates are robust considerations of what the word/phrase means in the topic lit, what would be best for debate as an educational endeavor, and how individual rounds shape community norms.
Things I would encourage:
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I strongly prefer examples of in round abuse to potential for abuse arguments.
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I default to competing interpretations but can be easily persuaded to adopt a reasonability framework.
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Case lists. What is topical under your definition?
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No RVIs. I can be persuaded otherwise but in general not my preference.
That being said, I would expect you to develop T or any theory with the same level of rigor you would a DA or CP if you want me to vote on them. Nobody extends a DA for 30 seconds and seriously expects a win, but it happens all the time on theory. If you insist on going for theory you need to actually develop and warrant it, and respond to all the opposing arguments.
Theory 4 (5 if done poorly)
Please slow down when reading/going for theory. It’s all analytics, there’s no breaks. So unless you want to risk me missing arguments/warrants, slow down.
I’m going to say this again because it applies more to theory arguments than it does T: I would expect you to develop any theory with the same level of rigor you would a DA or CP if you want me to vote on them. Nobody extends a DA for 30 seconds and seriously expects a win, but it happens all the time on theory. If you insist on going for theory you need to actually develop and warrant it, and respond to all the opposing arguments.
I don’t have particularly strong opinions about specific theory arguments, but in general I would prefer that theory debates be a defense against practice that materially harmed/altered the debate for one team and not just a way to win. IE if the neg reads 5 contradictory timeframe CPs, sure. If it’s one conditional CP, not so much.
K - 1
I ran Ks, I coached Ks, I’m fine with the K in general. As a debater ran pretty generic K positions - cap bad, etc. When I was the assistant coach at Millard South our teams ran some more performative things. I’ve read at least some of many fields of critical scholarship and feel very comfortable judging debates about those issues. My biggest weakness is psychoanalytical theories; I just haven’t read much of that field so I’m less familiar with jargon and the relationships between scholars and ideas. I would encourage you to simplify psychoanalytic ideas as much as possible, or perhaps over explain them.
My biggest advice for the K is make it as specific as possible. The more specific the link is to the affirmative (whether that be the action of the plan, the words they said, the philosophies they advocate) the better. Same with the Alt. The more specific the description of what the action of the alt is and how it resolves the impacts, the more persuasive. The less specific the link & alt, the more leeway the aff gets on the permutation. On that note, have a defense of your methodology - however you are trying to create change, read some evidence or make some arguments about its effectiveness.
One important note for K debaters - I’m fine with multiple worlds/condo in general, but if one of your other off case positions links to your K, you are going to have a hard time overcoming arguments about how your advocacy as a team links just as much as your opponents, that if you get to kick things that link so do they, that it justifies the perm, etc.
K affs -
Conceptually fine. I ran critical affs as a debater and most of the team’s I’ve coached have done so at least once. I strongly encourage K aff teams to have a defense of your prefered impact framing and your solvency method/mechanism (ie, I’m fine with you singing a song to create change, but you need to explicitly defend that as a method that is successful and not just do it to do it).
Exclusive Frameworks 5
I generally dislike framing arguments that are just “this type of impact shouldn't be allowed” ie “no Ks” etc. If you’ve read my old paradigm, it called these kinds of frameworks “violent”, amongst other things. That should give you a sense of my opinion. Just because the ground you came prepared to debate (like a politics DA) doesn’t link to this aff doesn’t mean the aff is conceptually bad, it just means you have to have been prepared for different ground. This isn’t different than traditional affirmatives that don’t link to your generic positions.
While I am sympathetic to the reality that you can’t prep a specific strat to every possible K aff, and that sympathy causes me to be more understanding of FW in rounds where the K is obscure or opaque, in general I think the arguments about how you couldn’t predict a relatively known K (for instance cap bad) and don’t have any ground are silly. Especially when part of a framework that attempts to entirely exclude a particular genre of argument, like the K, I think that’s pretty bad pedagogically. Better version of that would be less exclusive (ie, still allowing all types of arguments to be read) and used against less generic/stock K positions.
Public Forum:
This isn’t an event I judge very often, so I’m not very familiar with community standard practices and norms. I would strongly encourage you to read the “general judging philosophy (all events)” section to get a sense of how I think about judging.
More specifically, I try to approach PF as I would a traditional policy debate round. So if you also look at the “CP/DA/Case” section of the policy part of my paradigm that might also give you some insight.
One thing I’m annoyed by - no more one word tags (or tags that don’t summarize the card). The whole purpose of a tagline is to summarize the card so that I can flow the summary and then listen to the warranting in the card. Using a tag like “therefore” is meaningless, you might as well just read the citation and then the body of the card. The system I’m asking you to use is WAY EASIER than trying to flow every single word you read in the entire speech, which is the only way the one word tag makes sense. Even in a world with speech docs, I’d have to copy the body of the card into my flow for the flow to make sense. You may lose speaks for this since it makes your speech harder to flow, seemingly by design.
In general in PF, here’s my advice:
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Even though I’m policy, don’t try to do policy in PF. Just do your thing. I’d rather see you be a really awesome PF debater than try to do something you’re not familiar with just to accommodate me. Doing a bad version of something I love is not going to endear you to me.
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More specificity is better. I’d rather you be very detailed and nuanced in winning one impact than be shallow in winning 4 impacts. Same thing applies to your attacks on your opponent's cases. The more specifically your attack applies to what the other side is defending, the more likely I am to vote for you.
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That specificity also extends to evidence. I hate the practice of summarizing/indirect quoting of evidence. I'd prefer you just use direct quotes but if that isn't possible please strike me. I hate it because it makes it much less likely that there is debate about specific lines/quotes/warrants from evidence, which is basically my favorite part of debate and I would argue one of the most educational. So direct quote your evidence, and read your opponent’s evidence to find things you can use against them.
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Impact analysis/weighing is vital. There aren’t very many rounds where you just win 100% of the contention level, so impact weighing becomes an essential way for the judge to resolve two competing contentions that are both mitigated. If you don’t weigh your impact compared to your opponent’s, you probably won’t win.
I have been a judge for nearly 2 years. I prefer a debater who speaks in a conversational style, not overly rehearsed or stiff. I also prefer a debater that speaks at a slower pace. When debaters speak at excessively high rates, they are difficult to understand at times and their arguments tend to lose their effectiveness.
Background: 1 year High School Debate and Speech (Policy, Poetry Interp, Extempt). 1 year debate at Hawaii Pacific University (World Schools and British Parliament). 2 Years Debate at Middle Tennessee State University (IPDA/NPDA). 5 years teaching and developing high school and middle school curriculum for Metro Memphis Urban Debate League (Policy), 2 years as assistant debate coach at Wichita East High (Policy, LD, Speech), currently Head Debate Coach at Boston Latin School (Congress, LD, PF & Speech)
Go ahead and add me to the email chain: MEswauncy@gmail.com
Quick Prefs:
Phil/Trad - 1
K - 2 or 3
LARP/Theory- 4
Tricks - 5/Strike
Overall Philosophy: I do not believe "debate is a game". I believe in quality over quantity. Clear argumentation and analysis are key to winning the round. Narratives are important. I like hearing clear voters in rebuttals. While I don't mind a nice technical debate, I love common sense arguments more. This is DEBATE. It isn't "who can read evidence better". Why does your evidence matter? How does it link? How does it outweigh? These things matter in the round, regardless of the style of debate. Pay attention to your opponent's case. Recognize interactions between different arguments and flows and bring it up in CX and in speeches. Exploit contradictions and double-turns. Look for clear flaws, don't be afraid to use your opponent's evidence against them. Be smart. You need to weigh arguments.
I am typically a "truth over tech" judge. I think tech is important in debate and I pay attention to it but tech is simply not everything. Meaning unless the tech violation is AGGREGIOUS, you won't win obviously questionable or untrue arguments just because you out teched your opponent. Arguments need to make sense and be grounded in some sort of reality and logic.
I am one of those old school coaches/competitors that believes each debate event is fundamentally different for good reason. That means, I am not interested in seeing "I wish I was policy" in LD or PF. Policy is meant to advocate for/negate a policy within the resolution that changes something in the SQ; LD is meant to advocate for/negate the resolution based on the premise that doing so advances something we should/do value as a society; PF is meant to effectively communicate the impacts of whatever the resolution proposes. This is not in flux. I do not change my stance on this. You will not convince me that I should. If you choose to turn an LD or PF round into a policy round, it will a) reflect in your speaks b) probably harm your chances of winning because the likelihood that you can cram what policy does in 1.5 hours of spreading into 1 hour of LD/PF while ALSO doing a good job doing what LD/PF is SUPPOSED TO DO (even if you spread) is very low.
Theory I will not vote on:
Disclosure theory, Paraphrasing Theory, Formal Clothes Theory, Dates Theory. All of these are whack and bad for debate. If your opponent runs any of the above: you can literally ignore it. Do not waste valuable time on the flow. I will not vote on it.
Spreading theory: Feel free to run it in LD or PF. It is the only theory I really consider. Do not run it if you are spreading yourself, that is contradictory.
I "may" evaluate a trigger warning theory IF your opponents' argument actually has some triggering components. Tread VERY carefully with this and only use it if there is legitimate cause.
Kritieks:
I am not amused by attempts to push a judge to vote for you on the vague notion that doing so will stop anti-blackness, settler colonialism, etc etc. As a black woman in the speech and debate space, IMO, this approach minimizes real world issues for cheap Ws in debate which I find to be performative at best and exploitative at worst. That being said, I am not Anti-K. A K that clearly links and has a strong (and feasible) alt is welcome and appreciated. I LOVE GOOD, WELL DEVELOPED Ks. I am more likely to harshly judge a bad K in LD as LD is supposed to be about values and cheapening oppression and exploiting marginalized people for debate wins is probably the worst thing for society.
Tricks: No.
Conditionality: I believe "Condo Bad" 89% of the time. Do not tell me "Capitalism Bad" in K and then give me a Capitalism centered CP. Pick one.
Decorum: Be respectful, stay away from personal attacks. Rudeness to your opponent will guarantee you lowest speaks out of all speakers in the round, personal attacks will net you the lowest speak I can give you. I recognize that being snarky and speaking over your opponent and cutting them off in CX is the "cool" thing to do, particularly in PF. It is not cool with me. It will reflect incredibly poorly on your speaker points. Do not constantly cut your opponent off in CX. It's rude and unprofessional. WORDS MATTER, using racist, sexist, ableist, homophobic, transphobic or any other type of biased phrases unintentionally will reflect on your speaks. We need to learn to communicate and part of learning is learning what is offensive. Using it intentionally will have me in front of tab explaining why you got a 0.
Lastly, there is no reason to yell during the round, regardless of the format. I love passion, but do not love being yelled at.
Public Forum Debate
Speed/Spreading: While I accept spreading in Policy rounds; I DO NOT ENTERTAIN SPREADING IN PF. I will absolutely wreck you in speaks for trying to spread in PF, and I will stop flowing you if it is excessive and you don't bother to share the case. That is not the purpose of this format.
Weighing: You must weigh. I need to know why I should care about your argument and why it matters. If you do not do this, you might lose no matter how great the evidence.
Impacts: If your argument has no impact it is irrelevant. Make sure your impact makes logistical sense.
I will ignore any new arguments presented in second summary (unless it is to answer a new argument made in first summary), first final focus or second final focus.
Lincoln Douglas Debate
I am somewhat annoyed by the trend in LD to become "We want to be policy". LD cannot do policy well due to time constraints and things LD is actually supposed to do. That being said if you choose to present a plan: I will judge that plan as I would judge a policy debate plan. You must have inherency, you must have solvency for your harms, etc etc. If your opponent shows me you have no inherency or solvency and you can't really counter within your four minute rebuttal, you lose by default. If you choose to run a K: I will judge you like I would judge a K in a policy debate. Your link must be clear, your alt must be well developed and concise. If your opponent obliterates your alt or links and you cannot defend them well and did not have time to get to strong A2s to their case, you most likely will lose. I am well aware that you probably do not have "time" to do any of this well within LD speech constraints. But so are you before you make the decision to attempt to do so anyway. So, if you opt to be a policy debater in an LD round; do know that you will be judged accordingly. :)
LD is meant to be about values, failure to pull through your value, link to your value, etc will likely cost you the round
Speed/Spreading: Spreading in LD will reflect in your speaker points but I can flow it and won't drop you over it.
Value/Criterion: Even if I do not buy a particular side's value/criterion, their opponent MUST point out what is wrong with it. I do not interventionist judge. I base my decision on the value and/criterion presented; make sure you connect your arguments back to your criterion.
Framework: UNDERSTAND YOUR FRAMEWORK. I cannot stress this enough. If your framework is absolutely terribly put together, you will lose. If you blatantly misrepresent or misunderstand your framework, you will lose.
I will ignore all new arguments after the first AR.
Policy Debate
Solvency: THE AFF PLAN MUST SOLVE
Topicality: I am VERY broad in my interpretation of topicality. Thus, only use Topicality if you truly have a truly legitimate cause to do so. I am not a fan of hearing T just to take up time or for the sake of throwing it on the flow. I will only vote for T if is truly blatant or if the aff does not defend.
Ks: If you are unsure how to run a K, then don't do it. I expect solid links to case, and a strong alternative. "Reject Aff" is not a strong alternative. Again, use if you have legitimate cause, not just to take up time or to have something extra on the flow.
Critical Affs: If you are unsure how to run a K, then don't do it.
DAs: Make sure you link and make your impact clear.
CPs: Your CP MUST be clearly mutually exclusive and can NOT just piggy back off of your opponent's plan. Generic CPs rarely win with me. (Basically, "We should have all 50 states do my opponent's exact plan instead of the Federal Government doing it" is just a silly argument to me)
Speed/Spreading: I don't mind speed as long as you're speaking clearly.
Fiat: I don't mind fiats AS LONG AS THEY MAKE SENSE. Please don't fiat something that is highly improbable (IE: All 50 states doing a 50 state counterplan on a issue several states disagree with). "Cost" is almost always fiated for me. Everything costs money and we won't figure out where to come up with that money in an hour and a half debate round.
Tag Team Debate/ Open CX: For me personally, both partners may answer but only one may ask. UNLESS tournament rules state something different. Then we will abide by tournament rules.
If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask me before the round begins.
I have been an assistant coach for around 12 years.
I do not value any one type of argument over another or automatically discount any type of argument. Anything is game.
That said, topicality should be reserved for when it's blatant or should only be pursued by teams who have a history of arguing it well. (In other words, I've seen a lot of bad attempts at topicality.)
Make sure you are listening to the other side and actually addressing what they are saying. Teams often don't read everything in their doc and nothing drives me crazy like a team arguing against evidence that wasn't read.
I do value good communication. I can't give you credit for an argument that I can't understand. That said, I am okay with speed as long as it is still enunciated well.
Head coach, Rosemount, MN. Do both policy & LD, and I don’t approach them very differently.
I’m a chubby, gray-haired, middle-aged white dude, no ink, usually wearing a golf shirt or some kind of heavy metal shirt (Iron Maiden, or more often these days, Unleash the Archers). If that makes you think I’m kind of old-school and lean toward soft-left policy stuff rather than transgressive reimaginations of debate, you ain’t wrong. Also, I’m a (mostly retired now) lawyer, so I understand the background of legal topics and issues better than most debaters and judges. (And I can tell when you don’t, which is most of the time.)
I was a decent college debater in the last half of the 1980s (never a first-round, but cleared at NDT), and I’ve been coaching for over 30 years. So I’m not a lay judge, and I’m mostly down with a “circuit” style—speed doesn’t offend me, I focus on the flow and not on presentation, theory doesn’t automatically seem like cheating, etc. However, by paradigm, I'm an old-school policymaker. The round is a thought experiment about whether the plan is a good idea (or, in LD, whether the resolution is true).
I try to minimize intervention. I'm more likely to default to "theoretical" preferences (how arguments interact to produce a decision) than "substantive" or "ideological" preferences (the merits or “truth” of a position). I don't usually reject arguments as repugnant, but if you run white supremacist positions or crap like that, I might. I'm a lot less politically "lefty" than most circuit types (my real job was defending corporations in court, after all). I distrust conspiracy theories, nonscientific medicine, etc.
I detest the K. I don't understand most philosophy and don't much care to, so most K literature is unintelligible junk to me. (I think Sokal did the world a great service.) I'll listen and process (nonintervention, you know), but I can't guarantee that my understanding of it at the end of the round is going to match yours. I'm especially vulnerable to “no voter” arguments. I’m also predisposed to think that I should vote for an option that actually DOES something to solve a problem. Links are also critical, and “you’re roleplaying as the state” doesn’t seem like a link to me. (It’s a thought experiment, remember.) I’m profoundly uncomfortable with performance debates. I tend not to see how they force a decision. I'll listen, and perhaps be entertained, but need to know why I must vote for it.
T is cool and is usually a limitations issue. I don't require specific in-round abuse--an excessively broad resolution is inherently abusive to negs. K or performance affs are not excused from the burden of being topical. Moreover, why the case is topical probably needs to be explained in traditional debate language--I have a hard time understanding how a dance move or interpretive reading proves T. Ks of T start out at a disadvantage. Some K arguments might justify particular interpretations of the topic, but I have a harder time seeing why they would make T go away. You aren’t topical simply because you’ve identified some great injustice in the world.
Counterplans are cool. Competition is the most important element of the CP debate, and is virtually always an issue of net benefits. Perms are a good test of competition. I don't have really strong theoretical biases on most CP issues. I do prefer that CPs be nontopical, but am easily persuaded it doesn't matter. Perms probably don't need to be topical, and are usually just a test of competitiveness. I think PICs are seldom competitive and might be abusive (although we've started doing a lot of them in my team's neg strats, so . . .). All of these things are highly debatable.
Some LD-specific stuff:
Framework is usually unimportant to me. If it needs to be important to you, it’s your burden to tell me how it affects my decision. The whole “philosophy is gibberish” thing still applies in LD. Dense, auto-voter frameworks usually lose me. If you argue some interpretation of the topic that says you automatically win, I’m very susceptible to the response that that makes it a stupid interp I should reject.
LD theory usually comes across as bastardized policy theory. It often doesn’t make sense to me in the context of LD. Disclosure theory seems to me like an elitist demand that the rest of the world conform to circuit norms.
I am more likely to be happy with a disad/counterplan type of LD debate than with an intensely philosophical or critical one. I’ll default to util if I can’t really comprehend how I’m supposed to operate in a different framework, and most other frameworks seems to me to ultimately devolve to util anyway.
Feel free to ask about specific issues. I'm happy to provide further explanation of these things or talk about any issues not in this statement.
First and foremost, I am a coach of a high school team. This means I judge based on how I expect my team to behave. Rudeness will cause me to score lower. This is applicable in both speech and debate. However, as long as you mind your manners in IEs, we’ll be okay. While debate can get heated, it should never get disrespectful. That said, I judge debate based on the following:
PF and LD - I am a judge who heavily favors truth. I place logic above all else. If your arguments aren’t logical and supported well, they will not flow. Additionally, you should have sufficient evidence to support your ideas. If you are throwing out arguments that aren't supported with evidence, they will be less likely to seem reasonable. I don’t flow cross. During this time, I am often writing feedback. I am not a fan of spreading during LD and PF, as I am often not on the case share and am often trying to follow your words.
Congress - Congress should not be boring. If you are not careful, congress can quickly become "boring" or less engaging for your judge. That said, the way you speak matters. You should have logic and reasoning within your speeches, but you should also be engaging. As long as you are engaging and logical, you stand a strong chance.
I am the coach of a highly successful speech and debate team in Plano, TX. I am a two diamond coach in the NSDA and coach all debate events. In college, I was a policy debater and still enjoy the nuances of policy debate. Overall, I follow the logic in debate. As such, I always flow every round. If I am sitting there looking at you while you are delivering, that is a bad sign because you are not giving me arguments to flow. I am quite happy to give a low point win if one debater is a fantastic speaker but the other debater had the best arguments. My paradigms for the different debates are as follows:
L/D: I am more of a traditionalist with L/D debate. You can speak fast, but I want to know you can communicate as well. Don't spread. I enjoy the philosophical aspects to LD, but as an old policy debater, you must back up what you say with evidence. Give me a value and go deep with your framework. Because I was a policy debater, I do enjoy unique cases and actually believe that a K is fun in LD. So, feel free to give a unique perspective on your resolution. However, as I stated earlier, communicate it to me. In Policy, I don't care about the dressing, but in LD I do.
PFD: Show me you can work as a team. I am fine with you dividing up the workload. I am a framework judge. Really explain your FW, don't just say, "Judge, you must vote this way if..." In reality, I can do what I want. If I really should vote a certain way "if.." then explain why fully. For your rebuttals, group your arguments. Kick out what doesn't work. Again, give me something to flow. I want deep warranting. Explain, explain, explain.
Policy: I love policy! Topicality is one of my favorite arguments. Disads need to be bad, really bad. Don't give "might happens" as the fact that they "might not" is running through my mind. Don't whine and call arguments by your opponent abusive, unless they truly are. I rarely agree when debaters call the opponents arguments abusive and use some generic reasoning which can be applied to anything. I get that many of these resolutions have a lot of variations however, this is debate. Research and develop arguments of your own and stop complaining that you didn't have time. Your harms need to be significant as do any advantages. K's are fine, but they better be explained well.
WSD: I have coached many WSD Teams to Nationals. It is a great event. In WSD, I am looking for you to act as a team. Work together and support each other.
Speech: For oratory and Informative speaking, I am looking for a unique perspective on the topic you chose. With Informative, inform me. I don't mind advocacy but I am not looking for a Persuasive speech. I do not want an act, I want to know you care about the topic you are presenting and that this is a speech, not an act.
Interp: I try really hard not to take notes during your performance as I want to give you my full attention. If you can make me forget that I am timing you, that is a great thing indeed. It means, you took me to a new place, time, thought and away from the real world for the moment. That means you hit the mark! I love that. So, if you asked me to time and I forget to give you time signals, don't panic, that means you did great. I enjoy all types of selections, those with many characters and those with one. I judge on how well you performed that selection.
Congress: Congress is a wonderful event. I want you to clash with the other debaters in the chamber. If we are in the fourth or fifth speech on a particular piece of legislation, you better be bringing something new for argumentation or your speech will not be ranked high. I judge on the quality of your research first, and then on delivery and persuasion a close second.
I am a parent judge.
I prefer debaters to debate the Resolution. A great debater will address contentions but will stay focused and ensure they bring them back to the Resolution. I encourage you to repeat the resolution during the debate keep the topic the topic.
A great debate will have active cross-ex and respond to others debater’s contentions and they will develop and mature their case based on the opponents case. To often debaters only debate their case and it is two ships passing in the night.
If you speak at a rate I can not understand you will lose. It is more important I understand your points then you says more points.
In policy, I will judge primarily on the stock issues. These should be clear within the context of the debate. On topicality, I will specifically be looking at debatability and reasonability. However, if an argument is missed due to spreading, it will be considered a dropped argument.
In Public Forum, I judge heavily on impacts and argumentation, but will weigh uniqueness if it is brought up.
In LD, I am a proponent of the value debate.
american heritage palm beach ('21), wake forest university ('24), boston university school of law ('27).
put me on the email chain: nikitanguturi@gmail.com
^ my old debate email is linked to tabroom; i do NOT log into it anymore so please use that one!
tldr: i was very flex & will be fine with whatever you do. i've been in the activity for a full decade now. i don't think true 'tab' judges exist so i won't say that i am one; debate well and you'll win. if your opponent debates better, they'll win. speaker points are awarded solely for good debating. i would read this paradigm in its entirety.
important things:
[1] i don't flow off the doc. be clear!!
[2] who i was as a debater does NOT inform who i am now as a judge.
[3] taken from sai karavadi: "i will not vote on anything that polices what clothing other debaters are wearing — this is not negotiable and yes, that means i will not vote on shoes theory or formal clothing theory"
[4] don’t be morally repugnant. don't misgender people. no -isms.
[5] "evaluate [part of the debate] after the 1ac" is not a real argument
[6] taken from nigel ward:"have the email chain setup. there is no reason you should be fumbling with an email chain 10 minutes past start time. it makes me seem late and leads to tab (understandably) sending runners to annoy me...and that annoys me. put differently: even if i’m late, have the email chain set up and ready to send upon my arrival."
the kritik
tldr: extend offense, use overviews to your advantage (i flow them) and answer perms well. please clash. have a theory of power and know it well.
- if this is your cup of tea, go for it. if it isn’t, please do not subject me to 45 minutes of warren when you don’t know what humanism is.
- i'm pretty good with adjudicating these debates and am pretty well read- just read what you want and explain it well. note: not a big fan of setcol debates where debaters aren't indigenous.
- win your theory of power, whatever that may be. every kritik is an orientation to the world through a certain lens, and absent winning that orientation, it becomes extremely difficult for me to adjudicate these debates. you should have a clear explanation of this theory of power, not just buzzwords. examples are your friend. the most effective 2nrs on going for the k should collapse.
- the link should be specifically implicated to the affirmative and should not rely on loose generics. this does not mean you need to cut a link card to every part of the aff, but rather be clear in your contextualization of the link, and in explaining why that link matters in context of your theory of power. the impact debate is where i start to filter out offense and would like to see early comparative weighing.
- alternative: tell me a) what the alt does, b) how it resolves the links, c) how it solves, d) what the world of the alt looks like. the alt needs to be explicitly extended and explained.
- permutations: permutations must be appropriately handled- do not misgroup perms that shouldn't be grouped. dropped perms are easy aff ballots. carded perms (esp from 1nc authors) = i'll bump speaks. explain what the world of the perm looks like - perms should have net benefits- saying "perm do the aff" isn't enough work to win.
performance/non-t affs
- you do you.
- win why the ballot matters, why debate is good/bad, what the aff does, etc.
- a lot of judges are anti overviews, i'm old so like them - please use overviews.
- i love these debates, but you will need to do the work to persuade me on why i should vote aff/neg and why your model is good. k affs tell stories, and absent hearing what the story of the aff is, it's going to be really hard for me to actually vote on it.
fwk v non-t affs
- it can be smart and strategic- operative word here is "can”.
- be efficient, answer the aff, compare methods (fwk v k is a methods v methods debate), do work on standards and the counterinterp.
- good 2nrs on framework make me very happy.
- i have no bias to either side of these debates; i've been on both.
k v k
- taken from dylan burke: "these debates often get very messy because they are incredibly shallow. the only thing i have to say in this section is that you should be articulating your theory of power in a very comprehensive way as to a) why it better explains structures that the other team [advocates for] b) why the alternative solves those structures c) why the links make the action that the other team is advocating for bad."
- the impact debate to me is just an extension of the methods debate that is inevitable (or at least should be) in any clash of civ round - in these debates, that work should be done early (not just in the 2nr/2ar).
tricks
- read them if you want idc, i just have a lower standard for answering things like silly aprioris than you may want me to have.
- i don’t consider truth testing + an nc like monism to be tricks, i mean blippy, unwarranted, 1 line arguments.
- "what's an apriori" was cool in 2018, it isn't anymore.
- truth testing + nc combo: underrated and i miss it. bring it back. will probably give you an extra .4 speaks if you go 2 off and it's just truth testing and a (substantive) nc.
t/theory
- i’m fine with it - however, the current trend of just "dumping" tricks is starting to annoy me and if i begin to feel like two positions are just incompatible in theory (monism and constituvism for example) i might stop flowing one of them.
- i do have personal opinions on good v bad theory but if it's warranted and extended i’ll evaluate it (except theory arguments that implicate a debater's physical appearance).
- sending interp/counterinterp texts is good and limits the chance i get it down wrong. if i do get it down wrong, you only get one shot to clarify it and i will hold you to the first response.
- i default to no rvis, competing interps, drop the arg, and text over spirit. if none of these are arguments, however, i will be very unamused.
phil
- i was not a phil debater in high school; i have a philosophy degree from wake forest. my focus in my degree was postmodern philosophy so please trust that i actually know what the books you're cutting says.
- i’m probably not the world's best judge for evaluating these debates (philosophy majors never are), but as long as you extend offense, impacts, and explain clash, i’ll be fine.
- also did a fellowship on kant when in college, so +.4 speaker points if you can accurately use/explain enoch's shmagency objection to kantian constitutivism
- syllogisms are like stories, so i will hold you to the same level of explanation as any good kritikal aff.
larp/policy
- i did policy debate.
- you can read these arguments i just will be bored lol.
- please do not pref me for dense larp v larp rounds if you are incapable of collapsing – most of the times, i will not be able to adjudicate these debates as well as you want me to.
- weighing is your friend; collapsing is your significant other.
- i love good recuttings.
- taken from ben waldman: "i'm pro-spin but anti-lying, know the difference."
cx (the event)
- i went to wake forest (go deacs!!!) and believe in the big tent method with my whole heart.
- what that means is that i have no ideological preferences as to how you should debate, i just want you to debate in a way that you are comfortable with.
- i’m a 2a so i love seeing interesting affirmative strategy.
- basically, do whatever. all the ld kritik and larp stuff above applies but i should be chilling in the back for you to debate how you debate best!
cross-ex
some people can be rude in cx. if that's your thing, i don't care. the exception being if you are a circuit debater debating a novice/someone with vastly less experience than you. in that instance, be nice - it'll hurt your speaks otherwise.
speaks
i currently average a 28.8161 (34 rounds)
28.5 is average; they go up and down from there. i'll disclose numerical speaks if asked, but if it's the first question after a decision i will probably roll my eyes & make you wait till all the questions are over.
I have experience in a wide range of debate and speech events. Here are my paradigms for some.
LD-
I did LD for 3 years. I love a good ethical, ought and should debate- if the topic allows for it. Please note that I don't think solvency of the problem is what LD debate is. We need to touch on how the actions we take will impact in the real world, but to win my ballot you must win the moral and ethical debate- ought we to do something not just would it solve the problem (unless you use Consequentialism for V or C and win framework). I studied some philosophy and ethics in college but please make clear what your value and criteria are. That way both me and your opponent's know exactly what you mean. Make your contentions clear and logical. Framework is important and I like you to tell me what you think the voters should be for the round. Clash will always keep me more engaged and I think it is a key part of any debate, so I will be factoring that into my decision. If you run K's or progressive you better make sure they are VERY good, topical and still allow for clash.
Impromptu-
I love impromptu. Please try new things. I will judge based on devilry and content. I love if you can include some humor, because we all need a good laugh! I like structure in a speech and a take-away. What should I get out of listening to you for the last 7 minutes?
Policy or Team-
I did team my first year of debate. I can flow fairly fast but if I put my pen down you have lost me and it might be worth your time to go back a bit and catch me up. I don't mind well done spew but if I can't understand you it won't matter how fast you deliver your content. For policy I don't mind topicality, solvency or similar arguments.
Exempt-
I follow both domestic and foreign events so present information that is current and correct. I will judge on content and delivery.
When reading my ballots please understand that I try to offer some ways you can improve with every round. I always liked ballots like this because I felt I could take that and be a better debater. These are NOT my RFD. My RFD may include some of those. For example, if you failed to make an argument that was necessary to refute your opponent than I might put it both places. I am not a huge fan of K debate so if you run one, you better make sure you get better solvency and/or lower impacts and MAKE THAT ARGUMENT. If it's in LD you better also make the argument that it is the most ethical course of action. I promise to always try my hardest to be fair and make my RFD be who had the better round.
I am a parent judge but a former debater. I prioritize clear warranting of your arguments and want to hear a cohesive summary of why you should win the round in rebuttals. I am willing to adjudicate most arguments as long as they are well-reasoned and backed up by analysis and/or evidence. I always attempt to enter rounds without having defined preconceptions for or against any arguments, but the less grounded an argument is in truth, the lower my tolerance is for an argument.
Simply put, I like civil, clean, formal debates where everyone respects the process and each other.
Tech time is prep time. Don't abuse it.
Kritiks are for people who don't actually want to debate the resolution.
Updated for 2024 season. Yay debate! :)
If you’re at a local tournament/traditional LDer/PFer, please scroll to the bottom
Email: joeytarnowski [at] gmail [dot] com
he/him
I did policy at Samford (class of 2024), qualified 4 times to the NDT, and did 4 years of LD in high school.
I was coached by Lee Quinn, and some other judges/debaters who have influenced how I think about debate throughout college (non-exhaustively) include Brett Bricker, Erik Mathis, Ana Bittner, Ari Davidson, and Bennett Dombcik.
Debate is confrontational in nature so things sometimes getting heated is inevitable, but I really strongly dislike when teams make it a major point of their in-round ethos to be unnecessarily mean/hostile/condescending. We're all just here trying our best at a very hard activity we all (hopefully) enjoy.
General
Line-by-line, impact calculus, and evidence quality and comparison all matter a great deal to me. Well-researched and prepared strategies (regardless of ideological content) will almost always be a better choice in front of me than generic or poorly researched strategies. I think the aff should say some implementation of the resolution is a good idea, and the neg should say that the aff is a bad idea.
I generally consider myself tech over truth, but I also strongly believe that arguments start off only as strong as their initial warrants. I'm generally predisposed against arguments that are reliant on extremely sketchy/pseudoscientific evidence (i.e. climate change good), but if there's an argument you're confident you've got the goods on, go for it.
I think debate is first and foremost a game and believe in rewarding people who play that game strategically. I really enjoy when teams commit to bold strategic choices, whether that's the 1NR spending 6 minutes impact turning a 2AC add-on, a 1AR going all in on a straight turn/impact turn, or other similar things.
I will not vote on egregiously unethical impact turns like racism/sexism/other forms of bigotry good. Any other position is fair game (assuming it's well-researched and executed).
I flow on Excel, and I will generally follow along with the doc in the 1AC/1NC to ensure no clipping is taking place, and after the 1NC usually have the doc open but generally only look over at it because I like to have author names spelled correctly on my flow. I generally don't have a preference one way or another for analytics being included in the doc, but it's probably to your benefit to at least have CP/permutation texts in the doc and to slow down on analytics (maybe 80% speed).
**I have some minor issues with auditory processing, so I would recommend starting off your speech at like 75-80% speed to give me a second to adjust before you build up to full speed. Clear differentiation between tags and the card body is also greatly appreciated.
Specifics
I will preface all of this by saying that virtually any preference I hold can always be overcome with sufficiently solid debating, but I also would rather be up front with my predispositions.
I tend to lean neg on most counterplan theory debates and usually default to reasonability and judge kick. I'm pretty unlikely to vote aff on condo bad unless something egregious happens (i.e. an extremely excessive amount of 1NC options, lots of condo planks, blatantly contradictory options, or 2NC CPs out of straight turns), or it is severely mishandled by the neg. I generally think most other theory debates are better leveraged as offense to help win the competition debate and likely a reason to drop the argument.
I would say I'm better for T debates than most and think they can be very strategically valuable. Evidence comparison is very more important to me in these kinds of debates, and I generally find specific visions of what the topic looks like under your interp (i.e. a well fleshed-out caselist) to be very helpful. Impact calculus is also important.
I generally am of the fairly strong predisposition that the aff should defend some material implementation of the resolution. The specifics of what that means can be debated out, but I'm usually not a huge fan of strategies that just choose to ignore the resolution altogether or don't have an explanation of what their model of debate looks like and how research/competitive incentives look like under that model. Fairness is an impact, but impacts still need warrants and impact calc.
Indicts to utilitarianism/consequentialism/cost-benefit analysis should also be coupled with an explanation of how I should evaluate impacts absent that framing.
---LD---
For the most part, all the thoughts expressed above should reflect most of my argumentative preferences, but I wanted to add a few LD-specific things.
I think my belief that arguments start off at the strength of their initial warrants is probably a bit more relevant in LD, as it means I’m generally less predisposed to voting on tricks/cheap one-shots/theory than most judges. Pointing out that an argument does not have a complete warrant is good and reasonability gets a LOT more compelling against theory arguments that rely hard on very marginal risks of offense/are just generally silly. I’m not afraid to vote down an argument because I didn’t think it had a warrant. Topicality has to actually define words in the resolution. I’m extraordinarily unlikely to vote on an RVI unless it's completely dropped or massively mishandled, and even then I will be very unhappy.
I would consider myself at least somewhat familiar with most philosophy read in LD (Kant, Levinas, etc.) but don’t have a deep understanding of more niche philosophies. I would greatly prefer positions to have a couple fleshed out warrants than reading a billion one sentence arguments and hoping one is dropped. Blippy arguments sounds to me like you’re not confident in the positions you’re reading. I know some nuance getting lost is inevitable given time constraints, but that’s also why I’d rather debaters pick a smaller number of positions and flesh them out. However, I really love when debaters actually flesh out their position and explain the nuances of how it interacts with other things.
---Traditional Debate---
This is what I spent most of high school doing, and I really appreciate good traditional debate. You should do what you’re most confident in rather than trying to read something you think I’d “like more” because I did policy (I promise you, I’d rather a great lay debate than a bad policy debate).
How I evaluate these debates is fundamentally the same as how I would evaluate any other debate, a piece of evidence or explanation doesn’t suddenly become good or bad depending on the speed at which it’s delivered. However, I think a lot of traditional debate can get caught up in what you’re “supposed” to do at the expense of substance. For example, I generally think reading definitions in the first speech is unnecessary, and often framework debates do very little and could be conceded as early as the 1NC. For the most part, the more time you're spending actually talking about the resolution, the better.
Evidence comparison is fantastic and you should do it. I would strongly prefer that you are reading cards/direct quotes from the original source and have the original source available. I also would appreciate an email chain being set up (be confident enough in your arguments that you don’t try to hide them!), but if you choose not to, you should have your evidence ready for your opponent or me to read.
Collapsing down to your best advantage/disadvantage/contention in the last speech is much appreciated, as is spending a lot of time on the aff case. A 1NC that concedes framework, reads one disadvantage they’re confident in, and spends 5 minutes reading good, case specific evidence against the aff’s contentions would make me very happy.
I competed in PF during high school, and I also tried a handful of other events including drama, humor, OO, World Schools, and Congress. I will try my best to use my experience as a competitor to judge fairly and impartially.
For Speech:
I think content is the most important aspect of a speech. While I do take speaking skills into consideration when judging, I will judge the quality of the content first. Please try your best to stay within a 30 second grace period of the time allotted for your speech.
For Debate:
I judge based off of the flow and who has more points on the flow at the end of the round. For LD, I will focus on which competitor best upholds their value/VC and is able to best prove that their value/VC are the most appropriate for the round. If you're able to better uphold both your own value/VC and your competitor's, that's a sure way to win the round. For PF, I will take framework into consideration, but please don't let the debate turn into a framework debate. Also, I really like to see a summary speech that specifically addresses the clashes of the debate and is not just a second rebuttal speech. For all debate events, please respect your opponents and do not speak over each other or speak while your opponent is giving their speech. Please be courteous!
I am an assistant coach with ten years of experience judging debate.
I will judge on the flow and am open to most kinds of arguments. Make sure you connect the dots (tell me how it connects to your case). I am fine with speed, although sometimes speakers are not as clear as they think they are.
Although I like lots of clash, please clash politely with your opponents. I want to hear you address your opponent’s arguments meaningfully. Tell me why winning dropped arguments wins the debate for you. Give me the impact of those dropped arguments.
For LD, know and understand your arguments. Then explain and link them to your value and criterion for me.
I want you to give me clear, impactful voters. Why did you win?
Have fun!
I am a forensics coach. I have judged all debates for over 10 years now. I competed in PFD when I was in high school in 2010. I will not be taking a rigorous flow. I will take notes and focus on the big arguments of the round and keep track of who is winning the largest points of clash in the round. I do value public speaking and persuasion, but do not judge based solely on that. I am OK with speed, but you must have clear diction and articulation.
Open to any specific questions.
I do not believe in judging paradigms. I don’t feel that my opinions on debate or how a round should go should affect my decision. Any paradigm-like views I should or might have should be justified by debaters in the round like a framework. Any thoughts I as the judge have on the round should come from the round, not my opinions on debate.
Hi. I am a lay judge.
- Please speak clearly and avoid spreading.
- Have strong and defensible arguments.
- Be respectful towards your opponents.
Please, I beg, read the things I write here. I didn't write it for no reason.
I'm Fiker (pronounced like sticker). She/her/hers. I debated a bit in high school which is mostly unimportant, and then did four years (2015-2019) at Texas Tech University. I (and my partner) won the NRR and I won all 3 national top speaker awards in 2019. I judged and graduate-assistant coached for TTU in my masters (graduated 2021) and was acting Director for a year. I then spent a year as the Director of Debate at Grapevine High School. I now am the Associate Director of Debate at Mercer University. So it goes.
I generally think debate is a game, but a useful and important one. It may not be "fiat" but it does influence the real world by how we exist inside of it. Let's not forget we're human beings. Read what you want, I certainly did. However, I do not intend on imposing my own ideals onto debaters, so please have whatever round you want so long as we respect one another as humans. Speed isn't usually an issue but if we're blazing, let me know so I can use paper and not my laptop. 90% of debaters lose rounds in front of me because they have not read the specifics of my paradigm and how I tend to come down on questions of evaluation, so don’t let that be you, too. I don’t understand presumption most likely. Not something you want to stake your round.
Things to keep in mind: My favorite arguments are well warranted critical arguments that I can actually learn and grow from; also, Japan re-arm. I like to do as little work as possible when it comes to making decisions on the flow so please be incredibly explicit when making claims as I will not fill in arguments not being made in the round. Impact calculus is essential. However many warrants you have, double it. Condo is good, but don't test the decently sturdy limits. I don't really get presumption and may not be in your best interest to stake the round on it. Thought experiments aren't real. Jokes are fun. 9/10 the MG theory is not worth it. I will only evaluate what you tell me to. If I have not been given a way to evaluate arguments, everything becomes flow centric. This will not work out for you if things become a long chain of arguments as I will just default to whatever the most convincing and well-fleshed out argument is otherwise with no other weighing mechanism. Saying words is NOT the same thing as making an argument. I need to know either 1) what that means for the sake of the round/impact of the round, 2) how this helps me to evaluate/interpret other arguments or, 3) needs to be explicit enough to do all that in the nature of saying the argument. Cool you said it, but what am I supposed to do with it now?
UPDATE 1/8/2025 copied from the desk of Adeja Powell: Everyone can read anti-Blackness arguments as long as it is a good faith engagement and I will absolutely vote on it. In fact, non-Black debaters should be engaging with this literature more than anyone and it is a slight to all of the Black debaters historically that have done the work to advance this literature and impact the community to then cast the argument aside as soon as there are no Black Mouths to do the work for you. I think coaches have a responsibility to ensure students are meaningfully engaging with (any) literature before sending them into a debate round with it, but if Disney season pass holders can play like revolutionaries every weekend and read a cap K every round and call each other Comrades, then I'm not sure why we act like someone has to be a Freedom Fighter to read Wilderson. Even better, if non-Black debaters reading Afro-Pessimism arguments in particular puts a bad taste in your non-Black mouth, then might I suggest Octavia Butler, Toni Morrison, Hortense Spillers, Calvin Warren, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Fred Moten, Saidiya Hartman or any other Black author that can introduce us all to the idea that Afro-Pessimism is not the only argument that Black authors are advancing. I, personally, will keep coaching students to read these arguments when they want to, regardless of their race. I hope desperately that we all acknowledge how disingenuous (and, dare I say, anti-Black) it is for non-Black judges to have a blanket refusal to vote on these arguments, which only functions to have a chilling effect on the argument altogether including for Black debaters (which I think is the actual goal, y'all just don't wanna say the quiet part out loud).
Affs: Read them and be very well warranted within them. Pull from the aff throughout the debate as I feel this is one of the least utilized forms of offense in the round. K affs are fine (I'm a big fan) just make sure the things you say make sense and do something. I think because I have read a lot of Ks in my time that people think I will vote them up regardless, which is not true. I like offense and warrants and I like not doing work so whoever allows the most of that will be in the better spot regardless. Read case against the aff. Be clear and read texts twice.
DA/CP: Also read these. They need to be complete and fleshed out with good warrants and net benefits where they need to be. Warrant explicitness are your best friend. CPs should come with written texts, imo. I would say I have a slightly higher than average threshold for CP theory but that doesn't mean I won't evaluate it if it is read and defended well (just remember MG theory isn't always worth it if you can just win the substantive).
Theory: I like this and my threshold is pretty equal to substance if run well, but I needneedneed good structure. Interpretations are key, please slow down and repeat them. Now, I don't need several sheets of theory, MG theory, overly high-level theory, and certainly not MO and later theory. Keep it at home. Have voters. Defend them. Competing interpretations is based on the way that the interpretations are being upheld through the resolution of the standards but standards alone do not win without a competitive interpretation. Theory is one shot kill to say both please don’t go hard for the substantive as a backup just go for theory or don’t and don’t go for theory if there’s no proven abuse or if you’re not explaining the abuse in clear detail. In other words, what is the violation AND why is that violation bad?
Ks: I love them, but I don't vote on nothing. Framework needs to be strong or it needs to not bog down the real parts of the argument. Links need to link..... please (generics won't save you)......Alt needs to make sense, repeat them twice for me, and if they're long, I'd like to be told in flex or given a copy. Even if I know your literature, I am not debating. Please do the work for me in round. Identity arguments are fine, do as you please just don't be offensive or overly satirical about real violence. You must still win the actual debate and make the actual arguments for me to vote. This runs both ways, so anyone reading the K should do so if you want but if this is your winning strategy then make sure I know why and am not filling anything in for you where you believe I should be able to. “Use of the state” is a link of omission at best. Not offense alone. You need external reason and if your “use of the state specifically” is just repetition of all the things the state either has done or could do is not enough of a link to prove in the context of the round. How is the METHOD uniquely causing this issue?
Any other questions about my paradigm or my opinions/feelings about debate can be directed to me by email at fikertesfaye15@gmail.com
Have your debate. Live your life. Yee, and dare I say it, haw.
Paradigm--stock issues, prefer quality evidence over quantity
I am a flow judge, so do not drop arguments. Be sure to address all attacks on your case. I will be paying attention to clash in the debate, so whatever is the focus of the clash will be important to me when I vote. For example, if the clash is over topicality, I vote on that and the dropped arguments.
As long as your delivery is intelligible, I'm okay with speed. I'll let you know once if you are too fast. Then I expect speed to be adjusted.
I am a parent judge and this is my third year judging.
LD is a value debate, so I am looking for each side to present a clear value and a value criterion as well as demonstrate throughout the debate why that framework is superior. I favor an argument that goes beyond assertion and provides a claim, support/evidence and a warrant arguing or showing the truth of the evidence. A logical argument that is clear without data to support it can also win me over but an assertion will not.
I do not mind speed as long as the debater enunciates and clearly lays out the value, value criterion, contentions so I can flow the debate.
I do not appreciate rudeness, bias, or condescension. I find those elements detract from the argument. I am far more impressed by well-argued points and clash on the basis of the framework and criterion.
Do not forget in the end to sell me on why you won the debate by clearly enumerating the most important considerations and points.
Hey, my name is Justin Thomashefsky and I'm a coach at Truman High School. I competed in LD/PF from 2008 - 2010 and Policy during the 2010-2011 season. I've been judging / coaching debate since 2012 and have circuit Policy/LD experience
General debate things
I'm good with speed.
I'm good with K's (see policy for more info)
Disclosure theory is pretty meh to me. But if you make good arguments on it I guess ill vote for it.
Please analyze warrants in your evidence! This should go without saying.
Policy
I'm much more comfortable judging a policy round but I have a decent amount of experience judging critical rounds.
T - I default to reasonability but you can definetly convince me to evaluate competing interps if you win it on the flow. You need to win in round abuse to get my ballot. This goes extra for theory
K - I'm familiar and comfortable with standard K's (security, capitalism etc.) but you may lose me with high theory literature.
Please frame my ballot in your last speech. It should be clear what I'm voting for at the end of the round.
Open cross is fine but let your partner speak!
LD
For lay rounds: Debate warrants! Don't waste time on the Value/VC (Meta-ethic/standard) debate if you're both functionally the same framework. All the framework debate should come down to is what lens I should evaluate the round through
For circuit rounds: I'm not huge on the squirrel theory stuff that's been going on in circuit LD. I'll try to evaluate whatever you put in front of me but just like with T you really need to win in round abuse to get my ballot. For the rest just read policy stuff
I prefer to see lay rounds in LD. So if you're at a tournament with me that has a weird mix of lay and circuit you might want to default to lay. BUT I'll weigh whatever arguments you put in front of me in any style.
Email: andrea.thompson@ccsdut.org
CX
I'm a fairly traditional former CX and PF debater and current debate coach. I do not mind some speed, but I would like if debaters at least slow down for taglines so we can all keep track of where the debate is taking place on the flow. Please be organized so I know where to write down your arguments on my flow. I really enjoy stock issues debate/on case argumentation. DA's and CP's are alright, too -- just adequately connect them to the case at hand! Theory and Kritiks are okay as long as you can explain them clearly and convincingly, and you actually link them to the case. I have voted for NEG on T's before, but I'm rather skeptical about them as a whole -- if you legitimately think the AFF is kind of untopical, go for it, but T's shouldn't be used as a mere time-suck. Conditional NEG arguments are dicey to me. In the end, I always use my flow to determine who has won the round. I'm excited for some beautiful policy fun!!!
LD
I'm a fairly traditional current debate coach. Although evidence is certainly important, I believe that it is the application of evidence and logic of an argument that really makes it compelling. I do not mind some speed, but I would rather debaters speak TO me rather than read/spread/spew AT me. I love framework debates when debaters really weigh values and connect their contentions to their value and criterion. As a whole I'm not a huge fan of kritiks or counterplans in LD, but if you can explain it clearly and convincingly, you could definitely still win a round running such a case with me as judge. Please be organized so I know where to write down your arguments on my flow. LD is not CX, so a dropped argument is in and of itself not necessarily a reason to win or lose a round - it all depends on what argument is dropped, and what the response to the dropping of it is. In the last speech, I should be given voters - the reasons why you've already won the round. I always use my flow to determine who has won the round.
PF
I'm a fairly traditional former PF debater and current debate coach. Although evidence is certainly important, I believe that it is the application of evidence and logic of an argument that really makes it compelling. I do not mind some speed, but I would rather debaters speak TO me rather than read/spread/spew AT me. I appreciate framework debates (whether practical or more LD in nature) and on case arguments, but I am not a fan of counterplans/topicalities/squirrely PF cases. I'd prefer if debaters debated about the topic rather than about the game of PF itself. Please be organized so I know where to write down your arguments on my flow. PF is not CX, so a dropped argument is in and of itself not necessarily a reason to win or lose a round - it all depends on what argument is dropped, and what the response to the dropping of it is. In the last speech, I should be given voters - the reasons why you've already won the round. I always use my flow to determine who has won the round.
My name is Imani (she/her or any pronouns with respect)
Experience and Knowledge: My journey in this activity began as a competitor over a decade ago in Policy (back in the good ol’ days when you had to lug around crates containing all your case files) Since then, I've ventured into various debate formats including PF, LD, IPDA, Parli, Congress, as well as Interpretation, Speech, and Limited Prep events. I’ve coached them all as well. This diverse experience has given me a deep understanding of what constitutes good debate, which is to say I will probably forget to give you time signals or who is next to speak but you will get very helpful and comprehensive feedback.
I try not to factor my prior knowledge into a round but I have a background in policymaking, the law, tech, and data privacy.
Equity: I will not tolerate bigoted behavior, talking points, or interactions in round. If necessary, I will stop the round. If as a competitor you are ever uncomfortable or have an accessibility need please let me know!
Congress
I firmly believe that Congress should be an enjoyable and enlightening experience for all involved. Here are some key aspects of my judging preferences:
Argumentation Style: This is not supposed to be a boring event, if you can't grab and maintain attention for 3 minutes, there's a serious issue. If you present a compelling interpretation, a new perspective, or a well-thought-out amendment (especially if you know your stuff), you'll do great.
I appreciate debaters who actually debate. Speaking extemporaneously or impromptu while demonstrating a strong grasp of the subject matter, and engaging with your fellow debaters and audience will set you apart. I strongly discourage the use of pre-written or canned intros, speeches and questions. They are academically dishonest, diminish the educational value of debate and, frankly, make Congress boring. If it's evident that a speech or question isn't tailored to the current debate, lacks originality, or shows you have not been flowing, I'll reflect that in my rankings.
Substance and flow are even more crucial to me. Avoid fluff, flowery language, stand-up routines, and theatrics – they won't factor into my ballot You don't have much time. Get to the point. Focus on presenting logical and well-researched arguments and having thoughtful, intentional contributions to the round. This includes questions and answers.
Bills and Arguments: Just because Congress has a role-playing element does not mean you should ever feel compelled to resort to devil’s advocacy or the use of strawman arguments in order to represent “both sides” of a bill. There is no pedagogical value to debate like that. I don't care too much about even splits or clash for the sake of clash, so if you morally can't flip, don't, or propose a revision or amendment. I also love when debaters try to bring prog into congress or have fun with it. I'd rather judge a round with a bill to issue every child a pony or see someone try to run a K than sit through a round filled with "human rights bad" arguments.
I look forward to lively and enjoyable debates with all of you!
CX Paradigm: I am a policymaker judge; I am most likely to decide the winner of any given round based on which team has most cogently and coherently argued that their position results in the best policy for the USFG. This means that the AFF must prove their case is better than the status quo and/or the NEG's counterplan. The Neg must prove that either the status quo or the neg Counterplan is superior to the Aff plan. I am unlikely to look favorably on a perm/do both strategy unless the Aff proves they are compatible. The AFF should generally stick to their plan, and ONLY their plan. I will vote on a Kritik that proves substantially that it will enhance some given policy need of the USFG. Discourse is not a plan. I'm not likely to vote on a Kritik that enhances participation in Debate, or society as a whole, unless it links directly to the stated point of the round. Debate is a speaking event, and I don't hear as well as I once did, so if you're mumbling or slurring your speeches, I can't vote for your argument. I can understand you if you spread, but if you're sacrificing volume and clarity for speed, it could cost you the round, and/or speaker points. Rudeness can cost you SUBSTANTIAL speaker points.
LD Paradigm: LD is not policy, LD is an argument on morality. You should establish a value and criterion for your side of the round. A round which has clash on these points makes a good debate. Clash is better than rehash. If you don't attack your opponent’s argument I will not make the connection for you. Explain warrants. Impact your arguments. Use comparative statements and weighing in last speeches.
Extemp Paradigm: ANSWER THE QUESTION! Answer the question you drew, not the one you wish you drew. Give a coherent, clear response that is definite. Use sources for each of the main points you are making in your speech. A canned, forced analogy that only vaguely ties into the topic annoys me. Movement is ok in the virtual realm, but don't get too far from mid screen. Make sure your lighting is good, that I can see your face.
Interp Paradigm: I'm always happy when interpers give me clear, compelling characters that pull me into the piece. HI's that are gimmicky and wildly overblown are NOT my cup of tea. You can be humorous WITHOUT being ridiculous. I like to see levels. If you start at 11 and stay there the entire time, it doesn't show versatility.
OO Paradigm: Give me a great opening that pulls me in. Lay out what your call to action is. Guide me through your points. Use solid sources for your evidence. BE PERSUASIVE! Movement is ok in the virtual realm, but don't get too far from mid screen. Make sure your lighting is good, that I can see your face.
INF Paradigm: Let me know why I should be listening to your topic. Give me that little pop that makes sit up and think "Wow, that's COOL!" Make sure your speech is well organized. If you are using props, make sure they ADD to the info, not distract from it. Try to use props seamlessly. Movement is ok in the virtual realm, but don't get too far from mid screen. Make sure your lighting is good, that I can see your face.
As a second-year forensics coach, I am still very much a lay judge. I have judged all forms of debate at the local level as well as Congress at Nationals.
I am looking for solid argumentation, clear impacts, and effective clash.
Please no theory or spreading.
Former debater in high school (Washburn Rural '04) and college (Emporia State '08)
Former Direct of Speech & Debate 2009-2024 (Hutchinson High, BV North, Free State)
*Please add me to the email chain if one exists: kmikethompson@gmail.com
tl;dr
I will do my best to answer any questions that you have before the debate.
-I do not know anything about this topic - not coaching, haven't done any research - adapt accordingly
-I don't care how fast you talk, but I do care how clear you talk. I'm unlikely to clear you but it will be obvious if I can't understand you because I won't be flowing and I communicate non-verbally probably more than most other judges. This is particularly relevant in online debate.
-I don't care what arguments you read, but I do care whether you are making arguments, responding to opposition arguments, and engaging in impact calculus throughout the debate. Conducting impact calculus without talking about your opponent's impacts isn't impact calculus, in my opinion.
-I don't care what aff you read, if you defend a plan, or if you debate on the margins of the topic, but I do care if you have offensive justifications for your decisions, and if you solve the problem(s) you've isolated.
-If you're reading generic link arguments or CP solvency cards - it will matter a great deal how well you can contextual that generic evidence to the specific affirmative plan.
-I think teams should be willing to go for theory more.
Some top level thoughts:
1) "New in the 2" is bad for debate. Barring an affirmative theoretical objection - I'll evaluate your arguments and not intervene despite my bias. But, if the other team makes an argument about it - I will disregard all new positions read in the negative block.
2) People should assume their opponent's are winning some arguments in the last rebuttals. A decision to assume you're winning everything nearly guarantees that you are incorrect and minimizes the likelihood that you're doing relevant impact calculus. I really think "even-if" statements are valuable for final rebutalists.
Topicality- I really enjoy T debates, I think competing interpretations is probably true and find reasonability arguments to be uncompelling almost always.; If you're not topical you should have an offensive reason that you're not. If you are topical then you should win why your vision of the resolution is superior to the negatives.
**Having zero topic knowledge makes T a double edged sword - I'm less likely to default to whatever the community consensus might be; but I'm also likely to be more difficult to persuade of arbitrary distinctions which would require me to have some understanding of aff and neg ground on the topic.
Critiques- K debaters tend to spend an extraordinary amount of time on their link arguments, but no time on explaining how the alternative resolves them. Affirmatives tend to concede K tricks too often. My recommendation would be for your side of the debate to avoid these pitfalls.
Counterplans - I like smart, aff specific counter plans more than generic, topic type counter plans. No topic knowledge probably makes permutations more compelling, but who knows.
Critical affs - I ran primarily K affs in college eons ago. I have coached teams who have read K affs. I have judged many debate rounds where K affs have been read. I think I'm pretty middle of the road and am around equally likely to vote for one or not. I am probably an easier sell on a carded or well explained Neg TVA on Framework than many other judges.
Overall Interp: I look for expressive characters that are distinct from one another. I want clear ideas that are elaborated on with all plot lines to be resolved nicely and give to the overall performance. I also want diversity in performances, whether that be diversity in age, race, gender/sex, etc. This should help in making them distinct from one another anyways.
Overall Speech: I want the topic at hand to really be picked apart and explored in new and interesting ways. The topics should be comprehensive, with the perspectives of marginalized groups acknowledged if not centered. The speeches should be entertaining as well as informative, and the way that those two are weaved through the crafting of the speech is extremely important to me.
LD: I'm okay with speed reading (spreading) and do prefer to be included in email chains if possible. I focus more on good CX and strong rebuttal, so even if your argument is leaving something to be desired there is strength in a good counterargument. I do not mind K cases if they're argued well but you have to commit and be convincing of your point. I also want to see good sportsmanship, even when you're aggressive be respectful.
Please do not read arguments that can be interpreted as glorifying suicide. This is a specific vein of death good that I do not want to hear. If you have questions, please ask before round.
I EXPECT YOU TO USE SOME WAY TO FILE SHARE FOR ALL DEBATES!!! THE IDEA THAT EVERYONE SHOULD NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THE CARDS YOU READ IS SILLY AND MAKES FOR BAD DEBATES. FAILURE TO SHARE YOUR EVIDENCE WITH YOUR OPPONENT AND MYSELF WILL RESULT IN A MAX OF 25 SPEAKER POINTS AND A LOSS IN ELIMS.
Disclosure updates in things i vote on section
I prefer for us to use speechdrop.net for file sharing but if we have to use one, add me to the email chain: dieseldebate@gmail.com
"debate is bigger than any one person. I believe in debate. I believe in the debate community. I believe that debate is one of the most valuable educational programs in the country and I am proud that it is my home."- Scott Harris
Are you a high schooler interested in debating in college??? If so, you should contact me and ask about it. We have scholarships for dedicated debaters who want to invest in our program and would love to welcome you to our team!
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Experience:
Competing
2012-2016: Policy Debate at Lee's Summit West High School, 2x national qualifier [Transportation infrastructure, Cuba Mexico Venezuela, Oceans, Surveillance]
2016-2020: NFA-LD at University of Nebraska-Lincoln [SOUTHCOMM, Policing, Cybersecurity, Energy]
2020 NFA-LD debater of distinction
Coaching
2018-2019: Justice Debate league Volunteer
2020: Lincoln Douglas Lab leader for the Nebraska Debate Institute
2020-2022: Assistant NFA-LD Coach for Illinois State University
2019-2023: Head LD coach for Lincoln Southwest High School
2022: Lab leader for the Collegiate Midwest Lincoln Douglas Cooperative
2022: Varsity LD and progressive argumentation lab leader for the Nebraska Debate Conference
2022-present: Assistant Director of Debate for the University of Nebraska- Lincoln (NFA-LD, some NDT-CEDA)
individuals who shaped my perspectives on debate: Justin Kirk, Adam Blood, Nadya Steck, Dustin Greenwalt
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SPEAKS
0-20: Your coach needs to have words with you about how belligerent/ racist/ homophobic/ rude you are to other members of the community. I have no tolerance for these kinds of things and you shouldn't either. Debate is dying and we are a community. Being aggressive and being rude are separate things. Be kind to one another.
25-26: You failed to do anything correct in the round
26-27: you do minimal correctly. You have not come to grasp with what debate is and how arguments function together.
27-28: You get a c-b on this debate. some important dropped args or framing questions are not challenged
28-29: You handled this round well. There were minute problems that can be resolved easily that can bump you up.
29-29.5: You are a solid debater and have done exactly what I would do (or slightly better) to answer different arguments. Typically this range is also associated with you winning against a very good opponent, or very easily.
30: I have no corrections. You have had a perfect round and all of your arguments are on point and delivered properly. You have made some kind of strategic decision that I did not think about that I find genius.
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WILL VOTE ON
Disclosure theory - if you read disclosure on either side and do not have open sources available for both sides on your wiki, I will massively doc your speaks. This argument exists to create better standards for debate. Failure to do so will result in dreadful speaks and a very easy out for your opponent to just say that you did not meet the burdens expressed in your argument.
theory out of 1AC
Speed theory (if justified, see speed section)
Framework v. K affs
Framework turns v. other positions (Ks, DAs, Case args)
CPs in HS LD
CP theory
Ks in HS LD (See K section in policy for specifics)
Speaking for others arguments (There are ways to not make this problematic. However, identity is very individualized and commodification of someone else's identity for your own gain is a problem for me. For instance, do not be a white male debater reading the narrative of a black woman.)
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NFA-LD/ Policy
SPEED: I can do speed. I do have some conditions though. READ T SHELLS SLOWLY!!!! I need to hear the definitions, standards and voters. Bottom line is if it isn't on my flow I can't vote for it. Speed SHOULD NOT be used as a weapon especially if there is a specific debater in the round that has a disability that hinders them from spreading or flowing quick speech. Be respectful of individuals and their experiences.
TOPICALITY/THEORY: needing proven abuse is wrong. Affs that say dont vote on potential abuse are wrong and should read counterinterps that apply to their affs. If the neg interp is bad then warrant that out in the standards debate. I do say if you want to win T you need to go all in in the NR and win the full shell. When it comes to theory I love it. I tend to flow it on a different sheet so tell me when I need to pull one out. That being said I don't see theory as a means of winning the ballot. It is just a means of getting me to not evaluate an argument. This can be changed though. I have done a lot of weighing condo bad v. T. Theory v. theory is always a fun time. Warrant out why some shells are weighed first in the round and explain to me how different shells interact with each other. T is never a reverse voter though and neither is theory. Predictability is not determined by whether or not something is on the wiki or if you have seen it before. Predictability is based on whether or not an interpretation is predictable given the resolution. The same goes for reasonability. Negs who read T should be able to provide a TVA or establish that the education we get from judging the 1AC is bad for the topic.
DISADS: Run them. This is one of my favorite arguments to see and evaluate. I think it is the best way to establish comparative offense. However, if you run generic links that's no bueno for me. generic links from the Neg means generic responses from the Aff are acceptable. I don't want a generic debate y'all. give me some links that pertain to the case at hand.
CPs: They exist. I never really ran them but I do know how they work and I will evaluate them. Also prove it competitive. (Hint: I like Disads. that can help.) I will vote for the perm on presumption if you don’t prove them to be competitive as long as there’s a perm on the CP.
KRITIKS: I like the k debate and will vote for them but explain the literature. I have read some of the authors including Deleuze and Guattari, Puar, D’andrea, Ahmed, Wilderson, Tuck and Yang, and most of the authors that relate to neoliberal subjectivity as it applies to consumption. I have also seen antiblackness and afropessimism rounds that I have enjoyed a lot. But that does not mean I am entirely up to date on the newest literature or how your lit plays into the round. Just explain it to me. NEVER RUN MULTIPLE IN ONE ROUND!!!! The Alt debate turns ugly and I don't want to deal with that. Affs should either have a plan text or an advocacy statement as to what they do. I don't like performance debate as much as just reading the cards, however I have voted for poetry performance in rounds. I will listen to identity args. Race, disabilty, and queer lit are all acceptable in front of me and I can/ will evaluate them. Neg should be able to defend alt solvency. I am not going to automatically grant that. I will not kick the alt for you. saying "if you do not buy the alt kick it for me" is not an argument. If you do not explicitly say "kick the alt" or something of that nature I will evaluate the alternative. If it does not solve then I will be persuaded by risk of aff offense. I also want to point out that P.I.L. was correct, Anger is an Energy. If structures upset you, feel free to rage against them. This can include the debate, economic, racial, gendered, and other spaces. If you are oppressed and you are angry about it, I will not limit your ability to angrily refute the system.
K's that I am v familiar with: SetCol, Cap, Afropess, fem, ableism, militarism, Biopower/ Necropower, Islamophobia
k's that I know a bit less: queer theory, Baudrillard
CASE: I am always here for the growth, heg, and democracy bad debates as well as the prolif good ones. My strategy typically was to go T, K, O so I enjoy hearing why heg is bad and how the alt avoids it and how the aff isnt topical.
PRESUMPTION: I will not vote for terminal defense on the flow. I need an offensive reason to vote for you. Whether that be a disad, K, or advantage I need something to evaluate to give me a reason to reject the other team. Find it, win it, and extend it. Also, do the calculus for me of what impacts matter and why they matter. When I do the calculus I look to magnitude, timeframe, and probability. Explain why you fit into those please.
CONDO: I find it disingenuous to read more than one condo advocacy in one round in NFA. You can do it if you win the theory debate but I will be more lenient to theory in a world of multiple conditional advocacies. If you are running multiple advocacies please make it only be CPs. I don't want to see a CP and K in a round because almost always the CP will link to the K and I think that's cheating. That is different for policy and I consider it much more debatable then.
PLANLESS AFFS: I believe the aff should do something. How that happens is up to the aff. I do not reject planless affs on face but they should at least have an advocacy. otherwise, I am persuaded by vote neg on presumption because the aff functionally does nothing. arguments about the importance of rhetorical challenges is a way to do this.
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HS-LD
For any arguments that relate to it see above. In terms of how I evaluate LD rounds I rely heavily on the framework debate to determine how I will evaluate the round. Pay it it's due and try to win it. However, if you are able to show how your arguments fall into your opponents’ framework then I will be willing to vote for you if they win the framework shell. Also please clash with each other. I have seen too many rounds where each speech is just explaining 1ACs and 1NCs and I don't have a specific reason to vote against one or the other. At that point my personal morals let me decide how I feel about the topic. You don't want that. I don't want that.
I think a lot of LD debaters fail to recognize the importance of uniqueness to their arguments. If the squo is in the direction of the arg you are talking about, you need to prove uniqueness for whatever point you are making.
I tend to default to the idea that Fiat does not exist in HSLD until I am told otherwise. This is an easy arg to make especially with a res that uses the word "ought".
I am more progressive when it comes to LD due to my policy background. This means PICs, Ks, CPs and DAs are all acceptable. weigh them and explain the args as they apply to the aff case.
Phil cases and I do not get along very well. It confuses me and I find that debaters are not the best at explaining philosophy in the limited amount of time we have in debate rounds.
I prefer single standard debate as well. Death is bad and morality is good (but subjective) I dont need a specific mechanism for how we prevent or entrench one or the other. if you read it thats fine but I probably won't look at it that much unless you thoroughly explain it to me.
how to pref me
policy style args (CP, K, DA)-1
Theory-1
phil-3
tricks-these are typically not arguments and hold minimal weight for me
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PF
If you have me in the back of the room for NSDA most likely it will be for public forum. That being said, I am not extremely experienced when it comes to public forum debate. I have coached and debated it in an extremely limited capacity but have substantial experience in other formats. The debate is yours but I have a few things that ought to be known before you walk into the room and start doing your thing.
- Debate is a game of comparative warrants and impacts. Too many people in PF try to rely on just making claims without substantiating those claims with proper warrants. Just giving me a number is insufficient to prove the causality of an argument. I need to understand what the reasoning is behind WHY a number exists.
- Uniqueness MATTERS! I have seen too many debaters (in all activities) fail to explain the uniqueness of their claims and arguments. The resolution provides an overarching truth claim that provides some direction as to how the world reorients itself post implementation. What does each world look like and how is it a shift to the status quo?
- Evidence is incredibly important to me. If you choose to paraphrase, it will negatively impact your speaker points. I emphasize the use of actual properly cut cards in PF. I understand this is not a common practice so if I ask for evidence that you have read, you need to be able to provide the source and the lines where your arguments came from. Failure to do this will result in me not evaluating an argument, filing an ethics complaint, and tanking your speaks. Don't plagiarize or lie to me in a debate.
- Speaker position does not influence me too much. I keep a rigorous flow that consists of all of the arguments made by both teams. You should pref the side you want before picking the order in front of me.
- PLEASE provide an actual impact in debates. most PF rounds I have judged do not express an actual impact story and get stuck at internal links. you need a reason that your contentions are a problem
- Finally, for any of it that applies above, please consult my LD and policy sections of my paradigm to see if any arguments should or should not be read at this tournament. Also, ask any questions that you may have before the round. I enjoy talking to people and hope to enjoy the debate you present me with.
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At the end of the day it is my job to sit in the back of the room and listen to discourse on the issues presented. It is your job to determine how that discourse happens. Just because I say I do or do not like something should not change your strategy based on the round. I have voted for things I never thought I would and have changed my opinions about things a lot. I give higher speaks to anyone who can read my paradigm and change my opinion or do something that is incredibly intelligent in round. Do what you are comfortable with and I will adjudicate it based on what is in front of me.
Other than this PLEASE feel free to ask me. I only bite on tuesdays. Pref me a 1 and I'll be able to give you an experienced and fairly well rounded and open round.
Lincoln Douglas Paradigm
Offer a value with more than just a common dictionary definition. Support the value with a workable criterion through which you can link your contentions. If you accept your opponent's framework, be clear about how your case works better within that framework.
Spread at your own risk. National champions don't do it and spreading often is an attempt to hide weak cases. If you must spread, make sure I flow your tag lines and any critical information you deem essential to winning the debate. You will be able to tell when I am confused or miss something. Respond accordingly.
I should not have to read your evidence to understand your case. Consequently, the only time I ask for evidence is if your opponent believes your evidence does not support or misrepresents your case.
Indulge in collegiate pyrotechnics at your own risk. If you go off-case, offer very clear definitions and impeccable logic.
Finally - be civil. If you are rude or disrespectful, you will lose my vote no matter how strong your case is. See the last paragraph under my PF paradigm.
For Public Forum I take the role of an educated citizen. Public Forum was meant to be heard by an educated public not necessarily trained the same way a policy judge would be trained. Consequently, I frown on debate jargon. If competitors use phrases like "framework", "extend the flow", "solvency", etc. without properly defining those terms, they will have trouble winning the debate.
Be clear and actually give speeches, much like you would for Oratory, rather than simply reading off a screen. This is not Policy or Lincoln Douglas. I should not have to work to understand your speech. Again, your audience are laypeople, not debate experts.
Source credibility is becoming a more central issue. Be careful with your sources.
Finally, I place great weight on closing speeches that crystallize the debate. Don't give me a laundry list of reasons why you think you won. Give me key reasons you think you won and why those particular contentions hold more weight than others.
Background:
- I teach English 11, Journalism, and College Writing at Moorhead High School. This is my 11th year at MHS.
- I have coached speech for the past 11 seasons, primarily PA events (Discussion, Ex. Speaking, GS, Info, OO).
- I was the Head Debate Coach at MHS from 2017 when we revived the program to 2024. Over those seven years, I coached PF and Congress. Our team also competed in LD.
- I regularly judged PF and Congress during the regular season and have judged Congress and PF at State for the past four years. I've also judged PF at national circuit tournaments and NSDA Nationals. In speech, I've judged all events at the local, regional, and national level since 2015.
A more detailed paradigm is below but, regardless of the event, please know that respect, integrity, and decorum are paramount. Offensive language, condescension, and aggression at any point in the round will ensure a loss/lowest possible rank. In short, be kind.
Public Forum:
- Speed is fine so long as it doesn't come at the cost of clarity. Quality over quantity usually prevails. Clear signposting and extending voters goes a long way toward winning the round. Take the time to ensure that 'dropped' contentions are fully explained.
- Please do not bombard us with cards. Evidence (directly and appropriately quoted) is important but I am far more interested in your analysis and deeper explanation. Demonstrate your understanding and show us how that evidence functions with regard to your opponent's claims and the case you are building.
- Stay cool and composed, especially during cross. Shouting matches serve little purpose. When you ask a question, I expect that you actually want to hear the answer.
- Timing - While I expect debaters to honor time restrictions and keep record, I will also keep track and will hold you to those parameters. Please don't abuse it.
Congress:
- Much like PF, it's quality over quantity for me. Two, or maybe three, sub points defending or negating a piece of legislation with sound, clear analysis is more important than a lengthy list of reasons with little time to explain. Long intros that meander before reaching the thesis, to me, are not the best use of time (I know, I sound like a curmudgeon. Have fun with it but not at the expense of dropping or rushing a point previewed in the intro).
- Demonstrate your understanding of the bill/resolution and its language. Reference specifics within the legislation (section and/or line numbers are helpful). I think it can be easy to find small, grammatical or typographical errors and point solely to that as a reason for negating (and in some cases, those issues should be noted), but please take the time to debate the merits of the legislation as well.
- Active listening - Above all, this one stands out to me the most and usually becomes my tiebreaker when ranks are super close. This can be as small as directly referencing -- by name -- previous speakers and their points or even making occasional eye contact while others are speaking . . . Active listening also means building upon established claims/reasons in your speeches and in questioning. If there's nothing new or insightful to add, it's best to move to previous Q to retain your spot in line. On a related note, please make an effort to correctly pronounce the names of your fellow competitors (and if yours is mispronounced, please correct them...and correct me too).
- POs - I tend to start POs in the top 5-6 of my rankings and adjust based on the overall organization, order, and smoothness of the round. I try to track P/R when scoring and definitely do as a Parli. Small errors can be forgiven (we're all human) if recognized but, especially late in the season, running for PO tells me that you are comfortable with the job. As such, I will hold POs to that standard much like the standards set for Reps/Sens in the round.
I really prefer speechdrop. For email chain: rtidwell.gcea@outlook.com.
I have been the head coach at Garden City High School since 1994, and have been involved with judging or coaching debate since the mid-1980s. I have judged a LOT of debates over the years. I've judged a fair number of rounds on this topic, both at tournaments and in my classroom. I will do my very best to evaluate the round that happens in front of me as fairly as possible.
Paradigm-I will default to policy making if debaters don't specifically give me another way to evaluate the debate. I tend to default to truth over tech. I want debaters to clash with each other's arguments. I have come to dislike debates where both sides read pre-prepared blocks through the 1AR, and the arguments never actually interact.
You should probably watch me for feedback. I don't hide reactions very well...
I really want the 2NR and 2AR to tell me their stories. If you choose not to do that, I will absolutely sort the debate out for you, but then you should not complain about the decision. It's your job to frame the round for me. If you don't, you force me to intervene.
Speed- I like a quick debate, but I don't get to see those as much as I used to, so if you are incredibly fast, you may want to watch me a bit to see if I'm keeping up. You'll be able to tell. I also find that I can flow much faster rate if you are making tonal differences between tags and evidence. It also helps if your tags are not a full paragraph in length...
Style- I suspect that even adding this section makes me sound old, but these things matter to me:
I still think that persuasiveness matters- especially in CX and rebuttals. It's still a communication activity.
Professionalism also matters to me. I will (and have) intervened in a round and used the ballot to help a debater or a team understand that there are boundaries to the way you should interact with your opponents. This includes abusive or personally attacking language, attitude, and tone. At a minimum, it will cost you speaker ranks and points. I really do find offensive language (f***, racial slurs, etc.) to be truly offensive, and I don't find them less offensive in the context of critical arguments..
When everyone is in the room, I want to start the debate. I am not a fan of everyone arriving, asking me some clarifying questions, disclosing arguments to each other, and then taking another 10-20 minutes before we begin.
Prep time- I kind of despise prep time thieves, and I think that sharing evidence has allowed that practice to explode. If you say "I'm up", and then continue typing, that's prep. I will be reasonable about ev sharing time, in terms of moving the files between teams, but sharing it with your partner is part of your prep. You need to be reasonable, here, too. Again, this will affect speaker points and ranks.
CX- open CX is fine. In fact, I think it often makes for a better debate. That being said, if one partner does all the asking and answering, that debater is sending a pretty important, negative message to me about how much his/her colleague is valued.
Disadvantages- As I said, I'm a policymaker. I vote on the way that advantages and disadvantages interact more than I vote on anything else. I don't mind generic DAs, but I prefer that Neg take the time to articulate a specific link. I'm also a big fan of turns from the affirmative (or from the negative on advantages). I really enjoy a case-specific DA, but they just don't happen very often. I like buried 1NC links that blow up into impacts in the block. I like impact extension/blow-up in the block. I am not a fan of brand-new, full, offensive positions in the 2NC.
Critical arguments- I don't mind a critical debate, but I think that needs to be more than "Aff links, so they lose". Critiques need to have a real, evidenced, articulated justification for my vote- either a clear alternative or some other reason that the argument is enough to win the debate. I am willing to entertain both real-world and policy-level impacts of the criticism. It is really important that you give me the framing for these arguments, and, specifically explain why the argument warrants my ballot. I am not well-read in very much of the critical literature, so it will be important for you to explain things pretty clearly. As with other arguments, I'm pretty willing to listen to turns on these arguments.
In terms of critical affs, I believe that aff should have a plan text, and that plan text should be topical. It's a big hurdle for the affirmative if they don't start there. That being said, I am perfectly ok with critical advantage stories. Again- framing matters.
Counterplans-I'm fine with a CP. I'm not a big fan of the theory that often gets run against a CP. I just don't find it very persuasive.
T- I will vote on T, and I don't think 2NR has to go all in in the 2NR to win it. I believe topicality is, first and foremost, an argument about fairness, and I think that it's an important mechanism for narrowing the topic. Again, I'm a truth-over-tech person, so I'm not very likely to vote on T simply because someone dropped the 4th answer to some specific standard. I'm not a fan of "resolved" or ":" T.
Narratives/Performance/etc- I'm not a huge fan, but I will absolutely listen and do my best to evaluate the debate. I specifically do not like any argument that attacks anyone in the room in a personal way. I would refer you to my notes about professionalism. As for the arguments themselves, I am not sure I am your best judge for evaluating this style of debate, but that might be because I have seen very few well handled debates in this style.
I have been a coach for fifteen years. I like debaters to talk slowly enough so that I can understand what they are saying, and for them to articulate clearly. I also like debates about the topic and not the rules of debate. I prefer debaters to "suggest" what I should do if something happens in a round instead of telling me what I now "have" to do. Remember, your framework suggests how to look at the resolution. Finally, I want debaters to use excellent public speaking skills such as good eye contact, few vocalized pauses, and no distracting movements. Civil discourse is a must!
I enjoy a good debate with a lot of clashing. Debates over definitions are fine but rarely have meaningful impact on the round. Evidence will only be considered if the debator makes an explicit link/impact to the case. Weaker evidence with an explicit impact will trump stronger evidence with no (or only implied) impact.
At the end of the day, I am here to judge you on your abilities to debate and not someone else's. Please keep that in mind. I look forward to a good round.
Hello, I'm Isaac Torres, a Speech teacher at Horizon High School, and former collegiate National Qualifying Interp Performer.
For Extemp/Info, Oratory Speeches, I look for how well you know your content, how well do you support your claims and arguments, and how well do you speak and express your ideas.
For Interp events, I look for how well do you portray authentic and genuine emotions and delivery of your piece. Does your intro make it clear what I'm supposed to get out of your performance? Make me believe everything you are saying and feeling is real. "Would a real person in this situation act this way?" If a performance is too over the top or seemingly inauthentic I will not be impressed. Be real, be sincere, and be great.
UPDATED: 4/6/2025
1998-2003: Competed at Fargo South HS (ND)
2003-2004: Assistant Debate Coach, Hopkins High School (MN)
2004-2010: Director of Debate, Hopkins High School (MN)
2010-2012: Assistant Debate Coach, Harvard-Westlake Upper School (CA)
2012-Present: Debate Program Head, Marlborough School (CA)
Email: adam.torson@marlborough.org
Pronouns: he/him/his
General Preferences and Decision Calculus
I no longer handle top speed very well, so it would be better if you went at about 75% of your fastest. I have a particularly difficult time hearing and flowing fast analytics, particularly when they are blippy, so deploy this strategy at your own risk.
I like substantive and interesting debate. I like to see good strategic choices as long as they do not undermine the substantive component of the debate. I strongly dislike the intentional use of bad arguments to secure a strategic advantage; for example making an incomplete argument just to get it on the flow. I tend to be most impressed by debaters who adopt strategies that are positional, advancing a coherent advocacy rather than a scatter-shot of disconnected arguments, and those debaters are rewarded with higher speaker points.
I view debate resolutions as normative. I default to the assumption that the Affirmative has a burden to advocate a topical change in the status quo, and that the Negative has a burden to defend either the status quo or a competitive counter-plan or kritik alternative. I will vote for the debater with the greatest net risk of offense. Offense is a reason to adopt your advocacy; defense is a reason to doubt your opponent's argument. I virtually never vote on presumption or permissibility, because there is virtually always a risk of offense.
Moral Skepticism is not normative (it does not recommend a course of action), and so I will not vote for an entirely skeptical position. I rarely find that such positions amount to more than weak, skeptical defense that a reasonable decision maker would not find a sufficient reason to continue the status quo rather than enact the plan. Morally skeptical arguments may be relevant in determining the relative weight or significance of an offensive argument compared to other offense in the debate.
Framework
I am skeptical of impact exclusion. Debaters have a high bar to prove that I should categorically disregard an impact which an ordinary decision-maker would regard as relevant. I think that normative ethics are more helpfully and authentically deployed as a mode of argument comparison rather than argument exclusion. I will default to the assumption of a wide framework and epistemic modesty. I do not require a debater to provide or prove a comprehensive moral theory to regard impacts as relevant, though such theories may be a powerful form of impact comparison.
Arguments that deny the wrongness of atrocities like rape, genocide, and slavery, or that deny the badness of suffering or oppression more generally, are a steeply uphill climb in front of me. If a moral theory says that something we all agree is bad is not bad, that is evidence against the plausibility of the theory, not evidence that the bad thing is in fact good.
Theory
I default to evaluating theory as a matter of competing interpretations.
I am skeptical of RVIs in general and on topicality in particular.
I will apply a higher threshold to theory interpretations that do not reflect existing community norms and am particularly unlikely to drop the debater on them. Because your opponent could always have been marginally more fair and because debating irrelevant theory questions is not a good model of debate, I am likely to intervene against theoretical arguments which I deem to be frivolous.
Tricks and Triggers
Your goal should be to win by advancing substantive arguments that would decisively persuade a reasonable decision-maker, rather than on surprises or contrived manipulations of debate conventions. I am unlikely to vote on tricks, triggers, or other hidden arguments, and will apply a low threshold for answering them. You will score more highly and earn more sympathy the more your arguments resemble genuine academic work product.
Counterplan Status, Judge Kick, and Floating PIKs
The affirmative has the obligation to ask about the status of a counterplan or kritik alternative in cross-examination. If they do not, the advocacy may be conditional in the NR.
I default to the view that the Negative has to pick an advocacy to go for in the NR. If you do not explicitly kick a conditional counterplan or kritik alternative, then that is your advocacy. If you lose a permutation read against that advocacy, you lose the debate. I will not kick the advocacy for you and default to the status quo unless you win an argument for judge kick in the debate.
I am open to the argument that a kritik alternative can be a floating PIK, and that it may be explained as such in the NR. However, I will hold any ambiguity about the advocacy of the alternative against the negative. If the articulation of the position in the NC or in CX obfuscates what it does, or if the plain face meaning of the alternative would not allow enacting the Affirmative plan, I am unlikely to grant the alternative the solvency that would come from directly enacting the plan.
Non-Intervention
To the extent possible I will resolve the debate as though I were a reasonable decision-maker considering only the arguments advanced by the debaters in making my decision. On any issues not adequately resolved in this way, I will make reasonable assumptions about the relative persuasiveness of the arguments presented.
Speed
The speed at which you choose to speak will not affect my evaluation of your arguments, save for if that speed impairs your clarity and I cannot understand the argument. I prefer debate at a faster than conversational pace, provided that it is used to develop arguments well and not as a tactic to prevent your opponent from engaging your arguments. There is some speed at which I have a hard time following arguments, but I don't know how to describe it, so I will say "clear," though I prefer not to because the threshold for adequate clarity is very difficult to identify in the middle of a speech and it is hard to apply a standard consistently. For reasons surpassing understanding, most debaters don't respond when I say clear, but I strongly recommend that you do so. Also, when I say clear it means that I didn't understand the last thing you said, so if you want that argument to be evaluated I suggest repeating it. A good benchmark is to feel like you are going at 75% of your top speed; I am likely a significantly better judge at that pace.
Extensions
My threshold for sufficient extensions will vary based on the circumstances, e.g. if an argument has been conceded a somewhat shorter extension is generally appropriate.
Evidence and Speech Document Sharing
Barring extenuating circumstances (e.g. a tech meltdown), speech documents should be shared with your opponent and me electronically. I will not evaluate arguments shared with me but not your opponent.
It is primarily the responsibility of debaters to engage in meaningful evidence comparison and analysis and to red-flag evidence ethics issues. However, I will review speech documents and evaluate detailed disputes about evidence raised in the debate. I prefer to be included on an email chain or speech drop that includes the speech documents. If I have a substantial suspicion of an ethics violation (i.e. you have badly misrepresented the author, edited the card so as to blatantly change it's meaning, etc.), I will evaluate the full text of the card (not just the portion that was read in the round) to determine whether it was cut in context, etc.
Speaker Points
I use speaker points to evaluate your performance in relation to the rest of the field in a given round. At tournaments which have a more difficult pool of debaters, the same performance which may be above average on most weekends may well be average at that tournament. I am strongly disinclined to give debaters a score that they specifically ask for in the debate round, because I utilize points to evaluate debaters in relation to the rest of the field who do not have a voice in the round. Reading 30-speaker-points theory will result in a severe reduction in your speaker points.
I elect not to disclose speaker points, save where cases is doing so is necessary to explain the RFD.
Rude or Unethical Actions
I will severely penalize debaters who are rude, offensive, or otherwise disrespectful during a round. I will severely penalize debaters who distort, miscut, misrepresent, or otherwise utilize evidence unethically.
Card Clipping
A debater has clipped a card when she does not read portions of evidence that are highlighted or bolded in the speech document so as to indicate that they were read, and does not verbally mark the card during the speech. Clipping is an unethical practice because you have misrepresented which arguments you made to your opponent and to me. If I determine that a debater has clipped cards, then that debater will lose.
To determine that clipping has occurred, the accusation needs to be verified by my own sensory observations to a high degree of certainty, a recording that verifies the clipping, or the debaters admission that they have clipped. If you believe that your opponent has clipped, you should raise your concern immediately after the speech in which it was read, and I will proceed to investigate. A false accusation of clipping is a serious ethical violation as well. *If you accuse your opponent of clipping and that accusation is disconfirmed by the evidence, you will lose the debate.* You should only make this accusation if you are willing to stake the round on it.
Sometimes debaters speak so unclearly that it constitutes a negligent disregard for the danger of clipping. I am unlikely to drop a debater on this basis alone, but will significantly penalize speaker points and disregard arguments I did not understand. In such cases, it will generally be unreasonable to penalize a debater that has made a reasonable accusation of clipping.
Questions
I am happy to answer any questions on preferences or paradigm before the round. After the round I am happy to answer respectfully posed questions to clarify my reason for decision or offer advice on how to improve (subject to the time constraints of the tournament). Within the limits of reason, you may press points you don't understand or with which you disagree (though I will of course not change the ballot after a decision has been made). I am sympathetic to the fact that debaters are emotionally invested in the outcomes of debate rounds, but this does not justify haranguing judges or otherwise being rude. For that reason, failure to maintain the same level of respectfulness after the round that is generally expected during the round will result in severe penalization of speaker points.
I am an experienced speech judge from Asheville High School. While I was never a competitor, I am a highly trained educator and former university professor with a Master’s degree in Education and Bachelor’s and Doctoral degrees in Physical Therapy. I only judge Speech events, given that my children have both participated in Congressional Debate and wanted me nowhere near their chambers. Clarity and enunciation are important to me within the context of the speech style. I appreciate it when you adjust your speaking voice to project in rooms that have noisy HVAC systems. While the pandemic is pretty much over, you may see me in a mask and I may request space, given that my full-time job includes caring for critically ill, often immunocompromised patients, who cannot afford to have the health professionals they trust bringing them iatrogenic infections. I will also support any student, who still feels more comfortable wearing a mask for myriad reasons and am happy to make accommodations as needed, such as spacing out the audience, leaving the door open if the hallway is quiet, opening a window, etc. While it is a competition, I appreciate competitors, who are kind, thoughtful and supportive of each other and of me. Ultimately, the skills gained from Speech and Debate will only serve a competitor well later in life if he/ she/ they learn how to make humanconnections.
-- LD NOTE FOR 2024--
Speed is completely fine, but if you're going 90% full speed and up I will be a bit more reliant on the doc. I am fine with spreading (especially if it's clear) but am out of practice with flowing top speed LD rounds. I don't have a ton of topic knowledge, as I mostly coach PF now.
— FOR NSDA WORLDS 2024 —
Please ignore everything below - I have been coaching and judging PF and LD for several years, but evaluate worlds differently than I evaluate these events. This is my second nationals judging worlds, and my 3rd year coaching worlds.
I do flow in worlds, but treat me like a flay judge. I am not interested in evaluating worlds debates at anything above a brisk conversational speed, and I tend to care a lot more about style/fluency/word choice when speaking than I do in PF or LD.
—LD/PF - Updated for Glenbrooks 2022—
Background - current assistant PF coach at Blake, former LD coach at Brentwood (CA). Most familiar w/ progressive, policy-esque arguments, style, and norms, but won’t dock you for wanting a more traditional PF round.
Non-negotiables - be kind to those you are debating and to me (this looks a lot of ways: respectful cross, being nice to novices, not outspreading a local team at a circuit tournament, not stealing prep, etc.) and treat the round and arguments read with respect. Debate may be a game, but the implications of that game manifest in the real world.
- I am indifferent to having an email chain, and will call for ev as needed to make my decision.
- If we are going to have an email chain, THE TEAM SPEAKING FIRST should set it up before the round, and all docs should be sent immediately prior to the start of each speech.
- if we are going to do ev sharing on an email, put me on the chain: ktotz001@gmail.com
My internal speaks scale:
- Below 25 - something offensive or very very bad happened (please do not make me do this!)
- 25-27.5 - didn’t use all time strategically (varsity only), distracted from important parts of the debate, didn’t add anything new or relevant
- 27.5-29 - v good, some strategic comments, very few presentational issues, decent structuring
- 29-30 - wouldn’t be shocked to see you in outrounds, very few strategic notes, amazing structure, gives me distinct weighing and routes to the ballot.
Mostly, I feel that a debate is a debate is a debate and will evaluate any args presented to me on the flow. The rest are varying degrees of preferences I’ve developed, most are negotiable.
Speed - completely fine w/ most top speeds in PF, will clear for clarity and slow for speed TWICE before it impacts speaks.
- I do ask that you DON’T completely spread out your opponents and that you make speech docs available if going significantly faster than your opponents.
Summary split - I STRONGLY prefer that anything in final is included in summary. I give a little more lenience in PF than in other events on pulling from rebuttal, but ABSOLUTELY no brand new arguments in final focuses please!
Case turns - yes good! The more specific/contextualized to the opp’s case the better!
- I very strongly believe that advocating for inexcusable things (oppression of any form, extinction, dehumanization, etc.) is grounds to completely tank speaks (and possibly auto-loss). You shouldn’t advocate for bad things just bc you think you are a good enough debater to defend them.
- There’s a gray area of turns that I consider permissible, but as a test of competition. For example, climate change good is permissible as a way to make an opp going all in on climate change impacts sweat, but I would prefer very much to not vote exclusively on cc good bc I don’t believe it’s a valid claim supported by the bulk of the literature. While I typically vote tech over truth, voting for arguments I know aren’t true (but aren’t explicitly morally abhorrent) will always leave a bad taste in my mouth.
T/Theory - I have voted on theory in PF in the past and am likely to in the future. I need distinct paradigm issues/voters and a super compelling violation story to vote solely on theory.
*** I have a higher threshold for voting on t/theory than most PF judges - I think this is because I tend to prefer reasonability to competing interpretations sans in-round argumentation for competing interps and a very material way that one team has made this round irreparably unfair/uneducational/inaccessible.***
- norms I think are good - disclosure (prefer open source, but all kinds are good), ev ethics consistent w/ the NSDA event rules (means cut cards for paraphrased cases in PF), nearly anything related to accessibility and representation in debate
- gray-area norms - tw/cw (very good norm and should be provided before speech time with a way to opt out (especially for graphic descriptions of violence), but there is a difference between being genuinely triggered and unable to debate specific topics and just being uncomfortable. It's not my job to discern what is 'genuinely' triggering to you specifically, but it is your job as a debater to be respectful to your opponents at all times); IVIs/RVIs (probably needed to check friv theory, but will only vote on them very contextually)
- norms I think are bad - paraphrasing!! (especially without complete citations), running theory on a violation that doesn’t substantively impact the round, weaponization of theory to exclude teams/discussions from debate
K’s - good for debate and some of the best rounds I’ve had the honor to see in the past. Very hard to do well in LD, exceptionally hard to do well in PF due to time constraints, unfortunately. But, if you want to have a K debate, I am happy to judge it!!
- A prerequisite to advocating for any one critical theory of power is to understand and internalize that theory of power to the best of your ability - this means please don’t try to argue a K haphazardly just for laughs - doing so is a particularly gross form of privilege.
- most key part of the k is either the theory of power discussion or the ballot key discussion - both need to be very well developed throughout the debate.
- in all events but PF, the solvency of the alt is key. In PF, bc of the lack of plans, the framing/ballot key discourse replaces, but functions similarly to, the solvency of the alt.
- Most familiar with - various ontological theories (pessimistic, optimistic, nihilistic, etc.), most iterations of cap and neolib
- Somewhat familiar with - securitization, settler-colonialism, and IR K’s
- Least familiar with - higher-level, post-modern theories (looking specifically at Lacan here)
I debated in high school, mostly LD and Public Forum. I did not do policy debate. My introduction to policy has been through coaching, conferences, and judging at local tournaments and NSDA.
email: townsendH@parkhill.k12.mo.us -- prep does not stop until you hit send on the email. On that note, do not give me an "off-the-clock roadmap," include it in your speech time.
Err on the side of over-explanation earlier in the debate. It is your burden to explain topic-specific concepts that would be difficult for the average person to understand.
I care about your ability to speak clearly and refute arguments in a quality manner than the type of arguments you choose to read. I will vote on any argument on my flow as long as it makes sense. However, on the negative, I really prefer topic-specific, evidence based arguments that rely on the ability to prove a disadvantage of the affirmative. If you read evidence with a purpose, speak clearly, and use your flow to refute arguments, you will receive high speaks from me. You should clearly explain what earns you the ballot. I REALLY want the negative to actually engage with the affirmative case instead of just side-stepping it fully.
Evidence you read must make an argument. Highlighting three buzzwords and explaining something in the tag is not going to cut it.
Don't like K debate, don't like incoherent speed.
The best way to debate in front of me is to slow down, refute arguments, and explain to me what you want me to vote on. If you are just blasting blocks into your computer you probably won't be happy with the result of the debate.
Hello, my name is Tamara Townsend. I am an energy and environmental attorney. I really enjoy judging and am so impressed with the intelligence and professionalism of the competitors. Things I look for:
1) Energy- whatever side you are arguing, step fully into that role and persuade me that it is your preferred position. Often the passion and energy of a competitor shows their preparation and enthusiasm for the topic. Persuade me that you should win.
2) Responsive- Show your flexibility and depth of knowledge by specifically attacking your opponents case with logic and evidence.
3) Respect- A vigorous debate is encouraged but please maintain the highest level of professionalism and respect.
I have judged a lot of debate events. I do not mind spreading as long as I have a copy of the brief. If you plan to spread put me on the email chain.
I appreciate off-time roadmaps. Please do not spread during off-time roadmaps--that is a chance for me to understand your organization. Use words not lingo in your roadmap--it does not count against your time.
I do not like a ton of lingo or abbreviations, especially in policy debate. I understand the lingo but I would rather hear your analysis in full words not abbreviations.
Two housekeeping items: I am friendly but I don't like to shake hands; please don't take it personally. Also, the answer is always yes keep your own time. I will keep time too.
Your debate experience will serve you well and build resilience. I hope you enjoy the process! Thank you, Tamara Townsend
Currently coach of Minnetonka High School and Eden Prairie High School
Hey Y'all I love weighing and extentions and plzzzzzzzzzzz signpost for me.
I've done circuit for 1 year for LD. Done 2 years of LD, 2 years in other formats, and also 1 year in Congress.
LD - Make sure to sign post when speaking. Use weighing mechanics to weigh impacts. Clearly explain framework and why your fw matters. If you don't signpost while doing your rebuttal I will drop it.
- Idk lately why a lot of debaters don't link their case back to their fw.
- Also weighing too duh????
- Signpost plz so I don't get confused lol
- Tech>Truth
If I yell out clear 3 times I will stop flowing
Circuit LD - Plans, Disads, CP, K and Theory only. I will not vote on tricks arguments.
Plans,Disads,CP>Theory>K>Other things
tech>truth
My PF paradigm is the same as my LD but without framework.
I will vote you down for any Tricks
Congress - Speeches must be clear and concise. The only way you will get a good placement if you actually have clash.
*Little rant: I don't know why nobody in congress have clash. This is a real debate hence you would need some clash. Don't just go up and say your side without talking about the other sides points.
How I vote on congress. Argumentation/Content>Speech points/Quality>Quality of Questions> Following Procedures
Email chain send to Nolan.nhantrinh@gmail.com
I'm not extraordinarily experienced in the debate world, as I've never debated myself. That being said, I am knowledgeable about argumentation, evidence, theory, etc. as an English teacher so please be careful and intentional when backing things up with evidence. I've found that I really appreciate clear signposting as you go through your speech. What I don't appreciate is speaking so quickly that I'm unable to take notes. If I don't have time to write down your argument or evidence, it doesn't exist to me when I go to make a decision on the winner.
Background: Debate and Speech Coach at East Ridge High School in Woodbury, Minnesota. Retired Attorney.
Regarding PF:
-Your speed needs to be conversational; if I cannot get it on my flow, you did not say it.
-I need to hear excellent warranting and narrative - I do not prep the PF topic, so make it make sense.
-I consider myself a truth-over-tech judge.
-I like quantifiable impacts.
-Off-time roadmaps are good for me.
-Voters and weighing are key to my ballot.
-Make the Summary and Final Focus what they should be, not a Rebuttal 2.0.
What I am looking for in Congressional Debate:
-an introduction to your speech, a roadmap, and some signposting/transitions are helpful
-arguments that include the necessary evidence to support them
-citations that give me enough information to find them, if needed
-the authorship/sponsorship speech that is polished and should include the status quo, the problem in the status quo, and how your bill solves
-speeches after the authorship/sponsorship speech should include refutation and clash with previous speakers - this is debate, not oratory
-questioning should further debate, so favorable or same-sided questions should be avoided
-if you are giving a mid- to late-round speech and do not include refutation, you will rank poorly in front of me
-avoid talking over each other and snark during questioning
-no rehashing of previous points, please
-breaking the cycle of debate is a risky move in front of me; flipping sides or saving your recency for the next piece of legislation is preferable
What I am looking for in a Presiding Officer:
-EFFICEINCY! The more wordy you are, the more your score goes down
-you should announce your procedures thoroughly at the very beginning
-you are not required to offer an electronic precedence and recency spreadsheet. The onus is on the debaters in the chamber to flow the debate and keep track of the P & R
-No auctioneering is needed. Call for a speech, seeing none, call for the next.
-a PO is there to allow the most debate to happen. Narrating the entire round with extra words fails to meet this objective.
-a PO should be able to get through about 12 speeches in an hour. Make that your goal.
-unless the Tournament says otherwise, the NSDA has no rule against breaking cycle and the number of same-sided speeches that can occur. You do not need to admonish the chamber each time it happens.
-You should not call for “Orders of the Day” unless you have a tabled piece of legislation you left on the table. “Orders of the Day” is not a time to state how many speeches and questions the chamber got through. Check out Robert’s Rules of Order if you are curious.
-DO NOT SAY: “Thank you for that speech of 3:09. As this was the 3rd Affirmative Speech, we are in line for a 1-minute block of questioning. All those who wish to ask a question, please indicate." INSTEAD SAY: “Speech time 3:09. Questioners, please indicate.”
I was an active competitor in HS and college. I currently coach Newport HS.
I do have my Ph.D. in Composition and Rhetoric, so I can follow your logic, and if you choose theory, I have a VERY high bar.
As far as spreading, I do not like it. I have a hearing impairment - and spreading can make following you difficult. I can only judge what I am able to hear. I will ask you to slow down if it is too fast or unclear the first time. If you start "super spreading" I will not give you more than 25 speaker points, because the speed truly detracts from the art of speaking.
Make sure to stay respectful to your competitor, as well as me. Disrespectful words or attitudes will result in a lower score.
I like arguments that have a clear value asserted and pursued. The more sign-posting and off-clock road maps the better. Also, I love to hear the voters at the end.
I am open to many types of arguments - but make sure you let me what criteria to judge the round - and how you fulfilled it. That is your responsibility as a debater- not mine as a judge.
I am humanity-centered. I know you will be running theories, hypotheticals, and extrapolating a significant amount, but remember, these topics affect real people. If you run cases that dismiss the humanity of the topic or dismiss the humanity of any specific group of people, your score will reflect omission.
Rebekah Tuchscherer (she/her) rebekah.tuchscherer@gmail.com
B.A. in Journalism and Biology, current ophthalmic clinical researcher
• 2023: Debate Judge for Roosevelt High School (Sioux Falls, SD)
• 2018-2020: Lincoln-Douglas Assistant Coach at O'Gorman High School (Sioux Falls, SD)
• Former high school Lincoln-Douglas debater (Milbank, SD)
Public Forum
This event was created with the intention of accessibility, meaning that your speech should be 1) at a delivery rate that is easy to keep on a paper flow, and 2) use high-level debate terminology sparingly. I prefer a speed of about 4-6 on a 1-10 scale, but if I can't understand or keep up with parts of your case, it likely will not make it on my flow or be weighed in the round. Efficiency and effectiveness are key.
The debates I appreciate the most are those when debaters can recognize and articulate when apples are being compared to oranges. I don't like giving points to a team just because they have a bigger number / claim a larger impact, but can easily vote for a team that can dig into the source, organization or methodology used to get said numbers.
Rebuttals:
If you are speaking first, I'm fine with you spending all 4 minutes on the opp case. If you are second speaker, you should defend your case in some capacity and briefly respond to arguments made on your case. At minimum, you must answer turns. This is not to say I think you need to go for everything in second rebuttal. I’m fine with strategic thinking and collapsing when necessary.
Summary/FF:
As a judge of mostly Lincoln-Douglas, I LOVE some clear voting issues. I don't think that a line-by-line argumentation style is typically necessary and prefer a nice crystalization.
Crossfire:
Good, respectful and effective cross examinations are appreciated and a great way to up your speaker points.
Theory/Kritiks/Counterplans/Plans:
Please don't.
Extra Notes
- Anything excessively past time (5+ seconds) on your speech can be dropped from the round. I won't flow it, and I won't expect your opponent to respond to it.
- I don't care how you dress, if you sit, stand, etc. Debate should be comfortable and accessible.
- Collapsing and making strategic decisions in 2nd rebuttal and 1st summary is an expectation of PF. Try to go for everything, and you will have a mountain to climb for a win.
- Rudeness in cross will lose you speaker points. You can make strategic offensive rhetorical decisions to put your opponent on the defensive, but there is a difference. Please be kind. :)
I believe that high school debate and forensics should be a learning and growing activity for students. Winning is fun but competitor growth is more important.
I appreciate that there are different styles of debate and that many competitors try several different debate styles. We have different forms a debate for a reason. As competitors, it is your responsibility to know what makes those different forms similar and what makes them different. Make sure you are debating in a manner that respects and highlights the unique aspects of your debate form. Don't try to mash styles together by using techniques associated with one debate style into one where it isn't practiced.
With that being said here are some items that will give you more insight into how I judge:
*I am a flow judge.
*Signpost PLEASE - if you don't tell me where to apply your argument I will NOT be inferring.
*I would like a quick off the clock roadmap prior to your speech (not necessary for first speakers). This should be a brief overview of what you plan to cover. Example: I will be covering my opponents case and then my case. This is all the detail I need so I can be on the right flow.
**Theory debate - I don't like it. We are here to debate a topic not a theory - many of you are preparing for careers that will demand you provide argumentation and rebuttal and that can't happen if we aren't dealing with the topic.
*DO NOT SPREAD - it is not in your best interest for me not to be able to flow you - if I can't flow you can't win. You will know I can't flow your speech because I will put my writing utensil down.
*Be Courteous - the round needs to be about the clash of claims not the clash of attitudes.
*If you provide a weighing mechanism/framework/value and value criterion PLEASE use it during the debate. Don't bring it up in your first speech and not talk about it again until your last speech.
*If you are using a prepared speech PLEASE make sure you have practiced it before the round to ensure it is as fluid as possible. Also make sure you are pronouncing all names and words correctly.
*I am not a fan of Ks although I am learning more about them and why they can help a debate round. My preference is topic debate. If you can link your K to why your opponent can't access their impacts then I am all ears.
*I am a traditional judge/coach.
*In Public Forum:
**If your case is one or two lengthy contentions with no subpoints and lots of evidence PLEASE make sure that you are tying these to the resolution. I prefer clearly labeled contentions and subpoints. It is just easier to flow.
**Please make sure you are using the summary and final focus speeches for what they are intended. I place a lot more weight on what happens in these four speeches than the first four. You are the one debating. You tell me what the major arguments are. Don't make me figure this out. Listen to each other during this time. I LOVE when Final Focus has clash!!!
**Crossfire is an important part of the debate. I don't flow it but I do listen. If you want something that occured during crossfire to be weighed in the round you MUST bring it up during the next speech.
*In Congressional Debate
**Please remember this is a speaking and debate activity. I want to see rebuttal arguments as well as new arguments for the side you are supporting. Prepared speeches are nice but if you are any speaker after the first aff/neg, please provide some argumentation with sound evidence. Make sure you have a good balance between old and new arguments.
*In Big Question
**Make sure that you are debating the topic!!
*In Lincoln/Douglas
**Please see note above about value/value criterion. This is 100% how I am going to evaluate the round. If each sides presents different V/VC our round centers on these and not your contentions unless you are also tying your V/VC to your contentions which would be AWESOME!! I would prefer to hear a debate on the topic but if the round goes here let's make sure we are really showing the importance of the V/VC.
I have been a speech and debate coach since 1969 and am a 2018 Hall of Fame Member. This was my last year coaching at Central High School in Springfield Missouri before going into retirement.
I view this activity as a persuasive debate. You focus on going fast, you lose my ballot. You need to talk to me as the judge and use speaking skills to convince me of your side. I vote on well-developed arguments. I appreciate signposts but no roadmaps as that will be included in your speaking time. There is no "off-the-clock" and that is not recognized, when you start speaking, your time will start. Reading directly into the screen at top speed, no matter how clear you are, is still nearly impossible for anyone to understand. I care far more about your ability to speak clearly and refute arguments than the type of arguments you read. All claims and statements should be backed with evidence that is presented clearly and efficiently.
Speech Events:
What are your stylistic preferences for extemp? How much evidence do you prefer? Any preference for virtual delivery?: properly structure your speech, quality over quantity for evidence (6 is a good number for me, but of course more is ok), no preference for virtual delivery - speaker's choice
What are your stylistic preferences for Oratory/Info? How much evidence do you prefer? Any preference for virtual delivery? - just persuade me and leave me with some realistic solutions. solutions that are not even possible for me to enact will be considered less than ones that I can actually do something about. I don't have the ability to change the entire educational system, so please don't tell me to.
Any unique thoughts on teasers/introductions for Interpretation events? intros are important
Any preferences with respect to blocking, movement, etc. in a virtual world? speaker's choice
What are your thoughts on character work? need to be realistic, I want to hear their story, not you pretending to, make it real
How do you feel about author's intent and appropriateness of a piece? For example: an HI of Miracle Worker (author's intent) or a student performing mature material or using curse words (appropriateness)? High school tournament = high school appropriateness. This isn't college yet.
Jud Turner
judsonturner@jtcounsel.com
I am a practicing attorney by trade and have been around policy/CX debate for about 6 or more years. While I have been around debate for a bit, I may not be your typical debate coach/experienced judge. While I know some of the debate jargon, do not assume that I do. Moreover, while I know it is tempting to use debate terminology and jargon to save time, you may lose me on the strength of your argument in doing so. Assume that I don't have any subject matter expertise. Tell me what is important and why, use evidence to support your position and to counter your opponent and do not play fast and lose with evidence in terms of what it actually says.
I know that many progressive debaters want to spread in CX debates and use that tactic to gain an advantage relative to dropped arguments, etc... I will not decide a debate round on the basis of a dropped argument that may have been a mentioned in rapid fire/auctioneer style spreading. CX is a great debate format that certainly places important emphasis on research and preparation; however, that does not mean that the debate round should be 75% completed based on elaborate constructive speeches only one quarter of which can be presented a speed that one can comprehend.
A large part of the value of debate in general and CX in particular surrounds competitors being able to think on their feet, determine what are the most important arguments that one's opponent is putting forth, responding to those and/or offering a better plan to solve the harms at issue. A large part of the value of debate is determining which arguments are more important than others and responding to those. A great debate round, in my view, happens with both sides respond pointedly (and in a manner and speed that I can understand) to each other and see the clash on the salient arguments through to the end, while using cross examination effectively to undermine the arguments by the other side and to position yourself for your speeches to follow.
I competed in four years of Public Forum in high school and am now the head coach at Andover High School in Minnesota. We primarily focus on Congress and Public Forum in our program.
Congress:
If you contribute meaningfully to the debate (rather than reading a pre-written speech repeating arguments), that's a good way to rank highly with me. I want to see clash and rebuttals, even if those rebuttals are logic-driven and not necessarily evidence-driven. I want to see that you're following the round and thinking critically about it.
I understand wanting to stay relevant in the round, but please be mindful of the questions you ask. I am unimpressed by questions that are really a statement that you end with "wouldn't you agree?" or "what's your response to that?" Please don't use questioning periods as time to bring up other evidence or preface. And ask questions that are relevant to the speaker you're asking them of. If they didn't talk about an argument, a question about that argument doesn't make sense.
Public Forum:
Arguments that are well-warranted go further for me than an argument you try to fiat your way out of. Almost always, I think that's a cheap way of dictating the round and avoiding a question.
Don't make me do the work of making arguments for you because I won't and a half-baked argument isn't going to generate you a lot of offense on the flow.
On the topic of weighing- do it. Give me quantification, a weighing mechanism, magnitude, an impact calc, I don't care. This goes along with the whole judge intervention thing- I want you to be pretty clear what I should flow as most important in the round.
I'll take a logical rebuttal to an argument if that logic is very sound. If that logic is sound, I may not necessarily need evidence read to clunk up the argument.
I enjoy giving feedback after the round and I'll usually disclose if I've made my decision at that point. Feel free to ask me anything else you'd like to know. But don't shake my hand please I'm v not a fan.
Hey I'm Calvin ( cbtyler@usc.edu ),
USC '24
BCP '20
I debated 3 years, 2 on the national circuit, at Brophy College Preparatory. Qualifications: I debated both traditional and circuit, qualifying to the TOC my senior year and breaking at a decent amount of nat circs.
Debate Views:
I will try to be as tech > truth as possible, but everyone has their biases and areas of expertise. I was mainly a larp debater but branched out into theory and some critical literature my senior year. I am increasingly finding myself persuaded by all forms of arguments as long as they are well warranted and won on the flow.
I AM NOT A GOOD FLOWER - so be clear and slower when extpemping analytics if you want me to flow them.
I will vote on tricks(and anything with a warrant), but if the argument is silly, I will also have a low threshold for responding to it.
Most of all: be nice, debate is supposed to be a safe and supportive environment.
Background I am the head coach at Century High School in Idaho. I competed in high school for 4 years focusing on policy debate, though I competed in all the other formats. I also have 4 years of collegiate debate experience in IPDA, PF, and BP, with a national title under my belt, and several other national awards.
Ultimately this is your round, so you can run whatever you want. I'm primarily tech over truth.
Debate is a game that should be accessible to everyone. That includes creating a safe place to have an educational debate. Being racist, sexist, violent, etc. in a way that is immediately and obviously hazardous to someone in the debate results in a loss and lowest speaker points. My role as educator > my role as any form of disciplinarian, so I will err on the side of letting stuff play out (i.e. if someone used gendered language/incorrect pronouns and that gets brought up I will probably let the round happen and correct any ignorance after the fact). This ends when it begins to threaten the safety of round participants. Where that line is at is entirely up to me. As such, make sure you give this a wide berth and don't do anything that even makes me consider this. Out debate your opponents without being a problem in the round and you'll easily get my ballot.
Evidence Sharing: Add me to the email chain: tylerjo@sd25.us or use speechdrop please
Framework FW is essential to me as a judge. Tell me how I should evaluate the round and that's how I'll vote.
Theory I love theory debate, make sure to extend impacts and abuse. If you want me to vote for you, clearly explain what the abuse in the round is.
That said, I am NOT good for frivolous theory. If your theory argument is frivolous or otherwise problematic, then your opponent can just say "Judge, this theory shell argument is ridiculous, drop the debater" and I'll do exactly that. Be mindful of the arguments you make
Condo I tend to err condo bad at a certain point. I would rather see high-quality argumentation that continues throughout the round than a massive number of terrible arguments that get kicked for the purpose of a time skew. 6 total off-case positions for neg is where I'm pretty happy with conditional arguments. As the number of off-case positions increases from here, the easier it becomes for aff to win a condo bad debate, as I become skeptical of the quality of the round I'm watching. That said, I'll listen to condo good theory when neg reads more than 6, and I can even vote for it too. Just be aware that you will need to thoroughly win the condo argument to avoid me voting on abuse.
Topicality T debate is fine. If neg wants to go 8 minutes of T, I'll listen and have a good time as long as it's done well
Counterplans CP's are fun, I find myself leaning aff on process counterplans and PICs, but I'll still vote neg on them. Other than that, have fun with them.
DA This is debate. Who's gonna tell you not to run a da?
K's Absolutely love K debate. The alternative needs to be clear. K Aff's are fine, though they are not in my realm of expertise. Narratives and performance are fine but do note that I come from a traditional circuit where this is less prevalent. So long as you justify it in round, I'm happy to listen and have no problems in picking you up. I haven't gotten to judge as much policy as I would like this year, so I'm not up to date on the lit. Make sure that's explained to me.
Speed Speed is fine, I can keep up with it all. 4 notes on it, however.
1) Debate is a game and it should be accessible to everyone. If there are people you are debating with, or you have panelists who would prefer you to slow down, then I don't think you should exclude them from the round by speaking quickly.
2) Slow down on tags and authors so I can write them down. If you don't do this, I may miss important arguments, which you definitely don't want.
3) Slow down on theory and analytical arguments so I can write them down. I NEED pen time
4) Enunciate every word. Speed and spewing are not the same. If I cannot understand you, I am not persuaded to vote for you. It is the burden of debaters to communicate clearly to their audience. As such, you will never hear me say 'clear'. I will simply ignore you without remorse. Obviously, if some external factor is causing this and it isn't your fault, (intercom, loud AC, natural disaster, etc.) I'll let you know.
In the context of a virtual tournament, going fast is fine as long as everyone has access to the files or can hear everything. If internet connection is poor, I will encourage slower debate.
Courtesy Be nice to each other. Debate is a game you play with your friends, so don't be mean. If you are demeaning, rude, or just a jerk in the round to your opponents/partner I will drop you. Any form of harassment or discrimination to your opponents or partner will result in the lowest possible speaker points and a loss in the round. So play nice :)
Also, be nice to novices/inexperienced debaters. We would like them to keep with the activity and continue to grow the debate community. So, if you make them feel bad about the round, I'll make you feel bad about your speaker points.
Tag Teaming I hate this. Please don't do that. Cross should be closed
Speaker Points These are entirely subjective, and I won't give you 30 just because you asked.
LD All the same information above is valid for me in LD. Run CPs, K's, and DAs to your heart's content. My threshold for conditionality in LD is much stricter due to structural problems with LD as a format. If you go beyond 3 off-case positions as neg, then aff will have an easy time winning the round on condo bad.
PF Please give me some sort of framework for the round. Everything in your final focus has to have been extended throughout the round. If you give me a voter your partner didn't make analysis on in the summary, then I will not evaluate it. Be strategic about what you go for and communicate. Kritiks are cool in pf. Just do them well, not just to say "I read a K in pf."
Feel free to ask me any specific questions before the round begins
I am a down to earth judge. Organization and presentation are the keys to a winning round. Fast speaking will get you nowhere; and may cost you a round if the round is close.
Fancy jargon will not gain you any points, nor will nasty crossfires. I appreciate common sense, professionalism, and good grammar! Civility is a must!
Just debate the resolution; be organized; have a good time; good luck.
I am looking for a respectful, well-managed, and well-organized debate. Overuse of jargon or talking too fast will result in a loss. The point of a debate is to argue a point so that the public can understand it, not to overindulge in terms your opponent or judge may not know or to speak so fast that your opponent cannot possibly clash your points. I want to be able to understand and enjoy your debate.
Hi! My name is Anita Ukpokolo and I'm beyond thrilled to judge this year!
I competed in serious interpretation events during high school (class of '15) and college (class of '19).
I attended and coached at Gustavus Adolphus College summer speech institute during the last few years the camp was running.
This is my third official year as a coach at my old high school. My 10th year as a judge.
I joined speech to overcome my fear of public speaking but stayed for the intrinsic value. I strive to help students learn to wear their hearts on their sleeves no matter the setting. I invest so much into unlocking the potential in every speaker I work with. Being a part of one of the most advanced tournaments of the season is such a fun way to keep doing that! Thank you for having me.
It is an honor to be here :)
I listen for speeches that are well organized and supported by evidence more than presentation skills. It is important that speeches clearly address the topic at hand and not be canned speeches that indirectly relate to the topic. I am not focused on time; I would rather you stop before your time is up than speak super quickly just to make more points. Similarly, I would you rather stop before you time is up then run out of pertinent things to say and ramble and repeat things. Be clear, concise and factual.
I'm an Assistant Coach at Hutchinson High School. I debated for four years in the KDC and DCI divisions.
In general, I prefer a more open style (heavy use of on-case arguments, DA's, and CP's), however, I want debaters to have the freedom to express themselves and do what they want. DO WHAT MAKES YOU SUCCESSFUL!! I will have an open mind when I submit my ballot. A couple of notes for those who want it:
Speed: Speed in the constructives is whatever. I'd prefer a slower debate, but I can keep up. I would prefer rebuttals be slightly slower, but it's up to you. I'll do my best to not miss anything.
Kritiks: I was never a huge K debater in high school, so I'm not up-to-date on the literature (although I have a baseline understanding of the most popular arguments). Make sure that if you read a K, actually explain its relevance in the round. I will vote on it, but you need to do more work for me than you would on judges who are more familiar.
You will win my ballot by giving me some impact stuff in the 2nd rebuttals and telling me why you have won. I'll vote on whatever framework is presented in round, but I default policymaker/impact calc. It would be great if a team did the math for me instead of having to do it myself. What will the world of the aff be vs the world of the neg? Analysis like this will win you the round most of the time.
PLEASE signpost and provide clash. I'll do my best to write a solid RFD on every ballot so y'all understand why I voted the way I did, even if you might not agree with it :)
Email for email chains if that's how you want to share evidence: royalsandchiefs333@gmail.com
Cliff notes: I am a closeted K-Hack (meaning they aren’t my fav, but a well poised one is nice) posing as a policy maker. On that note, spreading for the purpose of outspreading the other team is no different than word vomit. I am okay with speed if args (and your tags) are EXTREMELY clear and well developed, I am not okay with speed when it is solely for out-reading the other team. Tell me where to flow, how to vote, and why it is important. If you’re going so fast I can’t flow, I won’t.
For Email chains: kutt@usd266.com, however, I prefer the tabroom created doc drops to keep rounds moving. It wastes so much time waiting for emails.
PSA: Preflow means you flow before you get into round. I should not have to wait to start the round because you need to flow your own case. Even in PFD. You should have several preflowed copies of your pro and con cases so you're prepared for either side.
email: savalen8@asu.edu
Hi! My name is Sean Valentine and I was an LD Debater for 2 years at Cosby High School, in Virginia. I competed in Lincoln Douglas, Public Forum, Policy, and Impromptu. I was the Captain of our LD team and Impromptu in my senior year. I competed in policy at VHSL. I am generally ok with both Traditional and Progressive debates, although as a preference I want your opponent to also be okay with whatever the choice is. Debate is not inclusive, fun, or met with good clashing if both sides don't even have the chance at a fair competition. If you do spread, then you must share your cards, constructive, etc. with me via the email at the top before you begin, you should also do the same with your opponent if there is an agreement.
Side Note: I've been the mentor and mentee, so I will be looking out for a mix of how well you can argue, as well as technicalities and strategy related items.
Ways To Win/ Points to Consider:
• Explain what you are running thoroughly, you can run whatever you like as long as both sides are in agreements with the rules and terms, but if you can't explain it or defend it through, then you either shouldn't run it, don't understand it, or it's not a solid case.
• Signpost, make it clear by telling me the judge, where you are on the flow, and what argument you are attacking. Along with this you should clearly state what your contentions are, observations, definitions, as well as values and criterion/criteria, advocacy, disads, constructive, K's, etc.
• If it's a value debate then follow it through, I will be weighing the values and their criteria. I love a great value debate that can be followed through. Of course, if it can't you should follow a clear and concise order to give me a clear reason for the decision off the other side's framework. If not value, then what? :
⁍ Proving your value is more inclusive or superior to your opponent's
⁍ Accept their value, only if you have similar values or the same one but showing how you achieve it better
⁍ Using both values and therefore achieving both sides
⁍ Clearly show and tell me the contradictions between their value and criterion/criteria that read to a fallacy
• Debate is about education, I also like theory debate, but it must be explained. There is always expanding theory and ways to argue the resolution and I am in favor of finding out more through you all as debaters but you must explain the theory you present, not just for me but for your opponent if you hope to get anything from the debate.
• Cross ex is not for me to weigh, but it can be if you bring it up in your speech. If you feel you gained substantial traction in cross ex you must bring it up in the speech directly following your own and tell me that I should weigh it and why.
• You should impact your arguments through. If you can't tell me why I should even bother to care or what the danger, problems, etc. are with preferring the other side then simply put I just won't care.
• If an argument is dropped, then your opponent should bring up that an argument was dropped, if they can't bring it up then first I shouldn't be weighing what was dropped, and second there is a lack of education and actual debate if there is no acknowledgment to dropped arguments and why it is important that they were even dropped.
• Give me good voting issues, always be confident and tell me why you won, how you won, and where you won. What point, part of the debate, or issue did you win based on and why I should prefer moving forward.
Ways to Lose:
○ One easy way to lose is by (in short terms) being a jerk or a bully. There is no reason at any point to spread or run a highly philosophical debate on a novice, we were all there and there is no reason to hurt novices for no reason. There is never a reason to be racist, homophobic, islamophobic, xenophobic, cruel or misguided to any faith or tradition, or a misogynist.
Continued:
Crystallization - Is just a term used for summing up the reasons you have won. There should be several points you have won based on (general rule of thumb is at least 3), that you have been winning throughout the debate. You must also show why you have won these points, and why they are important to the overarching idea. This also means you should impact the points to your value premise and show their importance.
Trigger Warnings - Some cases may contain sensitive or triggering subject matters. You should read a trigger warning if they do, examples could include sensitive subjects regarding abuse of any kind, death, or harassment. If you are unsure of whether your case may contain this then you should have a backup case or a PG/PG13 case to default to.
Most Importantly:
Always have fun, debate is about having fun, learning, and growing as an individual and a person. My door is always open, so feel free to ask me any question via email or ahead of the round and I am more than willing to answer. I will not disclose the winner nor do I believe that you can argue me down over my decision after the final speech. I want you to remember it's about having fun, not always about winning or losing or who was right and wrong. Broaden your horizons and your opinions on real-world topics and subjects!
Theo Van Hof
Assistant Debate Coach, Okemos High School
Michigan State University '24
Please include me on the email chain.
Bio: I am Theo Van Hof, I debated public forum debate for one year at Lincoln Southwest High School and policy debate for two years at Okemos High School, and two years of policy debate at Michigan State.
TL;DR: Read the speaking section. If you don't, I'll know and give you dirty looks the whole round, and I don't want to do that. Read what you want, however you want. I will vote for anything as long as it isn't actively racist, sexist, xenophobic, transphobic, homophobic, etc.
Speaking: Speak loudly and clearly (maybe not so loud if it is a morning round). Please have overviews and signpost. Even something as simple as saying "next" will do. If you signpost poorly you will be docked speaker points. Speed is fine as long as I can understand you. I will not flow what I cannot understand, so please do not expect me to go sifting through your cards to figure out what you said. Other than that any style of speaking is great. Do whatever floats your boat.
Bonus speaker points if you are funny. In a persuasion activity, humor can be very effective, and it irritates me that no one seems to care about actually "persuading" me, but I digress.
Aff: Read whatever you want. Creative and unique plan texts are appreciated, but certainly not required.
K Aff: If you are a K Aff team, pref me low! I am a very dumb policy nerd who refuses to learn K Affs out of sheer laziness. With that said, I am more than willing to listen to any and all K Affs and I have voted for them in the past. The ones that I vote for are the ones that are explained the best and don't get bogged down by too many buzzwords and too much silly debate jargon. If you have any performative elements, feel free to instruct me on how you want me to flow things, so I can follow along properly.
Topicality & Theory: I like T as a negative strategy. You can read a couple of T violations if you want, but if you stand up and start reading 5+ T violations, I'm going to start laughing. If you want to win T in the 2NR, make sure your link to the aff is clear, and make sure you impact out why the violation is relevant and why it means you should win. If you don't want to lose on T as an aff, read counter-interps/we meet arguments but do not read an RVI, I will not vote on it and I will start blasting crappy EDM during your speech (not really, but no RVIs please).
Theory is fine but mostly dumb. I will still vote on it, but the burden of proof is definitely on the team running the theory argument.
DAs: Great. Please explain your DAs, primarily your link story, and how they outweigh your opponent. Impact calculus is excellent in the final speeches of the round.
CPs: Great. Please read a plan text other than; "Do the aff". Explain the net benefit(s) and why the CP is better.
K: Generally, simple Ks like Cap or Security will be fine, but more complex Ks are going to need a good amount of explaining. I am not super familiar with a lot of the buzzwords of Ks and will most likely not be able to understand a bunch of jargon. I will vote for your K as long as I can understand it, and just like anything else, you win it.
I will flow just about everything. I weigh dropped arguments harder than highly contested arguments. For example, if Team A has ground on their Advantage, and Team B doesn't ever answer or refute and put a counterargument on the flow, that Advantage will be of a larger impact than Team B’s disadvantage which both sides were fighting for back and forth.
If both teams cover everything on the flow to the best of their ability, it will come down to who provided the best analytical and evidential arguments. This will also largely come from whichever team had the best speaking ability.
My name is Petra [Pay-truh] (she/her). I graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in Sociology with a focus in Criminology and have worked in financial crime detection and investigations. Should you feel the need to know my qualifications, I have 9 years of experience with Policy/CX and 7 of PF & LD. I competed in CX in high school, qualified to NSDA 2x, had a TOC bid, placed 3rd at state in CX, was a state quarterfinalist in LD, and have coached CX, LD, PF, and Congress. Affiliations: Cheyenne East (my alma mater) '12-'16, Edmond Santa Fe (individuals) '16-'17, Norman North '18 - '23. I have been lucky enough to coach students who have advanced to semi-finals in Congressional Debate at nationals, late out-rounds in LD and PF at nationals, and late out-rounds in LD, PF, and CX at the state level.
I tend to default to policymaking, but my primary evaluation and if no debater has clearly won or told me where and why to vote, I will default to stock issues. If the aff hasn't upheld their obligation of affirming the resolution (or providing a solid case why they shouldn't), I will presume negative. I’m not a fan of vulgarity in-round. Please time yourself. Open Cross is okay, but if you don't engage or talk over your partner your points will reflect that. If you bring spectators, they must be respectful of all competitors and judges.
Speed is fine, I prefer slow on plan/advocacy statements and tags/authors. Use an indicator when switching between tags and arguments. Clarity is key to getting on the flow. I will say clear once, and if I can't decipher you after that I stop flowing you.
In the era of online debate, I suggest recording your speeches just in case of tech difficulties. I will adhere to all tournament guidelines regarding competition and tech issues. Slow down for the sake of mic processing. You probably don't need all 10 DAs. Please try your best to keep your cameras on, I understand this is not always possible.
Policy - My background is in traditional policy debate. I am well-versed in topicality and straight policy, but I will listen to just about anything you can and want to run. I appreciate creativity in debate. Cool with Ks and theory, but I have a high threshold for in-round abuse. Not a fan of plan+ / plan inclusive anything. Tell me where to vote and why.
Cross:It's probably binding, and often underutilized. Make it strategic - analyze the links, perms, make your opponents prove their solvency. If you’re being shifty and don't know what you're talking about, your opponent doesn't know what you're talking about, and I definitely don't know what you're talking about. For the love of all things sacred, don't be a jerk.
CPs: You must have a plan text and a net benefit. Tell me why it's competitive. You should probably have a really good solvency advocate. Full disclosure, I think I have only ever voted for one PIC, I think that a perm makes this a pretty easy win for Aff. I don't believe States CP gets to fiat all 50 states + relevant US territories (unless you have a decent theory shell, in which case go for it).
DAs: I love me some case-specific DA's. Do the impact analysis!! Aff too. For the love of all things holy, please make it a complete argument. I don't love seeing a 10-off 1NC with severely underdeveloped DAs that lack links and UQ.
Kritiks: I have a solid technical understanding of K's but don’t know all theory/philosophy. I'm not a philosophy hack; I won't do the work for you. It's critical that you understand what your advocacy is. If you don't know/understand, I don't want to vote for it. PLEASE don't read a K because you think I want to hear one. I would much rather hear a good, in-depth debate about what you're good at. If your K is about debate being irredeemable and a black hole...consider who your audience is. I've dedicated almost half my life to the activity and understand that it can be made better, so let's put in the work to make it better.
Topicality: Good. Great. I typically default to competing interpretations. It's not (usually) a RVI. Just like anything, read it only if you understand which violation you're reading and if there is clear abuse. You need standards. I have a higher threshold for FXT and XT because of how policymaking typically operates in the real world, but if you feel there is clear in-round abuse, knock yourself out.
Theory: Most of the theory debates I see are bad. That makes me sad - I like theory. I will listen to some well-thought-out theory any day of the week. I will consider any discourse args on reasons to reject a team, so long as their impacted out. Don't be racist/sexist, etc. Not a huge fan of framework debates because I see very few that are good. I tend to vote for world v world and real-world impacts anyway. Neg worlds should probably be cohesive, unless you have a theory shell to backup why not.
Misc: Don't be mean. Don't cheat. I'll call you on stealing prep. If you do it after I call you on it I have no issue auto-dropping you. I don't want to have to read the evidence - you should be explaining it. Post-rounding (asking questions is fine - I will be more than happy to explain my thought process - I'm talking about arguing or bringing up things you should have used to answer but didn't) won't change my ballot but will guarantee you'll get the lowest speaks possible. If you run wipeout, you better have a dang good warrant and dang good framework shell to run with it.
LD:- I did traditional LD in high school. I look for lots of work on the framework debate and framework/case interaction. If you're about progressive debate, that's cool too - but I would like to see your version of framework or a role of the ballot. I don't really want to see a CP, DA or K read with zero interaction with the resolution or aff, but if you have one with a good argument, I'm open to it. Please don't just run a K/theory shell because you think that's what I want to hear - do what you do :)
PF: See: LD, Policy. Theory is cool, and welcomed, here too. Disclosure/paraphrasing theory - I have a high threshold of abuse here as well. Progressive/fast is cool. Traditional is cool too. Again, please don't just run a K/theory shell because you think that's what I want to hear - do what you do :)
TLDR; If there is no clear reason given for me to vote on either side, I will default to stock issues because it is what I know the best. Does aff meet their minimum requirements of affirmation? Does the negative do their job of negating the resolution/the aff? Do the off-case arguments link? Are alternatives mutually exclusive? Do the alternatives solve the aff? Impact it out. In-round, fiated implementation, and on the flow. For everything. Don't steal prep. If you have any specific questions, please ask! my email for chains and questions: petracvc@gmail.com
Most importantly, have fun, and be kind to one another! Happy debating! - P :)
Speech must be clear and understandable if reading quickly. I appreciate when rounds stay topical however I am open to theory as well as other types of arguments.
UPDATED: Nov. 2021
I am an assistant coach at Bettendorf High School in Bettendorf, IA. I am now in my 6th year as a coach at BHS. I coach primarily speech.
1. When it comes to judging debate, I am looking for a speed level slightly above conversation speed. I do not care for fast speakers since competitors are supposed to be convincing the judge and not outspeaking the competition.
2. For the delivery of the case, I am looking for competitors to clearly lay out their case by stating what are their contentions and subpoints.
3. While debating, I am looking for clear connections to the impacts of your evidence and case.
4. Also, while debating I am looking for competitors to be civil and allow each other to ask questions and not cut each other off.
Hello! I'm a mom of a competitor who has done PF, LD, Worlds, Congress, OO, OI, and IMP.
I have judged both speech and debate before but I am by no means a tech judge. I won't be able to understand spreading or very tech terms/techniques (critiques, etc). For debate try and make it as clear and clean as possible throughout the flow and arguing that becomes mean or personal in any way will not be tolerated.
If you have any questions please let me know and please feel free to take a second and explain before or after the round (not during) anything that might occur that I as a lay judge may not understand.
For Congressional Debate, speed is a negative- you are not in Policy. Clarity and evidence-based persuasion are of the utmost importance in my decision. Good arguments contain evidence and analysis though, not just evidence. Your focus should be on making sure the judges understand your argument. Speaking just to speak is frowned upon.
I think it is good to act like a member of Congress, but not in an over the top way. Be polite and civil, there is a line between attacking arguments and attacking competitors.
email:
-- add me to the file share -- please send speeches --
CX/Policy:
No one is tab but I truly do try and keep my personal biases out of my vote. I will flow the round and evaluate the best arguments.
Speed : I don't care, just make sure I can understand if I don't have the doc. Signpost and clearly read tags. Also make sure if I'm on a panel to check the other judges' prefs on speed if other judges don't like it, it's probably in your best interest to talk slow. Watch me/my pen. If I am not flowing the round, then there is a high probability that I'm not following you, and the only saving grace is the speechdrop/file share.
SPEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!!! I WOULD ALSO ENCOURAGE YOU TO KNOW YOUR CIRCUIT AND THE EXPECTATIONS...
Roadmaps: I prefer roadmaps to be short and concise. They do not need to be exaggerated, simply such as off-case then on-case, or off-case: 1T, 2DA, 1CP then moving to on-case. SIGNPOST THROUGHOUT THE ROUND
Resist the temptation to run an argument that you don't understand or read an author whose work you are not familiar with (IE CP, K).
I like a brief underview at the bottom of an argument. It lets me know you know what you just talked about.
Last, I WILL NOT INTERFER. This means I will not "link" arguments or evaluate drops IF THE OPPOSING TEAM DOES NOT TELL ME TO FLOW THEM. I want you to enjoy the round, so read your evidence and debate your way.
LD Debate
No one is tab but I truly do try and keep my personal biases out of my vote. I will flow the round and evaluate the best arguments. I will say that I don't have much experience for "progressive debate" so keep that in mind when developing arguments. If I can't understand it, I can't vote on it.
Speed : Know your circuit and the expectation. I don't want to hear spreading in a UIL round.
Roadmaps: I prefer roadmaps to be short and concise. Aff/Neg or Neg/Aff.
Last, I WILL NOT INTERFER. This means I will not "link" arguments or evaluate drops IF THE OPPOSING SPEAKER DOES NOT TELL ME TO FLOW THEM. I want you to enjoy the round, so read your evidence and debate your way.
Congress
When it comes to a congress chamber, I have found that I enjoy healthy debate and awareness in a chamber. What this means is that for a PO and the chamber to understand when the debate has begun to circle around and there are no new arguments being developed...It is probably time to move to a previous question. If you feel that you have a really strong speech to give, but it is the same argumentation that has already occurred, I would encourage you to make sure that you are working on elements of refutation to direct speakers in the chamber along with crystalizing how the arguments have worked throughout the chamber. If this is not the strategy, it will probably hurt you to just get up there and give another 3:00 speech, developing the same cycle of arguments in the chamber. I really enjoy it when the debate on items is well developed and students are aware enough to understand when it's over and should be moving to the previous question for the vote to get to the next item in the chamber.
I have found that my ranks tend to be evaluated from the following parameters, but I do not think this is by any means the only way I would evaluate a chamber.
1st Priority--- Effective PO Procedures and chamber management. I do believe the PO is one of the most influential characters in the chamber. It is your job to have a clean and clear understanding of the parliamentarian procedures, and it is your job to reinforce the rules of the chamber. I do expect you to know the rules of the circuit for the tournament so know the differences between UIL, TFA, and NSDA.
2nd Priority---Quality of Speeches
3rd Priority--- Activity in the chamber (total) This covers # of speeches, questions, and general participation for me in the chamber.
Extemp
The core question for extemp is how to get my 1. Or what is the difference between my 1 & 2?
My 1's are nearly perfect speakers, the fillers are minimal and you are doing all the extemp nuances that we are looking for in these speeches. Sources are incredibly important and more does not always equal 1 but it can be the difference. I am also looking for you to analyze and give me your insight into the topic. Working that in could be the difference between 1 & 2. Time could also be a factor in judgment. Know the rules between different circuits!
I will also add that VERBALLY SIGNPOSTING is big for me. Make the body points super clear. Also, I love when you tie your hook back into your conclusion. It makes the whole speech feel very well rounded.
Interp
I don't mind extensive blocking, nor do I mind profanity as long as it serves a dramatic purpose (basically don't cuss just to cuss). I also try to evaluate on "topicality". I need to understand in your intro how you link to the category you are reading. The more you can look up from your book the better! Don't completely ignore it, but I want to know you are familiar with your piece.
Overall, I will evaluate and enjoy your performance, giving you feedback on things that I really enjoyed, and areas that I think you might want to consider growing the performance!
Experience:I did not compete in Debate in high school or college, but I have been assisting with a debate program and judging for the past five years. I usually judge Public Forum, but I have also judged speech events and Big Question Debate. I would treat me more like a lay judge. I am currently in my eleventh year of teaching social studies. I teach United States History and International Baccalaureate History of the Americas.
Preferences: I can follow relatively fast speaking but don't spread and avoid overly technical jargon. I just need to be able to understand what you are saying. I vote for teams that have well-reasoned, logical arguments that are consistently supported with evidence and having evidence to refute the other side's claims is also important to me. Please be clear on what you want me to vote on and provide a clear analysis of why you should win (and why you are beating your opponent).
1. I will focus only on what I hear in the debate.
2. Speak slow/medium pace.
3. To avoid disturbance sometimes I mute voice...since I take notes sometimes I turn off video so speakers can focus on their thoughts....
4. I look at the entire debate flow and compare both teams....
Please time yourself and your opponent, I would prefer not to and expect you to take responsibility, and be truthful of time passed.
Info: I am the Speech and Debate Coach at Shoshone-Bannock Jr. Sr. Highschool. I have been in the circuit for about 6 years. I have my bachelors in K-12 Special Education. I am the former president of Idaho State University's Speech and Debate team, and the former president of College of Southern Idaho Forensic team. I love progressive debate, especially gender and social justice based arguments. I am a big flow judge, if you want me to judge certain arguments at the end of your debates, they better have been brought up in every speech, if they are not I tend to consider them a dropped argument. I don't mind dropped arguments especially if they are done strategically. If you tell me why you dropped them, then I won't factor that into my decision for who won the round. Good speaking I believe is necessary for a clean flow and round, but I don't base my decision solely off who spoke the best. Accessibility is the most important thing to me, if your opponents ask you not to spread or ask you to slow down, and you choose not too. I will drop you. I am a pretty heavy tech over truth judge (which means if you tell me the sky is red in your speech and your opponent doesn't disagree with you I'll believe the sky's red) I will vote on anything except impact turns to structural violence. (IE: Racism good). Last but not least, be kind to each other. This means to your partner and your opponents. I enjoy clash, sassiness, and assertiveness because it's all part of the game, but there is a difference between these and being mean. Remember debate is a game you play with your friends. I do not care how well you have been debating, if you are mean you will lose my ballot. Most importantly don't forget to have fun.
LD Paradigm:
I default to judging on the value premise/ value Criterion debate. So, at the end of the round, I will pick the value that I believe was proved to be the best standard to judge the round off of. Then I will use the criterion for that value as the way to look at the arguments in this round. Whoever has won the most arguments that apply to that criterion will get my ballot. I can also be persuaded to judge the round different, but that's up to you if you want to do that, you just have to tell me why I should prefer judging your way. I am cool with Kritiks and Theory, and tend to vibe pretty heavily with these kind of arguments. Make sure to walk me through the arguments though, since I am usually a policy judge I am not in the know with a lot of new and upcoming arguments in LD. Also, if you do run these kind of arguments, impact them out to me and tell me why they matter. I am cool with speed as long as everyone in the round can also do speed, if not everyone can don't do it.
PF Paradigm:
Accessibility is the most important thing for me when it comes to PF. I am a pretty progressive judge and debater and tend to love K's, Theory, and speed, but only if everyone in the round can keep up with all of these. I am a pretty big flow judge so make sure to rebuttal the most important parts of the round, and answer the attacks made on your case in your next speech after the attacks are made. I believe the second rebuttal needs to both defend an attack. In the second final focus I believe it is abusive to make new arguments, so I will not flow new arguments made in these speeches, unless your opponent made new arguments and the second final focus is the only time you can answer them (this should not happen though). In your last Final Focus, I should be able to track your offense back to the speech where the argument started, if I can't do that I won't vote on it.
CX Paradigm:
I love policy debate! I tend to default to stock issues and who makes the largest impact, but I will vote on anything except impact turns to structural violence (at any point in the debate you do this, I do not care how well you were debating, you will lose my ballot). Layer the debate for me, it makes my life and your life a lot easier. In the last two rebuttals it is very important for you to collapse into your most important arguments. Also, it is essential for you to split the Neg Block. I love Kritiks, and tend to pick up Kritiks if they are done correctly, which means they need to have a clear link, impact, alternative, and framework to judge off of. I love topicality, as long as your shell comes with standards, voters and a standard to judge off of. For disadvantages I think they can be pretty necessary for the Neg to prove why we shouldn't do the aff plan, but I won't drop you if you don't have them. Disadvantages should have clear uniqueness, link, internal link(s) and impacts. I love a good theory debate, but you got to tell me why and how this impacts how I judge the round. I am a pretty heavy flow judge, so bring up every argument you want me to judge on in every speech. Also, let me know where you are at when giving rebuttals, if you are rebutting T, tell me you are talking about t. If you are not organized I might not be able to flow your argument where you want me to flow it. If it's not on my flow it wasn't said. I love counter plans, but they need to have a text, be competitive, and have a net benefit, I really enjoy perm debates, but the aff needs to be clear on why the Neg CP is not competitive. For On case debate, make sure to do more than just the generic impact defense. I do not mind analytical arguments, just tell me why you don't need evidence for it. I am cool with spreading as long as everyone in the round can also do speed, if not everyone can don't do it. I don't mind dropped arguments especially if they are done strategically. If you tell me why you dropped them, then I won't factor that into my decision for who won the round.
Don't forget to have fun ya'll, that's why we are all here :)
I am the coach of Scarsdale HS and have been in the activity for 25 some odd years a a coach.
LD
These days I tend to tab rather than judge so I am generally out of practice. Treat me as you would an educated parent judge. Go slow and clear. Signpost. Weigh
As a more traditional judge, I prefer to hear arguments that are actually about the topics. I will listen to any well reasoned and explained arguments though although voting on argument not about the topic will probably make me want to give poor points.
PF
i would prefer fewer cards and stats that are actually contextualized and explained than a slurry of paraphrased nonsense. Anyone can make individualized stats dance, but a solid debater can explain the context of that work and how it links to other pieces of info
As a judge, my main objective is for you to deliver your best performance and enjoy the process. If you're not finding joy in it, then something's amiss. Remember to engage in respectful and effective communication with your peers.
In Speech/Interpretation:
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I generally look for effective use of voice, tone, diction, eye contact, suitable gestures, and intentional movement.
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I value believability and your ability to embody the characters.
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I appreciate captivating teasers or attention grabbers – make me sit up and pay attention!
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Your delivery should be clean and clear.
In Debate:
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I expect a clear understanding of the resolutions being debated.
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I discourage the practice of spreading.
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Good use of credible evidence and sources is crucial.
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Effective diction, tone, and appropriate gestures are important.
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Always maintain a kind and respectful demeanor.
I am a parent judge. Please go slower and use comprehensible language.
Updated for NSDA Nationals 2024:
My name is Teja Vepa, please feel free to add me to the chain - Tejavepa {at} g mail
Current / Prior Roles and Affiliations:
Director of Speech and Debate - Collegiate School, NY (2022 to present)
Program Manager - Debate - Success Academy Charter Schools, NY (2019-2022)
Associate Director - Policy Debate - Polytechnic School, CA (2013-2019)
Debate Coach - Claremont HS, CA (2009-2013)
2023-24 Topic Specific:
I have not judged many rounds on this particular topic. I may need some common acronyms specified. If you make it clear early, that would be helpful.
Paradigm for NSDA:
As of this year, I have approximately 20 years of experience with policy debate. I think Nationals is a unique tournament and debaters are tasked with adapting to a varied audience. You do not have to debate specifically for me. I am capable of and enjoy evaluating rounds that range from stock issues, policymaking, plan v K, K v K, and K v Framework.
I will vote for planless affs. I have coached at programs that are significantly more K friendly (Polytechnic) and at programs that typically prefer Plan debates (Claremont). I think both of these models have value.
Specific Argument Types:
DA: The more specific, the better. I tend to disprefer generic DAs unless the link is highly specific. I tend to beleive that the uniqueness controls the direction of the offense.
CP: I do like counterplans and these are some of my favorite debates. Ideally your CP has an internal net benefit. Process counterplans are fine. Conditionality is probably good.
K: Go ahead, I am familiar with a series of K literature bases, and specifically more familiar/well-read with these literature bases: Cap/Neoliberalism, Settler-Colonialism, Lacan/Psychoanalysis, Foucault/Biopower, Threat Construction/ Heg, Agamben/Biopolitics, Zizek. Though I am less well-read on identity arguments than postmodern high theory Ks, I do have experience with the sections of the literature base that are used in policy debate.
K Aff: I think these are legitimate. Please have a stable advocacy and be sure to win your aff if you are using it to outwiegh T/Framework.
T: I am willing to vote on it--T is about technical execution. I tend to prefer limits over other standards, so please explain your impacts if they are based in ground etc.
Framework: I tend to value education over procedural fairness.
Questions:
Happy to answer them before the round, or feel free to email me.
Update for Loyola 2020
Honestly, not much has changed since this last LD update in 2018 except that I now teach at Success Academy in NYC.
Update for Voices / LD Oct 2018:
I coach Policy debate at the Polytechnic School in Pasadena, CA. It has been a while since I have judged LD. I tend to do it once a or twice a year.
You do you: I've been involved in judging debate for over 10 years, so please just do whatever you would like to do with the round. I am familiar with the literature base of most postmodern K authors, but I have not recently studied classical /enlightenment philosophers.
It's okay to read Disads: I'm very happy to judge a debate involving a plan, DAs and counter-plans with no Ks involved as well. Just because I coach at a school that runs the K a lot doesn't mean that's the only type of argument I like / respect / am interested in.
Framework: I am open to "traditional" and "non-traditional" frameworks. Whether your want the round to be whole res, plan focused, or performative is fine with me. If there's a plan, I default to being a policymaker unless told otherwise.
Theory: I get it - you don't have a 2AC so sometimes it's all or nothing. I don't like resolving these debates. You won't like me resolving these debates. If you must go for theory, please make sure you are creating the right interpretation/violation. I find many LD debaters correctly identify that cheating has occurred, but are unable to identify in what way. I tend to lean education over fairness if they're not weighed by the debaters.
LD Things I don't Understand: If the Aff doesn't read a plan, and the Neg reads a CP, you may not be satisfied with how my decision comes out - I don't have a default understanding of this situation which I hear is possible in LD.
Other thoughts: Condo is probably a bad thing in LD.
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Update for Jack Howe / Policy Sep 2018: (Sep 20, 2018 at 9:28 PM)
Update Pending
Please use the link below to access my paradigm. RIP Wikispaces.
Will give an oral paradigm in round :)
Please be respectful and have fun!
Experience: 8 Years Competing & 4 Years Judging
I debated in PF for Marist.
General Stuff:
Tech > truth to an extent
Please explain your arguments and have warrants that back them up.
Evidence: You should have all of your evidence cut and preferably not paraphrased. I will almost always prefer an argument with evidence to an analytical argument.
Rebuttal/Second half: Second rebuttal needs to frontline at least turns. Summary and FF need to mirror each other. Defense is needed in first rebuttal.
Cross: Please be civil during cross. Interrupting your opponent is not an argument and you will get low speaks if you are unnecessarily rude.
Speed: I’m a pretty fast debater for the most part so just do whatever you want.
Theory: Theory is a good way to check back for abusive practices in the community like paraphrasing but do not just run theory to run it and get an easy W. That’s abusive and defeats the point
Policy: I have less experience with policy, but the general expectations from PF still apply. Although I'm not very familiar with policy, you're welcome to run any arguments you want
Email:sophieverska@gmail.com
LD and PF: Although I have been coaching for many years, I still consider myself a lay judge in terms of debate (with judging and coaching experience). I am open to different (non-traditional) arguments as long as they are explained well and related to the resolution. I believe we are debating the resolution, not trying to fix society, at least not during this competition round. (I have faith that many of you will do that as you continue through life!)
In terms of speed, to me it's not speed it's clarity. If you are going 90 miles per hour and have to constantly repeat yourself because you trip over words, maybe going 55 is better. If I can’t understand you, I can’t follow, flow, or judge effectively.
Congress: As a scorer, I look for good speeches with good evidence and analysis but also continuous participation including clash with previous speakers within your speaking time. Defending your stance through questioning is also important. Can you back up your written words and ideas? PO's should be able to move the chamber along smoothly, and fairly. However, they must also recognize that sometimes this may be a new experience for someone in the chamber, and be sure that everyone understands how the PO is maneuvering the chamber, not just assume that it's just standard operating procedure for everyone. Be good to each other and you will often stand out from the competition.
i will listen to any argument as long as the warrants makes sense. I tend to have a high threshold for voting on extinction scenarios, doesn’t mean I won’t, but your link chain has to be solid.
Non topical stuff needs to show me why giving you the ballot outweighs topical debates.
Not very receptive to shady theory. I want a reasonable argument indicating abusiveness.
I vote on arguments made in a voters section. These arguments must be substantiated throughout the debate. But I don’t want to intervene so it’s your job to write my RFD.
i want to be on the email chain but I find speech drop works best.
I don’t time. Time each other. Don’t be rude, keep it professional and avoid any personal attacks. Kindness will be rewarded in speaks.
if you plan on running anything different might double check before the round that I’m okay with it. I listen to most stuff. I love K debates over super policy rounds. I find debates that collapse to topicality and theory very boring, if the round necessitates such arguments I understand but I’d rather your strategy make sense to the context of the round.
Always send a marked version of the doc if you end up going off schedule and be clear when you’re reading anything not on the doc. I flow off the doc, I still want to understand you when you’re speaking so don’t abuse the fact that I flow off the dock and read so fast you’re incomprehensible.
Speaks
30-29: Expect to see you in out rounds. Amazing well thought out strategy. Clear arguments.
29-28: Few logical inconsistencies, good strategy and good overall performance.
28-27: Confusing at times and suspect strategy. Made the round unclear.
27-26: Mostly unclear. Strategy is poorly planned.
26-25: Non responsive and no viable strategy.
25-20: Reprehensible behavior.
I have a background in acting and usually coach/judge interp & public speaking. I am looking for those hallmarks that make a story complete. In extemp, even as a person who has no knowledge base of the topic should at the end of your speech have a firm grasp of its background and you argument in the matter. Informative speeches should be clear and should include creative visuals, interesting takeaways, and a concise train of thought. Oration should be a place to share experiences either personal or researched. The personal experience should be authentic and tied to the topic. Oratory should be a place to advocate for the things you believe to be important. Hi, Di, Duo, Duet, Poi, etc, should have a story that through the acting/blocking is easy to follow and enjoy. Contestants should always be courteous in the round and respectful of competitors and judges. Final interp ranks are factored between story, technical blocking, acting, and overall effect.
Director of Speech & Debate Isidore Newman School
Coach USA Debate
EMAIL: Add me to the chain:
newmanspeechdocs@gmail.com
Online Update:
Please slow down! It is much harder for me to hear online. Go at about 75% rather than 100% of your normal pace!!!
Relevant for Both Policy & LD:
This is my 20th year in debate. I debated in high school, and then went on to debate at the University of Louisville. In addition, I was the Director of Debate at both Fern Creek & Brown School in KY, a former graduate assistant for the University of Louisville, and the Director of Speech & Debate at LSU. I am also a doctoral candidate in Communication & Rhetorical studies.
I view my role as an educator and believe that it is my job to evaluate the debate in the best way I can and in the most educational way possible. Over the past several years have found myself moving more and more to the middle. So, my paradigm is pretty simple. I like smart arguments and believe that debates should tell a clear and succinct story of the ballot. Simply put: be concise, efficient, and intentional.
Here are a few things you should know coming into the round:
1. I will flow the debate. But PLEASE slow down on the tag lines and the authors. I don’t write as fast as I used to. I will yell clear ONE TIME. After that, I will put my pen down and stop flowing. So, don't be mad at the end of the debate if I missed some arguments because you were unclear. I make lots of facial expressions, so you can use that as a guide for if I understand you
2. I value effective storytelling. I want debates to tell me a clear story about how arguments interact with one another, and as such see debates holistically. Accordingly, dropped arguments are not enough for me to vote against a team. You should both impact your arguments out and tell me why it matters.
3. Do what you do best. While I do not believe that affirmatives have to be topical, I also find myself more invested in finding new and innovative ways to engage with the topic. Do with that what you will. I am both well versed and have coached students in a wide range of literature.
4. Know what you’re talking about. The quickest way to lose a debate in front of me is to read something because it sounds and looks “shiny.” I enjoy debates where students are well read/versed on the things they are reading, care about them, and can actually explain them. Jargon is not appealing to me. If it doesn’t make sense or if I don’t understand it at the end of the debate I will have a hard time evaluating it.
5. I will listen to Theory, FW, and T debates, but I do not believe that it is necessarily a substantive response to certain arguments. Prove actual in-round abuse, actual ground loss, actual education lost (that must necessarily trade off with other forms of education). Actual abuse is not because you don't understand the literature, know how to deal with the argument, or that you didn't have time to read it.
6. Be respectful of one another and to me. I am a teacher and educator first. I don’t particularly care for foul language, or behavior that would be inappropriate in the classroom.
7. Finally, make smart arguments and have fun. I promise I will do my best to evaluate the debate you give me.
If you have any other questions, just ask.
Above all else, I am interested in you showing me that you have listened to the opponent’s argument and shown me why your team has the superior plan, be it how we should orient ourselves in terms of our values, or how a government agency should carry out a specific proposal. I will be listening especially closely to the moments of clash. I will flow your arguments to the best of my ability and quickly summarize who I think won the debate and why. I will be weighing logos over pathos, but I want to hear a bit of both.
Secondly, I want to hear appropriate modulation in tone, pacing, and volume. I am interested in clarity. As an English teacher, I am probably more interested in these elements of rhetoric and style then the average judge.
I want to hear a clear moral philosophy guiding your value debates and all arguments, be they based on value, policy, or history.
Across Policy, Lincoln-Douglas, Parliamentary, and Public Forum, I want to hear credible sources, compelling warrants, and impacts that appeal to actual governing bodies and issues in the real world.
I will be listening closely to the clash. A winner will be the person who shows mastery over all the arguments in the topic’s orbit, and who puts that mastery to work by either developing a compelling and unique case or showing why the status quo and your counter-plan offer a better path forward.
Don’t be a jerk. I will be docking points if you are unnecessarily rude to the opposition. I have little tolerance for bigotry of any kind. Let’s make debate an activity that welcomes everyone, no matter their gender, socio-economic standing, race, or sexual orientation.
Some notes on specific events.
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Policy & Public Forum - While I understand it is the norm to “spread,” I am more interested in hearing quality evidence and arguments rather than quantity. If you are speaking too quickly for me to understand, I won’t consider the contention.
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Lincoln-Douglas - I’m aware that some like to steer the argument always toward their philosophical area of expertise. If you are interested in K-debate, please be prepared to explain your positions in plain English.
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Parliamentary - Be respectful; I’m not really interested in hearing any heckling. If it seems you are using POIs to disrupt, I will dock points. I care mostly that you are able to listen closely and counter the opponent’s argument than your ability to summarize research.
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Speech Events - I will place a higher value on style. I like a bit of humor, but be careful to not be offensive.
As a judge, my primary focus is on who demonstrates the best command of the round, which I evaluate based on three main criteria: content, organization, and delivery.
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Content: The strength of the arguments presented is critical. I am looking for arguments that are well-researched, logically sound, and thoroughly explained. It’s not enough just to present a lot of information; I need clear, well-supported points that directly address the issues in the round.
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Organization: Clear structure is essential. I expect debaters to present their arguments in an organized way, with each point flowing logically to the next. Strong debaters will make it easy for me to follow their case and respond to the opposing side. This includes not only the initial arguments but also how well rebuttals are organized and how each speaker builds on or refines the arguments as the round progresses.
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Delivery: Debate is a public speaking activity, so effective presentation matters. I will pay attention to how well you communicate, including clarity of speech, pacing, and your ability to engage with the audience (or judge). A confident, composed delivery enhances the strength of your arguments.
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Weighing: In your final speech, I expect you to weigh the arguments you've made and explain clearly why your side should win the round. This includes identifying the most important issues and showing why your arguments outweigh the opposing team’s points. A clear reason for decision is extremely helpful in guiding me towards the winner.
Overall, I am swayed by the debater who wins the substance of the debate, presents it in a structured and engaging way, and clearly explains why they should win in the final speech. If both sides present strong content, organization, and delivery, I will lean toward the one that demonstrates stronger and clearer reasoning inweighing the arguments.
First and foremost, I am NOT a technical judge. You will not win based on your impressive spreading speeds or an arcane determination by you that your opponent's case is null and void on some technicality. You also will not lose because I do not actually agree with your argument. My opinion on the topic is irrelevant. My focus is always on the strength of your overall presentation and debate skills, your overall case, your ability to discuss the weaknesses in your opponent's case, and your level of debate polish. Make me understand your point, and you will win.
I will always give extra points to teams invoking Nuclear Armageddon in a context that does not appear to have a nexus toward nuclear war. No, not really.
I am a parent judge who has some experience in judging. I have judged several CFL's, so I have a base experience. I value staying focused on the topic, emphasizing key points, and strong supportive evidence. I recommend speaking calmly and clearly so that I can understand and comprehend all the information in your case.
Experience:
I am a long time debate and speech coach at Apple Valley High School in Minnesota, going back to the early '90s. I have coached both LD and PF and was there for the birth of Ted Turner (now PF Debate). I continue to stay involved in both. I have a PhD in Educational Research, which means that I have quite a bit of background and training in research and evidence. I place a high value on credible evidence and the sources that produce it.
Judging Theory:
I like debates with interesting and unique arguments. But with that said, I also like to have clear links between the warrants, claims, and evidence. I don't mind theory, and I don't mind speed, but I also want to be sure that I can follow your arguments. Please slow down and emphasize outlines and tags.
My speaker point scale starts at 27. Anything below that is poor execution of strategy. And anything below a 26 is an indicator of someone saying something pretty offensive. Debate hard, but be thoughtful and considerate of one another.
I prefer that you time yourself. Be civil and collegial. I will not tolerate disrespectful language or behavior in a round.
Please do not spread.
This is my ninth year being the head coach at Kenston High School in Cleveland, Ohio. I have been a lawyer for 33 years and still practice law. I competed for four years in high school (Centerville, Ohio - three years policy debate, one year LD and four years congress) and four years in college (Miami Univ. - two years policy and two years 2-person value debate (CEDA)). Impacts are important to me. I flow the debate vigorously. Please signpost and remain professional. Please don't talk over each other in crossfire. Email for any chains:svoudris@me.com
Hello! Here are some things to know about me as your judge. I am in my twenty-fourth year of coaching and have brought competitors to Nationals for the past 12 years straight. My overarching paradigm in Speech and Debate is ethics. You need to be supportive of your fellow competitors in Speech events and respectful of your opponents in Debate. For the latter, focus on the actual debate (cross examinations) and show me that you really understand your opponent's case by asking specific questions about their evidence rather than trying to explain to me how their case doesn´t flow for some reason or another. Don´t give me voters - that´s my job. In Speech events, I´m looking for creativity and a true connection to the piece (whether you wrote it or someone else did). Lean into it, and own it. That´s what I´m looking for.
Thank you for all your hard work. Good luck to you!
I've coached Speech & Debate for over a decade and have been strong proponent of traditional debate the whole time. I do not support any form of progressive/tech debate in PF. Prove your understanding of the resolution, the current events and the actors involved in the topic. Here’s some advice:
- No spreading, I’ll say “clear” if you need to slow down
- No such thing as Tabula Rasa, it is impossible for any human to truly ignore experience in decision making
- Use taglines and signpost to maintain clarity of flow
- Don't underestimate dropped arguments in summary, proves your listening
- I do not flow cross examination so be sure to include ideas in speech
- I am a believer in pragmatism over the ideological
- Clear elaboration and correlation is as important as card use
-Link the arguments, don't make assumptions or just point to a card
-It should not take over a minute to find cards, please be familiar with your evidence
- Keep the round moving, I’ll keep time of speeches and prep
Policy and other debates - I am a traditionalist in debate in that I believe debate should be training for public communication. I prefer a conversation of ideas, not a speed reading contest with no connection to your opponent. Please watch your speed and listen and respond to your opponents arguments to help strengthen your own.
- give me road maps throughout. Thanks.
- I am not experienced in Policy, except for coaching basics and judging. I learn more from you, so don't be afraid to show me what you know.
Public Speaking: A great public speaker chooses topics that are unique, interesting, and relevant and delivers them with passion and authority. Do not trauma dump on me. It won't work. I will vote for the best speech and speaker, not the most dramatic.
Be respectful and professional. The debate space is not a place for emotional manipulation, fallacious use of accusations, and cheating.
Thank you.
Background: I currently coach at Caddo Mills High School. I attended Athens High School and competed in forensics all four years, graduating in '14. I also competed on the collegiate level at Tyler Junior College and UT Tyler.
If you have any questions about a particular round, feel free to email me at phillipmichaelw91@gmail.com
For my general paradigm:
I consider myself a tab judge. I'll listen to any arguments that you want to run as long as you're doing the work and telling me why they matter (I shouldn't have to say this but I also expect a level of civility in your arguments, i.e. no racist, sexist, or any other blatantly offensive arguments will be tolerated). When I am evaluating the round, I will look for the path of least resistance, meaning I'm looking to do the least amount of work possible. At the end of the round, I would like you to make the decision for me; meaning you should be telling me how to vote and why.
Speed is okay with me. However, as the activity has become more reliant on the sharing of speech docs, I don't think this means you get to be utterly incomprehensible (I think this is especially true for theory arguments). If I can't understand you I will call "clear" once. If your clarity does not improve, I will stop flowing. I also believe that debates should be as inclusive as possible and speed, by its very nature, tends to be incredibly exclusive via ablenormativity. If your opponents have trouble understanding you and call "clear," I believe it is your job to create a space that is inclusive for them. *Note: this is not a green light to call "clear" on your opponents as many times as you'd like and vice versa. Once is sufficient. If clarity does not improve, I will make notes on the ballot and dock speaks accordingly. Keep in mind that the best debaters do not need to rely on speed to win.
Please keep your own time.
I evaluate LD, Policy, and PFD through the same lens. I'm looking for offense and I'm voting for whoever tells me why their offense is more important. This doesn't mean that you can't run defense but 99% of the time, defense alone, will not win you my ballot.
As for how I feel about certain arguments:
Theory/Topicality: I look to theory before evaluating the rest of the round. There are a few things that I want if you're going to run and or win on theory. First, I expect you to go all in on it. If you aren't spending all your time in your last speech on theory, that tells me that it's not worth my time voting on it. This means if you go for T and a disad, I won't vote on the Topicality, even if you're winning it. Second, I want to know where the in-round abuse is. How is what the other team is doing specifically detrimental to your ability to win? Lastly, please extend an impact. Why is the way that the other team has chosen to debate bad? Please don't stop at the internal links, i.e. saying "it's bad for limits/ground/etc.". Tell me why that matters for debate.
Framework: I look to FW before evaluating the rest of the round, after theory. It would probably be beneficial to run arguments on both sides of the framework in case I wind up voting against or in favor of the framework you go for (especially in LD).
Kritiks: If you want to run a K, I would like it to be done well. That means you should have framework/a roll of the ballot/judge claim, a link, impact, and an alt. I want to know how the way I vote impacts the world or pertains to the argument that you're making. The lit bases that I am the most familiar with include the following: Neolib, Baudrillard, and Set Col. Please do not assume that I am an expert on the literature of your choosing. It is not my job to become an expert on it in-round either. Instead, I believe it is your job to clearly articulate what your literature means in the context of the round. This does not mean I can't follow other kritikal arguments; just that arguments that are outside of my wheelhouse might require more explanation. I will listen to multiple worlds arguments but if it becomes ridiculous I will not be afraid to vote on abuse. To win the kritik, I expect well-fleshed-out arguments that are extended throughout the round.
Counterplans/Disads: Counterplans don't have to be topical. They should be competitive. Please don't read counter-plan theory on the same sheet of paper as the counter-plan proper. Tell me to get another sheet of paper. Your theory position should still have an interp., standards, and voters. Disads should be structured well and have case-specific links.
In LD, I don't think running counterplans makes a ton of sense if the Affirmative is not defending a plan of action (Hint: defending the resolution is not a plan). This is because there is no opportunity cost, which means the perm is always going to function. If you're going to run a counterplan, you're going to have to do a lot of work to prove to me that you still get to weigh the counterplan against the Aff case.
If you have any specific questions or concerns about my paradigm or the way in which I evaluate the round, don't be afraid to ask before the round starts.
I am a traditional LD debater and judge. I can flow. I can follow spreading to a point but if you lose me that's on the debater. I don't care for the critiques and counter plans that have influenced LD in recent years. Give me values, a criteria to judge the value and solid philosophy to underpin your arguments.
I am typically a speech judge, so I am quite lay. Here are some points I value:
• Clarity: both in your speech and of your arguments. I appreciate clearly communicated points. Speak clearly. If I cannot understand you, you cannot win me over with your argumentation. Make it clear why something is important.
• Quality over quantity: I would much rather hear one well supported point than be bombarded with several that lack backup.
• Organization: Make sure to sign post and remind me of the relevance of evidence so I can follow your arguments. A well organized argument will allow me to assess the argument itself, rather than on your technical skill.
• Comprehension: Can I understand your points fully? Do you understand your points fully? I prefer debaters who clearly understand their own arguments, rather than those who are well prepared with documents to read off of/ have memorized their points. Debate against your opponent while ensuring that I can understand your points.
• I recommend not spreading. I have nothing against it as a point of principle or anything like that, I just won't be able to follow you.
• Comportment: everyone has their own communication styles and I am very understanding of that, however please try to be respectful of your opponents. Intentionally getting under your opponents skin, shouting, or petulant remarks won't get you anywhere.
• It bears repeating as its own point: shouting doesn't make your argument any stronger. In fact, it may lessen the clarity of your speaking, ultimately hindering my ability to understand you.
• The best debaters will always win for me. Don't pander to what you believe my personal or political beliefs may be. Focus on debating the other team and proving to me why yours is the more sound argument.
Competitors should hold themselves to a high standard of etiquette.
Reasonable arguments are the best kind of arguments.
Social justice is favored.
Your judge does not shake hands.
I've rewritten my paradigm now that I've graduated and I've shifted to primarily judging NFA LD. I am also a little bit of a hoarder so if you want to see my old paradigm, it's at the bottom of this one. I still believe most/all of those things about debate, I am just endeavoring to make it more concise and NFA specific going forward.
A Little about me:
I debated at University of Nebraska-Lincoln for 4 years (2019-2023). I won the NFA-LD grand prix and nationals my last year (imo largely because of judge/opponent adaptation) but that does not necessarily qualify me as a good/bad judge. I competed at 3 policy tournaments with UNL.
I also coached high school LD for three years at Lincoln North Star High School in Nebraska (2020-2023).
Before that I was a policy debater at Shawnee Mission West in Kansas (2016-2019).
My topic knowledge is probably a 4/10. I am now in law school which means I don't cut cards right now because I don't have time, but I am planning to judge NFA pretty regularly for UNL.
My senior year I primarily read affs that were either squarely topical with large impacts or affirmatives with non-USFG advocacy statements instead of plan texts. On the negative I went for T (60%) or the K (30%) in 90% of my rounds. This doesn't mean you have to debate that way, that's just where I am coming from.
I like speechdrop, but I don't care enough to make you use it. If we do an email chain use wallenburg.debate@gmail.com.
TLDR:
I flow, which comes before almost all my other preferences. I like fast (but accessible) debate. I think the time limits in NFA are broken which changes how I would like to evaluate certain arguments. I will vote for nearly anything that has warrants. If you read a plan text, it should be topical, if you don't read a plan text, I think your aff should be at least tangentially related to the topic. I like when negative debaters lay their cards on the table in the NC to prioritize explanation over shock value in the NR.
General Things:
Speed: Sure. Go probably 90% of full speed and slow down on analytics. I flow on paper because I don't type very fast. Clear and slow is better than fast and non-understandable. If your opponent asks you to slow down for accessibility reasons you should. If you ask for someone to slow down for accessibility reasons and then in another debate go really fast, I will not be very forgiving. Those who do this create a poor perception of all requests for slowing down which harms people who actually need to have conversational debates.
Style: Frame my ballot. Tell me which arguments matter the most, why they matter, and why you are winning them. Fewer arguments that are well explained are almost always better than trying to make as many bad arguments as possible. Don't be afraid to "kick" me if you're in front of a more traditional panel. I will still flow and vote off that flow, so if you can win both the technical and ethos debate it will be better for you.
NFA Specific Opinions: 2ARs need to do pick their two or three best arguments and then do line by line on the negative's answers to those arguments from the 1AR. NCs should be less afraid of reading only 1 or 2 off. NRs (generally) shouldn't read cards except to answer cards that the aff read in the 1AR. I think generally more than 1 Conditional advocacy breaks the game, but you should probably get to read that one advocacy conditionally. When the Negative goes for multiple off case arguments that aren't part of the same route to the ballot (i.e. DA + K or T instead of CP + DA), I think the aff gets a ton of leeway in answering them all. The 6-3 time tradeoff just necessitates it and neg debaters will find their time is better spent in the NR really explaining 1 route to the ballot instead of shadow extending it all. I am frustrated with NFA judges that have really ideological oppositions to certain arguments and styles, I think it is just as much my (our) job to adapt to you as it is your job to adapt to me (us) and as such I will endeavor to listen to all of your (non-bigoted) arguments with an open mind.
Disclosure Theory: I am at a crossroads with how I evaluate disclosure right now. We can talk about this more, and I'm open to opinions or suggestions. Generally, I think everybody should be disclosing arguments they have read before on the Wiki. I also tend to evaluate theory arguments very technically. In the spirit of transparency, however, here are a couple thoughts I'm still working through in these debates (and I think they deviate pretty substantially from what people assume about me, hence the relative length):
(1) I am more likely to vote for disclosure theory against someone who knows better. In practice, this means I give more credence to potential abuse arguments against debaters who have been doing this for awhile and/or respond to disclosure with a really big "disclosure bad" shell. On the flip side, I have found myself defaulting to proven abuse/functional application when disclosure is run against new debaters or those that are losing the "tech" simply because they have never had a deep theory debate before.
(2) Often, people think "Nick will vote on disclosure theory" and so they jettison what would otherwise be a clean cut win on a different position. This makes me sad. 100% I would rather vote on the DA/Aff/K/etc. and tell your opponent after the debate "also you should really disclose or answer theory better." It allows me to give better feedback and will likely help you in speaker points, which I think are both good things for you.
(3) I find it hard to establish a discernible difference between "full text on the wiki" "Tags on the wiki" and telling someone what the aff is 15 minutes before the round (a) when asked and (b) with the willingness to send them a copy if they want it. If you don't ask for disclosure so that you can read disclosure, I think you should evaluate whether you actually wanted a fair debate in the first place.
(4) The more you are reading blocks for disclosure theory in the NR/1AR, the less likely I will be to vote for you. I don't want to weigh a novice's reading of their Top 10 teammate's blocks if I can say with substantive certainty that they would not be able to explain the arguments absent those blocks. I know this is the practice with all arguments, but it just makes me feel especially weird with disclosure theory and Idk why (probably an offshoot of my opinion in point (1)).
Arguments:
Affs: Should have an advocacy and an impact. I think if you're going to claim to be Topical you should be topical. If you aren't trying to be topical I prefer you just impact turn T instead of going for defense (I never much cared for "the people are the USFG" arguments). Don't read cards you don't need in the 1AR, you don't have time.
Disadvantages: Sure, I think you should read your best link card in the NC. I (generally) don't think you get add on scenarios in the NR. Specific links are always better than non-specific links.
Counterplans: Yes. Explain how they solve the aff, how they avoid the net benefits, and why they are theoretically legitimate. Do what you can justify, but I tend to fall pretty in line with (policy) established convention as to whether a certain type of CP is cheating or not. I will say I do like PICs and I think that judges that auto reject PICs are actively inhibiting creative negative debaters and rewarding affirmatives for lazy plan writing.
Kritiks: I lived here for the longest in College. Stylistically I think the NC should read less cards and spend more time articulating the links on the case. Why wait until the NR to make link arguments when you can have two shots at explaining it to me to understand it? Framework arguments should be in the NC/1AR. I don't think the NR needs to go for the alt, but it does need to explain why it doesn't need the alt. I think affirmative debaters get too generic answering kritiks, and should make more specific analytical arguments instead of just asserting "perm double bind." 2ARs should collapse more on these - if you're winning the no link debate, go for the perm. If you're winning the impact turn debate, who cares about the perm?
Topicality: (Against the aff with a USFG plan text) I love a good T debate. I think that topicality informs how we write plans in the future which means competing interpretations and potential abuse are (generally) truer arguments. Define words in the resolution, put any TVAs/ExtraT/FXT/impact framing issues in the NC shell. The NR should go between overviewing/explaining disadvantages to the affirmatives interpretation and line by lining the 1AR responses. Here, again, the aff should pick their battle in the 2AR.
(Against the aff with a non-USFG advocacy) I think this is a viable strategy. You should do more establishment of impacts in the NC then you might against a topical aff. Think of this as more a disad to their method than a prior question, which means you should be making arguments on the case about why topicality harms the aff's ability to solve itself in the NC. You will be hard pressed to win this debate if you do not put some amount of argumentation on the aff. You can win fairness alone but I think it's better explained as an impact to clash/education. Affirmatives should read 2-3 good 1AR impact turns based in AC evidence and explain them in the 1AR instead of 10 blippy, generic arguments. The 2AR should pick the best one and explain it against every macro impact the NR extends.
**********OLD PARADIGM***********
Last Edited in April of 2023.
TLDR:
Do whatever you want. I typically default to offense/defense paradigm and I think judge adaptation should be a two-way street: yes you should probably do what your judges prefer because its strategic, but judges should also make every effort to understand and evaluate your arguments fairly. I am very frustrated by judges that give RFDs like "I don't evaluate this kind of argument" or "You were going too fast so I didn't even try to flow you." I prefer affs are at least based in literature about the resolution. I started with more exposure to Policy style arguments but have since become somewhat of a "K hack." I love impact turns, T debates, tricky DA's, and well thought out Critical debates, not necessarily in that order.
Style Preferences:
Speed - Yes I can handle speed, but please don't go full out. I can flow pretty well, but going too fast will likely hurt you more than it will help you. I would say the 1AC/1NC should be like 90% of top speed, and warrants/rebuttals should be 75%, I'm not a very fast typist so I will likely flow on paper.
Frame my Ballot - Please. The 2NR/2AR should almost always start out with an overview of "You vote Aff/Neg Because..." if you fall into the nasty habit of just going straight into line by line without telling me where to look first in the debate, but your opponent gives a clear, concise overview of how I should evaluate the round and which arguments matter the most, you may not like my decision.
Round Vision - Keep an eye out for technical mistakes and cross flow applications. My partner and I came back from a lot of debates that we were very clearly losing by correctly analyzing bad 2NR kick outs or 1AR mistakes. Making strategic concessions and cross applications will be rewarded.
Adapt - If you're debating in front of a panel don't be afraid to kick me and cater to the other judges interests. I get it, no hard feelings. I will still make my decision based on a technical analysis of the flow unless explicitly instructed otherwise.
Argumentative Things:
Affs - I would prefer that Affirmatives are in the direction of the resolution, and have a stable advocacy, otherwise I will likely find a parametrics argument pretty persuasive. I have read planless affirmatives and I think they have lots of merit, but where teams go wrong is shadow extending aff cards but not explaining their method or solvency mechanism. What does the advocacy do? How do you resolve violence? Do you need to resolve violence? I think these are questions that need to be answered early in the debate. That being said, I think impact turns to FW should use the aff. I am not a big fan of copy and pasting your generic K aff blocks to every aff you read when your evidence justifies much more nuanced answers to framework. As for Affs with Plan Texts, I'm down for whatever. My senior year Alex and I mostly read soft left affs with a framing page, but we also occasionally went for a big stick economy aff with a lot of preempts to Cap and Dedev, so read what you want and I should be able to handle it.
Impact Turns - Yes. Please. Dedev and prolif good were my favorite. Focus your attention on the Sustainability debate, impact analysis, and Impact defense. Read any impact turn you want. Although hearing something like death good or wipeout will probably make me sad.
Topicality - I love a good T debate, but the key word there is good. I default to competing interpretations and I don't think you need to win in round abuse to win T. I typically view T as a Disadvantage to the Affirmative through an offense/defense paradigm and I think fairness is just an internal link to education. 2NC/1NR should have a case list and hopefully have a TVA. The biggest problems teams have when going for Topicality in front of me is warranting out their DAs. Why does the aff explode limits? What do they justify? Why is the ground they take core neg ground and why is that bad? Answering the why question will make topicality debates more persuasive for me. When answering T make sure you have offense or a very clear we meet. ***Pet Peeve: Reasonability is an interpretation level argument, not a violation level argument. "We are reasonably topical" makes absolutely no sense. You are either topical or you aren't, and whoever wins the interpretations debate decides that.
Disadvantages - Yes. There was always a Politics DA in my 1NC's in high school and I love them. The best 2NC's/1NR on DA's will have an overview of some form on top. Brink DAs are much more persuasive than linear DAs. Be sure to make turns case arguments and really flesh out your links in the block. Conversely, dropped turns case arguments in the 1AR typically make a neg presumption ballot significantly easier. Read whatever DA's you like and I can jive.
Counterplans - Also yes. The Bread to the Disad's butter. I think that judge kick is implied in condo and if you want to make a more in depth argument about why I shouldn't judge kick the cp for the neg then that debate should start in the 2AC. Conversely, if the aff wins no judge kick I am sympathetic to arguments about presumption flowing aff if a counterplan is in the 2NR. When reading counterplans sufficiency framing is your friend. Make your net benefits clear and your solvency warrants clearer. Carded counterplans are always better than non-carded counterplans, but pointing out that the aff evidence advocates for your generic CP is also pretty cool. I am always telling teams to do more framing in these rounds. What does the counterplan solve and why does it matter? I will draw the lines, but I will be hesitant.
I would say my opinions about counterplan legitimacy are pretty mainstream. If it's typically thought of as a "cheating" counterplan, I probably think its cheating too. That doesn't mean don't read it, just spend enough time to actually win the theory debate. Nuanced interpretations and fewer, better arguments are preferable to your 9 point "yes delay CPs" blocks.
Kritiks (When You are Neg) - Yes. I will listen to K's but I am probably not very familiar with your literature. I am probably a little bit more sympathetic to framework arguments about ontology/epistemology/pedagogy/etc. than some other judges, and I think the most effective way to win the framework debate is to get impacts external to fairness alongside all of your typical clash impact turns. I don't think you need to go for the alt if you can win framework and impact calc. If you do go for the alt, I think the most persuasive debaters describe it more as a process and less as a singular event. The link debate is the most important part, and an analytical extrapolation of generic links and how they interact with the case in the 2NC is more persuasive than reading 10 new cards that don't say much about the aff. My senior year when I went for the K, I mostly went for a Zizek Cap K with a really buff 2NC Framework (I look back and feel silly saying that). I also read Agamben and Security. In college I have focused my research on Ecological Pessimism (A Climate oriented spin off of OOO), Managerialism, Necropolitics as it is theorized by Achille Mbembe, Militarism, China Threat Construction (Pan), and critical pedagogy. The teams I coach read a lot of Warren/Wilderson, Puar, Munoz, and Edelman so I'm being exposed to that lit too. Everything outside of those I probably have a working knowledge of, but you will probably have to do more explaining to me than you might have to with another judge. If I don't understand the core thesis by the end of the round, it will be very hard to win my ballot.
Case Debate - Is a lost art. The more you can attack the internal links of the aff, the more likely you can pick up my ballot. I will vote on presumption if a significant amount of case answers are mishandled or good DA turns the Aff arguments are won. If you are debating against a plan-less aff do what you do - I could listen to a methods debate or a FW debate - I think often teams that read plan-less affs are really only ready for the latter, so you might consider using that to your advantage.
Theory - SLOW DOWN ON YOUR THEORY BLOCKS. The key to a good theory debate is a nuanced interpretation. The more tailored you can make your interpretation to the debate that is happening to subsume the other team's offense, the better off you will be. Theory is almost always a reason to reject the Argument and not the team, but I think the best aff theory is used to justify abusive permutations like Perm do the counterplan. Condo is a different beast, and a reason to reject the team if won. I would prefer the 2AR not devolve to condo, but I also understand that sometimes you get spread out or there are egregious performative contradictions that warrant a complete throw to theory. In these situations outline the in-round abuse and make your impacts clear - ensure that you can explain why your interp is not regressive.
**********************************************HIGH SCHOOL LD****************************************
Because I live in Nebraska I guess I have to include this stuff too...
Top Level: SHARE CASES. I don't understand this permissibility with not seeing your opponents evidence, not for flowing purposes but for checking reliability of the evidence, but it seems more prevalent in HS LD than other places. Pet peeve is debaters who don't share the AC/NC until after they give it or ask which evidence to send instead of just sending the whole doc :)
I have now been coaching/judging LD for the better part of 3 years and more often than not I find myself evaluating these rounds very similarly to how I would evaluate a policy round. With that being said, see above for my policy preferences if you want to have a progressive round, with a few caveats below. If you find yourself more of a traditional or phil debater, that's cool too, read on...
TRAD: This is the LD type I did when I went to high school in Kansas City. If you want me to just evaluate value v value with degrees of solvency, tell me why that's the best method for debate. I prefer arguments steeped in argument quality and structural fairness as opposed to arguments that appeal to "the spirit of LD" or "Morality is useful for everyday life." I find the first to be arbitrary and the second to be just silly. If you are debating against a Traditional case with a progressive case, focus on similar aspects of the framing debate. Tell me why it is pedagogically/competitively valuable to abandon pure value v value debate. I think there is a litany of reasons on both sides of this question and it is up to you to parse out.
PHIL: These are the concepts that are most foreign to me. I enjoy philosophy in my everyday life, but I don't often read a whole lot of books/papers through the philosophical lens of Kant or Locke or what have you. With that being said, I can often understand phil arguments, they just need more explaining in front of me. Explain how your philosophy better explains the world and moral action, and why it specifically takes out the competing method. Don't just say "act omission distinction," tell me what that is and why it's good/bad. Phil cases that I've coached and have begun to understand, but am by no means well versed in are Kant, MacIntyre, and Locke.
PROGRESSIVE: If you're actually reading paradigms this is likely why you're here. I try to be tabula rasa (don't we all?) but I do have preconceived biases that are not hard to overcome with well-developed argumentation. I tend to think that the round should be some flavor of hypo testing where the aff defends the whole rez and the neg defends the status quo or a counter advocacy that is not related to the resolution to resolve aff offense. If the aff reads a plan text, that's fine, justify it and parse it out. I think that gives the negative more leeway for Counterplan or PIC offense, as well as Topicality or Theory. On condo, I think that anything more than 1 or 2 condo in LD is abusive but can be persuaded to think less or more is permissible. I consider myself to be a connoisseur of theory debates, but I hate having 3 or 4 theory arguments flying around from the get-go. I would much rather you focus on one theory argument and really developed and debate it, instead of relying on your opponent dropping standard 3 subsection C.
A CAVEAT ON T WHOLE REZ: If you think this is your best option for the NR go for it, but I want to be very clear on how I often find myself adjudicating these arguments: 1. Grammar over pragmatics is silly to me, I likely won't be as persuaded by a grammar argument about what kind of plural the word "states" is but I would be much more persuaded by a Limits DA. 2. I don't think an interp card is necessary for this argument. I think it's just as viable as a theory argument like solvency advocate theory or Condo - affirmative teams that rely on "You don't have a card for that" will receive much less sympathy from me than teams that make their own counter interp and have the standards debate.
For the most part, everything above about policy debate applies, if you have any specific questions please ask me before the round and I will be happy to answer them. GLHF!
In my ideal debate world, the affirmative would read a topical plan and defend the implementation of that plan. The negative would read disadvantages, counterplans, and case turns/defense. Topical research is probably my most favorite part of debate, so I would assume that I would have a tendency to reward teams that I see as participating in the same way I view the game.
I get that my ideal debate world isn't everyone's ideal debate world. I also vote for teams that prefer to run Topicality, Kritiks, or other arguments as their "go to" strategies. Good critical debaters explain specific links to the affirmative case and spend some time discussing how their argument relates to the impacts that are being claimed by the affirmative team. I also think it helps a lot to have specific analogies or empirical examples to prove how your argument is true/has been true throughout history.
I expect that paperless teams will be professional and efficient about flashing evidence to the other team. It annoys me when teams flash large amounts of evidence they don't intend to read or couldn't possibly read in a speech to the other team and expect them to wade through it. It should go without saying that I expect that you won't "steal" prep time in the process of flashing, or any other time really. It also annoys me when teams don't flow just because they are "viewing" the evidence in real time.
I expect that teams will post their cites to the wiki as soon as the debate is over, and ideally before I give my decision and otherwise participate in information sharing efforts.
I like to have a copy of speeches flashed to me as well so I can follow along with what everyone else sees in the debate and because I think it makes the decision making process go faster.
The best way to get high speaker points from me is to be clear, be polite, participate fully in your cross-examinations and use them to your advantage to point out flaws in your opponents’ arguments, try hard, and use appropriate humor.
Ask me questions if this doesnt cover what you need to know or you can't find the answer from someone else that I have judged/coached. Obviously there will be tons of other things I think about debates that I haven't posted here. Have fun.
I am a traditional PF judge. I don't really do kritiks or speed. Win me with strong arguments and impacts.
I vote on impacts and your ability to uphold and extend them throughout the round.
I prefer tech over truth, but will take any argument as long as you give clear analysis.
Speed shouldn't be too fast, but if it comes to it, be clear and concise.
I look for rational, linear argumentation. Please do not advance contentions/make arguments without providing adequate warrant/evidence. Please avoid negating your own argument(s) with circular or incomplete warrants/reasoning. Please do not abuse your opponent. Civility will gain much more than overly agressive pursuit. Spreading is perhaps fine, but it had better consist of completed arguments (claim AND warrant) rather than scatter gun approaches designed as insurmountable "gotcha" gimmicks to merely trap your opponents into "dropping" arguments. If your claims and warrants don't actually WORK, then I'm highly unlikely to count them as actual arguments, and your opponent cannot drop arguments that weren't completed on your part. Also, if your speed is so rapid that I cannot flow it, then those are arguments you didn't successfully make, and which your opponent cannot actually "drop." Please do not present me with "theater of the absurd" contentions that are off topic or so bizzarely twisted that they are abusive to your opponent. Such tactics will not be rewarded as voters. Off time road mapping is, to me, highly suspect, as it can quickly appear to be an attempt to abuse the time constraints and thus abuse one's opponent, and leaves an overall bad taste in my mouth (not to mention in the mouth/mouths of your opponent/opponents). If you just MUST off time road map, then, of course, you will want to keep it to a minimum, .... but be aware that really ANY of it appears to me to be suspect/abusive. Please contain your claims and warrants to terms and phrases whose definitions you FULLY understand, and with which you are comfortable and fluent in pronouncing. Just because it is on the card doesn't mean it can't seriously break up your flow if you mis pronounce it or wholly or partially misunderstand all the implications it has. DO flow your opponents' arguments carefully, and feel free to turn claims that aren't warranted, or that are poorly warranted. Being able to so do with terms used by an opponent who clearly doesn't understand ALL implications, without being a wiseacre about it are often rewarded in voting.
I have over 10 years of judging experience, primarily in Individual Events. While I have judged debate rounds, I do not judge debate often and may not be as familiar with highly technical or specialized debate strategies.
Debate Preferences:
- Clarity: I value clear communication. Please avoid spreading and aim to engage as though you are having a conversation. If I cannot understand your arguments due to speed or unclear delivery, I will not be able to evaluate them.
- Language: Reduce jargon as much as possible. While I understand general debate terms, excessive or overly technical language can detract from your persuasiveness.
- Engagement: Approach the debate with a focus on logical argumentation and respectful clash. Make your points accessible and easy to follow.
Evaluation Style:
- I will take notes on the key arguments presented by both sides and evaluate them holistically.
- Persuasiveness is key. Strong evidence, common sense reasoning, and connections that resonate with a broad audience will carry significant weight in my decision.
- Impact comparison is important. Clearly explain why your arguments matter in the context of the round and how they compare to your opponent's.
Overall:
My goal is to fairly and objectively assess the arguments presented. Please focus on clear communication, logical reasoning, and engaging delivery to make your case.
Debate: Make your contentions obvious, don't spread, and don't be an offensive/abusive idiot. I believe that theory (especially disclosure theory) is counterproductive to the debate community and if you run it you will lose my ballot.
Please send your case to my email so that I can pre-flow the round: sasharathkespeech@gmail.com
Speech: If you are not memorized, I will always rank you below someone who has done the work of memorization. In PA, I am looking for well-structured speeches with a good balance of analysis and evidence. Performance quality matters with tone, hand gestures and overall confidence, and while jokes are fun, they are not necessary to win my round. In Interp, I am looking for well defined characters, clear blocking, and a speaker who is fully immersed in their performance.
Long time coach with tons of judging experience across most events. California doesn't have OI, Prose, or Poetry so those would be exceptions.
Policy, PF, LD, and Parli you can run any argument you wish. However, you'll need to go slow and explain the position. "Politics Disad" means nothing to me....explain the argument. The default should probably be to treat me as a slow judge or a traditionalist, Although on some level that is true, I'm willing to listen to most any argument if it's explained and warranted.
I am a coach at The Potomac School. Experience in coaching and competing in speech and debate at the High School and College levels. Many years of judging HS and MS. All together, about 14 years.
Basic round guidelines regardless of event:
-General courtesy towards other debaters/speakers. Good sportsmanship before, during, and after rounds.
-Be careful about making large scale claims about minority/marginalized groups, arguments need to be more general (i.e. people in x situation generally do y. NOT this group does y in x situation.). In my mind this is the easiest way to create a friendly and educational environment that doesn't exclude people or make them uncomfortable.
Congress:
Delivery - At a minimum I must be able to hear and understand the words you are saying. I am not a fan of visual aids, I find they usually waste time and distract from the speech's purpose.
Evidence usage - Evidence should inform and bolster your argument. Looking for a good balance of evidence variety and volume.
Analysis - I need to know the context of the evidence that is being provided and see how it connects to your argument. I will not connect the dots myself.
Decorum - Maintain good sportsmanship and a professional atmosphere.
Voting - If there is an outstanding decorum issue, this will be my primary voting point and I will note it in your ballot. Other than that, I will always lean towards analysis.
Debate Rounds:
-Heavier on content than delivery, but delivery must be understandable, (i.e. slow enough to understand, If you do spread, I'll do my best to flow and follow the speech but if it's too fast or mumbled, the arguments get dropped) have a sense of clarity, and some composure. Make sure you flow the round - it wasn't on the shared doc is not an excuse in my book. If I can hand flow and catch it, I expect you to.
-Round clash is important - including directly answering questions from opponents.
-Clarity and signposting through your flow is much appreciated.
-Warranting and impacting makes up a large part of my ballot. Win your world (framework), win their world (framework).
- I'm fine with theory/Ks/etc BUT it needs to make sense for that round and you have to debate it well.
Speech:
-Looking to see the full range of your speaking capabilities (volume, emotion, etc.).
-Please make sure I can hear you in rounds, if I cannot hear you, I cannot rank you properly.
-Do NOT use your phones during rounds. Please show respect to your fellow speakers. I will not hesitate to drop your ranks/speaks.
There are two things that tank the validity of a debate. The first is speaking too fast. I am confident in my ability to flow and flow quickly; however, if I am unable to keep up, you're speaking too fast. Speaking that quickly does nothing for a debate because if your opponent and judge can't follow what you're saying, how are they supposed to respond or determine the winner of the debate? If I stop typing for a prolonged period of time, it means that I've stopped flowing and you should slow down. The second thing is poor decorum. Whether you are winning handily, supposably losing, frustrated with an argument, or happy with a trap you've set up, I shouldn't be able to tell. Uphold a strong level of respect, stoicism, and concentration in and on the round. Win and lose with grace.
Other requirements in the round:
Whatever argument you make should be backed by evidence, regardless of the event. Bleeding heart claims with unsubstantiated evidence have no place in a debate round. Statements such as "I think..." don't stand in a debate.
As a student, I was a policy debater and am now the Director of Debate for Saint Paul Academy and Summit School.
I prefer substantive debates in PF where the focus of your speech is based on reasoning and direct responses to your opponent's argument.
Make sure you are extending your arguments. I prefer a final speech with extended warrants and impact weighing within a solid narrative.
Tell me where you are on your flow. I can flow spreading but don't feel PF is the forum for that type of speech and I don't like it.
I have very high standards for academic honesty and evidence ethics. Be ready to hand over your cards and do not paraphrase.
Above all, be respectful.
I debated in the late 90's. I believe in the Value Premise and Criterion. I think there should be clash. Rounds should be in a conversational speed. If I am yelling clear, I am missing an argument. I will stop flowing. I am not a blank slate judge nor will I drop someone for dropping an unreasonable argument. The last speeches are for providing voters and writing my ballot. If there is no connection back to the VP/ your position, I feel there is no ground for me to vote. I do not vote for Kritiks. I do believe a discussion with a debater about the round is ok. I think understanding points of view helps with communicating your cases in later rounds. I will not switch my decision.
I am a high school English teacher and consider myself strictly a lay judge for Public Form. I never participated in speech or debate as a student.
If you speak too fast, I will not be able to adequately follow your argument, and this will not be to your benefit.
I appreciate a clear and deliberate style of speaking.
My name is Cathryn Watkins, and I'm currently the Assistant Debate Coach for Clear Brook High School.
For extemp, I don't have any stylistic preferences. I enjoy individuality, and would like to see each student's unique speech style rather than ascribing to a specific speech pattern. Regardless of delivery choice, students should enunciate clearly and project their voice to ensure they are heard and understood. Speeches should be balanced between evidence and commentary. Evidence provides the backbone of an argument, but commentary makes the evidence concrete and meaningful. You need both in your speech to be effective.
Oratory and Info are heavily reliant on aggregating data, and I expect the evidence presented to be thorough. I want the topic presented to be unique. If a subject has been presented multiple times already, students must find a way to make their information impactful and stand apart from other performances. Overall, I look for passion in speech delivery. If the student does not seem to care about their topic, how am I supposed to care about it? Again, I enjoy experiencing each student's unique style of delivery, so I have no delivery preferences.
Interpretation events are centered around how well the student marries author's intent with their own experiences to create something new from a piece. Teasers and introductions should be created to maximize audience interest and familiarize the audience with the subject matter. Without an effective beginning the audience doesn't know where the interpretation is going, which could cause confusion. Blocking and movement should always be intentional and used to create meaning. Random movement without a connection to the interpretation will only distract and confuse. To the same extent, curse words can be powerful but if used too often become a distraction as well.
Debate rounds are, at their core, about respectful discourse. The ultimate goal for me is to persuade me to agree with you over your opponent. I do not have any preferences about the structure of debate, but I do not appreciate spreading, especially when students speak so quickly I cannot understand what is being said. If I can't understand you, you lose my vote.
Disrespect, in any form, is not received well from my perspective, particularly when one side is behaving with integrity and respect and the other side is not.
The main thing I look for in a good speech is how it furthers debate by either building new evidence, expanding upon a point already made, or respectfully refuting a piece of evidence or conclusion already made. A strong debate is also well organized and easy to follow, and includes the necessary context and back ground information needed to understand the argument being made with little knowledge of the topic. Ideally debates will also be presented in a way that is engaging to listen to.
I prefer a clear, evidenced-based debate. I won't tell you what to run because it's your round, but I will tell you I prefer traditional arguments. If you run ks, they need to be articulated with clear alts.
Use an email chain - include me (lizannwood@hotmail.com) on it, and be honest about the evidence. Paraphrasing is one of my biggest pet peeves. (Post-rounding and making me wait for endless evidence exchanges are the others).
Don't be rude or condescending. You can be authoritative while also being polite.
Speed: case-spreading is fine, esp if I have speech docs, but slow down in rebuttals.
Reasonability over competing interps.
Experience:
Mountain Brook Schools Director of Speech and Debate 2013 - current
Mountain Brook High School debate coach 2012-2013
Thompson High School policy debater 1991-1995
Qualifications/ Recognitions:
Authored 3 sets of lesson plans in the National Speech and Debate Association's series found here: https://www.speechanddebate.org/start-here/
Member - Emory University Gold Key Society
I am the currently the debate coach at West Boca Raton High School. Prior to this year, I was an Instructional Facilitator for Broward County Public Schools on the county-wide debate program. Before that I was the debate coach for 10 years at Coral Springs High School.
I am generally open to any type or style of argument, as long as it is relevant and topical. Explain to me why you have upheld your standard (which can be as traditional or creative as you wish, as long as you establish why it is topical), and/or (preferably "and") your opponent has not upheld theirs, and you will win the round. I will judge the round based off of my flow, but that does not mean that dropped arguments are an automatic disqualification. The weighing of arguments is incredibly important to me, and if I judge the dropped argument to be a comparatively minor argument, then I won't vote based on that argument.
The only arguments that I generally find unpersuasive are arguments that are completely non-topical and have no relevance to the resolution or the specific cases being debated. Any theory you decide to run should be in response to actual, legitimate abuse from your opponent. Other than that, be creative and have fun. Just make sure you tie it into the resolution and/or your opponent's case.
I will not explicitly factor speed into my decision. However, I am not terrific at understanding speed. Pay attention to whether or not I'm flowing. If I'm not flowing, I'm not understanding you. I won't say "CLEAR"; it's up to you to be understandable.
I award speaker points based on general clarity (Which does not necessarily mean speed. You can be fast and clear.) and the quality of support for your arguments.
Experience - I am a coach, though we specialize in congress and public forum. I have coached and judged LD before, though it has been a while (about a year). As for techniques and terminology, I know most of them -- and if not by name, through context.
General - Build me a good case - solid framework, well supported: convince me.
Evidence/data is good but is not my sole judging criteria. Logical argumentative techniques bolstered by evidence is your best route. Make sure I can follow (flow) your organization - signposts, transitions, etc.
That case should also be well-communicated. Impressive as a spitfire stream of data is, that's not effective communication. Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas didn't spread; neither should you. I don't mind some speed as I know there's a lot you want/need to say, but again, make sure I can flow your argument. The faster you go, the less I can flow.
Be civil.
Judging/Win - I vote on argumentation and impacts first, evidence second, structure and delivery third, and civility final. A weak speaker with a solid organized case will win before a strong speaker with a weak or disorganized case.
I also don't disclose unless required and generally only give comments orally at the end of the round if something stands out as really weak or really strong and it is necessary to fix or continue into the next round.
No spreading
I will try to leave all other knowledge at the door and let debators present evidence, but if something is completely outlandish I won't let it fly just because the other team doesn't attack it adequately. I won't be convinced about things blatantly untrue (i.e. sky isn't blue) because I can tell if you are using arguments completely cynically.
Pretty generous with speaker points
Trevor Wells
Valparaiso (Indiana) High School
Judging Philosophy
(Current as of 2024 NSDA Nationals – Congressional Debate and/or WSD Judging Pools)
Last year's version of this Judging Philosophy was way too long; I've shortened this year's version considerably in the hopes that it might be more digestible/useful in pre-round preparation. While the cutting room floor is mostly cluttered with my self-indulgent ramblings, I like to think there was also some material in last year's tome that added some nuance as to how I approach the activity and how I attempt to adjudicate debates. If you have questions about anything after reviewing the skinny version of my judging philosophy, just ask.
My Experience with Speech & Debate:
Although I've spent a good chunk of the past forty years involved in speech and debate in some capacity, for more than three quarters of that time, I competed (for a decade between 1984 - 1994, from middle school through college), judged, and coached exclusively in the Policy-Debate world -- with the majority of the judging and coaching taking place at the college level.
Nine years ago this coming fall, I started working as a volunteer coach for the Public Forum squad at the local high school and found that I enjoyed working with that group of kids for a couple of hours a couple of afternoons a week far more than my rather mundane and soul-sucking professional life as a ham-and-egger insurance-defense attorney. After helping out for a few years -- during which I coached primarily PF and some WSD -- I switched firms needed to step back to focus on professional matters. Then, a couple of years later, one of my own kids got the debate bug as a middle schooler and ended up finding her people on the Valparaiso High School Speech, Debate and Mock Trial ("SDMT") team when she got to high school. Fortuitously, there was a vacancy on the coaching staff, so I jumped at the chance to reconnect with debate. But, as I understand is the case for a lot of programs, after the pandemic, the numbers of students involved with the program, as well as their interest(s) in particular events, had changed, so I ended up “coaching” (quotation marks because I was easily learning from the kids at least twice as much as I imparted) Congressional Debate [which, when I was competed, was "Student Congress" and was a speech-side-of-things event] and some public address events, as well.
A couple of years later, I've reached the point where I'm almost comfortable when a tab room decides that I'm the right fit for a POI or DUO Interp round. And what I’ve learned is that I find it rewarding to interact with young people involved in “speech and debate" writ large. Although I'm definitely still more comfortable adjudicating debate events, I've discovered that what happens on the “speech” side of this activity is also pretty amazing. And, as such, and given that my flow pen is appreciably slower in this gray-beard phase, I’ve come to really enjoy coaching and judging some of the debate events that place a premium on communication and persuasion more accessible to laypersons.
Overall Philosophy About Adjudicating Debates: I strive to be the best judge that I can be, which, for me, means:
· Giving my best effort whenever I’m handed a ballot. Regardless of whether I’m judging a prelim debate between winless rank novices in the LD division of a local tournament in the early fall or an elimination round at an end-of-season championship tournament, I will try hard to make a good decision. I will shut out other distractions and focus only on the debate in front of me. I will make sure that I get the sleep that the middle-aged me needs to focus and think hard.
· I will endeavor to be an educator by providing meaningful, useful, constructive feedback to the debaters I judge.
· I will respect the activity and everyone at the tournament. I choose to participate in debate because I loved my time competing and I believe that it had the single greatest influence on the person I became and the way I view the world. Other people who choose to coach and compete in this activity are thus extended family. We may not see eye-to-eye on everything, but we have something common in our cores.
Things I Like
· Clash. Although think I’m improving in my ability to appropriately take into account style and delivery and other intangible elements of persuasion in my judging, I’m fundamentally wired and conditioned to view “debate” as something resembling a dialectical dialogue. And I think the best debaters are those who take the time to understand (“grok” might be the better word, actually, and understanding those arguments even better than the side making them is what separates the best from the best) and engage with their opponents’ arguments. Prepared speeches have their place. But, all things being otherwise equal, I will likely find more persuasive and will rank higher debaters who deliver speeches that substantively address with specificity the arguments being discussed and advance the discussion in new directions.
· Clever Presentations. Take some risks and venture outside the stifling box of ordinary public-policy argumentation. Give me analogies to pop culture (even if I’m too gray-haired and not nearly cool enough to fully comprehend your Gen-Z references). Bludgeoning a position to death with statistics and evidence works. But if you can do that with aplomb and in your own, novel way, more power to you. At my fundamental core, I’m a pretty simple guy; debaters who entertain me succeed in front of me. It's easy to pigeonhole certain topics (or Bills/Resolutions/Amendments) into well-trodden, comfortable ground. If you can come at me from a different perspective -- something other than federalism or black-and-white subject-matter-of-bill-good-or-bad discussions -- you'll generally do better/rank higher on my ballot.
· Debaters ENJOYING Themselves. When my debaters head off to rounds, the last thing they hear from me is almost always “have fun!” There’s a lot we can’t control about speech and debate competitions. And judging is perhaps the most random variable and weakest link in the chain. Unless and until science develops AI debate judges (which seemed like a crazy notion several years ago, but now . . . ), the identity, personality, experience, knowledge, etc. of the individual judge in the back of the room will play a role in that judge’s decision-making process. And the best we can strive for is to have a reasonably homogenous judging pool so that the specific person behind the proverbial plate calling balls and strikes makes as little difference as possible in the final result. And combining the randomness of judging decisions with the stress inherent in end-of-year competitions (which sometimes are end-of-career competitions because for many of you, NSDA nationals will be the end of your competitive careers in speech and debate -- at least until you find your way back to us, hopefully earlier than I did) can combine in ways that aren’t always great. Try to keep, somewhere in the back of your mind, the perspective that you likely ended up sticking with speech and debate because it's just fun to compete with the best and the brightest in this amazing community. But you don’t have to be one of the precious few who end up on the stage on Thursday or Friday to enjoy yourselves. Leave it all “out on the floor” and go out with a bang!
Congratulations on qualifying to compete in the largest speech-and-debate tournament in the world. Be sure to take time to stop and smell the roses every now and then. Make new friends. If you particularly liked someone's argument, take 30 seconds after the round to tell him/her/them that. Wins are always going to be better than losses, but there’s so much more about this experience than racking up Ws.
Doing an email chain? I'd love to be on it: amwelter12@ole.augie.edu
I prefer sending speech docs before speeches rather than calling for cards during prep.
Extend warranted offense, break clash, and weigh and you’ll be fine.
I prefer topical debates on substance--that's where I've found that I'm least likely to get lost. I also prefer judging debaters who are doing what they love and do best, which doesn't need to be substance or topical. I will do my best to follow you wherever you lead the debate.
I will very easily vote for disclosure theory and paraphrasing theory in all debate events, circuits, and tournaments. If someone runs disclo on you and you assert that they don’t actually care about the norm, your speaks will suffer.
If someone runs an identity K/aff and you assert that they don't care about the argument or cause itself, you will lose. If there's a clear perfcon, then maybe; otherwise, telling a student that they don't care about something as personal as their own identity argument is destructive and something a student shouldn't have to hear.
—
South Dakota specific stuff -
I find the argument that “defense is a voter” incredibly unpersuasive. Give me offense to vote on. Avoid extending through ink. New args late in the round are unacceptable. Layering and “even if” statements are like cheat codes for getting my ballot.
Please do not tell your opponent to “go do policy”. It’s particularly stinging since we’ve killed it off in our state.
In LD, winning your framework is rarely sufficient to win the round. You’ve gotta win the offense under the winning framework. Far more often than not, I see debaters spend substantial time on framework without telling me what offense is filtered out or prioritized by the framework. If you’re prepped to just run 7mins of turns against the aff, I’m excited to hear it.
In PF, frameworks are becoming my new pet peeve unless they have warranting and you connect your offense to them explicitly in the round. Providing a warrantless framework and then using it to handwave away your opponent’s offense is not consistent with my understanding of offense/defense/weighing--this is less of a worry the more established and warranted the framework is. Framework isn't my jam in PF, but I'll get there just fine if your warrants lead me there. I default to evaluating the resolution as a question of comparative worlds – is the pro world or the con world better?
—
Prefs -
Policy/LARP: 1
K: 2
T/Theory: 2
T/Theory w/o speech docs: 4
Phil: 3
Tricks: 4
https://www.tabroom.com/index/paradigm.mhtml
TLDR
Firmly believe that policy debate is first and foremost a communication activity. Clearly articulated arguments at any speed can be evaluated. Inarticulate utterings that cannot be understood cannot be evaluated.
Kritikal arguments on both AFF and NEG are fine and please pay close attention to the way you communicate your positions (clear and concise!).
Open to a lot of different types of discussions, and I'm excited to listen to what you bring to the debate space.
NO MATTER WHAT YOUR ARGUMENT, In a nutshell:
Tell Me What Your Argument Is
Tell Me Why I Should Prefer It
Tell Me Why If I Do Prefer Your Argument Why You Should Then Win The Debate
i.e. Some form of Impact Calculus/Weighting Magnitude, Probability and Time Frame-ish args are goods. Or EPISTEMOLOGICAL, or UTIL or ROLE OF THE BALLOT or whatever your standard is for the end game.
"Paint the canvas" and describe the benefits of your scenario for victory
If you think you are really winning something, "sit on it" and explain why you win.
Best,
Marna Weston
LD: Traditional. This requires a value and value criterion that flows beyond the constructive. I will generally vote against theory, ks, and other policy debate components. I will always vote against disclosure theory - sorry kids, no cheating on the test.
Speed doesn't bother me. I was a policy coach for years. HOWEVER, if you sound like you can't breathe or are repeating words because YOU can't handle speed, it will affect your speaker points and how I assess the round. As a judge, I decide who wins or loses. As such, your speaker points will be lower if you tell me what I will do in your speeches. Convince me to vote for you rather than thinking if you say I will, it will happen.
Hello! I'm in the Nationals 2024 judging pool for both LD and speech, so here's some info on both:
LD Paradigm:
I’ve coached and judged speech for 7 years, but this is my first year coaching debate post-COVID. I’ve mostly judged PFD this year, but I'm still pretty new. My NSDA district is small and the national qualifier is the only opportunity that students have to try LD. I only mention that to let you know up front that my experience with LD is unfortunately very limited. In preparation for Nats, I’m doing my best to learn as much as I can.
Typical “new guy” preferences - Explicitly stating the value and criterion is helpful. Set up a solid foundation in constructive. Keep reinforcing key points and making things easy to understand. I prefer conversational speed. Impact is key - why do your arguments matter? How are individual people affected by this? Can you explain your points in a way that is accessible to a general audience, not just experienced debate judges? Spell it out and let me know how you want me to weigh the round.
Stuff that is annoying - Time yourselves. Stay within your time limits. I'm also running a timer, but in some local debates, I've had to stop (usually new) debaters that just want to keep talking beyond their assigned time for whatever reason. Your judge should be focused on listening to arguments, taking notes, etc. not babysitting someone who doesn't know when their turn is over. Don't waste time during the debate arguing in circles over something like a piece of evidence or semantics. Usually, that's an indicator that you don't have anything substantial to say, so you're trying to deflect. When you ask your opponent a question in cross, let them actually answer you. Quality > Quantity because having 20 different arguments isn't impressive when you speed through them and only address things on the surface and then expect to win the round because your opponent didn't address subpoint e on your 5th contention.
Decorum - Have fun. Just like when I'm judging Extemp, I do appreciate humor and sassy quips from debaters, but this isn't a US presidential "debate." Keep it respectful.
Speech Paradigm:
If you feel the need to include one, go for it, but I don’t expect contestants to provide “content warnings” in the sad people events. I knew what I was getting into when I was assigned to judge that category. I’d hope your audience would feel the same way when deciding whether to watch or compete in something like DI or POI. With that out of the way:
DI - Characterization and authenticity are key to getting my 1, and it’s all in the little things. Those subtle facial expressions and strong acting choices really set good DI apart from mediocre DI. And for the love of whatever you believe in - please have levels to your character; I like when a performer has mastered both the highs and lows of their character’s emotions. Screaming and crying the whole time doesn’t impress me. Anyone can do that.
POI - This event has gotten a little stagnant for me lately because it feels like most POI contestants choose some simple variation of the same 5 or so topics. But you can still have an uncommon take on a common topic. I think of POI like a public address event, like the interp version of an OO - What is your thesis? Is it easily identifiable? What message are you trying to get across? But instead of writing 3 points and an intro/conclusion like you would in oratory, you’re cutting together literature that helps strengthen your argument and tells a cohesive story. Just like DI, strong characterization and authenticity win over all of the “POI-isms” that I often see when contestants are trying too hard to mimic NSDA finalists. Also - do something creative with the binder. Since the event rules force you to have it, use it as an extension of yourself rather than an object that is just in the way.
HI - You don’t have to stand on your head or do a triple axel to be good at HI. I see a lot of contestants rely on gimmicks and I’m not someone whose rankings are based on who can do the coolest tricks. For example, if I take away the backflip, does your piece still have an easy-to-follow storyline, clear and distinct characterization, and great variations in energy? Yes? Then you’ll be fine. Fast and over-the-top doesn’t automatically = top placement. When judging HI, I find that the "Was your piece actually humorous?" is normally my tiebreaker question.
Duo - Have you chosen a script that allows both partners to shine? When one person is given more opportunities within the piece to showcase their skills, it makes their partner stand out in a negative way because they aren't doing as much. I also look for which pair has taken the restrictions of duo (lack of physical/eye contact) and seen it not as a limitation on their performance, but instead as an opportunity to create something cool. Synchronized bits, creative staging, smooth blocking - top of the room every time.
Both Speech & Debate Events:
As a competitor, keep in mind that you are being informally judged from the moment we meet. Don't leave a bad impression. Be polite, but you don't need to be over-the-top about it. Remember that your judge does still exist even when someone isn't presenting, and we can still hear all of your personal conversations that you have with your fellow competitors. Don't be a weirdo. Obviously, it doesn't affect your ranking, but the things I've overheard competitors just freely chatting about within earshot while I have the fate of the round in my hands is...yikes. Same goes for when you exit the room. Walls are thin. I can still hear you. If you are unprepared for the round or think you messed up, don't let that leave your mouth. We are all our own worst critics, and chances are, your judge didn't notice that small slip-up you're apologizing for...until you bring it up in front of everyone. And if you're unprepared, it will be pretty obvious once you start speaking. No need to self-deprecate or fish for compliments.
Audience Etiquette - Your role as an audience member is to support the other competitors in the round by providing them with a respectful and attentive crowd. Drawing attention to yourself when you aren't the one performing is tacky. Stay off your phone during the round.
I tend to write/type a lot during the round. If you're in debate or public address, I'm probably flowing your speeches so I may not look directly at you all the time because I'm focused. Interp people - I promise I'm paying attention to all of the cool subtleties and blocking that you're doing. I'm just bad at eye contact, and I like giving good notes instead of "good job! 5"
All Events:
-On the clock roadmaps
-Speak at a speed/rate that the judge and audience can understand
LD Debate:
-Value/Value Clash is Prioritized
-Use of analytical and empirical evidence
LD/PF Overview:
I am a debate coach and therefore comfortable with both progressive and traditional styles of debate. However, if you decide to go progressive, you must still clearly be topical and clearly have traditional elements like a value and a criterion in LD. In addition, you must still argue your opponents traditional case in a traditional way when you rebuttal.
I like to list things I do not like, so that you can avoid them:
· Telling a judge they can “drop the debate” or that “you can’t allow that argument.” I’ll be the judge, thank you. Please, do not ever tell a judge what to do or don’t do. You should explain your argument in such a way that I feel compelled to do so on my own volition.
· Language that is too aggressive, because assertion is okay but aggression is demeaning and degrades the integrity of debate. For example using phrases such as “are you aware that” for the beginning of a question suggests you think you research more than your opponent. In addition, when debaters say, “my opponent never did…” and then list something their opponent did do, it’s a loss of points for the speaker because I mark that as not paying attention to your opponent. Other phrases that suggest their arguments are “oblivious” or “asinine” or “ignorant” –Don’t suggest your opponent is lacking in any form.
· I dislike when the rebuttals are purely pre-loaded (some blocking is fine) but when your rebuttal is not specific to your opponent’s case and only defends yours against a general argument, I will not count that as a case defense.
· Battles over evidence are borderline pointless. Definitely point out evidence that is misrepresented, outdated, or otherwise taken out of context. Please do not make one piece of evidence last the entire debate. Mention it once, state you’d like to contest it, and let the judge (me) read the evidence at the end of the round. Most of the time it is not evidence that wins my vote, but the explanation and impact. To me, impact is most valuable. Do you know why any of this matters to anyone? Can you explain this in an attainable way for anyone, not just a debate judge? That’s how you prove to me that your argument is holistic and true.
LD/PF Paradigm:
I expect you to time one another, verbally so that I can note when we are over or under.
If you are failing to provide evidence that should be easily available, I will consider this in my vote. Evidence should be organized and known well-enough to reference quickly.
If you fail to engage with your opponent as an intellectual equal worthy of competing against you in the round, I will take this out in speaker points. I may also let it sway my vote, because ad hominem is a fallacy, and I like my debates to remain logical.
I am a traditional debate coach. I'm okay with some speed but you must be clear in your annunciation so I can understand you. In Lincoln Douglas I want the Value and Criterion to be the focus of your argument. The framework is how we weigh each side. Without one it is impossible to properly address the resolution
Wheeler, Sandra sandra@richmondforum.org
I have been judging speech and debate for about 5 years but have no debate experience personally.
I run a program in my part of the country that invests in speech and debate programs at public middle and high schools with the goal of having competitive speech and debate teams at all of our region's middle and high schools by 2025.
As I have no personal experience with debate, I can get lost in progressive styles. I much prefer debate that is real world oriented, where the weight of the argument and thoroughness of the research are prioritized. I work hard to be impartial and check my own bias. Personal politics shouldn't be dragged into the debate room.
Congress is probably my favorite style of debate. I place value on preparedness, ability to speak extemporaneously effectively, moving the debate forward instead of rehashing arguments, and getting legislation to a vote! What matters is that students get ample experience speaking, thinking on their feet, and learning to be persuasive to peers. Persuasiveness may be my favorite. Address your fellow congress people and senators by name, make eye contact, walk through the isles. Make it MEMORABLE, PROFOUND because we judges have to evaluate one million speeches and the run of the mill ones get boring.
I am excited to judge and learn from all who I have the honor to judge!
Overall:
1. Offense-defense, but can be persuaded by reasonability in theory debates. I don't believe in "zero risk" or "terminal defense" and don't vote on presumption.
2. Substantive questions are resolved probabilistically--only theoretical questions (e.g. is the perm severance, does the aff meet the interp) are resolved "yes/no," and will be done so with some unease, forced upon me by the logic of debate.
3. Dropped arguments are "true," but this just means the warrants for them are true. Their implication can still be contested. The exception to this is when an argument and its implication are explicitly conceded by the other team for strategic reasons (like when kicking out of a disad). Then both are "true."
Counterplans:
1. Conditionality bad is an uphill battle. I think it's good, and will be more convinced by the negative's arguments. I also don't think the number of advocacies really matters. Unless it was completely dropped, the winning 2AR on condo in front of me is one that explains why the way the negative's arguments were run together limited the ability of the aff to have offense on any sheet of paper.
2. I think of myself as aff-leaning in a lot of counterplan theory debates, but usually find myself giving the neg the counterplan anyway, generally because the aff fails to make the true arguments of why it was bad.
Disads:
1. I don't think I evaluate these differently than anyone else, really. Perhaps the one exception is that I don't believe that the affirmative needs to "win" uniqueness for a link turn to be offense. If uniqueness really shielded a link turn that much, it would also overwhelm the link. In general, I probably give more weight to the link and less weight to uniqueness.
2. On politics, I will probably ignore "intrinsicness" or "fiat solves the link" arguments, unless badly mishandled (like dropped through two speeches). Note: this doesn't apply to riders or horsetrading or other disads that assume voting aff means voting for something beyond the aff plan. Then it's winnable.
Kritiks:
1. I like kritiks, provided two things are true: 1--there is a link. 2--the thesis of the K indicts the truth of the aff. If the K relies on framework to make the aff irrelevant, I start to like it a lot less (role of the ballot = roll of the eyes). I'm similarly annoyed by aff framework arguments against the K. The K itself answers any argument for why policymaking is all that matters (provided there's a link). I feel negative teams should explain why the affirmative advantages rest upon the assumptions they critique, and that the aff should defend those assumptions.
2. I think I'm less technical than some judges in evaluating K debates. Something another judge might care about, like dropping "fiat is illusory," probably matters less to me (fiat is illusory specifically matters 0%). I also won't be as technical in evaluating theory on the perm as I would be in a counterplan debate (e.g. perm do both isn't severance just because the alt said "rejection" somewhere--the perm still includes the aff). The perm debate for me is really just the link turn debate. Generally, unless the aff impact turns the K, the link debate is everything.
3. If it's a critique of "fiat" and not the aff, read something else. If it's not clear from #1, I'm looking at the link first. Please--link work not framework. K debating is case debating.
Nontraditional affirmatives:
Versus T:
1. I'm *slightly* better for the aff now that aff teams are generally impact-turning the neg's model of debate. I almost always voted neg when they instead went for talking about their aff is important and thought their counter-interp somehow solved anything. Of course, there's now only like 3-4 schools that take me and don't read a plan. So I'm spared the debates where it's done particularly poorly.
2. A lot of things can be impacts to T, but fairness is probably best.
3. It would be nice if people read K affs with plans more, but I guess there's always LD. Honestly debating politics and util isn't that hard--bad disads are easier to criticize than fairness and truth.
Versus the K:
1. If it's a team's generic K against K teams, the aff is in pretty great shape here unless they forget to perm. I've yet to see a K aff that wasn't also a critique of cap, etc. If it's an on-point critique of the aff, then that's a beautiful thing only made beautiful because it's so rare. If the neg concedes everything the aff says and argues their methodology is better and no perms, they can probably predict how that's going to go. If the aff doesn't get a perm, there's no reason the neg would have to have a link.
Topicality versus plan affs:
1. I used to enjoy these debates. It seems like I'm voting on T less often than I used to, but I also feel like I'm seeing T debated well less often. I enjoy it when the 2NC takes T and it's well-developed and it feels like a solid option out of the block. What I enjoy less is when it isn't but the 2NR goes for it as a hail mary and the whole debate occurs in the last two speeches.
2. Teams overestimate the importance of "reasonability." Winning reasonability shifts the burden to the negative--it doesn't mean that any risk of defense on means the T sheet of paper is thrown away. It generally only changes who wins in a debate where the aff's counter-interp solves for most of the neg offense but doesn't have good offense against the neg's interp. The reasonability debate does seem slightly more important on CJR given that the neg's interp often doesn't solve for much. But the aff is still better off developing offense in the 1AR.
LD section:
1. I've been judging LD less, but I still have LD students, so my familarity with the topic will be greater than what is reflected in my judging history.
2. Everything in the policy section applies. This includes the part about substantive arguments being resolved probablistically, my dislike of relying on framework to preclude arguments, and not voting on defense or presumption. If this radically affects your ability to read the arguments you like to read, you know what to do.
3. If I haven't judged you or your debaters in a while, I think I vote on theory less often than I did say three years ago (and I might have already been on that side of the spectrum by LD standards, but I'm not sure). I've still never voted on an RVI so that hasn't changed.
4. The 1AR can skip the part of the speech where they "extend offense" and just start with the actual 1AR.
Fundamentally I see debate as a game. I think it is a valuable and potentially transformative game that can have real world implications, but a game none the less that requires me to choose a winner. Under that umbrella here are some specifics.
1. Comparative analysis is critical for me. You are responsible for it. I will refrain from reading every piece of evidence and reconstructing the round, but I will read relevant cards and expect the highlighting to construct actual sentences. Your words and spin matters, but this does not make your evidence immune to criticism.
2. The affirmative needs to engage the resolution.
3. Theory debates need to be clear. Might require you to down shift some on those flows. Any new, exciting theory args might need to be explained a bit for me. Impact your theory args.
4. I am not well versed in your lit. Just assume I am not a "____________" scholar. You don't need to treat me like a dullard, but you need to be prepared to explain your arg minus jargon. See comparative analysis requirement above.
Side notes:
Not answering questions in CX is not a sound strategy. I will give leeway to teams facing non responsive debaters.
Debaters should mention their opponents arguments in their speeches. Contextualize your arguments to your opponent. I am not persuaded by those reading a final rebuttal document that "answers everything" while not mentioning the aff / neg.
Civility and professionalism are expected and will be reciprocated.
Speech events. I am looking for quality sources and logic in OO and Inf. I have been teaching speech for 18 years and will evaluate fundamentals as well.
Hello! I did highschool debate in the Northern Nevada Sagebrush League for 4 years, as well as collegiate debate at the University of Nevada, Reno for 2 years. I'm now an assistant coach at the highschool I graduated from, but work outside of the school system as a licensed esthetician.
I'm a flow judge tabula rasa, please signpost your arguments and impact out your arguments. War is an impact yes, but the ultimate impact of war is death (which is irreversible) or nuclear winter. An off-time roadmap is not needed if we only have two cases from constructive and no off-case arguments. I prefer a fast paced debate, but a clear debate over anything else. You can avoid wasting your speech time explaining simple concepts to me by reading simple body language - I'm a very expressive judge and will nod along. I'm ok if you get a little snappy or rude, especially during cross ex, if coming from a place of authority and not anger. Belittling others will hurt your speaker points. I'll buy pretty much any argument as long as you give me a reason to (impact!) and am friendly to theory including topicality, and K's. Framework makes debate clear and simple, so be sure to provide some off the top and use it in every speech. I do not flow cross examination, so it's your choice to bring up in your speech whatever was important to you from cross. Tag team cross examination shows weakness in debate partnerships, either partner should be able to fly solo regardless of the case or side.
Debating in the sagebrush league is unique! Did you know that the ballots we use aren't used everywhere? I judge according to the ballot in front of me - so if it says that LD debate is a proposition of value, you better have a value. And if speaker points are broken up into categories you best bet I'm scoring each category individually.
If you have any questions, please ask me BEFORE your round begins.
I was a 4 year high school competitor (second top policy speaker in the State of Nevada -- many years ago) and 4 year college competitor (nationally ranked CEDA/policy and also did LD), and have now coached at the high school level 9 years. I flow, and judge off the flow, but do not suffer nonsense. Arguments must be sound -- logical, with proper evidence/basis. While I can handle speed, I also value communication skills including delivery with proper pronunciation, clarity, and organization. I cannot properly flow if you are not sign posting or presenting in a clear and organized manner.
I will vote on T, DA's, K's, solvency, impacts, or whatever else is on my flow that is sound and has carried. Framework helps as a weighing mechanism.
Debate is an academic endeavor in a competitive environment. Decorum, civility, and respect are required.
Adam White
He/Him
Last Substantive Paradigm Update: 10/29/24
Georgetown '25. 3x NDT elims.
Affiliations: Bellarmine, WUDL, Blue Valley West
adamwhite(dot)debate(at)gmail(dot)com
---Strike Check---
Most familiar with policy arguments; lean aff on neg frameworks that devolve into “you link you lose”; lean neg on aff frameworks that have no place for the K; intuitively skeptical of affs that don’t affirm the resolution.
---Logistics---
Yes Chain. Please include the following pieces of information in the subject line: Year, Tournament, Round Number, Aff Team, Neg Team
Please send verbatimized Microsoft Word documents absent extenuating circumstances.
No cards in email body. Yes marked docs. Yes card doc with relevant cards referenced in the 2NR/2AR. No inserting rehighlighted ev to make new warrants, but yes if it’s giving context to an argument previously made.
---Key Things to Know---
I will flow the entire debate (including CX) by ear on either paper or an excel spreadsheet, and I will decide the debate based on that flow. I will not follow along in the speech doc.
I refuse to evaluate anything that occurred outside of the debate round.
I am highly skeptical that my ballot has any other power beyond determining who wins and who loses.
Bullying/bigotry/discrimination = immediate L + lowest speaks available. I assume good faith to the extent that I reasonably can. People, especially high schoolers, make mistakes in a highly demanding, pressure-filled, and adversarial activity. Apologies and open conversations are far better means for personal development and reconciliation than my ballot, and I believe competitively incentivizing accusations creates dangerous perverse incentives and is likely counterproductive.
I try to be as ideologically open to as many arguments as I can be. I will not hesitate, however, to immediately end the debate and/or vote down a team if there are arguments made that I believe seriously imperil the healthy functioning of an academic extracurricular activity that involves minors (for instance: arguments implying that students ought to commit self-harm, graphic sexual imagery, etc.).
---How I Render Decisions---
I will attempt to craft a ballot that minimizes intervention to the extent possible. That means I will try to resolve the fewest number of issues possible, beginning with the most important issues in the debate and moving outwards. The exact path through the issues is influenced by the top of the 2NR and 2AR.
If an issue seems difficult to resolve, I will prioritize crafting ballots that do not rely on me evaluating said issue.
Once I have rendered a decision in favor of a team, I will quickly re-evaluate the core issues being as friendly as possible to the losing side. I do this to double check my process and uncover potentially more streamlined ballots that I initially overlooked.
---Argument Resolution---
Concessions are given full weight, but they are important only to the extent that the implications were unpacked.
If I cannot resolve a given quandary based solely on my flow via technical concessions, I will read relevant evidence to aid in that resolution.
I care about evidence a lot, both in terms of quantity and quality. The 2NR and 2AR should speak to the specific warrants in their evidence they would like me to read.
I will only give you access to your highlighted words. I don't care if cards are short, but I care substantially that there is relative grammatical coherence.
That said, I give smart analytics a lot of weight, and I give evidence with no author credentials little weight.
I am not an objective robot, nor will I pretend to be one. Debate is a persuasive activity, and that inherently comes with the subjective bias of how different arguments resonate with me. I feel perfectly comfortable partly discounting arguments that instinctively fall outside of my conception of common sense or logical understanding of the world.
---Case Debating With A Plan---
2As get away with murder. 2Ns should exploit that by explicitly flagging warrants in 1NC case evidence that the 2AC does not contest.
---Disads---
I like them. I like them a lot. I’d prefer to vote for ones that make sense.
---Counterplans/Theory---
I tend to care a lot about arbitrariness/logic/predictability relative to debatability, though the magnitude of internal links obviously matters a great deal.
I prefer for theory debates (process/consult/delay/whatever bad) to be couched in terms of why I should normatively view a specific permutation as legitimate.
I default to placing the burden on the aff to prove their advocacy desirable in relation to both the status quo and competitive advocacies introduced by the negative (I default to judge kick).
---Topicality vs Plans---
Retweet arbitrariness/predictability over debatability. Topicality is a descriptive question where we interpret the words in the resolution, not create new ones.
I am somewhat persuaded by reasonability claims that operate at the level of interpretations and less so those that are about the specific aff in question.
If the plan uses resolutional language, I am amenable to either saying plan-text-in-a-vacuum is bad or smuggling in topicality debates on PICs out of that resolutional wording.
---Kritiks---
I am heavily skeptical of concluding that broad, structural claims are true absent a strong epistemic basis for doing so.
I will not arbitrarily decide to adopt some middle ground interpretation between the aff and neg framework interps unless one team tells me that it's an option.
I am pretty good for neg framework interps that link turn fairness and clash against "FW: No Ks/plan consequences only." Consequently, aff teams would often be better served by reading interps that give a reasonable role for the K to soak up neg offense.
Both teams should invest more time unpacking the implications of their framework interpretation. For instance: can the neg win for disproving a single aff justification? How do I weigh policy consequences against epistemological indicts? Does the aff get to weigh the totality of their representations? Does the neg get PIKs? Should we imagine the aff as being implemented using the 1AC's representations? Is neg offense against aff justifications based on the policies those justifications would lead us to, or based on the consequences of introducing said scholarship in debate, or something else entirely?
---Kritikal Affs---
When listening to kritikal affs, I often find myself thinking, “yeah, this is neat, sure, uh huh, okay… but like… why is any of this an intrinsic reason why you should win the debate?” 1ACs and 2ARs should be constructed around answering that question persuasively.
I am curious (in a positive way) about affirmatives that counterdefine words in the resolution in a non-traditional way and defend that interpretation. “Counterinterpretations” that don’t interpret the resolution would do best explaining an alternative source of predictability for their interp.
---Neg vs Kritikal Affs---
I am equally fine evaluating substantive arguments (DAs, impact turns, counteradvocacies, kritiks, presumption, etc) and topicality. Given that the resolution and usual policy-making paradigms are often abandoned in these debates, a substantial portion of the 2NR should be dedicated to explaining why a given substantive argument is a sufficient reason is to vote neg.
Game for any impact to topicality.
Neg teams, in addition to their usual external offense, would do well to highly leverage turns/solves case arguments, indicts of the aff’s interp ability to solve aff offense, and if applicable, direct offense against the aff interp (aff interp = XYZ way of debating. That’s directly bad).
Arguments for why arbitrary counterinterpretations justify other counterinterpretations are highly persuasive to me.
TVAs are generally overutilized and Read-It-On-The-Neg is generally underutilized as defense, but each have their place against specific 2AC arguments.
---Less Essential Random Things---
Speaker points are mine to decide.
Absent judge instruction to the contrary, I will default to voting negative unless the aff proves the resolution true by example.
I am fully comfortable discounting an argument if I do not understand it.
“Util/consequentialism bad” arguments are not very persuasive to me if the aff has a consequence to their plan that they would like me to evaluate in a utilitarian manner.
Lean neg on conditionality. "We/they get 3!" is not super persuasive to me (see arbitrariness over debatability).
I am amenable to the claim that conditionality bad is a reason to stick the neg with all the advocacies, not to reject the team.
I could see myself voting neg on presumption if there are significant technical drops, but any semblance of clash will usually result in at least some miniscule risk of aff offense.
If the neg offense generated by a net benefit outweighs the impacted solvency deficits generated by the aff, then I vote neg. Your time invested in debates over sufficiency framing would almost always be better spent elsewhere.
I'm a traditional judge, the framework is important (so don't drop it), and I appreciate proper decorum within the debate. Please be respectful of opponents at all times without being condescending.
Otherwise, you must be pretty amazing for getting this far; so keep doing what is (apparently) working!
I'm a full-time teacher and coach in the North Texas area. I have experience coaching, teaching or competing in every event. I've been involved in Speech and Debate, as either a competitor or a coach, for 14 years.
PF
Theory and Ks - I'll evaluate and probably be able to understand these, but it's honestly not my preference to judge this kind of PF round. On theory in particular - please try to only run this if you believe you're the target of intentional and flagrant unfair behavior. Otherwise, I'd rather you just talked about the topic.
Speaking quickly is okay but please do not spread. The teams that get the highest speaks from me tend to talk at conversational or slightly faster than conversational speed.
If you're goal is to qualify for and do well at the TOC, you probably wouldn't consider me a "tech judge" ; I'll flow the round line-by-line in the case, rebuttal and summary but also want to see a lot of summation / weighing / big picture breakdowns of the round in the summary and especially in the final focus. I like a nice, clean speech that's easy for me to flow - tell me where to write things. Signpost more than you would think you have to.
Some answers to questions I've been asked:
-I think that it is strategically smart for the second speaking team to defend their case in rebuttal, but I don't consider it a requirement. In other words, if all you do in your rebuttal is attack your opponent's case, I won't consider all of your opponent's responses to your case to be "dropped."
-If you want me to vote on an issue, it should be present in both the summary and the final focus. The issue should be explained clearly by both partners in a similar way in each speech.
-If you say something about the opposing case in rebuttal and your opponents never respond to it, you don't need to keep bringing it up (unless it's a turn that you really want to go for or something like that).
-Speaker points - My 30 is "I feel like I'm watching someone debate out rounds at a national circuit tournament" and my 25 is "I'm going to go ask to talk to your coach about what I just saw." The vast majority of my scores fall in the 29-27 range.
LD
The question I get asked most often at tournaments when judging LD is "are you okay with speed?" The answer is yes, but you'll probably find that I understand your case/arguments better if you slow down during any analytics (interpretation, plan text, standards, spikes, etc.) that you expect me to write down or remember. You'll also probably find that unless you don't spread much, I won't achieve 100% comprehension of your "top speed." And I'm big on this one - if your opponent doesn't understand spreading, don't spread.
Another question I get asked a lot is "are you okay with policy-style arguments?" Again, the answer is yes, but with some caveats. The farther your argument goes from traditional LD or traditional policy case structure, the harder it will be for me to grasp it and the less likely I am to vote on it.
I used to have a lot of really negative stuff about theory arguments in my paradigm. My position on that has softened a bit. There is a place for theory arguments in modern LD debate, but I still generally think theory should be in the minority of LD rounds, and the abuse should be substantial, deliberate, and clearly demonstrable if a theory argument is being made.
I do not disclose speaker points.
Congress
I generally include the PO in my ranking of a round, although not as highly as the best speakers in a round. Expect a rank in the 3-6 range unless you screw up often, are an exceptionally good PO, or are POing a round full of very bad speakers.
A few particulars:
-It's a good idea to break down the what exactly a piece of legislation says and does as the first negative and/or first affirmative speaker. Never assume that the judge has read or analyzed the item you're discussing!
-Refuting or extending the argument of at least one specific person by name is mandatory if you're the fifth speaker on an item or later.
-From the second you step foot into a Congressional Debate chamber, my expectation is that you are IN CHARACTER as a member of the United States House of Representatives or Senate. Breaking character (even during recess, or AGDs) and acting like a high schooler will disappoint me.
-I care about how good your best speech was more than how many speeches you gave.
-I am rarely impressed with three-plus main point Congress speeches. Unless you're in a round that has four minute speech times, this is a bad idea.
-I want to see a strong debate, not parliamentary games.
Extemp
The single most important thing to me is whether or not you answered the question. Your three main points should be three reasons why your answer is correct. Somewhere between 7-10 sources is ideal. You should present an extremely compelling reason in your intro if you are giving something other than a three main point speech; 95% of your speeches or so should be of the three main point variety. Your speech should be over at seven minutes. Grace time is for you to finish a sentence that got away from you, not deliver a conclusion. I often rank people down for talking longer than 7:10.
Oratory/Info
It's important to me that I be able to tell, based on your oratory, how exactly you are defining your topic and what exactly you are proposing we do about it. This may sound obvious, but one of my most common negative comments on oratory ballots tends to be something to the effect of, "be more clear about what your persuasive goal for this speech is." Speeches should have a personal story. They should have a literary reference. They need to include some research.
The most important thing to me about your informative speech is whether or not you are actually informing me about something. Again, this might sound obvious, but I feel like many Infos are either disguised persuasive speeches or speeches that are repeating very widely known information (and therefore, no actual "informing" is taking place). I tend to have a "less is more" attitude when it comes to Info visual aids - this isn't to say that I penalize students who have elaborate visual aids; just that if you only have a couple unsophisticated visuals you could do still quite well with me if you have a good speech.
For both of these events, I want a balance of "hard" evidence (research, data) and "soft" evidence (anecdotes, stories, literary examples).
Interpretation Events
My overarching philosophy with all interp is that as a performer, you are baking a cake. The three main ingredients of this cake are "characters," "emotion," and "story." Everything else - blocking, accents, how your intro is written, suitability of subject material, author's intent, humor - is icing on that cake. Not totally unimportant - just not the first thing I think about when I'm deciding whether or not I liked it.
On the "what's more important, author's intent or creatively," I don't have a strong opinion, other than that is important to know and follow the rules for your event in whatever league you're competing in.
I prefer in HI, POI, and Duo fewer characters to more characters; 3-5 is perfect, more than that and it is likely I will get confused about your plot unless your differentiation between characters is exceptionally good.
I'm not the judge you want if you have a piece that pushes the envelope in terms of language, subjects for humor, and depictions of sex or violence.
My attitude towards blocking is that it should be in service of developing a character or making a plot point. I find myself writing comments like "I don't know what you were doing while you said XXXX" and "you doing XXXX is distracting" way more than I write comments like "need to add more blocking."
Policy
I judge this event extremely rarely, so if you have me judging you here, treat me like an old-school, traditional debate coach. You'll do best debating stock issues, disads, topicality, and fairly straightforward counter plans. I probably haven't judged many (or any) rounds on your topic. As I said earlier with LD, spreading is fine but probably not your "top speed" if your goal this year is to qual for/break at the TOC.
I have been coaching speech and debate at Jefferson City High School for several years, where I bring a passion for communication and critical thinking to my students. As the lead Biology and Biomedical Sciences teacher. I leverage my background in Biological Oceanography from the University of San Diego, and also hold a Masters in Education of Curriculum and Instruction from Texas A&M University to inspire and educate the next generation of scientists and thinkers. I approach rounds with a focus on clarity, organization, and substance.
Here's what you can expect from me as a judge:
I appreciate well-structured speeches with clear roadmapping. A clear introduction outlining the main points to be covered, followed by organized content with smooth transitions, is crucial. I value clarity over speed, so avoid spreading or speaking too quickly, as it can hinder comprehension and detract from the quality of your argumentation. Depth of analysis and substance in cosntruction are essential. I appreciate well-researched and supported points that demonstrate a thorough understanding of the topic. While persuasion is important, I prioritize the quality of evidence and the coherence of reasoning over flashy rhetoric.
Maintain professionalism and respect throughout the round. Adherence to tournament rules and decorum is expected.
I strive to provide constructive feedback that highlights both strengths and areas for improvement. Take my comments as opportunities for growth and learning in your debate journey. My goal is to reward speakers who can educate and engage their audience while demonstrating a mastery of the art of extemporaneous speaking.
Hello there. I am definitely more of a lay judge. If you want to spread, go ahead, but I wouldn't recommend it. I will flow what I hear and that's it. Spouting evidence just to spout evidence doesn't do it for me. Make sure to include some type of analysis. Off-time roadmaps are fine, but don't use it to make an off-time argument. Blatant disrespect will tank your speaker points. I am not a fan of K debates, and I do not allow tag team cross X. :)
Background
I was a high school and college policy debater in the 1980's. I have taught policy debate for 21 years both in California and Oregon. I have coached several policy teams to nationals. I love this form of debate.
Paradigm
I am a real world policy maker judge, who is somewhat traditional. I look to see who advocates for most viable and beneficial policy. I am a recovering stock issues judge.
What Makes Me Smile
I like to see an organized flow, with lots of analysis connecting evidence to claims. I also like to see a fun spirited debate, where debaters are polite to one another and are in this activity to learn, not just to win.
Speed
I can flow a fast debate, but prefer communication over speed. I find that most policy debaters who spew, can't really handle the speed they are attempting and therefore lose their judge and opponents, ultimately rendering this communication event moot. However, if you must race through your arguments, at least be slow and clear on the tags.
K's
I do not like Kritiks. I will listen to them and weigh them against other arguments on the flow, but overall am not a big fan. If you run a K, make sure to fully explain your philosophical position and don't run positions that will bite your K.
T
I will vote on T if not used as a time suck. "If you run it, go for it, don't kick out of 4 T's in your last rebuttal."
Tag Team CX
I don't mind tag team cx; however, I award speaker points based on your ability to ask and answer questions, so if one partner is "tooling" another, then one of you will suffer point wise. I like to see that both partners are knowledgable about the topic and debate theory and get disgruntled when one partner will not allow the other partner a chance to answer any questions.
Flex Prep
What? Really? No!
Flashtime
I don't count flash time as prep time, unless it becomes ridiculous.
LD - Prefer classic value clash debate, but only if it is meaningful. Clear case construction with logical links are important. Coverage of debate flow and respectful approach important to me. Evidence is fine, but I like philosophical debate in LD too. Please treat each other with respect.
CX - Stock Issues are important in my judging. I don't especially like spreading, but don't mind quick reading (as long as I can understand it). Prefer transparent and respectful debate. LINKS LINKS LINKS. Fine with K's, as long as they link and make sense. Impact calculus done well often sways my vote.
PF - Prefer winsome and clear debate. Respectful questioning approach appreciated. Evidence links are important. Dropping arguments is fine as long as you stay within a meaningful framework.
I've judged many debates over 10 years + of coaching, but am still learning more and more about debate all the time.
Extemp: Some of my top priorities when it comes to ranking speakers in a round is who does the best job at providing unique information, showing you have a deeper level of understanding of the topic. If I can anticipate your argument, you have not dug deep enough. It is also very important to have a fully polished speech. If you have a very nuanced argument but you don't have enough background established or your transitions are choppy, your rank will go down. In terms of humor in your speech, don't use canned jokes, but I do appreciate witty remarks. Speaking is also just as important as your content. You must show solid presentation skills for argument to have an impact.
Congress: I prioritize the content of your argument over your speaking a lot when judging congress. The two parts of an argument that I look for the most is:
1. How much your argument adds to the debate and provides a unique take on the legislation.
2. How much your argument interacts with others in the round. I feel as if each speech should be integrated to fit perfectly where you’re speaking in the round and with the context of the other speakers. I of course want refutation, but make sure that refutation is in depth and more than just naming people and moving on.
Another thing to note, I have no problem with unconventional speech structure. Feel free to run just one point, give overviews, do whatever you think is best, just make sure the organization isn’t too difficult to follow.
For POs, know your procedure and make minimal mistakes and you will score high on my rankings.
LD: I tend to favor more "traditional" flavors of LD, but I will vote on critical affirmatives and other departures from the norm if they are appropriately impacted and extended throughout the round. While I appreciate framework clash, I do not consider framework to be an independent reason to vote AFF or NEG. You should win the framework debate and then apply the framework to the contention-level debate and motivate voters there.
PF: I will flow carefully and appreciate extensions of specific cites and warrants rather than pure volume. Summary and Final Focus speeches which fail to collapse the debate to a manageable list of voters should be avoided. I don't like to intervene in any round, so provide clear reasons to vote in Final Focus. Propose and apply some weighing mechanism....
Policy: I favor policy making and stocks debates, but I will vote on anything if properly developed and weighed in the round. I tend to look less favorably on procedurals and theory shells which multiply lots of standards and substructure in the round but don't amount to much after the block.
Speech - Strong analysis and organization is key. MAKE SURE YOU ANSWER THE QUESTION! I evaluate heavily on the use of evidence to back up clear, logical analysis. Communication is key - it is your job to communicate with me, not my job to work to understand you - keep this in mind and consider what structure to provide in your speech to make sure your concept and analysis can be easily followed.
Interp - I judge interp based on storytelling, characterization, and performance technique. In dramatic selections - I am looking for depth of character, honesty, realism, and believable character relationships. Make sure you have moments and aren't just presenting dialogue. Character arcs are also important and should be part of your storytelling. In humorous selections - I am looking for strong, committed acting choices with strong polish and technique. Storytelling is still hugely important - the story should be easy to understand and clearly focused. Characters are the most important. I am looking for strong characters that feel realistic and react in the moment. The comedy should drive largely from character reactions. Popping technique is also very important - should be polished and clean with distinct physical and vocal choices.
Congress - I have over a decade of experience judging Student Congress. I look at several key factors when determining rankings - number of speeches, quality of speeches, amount of questions, and general activity in the chamber. In terms of P.O. performance I look for the following - effective management of the chamber, accurate precedence and recency tracking, procedural knowledge, and the ability to keep the session running smoothly and expeditiously.
Debate - I tend to be a traditionalist when it comes to debate. I am focused on communication of arguments, sound logical explanations, conciseness, use of strong supporting evidence, effective questioning, and respectful decorum in round. I can handle some speed, but find that 9/10 times either speed or diction become an obstacle in communication. I do not look at cases, so any arguments that are not well communicated will not make my flow. I generally vote on framework, impacts, and effective substantiation of claims, however I typically do not vote for extinction arguments. Even though they are a clearly large impact, a logic chain of 12 steps leading to a hypothetical annihilation scenario rarely leads to a probable outcome.
As a coach, my paradigm may shift slightly based on the form of debate.
Congressional Debate: I'm looking for a few well-constructed arguments. Though I would never ask for evidence in Congress, it earns you points to cite evidence in your speeches. I discourage being a late speaker on a bill unless you have new insights or arguments that weren't addressed previously. Please don't just stand and repeat what many others have said. Keep questions short--the longer they get, the more awkward and confused you sound. Have fun, but joke speeches will drop you to the bottom of my ballot.
Lincoln-Douglas Debate: It's all about the value and criterion (note that a criterion is a measuring tool by which we can see you've achieved your value; it is not a second value). All contentions should tie back to the value and criterion. The winner usually has shown that they either achieve both values better, has the only value that is achieved in either world, or has done sufficient harm to their opponent's case. Though I value logic more in LD than other debate formats, evidence will always enhance my evaluation.
Policy Debate: If it's worth saying, it's worth saying clearly. I do not favor quantity over quality. If I don't have time to write it on my flow sheet, it was never said. In order to win, the Affirmative needs to win all five stock issues; The Negative must win one stock issue (to suggest you could win in any other way is like a basketball player claiming they can win by how good they are at acting like they've been fouled). If the Neg presents a counter-plan, they have conceded the harms and inherency. At this point, you may only attack the plan and show that you solve better. Topicality is still an option if it was presented in the 1NR.
Public Forum: Public Forum is intended to persuade the average person off the street. I will flow the debate, but I will also judge heavily on your communication and ability to clearly explain the arguments on both sides. Overwhelming the "average person" is not the same as persuading them. If you would rather debate rules and pack four minutes with page after page of spewed evidence, I recommend switching over to Policy debate--better yet, change your ways.
Generally: Logic is great; Evidence is great; Logic and Evidence together are AWESOME! Be true to the form of debate you are in--there's a reason there are different events. Respect your opponents. Be ready to debate. Sign-posting greatly increases the chance that your comments get on my flow; if it's not on my flow, it was never said.
E-mail: benrichwill@gmail.com
NOTE FOR THE NDT: I have not judged many rounds on this resolution as I recently started coaching circuit PF debate. I may not be familiar with topic jargon.
Hi y'all! I am a full-time coach at the Bergen Debate Club in New Jersey. Up until last year, I was a Graduate Assistant at Western Kentucky University; I also debated for KCKCC in 2016 and 2017 where I competed in a variety of debate formats, including NDT/CEDA, NFA-LD, and NPDA.
I view debates through the lens of comparative advantages. Tell me what your best arguments are and why they mean you should get the ballot.
Argumentative innovation will be rewarded. I tend to like teams who stretch the boundary of the resolutional question without abandoning topic education.
Framework/Affirmative Kritiks: I like framework debates because they display analytical skills of speakers; debaters who go beyond my expectations will get high speaker points.
Disadvantages: Affirmatives should read offense against disadvantages. Negatives should apply the disadvantage to the case debate. Impact turn debates are fun for me.
Counterplans: The best 1NC's have case specific counterplans. I err negative on most theory arguments but I still can be convinced to vote aff on overly abusive counterplans, for example CP’s that have purely artificial competition. The best 2AC responses involve add-ons/new offense. Unless there is a reason otherwise, I view counterplans through the lens of sufficiency.
Negative Kritiks: I like negative teams that can adequately explain how their alternative resolves all of the links to the criticism. I like affirmative teams that effectively weigh the impacts of the 1AC against the K
Case debate: Negatives should engage with the scholarship of the 1AC. While generic impact defense is important, it does not suffice as a strategy. Affirmative teams should utilize their 1AC in the 2AC/1AR to hedge against offensive negative arguments.
Background
Director of Speech & Debate at Taipei American School in Taipei, Taiwan. Founder and Director of the Institute for Speech and Debate (ISD). Formerly worked/coached at Hawken School, Charlotte Latin School, Delbarton School, The Harker School, Lake Highland Prep, Desert Vista High School, and a few others.
Update based on Emory 2025
Put the public back in PUBLIC forum. The jargon, the theory, the nonsense arguments…y’all are killing this event and as someone who has been a part of it since 2006, it makes me very sad. I understand that you want to win and want to do well - but what happened to best practices? When did we stop flowing? When did we stop responding to defense before extending our offense? Why is every extension through ink? Why are we not analyzing the evidence that our opponents are reading? Why are we reading evidence from 2015 in 2025 - has nothing changed in the last decade?
Yes, I’m probably a dinosaur. And maybe I’m in the minority in the judge pool. But I think if you listen to the conversations in the hallways at Emory this weekend, you’ll hear a lot of “what is happening?!” “Why is this happening?!” “Where did PF go?!” Etc. Ultimately, it’s up to y’all how you want to debate - but I’m done voting for the nonsense. I’m going to hold teams to a high standard going forward. Preserve the public in PF. Please.
Updated for Online Debate
I coach in Taipei, Taiwan. Online tournaments are most often on US timezones - but we are still competing/judging. That means that when I'm judging you, it is the middle of the night here. I am doing the best I can to adjust my sleep schedule (and that of my students) - but I'm likely still going to be tired. Clarity is going to be vital. Complicated link stories, etc. are likely a quick way to lose my ballot. Be clear. Tell a compelling story. Don't overcomplicate the debate. That's the best way to win my ballot at 3am - and always really. But especially at 3am.
williamsc@tas.tw is the best email for the evidence email chain.
Paradigm
You can ask me specific questions if you have them...but my paradigm is pretty simple - answer these three questions in the round - and answer them better than your opponent, and you're going to win my ballot:
1. Where am I voting?
2. How can I vote for you there?
3. Why am I voting there and not somewhere else?
I'm not going to do work for you. Don't try to go for everything. Make sure you weigh. Both sides are going to be winning some sort of argument - you're going to need to tell me why what you're winning is more important and enough to win my ballot.
If you are racist, homophobic, nativist, sexist, transphobic, or pretty much any version of "ist" in the round - I will drop you. There's no place for any of that in debate. Debate should be as safe of a space as possible. Competition inherently prevents debate from being a 100% safe space, but if you intentionally make debate unsafe for others, I will drop you. Period.
One suggestion I have for folks is to embrace the use of y'all. All too often, words like "guys" are used to refer to large groups of people that are quite diverse. Pay attention to pronouns (and enter yours on Tabroom!), and be mindful of the language you use, even in casual references.
I am very very very very unlikely to vote for theory. I don't think PF is the best place for it and unfortunately, I don't think it has been used in the best ways in PF so far. Also, I am skeptical of critical arguments. If they link to the resolution, fantastic - but I don't think pre-fiat is something that belongs in PF. If you plan on running arguments like that, it might be worth asking me more about my preferences first - or striking me.
https://judgephilosophies.wikispaces.com/Williams%2C+David+J.
Name David J. WIlliams
School; Newton HS Kansas
# of years debated in HS_0 What School NOPE
# of years debated in College_0 What College/UniversityNope
Currently a (check all that apply) xHead HS Coach _Asst. HS Coach
College Coach _College Debater
Debate Fan who regularly judges HS debate
# of rounds on this year’s HS Topic _10_
What paradigm best describes your approach to debate?
_xPolicy Maker _Stock Issues _Tabula Rasa
_Games Player _Hypothesis Tester ___Other (Explain)
What do you think the Aff burdens should be?
I think the aff should affirm the resolution and be topical and have the basic INH/PLAN/ADV/S structure.or something similar. I am willing to listen to any aff position but I am mainly a policy guy but a K aff is fine if you can explain it well enough. I won’t pretend to understand your position, aff or neg, so please prepare a presentation that balances a quicker than normal speech but not spewing and wheezing. Don’t speed through your 1ac and quit with 90 seconds to go.
What do you think the Neg burdens should be?
I think the neg may choose to debate the case or go with a generic position but I am going to vote on offense. I hate topicality and most theory arguments mainly because I hate flowing it. IF the aff is topical, even a little, then don’t run T. I wont flow it the way you want me to and I will default more to reasonability. If is reasonable then I wont vote against them on T. If the aff is not topical then run T. I will punish affirmatives who are non-topical. IF the aff is unreasonable then Neg will win even if I am terrible flowing the T.
How I feel about delivery (slow vs. fast)?
Slow tags/authors and quicker on card content. If I cannot understand you I will say clear. I prefer a slower style of debate that still uses the flow. My flow will be accurate(if you let me) with a slower round. Faster rounds will be my best guess. I would say slow down and be persuasive and signpost for me.
How I feel about generic Disads, Counter Plans, Kritiks?
Generics with good links are fine. I need to know the story of your arguments. If I cannot remember the story then I can’t voter for it.
How I feel about case debates?
I LOVE A GOOD CASE DEBATE…but I don’t require it.
Flashing is prep time. Flashing is not moving all your cards to a speech doc. THIS IS PREP TIME AND SPEECH PREP> IF you jump a speech to the other team please do so quickly. I believe the last step of every speech should be the flash. Once the flash drive is given to the other team..Prep starts for other team if the non speaking team wants to hold up speech to see if it is on jump drive. Prep is over for the non speaking team when they indicate they are ready. IF the speech did not make it or if the format is difficult to use. I will grant a grace period of 1 mintue to resolve the issue. Laptops are normal for me. I don’t want your face buried in your screen.
Debate should be an enjoyable activity. I want you to have fun and a part of that is actually debating the resolution. I like a good framework debate, but it is not all-encompassing for me. I am looking to see who can actually defend their side of the resolution with clear stats, experts, etc. I'm looking for strong evidence and clearly cited cards. Please don't just reference the card title, give me a warrant for its use. Impact your contentions back to your framework! That is where framework weighs the most for me.
I very much appreciate signposting and roadmaps throughout the debate, as well as voters or world comparisons in final rebuttals. I don't love super-spreading to try to confuse or mislead your opponent. I'm also not a fan of theory debate or Ks. Debate the resolution - that is what everyone is preparing for each tournament. I think it is border-line abusive to other debaters (especially from non-circuit schools or those without access to national travel). I am looking for a clean debate of the resolution.
Be polite to one another.
A note on Speaker Points: This is a speech activity, so I am looking for good inflection, articulation, eye contact, etc. My speaker points aren't necessarily related to how well you argued the case, but how well you spoke overall.
Background: I started coaching debate in Texas in 2001. I have been coaching LD in Minnesota since 2019.
I have been a coach for 50+ years and am favorable to traditional arguments. If you have a traditional case I would suggest reading it in front of me.
- I won't evaluate non-topical arguments/performances etc.
- I do not like tricks and wont evaluate them.
- I will evaluate kritiks as long as I understand how they function in the round.
- If you want to spread I am ok with speed, however if I put my pen down I am not flowing. You must be clear; I will be flowing from your speech not a doc.
- If there is abuse in round just explain it in layman's terms and warrant it. I will not be a good judge for evaluating friv theory arguments.
pamela.williams@usd428.net
I competed in high school debate in a small 3A school for four years in the late 80’s and competed in college for 2 years in the 90s. I am currently an assistant coach after leaving competitive speech for many years.
I know debate, but my experience is from 20+ years ago, and therefore I prefer an older style of debate.
Important:
- It is essential to me that you are kind, courteous and respectful to one another and to me. Courtesy is far too undervalued and often overlooked, but I will vote against teams that are discourteous.
- I must be able to understand what you are saying to me in order to vote for you. If you have good articulation and enunciation when you are speaking quickly, then go for it. That being said, I will not give you points for just saying the most words in the time you have.
- I expect you to clash. If you have not directly related your evidence block to the argument of the other team, you are not debating. Reading of blocks without making those connections is not clashing and therefore not debating. I want to see summarizing and explanation of how your evidence links to and refutes the opposition's arguments. Prove to me that you understand the evidence you are using well enough to explain why I should care about what it says.
- Don’t Lie. Do not try to read evidence and then claim it says something else in your summary or explanation. Do not try to cut a few words or phrases that completely change the meaning of the evidence. Do not leave off the last half of the card because it is problematic for your case. If there is an issue with how the evidence is explained, or you are trying to twist the meaning, I will give you a 4 and a loss. Use strong, analytical arguments and you won’t have to lie with your evidence.
- In my opinion, stacking arguments in an attempt to overwhelm the other team is not good debate. I will flow the round and therefore I will notice when arguments are dropped, but I will also notice when arguments are superfluous.
- I want you to signpost your arguments. Offtime roadmaps are appreciated.
- In the final rebuttals, I want you to evaluate what has occurred in the round, explain the voters and remind me why "your team” had the superior arguments.
- I would like to be included in any email chain or evidence sharing, however unless the evidence is problematic or it seems to have been misused, I am probably not going to spend much time looking at it. (See #4, above)
- I am not opposed to K’s or Theory arguments but I expect you to be very, very clear about how the argument links. Make me understand how the philosophical or theoretical argument is relevant in this particular debate or I am not going to consider it.
- Do not present arguments in cross ex. Ask questions, get clarification, and set your partner up to clash.
- I will vote on topicality if the argument is convincing. I am most likely to vote on stock issues and extending the arguments through. Do not drop an argument and hope I won’t notice. If an argument is dropped by the other team, remind me of that in your final rebuttals.
- I award speaker points for strategy, understanding of the argument and your ability to explain the argument so I care about it.
- It is important to me that you pronounce words correctly. If you are mispronouncing the words in your evidence, it indicates to me that you are not familiar with that card. Being able to correctly pronounce the words in your evidence demonstrates your knowledge of the argument you are making.
- Don’t be a jerk. That includes being condescending to your opponents, racist, sexist, homophobic, etc.
- You have prep time. As much as possible, all technological maneuvers should be completed during that prep time. When you walk to the podium you should be ready to speak. If you are having tech difficulties, let me know and I will do what I can to accommodate your needs.
- I am not a fan of vagueness or fairness arguments and will almost always vote against them.
If you have any questions, ask before the round. I will try to give you good, useful feedback on the ballot as well as a clear reason for the decision. I will happily shake your hand before the round, but please don’t try to shake my hand after the round. I want to be focused on the ballot and giving feedback during that time. Be courteous to your opponents and then feel free to leave.
In summary, speed and spread alone won’t get you a W. Clash, summarize, explain, and convince me to care about YOUR position and its importance. Keep reminding me of your position. Ask me to vote for you and give me reasons to do so.