Background: Hello! My name is Nikhita (she/they), a former PF debater in high school and a parliamentary debater (lfg apda) throughout college for a total of 8 years of experience. Additionally, I competed in domestic and international extemporaneous speaking. Throughout my time in debate I also judged numerous times for LD, PF, Policy, and many speech events. I work full time now whilst studying to get into law school. Feel free to contact me at nikhitac@gmail.com with any questions. You can also email me with any accommodation requests or if you feel uncomfortable in a round for any reason.

Personal Notes:

Be cordial, speaks will be docked if you're rude/problematic, with more severe punishment if you resort to things like racism/homophobia/ableism/etc.

Please give appropriate content warnings if you are going to discuss heavy topics in round; I am open to all content but a cw can go a long way for making sure everyone is comfortable. Follow all of the equity rules!

Time yourself and your opponents; I trust you all to take care of that yourself in a polite manner (i.e., a couple seconds of grace and all that).

Warrant your arguments! Even with evidence, I value logical reasoning and thought-out arguments. Additionally, I value weighing arguments throughout the round; don't just bring up a dropped argument at the very end and expect to win due to it. Impact calc is key! Tell me how to vote and why. Tell me what arguments are important and why, otherwise you leave only me to make these decisions for you. Keep the debate and your flow clean, and you'll have an easier time winning my ballot.

Minimize paraphrasing your evidence. I prefer strong, solid quotes instead of paraphrasing that overstates or ignores the evidence's caveats. Any deception involved in evidence will cause anywhere from a loss in speaks to an overall loss of the round depending on the severity.

Moderate speed is fine, but please avoid spreading or you risk me not catching key parts of your case. Speak clearly! Please signpost; I'm okay with brief, off time road maps. Slow down for your taglines, author names and dates, and other important facets. Speaks will be awarded based on confidence, appropriate volume & pace, sportsmanship, and overall behavior.

Obviously this can't capture my entire judging philosophy and I'm definitely forgetting things, but don't be scared to ask me any questions before the round. Have fun in the round (and make it fun for me)!