World Champion Evaluator evaluating like a champion

Today I did something new.  I did a hot-seat speech based on questions from the audience.  The topic, of course, was evaluations.  I received 15 questions all of them unique.  I didn’t have enough time to address many of them in 7 minutes, so I am going to take the time to answer each one in detail on this blog.  I hope that the answers will prove useful to others.

My plan is to answer one question each day for the next 15 days.  If you have evaluation questions you would like answered, please let me know and I will add them to the list.

Posted under Toastmasters

There have been a number of critiques of Steve Jobs’ presentations.  He is indeed a master presenter.  The critiques focus on how to emulate his style.

If you dig a little deeper, these critiques also provide information to help an evaluator deliver more powerful evaluations.

I will use this article by Carmine Gallo as an illustration.

When a speaker uses meaningless words such as “maybe”, “I think”, “well, you know”, “kinda”, etc. – point these out to the speaker.  Note what aspect of the speech the speaker talked about when they used these words and suggest that they might need more conviction around those areas.  Suggest words to use such as “awesome”, “incredible”, “exciting”, etc.

If you become lost in the speech you are evaluating, don’t just tell the speaker you were confused.  Instead, suggest some ways they can add structure to the speech.  There’s an excellent example in Carmine’s article.

See if the speaker is illustrating a problem and selling the solution.  Even an informative speech can illustrate the price of ignorance and the benefit of knowledge.

Lastly, Carmine lists 4 (ironically) ways to paint a picture in a speech:

1. Stick to the rule of three
2. Use personal stories
3. Keep it visual
4. Rehearse

Each of these ways of painting a picture can be used as the basis of an evaluation.  These ways take a speech and make it 3-dimensional.  A speech that comes alive will be one that will be remembered.  Highlight this advantage to your speaker and then suggest some concrete ways they can paint their picture.

Look deeper into the articles discussing speaking or presentations skills.  Don’t assume that they are just for people wanting to be the next head of Apple Inc.  A lot of effort went into these articles.  Spend some time looking over them to see what you can learn.

Posted under Public Speaking, Toastmasters

As is typical with 5 year olds, my son has a tendency to run everywhere he goes.  Sometimes space is limited, so I try to prevent an accident before it happens.  There are 2 approaches I have used, one that doesn’t work and one that does.  First, the approach that doesn’t work:

Stop running!

and now, the approach that does work:

Use walking feet.

What is the difference?  One focuses on the negative and what needs to be stopped.  The more effective approach focuses on a positive solution and a solution.

Why am I saying this?  Well, when we give evaluations in Toastmasters, we can choose between two approaches:

You may not be aware of it, but you had lots of ums and ahs in your speech.

or you could say:

I would like to see you add deliberate pauses between thoughts.  Do this when practicing your speeches to reinforce the pattern.  The pause can be really effective and much less distracting than an um or an ah.

The second approach is much more positive.  It focuses on what the speaker can do and is very specific.  You have given the speaker a tool to solve their problem.

Next time you give an evaluation, be positive and focus on the specifics of what the speaker can do.  And if you would like your kids to stop doing something – try focusing on what you want them to do instead.

Posted under Toastmasters