Cristian Medrano

Background: I used to do Parli and Congress all throughout my high school years. It's been awhile but I am mostly familiar with the rules and times. If it's anything else....uh I will try my best :)

To earn my vote (Parli or Congress) , you must show me that you are capable of using pathos, logos, and ethos in your argument and that your speeches have structure to them. Off-time road or explanation at the start are key to me. You argument must also be able to persuade any random stranger that would be listening as I am only basing my decision on the info in the round.(Also if you add jokes, puns, or witty lines that relate to your points it would different catch my attention). Please respect the opponent you may face, I do not look fondly nor do the rules at those who don't respect each other in Debate.

---PERSONAL INFO---

I'm a coach. I did PF + Extemp when I debated.

I prefer flowing traditional cases, but I'll accept Theory and Kritiks that I can understand. I will prefer clean rhetoric over spread jargon unless you have a good reason why I shouldn't (read the reason in your first constructive).

In my opinion, a good debater is somebody that can make it abundantly clear why they are winning. Make the structure of your argument clear and meaningful in your speech. I also don't like performative arguments. Think about why you started debate and why you have continued to do it; this is a learning experience! Stay respectful and try new things.

--- GENERAL DEBATE ---

Speed

CONVERSATIONAL ONLY, PLEASE.

Generally, I don't vote for cases I don't understand. If you want my ballot, practice brevity. Jargon's fine. Contention tags or card tags should be slow enough for me to copy down exactly (if not, I might forget to write the whole thing and then not remember what you meant later).

Speaks

Debate in good faith. Attitude, respect, and accuracy count. I give better speaks in better rounds. Unless there is a serious offense committed in round, I won't go below 25. If there is something that I see, I will let you know explicitly in the ballot. If you see something, I expect you to kritik or address it in round.

Theory

Topicality specifically first: On defense, the topicality of your case should be obvious. I'm okay with ground-skewing definitions in the first constructive if you can justify that it is necessary for a fair debate. On offense (and just generally for any shell), I need an obvious violation and a substantially better interpretation to buy the argument. I will evaluate the theory debate before stock.

Kritik

ONLY USE WHEN ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. I will judge you not only on your choice of K, but execution, clarity and structure before considering it as an integral part of the round. I want an obvious link and a full internal link to your impact. Explain the alternative and role clearly and slowly. Please don't spread these, especially the more complex ones; I won't follow. I see bad faith K's as an RVI. Running a K doesn't guarantee a win. Running a K in bad faith guarantees a loss. Don't abuse these.

Counter-plan

Do it only when there is a plan that precedes your counter-plan. Don't run counter-plans against traditional debaters.

Tricks

I appreciate a good trick. Remain respectful of the format. I also don't know why everyone started calling these tricks. Sometimes, they're just fun cases. Do what helps you learn more in debate.

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With the technical stuff out of the way, above all I want to make sure everyone enjoys the round thoroughly. Have fun with your cases; I am always interested to hear unorthodox methods! Happy Debating!