THIS HAS A POLICY,LD, AND ANPF PARADIGM- SOME OF THE IDEAS OVERLAP.

I competed in Policy in 2010-2012 competed at UIL/TFA States (Texas), and NSDA. I consulted teams for 6 years and have coached for the last 5.

If there’s an email chain, please add me: brett.howard@canyonisd.net

TLDR:

If you have little time before the debate, here’s all you need to know: do what you do best. I try to be as unbiased as possible and I will defer to your analysis. As long as you are clear and POP TAG LINES, you can go fast, however if something does not make the flow it doesn't count in the round. I am from a slower circuit and thus have a hard time keeping pace at the highest speeds. Policy Debate is a game of Chess, not a truth seeking format for me. This means I want to see the strategies being played out by both teams, I want to see the clash, and I want you to tell me how/why you win. Do not assume that I will give you a win just because your argument is more "realistic." I try to be as much of a blank slate as I can.

POLICY DEBATE

General:

• Tech over truth in most instances. I will stick to my flow and minimize intervention as much as possible. I firmly believe that debates should be left to the debaters. I rarely make facial expressions because I don’t want my personal reactions to affect how a debate plays out. I will maintain a flow. However, tech over truth has its limits. An argument must have sufficient explanation for it to matter to me, even if it’s dropped. You need a warrant and impact, not just a claim. Claiming someone dropped something does not inherently mean it matters, do the work here.

• Evidence comparison is under-utilized and is very important to me in close debates.

• I don’t judge or coach at the college level, which means I’m usually a year or two behind the latest argument trends that are first broken in college and eventually trickle down to high school. If you’re reading something that’s close to the cutting edge of debate arguments, you’ll need to explain it clearly. This doesn’t mean I don’t want to hear new arguments.

• Please mark your own cards. No one is marking them for you.

• While I tend to believe that CX is not binding, if I feel that you are deliberately evading answering a question or have straight up lied, I will flow it against you.

Framework:

• Like any other debate, framework debates hinge on impact calculus and comparison.

Topicality:

• I enjoy a well ran T this year. I believe this topic lends itself to the T well as a way to correct lazy habits. This does not mean use them as time sucks.

• T is one place where I have a hard time going tech over truth, not that I have not voted tech on well run T’s but just keep this in mind. The work has to be done here for me to buy it.

• I'm a stickler for the quality of a definition, especially if it's from a source that's contextual to the topic, has some intent to define, is exclusive and not just inclusive, etc.

• Reasonability is a debate about the aff’s counter-interpretation, not their aff. The size of the link to the limits disad usually determines how sympathetic I am towards this argument, i.e. if the link is small, then I’m more likely to conclude the aff’s C/I is reasonable even without other aff offense.

Kritiks:

• The kritik teams I've judged that have earned the highest speaker points give highly organized and structured speeches, are disciplined in line-by-line debating, and emphasize key moments in their speeches.

• Just like most judges, the more case-specific your link and the more comprehensive your alternative explanation, the more I’ll be persuaded by your kritik.

• Framework debates on kritiks rarely factor into my decisions. Frequently, I conclude that there’s not a decisive win for either side here, or that it’s irrelevant because the neg is already allowing the aff to weigh their impacts. Kritiks that moot the entire 1AC are a tough sell.

• I don't mind the role of the ballot args, but you need to explain to me why that's the role and how I as the judge am impacted by it. I’m not a good judge for “competing methods means the aff doesn’t have a right to a perm”. I think the aff always has a right to a perm, but the question is whether the perm is legitimate and desirable, which is a substantive issue to be debated out.

• NO K IN THE 2NC - There is literally not enough time to debate framework and grasp the depth of the K that is required for the debate. I literally will not flow this argument. It is a waste of my time and yours. Use your time well, create good clash.

Counterplans:

• I lean neg on PICs. I lean aff on international fiat, 50 state fiat, condition, and consult. These preferences can change based on evidence or lack thereof. For example, if the neg has a state counterplan solvency advocate in the context of the aff, I’m less sympathetic to theory.

• I will not judge kick the CP unless explicitly told to do so by the 2NR, and it would not take much for the 2AR to persuade me to ignore the 2NR’s instructions on that issue.

• Presumption is in the direction of less change. If left to my own devices, I will probably conclude that most counterplans that are not explicitly PICs are a larger change than the aff.

• I think that CP’s provide a good amount of clash whether Condo or Dispo. I will defer to the Neg strat being Condo unless specifically argued otherwise. Again I prefer Tech over Truth as much as possible.

Disadvantages:

• Most nuclear war impacts are probably not global nuclear war but some kind of regional scenario. I want to know why your specific regional scenario is faster and/or more probable. Reasonable impact calculus is much more persuasive to me than grandiose impact claims. DO THE ! CALC

• I believe that in most cases, the link is more important for determining the direction of risk than uniqueness. The exceptions are when the uniqueness can be definitively determined rather than probabilistic.

• Zero risk is possible but difficult to prove by the aff. However, a miniscule neg risk of the disadvantage is probably background noise.

Other

• I actually enjoy listening to a good theory debate, but these seem to be exceedingly rare. I think I can be persuaded that many theoretical objections require punishing the team and not simply rejecting the argument, but substantial work needs to be done on why setting a precedent on that particular issue is important.

• Debaters from schools with limited/no coaching, the same schools needed to prevent the decline in policy debate numbers, greatly benefit from judging feedback. I encourage you to ask questions and engage in respectful dialogue with me. However, post-round hostility will be met with hostility.

LINCOLN DOUGLAS DEBATE

• I am from a more traditional LD circuit and thus I prefer to see that style of debate. If you want to switch to a different style I am open to it just make sure you have a framework to justify it.

Framework

• If I am not told otherwise I will defer to a morality based framework. I am open to a policy framework but know that the burden of clash increases when this framework is used. I will defer to moral framework if the work is not done here.

Value/Criterion

• I love to see a good literature based value debate. The more that you know about what you are saying the better the debate is.

Policy in LD framework

• I love the CP/DA strat if you justify this framework but know that it is your burden to prove why the Aff must provide solvency and not just an ethical position, especially if you are going to reject the moral framework that is inherent to LD.

K's in LD

• I will listen to anything as I try my best to be Tech over Truth, but a K in LD is a high burden to assume. I am less likely to accept a K that has no link to the Aff position. The internal Link chain needs to have a good workup. Prove to me the role of the ballot, never assume I will just flow K neg.

PUBLIC FORUM DEBATE

• I am from a more traditional circuit and thus I prefer to see that style of debate. The intent of PF is to debate to the masses and prove your position. That is my expectation.

• K - I am generally opposed to the K in PF. If you want to run this perspective your link to either the topic or team must be crystal clear. Otherwise stick to topic discussion

• CP - Will instantly vote against CP/P. This is not a debate of policies, but preferability of position, keep it that way.

• Evidence analysis is underutilized here and clash in PF seems to be lacking as of late. The more you directly clash with the position, the more likely I am to believe your position.

• Speaking quickly is okay but please do not spread. The teams that get the highest speaks from me tend to talk at conversational or slightly faster than conversational speed.

• If you're goal is to qualify for and do well at the TOC, you probably wouldn't consider me a "tech judge" ; I'll flow the round line-by-line in the case, rebuttal and summary but also want to see a lot of summation / weighing / big picture breakdowns of the round in the summary and especially in the final focus. I like a nice, clean speech that's easy for me to flow - tell me where to write things. Signpost more than you would think you have to.

• I think that it is strategically smart for the second speaking team to defend their case in rebuttal, but I don't consider it a requirement. In other words, if all you do in your rebuttal is attack your opponent's case, I won't consider all of your opponent's responses to your case to be "dropped."

• -If you want me to vote on an issue, it should be present in both the summary and the final focus. The issue should be explained clearly by both partners in a similar way in each speech.

• -If you say something about the opposing case in rebuttal and your opponents never respond to it, you don't need to keep bringing it up (unless it's a turn that you really want to go for or something like that).

• -Speaker points - My 30 is "I feel like I'm watching someone debate out rounds at a national circuit tournament" and my 25 is "I'm going to go ask to talk to your coach about what I just saw." The vast majority of my scores fall in the 29-27 range.

Key things:

- As a UIL judge, I prefer people not to spread. I will give one clear call. After that I will stop flowing and I usually tune you out if you spread.

- I do not like hypotheticals. If you cannot link it in a logical way, I will not be persuaded by your argument.

- I am a TABS judge. I flow and base my decision on if you hit harms, topicality, etc.

- I value impact. When you debate, remember I look at impact calcs when making my decision.

Debate is the art of influencing the judge to agree with your arguments. If your delivery is unclear and your pace is not understandable, then you may have not effectively communicated your points. I generally lean toward stock issues, but will accept most well-formulated arguments. I am not a fan of spreading but am fine with speed as long as long as it is within reason. I am also not a fan of K's that are far-fetched. I am a fan of well-developed T's so be sure to have all elements of a T if you are going to run one or I cannot vote on it. Do not rely totally on analytic arguments as your points are more effective when supported by evidence. Neg, be sure to link your arguments directly into the aff. Aff, be sure to cover every argument made by the neg.

Lastly, and most importantly. Thank you for participating in debate. You are developing skills that you will carry with you throughout life.

I competed in Policy Debate in high school (grad. 2012) and competed at UIL State. I have been involved with Speech and Debate in varying capacities since then and have coached since 2022.

I value strategy, clash, and believe Policy Debate at its core is still a speaking event.

I would consider myself a “stock issues plus” judge. The stock issues matter to me in debate, but I have grown more interested in progressive styles of debate and will flow these arguments as long as you do the theory work and explain your arguments well. I will not connect any dots for you.

I don’t mind speed as long as you maintain clarity. If I feel you are unclear, I will stop flowing.

I don’t love voting on Topicality because, for most of my career, it has been used largely as a timesuck argument. However, this year, topicality is incredibly relevant. Carry your argument all the way through to get my vote on T.

I prefer highly technical DAs and will be looking for all of the ingredients. One of my most important voting issues will be impact calc!

If you run a CP, tell me why I should prefer your plan. I’m looking for Net Benefits/Mutual Exclusivity for you to win. Spell out how you solve better.

At the end of the day, my decision will be largely based on world comparison and impact calc. Tell me why you should win! Good luck!