I generated my own handout which can be found here. My goal with the handout was twofold. First, the handout is designed for the attendees to write a lot of information, hence engaging the kinesthetic learning modality. Second, the information each attendee writes down will provide them plans, leadership styles, motivation styles, and goals for their term as President. For those who are interested, my own filled out form is here.
My main goals for the training were for each participant to:
Understand how the Distinguished Club Program helps teach leadership skills
Realize a Toastmasters Club President has responsibility without real authority
Recognize the goals and motivations of each of the other club officers
Attempt big ideas and big changes
Be willing to fail
Encourage other officers and members to be willing to fail and support them in their efforts
In my Toastmasters clubs, I meet people whose paths I would otherwise never cross. We walk in different social circles, work in different industries, and live very different lives. Because of our differences, I learn so much from every speech. I witness each member's growth. I grow just from participating.
Some guy once said "At the core, Toastmasters is about building better people." We help build each other up by providing feedback, by evaluating one another.
To Be Great, Evaluate!
In this seminar on evaluating speeches, I go in depth into the reasons why we evaluate and the ways I approach a speech evaluation.
Is Someone Watching Over Me?
This brave volunteer offered to give a typical 5-7 minute speech that I would analyze and evaluate for presentation here online.
This next video is of me muttering and writing notes during the above speech. (I should have muttered a bit louder.) You will notice I write down a lot direct quotes, the speech opening and closing, various notes on body language, and notations highlighting what I believe I should mention in the verbal evaluation.
Evaluation Preparation
This next video is again of the speech evaluation guide and the notes I am taking. During this video I am organizing my thoughts in preparation for the evaluation. I verbalize my thought process as I go. The preparation is done in under 5 minutes, the time allotted for preparation in an Evaluation Contest.
Center Stage
Now I give my evaluation. According to the timer I cut it way too close at 3:29. Whew!
Evaluation Explanation
Here I give a verbal recap of how I prepared for the evaluation.
Evaluation Points
Here are the notes I used when I gave this seminar. There are a lot of points here, a result of my curious habit of thinking strange, deep thoughts at odd, inconvenient times. I believe the notes are probably more useful than writing out a full prose narrative. I figure if you want more, the videos are right here!
Why do we evaluate?
Feedback
Growth
Encouragement
Improve / Get
Better!
Who is the evaluation
for?
EVERYONE
What do we evaluate?
Speaker's goals
Above all others
Project's goals
There is no
failure. Credit is never denied.
Give the same
speech 10 times!
Example: Grunt!
Technical skills
From CC:
organization, structure, vocal variety, word choice, body
language, visual aids
Emotional connection
Rapport, specifics
vs. generics, pacing, anchoring and firing
Stories and
Characters – Names and Dialog
NOT THE CONTENT
Example: the
evangelist
Example: the
politician
How NOT to evaluate
Whitewash
“We see the
faults of others quickly, but we are blind to our own.”
Chainsaw
Public humiliation
– what is the fear of public speaking all about??
How to evaluate –
Many ways!
The evaluation guide
Easy, just read the
questions
Focus on the
technical
Focus on the
emotional
Be very specific
Example: “I was
so excited.”
What if there is
nothing?
Twist it
How would it be as
humorous, persuasive, or inspirational?
What about longer
time frame or larger audience?
How I do it!
Write. A lot.
Write down the
first sentence, how engaging it was
Write down triads
Write down awkward
and unusual words
Write down key
phrases
Write down humorous
moments
Draw simple
diagrams of notable body language
Write down
conclusion
Preparation
3 +
3 ^
Arrange highest +
last, second highest + first
Opening, match to
speech opening if possible
Conclusion, match
to speech conclusion or humorous moment
Delivery
Focus on the
speaker, include the audience
Praise speaker to
everyone, make suggestions just to the speaker
Focused on
presentation
Upbeat
Contest
Judge's Guide
Analytical Quality
(clear, focused)
Recommendations
(positive, specific, helpful)
Technique
(sympathetic, sensitive, motivational)
Summation
(concise, encouraging)
Evaluation is a
speech
Opening, Body,
Conclusion
Make 3 points
Give specific
examples and suggestions
Personalize
Engage
Recreate
Warning: Don't
recreate satire. I tried. The judges didn't get it.
Stand out!
Be happy with your
performance. Do not care about the judges' decision.
Have Fun!
Despite, or rather because, of the importance of evaluations, have fun with them! Try new ideas, experiment, and never be afraid to look silly. Those are the evaluations that everyone will remember best and learn the most!
For Us All
My goal here was to provide a tool by which Toastmasters could learn about the importance of evaluations, discover different ways to think when evaluating a speech, and to observe an up-close and detailed view of a typical speech evaluation preparation and presentation.
If you found this useful, please let others know about it. If you have feedback, then please tell me -- in the most encouraging way possible! "While most of us may have entered Toastmasters to learn to make speeches, that benefit is but the beginning of the good which may come to us, and the good which we may do for mankind."
Why compete? Why would someone voluntarily get up and speak in public with the intent of being judged and the being found wanting?
Certainly there are some people who are very competitive, and some who love the spotlight. Why not just let them enter the speech contests. The rest of us can just keep time or count ballots, maybe occasionally run a contest or judge. There's no need to risk a blow to ego or self-esteem or experience public humiliation by failing to seize that first place trophy, right? Why go through all the effort to prepare for so little chance?
I have been in Toastmasters 13 years, and I have competed in over 140 speech contests to date. In my clubs, there have been some members who were afraid to compete against me even though I have lost more than half the time and I have yet to win a District championship. It might make you wonder, who would want to compete against a District champion or an International Speech finalist?
I would. I have! Why not compete? No matter how you perform, you will be applauded. Everyone will be encouraging you. In fact, theworst thing that could happen is that you win!
A few years ago, a new member in one of my clubs was an experienced Toastmaster who had just the year before placed third in the International Speech finals. When the next International Speech contest came up, I was the only one who signed up against him. I was eager to compete on the same stage with him, because I knew with such high calibre competition that I would be motivated to prepare and perform at my best.
Our two speeches could not have been more different. My competitor, quite sharp in his Marine dress uniform, drew first and he gave a solid speech about honor and perseverance from his bootcamp experience. For my speech, I was moving about and standing on chairs emoting about my divorce and what Toastmasters had done for me.
When I finished, I felt really good. I had performed my speech as I had planned and practiced, and the audience reaction had been very strong. During the break before the winners were announced, several of the club members told me they believed my speech had been just as good as the first speech and a couple thought that I had a chance at winning outright.
At that moment, I had already achieved my goal: I had given a speech that was important to me, and I had given it at a level that put me on par with an elite competitor.
As luck would have it, demographics were against me. The judges that evening were mostly men that appeared to be retired, and they all saluted during the Pledge of Allegiance indicating they were ex-military. I was not at all surprised that my competitor came in first. Quite simply, his speech connected with the judges far better than mine ever could.
I have learned that as a whole judges are neither perfect nor predictable. Yes, Toastmasters speech judges are supposed to be objective, but there is no way to enforce or even recognize objectivity. Even if a judge is making every effort to be objective, a speech that happens to resonate with the judge's own experiences, beliefs, or personality will subconsciously appear to be better organized with better use of voice and gestures and a stronger audience reaction. I have both witnessed and experienced contest results skewed due to a variety of factors related to judges including age, gender, personal bias, nationality, race, failure to fill out ballots correctly, ballots missed by ballot counters, tiebreakers applied improperly, a contest master or chief judge ignorant of the rules, and even an incorrect announcment of winners that ballot counters and timers failed to correct immediately.
What does all this mean? It means that winning a contest is completely out of my control! Therefore, winning a contest is not my goal. My goal is to perform at my peak and to make an impact on the audience.
A couple years ago, I finally had won my way to the District International Speech contest. When I took the stage, my goal was not to win; after all, I could not control what the judges would do. All that mattered to me was that I give my best performance. I spoke next to last. I got laughs and gasps, and the entire ballroom of 350 or more Toastmasters hung in rapt silence as I finished. I walked off that stage giddy and very satisfied.
I do not remember the speaker after me very well since I was still running on an adrenaline high. After the speeches completed, I made my way to the bathroom. (Nine 5-7 minute speeches and 10 minutes of silence was asking a lot of my body!) A gentleman there proferred me some advice that I had heard before: I ended my speech with an emotional downer, and I should have made it more positive instead. I had long since passed on that advice because the speech was designed specifically to leave the audience doing a deep and intense introspection.
On the way back to the ballroom, a woman in tears accosted me. She thanked me prolifically for my speech. I had reminded her of her son who had committed suicide, and for her my speech became a tribute to him.
I had made an impact! I accomplished my goal. I had already won.
When the results were announced, I placed second, the only time I have placed at the District level. I now have a speech that I know shocks, touches, and evokes great emotion. I would never have put the effort to put it all together if I had not been competing!
Do you have a story to tell? Do you want to make an impact on people? Do you have a passion you feel driven to share? Do you have a wound that needs help to heal?
Write that speech. Practice it. Get feedback. Rewrite it. Retell it. Then take that speech to the stage in competition and give your best such that you can walk away proud of yourself. I will meet you there, and I will be doing the exact same thing! We will both be in it to win it.
