World Champion Evaluator evaluating like a champion

Question 4: Is there a single preferred format for an evaluation as judged in an evaluation contest?

This question comes down to whether judges prefer a particular format.  I have found very little consistency with judges until you get to District level.  Even at District, you really cannot trust that the judges will vote a particular way.

My suggestion is to go with what you feel most comfortable with.  This suggestion unfortunately doesn’t do much to answer the question at hand.  I can though make some general suggestions.

1. A simple sandwich technique is likely not sufficient at the District level.  You will need to incorporate more layers.
2. If you go last and there are 5 or more contestants, you will need to go the extra mile either with humor, delivery, or something else to distinguish yourself from the preceding evaluators.
3. I personally suggest avoidance of acronyms.  They don’t help the audience and are really just a way for the evaluator to remember the areas to address.  You could use an acronym, but don’t tell anyone.  An exception is when the model speaker uses an acronym and you can complement what they did by doing it yourself.
4. I recommend that the evaluation should be a speech unto itself.
5. Finally, the evaluation should have a clear beginning, body and conclusion.  As in regular speeches it is important to nail the beginning and conclusion.  Often the conclusion is left lacking in an evaluation.

Don’t forget to read the judging criteria.  Also, for more information on evaluation contests visit these two sites:

Six Minutes Blog

Secrets of a National Evaluation Champion

Posted under Toastmasters

Question 3: What is the most helpful advice you have received regarding how to do an evaluation?

The most helpful advice I have received regarding how to do evaluations was for the Toastmasters evaluation contests.  The advice was to incorporate some aspect of the model speech in the evaluation.

As an example, one speech I evaluated was based on various works of English literature.  The speech was good, but the gestures were distracting.  The speaker used the same two gestures throughout the speech.  I started off my evaluation by giving it a title, “A Tale of Two Gestures.”  How many evaluations have a title?  It captured the audiences attention.  My evaluation revolved around that theme, expanding on the gestures and giving concrete examples of other gestures that may be more appropriate.

In one contest, the model speaker captured the audiences attention with a very emotional speech.  At one point he said “you could have heard a pin drop in a field of grass.”  I started out my evaluation with a slightly modified version of the speaker’s powerful line with the same dramatic pause.  I showed rather than told and in the process captured the attention of the audience for the remainder of my evaluation.

Informative speeches can work well if the speaker makes three points.  Often you can repurpose those three points in your evaluation.  Recently I evaluated a speech where one of the points was to practice mindfulness.  I used that point to illustrate how the speaker could use pauses to slow down her speech rate and appear to be more present.

I believe that incorporating parts of the model speech works well because it shows that the evaluator has not only listened to the speech, but also internalized it.

Don’t wait for a speech contest to try this out.  Practice in your club.  It will take a while to develop this skill.  Don’t expect it to work every time although it does get easier the more you do it.  When you can do this consistently, notice how your evaluations and speaking in general have improved.

Posted under Toastmasters

Question 2: Is there such a thing as a perfect speech?

The simple answer to this is “no.”  It gets harder to say this when you talk about speeches in the upper levels of the Toastmasters International Speech Contest.  These speeches are harder to evaluate, especially the winners.

One of my favorite Toastmaster contest speeches available on You Tube was from last year’s International Speech Contest.  Robert MacKenzie’s winning speech at Region II.  Watch the video.

Robert’s speech is a masterpiece, yet there are a number of things that could be improved.  I have posted my evaluation of this speech here.

The last piece of evidence that there is no such thing as a perfect speech is to simply ask the speaker if there was anything that could have been improved in their speech.  We are our toughest critics, and sometimes you have to dig deep when faced with evaluating a great speech.  The last thing an accomplished speaker wants to hear is “I could find nothing to improve in your speech.”

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

Setting the ringtone for all callers on a phone should be simple, right? . Let’s see how you do this on a BlackBerry Pearl: Select Applications Select Profiles Select Advanced Select Normal Select Phone Select Tone Scroll to pick the ringtone Select ringtone And now, how to do the same thing on the iPhone: Go to the home screen Select Settings Select Sounds Select Ringtone Scroll to pick the ringtone Select ringtone

The iPhone version is much simpler.  Not because there are less steps, but the actual steps make sense.  For the BlackBerry, why is the ringtone set under Profiles?  Why is it an advanced option?

The iPhone method I can remember without having to think about it.  The setting is where I expect it to be.  The BlackBerry method confuses me every time.

If you search for setting the ringtone for each of these phones in google, you will see twice as many hits for the BlackBerry.  The iPhone hits are mainly for setting custom ringtones for each contact.

When you create a navigation system on your website, does it make sense?  Does it make sense to your users?

Posted under General