Paradigm

Peter Gruchot
Trinity Preparatory School

I've been judging LD and PF off-and-on for about five years now, but mostly novice so I haven't seen a ton of high level rounds. I judge off the flow as much as possible, but I'm not familiar with all of the debate terminology so make sure you're not relying on it and your arguments are clear. Signposting and roadmaps are useful.

As far as speed, I can keep up with a decent amount but I prefer clarity and delivery over spreading for the sake of it. If you choose to speed in front of me, you might see a slight ding to your speaker points, but it's not really a voting issue for me.

As far as theory and topicality I'm not that familiar with the structure of theory arguments, but I'm learning about it and if it's well warranted I'll consider it- you just have to be really clear in your explanation and extensions.

As for K's, I enjoy reading critical literature and theory, but I'm unfamiliar with the norms of how a K functions in debate. I'm trying to learn more about how they work, but by no means am I an experienced K judge. I might be receptive to your argument, but run a K at your own risk.