On the Road to Winning District Evaluation Contest
Dear Toastmasters, especially the leadership
One way of preparing for the evaluation contest:
- Before a meeting, assign someone (usually Exco or senior) to lead an evaluation
session after a meeting where s/he gives a comprehensive comment on performance
of the evaluators for the evening
- During meeting, evaluators listen to all speeches and make notes
- During meeting, evaluators listen to all evaluators and make 1-2 positive
comments and 1-2 rooms for improvement
- After a meeting, where everyone has left (which should be about 5 minutes after
the closing of the meeting), the evaluators for the evening (and other interested
toastmasters) stay for a further 15 minutes
- The lead evaluator gives comments on what worked and what didn't work (like a mini
speech)
- Other evaluators for the evening can share their 1-2 positive comments and 1-2
rooms for improvement.
Do this every month or at every meeting until the contest, then take a break.
Any toastmaster interested in becoming a better evaluator can stay and learn and participate. Doing things in manageable bits is easier than cramming.
All roles are challenging, but especially challenging is
being an evaluator because you must know the anatomy of a speech
(as taught in the basic communications manual), be analytical, be truthful, be fun, be gentle, be critical, be motivating, and all the other be-be's.
One last note: don't evaluate a speech content. Don't mention in your speech, for example, "I agree with the speaker". An evaluation is not about your opinion on the content, it's youropinion on the speech structure(opening, body, closing), delivery, all the things mentioned in the ten projects in the basic communications manual. More importantly, it's about the speaker. Not about the evaluator.
Have fun improving yourselves ~~
Ever onward, ever upward
DTM Laura Rotinsulu
Metropolitan Toastmasters Club
One way of preparing for the evaluation contest:
- Before a meeting, assign someone (usually Exco or senior) to lead an evaluation
session after a meeting where s/he gives a comprehensive comment on performance
of the evaluators for the evening
- During meeting, evaluators listen to all speeches and make notes
- During meeting, evaluators listen to all evaluators and make 1-2 positive
comments and 1-2 rooms for improvement
- After a meeting, where everyone has left (which should be about 5 minutes after
the closing of the meeting), the evaluators for the evening (and other interested
toastmasters) stay for a further 15 minutes
- The lead evaluator gives comments on what worked and what didn't work (like a mini
speech)
- Other evaluators for the evening can share their 1-2 positive comments and 1-2
rooms for improvement.
Do this every month or at every meeting until the contest, then take a break.
Any toastmaster interested in becoming a better evaluator can stay and learn and participate. Doing things in manageable bits is easier than cramming.
All roles are challenging, but especially challenging is
being an evaluator because you must know the anatomy of a speech
(as taught in the basic communications manual), be analytical, be truthful, be fun, be gentle, be critical, be motivating, and all the other be-be's.
One last note: don't evaluate a speech content. Don't mention in your speech, for example, "I agree with the speaker". An evaluation is not about your opinion on the content, it's youropinion on the speech structure(opening, body, closing), delivery, all the things mentioned in the ten projects in the basic communications manual. More importantly, it's about the speaker. Not about the evaluator.
Have fun improving yourselves ~~
Ever onward, ever upward
DTM Laura Rotinsulu
Metropolitan Toastmasters Club
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