EUNOIA DEBATING

CHAMPIONSHIP 2022
Adjudicator Briefing
 SECTION 1:
THE BASICS
 Speaker Scale
WSDC Scoring scale
● Substantive speeches (1st Prop - 3rd Opp)
○ Average score: 70
○ Expected range: 60-80
○ Note: Please do not use the AP scale (Average 75)
● Reply speeches
○ Average score: 35
○ Expected range: 30-40

Winning team must have a higher total speaker score than the losing
team
 Speaker Scale
WSDC Scoring scale
● Style (40%)
○ Assesses HOW the content is presented
○ Includes pace of speech, tonal variations, eye contact, etc
○ Does NOT include accents, immutable characteristics of an individual’s voice, and impediments
resulting from the speaker’s internet connection such as lag
● Content (40%)
○ Assesses WHAT is presented
○ Includes quality of arguments, rebuttals, POIs, and responses to POIs
● Strategy (20%)
○ Assesses WHY content is presented
○ Includes relevance of arguments to the motion, time allocation, consistency between arguments
○ Strategy points can be awarded when a speaker identifies and addresses the right issues in the
debate, even if they don’t analyse these issues very well
Notes:
● The ballot submitted on Tabbycat will be the CUMULATIVE speaker score (out of 100)
● Half-points (0.5) are the lowest fraction allowed
Speaker Scale
Speaker Scale
 Speaker Scale
Margins between teams
● 0-2 pts: Very close debate
● 3-5 pts: Close but clear
● 5-10 pts: Clear win
● 10+ pts: Very clear win, winning team dominated the debate
 The Average Reasonable Voter
The expected disposition for all adjudicators
● Unbiased: Adjudicators should set aside their personal opinions
about the motion and specific arguments
● Observant and diligent: Adjudicators should judge the debate as it
unfolded, based on the substantiation and evidence of both teams
and not their own perception of what the debate could have been.
● Possessing general knowledge: Adjudicators should judge the
debate as the average, intelligent listener without letting specialist
knowledge interfere with the debate.
 SECTION 2:
PROCEDURE DURING
ROUNDS
 When prep time ends,
Ensure both teams are present in the room
- If teams are NOT in the room,
1. Check if they are still in their prep rooms on ZOOM.
If they are, enter the prep room and get them to move to the Debate room. Extra prep time
is not allowed.
2. If they are NOT in their prep rooms, send a message to the #missing-persons
channel on DISCORD.
The message should include (a) which team is missing and (b) which room the
team is supposed to be in. The EXCO will attempt to contact missing teams.
3. If teams do NOT show up, the walkover policy applies.
- If a team is uncontactable after more than 15 minutes from the stipulated start time of the
debate, it will be considered a walkover
- If a walkover occurs, the losing team will get a 60/30 for their scores, while the winning
team will get the average of their previous round(s).
 When prep time ends,
Ensure both teams are present in the room
- If a team is contactable but has issues logging into Zoom, the debate can
continue on Discord.
- However, the debate must then begin within 20 minutes of the stipulated
start time, or it will be considered a walkover as well
 Before the round starts,
1. Introduce yourself and the panel
2. Invite speakers to introduce their
a. Speaking order (this is needed to fill in the ballot)
b. POI preferences
c. Preferred gender pronouns (optional)
3. Ask speakers whether they CONSENT TO HAVING OBSERVERS
 During the debate,
1. Invite speakers to begin their respective speeches at the appropriate
times
2. Time the speeches and provide time signals in the chat (optional, but
encouraged)
3. Maintain room decorum
a. E.g. Remind speakers not to give and take POIs during protected time
b. E.g. Remind speakers not to barrack (if necessary)
- Barracking: Offering POIs with less than 15s interval between them
4. Exhibit good conduct
- Pay attention in rounds, please don’t check your phone!
- Take notes of the round
- Be mindful of your expressions and do not make faces at any debaters
regardless of what you think of their speech
 Disconnection policy
If a speaker disconnects DURING their speech,
1. Pause the timer
2. Allow the speaker 3 minutes to reconnect
3. If the speaker is able to reconnect within 3 minutes, they will continue
speaking from where they left off
4. If the speaker is unable to reconnect within 3 minutes, one of their team’s
reserve members may give the remainder of their speech for them.
5. If their reserves do not wish to do so or they do not have reserve
members, the speech is considered to have ended and the debate should
continue with the next speaker.
 After the debate,
1. Invite speakers to virtually cross the house
2. Move to the OPP PREP ROOM for deliberation.
- Debaters should STAY IN THE DEBATE ROOM during deliberation.
Please do not ask them to leave.
3. Each adjudicator should submit their ballots on tabbycat BEFORE
DELIBERATION
4. Deliberation
5. Return to the DEBATE ROOM to deliver the OA
 Deliberation
Deliberation (15 min)
● Submit your ballots on Tabbycat individually prior to discussing the round
as a panel
○ Use your personal Tabbycat URL
● Calls will be based on the majority (ie not consensus judging)
○ In rooms with one chair and one panelist, the chair gets two votes
 Ironperson policy
In circumstances where only two speakers in a team are available for a round, one
speaker may give two speeches (known as ironpersoning).

ON THE BALLOT,
1. Select ‘A speaker spoke twice’ in the ‘Debate Information’ section at the top of the
ballot
 Ironperson policy
ON THE BALLOT, Team A

2. Input the speaker scores for both speeches Speaker 1

as per normal

Speaker 2
3. Select ‘Mark as a duplicate speech’ for the
LOWER of the two scores
Speaker 1

Speaker 2
●

Oral Adjudication
OA (10 min)
● OA should usually be given by the Chair
● OA will be given by a panelist if two or more panelists outvote the
chair
● Announce best speaker
● Explain the main issues in the debate reasons for the panel’s
decision

DON’T announce:
● Win margin
● Quality of debate (e.g. this was an average/above average debate)
 Conduct
● Be respectful of other adjudicators even if their call differs from yours
● Ensure that your OA is:
○ Representative of the debate → Account for the debate as it happened,
using the language that debaters used in their speeches. Comments on the
arguments/responses you think the debaters could have run should be
reserved for post-round feedback.
○ Constructive → There are many young debaters at EDC, all of whom deserve
encouragement and support. Have a mix of comments about what you liked in
the debate and what you think can be improved upon. Don’t be too harsh or
overemphasise on the winning team. If ever in doubt as to whether your
comments would be appropriate, do err on the side of caution and rephrase
your comments in a non-offensive manner that will not be misconstrued as
scolding or mocking the debaters.
 SECTION 3:
POST-ROUND
FEEDBACK
 Feedback for debaters
● Teams may or may not ask for additional feedback after the OA
● This additional feedback is important for debaters to understand how they can
improve after each round, so do avail yourselves to provide it!
● Chairs and panelists can both provide feedback
● As far as possible, complete your feedback BEFORE THE START OF THE NEXT
ROUND
○ Written feedback can be provided at your discretion, but it is not encouraged
○ Adjudicators should focus on delivering effective and comprehensive verbal feedback,
rather than self-limiting their feedback with the idea that "I'll need to type it out in detail
later on anyway”
 What is expected
● Provide more in-depth feedback per speaker (what they did
well, what they can do better in the next round, additional
responses/arguments you think they could have run)
● Do not single out speakers if you felt that they did poorly
● Keep feedback friendly and constructive!
 Feedback for panelists
● Chairs should provide feedback on their panelists via their private URLs on Tabbycat
THANK YOU!