Giving Effective Evaluations and Feedback Mount Victoria Toastmasters

Giving Effective Evaluations and Feedback Mount Victoria Toastmasters June 2016

The Role & Objectives Introduction to the Role • At every Toastmasters meeting, a significant part of the meeting time is allocated to the evaluation team. The evaluation team consists of a General Evaluator, one or more Speech Evaluators, a Table Topics Evaluator, and sometimes a Grammarian, Umm Counter, and Timer. Evaluation has several objectives, including: • • • To give the speaker your honest reaction in a constructive manner. To teach the evaluator to listen, clearly, precisely and attentively. To give the evaluator an opportunity to practice delivering an oral evaluation. Adapted from Effective Speech Evaluation: Tips and Techniques for Giving Helpful Evaluations (Toastmasters International, 1996)

Preparation Before the Meeting • Read the speech project in the manual. Become familiar with the objectives and goals. • Read the evaluation guide for the project. This helps you listen and watch for specific areas of emphasis. • Talk to the speaker before the meeting to get an understanding of the speaker's goals and any specific areas for which the speaker wants feedback. Before and During the Speech • In your introduction of the speaker, give the project title (e. g. , Speech 2: "Organise Your Speech" from the Communication and Leadership Manual) and read the project's objectives. • Listen to the speech. What strikes you? These can be either great things or not so great things. Look for things that are missing. Especially consider the project's goals. • Write useful comments in the speaker's manual for future reference. Use your notes when you give your oral evaluation. Adapted from Effective Speech Evaluation: Tips and Techniques for Giving Helpful Evaluations (Toastmasters International, 1996)

Giving Your Evaluation Structure • An evaluation is a mini speech in its self. It has an Opening, Body and Conclusion • Evaluations are provided in the third person, in other words it is not directed solely to the speaker, it is for us all to learn from. • Use the CRC method. Commend - Recommend – Commend. Be positive. Tell the audience what you thought went well, what you enjoyed. For example: • Say "I liked the example used to support the first point. • I identify with the person in that story. " or "The speaker really nailed the closing. • I was motivated to act immediately on the suggestion to write to my councilor. " Always conclude on a positive comment. Be specific. Rather than saying "The speaker had distracting hand gestures" say "When the speaker pounded on the lectern, it distracted me from the point he was trying to make because it was too loud. " Be constructive. Rather than saying "The speaker's voice is monotone" say "The speaker's voice has good volume. I would like to see more variety in pacing and pitch to emphasize the different points of view presented. " Adapted from Effective Speech Evaluation: Tips and Techniques for Giving Helpful Evaluations (Toastmasters International, 1996)

To Conclude Effective evaluations are an irreplaceable part of the Toastmasters educational mission. The speaker, the evaluator, and your fellow Toastmasters all benefit from effective evaluations

Useful Tips Giving the Evaluation Reflect on Use the C-R-C Method • Give one or two Commendations • Then one or two Recommendations • Then a final Commendation Consider the speech in terms of • What your saw – confidence, use of the stage, gestures, props etc. • What you heard – use of language / word choices, descriptive – picture creating; vocal variety, pause to good effect, useful facts etc. • What you felt – moved to act, compassion, empathy, lasting impressions etc. An Evaluation Formula • An evaluation is a mini speech. It has an Opening, a Body and an Ending. The opening is an introduction to the evaluation, for example, setting the scene. The ending is a summary of the main points you have made, and the body is where you concentrate on the commendations and recommendations. • Commendations have 2 components: State an issue that went well, eg speech structure, explain why it worked. • Recommendations have 3 components: State an issue that could be improved on, eg use of notes. Explain why it didn't work. Make a suggestion for how it could be improved. So written as a formula, this is what the evaluation will look like: Opening (30 seconds) Body (1. 5 minutes) Conclusion (30 seconds) Introduction Commendation = Issue + Why Recommendation = Issue + Why + How Commendation = Issue + Why Summary Evaluate your Evaluation 1. Analytical Quality - clear, focused Analytical Quality refers to the effectiveness of the evaluation. Every evaluation should carefully analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the speaker's presentation. Were your comments clear and logical? Did you identify specific strengths and weaknesses of the presentation? 2. Recommendations - positive, specific, helpful Point out the strengths and weaknesses of the speech, and offer specific recommendations for improvement. Recommendations should be practical, helpful and positive, and they should enable the speaker to improve next time. 3. Technique - sympathetic, sensitive, motivational Technique refers to the manner in which you present your comments and recommendations. You should be sensitive to the feelings and needs of the speaker, yet inspire and encourage the speaker in his or her future speaking efforts 4. Summation - concise, encouraging This is how you conclude the evaluation. You should briefly summarise your comments and suggestions, and be positive and encouraging.