Stephens,+Ryan

**Background:** I competed on the San Antonio circuit for three years for James Madison High School, in PF for two years, LD for one year, and extemporaneous speaking for all three. I went to TFA state in all of the events all three years and NSDA Nationals for extemp my junior year. I also have spent two years judging both events at tournaments on the San Antonio circuit. I do coaching on and off for John Paul II Catholic HS in New Braunfels, Texas. In HS, I used a more traditional structure for writing my cases but I'm familiar with progressive argumentation.

**Argumentation:** I evaluate everything fairly, there really isn't any arguments I won't vote off of. With kritik arguments, don't let your cards do all the talking. I am not super familiar with a majority of K literature so I ask that you explain in compressed terms what the card is. Of course, don't compress it to the point where meaning is lost.

Not super familiar on the nuances of theory debate so if it comes down to that, **don't spread on theory.** I would rather have theory start in the 1st CX rather than the NC, if that makes sense. I don't have the strongest foundation for theory but I know the structure of the shell and the importance of RVIs, so work with me by explaining your voters and the RVI so I can make a fair decision.

**Presentation/Speed:** An easy way to get 29-30 speaker points is by slowing down on tag lines and author names. Spreading cards is fine. I will make this clear in the round if you don't read this and will follow it closely. Also, if I stop flowing, you've lost me on either speed/clarity. I'll try to say clear but observe your judge (Me) first, if I'm not flowing, we have problems. I'm hesitant to say clear just because I feel it is distracting but if your spread/presentation is problematic, I will spring for it.

Repetitive speech is another place where I'll dock off on. You don't need to spend 40 seconds repeating yourself if you can do it in 10. Also, sign post, sign post, sign post. Very important that you sign post correctly and for every new piece of argumentation. These rounds get very messy on my end when you don't do this bit of work and I am willing to take you down to 26 SPs if you consistently forgo signposting.

Also, I do dock speaker points for lazy extensions. Give me a reason to extend argumentation/contentions/rebuttals/etc., tell me why it matters, give me something to weigh it on. Telling me just to extend it is not cool, so even if you win while doing that, the speaker points will not reflect a good performance.

**How I vote:** NR and 2AR are the most important speeches for how I decide my vote. There are a bunch of in-round issues that I could evaluate but would rather not because I like to be fair to both debaters. Sign post your voters, only give me voting issues that have been extended through all speeches (I will know), and be **comparative**. Does this outweigh the other side, is it an a prori issue, etc. The Aff/Neg arguments do not occur in a bubble, the voters should reflect that. For voters, I like looking at the big picture rather than by the line by line, we already spent about 30 minutes doing it line by line so big picture is fresh.

**On paperless,** I'd prefer if Aff flashes to Neg before round, Neg flashes whatever they need ASAP. Less time spent on this, the better. If your laptop dies, malfunctions, etc. and you don't have backups, I feel no sympathy so try to prep for the worst case scenario.