Brown,+Zachary

Zachary Brown Wichita East HS zrbrown@gmail.com Updated: October 2017

Short version: Read below for more specific preferences. Give me a good big picture on your arguments and then focus on your specific line by lines. Focus on links over impacts. Quality of arguments and evidence matters more than quantity. Don't assume I'm as well versed in your argument as you. I like humor and gutsy strategic choices. Above everything else, be nice and have fun. Debate is important, but people matter more.

Background: Primarily judge policy debate on the Kansas high school circuit. 17 total years of debate experience (2000-present). 7 years of experience as debater and assistant coach at Wichita State University (2004-2011) 10 years of experience as a high school coach at Wichita East HS and Hutchinson HS (2007-Present)

Specifics: I have voted for all debate styles and types of arguments. I'm most familiar with CP/DA strategy, but I'm a also a fan of most well executed kritiks. I'm not the best judge for performance, dense high theory kritiks, and non-traditional and personal arguments. I'm just not as familiar with those kinds of arguments. If you read those arguments, I want to understand the context of your arguments, and give me a big picture summary. Don't assume I am super familiar with your literature or argument. Explain key terms, give me examples, and help me learn about your argument..

Topicality is not my favorite argument, and I'm receptive to reasonability in a lot of instances. I do feel that an affirmative should be grounded in the topic to a large extent, but I am open to debates about what that means and questions pertaining to whether an instrumental USFG approach is necessary. Clear explanations of ground and education lost are key for the negative to win T. I'm not likely to be highly persuaded by a T arguments with arbitrary interps. I have a pretty high threshold for voting against a team on a theoretical objection, I'm far more likely to be persuaded by "reject the arg not the team".

CP/DA/K arguments should have links specifically analyzed in the context of the aff. Impacts should be analyzed in timeframe/magnitude/probability. Impact framing is important- you have to win why your impact matters. If reading a K, don't rely on the jargon and buzzwords. Tell me what your K means in context of the aff and explain how your alt interacts with the aff and resolves the links. Not a fan of artificially competitive net benefits to CPs so that usually means that condition/consult/process CPs are not my favorite.

I don't like to call for evidence. I don't want the speech docs. I will typically only call for a card if there is a dispute to the contents or highlighting, or if I feel it is absolutely essential to making my decision.

The communicative aspect of debate is as important as the substantive aspect. Ethos and persuasion matter as much as line by line debate. I have no real preference for rate of delivery, but I have a preference for clarity. Most debaters are better served by slowing down just a bit to improve clarity, which improves speech efficiency and my understanding of arguments. If I don't understand your argument, I won't vote for it. Make your argument clear, give me a good big picture view. Don't expect me to decode a six page line by line debate for you. Don't expect me to make the cross-applications for you. It's the job of the debater to extend important arguments and do the evidence comparison. Don't just tell me to read the card after the round because it is "on fire". Give me pen time on things. Pay attention to judge

Evidence and source quality matters. I prefer quality over quantity of arguments. Far too many teams get away with reading absolutely terrible cards that are either from highly questionable sources or are highlighted to look more like a page from a MadLibs book than an actual argument. Call it out. If something is blatantly factually incorrect, like a card from 15 years ago that says "there are WMDs in Iraq", I will be highly skeptical and have a high threshold to vote for that argument. At the same time, if you have truth and history on your side, I don't think you always need a card to say something obvious like "the sky is blue". I'm a thinking human being, not a debate robot.

Good CX is the most underutilized part of debate. Good CX strategy will improve speaker points. I don't care about open cx, whether you stand/sit, or if you gotta take a few seconds of your prep to finish a line of questioning (don't overdo this though!). I do care if one teammate takes control of open cx without giving their partner a chance to ask/answer questions, if you constantly interrupt and don't even give your opponent a second to answer your question, or if you don't realize that a line of questioning and answering is getting you nowhere

Don't steal prep. Don't be typing on a speech doc while your partner or opponent is opening speech docs. Card clipping is a big deal, however unless it is particularly bad, I'd be more likely to be persuaded to reject a piece of evidence or lower speaks for a minor violation. I'd like to use that as a teaching moment in most instances, especially for younger debaters. For card clipping to rise to the loss level, it'll usually have to be more than just not marking it on one card. You'll have to demonstrate a pattern of behavior that is not an accident. If I think that you're clipping, I'll deal with it after a speech. I also don't care for prompting during speeches, and it should be left for instances where prompting would make the difference between winning or losing. If you suck at flashing evidence before a speech, I reserve the right to start your prep time at my discretion.

Speaker points typically begin in the range of 27.5+ for average performance in a loss, 27.7+ for average performance in a win, and points increasing/decreasing depending on the quality of a speech or strategic decision. 28.3+ is usually my baseline for teams that I would expect would clear according to the skill level of the division. 29+ has to be something impressive. If you make the round more enjoyable points may go up. Points will decrease if you're rude, disrespectful, or offensive to your opponents, teammates, or anyone else. I like humor and gutsy strategic choices if you think you've got a shot. Be nice and have fun, debate is important but debate is more than just the ballot.