Note: Things that are bolded in my paradigm are things I think people are generally looking for or I think are worth noting about my preferences. Read the bottom for my speaks paradigm; the TLDR paradigm is the third paragraph in this top section. Everything in this paradigm has a logical justification; ask me if something doesn't make sense and I'll be happy to explain.

Intro: Hi I'm Austin. I mainly debated LD in high school, but I'm familiar with most other event formats. I graduated from Northland Christian HS in 2020 and UT Austin in 2022 with a psych major phil minor. I'm currently a 3L at Texas Law. I competed on the local and national circuit all four years of high school (and have been judging/coaching consistently since graduating), so I like to think I'm pretty up to date on the technical nuances of LD. Add me to the chain at abroussard@utexas.edu. Feel free to email me with specific questions before the round or thoughts on how I could improve my paradigm!

TLDR paradigm: I really love highly technical debates especially on a theoretical layer but I'm good with evaluating policy, kritik-al debate, etc.; by nature (even outside of debate) I default erring on the side of the person who is most logically consistent which means I will not vote for you unless you are ahead on a technical level; my opinion on anything in this paradigm can change, just make the proper arg. Please see "important" section below.

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Important Stances that May Deviate from the Norm:

- I default args must be immediately sequential and/or allow for a sequential response ("new 2nr args permissible" and "new 2ar args impermissible outside of answers to new 2nr args)" are some noteworthy implications to this); this is my default because any other standard allows for the 2ar to always win by either answering arguments from the 1nc conceded by the 1ar/extended in the 2nr in the 2ar or by making new 2ar uplayers (i guess this means my actual default is against any paradigmatic stance that theoretically allows either side to win every debate because that defeats the purpose of the ballot/there being an adjudicator); please ask me about this point if there is any confusion before the debate starts (also note this is not a rigid stance, just a default)

- every claim needs a warrant, even conceded arguments (I don't presume conceded arguments are true); alternatively, if you don't want to extend the warrant for conceded claims, an explanation of why conceded arguments should be considered true is acceptable (there's no justification for the claim without the extension of a warrant or an explanation of why concessions matter)

- if you go for substance and don't read a fw/both debaters are winning offense under their fw but neither explain which fw comes first/no one extends a fw, I'll vote on presumption absent an uplayer (same goes for voters on t/theory)

- I presume: neg if it's aff v squo (bc the post-fiat world of the aff changes the squo); aff if it's aff v generic post-fiat cp/alt (bc the post-fiat world of the neg is further from the squo); neg if it's aff v pic or "reject the aff"/pre-fiat advocacy (bc the post-fiat world of the aff is further from the squo); neg if both debater's are winning pre-fiat offense under a single fw (bc the aff hasn't met their burden of proving the aff is a good idea, it's like a conceded adv vs a conceded disad); aff fw is true if both debaters are winning offense under their respective fw but don't contest the other's fw (bc the neg burden is to disprove the aff fw or disprove the aff substance under the aff fw and they haven't met either burden)

- if you don't extend your plan text/advocacy in some way it's kicked; in other words, you must extend your advocacy/plan text if you are going for a postfiat link/impact turn (one commonly applicable implication of this is if the 2ar goes for postfiat link/impact turns without extending the advocacy/plan text, it no longer defends the plan nor accesses offense from the turns)

-I will NOT make arguments for you because I believe judge intervention is the antithesis of debate; consequently if your opponent does something that propels a model of debate that is sexist/racist/homophobic/transphobic/abelist or something similarly discriminatory I will not drop them unless you say something about it. It can be as simple as "they said/did x and that makes debate less accessible so they should lose." Otherwise the only thing I have jurisdiction to do is report them to tab after the round and give them god awful speaks. Just call them out for being unethical.

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Miscellaneous:

- tech>>>truth

- I will vote on literally anything when given a framing metric and justification

- you don't have to ask me to flow by ear; I promise I'm both listening and reading your doc (to clarify, I'll catch extemporized blippy analytics)

- Weighing makes me happy, as well as a strong fw tie/explanation

- For ethics challenges/evidence ethics calls, reference the NSDA guidelines for this year; if the guidebook doesn't make a speaks claim I will either evaluate them myself given the speeches read (if any) or default normal round evaluation (meaning speaks spikes are viable)

- I don't have a default on disclosure at the moment but in debate I defaulted disclosure bad; regardless of my default it doesn't affect my ability to listen to either stance and adjudicate accordingly

- My ability to understand spread/speed is pretty good; feel free to go as fast as you want but please be clear

- Please please please ask your opponent if your practices are accessible before the round so you are 1. not exclusionary and 2. not susceptible to an easily avoidable independent voter; if you don't ask and end up doing something inaccessible you'll probably lose (provided they make it a voting issue); this includes giving trigger warnings

- flex prep and joint cross examination are fine

- have a localized recording; absent one, you risk losing whatever content was missed due to tech error (ig hope your opponent is cool with a redo)

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Pref Shortcuts (by my confidence in my ability to adjudicate and 1 being most confident 5 being least):

Theory/T/Tricks- 1

Phil/High Theory- 1

K- 1 or 2 (depending on density)

LARP- 2 to 3 (depending on density)

Pref Shortcuts (by my desire to see them in round and 1 being most desirable 5 being least):

Theory/T/Tricks- 1

Phil/High Theory- 1

K- 2

LARP- 3

note: I will be happy to adjudicate LARP, it's just not my highest preference

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Policy

Plans:

- Love these please know what your own plan says though

- Honestly severance is cool with me but if they point it out and make a theoretical reason to drop it could be hard to beat back

- the solvency section is important for plans, if you don't have one it's gonna be rough

Cps:

- These are cool but better if they're actually competitive; read as many as you want just know anything more than one is hard to justify theoretically especially if it's not uncondo (although I love multiple cp debates)

- Any cp is cool (including actor, process, etc.) just make sure the 2nr extension is sufficient to vote on

- I default condo bad but don't let that discourage you from utilizing it as I think condo is super strategic (which is good for speaks), you just have to be technically ahead on the theory debate; feel free to read like 8 condo cps just know it's an uphill theoretical battle (but certainly not impossible)

- I treat perms like condo advocacies because they always seem to be extended as such but it is really up to you

Das:

- Probably my least favorite position because they all seem to go down the same path towards the 2nr, but a good explanation and coupling with a competitive cp makes this position much better

- the more unique the da the more I'll like listening to it (please don't make me listen to a basic three card econ disad unless you don't plan on going for it)

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Phil/High Theory

- I used to read a few high theory positions but that doesn't mean my threshold for explanation on those positions is lower/higher than any other argument

- I'm hesitant to say this but I did read a decent amount of Baudrillard just know there is a reason why I stopped lol feel free to still read it though I love hearing it as well as any other high theory author

- I especially love hearing new philosophies that are either obscure or that I just haven't heard of yet; phil debate is one of my favorite parts of ld

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Kritiks

General:

- poems/music/art/performance can be offense and if you don't respond to it your opponent can extend it as conceded (I have no problem voting on conceded performance offense with the proper framing mech)

Fw:

- should have a ROB and/or ROJ

- if your opponent asks you a specific question about the framing of your kritik and you cannot give them a cohesive answer it's gonna look bad

Links:

- please don't read links that you yourself link into

- Having specific rhetoric from the aff itself or your opponent is great and much better than just topic/omission links

- I am comfortable voting off state/omission links, they're just boring

Impacts:

- you must have them and they must be unique; please do weighing as well because k impacts don't always contextualize themselves

Alt:

- explain plz; It doesn't have to be explained super well if your opponent doesn't press the issue but I need to have a basic understanding of what I'm voting on i.e. what the world of the alt looks like (unless a set col type arg is made about imagining the alt being a move to settlerism, etc.)

- please don't make the alt condo/dispo if your k is about some sort of oppression, it looks bad

Overviews:

- I LOVE these they make it easier to evaluate the line by line because all the big picture issues are out of the way

- Please make sure the overview is not just line by line in disguise (I was guilty of this) but is instead framing the ways I need to evaluate offense

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T/Theory/Tricks

General:

- literally my favorite the more you read the more I'll enjoy the debate as long as you know what you're doing

- friv is fantastic

Interps:

- be careful of your wording; poor wording leaves you susceptible to easy i meets/indicts

Violations:

- have them and extend them in the next speech

Standards:

- there are really only like four good standards that the rest fall under categorically but it's whatever

- the more the merrier

- if you do fairness and education linkage inside the standard block I'll be happier

Voters/paradigm issues:

- I generally default competing interps unless otherwise specified

- you must justify voters independently of the standards section (i.e. explain why fairness, education, fun, etc. matter)

Tricks:

- I evaluate these arguments like any other (if they have a claim/warrant/impact you're good)

- I think a block of text is funny but definitely annoying as far as the organization of your spikes/tricks so preference is at least numbering but it's really not a big deal if you can explain them well

- These arguments are generally so bad but if you don't respond or spend too much time messing with them the round becomes significantly more difficult/potentially imnpossible to win for you

- I'm fine with indexicals, condo logic, log con, paradoxes, afc, acc, aprioris, etc. (idk how else to say i'll vote on literally any trick/arg generally)

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Speaks

- I will grant a 30 speaks spike (i.e. give both/one of the debaters 30 speaks for x reason) as long as it's extended (or reasons are made as to why an extension isn't necessary)

- if no ties are allowed on the ballot I technically am unable to perform "give both debaters 30 speaks" and i'll evaluate like i normally would; if you know no ties are allowed/are uncertain if ties are allowed, spec 30/29.9 rather than 30s bc that's always permissible on tab (and i'll give the 30 to whoever would be ahead under my typical speaks evaluation unless told otherwise)

- I generally give speaks based on strategic decision making>fluency (and will try to justify the deductions if asked, although ultimately they're always on some level arbitrary)

- Anything that you do that purposefully makes your opponent uncomfortable, expresses discrimination/oppression, or generally makes the debate space unsafe will result in your top speaks being a 25 and more likely will result in a 0 or whatever the lowest allowed speaks value is/report to tab

- for locals I generally give 28-30 and for nat circuit 27-30 unless the tournament has a specified structure; occasionally if the round is super underwhelming I'll evaluate a local like I would a nat circuit

- more leniency for novice debates

- If you make me laugh you're definitely getting a speaks inflation but this is rare and it has to be genuine

- I'll clear twice without a speaks deduction and definitely have more lenience in the online format (i hardly ever clear anyways)

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. Most familiar with running and judging cap&fem

I like the ptx da when done well

I did policy debate for four years at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy (LASA High School) before graduating in 2020. I debated over 80 debates per school year, with around 50 of them on the national circuit. I now coach and judge for LASA sporadically.

If there’s an email chain, please add me at i.sruthi13@gmail.com

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TLDR:

Do what you do best. I would rather listen to you debating your strongest argument than you adapting to my preferences. Having said that, I’m most comfortable judging CP + DA debates, since that is the literature base I know best. Write my ballot in the 2NR/2AR and tell me what I’m voting on. Your speaks will thank you. Tech > Truth.

For novices: The most important thing is to have fun! It’s important to remember that debate is a process, not a product. Focus on learning as much as you can from these debates, instead of focusing on the results. If you have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to ask me or send me an email. I promise I’m not scary!! Yes, I’m okay with speed (as long as you are clear). No, flashing and emailing are not prep (unless it’s excessive). Yes, I’m okay with open CX.

For LD: I coached LD in the 2020-2021 season. Since my background is in policy debate, I am most comfortable judging LARP and kritiks (to a lesser extent). I'm not the judge for you if you specialize in phil/theory/tricks.

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Framework:

I went for framework a LOT. This doesn’t mean I hate all K affs, but it does mean I subconsciously look at these debates through the lens of a 2N. I find myself going for fairness as an impact in some debates, so I can definitely be persuaded to vote on it. Don’t forget impact calculus! It’s not enough to extend the impact of the aff on the case page. Explain how it implicates framework and why it outweighs the Limits DA (or whatever the negative team goes for). In that same vein, make sure you are not just extending arguments. Explain the broader implication of winning that argument and why it means you win the debate. "I find it really hard to explain why the act of reading framework in and of itself is violent or bad." -- Mason Marriott-Voss. Retweet.

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Topicality:

Going for topicality was my jam in high school. These debates come down to the execution of your standards. Quality of your definition matters, especially if you are going for a precision or predictability impact.

“Reasonability is a debate about the aff’s counter-interpretation, not their aff.” -- Yao Yao Chen. Retweet. Topicality is a question of models of debate, not THIS debate.

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Kritiks:

I’ve dabbled in the fem K and the cap K, but I have very little expertise in critical literature. If you want to go for another kritik, by all means, do it. Just be clear with your explanations. The more case-specific your link is, the more likely you are to get my ballot. I find myself questioning what the purpose of framework is in these debates. If your 2NR/2AR strategy relies on winning framework, explain what winning framework gets you in terms of the rest of the debate. Floating PIKs must be clearly made in the 2NC. If you bust one out in the 2NR, I’m probably not a great judge for you.

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Counterplans:

Theory debates are fantastic. I lean affirmative on process CPs (consult, delay, etc.). I lean negative on PICs. I don’t have a preference on conditionality, 50 state fiat, or international fiat.

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Disadvantages:

I find evidence quality matters a lot more than evidence quantity, especially in politics debates and impact turn debates. Evidence comparison is under-utilized.

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I will not vote on any argument that endorses racism, sexism, homophobia, or otherwise offensive ideologies. I will also not listen to any arguments that endorse self-harm, suicide, or purposeful death. I will vote you down and it will be completely on you for not reading this paradigm.

This paradigm is definitely a work in progress because I’m still figuring out how I think about debate. Yao Yao Chen has probably influenced my thoughts on debate the most. Check out his paradigm here if you want to.

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

About me

I am currently the program director for Speech and Debate at Dulles High School, where I also teach AP Psychology and AP Research. I primarily judge Policy and LD. I've worked at a few camps, most recently the University of Houston's Honors Debate Workshop and the Texas Debate Collective. If you are interested in attending a summer debate institute, I'd be happy to talk with you about that aspiration. My academic background is in Curriculum Development and Instruction (MEd), English (BA), and Anthropology (minor). In high school, I participated in Policy Debate, Extemporaneous Speaking, and Theater.

Top Level - (If pressed for time, read this)

1. Be kind and respectful towards yourselves, each other, your judges, coaches, teammates, and the tournament staff.

2. I care about this activity to the point where it's literally my job. Acting like you want to be here and care about getting better goes a long way with me.

3. Fundamental skills are way more important to me than the content of your arguments (barring content that violates point 1). When I say fundamentals, I mean: Clarity, efficiency, flowing, organization, ethically sourcing high quality evidence, knowing what you are talking about, and judge instruction.

4. Strike me if you plan to dodge clash with tricks and other shifty nonsense.

5. Disclosure is probably net good for everyone in most instances.

6. Tech and Truth both matter, with truth determining how technically difficult an argument is to win.

7. I would like to see more time devoted to debating the case.

8. Arguments you read in the 1NC should be legitimate 2NR options. Going for everything is a losing move.

9. Don’t just answer arguments from the prior speech. Anticipate your opponents' next moves in the next speech and shut them down.

10. Ethos, Pathos, and Kairos are as important as Logos. I am not a computer. I would like to be persuaded.

Policy Arguments

I love them, but I am not a topic expert, so err on the side of over-explanation of topic specific jargon, especially earlier on the topic. Case specific CPs and DA links are better than generics. Presumption almost always negates, unless the 2NR goes for a counterplan, in which case I think it goes to the side defending the more incremental change from the status quo. I am willing to judge kick if you win that it is a logical extension of conditionality and that conditionality is good, but I am not inclined to make your strategic decisions for you.

On the aff - I prefer affs with 1-2 advantages that have multiple routes to diverse impacts over affs with 5 advantages that all end with the same impact or 1 advantage with a really long and convoluted link chain.

I am a negation theorist at heart. I think writing better 1ACs, better permutation texts, and better intrinsicness tests are better answers to the “problem” of “being aff is hard” than running to non-resolutional theory like “PICs bad”; however, I am not opposed to voting for those sorts of arguments if that is your preferred way of making the negative team’s job harder and you deploy them strategically. I am much more receptive to arguments that privilege research and clash, like “CPs must have a solvency advocate”, than I am to arguments like “conditionality is bad”.

Please slow down and leave pen time on taglines, plan/CP text, permutation texts, intrinsicness tests, and theory arguments.

Kritikal Arguments

I love them and have probably done some amount of reading relevant to your arguments. It is still best for you to assume I know little to nothing about them though. You absolutely must have read a lot about your thesis, and you need to make your link arguments contextual to the 1AC using quotes. Know that the alt is the weakest part of your argument and be ready to defend it. Have examples for both your link arguments and the alternative. The case page should not be the K 2.0. You should have case specific uniqueness, link, internal link, and impact defense, perhaps some fun impact turns that jibe with your K.

On the aff - I love thinking about and coaching these strategies but am very often disappointed at the lack of thought and preparation against core negative arguments when judging. Don’t be that team. You should not only be ready to debate Framework, Cap, or the Hegemony DA, you should be stoked about it. If I don’t know how the aff solves its impacts at the end of the debate, it will be a presumption ballot.

Performance elements should relate to arguments later in the debate, they're purposeful, not just there for vibes. It should go without saying that offense predicated on some sort of performance should be paired with some performance element in the 1AC/1NC. Reading cards is not enough. I generally think that performance stuff doesn't work in LD due to lack of a 2AC or negative block.

Framework Arguments - (see topicality as well)

I prefer impact arguments about skills, research, and clash over those about fairness in these debates, but it is an impact I am more than willing to vote for. Having an interpretation for each part of the resolution they violate is super strategic and allows for more tailored explanation of your argument later in the debate.

On the aff - I prefer counter-interpretations over impact turns in these debates, but am more than willing to vote for them.

Topicality Arguments

Topicality is fundamentally a question of limits; all other standards can help make the limits push but are secondary. I default to competing interpretations.

On the aff - Reasonability is an argument for the counter-interpretation, not the aff.

Topic specific interpretations are best.

Philosophy Arguments

I love them when deployed substantively. I’ve done some reading here, but don’t assume I know your arguments. Organize and adjust your speed to ensure I get each point in the syllogism. The trickiest you should get is making arguments about various skepticisms. I'm here for non-utilitarian ethics in policy debate so long as they sensibly affirm or negate.

PF, WSD, and Congress

Public Forum - Cards are good, paraphrasing is bad. Sharing cases is good, reading over each other’s shoulders is bad. Defense is not sticky, and flowing through ink is not a thing. Treat this like a mini, traditional policy round and I will be happy.

World Schools - Arguments introduced in the first speech must be extended in subsequent speeches if you'd like them to factor into my evaluation of final speeches. Arguments by your opponents should be answered in a line by line fashion. Dropped arguments are true arguments.

Congress - After a few speech of floor debate and CX on a given bill, you should not be reading speeches word for word. Clash with arguments presented by people on the other side and extend arguments made by people you agree with. Parliamentary procedure makes this event unique. You should be using it to gain a competitive advantage. Make amendments so you can give an extra speech. Screw other competitors out of an opportunity to speak.

Affiliation: Winston Churchill HS

email: s.stolte33@gmail.com

**prep time stops when the email is sent, too many teams steal prep while 'saving the doc'**

Updates 24-25

-I did not spend my summer looking at IPR evidenceor 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 lose you the debate, but surely these practices don't help anyone

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 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. 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.

-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. This also means:

3) Pen time. If you're going to read 10 blippy theory arguments back-to-back or spit out 5 different perms in a row, I'm not going get them all on my flow, you have to give judges time between args to catch it all. 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

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 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;28.6-28.7 should clear;28.8-28.9 pretty good but some strategic blunders; 29+you were very good, only minor mistakes