Developing More Effective Evaluations |
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Evaluations are the most important aspect of the Toastmasters experience. However, sometimes we can fall into the trap of treating them as a routine, with all the dangers that come with that. Here I will describe for you a process by which you can become more attentive to how you evaluate. By becoming more attentive to evaluations you will not only improve others' speaking skills, you will also improve your own. The content outlined below is not exclusively my own. It is a hybrid of my own experiences, lessons learned within my clubs, and material from the Toastmasters International Success/Communication Module, "The Art of Effective Evaluation" . I strongly encourage clubs to order a copy of this presentation for their club's own use and ongoing growth. This presentation was originally given at the District 11 TLI (officer training) in July of 2006. Files: |
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Why Do We Evaluate? Whenever it is your turn to serve as an evaluator, it is important to consider the question of why we do evaluations to begin with. “The Art of Effective Evaluation” module outlines the following reasons:
All of these are speaker-centric; however, all can also represent selfish (in a good way) reasons to evaluate. Attentive evaluation of others' speaking is one of the single most effective ways we can facilitate our own learning as speakers. It's easy to become comfortable in our own speaking style, but only when we pay close attention to others can we notice opportunities to do things differently and stretch our experience. What is a Good Evaluation? According to "The Art of Effective Evaluation," a good evaluation is one in which the evaluator:
These are not objectives that can be optimally achieved by evaluating "on the fly". You might have had the experience of arriving at a meeting just before it starts and getting a manual shoved under your nose for you to evaluate someone. A good evaluation, however, requires preparation. Preparing to Evaluate Preparing to evaluate doesn't necessarily take much time, but it does require a little effort. In becoming an excellent evaluator you will learn there are:
Let's go through these one by one. Before the Meeting The most important think you must do before any evaluation is talk with the speaker. Although the speech manual has a list of objectives, every speaker will have her own objectives - weaknesses she might be trying to overcome, or strengths she might be trying to enhance. Find out what the speaker is working on, and make sure you keep those objectives in mind for the evaluation. The other important thing to do before the evaluation is to read the manual. Read the speech description and objectives, and read some of the speaker's past evaluations. By doing this you'll be able to highlight both how the speaker did with this speech and how the speaker is progressing and growing. The Day of the Speech Different clubs vary on their practices regarding evaluations. One practice you might consider implementing if your club does not already do so is having the evaluator stand before the speaker is formally introduced, and read the brief bullet-point objectives from the speech manual. Doing this allows others in attendance to know specifically what the goals are of the speech, and to watch the speech with these objectives in mind for their own education. If your club does not have time to do this, then an alternative is to have these objectives listed on the agenda. It's also important to plan how you’ll take notes during the speech. One of the great challenges of evaluating is that of taking notes without losing the flow of the speech or missing anything important. You can make this challenge less difficult by organizing a note structure in advance of the speech. For instance, before I evaluate I divide a sheet of paper into 6 areas to track different things to watch. One is devoted to speech objectives, another to structural aspects, another to physical and language aspects, another to content, one area for general points to grow, and then a last area where I can organize which points I wish to address orally. Once the speech is underway, it becomes much easier to put notes in specific spaces than to write them out in longer form. (I've linked a spreadsheet of my worksheet above, but this is something you can draw on a sheet of paper in less than a minute before a meeting.) The other important thing an evaluator should do is check in with speaker after the meeting. A 2-3 minute evaluation is never going to be comprehensive, and after the meeting an evaluator can go over other points not mentioned, address any questions from the speaker, and supportively congratulate the speaker on her work. Finding Content for your Evaluation The structure of an evaluation goes a long way to defining tone. Many Toastmasters already have been educated on the sandwich approach - starting and ending the evaluation on positive points, and placing constructive criticism in between. This helps ensure that the positives outweigh the criticisms, and ensures that the most supportive material is more likely to be remembered. As you look over your notes you might find several points you wish to address. Be selective! You only have three minutes, so select the most important ones for the oral evaluation, and leave everything else either for written form, or to bring up in speaking with the speaker afterwards. The importance of a point will vary by speech, but should be driven most by the speaker’s level and the speaker’s needs. If you have spoken with the speaker in advance, you should have a good idea of a few important points to address within the evaluation. Still, even though the speaker will have specific objectives, don’t forget to consider other aspects of the speaking experience. The speaker may be aware of some areas of strength or weakness, but may be oblivious to others. As evaluators we are there to open the person’s eyes to where they are now and what possibilities might lie ahead. To that end, you might consider addressing:
Any of these might be areas where you can note a potential strength to build on, or a point for future growth. As we think about the content of our evaluations, we often drift into the domain of "constructive criticism". Criticism is a concept that carries with it some unfortunate baggage, such that even the phrase "constructive criticism" is something we often think of as negative. I encourage evaluators to think broadly about this concept - think of criticism not just in terms of “things the speaker did wrong,” but also in terms of ways the speech could be (even) better. The point of the critical aspect of the evaluation is not to identify "what the speaker did wrong," it is to identify points for growth, and to point the way for future improvement. One advantage of the "how could this speech be even better?" approach to criticism is that it helps avoid whitewash. Whitewash is a problem in evaluations that you've likely seen before - an evaluator talks about the speech, but only addresses its strengths, without addressing points for growth. I address the problems with whitewash in greater depth here, but the brief version is that it should be avoided. Whitewash impedes the growth of the speaker - why bother continuing to practice if you're already perfect? If whitewash becomes pervasive within a club, members will see no need to keep attending, and the club as a whole will be harmed. How to Deliver Your Evaluation Since the goal of an evaluation is to be both educational and motivational, it is important for evaluators to consider the language they use. Use positive, constructive language, language which focuses on the speaker’s future growth and acknowledges their efforts. “The Art of Effective Evaluation” module gives tips on wording for an evaluation:
My first Toastmasters club used the phrase “points to grow” when delivering constructive criticism. This is a phrase I’ve always liked, and it’s one I try to use in my evaluations. Whatever phraseology you use, keep in mind the level and goals of the speaker. If someone is trying to overcome a fear of public speaking, the last thing they need is an evaluator who is overly fixated on negatives and judgment. Keep things positive, but constructive, focused on growth. On an Ongoing Basis Hopefully, you will be able to implement some of the above ideas to improve your evaluation skills. Over time, you might also find it helpful to seek feedback on your evaluations. Some of this feedback will be implicit – the speakers you evaluate will respond to your evaluation, and you can read that response to get a feel for how you are doing. Other feedback can be more explicit. Make sure your club uses the General Evaluator role to provide feedback to evaluators, such that they can learn and grow in this important skill. TM offers other ways to improve your evaluations. At the club level you can actively listen to others’ evaluations. You can also make a point of passing evaluation notes to speakers. Doing this will get you into the habit of actively listening to every speech, not just those for which you are a formal evaluator. You also can enter the evaluation contest if your district offers one. This is a forum in which you can learn from and test yourself against other skilled evaluators. Finally, it is important that your club regularly survey its membership to ensure that it is meeting their needs, and that someone in your club seeks feedback from members who leave, to ensure that poor club evaluations were not the problem. This approach can be humbling, but it also lets a club learn what it is that its membership wants and needs in the domain of evaluation. For More Information… Check out the “Success/Communication Series” module on “The Art of Effective Evaluation”, and the shorter "Evaluate to Motivate" presentation. |