Art of Speaking Toastmasters Club
Speak to Win!Ten Behaviors of an Effective Evaluator
Here is a list of Ten Behaviors of an Effective Evaluator:
1. Show That You Care (do
not be quick to evaluate).
Evaluation must be sincere and genuine. Avoid the "whitewash" evaluation. You must want to help the other person.
Evaluation must be sincere and genuine. Avoid the "whitewash" evaluation. You must want to help the other person.
2. Suit Your Evaluation to
the Speaker
Adapt your evaluation to the needs, goals, and experience level of the speaker. Be aware of self-improvement goals. Recognize symptoms of fear and insecurity so you can deal with them in a helpful and tactful way.
Adapt your evaluation to the needs, goals, and experience level of the speaker. Be aware of self-improvement goals. Recognize symptoms of fear and insecurity so you can deal with them in a helpful and tactful way.
3. Learn the Speaker's
Objective
Contact the speaker in advance. Ask the speaker what are their strengths and weaknesses. Review the manual objectives.
Contact the speaker in advance. Ask the speaker what are their strengths and weaknesses. Review the manual objectives.
4. Listen Actively (make
sure you understand)
Be physically and mentally alert (ignore distractions). Empathize with speaker (put yourself in their place). Summarize - pick out main ideas and conclusions. Listen with your eyes as well as your ears. Take notes.
Be physically and mentally alert (ignore distractions). Empathize with speaker (put yourself in their place). Summarize - pick out main ideas and conclusions. Listen with your eyes as well as your ears. Take notes.
5. Personalize Your Language
When you evaluate a speech, describe its effect on you. You are not a judge - merely a potential source of feedback and assistance. Use descriptive personal phrases: My reaction was... It appeared to me... I felt that you....
Avoid interpretive phrases: You should... you must....
6. Give Positive Reinforcement (avoid snap
interpretations)
People work hard to improve themselves - they need to know their efforts are worthwhile. To effectively meet these human needs your praise must be deserved. Hollow flattery can backfire. You should find something praiseworthy and recognize it sincerely.
People work hard to improve themselves - they need to know their efforts are worthwhile. To effectively meet these human needs your praise must be deserved. Hollow flattery can backfire. You should find something praiseworthy and recognize it sincerely.
7. Help the Speaker Become Motivated
Remind the speaker that his/her goals are worthwhile and attainable. Encourage the speaker to work hard toward improving his/her speaking goals.
8. Evaluate the Behavior - Not the Person
When you evaluate, your words have the capacity to produce an emotional response. The purpose is not to evaluate the quality of the speaker's ideas, rather an evaluation is for the speaker to learn to communicate his/her ideas more effectively.
When you evaluate, your words have the capacity to produce an emotional response. The purpose is not to evaluate the quality of the speaker's ideas, rather an evaluation is for the speaker to learn to communicate his/her ideas more effectively.
9. Nourish Self-Esteem
End your oral evaluation on a positive note. Strive to have that individual feeling better about themselves.
10. Show the Speaker How to Improve
Focus on what you feel the speaker should be doing - not on what they should not be doing (difference between evaluation and criticism). Select one or two areas that you feel the speaker can make the greatest improvement in their speech. Present your recommendations in a positive way, giving specific suggestions and examples. Show the speaker how to improve - not just what to improve.
Focus on what you feel the speaker should be doing - not on what they should not be doing (difference between evaluation and criticism). Select one or two areas that you feel the speaker can make the greatest improvement in their speech. Present your recommendations in a positive way, giving specific suggestions and examples. Show the speaker how to improve - not just what to improve.
Remember, an evaluation is a mini speech. As such it
needs an opening, a body and a close.
There are many methods that evaluators use to organize their
evaluations. One such method is the C.O.D. formula given below.
THE C.O.D. FORMULA (CONTENT + ORGANIZATION + DELIVERY)
1. Divide a clean piece of paper into three columns, marked C -
O - D.
2. As the speaker proceeds, jot down your observations.
3. Avoid taking too many notes.
4. Abbreviations will be enough to trigger your comments.
5. It is important that the evaluation be adjusted to certain points and features so that you will not wander interminably in your effort to cover everything.
6. Give your undivided attention to the speaker at each stage of the presentation.
7. Put a plus sign by comments on the speaker's strengths, a minus sign for elements that distracted from the speech, and stars by constructive suggestions for improvement (which ones hit home and which ones were lost, and why some parts hit home).
8. Deliver the "plus" remarks first to build the speaker's self-esteem (strengths).
9. Deliver the "minus" category (weaknesses).
10. Provide suggestions for improvements. This should be the most important to hear.
2. As the speaker proceeds, jot down your observations.
3. Avoid taking too many notes.
4. Abbreviations will be enough to trigger your comments.
5. It is important that the evaluation be adjusted to certain points and features so that you will not wander interminably in your effort to cover everything.
6. Give your undivided attention to the speaker at each stage of the presentation.
7. Put a plus sign by comments on the speaker's strengths, a minus sign for elements that distracted from the speech, and stars by constructive suggestions for improvement (which ones hit home and which ones were lost, and why some parts hit home).
8. Deliver the "plus" remarks first to build the speaker's self-esteem (strengths).
9. Deliver the "minus" category (weaknesses).
10. Provide suggestions for improvements. This should be the most important to hear.
Quote
"All the great speakers were bad speakers at first."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
