Toastmasters: The Art of Effective Evaluation - Notes
with thanks to Daisy Azer for compiling the notes)
These notes are a combination of Toastmasters International materials, my own ideas and
contributions of all seminar participants (any mistakes are mine - Matthew)
The Art of Effective Evaluation by Matthew Kleinosky
February 20, 2008
Who would you do if every speech you did from now on had the same objectives? Could
you get masterful at them? That is what speech evaluations are: 2-3 minutes speeches
which always have the same objectives: including to help the speaker improve.
Almost no one gets into Toastmasters to "help other become better speakers" and that is
what we all aim to do when we evaluate speeches.
Speech Evaluations are the unique thing that separates Toastmasters from all other
organizations and certainly all other public speaking organizations. Speech evaluations is
th backbone of Toastmasters, although Toastmasters does not officialy have a program
for achievement and recognition for evaluators. COnsider making a program in your club
to give evaluators feedback and reward achievement
Keep in mind in all verbal communications the 93 % rule: of 100% of communications:
the total impact of a message is about 7 per cent verbal (words only) and 38 per cent
vocal How you say it - paralinguistics (including tone of voice, inflection and other
sounds) and 55 per cent non-verbal - body / appearance
Remember to CRY (C-R-I) and H.E.L.P.
Eliminate the C;s Criticize Complain Condemn
Do the 3 R's Review Reward Recommend
Speak about the 3 I's: I Heard I Saw I Felt
----------------------------When I evaluate - I H.E.L.P.
H - Help the speaker improve
E - Encourage the speaker to do another speech
L - Lift the speaker's self-esteem
P - Provide useful recommendations
-----------------------------------------
An evaluation is unique to you and is your opinion. That is why it is valuable
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Speakers do not want feedback on their content - they want praise for what they did well
or better than before and specific recommendations that they are capable of trying in their
future speeches.
Goals of this seminar:
- Understand: Purpose and value of evaluations
- Discover: How to improve our skills; ten behaviors of effective
evaluators. How to mold our language.- Discuss and execute: group exercises and workshop
Who benefits from effective evaluation?
1. the speaker
- Timely(immediate) feedback and recommendations.
- Validation of what they did well.
- Reinforcement and that affects people's self-esteem.
- Climate for improvement - If someone takes a risk and you reinforce
their performance, it helps their self-esteem.
- Recognition
- Fulfillment
- Healthy self-esteem
2. the evaluator
- listening skills
- impromptu speaking skills
- interpersonal communications skills
- opportunity to help others
3. the club/audience.
- Positive climate for self-improvement
- Development of role models.
- Demonstrate standards for excellence
- Avoid bad things like failure to improve.
If you do not have effective evaluations, the club will fall apart.
People will not come without good evaluations.
People leave Toastmasters when they are criticized, do not feel heard
and do not improve.
Exercise A:
Reasons for Better Speaking
Why do people want to learn to speak better?
- To be more effective in business meetings.
- To succeed in business; for example, in sales, in your position, as
a leader etc.- For the pure enjoyment of the art of oratory
To engage people or to get people to do something.
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Work or career advancement.
Effectively use the English language or improve use of English.
Deliver a message effectively.
To get more enjoyment out of communicating.
To improve credibility which would include the esteem of other people.
To improve self-esteem or to get a sense of accomplishment.
Money
To help us to think better.
TI SLIDE:
========================================
Why People Want to Learn to Speak
We want to learn to speak so we can…
1. Gain knowledge and skill
2. Meet a specific need
3. Gain material rewards
4. Earn credit toward recognition
5. Gain pleasure
6. Build self-esteem
7. Build self-confidence
8. Win acceptance and esteem from others
========================================
How do we improve?
What is the process in general that we use to get better?
Practice or Feedback Loop
When we speak, we improve.
Behaviour, Feedback, Behaviour, Feedback etc.; that is, a feedback loop.
Encouragement
What are we encouraging people to do?
We are encouraging speakers to do it again.
To say that you look forward to the next speech is a bit overused but
the sentiment is correct.
Example:
Your arms did not stick out at all.
Or if you used your arms a bit more then…
First one is critical.
The second one is a recommendation for improvement.
-----------------------------------WHAT ARE THE ROLES OF AN EALUATOR
Group comments:
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-- Teacher/Instructor
-- Motivator
-- Leader
-- Advisor
-- Counselor
-- Reactor; i.e. review what happened. It is not a mirror as you are
taking it through your personal filter.
Toastmasters says:
-- Motivator
-- Facilitator
-- Counselor
Famous speaker said there are always 3 speeches:
the One they wrote
the One they gave
the One they thought about on the way home.
Example: at a wedding, people say it was lovely and the bride says
everything went wrong. Truth is that no one noticed.
So your pereptions may be differnt than the audiences - their feedback
is valuable!
TI SLIDES -----------------------------------------------THE ROLE OF SELF ESTEEM
How Self-Esteem Helps Us Become Better Speakers
1. Self-esteem fuels personal growth
2. Feedback reinforces personal growth
3. Personal growth nourishes self-esteem
4. More self-esteem generates more growth
How to Nourish Self-EsteemWhen You Evaluate
1. Be genuine
2. Recognize strengths
3. Recognize improvement
4. Create a climate for motivation
5. Avoid value judgments
6. Provide positive direction
-----------------------------Word that is missing is "risk".
When you take a risk and you get away with it, that pumps up your self-esteem.
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Try things out at TM. It is a great place to do that.
If you screw up, what will happen?
They will CLAP.
TI SLIDE ---------------------------------How to nourish self-esteem when you evaluate
1. Be genuine
2. Recognize strengths
3. Recognize improvement
4. Create a climate for motivation
5. Avoid value judgments
6. Provide positive direction
------------------------------------Be genuine: people know when you are white-washing and when you are real.
What is a value judgement?
Talking about content has no place in evaluation.
Whether it is right or wrong it not the point.
You cannot interpret the content and what they said and what it means
to the world.
TI Slide ==========================================
HOW TO BUILD A POSITIVE CLUB CLIMATE FOR EVALUATION
1. Emphasize quality evaluation
2. Help members become better acquainted
3. Assign evaluators when assigning speakers
4. Encourage dialogue between speakers and evaluators
5. Evaluate the evaluators
6. Encourage group evaluations
7. Emphasize manual speeches
Notes:
Give the Evaluators some feedback so they can improve too!
The General Evaluator can talk about how the evaluations fit the
objectives of an evaluation.
When you have a speaker cancel - consider extra evaluations rather
than a forced extra speech!
=================================
Evaluation Methods
1. Tell and Sell
2. Tell and listen
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3. Problem-solving
=============================
1. Tell and sell
You gave a speech and I tell you what you did.
Advantages:
- Instant feedback.
- Takes little time
2. Tell and listen.
Evaluator gets a minute.
You get one minute
Evaluator gets another minute.
Give the speaker and the evaluator a chance at a rebuttal.
Pros and cons
People might argue or become defensiveness.
How to avoid the cons:
Give people a successful model.
Demosntrate with an experience speaker and experienced evaluator.
Explain the purpose is to help the evaluator improve.
Who can help the evaluator better than the speaker?
You want to raise the evaluator's confidence and skills as well.
Tell and listen might work better for more experienced on both sides.
Problem-solving:
Long one.
You sit down and get into a discussion.
People can go back and forth a bit.
You can get more people involved.
Also:GROUP EVLAUTAIONS:
For example, the first evaluator might look at content. The second may look at delivery,
pace, pauses. The third might look at something else.
TI SLIDE ===============================
Ten Behaviors of an Effective Evaluator
1. Show that you care
2. Suit your evaluation to the speaker (don't overload a novice ice breaker with too
much and don't bother telling a ATM-G that you are impressed that they did not use
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notes)
3. Learn the speaker's objectives
4. Listen actively
5. Personalize your language
6. Give positive reinforcement
7. Build a motivational climate
8. Evaluate behaviour and not people
9. Nourish self-esteem
10. Show the speaker how to improve
===============================================================
========
How do you take notes?
Use a plus or a minus to indicate things you liked and areas for improvement.
Draw a picture of where they are and if they make a move, you can
annotate and map what you saw on the "stage".
Example: where you were loud and where you were soft and where you turned etc.
It is hard to take in a whole speech.
Another option is to outline the speech.
Opening
Main points
Conclusion
You should be able to write what the points of the speech were.
Collect that as that is probably what they spent their time thinking about.
Was the speech clear?
Did you understand the main points?
Note specifics.
If someone's zipper is down, don't bring it up in the oral evaluation.
Don't bring this up in public. You can mention that later.
Take another look at ALL forms you and your club use for written evaluations
and the forms you use to take notes:
-- Where does it say how I will lift the person's self-esteem?
-0 Where does it say what you will recommend?
What am I going to review?
What will I reward?
What will I recommend?
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We all have opinions. We are all worthy to give our feedback of
what we heard, what we saw and what we felt,
And we have opinions - even if "everything was great" of which parts
were better than others....
How to Personalize Your Language
Say it like this:
My reaction was…
It appeared to me…
I felt that you….
Not like this
You should have
You failed to
Your opening was….
Encourage everyone to evaluate so that they get practice.
Specifically
What did I like?
What did I see?
What did I hear?
What you can do to improve?
HOW TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO BECOME EXCELLENT EVALUATORS
Give recognition for a number of evaluations.
When you tell them that they are safe and that they can try things,
that is the greatest thing.
When you talk negatively, defensiveness will come up.
Be careful with "but" as "but" is a big eraser.
But needs to be an "and" or a "but it got even better".
Otherwise, leave "but" out.
Talk about me and my personal reactions.
Speak like this….
I suggest
I think your next speech will have a stronger impact on me if you
A technique I have found helpful is
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Not like this…
You should
You must
TI SLide ===================================
Speaker has responsibilities too
1. communicate your goals.
2. Help the evaluator prepare
3. Prepare diligently
4. Empathize with the evaluator
5. Help the evaluator improve
6. Prepare to change (if you are going to do a speech, prepare to
change, improve, do it better)
=============================================
Daisy's Notes on the speaker - used with her permission
Persuasive Leader
Fabian: Convince your audience to work towards achieving your vision.
Matthew's comment on Introductions:
Make that person tell you something and don't always let them write
their own introduction.
Interpersonal and effective leadership skills can be the edge that
makes you successful.
Speech: Enjoy Now and Now
Deep breath
Pacing
Two types of people
people who live the moment fully
People who worry about everything else
+ vision – commit to enjoy the present moment at its fullest
two stories
how the present can affect the past and present ( I think he meant the future)
I should have said it..
+chewing the past
Nathan – 8 year old
+humour – shot ball to the other team
heard words like "not good enough"
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Nathan gave up soccer
Words of dad came up to him
+You cannot be held by your past
what matters is now
pull out your lessons and take them and make those investments now
now you can be a better person
but what about the future
we worry about something that has not happened yet
Roger
Father to be
Happy about that
But one night, he woke up and said I am not ready
Worked extra to gather the money for a bigger car and a bigger house.
Attended a few things but missed a lot
First kick
Belly growing
Supporting his wife
+enjoy the journey and lead life to fullest
You want to be PM; okay but what to do till then
Nathan – finally learned to play ball
Roger talked to his wife and things were okay
Are you enjoying life at each moment to its fullest?
Tip
Do this
Once a day or every hour or a few times a week.
At least once
Take a deep breath.
Two questions
1. where am I? where is my head?
2. What am I feeling? That will tell you a lot
+ things to do to tell you a lot
+action – stop and breathe and ask.
+ Conclusion
Some people believe that something will happen
You can wait all your life and this will never happen
Other people will chew on the past
Don't do that
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Enjoy the moment to its fullest
+ And enjoy now and enjoy now and now
Fabian's reactions to the evalutions:
Positive
motivating
Good recommendations
Evaluators are entertainers
Personal
Did not criticize
Recommend something from your personal life
Conditional and personal: I would feel that if it were done like this
it would have a bigger impact.
+complimented on effective use of gestures and transitioned into a
recommendation point to try to make sure that movment was purposeful
and don't walk for the sake of walking
Matthew:
You could comment on the choice of topic
in general, there is little to comment on content
personally embarrassing
TI SLIDE
---------------------------------------------HOW TO CHANGE YOUR EVALUATION BEHAVIOUR
1. Decide what you want to change
2. Recognize the benefits of change
3. Put the change into action
4. Make it a habit
5. Never stop improving!
-----------------------------------Contest
In a contest you do not know what the objectives are.
Look at the judge's form for points
40% analytical
30% recommendations
15% technique
15% summation
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What Matthew got out of the seminar:
How to improve his form.
How to encourage a timid evaluator.
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