It is the responsibility of any judge to set aside personal biases, which I strive to do in full during any round of debate.  When I state that I am a traditional lay judge from an area that debates slower, I do not mean to imply that particular cases will be immediately discounted for their criticality or theoretical examinations of the event.  Rather, it is the responsibility of the debaters within the round to convince me of the superiority of their argument.  In determining a round, it should be considered that the entirety of the argument must be coherent and open to discussion on both sides.  In other words: please do not spread in a round without disclosing your case to myself and your opponent.  Debate is not particularly educational at excessive speaking speeds.

For deliberation, I look toward the flow of the debate itself.  While I expect that debaters are capable of tracking arguments and defending their cases, personal remarks or excessively abusive language may have an impact on deliberation.

Email:

beckman@mtsd.org

I've judged a lot of NLD lately but most of this holds true for VLD.

Long story short, make sure you're debating LD, not 1-on-1 policy. Don't drop your framework; it's what makes LD so special. You need a criterion; it's your measuring stick. Tell me exactly why you win under one of the frameworks; it doesn't necessarily have to be yours. I very frequently hear a familiar laundry list in rebuttals: "I win on scope, I win on magnitude, I win framework debate...". Asserting it doesn't make it true; explain your reasoning.

There is a lot of overlap between "students who want to spread" and "students whom I can't understand since they are stumbling over every other word" -- I'm around a traditional 8/circuit 4 on speed. If I can't understand you, I can't flow you. Debate should be open to everyone, not just schools with full-time prep teams.

I am a former LD assistant coach and judge with experience in LD, Parli, and BQ. Clash is critical-- don't talk past each other. If your opponent has the most ludicrous case ever known to humankind but you don't attack it, they're probably winning. Open to progressive arguments for sure but you need clash. Fairly familiar with philosophy. Respect your opponent in and after the round.

I'm from Wisconsin (Go Cheesemakers!) where I did humorous and oratory since my school didn't have a debate program. I went to Penn and did parli debate. Recently returned from South Dakota to Philadelphia.

I am an LD debater from Upper St. Clair High School, and I have done LD for multiple years. When judging a round, I first evaluate which framework is left standing, and then I evaluate all impacts in the round under that framework. If you don't explicitly link the impact to the framework, then I won't do it for you. You will win the round if you can directly link your impacts to the winning framework and clearly show me, and tell me why, your impacts are better than your opponents.

If something is dropped, you have to tell me that it was dropped, and only then will I actually extend it. If you say something was dropped and it wasn't, I will not extend it, so don't make up drops. I can handle speed, but I prefer you speak at a conversational pace and definitely do not spread. If you do talk fast, make sure you are clear enough that I can actually follow along.

PS: If you can seamlessly slip in a Carly Rae Jepsen, Radiohead, U2 reference, I will bump you by a speaker point.

My name is Jackie Hertzel. My pronouns are she/her. I am a traditional judge. I have judged public forum, Lincoln Douglas and Parli. I take my notes on an online flow during the round. I am interested in hearing what debaters have to say so please be mindful of your speed. I am good with off time roadmaps, calling out dropped arguments and noting voting issues. If one debater’s argument goes unchallenged then I will assume it is valid. I am not a fan of spreading. Good luck and have fun!

debate.ianmackeypiccolo@gmail.com

2nd year out and I cut cards about the topic for people.

I will vote for anything except bona fide right wing extremism and ad homs. I care about tech enough to vote for dropped aspec. I don't show up to debates trying to enforce any specific ideology or scold debaters for saying things I don't like, but if I was a judge who only voted for arguments I agreed with I would be an excellent judge for reasonability, extra topical plans, infinite condo, and the states counterplan not being an opportunity cost. I have a policy background. I don't like inserted evidence unless the nature of the evidence makes it unreadable.

I am a traditional judge.

I am a parent judge. This is my first year participating. I am a scientist. For me to better judge your performance:

1. Please speak clearly and do not speed.

2. Use clear logic.

3. Be respectful to your opponent.