Intermediate High School Curriculum Guide

Judge Adaptation

High school novice judges are a diverse group. Sometimes you’ll get more experienced debaters, while other times you’ll get parents who are still relatively new to debate. Remember that one of the four parts of public speaking is your audience. While you can’t control who judges you, you can control your approach to the round. So, at this level of debate, you’ll want to change your strategy based on who is judging you to be as persuasive as possible.

What should you do before the round?

But you shouldn’t make assumptions about your judge! Sometimes judges who have a lot of experience may also be parents. Other times, people you thought were former debaters may just be volunteers. That’s why you must ask your judge questions before the round! Here are some examples that can help you win your debates:

• Did you debate in high school?

• Are you a debate coach?

• How many debate rounds have you judged before?

• Do you allow tag-teaming in cross-examination?

• During cross-examination, should we look at you or at the other team?

All these questions will help you understand how familiar with debate your judge is. If they’ve judged many debates in the past, they’ll probably be looking for all the skills addressed in the curriculum. If not, they may miss one or two – so make sure to emphasize the parts of the debate you want them to consider at the end of the round.

What shouldn’t you do before the round?

There are also some questions you should not ask, like:

• Do you like the affirmative or the negative better?

• Do you prefer speed or clarity?

• Can I be affirmative instead of negative?

• Do you even have any debate experience?

• You have nice hair today.

What’s wrong with these questions? The first one asks about the judges’ biases, but judges are not allowed to carry bias between rounds. The second is a silly question because all judges prefer clarity – how else can they flow? The third question is something the judge can’t control. The fourth comes off as rude, and the last comes off as inappropriate. Be professional!

What should you do during the round?

While you can’t ask questions to your judges during the debate, you can watch their body language. Doing so will help you make decisions about which arguments they like and which ones they don’t like. Here are some key signs to pay attention to:

• Does the judge look interested in what you’re saying, or do they look bored?

• Is the judge writing down what you’re saying?

• Are you making eye contact with the judge, or are they looking elsewhere?

• Is the judge nodding in agreement with anything, or are they shaking their head?

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