After competing in my club evaluation contest last week, a veteran Toastmaster made a very interesting comment to me.  I look up to this Toastmaster a lot.  I have learned a lot about evaluations from him.

He told me that he really liked the organization of my evaluation, especially because I wasn’t obvious about it.  I didn’t say something like “There are three areas I would like to discuss today, area 1, area 2, area 3.”  Many evaluators will say practically the same thing because it is typical to use groups of three.  It can be repetitive and boring.

I didn’t use this technique last week.  It wasn’t a conscious decision although I have noticed that I do it less in contests.

Why is being less obvious about the organization better?

I believe being less obvious about the organization is better because you reduce the mechanics of an evaluation.  The mechanics get in the way of being genuine and sincere with your gift to the speaker.  I have mentioned before that I dislike acronyms in evaluations.  Often the acronym gets in the way of the evaluation.

There are various techniques that can make your evaluations easier to deliver.  Remember though that the goal of an evaluation is not to make it easier for you, but to deliver the best possible feedback to the speaker.

If you speak in public, you have an incredible opportunity right now.  Toastmasters is having their annual evaluation contest.  Each contest needs a “model speaker.”  This speaker will be evaluated by as many as 10 Toastmasters (depending on the level of competition).

The benefits to the model speaker are:

• An opportunity to try something new with your speech.
• An opportunity to give a speech in front of a new audience.
• Feedback on the speech from people experienced in giving speech evaluations.
• Feedback from multiple people on the same speech.
• A chance to network with a new crowd.

Getting feedback from multiple evaluators is crucial.  If there is a recurring theme of improvement in the evalautions, then it is likely an area of your speech that needs some attention.  In addition to areas for improvement, you will get feedback on areas that you are effective in.

If you are a professional speaker earning thousands of dollars for every speech you do, you may shrug this off as having limited value.  Where’s the harm?  At a minimum it is a chance to get in front of a new audience that may result in speaking opportunities down the road.

What’s the benefit to Toastmasters?  Having new and different speakers for the contests stretches the skills of the evaluators.  It is too easy to settle into a rut.  If you are organizing a Toastmasters contest this Spring, reach out to the local community and give a non-Toastmaster a chance to shine.

With Toastmasters International Speech Contest in full swing I wanted to share some advice I received from Lance Miller (World Champion in 2005) last year.

I was talking to Lance about my 2008 District speech entry.  The title was “Spread Your Wings.”  Lance asked me what my message was.  I told him that the message was to… spread your wings.  He immediately told me that it is generally not a good idea to have your message be part of your title.

It’s tempting to use your message as your title, but it unfortunately detracts from your message.  There’s no element of surprise or mystery.  You put your audience on the defensive and the judges may find your speech  predictable.

Try to use a creative title based on an aspect of your speech.  It can be difficult coming up with a great title.  I posted some of my thoughts on a speech title for a Region winning speech.

If you spend more than 2 minutes talking to a Toastmaster about Toastmasters, no doubt the subject of ums and ahs will come up.  They seem to suggest that no communication can be had if you use either of these words (and some of their cousins like so, but, and, etc.).

I think it is about time we stop this intense focus on these disfluencies.  There is so much more to communication than the utterance of a few ums here and there.  Sure, if a speaker has more than 10 for a 5-minute speech, then their evaluator can let them know, but do we really need a Grammarian to keep track of everyones?  (Many clubs combine Grammarian and Ah Counter)  The Grammarian can concentrate on real grammar, the use of metaphors, similes, alliteration, etc.

I have found that when speakers become comfortable speaking in front of an audience that most of their disfluencies go away.  Shouldn’t the focus then be on building confidence rather than reducing verbal utterances?  Just because a speaker has no ums or ahs does not make them engaging, compelling, or interesting.

There are a number of ways to build confidence:

• Stage time
• Positive feedback
• Mentoring
• Skill building
• Pushing past our fears

Start a revolution in your Toastmasters club.  Remove the focus on ums and ahs, and instead start building on the road to confidence.

Next week at your Toastmasters meeting start a “grammarian focus of the month.”  Here’s 6

• Power Words
• Alliteration
• Metaphors
• Similes
• Active tense
• Internal Rhyming

Leave a comment to let me know how it goes.

An excellent article that asks whether you are criticising or evaluating.

The information here is practical for the upcoming Toastmasters Evaluation Contest too.