I am a high school debater who has been debating all through middle school. Mostly prep-ahead/extemp parli & some modified LD.

An attempt at refuting is better than no refuting

I can follow a faster speaking pace, but speaking clearly and thoughtfully are more important. Be comfortable - even if it means your speaking is slower

Don't worry too much about stuttering, etc. Getting your point across is more important

Impacts + weighing!

Be calm and try your best! Debate can be equal parts enjoyable and stressful, but remember it is another learning opportunity regardless of the outcome.

Here are a few guidelines for a debate round I'm judging:

-Of course, do not use any discriminatory, hateful, harmful and/or profane language during your speech

-Small aspects of your speech could have a impact in my RFD since they can interrupt important parts of your speech if they are distracting or invest me into your speech more if executed correctly

-Weigh correctly! It is the most important part of a round

-Please signpost during your speeches. I'm a slower writer with certain utensils (pencils for example), so you should make sure that I know of how your case connects

-Use proper debate terminology! It makes you sound more experienced during your round

-As the second speaker, make unique arguments. According to me, your speech was a waste if you just repeated your partner's points (try to do some more weighing and focus on refuting)

East Coast HS debater

Nothing too crazy here - don't be offensive or violate debate ethics (no transphobic, sexist, racist, etc. arguments). Explain quality of impacts vs. quantity. I will vote a contention with the greatest magnitude of impact vs. 25 baseless claims. Be sure to signpost and speak clearly. If you speed too aggressively I will not be able to catch everything on the flow and the opponents will have a harder time understanding as well. Generally quality of debate will decrease too. I am fine with theory as long as your arguments make sense and are concise.

hii! i'm chloe, a sophomore at hopkins. i've been debating parli for about a year now, with some limited experience in pf and cross-ex. there isn't anything too particular about how i judge - you can expect tech>truth except for big truths and try to limit jargon (50/50 chance on whether or not i understand it). be nice.

some more unique aspects of my judging in my opinion: i think speed is sort of fun in rounds as long as you aren't intentionally speeding up to scare your opponents, and i'll probably be able to keep up. humor probably won't change your speaker score. definition debates are fun too - i think a debate should be partially about what you're actually debating.

looking forward to a good debate! feel free to email me at cwang26@students.hopkins.edu with any questions about your round :)