Wisconsin Last Chance Tournament
2025 — Fort Atkinson, WI/US
PF Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show HideAbout me:
- I use He/Him pronouns
- email (for email chains, etc.): kalinahmad@gmail.com
- 2 years of policy debate experience, 2 years of British Parliamentary debate experience
Public Forum Paradigm:
First, it should be noted that I do not have any experience debating in PF. Thus, I will not necessarily know niche rules and theory arguments specific to the format, so I would advise that you not rely on those. I enjoy hearing unconventional arguments, however - so long as you do the work to explain them and show that they are relevant. PF was made to be judged by the average person, so write niche arguments in a way that would make sense to someone uninitiated.
In rounds without that kind of argument, I'll generally vote based on impact analysis. I typically find myself defaulting to a somewhat deontological mindset, but I would always prefer to see arguments on impact framing in round as opposed to relying my personal biases.
Despite being a former policy debater, I do not think speed is a good thing in debate - especially not in PF. The speaking speed I would prefer to hear would be a little faster than normal speaking speed. And, one last thing that really shouldn't need to be said - don't be rude in round. I don't want to hear insults, nor language that is harmful to minorities.
I am an ex-three year NCFLs/NSDA debater and State Quarterfinalist. Did mostly Public Forum, dabbled in LD for a time. I will primarily be judging off of what I see on the flow, but don't expect to be able to win a round off of an obscure rule or technicality. It's fairly simple, You out-argue your opponent, and you'll most likely win the round. I also keep crossfire in mind.
Speaker points: I'll award speaker points as most judges would, but I'll be paying attention as well to general behavior during the round. If you are arguing with your partner, or scolding them, expect to lose some points unless it is justified.
Pacing: Feel free to speak as fast as you wish. If you are too fast for me, You'll know.
PF: I will be watching the flow. I am fine with "unique" argumentation, but let me know beforehand to mentally prepare. My default framing is likely to be cost benefit analysis unless a different framework is laid out during the round.
LD: I am not as familiar with LD, I have done it before though. So, if you are going to use a highly technical argument (which I am not opposed to), you are going to have to work a little to explain it. Otherwise, same deal as PF, focus on keeping your flow consistent throughout the round and focus on your voters. I favor any impacting that gives me a clear way to weigh against your opponent.
Policy: N.A. Wanted to do policy, never got the opportunity.
Atmosphere/Tips: Debate is intended to be an educational experience for all parties involved. This has a couple implications.
1. If you are openly rude or talk down to your opponents, it will detract from all of our ability to understand your case and argumentation. A good debater doesn't need to belittle his competition. Keep this in mind.
2. Oftentimes laughter can be a great tool to break the monotony of a debate. While not needed, adding personality to your speeches helps all involved retain your information and make the debate flow smoothly.
3. Keep in mind that everyone is human. Don't go for the throat if your opponent happens to misword/misquote in their speech. It won't get you very far.
This is my second time judging. I would appreciate it if arguments are articulated well and overall easy to follow. As I am new to this I would recommend a slow-medium pace. I don't understand much of the debate jargon so don't bring that up unless you want to explain what it means to me. Primarily weighing will decide the winner of the round, so make sure to weigh your arguments and compare them to your opponents and use that to explain why I should vote for you. Finally, make sure to maintain a civilized environment. Thank You!
I am a debate coach who has judged all types of debate for nearly 30 years. In recent years, I have focused mainly on public forum and occasionally Lincoln Douglas.
When judging public forum, I adopt the point of view of someone who is conversant in basic terminology and concepts but without any preconceived opinions on the merits of the resolution. The team that is more effective in using evidence and argumentation to convince me that their side should prevail gets the win.
I value clarity and precision in argumentation. While I can flow and comprehend more rapid delivery (I have coached policy), I think that public forum is not well suited to speed. If you are speaking rapidly because there is a lot you really need to cover, I am ok with that. If you are speaking rapidly because you feel it will confuse the other team, I will be annoyed. If you are speaking rapidly because you think it will impress me, it will not.
Since time is so limited, keep it simple and straightforward. Direct refutation, line by line responses and precise attacks are easiest for me to weigh, so why not do that?
The summary is an important speech because it tells me how your side sees the entire round now that constructives and rebuttals are on the flow. The final focus is best spent weighing the round and telling me why your side prevails.
Crossfires are not speeches, so anything from a crossfire that you want on the flow must still be mentioned in a subsequent speech. However, I listen carefully to all crossfires, so I will be aware of whether their contents are being accurately characterized.
In Lincoln-Douglas, I prefer clarity and quality over speed and quantity. I appreciate direct refutation and line by line analysis. My preference is for a reasonable and straightforward interpretation of the resolution. If given a choice, I would like a round that had fewer but better arguments rather than a spread of arguments that all lack decent development.
I do value the traditional role of LD as the more philosophical type of debate, and the value and value criterion play a unique and helpful role in this. However, I am mindful of the fact that not all resolutions lend themselves to this tradition as well as others do, so I am ok with making adjustments accordingly. If I don't feel I've been given clear reasons why I should vote the way you want me to, I will tend to default to a traditional approach, so having the value and value criterion in place still serves a purpose.
Evidence is important in LD to back up your basic claims, but I'd rather have you give me a couple great cards along with excellent analysis then many cards without it.
In your last speech, please make it very clear to me why I should be convinced by what is on the flow to vote for your side.
I look forward to hearing you debate!
I debated public forum for four years in high school. This is my first year judging.
What I want to see as you debate is solid argumentation. I don't necessarily need line by line attacking your opponents so long as you hit the most important points. I also like to see logical arguments throughout the round, so don't completely crowd out the debate with cards. Give me a balance!
Your biggest friend will be weighing (especially in summary and FF). You have a great chance to tell me exactly what I should value in the debate and why your system should be valued over the opponents. Use that chance!!! Otherwise I'm going off my own weighing which is boring and not fun for you guys.
Spreading I will not follow, and any for K's you'll have to really sway me.
I will keep track of your time, but you should too. I will stop flowing after time is up.
Most importantly, just be respectful and clear, and you'll win an imaginary gold star and good speaker points.
TLDR: Balance logic and analytics/cards, weigh in summary and FF, time yourself, be respectful and clear. :)
I was a PF debater in high school, have been judging for years and have recently started coaching.
PF: I am a flow judge and like to see a clean line-by-line in rebuttal. Be sure you are not only responding to the argument your opponents' present but also the impact. Tell me why they can't access their impact in rebuttal. In summary, you should begin tying up any loose ends and begin to weigh. Tell me why your opponents can't access their impacts or why your impacts are bigger and better. Lives are a good default impact that is easy to compare. Final focus should be almost entirely voters. Give me 2 or 3 good reasons why I should vote for you. Don't make final focus a mini rebuttal. A good final focus does go over the entire round or every argument. Only focus on what you think you're winning. In terms of framework, unless one is proposed by either team I will default to util. In summary and final focus, tell me how your arguments/impacts align with the framework and why your opponents aren't meeting the framework.
LD: I have less experience in LD but will be able to follow more complex arguments. Be sure to talk about impacts explicitly and how they align to your value and criterion. Focus on the topic at hand, not the nature of debate or how your opponent is debating, except if they are being discriminatory. I am a flow judge through and through. Spend time developing clear answers to values and impacts that your opponent brings up and counter any arguments brough up against your case. A lot of LD arguments can become convoluted so take time to be clear so I have a clear understanding of what you are trying to say.
Speed: I can understand speed, but the faster you talk the less I will write down. As a flow judge, talking incomprehensibly or too fast could be detrimental to your success in the round.
Roadmaps: I won't time your roadmaps as long as you identify them as roadmaps before you start talking. Keep them brief. Don't waste time by saying that the order will be con then pro during first rebuttal. If you are going to talk about specific arguments identify those in your roadmap.
Also if it sounds like you can't breath, you're talking too fast.
Overall: Be civil. Don't yell at your opponents, partner or me.
Jovan Hernandez - LD Debate Judge
School Affiliation - Homestead High School
Email: chidori4444@gmail.com
Experience with Debate: I have competed in LD Debate for 3 years of my high school career and have gone on to compete in both State and Nationals. With that being said, I have 2 years of judging, so I hope to give out insightful and constructive ballots that'll help in the future. Also, to make sure, I am NOT a policy or PF judge, so, if I do judge that category, excuse my ignorance.
How I Judge:
To be clear, I am not a progressive judge.
Speed - I do not like speed, but as long as you're not spreading and going at a pace that Eminem would be jealous of, then we're good.
Framework - Your framework should relate to your case meaning that how your case goes has to be able to link into both your value and criterion. Frameworks should be relatively easy to understand and be easy to debate, however, if you're able to explain a hard-to-understand framework in rebuttals, then go for it.
Theory Cases - Do not do them. If you do a Theory case, do so at your own risk because I have little understanding of them and if you can't clearly define each parts of the case and how your case is better, Im not likely to pick it up.
K's - The most crucial thing for me is that the alternative has to be able to solve your opponent's harms and whatever you present as being flawed within the Status quo, if you can't do that and the opponent is able to argue that your alternative doesn't work, then it will be weighed heavily against you.
Clash - Clash should be both a battle of analysis and card attacks. Addressing the evidence within a card and the argument that surrounds the cards presented is crucial, so, being able to explain each card's faults and the faults of the case is needed, otherwise it's two debaters spewing facts(which do not care about your feelings) at each other.
Topicality - There has to be something that the debater (either NEG or AFF) has done within their cases that goes against the resolution meaning that the debater cannot use this argument because it's going against the resolution and can be disregarded.
Evidence Reading - This is absolutely HUGE. When reading your evidence, please, I mean PLEASE, read your tag, author, and date BEFORE you read the actual evidence. If you read your tag in conjunction with the evidence, it all blends together until you get to your author citation, so, it'll sound all the same and having a subheading for the evidence allows everyone to clearly define what card you are reading and make the read be a lot more structured. This is just something that helps me out with flowing your arguments better and keeping everything in a orderly fashion
Debated 4 years of PF in High School in WI for Middleton, performed well at state level and okay on national level. Current British Parliamentary debater at UW-Madison
I WILL NOT EVALUATE THEORY, KRITIKS, OR ANY FORM OF PROGRESSIVE DEBATE IN JV ROUNDS
Flow judge who will give lots of credit for being persuasive, using good rhetoric and analysis, and making strong clash. Analysis is very good, and does not require evidence or a card. Analysis is how you will win rounds with me. Please do not run extinction arguments, they are super unprovable and suck. Make good arguments, work with your partner, and have fun!
PS: I make a lot of faces, but they don't mean anything. ignore them, and don't take them as indication of how the round is going, or you may be sorely disappointed.
My verbal feedback will be very limited unless you ask questions or want to ask about something, I'd rather not waste our time if nobody really wants to hear my feedback. I would love to answer questions if you have any, postround me!!!
P.F.
The biggest thing is to debate P.F., don't treat it like policy, meaning don't talk at 500MPH and no crazy "reality is a hologram" type arguments. Please be clear about when you are switching contentions and be sure to weigh your impacts clearly, don't assume that us judges are making the same connections that you are. If you run a one contention case, please have strong links. Please spell out your impacts, Imperialism isn't an impact, you need to tell me why imperalism is bad. As a judge, I won't let my background influence my decision, but that does mean you need to tell me exactly what your impacts mean in terms of quantifiable impacts, number of deaths, cost of money, increase in crime, global destabilization, the kind of thing.
L.D.
I'm a traditional-style debater, meaning I'm not usually a fan of Ks or crazy theory shells; if you run one anyway, be sure to pay some attention to defense; even with a K, you should still respond to their line-by-line arguments. I was a policy debate, and I've been judging LD on the local and national circuit for 3 years, so I'm fine with whatever speed you can do well. One thing that I think LD debaters need to pay more attention to is extending your evidence, too many debaters will just say "Cross-apply my contentions to their DA," and you need to do more then that; you need to actually say how your evidence specific counters theirs and what specific evidence you are citing.
Congress:
I've been judging Congress for 6 years now, and of course, all the basic things are important: good projection, good variation in vocal tone and volume for emphasis, and most importantly, a cohesive, original argument. In addition, please be respectful of your competitors; assertive speech styles are fine, but avoid ad hominem attacks. Similarly, when asking questions, don't interrupt the answerer when they haven't even finished a sentence yet; again, find the line between assertive and just plain rude. Make sure your introduction doesn't have a jarring shift in tone when compared to the rest of your speech. Lots of people enjoy funny intros, but they don't really work if you give a speech about war crimes, for example. Crystalizing is good, but if you have an entire speech that's just crystalizing, you end up with something that is more like 6 30-second long speeches instead of a single 3-minute speech, so don't go overboard with it. Make sure if you use the same arguments as a previous speaker, you do something new with it, or go in greater depth in a specific aspect of the argument. Otherwise, all you're doing is telling the judges that you thought the previous speaker did a really good job.
A smaller thing, but it still bugs me when it happens; please don't use debate lingo in Congress when it doesn't make grammatical sense without a debate background; for example, "sqo solves" is not something that makes sense unless you do debate and this isn't the place for that.
Email: Oscarh.rich@gmail.com
Karishma Santebennur (she/they)
Hello!
Add me to the email chain: santdebate@gmail.com
- Currently at Williams College
- debated policy for Brookfield East HS (2019 - 2023)
- tabula rasa, tech > truth– I will vote on nearly any argument (no blatant sexism, homophobia, etc.).
- I am not familiar with the topic areas for the season, so please explain your args thoroughly.
- I can handle speed but remember to be clear.
- Above all, have fun!
Personal Background: I debated four years in Wisconsin. I competed at NCFLs and NSDAs 4 times each. Most of my experience is in PF, Congress, and extemp but I have some experience with other events.
Include me on Email Chains please: rspors25@gmail.com
The vast majority of the rounds I have judged this year are policy rounds. That being said, don't spread in front of me. If you are spreading, share a speech doc, but just please don't, I am not going to flow off of a doc. If you are running a K, T, or CP, you better be ready to explain it well (For example if you are running a T don't just rattle off the tags Education, Time abuse etc. Explain these arguments to me well). I tend to prefer 1 or 2 well reasoned arguments over 15 tags with no links or warrants.
TLDR: Have good ethics, Trust the Flow, Don't be a jerk.
Policy:
If you have received a blast and I am your policy judge, please know my experience is in PF/LD in a very traditional district. A fairly low level of Speed is okay but if I can't hear you I can't flow you. I will keep a flow and I will vote on the flow. If you are running a K it will take work to convince me but I am not against these types of arguments. I understand post-Fiat alternatives much better than pre-fiat alternatives. Topicality or Framework arguments are things I am far more familiar with and I also tend to find them more relevant to the round than other theory arguments. In essence, convince me that your plan would work, and is the best solution. If you are the neg, Convince me they are wrong. Also, Don't just extend things with the tag. If you tell me to extend "Smith 23" That means nothing to me or to the debate. "Extend Smith 23 which says..." You aren't extending authors and years, you are extending arguments. Actually extend the argument you are making. If all you read me is an author and year, that card is dropped.
PF: Constructive: Speed is fine as long as you are clear. If you are unclear I will stop flowing and if it isn't on my flow it isn't on my ballot. I competed in a very traditional district so that is what I am most familiar with. If you are running some sort of progressive debate, make it a strong case. I think progressive arguments are overused in PF. If you are running something weird, explain it well and convince me. I think debate is ultimately an event based in convincing your opponents and judge. Convince me your argument isn't so weird.
Rebuttal: I want a line by line. 2nd rebuttal should include responses to 1st rebuttal otherwise it is dropped. That being said, don't be toxic and attempt to spread people out of rounds by arguing you should win the round based on a dropped third subpoint on your sixth response to their observation. Win the round via solid argumentation not some trick.
Summary: Summary is the hardest speech in a round. As a general rule, if something isn't in your summary it better not be in your final focus. Summary is a speech for crystalizing your arguments into something that can be used in your final focus and weighing. PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WEIGH. If you don't weigh, you make me weigh. You will be sad because I may not weigh your voters favorably, I will be sad because you made me do more work. Don't make everyone sad. Weigh! Also don't just say "we win on timeframe and scope and yada yada yada" I can do that. Tell me why, under the established framework you are winning in a way that means you must win the round. If you want to use all those fancy weighing words, don't just shout the buzzwords at me. Tell me why I should be deciding the round in terms of timeframe, magnitude etc.
Final Focus: Give me the voters. Tell me why you're winning the important points of the round and tell me why that means you're winning the round. The final focus is not "Rebuttal: Reprise" (nor is the summary for that matter). Please do not just word vomit every card your side read the whole round. Tell me why you won.
LD:
Values and Criterions are important. Treat them like they are important. Whichever value wins out is how I am going to weigh the round. Make your arguments in terms of the values and weigh under the criteria.
Lincoln Douglas is a debate of values and morals. Keep that in mind.
Progressive debate is fine just make it make sense.
Everything I said above about speed, argumentation and weighing remains true for LD.
Congress:
- This event is called congressional DEBATE, not congressional speech giving. Use your speech times to advance an argument, to directly clash with other speakers, and to persuade the audience to your side. That being said while I do want a well-reasoned debate, you are also essentially cosplaying as senators so there is some room for theatrics and if done well, this can add to your speech. A boring speech is not very persuasive.
- SPEED! Speed does not belong in this event whatsoever. You are senators persuading the body to vote one way or another on a bill not policy debaters.
- I would rather you give no speech at all than a repetitive, pre-written speech that takes time from other debaters who want to bring up new points.
- Questioning periods, points, and motions weigh heavily on my ballot. Use these to your advantage. Answering questions well is HUGE for me. Effective use of parli pro is impressive to see, but incorrect use is a big disadvantage.
- I will rank the PO as we are instructed to do. If you are an excellent PO you are likely in the running for the top spot in my rankings. If you are a poor PO you will likely find yourself near the bottom. Being a good PO is about running a fair and efficient chamber. I want that chamber to run like a well oiled machine.
- Evidence, Follow the same ethics and evidence things I have stated below.
General Things for Everyone:
The Flow: In this round the flow is going to be king. If I can't understand you I can't flow you and if it isn't on my flow it isn't on my ballot.
Critique: I will disclose if they let me. I will give a oral critique if they let me. Everything will be on the ballot. I know how valuable that feedback is to coaches and competitors alike. If you are unhappy with my oral critique, look to my ballot for more information. If you have any questions, ask them. I am more than happy to give more advice/feedback. If you are just postrounding trying to argue about my decision. Don't, that's annoying.
Evidence Ethics:IMPORTANT There is nothing that irritates me more than shoddy evidence standards. This is an educational activity and if there is a card to which the content is in question it is possible I will call for said card. Be prepared. I want to be included in your email chains (rspors25@gmail.com).
Cross: Don't be abusive. Be assertive. I think cross is one of the most informative parts of a debate round. I will be actively listening but not actively flowing. If something is conceded in cross, it is conceded. That being said, it still needs to be brought up in speeches to make my ballot. If something important happens during cross, explicitly tell me "Judge write that down" I will but then I will expect you to elaborate in a speech.
Speaker points: I will probably be pretty generous with speaks. If you are racist, homophobic, sexist, Antisemitic, or anything else bad, expect the speaks to reflect that. Cross is a really good way to impress me and show me that you are a 30 pt speaker.
Background
Hey there, I'm Jack (He/Him).
Head Debate Coach @ Ronald Reagan.
I was a PF debater for 4 years and did Congressional Debate for 3 years; I competed in local and nat circuit so I will generally know what you are talking about. I have judged PF, LD, And Congress locally and nat circuit.
*Online Debate*
For any online tournaments this year (if we have any) we all have tech issues so if you/your opponent drops out from the call please be respectful as we wait for them to rejoin. Please make sure to have hard copies of at least your constructive, cards if possible, it saves a lot of time if internet goes out.
Also, please be mindful of your speed/clarity online. Audio quality over the computer is not always the greatest. I won't stop you but if I can't understand you, I won't flow it.
Tech time is not prep time. We operate on an honors system so please be respectful if your opponent is having technical issues to stop debate and prep at that point until they return.
All Debate
I do not flow CX, I am listening to it but it is a place for you to question and receive answers, not make arguments. If your opponent makes a concession in CX and you want it flowed, you must tell me.
I will more than likely know what you are talking about but present it to me as if I don't. Your debates should be able to boil down to arguments that can easily be understood by a parent judge or someone of the general public. It is not a major voting factor of mine but clarity in arguments and good voters will aid my decision and help your speaks.
Speaker Points: Some judges like them, some do not. I treat them as if everyone starts at 30 points and get detracted for things like clarity, decorum, full use of speech times, etc. Keep in mind that they are not a major factor in the decision and only truly matter for tiebreakers AND they are subjective. Overall, I err on the high side of speaker points and rarely award less than a 28.0.
Policy
TLDR I am NOT okay with high-speed/spreading. Signposting is crucial. Anything else please ask pre-round.
This is my first year coaching and judging policy so please bear with me as I learn.
Most of my preferences carry over from other forms of debate; present to me as if I am a lay judge. This means please be mindful of your speed; I come from a PF/LD background so if I am spread out, I won't be able to flow you. Given the fast-paced nature of the event I will give you one callout: "Speed" and/or "Clear" in the round, after that I will put my pen/laptop down.
Signposting and clearly indicated arguments are crucial to make sure I am getting everything you want on the flow.
Quality > quantity. 7 off at high speed will not gain you any weight on my flow.
If you are unsure of anything in my preferences, please ask me before round and I'll do my best to clarify.
PF
I am ok with speed but if it sounds like you can't breathe that's bad (air is good for you) and I probably won't understand you.
I like frameworks and framework debates but I won't be mad if you don't have one. If you do propose one, I weigh Framework and FW clash very highly in the round. If you don't, I assume a CBA
In your constructive, if you have any overly complicated theory or extensive link chains, please take the time to explain them. If you just spew cards at me or tell me a theory without reasoning, I don't have a reason to flow it
Summary and FF: I know everyone says it but weighing and voters!! Don't just give me cards and say your world was better, please tell me why I should prefer your card over theirs and specifically how the outcome is better in your world. In FF make sure to recap all of your partners summary points and don't spend the majority of your time attacking your opponents. Voters, Voters, Voters, breakdown exactly what you want me to vote on for the round.
LD
TLDRValue/VC clash is very important. I prefer traditional arguments to policy-esque but will weigh what is presented to me equally without bias. Provide me voters/world analysis.
I expect that both debaters have a clearly laid out value and that there is good clash on which value hold higher priority.
LD is NOT Policy. Depending on your circuit Plans/Counter plans may or may not be allowed, if they are allowed I will take them into consideration (same as running K's, spreading, other policy types) but I prefer trad. arguments and FW clash. Your arguments should be based in value debates, not spreading out your competitors or running CPs when there is no plan in the first place. Please keep LD as "LD" as possible.
As in PF, I will not automatically flow CX, if something comes up you want flowed, tell me.
If you don't provide enough analysis, you can't expect your opponent to respond to it and neither can I. Make sure your ideas and evidence are fully explained and the links are clear.
Again if you spread me out or run things so progressive, I am probably not picking you up. I will say Speed one time if I am having trouble understanding you. If I can not understand beyond that, I will stop flowing.
Something new to me: Ideas on disclosure. I think it kind of ruins the spirit of debate, it allows you to everything on the line-by-line prepped out, and can spread 7 pages to me with no real meaning behind it (for me). I of course understand that disclosure is now common practice but if you are running T-shells on disclosure/contact disclosure you are going to be immediately dropped by me; I find it abusive and against the spirit of the event.
At the end, tell me why you win the round, what are your voters? Make it clear to me what I am voting on.
Congress
Having multiple speeches is of course important. With that said, I would much rather have you give me 1/2 really good speeches that add something to the debate rather than repeating what has been said 3 times just to get an extra speech in. Please don't give me fluff just so you are on my ballot more than your fellow Congress people.
Don't be afraid to give an opposing speech when no one else will, I'm not expecting it to be perfect but I would love to see someone step up and put new arguments in place than hear "although the chair frowns on a one sided debate" 6 times in a session.
Overall have fun though, its one of the most "free" and open for interpretation events in my opinion and the bills can lead to some very interesting discourse. Keep it respectful and structure your arguments well but feel free to have some "way-out-there" links and arguments.
I am a PF debater and Debate judge by heart so I would like to see some type of weighing or world analysis past authorship/first negation; it shows me that you as a Congress person are analysing the bill and debate, not just throwing a speech at me with no relevance to anything previously said.
Other Important Things
1) Don't be rude. To your opponent, partner, or me. I won't stand for any yelling or disrespect to each other. If you are being racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, etc I can guarantee you that you will not be winning the round.
2) I will time your speeches but please try and keep your own time, especially for CX. If you would like me to time anything for you and/or give time call outs/signals I will, but for the most part I do not want to intervene.
3) Don't commit evidence violations. I know that's kinda how debate is supposed to work but it's a long process that neither I nor you want to deal with so lets be smart please. With that said if your opponent does commit an evidence violation, don't be afraid to call it out. We all want things to be fair.
4) I will disclose after rounds anytime I am allowed to. I default to a brief Oral RFD with in-depth personal comments on the ballet. If you would like more explanation as to my decision in-round (time permitting), I am okay with post-rounding but please be respectful and brief if you choose to do so.
5) Have fun! Yes, debate is primarily a serious event but a little humor can break up the rounds and is appreciated.
If you have any questions/comments/concerns feel free to reach out. If you want to include me in any email chains, cool. If not that's okay too. If you ask me before round what my preferences are, I will briefly explain but be sad that you did not read my paradigm :(
email: steelej@milwaukee.k12.wi.us
Good Luck and Have Fun!
I was a quite experienced debater, but that doesn't matter too much, other than that I understand most common phrases and common debate practice. My goal is to be the judge I wish I had.
I don't think I should have to say this, but please use evidence. Analytics are only good until an expert comes up. Nobody in my rounds are experts on anything brought up in round, so I expect real experts to be used. If no experts are used, I have to decide what's right and wrong.
I don't judge critiques unless both sides force me to, or if the K is run as a valid argument/contention. If you ignore the opposing teams critique, I will probably vote for you, unless the K is topical. Focus on debating the topic, not some K against the topic that my vote has literally no impact in changing. Something similar is true for theory. If you run theory to try to get an easy win, I won't vote for it. If someone doesn't sign up for a random wiki, that has literally nothing to do with debate. If your theory is for something valid and is run as a proper argument, I will consider it. Ex. Op team spreading and you have asked them to slow down.
I won't tolerate racist, misogynistic, homophobic, or other derogatory terms, and these will result in a loss and 20 speakers. The exception is if your evidence uses this word in an important quote or appropriate context. Same thing with swear words, except those won't result in an automatic loss. Hard swears can lead to lower speakers, even if said during prep or other similar times during round.
Framework should be used as a framing device. You need to tell me why it is important, and why you win under it. Failure to do either may prevent me from using your frameworks.
Speed should be kept to a reasonable speed. If you have to gasp for air to get your whole case out, I won't be able to understand. And I won't read a speech doc, because that's doing your leg work for you. I won't penalize slower speeds, and will always vote based on arguments. Speeches that are too fast tend to make me lose arguments, even if they were mentioned.
I may be inclined to vote for a team that sounds confident and projects compared to a team that mumbles and sounds unsure. My top priority as a judge is education, though, so I will always comment and vote mainly off of the arguments brought up in round, and how both teams can improve. But, like most speeches in history, being understandable and confident make people listen and take you more seriously.
Be nice to your opponents. You can stand or sit, figure it out with your opponents. Don't be overly mean or aggressive. Ask any questions about my paradigm before round. And have fun in the round. Believe you can win, no matter how hard a round may seem.
Email is tidbergjosh@gmail.com for email chains.
Debated policy for 4 years in high school.
PF:
I'll try to stay tech over truth to the best of my ability. I will keep a flow. Feel free to talk at whatever pace you feel comfortable with, but please speak clearly otherwise I will not be able to flow very much (I find talking at slightly above conversational is most often a good ceiling). Please signpost or reference what arguments you're responding to so your amazing and compelling responses/extensions can be placed correctly on my flow (especially in summary and rebuttal), or at the very least, clearly separate your opponents' case from yours. I will usually time speeches/prep, but you should be timing too. I will not flow cross, so anything important that gets revealed there should find its way into a speech.
Having a well-organized constructive should be a given. Clash and line by line in rebuttal are usually a good idea. Please extend your convincing arguments to summary; I'd rather you crystalize key stances on your case and your opponents' case than get to voters in this speech. Final focus should be mostly weighing and voters (I've found running a framework well is usually helpful for this).
Now, it wouldn't be a complete paradigm if I didn't say be respectful and have fun!