World Champion Evaluator evaluating like a champion

I know I am guilty of this. Putting something into a speech because I loved it rather than it fitting the speech.  It seems especially true with contest speeches.  We want to impress.

Have you ever done this?

Can you recognize when another speaker is doing this?  Can you tell them?

John Kinde has an excellent newsletter where he wrote:

Too often, we’re tempted to force fit something into a talk that really doesn’t fit…the square peg in the round hole.  This applies not only to magic, but also to other things we love; stories, humor, a song.  A speaker who opens a talk with a joke, for the sake of the joke, is taking the same risks as a speaker who opens with a magic trick.  Anything we add to a professional talk needs to organically fit into the speech.  It needs to blend naturally into the content of the speech.  Adding something to a speech just because “we like it” is a critical mistake.

It really is a critical mistake.  I have seen evaluators focus on commending the square peg instead of calling it out for what it is.

Do the speaker a real favor, let them know if they are trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

Posted under evaluations

There is an excellent discussion on evaluations over on LinkedIn.

One of the contributors in particular, John Zimmer, took the time to provide 10 tips for evaluations.  He has won a District level evaluation contest (the highest you can win), so knows what he is talking about .  Here is a bullet list of the 10 tips.  For more information see the discussion on LinkedIn.

1. Know the four criteria against which you will be judged.
2. Sit near the front, slightly to the side.
3. Gauge audience interest or reaction.
4. Have an original opening.
5. It is all about YOUR opinion.
6. Practice, practice, practice.
7. YouTube.
8. Don’t forget the middle.
9. Have a good ending.
10. The little things make a big difference.

Ten excellent points that can really elevate your evaluations to a new level.

Posted under evaluations

In You should write your speeches and presentations, Frank Adamo tells us that we should write out our speeches so that we can refine, massage, and condense them.  He quotes David Brooks, the 1990 World Champion of Public Speaking:

It is absolutely necessary to write a speech and refine the speech as many times as necessary.

It is important to have a speech written down so that you CAN edit it.  This does not mean that you have to write it first.  To keep your speech conversational, many experts suggest that you use a voice recorder to capture the speech and then transcribe it.

I agree with this advice when it relates to a 7:30 Toastmasters contest speech.  Every second counts.  When it comes to an hour long speech, I think being genuine and conversational is much more important than culling a few words here and there.

Packing more into a speech may not be what the audience really needs.  They may need to feel a connection with a real human being who isn’t concentrating on giving a highly optimzed speech.

My recommendation is to record your speech.  Transcribe your speech.  Then, take key areas of that speech and edit those.  Internalize, but don’t memorize.  Don’t edit the whole thing – unless it is for the World Championship of Public Speaking contest.  Even if it is for the contest, determine if highly edited speech is your style.

Posted under Toastmasters

I just read the latest article from Darren LaCroix, the 2001 World Champion of Public Speaking.  The article hit home for me so much that I am immediately blogging about it.

The article talks about intent and is relevant to the Toastmasters contest season that is underway.  Don’t pass this by if you are not competing though.  The advice is useful in many more areas.

The essence of the article is that no matter how well prepared your speech is, it is the intent you have while delivering your speech that determines the connection you make with your audience.  If this is a contest, then it can affect the outcome.  If it is a paid speech, it can affect your business.  If it is a company meeting where you are suggesting an idea or an interview question, it can affect your career.

I recently came second in the speech contest with a speech that was one of the best I ever gave at club.  At the club level my intent was to give the best speech I could and also convey the strong emotion I feel about the situation with my Dad.  When I gave it at Area, I was trying to repeat that performance.  In trying to repeat a performance, I stumbled.  Instead, I would have been best served having the same intent.  This is easier said than done of course.  In the speech contest, you give the same speech multiple times.  The Curse of Knowledge from your previous performances affect your next performance.

I thought I addressed this issue somewhat.  The previous year at the District level I over prepared my speech.  I didn’t place and that gave me a real kick in the teeth.  I decided that I needed to practice less, and let the speech be real.  Unfortunately, purely practicing less was not the problem.  You guessed it, it was my intent.

I also came second in the evaluation contest.  This surprised me.  I pride myself on giving great evaluations.  I went into this Area contest with the intent to do enough to win.  My focus was on the next level, not on delivering the best possible evaluation I could.

Your intent also comes across loud and clear to other audiences.  When you interview for a job, is your intent to impress?  Could it be that intending to be genuine and sincere would serve you best?

Having the best intent is not easy.  In contests, the goal for many is to win.  How can you put that aside?  Darren has a suggestion for this.  He chose his winning speech topic based on a question from Mark Brown.  The question was:

Pick a child from your life.  If you were going to die tomorrow, what’s the one lesson you have learned from your life that you would pass on to that child to help them through their life?

This is not something you can do in a few minutes.  It may take you days or weeks.  Once you have it though, it is gold.  Now, when you give the speech, imagine the child is in the third row and give the speech to them with all of the conviction you can muster.

Now THAT is great advice.  Good luck!

Posted under Toastmasters

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.

Posted under Toastmasters

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.

Posted under Toastmasters

I just got back from the Sunset Division Toastmaster contest.  We had both the Humorous Speech and Table Topics contests.

The table topics question was very simple and succinct.

If you were 18 again.

It was interesting how similar that question is to the Area Contest question.  The Area contest question was:

If you could go back to when you were 10 years old, what advice would you give yourself.

When you next hear any table topics question, spend some time thinking about it and give it your best shot with all the hindsight you can muster.  What answer could you have given?  How could you have knocked it out of the park.  Internalize this answer.  After a while you will start giving these answers without the need for hindsight.

Do this for every question you hear for the next year and you will most likely be the one holding the trophy.

Posted under Toastmasters

John Kinde answers the question:  Why Enter a Toastmasters Speech Contest? and no, the answer is not for the silverware!

Reason #4 hits home especially for me: Better Feedback.

I would like to add to what John wrote.  It is essential that you record your speech and review it to make use of audience feedback.  It is very difficult to deliver a contest speech and also pay attention to the audience feedback in the moment. Don’t forget to request a written evaluation from an audience member.  Every speech can be a manual speech.  At higher level contests, seek out more experienced evaluators. In addition to your home club giving you more intense and focused feedback, I recommend visiting other clubs to get new perspectives.  Contestants who wish to win at higher levels need variety in their feedback.

Posted under Toastmasters

For Table Topics contests, here are 7 tips for great questions:

1. It should be short.
2. It should be simple.
3. It should be about something that everyone knows about.
4. It should not reference TV shows.
5. It should be politically correct.
6. It should not play with people’s emotions.
7. It should be open ended – not too specific.

The bottom line is this.  If you, as the Table Topics Master, follow the 7 tips above, and can personally come up with 2 great answers to your question off the top of your head, then you have a great question.

Posted under Toastmasters

In the previous post I gave 7 example Table Topics questions primarily for use in contests.  Some were great, and some were not so great.  Here is my analysis.  Please leave your own comments below.

1. You wake up to find yourself on a desert island.  The sun is setting on the horizon.  You don’t have long before you are going to be engulfed in complete darkness.  You have no idea who you are or what you are doing here.  What do you do?

Bad! – This question takes too long to ask.  The question is too detailed.  It seems like an episode of Alias or 24.  It is not likely something that many people have given much thought too, except maybe Tom Hanks.

2. If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?

Great! – A simple question, easy to ask.  I have yet to find one person that doesn’t like at least 1 animal.  The answer will tell us something about the person.

3. In the TV show Heroes, characters in the show have different “super powers.”  If you were on the show, what super power would you have and why?

Bad! – There’s an unnecessary reference to a TV show.  Not everyone will have seen the show.  Take out that reference and just simply ask people what super power they would like to have and why.

4. Your daughter’s pet hampster died today.  Your daughter is going to be distraught.  It is your job to break the news to her.  What do you tell her?

Bad! – Don’t play with people’s emotions.  Don’t ask a question that someone might not want to answer in a contest situation.

5. You have inherited $1M.  What charitable organizations do you donate to and why?

Bad! – This is almost a great question.  My problem with the question for a contest situation is that the charitable piece is unnecessary.  Why limit the creativity of the contestants?  Let them run wild with how they want to spend the money.

6. What is your favorite olympic sport and why?

Great! – This is almost bad!  Some people detest sports.  Still, it would be difficult to avoid the olympic games this year.  It would be trivial to turn the question around if you didn’t like sports.  The question is short and simple.

7. You are 14 years old.  Your Dad just came home from work to find out that you haven’t completed your schoolwork.  What is the most far-fetched excuse you can come up with as to why you haven’t done it?

Bad! – Too many criteria.  Why make the assertion that you are 14 years old?  The contestant may feel compelled to think of something that happened when they were 14.  The whole setup is unnecessary.  Having the Dad character is not needed.

Posted under Toastmasters