The Art of Giving – and Receiving – Speech Evaluations

Giving Evaluations

Six and a half years in Toastmasters, and I still struggle to give well-structured speech evaluations. I hear others present beautifully organized, balanced, actionable advice and wonder how they can pull their thoughts together so quickly. (“If only I had ten more minutes to prepare!”) But that’s the beauty of this life-long journey: we’re a long way from where we started, and most of us have a ways to go.

Fortunately, there’s a lot of information in the Toastmasters website on the giving of evaluations, beginning with the Evaluation and Feedback Project in Level 1 of every Pathway. In addition, here are some articles on the topic:

Oh, No! I'm Giving My First Evaluation

How to prepare and what to look for as a new evaluator.

https://www.toastmasters.org/magazine/magazine-issues/2021/jan/toolbox-my-first-evaluation

Learning to Evaluate Everybody

Don't be intimidated by title or tenure; both new and advanced members benefit from honesty.

https://www.toastmasters.org/magazine/magazine-issues/2021/mar/learning-to-evaluate-everybody

The Invaluable Evaluator

This meeting role comes with powerful responsibilities.

https://toastmasters.org/magazine/magazine-issues/2021/dec/the-invaluable-evaluator

Expert Advice for Evaluations

Provide effective feedback for speakers.

https://toastmasters.org/magazine/magazine-issues/2023/july/evaluations

For a range of easy-to-remember structures for evaluation, check out the web page below. It includes two videos:

·     The first video I take issue with. Unless you’re in a Speech Evaluation contest, you don’t need to worry about making your evaluation a performance, the way you might a speech. Also, he’s too harsh, saying things to the speaker like, “That’s wrong.” :-(

·     The second video: while I find it over-the-top in terms of vocal variety, gesture and facial expression, there are a lot of great tips here. What take-aways did you find and how do they match up with the advice in the articles listed above?

https://www.gilberttm.org/toastmasters-evaluations/

What about the oft-stated guideline that Evaluators should focus only on delivery, not on content? If you look at the Speech Evaluator form, it has scoring for things like vocal variety and gestures, with just one criterion that is an assessment of content: Interest. (It’s a strange inconsistency, because in speech contests content quality is an important part of scoring.)

I think we’d all agree that giving our opinions on accuracy or whether we approve of the content would be inappropriate as Evaluators. However, the “don’t engage in content” message blocks a very helpful component of evaluation: how well or poorly did the speech achieve its objective? This requires the Evaluator to have a clear understand what the Speaker’s purpose was in the first place.

I received valuable insight on this from Tamala Takahashi, DTM, former President of Burbank Toastmasters. She said that her club members focused strongly on job performance. What they found even more valuable than the standard evaluation criteria was specific feedback on how well their speeches worked. For example, a sales speech: did the speech help the audience to become interested in utilizing or at least finding out more about the product or service promoted? A compliance speech: would a workforce understand the reasons for the rules and be motivated to follow them? A technical presentation: was content clarity and purpose maximized, even for a nontechnical audience? 

I recommend that Evaluators very much do get involved in assessing this aspect of content, especially for more advanced speakers, because it provides real-world assistance. And don’t worry that you’re not an expert in the field; all evaluation is subjective to some degree and the Speaker will take that into account.

Receiving Evaluations

You’ll find a lot less information about this, so I’ll spend some time on it.

·     The reality is that in a lifetime of work and relationship evaluations, you will get a lot of poorly done ones! While we try to minimize this at Toastmasters, it’s inevitable that you will sometimes get evaluations that you disagree with or that missed some of your stronger points. As Lance Miller, DTM and professional speech coach, said at a recent Toastmasters webinar, these not-great evaluations are actually valuable training to help us become more resilient and develop a strong inner voice so that we can differentiate between what to take to heart and what to take with a grain of salt.

·     I cannot recommend highly enough a book by the Harvard Negotiation Team, Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well (Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen). The authors state that the feedback receiver has more power to make the interaction useful than the feedback giver, who is often limited by his/her abilities to perceive or communicate more effectively. Stone and Heen urge us to stop viewing the receipt of feedback as a passive activity, and they give many pragmatic tips on how to do this. Taking charge of this role can transform every relationship in our lives. Basically, they ask us to coach our coaches.

·     How does this principle apply at Toastmasters? When you have an upcoming speech, email your Evaluator ahead of the meeting to give them direction as to what you want them to focus on. Let them know if this is a Pathways speech and what the objectives of the Project are (if your Evaluator hasn’t signed up for that particular Pathway, they will not have access to read it for themselves, so you should provide the information).

o  If you want to find out how well the speech influenced the audience as you intended it to, make sure your Evaluator knows this and knows what your goals are, otherwise they may feel they’re not allowed to go there based on the misguided “we don’t address content” rule.

·     Sometimes, no one will have signed up to evaluate your speech so there is no one to email ahead of time. Given the tight timing at the beginning of meetings, especially when roles are being filled last minute, I recommend that you bring instructions for your Evaluator printed on paper, which you can give him/her once someone signs up for the role (for online meetings, communicate these in a private Chat message).

·     Here’s a tip that, strangely, we rarely do in this club, but which is common practice in other clubs. Have the Toastmaster introduce you the way you might be introduced as a speaker at a conference. Send him/her an email ahead of time with not only your speech title, duration and whether it’s a Pathways Speech (including Level), but also provide him/her with a short paragraph to read before your speech. This could include your work experience, your relevant interests and your purpose for giving the speech. The point of the intro is to answer the question, “Why am I a reliable source on the topic I'm about to discuss?” An added advantage is that you don’t have to explain this, which will buy you a few more minutes to get into the subject.

·     Would you like the entire club to zero in on specific evaluation aspects? If so, you can preface your speech with this request. For example, “On your feedback slips, I’d particularly like you to focus on whether you felt my conclusions were supported by the evidence I presented.” Or, “Please pay special attention to my vocal variety and eye contact.”

·     After your speech, if there are things that you have questions about, feel free to get further clarification from your Evaluator. Often, Evaluators have a lot more to say than they have time for during the meeting.

·     The next step is to internalize the feedback that you find credible. You may want to write a list of things you’d like to improve, and review the list the next time you prepare or rehearse a speech.

·     Above all, give yourself grace. We’re not aiming for perfection; we’re aiming for gradual improvement and celebrating every win, no matter how small!