Me

(she/) - mariannegriffithdb8@gmail.com

4 years of debate at Maize High ---> 1st year debating at Wichita State

2a for 3 years, now a 2n

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For novices! - Try your best and be confident i will be happy to answer any questions after round and provide any help you need - Extending arguments into the rebuttals is key to being able to win and going for your best arguments in your last speeches - speak loudly and give a road map of what you're going over

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Overview

Tech>Truth - despite some of my opinions this applies to all arguments (except for racism, sexism, homophobia, etc)

I try to make myself very easy to read so you'll know what I'm thinking during the round

Speed is good but clarity makes speed possible

debate is a game.

read rehighlightings

i will not vote on out of round stuff

I hate theory debates, ugh, please do not be the team that throws the debate away and goes 5 minutes of condo in the 1ar. go for substance. PLEASE.

I will read evidence if it is challenged by a team. Otherwise, if you say a piece of evidence says X and the other team doesn’t say anything, I will just assume it says X.

tell me what to do and how to vote - i hate judge intervention

my predispositions here don't mean I won't vote for an argument if you're winning it. they are just my preferences - debaters should be able to say nearly anything they want to in a debate - judges should adapt to debaters

the flow is the only thing that decides the debate

Case

Impact turns please and thank you - does this mean wipeout? - i would rather not, but it's your round.

I went for a whole batch of impact turns heg bad and democracy bad the ones i read the most

Topicality

competing interps are good

aff should go for reasonability is a solid arg and mishandled a lot of the time by the neg - substance crowdout as an impact is almost always dropped and can turn and outweigh lots of impacts the neg might bring up

I will really really not want to vote on dumb interps these things include [t-increase, insert thing is not included in the plan text, not a big fan of vagueness/aspec args - vagueness favors the aff]

you should explain the vision of the topic under your interp - these include things like caselists and tvas

Counterplans

I will judge kick when told to

Probably not the best for complex competition debates - i've only been in a competition debate once (so far) and it was a practice round lol - If this is your 2ar strat than you need to be clear and concise

I think i lean toward condo good, but i honestly don't have that strong of a preference here, i could go either way on it - tbh i'm not going to like this debate if it comes down to it - i don't like theory debates that much especially since they're done, well... very badly...most of the time

DAs

fav is ptx <3, I think link debates are important. low risk of link or sus link = low chance of ballot. impact calc is also super important here. Evidence comparison is good.

Top of any neg speech with a DA after the 1NC should start with something like, "DA outweighs and turns case."

Ks on the neg

I've went for the k a good chunk of times - the two being fem and biopolitics

Over all, I have lots of experience with k lit including [afropess and its other variations, queer ks, orientalism, set col, cap, biopolitics, fem] - but i will need hand-holding on [pscyhoanalysis, baudrillard, bataille, deleuze, heidegger]

links of omission and to the status quo are not real links - so i'll definitely be swayed if the aff team goes for this type of argument - pls get better links y'all...

if your k relies on ontology then you have to win this debate or else you'll probably lose - ontology examples are definitely quality over quantity - you should use examples to implicate the K and how the world works (whether you're aff or neg)

I went for the floating pik a lot and won on it (an actual horrible amount) but, they're usually bad and it doesn't mean i like them- unless you say the words "it solves the entirety of the aff and circumvents the links" or articulate it as that i'm not going to weigh it as actually solving - blippy explanations are not real arguments to how it would work - if you barely mention it and then it becomes the 2nr i will rain hellfire upon you (jk)

rejection alts are alts but they're not very good ones

K affs

I'm think i'm OK for k affs - but i probably lean neg on a lot of things

I've always been on the neg against these affs. I think K affs should be in the direction of the topic and have an explainable theory of power that can be used against the neg's offense - solvency and actually having a mechanism are important in these debates whether that method be activism or something else

Clash and fairness can be impacts, but they can also be internal links - it all depends on the articulation that happens in the round - usually i find myself thinking that clash is a better impact

Quantifying limits and grounds for both sides are important here especially if you're going for the counter-interp, and when you're neg trying to prove loss of clash

usually counter-interps are trash and it makes the most sense to go for the impact turns

I've never seen a k v k debate

Clipping

I follow along in the doc. Meeting my minimum standard for clipping will result in a loss, with minimum speaks to the individual who does it

(stolen from Nathan Glancy)

1. Speaker skips a paragraph of a card in a speech

2. Speaker skips a sentence that is 10 or more words in a speech

3. Speakers skips 3-5 words 5 times within a speech

4. Speaker systematically skips 1-2 words throughout a speech

if you want to accuse the other team of clipping then you need to stake the round on it

Misc

I've noticed an increasing amount of debaters just not letting the other team talk AT ALL in cross x and so i have a very low threshold for this because it's annoying and your speaks will probably get lowered

Disclosure is ALWAYS good and people are getting increasingly worse at it - i will most definitely vote on a disclosure interp if a team doesn't open source any of their docs and just uses cites- +.5 speaks if you tell me opensource (i will check)

cross x is always open unless another judge objects

pointing out author quals is good

I am a recently retired former debate coach of more than 35 years so I am familiar with debate theory and practice. In general I will listen to any arguments put forward by the debaters and evaluate them in the manner the debaters ask me to. That said, if the debaters do NOT give me a framework for evaluating arguments I will have to make one up which is likely to make at least one of the teams in the round unhappy. There are a couple of things that I am "old school" on. I will listen to T arguments and use the voters the teams put forward to evaluate it, but I believe that being inside the boundaries of the resolution is a minimum requirement for the Affirmative so I am not giving any bonus points to Aff. for doing so. In short, reverse voters on T are going to require a lot of work by the Aff to convince me. I also believe that CPs must be non-topical; otherwise they are advocating affirming the resolution. So if Neg want to run a topical counter plan they are going to have to do some work to convince me that is an acceptable position. Otherwise the round belongs to the teams and I will evaluate in the manner they ask me to. Finally, speed is fine so long as it is clear. That said, I am happier as a judge evaluating augments that are developed in depth rather than evaluating many arguments presented rapidly but with little depth or explanation. Good luck and speak well!

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 unless I am presented with different framework.

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

Debate experience: I debated for 1 year in high school, and currently teaching our middle school debate elective

Judging experience this season: Andover High School Debate Tournament, Wichita Southeast Debate Invitational, Nickerson Cowbell Classic, KSHSAA 321A 4 Speaker Debate Regional @ Collegiate

Which best describes your priorities in judging debates? Resolution of substantive issues is more important than communication skills.

Which best prescribes your paradigm or approach to judging debate? Stock issues emphasis, Policy maker emphasis

What speed or rate of presentation do you prefer? No preference regarding speed.

Counterplans are... Acceptable if justified, and if consistent with other elements of the negative approach

Topicality is... Very important in my decision; I consider it a paramount issue

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.

POLICY DEBATE PARADIGM

Name: Jamelle Brown

Current Affiliation: Sumner Academy of Arts & Science High School - Kansas City, KS

Debate Experience: 20+ years as a Head HS Coach, Debated 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.

Assistant Coach - Maize South High School

2 years policy debate, plus 5+ years judging policy

4 years forensics having competed in every event except LD & PFD and specializing in Oration and Informative

I try to judge in a very blank slate style though I do have some arguments or argumentative guidelines I prefer over others. For my affirmative teams I like to see cohesive arguments and a logical plan presented. However the affirmative wishes to refute negative arguments is entirely up to them as long as they follow a clear and logical path.

I expect much the same from the negative team. You may decide which avenue to take in trying to take down the affirmative plan as I put equal weight behind all potential courses of attack.

I do not like speed to be used as a weapon. I understand in debate the pace of speaking will be picked up to get all the info in, but if I ever feel that a debater is attempting to speak quickly just so that the opposing team will not hear an argument and then not be able to respond to it, I will judge that critically and penalize you for that.

I appreciate when debaters "get off the cards". I want to see debaters analyze their cards and break down their arguments and try to connect with me on a human level rather than just rattle off facts and figures for the duration of their speech.

I'm not a stock issues judge. While stocks are important to frame a debate, I do not and will not judge solely on them. Do not rely on believing you "won" inherency/solvency/etc. to lead you to a round win. Only a clear and sound argument overall will win you a round in my eyes.

I am open to Topicality arguments but I want them to be specific. Don't just run T cause you feel like it and don't argue that your definition of "the" is better than someone else's. If you run T it needs to be specific and show that the affirmative is actually harming the competitiveness of the round.

If you run DAs make sure they have specific links. I'm not a big fan of generic DAs so make sure you find some way to link to the aff directly.

For Kritiks I generally am not a fan of them but if you can present one that ties to the specific round AND you run it well then I might rule in your favor, just be aware that it might be a risky play. Not to dissuade you but just to inform you.

TL;DR - I want more on-case arguments that have real world examples. I'm fine if you go off case, it just needs to be presented well and somehow swing around to providing clash in the round.

I worked in radio for 8 years before transitioning to education so I value good communication skills in a round and being able to connect with people as I have spent a chunk of my life honing that skill. Your evidence is important but your ability to properly convey it to me is just as important. I want to see you communicate your intentions of your arguments and where you stand on the issues in the round.

As a reminder this is an educational activity and we are all people just trying to get better and learn things. I understand debate in its very nature is confrontational, but remember that your opponents are fellow human beings just like you and should be treated with respect. Try to avoid being argumentative in rounds and keep it loose.

At the end of the day just have fun!

Hello my name is Shannon Catlin. I have judged debate for the last four 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.

I've been an assistant coach at Campus HS (Haysville, KS) for 7 years, and I was an assistant in Valley Center, KS, for 3 years. I also debated in high school.

Clarity of arguments is most important to me. Debaters should be understandable, and they can speak at a rapid pace. However, extreme speed--like that of an auctioneer--is unnecessary. It is better to have quality arguments that read a ton of evidence. I like for debaters to explain how the evidence supports the argument he/she makes. Merely reading a ton of evidence with no analytical link to voter issues is not productive debating. Don't assume that I will use the same reasoning or make the same connections as you do. It is your job as the speaker to help the audience understand and prefer your position in the debate. Keep it civil as well. I prefer arguments based in reality not theoretical or philosophical impossibilities.

If I stop flowing and cross my arms, that means you have lost me. Either you are confusing or you are reading so quickly I can't understand the words coming out of your mouth. This is your visual cue to adjust your speaking style to make yourself more understandable. Debaters often make the argument that the way a judge votes determines if a policy passes. I have never heard or seen a legislative session in Congress use spreading to pass laws. I really don't want to hear this in the round.

Above all, I vote on the logic and clarity of the arguments. This means that you must do more than read evidence.

Head Coach of a large 5A Program. I debated 4 years in high school and in college. Will listen to everything. Speed is fine. Tell me where to flow and how to vote.

Don't give me generic arguments without specific links. Make sure you understand the literature and explain - not a fan of endless card reading and no analysis.

Experience: Head coach for 8 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 analysis.

Paradigm: I default to policymaker. Please tell me how YOU would like me to weigh the round.

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. 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.

As a judge, I am to objectively evaluate the arguments presented to me, by the standards presented to me in round to make my decision and see who has most effectively proven their case. I will be weighing based on the quality of arguments, evidence, and logical reasoning; I keep personal biases and preferences out of the debate world. I'm an open policy debater and am pretty flexible and am okay with about any speed as long as you can be clear and articulated. Roadmaps, Signposting, and Eye Contact are all important factors of a debate and go into consideration when giving speaker points.

Burden of Proof-the aff has the burden to present a compelling case that affirms the resolution, is better than the squo, and as the Neg it's your team's job to refute the aff's case and show me why I should prefer your case.

Argumentation- I will assess the strengths of the arguments presented by each team; looking for a clear, logical, and well-structured case and how you can support your contentions. You tell me and justify the quality of evidence, relevance, and how you incorporate it into the debate.

Clash- I love it! Very important to debate and the whole reason we're here! I'm looking for debaters who will engage with each other's points and directly address the issues of the debate.

Voting Issues- You should explicitly identify the reasons to vote for your side, and have evidence to back you up. Tell mewhy you deserve the vote.

Topicality-if you're going to bring it up it better be justified, have evidence to back it up, and you can tell me as the judge why it's important to me in the debate world to vote on T. If by your last speech, your the Neg and you still are going for T; you should be 100% in. T is important in the debate world and we're here for an educational and interesting debate. I want to see that.

K's- ew. If you're going to bring up a K it should be justified and you better understand it; I don't appreciate wasting a round away to Kritik's and theory in general. I believe there is always a time for those arguments, be able to identify when those times are. And PLEASE if you're going to bring it up; have the evidence with it.

I come into the debate as a neutral party and I want you guys to tell me what I should believe and why I should believe it. I will follow the rules but it's also imperative that you can call each other out and make those arguments for yourself. If there is any kind of ill-mannered comments or statements about someone based on race, gender, ethnicity, religion, or sexual/gender orientation; I will immediately dock your speaker points and it could cost you the debate. The debate world is heavily reliant on logic and analytical analysis, but ethics are still an important part that comes into play and I should see them represented.

Update June 13, 2024.

GENERAL THOUGHTS

I am the debate, forensics and speech teacher and coach 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!

Noah Gray

I'm okay with shaking hands. If using email chain, add : Noah.Gray7.25.06@gmail.com

Policymaker judge, but proving out of round abuse is funny and hilarious and will probably boost your speaks, but I won't grant any points on my RFD unless it's overkill. Also bonus points if you give in depth substantial debate explaining why your opponents are wrong and you are right and why their cards are bad and yours are good and the whole nine yards. Having entertaining cross-ex's and speeches, especially constructives, are going to boost your speaks just FYI.

Inherency - Be inherent. Either explain why your warrants in their cards does not apply to your case, why your case stands out from the squo, or how the squo method is currently failing. Date debate is cringe unless you explain why your card being more recent in context matters, but I hope for an aff to be ran you'll have done some research like, oh I don't know, being inherent. I give less weight to inherency args for novices due to the constriction of the novice packet, but don't fumble the bag aff.

Solvency - Yes, advantages do stem from solvency. I would like to see solvency, as well as inherency and all other stock issues, extended throughout the round. Doesn't mean you'll win them, it just means you won't lose on them at the beginning of the debate. Prove why the plan itself or an aspect of the plan wouldn't solve, or by solving you are doing something worse. Solvency is a pretty nifty debate, but don't run thirty eight solvency args and expect your opponents to respond to all. The more shallow solvency args, the more leeway I give to the aff to answer them.

Theory - Lol, go for it. Hilarious, but again a large amount of substantial burdens have to be met for it to factor into my RFD.

DA's/CP - BEST DEBATE STYLE, but neg has a lot of burdens to fill, i.e. CP is better than the aff, DA doesn't link to the CP, yadayada. My favorite debate is a clash on case especially with a little CP/DA mixed in, just make sure you understand it. I will def vote on you if you meet the threshold, but it's a steep hill to climb on if you're trying to prove the negative CP is more beneficial, you must meet all, or at least a sufficiently high, amount of burdens. Also, abusive CP's are funny and give me a chuckle and I will vote on them, but if the aff pulls out the right arguments it'll work out for the aff.

K's - Ew. But in all seriousness, K's are fine to run, I understand the literature of most K's, but if you see me do the whole head turning thing, might want to take that as a hint that I'm A) paying attention and B) confused. Novices, make sure you understand your K's or whatever arg your running.

T's - Definition debates are hilarious and would love to see that, but it probably won't influence my ballot. What will though, are standards and limits debate. Voters really won't, T is a voter either way because it's a stock issue. A voters debate will take a lot of work to go towards the aff. Standards and Limits are fun, show why the aff is good or bad for education and fairness. Cool stuff like that and running a good T arg in REBUTTALS will def help your speaks.

Btw be good people first and good debaters second!!!

haha ????

:)

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.

Generic Disads, Counter Plans, Kritiks are fine. Topicality is fine. Specific links are important. Explanation is important.

The last speakers should weight the round.

I will penalize rudeness. Just be nice to each other.

My experience:

Competed in policy and speech IEs for three years in high school (back in the hybrid paper/paperless debate days). Did IPDA debate and speech IEs for four years in college. Spent two years as an assistant coach for a 4A program that did policy and IEs, then one year as a minimally involved assistant for a 1A forensics program. Took over that 1A program as head coach for two years.

Currently, I coach at a 3A school, primarily investing in policy, Congress, and IEs, though I also have kids who dabble in LD and 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.

Howdy!

I'm currently a sophomore in College, with debate experience going back all the way to my Freshman year of High School. I went to state and took third in high school, so I would like to think I'm rather knowledgeable when it comes to debate.

TL/DR:I'm more of a Policymaker judge, but obviously I hold stock issues to a high level of importance. I really enjoy arguments that are tackled from a policymaker's perspective, but please don't ignore the importance of stock issues (or how to handle them, I suppose).

In terms of more specifics:

AFF Cases - You must defend an advocacy, and prove that action must be done. Otherwise, your plan does nothing. I strongly prefer policy cases, and I am not a fan of K AFFs, but if it's run well, I'll consider it like any other.

On-Case and Impacts - I love on-case arguments and weigh them highly. Impact calc. is always appreciated. My favorite stock issue is inherency.

T - Topicality is a stock issue I'm not a huge fan of; I see it as a time suck in most cases. However, if you can convince me that the AFFs plan is irrefutably non-topical, and you support it well, that'll be real good. (AFF, I don't mind effect plans, so long as you explain the abuse story well).

CPs - CPs are also something I'm not a huge fan of, because they're often not run correctly. Make sure you have every part of it down, and make sure to convince me of the net benefits of the CP over the AFF. (basically, just run it right, and I'm fine with it!)

Ks / Theory - These are probably my least favorite, but I'll weigh it the same if you can convince me to accept the world of the alt, and not the squo.

DAs - Make sure you provide a link for your DA, otherwise it's not really a DA and more a generic argument. If you provide a link and a harm with it though, you're golden.

Delivery - I'm fine with any speed level you're comfortable with, but please make sure you're understandable while talking. (I'm fine with you talking really fast, so long as you're not tripping over your words)

Ultimately, provide good public speaking with clash, understand I tend to judge like a Policymaker, and we'll all have a good time!

I mostly base my decisions on good policy. I do mix in stock issues of they are applicable which is mostly topicality.

I prefer real-world arguments.

Good speech organization is always a positive foot forward.

Respect for each other is key. I do not like shouting matches or putting down of others.

Counterplans are acceptable if they are sound.

I am not a fan of Kritiks or Resolution Justification.

My preference on the pace of speech is the pace at which the common man can understand. In short, if you're gasping for breath, you're too fast.

Great communication and good form are important to me.

I do not mind speed but do not spread if you are not adept at it; I need to understand more than be impressed by your words per minute. Speaking of understanding, please make it a focus to know the correct pronunciation of difficult terms and words that are pertinent to your arguments. Thanks.

Topicality is underrated. I find it to be the bedrock of your argument. I also think impacts are important. If you bring up tools to make your opponents’ position weak such as disads, CP, etc., please be prepared to support these in detail, and develop your them to expose the weakness of your opposition.

A great k is okay but people are in love with using ks without knowing how. Don't be that person. Also, provide a good roadmap before your speech, and above all, at the end of your portion of the round, please be clear on why the judge should decide FOR you or AGAINST your opponent.

I strive to be impartial and open because I am a high school debate and forensics coach, and that’s how I want my students to be judged. However, I do not appreciate debaters who are unkind to lay judges; tournaments would be very hard to hold without them, and they are some debater's mother, grandfather, family friend, etc. Disdaining them is inappropriate.

Try hard, be polite, use language that is academic, appropriate, and unbiased; don’t attack your opponents themselves, but rather their arguments on the basis of logic, evidence, organization, and knowledge…and say thanks after to all in the room.

This paradigm is not earth-shattering, but simply common sense points to follow, and good luck to all.

I am a tabula rasa Judge. I prefer to judge using the evidence that both parties present. I prefer that debaters stay on topic and avoid semantics as they do not really add to the points being made. Make you definition heard, but don't spend all of your rebuttal round talking about semantic issues.

Hello! I'm Lin, a third year debater, and I'm not very particular on what you do; although, I do have a few notes on some things.

If you are not the 1AC, please use roadmaps. It is extremely hard to understand what you are saying when I don't even know what your arguments are.

Sharing evidence is very appreciated. I'm the type of person who can't understand a movie without captions; therefore, if I don't have any captions for the debate, I will have zero clue whats going on. You can use speechdrop, email, or whatever. It helps me know what cards you are using and overall helps everyone with flowing the debate.

I judge based on how you respond to arguments. If the other team makes an argument and you do not address it, I will assume you dropped it and they will win that argument. DO NOT just repeat your plan over and over again. Clash is one of the most important things in debate and without it, it's just a bunch of speeches.

I like it when you look into their evidence and counter it. For example if they have a card with a tag that says "Social security fails" but their evidence says the opposite, don't just ignore it! Say something about how it hurts their arguments, education, and the structure of debate and whatnot.

Cross X is only for asking and answering questions. If you are the one asking questions, JUST ASK QUESTIONS. Save any extra comments for the rebuttal.

I am good with every kind of argument (CP's, T, K's, DA's ect ect) as long as you can prove that it is right and that it relates to the debate. Although, don't bring any new off-case arguments up in the last few speeches. Doing that makes it harder for the other team to properly respond to those arguments. If it's not in the 1NC, I will ignore it.

Don't be on your phone. Debates are an hour and a half, if not less. You can survive without it.

Overall just have fun and don't stress out too much about it; and don't be rude or condescending. This is high school debate, it's not that serious.

Fight, win, debate!!

I don't really have one. I'll judge anything from stock issues to kritiks. If all else fails I default to stock issues when nothing else merits judging. I look for strong evidence backed arguments with clear links and justifications. I am big on structure and clarity, so well structured speeches and arguments go a long ways.

assistant director of debate, wichita east high school

nsda Degree of Outstanding Distinction certificate holder

he/him

say lets get this bread before cross-x for bonus points

lots of clash in your speech is always great, i think?

try your best

all good for open CX

if you use speachdrop, i will leave the round and submit the ballot in the other teams favor, i don't have time for this nonsense
just kidding (kind of), just use what's most convenient for you and the other team

incorporating any of these phrases into your speech will result in an increase of speaker points:

"devious licks, bruh moment, according to the KSHAA handbook..., perm do neither"

CONGRESS is the TRUE form of DEBATE ????

accomplishments:
parker benjamin mitchell's favorite student: 2021-2023

I have been in debate since 1988 either competing or coaching. I debated at the high school level and then in CEDA in college. I have been a high school debate coach for the last 25 years.

As far as a general paradigm, I would say that I am a policymaker that used to be tabula rasa. I still try to be as much a tab judge as I can, but with age and a distancing with particular divisions/circuits has made me default to a more of a policymaking paradigm.

So here are the highlights you are probably interested in.

Delivery: At one time, I was pretty quick, but my skills at following speed have decreased over the years. I'm generally fine with speed as long as you are clear.

Theory arguments: Used to be a huge fan of theory. Not so much any more. Definitely not a fan of the multiple worlds framework, but you're welcome to try and convince me otherwise.

Topicality: I know you're probably expecting me to say I hate T, but I actually am okay with it. That's not to say I'm a fan of it, but I'm not going to wholesale reject the position. I understand its place in debate as both a legit argument and as a strategic tool. All I ask is that you don't waste time running it.

K positions: Make sure you're explaining it to me. I coach in classification where kritiks and kritical affs are not really ran much. If you're going to go for it, make sure you explain it to me.

DA's: Fine with those. However, I do buy performative contradictions so be careful with what you run with them.

CP's: Traditional CP's are fine. If you're doing something like a PIC, I'm open to theory arguments from the Aff as to its legitimacy.

As for anything else, feel free to ask me in the room.

I have been an assistant coach for Andover for 15+ years and did debate in HS. I am fine with speed if you are very clear. Ks are fine, but you better make it relevant somehow. Otherwise, policy maker is my default.

If you run T, make it good. It is everything in a round and yes, grammar matters. Make it a voter and don’t drop it.

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 your arg has 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.

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.

Lastly, 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.).

Coaching: 1977-2023 [Kansas] Valley Center High School, Wichita North High School, Wichita Northwest High School, Maize High School & Campus High School

Paradigm: Pure Policy

Aff has burden of proof and neg presumption, so I will default neg if the aff can't prove their policy is comparatively advantageous. Impact calc is imperative.

DAs: Overviews, solid plan links, and impact calc; straight turns good!

CPs: Legit only if neg can prove the CP is competitive, i.e, mutually exclusive and/or net beneficial

Ks: Not a fan! So generic and boring. I want to hear good clash, not a K which most students don’t comprehend and can’t explain, sheer torture.

T: Don’t waste time on T if the aff is topical. If the case is truly not topical, then T’s a priori, so ensure you defend your interps, standards, and voters cogently and coherently.

Delivery: Lucid, professional, classy, articulate; speed bad=immediate loss.

Integrity: Be humble, kind, and respectful.

I am an old school "Get off my lawn" kind of judge. I have been an assistant debate coach for 18 years 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 used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was. Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’ anymore and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary. It’ll happen to you!" -Grandpa Simpson

Name- Preston Peer

School-Goddard High School

# of years debated in HS- 4 What School(s) -Wichita Heights, Wichita Northwest

# of years debated in College- 2 What College/University(s)- Kansas State, Wichita State

Currently a (check all that apply)

____Head HS Coach

X- Asst. HS Coach

____College Coach

_____College Debater

X- Debate Fan who regularly judges HS debate

#of rounds on this year’s HS Topic-1 (10ish Novice and JV)

Feelins bout stuff-

What paradigm best describes your approach to debate? - Closest to is a policymaker. It's how I was taught, and where I'm most comfortable. However, I try to be open minded, and you should debate how you are most comfortable. I like being told why and how I should vote.

What do you think the Aff burdens should be? I like things that stick to the resolution. Kritik affs are fine, but you will have a hard time getting my vote if you don't relate to the resolution, or defend a stable "plan text". I'm old and boring: I still think the aff should, like, affirm the resolution in some way. Other than that, I'm open to debate about what the aff should be doing.

What do you think the Neg burdens should be? Prove the aff is a bad idea, or doesn't fall under the resolution. How you want to do that is up to you, but I do have a bias towards a good policy debate.

How I feel about delivery (slow vs. fast)? Fast is fine, but I much prefer clear and efficient. Top speed is not as important as clarity and word economy. My ear is bad on its best day, and I'm severely out of practice

How I feel about generic Disads, Counter Plans, Kritiks? They're fine. Specific is always better, but I get it. Run your stuff.

How I feel about case debates? Case debates are the best.

Other Comments/Suggestions:

I've been involved in debate for 15 years, and every year I find out and learn so much more about not just the topic, but debate as a whole. With that in mind, while I do know some tips and tricks, I know that there is always more to be learned, and because of this, I'm not going to try and pretend to be smarter than I actually am. If I don't get your kritikal argument, or weird framework, or whatever other argument, I'm not going to vote for it, and I don't care how dumb I look. You should still be able to explain to a person of mediocre intelligence (me) what the heck you are arguing, and if you can't, I'm not going to do the work for you.

On a similar note, I am loathe to take evidence at the end of a debate, or spend much more than a few minutes at most deciding who won. I am not of the belief that the debaters should hand the judge a messy round and expect them to do the work of finding out who won. I make a real effort to judge based on what is said in the round. With this in mind, i prefer good analysis to anything else. Don't get dragged down too much into the line by line. 1 good argument beats 4 bad arguments in response. Tell me why, how, and where you are winning the debate. Overviews make me happy.

Final note: debate is, by its nature, an adversarial activity. I get that. That doesn't give anyone carte blanche to be a jerk. Be kind and respectful to one another. Ya'll are high school debaters. It is okay to step back and acknowledge the humanity of the other team you are facing. This is important, and you should give as much as you can to win the round, but no ones life hangs in the balance. Being mean, snooty, or condescending hurts your speaks more than being bad at debate. This applies to coaches, too. The "Aloof Debater Affect" everyone puts on at these tournaments is not only unnecessary, it makes you all look ridiculous, too. Lighten up, everyone. Having said all that, debate is a confrontational activity, so you don't have to be saccharine and fake. Sarcasm and deadpan make me happy.

Good luck and have fun to all debaters. Please ask questions for clarity.

Hutchinson High School assistant coach for 2 years running.

Hutch alum 4 time state attendee 2 time nsda nats.

6 years debate experience, debater for Wichita State University.

https://www.wichita.edu/academics/fairmount_college_of_liberal_arts_and_sciences/elliott/2012/Student_Organizations/Debate_home.php <if you're interested in joining debate in college, check us out!>

Just do what makes you happy. Debate is supposed to be fun and teach you new things. I like competitive debates where teams actually care and aren't just reading off the doc. I will be sure to give personal feedback to everyone on ballot and keep a neat flow. Ill go for any strat, weather you play safe and just go da or decide to spice it up and bring out a K is up to you and ill do my best to take in any argument. Don't change your style for me i'll adapt to whatever you throw at me. I do well with speed, not a fan of open crossx for highschoolers.

Please include me in email chains/ speech drop, 70% of you don't know how to sign post.

email: Kaydperd@gmail.com

Good luck to anyone who took the time to read :) <3

Wassup goofy goobers !!!

Email: josepina.db@gmail.com

I prefer Speechdrop, but I'm okay with Email chains.

If you are using paper or flash please give me a copy.

Third year debating at Salina South High School--- I mainly debate in Varsity/Open.

He/Him.

General---

- I'm a flow judge, but if the round is too messy I will just give out tbh.

- Tech>Truth, you can group arguments as long as your response(s) are good and you explain them. I will look for dropped arguments but will not weigh them in the round unless the other teams point it out.

- DO NOT treat me like a baby, if you do I will get angy. I am sure I know the resolution and the topics well; you don't have to explain simple things like what a T is or what nuclear power is.

- TELL ME WHAT TO VOTE FOR. Don't just leave me on my own to analyze the entire debate.

- Off-time roadmap pretty pls !!

- OPTIONAL: Say "It's debate time!" before starting your speech.

- Any speed is fine, just be sure to be clear.

- I'm okay with open CX only if both teams agree. Keep in mind that one partner must not be the only one asking and responding to questions because that is not cool for the other partner.

- Be respectful. Debate is supposed to be a learning activity and more importantly, a fun activity. Just don't be mean or say anything racist, homophobic, transphobic, etc. or you'll probably lose (Cool debaters respect other people's pronouns !!️).

Debate stuff---

Stock Issues

-Inherency/harms-- Not really a voting issue for me.

-Solvency-- I consider this one of the main voting issues. If you want to go for it be sure to provide enough evidence for it and explain why you win well.

-Advantages--- The neg has to show how the aff's advantages are not true or how they will be bad.

Off case

T: I dislike T's, but if you want to run it go for it.

DA: DA's are super cool. Just be sure to explain the link and impact well.

K's: If you want to run K's be sure to know what you are talking about. Don't just run it to look "classy" or "studious", you'll end up looking silly. If you do run a K, Be sure to explain it well.

CP: I'm okay with CP's. Be sure to explain your net benefits and show me why I should prefer your counterplan over the aff.

Theory- I do weigh theory in the round and I'm willing to vote for it. If you think something is not ethical during the debate round, you are welcomed to run theory.

Extra Stuff---

- I love to have little goofs during the debate--- just have fun while being respectful and stay topical to the debate round.

-Good luck and be sure to e-mail me if you have any questions, I'll try to answer ASAP.

P.S. If I have to write on a paper ballet, my handwriting is not the best, so email me if you have questions :)

Austin Rea

WSU '24

Email: austin.rea34@gmail.com

Hey everyone, feel free to ask questions before the round if anything is not clear in my paradigm. Additionally, if you find some of this information vague or confusing reading Tim Ellis's paradigm or Sean Duff's will give you plenty of insight into how I view debate.

Experience: I debated for 3 years at Washburn Rural High School. I'm the prototypical WARU debater in that I only ran policy affs and typically only read straight forward Kritiks when competing. I am currently a senior at Wichita State University studying Economics and History.

Technology/Speed: I'm fine with any speed typically, if you aren't clear I'll clear you once.

Preferences: The strategies most likely to win my ballot are policy oriented. Ideally, my favorite types of debates are relatively straight forward fast debates with lots of warranted analysis. On the affirmative, I'm a big fan of well put together and defensible aff's. However, I enjoy straight turning DA's and kicking the aff, if you have the chance take it. I think the most compelling neg strategy in debate is usually DA and case or DA and CP. That being said obviously theory/kritiks are viable ways to win but they are typically less enjoyable unless they include intelligient in round debate and not just blocks.

Framework: I think fairness is extremely important in debate. Plan-less affirmatives are more compelling to me if they are in the direction of topic and allow for substantial neg ground. Aff should focus on their impacts and how they engage with education in the round and why that outweighs fairness or why fairness doesn't matter. Case debate even without specific evidence is helpful in these rounds when it comes to understanding the desirability of the aff. I would say plan-less aff vs kritik rounds are likely be a jumbled mess and confuse me unless it is contextualized well and is fairly straight forward.

Topicality/Theory: Typically, I believe T is a question of competing interpretations. When evaluating interpretations I tend to lean towards models of debate that provide fairly equitable neg and aff ground. Also, when going for a terminal impact on T, I think fairness tends to be the most persuasive IF there is further explanation about why fairness matters in regards to education. On most theory arguments I default to reject the arg not the team but it is possible to win my ballot on conditionality. Spec debates are exceptionally lame. Reasonability is not a real argument.

Kritiks: I am fairly familiar with most Kritik's, however I am not as familiar with what I'll call identity Kritik's. This does not mean you should never go for one of these arguments. Kritik literature often fascinates me but I don't think its very often both sides are able to have a meaningful debate on it. If you are able to intelligently discuss the merits of the Kritik beyond the tag lines I will be much more receptive. I think alts are under utilized in many kritik debates and I tend to enjoy the debate more if the neg goes for the alt instead of just framework and a link. However, if you do go for the alt its important I get an explanation how the alt resolves at least portions of the aff and also the mechanisms of how the alt functions. Contextualized specific links are extremely important to me in this style of debate. Link of omission=no link

DA/CP/Case: This is the style of debate I prefer, the rebuttals should clearly outline the impacts of the DA vs the impacts of the aff. If no impact analysis is done I will not be happy. Never underestimate the value of case arguments, going for solvency or focusing on internal links of the aff is more persuasive than generic impact defense. Counter plans are an essential aspect of debate that challenge the desirability of the aff. Conditions counter plans are kind of up in the air I can be persuaded either way. Consult counter plans I think are almost always cheating, you definitely need to focus on how the CP textually and/or functionally competes if you're going for this kind of CP. Delay CP's are cheating and if that fact is identified by the other team I will not vote on it. Please keep in mind there are multiple parts of a DA required to win a round. Without uniqueness, link, internal link, and an impact I cannot vote on your DA even if it is dropped most likely.

***My suggestion for you is to do what you are good at or what is fun. Too often in rebuttals negative teams will go for what the aff has done the worst on instead of what the neg has done the best on. This is a mistake. Keep in mind you are playing to win, not playing to watch the other team lose.***

Lastly, be nice and have fun. If you have more experience than the team across from you trust me I'll know, there is no need to be mean and make the round less enjoyable for everyone. I don't want to hear you talking during your opponents speeches. Probably the most annoying thing for me to see in debate are when debaters are overly emotional or condescending with body language during opponents speeches.

Speak guuuuuud.

But seriously, I'm a forensics coach first, so I wanna hear your fancy speaker skills at a REASONABLE pace!
I like to flow arguments on a spreadsheet. That means I want to hear you give CLEAR tags when you move to a new piece of evidence. And those tags need to be ACCURATE (i.e. NO powertagging)!

Also... CLASH!!! Answer the arguments! If you're the 1NC, and you give me T and 2 DAs but don't at least ADDRESS any of their On-Case, I'm not gonna be a happy judge. Same on the 2AC when you want to extend your On-Case. ADDRESS their Off-Case! And EXPLAIN your cards!
(e.g. "So judge, in a nutshell this is how their plan's solvency ultimately makes climate change worse for us all...">

Likewise, Give. Me. Roadmaps. I want to know WHERE you're going with the arguments, and SIGNPOST when you move from point to point (e.g. "Now let's address their Solvency..." "Okay, moving on to the Link in the BioTerrorism DA...") Letting me know WHERE your argument is on the flow is ESSENTIAL! If I have to look all over the place to guess where you are on the flow, then I'm missing the argument that you're making.

In rebuttals, I'm all about the Impact Calc. GET OFF THE CARDS. Let me hear your analysis of your argument. If you're still reading new evidence after the 2NC, you'd better have an awfully good reason for it. And definitely don't ignore the impact calc entirely. Talk to me!
And honestly, you don't need to wait until rebuttals to start your Impact Calc. Explain how your cards and your arguments defeat theirs in the constructives!

Finally, I want the debate round to be FUN. I would like to come away from that round with stories about how clever your argument was or how creative your analysis was.

Tell some jokes.
Drop some geeky, pop culture references.
Make me laugh.
Make me clap.
Give me a reason to look forward to judging another round.

Policy Debate:

Experience - I am a former debate competitor and current coach. I have a degree in history with a political science minor. Treat me like a flay judge.

I will do my best to flow your speeches, but I have slight hearing damage so please do not spread. If I can't understand what you're saying, I can't agree with what you've said.

Evidence - I prefer speechdrop, but if you are using an email chain, send it benjamin.ristow@staff.usd305.com. Please upload/send your evidence before your speech starts. That makes it a lot easier for me to follow what you're saying.

Paradigm - Please be respectful to me and to each other. Feel free to make whatever arguments you want, but make sure you have good evidence and/or solid logic/reasoning. I prefer a few strong, well-explained arguments over a big pile of cards that you dumped into your speeches.

If you drop big arguments, I will generally assume that you are conceding them, but I prefer good argumentation over "Aha, they dropped one obscure piece of evidence so they lose the round, gotcha!"

I don't like new arguments in the rebuttals, and you shouldn't read any new evidence in the 2NR/2AR.

I really want the 2NR and 2AR to tell me their stories. Your 2NR/2AR should write the ballot for me. I appreciate impact calculus, I appreciate clear argument analysis. The debate shouldn't be a card reading contest, I want to see more analysis and refutation. Please engage with the material that you are reading.

You should probably watch me for feedback. I don't hide reactions very well...

Style - I think that persuasiveness matters- especially in CX and rebuttals. Debate is a communication activity.

Professionalism also matters to me. 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 don't like offensive language (f***, racial slurs, etc.), 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. If you say "end prep," and then continue typing, that's still using prep. I will be reasonable about evidence 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 IF EVERYONE AGREES TO IT. Otherwise I expect it to be closed. Ask each other before the round starts. If one partner does all the asking and answering during open CX, that debater is sending a pretty important, negative message to me about how much their colleague is valued.

L-D Debate:

Experience - I am a current coach, but did not compete in L-D. I have a degree in history with a political science minor.

I will do my best to flow your speeches, but I have slight hearing damage so please do not spread. If I can't understand what you're saying, I can't agree with what you've said.

Evidence - I prefer speechdrop, but if you are using an email chain, send it benjamin.ristow@staff.usd305.com. Please upload/send your evidence before your speech starts. That makes it a lot easier for me to follow what you're saying.

Paradigm - Please be respectful to me and to each other. Feel free to make whatever arguments you want, but make sure you have good evidence and/or solid logic/reasoning. I prefer a few strong, well-explained arguments over a big pile of cards that you dumped into your speeches. I tend to lean more truth over tech.

You should probably watch me for feedback. I don't hide reactions very well...

Style - I think that persuasiveness matters- especially in CX and rebuttals. Debate is a communication activity.

Professionalism also matters to me. 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 don't like offensive language (f***, racial slurs, etc.), 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.

Novice Judge

K arguments are just complaining, so I'm not really gonna like them

pleaseuse roadmaps and summaries

(I will very easily lose track of what you're saying)

If you use any type of offensive language in any way, it's an immediate loss. I don't tolerate that.

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.

General: My preference first and foremost is for a clear logical argument that can easily be followed and clearly addresses all stock issues. Don't make me work really hard to follow your case. I am not a huge fan of spreading. I understand wanting to fit in as many arguments as possible, but, sometimes speed is not your friend. Plus, if you go for speed, the odds are greater I am going to miss an argument. Clash is great and I enjoy seeing a great competitive debate.

I am open to almost all arguments providing that they make sense and they are well organized and can be easily followed. So I expect off-time roadmaps and signposts. Remember, I'm not an expert on your case you are, and I expect to be able to follow along, even if I don't have the evidence in front of me. I'm going to drop arguments on my flow if you don't make sure that I can follow your arguments. The mistake students make that drives me the most nuts is not flowing and dropping arguments.

On-case: I don't consider myself a stock issues judge, even though I often vote on stock issues. Don't ignore or completely gloss over them because you don't think they are as important as your off-case arguments.

Off-case: When on the neg I want to see good solid disadvantages and counterplans that are constructed well (make sure your uniqueness and links where appropriate are obvious). I am not a fan of kritiks (especially if they are not exceptionally strong), and I really dislike kaffs. If you are going to run a kritik make sure it's in the 1NC and make sure you can tie it back to the actual resolution. Running a generic K often feels to me that you are grasping at straws. I hate abuse arguments unless it's blinding clear that the other team is being abusive. At its core I want the resolution argued.

Evidence Sharing: Your evidence needs to be in speechdrop or emailed at the end of your prep time. Don't take extra time at the podium putting the evidence in speech drop. I consider that to be a theft of prep time and I see it happen all the time (I provide more grace to novices as they are learning). Prep time theft is my number one pet peeve. Evidence sharing - I prefer speech drop. If you using an email chain use emma.webb@staff.usd305.com.

Professional Behavior: I'm also a stickler about professional behavior from all debaters. Every team has varying levels of experience and skill, but they all deserve to be treated respectfully.

As a former forensics competitor and coach, I pay a good deal of attention to delivery (you need to speak at a rate such that I can understand you!). Just rattling off info without emphasis or proper inflection damages your credibility for me. Logical arguments are important. Finally, professional and courteous conduct is always appreciated!

I'm mostly a Tab judge (Tell me who and what to vote on). I vote on performance style and speaking style. While the content of the debate is still important I like more Forensics style and IRL Speaker style aka I like clear and concise Argumentation. DO NOT SPEED READ. I am a 3rd year debater with Dyslexia so if your fast I can understand to some extent but if you talk to fast you lose me. So road mapping, sign posting is a must, explain arguments to me!

Do not worry about adapting to my debate style, I will adapt to yours.

There are not specific arguments that I prefer over others, but I do not like Topicality arguments unless they are entirely justified and the other team truly is not topical. Spending time arguing definitions rather than policy leads to a boring and non educational debate.

Be civil and be kind. I don’t like yelling in rounds, it’s unprofessional and not needed.

Read clearly. If you can coherently spread, read as fast as you would like. But if you struggle to read fast or get through your case, don’t be afraid to cut cards to shorten your case.