World Champion Evaluator evaluating like a champion

You are facing a dilemma. Someone you know has messed up. If you don’t tell them, the problem will continue. Worse still, other people may inadvertently end up copying the problem themselves. You want to address the problem before it gets out of hand, but you don’t want to engage in a conflict.

The solution? Use yourself as an example. Recreate the scenario from your point of view. Tell a story about how you messed up, and the consequence of those actions. You avoid offending someone and also transform the situation into an opportunity for everyone to grow.

As an example, in your Toastmasters club, one particular member spends too long introducing Table Topics, leaving very little time for people to participate. Rather than point out the behavior of the member, you can instead focus on yourself:

Some time ago when I was Table Topics Master, I was so enthusiastic about my topic that I launched into a detailed explanation. Before I knew what happened, I was almost out of time. We only had time for 2 people to share their thoughts on my wonderful topic. Not only did I miss the opportunity to hear other viewpoints, but other people missed the opportunity to speak at all. I didn’t realize all of this at the time.

Fortunately a more experienced member passed me a note suggesting that the goal of the Table Topics Master is to be succinct with the introduction and give as much time as possible for others to participate. I definitely appreciated this sage advice. Consider passing notes to your fellow Toastmasters to pass on your wisdom.

This not only helps the members understand the purpose of the Table Topics Master role, but also gives everyone the permission to give written feedback and act upon it.

Posted under Toastmasters

Do you think a World Champion of Public Speaking knows a thing or two about effective evaluations?  I do.  Which is why I was interested in the advice LaShunda Rundles, the newly crowned 2008 World Champion, gave on the August World Champions’ EDGE conference call.

LaShunda talked about how we, as evaluators, like to give feedback.  We just love to add value.  Nothing pleases us more than providing feedback to a speaker that will improve them or their speech.

Speakers, and most especially speech contestants, need to be selective of which advice to take.  LaShunda cautions that taking in too much feedback can impact your message:

When you take too much information from folks and you are trying to please someone from every direction, you are going to jeapardize the authenticity of your speech.

LaShunda has advice for speakers who receive a lot of feedback:

You need to listen to your heart, and filter those things out.

As an evaluator, we need to be careful with the feedback we give. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Why am I giving this particular piece of feedback?
• Will the speaker or the speech directly benefit from my feedback?
• Is this the kind of feedback the speaker has requested?
• Would the speech be noticeably better if the speaker incorporated my feedback?
• Which of my areas for improvement will provide the biggest immediate impact.

When evaluating a speech, we need to consider what the recipient needs.  What we need is not important.  Focus on the speaker.  Give them a gift.

Posted under Toastmasters

My knees are shaking.  A bead of sweat meanders its way between the ridges of my back.  My nails are much shorter than they were 47 minutes ago.

Looking around the packed courtroom, I see lots of faces, but all I can think about is myself.  The pounding of my heart is threatening to burst forth from it’s fragile cage.

I am on the verge of performing a speech evaluation.  Not just any evaluation.  This evaluation is of someone I have just met.  In front of people I don’t know.  This is the Area 94 Evaluation Contest, and I am next.

There is one more major challenge facing me.  I mean major!!  This speaker that I am about to evaluate is good.  Very good.  He won the Toastmasters World Champion of Public Speaking on his first attempt!  All I have won is a single club evaluation contest.

Staring out at the sea of faces, I start my evaluation:

My task today is to evaluate Randy Harvey, the 2004 World Champion of Public Speaking.  I guess that makes me a World Champion Evaluator!

The instant laughter curbing my anxiety, affording me the freedom to relax.  I survived the evaluation.  I did more than survive though, I also won that evaluation contest.  More than winning, I started on the long winding path of improving my evaluation skills.

I hope this blog proves useful in guiding you down this long winding path.  The journey is challenging, the scenery is breathtaking, and the personal growth you will experience – priceless.

Posted under General