I was a PF debater in high school, have been judging for years and have recently started coaching.

PF: I am a flow judge and like to see a clean line-by-line in rebuttal. Be sure you are not only responding to the argument your opponents' present but also the impact. Tell me why they can't access their impact in rebuttal. In summary, you should begin tying up any loose ends and begin to weigh. Tell me why your opponents can't access their impacts or why your impacts are bigger and better. Lives are a good default impact that is easy to compare. Final focus should be almost entirely voters. Give me 2 or 3 good reasons why I should vote for you. Don't make final focus a mini rebuttal. A good final focus does go over the entire round or every argument. Only focus on what you think you're winning. In terms of framework, unless one is proposed by either team I will default to util. In summary and final focus, tell me how your arguments/impacts align with the framework and why your opponents aren't meeting the framework.

LD: I have less experience in LD but will be able to follow more complex arguments. Be sure to talk about impacts explicitly and how they align to your value and criterion. Focus on the topic at hand, not the nature of debate or how your opponent is debating, except if they are being discriminatory. I am a flow judge through and through. Spend time developing clear answers to values and impacts that your opponent brings up and counter any arguments brough up against your case. A lot of LD arguments can become convoluted so take time to be clear so I have a clear understanding of what you are trying to say.

Speed: I can understand speed, but the faster you talk the less I will write down. As a flow judge, talking incomprehensibly or too fast could be detrimental to your success in the round.

Roadmaps: I won't time your roadmaps as long as you identify them as roadmaps before you start talking. Keep them brief. Don't waste time by saying that the order will be con then pro during first rebuttal. If you are going to talk about specific arguments identify those in your roadmap.

Also if it sounds like you can't breath, you're talking too fast.

Overall: Be civil. Don't yell at your opponents, partner or me.

Judge's Paradigm: Mark Hope

I'm enthusiastic about the educational and intellectual potential that public forum debate offers to young minds. I believe in fostering an environment that emphasizes fairness, logic, and education.

Philosophy
Regarding the core of my judging paradigm, I can sum it up as "substance over form." While style, rhetoric, and delivery are significant, the quality of your arguments and evidence carries the most weight in my evaluations. Good arguments are like a clock built to last; they stand up to scrutiny and keep ticking.

Framework & Weighing Mechanisms
I'm fairly agnostic regarding the framework, whether it's policy-oriented, theoretical, or Kritikal. My primary focus is the integrity of your arguments and how well you justify your framework. If you win the framework debate, I will evaluate the round through that lens. It's like choosing the right playing field and then excelling on it.

Speaker Points
I award speaker points based on clarity, organization, and persuasive appeal. A high score requires not just proficiency in one area but a balanced performance across these criteria. In business parlance, think of it as a well-diversified portfolio—each aspect contributes to the overall success.

Speed and Style
I can handle speed but appreciate clear signposting and articulation. Think of speed as a tool, not a strategy. As for style, while I appreciate wit and humor, it should not come at the expense of respect or decorum.

Interaction and Cross-Examination
Cross-examination is essential to the round—your chance to challenge assumptions, clarify arguments, and assert your position. Effective cross-examination can shift the balance, much like a strategic pivot can redefine a business's trajectory.

Things to Avoid
I do not like ad hominem attacks, misrepresenting evidence, or overly aggressive behavior. These issues cloud the debate, and they will negatively impact my perception.

Conclusion
I aim to judge each round fairly, based on the merits of the arguments presented, while ensuring an educational and enriching experience for everyone involved. If you have any questions or need clarification on my paradigm, please ask before the round starts or during post-round feedback.

Hutchison, Casey

About Me:

I debated PF for four years at Middleton and coached/judged PF and Policy in the Madison area for five years after that. I dropped out of the debate community for a while after moving to DC and Minneapolis, but I'm back in Madison now and excited to be coaching and judging again. I work as a policy analyst for the federal government (HUD).

Speed:

I can flow fast arguments (not to spreading level though) if you speak clearly. I'd prefer you err on the side of fewer arguments but easier to understand. Please slow down on tags and citations. I don't typically give cues if you're speaking too fast, especially in virtual debates.

Evaluating the Round:

I prefer arguments over style, but style does matter in terms of speaker points - see that section below. In Final Focus, please clarify the most important arguments, how you won them, and why they matter. Give me a way to weigh your arguments against your opponent's. If you plan to go for an argument in Final Focus, please don't drop it in rebuttal and summary.

At the end of the debate, I look at my flow and circle the arguments that each team won. Then I use the weighing mechanisms each team gave me in their last speeches to decide which are the most important, have the biggest impacts, etc. I typically weigh evidence more highly than analytics, but both are important - 2-3 good, well-warranted pieces of ev with a clear logical thread wins over a 10-card dump any day. Please explain things really clearly to me - Why does your argument outweigh? Why is it important that your opponent dropped something? What does the card that you're extending prove?

Speaker Points/Ranks:

Speaking skills, politeness, structure, persuasiveness, etc. are very important to me. Please DO NOT be rude or aggressive toward your opponents. It should go without saying, but do not lie to me by saying something was dropped when it wasn't or by using false or manipulated evidence. It also bothers me when speakers go over their allotted time by more than ~5 seconds, and I reflect repeated over-time speeches against your speaker points.

Other Notes:

Don't just read cards at me - explain why they matter.

I love when teams compare the pro and con worlds.

I coached policy for a while, so I'm willing to dip toes into weird arguments. Just make sure you explain everything clearly and ensure you actually clash and engage with your opponent's case.

Signpost everything! If you didn't tell me where to write something on my flow, I'm searching for the right spot rather than listening to what you're saying.

I'm always happy to answer questions, talk after rounds, even go through the whole flow if you want! What's most important to me is that everyone enjoys themselves and learns something.

PF Debate Judge Paradigm

What school(s) are you affiliated with? Middleton High School

Were you a competitor when in school? If so, what style of debate did you do, and for how many years? N/A

How often do you judge public forum debate? few times a year

Speaking

How fast can students speak during speeches? Fast is fine

If a student is speaking too fast or unclear, will you give any cues to them? no

Evaluating the Round

1. Do you prefer arguments over style, style over arguments, or weigh them equally? weigh them equally

2. What do you see as the role of the final focus in the round? Narrowing down the important aspects of the argument and poking holes in your opponents arguments.

3. If a team plans to win the debate on an argument, in your opinion does that argument have to be extended in the rebuttal or summary speeches? No

4. Do you weigh evidence over analytics, analytics over evidence, or weigh them equally? analytics over evidence

Other Notes

In a few sentences, describe the type of debate you would like most to hear or any other things debaters/coaches should know about your judging style.

I am a computer scientist by trade and very much like to hear logical analytical arguments that include as much tangible data as possible.

P.F.

The biggest thing is to debate P.F., don't treat it like policy. Please be clear about when you are switching contentions and be sure to weigh your impacts clearly, don't assume that us judges are making the same connections that you are. If you run a one contention case, please have strong links. Please spell out your impacts, Imperialism isn't an impact, you need to tell me why imperalism is bad. As a judge I won't let my background influince my decision, but that does meen you need to tell me exactly what your impacts meens in terms of qountifiable impacts, number of deaths, cost of monye, increce in crime, global destabilisation, that kind of thing.

Congress:

I've been judging Congress for 6 years now, and of course, all the basic things are important: good projection, good variation in vocal tone and volume for emphasis, and most importantly, a cohesive, original argument. In addition, please be respectful of your competitors; assertive speech styles are fine, but avoid ad hominem attacks. Similarly, when asking questions, don't interrupt the answerer when they haven't even finished a sentence yet; again, find the line between assertive and just plain rude. Make sure your introduction doesn't have a jarring shift in tone when compared to the rest of your speech. Lots of people enjoy funny intros, but they don't really work if you give a speech about war crimes, for example. Crystalizing is good, but if you have an entire speech that's just crystalizing, you end up with something that is more like 6 30-second long speeches instead of a single 3-minute speech, so don't go overboard with it. Make sure if you use the same arguments as a previous speaker, you do something new with it, or go in greater depth in a specific aspect of the argument. Otherwise, all you're doing is telling the judges that you thought the previous speaker did a really good job.

A smaller thing, but it still bugs me when it happens, please don't use debate lingo in congress when it doesn't make grammatical sense without a debate background, for example "sqo solves" is not something that makes sense unless you do debate and this isn't the place for that.

Email: Oscarh.rich@gmail.com

My name is Nolan Stearns, and I teach at Parker High School in Janesville, Wisconsin. My passion for social studies has led to an interest in debate. While I may be a teacher, I will be judging as an unbiased party. This will be my first year judging debate, and while I do not have experience judging, I do, wholeheartedly, commit to judging fairly and impartially. Some things I would like to see during the debate is speakers laying out an untimed road map, which affords me the opportunity to get a clearer understanding of where that speaker is going to be taking the round. This makes it much easier to gauge and weigh the strength of the argument being made by each speaker. Further, I want speakers to be respectful of one another, meaning each participant is listening when another is speaking.

Best of luck to all those competing!

Hello! My name is Liberty Tidberg. I am a university art ed student. I didn't debate in high school, but I am the child of two debate coach parents and have been attending tournaments for my entire middle and high school years. I may not have competed in debate, but I have been raised on it. I have some knowledge of the technical rules of debate, and a vast knowledge of what makes a good argument.

Please No: Spreading, theory, progressive argumentation, discriminatory behavior. If I see you behaving in a way that is abusive to your opponent as a person as opposed to engaging with their arguments, I reserve every right to drop you for it. Debate should be an equitable space for all competitors.

Please speak at a moderate pace and absolutely no spreading. If you are speaking too quickly, I will let you know once and then I will stop flowing.

During crossfire, please be respectful to your opponents, I do not want to see a shouting match. How I Evaluate Rounds: quality > quantity, well-explained arguments, evidence weighing. Make it clear to me how you are winning the round, weighing is paramount.

Remember the goal is to serve as an academic exercise and have fun. Good luck to all competitors.

Experience:

I have judged debate on and off for about a decade now, much less in recent years than former years. Depending on the year, I focused more heavily in LD or PF. I enjoy judging both.

While not a debater myself as a student, I have professional experience debating issues and policies at a professional level. I am a former lobbyist for a state agency and have many hours of expert legislative testimony under my belt.

Judging Philosophy:

Anything can theoretically win with me, but if you are going to go to the absurd to create a case, the threshold for succeeding is much more difficult than a straightforward case. I like concrete contentions, clear rebuttals, and direct clash on issues rather than circumscribed commentary.

I believe that students should have the freedom to explore whatever viewpoints or positions that they bring to the table. I think it is inherently harmful to the activity and civil society as a whole to prescribe a set of beliefs or preferred speech. You will not see any political stickers on my judging tablet, as I want to be a neutral and welcoming judge to all students. Win the debate based on the strength of your arguments, rhetorical construction, and persuasive speaking; not by having the “right” thoughts or beliefs. That said, please be respectful to each other. Debate contentions and philosophies; do not personally attack each other.

Speaker Points:

I am primarily a forensics judge, and I bring my forensics perspective to determine speaker points. Presentation to the judge or the opponent, clear articulation, grammatically correct word usage, and an effort to deliver rather than just read your speeches all help earn extra points with me.

I can tolerate a bit of spread (rapid speaking) in delivery and generally do not factor speed into speaker points. If you are going faster than I can comprehend, I will interrupt you and request that you go slower. But if I am not requesting that you slow your speed, you may assume that I can understand what you are saying.

Logistics:

I will not request evidence or cases, as I want to be persuaded based on the verbal debate rather than deliberating over written briefs. The exception is if there is a challenge of validity that the debaters cannot resolve themselves, but even then, I am more likely determine validity based on the dialogue of the debaters than reviewing the evidence myself.

I am a PF judge for Fort Atkinson, although I have judged policy in the past. I judged policy from a traditional policy-maker position and tend to prefer cases that are on-topic and had a course of action that I could take. While we are not looking for a plan from Public Forum debaters, arguing the topic directly plays right into my preferences, so it will be tough for PF debaters to go wrong with me.

Speed should not be an issue for public forum debaters, however I know that some students compete in several formats. Having judged policy in the past, I am comfortable with a novice-to-varsity level of speed, however, if I think that you are speaking too quickly for a public forum setting, I will say "clear" up to 3 times. If you speed up again, I will merely start to take off speaker points. If you are speaking so quickly that I cannot flow the debate (which should never happen in PF; this isn't policy!), that will simply be to the detriment of your case. I will not judge what I cannot flow.

I judge primarily base on the arguments/analytics that are presented in the round. I feel that speaker points are best suited to reward debaters for style. In other words, while arguments, facts, and logical deductions are the bread and butter of any debate, if you make it look good or convince me that you know your case backward and forward, that will be reflected in speaker points.

If you are arguing from a moral high ground, please be sure to emphasize that I should be considering moral obligations before considering other aspects (such as utilitarianism) and why. For example, I need something in your arguments telling me why I should value human lives above, say, dollars and cents, but from there on, this can be referred back to as a moral imperative without having to re-argue the original moral argument. Just be sure to include something in your summary or final focus that mentions that I should vote based on moral obligation above all other considerations.

When you are wrapping up the debate, please indicate clearly which arguments you think are the most important for me to consider and why. If there are flaws in the opposing argument, or if you want to toss some analytics, I am fine with this. Analytics are the application of logic to draw a conclusion based on the evidence at hand and they indicate to me that you've been seriously considering the side of the argument that you are presenting.

On my ballot, I try to indicate areas of improvement for everyone along with what was done well. If I indicate a mispronunciation, it is only to improve your debate for the next round, not to embarrass you. While a large vocabulary is desirable, nobody can claim to be perfectly familiar with every single word. English is far too large of a language and it can be terribly inconsistent.

You should also know that I am an Air Force Brat. I grew up on an Air Force Base, near a naval station, that housed Navy personnel and Marines. I am familiar with military equipment of various kinds, how they function, and the role they play in current and past military strategies. Tactical maneuvering for military and political advantage are not unknown to me and I have a good grasp of recent conflicts and their history. Please don't quote conflicts and dates unless you are certain because I will not find it convincing if it's incorrect.