Generating Feedback

After you've made your decision, it's time to write feedback. This is one of the most valuable things you do as a judge—good feedback helps students improve for their next round.

The 3 C's method

We use a framework called the 3 C's to structure feedback. For each team, you'll write:

1. Compliments - What did they do well?
2. Constructive Criticism - What could they improve?
3. Corrections - What specific mistakes should they fix?

This ensures your feedback is balanced—not just pointing out problems, but also recognizing what worked.

Writing feedback yourself

You can write feedback entirely on your own if you prefer. Some judges like to craft every word themselves.

While writing, you have access to:

• Timeline - View the full transcript of all speeches
• Notes - See all the notes you took during the round

Click these buttons to review what happened and ensure your feedback is accurate.

Using AI to generate feedback

If you want help, you can click Generate AI to have AI create feedback based on:

• Your ratings throughout the round (clarity, persuasiveness, post-speech assessments)
• The technical AI analysis of arguments
• Your notes and checkpoint responses

Generate all at once

You can also click Generate All to create feedback for both teams at the same time. This is faster and ensures consistency.

The AI will:

• Identify what each team did well (based on your high ratings)
• Point out areas for improvement (based on your lower ratings and technical analysis)
• Provide specific, actionable suggestions
• Balance compliments with constructive criticism

This usually takes about 30 seconds.

Editing generated feedback

Once the AI generates feedback, click Continue Editing to review what it created.

Read through the feedback for each team. The AI does a good job, but you might want to:

• Add personal observations that only you noticed
• Soften or strengthen certain points
• Remove anything that doesn't feel right
• Add context or examples

This is still your feedback—the AI just gives you a starting point. Edit it until it sounds like you.

Your Reason for Decision (RFD)

You'll also see your Reason for Decision or RFD. This is a summary of:

• Why you voted for the winning team
• What the key voting issues were
• How you weighed the round

The RFD combines:

• The voting issue decisions you made in the Decision Wizard
• Your overall impressions from checkpoints
• Technical analysis of the round

Like the feedback, you can edit this to match your voice and add anything the AI missed.

Preview for Tabroom

When you're happy with everything, click Preview for Tabroom.

This shows you exactly what your ballot will look like:

• Winner (with highlighting)
• Speaker points for all four debaters
• Your RFD
• Feedback for each school

One-click copying

Next to each piece, you'll see a Copy button. Click it to copy that text to your clipboard, then paste it directly into Tabroom.

No retyping required—just copy and paste.

What makes good feedback?

Compliments (what they did well)

• "Your speaking was clear and easy to follow"
• "The evidence from [specific source] was credible and well-explained"
• "You did a great job extending your case through summary"
• "Your final focus painted a clear picture of why you should win"

Constructive criticism (what could improve)

• "Consider slowing down during rebuttals—some responses were hard to follow"
• "Your impacts could be more specific with numbers or timeframes"
• "Make sure to frontline in second rebuttal before extending new offense"
• "In final focus, spend more time weighing your wins against theirs"

Corrections (specific mistakes)

• "You dropped their economy argument after constructive—extend it through every speech"
• "The link between your policy and your impact wasn't clear"
• "Don't forget to give voters in summary—tell me why you're winning"
• "That evidence was from 2015; look for more recent sources"

Manual vs. AI: Which should you use?

Write it yourself if:

• You have strong opinions you want to express in your own words
• You noticed specific moments that AI analysis might miss
• You prefer complete control over every sentence
• You have time and energy to write from scratch

Use AI generation if:

• You want to make sure you cover all the technical points
• You're tired after a long tournament day
• You want a consistent structure across all your ballots
• You're comfortable editing AI suggestions

Most judges use a hybrid: generate with AI, then personalize it. There's no wrong answer.

What's next?

Now that you know how to create feedback, learn about:

Next Steps:

• Tabroom Integration - Submit your ballot to Tabroom seamlessly

Related Resources:

• Decision Wizard - How your voting issues inform feedback generation
• Understanding AI Analysis - How AI analysis contributes to feedback suggestions
• Workflow Overview - See how feedback fits into the complete judging process

Help & Support:

• Quick Reference - Quick tips for great feedback
• FAQ - Common questions about feedback and AI generation
• Troubleshooting - Fix issues with feedback generation