Whitaker,+Josh

__Experience__: I did LD for two years in high school and one year in college. This is my fourth year coaching the event.

__General Philosophy__: I believe that LD should resemble the historical debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas in the ways suggested by the NFL guidelines. Accordingly, I base my decision equally on two general factors: argumentation and presentation.

To evaluate argumentation in cases with a Value/Criterion structure, I first decide which value to adopt for the purposes of the round. Then I decide which criterion best achieves the adopted value. Finally I use this value and criterion to evaluate the impacts of each well-defended contention presented in the round. The debater with more weighty, well-defended contentions has the better argumentation.

To evaluate presentation, I pretend that I have the expectations and intuitions of the average American citizen. Accordingly, I appreciate conversational speed, regular vocabulary, engaging body language, eloquence, and professionalism. The debater that better exhibits these qualities has the better presentation.