If you look back on 2008 and evaluate your role within it, what would you say about yourself?

If all you had was 3 minutes to sum it up, where would you focus your time?

What 3 things would you highlight?

Take this opportunity to evaluate your year, Toastmasters style.  Use the sandwich technique.  Be specific with your accomplishments and also areas for improvement.  Now, do the same thing looking BACK on 2009.  Use your imagination.  What would be an amazing accomplishment for next year?  Getting your dream job?  Getting your business off the ground?  Increasing sales?  Spending more time with your family?  Continuing your education?

Now that you have your 2 evaluations, email them to yourself using a service like Letter me later and schedule it for December 2009.

When you give an evaluation for a speech, do you find yourself struggling with just how to do it?  Maybe:

• The content didn’t resonate with you.
• The delivery was not effective.
• You don’t agree with information presented.
• The speaker didn’t seem prepared.
• The speaker is new and has much to work on.

There are many more reasons a speech may be hard to evaluate.  Each of these reasons can be overcome with a change in focus.  Note the focus in the following:

• I didn’t  like the content.
• The delivery didn’t work for me.
• I didn’t agree with the information.
• I thought the preparation was inadequate.
• I recognize that the speaker is new and has many areas to address.

The focus is clearly on the evaluator.  Lots of “I” statements.  Typically “I” statements are great.  In this case though, the evaluator is paralyzed by focusing on themselves.  An evaluation is primarily for the benefit of the speaker.  The evaluator needs to spend some time in the shoes of the speaker.  Next time you are an evaluator, challenge yourself to look at the speech from the speakers point of view:

• You clearly know a lot about this topic.  It can be a challenge to convey this to a lay-audience.
• What an interesting delivery style you chose.  I will see if I can incorporate it into one of my future speeches.
• The information you presented was a challenge for me.  I wonder whether there is another side you could present to balance the argument.
• I liked your raw approach to this speech.  Now that you have presented it, consider the following suggestions for some ways to polish it…
• This is an exciting time in your speaking progression.  There are so many roads to you can take.  I am going to highlight 3 roads you can take today to take the next step…

Assume that the speaker intended everything they did.  The speaker knows if they didn’t prepare fully or that they didn’t do as well as they are capable.  Help them see alternatives instead of highlighting their inadequacies.

I want to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season.

Take this opportunity to send an email to someone that has made a difference in your life this year.  It doesn’t have to be life altering, just sincere.  I received such an email this past week and it really made me realize how little we let people know how much we appreciate them.

Check out the video below.  It is a presentation by Tim Wilson entitled “Speech Evaluation Made Easy.”  Tim describes very well how an evaluation is a balancing act between being nice and being Darth Vader!

Tim also explains the importance of the opening in an evaluation.  I wish he would have given more specific examples in this area to really challenge people to give compelling openings.

To obtain an insightful understanding of protégés, mentors need to have a personal relationship with them. [...] This means that excellent mentors are accessible and available.  But they also need to exhibit the human skills of listening, caring, communicating openly, and giving constructive feedback.  To conclude, taking the time to truly know protégés is arguably the most important of the mentoring virtues.

- Elements of Mentoring by W. Brad Johnson & Charles R. Ridley.