The Role of a Speech Evaluator

After every speech, an evaluation is made. After you have presented a few speeches, you will be asked to serve as an evaluator and will evaluate one of the prepared speakers for the meeting. In addition to your oral evaluation, you will also give the speaker a written evaluation from the manual. The evaluation presented by you can make the difference between a worthwhile or a wasted mee ting for your speaker. The purpose of the evaluation is to help the speaker become less self-conscious. This requires that you become fully aware of the speaker's skill level, habits and mannerisms as well as his or her progress to date. If there is a technique the speaker uses or some gesture made that receives a good response from the audience, tell the speaker so he or she will be encouraged to use it again.

Prior to the meeting --

• Review carefully the Effective Speech Evaluation manual which you will receive in your new member packet from World Headquarters, or notify the President or Vice President of Education. They can see that you get a copy.

• Talk with the speaker to find out the manual project he or she will be presenting. The interview should include the goals of the speech and what the speaker hopes to achieve. Find out exactly which skills or techniques the speaker hopes to strengthen through the exercise.

• Evaluation requires exacting preparation if it is to be of value to the speaker. Study the objectives of the project as well as the evaluation guide in the manual.

Remember the purpose of evaluation is to help people develop their speaking skills in various situations, including platform presentations, discussions and meetings. Achievement equals the sum of ability and motivation. By actively listening and gently offering useful advice, you motivate members to work hard and improve. When you show the way to improvement, you've opened the door to stre ngthening their ability.

When you enter the meeting room --

• Look for the speaker and get his or her manual.

• Check again to see if he or she has any specific things for you to watch for during the talk.

During the meeting --

• Record your impression of the speech in the manual along with your answers to the evaluation questions. Be as objective as possible. Remember that good evaluations may give new life to discouraged members and poor evaluations may dishearten members who tried their best. Remember to always leave the speaker with specif ic methods for improving his or her speaking.

• When introduced, stand and give your oral evaluation report. Begin and end your evaluation with a note of encouragement or praise. Though you may have written lengthy responses to manual evaluation questions, don't read the questions or your responses. Your oral evaluation time is limited. Don't try to cover too much in your talk - possibly one point on organization.

• Praise a successful speech and specifically tell why it was successful. Don't allow the speaker to remain unaware of a valuable asset such as a smile, a sense of humor, a good voice. Don't allow the speaker to remain ignorant of a serious fault or mannerism; if it is personal, write it, but don't mention it aloud. Give the speaker the deserved praise and tactful suggestions in the manner you would like to receive them when you are the speaker.

After the meeting --

• Return the manual to the speaker. Add a verbal word of encouragement to the speaker, something that wasn't mentioned in the oral evaluation.

Return to the Toastmasters Role Page..