As a parent judge with two years of experience evaluating Congress, I recommend that speakers avoid speaking too quickly and strive for clear and emotionally expressive communication.

During the presentation, make sure to incorporate effective hand gestures, maintain consistent eye contact, project your voice with a commanding presence, convey passion rather than aggression, vary your vocal tones, speeds, and volumes, ensure fluency in your speech, walk purposefully on key points, maintain a conversational pace, and most importantly, conclude on time, adhering to the schedule.

Being a PO carries significant responsibilities, and I usually provide good ratings. Minor errors are acceptable, but if repeated mistakes persist, there's a possibility that your rank might be affected.

What I'm looking for is a clear, concise argument. Humor is appreciated, but all jokes should be in good taste. I want to see good preparation from competitors as well asadaptability- if you don't have something written, and the splits are bad, switching sides shows dedication. Questioning is an essential part of debate, so you should do that. Zoning out and only speaking when necessary will not do you any favors. Decorum is also an essential part of debate. You should be not just courteous but kind to your competitors. PO's should not just be charismatic but quick as well. The most consistent issue I see across tournaments is PO's taking too long to find the next speaker, whether it be during questioning or actual speeches. Other than that, do your best and pay attention.

Backgroud/"qualifications:"

I debated for 4 years for Charlotte Latin School. I did congress for 3 years and switched to PF my senior year. I qualified to TOC and NSDA Nationals in both events, finaled at Emory and Harvard in Congress, won Durham Academy in PF, and made semis at Bluekey in PF.

PF Paradigm:

I'm a flow judge and can handle reasonably fast PF teams, but if you want to spread, switch events.

A few important things for me:

Signposting: Please tell me where on the flow I should be putting responses. This does not mean an off time roadmap before rebuttal where you tell me "I'm going to start on my opponent's case and then go back to mine." Rather, just say, "as an overview" or "starting on my opponent's first contention" before you make your overview or first response. This will help me actually consider your responses at the end of the debate rather than spending half your rebuttal trying to figure out where to flow things.

Responses: Please make sure your responses actually engage with your opponent's arguments and aren't just the same three cards you read against every Aff case. I would much rather you analytically attack an argument which you are unprepared to answer than attempt to misapply evidence you've already cut.

On that note... Evidence: I have no problem with paraphrasing evidence as long as you stay true to the author's original intent. Conversely, just because you directly quote or line down a card does not mean you are fairly representing the author's point of view.

Evidence indites: If you indict a card, that's great, but explain why that indict matters. Ex. Don't just say "the thinktank our opponent cites is funded by big pharma" explain how that conflict of interest led to poor scholarship or data manipulation on the part of the author.

If you have any other questions about my preferences feel free to ask before the round.

Congress Paradigm:

Here's how my rankings usually turn out at the end of the round:

Last. The kid that actually says nothing

6. The kid that speaks, but says nothing of value

5. The kid that says nothing of value, but confidently

4. The kid that says something of marginal value to the round but poorly delivered

3. The kid that does the same in a more compelling manner

2. The kid that borderline spreads to cover the flow, but does so well

First. The kid that does the same as #2 but with better word economy

As you can see by these rankings, I value argumentation above delivery but consider delivery a tiebreak between equally skilled debaters. I think later round speeches should do more refutation/weighing, but if you have an actually unique constructive point late-round, I understand that you don't always get to speak as early as you might want. I also pay attention to when you start standing and I'll be impressed if you switch sides/rewrite your speech because you aren't called on early. On that note, please don't give the *insert number greater than one* aff/neg in a row. You'll always be better off switching sides and giving a slightly worse speech than speaking on the same side as everyone else in the round.

As far as writing bills is concerned, if you submit a bill I will take into account the quality of the debate and the saliency of the issue. Since congressional debate requires lots of people to speak, a bill with a very limited scope of argumentation is not a good bill. Since congressional debate is meant to model the US congress, it should be conceivable that what you submit could be brought before congress. And most importantly, since congressional debate is meant to be a debate, your bill should have arguments for and against it, not just enough ground to give an authorship speech and then shame everyone who goes neg because it's an impossible position to defend. I know that by the time you read this, it's too late to change what bill you have submitted, but these are the things you should consider before you ever begin writing legislation in the first place.

Lastly, if you use rhetoric that either A) I came up with, B) one of my teammates came up with, or C) I've heard used verbatim before, I won't be impressed and might count it against you. I'd much rather you give a brief intro based on some historical fact than steal catchy rhetoric (trust me, I've heard it all and you won't be able to reuse rhetoric without me noticing).

On arguments. I appreciate arguments that acknowledge the complexity of the imperfect world we live in. There are no perfect solutions to the issues we debate, so I find it disingenuous to pretend otherwise. These issues are complicated; approach them with compassion and nuance. In LD, this means I really want you to lean into the lens of your value. Engage with your opponent's arguments authentically, don't twist their words or intentionally misconstrue what they are saying for a "technical gotcha."

On delivery. Slow down. I know it's not speech, but I'd like your delivery to add something. I don't want to feel like I would have been better off simply reading your argument. Consider variance in tone, tempo, and volume. Pauses separate ideas and can add emphasis.

On losing me. I will question your entire argument if you use logical fallacies, outdated research, or clearly unreliable sources. Do not use arguments that rely on racism, sexism, classism, etc. You will lose my respect if you attempt to intimidate your opponent.

About me. I'm an English teacher who loves cats, books, and learning new things. I value passion and creativity in others. Kindness and compassion are more important than the win.

Hi I'm Agustin (He/Him). I did Congressional, Lincoln-Douglas, and Public-Forum Debate at Northwest Guilford High for 3 years. I did a year of Parliamentary and Social Justice Debate at Appalachian State University. I am now at UNC Chapel Hill studying Psychology and Data Science.

Speed:

Spreading is heavily discouraged. If I am not able to understand your argument then it does not matter. Make sure you clearly articulate what you are saying.

Important Things:

1. Don't be a jerk or a racist/sexist etc. In order to build an inclusive space I have zero-tolerance for arguments and rhetoric that are exclusionary, harmful, or hateful.
2. You can be passionate and aggressive in the debate without being mean, some people are going to be more passionate about topics than others, let's make sure that we have fun and get to discuss the topic civilly.
3. Signposting is important and will help not only me but everyone in the room better understand what you are saying.

Congressional Debate:

In Congress, remember what matters is not the quantity of the information that you present but rather the quality of the information and your synthesis of it. Being active in chamber is important! The competitors that give great speeches and ask great questions will stand out to me. When speaking to and referring to your opponents, treat them with the respect and decorum expected in this event.