Lay Judge

Limited experience judging PF. No experience judging LD.

Speak slowly and clearly.

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.

Parent judge with 5 years of experience judging PF and some LD, both in-person and online. I'm not quite a tech judge, but am getting closer. For PF debates:

• Clearly lay out your contentions and subpoints upfront, and refer back to them during the round when you're providing additional evidence or warrants. Extend in your final speeches.
• I don't need an off-time roadmap, but feel free to provide one if you think it's helpful. Your speech should be organized well enough that I can tell when you're talking about your case or your opponent's, without an upfront roadmap to guide me there.
• I don't flow crossfire unless something new jumps out that I'm looking for later. In the next speeches, be sure to extend anything from crossfire that you want me to consider. Otherwise, you've made the decision that it's not important for me to hear or consider.
• Weigh, or at least tell me what the impacts are of your argument. Without that, I'm left without much of a "why" upon which to judge the round.
• That said, impacts should be reasonable and realistic. If nuclear war and 7 billion deaths really are a likely impact of your argument, that's fine. But I might give equal weight to an argument that would lead to 100K deaths from a conventional war that is more likely to happen in your future-state or the status quo. Or one that would increase the deficit by 5%, if that's more likely to be the outcome. And I definitely won't give much weight to a nuclear war impact from something like organic farming, or Medicare for All -- again, be realistic.
• If you want to run theory, go for it, but remember you're trying to convince me (not a professor or college debater) that your argument is better than your opponent's. Most theory cases don't do a lot for me, so you have a higher bar to clear if you're going to go that route.
• This goes without saying, but be polite and respectful to each other, and have fun. Even if it gets testy during the round, please congratulate each other at the end and shake hands (or fist-bump). I know the competitive aspect of this is real and can get intense, but remember why you're here.

Parent of a Myers Park HS debater, this is my first year being a judge.

I have an enginering background, currently working in tech in the financial industry.

Looking forward to learning from the debaters.

Keep it Simple. Do not use unknown acronyms and abbreviations. Be clear, crisp and concise with your points. Do not overload with facts but rather present your views on why it helps make the case. Speak slowly and focus on quality over quantity. Sometimes the less you say is better.

Most important of all, enjoy the debating experience as you will cherish these memories for life.

I am a parent judge with little experience judging PF, Congress or Speech events. I prefer that you don't talk too fast or spread - I need to be able to understand what you're saying in order to judge its merits.

I take a lot of notes and will try to judge on the flow. For PF, please clearly articulate your contentions, back them up with warrants and support with strong evidence. I don't fully flow Crossfire or Cross-Ex, so anything important that you want noted, please extend in your next speech, and make it clear why it's important to your case or detracts from your opponent's. Please don’t run progressive debate unless something extreme has happened in the round, I will not know how to evaluate it.

By your final focus or last speech, you should have made a convincing case why your impacts or value out-weigh your opponent's. And in keeping with the rules of debate, do not bring up any new arguments in the second half of a round, or they will be disregarded. Good luck and have fun!”

I am a parent judge with two school years experience as a lay judge.

-Please speak at a conversational pace.

-Speak clearly.

-I will flow all the round except for the cross examinations. So, the better organized your speech, the better I can flow.

-Please obey your time.

-Be respectful and professional at all times.

-I look for clear, organized and logical argumentation and valid, unbiased evidence.

Good luck and have fun.

Hello,

My name is Anjali Mittal and I've judged a couple of debate competitions. I would appreciate it if you can speak slowly, clearly outline your arguments, follow the rules of debate, and respect each other while debating. Good luck!!

I am new to debate competition judging but work in the public policy field professionally.

Please present your arguments with empirical evidence with a well-intentioned pace and intonation to emphasize your points. Racing through your presentation will not earn points, effective eye contact and emphasis on points that are important and that you think will be the most influential are much more impactful to my response and ultimately your score.

Being respectful and effectively responsive during cross will also gain points. Don't let the other team get the better of you. Defend your position well, don't just attack.

I am a lay judge. I've completed online training and watched several demo videos.

Speed: I'm okay with speed, but I really like an articulate, eloquent speaker. Prioritize clarity, be sure to signpost, don't spread, and you'll be fine.

Framework: Please make your Value and Value Criterion clear at the beginning, weave them into your case, and tell me explicitly why your input is better than your opponent's.

I prefer some scholarly philosophies in there with supportive arguments.

Finish strong and on time. Be specific.

I competed at the national level in PF for 4 years. The most important thing I need to see in a round is continuity -- I would rather hear one/two strong argument evolve and develop throughout the round than hear four/five arguments get spottily extended across the flow. Don't make me do more work than I need to when making my decision, so pick a narrative, stick with it, and clearly give me a comparative weighing mechanism against your opponents. Beyond that, some specifics:

I am fine with speed, but, seeing as this activity is meant to be inclusive of the average person, please try and avoid spreading at all cost;

I am okay with the first speaking team extending defense from rebuttal to final focus, as long as they do not make it a reason to vote for them (i.e. only terminal defense). Any reason to vote for you (i.e. offense) must be in summary in order for it to be in final focus;

Big fan of jokes/humor in round, but stay civil and respectful of the event and one another;

Tell me why I am voting for your side in the latter half of the round. Explaining why you're winning an argument is helpful, but not nearly as imperative as explaining why that argument translates into signing my ballot for your side.

Things to do for boosted speaker points:

• Funny analogies/metaphors
• 1-off Case
• Varied use of hand gestures
• Inclusion of pop culture references
• Impressive vocabulary