I want to see the best round that you’ve gotat your ability level.

Novice Teams:

• Don’t stress! I love to see young debaters trying their best.
• Stick to the basics- Present your case well. Flow effectively. Try to address all your opponents’ points. Practice speaking with enthusiasm and confidence.
• CLASH! Listen to what your opponents are saying. Adjust your arguments so you’re talking specificallyabout the way your opponent presented their case. The more you can respond to what was said in this specific round as opposed to parroting general counter-arguments you’ve prepared, the better a debater you will be!
• Only spread if you really can do it.
• Use each round to practice skills you’ve been working on recently. Especially if you’ve gotten consistent feedback from judges or coaches, use this round to apply that feedback and see if you can perform better than the last round.
• Be respectful.
• Have fun.

Varsity/Experienced Teams:

• Show me what you got.
• Pick your strat based on the team you’re up against.
• When picking which case you run: I have no preference between truthful verses creative.
• If you’ve got a crazy case to run that will crush the meta, do it! Just make sure you have enough evidence and are familiar enough with your argument that you can pivot deftly to tough questions in cross or intense scrutiny as you collapse.
• If it’s a topic that simply insists on the meta, use it. I don’t care if we’ve seen the arguments a million times during a tournament if they’re effective. Argue it well and, if you’re bored, do it with flare.
• If you can spread and that will make the debate better, do it. If spreading makes you unintelligible, don’t. Emphasis
• While I like to see an attempt to line-by-line every point that’s brought up in case, as the round continues, I prefer meaningful clash on issues that grow relevant in the round OVER an unending fight on the veracity of each and every sub-point.
• Therefore: collapse. (If your opponent leaves things in your speeches untouched, go ahead and extend them. In this case, I still think it’s nice if you highlight a key issue that emerges in the round for me to vote on. But I if you get to keep all your offense, go for a blowout.)
• I love sign-posting. Be clear about your story of the round. It saves me thinking time if you spell out for me who you think has solvency, uniqueness, more standing arguments, etc. But also explainwhy.
• K and Theory only if it’s super awesome. I hold a higher standard for K then regular adjudication.
• No disclosure theory. That’s my only hard pass.
• In general, I will try to judge the round on the terms YOU set.
• Finally, I learn from every round. I reiterate, show me what you got. YOU teach US how awesome and varied debate can be.

Hi! I am Ryan (he/him), a college student and coach of Archbishop Molloy HS. I did Speech in HS for 3 years and had success on the local level (qualled for States/NCFLS). I coach most events offered, but even if I don't, I have relative experience judging and learning about it over the last few years.

I highly prefer email chains, please send to rcurran@molloyhs.org

TLDR; I can judge trad/prog rounds, but don't be too pushy (explanation below). I am fine with speed, but don't do so without checking w opponents. Tech over truth, but don't abuse that to the highest limits!

DISCLAIMER- I am hard of hearing, so I will need you to speak loud and clear. This is just to let you know in advance if you wonder why I ask you to repeat something. I am fine with speed, just PLEASE send me your case in advance. Also, if I cannot hear/understand you, I will say a verbal/nonverbal clear (either comes down as to what you prefer).

Accommodation Note: PLEASE disclose to your opponents about anything, whether you are more of a prog/trad debater, if you spread, etc. It makes things easier, especially if you go against someone who has a disability. Debate is an educational activity, and should be accessible for everyone :)

PF and LD:

Pref List--

Trad- 1

Policy-1

Theory/T- 2 (I like it when explained clearly but I don't suck up for friv theory that easily)

K- 2 (ensure you provide links and alt)

Phil-3/4 (not as familiar with it other than Util, bit of Kant, etc)

Tricks- Strike

Consider me as a prog/lay judge. I love hearing debates that are more of so on the tech/prog side but note that I started coaching/learning debate, in general, less than 2 years ago. I still love traditional debate just as much, also because it's the most familiar I am with when I was on the team and now. However, I am fine with whatever you run (obviously not something that's just blatantly wrong or ignorant, as well as tricks).

I am fine with speed (as mentioned before), but let your opponents know before round. It makes me frown like this :( when varsity debaters spread/run progressive args without checking in with those beforehand or novices

Tech > Truth, but please for the love of god, don't abuse that. There are limits I will look at where there's absurd arguments (similar to what I said before about tricks)

Weigh weigh weigh. It helps me to see your arguments and to know WHY I should be voting for you.

Let me know where you are at during the round via signposting!!! This way I know where you are, and I don't have to worry about that. I want to at least hear your tags so I'm not lost where I am at.

Be concise with your refutations. I want you to focus on the points that you know your opponent will likely carry over/collapse towards the end of the round. I do not want to hear you say the same thing when your opponents contentions/turns/anything go unheard and now you’ve left it for them to bring those up

Same thing with off time roadmaps, that'll help me a lot, but don't go on and on, just summarize.

I do flow most of the debate, including cross-ex, just keep that in mind. I've been flowing either on computer or paper, which I’ve had a love/hate relationship with both.

Congress:

I have realized that my preference for Congressional Debate may be different than others, so I wanted to list down some stuff I like to see in a chamber/round:

• Be clear and precise in your speech. Quality will outweigh quantity in my eyes. Even if you have 1-2 points in your speech, you have enough time to state your data, analysis, and more within each of them.
• Parliamentary procedure is key! I want to know that your performance is on point not just through your speeches, but your delivery of motions before/during/after.
• I have seen more walking in speeches the last year or so. I like it, but don't be too excessive.
• Clash clash clash.

Presiding Officer- I commend students who have taken on this role. It is not an easy feat, and can be screwed over during rounds. I will always start my PO within the Top 3-4 rankings of the chamber.

• However, you are going to have to be consistent with your recency/overall charts. Take control of the round and stand your ground if needed.
• If you are doing an online tournament, I would highly recommend using index cards when giving time signals. There are references you can find on YouTube where previous PO's at nat circuit tournaments have used them.

Speech:

There's really nothing I have specific in terms of preferences for Speech, since it is typically obvious with the rules under each event.

• But, I will say that I am not a huge fan of excessive walking (as said before with Congress). I did Oratory, so I have seen and judged numerous speeches where this happens.
• In interp events, I really like technical use of the room/binder/piece. It can be hard sometimes, but note that this is a strong factor I take into account when judging.

If there are any specific questions you have before or after a round, just lmk. Any form of discrimination during rounds will result in an automatic drop. Debate is supposed to be an enjoyable space where you are able to delve into the world of argumentation and research.

a

nthony "andy" stowers forest (he/any)

I do anti-trafficking research and judge debate.

PF Septober specific:

1. Every time a debater says "illegal immigrants," an angel loses its wings.
2. anti-Latine/o/a statements are an auto-drop for me.
3. There are trafficking survivors who also did debate: you're speaking about people at the tournament, possibly your coaches or judges or even fellow competitors. Do so with care.
4. Death via fentanyl overdose, migration violence, and human trafficking have all affected my loved ones. I endeavor to be as unbiased as possible, but really appreciate sensitivity around these issues. eg., if you tell me undocumented people are criminals for coming over the border at all, I would find that a very shocking and disturbing comment, to the point that it would be extremely distracting from your other points.

General

1. Please don't be a jerk to your opponents: I especially do not wish to judge rounds wherein boy debaters repeatedly talk over or talk down to girl debaters. Be good to one another, and don't be sexist to your opponents.
2. My yarmulke and pale skin are not an excuse to make negative comments about Arabs, Black folks, Muslims, or immigrants. These comments are disturbing, insulting to those I love, and tremendously distracting from legitimate rational arguments.
3. PLEASE DON'T RANDOMLY BRING UP THE HOLOCAUST AND HITLER unless it is VERY clearly linked to your argument, this is really weird and uncomfortable behavior.
4. I want to be on the email chain, please ask for my email in round.
5. Mostly tech judge, but tbh more of my policy expertise is in direct policy advocacy and consulting work, so I probably care a little more about face validity than your average tech judge. I also like K for this reason.
6. Stand to speak or sit to speak, I truly don't care: I'm here to listen to a good debate and I'd prefer y'all debate in the way that's most comfortable for you.
7. If you hear a random beep from my side of the room during your round, please ignore it: ..it's just an annoying wheelchair setting I can't change, not my timer going off.
8. If you think I'm not flowing during cross, you're correct.
9. (online tournaments) I'm in a wheelchair, I know you can't see it but pleae let this inform how you speak about disabled ppl.

Technical preferences

1. I don't love extinction impacts, though I understand that they're often warranted. HOWEVER, please be aware that if both of you choose extinction as your main impact, absent other clear voters, if you tell me both sides have extinction impacts then I'll probably vote for the extinction scenario that takes everyone out more quickly or with less suffering. You've been warned.
2. I'm fine with speed as long as you're fine with speed: sometimes students simply are not at the level of skill to be spreading as quickly as they are and I strongly encourage you to respect your own skill level in making this assessment.
3. On that note, don't spread unless you're going to share your case doc.
4. SIGNPOST. if you are doing your case with speed, please slow down for just your contention labels so I can tell very clearly when you are moving between points and whether I have missed something.
5. Winning rounds isn't just about having smart arguments, but about being able to explain them in a convincing manner to somebody (the judge) who has had less time than you have with the source material (your case). There's a great quote from BJ Novak about making delevision that imo applies to debate, I'm paraphrasing tho bc I can't find the original: "you can't just say that the problem was your audience because they were too stupid to understand your script. That's your audience, that's who this is for, if they didn't get it then you didn't write it well enough."
6. My goal is to be able to cleanly vote off of flow in rounds: you can make this easier for me by presenting your arguments in the same order or as close to it each time. You can also make this easier for me clearly signposting.
7. For some reason, it's not en vogue to clearly define terms in the resolution, specify framework, or specify a weighing mechanism...if you do these things, you have a better chance at winning my vote