I have loved giving evaluations since I first joined Toastmasters in 2002. The rush of excitement after my first evaluation was pleasantly surprising. It extremely valuable to cultivate and sharpen a skill that enables you to provide effective feedback to a speaker, regardless of their level of public speaking skills. It pushes your limits both as an observer and a speaker.
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Friday, August 28th, marked the 3rd Contest for our Toastmasters Club, Speech Acrobats. In anticipation of the District 37 contest, every club holds a contest to present winners for participation. This year we have an Evaluation contest as part of that, and for the first time, I competed! The Evaluation contest is when a target speech is selected and the contestants each evaluate that speech. For this year, Naomi Takeuchi, a dear friend of mine as well as our club President, gave the target speech, titled “Take me to the Movies“. She did superb, and I had the pleasure of evaluating her.
In this post, I wanted to outline an effective approach to providing evaluations to speakers. This method first reassures the speaker of their strengths and then inspires them to push the envelope on those skills. Providing that perfect balance of critique is the challenging task of a great evaluator. Remember you do not create the speech, and may have no familiarity with the topic at hand when you are asked to evaluate, you are also given no time to rehearse or practice your speech in advance. Evaluations are a type of impromptu speaking with a focus on what the speaker did well and what they could improve upon.
Tips on providing strong evaluations to a speaker:
1. Listen and Watch the speaker with Great Attention: Yes, that seems a very obvious tip but one worth noting. It is possible to forget your role when the agenda shows your speaker as the last to speak, and generally, no one will prompt the evaluator again. Paying attention and observing the speaker from all angles and aspects is your most critical role as an evaluator
2. Always start on a High Note: Always start your evaluation with praise. Always without an exception. When you think about the widespread fear of public speaking, it should serve as a reminder that regardless of the speaker’s performance, it takes courage and preparation and effort to deliver a speech, and for that, a praise is note-worthy.
You can try either a format of good-bad-good or good-bad-good-bad-….- good, always starting and ending on a high note. In general, all evaluations should start on a high note. While you can easily provide the same exact information by delivering good-bad or bad-good, the outcome of the first far exceeds the latter and order matters here.
3. Balance the feedback on the positive: I can be the harshest critique, for me and for all those who wish me to give them the straight scoop. But I have learned at Toastmasters that delivering an evaluation that is heavy on the “do things better” side rather than “you did well side” will sadly not have the intended effect. One thing to consider is your level of club. We have an Advanced club and it is expected that evaluations be tough and growth-inducing for the speaker. In a beginner club, you may need to exercise far more sensitivity in the number of tips you dispense relative to the amount of praise, at least until the confidence of speaker is built. So heavy on the positive notes. These can be small details, or generic statements as long as they apply to what the speaker did.
4. Demonstrating your points clearly: You may have a lot of good advice on what the speaker can do to improve. It would be of little value if they do not understand the advice with utter clarity. This happens a lot because we may assume the speaker knows well how they were perceived in the audience and jump right to why that should have been different. Instead, try this 3-pronged approach:
~ Clearly explain your impression of what the speaker did or intended to do
~ Describe what could be done differently in that exact situation
~ Explain why this suggestion will have more effective result for the speaker
For instance, if they pace as I mention in the video, (1) I demonstrated the pace, (2) next, I mentioned why it was ineffective – because it distracted us from listening to her- and (3) last, I suggested what could be done more effectively (a more purposeful walking of the room and addressing the audience).
5. Delivering the Evaluation Poised as a Role Model for Speaker: It is easy to forget that because you are evaluating someone else, you can let some of your own good speaking form slide. Remember, even giving an evaluation is a speech. You are addressing an audience, and you are claiming to know how a good speaker ought to present herself. To that point, remember all your public speaking tools:
Speak clearly.
Use no filler words.
Have a great posture.
Smile and be pleasant.
Enunciate your words clearly.
Address the audience.
Address the Speaker often.
Use gestures effectively.
Use correct pronunciation and grammar.
Finish strong and on a high note.
Enjoy the process. Feedback is MOST appreciated when it’s sincere and honest.
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Hi Farnoosh,
Evaluating used to be the only role I excelled in, but I’m now pushing myself to feel totally comfortable with all roles, and will hopefully be running for president in our next club meeting.
I usually try to give broad principles on what makes a good speech, and then give examples from the speech I’m evaluating (whether positive or negative). For example, that body movement – or anything for that matter – shouldn’t distract people from the content of the speech, but support it.
I would then say whether the speaker’s pacing, hand movement, eye contact, etc. could have distracted the audience, or not.
Toastmasters is great, and I hope to encourage more people to join, especially my club!
Hi Haider, me too – I really loved to evaluate but speak, you had to twist my arm big time. President’s role I think is the best – it gives you great visibility and is a great exercise of your leadership skills – I also love the title! Good luck!! I do hope you get much more participation in your club – I love Toastmasters and while as of late, I am taking a short hiatus, I absolutely love the community and the sense of support. Best of luck, Haider and thanks for sharing those great tips here!
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