My background is varied. I've worked in IT and I currently work as a software developer. In college, I studied psychology and political science.

Most of the points below apply for both speech and debate.

- For me, theory supported by evidence is always preferred to theory alone. If a theory does not appear to be based on a set of premises that justify the conclusion, I'll likely dismiss it, even if evidence which you provide supports part of the overall claim--the theory must first be logically sound.

- I'm a lateral thinker, so non-linear argumentation and storytelling is fine by me.

- For debate in particular, one thing I'll be looking for is some form of thesis statement that encompasses your argument. It would be best to lead with this statement, or I may misidentify the thesis. This is different from a roadmap. Whereas the roadmap acts as an outline for your speech, a thesis statement briefly summarizes the core or your argument.

- When reviewing research, I usually ask myself the following questions, so it will only help if these points are included when you cite your research:

1. "Did the research use proper sample size, and is the sampling method appropriate for the type of research?"

2. "Was the research replicated, producing the same results, or was it otherwise peer-reviewed?"

3. "Does the research prove cause, or is it simply demonstrating correlation?" This is the most important aspect of research, in my opinion.

- If I can see that the research neglected to account for confounding variables then the research is less meaningful to me.

- As far as delivery goes, I like to see good use of inflection to emphasize important points, but I am much more concerned with the content of your arguments.

- I find that ethos and logos arguments are typically more persuasive than pathos.