I spend most of my time in tab rooms these days, but when I do judge I am a traditional one who values clear and concise arguments that are backed up by solid evidence and delivered at a reasonable pace.

The fundamental goal of the debaters in round is to convince me, the judge, that their side should win, and they cannot do it if they don't speak at a conversationally persuasive pace, don't clearly articulate their positions, and don't extend their arguments and reasoning using logic and evidence.

Hi everyone,

I'm a parent Judge at Interlake High School. This is my second year judging , and this year I have been primarily judging LD. Consider me a lay judge. English isn't my first language so please speak clearly and slowly, as I can't vote for you if I can't understand you. If you're going to run a progressive argument please make that very clear and keep in mind I'm not as informed on how to weight progressive arguments. Otherwise make sure your arguments are well explained and linked to one another and to the topic. Also, if you are rude or disrespectful to your opponent at any point I will vote against you. Good Luck!

I usually judge both IEs and Congress. If you see me judging a different debate event, assume that I am a reasonably intelligent layperson. Below I've provided my Congress Paradigm first and then a bit about IEs later. I know it’s really long so hopefully the headings help! You can refer to me with the pronouns He, Him, and His.

Congress Paradigm:

1. Most important: Weigh your points. Tell me why the point you just made is more important than any of the points other people made. Why should I rank you higher than others? Why are your arguments better? Tell me!

2. Be original. I know every judge says "don't rehash," but that's because of how important it is. If you give the same points as someone else you need to tell me what your new contribution to those arguments are, or I can't rank you well. I am willing to count it as new if you give me a legitimately new take on that argument, or talk about why that argument is important, but if you don't do that, it's rehash. On that same note, I know it's important to have unique arguments, but please make sure your unique arguments are, well, right. If you make a point that no one else has thought of but it doesn't make any sense, I can't lend you much credit.

3. Interact with what other people say. If you give a speech with 2 points that were both just refuted by the last speaker on the other side, I'm not going to be very inclined to believe your arguments. Tell me why they didn't successfully refute your points, and why your points matter. Also, if your points go against what someone else said, say so! Name the person, quickly go over what they said, and tell me why you are proving them wrong. If two speakers have arguments that are mutually exclusive/refute each other, but neither one of them told me which one to believe and why, it's hard for me to choose who to rank better, which leads me to my next thing:

4. In Congress, you're debating bills and resolutions. I'm perfectly happy to listen to a moral debate about whether a bill is right or wrong, but if that potentially-tricky process isn't something you have a lot of experience with, I think it makes more sense to make arguments that directly talk about what the bill would do. Because of the complexity of more legal arguments about how a bill would be implemented or what it means to government agencies, It’s a good idea to research those points and run them by someone else too. That said, I tend to prioritize a well-done argument based on the text of the bill over a well-done argument based on the general idea behind the bill so if you can make a good bill-based argument, please do.

5. Speaking. I like to think that that speaking isn't as important to me as content, but sadly like all people it does affect me and it will factor into my rankings if I think that content between multiple speakers is about the same (which happens!). I also don't mind much if you read a lot, but make sure you look up every so often and don't only read off a paper, especially in open.

IE Paradigm:

It's important to me that folks hold to genre or break it intentionally. Each particular type of speech has its own customs and standard types of speaking, and for those who are just starting out it's extremely important to learn those customs. This is not to say that we should be dictated by the old customs of genre; instead, we should understand that norms exist in each event and write our speeches with the idea of following those norms which we find useful while intentionally breaking the others that we don't find useful. To do that, one first needs to know what the norms of the genre are. Think of your speech as though it is in a dialogue with all the other speeches given in the same event beforehand, and how you structure it will be recognized in relation to how the genre has been used in the past. If your structure and content is extremely different from the structure and content of virtually every other speech ever given in the same event I will wonder why. I usually rank speeches that fit neatly into the conventions of an event higher than those where it seems that the speaker is unfamiliar with those conventions, but if it seems like you are familiar with conventions and intentionally breaking them for a clear purpose, I like that even more than following them. All writing is revisionist writing, but you have to know and recognize what it is that you're revising!

Because each event has different norms for its respective genre this part of my paradigm will mean different things depending on which event I am judging at the moment. Since I don't think it would be easier to spell out a paragraphs-long paradigm for each IE--not to mention that few of you may ever read this--I will have to ask that you talk to coaches or established peers about how to fit within and/or push against the conventions of each particular event. I also try to leave more specific comments on each ballot. I'm pretty familiar with the conventions of all IEs besides interps and can judge them accordingly. If you see me judging an interp, I have to apologize because I know less but will try my best!

Important Notes:

1) I'm ok if you're passionate or even accusatory, and both can excellent rhetorically, but don't be racist/sexist/classist/homophobic/transphobic or in any other way exclusive. It's important to remember that exclusion takes place across multiple levels of interaction--from our word choices, our tone, our body language towards different people, and, critical in this context, the underlying meaning we're trying to convey when we speak. Please do everything you can to avoid being exclusionary. If you are, I will almost certainly give you a very poor ranking and low speaker points.

2) I don't care all that much about the formal minutiae of decorum, because the whole point of this is to make you better at speaking and debating (and thinking!), not mindless conformists. That being said--and this is similar to the last note--don't do anything rude or egregiously outside reasonable expectations of decorum.

3) I like humor. If you can make me laugh, you will probably rank better. And you don’t have to be mean to make me laugh.

Tabula Rasa: If you don't say it, I don't flow it. Framework arguments do not automatically get flowed on my ballots as a priori unless you outline them as such and explain why they are a priori voters. Additionally, I will not do work for you on the ballot, meaning that if I find an argument you have made convincing but you do not reiterate it or bring it up as a voter I can't vote on it. Finally and most importantly: clarity is key. If I can't understand you, I can't vote for you. If I say "clear" or "slow" you MUST abide or lose the round. I ask that you show your opponents the same courtesy.

Kinda goes without saying, but overt/explicit bigotry of any kind (classism, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia etc.) will automatically forfeit my ballot. I don't believe in civility politics (It's not taboo in my book, for instance, to call your opponent out as racist if they say something racist), but I do believe in basic common courtesy and dignity. Treat your opponent respectfully like a human being and we'll have no issues.

Completed NFHS courses in Cultural Competence and Adjudicating Speech & Debate.

This is my fourth year judging PF and Speech events.

For Individual Events:

Relax and lean into your natural talent - you chose this event for a reason. Keep a pace that compliments the work without rushing it. For entries that are really close in rank, it will be the person who hit the purpose of the event most closely and whose performance flowed best that will take higher rank.

For Public Forum:

Communicate clearly, make it real, and road-map well.

Practicality is key. If you want to win, you must persuade me using lots of signposts and taglines for a strong and clear flow. Make it as easy as possible for me to flow the arguments - having to go on a scavenger hunt through my flow is not fun for anyone. Also, be clear on your voting issues and how they should be weighed.

With anything you devote a lot of energy to, I value purpose. You spend a lot of time prepping for this, make it meaningful by relating it effectively to why it matters in the real world. As you can guess, I am a big fan of impact and impact comparison. Big points for a strong value premise and supporting criterion.

Being an effective communicator will always help you stay ahead/catch up in the debate and will most definitely define a tie-breaker. Speak at a human pace, and use your words powerfully. You would never talk so fast in any occupation, so don't do it here either - be articulate enough to convey your message without speed-talking. Quality over quantity will gain you speaker points.

https://judgephilosophies.wikispaces.com/McCormick%2C+Amy

Welcome competitors!

LD: I am a previous coach and competitor of LD and PuFo. I am a traditional LD judge that loves V-VC debate and impact calculus. The slower you speak the more I get on my flow which means I can follow your link chains better. If you spread, you MUST slow down for tags, sources, and impacts. If you do not, I will not be able to flow your main points. File sharing is fine, but it is not my job to read your case if I can’t understand you (unless tech issues arise). Don’t be afraid to get down and dirty with evidence preference argumentation. I come from a PuFo background as well so it is a nice voter for me. I also like analysis on why your VC better suits the resolution/debate. I need preference to one side or I will have to judge it myself. I give traditional style hand signals and verbal signals when appropriate. Timing each other is preferred, but I will keep official time in case of disagreements. If you are a progressive debater, you need to let me know before round starts so I can flow correctly. Alts, K’s, CP’s, PIC’s etc welcome, but please don’t have a non interactive K on the aff. Theory can be a big voter for me, but requires a lot of time for you to explain why it should win a debate. I look heavy to On Case and off case dis-ads, and need to be convinced to look for theory debates. Be nice to each other. Spread knowledge and respect, not hate.

PuFo: Impact Calculus is a must. Tell me how to weigh everything so that I do not have to make the assumption myself, it usually ends with upset parties (me included). Make sure that you know your sources, dates, and methodologies because your evidence is not complete without them. Speed is not preferred for me in this format. Public Forum is about speaking to the public, and thus, should be clear, concise, and easy to follow. If you must speak fast, then slow down for tags, numbers, and impact statements.

Good luck and follow your heart.

Note: This is a paradigm for my local circuit. For nationals, i still judge similarly.

Background: I competed for a couple years with no particular accolades. I judge Congress a lot. If you see me as a judge in a debate event other than Congress, consider me a smart lay judge with little to no understanding of conventions of your event.

Frankly, Congress is not as complicated as other debate events. You only get three minutes, and there aren't a ton of different ways to argue compared to other debate events. That said, this is how I will judge you in Congress:

Preferences:

-Content matters a lot to me. Lots of judges say they don't like rehash, but I really mean it. If you are the 5th speaker you should probably reference what other speakers are saying. If you are the 15th speaker, please don't pretend your points are new. Flow the round, weigh the values of both sides and argue why the values of your side are the most important of the round. If you have evidence that suggests that your side should win a value that the other side has tried to claim, explain why your side should get that claim over the other, rather than just stating that you do and expecting that to be undisputed. If your speech would work as an authorship and you are not the author, you're not debating. You're giving a 3-minute oratory. If you don't understand how to do that, go watch any PF round and you'll probably see a higher amount of debating than I see in Congress.

-How good of a speaker you are will matter. I probably value your speaking ability less than most Congress judges in Washington, but it still will play a factor in how high you score and rank. Even though we are (supposedly) debating legislation, you're doing it in the form of a persuasive speech, and so all speech conventions apply here.

-Ask good questions. It's by far the easiest way to recognize who is paying attention and understands what's going on in the room. Any question that will be really obviously answered with either a yes or no answer is probably not contributing much to the debate. Ask lots of why questions, especially when speakers should be answering them in their speeches and failed to do so.

-Don't just read off a piece of paper. At least try to make eye contact. I understand why novices do this. I don't understand why open competitors do. It doesn't really feel like you're paying attention if your "contribution" to the round is reading a prepared statement. If speaking from bullet points makes you stutter or lose your train of thought a lot, practice your speeches until it doesn't. I would rather you be a little less polished but be more adaptive and open to your chamber, as long as I can still understand what you're arguing.

-Don't try to be too smart. I see lots of debaters try to be smarter than everyone with their "unique" points that have minimal impacts and/or don't make any sense at all. There's plenty of room for imagination in Congress, especially considering how interesting flaws in legislation can be, but run your point by someone smarter than you before you give it in round.

-Don't be a jerk. I'm a pretty informal judge because that's who I am as a person. I think there's value in making your participation in this event reflect who you are and what you believe. But don't be so loose that you insult people, make racist/sexist/ableist/homophobic/transphobic/any kind of hateful or derogatory comments. I do believe there is room for debate to be fun and also to not be insulting. Don't attack people, attack arguments.

Coach since 1996 - started team at Clover Park High School (3 years) (Coach at Puyallup High School since 2000)
Competed in high school and college - Policy, LD, platforms, and interp.
Charter Board member of The Women's Debate Institute

General - (scale of 1-10) 1=low, 10 high
Speed - 6ish -7 ish, if you are ridiculously clear
Topicality - 3 - I have little regard for T, if you are going for it, it better be your only card on the table and the violation should be crystal clear and beyond egregious.
Kritical Arguments - depends - I'm very interested in language kritiques, but generally speaking I have little tolerance for po-mo philosophy - I think the vast majority of these authors are read by debaters only in the context of debate, without knowledge or consideration for their overall work. This makes for lopsided and, frankly, ridiculous debates with debaters arguing so far outside of the rational context or the philosopher, as to make it clear as mud and a laughable interpretation of the original work. It's not that I am a super expert in philosophy, but rather a lit teacher and feel like there's something that goes against my teaching practice to buy into a shallow or faulty interpretation (all of those dreary hours of teacher torture working on close reading practices - sigh). Outside of that, I'm interested on a 7ish level.
Framework - 9 - I'm all in favor of depth v. breadth and to evaluate the framework of a round or the arguments, I believe, can create a really interesting level of comparison. What drives me crazy is, what appears to be, the assumption that framework is a done-deal. That there is only one way to view framework, is faulty and counter-intuitive. It is the job of both teams to advocate, not just their framework, but the logic behind their framework.
Theory - 8ish. While I'm generally fascinated, I can, very quickly be frustrated. I frequently feel that theory arguments are just "words on the page to debaters" - something that was bought on-line, a coach created for you, or one of the top teams at your school put together at camp. It quickly falls into the same category as po-mo K's for me.

Just a me thing - not sure what else to label this, but I think that I should mention this. I struggle a lot with the multiple world's advocacy. I think that the negative team has the obligation to put together a cohesive strategy. I've had this explained to me, multiple times, it's not that I don't get it - I just disagree with it. So, if at some point this becomes part of your advocacy, know that you have a little extra work to do with me. It's easiest for my teams to explain my general philosophy, by simply saying that I am a teacher and I am involved with this activity bc of its educational value, not simply as a game. So go ahead and lump perf con in with the whole multiple worlds advocacy

Ok, so my general paradigm is 1.) play nice. I hate when: debater are rude to their own partner, me, the other team. Yes, it is a competition - but there's nothing less compelling than someone whose bravado has pushed passed their ability (or pushed over their partner). Swagger is one thing, obnoxiousness is another. Be aware of your language (sexist, racist, or homophobic language will not be tolerated. In my mind, this is not just as issue that will affect speaker points but potentially the round.) 2.) Debate is a flexible game; the rules are ever changing. The way that I debated is dramatically, different then the way that is debated today, versus the way that people will debate 20 years from now. I believe this requires me to be flexible in my paradigm/philosophy. However, I, also, believe that it is your game. I hate it when teams tell me over and over again what they believe that they are winning, but without any reference to their opponent’s positions or analysis as to why. Debate is more of a Venn diagram in my mind, than a "T-chart".

I don't actually believe that anyone is "tabula rasa". I believe that when a judge says that, they are indicating that they will try to listen to any argument and judge it solely on the merits of the round. However, I believe that we all come to rounds with pre-conceived notions in our heads - thus we are never "tabula rasa". I will try my best to be a blank slate, but I believe that the above philosophy should shed light on my pre-conceived notions. It is your job as debaters, and not mine, to weigh out the round and leave me with a comparison and a framework for evaluation.

I look for arguments that follow the claim, warrant, impact structure - give us substantiated and meaningful reasons to either affirm or negate the resolution. You should be able to logically explain why your impacts outweigh your opponents’ impacts. I also firmly believe that debate should be a safe and welcoming place for all participants, so I have no tolerance for competitors who are rude to their opponents.

As far as experience goes, I debated all through high school and college and have been a coach/judge for the last 5 years, but I have limited experience in Public Forum.

This is my second or third time judging LD. I'm a parent judge, so make sure you talk slow and clear.

It's your job to clearly signpost and slowdown for your taglines.

I can follow along to your arguments if they are well warranted and logical.

Don't throw random jargon at me.

Make sure you have clear voters at the end of your second rebuttal speeches.

Its your job to time your and your opponent's speeches and prep time.