I am a lay (parent) judge. This is my 6th year judging high school Speech & Debate, and I've judged about 3-4 tournaments each year. I've judged just about every event.

The most important things to me are that you try your hardest, do your best, and respect both your competitors and judges. I will leave all of personal opinions about politics, current affairs, etc. at the door, and will listen to you with an open mind.

I will not disclose who won or how everybody ranked. I will provide constructive criticism - both things you did well and what needs improvement - on your ballot.

Based on niceness and articulation, my judging criteria includes logic, enunciation and all around understandability. Let me in on your thought process by including why and how you got to your conclusions. Please do not tell me why you are winning, you are wasting time doing my job when you should and could be clarifying your position. Opportunity plus preparation equals luck.

C. A. Goldenberg 

Here are the things that matter:

I did not debate as a student.

I have judged and coached PF and LD for 8 years.

I don’t lean towards any style of debate, just convince me why I should vote for you and you can win.

My favorite philosophy is Utilitarianism... just sayin’

In Congress, I like to see valid and credible sources to support claims. It is imperative that you give the date of the information you use. I am resource driven and don't enjoy a speech based on mere opinions. I am not fond of screamers, I rather prefer a gentle and strong argument. I will note your refutations, but be careful of crystallizing too early. I am not fond of gimmicks but do enjoy a laugh or two. Being witty works well with me. Make sure you are active in the chamber with relevant questions. Be clear, concise, and make sure to walk and talk. Eye contact is very important to me. 

I have experience with Public Forum, Congress, Extemp, and LD.

I run an AI startup called Pickaxe.

Surprise me with your arguments. Get creative. Go for it.

I am a former participant in speech & debate. I am currently a graduate student at Florida State University. I have experience as a community organizer with a local non-profit and have a BA in Political Science. These are some of the things you should do if I am judging you.

1. Speak clearly, do not speed. If you are used to speeding then learn judge adaptation. If I can't get your arguments down and understand what you are saying then you have lost the round.

2. You will not win the round by trying to win an emotional argument - please make clear connections//links

3. I like a well-thought-out/planned case that makes sense logically - I like to be able to connect the dots.

4. I can flow but am not as good at flowing as someone who judges every weekend, it has been a while

5. Do not be rude. I can deal with assertive, but screaming, belittling opponents, eye-rolling, head shaking, and showing general contempt is not acceptable. You may win the round but it will be with 20 speaks.

I did four years of extemp, congress, and public forum in Wisconsin and nationally for James Madison Memorial High School. I like to see reasonable speaking speed, argument clash, argument weighing, evidence weighing, and concise summary/final focus speeches. Use crossfire wisely to ask questions rather than make statements.

Experience

Did policy for two and a half years in high school before washing out because I wasn't particularly good. 

Did Lincoln Douglas for half a year because that was the logical progression from policy. I washed out because I also wasn't particularly good.

Did congress for a year and thrived not because I knew what I was doing, but because I wasn't afraid of the fact that I didn't know what I was doing. Also probably because I'd previously washed out of policy and Lincoln Douglas and took what I'd learned from those experiences with me.

Finished 9th at CHSSA in congress my senior year, 11th at nats in extemp debate. I also won a policy tournament once and got top speaker. I consider these to be my proudest accolades both in debate and in the sum total of my life thus far. That lil speaker-trophy gavel holds a prominent place on my mantelpiece.

Actual Paradigm

I'm superficially knowledgeable about a good amount of philosophy, and weirdly intensely knowledgeable about neoliberalism as well as colonialism in the historical and contemporary senses. What this means is that if you lie to me and I catch you lying to me, I'll be disappointed. If you win, you win; tabula rasa I think. But I'll be disappointed if you win by lying explicitly and saying stuff like "Kant was a student of Marx" or "Jakarta was a colony of the Tsar's Empire."

As terrible as it is I'm a sucker for good speakers. Fancy wordplay is how I convinced my university to take me, and it's what I do at a semi-professional level now. What this means is that I'll probably lose track of some arguments (read: most arguments) along the way and I'll pick up the clearest, most well-delivered and confidently delivered arguments. If you can convince me you're winning then you'll probably win, because I'm a simple creature and I'm easily lied to.

In Short:

In terms of content don't shy away from esoteric academic topics. I, in fact, encourage you to push for weird theory heavy and kritik-y stuff. Wow me with your fake knowledgeability.

In terms of mechanics, treat me like your grandmother. You wouldn't spread at your grandmother unless you're trying to confuse and upset her. I'll be able to keep up, but I'll be hurt.

BACKGROUND:

• HS (4 years) Speech/Congress/Parli/PF. College (1 year). Speech coach (5+ years). Worked with multiple flow debate programs. Debate is fun! 

• DEBATE PHILOSOPHY:

• Debate provides students an opportunity to be passionate advocates on any given topic by means of using clear communication. Utilize unforgettable rhetoric, teach me something new, and always play by the rules. Most importantly, make sure to be extremely respectful of one another!

MY JUDGING CRITERIA:

I am heavy on flow. I love responsiveness and crystalization. Make it easy for me to follow you.

• Jargon: I’d prefer students not use it for purposes of clarity. I’m sure audience members, your judge, and your opponents would appreciate this as well. One of the main ways to receive good speaker points from me is to always treat each other with respect.

• Value: You should always link your arguments to value. Otherwise, your arguments don’t have as much weight from my view. If you can also demonstrate how your arguments work under your opponent's value, that’s a bonus.

• I appreciate off-time roadmaps. I don’t mind “spreading” (fast speaking), but make sure to slow down and enunciate tags and citations. Also, if I find the entirety of your speech to be filled with unnecessary diction, I will frown. Why? Word economy. Lastly, you will note that I stop flowing as soon as the following occurs: information previously stated is being brought up once more, I cannot understand the speaker or your argument is not making sense to me.

• Theory: Not a huge fan of T. If you decide to run theory in your case, do know that I will always make my decision based off of what I feel is most important in debate; the educational experience. I avoid making a decision based off of my own personal beliefs or experiences.

• If you decide to run a Kritik (should the tournament allow it) I would appreciate your case most if it still acknowledges the round. Stressing a K without continuing to be a part of the entire debate is too dull. Not only should you be clear as towards why the other team is diminishing the value of the debate by means of what they are communicating, but you should also demonstrate that you care about the entirety of the debate.

• Throughout the debate, you should aim for pinpointing weak arguments and fallacies. Make it easy for me to flow arguments and be specific. Refer to the flow when covering your opponent's case in rebuttals. More specifically, you should cover all sub-points mentioned in each contention.

• Often times, competitors do not cover an entire contention and generally cover an argument - no. Simplify the process of me disregarding an argument entirely. In rebuttal speeches, cover something that has not been covered before. Do not present old news to the table.

quest.sandel@ascendspeech.org for any and all questions. Please CC your coach if you reach out with a question. This paradigm is written for Congressional Debate.

Hey,

I am the Founder/Camp Director/Co-Owner at Ascend Speech & Debate, Director of Congressional Debate at James Logan High School, and former Director of Speech and Debate at John F. Kennedy High School in Sacramento, California.

First off, I believe this is a debate event before anything. That means you should be adapting to the round as it goes. Everyone from the sponsor to the closer has an equal shot at my one as long as they do their job. The job for the sponsor and first negative speaker is to set up the round for strong debate. The sponsor should state the problem, how this bill fixes the problem, give one or two impacts from solving it, and if you're a superstar give me a framework for the round moving forward. The first negative should give us the main idea of what we should expect from a strong negation argument. This should take the problem the sponsor laid out and then give us the negative thought process on whether or not this legislation fixes it. After that I should see an increasing amount of refutations mixed with original arguments as to why this legislation is good or bad. Once we are 3/4 of the way through I should be seeing a lot of extensions as the debate is coming to an end. Still give an original POV but keep it within the frame of the debate. At the end, I should see nothing but refutation and crystalized speeches. Once again I want your own original analysis but use it to end the debate through a refutation of the other side instead of individuals. No matter where you speak I want to see your personality/style shine through. Take risks and you'll likely be rewarded.

All effective argumentation is based around a solid understanding of the status quo. If you cant properly depict the status quo then I cant buy an argument from you. What's happening right now? Is the effect that this legislation has on it good or bad? How well you answer these questions will dictate your ranking from me.

Effective cross examination is when you attack the flaws in your opponents argument or set up refutations for your own. As long as you have a clear goal for your cross examination period, I'll appreciate your time. Overall, I tune out when both sides start over talking each other and I prefer a calmer style of cross x.

When it comes to speaking I don't have a preferred style. I can respect all styles as long as it suits you. Picking a speaking style is like picking a baseball batting stance in that there isn't a wrong way as long as you're doing what is best for you based on your natural voice, range, and variation. If you stick to that then I'll probably think you're a great speaker. DONT BE AFRAID TO TAKE RISKS.

I do rank presiding officers pretty well as a scorer and if I'm a parli it can serve as a tie breaker between two debaters. If you do it well then I'll boost you but if you don't then I'll drop you pretty far.

This next part should go without saying but your arguments need to be backed by evidence at all times and have clear logic behind them. Remember that your logic creates the argument then the evidence backs it up. Your evidence isn't your argument.

Lastly, be respectful and have fun. If you aren't having fun then you're doing this activity wrong. Best of luck!

Don't spread and don't make excessive evidence calls.

I am Head Coach at Loyola High School in Los Angeles. I have judged hundreds if not thousands of debate rounds. [updated: February 20, 2018].

So long as your arguments are not philosophically repugnant, I expect arguments, interpretations, frameworks and other positions that intentionally exclude your opponent's offense. Simple Ballot Strategy: Tell me 1) what argument you won; 2) why you won it; and 3) why that means you win the round. Repeat.

Parsimony, relevance and path of least resistance: I am a critic of argument. I am very liberal about what you do in a debate round, but conservative in how you do it. Assertions without warrants mean very little to me and invites me to supply meaning to positions if you do not articulate what you mean. I look at the flow and ask, "to vote aff, what does the aff have to win?" ... and ... "to vote neg, what does neg have to win?" from there, I look at each of the arguments, evidence, and how well each side has put the issues together in a bigger picture. Most times, the simpler explanation (that takes into account and explains away the opposition) is likely to carry the day. The longer the argument chain, the more effort it takes to evaluate it, the easier it is to vote against you.

Full Case Disclosure Should Be Mandatory: Hiding your case is an excuse for bad debating and if you can't win without a trick, maybe you should rethink your strategy. I may have (some, slight) sympathy for not disclosing before you break new, but very little.

RVIs and Reverse Voter Standards: Fewer better explained standards are better than 20 blips.

Theory, rightly, checks abuses. Articulate the violation, standard and remedy. Actual demonstrated inround abuse is far more persuasive than hypothetical abuse.

Cross-Ex: I flow CX. I don't mind additional questioning during prep. I see little to no benefit to arguing in CX. Please refer to CX responses in your speeches.

Rebuttals: Let's admit that all debaters make new responses in rebuttals. Let's admit that new arguments are permissible when they are extensions of prior positions or answer to args by the opposition.

Win/loss/Points Disclosures: If I don't volunteer the information, please ask me. All good judges disclose.

Judges should be accountable for their decisions. Ask questions. How else do you learn what I was thinking in the round? How can can you improve in front of me? That said, I will follow the tournament's rules regarding disclosure. Also know, that I will be arguing behind the scenes in favor of disclosure. I will do my level best to answer your questions in a clear and concise manner; I may not see the round you did and maybe we can both learn from an after-round discussion.

That's the best I can promise.

I don’t have many preferences with regard to what kinds of arguments you read, but I do care a lot about how you present and defend your arguments. Do what you’re good at and I will do my best to evaluate the round.

I did four years of policy and PF at Bellarmine as the 2A. I graduated in 2012 and have been judging tournaments here and there throughout my college career.

I was mostly a lay debater in high school, meaning that over 75% of my rounds were done in front of parent judges. I firmly believe that presentation and persuasion are a huge part of the learning experience in debate, and I love rewarding debaters who make an effort to educate me about the issues at hand with ballots and speaker points. If both teams agree to a slow debate, it would make my judging experience much better.

That being said, I’m not at all averse to circuit policy. I’ve competed in circuit policy in the past and am familiar with jargon, spreading, etc. Please be aware that I've only seen a couple of rounds on this year's topic, so when in doubt, assume that I know nothing about the resolution.

General pointers to help you help me:

• Clarity should always be your top priority. If I can’t understand the words coming out of your mouth or the logic behind the argument you’re trying to make, it’s not going on my flow. I’ll yell “clear” if I find that you’re speaking too quickly or stumbling excessively; after it happens twice, you’re on your own.
• Don’t be afraid to make analytics! Thoughtful, logical analytics hold a lot of sway with me.
• The more case-specific the better – show me that you’ve put in hard work in researching and preparing and you’ll be so much more credible in my eyes.
• Prep time ends when your flash drive comes out of your computer and into the hands of your opponent. Most teams nowadays are paperless, but if your opponents don’t have a laptop on hand and you’re going paperless, it’s your job to supply them with one.

Now some specifics:

Case—In line with my lay debate background, I love a good case debate. In my opinion, it’s often the part of the debate that’s the most concrete. I’ve seen so many debates where everyone seemingly forgets about case after the 1NC and I feel sad every time it happens.

Disads—As I’ve mentioned before, the more case-specific the better. I see teams trying to sell me some generic link and I can’t remember the last time I bought it. Ground your argumentation in solid evidence and make sure you’re giving me some good impact framing and impact calculus.

CP—Case-specific PICs are great, generic CPs not so much but I’m definitely willing to listen (see the trend here?).

T—Slow down! Make your definitions and interpretations very clear. Debate T like you would a CP/DA, using strong links and impact framing/calculus. Fairness and education decent impacts to have, but extra brownie points if you tie in advocacy skills and decision-making.

Theory/FW—Same as with T: slow down, argue your links, and don’t forget to impact! I don’t really have any hard-set beliefs here, so it’ll be up to you to out-tech your opponent.

The K—Here’s where it may get a little rough for those of you who are big fans of kritikal arguments. Although I’m familiar with the structure of some run-of-the-mill Ks, I really only have a surface-level understanding. Therefore, if you chose to run a K or a K aff, you need to really take time to teach me about the K and define the context of any terminology that you may be throwing around. If you can’t explain your K to your parents or to a friend outside of debate, then chances are I’m going to have a tough time understanding too.

My paradigm

Debate is the test of the truthfulness of a claim, thus truth is important. I don't understand the tech over truth argument, nor do I want to.

Debaters should:

Speak slowly.

State the resolution, as that is what is being debated

Explain everything. Don't assume that I know what a K is. Because I don't. Don't assume I know what anything else is either. I probably don't.

Speak very slowly.

Explain what the big arguments are and why the opposing side is not winning.

Be nice to each other.

Give me a reason to vote for your side. Or more than one.

Speak slowly.

To summarize, in debate judging, I adopt most of the nuance but very little of the substance in this abstract on the qualitative vs. quantitative debate that Kenneth R. Howe espouses in the American Journal of Education Vol. 100, No. 2 (Feb., 1992), pp. 236-256 (21 pages) Published By: The University of Chicago Press. FYI, '92 was a good year for debate about debate in educational philosophy.

Speakers should:

Be entertaining, thoughtful, logical, organized.

Present evidence/sources (not so much in IMP maybe, but definitely in OO, INF, EX,

Don't go too fast, but instead go at the exact right speed.

Be entertaining. Try not to steal minutes from your audience's life (especially mine) by being boring. Try and pretend this stuff is fun.

Interpers should:

Be real, or sometimes in HI or humorous DUO, be so polished and perfect in your blocking, gesturing, and facial expression, that the hyperbole does not need realism.

Real acting is seen in the eyes. Are you believable? Is there anything about your performance that distracts?

I do my best to judge the performer not the script.