From The Art of Effective Evaluation, an examination of the 10 behaviors of an Effective Evaluator.

The Coordinator Guide suggests that this behavior is probably the single most important part of effective speech evaluation.

The Guide suggests that there are three specific things that can be done:

1. Focus on what the speaker can do, vs. what they shouldn’t do
2. Keep recommendations to a manageable minimum
3. Present recommendations in a positive way

I think that the key to this behavior is to show the behavior you want the speaker to exhibit.  Demonstrate the behavior and be as specific as possible, using aspects of the actual speech in the demonstration.

From The Art of Effective Evaluation, an examination of the 10 behaviors of an Effective Evaluator.

The evaluator-speaker interaction is a relationship based on mutual trust.  People typically join Toastmasters from a place of anxiety, so they are already guarded.  The speaker is facing their fear and now in addition to that they are going to be judged.  The evaluator is also facing the same fear, and passing judgement.

To build self-esteem, the Coordinator Guide lists six guidelines:

1. Be genuine
2. Recognize stengths
3. Recognize improvements
4. Create a climate for motivation
5. Avoid value judgements
6. Provide positive direction

As you can see, the six guidelines are very similar to the 10 effective behaviors.  Each of the behaviors work together to create a culture of nourished self-esteem.

From The Art of Effective Evaluation, an examination of the 10 behaviors of an Effective Evaluator.

Bottom line: the evaluator’s job is to help the speaker communicate their ideas more effectively.

The evaluator needs to focus on the various forms of delivery (what the speaker does), and for the most part leave content alone (their ideas).

From The Art of Effective Evaluation, an examination of the 10 behaviors of an Effective Evaluator.

The Coordinator Guide has these 2 things to say about this behavior:

1. Remind the speaker that her goals are both worthwhile and attainable
2. Encouraging the speaker to work hard toward improving his speaking skills

Hmm….  Not much help in actually how to motivate the speaker.  So, what can you do?  How about trying some of these:

• Relate your own experiences as a speaker and how you overcame difficulties
• Emphasize areas where the speaker has worked hard
• Challenge the speaker to greater (and attainable) heights
• Empathize with the effort expended by the speaker
• Help the speaker focus their efforts to attain their goals
• State the goals of the speaker for everyone and even share that goal with the speaker
• Recognize the benefits of attaining these new skills for this speaker and voice them

If you have other ways to motivate the speaker, comment below.

From The Art of Effective Evaluation, an examination of the 10 behaviors of an Effective Evaluator.

Recognize the speaker’s accomplishments.

Simple and to the point, but how can we do this?

We can do the following:

• Highlight where the speaker has met specific project objectives
• Point out where the speaker has done something detailed in the project
• Mention where the speaker has met a personal goal
• Recognize a change made by the speaker based on previous project feedback in the assigned manual

Note that many of these are other behaviors detailed in The Art of Effective Evaluation.