Kelsey,+Michelle

I debated in high school (LD) and college (Policy) and have been coaching high school and college policy for the last five years.

Primarily, I expect you to be polite to each other. Civility will earn you my respect, and perhaps more importantly to you, more speaker points. If you are rude, yell or are otherwise offensive you will see the results in a reduction in your speaker points.

I am not particularly interested in telling you what to debate or how. I prefer that you debate in the manner and on the issues that you like/find compelling/are really good at. That doesn’t mean that I’m not predisposed to a certain style of debate, or certain arguments…but generally I will evaluate the debate in terms of how you direct me.

Topicality is an evidentiary issue. I have no problem voting on T if you go for it, have the evidence to substantiate your claims, and impact the argument in a meaningful way. I am compelled most by arguments about limits rather than abuse, but you should probably make both!

Theory: I really dig good theory debates…they are rarely good though because of incomprehensibility. I can’t flow analytics as fast as you can get them out…so if you do not slow way down for theory it is unlikely I will get the arguments you want on paper. I’m a great flow, but I can only do so much.

K’s are cool, but typically under-explained on the line by line and over-explained in overviews. I am cool with most critical arguments…like any other argument, these arguments should rely on good solid evidence, not just big buzz words that are otherwise devoid of meaning. I also am typically unpersuaded by capitalism debates.

CP’s: run them. Be prepared to defend the theory/condition of your CP. I do not have a particular opinion about CPs in general but you should know that I am sympathetic to aff claims of dispo bad if most of the arguments in the neg strategy also link to the CP. This is not an unwinnable position, just a minor predisposition you should be aware of.

DA’s…you should run them with good evidence. DA’s with one shady line link cards are probably not a wise choice.

Other tips: don’t just extend 1AC evidence without explaining why it answers the 1NC arguments. Tag line extentions are not sufficient, even when an argument is dropped. WEIGH ARGUMENTS.

Speed: You will not likely talk faster than I can flow. You MUST be clear. I will yell clear then I will stop flowing if you are not comprehensible.

I will not likely read evidence after the round unless the round is dependent on the specificity of the claims/warrants in your evidence. Good debaters should be able to communicate in-round what their evidence says...I will not do this work for you at the end of the debate.

Ideologically unsavory arguments like patriarchy good, racism good, homophobia good, etc. will guarantee you a loss in the debate. I understand many people carry these arguments with them; you should not read them in front of me.