Speech Evaluator

In a nutshell, the Speech Evaluator observes the speeches and offers evaluations of their efforts.

As the Speech Evaluator, it is your responsibility to ask the Speaker you’ve been assigned to evaluate, what they will present and what they wish to achieve. Then provide objective verbal and written evaluations for them.

One week prior to the Meeting

• Familiarize yourself with the role of Speech Evaluator; it might be a good idea to revisit the

Pathways Evaluation and Feedback project to review strategies for providing feedback • Connect with the Toastmaster to get the name of the Speaker you will be evaluating • Contact the Speaker and ask for the following information: • The Speaker’s Project Checklist: You will have difficulty evaluating if you are not familiar with the project and objectives • Talk to the Speaker: Understand their goals so you can provide a better evaluation • Request the Speaker to download the Evaluation form (from Pathways) for their respective speech and share the form with you.

Before the Meeting

• Arrive at least 15 minutes before the meeting starts • Let the Toastmaster know that you’re here • Meet briefly with the General Evaluator to confirm the Evaluation section format • Make sure you sit in a spot where you can see and hear the Speaker properly • Retrieve the Evaluation Form from the Speaker (It’s their responsibility to print it and give it to you to fill out; or send you the PDF electronically) • Talk to the Speaker for any last-minute updates

During the Meeting

Important: When you’re introduced by the Toastmaster, you ONLY read the Purpose Statements in the Evaluation Form. Your responsibility is to tell other members what the purpose of the speech is, not what it is about or who the Speaker is.

See the Purpose Statement (on the Speech Evaluation Form) at right.

Remember that IT IS NOT your role to introduce the Speaker!

Continued on page 16

1. Read only the Purpose Statements on the Evaluation Form when introduced by the Toastmaster 2. Take notes when necessary, but be careful not to put all of your focus on note-taking 3. Record your impressions on the Evaluation Form 4. Remember to give scores objectively, don’t be shy on giving a speaker a low score if you consider that to be the case; people learn more from their mistakes than from their successes 5. To evaluate, use the following criteria as a guideline. A Speaker with a score of: • 1 – is starting to develop the skill • 2 – has some skill, but it’s emerging • 3 – has accomplished the skill successfully, meaning that the speaker has met the expectation • 4 – excels at that skill • 5 – is an example of how public speaking should be done 6. Deliver your evaluation by stating the observed behaviors in an honest and respectful way

Important: Most evaluations, especially during the first speeches, will range between 1 and 2, sometimes 3. Rarely a speaker will get 4, and only the best public speakers will achieve a 5. The scale reflects an understanding that there is always room to grow as a public speaker

After the Meeting

• Talk to your Speaker and give them the written evaluation • Ask if they need clarification or explanation regarding anything you said • If you have time, ask the Speaker to stay a few minutes after the meeting for a more detailed evaluation

Speech Evaluator Do’s and Don’ts

DO

Connect with the Speaker beforehand to understand the project and evaluation

Take notes when necessary and focus on listening and watching the Speaker

Concentrate on the behavior (e.g. “I noticed you were pacing a lot.”) Offer a one-on-one feedback session after the meeting Limit feedback to two or three points, small attainable goals

DON’T

Don’t arrive unprepared; the Speaker invested weeks of preparation. They deserve a proper evaluation. Don’t take notes during the whole speech as you will miss important information as well as not being able to see their body language Don’t concentrate on the person (e.g. “You were nervous.”) Don’t leave the meeting without talking to your Speaker Don’t provide extensive criticism as it might discourage the Speaker to try again

After the Speaker gives you the Evaluation Form (shown above), fill it out with these instructions in mind:

1. Write down all the good items you notice as you are evaluating the Speaker. 2. Place a star beside the 4 best items you’d like to mention in your evaluation. 3. Place the very best attribute of the speaker in the number 1 slot (“You excelled at”) under the General

Comments section of the evaluation form.

4. List the remaining good items in the number 3 area (“To challenge yourself”). 5. List your best 2 suggestions and place them in the number 2 area (“You may want to work on”). 6. Summarize the points you wrote down in those 3 areas. 7. NEVER close with a suggestion. By presenting your evaluation in this order, you provide a meaningful and uplifting evaluation of the speaker’s 3 good qualities, 2 suggestions for improvement, the single most outstanding and best quality, then summarize. Toastmasters sometimes refers to this as the “3-2-1-S” (for summarize) evaluation.

Evaluation Form Instructions

1. After you state your great points in the evaluation, avoid following up with, “HOWEVER” or “BUT” to proceed to your suggestions. When an evaluator does this, they negate all the great points they just made and place more emphasis on the suggestions. This can be a huge letdown for the speaker in many cases and your evaluation is less effective. Remember our primary purpose is to

Evaluate to Motivate.

2. Practice using this model so you are able to get your timing down and how long you should elaborate on your points. Once you get the hang of it, you will be able to present the evaluation right at 3 minutes.

In preparing as the evaluator our ‘Competent Communication’ book suggested 3 articles to read on their website.

The first document ‘Effective Evaluation’ was their recommendation for evaluating a team member’s first project, ‘The Ice Breaker.’

Effective Evaluation

http://www.toastmasters.org/~/media/8EA3AA260B5D4C4494657F4E5451E66C.ashx

Your Speaking Voice

http://www.toastmasters.org/~/media/B7D5C3F93FC3439589BCBF5DBF521132.ashx

Gestures: Your body speaks

http://www.toastmasters.org/~/media/E202D7AA84E24A758D1BAAE8A77FD496.ashx