Tips for Giving Effective Evaluations

Notes take from training by Lois Harger, DTM, PDG, on 08-02-2004

Purpose/Objective:

1. Feedback is the best way for speakers to grow in the skill of giving speeches.
2. Being an evaluator improves both the listening skills and the speaking skills of the evaluator.
3. Remember, when you give an evaluation, it is your opinion.
4. Remember: an evaluator is not a judge and is not a speaking authority.
5. As a speaker, you can ask anyone to do a "secret evaluation" for you. That is, even if someone else is assigned as your formal evaluator, others can give you an evaluation after the meeting.
6. Be a speech evaluator for every speech you listen to, even if you will not be giving the formal evaluation in the meeting. It will improve your evaluation skills over time, and, be an additional resource of feedback for other speakers.
7. When giving a suggestion for an area of improvement, tell what to change, how to change it, and, most importantly, why to change it.
8. Should an evaluation be given in the first person (eg. "you said" or "you did") or the third person (eg. "he said" or "he did")? Normally speak in the first person, to make the evaluation personal. But occasionally mix it up. Throw in some third person remarks when you want to receive audience affirmation on something specific that the speaker said/did. Examples: "Did you notice the way Chris made that certain face when saying such-n-such"? Or, "One thing we can all learn from Terry is blah blah".

What NOT To Do:

1. Never give a "whitewash" evaluation. That is, an evaluation of all praise with no mention of any ways to improve.
2. Do not base your evaluation on pre-conceived ideas about the speaker. Get to know the speaker before the speech.
3. Carefully choose the words used to give an oral evaluation. Use "I" phrases, sometimes "You" phrases and almost never "We" phrases. Try to avoid using the words "always" and "never".
4. Never be intimidated by the level of speaking experience/expertise of a speaker. Relay to the speaker what you felt during the speech. Were you confused on some point?
5. Do not say, in the oral evaluation, a comment that is of the serious nature or would embarrass the speaker. Just write it in the manual.

Before the Meeting:

1. Read the booklet in the New Member kit about doing evaluations ("Effective Speech Evaluations" (aka. "Giving Speech Evaluations"), catalog item #202).
2. Talk to the speaker to get an idea of what the speaker is like, the level of Toastmasters experience, the speech objectives, and, the goals of the speaker.
3. Read the speech project, especially the objectives and the evaluator's page. Get familiar with what the evaluator needs to listen for and watch for.
4. If the speaker has done previous projects in the manual, look to see what was mentioned as areas for improvement. Using this, you can see if improvement has indeed been made.
5. Try to have the speech objectives given to the audience before the speech is given.

During the Speech:

      General:

1. Look for the strengths of the speaker, even if it is to compliment a first-time speaker on the courage it took to get up in front of an audience.
2. Look for the value of the speech - did it add value for the audience?
3. Always look for at least one thing that you can honestly compliment the speaker for having done it.
4. When filling out the speech manual evaluation page, a response does not have to be given for every item listed.

      Content:

1. Speech content should always be organized with an attention-grabbing opening, a body, and a wrap-it-up closing. Watch for them.
2. Did the speech have a clear purpose? It's purpose should have done one of the following: inform/explain, entertain, motivate, persuade.
3. The opening should grab the audience's attention - a hook -- to pull the audience into the conversation. The hook could be a current event, a story, or something animated.
4. The body should be well organized. The order should be clear to the listeners. Chronological order always lends itself to an organized flow.
5. The closing should make an impact on the listeners. Did it summarize the main points of the speech? Will the speech be memorable? Did it call to action? Did it stir emotions?
6. If the speaker gives many details or a list of numbers/figures, the information should be in a handout, in a pie chart, on an overhead, or, written on a board.
7. Most speeches should have two to four main points. Were they easily identifiable? Can they be identified? Did the speaker say how many there would be and if so, do the given number match the number actually heard by the audience?
8. Were the transitions between the main points easily identifiable?
9. Would visual aids (eg. on the board, a handout, a chart, a poster, etc.) have been helpful?
10. Was the speech content too long?
11. Was the speech content balanced between all main points (vs. favoring one or two)?
12. Was the speech content too complex? Was the audience able to comprehend it?
13. Was the speech too technical? Did it contain jargon?
14. Were the descriptions vivid or flat? Could you easily picture the image painted by the speaker?
15. Was the word usage good, and appropriate? Were words pronounced correctly?
16. Were acronyms explained?

      Delivery:

1. Was the speech delivered well? See the Toastmasters booklets titled "Body Speaks" (aka. Gestures) (catalog item #201) and "Your Speaking Voice" (catalog item #199).
2. Evaluating a long-time Toastmaster member really challenges the evaluator. Pay particular attention to diction and pronunciation of words and phrases. Veterans want to know those things.
3. Watch the gestures of the speaker. Be the mirror of the speaker. Keep in mind if you should be evaluating the speaker as if they were in a contest or a normal Toastmasters meeting. Pay particular attention to awkward arm movement.
4. What could the speaker have done to bring more attention to something said that was important to the speech?
5. What could the speaker do differently to better capture the audience attention/focus?

During the Oral Evaluation:

1. Often look directly at the speech presenter.
2. Act like a mirror for the speaker. Tell the speaker how you reacted to the speech.
3. Provide an honest reaction, in a constructive manner, to a speaker's presentation. Remember, your evaluation is only your opinion.
4. When giving the oral evaluation, every question/point on the evaluator's page does not necessarily have to be addressed. Pick out two or three points of strength and one or two suggestions for improvement. For very experienced speakers, three or four suggestions can be given.
5. Additional suggestions for improvement can be written in the speech manual.
6. Target the evaluation based on the Toastmasters' level of experience. Take into account the many years of experience, thus, the expectations of the speech.
7. If you have heard prior speeches of the speaker, point out improvements noted.
8. Tell the speaker if you were confused about some point during the speech - that way, the speaker knows to say it more clearly.
9. Tell the speaker what to change, how to change it (if possible), and, most importantly, WHY to change it.
10. Within Toastmasters, there is no means for "flunking" a speech. However, as an evaluator, if you believe that the objectives of the speech were entirely missed, one suggestion could be to re-do the project with the goal of meeting the objectives. At the least, point out that you felt the speaker fell short on one or more of the objectives.
11. Keep the feelings of the speaker in mind.
12. Mention the effect of the speech on you as the evaluator.
13. Always strive to mention something that the speaker did well and something that the speaker could improve.
14. When giving suggestions for improvement, they do not necessarily have to be at the end of the oral evaluation. The "sandwich" method can be used - say something positive, give a suggestion for improvement, say another positive.
15. Use descriptive phrases to describe how you reacted, good or bad, to a specific point in the speech.
16. Try to avoid exaggerated gestures or body language except when to illustrate a point about the presentation.
17. Try, hard, to avoid ending the oral evaluation with the phrases "I look forward to your next speech" and "Thank you".
18. Always end the oral evaluation on a positive note.
19. Strive, hard, to leave the speaker motivated to give another presentation soon. A good way to do that is to point to a particular part of the speech that you really liked and tell the effect it had on you.
20. If the speaker showed dramatic improvement in some area, mention it and congratulate the speaker.

After the Meeting:

1. As evaluator, ask yourself: did my evaluation of the speaker bring value? Did it have an impact?
2. Remember, when you receive an evaluation, it is not the final word.
3. After the meeting, follow up with the speaker. This is your chance to learn how effective of an evaluator you are. Make sure the speaker did not misinterpret anything you said. Add any additional points. Ask the speaker if you could have said or done anything differently that would have been more helpful to the speaker. Ask a couple of the audience members about the effectiveness of your evaluation.

Evaluation Variations:

1. Group the speech evaluators. Have one evaluator concentrate on the openings and/or closings of all of the speeches during the meeting. Another can evaluate the organizations of the speeches and the content of the speech body.
2. Group the speech evaluators as a panel. The evaluators make notes on all speeches of the meeting. The evaluators make comments about all of the speakers. Then the general evaluator leads a panel discussion. The audience can optionally join in with comments.
3. Record the speeches on videotape or audio tape. If meeting time permits replay the speeches and give evaluations by pausing where the evaluators feel appropriate to point out something. If meeting time does not permit, let the evaluator replay the speech at his/her leisure, then get with the speaker to give the evaluation.

Learning More:

1. The Better Speaker Series program includes a module called "The Art of Effective Evaluation" (catalog item #251). It can be presented by any club member or someone outside of the club.
2. The Successful Club Series program includes a module called "Evaluate to Motivate" (catalog item #292). It can be presented by any club member or someone outside of the club.
3. The Leadership Excellence Series program includes a module called "Giving Effective Feedback" (catalog item #317). It can be presented by any club member or someone outside of the club.
4. The semi-annual district conference might include a session on giving evaluations.
5. The Successful Club Series program includes a module called "Moments of Truth" (catalog item #290). It is used to help a club evaluate its own effectiveness.

RECAP - How to Give an Effective Evaluation:

1. Before the meeting, talk to the speaker and read the appropriate project in the manual.
2. Take the experience level of the speaker into account when evaluating. Do not be intimidated by the experience of the speaker.
3. For the oral evaluation, all it really needs to consist of is mentioning 2 - 4 strong points and 1 - 3 (only 1 or 2 for inexperienced speakers) areas that could be improved. Use examples from the speech to illustrate the points you mention.
4. After the meeting, talk to the speaker and one or more audience members to determine how clear and effective was your oral evaluation.
5. Remember, what you write and say for your evaluation is only your opinion.