College Policy: Emporia (2012) + KCKCC (2013-'15) | Sems Of CEDA, Doubles At NDT, Won NPDA (2015), Attended Weber Round Robin (2014) and Kentucky RR (2012).

High School Policy: 2009-'12 @ Millard South | 3 TOC Bids, Sems at Berkley, Won NE State CX (2012).

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I was primarily a Kritik debater in high school and a Performance/Method debater in college.

No matter the form or content that you are presenting, there are disads, permutations, impact turns, links, no-links, internal links, framework, topicality, sequencing, evidence comparison, and all that jazz to be had.

I am most comfortable in a Clash Of Civilizations (Traditional Vs. K) or K Vs. K debate, but I am open to adjudicating outside of my comfort zone, weighing all kinds of arguments, barring horrendous ones.

I find myself voting on framing, impacts, and internal links as a default. Clash - or contrast - matters.

I love unique spins on resolutions and flipping the script on debate conventions (be unique) while also *using* debate conventions (offense vs. defense, evidence, claim + warrant, comparisons, ethos/pathos/logos).

I have judged over a decade of LD (and even PF) at this point but it is still not my forte. Your jargon, or even how you view the debate in front of us, may be lost on me at times. Assume the worst and hedge, and we can get back on track.

For all debate styles: A good speech is a good speech, a great speech is an art form, and the epic totality of all your speeches should feel fresh, immersive, and have levels to it.

By the end of the debate, it's helpful for me if you emphasize clarity and substance above over-extending yourself on the flow, though you should 100% cover what you need on each flow.

Examples rock. Paint a picture. I'm a visual learner who benefits from repetition.

Show me the debater you are, and I will do due diligence to adapt. Play to your strengths.

Truth over tech (the line-by-line), but tech still matters greatly unless and until a cluster of arguments is formed and won that sets and sways the rhythm, tone, and flow of the debate.

Extend your arguments and evidence, not just your taglines, authors, and dates. Address when your opponent does the bare minimum.

I find that some teams don't capitalize enough on concessions or "moments" in debates, or they do so in a way that is merely surface-level. Use it to frame them out of the debate. Go all in (your mileage may vary).

Interact with the crux of their arguments - the best version of what they are saying - directly on the line-by-line and put offense and defense on the flow. Tilt the scales every chance you get. Control the line-by-line.

I try to flow cross-ex, but no guarantees. This is typically my favorite part of the debate.

Speed is fine. Whether it's good for your precise, situationally-dependent speech, or even just the point you are on, is an entirely other thing.

Clarity over speed, always. Especially for the last 3 speeches.

Seriously, slow down on taglines and analytics. Time constraints? I would rather you be strategic with your time than speed/throw everything at the wall, with the risk that little, if any, of it sticks.

I reward debaters via speaks when they a) start their rebuttal speeches with (valuable) overviews, b) take risks (bonus points when they pay off), c) keep the flows in order or at least mitigate the chaos of a million tiny arguments, and d) have great cross-ex's and bring that same energy and clarity for speeches.

I will disclose speaks if asked.

Don't let the debate get close.

I find that strategic usage of time in rebuttals can make or break a ballot, so I might suggest taking a breath to emphasize key factors in your debate.

Don't out-spread yourself trying to out-spread the opponent. A few well-developed, top-level arguments are better than a few blippy, under-developed shadow-extensions. Take that extra second to strategize the big picture before you dive in.

Of course, you could convince me to defer against my default paradigm.

Role Of The Ballot (ROTB) debates are more than just a blip; I invite both teams to interact with framework arguments in a meaningful way because they become lenses for evaluating everyone's impacts organically.

Consider informing me what my ballot does, and how I should evaluate the debate in front of us. Help me feel it with the weight and rhythm of your arguments. Be proactive on this front.

I want to be able to use what you said in your last speech to genuinely help make my decision. Spend time on the arguments that you are legitimately going for.

Going too fast is just as bad as going too slow.

Yes, you can ask questions during prep.

Run your own prep time.

Email chain is preferred for sharing cards, and I do read the cards. I may ask for you to send all cards you go for in last rebuttal at end of debate.

Email: mattc743@gmail.com

Most of all, just try to have fun.

I debated from 2006 to 2009 at Norfolk High School in Nebraska back in the days when policy debaters had to haul tubs full of evidence around everywhere and instead of flashing evidence to our fellow competitors, they'd have to grab the physical copy and read it. I qualified to NFL nationals my senior year but never really competed on any circuits outside of the local one in HS. In college I competed in NFA-LD for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln from 2011-2013.

I currently manage a restaurant, so my life has taken a turn away from debate. That being said, I'm still a huge fan of the activity and consider myself educated on argumentation. I'm very excited to return to judging again.

I want to see a round in which teams run arguments that they feel comfortable, confident or otherwise righteous running. Do what you do well, do what matters to you, and have fun. In-round decorum is important to me: I don't want to see ad hom attacks, rudeness or bullying. Debate only serves its purpose as a quest for a larger overall truth if all participants feel welcome in the activity.

I'm getting older and my hearing isn't what it used to be. Please speak loudly. Please don't go full speed, at least not right away at the beginning of the round. I won't be able to flow it. I'll try, but I can't make any promises. A wise debater would slow down slightly in front of me. I have not judged consistently since 2013.

Honestly, I don't get too hung up on what style of arguments are run. I was once more of a TPD guy, but I've come to realize the revolutionary potential of debate and the importance of young people advocating for issues they care about. I would like to know how what you say relates to the topic. And I'm always down for a good disad/CP/squo debate. Topicality was my bread, butter and dessert as a debater so I enjoy those debates more than most judges but I'm unlikely to vote on T unless it is executed well throughout the round.

I do need crystallization in rebuttals. I want "even if" statements. 2NRs, close those doors. 2ARs, find those cracks and exploit them. Rounds are controlled in the constructive speeches but won (or more often, lost) in rebuttals.

By default I will vote for the team that provides the most persuasive offensive reasons to win my ballot. This is open for interpretation for a reason. Meta-level analysis that tells me how to weigh the round is particularly important. I need to know the purpose. Don't lose your perspective; individual arguments matter, of course, but don't get too bogged down in winning every little thing. Win the big picture. Tell me how and where to vote.

Prep theft/shadow prep. I'll know. You'll know.

Flash drive issues. I understand it happens, but when it happens every prep period I will start to get suspicious. (Do y'all still even flash evidence, or is it all just part of the Cloud now? I'm behind on the tech.)

Overt racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, or other forms of bigotry. As a community we must be better than that. The world sees enough hatred the way it is. Let's make debate a safe academic laboratory of constructive ideas.

Experience: I debated policy for four years at Sioux Falls Washington in SD. During that time, my partner(s) and I were State Champions, took 4th place at Nationals in 2012, and 9th place in 2013. I was also the 14th speaker in the nation my senior year. I now actively judge policy debate in NE and SD. On the Aff, I generally ran policy Aff. On the Neg, I was known for closing for DA/Case, DA/CP/Case, or Topicality.

General Paradigm: Know that I will listen to anything. I am interested in hearing the arguments that you enjoy debating the most. However, if no one in the round tells me how to evaluate, I default to a policymaking framework. Tied into all of this, I care most about warrants and evidence comparison. I prefer to hear well-developed arguments over a spread of warrantless claims and bad evidence. I’m down with speed though.

I care deeply about impact calculus when evaluating rounds. Therefore, I need specificity and comparisons when you are addressing these sort of framing concerns. This is especially important during the final speeches. I do not want to just hear the buzzwords magnitude, probability, and time frame. Extrapolate upon your unique framing.

On specific arguments...

Topicality: When done well, topicality can be a very effective tool. The problem is that many debaters do not know how to debate topicality well. If you’re going to close for T, I prefer that you spend your entire 2NR on the issue. I prefer specific, in-round abuse scenarios, but will vote on potential abuse if well explained. I also generally default to a framework of competing interpretations, valuing teams that can best explicate why their interpretation is valid. Note that I prefer T over generic theory arguments.

Theory: I will evaluate theory, but will say that I do not prefer these debates. Often I just hear blocks read with no real clash and violations that are woefully generic. Additionally, I don’t appreciate really blippy theory arguments early in the round that become round-changing in the rebuttals. Give your theory arguments substance from the beginning. If you’re going to run theory, make sure that it is grounded in what is happening in the round. Again, I prefer in-round abuse scenarios to potential abuse.

CP: I am definitely open to listening to CPs. That being said, make sure that your CP solves part, if not all, of the case advantages. Solvency deficit arguments from the Aff go far for me. It’s the burden of the Neg team to prove CP solvency.

DAs: I am a big fan of disadvantages. I do not have a problem with generic DAs, but prefer the links to be as specific as possible. However, I understand that there is not a lot of literature for diverse DAs this year, and will take that into account. I am always skeptical of internal link scenarios, and the Neg has to do more work here.

Kritiks: As someone who hardly ever ran critical arguments in high school, I will say that I am not as well-versed in K literature as I would like to be. However, in my time judging I have heard a fair number of performance Affs and Ks on the Neg. I am open to hearing these interesting debates, but just require some more warranting/overviews. As such, I will need more explanations of K arguments that might be less commonly run or unique. In particular, I want a focus on the link and alt stories. Most of the time I am highly skeptical of alternatives. If you don’t understand the evidence yourself, don’t run the K in front of me.  

Case: I am a big fan of case debate. I think that it is very important that the Affirmative team takes advantage of their 1AC and utilizes it throughout the round and across flows. There’s a reason you read it for 8 minutes. On the flip side, I really appreciate Negative teams that focus on debating the specifics of advantages and case solvency. You can really bolster your Negative strategy by taking out components of case.

At the end of the day, I want you to debate the round that you want most. As long as you are polite, engaged, and strategic, we should have a fun round!