Martin,+Alli

I am the former director of speech and debate at Alta High and have been coaching/judging LD since 1996.

I believe debaters should debate in the style they are most comfortable and make the arguments they think are best. This is your round and I don’t want you to adapt to me more than absolutely necessary – I am willing to listen to any well-formed argument and weigh it in the manner prescribed in the round. That said, I enjoy well-made, well-substantiated theory and kritical argumentation. Sufficient work should be done to establish framework, etc. and arguments should be fully formed and supported throughout the round.

While I am a fan of the movement in LD away from a traditional value-based debate, I do not judge frequently enough to keep up with the super-high rate of speed that often accompanies the style. I have no pedagogical opposition to speed but I simply am not practiced enough to judge a debater who speaks super-fast. This does NOT mean you need to slow down to conversation rate but you may need to slow a little so that I can keep up. I will let you know if you’re going too fast for me so you don’t need to start out slow.

As far as what I vote on, this varies greatly from round to round. I expect you to give me voters and explain how they win you the round.