Paradigm

Angel Rivera
Christopher Columbus High School

I primarily judge based on organized structure along with supporting facts. So long as you aren't trying to throw things together and being able to respond to your opponent's arguments in order to fully refute them, you'll be on a pretty good standing in terms of winning the round. Signposting is great. I know it's not entirely normal for some people but it really helps me in trying to get a good grasp at the structure of the argument. You don't necessarily need it for the win however if done well you can definitely at the very least see it reflect in your speaker points. Make sure your arguments make sense. The worst thing is to be in a debate and while you are trying to relay your argument the only thing I understand is just words coming out of your mouth. I understand some topics can be rough, but word vomit is not the way to go. At that point it makes me want to stop flowing whatever you're saying and move on to the next speech. Towards the end of your 2AR/2NR speech, make sure your voters are clear and presented in a way that also makes sense. The best thing in the round is for me to be able to simply look at the voters and evaluate whether those are true based on what I've seen on the round in order to make my decision rather than try to sum it up myself. You're more likely to get the L if you do that. If you spread you better do it well because I know you guys aren't Eminem. I know sometimes it's important to get a lot of things across when covering information but if you aren't making it clear and also trying to do it needlessly (where I'm hearing more breaths than words cause you're talking over yourself) then you should be fine. I don't have a heavy policy debate background, The easier you make things for me to understand the better and more likely you are to win my ballot. When it does come to actual policy rounds as well, providing the clearest plan with detailed thought behind it will do very well so long as your plan stands the test of the round. At the end of the day, I'll try my best in order to give the fairest judging for the round possible, but know if you do some risky plays and don't execute them right, that may very well cost you the round.