1. ARGUMENTS

This regards both the content of the speech and the research done for it. As far as the arguments are concerned:

Also pay a lot of attention to the examples used: 

  Quality of the examples or anecdotes used to illustrate or justify the arguments
  Pertinence of the examples
  Does the speaker go the “extra mile”?

 2. PRESENTATION

You also have to judge how the content is put over. This includes several elements:

3. TEAMWORK AND STRATEGY

The teamwork regards the linking with one’s team, the presence of a coherent team line.Strategy gathers the handling of points of information/of order, the line of attack adopted etc.

 TEAMWORK

On an individual level:

There should be a sense of progression; speakers should refer back and forward. Speakers sould respect their roles. More precisely, let’s stress the specific roles of the first and fifth speakers:

  First speaker: three important elements: defines and interprets the motion, describeshis/her team line, introduces his/her team and gives a foretaste of their arguments.
  Last speaker: gives a summary speech, in which he/she points out the clash between the two teams, ties up the rebuttal, briefly sums up their side’s arguments, and … underlines how much better they were than the other side’s!

  STRATEGY

Handling of the Points of Information:

  Is the speaker destabilized?
  Is the answer satisfactory?

NB: a poor question deserves a dismissive answer, as long as it’s witty

Does the speaker participate actively in the debate by ASKING points of information?

Rebuttal:

  Are the arguments of the opposing team acknowledged and dealt with.

Remember: the better team is not the collection of the five best speakers. We must feel that a team has worked together, that it clicks together and that it creates an overall atmosphere of understanding, cohesion and spirit.

 4. STAR QUALITY (THE famous “je ne sais quoi”)

Dear Judges, it is probably this quality, this famous « je ne sais quoi » that we all enjoy so much. It is probably all the more hard to judge.Just to help you, you should pay attention to the overall impression you have of the candidates, of the team.Notably, teams should be awarded extra credit:

  If they were particularly entertaining
  If they managed to destabilize their opponents
  If they did a good job of defending the harder point of view (be careful about the extremely subjective nature of this criterion)

On the reverse, teams should be penalized:

  If they did not ask enough POI’s, or poor ones, or badly formulated ones
  If they were unclear or boring
  If they contradicted each other, failed to rebut
  If they did not respect the rules or the spirit of the game

B. Final Mark

Let us also remind you must also give a mark out of 20 to each team. Half marks are accepted. This is absolutely essential as it will be taken into account in the event of a tie once all judges’ votes have been added up.

To avoid major discrepancies and to ensure fair adjudication, please check that your final marks comply with the following scale :

  18-20 Exceptional
  15-18 Very impressive
  12-15 Quite good but with serious lacunae in certain fields
  10-12 Average with some moments of brilliance
  07-10 Below average - many limitations.
  00-07 Need to seriously rethink approach to FDA debating

C. Vote

Each judge has one vote. The final decision of the jury does not have to reflect how close the debate may have been, i.e. if all three judges believe one team was slightly better than another then this should be displayed by a 3‐0 vote. A 2‐1 vote is entirely possible but must be based on one judge disagreeing with the majority on the outcome of the debate.