Hi debaters! I am currently a first-year at the University of Virginia, and was an Academic All-American through NSDA, had four years of debate experience at Walpole High School, three of those years as the President of the team. I primarily focused in LD, but went to Nationals as a member of the New England WSD team in my Senior year. Debate was a huge part of my life in high school, and I hope to share the same enthusiasm with you in round! Now enough about me living in the past, let's move on to reason why you are reading this!

Here are some more general comments applicable to all styles of debate:

• The most important thing is to make sure everyone feels accepted in round and that they can express themselves without feeling attacked by the other side. When one side feels attacked, we lose this sense of the educative setting we are striving to maintain. That is to say do not attack your opponent(s) directly, please stick to the arguments at hand, and watch what you say.
• Please have fun! I know from personal experience that for some this academic sport is arguably the most stressful experience you will experience in your life, but I do not want you to feel in this round that your life depends on getting a victory. If you are stressed you will have a harder time presenting your arguments in full, so do not be afraid to take a second to relax before speaking. Here is a great article I recommend you take a look at if public speaking is something you are trying to work on (Bravo in advance for the effort! Not many people can do what you're doing, so keep it up!): https://hbr.org/2015/08/6-ways-to-reduce-the-stress-of-presenting
• For the FAQ of speed: I am the kind of person who listens to videos at 2x speed while reading along, so I can handle a pretty fast pace. That is to say that I am not impervious to making mistakes if I am processing the information to fast. I would say as long as you are still able to annunciate every idea in full and do not get carried away with the breathing technique associated with spreading, your speed should be fine. Just remember that I am human and I will make mistakes the faster you are, I am warning you now.
• I will be keeping track of time; however, I will give a 15 second cushion before cutting off a debater by saying "Time!" (I apologize in advance if it comes off aggressive I just want to make sure I maintain order and fairness in the round). I myself like to say a lot of words and run-on sentences, so as long as if you use the 15 seconds to finish the thought you are trying to make I will not ding you for that.
• I am neither strictly a tech nor truth judge. I say this in an attempt to eliminate any preconceived bias on how to win me over as a judge. I want to hear your authentic voices as best as possible (I mean, this is debate in all) and see you engaged in thought-provoking discussion about the resolution at hand. That is how you will win me over. I will value debaters demonstrating technique to edge their opponent, but I will also value debaters who demonstrate very well curated evidence that can be demonstrated by the debater as repeatable.
• If there is an email chain, I would like to be included. You can use the following email: amklevenson@comcast.net

For the LD Crowd:

• Theory: I was a local circuit kid most of my time in debate, so I am not well-versed in running/debating this area of debate myself; however, that is not to say that I do not know how it functions. I will say this: if you run theory, make sure it is articulated well and it is actually framed as a serious infraction to the normative processes of a typical debate round. Simply put, I will be upset if you run something like belt or shoe theory.
• K's: Again, not well-versed in running these myself, but am more comfortable with these than theory. Again, make sure if you runs a K that the links are outlined and defended as best you can. Most importantly, make sure its topical and relevant to the resolution.
• Definitions: I feel that this is the most underutilized part to any debate round. If you can provide definitions that can frame the round in favor of your side and carry them through throughout the entire round, you will definitely be rewarded by me!
• Framework: As you know, this is the most important part of the round, so make sure that you can articulate it as best you can and always make connections throughout.
• Contentions: I addressed this earlier in my tech v. truth section above, but just remember to connect everything back to framework and make sure the argument flows.
• Rebuttals/Weighing: Try your best to weigh in your rebuttals, but you will not win or lose a round just for weighing, and make sure to clash. You will win rebuttals by winning clash with cards.

For the PF Crowd:

I am not well-versed in the minutiae of PF debate, so treat me as a typical lay parent judge, walking me through the steps of the round and articulating clearly what to care about and why. That is the best advice I can give to you as of now to try and win me over, so if you follow this guideline I will have a higher likelihood of voting for your side.

Be respectful and considerate to others. Have fun!

I value content over performance, especially in parliamentary/policy/public forum/Lincoln Douglas debate, performance might be weighed more importantly in Congress/IE events.

If you plan on spreading please be willing to share a copy of your case with me just to help me flow with your arguments.

I appreciate if the speech is well-organized and labeled, that will be helpful for me to flow. The logic link should be smooth and emphasized. Please make sure all your arguments and refutations are related to the topic, it is good to elaborate or detail the topic, but discussing random stuff is not preferred. Under some specific topics, the debater should listout the impact and criteria for the round.

Things I look for when judging a debate round:
Definition
Framework/criteria
Timeframe
Topicality
Weighing (please be comparative and specific with your impacts, and tie it back to your framework and voting issues)
Reasonable clashes (please don't avoid a clash by ignoring arguments or postponing your response to the very last speech)

I recommend taking every round as a learning opportunity. Try to worry less about making mistakes, focus more on listening, and enjoy making your perspectives shine.