|
|
| You may be nervous to receive your first
speech evaluation in your club. Don’t be—it’s through honest,
fair evaluations that you truly learn and grow. Every speech you
deliver will be evaluated by another Toastmaster, and you will
eventually be asked to evaluate others’ speeches, which will
help you to develop even more. Evaluations give you the feedback
you need to advance your skills. This page shows you how to use the evaluation resources included in the Pathways projects. You will learn valuable techniques for giving and receiving effective, constructive feedback in the “Evaluation and Feedback” project at Level 1. |
| THE IMPORTANCE OF THE TOASTMASTERS EVALUATION |
| Toastmasters International founder Ralph C.
Smedley said, “No Toastmasters club is fulfilling its
obligation to its members unless it brings them the maximum of
training in the art of constructive criticism.” Evaluations
help to boost your confidence and provide you a tangible
direction for improvement. They are essential to your
Toastmasters experience—they show you what you do well and what
you might consider practicing more. Without constructive
criticism from others, you may not grow as a communicator or
leader. You have likely already witnessed the benefit of evaluations in your club. A member speaks, receives verbal and written feedback from another Toastmaster, and then uses those comments to improve the next speech. The evaluator’s goal is to give the speaker constructive feedback that will help them improve. |
| The evaluator benefits from this experience, too. Many members believe serving as the evaluator is the most challenging meeting role to fulfill, which makes the benefits so rewarding. When you’re the evaluator, you learn to listen more attentively, refine your critical thinking abilities and give feedback tactfully. You are tasked with considering many different factors, such as effective speech delivery techniques, the speaker’s skill level, habits and mannerisms, as well as their progress to date. It is your job to consider all of this while delivering an evaluation that is encouraging, thoughtful and motivating. |
| The evaluator gives an honest, constructive reaction to your efforts using the evaluation criteria provided within your project. Read on to understand the purpose of the criteria before you begin presenting speeches and evaluating others. |
| WHAT TO EXPECT |
| BEFORE THE MEETING |
| You will be assigned an evaluator once you have scheduled your first speech. Send this person the evaluation resource for your project assignment or ensure they can access it in advance of the club meeting. This way, the evaluator can get familiar with what they need to look and listen for during your presentation. Find your evaluation resource toward the end of your project or search for it on Base Camp. |
| The evaluation resource guides the evaluator’s job. Every speech in Pathways has a unique evaluation resource with notes and criteria specific to your assignment. This information helps the evaluator determine how well you achieved each competency or skill. |
| There are three pages: |
| Evaluation Form. Page 1 gives an overview of the assignment to help the evaluator understand what it is you’re trying to accomplish. The evaluator uses page 2 to score the skills you demonstrated in the speech |
 |
| Evaluation Criteria. Page 3 helps the evaluator determine your score for each competency. The evaluator will use this page side-by-side with the Evaluation Form to easily determine your scores. |
| Just as the evaluator should read the
evaluation resource ahead of your speech, you should as well.
Doing so ensures you know exactly what is expected of you during
your speech. Before the meeting begins, talk with your evaluator and make sure they have everything they need from you. If you want your evaluator to focus on specific skills during your speech, such as eye contact or vocal variety, communicate this before you give your speech. |
| DURING THE MEETING |
| At some point after you present your
speech, your evaluator will stand up and give a verbal, two- to
three-minute evaluation of your presentation. Listen carefully
and take notes. You’ll want to reference this feedback when
preparing your next speech. At the end of the meeting, your evaluator will return your evaluation resource. Thank them for their feedback and comments. On the resource, you should see scores and notes indicating what you did well and what you may want to consider working on to improve your next speech. |
| AFTER THE MEETING |
| Spend time reviewing your evaluator’s
scores and notes. Read any general comments your evaluator
recorded on the first page of the Evaluation Form. Consider how
these written notes and their verbal comments may help you
better your next speech. Review the scores and comments on the second page of the Evaluation Form. This is where the evaluator rated you on competencies specific to the speech you gave. To give an objective, honest evaluation, the evaluator used the Evaluation Criteria page to determine and select the score that best corresponds with your skill level on each competency |
| Evaluation criteria are ranked on a scale of 5 to 1, with 5 being the highest score and 1 the lowest. The table below explains the different ratings. |
 |
| Although you will strive for the highest
score possible, it’s important to know that a score of 3 is
favorable—it means you accomplished that skill. The objective
isn’t to achieve the high score. It is to learn and demonstrate
the skill. Your scores are just that—yours. You and your evaluator are the only people who see them. Use these scores to determine your strengths and areas in which you can improve. Your scores are important because they help to assess your skills, but keep in mind that a low score does not mean you can’t move on to the next project on your path. You are free to start the next project no matter which scores you achieve. However, if you receive low ratings on any particular project, you may wish to repeat the project to strengthen your skills before moving forward. |
| Each level in your path builds on the last
level. The more confident you are in your scores and
competencies, the more confident you will be in your ability to
complete future, more difficult projects. Finally, as you read
through your feedback and scores, it’s important to remember a
few key points ■ Good evaluators always offer suggestions and areas for improvement. Never expect to receive an evaluation that is all praise. ■ Evaluations are based on opinion. Though evaluators follow the guidelines established in the “Evaluation and Feedback” project at Level 1, comments are still subjective and you may not always agree with your evaluator. ■ Many members believe effective evaluations are sometimes difficult to give and receive. This is why being the evaluator can be challenging. You will become a better evaluator by observing effective evaluations and by giving more evaluations at club meetings. |
| Evaluation Forms for Every Project |
| Evaluation Forms in Base Camp |