Noparstak,+Theo

Niles West High School '14 University of Kentucky '18

Debate is a game that combines rhetorical communication with strategically constructed arguments in an attempt to comparatively prove why a judge should vote a particular way.

The debates that I find myself most frustrated with as a debater are the ones where a judge makes a decision based on arguments that weren't emphasized in the debate. Therefore I will try very hard to listen intently to everything you say, and use your speeches to guide my decision.

1. The most important part of any particular debate round, and the place where you can most influence my decision, are the final two rebuttals. After the debate, I look at what I think are the most important issues in the 2NR and 2AR, and re-organize my flow around those key nexus points. Make sure I know what you want me to think about.

2. However, I think the most important part of winning debates in general comes before the tournament when you are putting in the time to construct your arguments. This usually manifests itself in great pieces of evidence and very persuasive speeches. I recommend thinking about how you want debates to end, which means figuring out what cards you want me to be reading and what you want my flow to say after the debate.

3. I will do my best to decide the specific debate decided in front of me, which means I will privilege arguments made by the debaters, not the voice in the back of my head. I am willing to vote on an argument that doesn't make a lot of sense to me if the opposing team doesn't do a good enough job explaining why the argument doesn't make sense. While I __don't__ have a __high__ threshold that must be reached before voting __for__ a bad argument, I __do__ have a __low__ threshold for voting __against__ a bad argument.

4. I will do my best to avoid deciding a debate that didn't happen in the round. I am less concerned with absolute truth, and more concerned with the limited set of information each team will present over the course of the debate. This means I will do my best to limit my intervention when resolving argumentative disputes. But I find myself introducing my own subjective biases most often when debates lack clash and I am unsure how else I can decide the debate without resolving unresolved issues.

5. I determine the winner, but you determine the debate. If you have a nasty curveball, don't deviate from a successful strategy just because you think my strike zone might be smaller than others. I'd rather see a debate on what you're best at than a strategy executed poorly while tailored to what you think I prefer.

6. Have an appropriate level of respect for arguments and opponents