As a speech and debate judge, my paradigm is grounded in fairness to each competitor, respect for their ideals and to encourage their growth and advancement. Mostly, I value clear articulation of the argument or idea, but understand that we are all unique individuals, and some may have more challenges than others and that everything should be taken into account when judging. I encourage each speaker to turn any perceived weakness into their strength. I am interested in the logical argumentation, and effective use of evidence/citations as I believe they are the soul of a great speech. I appreciate debaters who can maintain a respectful tone while passionately defending their stance and their facts.

I expect debaters to provide clear roadmaps to help understanding the flow of arguments. I am open to all styles of debate and speech, but I particularly value creative arguments backed by empirical evidence.

My ultimate goal is to foster an environment that encourages critical thinking, respectful discourse, quality speeches, and intellectual growth. I value each competitors' efforts and appreciate the work that goes behind the preparation for a competition. Best to everyone.

I like a nicely structured debate. Making the framework and definitions clear is important. However, I do not like for this to carry on. Make the structure clear and move on. You should not still be debating what the framework is in your last rebuttals.

I look for quality sources, not quantity

Debates that build off each other are the best. Don't debate at me, debate with your opponent.

I also look for speaking style. Since I am primarily a speech judge, I take speaking skills into account. Mumbling, speaking monotonously, over using hand movements, and stumbling will rank you lower.

Lastly, I just want the argument to make sense. Don't give me a convoluted, overly complex argument. Make it make sense.

My goal as a judge is to evaluate the power and consistency of each argument and to ensure an informed decision reflective of the debate's material and quality. I approach each speech and debate round with dedication to fairness, clarity, and evaluation of arguments. Logical reasoning, evidence-based claims, and effective communication are all taken into consideration.

Hey debaters! I’m Skyler and I focus on congressional debate at American Heritage PB in South Florida. I know nobody likes to read through massive paradigms, so I’ll just list out some things I would like to see from you this round.

- Clear Speech: Try to get through your speech as cleanly as possible, with good enunciation and fluctuation of vocals. Although I’m very active in politics and know what you are addressing in your speech, many other judges may not be. Explain to me the problem, and address the bill in an easy-to-understand manner.

- Clever Rhetoric: In short, I want you to wow me with clever uses of intros and outros, and to tie in rhetoric throughout your speech

- Clear Argumentation: Tell me what you are arguing, why you are arguing for it, and the impact of your argument. Pretty simple.

- Activity: Ask questions that make the other side reconsider their position. Be polite, but very active in the chamber (but always remember, quality over quantity!)

- Response: unless you are giving one of the first few speeches, I want to see you respond to other debaters’ arguments. Show why your side’s arguments are better than the other side’s. DO NOT REHASH, OR REPEAT, ARGUMENTS THAT PEOPLE HAVE BROUGHT UP BEFORE!

- Power: Let your voice be felt, not heard. Don’t yell, but make sure what you say is powerful (a good way to do this is to make your impacts very powerful).

Good Luck!

I am a Class of 2024 Extemporaneous Speaking and Impromptu competitor, with competition experience in LD/Congress and teaching experience in all major events on the NC East District Circuit. Here are some things I tend to look for when judging:

Interp Events: How well did you suspend my belief and pull me into your message/story? Can I distinguish between your characters? Is your piece fluid and coherent in storytelling from start to finish? Does blocking compliment the story being told? These are questions I typically use to separate the best from the best.

OO/Info: These events will be judged on the presentation of ideas, its relevance/significance, and solid delivery, in that order. I really love judging these events because I feel like I'm learning something with each piece, and these three key elements really help accomplish your message. Make sure your humor is tasteful and relevant.

Limited Prep Events: Analysis/Connection to topic is number one. Do you have a thesis and clear signposting, are your arguments organized in a way that they build on each other? Does your introduction tie back to your conclusion nicely? Do you have quality sources, and do they build upon your arguments (quality > quantity)? Next comes delivery. Is your speech delivered in a way that compliments your argument? Is enough time given to each individual argument/point? Inflections, enunciation, diction, rhetorical impacts, confident delivery, hand gestures- these elements add to your speech and can set students apart.

PF/LD: I will be flowing your arguments most of the time just out of habit. Make sure your arguments are well developed with substantial warranting, as I'll be primarily judging you off how well you build arguments. Developing your arguments and challenging your opponents with counterarguments are equally important. I appreciate when debates consider larger implications and are not limited to a specific scope. I'm a former speech competitor, so good articulation and delivery is important to me. Not a huge fan of spreading, if you're going a million miles a minute, I probably won't be able to follow you too well- especially without clear diction. Also, I understand debate gets heated in the moment, but please exhibit decorum because it really is an essential part of keeping a debate productive.

Congress: The biggest thing I look for in Congress is how well you add to a debate. Be actively involved in building arguments in speeches and questioning. I don't enjoy rehash and get bored after the same arguments have been read several times. Delivery and presentation are considered and can separate tied debaters. Follow the rules of the chamber and exhibit decorum in round, it'll be noticed.

Good luck and have fun! I'm excited to see what you've prepared :)

Hi all! I am the Head Coach of Speech and Debate at Pinecrest High School in North Carolina. I am a former extemper with pretty deep knowledge of the happenings in the world.

LD & PF

--I am fine with speed, but remember with speed comes the risk I won't get it on the flow. If you see me stop typing/pen is no longer writing/I am staring blankly at you, consider that your cue to slow down.

--Make sure to differentiate your sourcing. Authors' last names are great, but tell me where the source comes from first. John Doe from the Council on Foreign Relations in 2022 sounds better than Doe 22. After that, you can refer to the source as CFR or Doe and I'm good on what you are referring to.

--Please weigh. Please. You have to do this in order for me to be able to determine a winner.

--Respect. Respect your opponents, partner (if in PF), self, and the host school. Competitive debate is a great activity; but you must maintain some sense of decorum throughout your time in the round.

Congress

--When you go to an in-house recess to determine splits, or inquire as to why no one is speaking, you have done yourself and your fellow competitors a disservice by not being prepared. Please avoid this as much as possible.

--I'm fine with rehashing arguments to a point, but you need to add more evidence to support this rehashed point. Something niche and unique that can catch the opposing side off guard.

--Presiding Officers: thank you for volunteering to run the chamber. Please only defer to the parli when you are unsure of certain procedure.

The team that convinces/persuades me that their side is correct in the debate will win.

Experience

I competed in speech and debate for four years in high school. I mostly competed in Extemp, Congressional Debate, and World Schools and a few times in PF (I have a good understanding of the event).

Content

That is to say, the winning team has the better plausible impacts that outweigh the other team’s impacts (if you do not do the weighing then I will have to, but it would be beneficial for you to do the weighing). In order for impacts to be plausible, then you should have warrants that clearly lead me to your impacts. To show that your opponent’s impacts are not plausible you may attack their warrants, links, or the validity of their evidence.

Delivery

Please do not spread. I want to make sure I can understand and put everything you say on my flow, but if you spread or go too fast then I will miss it. Also too fast speeds will probably result in a reduction of speaker points.

Other Notes

- Please do not run a “K” or a “theory” and debate the topic!

- Don’t raise NEW arguments (considered for the first time in the debate) in grand cross fire and especially not in final focus, I will not consider them and it won’t make me happy.

- In most cases, I will give the win to the team who does a better job of convincing me that their arguments are better and will assign speaker points based on style/delivery, so I do give low point wins.

Good Luck!

Hello! My name is Connor Ennis (he/him), Duke Class of 2028

email: condawg59@gmail.com

I did Extemporaneous and Impromptu for 3 years at Durham Academy, Duo in my senior year, and PF in my freshman year at Friends School of Baltimore.

Debate: First and foremost, be respectful to everyone in the round, and arrive early and prepared. Basically, I'm a lay judge, since I only did a few tournaments in PF. I will flow as much as I can but if you go too fast then I may miss some things. Strong, clear narratives, weighing, and utilization and analysis of evidence are important for me in my decision. I'm not a fan of excessive jargon or focusing on technicalities, just give me a good clash and don't veer off into tangential points.

Limited Prep: have a clear structure to your speech, make sure you explain your examples and evidence thoroughly to actually answer the question/respond to the prompt, and speak with emotion and fluency, utilizing accentuating gestures when necessary. I can't pretend like I don't enjoy a little humor in the speech, but don't make light of serious topics and make sure you have actual substance. Make me care, make me listen, and make me understand.

Platform/Interp: obviously you can't adjust your performance based on my preferences, so just give it your all and tell your story!

This is my 39th year teaching and most of that I have also coached speech and debate. As far as debate goes, I coached LD starting in the mid 80's running on and off through 2017. I coached policy on and off from 1990-2000. I have coached PF on and off since its inception. I have coached congressional debate since the early 80's. I don't have a paradigm for Speech events, but I have coached and judged all speech events since the early 80's as well.

As a Congress Judge:

Delivery: I embrace the role play. You are all portraying legislators from across the country and should behave with the decorum that role suggests. That being said, we have legislators from across the country with various styles and habits -- that makes congress debate AWESOME! There is no single, perfect way to deliver!

Evidence Usage: CD is, at its core, a debate event. Arguments should have sound, sourced evidence that follows NSDA rules. Empirical claims require empirical evidence.

Analysis - If I am judging Congressional Debate, chances are the tournament is a national caliber tournament (otherwise I would be working in some capacity in tab). I expect high level analysis at a high level tournament. If you are the 4th speaker and beyond - I expect unique arguments and I expect analysis and refutation of earlier speakers. Crystallization speeches do not merely mention every speaker that spoke earlier on a piece of legislation. It literally crystallizes the two sides, weighs the impacts of the two sides, and persuades me of their chosen position.

Argument Impacts: Please identify who or what is impacted. Be specific. In CD, please explain real world impacts. The narrative of impacts is as important (if not more) as the numerics of impacts.

On the topic of cost benefit analysis and weighing... Be careful of playing the numbers game. A large number of persons harmed may not necessarily outweigh a single person harmed, if the single person's harm is total and complete and the larger number still enjoy existence.

Decorum: Behavior in and out of chambers is important. Respectful, educational, kind, and full of fun... these should be in balance! (I don't like boring debate)

I don't have a calculator on the above. Very seldom is there a debater who is awesome at them all... But all need to be part of the mix. If I am judging a top round, I suspect that all speakers will be amazing! That means the final ranking will come down to relevance in the round. If all speeches were brilliant, questioning and answering were spot on, and knowledge of topics is at the top, who stood out as the genuine, 'real deal'?

PF Paradigm - I embrace the notion that the event is intended to be judged by an informed public forum. That does not mean dumbing down arguments because you think the judge is dumber than you because they didn't go to camp (adults don't go to camp). I think most judges want to hear good arguments that pertain to the resolution and want to hear clash between positions. That being said, here is my more specific paradigm:

Speed - I love an energetic debate, but save spreading for policy (and sadly LD). You should have written a prima facie case that either affirms or negates. It should be written so that the first speaker can energetically deliver it. Most PF spread isn't really spread, it is spewing and incoherent choking due largely to the student's failure to adequately cut their case. I am fine with clean, clear, speed. Can I hear arguments delivered at 385 wpm? yes. Will I flow them? probably not.

Frameworks - Sure, if you really are running a framework. If it is legit (and stays up in the round throughout), both sides will be weighing impacts within that framework.

Observations - Sure, if they are observations. Observations are not arguments. They are observations. "It is raining - observation: things are wet." "If Trump wins the election it will trigger nuclear war" is an argument, not an observation.

Warrants and Impacts are your friends!! Numbers are just numbers - how do they happen? why do they happen? who is affected and why them? is there possible counter causality? Really good logic if well explained will beat blippy numbers. Well explained statistics that are connected and clear will beat poor logic.

Flowing - Yes, I flow. I expect you to do so as well. I don't flow card names and dates - so make sure when you refer to a piece of evidence you reference what it says, not a name.

Jargon - I am not a fan. Don't say de-link. It is often unwarranted. Explain how and why. Unique is a noun, not a verb. You cannot 'non-unique' something. I love turns, but don't just spout 'turn.' Explain why their argument works against them. Or show how their impacts actually are good, not bad. At its heart debate is a communication education activity; I take your education seriously.

Kritiks - They are arguments. I was okay with them in policy when they were a 'thing,' largely because policy is more game than debate. I was not okay with them in LD when used as a gimmick. I am the LD judge that still clings to the notion that we should have value debate. However, a well thought out K that communicates the impact of the issue must be answered in any debate! In PF, I might be okay if a team ran a kritik that they truly believed in, and they clearly had the ethos and pathos to convince me it wasn't just a gimmick, I MIGHT vote on the K if it is argued well. OR, if their opponents clearly understood the K but just didn't want to deal with it. A K is still an argument, and the premise of the K needs to be responded to as an argument. If not, chances are I am going to vote for the K.

I am not a fan of: rude behavior, gender put-downs, dog whistle language, or individuals being mean/cocky just for the heck of it. =26s-27s. I would go lower, but most tournaments won't let me.

I love intense and lively debate. I love true arguments that are well researched, argued, and impacted. I love smart. Smart gets 29.5s and 29.9s. It has been a very long time since I gave 30's but I do give them!

I am primarily a speech coach, so effective public speaking and rhetoric skills appeal to me. I prefer debates that stay centered on the topic to kritiks. Please no spreading. I don't mind fast-paced arguments, but I'd like to be able to flow what is happening effectively, and for that to happen, I don't want to be missing huge chunks of your argument because of speed. Thanks!

PF/LD:

E-mail:Hrenj@trinityprep.org

If you are looking for my paradigm in a few words:

I will start by looking at theimpactsas articulated in your final speech.I will thencompare them the way I was told to in your final speech(ex. Prefer on Timeframe. Prioritize probability). If there are competing comparisons, I will choose the one that is best articulated. I will then checkthe link to the impact and see if, in the final speech and previous speech, the other team told me a reason not to give the you access to your impact.If they did, I will make sure that this reason was articulated, at least from the second speech of that team.

My flow can be best described as chaotic, so make sure that you have been really clear and not blippy- if you are blippy, I am liable to miss it.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I have experience judging LD at the College and High School level (but it has been a little bit since I have consistently judged LD) and Public Forum at the High School level (fairly consistently). I would by no means say I am an expert. These are some things to keep in mind with me.

Assume that I know nothing. This includes shorthand, theory, or K literature. Even if I do know something, I will pretend I don't to avoid intervening in the round.

Speed Kills (your ability to win the round).I want to be able to flow everything.To this end, I will say “clear” two times and then I am able to flow what I can flow: if I miss something because you’re speeding then it won’t be considered.I do not want to look at cards unless you or your opponent have a tiff about what they actually say.

Additionally, I think that spreading should be a tool to allow for deeper and more specific arguments as opposed to allowing for more short, blippy responses.If you're speeding through a response and that response was only a sentence or two to begin with, it probably doesn't register as that important to me.

Tech over truth except in extreme cases.Tell me what to vote on, tell me what to care about. Clearly weigh your impacts against your opponents do not assume I prefer one over the other without you giving me a reason to prefer.

I care about dropped arguments- you need to extend and that means more than just saying “extend.”Functionally reiterate your arguments or at least summaries of them.

CX- I often will flow this, but it will not factor into my decisions unless you bring it up in your speech. Don’t shoot yourself in the foot, DO use this time to clarify, NOT make new arguments.

I hate hate hate people being hyperbolic or lying about what their opponent said or did: Ex. “they dropped this point” when they clearly did not. Just know if you do it I will be inclined toward your opponent. If YOU misheard or misunderstood your opponent’s argument, I get that, but pretending they didn’t respond to something they did is as good as dropping the arg. Also- don't tell me what my paradigm said- I was there when it was written.

Congress:

-The most important things to me are delivery and content.

-If two people are very close on both these aspects content will be more important than delivery.

-I pay attention to questioning, but it is more of a tie breaker for me. If you ask a particularly good question I will note it and you will be ranked higher than someone with the same scores on speeches and no notes about questioning.

-Very important to my ranking of speeches is whether you are moving the round forward or introducing new ideas.

-I prefer evidence usage, though in some analytic cases it is not strictly needed.

-I very much like interaction with the other speeches that have gone (rebutting directly or adding more to a previous argument).

-Taking risks with content or delivery in ways which push the boundaries of the norms will certainly earn some bonus points in my head.

-I think that decorum is important- pay attention to what others are saying, don't engage in personal attacks or generally be rude.

I am a Cancer with a Gemini moon and a Leo rising :)

I am currently a speech coach at the Potomac School with 10+ years of experience in the activity. Pronouns: He/Him

If you would like to send me docs my email isjacobkemp23@gmail.com

Debate - PF/Policy

I AM LAY! A SIMPLE SPEECH COACH!! PLEASE BE NICE TO ME, I WILL CRY.

With that being said, passion and clarity in speaking is very important to me (speech coach, OBVIOUSLY). If you don't SAY it, in terms of evidence/cards, I'm not likely to pay attention to it.

I WILL FLOW THOUGH!! I PROMISE!! AS LONG AS YOU DON'T GO TOO FAST.

I am interested in hearing Kritikal arguments and Theory debate, so do not stray away from that just because you see I'm a lay judge (I'm not the lay-est tbh).

Please make sure you are being as specific as possible in your description of arguments.

Logic and realism is important to me. Make me logically believe your argument and impacts. If its TOOO much of a stretch it may affect my decision. But I'll probably buy more than you think.

I look for a clear argument with real, meaningful evidence. More evidence is not better evidence. Talking fast means does not give debaters a victory. If I can't understand what you said because you are talking too fast, then essentially, you didn't say it.

I evaluate based on flow. Stay topical and be respectful, but also provide clash. Jokes are appreciated. 

What's good. I did interp and congress in high school and am now a college student. Respect your competitors. Speak well.

Hello! My fondest memories of high school are from high school debate (PF and Congress) tournaments! I also have memories of terrible judges - I will do my best to not fall into the latter category for you.

- The faster you talk does not = the better your argument.

- It doesn't absolutely have to have been in summary for it to be in final focus, but it really should be.

- Don't card dump in rebuttal. Don't read a new contention disguised as a response. If your opponents do this call them out for it and I'll drop the argument.

- Don't ask for more evidence than you need and use this as more prep time.

- You do not need to give an off time road map, in fact, perhaps do not.

- Winning in cross does not = the more speaking time you have. Ask and answer quickly, concisely and politely.

I am a community judge who has judged rounds in several local and state tournaments. Most importantly, I'm looking for a well researched and articulated argument.

As this is a speaking event where your goal is to persuade me to side, good pacing is key and I am not a big fan of spreading.

Theory and kritik are not generally things that will impact my decisions, as I have yet to see them done successfully.

I want to hear you demonstrate through your debate the work that you have put into your prep and am looking for quality over quantity. More than you "scoring" more "offensive points" I'm more concerned that you are able to defend your contentions with clear links and prove how your impacts outweigh those of your opponents. At the end of the debate I want to feel you are more right than wrong.

I mostly did PF in HS.

email: just_mar25@yahoo.com

read bolded for a quick rundown if you're unwilling to go through the whole paradigm.

1. Truth>Tech. That being said, I will not prescribe my own understanding of argumentative substance to bail you out when you're confronting bad substance/bad faith arguments. If the content of your opponents' arguments is fundamentally false, they should be especially easy for you to answer without any help from me.

2. On Speed/Spreading - Speed is fine but it must be purposeful. Speed is not purposeful if you're unclear and lack diction (I will yell 'clear' or 'louder' if I struggle but if I need to keep doing that I'm going to nuke your speaks). Speed is not purposeful if all you're doing is introducing blippy arguments in hopes that one makes it across and wins you the round (you could literally just read more cards on legitimate arguments to strengthen your links instead of the blips). Speed is not purposeful if you're actively disenfranchising the other team by spreading (you do NOT need to spread versus a novice team, just out-debate them). Just because I might have your case doesn't mean it's all on my flow, I am not as familiar as you are with your own literature. If you're incomprehensible all you're doing is making me uninterested.

3. On Ks - Kritik arguments should NOT depend on my understandings of terms of art/common terms from your authors, whose viewpoints I am likely unfamiliar with. Just because you're running doesn't a K doesn't mean you don't have to DEBATE and explain why you're winning on the K flow. Yeah if the K goes unresponded then its a winning argument but if you don't extend/explain to me why the K wins (aff or neg) beyond "they had no response to the K" then presume I drop the K. Extend the K.

4. On Weighing - Rhetoric impacts are bad arguments. Explain/Weigh why your impacts are impactful. Don't just tell me 'poverty bad', explain why poverty is bad and what poverty actually causes. You can't outweigh on "Scope". There is no implication to what "Scope" means unless you give it context. Impact calculus takes into account Magnitude, Probability, Timeframe. Implicate what your advocacy has in terms of contextualized warranting versus just yelling out "scope" and praying it works out (it won't).

5. On Evidence Sharing - Just use an e-mail chain/Speechdrop. Please don't be the reason the tournament is running 30min-1hr longer than needed. I'm not saying you have to send over your cases (PF), I know that the norm on that is still being established (in PF) but no judge wants to watch you stand awkwardly over someone's shoulder while waiting for a card, just send it electronically and that way judges can have it too if it becomes a point of contention. If a card you called out for is miscut/misleading and this is enough to win you the round TELL ME THIS. TELL ME TO READ THE CARD BEFORE I MAKE MY DECISION BECAUSE IT TURNS THE ROUND. Don't get mad at me after the round because you didn't explicitly tell me to read a card.

6. On New Arguments - I try my hardest to give debaters as much agency as possible to actually debate. That being said, DO NOT introduce new arguments in the last speech of the debate, I will - at best - ignore them or - at worst - vote you down if the team after you argues that the introduction is a voting issue (fairness/time, etc.) This happens enough that it needs its own section.

7. On Framework - I will default to a utilitarian framework to weigh unless given an alternative by either team. In terms of defaulting to utilitarianism, unless a team in the round offers an alternative framework then this is generally what people would end up arguing under anyway (I literally don't trust teams to weigh appropriately so I'll just save us all the time and say this in my paradigm to at the very least mentally prepare you to weigh in some capacity). You can lose the framework debate and still win the round. Winning framework does not inherently mean you win the round. It is entirely possible to lose (or concede) the framework debate and still win. Framework is about who operates better under that given paradigm.

8. On Crossfire - I don't flow crossfire. If anything happens during Cross that you feel is relevant to winning then refer to it in your next speech so it is on paper. This doesn't mean saying something like "In Cross they said Nukes aren't real so they lose C2." I want you to tell me the other team conceded the link on C2 so I can put it on my flow (SIGNPOST WHERE THE RELEVANT CROSS INTERACTION SHOULD/WOULD BE ON MY FLOW). Aff always gets first question. Why are we doing the whole "may I have first question" song and dance still?

9. On Extensions - Summary and Final Focus should be aligned - whatever you extend in Final Focus should also have been present in Summary. I don't believe defense is sticky. You should still extend defense on an argument unless the other sides explicitly kicks out.

10. On Tricks - Don't. Deliberate attempts to subvert clash by lying, misleading, hiding arguments, being unethical will be poorly received. What're you trying to prove by doing this? That you can't win a round by actually debating? I'll nuke your speaks since I believe this actually "kills debate". To be clear, a funny tagline is funny and okay, but you know when something is a pun and when something is deliberately misleading.

11. Don't be rude - Personally abusive language about, or directed at, your opponents will have me looking for reasons to vote against you. There are more important things in life than winning while also being mean to other human beings. We're all trying to partake in something that we enjoy/makes us happy. Don't be the reason someone has a terrible day.

I debated for 4 years at G. Holmes Braddock Senior High School and mainly competed in Lincoln Douglas. I'm pretty relaxed and highly value respect in a round.

TL;DR = Be nice, no progressive argument, implicate impacts, convince me as to why you won, don't get lost in the flow, Truth > Tech, make my decision for me. Fine with spreading within reason.

• First and Foremost, respect each other. Debate is a platform to learn from each other and done for fun. There is no reason to create a hostile environment or be rude. If I pick up on this behavior during the round, it will effect your speaker points.
• Stay away from progressive argumentation. I predominately did traditional debate and don't have too much experience in progressive debate. Saying that I have judged and competed in progressive rounds. If running these types of arguments make sure it is relevant to the topic/round and is fleshed out properly.
• Implicate your impacts. When stating your impacts, make sure to explain why I care, For example if stating "x" will increase poverty, explain why I care. This is especially important for LD as you need to link it back to value criterion. I will not be making any connections for you as the judge, draw it out for me.
• Flow arguments through.Extend arguments throughout the round if you want me to vote on them. Also I do not flow cross so any points you want considered make sure to bring up again. A structured 2R is vital for winning a debate round. Don't try to flow through every point, pick the biggest/most impactful ones to flow through. This way you debate doesn't get muddled and lost in the details.
• General Debate Stuff. I can keep time for you if wanted, just let me know because I will not ask. Like mentioned previously, spreading is fine but don't make it impossibly hard to understand what you're saying. If doing prog please let me know at beginning of round just so I have a heads up. If your opponent dropped something, state that. If you want me to call for a card, mention it in a speech and I will.

Please add me to the email chain: hstringer@princetonisd.net

CX Philosophy
As a judge, I look to you to tell me the rules of the round. I try to be as fluid as possible when it comes to framework and argument. I only ask that you make sure you explain it and how it impacts the round.

I enjoy topical affirmatives and unique arguments from the negative that link to the affirmative case. If an argument applies to any topical affirmative, I tend to not vote for it (provided the affirmative shows that it is non-unique). Really good impact debate is my happy place.

In regards to speed, I would say I am comfortable with mid-high, however it would be smart to think slower on procedurals and tag lines. Go ahead and add me to the email/flash chain and then do what makes you happy.

My facial expressions are pretty readable. If you see me making a face, you may want to slow down and/or explain more thoroughly.

I don't count flashing as part of prep, but prep for flashing/sending files (organizing files, trying to find the right speech, deleting other files, etc) are. It shouldn't take more than about 30 seconds to send files. Going on 5 minutes is a bit excessive.

In terms of critical debate: I am not opposed to it, but I am not well versed, so be sure to really explain any kritiks and how they impact the debate. One of my students called me a lazy progressive judge. That fits. I don't read the literature or envelope myself in the K. Do the work for me; I don't want to.

Counterplans, disadvantages and solvency/advantage debates are great.

I think topicality is necessary to debate, but tend to skew to the aff as long as they can show how they are reasonably topical.

All that being said, I will flow anything and vote on anything until a team proves it isn't worthy of a vote.

LD Philosophy

I have been near LD Debate for about 20 years, but have never been trained in it. So, I am knowledgeable about the event, but not about the content within it. You will probably need to explain more to me and why I should vote on a particular issue. As a policy debater, I tend toward evidence and argumentation. However, I will vote on what you tell me is important to vote on unless your opponent makes a more compelling argument for me to vote on something else.

Public Forum Debate Philosophy

My favorite part of public forum debate is the niceties that are expected here. I love to watch a debater give a killer speech and then turn to politeness in crossfire. Polite confidence is a major selling point for me. Not that I won't vote for you if you aren't polite, but I might look harder for a winning argument for your opponent. In PF, I look more for communication of ideas over quantity of argumentation. I don't coach public forum, so I am not well versed in the content. Make sure you explain and don't just assume I know the inner workings of the topic.

First time judge. Dual enrollment English teacher by day. Please speak slowly, clearly, and without jargon. Keep your own time. Feedback is furnished upon request after rounds.