I did policy debate for 4 years in high school and also judged for quite a few years after I graduated. At the time I would say there were a mix of what we wou

I did policy debate for 4 years in high school and also judged for quite a few years after I graduated. At the time I would say there were a mix of what we would have just called 'speed debate' at the time and 'traditional' style. There was a great deal of showmanship involved which could be really fun, and we frequently would change strategies depending on who we were debating. This was also prior to laptop and mobile computing so there was a lot of mileage you could gain from wheeling in a bunch of huge evidence cases (which might have just had your lunch in them) or alternately just a small box of note cards. I can also remember the giddy excitement of cracking open a new issue of "Congressional Record" and looking for evidence. I have say it was one of the most valuable experiences I had in education. Sincerely and passionately arguing for a policy and an hour later doing the reverse gives you insight into how opinion is shaped and frankly manipulated. I had completely forgotten flowing! If you as a judge wanted to signal you had experience in policy debate, all you had to do is show up with a yellow legal pad and turn it sideways on your desk and say nothing else. This was basically a green light to the debate teams to 'bring the speed and spread'.