Like to stay in the current state of affairs and like public forum debates given the relevance. Been judging PF style debates for over a year across several tournaments

Hi! I'm a high school speech & debate competitor who primarily does speech, but I've judged a fair amount of debate.

In general, as for pace, I'm not big on spreading, I won't dock you off for it or anything, but if I don't hear a point you say, that's on you.

When deciding my ballot, I'll look back at the whole debate flow and compare what arguments each teams win/lose on, weigh, and give my final opinion. Your speaking skills are much appreciated, but I won't count that into my decision much, unless it comes down to it.

One thing I'm not too fond of is when some debaters claim that some tech will exist in the future "because innovation", so if you want to say that innovation will cause technological development and thus helps solve for an issue, make sure to explain why/how that innovation will occur.

On another note, if you want to run any progressive debate arguments, like kritiks, go for it, just make sure to explain how it connects back to the debate at hand, weigh it, and don't base it off of one weak link chain.

Hello,

I am currently a Junior ('25) from the King's Academy

I mostly do only Policy debate, so I do not have much experience in judging speech or spar debates. However, I am always open to learning new events.

When I judge speech, there are three things I'm looking for: How well your speech connects to an overall picture, your overall time management skills, as well as how smooth your speaking is (minimizing verb crutches/filler words).

For debate, while I can handle a certain level of spreading, I very much prefer slow and steady speaking. While speaking fast is quite impressive, it is not as impressive as succinctly getting your point across. Similarly to speech, I prefer debates that have an overarching structure, good time management, as well as smooth speaking.

Generally, I amnot a fan of extinction impacts. I personally find most extinction arguments frivolous and not backed by clear links and evidence. However, if you e

Outside of debate, I have a 266 day streak on duolingo. I am also a NY Times Game enthusiast.

Email: joshanne.chiang@gmail.com

Hi! I debated public forum for four years in high school. Please explain thoroughly, signpost, and don't go too fast. Please, please weigh. If I'm not judging PF, I'm probably not as familiar with your event, so I'm sorry. Basically, if you run progressive debate arguments, I most likely won't get what you're doing, or at least not be able to evaluate your arguments as well. Plans/counterplans in non-PF are fine though.

Please be courteous to your opponents. You are definitely allowed to be assertive, but show your opponents the same respect that you want from them. This includes refraining from being condescending and being equitable/inclusive with your argumentation.

I don't flow cross. Please time yourselves.

Feel free to ask me anything. Above all, have fun and good luck!

Familiar with Parli debate structure; I did Parli back in high school for 4 years, but that was also 4 years ago. Any other type of debate and I probably won't be familiar with the format, I apologize ahead of time.

Progressive argumentation is a bit unclear to me, so I'd advise against running Ks or t-shells or anything on that philosophical level purely for the fact that I just won't be qualified to evaluate it as thoroughly as you'd probably like. Feel free to run counterplans. For PF I don’t flow cross, because to my knowledge you can neither weigh nor impact properly during it. If you think you struck gold with a point you made in cross, reiterate it in the next speech and properly weigh it so I can flow it.

Everyone gets a 15 second grace period after their allotted speech time to wrap up your thoughts. Anything after that and I stop flowing. This grace period also applies to all the crosses.

If you’re Aff and you’re implementing specific policies/definitions, make sure you state your definitions/plantext clearly in the 1AC, using the resolution as a jumping off point. Neg if you wish to contest definitions, make that clear in the 1NC.

I'm generally good with fast speaking, but try to avoid spreading; if you spread I likely will not be able to flow your speech properly. Additionally, try not to compromise clarity for speed; you don't have to ask me if your speaking speed is alright, if I need you to slow down, I'll make it obvious/say "clear." I'd also appreciate clear signposting, just for everyone's ease of understanding.

Show your opponents respect and don't be passive aggressive or condescending. If any accidents/emergencies arise during round, let me know and I'll try to accomodate to the best of my ability-- I've been there and I understand things are ten times as stressful at a debate tournament versus real life (which does not occur at debate tournaments).

Background:

Tawfique Elahi is currently pursuing MSc Information Systems at Lund University, Sweden. He got his bachelor's degree in computer science from NSU. He is an early-career researcher in Human-Computer Interaction.

He served as a debate coach at BL Debate Academy, Vancouver; and Debate Spaces Academy, Boston. In terms of leadership experience, he is currently serving as the Head of the Lund University Debating Society, and Chairperson at the United Asian Debating Council. Previously, he was the Secretary of the World Universities Debating Council (WUDC) and the Asian BP Debating Council. He brings a wealth of debate experience to the table. He has judged elimination rounds at ~100 debate championships on five continents (Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, and North America), served on ~25 Chief Adjudication Panels, 3 Equity Panels, ~40 Grand Finals, and chaired ~20 elimination rounds. Among his major successes are serving as Chief Adjudicator at the McMaster High School Tournament and judging final series rounds at the World Championship of Debating (Korea WUDC), Hart House IV, and Canadian BP Championships. He is experienced with the WSDC, IPDA, CNDF, BP, CP, PF, LD, Policy, Asians, Australs, and Easters formats.

Certifications:

• NFHS Protecting Students from Abuse

• NFHS Cultural Competence Course

General Notes for speakers:

• I really admire teams that are well-structured and can clearly express the implications of evidence and properly tie back the evidence to their position.
• While you’re going to use evidence, it's preferable that you also explain the underlying trend/core issue associated with it.
• Engagement is important. Direct comparison and weighing make the lives of judges easier. It's preferable that you also illustrate how the advantages on your side outweigh theirs, and how their disadvantages outweigh their advantages.
• If you argue a comparative advantage, be prepared to justify it with proof that explicitly links to that piece of proof that your opposition used.
• If you’re presenting counter-plans, be prepared to analyze why your counter-plan is a better approach, for example, you reach the resolution faster/easier and take fewer resources.
• Please don’t present any point that will not be understandable to an average intelligent voter. If you do so, that piece of material will be discounted.
• Please don't use any offensive language that leads to equity violations.
• Roadmaps are appreciated.
• Speaking fast is fine, but please use clarity.
• Any kind of Style is fine with me as long as you're fairly understandable. I acknowledge that different debaters come from different backgrounds, and thus have different styles.
• I reasonably flow during speeches. During the crossfire, I take notes for the most important questions raised and how they're answered.

Updated: 03/12/2024

Add me to the chain:cbpelayo94@gmail.com

I go by 'Ellie' (she/her) now, for those of y'all that knew me by a different name.

Experience

Currently doing hired work and doing grad school at the University of Utah; formerly, coached NPDA at UoUtah; policy at CSU Fullerton; & IEs at Honor Academy. Nowadays I mostly judge rounds, do some assistant coaching for my friends, and watch policy streams because no one really leaves debate (lol).

I've been coaching/judging a breadth of speech/debate events since 2017, but my experience leans heavily towards NPDA parli, LD (cali/toc/nfa), policy, & IEs. Started competing in 2012:

- NFA-LD: 1 year (IVC)

- NPDA Parli: 1.5 years (IVC)

- Policy (NDT-CEDA): 1 year (CSUF)

- Individual Events (AFA-NFA): 4 years (CSULB/IVC/CSUF)

I was a 2A/1N & did exclusively kritikal/performative -- we did a lot of fem IR, academy, decolonial brown fem, futurisms, sci-fi, & cyborgs. But debate is what you make it; all I ask for is clear links, FW, and advocacies. How you choose to run it is totally up to y'all!

Truth > Tech

Kritiks

Love Ks. I am still 'traditional' in wanting some kind of FW, links, advocacy/alt, and impacts. But that doesn't mean that it has to be strictly organized in that way (i.e., performance k's). But at the end of the day, I do want to know what your K does: what the intervention is, what the bad words are, etc. I found it helpful once to consider theK alt like a CP: the moment the alt appears, your neg presumption disappears (pls don't make me listen to condo plssss). I also love in-round links -- I think they're excellent offense in the development of theory throughout the round. Links are uniqueness to the K. Performance is always welcome here. Rap, play guitar, break your timers, I ain't stopping you.

Other things:

- I believe that FW, not T, is used to answer K. Running T against the K is just insulting, and I'm not big on the nonengagement w/ advocacies that approach debate non-normatively. Tomato tomato.

- Providing trigger/content warnings to your K is good (when they're needed).

- Answering a T run against the K with more theory is so, so wonderful. Almost as wonderful as "mini" DAs to oppressive theory. I've noticed the rise of some pretty trash theory as of late, and I wish there was more metacommentary that claps back against that.

- If I hear Fruit theory I swear...pls just don't okay? :') same with tricks, sorry, don't like em.

- Don't like condo. I'll listen to it if I have to, sorry abt my faces.

- In terms of performance, definitely just be on the same page as everyone else. I won't stop a round, but I do reserve rights to respect, say, a point of personal privilege if the round is getting a kind of way.

Case Debate (Plans/CPs/Adv/DAs)

This is prob where all your "who is this judge" paradigm questions will be answered:

- Plans/CPs/Perms: Love em. Do more perms. I also love multiple perms, if you can provide at least some explanation beyond "perm do both...anyway." Solvency burdens shift throughout the debate, and that's good. Theory against plan-plus, plan-minus, etc. are all great.

- PICs/PIKs: I will not do the footwork to determine whether or not the PIC/PIK is unfair. Y'all do this please. Get them "PICs Bad" blocks out.

- Impact Calc: While I vibe with the traditional voters of magnitude, likelihood, timeframe, solvency, I also like voters w/ specific phrasing that conjures up what your world looks like, esp if you're proposing alternative ways of and futures for doing debate. Terminal impacts are big for me both in the traditional magnitude sense of "X impact outweighs X," but also in that I want to hear why a conceded argument/refutation matters in the grand scheme of the round. Ctrl-F impacts alone have no power here. Good round vision is good.

- Refutations: This especially applies to HS/MS debaters, my decisions are very heavily determined by your level of engagement with your opponent's case. Yes, extend & defend your own case, but please cross-apply your subpoints/evidence as answers to your opponent. If you use refutation language that's recognizable (e.g., non-unique, turns, impacts outweighs, solvency take-out, etc.), I will be so happy. Active language and verbs are good. Offense over defense, sure, but terminal defense is underappreciated. This applies to procedural fairness/education & counter-standards too.

- TVAs are just Plans without solvency (sorrynotsorry), but again, I will not do the footwork to say this for you.

- [Parli/CA LD Specific] Contentions: These should be terminally impacted; additionally, I like to see clash on the framework level with regards to your value/value criterion. Hearing how you meet your opponent's criterion better than they do & going so far as to make the meeting of values a voting issue is the easiest way to my heart & my ballot.

Procedurals (FW/T)

Good FW/Topicality debates are great, but I wanna hear clearly articulated in-round abuse (i.e. violations). I've been jaded with the habit of dismissing kritikal arguments under the presumption of topicality, but I still think there's hope for procedurals! I still expect Aff to do more than just make a generic "we meet argument" in response to the interpretation, and at least some engagement with the arguments you label non-topical.

- I respect X-T and FX-T. I find that there is great offensive in doing counter-interpretations, counter-standards, & the aforementioned DAs against T

- RVAs make me so sad :( please no RVIs, they're never as good as you think

- Founders intent is so mid

- [Parli Specific] I love theory sheets, but I love creative uses for T/FW beyond just stacking them & kicking 3/4 of your T shells in the LOR.

- Trichot exists! And I love it. Also monochot <3

Speed

My stance on this has changed over the years & will continue to change as I continue hearing emerging perspectives on the matter. Spreading is only effective if it is equitable; otherwise, spreading can quickly become an exclusionary & ableist practice. The question of whether or not I can comprehend your spread is not the question you should be asking yourself. Instead, you should ask your opponent "are you okay with spreading?"

This position is a general one. Practices of spreading are specific to the format of debate that I am judging:

[Policy/TOC LD] Sure go fast brrrr. Just remember that the debate will immediately shift upon the introduction of a Speed K or ableism arguments that center spreading as a bad practice.

[CA LD/PF] Spreading is generally disallowed on the grounds of maintaining this format equitable for all participants. I intend to abide by these guidelines - don't spread.

[Parli] Spreading in Parli can quickly get messy because a) there are no cards & b) your opponent cannot follow along with your evidence. So, I'd rather not hear an attempt to spread for a half written-out DA with blank IL subpoints where your inner extemper can truly shine. Signpost clearly, be considerate of your opponent's calls to 'clear,' & I'll follow as fast as you speak. There's absolutely a difference between fast speaking & spreading: find it, navigate it.

Put me on the email chain csh7916@nyu.edu

(I'm only paying attention to what you read this is simply for reference at the end of the round and to make sure emails are sent somewhat promptly)

I do flow cross ex/crossfire but it must be in a speech if you want it voted on. I do believe cross is binding.

Background: I've done policy debate for years at Brooklyn Tech and I've judged Policy, PF, and Parli rounds before. I've run afropess, cap k, policy args, a decent amount of theory and have debated nearly every other mainstream arg (haven't hit death good, but I have read a bit). Having said that I'm fine with spreading just be clear, understand that virtual spreading is iffy if there's lag, and respectful of your opposition. I don't care about formal attire and don't take points for wearing sweats. My pronouns are she/her. If there are blatantly racist, ableist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic arguments or statements and the opposition points it out and tells me its bad in any way and I agree you will lose (this is rather strict for example "black people are criminals" will have you voted down "stats show that black people in the US have higher arrest rates" will not, notice the difference even if I personally believe both are bad I will only vote down the former).

Top Line:

I'll vote for wtvr. That includes T, DAs (with impacts but hopefully you know that), Kritiks, Counter Plans, and theory. I know people are iffy on theory but I personally feel they make some of the best rounds.

Credits to William Cheung for the rest of the this

1) Have a claim, warrant, and impact to every argument. It isn’t an argument absent these three elements, and I will have trouble/not be able to/want to adjudicate what you’ve said.
2) Make sure, on that note to properly explain your positions, don’t make an assumption that I know your DA scenario (perhaps fill me in on the internal work), or K jargon. Maybe i haven't judged that many rounds this topic and don't understand abbreviations right away - help me out.
3) Have comparative analysis of evidence, arguments, and preformative styles as it compares to your own and how I ought to prioritize impacts as it relates to your framing of the round.
4) Be Persuasive, it will go a long way to making me to sign my ballot your way if you can make the round enjoyable, touching, funny, etc – it will also help your speaks.
5) Write the ballot for me in your last speech , tell me how you win. Take risks, and don’t go for everything. Make me think, “woah, cool, gonna vote on that” “What they said in the last rebuttal was exactly how I prioritized stuff too, judging is soooo easy [it's often not :(]"

Also, some other things:

1) I will default to competing interpretations on T and extinction unless alternative mechanisms of evaluating the round or alternative impacts are introduced and analyzed.
2) I will avoid looking at evidence, unless there is a dispute over evidence in a round or a debater spins it as part of being persuasive

3) Extend arguments if you want them to be voted on and no new args in the final speeches
4) I am an open minded judge, and respect all “realms” of debate, though of course, I will always already have some bias (I fully admit I am a K debater, although I do usually take FW and T on both sides), I will do my best to mitigate it.

I am a parent Judge.

Hello, My name is Peace John-Kalio, I am a seasoned debater, experienced judge and a great coach.

I have gathered experience and exploits in different forms of Debating such as British Parliamentary, Asian Parliamentary, World Schools Debating format, Public Forum debates, Lincoln Douglas, Speech formats, and Canadian National Debate format etc.

As a judge i pirotiize logic and contents within debates and how speakers are able to logically defend their side and also logically rebutt their opponeths side.

I also pioritze equity within tournaments therefore I deem it important for speakers and all participants in general to have read tournaments briefings and manuals as I also do so myself in other for each participants to know what is expected from them.

The above also makes knowing different procedures like role fulfillment easier and how to tackle different types of motions and the burdens these different types impose on speakers therefore making rounds more engaging. I deem it as valuable for speakers to be aware of this.

Going further I appreciate when speakers are able to apply special skills and techniques within rounds such as counterfactual and fiats etc.

I also appreciate when speakers are time conscious and employ techniques like Pioritizing more important arguments so when time is up they are not at a loss.

In conclusion I like when speakers in whip and summary speeches are able to emphasize and compare why they win with the arguments brought up by their previous partners and how those arguments beat the opponents by drawing comparisons and not necessarily trying to add extentions. Speakers are also advised and encouraged to keep cameras on during rounds in an online tournament unless in situations that they absolutely cannot afford to.

I have also participated in cultural diversity training as a judge, several judging workshops and of course several tournaments both as a speaker and a judge.

Hey everyone! My debate background: I'm currently debating with NYU's Cross Examination Debate Team, and I've made CEDA Nats, NDT Nats, as well as never failed to break into elims. So no PF experience, but CEDA is very similar :) I've also done MUN, Mock Trial, and JSA in high school, so I do have some experience with more speech style rounds!

General Tips/Conduct:

• Please add me to the email chain rl4459@stern.nyu.edu
• I do flow on paper, so give me a bit to shuffle my sheets around + please give a roadmap
• I can handle spreading, but please build up to it, and also slow down for your analysis of the evidence! If I can't understand it, I simply won't vote on it!
• I personally do not care if you curse, but please do not curse AT anyone. Don't be a jerk.
• I expect you to keep your opponent accountable on prep/speaking time. I WILL lower speaking scores if I catch you excessively stealing prep/speaking time. You should both be timing your own speeches as well as your opponents! I'm often jotting down notes, so I sometimes forget to time - please help me out haha

Decision: I am not so much persuaded by stats and evidence but rather by your analysis of said evidence. Tell me why I should care! A good internal link story to your terminal impact almost always guarantees a ballot from me. Clash with your opponents, and tell a story that frames the round in YOUR terms. I'm very lazy, and I want to do the least work possible. For more speech type rounds, be confident! Slow down and really emphasis certain words to hook me into the story that you are telling, and I also am a sucker for a relevant personal anecdote! For both speech and debate, try to have fun! We hopefully all love debate, which is why we're here on a weekend, and I personally think that if you are having fun, your speeches come out so much more passionate and just, well, better! :)

My name is Elisandra (they/she). Senior at Berkeley High School, 4 years of Parli experience, co-prez Berkeley High team

Achievements include being called something along the lines of "scary nose ring girl" by a confirmed 7 teams. Hobbies include debating, watching people debate, teaching people how to debate, writing about debate, thinking about debate.

tl;dr- I don't protect so POO, I dislike off time roadmaps in lay rounds, be nice, have fun, run what you want

Case

- Tech > Truth.. This means I will vote on offense you win and weigh without intervention, regardless of if I have some preconceived idea it is false. That being said, tabula rasa cannot exist or else I wouldn't be able to impact weigh so your incentives aren't to lie

- I intervene if the argument is problematic

- Most east coast rounds are won on framing so make sure you have a clear and consistent model, as well as a confident idea of what the world you're defending looks like

-I like counterplans. I dislike ridiculously plan inclusive counterplans. The bright line is confusing- but please just negate the resolution don't come at me with some 50 states bs

- Spend your rebuttal speeches weighing and not recapping

Speaks

-I do speaks based on organization, signposting, creative argumentation and case construction

- Speaks are super subjective but be silly when its appropriate I'm fairly generous

- Speaks r the first thing I tank when you say problematic stuff before I auto drop

Theory

-If you need to run east coast theory make sure you add an implication I can vote on. For example, if their plan has nothing to do with the motion make sure you say "their plan doesn't have anything to do with the motion,therefore they cannot access their case impacts and you have to vote for us".

Non east coast ig-

-rvi's are fire just contest no rvis convincingly

-No actual preference for and against reasonability I think it can be argued well

-Pls stop running friv against lay teams/novs

-Pls stop running theory that polices debaters clothing, appearance, or vernacular/manner of speaking

-If you don't know what these words mean you don't need to and I envy you

Kritikal

- NYPDL: Why., just run a moral philosophy argument its the same thing and it's not literally banned in the league

- I like kritikal ads/disads, no ones gonna be running full ks in front of me (this year)

- I like morality stuff

Pls ask me questions about my paradigm, decision, debating advice, just chat me I'll give you my email :) Also down to offer practice rounds and extra support (like pls reach out to me if you're short on coaches and your team needs more support wtv I would gladly volunteer <3)

I judge based on how skilled the participant is. I do not base my judging off of any religious or political stances as debate is meant to be a side versus the other side. At the end of the day, it only matters if one side is better than the other as this is a competition.

Zachary Zhi

I am currently a High School student, who mainly does Parli debate. I am well-versed in basically all events.