From Simon Bucknall, Excalibur Speakers and London Cardinals
I hope these tips will help you with your evaluations throughout the year as well as with the Evaluation Contest which start in London Toastmasters clubs this week.
1 - Know Your Outcome
Ask yourself 'what do I want the speaker to take away from this evaluation'? It's not about you, the Evaluator. It's about your audience and specifically the person whose speech you are assessing. If there's one thing you want them to remember, what would it be? This will help add clarity to your evaluation and help ensure you deliver in the right tone.
2 - Include A Tip
The best evaluations will always include something practical that anyone can actually do in a future presentation. This not only adds value for all listeners, but also significantly adds to your credibility as an evaluator and as a speaker.3 - Limit Your Recommendations
Better to focus on just TWO recommendations and do them justice than to give a shopping list of five or six different things. If you succeed in ensuring the speaker makes just one change as a result of your evaluation, you'll have achieved more than most!
4 - Identify A Higher Value
Beyond the tactical details of the speech, what "higher value" did the speaker demonstrate? Maybe it was a willingness to be open, or a deep sense of caring about an issue or person, or perhaps simply massive courage in standing up and speaking in front of an audience. The point is this: look beyond the mere "tactics" and "mechanics" of the speech. Again, you'll elevate your credibility and achieve far greater impact with the speaker and audience.
5 - Review the Contest Criteria
Review the criteria that the judges will be using for the Evaluation Contest. 15% of the perfect evaluation is allocated to a short summarisation. Remember to include this - it could make the all difference.
If you are entering the Evaluation Contest at your club - good luck!
