speech evaluator
Serving as an evaluator is an opportunity to practice leadership skills, including listening, critical thinking, providing feedback, and motivation. At first, it can be intimidating to provide feedback.
Always remember that the most important benefit of Toastmasters for members is the honest, fair, and supportive evaluation of their presentations and leadership accomplishments.
Make use of the Pathways evaluations to help you clearly identify where speakers succeeded and where there is room for continued growth and improvement. For each presenter you evaluate, find a few things they did well and mention them in your evaluation. Your purpose is to help members be more self-confident and improve their speaking skills.
Always remember that the most important benefit of Toastmasters for members is the honest, fair, and supportive evaluation of their presentations and leadership accomplishments.
Make use of the Pathways evaluations to help you clearly identify where speakers succeeded and where there is room for continued growth and improvement. For each presenter you evaluate, find a few things they did well and mention them in your evaluation. Your purpose is to help members be more self-confident and improve their speaking skills.
Before the meeting:
- Communicate with the member you will be evaluating for information about the project they are completing.
- Access Base Camp to download and review the Pathways evaluation resource for the speech project (if it has not been provided to you by the member) - watch 'Accessing Speech Evaluation Resources' on the tutorials page to learn how to do this.
- It may also be helpful to take a moment to revisit the content in the Pathways “Evaluation and Feedback” Level 1 project to review strategies for providing feedback and completing an evaluation.
During the meeting:
- Record your impressions on the first page of the Evaluation Form. As you record scores, refer to the Evaluation Criteria section to be sure you are accurately reflecting the member’s speech and delivery. Remember, a score of 3 on a competency means the member met that expectation.
- A score of 4 or 5 reflects achievement above and beyond meeting the competency. Only the very best public speakers will ever achieve a 5. The scale reflects an understanding that there is always room to grow and improve as a public speaker and a leader.
- Remember that the best evaluations encourage and motivate members to improve. In addition to mentioning areas to be strengthened, suggest specific solutions or actions to build any needed skills and behaviours.
- When giving a verbal evaluation, begin and end with a note of encouragement or praise. Though you may have written lengthy responses to sections of the evaluation, refrain from reading them. Your verbal evaluation time is limited; cover what is essential to encourage and support the member while giving honest feedback.
- Praise a successful speech or leadership assignment and give reasons to explain why it succeeded. Share specific ideas the member could apply in the future. Be respectful and focus on skills and accomplishments rather than personal attributes
After the meeting:
- Complete the written evaluation and email to the member so they can upload to Basecamp; remember to accompany the form with a few words of encouragement and congratulations!