Miller,+Jennifer+Rose

Things I look for while judging -Clear demonstration of knowledge about the argument you are presenting, if you do not clearly understand the philosophical underpinnings of your argument then it would be best if you do some reading before the round or just use another argument. Not looking for a doctoral thesis but a bit more knowledge than what the average person already knows should be presented -Eloquence is important to me as well. Speak well, decisively, and without any clear fears or hesitations. -Spreading is okay with me, as long as you can do it well. I won't take away too many speaking points for bad spreading, but the time to practice spreading is during speaking drills at home or with the team. Not in a debate round! -Theory arguments are what wake me up in the morning. But your theory needs to be clearly applicable to the topic at hand. -Topicality is important, but since I do like theory if you can prove by clearly saying "this alludes to the topic" or "this relates to the topic because" that would work much better. For example, if the topic is about ocean development, don't read queer theory about why we should/shouldn't do it. Read Marx or a theorist that actually has things to say about material things. -In a PFD round, while your partner is speaking, I don't like it when debaters say "remember to say this!" Use prep time for strategy.