Last changed on
Fri November 15, 2024 at 3:56 AM CST
7 years of judging in PF and Congress
Overall Expectations:
Be respectful to your fellow competitors and judges. Debate is educational as well as competitive and the skills that you learn and develop within your event will serve you well later in life. I speak on this as a former debater.
Take pride in the work that you do. It can be very obvious when you are not as prepared. There is an element of debate that does require improvisation and being able to form arguments on the spot but the best arguments are still those that have an element of preparedness to it. Find that balance and I promise it will reflect well on your ballot.
Just like you, I am still learning how to be a good judge, so I ask for some patience, especially in events like PF and LD where I do not have nearly as much experience as I do with Congress.
Any kind of argument based on bigoted ideology will result in an instant loss of the round and I will be discussing it with you and your coach.
Congress:
Congress is probably the most unique of all of the debate events done at the NSDA level. The speed is much slower and you must be more tactical when you choose to speak. This does not make it any less of a debate event and I expect you to be paying attention to what your fellow competitors are doing in the session. I love clash and have no problem with you doing it from the beginning. Call each other out while staying as respectful as possible, we don't need this to descend into actual Congress.
Respect is paramount in Congress. While an individual event you should work together with your fellow representatives/senators to come up with strategies, set the docket, and pass legislation. This is a mock Congress and you should take into consideration the needs of the people you are supposed to be representing.
Questions are super important in debate and I consider it when making my decision. Quality is always more important than quantity. I'd rather that you be asking 1 or 2 good questions than 5 or 6 not-so-good ones.
PF:
The main element that is needed within PF is the ability to adapt. Not only to your opponent but to your judge as well. I am not a very technical judge. While keeping track of your flows your argument needs to make sense. You can't just argue that if the status quo changes it will lead to nuclear war. I need a sound argument of cause and effect. If the prompt proves to be true then it will lead to these side effects.
If your point isn't landing don't drag it along toward the end. Cut it out if you can't get past your opponent's refutation. The best debaters don't force through an argument but are flexible and creative enough to still get the point even when one of their points doesn't work.
During cross don't talk over one another. You are not proving a point you are just being rude. I will be paying attention during cross and will be using that to weigh into my decision. If you are talking I am listening. The first time I won't say anything but if it continues to become a problem I will say something and you don't want your team to lose a point because of it.
LD:
I am relatively new to judging LD so please bear with me.
If you have any questions please feel free to email me at sky.stefanski14@gmail.com