Niland,+Luthien

I debated for 3 years for SPASH (Stevens Point Area Senior High in WI) and judged a few tournaments during my first two years of college. Still, it’s been about 3 years since I’ve done anything with debate.

Speed: Since I’ve been out of debate for a few years, insane speed MUST be avoided. I prefer moderate speed so that we can get through a good deal of points on both sides, but I believe that not having to be accountable for the actual content of a card by slowing down on the tag and then flying through the card itself severely decreases the educational value of the debate. Therefore, be clear on both the tags and the delivery. If you're going too fast, I might try to yell something to make you slow down, but more likely you will just know by the confused and terrified look on my face.

Explain points to me while I get used to the topic and usual points- don’t assume that I know acronyms or common topic phrases.

Signposting: Telling me exactly where to look on my flow for each point is absolutely critical- if it takes me a second or two to figure out what you are talking about and then a few mores seconds to find that column in my flow, I won’t feel too responsible for the arguments that I missed.

Sleazy moves: I don’t want to hear completely irrelevant Topicality arguments that are obviously just there for a time suck. I think Topicality serves a very important purpose in debate and so I don’t want this to be mocked with absolutely absurd T arguments that you are just going to drop in the next speech. Also, anything that isn’t kept in round by the end of the 1NR will be dropped, at least by me, for the rest of the round, so don’t waste time trying to rejuvenate points in the 2NR that were dropped in the Neg block.

Final decision: you must weigh the impacts and tell me how to vote and exactly why. As a policy advocate, I want to hear all arguments completely impacted during the final rebuttals and why this makes you win.

Counterplans: I prefer/almost require CPs that are tailored to the Aff. Generic Consult Nato, etc. CPs seem like a waste of time to me and I will almost always vote on the perm if possible just so I don’t have to listen to any further points on the CP.

Kritiks: I can handle kritiks and I even like them sometimes, when they are explained extremely well and linked very well to the plan- I hate hearing semi-irrelevant Kritiks (or any arguments) that are just run because it’s what you run every time and you can read the cards really fast. Plus, like I said, I’ve been out of debate for a while now and so I am not very familiar with the Kritiks that are out there these days. Therefore, read the cards to get the arguments on the table and then explain and impact everything clearly and thoroughly.

Really, that goes for all arguments- if you explain and impact them completely and clearly, I will listen to the argument and consider it for the win. I really do like to think and learn, but debate judging shouldn’t be hard work and I’m not going to connect the dots of the argument for you- I will do everything possible to not intervene, as debating should be about you, not me.

If you are working for speaker points, articulate, be thorough and strategic in your explanations, and don’t be a dick.