Li+Zhou,+Sissi

I was a debater for the American School Foundation in Mexico City, and debated mainly Worlds Style, but I also am familiar with US styles of debate (Public Forum and Lincoln Douglas). I am currently a member of the American Parliamentary Debate Association and am affiliated to Northeastern University.

General philosophy:
 * 1) Clarity is very important (I will reiterate this before every round). I am a strong believer that **__spreading is not debating__**. Spreading makes the round become an activity of "who can speak faster" rather than an activity of logic and argumentation. I also think it hinders the quality of debate because your opponent is unlikely to hear and flow all your arguments so he/she is not going to respond to them. This often leads to rounds with very little clash and developed rebuttal. It also leads to bad judging because its hard to adjudicate rounds with little clash, and I can't give you proper feedback if I didn't understand your argument. The point is, I won't judge on rhetoric or persuasiveness, but your arguments need to be understandable. I can flow pretty fast, but not at 400 wpm.
 * 2) I like it when debaters give a framework/criteria for the debate, but do elaborate not only about your value and value criterion but also about why I should judge the round based on your framework as opposed to opp’s, this allows both debaters to weigh and impact their arguments which leads me to the next point,
 * 3) Impacting arguments and weighing them against your opponent's arguments is very important, if not, as stated above it leads to a round with very little clash or shallow arguments.
 * 4) Using examples as warrants for your case without an explanation to why it's important to the round does not win you debates. Both sides are going to throw research and evidence that supports their side of the motion. Analysing your evidence and why its relevant to the round is more valuable and truly speaks to your ability to develop arguments. You can question the methodology, or refute the argument's principle.
 * 5) Please be respectful to your fellow debaters.