As a high school debater myself, I have my own ideologies when it comes to debate ---please note that this paradigm is not static, I care more about the round itself rather than anyone's preconceived notions or criteria.

Personally, I believe that debate is inherently about educating new generations about social and political disputes in our world and developing public speaking rather than theory or technique.

• Fundamentally, your public speaking skills is a persuasive argument in itself. In my opinion, the most important aspects of good public speaking is being confident, having eye contact, and speaking with at an effective volume and cadence.
• Second, your arguments themselves should be realistic and supported by quantifiable evidence. You should have a strong case, but I'm more interested in the execution of your case during the round.
• I often think that crossfire can be one of the most indicative components of a round: you should poke holes in your opponents arguments while additionally answering their questions assertively. That being said, crossfire should be aggressive while not escalating into a shouting match. In crossfire there is a fine line between being constructive and passionate, and simply being rude. Please respect your opponents and remember that it is only a debate round!

Good luck to everyone competing and I can't wait to hear you debate!

Hello! My name is Anya and pronouns are they/them. I'm a flow judge, tech > truth etc. I did debate with the Dalton School for 3 years and assistant coach at the Anderson School. I also did middle school parli for two years, but I'm more accustomed to PF now.

Parli (MS):

Disregard everything in the PF section. Here, please just signpost and focus on clarity/responding to everything on the flow. If you drop an argument, I have to consider it to flow through. Impacts/links on their own don't work the same way, you can add responses to an impact or a link later, so long as there was at least one response on the overall argument. Preferably, at the end of the round, you have an intact impact and link, but I'd vote for an impact without a clear link over a link without a clear impact.

Please weigh. You don't want me to make a decision based purely on links, so just tell me why your arguments matter more. It doesn't have to be super structured, just be sure to do it. Other than that, have fun, you can definitely time yourselves (though I will too because I think I'm supposed to) and let me know if you have any questions.

PF:

If you are starting an email chain for evidence, I'd like to be added. My email is anya.levin2017@gmail.com. If there are any issues surrounding evidence, I will call for it at the end of the round. It would be nice if your evidence is in cut card format, but it isn't a requirement for JV in my personal opinion. If you're competing in Varsity, please cut your cards; they're a lot easier to read.

Pacing: I can handle fast speaking if the speech is signposted, but please don't spread. If you are going to go faster than 210 wpm for case, it would be great if you could please send a speech doc. You can time yourself for your own reference, but I will also keep an official time for speeches. For prep time, just let me know how much you took afterwards.

Rebuttal: I love line-by-line rebuttals. You don't have to weigh in second rebuttal; that can start in second summary if need be. You also don't need to frontline your case in first rebuttal, since responses haven't been made yet. Above all else, please signpost otherwise the debate becomes muddled very quickly.

Crossfires: I don't typically flow these, but if you bring something up from crossfire in a speech then I will take that into account. However, please make sure to keep crossfires respectful. If you personally attack your opponents or do not allow them to speak or answer a question, your speaks will be dropped.

Final Focus and Summary: First summary can absolutely bring up new frontlines, because they didn't have a chance to respond in first rebuttal. Also, defense on your opponent's case is not sticky from rebuttal into final focus, it needs to be in summary. Your own case/your main offense isn't sticky either; you need to extend the contention, subpoint or turn. What I mean by this is: frontlining case is super important, but you need to re-explain your original link chain in order for it to flow through. It doesn't need to be long, but it would be amazing if you do extend. I would appreciate it if weighing began in summary for the team speaking first, but in JV, it is okay if it comes up in first final focus. For the team speaking second, please start weighing in summary. Still, rounds with a lot of clash are the best rounds. If you're weighing, and your opponent is weighing, tell me why I prioritize your weighing over that of the opponent.

Squirrely Arguments: If you are running arguments that are rare for that resolution, that's really cool! So long as you have the evidence and the warrants needed to back up your claim, it is definitely something I will vote off of. On the other hand, if your opponent is running an atypical case whilst you are running a more common one, you can win off of your warranting, evidence, and strength of link. Stock arguments and atypical ones can both be amazing.

If any arguments or responses read by a team are in any way racist, sexist, xenophobic, transphobic, homophobic or ableist or otherwise hateful, I will immediately drop that team and give the lowest possible speaker points. With regards to theory, Ks, non-topical Affs, I'll definitely hear you out, but it needs to be warranted well. Don't read disclosure/paraphrase theory on novices, it's just not fair. Framing the round is great, otherwise I default to util. Also, just because your opponents did framing doesn't mean you can't respond. If it doesn't work with your case, contest it.

Content Warnings: Please have them, even in novice and JV. Winning the round isn't worth hurting people.

I know that was a lot of writing, but if there's anything at all you have questions about, please ask me before the round! Above all else, debate is about learning and having fun. If you do your best in the round, and come out having learned anything new, that's already something to be proud of. Best of luck to everyone!

Hiiiiiiii

I'm Nessa Preis. I am a PF debater but I also have experience in parliamentary, I am in 9th grade and have been debating for 3 years!

I will judge based on the logic of your arguments, and how clearly you can present them. Just try your best and have fun!!

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
- Winston Churchill

Hi all!

Some debate background about me: I'm familiar with many styles of debate, and have competed in Lincoln Douglass, Parli, and Public Forum. For the past five years, I've been debating on Hunter's team.

Some things I look for in round:

1) Eye contact and confidence:Try your best to maintain eye contact! Though eye contact will not have any impact on my ballot or speaker scores, I still believe that maintaining eye contact is really powerful and makes your argument seem more compelling and reasonable. Being confident, which could be standing firm in your position or a variety of different things, shows your judge that you know what you are talking about and reaffirms your position in the debate.

2) Respect for everyone in the round:I do expect that all debaters in the round are respectful to each other, as well as myself and any spectators in the round. If I notice that a specific speaker is being disrespectful during the round, I will deduct speaker points and may have to notify Tab.

3) Weighing!!: Many debaters that I have watched in the past have often overlooked the importance of weighing. Personally, I am a very firm believer that weighing is one of the most important things in the round. I don't expect debaters to use debate jargon while weighing. However, I do think having the ability to compare two arguments and explain why one should be preferred over the other is very powerful. Weighing makes it clear to your judge why they should prefer your argument over the opponents, and generally clears up the round and makes decisions for the judge easier.

4) Off time roadmaps, as well as ones during speech:It's always helpful for a judge when a speaker announces the order in which they will be speaking before they give a speech. An example: I am about to give a rebuttal speech and my opponents have three arguments: 1) pizza, 2) ice cream, and 3) sushi. My roadmap could look like, "Hi Judge and opponents! My name is Julia, and I would like to start off my speech by addressing my opponent's first contention about pizza, then move to their second contention about ice cream, and finally address their third contention about sushi before moving onto our case." Obviously, all roadmaps are different! Yours does not have to look like this at all! Do what you are most confident doing. It's also especially helpful to use phrases like, "My opponent said ____, my response to this is ___" and "Their first contention was ____. They stated ____ and here's my response." This makes organizing my flow much easier, and helps me flow the round cleanly. It also makes sure that I flow each of your responses.

5) Extend anything your opponents haven't responded to: Whether this is an argument, a specific piece of evidence, or something said in crossfire, pointing out things that your opponents haven't responded is really helpful. It ultimately makes your side stronger, as your opponent's likely cannot come back from this, and then you have evidence to weigh on in your back end speeches.

I am SO excited to be your judge for this upcoming round! Honestly, try to have fun. Debate is a stressful environment at times. I understand completely. Try to relax, as stressing yourself out will not help you in round. Do your best and you will be fine. This is an opportunity for you to learn, and every tournament you do helps you grow as a debater. Stick with it and don't stress!

If you need to contact me about anything at all, please email: juliamichaels890@gmail.com