Ahoy!

I'm Andy Choy from Lovejoy High School in Texas. Contrary to its etymology, Lovejoy has no love, no joy, and is barely a high school, but debate keeps me alive.

There are a couple of things you should not do in round.

• Being derogatory or blatantly abusive will earn you a drop/loss and 0 speaker points.
• If you have any safety concerns, please feel free to inform me.
• Providing 0 reliable evidence will likely earn you a drop/loss and 0 speaker points.
• Debates should typically be topical. If your speech is 3 contextless minutes of Dhar Mann videos, you should reprep your speech.

"Good luck. Don't suck." - Mr. Cosio

Congressional

Argumentation

• A concise thesis statement outlining your argumentation is nice.
• Warrant your claims. Tell me why your claims hold true.
• "An assumption is an assumption because the assumption doesn't have evidence. That's why it's an assumption!" - Tommy Nichol
• Evidence citations should include organisation and date. Credibility matters, so please include author name, author credentials, and exact date if possible.
• Speeches should build on the existing debate. If yours does not, adapt it! There is always something to contribute.
• The way you structure your speech does not matter to me. How convincing your argumentation is does.
• You need not confine your speech to the constructive, rebuttal, and crystal categories.
• If you weigh well, expect me to rank well.

Rhetoric

• Stealing rhetoric from other debaters = you're throwing.
• Do not glue your face to your speechpad, practically or literally, for your entire speech.
• Deliver AGDs relatable to the topic.
• If you use cliché chess rhetoric, see my reaction as I drop you.
• If you say "the road to hell is paved with good intentions," I hope you know the road to a low rank is paved with poor rhetoric.

Questioning

• I highly regard questioning because it is the only time you can immediately defend your argumentation against refutations.
• Question amount < question constructiveness, do not question to affirm your own side.
• If your "question" is not a question, your rank is not a 1.

Notes

• I award 2 or higher speech points as long as your speech is not abusive.
• Congressional debate =/= congressional politicking.

Public Forum

Email for the chain (but not for the spam): andyc30503@gmail.com

• Tech > Truth, but I will not vote for argumentation I cannot understand or verify.
• I am a flay judge.
• Please disclose.
• I often will have enough topic knowledge, but please don't assume I know everything.
• Speed is acceptable, but don't spread. I'll let you know if you are speaking too rapidly.
• Clash with your opponent's case is expected during rebuttal, summary, and final focus.
• Passionate delivery is rare in PF, so a little passion is appreciated.

+0.5 speaks for taking notes during the RFD

+0.5 speaks if you play a national anthem before round I fail to identify

I rank on a mix of who added the most to the round and who was the best explaining their point and convincing me that it was the most important in the round. Clarity and argumentation go a long way. If you do something special, tell me what it is and why its so important.

For Presentation:

• Be Confident when speaking + questioning (projection helps). Be careful of screaming into your microphone if online, adapt to the size of the room if in person.

• Try not to read off of your legal pad, especially in your intro and in any other important piece of rhetoric or impact. Eye contact goes a long way. This is still true online. If you do not have your speech printed out, I would recommend timing yourself and maintaining eye contact with the camera as if it were the judges while you have your speech opened.

• Use creative gestures. Even if you're online, keep your hands (and face) in view.

Argumentation:

• Do not repeat others' arguments unless you meaningfully extend on or refute them. Show how YOU add to the debate. Everyone past the sponsor should try to refute. If someone refutes your point, I expect you to try to question them.

• If you attempt to crystal, name the question of the debate and answer it for your side.

• NO SAME SIDE QUESTIONS

Hi! I’m Omkar, and I currently compete in congressional debate at William Fremd HS.

Congressional debate is about presenting effective arguments that further ongoing debate. I basically judge based off that sentence. For presentation, I value uniqueness - be yourself, not whatever congressional debater you've watched a video of. At the end of the day, you'll always sound more believable and interesting by leaning into your style. The arguments you present need to be accurate and effective. I expect clear warranting - sources are good, but stats need to be paired with an understandable reason why. Finally, you need to explain how the arguments you make interact with the debate. Whether that be through weighing, delinking, or turning, it's not a good Congress speech unless it's clearly aware of the round it's being given in. That being said, this doesn't mean I will rank down sponsorships. I understand that the sponsor has a different job than the rest of the round, and I will rate a good sponsorship just as high, if not higher, than I would rate a good mid-round or late-round speech. A sponsor needs to adequately set up the status quo as it relates to the bill, establish the key frameworks that the round will revolve around, and have plenty of offense showing why the aff is the winning side.

Outside of speeches, I value questions that advance the debate through delinking and weighing. If you ask a good question and the speaker is consistently avoiding it, don't waste your 30 seconds. Move on - I will notice when a good question wasn't answered properly. I will rank good POs at minimum whatever is needed to break: “good” means the chamber runs quickly because the PO keeps control and doesn't make mistakes. Be respectful and kind to your fellow debaters, and have fun!