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.

Pit your evaluation skills against the rest of the universe in the evaluation challenge!

Here are my 2009 resolutions for this site.  Not so much a promise as a way to look back at the end of the year and see how I did

1. Blog at least once a week.
2. Build the site into more than just a blog.
3. Provide resources to help Toastmasters deliver better evaluations.
4. Build on non-Toastmasters topics.
5. Chronicle my entry into the District 7 Evaluation Contest (if I get the time to enter).

I am looking forward to building this site, especially #2, as I have some promising ideas for the site.

If you look back on 2008 and evaluate your role within it, what would you say about yourself?

If all you had was 3 minutes to sum it up, where would you focus your time?

What 3 things would you highlight?

Take this opportunity to evaluate your year, Toastmasters style.  Use the sandwich technique.  Be specific with your accomplishments and also areas for improvement.  Now, do the same thing looking BACK on 2009.  Use your imagination.  What would be an amazing accomplishment for next year?  Getting your dream job?  Getting your business off the ground?  Increasing sales?  Spending more time with your family?  Continuing your education?

Now that you have your 2 evaluations, email them to yourself using a service like Letter me later and schedule it for December 2009.

When you give an evaluation for a speech, do you find yourself struggling with just how to do it?  Maybe:

• The content didn’t resonate with you.
• The delivery was not effective.
• You don’t agree with information presented.
• The speaker didn’t seem prepared.
• The speaker is new and has much to work on.

There are many more reasons a speech may be hard to evaluate.  Each of these reasons can be overcome with a change in focus.  Note the focus in the following:

• I didn’t  like the content.
• The delivery didn’t work for me.
• I didn’t agree with the information.
• I thought the preparation was inadequate.
• I recognize that the speaker is new and has many areas to address.

The focus is clearly on the evaluator.  Lots of “I” statements.  Typically “I” statements are great.  In this case though, the evaluator is paralyzed by focusing on themselves.  An evaluation is primarily for the benefit of the speaker.  The evaluator needs to spend some time in the shoes of the speaker.  Next time you are an evaluator, challenge yourself to look at the speech from the speakers point of view:

• You clearly know a lot about this topic.  It can be a challenge to convey this to a lay-audience.
• What an interesting delivery style you chose.  I will see if I can incorporate it into one of my future speeches.
• The information you presented was a challenge for me.  I wonder whether there is another side you could present to balance the argument.
• I liked your raw approach to this speech.  Now that you have presented it, consider the following suggestions for some ways to polish it…
• This is an exciting time in your speaking progression.  There are so many roads to you can take.  I am going to highlight 3 roads you can take today to take the next step…

Assume that the speaker intended everything they did.  The speaker knows if they didn’t prepare fully or that they didn’t do as well as they are capable.  Help them see alternatives instead of highlighting their inadequacies.