I have been coaching forensics since 2001, leading programs in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Parliamentary Debate, and all Individual Events. I am now the Founder and Executive Director of The Practice Space, a non-profit dedicated to elevating underrepresented voices through public speaking programs, curriculum, and coaching. I also coach debate coaches and have started 5 forensics programs. In high school, I competed on the national circuit in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, going to elimination rounds at many major tournaments, including State Championships, Stanford Round Robin, Glenbrooks, UC Berkeley, Emory, and winning MLK. I also went to State Finals and Nationals in Individual Events (Dramatic Interpretation and Duo Interpretation).

The following refers to all forms of debate:

As a judge, I believe that speech and debate should be about communication and persuasion. While I can handle speed and know the jargon, debate should ultimately be about making the right choices in the round and giving strong explanations. I flow well and am okay with kritiks and topicality (although not enamored with them). Don’t let speed and jargon get in the way of clear communication. It’s not about winning every argument, but choosing the right ones by identifying the right clash, weighing the arguments, and concluding with a clear and persuasive story of the round. I ultimately judge rounds based on standards.

To me, the final speeches are the most important. Be clear about the standard for the round and don’t forget to impact well. I hate off-time roadmaps and starting off rounds with “time starts now”. Balance defense with offense and paint the picture of your side’s world. Do NOT be rude! I do not vote for people who are rude. If you are on the negative, make sure you leave enough time for clear voting issues in your last speech and don’t spend the whole time on line-by-line. The final affirmative speech should not contain line-by-line.

PF paradigm: I judge based on the flow. I don't judge off of my pre-existing ideas or what I believe to be true in the real world. I judge based off of the arguments presented and the rebuttals to those arguments. If your opponent says something stupid or makes wild leaps in logic and you don't call them on it, it's not my job to enter the debate as a third party and call them on it through the ballot. That's your job. I don't flow cross, so if you want me to weigh something said in cross, put it in a speech.

My preferences:

I can handle speed, but don't spread. If I can't flow it, I'm not considering it in the final judging.

Extend your arguments. Make it clear. Explain. If I don't know much about the topic, I should still be able to understand.

Be civil.

Be ethical with evidence. Don't paraphrase things that aren't actually supported by the evidence or leave out key information that changes the interpretation of the evidence.

I don't like K's in PF.

Weigh the impacts. Give me voters.

Policy paradigm: I'm pretty traditional. I'm fine with progressive arguments-- I'll weigh any arguments you want to make-- but they can't be sloppy. You have to be able to explain it to me effectively, not just read a bunch of cards and expect me to figure out how it links. If you're running something squirrelly and your opponent responds with logic, I'm probably going to prefer logic. Again, I'm pretty traditional.

If the aff makes a logical argument and the neg counters with philosophy, why should I prefer philosophy over real world impacts? Explain it to me.

I don't really love role of the ballot arguments that I have some obligation to vote for you so we can change the world. That I have an obligation to vote for you so we can send a message. My obligation is to vote for the best debaters.

I like K alts that solve. There's that traditional thing again.

Spreading is fine.

Overview: I have been the Head Coach at Scottsdale Preparatory Academy since founding the team in 2013. I have been fortunate to coach dozens of students both at the AZ-local level and on the national circuit, but believe this activity (regardless of event) is first and foremost about "seeking the truth" through deep reading, active listening, clear thinking, and finally honest speaking. Your goal should not be to only be able to convince people with insular prior experience and expertise in S&D; good communication is good communication and should be about being able to reach anyone. As a coach, I also have the privilege/challenge of training lots of new parent/community judges who are scared to judge for the first time. My honest belief is that if you've "read a book before, watched a movie before, listened intently to a lecture before, and had a conversation with someone who disagreed with you" then you have sufficient life experience to become a good speech and debate judge (assuming they also learn the event rules/format, give feedback, and keep asking questions to keep improving).

Congressional Debate: Congressional Debate will forever be one of my favorite events. Your job is to be the whole package: convincing speaker, solid researcher, active questioner, and get into the collegial role play (without wandering too far into excessive, unnecessary motions).

- Speeches: There is no specific speaking position that is prone to do better or worse than others for me. I've seen and coached dozens of students who were primarily constructive speakers who liked speaking in early cycles on each bill. Thoroughly researched and original constructive speeches are vital for inviting good debate to follow. Others preferred (and were successful) at being a mix of late-constructive-speaker with some refutation (I welcome direct refutation as long as it is deeper than "Rep XX says YY and I disagree", offer an analysis of their claims/warrants/impacts). Others preferred to be a late cycle ("crystalization") speaker with greater emphasis on "weighing" and clarifying the overall issues brought up in the debate (please know that just giving a laundry list of previous speaker names, what they said, and whether you agree/disagree is not a crystalization; I was already here to hear their speeches, you still need to offer unique research and original analysis, even if it is analysis of their analysis). Any of those three speaker positions can do well or can do poorly depending on the speaker/speech. All three of them have an important role to play in Congressional Debate. In all 3 speaking positions, evidence is necessary.

- Decorum/Speech Length: The NSDA rule is that speeches have a time limit of 3 minutes, but does not specify a penalty for those who abuse the speech length. My belief is that exceeding the time limit is un-collegial (privileging one's own speech over those of others), shows a lack of decorum, and disrespects the rules. Many tournaments/leagues have begun offering a 10 second grace period (with the idea of letting a speaker finish their sentence/thought). If you are competing at a tournament that allows such a grace period, know that your goal should still be to give a 3:00 speech and not 3:10 speeches. Exceeding 3:10 is frankly rude (I've been horror-struck to see speeches go to 3:17, 3:26, 3:42, etc.), particularly when your PO is giving you several warnings. Stealing time from Congress’ ability to get to other speeches is unfair and poor form.

- Presiding: I have trained many students to preside (and even been fortunate to coach a student who Presided in the Finals at Nationals), and know how incredibly difficult it is to lead your peers. I have judged many POs who have been ranked in my Top 1-3 or Top 6, and also judged POs who have been in the bottom 25% of my Parli ballot. I know how difficult POing is and wish to reward a truly great PO, but the bar for leadership is still quite high and getting elected is not a guarantee that you're going to earn a good rank. POing takes practice both inside and outside of tournaments.

- Mentorship/Civility: In some ways I am grateful that there isn't a novice division of Congressional Debate because it means that new students or competitors from teams who are new to Congress will hopefully get to see some good models from experienced students in the room which they can learn from and emulate. If you are an experienced Congressional Debater, you already have a sizable competitive advantage over these students learning the ropes; they are not a threat to you. Build them up, invite them to discuss the docket with you before the round, encourage them to come to the next Congress (its in your best interest for Congress to grow across the State and Nation). Bludging a new congressional debater to death or being condescending just makes them never want to do the activity again, and makes judges less inclined to vote for you (even if you give solid speeches). This activity is about more than winning rounds; "speaking with good purpose" should be about more than giving quality speeches.

Public Forum Debate: Despite having a background in debate, I wish teams would emphasize the "Public" nature of Public Forum Debate. I competed in Public Forum Debate shortly after it was founded, and remember that part of the rationale for creating it was that debate was getting too far removed from the public and becoming increasingly insular If this community exists to only persuade those who have been specially trained to think in a specific way, then this activity fails at its goal of being relevant in the real world.

Speak clearly, medium slowly, persuasively, and be grounded in thorough research (in all speeches, not just the constructives). Unsubstantiated claims, or rebuttal/summary/final focus speeches that keep re-hashing your side while ignoring the opposition's side, are not rewarded. Even though I am coach, you are inevitably far more broadly and deeply read on this specific topic. Your job is to teach me just like it would be to teach any judge. I should leave feeling like I've learned something about the world, or think about the topic in a slightly new way.

Lincoln Douglas Debate: Please allow me to give you the respect of speaking honestly. I have coached lots of Novice LD through the basics of traditional LD, and past that I admit my limitations. I am essentially non-responsive to kritikal arguments and spreading. I acknowledge that you are significantly more thoroughly read on the topic than I am and likely will ever be. Use that knowledge responsibly and teach me. I should leave the round feeling like I as the judge learned something new about the world (or I should think about something in a new way), because you slowly taught it to the audience. Make it obvious your side is winning.

Policy Debate: If a tournament is in dire straits and desperate enough that I am judging a round of policy debate, then God rest all of our souls. Firstly, consider what I've said above about Congress, PF, and LD. If judging policy debate, I will basically adopt a "policy maker" paradigm, and your job is to (slowly, like a real policymaker would) convince me that the policy plan put forward is or isn't the better option. If I can't understand you, then I don't write it down and it didn't happen. You will have more success with stock arguments: topicality, advantages/disadvantages, maybe counterplans. If you're willing to meet me where I'm at, I'll give you a fair listening. I understand the need for progressive/kritikal arguments to exist in this form of academic debate, but they will most likely not help you win my vote.

About Me:  I am a coach (of 13 years) of a relatively small team.  I have coached IE's, LD, and PF. 

LD: 

Policy and LD are both lovely events with many good attributes, but they are distinct events.  LD is philosophical, value-based debate.  I dislike any behavior or action that attempts to make LD feel like policy, including spreading.  If I don't understand what you are saying or can't pick up the tags, they are not getting onto my flow, and I will not evaluate them.

I don't enjoy Kritiks.  I strongly prefer the debaters to engage in substantive debate of the resolution at hand, not whether or not the resolution is bad, etc.  Such tactics feel like gamemanship, not substantive debate of issues.  Avoiding actual debate is generally not a winning strategy in a debate round that I judge.

Logical links are big with me. I expect contentions to be linked through the criterion to uphold your chosen value and for you to show that your value is best upheld or that your position best upholds both proposed values.  Make the connections for me, don't assume, and give me clear voting issues that follow logically from the cases and clash that have been presented in the course of the debate.  I can only weigh the arguments that you actually present and clearly link.

I prefer solid clash throughout, but I will not tolerate abusive behavior.  A debate without clash is not a debate.  Be clear, concise, polite, respectful, stand when you are speaking during the round, and engage your opponent's arguments without neglecting to rebuild your own case.

I appreciate clear and concise roadmaps (off-clock).

All of that being said, in a round where the basics are all there, a good argument, is a good argument, and I will weigh it if I am given a clear reason to do so.

I have been judging speech and debate tournaments since 2014. I do not like spreading or technical jargon, but I understand the basics of argumentation. I take notes but I don't flow in a traditional sense. Passion for the topic and respect for the opponents are something I look for. The way the competitors carry themselves in the debate is important to me.

I am most experienced in judging Public Forum debate and am familiar with a claim-warrant-impact structure. I usually make my decisions based on which team better meets the framework of the debate. Off-time road maps are always appreciated, as well as the use of lay-friendly rhetoric.

Overview

I flow everything that I hear and am able to understand excluding cross, so speed is not a problem to the extent that you annunciate and are clear, but if you get garbled and i can't understand you it will not end up on the flow.

LD:

Did PF in HS but have been judging both consistently for the 4 years. I'm always down for some progressive debate but be very explicit if your running progressive vs traditional b every explicit on why your theory outweighs or like keeps them in some ethical violation because I see no problem in voting for that, however, always try and run some solvency with it to prove that like you break out of the same problem. Other than that, I'm down for anything really.

In regards to speed, I'm fine with it, however, slow down on taglines, authors, contention titles and any analysis that you deem important for the round. If you become extremely unclear I will say clear. In weighing the round I think framework is very important to the round, and I want to ensure that you as a debater understand and actually link into it. If you don't you will get dropped so ensure that you have a clear reason and tell me why you link into your theory, and if you perm their's or any of their contention tell me why, don't just say it fits in my framework unless it's blatantly obvious. It is therefore it is imperative that you understand I ALWAYS weigh framework/Roll of Ballot is the first to be evaluated.

I'm down for anything really run whatever you feel comfortable with, but ensure that you actually understand. I try to be as tab as possible, so I'll vote for something if you give me enough legitimate backing for the argumentation. The Major Key to picking up my ballot is spending the last 30ish seconds of your last speech to breaking down and giving me voters. ALSO NEVER EVER FORGET EXTENSIONS, I WILL NOT EXTEND FOR YOU, IF YOU DROP IT, IT IS DROPPED.

PF:

Rebuttal: I don't like lazy debate its bad, that being said you have to give me a reason why I should accept your contention over theirs not just because the tags are different. In your rebuttal if you don't give me a reason to value your information/data whatever it may be I have no reason to.

Summaries: I need argument selection. Otherwise, the entire flow falls apart and I will be sad. Tell me why y'all are winning the arguments you choose and why they are important. If an argument was extended in neither summary, it isn't evaluated at the end of the round. Kicking out of arguments in the summary is strategic and I'll be very happy if you do it well.

Final Foci: My decision is based on the final focus, but the final focus must only include arguments extended through summary. Extending offense last mentioned in the rebuttal will make me sad and I won't evaluate them. Weighing your voters / strat is *hella* important. If you don't weigh in the final focus, you forfeit your right to complain if you lose (although you should never complain about your losses).

Specifics

Extensions: Extending through ink does nothing for me. Answer the responses, otherwise, it's like you never made the extension in the first place.

Evidence: I genuinely believe that the fabrication of evidence is what ruins debate as an academic activity. I will call for evidence after the round has ended only when there's a significant dispute throughout the round or when I'm asked explicitly in a speech to do so. If there is legitimate abuse of evidence, you're getting dropped with probably 0 speaks. Don't make me do this.

Speaker Points

- I don't mind giving a low-point win.

- Speaker Points will be based upon these things:

Clarity, Confidence, Content

Style:

• Speed: Speak clearly regardless of your speed. Don’t use speed as a tool of exclusion. You should make sure your opponent is okay with spreading in order to have a productive debate. If you need to speak quickly to make all of your arguments slow down on the important points, I will only evaluate arguments that make it to my flow.
• Flex Prep: I have no problem if debaters choose to use some of their prep time for additional clarification questions.
• Be respectful and professional! This is supposed to be fun and educational, don’t be rude.

Content:

• Theory: Demonstrable, round-specific abuse is necessary for me to vote on theory arguments. I would rather hear arguments that address the substantive issues of the round so please consider the legitimacy of the argument on the discourse of the round before running Theory.
• Kritik: I love a good, thorough K argument! (with strong links and impacts)
• Of course counterplans and similar arguments are fine provided they are topical.
• Theory shells aren't my favorite, but I'll listen.
• I will entertain most arguments as long as you are deliberate about your choices and provide significant and high-quality impacts. If you can't explain to me how this argument weighs out in evaluation of the round, I am not likely to vote on that argument. If nobody does a good job providing me with a quality impact calculus, then I am likely to start looking for my own reasons to prefer one side over the other instead of remaining tabula rasa. Do your work so I don’t have to do it for you!

I believe that this is a communication event, not a spewing event. You are trying to convince me of your side, not your opponant, so explain your side to me at a reasonable speed as convincelingly as possible. I like to see actual logic, not just "he ran out of time to address this so my totally illogical argument or framework must flow through". 

I'd like to start out by stating that I used to have a paradigm and now it appears to have fled. Please know that that paradigm was much better and more comprehensive than this paradigm, but this will have to do for now. Don't let this paradigm be a reflection on me as a person.

PF

Rate- As long as you enunciate and I can understand you, have at it.

Content- Some philosophy and broad application is fine, but your arguments should be grounded in real life context and specifics.

I'm a teacher-coach, in that order. Your content and the flow matters but so does your clarity, organization, tone, and decorum. If both teams have sensational arguments and it's close I have no problem giving the win to who I think are the better speakers.

Consider myself a flay judge. The RFD is going to read more like a narrative and less like you won at argument Tetris.

Please have fun. I promise I will or, at the very least, if it's late and we're worn out, I'm still going to look like I'm having fun, and I'm going to do the best I can to give you something to work with and a clear reason for my decision.

-I do not flow CX/really even pay attention to CX, that's your time to understand and figure out one another's cases. Anything important you say in CX must be brought up in a subsequent speech.

-Don't extend things in FF that were dropped in previous speeches, I won't vote on it.

-Use key voters in your summary and FF. Super important. Weigh, do impact calculus, etc.

-Be civil.

I am a very traditional judge who prefers good analysis and traditional case structure. I am ok with progressive ideas if they are well explained. Moderate speed is ok

Paradigm: This isn’t my first rodeo! Although I may not be a professional debater, I stay informed of today’s political issues. I’m most interested in how the status quo is affected by these issues. I appreciate a debater who can present both facts and real world applications. I also appreciate when two debaters can refute each other and there is some good clash! It also doesn’t hurt when you treat this as an actual congressional debate (mini congressmen and women).

I’m a new judge for PF so don’t speak too fast.

Be clean on your flow

Don’t interupt each other during cross X. Ask a question and listen for an answer and vice versa.

look at Maanik Chotalla's because it's basically identical as his but his is written better than I would even try to write it:
https://www.tabroom.com/index/paradigm.mhtml?judge_person_id=18920

Lay Judge.

Please speak slowly and make your arguments clear. I have judged at a few tournaments and do not enjoy debaters who speak fast and use a lot of evidence to respond to their opponents. It makes the experience not as enjoyable.

Please make sure to repeat the things that you think are most important so that I am sure to get it in my notes. I am more of a listener and tend to use my facial expressions and other gestures to signal to the debates that I am following along and understand their arguments.

Be professional and polite. I usually give pretty high speaker points to all debaters especially if both teams are friendly and well prepared for the debate.

Lastly, you don't have to shake my hand after the round. I only disclose my decision to the debaters when the tournament requires that the judge does so.

Quentin Unsworth - He/Him Pronouns

Experience:

I am currently the Head Speech and Debate Coach of Logan High School (10 years).

I participated in High School and College Speech and Debate.

Debate specific items:

I am fine if you want to go faster. I would stop short of "spreading". I like an urgent delivery but I do struggle with some "spreading" especially when students try to speak faster than their abilities allow. If you would like to go faster please slow down for your tags and authors. This is still a communication event and I need to be able to understand and follow you.

I do not want to be on the email chain. This is a communication activity and I will only evaluate what I hear in round. It is your responsibility to be clear.

This is your activity/round and you should do whatever you want. I will vote on anything you tell me to provided you explain why. I am not a huge fan of theory debates primarily because most students do this wrong. If you want to run theory arguments make sure that you know what you are doing and that you fully develop the theory in context of the round and topic.

Framework is important and should be carried throughout the entire round. If you tell me to view the round through a certain lens then all the work that you do needs to fit within that lens.

I need analysis on the card. Please do not just read the card. I will not do the leg work for you.

Please avoid "REHASH" if you want to bring up the same argument multiple times I need you to do something new with it. I want meaningful extension beyond the words: "extend my such and such evidence", again I will not do the leg work for you. Dive deeper.

If you need/want me to pay attention to something that happens during cross-examination you need to mention this in your speech time. I think cross-examination can be really important but I do not flow cross-examination.

Go line by line during rebuttal or at least clearly roadmap and identify where you are on the flow so that I can follow you.

Begin collapsing the round early, do not waist time on arguments you know do not matter. I like clear voters that show me you know how to prioritize and evaluate everything that has happened in the round.

Things to do Speech and Debate:

Have fun. This activity requires far too much effort and energy for us not to enjoy it. If you are not having fun you are doing something wrong or it may be time to consider trying something else (possibly a new event).

Be kind. I appreciate passion and conviction and think that witty observations are fun, however I do not enjoy watching rounds where students are rude to each other and/or the judge. We are all at different levels and are all here to learn.

Do the leg work for me.If something is important and you want me to vote on it, fully develop that idea. Do not assume that everyone understands the complex arguments you have spent countless hours developing. At times you may need to educate me/your opponents about a unique concept or interpretation in order to really have meaningful dialog.

Be professional. Act and behave in a manner consistent with the effort and energy required for you to participate in this activity. Respect the time of your opponents and judge. You need to be prepared, this activity is far too challenging to attempt with anything less than your best effort.

Be Topical. You can run unique and progressive arguments but you need to clearly (link) identify and establish why your approach is the most appropriate approach given the designated topic.

Things to avoid:

Foul language for the sake of foul language. I am not personally offended by "foul" language but I expect more out of Speech and Debate students. Do not feel like you need to edit language out of a script or quote but think about your own personal word choices and use language that reflects your intelligence and professionalism.

"Yelling" at the judge. I have found that students who try to go fast in round often "yell" at the judge. I am usually sitting a few feet from you and I prefer a volume level and tone that is appropriate for such a setting.

Stealing Prep Time.

The New England Patriots, onions, chewing with your mouth open/smacking gum or other food (this aggravates me more than anything else in the world) , snakes and sharks.

Short short version - don't suck.

Somewhat longer versions (by debate type)

Lincoln Douglas Debate

Speed - if it's clear OK, otherwise I'll say "clear" once then zone out. I do value good speaking skills and will factor that into my overall decision.

In all fairness, I do not walk into the round with a blank slate. I do assume both sides have an equal burden. I do assume the resolution was worded in such a way to provide equal grounds for debate. Feel free to argue that it's not so, but you're really going to have to be convincing. All that means I rarely, if ever, buy a kritik in LD.

I lean towards the traditional when it comes to LD. I like to hear debates that cover the big picture of the topic then use multiple supports to bolster that argument. I don't like to hear 20 blips then the debater proclaiming with glee "he dropped contention 17, I win!". I will use what both debaters have told me to weigh the specific arguments and decide how much a specific drop harms your side. So, a good thing to do is weigh your (and your opponents) arguments and tell me which are the important ones in the debate and why. That gives me something to go on. I also expect impacts from your arguments. Why is it important and how does it affect the validity of the resolution. I expect CX to be more than just asking for contentions you didn't hear. I listen to CX and it can factor into my decision, however you should always mention things you thought were important during CX in a later speech.

I do not stop the prep time clock for dealing with thumb drives, computer glitches, etc.  If you want to run "flex-prep" or anything considered outside traditional LD, let's talk before the round.

Things you might want to know:

I have "real" job as an software engineer. I don't spend endless days in Starbucks reading the latest philosophy rags. I'm not going to know the stuff you're running and thus not vote for it. I'm a man of science, not letters. I have a tendency to like facts, figures, stats and evidence over philosophical poofiness. Break things down for me and show me how you answer the resolution correctly.

I expect civility in the round. Ad Hominem attacks, spreading as a tactic, and just generally being mean I frown upon.

The world already has enough jerks, don't be another one.

I normally will not ask for cards after a round unless a competitor asks me to on suspicion of an ethics violation. If your card wasn't clear the first time, well I guess I didn't get it. Like I said at the top, I still value good speaking skills.

Public Forum

I have absolutely no tolerance for what I'll call "unsportsmanlike conduct" in a round. I've seen too much of this in PFD. I will drop you for being a jerk.  You don't care about low speaks, but a drop gets your attention.

I also really, really like it when teams use studies and examples that are not the same dang 3 examples everyone and their dog is also running. Do some digging, give me something unique, fresh and different and you'll be rewarded. Work on making this a decent debate event and not add fuel to the fire for the detractors of PFD.

Congress

Unless you are the first speaker, please, please advance the debate by offering something new or clarifying something that's been said, or countering something already said.  Don't repeat, rehash and recycle.  This is a debate event.  I expect a clash of ideas.  If you are the PO, I'm OK with a little levity in the chamber, but don't go off the deep end.  I expect the PO to run the house and know what they are doing.  If I'm the Parli - I'm there to help you if you ask and to keep things from getting out of hand.  Other than that - it's your house, have fun.  I very much frown on "unsportsmanlike" shenanigans in the house, like intentionally blocking people from speaking as a team tactic.  My frown extends to my chamber rankings.

Policy

I don't do drugs.

Speech

You want me as your Extemp judge.  I love this event.