Be respectful to each other.

Please don't speak overly fast.

Make your impacts, framework, and important clash clear.

Be clear on what each side's burden is.

I did LD debate for 3 years in High School. I have a daughter in debate which has brought me into the judging scene.

What I look for most of all in LD debate is persuasion, and there are many ways to do this: speaking style and delivery, pacing to be sure the judge gets all your points you expect to flow-through later, logical comparisons/stories that clarify your argument, information/quotes from authoritative sources, challenging/comparing your sources vs. opponent for greater authority, etc. If you talk fast and I miss your points you expect to "flow-through" that is on you.

I expect reading for opening statements, but after that you should know your case well enough to make lots of eye contact during rebuttals. Use prompts, not wholly written statements for rebuttals. Make eye contact.

Use your cross-examination wisely. Many debates can be won with well-chosen questions that get unintended answers from opponents. I expect a bit of "fire" during cross-examination, and your confidence in your case, or lack of confidence, will usually show here.

During rebuttals, I try to put my pen down from note taking. All the notes you expect me to take should have already been made in your opening statements and cross-examination, so I will not be writing down "new arguments" during rebuttals. I believe it is during the rebuttal where a debate is won. During rebuttals I am looking for a knowledgeable debater who understands their case and has understood their opponents case and can make a comparative and persuasive argument as to why they should win.

I will allow new quotes, stories, or comparisons during rebuttals as long as it is reaffirming previously made points during opening statements. "New Information" that tries to establish a point not made during opening statements will not be considered. Trying to clarify your own points during rebuttals is part of the process, and can also be a response to an attacking argument made by an opponent.

In the end, the burden is on the Affirmative to uphold the Resolution. If Negative just succeeds in knocking down the Affirmative case, that would be a win. I do not deem it necessary for Negative to have a case to present for the win, but it helps if Negative has at least 1 argument they can carry all the way to the end. Affirmative is given the final rebuttal because they have the burden of carrying the resolution, and I expect them to do so for the win.

My daughter is a varsity LD debater currently finishing her junior year. While I have watched my daughter debate for the past three years, I am still fairly new at judging. Therefore, I prefer traditional style LD. Progressive style is hard for me to follow. If you want to pick up my ballot I highly recommend against spreading, running theory, K's, ect. Please CLEARLY explain your arguments and make your flow coverage as simple and easy to follow as possible. Lots of debate jargon will be lost on me so try to keep it as lay as you can without diminishing the quality of your argument. Voting issues are really important because they make it easier for me to comprehend the round and understand why I should vote for you. I can not stress enough how much I hate speed. PLEASE keep your speaking style calm, in control, and at a reasonable speech. Be respectful of your opponent and most of all have fun!!!

I am generally a flow judge and can follow fast paced debate.

Framework should be established and followed throughout the round. Tell me why your framework is superior and back up your claim with evidence in contentions. If there is no framework debate, the round will rely on weighing evidence in contentions.

Contentions should be clearly stated with supporting evidence and analysis. Your evidence should be fully explained and analyzed as to its impact on the debate. I prefer evidence be referred to by subject/topic throughout the round rather than simply the author's name. Know your evidence well enough defend it in cross-examination.

Your case should be organized, focused and come to a reasonable conclusion that convinces me to vote in your favor. Failure to communicate the importance of evidence, weighing values and impacts, or extending key arguments may result in a loss.

This is my third year judging LD debate and my first time judging virtually. My professional background is as a trial and appellate litigator, and I have substantial experience judging college and law school mock trial and moot court competitions.

In LD debate, I am looking for clear and well-reasoned presentations that persuasively connect contentions to your framework.

Please avoid spreading.

I am not a fan of off-time road maps and prefer brief sign posts as you argue.

Civil discourse is expected.

The 2019-2020 school year marks my first experience with competitive debate tournaments. I have great admiration for the skill, talent, energy, work ethic, and courage these young adults show being competitors in these events. And I bring this admiration with me to each judging opportunity.

What I look for when judging a debate is a thesis that is well-communicated meaning clearly expressed, persuasive, logical with a meaningful flow. I appreciate a good cross between the opponents that shows engagement, quick thinking, and a good understanding of the topic.

During my first experience as a judge, I discovered that the better debaters, in my opinion, were the ones that explained where they were in the debate process. Meaning they verbally set the framework of the debate, lead me by telling me their next steps and also clearly stated what did not meet the standard in their opponent's arguments.

Other things I appreciate are a personal responsibility for both actions and debate operations. An example of "actions" is maintaining a professional image even through frustrations or disagreements with the opponent. An example of "debate operations" is coming prepared to keep your own time.

I come to each debate with an open mind and a willingness to be persuaded by the better argument.

Hello,

I will be entering law school the fall of 2024. In undergrad, I debated a few times, but most of my experience with debate comes from high school. There, I did policy debate for three years. Though I am most familiar with policy, I am a generalist in terms of my knowledge of the debate space, having judged rounds of PF, LD, and Congress in the past.

In debate, I care about the formation and presentation of the arguments. To put that clearly, you can use ANY type of argument so long as you effectively communicate your point. I typically do not tell debaters what types of arguments I prefer because I don't want them to conform to my likings. You should debate the way YOU feel most comfortable. When I say I am comfortable with any argument, I mean ANY! (Ks/Aff-Ks, DAs, T, Performance, etc.)

Here are a few notes:

1. You communicate between your partner (if not LD) and your opponents. For example, if you are spreading and your opponent has clearly indicated they can't follow your speed, I will dock speaker points. (I am comfortable with all speeds, so spreading is okay in my book, but it has to be interpretable by your opponent. Debate is an activity about the exchange of ideas, and speed should not inhibit that goal.)

2. There is no such thing as a common-sense argument. By this I mean, do not let anything go left-unsaid. A good tactic here is to go line by line on the flow. Oftentimes, we think we can bypass a point because the argument seems simplistic on its surface, but in reality, it has layers. If we ignore these nuances because they seem common sensical, we miss great chances to reveal nuance.

I think this is meaningful advice for any round because you never know what a judge will end up voting on. Now, I do not mean get lost in the minor details of your opponent's arguments. All I am saying is, engage truthfully and meaningfully with what your opponent is saying.

3. I believe in Low-Point Wins. Frankly, If you are not in a speech event (which debate is not) I do not care about how you speak. I care more about what you say and how it develops your argument not how articulate yourself. The best speaker does not always have the most syllogistically sound argument, and I want to respect this possibility.

Feel free to ask me about my paradigm before round!

Email Chain: megan.butt@charlottelatin.org

Charlotte Latin School (2022-), formerly at Providence (2014-22).

Trad debate coach -- I flow, but people read that sometimes and think they don't need to read actual warrants? And can just stand up and scream jargon like "they concede our delink on the innovation turn so vote for us" instead of actually explaining how the arguments interact? I can't do all that work for you.

GENERAL:

COMPARATIVELY weigh ("prefer our interp/evidence because...") and IMPLICATE your arguments ("this is important because...") so that I don't have to intervene and do it for you. Clear round narrative is key!

If you present a framework/ROB, I'll look for you to warrant your arguments to it. Convince me that the arguments you're winning are most important, not just that you're winning the "most" arguments.

Please be clean: signpost, extend the warrant (not just the card).

I vote off the flow, so cross is binding, but needs clean extension in a speech.

I do see debate as a "game," but a game is only fun if we all understand and play by the same rules. We have to acknowledge that this has tangible impacts for those of us in the debate space -- especially when the game harms competitors with fewer resources. You can win my ballot just as easily without having to talk down to a debater with less experience, run six off-case arguments against a trad debater, or spread on a novice debater who clearly isn't able to spread. The best (and most educational) rounds are inclusive and respectful. Adapt.

Not a fan of tricks.

LD:

Run what you want and I'll be open to it. I tend to be more traditional, but can judge "prog lite" LD -- willing to entertain theory, non-topical K's, phil, LARP, etc. Explanation/narrative/context is still key, since these are not regularly run in my regional circuit and I am for sure not as well-read as you. Please make extra clear what the role of the ballot is, and give me clear judge instruction in the round (the trad rounds I judge have much fewer win conditions, so explain to me why your arguments should trigger my ballot. If I can't understand what exactly your advocacy is, I can't vote on it.)

PF:

Please collapse the round!

I will consider theory, but it's risky to make it your all-in strategy -- I have a really high threshold in PF, and because of the time skew, it's pretty easy to get me to vote for an RVI. It's annoying when poorly constructed shells get used as a "cheat code" to avoid actually debating substance.

CONGRESS:

Argument quality and evidence are more important to me than pure speaking skills & polish.

Show me that you're multifaceted -- quality over quantity. I'll always rank someone who can pull off an early speech and mid-cycle ref or late-cycle crystal over someone who gives three first negations in a row.

I reward flexibility/leadership in chamber: be willing to preside, switch sides on an uneven bill, etc.

WORLDS:

Generally looking for you to follow the norms of the event: prop sets the framework for the round (unless abusive), clear intros in every speech, take 1-2 points each, keep content and rhetoric balanced.

House prop should be attentive to motion types -- offer clear framing on value/fact motions, and a clear model on policy motions.

On argument strategy: I'm looking for the classic principled & practical layers of analysis. I place more value on global evidence & examples.

Experienced LD/Speech Judge

Traditional but open to some K's or plans/CPs

Don't run theory as I will likely vote for the competitor with a more concrete argument

I'm a parent judge with some limited experience judging LD. I appreciate when you speak clearly and provide straightforward arguments. Please do not spread. I'm looking for clarity; I dislike overly complex or convoluted arguments. I look forward to participating in the tournament.

About me: I competed in Lincoln Douglas Debate for 3 years for Northwest Guilford High School. I’ve qualified to NCFL Grand Nationals and reached Semifinals at Durham Academy My senior year. Currently a senior at Duke University. My pronouns are he/him/his

Conflicts: Northwest Guilford High School

Speed: I can handle a pretty brisk conversational pace, but keep in mind that the pace you choose to speak at directly trades off with me (and your competitor’s) ability to truly understand and write down what you are saying. I have zero experience with fast, nat-circuity type debate, so spreading is probably not the move. Slowing down at tags/authors/any important point you want to emphasize will go a long way towards making you more understandable and persuasive, and your speaks will show. If you speak fast in front of an inexperienced debater, expect speaks to suffer. If you are competing in an activity that focuses on engaging with competing ideas, why would you want to shy away from clash? Hiding arguments is not fun and makes debate a waste of time.

Framework: Framework matters as much as you’d like it to. Being marginally ahead on the V/VC Debate only matters if you explain the implications of your framework, and why it should inform my ballot. Your impacts should relate back to your framework, if they don’t Then I’m gonna be confused. Franework debates were my favorite as a competitor, yet it feels like almost nobody cares about framework these days. With that thought in mind, A well though out, creative framework that effectively advances your position will go a long way towards earning my ballot. Stock philosophies are great and have a lot of educational value, but I’d challenge you to think of something original and put your own creative spin on these philosophical issues. Debate is an educational activity after all; show me that you’ve really contemplated the topic and not just read about how 400 year old Englishmen thought about the topic.

Theory/T: I understand how theory/T works. That being said, I rarely ever engaged in this type of debate in high school. If you feel your competitor is being abusive, feel free to read it; I’ll do my best to evaluate it. However, keep in mind I’m definitely not the most experienced judge in these types of matters. If there’s clear abuse, I’m down to listen. Frivolous theory will just make everybody sad.

Plans/CPs: Unless your plan is whole-rez, you’re probably going to be fighting an uphill battle trying to convince me. CPs probably need to be VERY mutually exclusive, and it’s the Neg’s job to establish this from the 1NC. This is a very fundamental issue on a CP debate, so if you fail to explain how your CP is competitive and the Aff calls you out for it in the 1AR, I consider your extra spicy cards explaining how it’s conpetitive in the 2NR to be new. It’s not fair for the Aff’s first chance at responding to these issues to be the 2AR.

Kritiks: Not necessarily opposed per say, I just happen to have zero experience with this type of argumentation. Proceed at your own risk and be sure to be extremely detailed in your explanations because I probably haven’t read the literature

Tricks: No. just No

If you have any questions feel free to ask me before the round! I’m excited to hear what you have to say :)

Coached (and still coaching LD,PF,CX, CONGRESS, ALL FORMS OF SPEECH) for 18+ years

Jdotson@potomacschool.org email chain (yes)

Welcome to Nat Quals in Richmond!

Public Forum:

Speed

PF should be any speed except high-velocity spewing and spreading. I can still flow any speed. Just send me your doc if you're going to be fast. And at this point, just send me cases anyway.

Evidence and ethics (I am getting very tired of messy cutting and building sentences from nowhere. People need to be calling that out more) So cut your own evidence!

I favor evidence that is current or at least evidence that has not "changed" since published. Cite author, date or if not available source and date.

Watch out for biases.
Most likely know most of the evidence you are using anyway

You do not always need evidence for common sense or common knowledge so just because your opponent says you did not have evidence does not mean you automatically lose.

Flex Prep:

Sure, if we are in TOC and possibly elim rounds, but other times I think sticking to traditional PF is best.

Prep time:

I am not 100% stickler to tenths of a second; but I don't round up. I try to keep good time and remind you. My time is official prep in the round.

Timing cases:

I do NOT need you to hold your timer up when time is up on folks' speeches. I got it. MY time is official. I do not flow after time is up. You are saying stuff that means nothing at that point.

Frameworks

are not 100% needed.

Overviews/Observations/Definitions are also useful. If you know what to do with them; I will vote off of them all especially if they stay on the flow and are not addressed.

Impacts

Use them; impact calculus

Weigh them; meta weighing is helpful

Analyze them

Front lining

Mostly a must... unless your opponents were trash and frontlining was impossible

Cross Fire

Partners If you have to save your partner by talking during the crossfire that is not yours, go ahead. Better to have a round that is saved than a nightmare. But that will ding speaker points.

Also be nice but not passive aggressive. I don't like that. Chummy debate is kind of annoying so if you know each other from camp, or RRs etc, still take the round seriously.

Theory

Not a huge fan, especially when you are abusing it. Disclosure should be reserved for those who are on the wiki or those know are in out rounds. If you use dislco just to win a round, it should be against other teams that would do the same thing to you.

My coach said we can't post on the wiki;Email...text...

copout... disclo will win

Kritiks

I mind if you run a K unless it is clever and used without abusing the resolution, I listen with a slight ear to fem K, queer K, etc.... But if you have a different case that is not a K I would rather hear it. If you get hit with a K, and run stock K blocks and stock K Bad and they say K good... I mean... I just vote off the flow.

GREAT COMMUNICATOR DEBATES

If you are looking at my paradigm, you are probably already a debate student who is used to checking Tab. So I will be quick. Usually, I am a serious flow judge, but I will judge this tournament based on my understanding of the most important elements of the criteria set forth by the Reagan Debates ballot. I used to host the Reagan Debates in the Mid-Atlantic many years ago, where one of my students, Ronald Thompson Jr. qualified to the National Tournament. We traveled to the Reagan Library in 2015, where at Nationals, he made it to quarters. He is a NexGen Leader .

I know what to look for in a winner, just keep confident and do a good job debating and speaking.

other debate formats:

I judged LD years ago so if I am in LD pool I am a traditionalist

I judged CX years ago but I will listen to everything you throw at me

Super speed/Spewing/Spreading beyond recognition does not impress me but if you must, just send case.

I am a parent judge, and am so impressed by the work and effort that all of you have gone to in order to debate today -- so please know that first of all. Having said that, I expect clear, concise and coherent speaking of a reasonable pace; please no spreading. I want to be able to understand all of the arguments you have prepared, but if you speak too quickly or spread, I cannot evaluate you properly. I am looking for organized, structured arguments, and will be a big fan of clearly articulated contentions, evidence/sources, and quick thinking cross-examinations. Please give me full-circle argumentation from contentions to voting issues, and please note I would value quality over quantity all day long. Come prepared to time yourselves, but I will also be timing to hold accountable. Be courteous, respectful and professional during the debate which will only enhance your performance from my perspective.

I have been the sponsor of the Speech and Debate Team at Apex Friendship High School for the last eight years. This is my eighth year judging. I have taught English for 20 years and Speech for five.

1. Framework is critical. If you don't connect your evidence to your framework, you haven't succeeded.

2. Do not spread--I value quality over quantity.

3. I value strong CX skills--being able to think on your feet and attack an opponent's case is key to winning the round.

4. Civil discourse is expected.

I am a parent judge and have judged for the past 4 years at traditional tournaments in North and South Carolina in LD and PF. Do not spread – I cannot flow speed. Avoid excessively dense philosophy. Counterplans, disads, plans etc. are fine. Err against kritiks unless you think you can explain it very well. Do not read non-topical affs, I have essentially no experience with these and likely won’t vote on them. Good evidence and clear explanation are key.

email: zip.edwards@offitkurman.com

I'm a parent judge who has judged JVLD locally, and VLD nationally but still consider myself new to VLD judging. Keep cases and arguments focused on the resolution. Keep your arguments and your speech clear, and debate your opponent respectfully.

Overwhelming an opponent (and judge) with reckless speed and an overabundance of arguments is unnecessary. If speed is making you unintelligible, I'll ask you to stop. Number of arguments introduced doesn't decide the winner; thoughtful engagement/clash/rebuttal and whose arguments uphold their side of the resolution best decides. I do not consider technicalities (e.g. dropped argument does not equal concession).

Please add me to your case sharing email chains. manmeetfox@gmail.com

Head Coach of speech and debate team for 11 years.

I am a former college LD'er and also really enjoyed speech doing Extemp in high school and college.

LD Paradigm
My paradigm reflects a somewhat older traditional LD judge who believes in topicality and strong argumentation with contention clash and strong crystallization. I am not impressed with debate lingo being thrown about and expected to finish the argument for you. Make it simple and argue on the framework and contentions.
Do not spread. I need to hear and flow your arguments in order to score. If I can't understand you, then I can't score you. Do not heavily rely on esoteric counterplans or kritques. Please do not do theory unless its absolutely required.

Beyond this, I am pretty simple. Argue well, follow basic decorum of the debate and make sure I can follow you. Sign posting is your friend and mine.

PF Paradigm

All that applies in LD applies here as well except I dislike partner imbalance in grand cross and counter coverage in later speeches. I believe PF should also be even MORE open to anyone to judge so less reliant on debate lingo to summarily dismiss opposition argumentation.

Congress Paradigm
Congress is the perfect combination of extemp speech and debate. I pay attention very closely during cross. First speeches are high risk and high reward. If you are giving the first pro or con speech it's basically an oratory and should be delivered as such. Later speeches should crystallize if extending the debate and counter often or taking a new angle and approach. Not that into chamber games, but at the national level I am ok with it.

TL;DR for all- directly CLASH with your opponent and make it easy for me to flow and understand you.

I have had several children in LD debate and have helped out with judging over the years. I have a preference for regular speed speaking (not spreading), traditional arguments (FYI not really keen on kritiks run in JV or Novice LD), and clearly laid out cases. While I certainly understand that debaters can be passionate about the arguments in their cases, for me there is no need for out-and-out mean spiritedness in a debate round and that kind of behavior will not serve the debate well.

Wake Forest 2014-2018

Email: nedgidley@gmail.com

Texas 2023 Update

Hello! I’m excited to be back judging after a brief hiatus. I had a bad hand injury earlier this fall; two bigger implications of this:
1. Extremely limited topic knowledge—I have not judged on the topic.
2. Flowing somehow even worse—I’m still adjusting to writing/typing with my right hand so I will be needing extra time to flow.

Pre-Northwestern 2021 Update (too many updates, need to clean up this mess)

Topic seems big and complex. I don't know very much so I would err on the side of explaining extra.

ADA/NDT/CEDA Update 2021

Top level--make choices. Prioritize arguments and explain why they matter. Reading comments like this is annoying but I have judged both policy and clash debates where both sides played a game of chicken except neither side caved so the judges just had to evaluate a bunch with almost no comparison, weighing, or calculus. This important for rebuttals but can start early: does the 1nc really need ConCon with 8 words highlighted? Does the aff need 3 advantages? You could extend both DAs quickly in the block or pick one and win it. Also I like a good case debate (realize harder with teams breaking new stuff).

Online debate--[grumpy flow rant]--I know everyone says slow down but easier said when you aren't the one giving a speech that has to respond to a lot. With that said, I do feel that in almost every debate it would be beneficial if people slowed down on analytics/tags. I think I do flow slower than others, but a benefit of online debate is being able to follow ev on my 2nd monitor. It's the non-card parts of the speech that cause problems. Some send no analytics, which would be fine except very quick perms/counter-interps. Others send the analytics and then just blaze through them because they are in the doc. Even if you slow down a tad saying these and give a tiny bit of pen time, it is very helpful (and adds very little time to the speech).

Cards--I really do like them regardless if it is a DA debate, clash debate, T debate etc. I want to reward qualified and specific evidence. But please don't answer a CX question about a warrant with "we have ev."

Time--would love to minimize the time that is neither speeches nor prep time. I really do like to spend the time to look over my flows thoroughly and read over cards. A lot of my decisions take right up till the end and I appreciate having more time (rather than less).

For Northwestern ‘20/Alliances

I did a tiny bit of executive and space work but did not judge any debates so I’m catching up on the debate meta. I have done some research for alliances.

I’m interested to see how much affs do on this topic. I think that consensus will settle somewhere between a pole on one side of affs blowing up alliances (Bandow’s dream) and tiny affs that tinker on the other pole but we will see. Trump seems to loom over.

Online Debate

Slowing down a bit and being clearer helps. Cross-ex is trickier: 4 people talking at the same time was not great with everyone in the same room but I think it’s even worse over Zoom(or comparable video debate platform).

Prefs/Top Level Stuff

Tech or truth?

Lean tech: if I flow a claim, warrant, and impact for an argument you should answer it. Like most judges, I have a somewhat arbitrary gut check for an argument that’s too absurd to vote on even if dropped; but it’s better to answer an arg that to bank on me to find something absurd.

Policy or K?

I made policy arguments as a debater. I lean policy on most arguments in a given clash debate; if I were a debater with an affinity for critical arguments I would not pref a judge like myself highly. But given the tech note above, policy debaters should be wary of just saying “fairness” and dropping every critical argument.

Cards

Love ‘em. I like when these are read. If you can explain why I should prefer your cards on important issues (nuanced warrants, they assume the other side’s best arg, qualifications, etc.) that goes a long way. Demonstrating that you worked hard to assemble the evidence you have and to come up with the strategy you went for is something I want to reward.

More Specific Things

Debating the Case

Love the case debate. A lot of judge philosophies have phrases along the lines of “lost art” in their judge philosophies and I will say I like a good case debate. This goes for a policy or if people are feeling bold critical affirmative. If you want to go for a case turn in the 2NR, I think you need some extra calculus and “even ifs”/tie-breakers in the 2NR. For link turns, I think normally this would be a timeframe argument or maybe a structural reason why you control the impact. For impact turns, normally this is some external offense and then mitigation of the original impact (could be an inevitability debate with a “now key/the sooner the better” warrant or a reason why you internal link turn the worst part of their scenario). Numbering args isn’t always possible but when the 1NC can introduce this (and the order doesn’t get jumbled in the debate) it is a thing of beauty.

Topicality

T cards aren’t the most exciting to cut but they win debates (for both sides). Defining words is important including counterinterpretations. You should meet your counterinterpretation.

Not of a fan of what Bricker calls “planicality”—word salad plantexts written around topic words to make winning a clear violation tough. I think in a lot of these cases, it might just be better for the neg to punish the aff for not having an advocate for anything close to the plantext and using that for CPs (explained below). Related to this, I think plantext in a vacuum is a phrase that gets thrown around with little to no explanation. If you can explain the relationship between mandates and affects in order to frame how I should view T vs. solvency than I am more likely to be persuaded by it.

Counterplans

I think generally I would describe myself as neg leaning but aff sympathetic. Arguments about fairness are important, but I think the literature surrounding an advocacy really shapes of lot for me. I have a hard time telling the negative why they should be required to have a strict advocate for the counterplan if the aff has a plantext that is not supported by a similar advocate.

PICs—like them. Especially if something is specified or in the plantext/advocacy statement.

Summers 94 CPs (counterplans that rely on should/resolved to be immediate/certain)—harder to win for the neg. Good evidence plus a set-up in cross-ex or a cross-application or a theory argument somewhere else can help.

DAs

It’s important for both sides to relate the aff offense and the DA and weigh them. Turns case/DA is important but I prefer a more direct route: e.g. “the link turns advantage 2…” or “the aff solves prolif” rather than “warming turns prolif” (more indirect). Cards also helpful there.

The link is important; otherwise the DA is irrelevant to the aff. On alliances, I think the neg needs to be weary of reading the link booster cards like “smaller shifts matter” or “any perception” because I think that jeopardizes many (of what I assume will be) UQ stories of “Trump rhetoric doesn’t matter; treaty obligations haven’t changed” if the link isn’t about changing the treaty/agreement.

Clash debates

Really don’t like a long 2NC overview (on framework vs a K aff or on the K vs a policy aff) and then tons of the line by line is just “that was above.” I am sure you have spent time coming up with the correct phrasing for your blocks but if you even just move that explanation to the correct part of the debate, it really helps the flow.

I mentioned above that I love hard work and specific strategies. The more recycled a speech feels, the less likely I am to vote for it. I also like cards. Strategies without cards are not great in front of me. These debates normally have a lot of layers (framework, perms, impacts etc.). That makes this debates difficult (and muddled) because you have to both “win” a lot of important arguments and also explain how those implicate the rest of the debate. A good formula I was told for this was “our link is X, our impact is y, we solve with the alt b/c z, even if they win [their best argument] we still win.”

Other Stuff

Don’t be Terrible

While this applies to blatant behaviors like racism or card clipping, it also applies to just interacting with others generally. We are a set of nerds who get together on weekends to read words off of our laptops quickly. Going hard against your opponent’s argument does not require you to go hard against your opponent. Lying (misdisclosing, misleading, misrepresenting, clipping etc.) is detrimental to fun debates.

Things Outside of the Round

Harder to adjudicate on these. I also haven’t been at tournaments the last two years so I’m sure I’ve missed some community developments.

Reciting This Philosophy in Round

Does anyone like this? I’m sure there are silly things I’ve typed here (maybe a typo); please don’t. I haven’t heard an RFD that went along the lines of “I really loved how you kept calling me by my first name. Then you also told me about what I had written on T in my judge philosophy so I couldn’t vote you down.”

Inserting Rehighlights

Seems to be contentious. I would say I don’t care if you read or insert it but whenever you do so it’s important to explain what you are revealing and why that matters. Normally, I think these are best for contextualization. If you rehighlight paragraphs of text or read aloud every word the other side didn’t read then the gist of it is “see their card says other words” which isn’t very helpful.

Have fun!

Update for Harvard 2024

If you are going fast enough that I need case docs - add me to the chain - Josh.Herring@thalescollege.org

Updated for Princeton Invitation 2022

I am a traditional debate coach who likes to see debaters exercise their creativityINSIDE the conventions of the style. For Congressional Debate, that means strong clash and adherence to the conceit of being a congressional representation. For LD, that means traditional>progressive, and if a traditional debater calls topicality on a progressive debater for not upholding "ought" on Aff, I will look favorably on such an approach. That being said, if someone runs a K coherently, and the a priori claim of the K is not refuted, I will vote for the prior claim. I try to be as tabula rasa as possible, and I like to think I'm tech>truth, but don't ruin the the game with progressive garbage. If you love progressive argumentation, please strike me. I hate tricks, don't like K's, think performative debate is dumb, and really don't like want to see the resolution replaced by this month's social concern. For PF, I want to see strong evidence, good extension, crystallization, and framing. In essence, I want good debate with clear burdens. Write my ballot for me - give your opponent burdens to meet, meet your own, and explain why you win. I think debate is a beautiful game, and I want to see it played well.

Couple of last minute DON'Ts - I don't buy disclosure theory; I think it has harmed smaller schools by pretending to legitimize approaches big teams can deploy, and it has made spreading much more common. I cannot spread, and I cannot hear a case at speed. If your opponent spreads, and you call them out on it in the sense that their speed disadvantages you in the round, I will look very favorably on that as a prior condition of sportsmanship in the game. Don't spread, and don't fuss at your opponent for not putting a case on the Wiki. It's a voluntary system, and does not constitute systemic harm if you actually have to refute in round rather than prep on arguments read 30 minutes before the round.

Original paradigm from several years ago:

I learned debate at Hillsdale College from Jeremy Christensen and Matthew Doggett and James Brandon; I competed in IPDA and NPDA. I've been a coach since 2014. I have coached PF, Coolidge, LD, and Congressional. I judge on the flow. I'm looking for sound argumentation tied to the resolution; if you go off topic (K, etc) or want to run a theory argument, be prepared to explain why your strategy is justified. I am not a fan of speed in debate - convey your arguments, evidence, and impacts without spreading.

Debate is a wonderful game, and I enjoy judging rounds where both teams play it well. Accept your burdens, and fight for your position. Evidence goes a long way with me, so long as you explain the validity of your evidence and the impact that it links to. In LD, Im a big fan of traditional values-driven argumentation. In PF, I want to see the purposes of public forum respected - no plan, no spreading, and publicly accessible debate on a policy-esque resolution.

Past Experience

Debated at Hamilton High School (AZ) in Policy for 4 years.

Philosophy

I am fine with any arguments, but just make sure to articulate the warrants and engage in the debate on an at least somewhat resolutional level. That being said, I am a fan of Ks, but not so much theory/topicality. I will still buy all arguments, though, so run what you are comfortable with. I am not as concerned with the performance of the debate as opposed to the quality of the argumentation (unless of course the performance is a key part of the case)

General

Not gonna count random stuff as prep, but don’t take advantage of that and still make sure you’re not doing work if you’re not taking prep.

Roadmaps/signposting is a MUST, it will be very difficult to flow every argument otherwise, which may come back to hurt you in the end.

I will say clear and/or slow if you are incoherent - speaks get docked after the second time.

Speaker Point Distributions (I am more influenced by quality of argumentation than speaking performance):

30 — Nearly perfect, everything that needed to be covered was covered and articulated well

29.5 — Extremely well-articulated and thorough debate

29-29.5 — Strong, skilled arguments

28.5-29 — Solid

27.5-28.5 — Average, argumentation could have been better

Below 27.5 — Lots of work needs to be done, key arguments were not addressed or argued properly

Extra 0.5 speaker points for making me laugh or any UNC bashing

Carmen Kohn’s Paradigm

I have been judging speech and debate events since 2016. I am also currently the Director and Head Coach for Charlotte Catholic HS in NC.

Lincoln-Douglas and Public Forum:

I enjoy both the ethical component of the discussions in LD and the current topicality of most PF topics. I appreciate the informative nature of these debates, especially in the current political climate.

I am a classic flow judge for both events and am looking for good clash between opponents. In LD, I place more emphasis on contentions rather than value, however, that evidence must clearly link back to the VC. I am also more interested in the impacts. A dropped contention is not automatic grounds for a win. It depends on the relevance of the argument. When rebutting, don't just extend the author's card. I am not writing down all of the authors. Please remind me of the evidence that was presented. I prefer the well-thought out, well-paced arguments. While debates are won based on evidence presented, I do find a direct correlation between technical speaking abilities and evidence offered. I also make a note of how professionally debaters present themselves and behave towards myself and each other.

I would classify myself as a advanced traditional lay judge. I am not a progressive judge. Do not run theory shells or any other "progressive" argument with me. While I do appreciate the occasional non-traditional argument, especially towards the end of the topic time frame, all cases should be realistic and applicable in the current environment in which we find ourselves. Please debate the current resolution.

Absolutely No Spreading!!! I cannot follow it, especially with online tournaments. You will lose the round. This is probably my biggest pet peeve. I feel there is no educational value to that in a competitive environment. You run the risk that I will not have caught all of your arguments and may miss a main point in my flow. Please keep technical jargon to a minimum also. Throwing around debate jargon and just cards identified by author gets too confusing to follow. And if you ask a question during cross-ex, please let your opponent answer and finish their sentences. It’s unprofessional to cut someone off. Signposts and taglines are always appreciated. I generally do not disclose or give oral RFD. I want time to review my notes. Debates where opponents respect each other and are having fun, arguing solid contentions, are the best ones to watch.

Congress:

I've just started judging Congress. My "comments" are usually summaries of your speeches. Occasional commentary on the delivery and/or content. Please interact with previously given speeches (by Rep name also) and don't just rehash a "first speech". If you can bring a new point to the discussion 6 speeches in, that is awesome.

I will give points to POs. I appreciate what is involved in POing. During nomination speeches, it can be assumed that a PO will run a "fast and efficient" chamber. No need to state the obvious. However, if that actually doesn't take place, a lower rank will result.

Good luck to all!!

This is my 3rd year judging high school LD. I judge based on what I can understand, so that is bad news for those who "spread" because I cannot evaluate the merits of your argument if I cannot follow the words in spite of my best effort. I prefer logically consistent arguments, supported by evidence. In real life, demagoguery often wins debates, but I have not yet met anybody polished enough to pull that off in any of the LD events that I have judged. It is a high bar but I have great expectations and respect for everybody who is brave enough to engage in a public verbal duel.

Crawford Leavoy, Director of Speech & Debate at Durham Academy - Durham, NC

Email Chain: cleavoy@me.com

BACKGROUND
I am a former LD debater from Vestavia Hills HS. I coached LD all through college and have been coaching since graduation. I have coached programs at New Orleans Jesuit (LA) and Christ Episcopal School (LA). I am currently teaching and coaching at Durham Academy in Durham, NC. I have been judging since I graduated high school (2003).

CLIFF NOTES

- Speed is relatively fine. I'll say clear, and look at you like I'm very lost. Send me a doc, and I'll feel better about all of this.

- Run whatever you want, but the burden is on you to explain how the argument works in the round. You still have to weigh and have a ballot story. Arguments for the sake of arguments without implications don't exist.

- Theory - proceed with caution; I have a high threshold, and gut-check a lot

- Spikes that try to become 2N or 2A extensions for triggering the ballot is a poor strategy in front of me

- I don't care where you sit, or if you sit or stand; I do care that you are respectful to me and your opponent.

- If you cannot explain it in a 45 minute round, how am I supposed to understand it enough to vote on it.

- My tolerance for just reading prep in a round that you didn't write, and you don't know how it works is really low. I get cranky easily and if it isn't shown with my ballot, it will be shown with my speaker points.

SOME THOUGHTS ON PF

- The world of warranting in PF is pretty horrific. You must read warrants. There should be tags. I should be able to flow them. They must be part of extensions. If there are no warrants, they aren't tagged or they aren't extended - then that isn't an argument anymore. It's a floating claim.

- You can paraphrase. You can read cards. If there is a concern about paraphrasing, then there is an entire evidence procedure that you can use to resolve it. But arguments that "paraphrasing is bad" seems a bit of a perf con when most of what you are reading in cut cards is...paraphrasing.

- Notes on disclosure: Sure. Disclosure can be good. It can also be bad. However, telling someone else that they should disclose means that your disclosure practices should bevery good. There is definitely a world where I am open to counter arguments about the cases you've deleted from the wiki, your terrible round reports, and your disclosure of first and last only.

- Everyone should be participating in round. Nothing makes me more concerned than the partner that just sits there and converts oxygen to carbon dioxide during prep and grand cross. You can avert that moment of mental crisis for me by being participatory.

- Tech or Truth? This is a false dichotomy. You can still be a technical debater, but lose because you are running arguments that are in no way true. You can still be reading true arguments that aren't executed well on the flow and still win. It's a question of implication and narrative. Is an argument not true? Tell me that. Want to overwhelm the flow? Signpost and actually do the work to link responses to arguments.

- Speaks? I'm a fundamental believer that this activity is about education, translatable skills, and public speaking. I'm fine with you doing what you do best and being you. However, I don't do well at tolerating attitude, disrespect, grandiosity, "swag," intimidation, general ridiculousness, games, etc. A thing I would tell my own debaters before walking into the room if I were judging them is: "Go. Do your job. Be nice about it. Win convincingly. " That's all you have to do.

OTHER THINGS

- I'll give comments after every round, and if the tournament allows it, I'll disclose the decision. I don't disclose points.

- My expectation is that you keep your items out prior to the critique, and you take notes. Debaters who pack up, and refuse to use critiques as a learning experience of something they can grow from risk their speaker points. I'm happy to change points after a round based on a students willingness to listen, or unwillingness to take constructive feedback.

- Sure. Let's post round. Couple of things to remember 1) the decision is made, and 2) it won't/can't/shan't change. This activity is dead the moment we allow the 3AR/3NR or the Final Final Focus to occur. Let's talk. Let's understand. Let's educate. But let's not try to have a throwdown after round where we think a result is going to change.

Put me on the email chain: andrew.y.liu@duke.edu

Hawken School – Policy Debate 1A/2N

Novice NATO Topic Notes:

1. I'm about to graduate with a degree in biomedical engineering so I should be familiar with most of your biotech arguments. If you have questions about a technology, I'm happy to help answer some of them.

2. That being said, i haven't judged this topic before so please be clear/consistent with terminology especially if non-biotech

Policy Paradigm:

TL;DR:

1. Don’t assume I’m familiar with every detail of the topic

2. Tabula Rasa, Policymaker

3. Truth > tech: I have a higher threshold for giving an argument full weight than your typical tech judge

4. I feel like I’m a pretty slow flower so don’t speed through your tags and authors

5. What I'm most comfortable evaluating: Impact Turns > Topic DA > Advantage CPs > T > Politics > PICs > Topic K

6. What I probably would enjoy hearing: Impact Turns > Advantage CPs > Topic DA > Topic K > T > Politics > PICs

7. Cheap shots are lame

8. K FW is a pretty convincing argument to me

Topicality:

T is a great debate when done correctly. In general, I prefer limited topics (despite consistently running fringe affs as a debater). When doing T debate, make sure there is clash on the standards debate.

DAs:

DAs were my bread and butter. I mostly ran politics DAs in high school sadly (education and immigration weren’t the best for policy style). Politics is a generally boring scenario that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. That said, politics debates generally shine with internal link and impact debates, so do that well. If you can, read unique DA scenarios.

CPs:

Case-specific CPs are probably some of the most convincing and interesting arguments to me. I’m also particularly fond of advantage CPs and feel like they need to be read more in debate. CPs need a solvency advocate to at least the same level of specificity as the aff. PICs are generally unconvincing to me usually due to lack of specificity of solvency, competitive issues of certainty/immediacy, and undercoverage of the net benefit.

Kritiks:

Ran generic cap, security, and biopower kritiks, but the only pomo I’ve run is Vattimo/Heidegger. In general, I struggle to understand Ks within the limited scope of debate (most likely since I haven’t extensively read the lit). Framework is critical to K debate and I need to understand how framework affects my evaluation of the K proper.

K Affs:

Sorry, I don’t think I’ll be good for you if you’re interested in this section. If you still do end up with me, some important info about my preferences. I think the T/framework debate is absolutely critical, so your responses need to substantively engage on the flow rather than blanket dismissals. I’m also not really convinced by “FW is racist/exclusionary” arguments.

Theory:

Theory is pretty unconvincing to me and falls in the realm of cheap shots 95% of the time. I won’t vote on your blippy severance, disclosure, or aspec theory generally. I like neg condo.

Other Things:

Low risk = No risk

Death is bad

Fairness > Education

Limits > Aff Ground

LD Paradigm:

TL;DR:

You can reference my policy paradigm to see what matters to me

PF Paradigm:

TL;DR:

1. I did policy debate, so you can basically run anything. Refer to the policy paradigm if you need more info about that

2. Tabula Rasa, Policymaker

3. Truth > Tech: I have a higher threshold for evaluating an argument compared to your typical tech judge.

4. Impact Calc is important if you don’t want accidental judge intervention

5. Apparently PF does paraphrasing instead of direct quoting, please don’t

6. I flow like a policy debater so if you don’t signpost then I’m lost

Progressive PF:

Since it seems like lots of PF debaters are facing an existential identity crisis regarding their event post-2020 TOC, I'll answer concerns about how I'll evaluate progressive arguments in PF here. The short answer is I'm 100% ok and, in fact, happy to evaluate "progressive" arguments in PF barring the concerns elaborated on further down the paradigm. I'll run a line-by-line for why many arguments against progressive debate are wrong:

1. PF is meant to be "public"/PF is not policy

This is not responsive against the merits of progressive arguments. It's equivalent to saying the DPRK is democratic not totalitarian. Additionally, the existence of policy does not mean PF should forego good norms. Also, the structures of PF and policy are so significantly different that regardless of adopting some policy norms, they will remain distinct both in topic education and substance.

2. Progressive debate kills substance

This lacks a lot of nuance considering progressive arguments such as CPs and plan texts access a unique solvency lit base that is otherwise inaccessible in traditional PF. Disads also access unique impact scenarios that probably should be considered, and Ks also interrogate and reveal unique areas for topic education. Traditional debate also doesn't disappear because progressive debate becomes more popular, local circuits will always remain lay compared to the nat circuit.

3. Progressive debate hurts small schools

Probably false too. Access to unique methods of argumentation such as theory, topicality, and Ks allow for teams that have limited access to prep and time to remain competitive against teams with massive programs. Theory and topicality also reproduce norms that protect teams with limited resources from being overwhelmed.

Why is progressive debate good:

1. It fosters good and ethical norms:

Evidence norms are abysmal in PF since paraphrasing and bad citations are rampant. Lack of disclosure hurts pre-round prep for small programs without massive repositories of backfiles. PF is also an event which is disproportionately white and male and it reproduces those biases both in round outcomes and overall success at the event. These are all issues that are difficult to combat from just going to Tab since norms towards these issues haven't changed. Theory and Ks provide the in-round pressure to adjust debate norms for better evidence ethics as well as improving the debate climate for smaller schools and marginalized debaters.

2. It provides depth and breadth of education:

Traditional case debates don't get wiped out in progressive argumentation. Arguably, topic education is deepened when you allow plan advocacy for cases which provides access to solvency lit that's otherwise inaccessible which is depth to the topic. But even if breadth is preferable in PF, the existence of CPs, DAs, and Ks provide breadth of education and strategic diversity. Considering my experience judging PF has mostly had the same pieces of evidence re-read between rounds with the exact same contention structures, I think improve the depth and breadth of education would be quite good for the PF ecosystem.

You may think I'm biased due to my history as a policy debater, and you'd be right. But there's a difference between having bias and having ill intentions. I've been on the receiving side of hard and disappointing losses because of mishandled theory and Ks, and I'd be lying if I didn't acknowledge my distaste towards those arguments. However, I do think it's still important to recognize that these arguments have an important place in checking back biases and bad norms. While I no longer competitively debate, I do still judge from time to time. As a judge, these are some of the arguments that I believe would make rounds more interesting personally as well as for many debaters. If you'd like to convince me otherwise then go ahead.

Topicality:

I’ll be honest, idk how a T debate actually functions in PF considering there (usually) aren’t plans in PF. In policy, T is a question of the advocacy not the impacts so it’s illogical to argue someone’s impact scenario is untopical. If you can articulate how a team’s advocacy is untopical and can do a good comparative standards debate, you’ll be in a good position with me.

DAs:

I’m really glad that PF is starting to use more DAs rather than just case offense/defense for argumentative diversity. DAs were my favorite argument in policy debate, so if you run them well I’ll be happy.

Kritiks:

I have two big concerns with Ks in PF. The first is that I’m just, in general, not a great person to run Ks with. My experience is limited to cap, biopower, and security generally, and they were not staple arguments. I don’t read a lot of lit either, so my comprehension of the K may not be great. Secondly, I frankly don’t think PF can get in enough depth to run Ks effectively. Policy has a total of 26 minutes of neg speech time and, even then, it’s difficult to substantiate Ks well. I generally feel like PF could only run smaller satellite Ks effectively, but I may be proven wrong.

I'm flow oriented and prefer that debaters explicitly state and weigh impacts. I like to include authors' names when I flow; please read them clearly.

I competed in LD all four years of high school and I am now a freshman on the Duke debate team.

I am more acquainted with traditional debate but will keep up with progressive forms. If you spread, make sure to email your case to both me and your opponent. I will flow the round. If you do not respond to an argument that means it flows through, but does not inherently mean you have lost as I will judge the weight of each argument. That being said, I recommend that you respond to each of the arguments your opponent makes.

I will try to get the author name of each card on my flow but in the case that I miss one while you extend arguments you should give a brief explanation of the card you’re referring to rather than just saying “extend Martin” for example.

You can ask for evidence during prep time but not clarification, that should be accomplished during cross ex.

Value structures are an important mechanism to allow me to weigh the round, so be sure to keep up the value framework debate throughout the round. Feel free to use as much philosophy as you want, but you’ll still need cards to substantiate arguments. Do impact analysis as well.

I love specifically outlined voter issues but if you do not provide these I will create my own view of how the round should be weighed.

I will provide time signals if requested but I trust you to keep your own time, though I will have my timer going to keep you accountable. When you reach the time limit you may finish your sentence but should not continue the speech beyond that.

I prefer that you stand while presenting but will not stop you from sitting if you so choose.

Come into the debate prepared—pre-flow should be done ahead of time.

Aggression is fine but disrespect can cause you speaker points—you should know the difference.

Don’t be racist/sexist/xenophobic/etc and just have fun!

I’ll give you feedback at the end of the round and you can ask for advice or any questions you have.

I have a fairly straightforward perspective on my judging preferences. I am very much a traditional flow judge. I do not prefer progressive styles. I don't prefer spreading, and if a debater speaks so quickly that I have trouble understanding them, I will not be able to prefer their arguments.

Backing up your arguments with convincing evidence and telling me specifically why I should prefer your evidence over your opponent's will help you win the round. Extending your arguments throughout the flow and pointing out to me any concessions your opponent made in cross-ex or any arguments dropped by your opponent will greatly strengthen your case. Voter issues are helpful. Explain to me the reasons for why you believe you won the round. Clarity of thought and logic for me will trump fast speech every time.

Jonathan Peele
Director of Speech & Debate
Charlotte Latin School

Updated: January, 26, 2020

Public Forum Debate Paradigm
Emory 2020 update: I will drop you with haste if you run theory in front of me.

TL;DR - Explicitly weigh and you can go kinda fast.

If you don't do it I'll try to vote on the arguments allocated the most time in the round, but I reserve the right to decide what's most important all on my own in the absence of arguments about which ones truly are. I'm a moderate on speed; doesn't have to be conversational, but my flowing definitely gets weak at top speed. If you won't think me an idiot for admitting what is true of every judge, my processing of a few, well developed arguments will be better than many underdeveloped ones.

Random thoughts on the state of the art:
- It doesn't absolutely have to have been in summary for it to be in final focus, but I definitely think that's best practice.
- Don't card dump in rebuttal. Don't read a new contention disguised as a response. If your opponents do this call them out for it and I'll drop the argument.
- I won't charge either team prep when cards are called for, but your prep time does begin once you're handed the evidence. Hand your opponent your device with the exact content they asked for displayed.
- Paraphrasing isn't the devil, but be ethical. It's essential you have the underlying text readily available (per the rules, ya know).
- I think case disclosure is ok. I distrust that this is really about enhancing education and suspect it's more often about enabling a school's war room to prep everyone out. Please don't read me disclosure theory in PF.
- I'd rather not shake your hand. It's just too much.

Public Forum lives in limbo between its Policy and Lincoln-Douglas counterparts. Frankly, one of the great things about being involved in the event right now is the lack of choking orthodoxy (which paradoxically really only tries to be as unorthodox as possible) to which our cousins in CX and LD have subjected themselves. (What a fun sentence!) Directly charged with neither the task of advocating a plan to execute a policy nor with advocating a particular value structure, as an emerging community we are only just now figuring out how to articulate what exactly debaters are supposed to be doing in Public Forum rounds. I certainly do not have the definitive answer to that question, but my best description of the event is that it is meant to be a policy-rationale debate. Public Forum debate at its best calls for a momentary suspension of the considerations of exactly how (i.e., a plan) to execute a policy and instead debating the rationale for changing/not changing the status quo. Allow me to qualify: I am not suggesting that Public Forum should systematically exclude all consideration of how policy would be executed (occasional assumptions about how the policy would unfold in the context of today’s America have a place in-round), but rather I am attempting to define appropriate parameters for Public Forum. If you've made it this far, you might also find some thoughts in my LD paradigm useful.

Lincoln-Douglas Debate Paradigm
I have remarkably low-self esteem as a Lincoln-Douglas Debate critic. I think I’m a good coach and possess somewhat above-average intelligence, but the gobbledygook that passes for “debate” in most circuit LD rounds I’ve seen is either A) so complicated and over my head that I should rethink those assumptions about myself or B) such a poor excuse for an intellectually honest discussion of the resolution that I’m glad to be an outsider in your realm. If I’m in the pool at a meaningful LD tournament it means that I’m doing a coaching friend a favor, failed to successfully hire out my commitment, or a terrible mistake of some kind has been made. I will almost certainly look miserable at the back of the room. Because I am.

As terribly negative as that sounds, I do on occasion find Lincoln-Douglas debates to be fulfilling and invigorating. What is it that can make me happy? Well, I suppose that’s what you’d like for me to attempt to articulate here. So here I go.

Speed – This is usually the only thing you ask about before you start debating. I do not believe that rate of delivery must be conversational and I will try to keep up with you. My pen can reasonably keep up, but since I don’t coach LD at a circuit-level full-time, and since I haven’t read the theory/critical literature that you want to throw at me at 500 words per minute, I’m probably not going to be very successful in evaluating it at the end of the round if you do go circuit-fast. You’ll see the frustration on my face if you ever look up. I can only vote on what I was able to process.

Framework – I do need you to articulate some weighing mechanism or decision-making calculus before you hit me with your case. I don’t care what you call it or what form it takes, but it does need to be clear, and the less variables you put into it the more comprehensible my decision will be at the end of the round. I tend to prefer specificity in criteria. If you never address this then what choice do I have but to arbitrarily decide? By that I mean don’t just put some nebulous, overly broad value at the top of your case and then never reference it. That’s just some vestigial relic from the way things were in LD 20 years ago. Then you’ll need to win why it’s preferable to use your weighing mechanism. Then just evaluate the arguments in the round (that’s “link back” I think in your vernacular) by that standard. If you do these things well and in a manner I can understand, you’re going to win.

Theory – I have opinions about what debate ought to be. You have opinions about what debate ought to be. Everyone has opinions about what debate ought to be. They differ wildly. I suppose then that I’m obligated to evaluating your arguments about how this activity should take place and to being open-minded about what best practices really are. But like everyone else, I have my personal biases and preferences and it’s going to be difficult to dislodge me from them. I prefer straightforward debate with comparison of the impacts in a world for which the resolution is or is not true. Now, you’re going to read that and think that I’m some sort of horrible “Truth seeker” judge. No. I just want to hear a debate of the resolution itself, not an advocacy primarily about what the educational value of debate is, some tenuous application of fringe academic theories, or some significant variation on the resolution that you wish to debate instead. That means I’m highly likely to accept some very simple topicality analysis as an answer when your opponent does any of these things. I like the way Joe Vaughan put it many years ago in an old version of his paradigm (I liked it so much I saved it), “I am open to a variety of different types of argumentation (kritiks, counterplans, et cetera), but only if such positions are linked specifically to a reasonable interpretation of the topic and are not an attempt to fundamentally change the focus of the issues intended by the framing of the resolution. Arguments that are only tangential to the conflict embedded in the resolution and shift the focus of the round to the validity of alternative philosophies are difficult for me to accept if challenged sufficiently.”

Disclaimer – While I deeply value winning as a worthwhile goal of debate, I am still also responsible for being a (albeit flawed) role model and an educator. If you are so profoundly rude or callous towards your opponent, or anyone in the community at any time for that matter, I reserve the right to drop you for that. I don’t have to accept all possible behaviors just because this is a game where we play with ideas.

Policy Debate Paradigm
I know the names of all the stock issues. I am a native speaker of English. I promise to try my best to be attentive and fair. Those are the only possible qualifications I have to be sitting in the back of your room (at least at any tournament important enough for you to be checking here for a paradigm). Go complain to the tab room immediately. I already tried and they didn't listen to me.

Past School Affiliations
Director of Forensics, Charlotte Latin School 2013-present
Director of Congressional Debate & Individual Events, The Harker School, San Jose, CA, 2009-2013
Director of Forensics, Manchester Essex Regional HS, Manchester, MA, 2007-2009
Director of Forensics, East Chapel Hill HS, Chapel Hill, NC, 2002-2007
Assistant Speech & Debate Coach, East Chapel Hill HS, Chapel Hill, NC, 2000-2002
Student (Primary Event: Congressional Debate), South View HS, Hope Mills, NC, 1996-2000

Camp Affiliations
Co-Founder & Co-Director, The Institute for Speech and Debate, Boulder, CO, Charlotte, NC & Fort Lauderdale, FL 2013-present
Director, Congressional Debate & Individual Events, University of California National Forensics Institute, Berkeley, CA 2012-2013
Director, Public Forum Debate, Capitol Debate Institute, Baltimore, MD 2011-2012
Instructor, Public Forum Debate, Harvard Debate Institute, Boston MA 2010
Instructor, Public Forum Debate, National Debate Forum, Boston, MA, 2008-2009
Instructor, Public Forum Debate, National Debate Forum, Fort Lauderdale, FL, 2009
Director, Public Forum Debate, University of Kentucky National Debate Institute, Lexington, KY, 2008
Director, Public Forum Debate, Florida Forensic Institute, Fort Lauderdale, FL, 2007
Instructor, Congressional Debate, Florida Forensic Institute, Fort Lauderdale, FL, 2006
Director, Congressional Debate, Research Triangle Forensics Institute, Cary, NC, 2003-2005

I am a former debater and I've been coaching debate for 6 years. I'm a more traditional judge, in that I generally dislike super progressive arguements. I would describe myself as a flow judge at heart, though and I am always careful to make sure that the round is fair and my decision is unbiased.

Hi Everyone,

I am a parent judge and appreciate the following:

#1. Speak loud to ensure everyone hear clearly

#2. Good organization of ideas and points

#3 Present and deliver your talk with confidence (no ideas are stupid!)

#4. Show respect and demonstrate good manner

#5. Overall slower pace - it's hard to vote if one cannot follow your flow and do not understand your train of thought. Do not throw around jargon with assumption everyone understand.

Thank you! I will try my best to be a fair and informative judge.

Hey everyone! I did Arizona PF for four years, Congress for two, and sprinkles of other events (so yes, I know what a kritik is). I've also judged "full-time" in North Carolina for four years now, mostly PF and LD. I expect a respectful debate from both sides.

For PF, I'm pretty standard. Make sure to spend as much time as possible in your rebuttal speech attacking the opponent's case with specific attacks relating to points they brought up in constructive.

For LD, I'm ok with progressive stuff, but since all my experience is with PF and traditional LD, know that you're taking a risk there. If you do end up going progressive, please be clear as to why I must vote for you! Spreading is fine, but if you're going to talk super fast, please flash drive over your speech so I can follow along.

I vote off the flow, but make sure to weigh impacts in your final speeches - a little bit of narrative (just a little bit!) can go a long way into helping me understanding your side/arguments and voting for you. By narrative, I mean high level analysis of the round, talking about the big picture and not getting too bogged down in the contention level debate (this especially applies to the last few speeches for each side).

My general rule is "quality over quantity." You've probably heard that a billion times, but I truly have trouble understanding quick, one sentence responses to arguments, especially in rebuttal. Take time to develop each response, giving me the context and all of the logic behind it, instead of saying a couple words and expecting me to do the analysis on my own. Also, the more counter-intuitive/non-obvious/unique the point you're trying to make is, the more you have to "gift-wrap" it - I'm willing to listen to almost everything but I need a little more help on arguments that aren't stock/easily understandable. Again, I want to hear the entire logical picture from the debaters, instead of having to fill in gaps on my own. I specifically like listening to how different responses and contentions interact with each other (i.e. grouping after rebuttal speeches). That being said, if an argument is mostly there and is missing just a frivolous part I tend to be pretty sympathetic, but you don't want to rely on this.

For PF - I don't require 2nd speaking rebuttal to defend against responses in 1st speaking rebuttal, but I highly encourage it. I don't require 1st speaking summary to repeat attacks on the opponents case, unless 2nd speaking rebuttal defended their own case against the attacks.

I debated policy in high school and college (Pitt), and coached college policy for ten years, but haven’t coached college level in a long time. Started coaching again for my kids in middle and high school. I also teach in a comm program (UMW). I have been working with my son's team for the past few years.

Email chain: rhetorrao@gmail.com

Pronouns: he/him

I am most comfortable with a traditional policy-like strategy. The biggest problem I have seen in LD debates is not properly weighing and explaining how positions interact. I am not a fan of most K affs. As long as you are able to explain it with clear links to the resolution then I am open to it. On the neg make it clear.

I really do not like frivolous theory, and never enjoy when a debate ends with messy theory. Definitely not the judge for a tricks debate.

Make sure you are actually flowing, and not just relying on a speech doc. I am fine with speed- just make sure you are clear.

Finally, rude people are not fun to listen to, and I have little tolerance for a more experienced debater bullying or beating up on someone who is learning how to enjoy the activity. Make good arguments, test ideas, and have fun.

High school Social Studies teacher, B.A. in History, politically unaffiliated. I believe that every person starts with a blank slate at the start of each round. I don’t mind spreading as long as your words are clear, please do not mumble.

Sophomore at UNC who debated LD four years in North Carolina.

In HS, I only did traditional debate so while you can run progressive forms of debate and I'll listen, bear in mind I never debated it and thus am likely to not fully understand it. If you chose to do so, signpost VERY well and clearly articulate your case.

Remember, speak clearly, warrant your arguments, warrant your value structure, signpost as you go along, and GIVE VOTERS at the end of your last speech (2AR or 2NR).

Be respectful to everyone in the room, rudeness will dock you speaker points.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask before the round.

I am a parent judge with 1 year of LD judging experience. Here are the things I consider and evaluate:

- Do not spread. State your position and arguments clearly.

- Support with good analysis, well sourced evidence, and well organized flow. Simply rejecting opponent without logical arguments does not win points.

- Highlighting roadmap helps direct judges or opponent to follow along the debater's thought process. It is a helpful organization tactic. I do give points to cohesiveness and organization.

- Ask good questions during cross exam. Let your opponent answer the question. Show respect and make eye contact.

- Quality over quantity. When speed becomes impediment to understanding, I will discount your argument.

Greetings: I have been around the Carolina West District for approximately 10 years. At one time or another I have judged every event. Although we are a very small school, we have had many students place in their respective events and go on to use their speech and debate skills in college and the work force.

Policy: All 5 elements must be clearly addressed. Spreaders should ensure I have their taglines or at least sign post before they start to rock-n-roll. I pay special attention to topicality, sources, cross x, and solvency.

Lincoln-Douglas:The AFFIRMATIVE has the burden of proof of the resolution as presented and should provide fair definitions. The NEG can and should challenge unfair definitions. I pay special attention to sources, cross x, and contentions coming full circle as well as defense and rebuttals.

Public Forum: Simply looking for which side presented the more compelling case with viable sources and confident defense.

Congress: I see two major elements here: speech content & speech delivery. I focus on well organized speeches with quality sources and ability to address questions. The P.O. should run a tight fair chamber. Outstanding =6 pts, Very good=5 pts, Average=4 pts.

IEs: The first presentation I see is in first place of that round til someone beats them and so on down the line. I look for all literary elements, appropriate use of: hands/body/posture, facial expressions, and vocal variety as the piece dictates. As OI, POI, Novice Reading, or Children's Lit do not require memorization, nor do I. I neither reward students who have memorized, nor penalize students who haven't. My personal favorite events are: Extemp and Informative Speaking.

I do NOT disclose my decisions and I do NOT share oral critiques in the room. I will gladly answer student's questions with their coaches permission to speak with me. I will generally challenge all Extempers with a short questions following their speech.

I competed in LD all four years in high school on the NC circuit and traveled to national tournaments such as Harvard and Emory. I qualified and competed at the NCFL national tournament both my junior and senior year.

I am a recent graduate from Duke University and have remained active in the debate community by judging at local tournaments over the past 4 years.

I am not picky about what you run as long as it is clear and logical. Don't make assumptions that I know something because if I don't understand it, I won't vote for it. No theory unless there is a clear abuse in the round (someone ran theory against me for using paper so not a fan) and honestly you could probably just explain the abuse and save all of us some time. I also judge how you treat your opponents. It may not ultimately affect my decision, but it definitely will impact your speaker points.

Any specific questions feel free to ask me in round.

I am a parent judge. I debated in high school but that was in the last century. This is my third year judging LD debate. My daughter is an LD debater so I have heard about progressive debate but am more familiar judging traditional.

Hi I'm her daughter and I'm gonna explain how she judges. She likes you to speak clearly, it doesn't have to be completely slow, but don't spread. Be persuasive and use good evidence to back up your points. She will flow. She is very tabula rasa and if your opponent drops an argument she sees that as standing even if it isn't super true. Quality over quantity. Evidence and real-world implications are more important than values. Don't run any crazy progressive arguments.

Hi! I used to be in your shoes, a little high school debater just trying to get by while people older than me scrutinized my every move and wrote down all of their critiques for me, my opponent, and the whole world to see. But as a wise man named Michael Scott once said, "Well, well, well how the turntables...." Now, I'm the judge. Prepare to be scrutinized. I'm just kidding. Don't worry. I'm the judge, but I'm not gonna judge you or anything, wait that's not true, I kinda have to... oh well, sorry.

Quick Things:

Speed/Style: I'm fine with whatever you're comfortable with. Just don't be abusive. I can flow whatever speed that's coherent (aka not spreading) as long as you remember to SIGNPOST!

Framework: Have one.

Content: Anything with a warrant. Also, please link to the framework.

Other things you might want to know about me:

1. I did LD for four years.

I loved speech and debate in high school and I'm happy to return to judge.

2. For LDers: My favorite value structure to run was justice with any Rawlsian criterion.

I love Rawls. If you run Rawls, I'll probably get noticeably excited in round.

Also, gotta say, not a fan of util. Because Rawls. But also, it's so boring. There are so many other possibilties for value structures to make the round way more interesting and you're just gonna run util? I mean you might as well be doing PF.

Don't worry, I will still vote under a util framework if I have to.

3. For PFers: I didn't do PF, sorry.

Yeah so I'll probably be looking like one of those lay judges checking the times for the speeches on the ballot every five seconds. How many speeches are there again? 47? Really? Okay.

4. I will not vote for abusive arguments.

(A) Burdens.

The affirmative's burden is to uphold the resolution as a general principle, not just in one isolated example, so don't run abusive plans, observations, arguments, etc. I will not vote for them. Note: I'm fine with plans if they uphold the resolution as a general principle, but if they narrow the scope of the resolution too far (i.e. if they're abusive) then they're not okay, and I will not vote for them. Please please please don't run abusive plans, observations, or arguments, I really don't want to hear them. Also, I will not vote for them.

The negative's burden is to disprove the affirmative. Simple as that. If you disprove everything the affirmative says, I will vote for you. There's no need for counterplans, unless you want to use the argument that the negative has some mutually exclusive AND competitive alternative to the resolution to undermine the affirmative's position. That's fine. Whatever. Just don't be abusive.

Pro and con burdens in PF? *shrug* I dunno. Go nuts.

(B) Spreading

Spreading is abusive (to my brain). So please don't do it. Also, the point of speech and debate is to persuade your audience with clear, concise, and coherent language, not to defecate in all of our ears. So don't spread. Note: talking fast if fine. I talk fast. I can listen fast. I can flow fast. Just make sure you signpost so I know where to flow. Spreading is completely different from just talking fast; it's flashing me your case and expecting me to do all the hard work reading it while you stand there vomiting out noises that don't sound anything remotely like words and every thirty seconds gasping for air as if you were just drowning when really you on the dry land acting a fool. Don't spread.

5. I think speech and debate is supposed to be fun.

If you're not having fun then why the heck are you even doing it? So please, have fun in round. Whatever that means to you. To me it means make jokes. Humor is a very persuasive tool so use it! Also, I'll like you more if you're funny.

I hope this helps. If you have any questions please feel free to ask me. I don't bite. Except when my orthodontist tells me to.

I'm currently a freshman at Duke, but I did LD for 4 years at Ardrey Kell. I focused more on traditional LD due to the nature of the LD circuit in NC. I don't have too much exposure to more progressive styles of argumentation, but I should be good with basic LARP type stuff if you choose to go that route. However, I do prefer, at more traditional/lay tournaments, that you stick to the norms of the circuit unless both you and your opponent are fine with a little more speed/complexity. Basically, don't make it difficult for your opponent to participate in the round. Also, please be courteous and respectful to your opponent and generally don't make them feel like shit. Don't be racist/sexist/bigoted or you will be dropped. In general, please weigh, run cool cases, and don't lie.

Specifics:

1) I enjoy seeing unconventional approaches to the topic, but make sure you explain it clearly enough that I know what I'm voting for.

2) I've found that inexperienced debaters don't spend enough time on link-level debate, so please try and do that. BUT, experienced debaters often forget about impact level debate. Your arguments should be very clearly impacted out and weighed, and I think this sometimes doesn't happen because of how caught up debaters get in justifying/proving arguments. At the very least, give me voters that detail how exactly the resolution changes (positively or negatively) society.

3) V/VC-Not entirely sure how I feel about this. Basically, if you think winning your value or value criterion actually changes the way I evaluate arguments and gives you an edge in the round, please debate it. I enjoy well-done phil debate a LOT and I'd love for it to be more prevalent on the NC Circuit. But, make sure your phil debate actually has implications for the round. I'm not a big fan of random Morality vs. Justice debates where neither side clearly articulates why it actually matters whether the value is Morality or Justice.

4) Evidence-so, while I did debate I was a lot more pro-cards and empirics than most, but I've kind of moved away from that mindset. Evidence still matters to me though. Please run good, high quality evidence in limited amounts with good analytics to go with it. Try and understand exactly what the card is saying and don't misrepresent evidence. In terms of responding to evidence, I REALLY would appreciate more people on the circuit calling for cards and looking through methodological flaws and other inconsistencies in the evidence. A big power move is pulling up the PDF and just listing off all the ways that your opponent misrepresents the evidence. If you give me a competing piece of evidence, please make it CLEAR why exactly I should prefer your card instead of your opponent's. Anecdotes are good to exemplify a problem and add context, but don't rely exclusively on them.

5) Flowing-I can flow at basically the higher end of NC debate. Don't spread, but also don't feel the need to go super slow. I flow on my laptop so if I'm on my laptop during the round, that's why. I generally catch most of what you're saying, but you can help out by going slower on key points and emphasizing them throughout the round.

6) Speaker Points-I'll probably give out speaks based on strategy. If you run cool arguments, approach the topic in a nontraditional way, and execute the strategy well, expect higher points. I enjoy humor and sass, but make sure you respect your opponent while you're at it.

Standardized testing topic specifics: This seems like it'd turn into a card war REALLY fast, so keep in mind what I said about making clear why I should prefer your evidence over your opponent's. I don't know much about the topic, so explain acronyms, abbreviations, etc. Also, it's my first time judging so please make it easy on me by doing a ton of weighing and giving me clear voters' issues.

That's more or less my thoughts on debate. If you have any specific questions about debate or even college or something, feel free to ask before the round or email me. My email address is vineel.vanam@gmail

I did LD at North Meck for 4 years. Been out for a few years now so I'm a bit rusty.

No spreading (above 200 wpm) or else I will not understand you.

If you want to run progressive style arguments, you'll have to explain them more and not use too much jargon. Or just don't use them since I'm not too experienced with these types of arguments in general. I'm more familiar with plans, CP's, DA's then I am with K's, theory, etc.

I prefer nuanced argumentation rather than just card dumps with very little analysis. Please tell my why cards matter and how they impact the round.

I like to come into the round with few assumptions and want the debaters to frame the debate for me. If there is a framework debate, in general the person who wins it auto wins the round. If you have the same framework then whoever wins the line by line wins the round (I still want analysis along with the line by line).

I really like when in your final speech you can tell me why you won the round. If you were the better debater this will make the decision process really easy for me. Basically just tell me the story of the round and I'll be happy.

Be nice to each other in cross ex.

That's all!