Hey there, I'm Nathan Rateau. I'm a Freshman Math Major at North Dakota State University. I debated from 7th through 12th grade and was a state runner-up PF debater. I also currently compete for NDSU's speech and debate team. I've been in Public Forum Debate for most of my debate career so I am more familiar with PF style and format than I am LD, but I have dabbled in LD before so I'm not completely clueless with it.

General comments:

I like respectful debates. Be kind to your opponents, don't talk over them or yell at them. In my opinion, kindness says a lot about your credibility as a debater, so being kind will be helpful to all of us (especially myself, because quite frankly I don't like shouting matches).

I also like fair and honest debates. Don't falsify evidence, take anything out of context, gaslight your opponents, or just straight up lie. Debate is an activity about finding the truth and lies just get in the way.

I try my best to go into a round with as a blank slate, I will not let my preconceived opinions on a topic get in the way of my judging. That being said, I will buy arguments that are more impactful, so please stress how and why the impact of your argument matters.

Finally, have fun. Debate is a great experience and I'm happy to help you enjoy it as much as you can.

PF Specific:

Not much here really, I will say that I am a numbers guy so I like impacts that I can wrap my head around mathematically. However, if you throw numbers at me with no context associated, they mean nothing to me.

LD:

Debate should be focused on value and criterion and how your contentions achieve this value. If the contention debate strays from the value/criterion debate, I'll have a hard time weighing it in the round.