Last changed on
Fri June 28, 2019 at 12:26 PM CDT
Qualifications:
Nationals Qualifier in Domestic Extemp and Congress
Accumulated 4 TOC bids in Congress during my junior Year, accumulated 2 (so far) in my senior year
7th at the Stanford Invitational in Congress
11th at the UT tournament in Congress
3rd at the Plano West tournament in Congress
13th at NSDA Nationals in Congress
Congress Paradigms:
Speaking style: Even though I'm judging a camp tournament, I'm judging like a national judge would- not like a state or middle school judge would. What this means is you have to stay professional to rank well on my ballots. Don't yell, be aggressive or impolite. Fluency and clarity will win you the round, not "power moves". If you try a power move and pull it off really well it could get you my 1-3 automatically, but chances are if I notice a single stumble in it- you'll drop to become my 9.
Humor: I like humor, but be careful. I want to see good humor which could be used in any level of round- not easy humor which gets easy laughs. Make your jokes polite, subtle and don't overuse them (1 to 2 jokes a speech is fine).
Content: Presentation is important, but after a certain point it becomes pointless. Make sure your content is always put first before presentation. Speak well enough to where I listen- after that content will move you up my ranks.
Refutation: I want to see you drop other speakers names and points. After the sponsorship & first neg, I have to see refutation of previous points. Even if you stumble on fluency and humor- good refutation will easily put you in my top 6. Make sure you clearly explain how you turn/void previous speakers arguments and what the impact of that would be. I'm sure you guys can do this well.
Crystal: Since this is a camp tournament, I'm guessing competitors won't have much knowledge on how crystallization works- thus, if only one or two people deliver properly structured well organized crystals- you will like the rank I give to you.
PO: If you PO, full disclosure: you will likely be ranked third best case scenario (maybe second) if you do very well. Expect ranks to range from 4 to 8 if you PO though. I love seeing PO's work fast, be fair (I'm making sure you don't only pick your friends/people from your own school- that's a good way to get you dropped), and make few errors. Making the occasional short joke is fine- but ensure it doesn't take away time that could be used for speaking.
Fairness: Likely the most important criteria in a Congress round. I'm aware that many of you think judges you know will boost you or you can help each other out to rig rounds. Even if you are the best competitor in that room- if any of the people who I know are teaching you or I see any hint of corruption, you will get the 9. Fairness is the most important element in maintaining the sanctity of the debate environment. Don't let anyone say otherwise. I will weigh more of quality of a speech versus the quantity of speeches given.
Advice: Good luck, you guys got this. Prep hard and don't get distracted. See you in round.