For judging I am incredibly easy when it comes to judging.  I like good debate that is clear and easy to follow.  I'm not a huge fan of spreading.  Especially in debate formats that it isn't meant for.  I will pretty much flow anything in the round with in reason.   If you stretch too radical then I'm not inclined to buy into your thoughts.  I've been judging world schools the last 9 years so prefer to stick to the ideals of world schools.  Definitions should be clean and easy to follow, nothing squirrely.

I'll tell you in the round.

Background

I am a student at the University of Arkansas Fayetteville and I study French, Political Science, Japanese, and English. I debated for three years in high school and have competed both regionally and nationally. I mainly have done Public Forum and Congressional debate; however, I have also competed in policy and Lincoln-Douglas and I am familiar with the styles. So you know, how I view the round is that I separate it into two parts, speaking and argumentation. SO, with that said...

Speaking

Rhetoric and speaking style are imperative to any debate round. How you say what you say is just as important as what you are saying. Remember, the point is to convince me what you say is correct and matters, so don't just spew information, persuade me. Also important, I can handle speed to a point: if you are either too fast or unclear for me I will make it very clear in the round. Look for the signs, my body language will indicate how I feel about your speaking, not your arguments. Also, be sure to provide a clear roadmap before every speech and signpost along the way. I need you to let me know where to flow things or they might not end up where you want and end up not being evaluated.

Argumentation

I expect complete arguments, that means claims, warrants, and impacts. If you lack any aspect of an argument, I will not evaluate it. I will not take shadow extensions, if you want an argument extended you better put some time and effort into it and let me know what it means and is, because, if it's important enough for me to keep flowing it's important enough for you to extend fully.

As for types of arguments, anything goes - theory, kritiks, topicality, framework, etc; bring it on, I love fresh, new, and varied arguments. Please try and avoid generics, generally the more unique and novel an argument is the more interesting and thus more convincing it is. I will do all I can to remove any personal preconceptions, biases, or external knowledge, so that what is said in the round I will for the most part take at face value. Furthermore, if a point goes uncontested and extended throughout the round I will assume it to be true (however if it is dropped, it falls off of my flow and I will not allow you to pick it up thereafter so don't forget to extend). In the end I vote off of the flow and what is on it, so, make sure I'm getting what you want me to get onto my flow.

Other Important Notes

Particularly those of you who care about speaker points, know that your evaluation begins the instant you enter the debate space. Keep your etiquette in mind in how you interact with your partner - if applicable - your opponent, and me. I'm rather traditional when it comes to formality so I would appreciate the usage of common courtesy - e.g. introductions when entering the space, shaking hands before and after round, etc. - so please do keep that in mind.

Have good recent evidence. I reserve the right to evaluate any card after the round I find questionable and heavily frown upon practices such as power tagging and card clipping. I also take evidence violations very seriously, make sure you have complete citations and you are not misrepresenting evidence.

Be polite. I know we're all passionate people with a strong desire to win, that's no excuse to be rude. Know the fine line between aggression and assertiveness as well as that between passion and arrogance/rudeness.

Don't violate the rules of each style and know what each one is about - e.g. public forum no plans and debate centered on the merits of the resolution, L.D. ought to center on value debate based on a framework, CX has some course of action taken under the umbrella of the resolution.

Timers, I want them going on both sides for every speech/questioning period. For prep, don't tell me how much you're using, just tell me when you start and stop. You and your opponent are responsible for keeping track of times. I'm good with flex prep.

Cross examination, do not look at your opponent, do not look down: look at the judge. As well, always stand in any questioning period - the only exception is grand cross fire for public forum.

I DO NOT want to be part of any email chain or flash exchange. Debate is about how well you oratorically persuade and argue. I do not want to read your case and points, I want to hear them.

Most importantly, have fun and try to learn!!! Never miss the chance to grow as a person and try to take something from each round.

I competed on the Texas circuit from 2009 to 2013, primarily in LD. Competed in the 2013 ToC in LD and NFL Nationals in ‘11-‘13.

I view debate as an incredibly valuable educational activity and think debaters should persuade the judge that their view of the world is better than their opponent’s view.

The standard is a very important tool for evaluating arguments and as such I expected debaters to spend time winning that part of the round.

Speed is fun but being articulate and strategic is more important.

An argument is acceptable as long as there is a warrant.

If you read theory, tell me why debate would be better if your rule were true in every round.

Generally, I dislike overly complicated K theory because people run it to make themselves feel cool. That being said, there are certainly good arguments to be made. Just make sure you can explain those arguments slowly and clearly.

The most important part of the round is to have fun. Winning is also good.

I always spend time talking through the round because I think it is the most valuable part of the round.

I am a debate coach at Little Rock Central. Please put both on the email chain: jkieklak@gmail.com; lrchdebatedocs@gmail.com

General

You do you. Let it rip. Seriously. A judge does not exist without the debaters, and I view my role as a public servant necessary only to resolve arguments in a round to help empower young people to engage in meaningful discourse. I believe that it is important for me to be honest about the specific things I believe about common debate arguments, but also I find it more important to ensure I am prepared for debaters to persuade me away from those beliefs/biases. Specifically, I believe that my role is to listen, flow, and weigh the arguments offered in the round how I am persuaded to weigh them by each team. I will listen to and evaluate any argument. It is unacceptable to do anything that is: ableist, anti-feminist, anti-queer, racist, or violent.

I think debates have the lowest access to education when the judge must intervene. I can intervene as little as possible if you:

1) Weigh your impacts and your opponents' access to risk/impacts in the debate. One team probably is not most persuasive/ahead of the other team on every single argument. That needs to be viewed as a strength rather than a point of anxiety in the round. Do not be afraid to explain why you don't actually need to win certain arguments/impacts in lieu of "going for" the most persuasive arguments that resolve the most persuasive/riskiest impacts.

2) Actively listen and use your time wisely. Debaters miss each other when distracted/not flowing or listening. This seems to make these teams more prone to missing/mishandling arguments by saying things like, "'x' disad, they dropped it. Extend ____ it means ____;" yet, in reality, the other team actually answered the argument through embedded clash in the overview or answered it in a way that is unorthodox but also still responsive/persuasive.

3) Compare evidence and continuously cite/extend your warrants in your explanations/refutation/overall argumentation. Responses in cross that cite an individual warrant or interrogate their opponents' warrants are good ethos builders and are just in general more persuasive, same in speeches.

Policy Affirmatives

Go for it. Your pathway to solving a significant harm that is inherent to the status quo with some advantageous, topical plan action is entirely up to you. There are persuasive arguments about why it is good to discuss hypothetical plan implementation. I do not have specific preferences about this, but I am specifically not persuaded when a 2a pivot undercovers/drops the framework debate in an attempt to weigh case/extend portions of case that aren't relevant unless the aff wins framework. I have not noticed any specific thresholds about neg strats against policy affs.

Kritikal Affirmatives

Go for it. Your pathway/relationship to the resolution is entirely up to you. I think it’s important for any kritikal affirmative (including embedded critiques of debate) to wins its method and theory of power, and be able to defend that the method and advocacy ameliorates some impactful harm. I think it’s important for kritkal affirmatives (when asked) to be able to articulate how the negative side could engage with them; explain the role of the negative in the debate as it comes up, and, if applicable, win framework or a methods debate. I don't track any specific preferences. Note: Almost all time that I am using to write arguments and coach students is to prepare for heg/policy debates; I understand if you prefer someone in the back of the room that spends a majority of their time either writing kritikal arguments or coaching kritikal debate.

Framework

This is all up to how it develops in round. I figure that this often starts as a question of what is good for debate through considerations of education, fairness, and/or how a method leads to an acquisition/development of portable skills. It doesn't have to start or end in any particular place. The internal link and impact are up to you. If the framework debate becomes a question of fairness, then it's up to you to tell me what kind of fairness I should prioritize and why your method does or does not access it/preserve it/improve it. I vote for and against framework, and I haven't tracked any specific preferences or noticed anything in framework debate that particularly persuades me.

Off

Overall, I think that most neg strats benefit from quality over quantity. I find strategies that are specific to an aff are particularly persuasive (beyond just specific to the overall resolution, but also specific to the affirmative and specific cites/authors/ev). In general, I feel pretty middle of the road when it comes to thresholds. I value organization and utilization of turns, weighing impacts, and answering arguments effectively in overviews/l-b-l.

Other Specifics and Thresholds, Theory

• Perms: Be ready to explain how the perm works (more than repeating "it's perm do 'X'"). Why does the perm resolve the impacts? Why doesn't the perm link to a disad?

• T: Normal threshold if the topicality impacts are about the implications for future debates/in-round standards. High threshold for affs being too specific and being bad for debate because neg doesn't have case debate. If I am in your LD pool and you read Nebel, then you're giving me time to answer my texts, update a list of luxury items I one day hope to acquire, or simply anything to remind myself that your bare plurals argument isn't 'prolific.'

• Case Debate: I am particularly persuaded by effective case debate so far this year on the redistribution topic. Case debate seems underutilized from an "find an easy way to the ballot" perspective.

• Disclosure is generally good, and also it's ok to break a new aff as long as the aff is straight up in doing so. There are right and wrong ways to break new. Debates about this persuade me most when located in questions about education.

• Limited conditionality feels right, but really I am most interested in how these theory arguments develop in round and who wins them based on the fairness/education debate and tech.

• Please do not drop condo or some other well-extended/warranted theory argument on either side of the debate. Also, choosing not to engage and rely on the ethos of extending the aff is not a persuasive way to handle 2NRs all in on theory.

TOC Requested Update for Congress (April 2023)

General

Be your best self. My ranks reflect who I believe did the best debating in the round (and in all prelims when I parli).

The best debaters are the ones that offer a speech that is appropriately contextualized into the debate the body is having about a motion. For sponsors/first negs, this means the introduction of framing and appropriate impacts so that the aff/neg speakers can build/extend specific impact scenarios that outweigh the opposing side's impacts. Speeches 3-10 or 3-12 (depending on the round) should be focused on introducing/weighing impacts (based on where you are in the round and where your side is on impact weighing) and refutations (with use of framing) on a warrant/impact level. I value structured refutations like turns, disadvantages, presumption, PICs (amendments), no solvency/risk, etc. The final two speeches should crystallize the round by offering a clear picture as to why the aff/neg speakers have been most persuasive and why the motion should carry or fail.

The round should feel like a debate in that each speaker shall introduce, refute, and/or weigh the core of the affirmative and negative arguments to persuade all other speakers on how they should vote on a pending motion.

Other TOC Requested Congress Specifics/Randoms

• Arguments are claim, warrant, impact/justification and data when necessary. Speeches with arguments lacking one or more of these will not ever be rewarded highly, no matter how eloquent the speech. It is always almost more persuasive to provide data to support a warrant.

• Impacts should be specific and never implied.

• Presiding officers should ensure as many speeches as possible. The best presiding officers are direct, succinct, courteous, organized, and transparent. Presiding officers shall always be considered for ranks, but ineffective presiding is the quickest way to a rank 9 (or lower).

• More floor debaters are experimenting with parliamentary procedure. Love it, but debaters will be penalized for misapplications of the tournament's bylaws and whichever parliamentary guide is the back up.

• Nothing is worse in floor debate than repetition, which is different than extending/weighing.

• Decorum should reflect effective communication. Effective communication in debate often includes an assertive tone, but read: folx should always treat each other with dignity and respect.

Arkansas Debate

Woo Pig. I am not here to force you to capitulate a paradigm that you find in someway oppressive to what your coach is teaching you to do. I will drop you for clipping/cheating, and I do not reward (and will rank low in congress) bad/no arguments even if they sound as rhetorically smooth as Terry Rose and Gary Klaff singing "Oh, Arkansas."

I'm pretty unbiased. There aren't any big red flags in my paradigms; don't worry. Just make sure you:

A)  Make Sense. Consider me a lay judge. Explain everything thoroughly, in a way that I can understand. If I haven't been exposed to your argument before and you don't explain it in a way that I can understand, then I won't consider the argument.

II)  Are Respectful. Don't be excessively abusive, and don't disrespect your opponent (that goes for your partner, too). This includes Cross-X. Be nice; nobody likes a shouting match. Stay professional.

3.1)  Are Topical. I don't appreciate you going outside of the resolution. While my vote will be largely situational (depends on your execution of the argument), just know that you're less likely to win.

Speed is okay, but no spreading. If you are going too fast, or are incomprehensible, I will try to flow as best I can and tell you to slow down in your future speeches (I may not get all of your arguments down, though).

I like OnCase arguments; generally don't like Kritikal arguments. However, that won't be solely what I vote on. I'll evaluate them on a case-by-case basis.

Love,

G. McLaughlin, BHS Honorary President

General Debate Paradigm:

Experienced Coach and Flow Judge and 4 Year High School Debater, World History/Psychology/Sociology Teacher with previous career as a Community Corrections Officer (Probation and Parole).

In my experience, all forms of Debate are a synthesis of examples, evidence, and analysis. Competitors need to dive deep into the resolutions presented and wrestle with the ideas, evidence, philosophy, experiences, and impacts that stem from the resolution while tying back the original intention of the resolution. (Framer's Intent)

In my estimation all possible areas of inquiry are on the table, but be mindful that some styles of debate depend more on some mechanics then others. If you run inherency in a LD case, it feels off. If you try to solve for BQ, that's just wrong. Debate styles need to stay in their own lanes and crossover is risky if I'm judging your round. A note on Spreading: I am not a fan. Debate is about connections and persuasion and connection with your judge. Spreading harms or eliminates all of these. Don't. I will never vote down a debater for Spreading alone but you already have one huge strike against you out of the gate if you do.

I believe in the Burdens of Debate. Aff must prove the resolution's premise as true and correct via the Burden of Proof, regardless of the style. If not they lose. Neg must attack and uphold the Burden of Clash (Rejoinder) and if they do not they can not win.

A quick word on preferences for case presentation. Constructives need to be clear cut and purposeful, lay out all your arguments and evidence, simply open doors or you to walk through in the next speech. Extension evidence is always welcome to expand your points in support in 2nd speeches. Cross should allows be respectful and civil, I do take notes on cross but the points made there highlight your style and ability to think on the fly. Use of canned questions in any form are looked down on.

Rebuttals are fair game but you should always attack, rebuild and expand your arguments in this speech. Repeating points in Rebuttals doesn't increase the weight of the argument.

Consolidation Speeches are for crystalizing the main ideas and presenting voting issues in and overall persuasive and final presentation of your case through points. Please respect the format, arguments that extend well past the rebuttals do not carry more weight with me and are presented too late, make sure to do your job in each segment of the round.

A word about style within the round:

Using excessive speed (defined as 145 or more words per minute, above regular conversational speed of speech) or use excessive points or stylistic tricks to try to disadvantage your opponent in a round will win you no style points with me. If you are speaking beyond my ability to flow or use excessive points within a case I will put my pen down and this signifies that I am no longer constructively in the round. This is to be avoided at all costs, keep your judge “in the round” and go slow, standard conversational pace.

A word on technology and style choice: I have noted in my time as a judge and a coach that reliance on your computer makes you sound robotic and read faster than running off paper. Although I won't ever vote someone down who reads off the computer, you need to make sure to get the message home to the judge with emphasis and good speaks to do well in the round. Having a flat monotone computer voice, spreading evidence, card slamming, and hyper-aggression will not win you any points with me and arguably makes your job harder.

Other Points:

• Case Points for case clarity are gladly accepted.

• Tie things back to framework to impress me and get me on your side. If you "set and forget" a framework or weighing device, its on my flow but not helping you win. This is true for Value Criteria, Weighing Mechs, and Frameworks generally.

• Full Disclosure: I am not a National Circuit judge. If its a new concept that they do it there, not a fan. Proud Traditionalist Debater and Coach here. Don't try to run Progressive theory before the resolution or run Disclosure Theory, won't hold water with me.

• Running Logical Fallacies are strongly encouraged. If you spot one, feel free to call an opponent out for it provided it is valid and you can explain the logical flaw clearly and directly (thus avoiding committing a fallacy of your own.)

• Unique arguments hold more weight then generic arguments, so look for a new angle to gain the upper hand. You have got to prove links to the resolution and prove topicality, if you can't then the claim is bound to fail.

• If you are Aff/Pro and doesn't rebuild and/or extend in later speeches, they lose. If you are Neg/Con attack doesn't attack, clash, and disprove, they lose.

• Observation is good, Observation + Analysis is better, Observation + Analysis+Evidence is best.

• In this world of "technological wonders", I am not on team AI, the expectation is that you write your own case, have your own thoughts, and defend your own ideas. If it is clear you didn't write it and don't know how to run it, I'm not likely to vote for it. Play with AI toys on your own time, not mine.

Spencer Shaw Paradigms

Hey. My name is Spencer. Call me Spencer. Cool? Cool. I have debated all 3 main styles of debate, at Bentonville High School, in Arkansas, at a reasonably high level for 3 years. I'm currently a U of A Sophomore studying Criminal Justice, Sociology, and Psychology. I won some awards over the years, I was an officer on my team, etc. Pronouns are He/Him. If your case has a significant reliance on arguments that include sexual assault, please say that before hand.

Formalities out of the way;

I think each style is different enough to warrant it's own section, but the general rules are:

• Spreading is only for CX. Not LD, and certainly not PF. Don't spread if you can't spread well.
• I absolutely must be able to see your case. Email me, use a flash drive, I don't care- get me your case. i will ask for any evidence you wish to present throughout the round and before each speech. because of that, flashing/emailing/otherwise communicating your files/ev is not prep time
• Cross Examination is binding, but I don't flow it. If you want to make an argument based off of Cross Ex, tell me specifically why it's important and why i should evaluate it on the flow.
• Tell me what to vote for. Good God, tell me what I'm doing here. When left to my own devices, although I try and be the most tabula rasa judge I know how to be, I have a preference for conservative politics and for affirmative presumption in LD/CX, and no presumption for PF.
• Debate, though technically what you make it, is a place for change. If you feel like you have to rap or perform or blow up a kiddie pool during your speech to make whatever God-forsaken point you feel is that important, do it. But be ready to have some seriously credible stuff to back it up or I will drop you. My least favorite thing in debate is where debaters try and champion a cause (racism, the feminist movement, etc.) and use it to win without really believing it- Now, obviously, I probably don't know your story or know how much you believe in what you're saying, but I also have a really strong BS meter. If you can't answer questions, I get suspicious. Arguments that target a people group are probably not good.
• I will evaluate abuse. Full stop. I firmly believe that there is the potential for abusive argumentation, questioning, or behavior in a debate round. Trying to make the debate unfair for your opponent is bad form. You can win without unfairly restricting your opponent, if you deserve to win at all. I am a "reject the arg" guy on abuse, not a "reject the debater" guy.

Policy

I debated Oceans, Surveillance, and China. I'm very familiar with the aff cases for these topics. Education is easily my favorite topic by far, so expect me to learn a lot about it.

1AC's/Plans/Advocacies

In novice policy, with extremely limited exceptions, the 1AC should be a plan.

In varsity, do your thing. I don't care. You MUST BE TOPICAL- yes, even in varsity policy, and yes, k affs can be topical, but you need to prove that you are. I will always evaluate Topicality, especially against K Affs or Affs with no plantext.

definitions debate isnt meant to a way to limit your opponent. it is a way to have a baseline so that you dont argue but then figure out you meant the same things. i believe this has been super twisted by all forms of debate.

Impacts

have them, please. every case needs good impacts.

Kritiks

I debated K's for my entire career, K's are chill with me. Make a clear alt, and a clear link. If ever curious, ask me if I've read your authors.

DA/CP

Link hard. Link often. Link well. Impact it out. Make good analysis.

THEORY.

My favorite thing about debate is theory and framework. Read anything under the sun and I will listen to you. Creativity is awesome. Also, Antonio 95 is not a framework argument without analysis.

Speed

I need your case. I will say clear twice and stop flowing. Even if I'm reading your speech as you're saying it, you better actually enunciate.

LD

LD was my favorite style of debate in high school. I debated in Arkansas and Oklahoma, so I have experience with both traditional and progressive debate.

K's in traditional are still cool. Plans are not. CP's are not. Framework is the most important thing in any LD round, progressive or traditonal.

If there is ever a mismatch between you and your opponent's circuit type (e.g traditional AFF vs. progressive NEG), the progressive debater MUST "debate down" to your opponent in order to get full speaks. If you knowingly and purposely (at least by my judgement) attempt to confuse or screw over your opponent via speed or argumentation style, you will get your speaks basically nuked.

PF

I debated PF at the Arkansas TOC 2017. Don't have a plan. Don't have a [pseudo] plan. Don't have anything vaguely similar to a plan. Sit down during crossfire. Be nice, especially in PF.

BQ

Be topical.

sidequest: make a league of legends reference for .5 extra speaks, unless you're at 30 already

sidequest 2: reference any of Brandon Sanderson's novels for the same point value

Andrea Sisti

I have teams that participate in Lincoln Douglas, Policy Debate, Public Forum Debate and Congressional Debate.

Public Forum Paradigm:

I enjoy a clearly organized debate. Organization is key to maintain clash throughout the round.

SPEED: From my experience, debaters that card-dump and speed through speeches sacrifice a great deal of clarity and persuasiveness that is the fundamental in nature of Public Forum debate. Typically, the amount of evidence added to the case when spreading through speeches is not worth the sacrifice. I would rather hear fewer contentions and quality arguments over quantity.

Read arguments that have a clear link to the resolution. Also, be sure to provide clear warrants for your impacts. I appreciate big impacts, but it is critical that you flesh out your impacts with strong internal links. Explain and extend and make sure that you emphasize what is most important in the round. Provide clear voters in those final speeches.

Don't be abusive with time. When the timer goes off, I stop flowing. Plan your speeches accordingly. Keep track of your own time as well as your opponent's. You and your opponent are responsible for keeping track of times, including prep.

Make sure that your cards tell the same story as what you are saying. If cards come into question and it's fundamentally important in my decision, I will call for them at the end of the debate. I do value the quality of evidence highly in the round. 1 quality card outweighs 5 poor pieces of evidence.

If you have any questions, please ask me prior to the round.

Avoid arguments that are homophobic, sexist, racist, or offensive in anyway. Be respectful to your opponent and judge.

Overall, this is your debate so have fun with it and get creative. Best of luck.

Congressional Debate Paradigm:

As a Congressional Debate coach, I enjoy rounds with a lot of clash, creative speech structures, fiery speaking, and thoughtful questions. In terms of delivery and argumentation breakdown, I value speeches as a 50/50 split in importance. Delivery and content are equally important in my mind.

I understand you may be hesitant to give speeches early on in the session for lack of clash, but I won't take that into account when ranking. However, as the session progresses, there should always be direct refutation.

Please be passionate in your speeches, but remember decorum and professionalism. Respect your opponents.