World Champion Evaluator evaluating like a champion

Yet another thought provoking post by Seth Godin.  This time the post refers to using price as a competetive advantage.  It was the closing line that hit me though…

The scalable, profitable strategy is to change the game, not to become the most average.

If you want to become the best speaker you can be, you need to stop doing what everyone else does.  A New Year is fast approaching.  Use 2010 as an opportunity to redefine yourself.  Here are some ideas:

1. Compete in all the Toastmasters contests.  Yes, even Table Topics.
2. Prepare.  Prepare your speech.  Prepare for the contests.  Talk to the speaker before the meeting.
3. Join an advanced club.  Start a new club that pushes the envelope.
4. Present outside your club.  At a job group, Kiwana’s, Rotary, etc.
5. Push the limits of all of the Toastmaster roles.  Act out the Quote of the Day, do a backwards meeting, etc.

You left your comfort zone when you joined Toastmasters.  You regained it by being a member for a year or two.  Now is the time to push the envelope again.  Join me, and have fun!

Posted under Toastmasters

Today is the final day of our interview with Rich Hopkins.

Question: How has Toastmasters and more specifically evaluations helped you with being a professional speech coach?

It has made me an active listener, taught me to critique on the fly, and exposed me to a large diversity of both speaking styles and audience needs. The broader one’s experience, the greater help they can be as a coach.

Question: What skills does a speech coach need to possess and why?

A coach must be able to discern what is inside the speaker, and be able to coach them to bring what’s inside out to an audience in the way the audience needs to hear, it, as opposed to how the speaker wants to say it. Coaching is a balancing act of ego and efficiency , listening and communicating, guiding and inspiring. Coaching is sales – your client must want to buy what you’re saying. Once you know how they like to buy, you can sell them all the way to the highest stages.

About Rich Hopkins

In addition to finishing 3rd in the 2006 WCPS, Rich has been a 5 time District Evaluation Contest Finalist, winning 3 of those 5 times.  He has been a Toastmaster for over 10 years and has expanded significantly on Toastmaster evaluation theory as a professional speaker and presentations coach.

Visit Rich’s blog to see his current progress towards making it a 3rd time to the WCPS and also follow Rich on Twitter.

Posted under Interview

Today is Day 4 of our interview with Rich Hopkins.

Question: How would a Toastmaster improve their evaluation skills?

1. Evaluating every chance you get.
2. Taking  notes on speakers they are not evaluating, and comparing them to what their evaluator says.
3. Trying different note techniques – there are several templates available on the internet  – or make your own.
4. Record your evaluations. You’ll be amazed at what you said, and what you didn’t.
5. Going to other clubs to evaluate speakers they are not familiar with.
6. Competing in the Evaluation Contests.

About Rich Hopkins

In addition to finishing 3rd in the 2006 WCPS, Rich has been a 5 time District Evaluation Contest Finalist, winning 3 of those 5 times.  He has been a Toastmaster for over 10 years and has expanded significantly on Toastmaster evaluation theory as a professional speaker and presentations coach.

Visit Rich’s blog to see his current progress towards making it a 3rd time to the WCPS and also follow Rich on Twitter.

Related Posts

Why Compete?

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Today is Day 3 of our interview with Rich Hopkins.

Question: What is the difference between a good evaluation and a great evaluation?

A good evaluation covers basics, follows the manual, and encourages  the speaker. This is the least any evaluation should do.

A great evaluation shows, not just tells, a speaker what they can improve on the next time, and gives the speaker enthusiasm to speak again. It also reinforces what they are doing well, leaving them more open to the constructive criticism provided. I often demonstrate to the speaker how I would have used my voice differently, or show them on the same stage where their gestures and body movements could have strengthened their speech.

About Rich Hopkins

In addition to finishing 3rd in the 2006 WCPS, Rich has been a 5 time District Evaluation Contest Finalist, winning 3 of those 5 times.  He has been a Toastmaster for over 10 years and has expanded significantly on Toastmaster evaluation theory as a professional speaker and presentations coach.

Visit Rich’s blog to see his current progress towards making it a 3rd time to the WCPS and also follow Rich on Twitter.

Related Posts

Interview with Colin William

Posted under Interview

Today is Day 2 of our interview with Rich Hopkins.

Question: Were you comfortable evaluating when you first joined Toastmasters?

I was comfortable, but not necessarily effective.

Several years of drama experience in college, watching the directors, dealing with rehearsals, gave me a keen eye for performance     technique. In addition, the graphic design program I was in required regular presentations and evaluations in the classroom on a weekly basis.

It was when I went beyond critiquing technical aspects, and towards helping speakers find more of themselves through technique, that     my evaluations had more impact. If speakers must care about their audience, evaluators must care about their speakers.

Question: What helped you become comfortable as an evaluator?

Becoming a comfortable evaluator is similar to becoming a comfortable speaker. Know your audience – ask your speaker what they need from you beyond the manual guidelines. What are they trying to accomplish.

Stage time – evaluate often, and enter the contests. Even just attending evaluation contests, one gets the opportunity to see top-notch evaluators, and witness the different styles and approaches of each on the same speech.

Accepting that I couldn’t say EVERYTHING in an evaluation. Write more in the manuals, and talk with your speaker afterwards if need be.

About Rich Hopkins

In addition to finishing 3rd in the 2006 WCPS, Rich has been a 5 time District Evaluation Contest Finalist, winning 3 of those 5 times.  He has been a Toastmaster for over 10 years and has expanded significantly on Toastmaster evaluation theory as a professional speaker and presentations coach.

Visit Rich’s blog to see his current progress towards making it a 3rd time to the WCPS and also follow Rich on Twitter.

Related Posts

What is your intent?

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Today is Day 1 of our interview with Rich Hopkins.

Question: How would you describe evaluations to someone who has never been to a Toastmaster meeting?

An evaluation is an opportunity to hear an individual give you their opinion of your speech delivery in a direct, yet supportive manner. The absence of back and forth discussion provides  the evaluator an opportunity to fully express  several thoughts in a short amount of time. The goal for the evaluator is to single out items to praise and reinforce, as well as identify areas of improvement based on the experience level of the speaker.

For the speaker being evaluated, it is an opportunity to practice discernment. Determining which advice is sound vs. which advice may not apply is a valuable life tool, as well as speaking skill. In the end, it is the speakers job to do what they wish with feedback given.

For others in the room, it becomes an exercise in listening – and applying someone else’s evaluation to their own speaking. A great opportunity to learn from other mis-steps and magnificence.

About Rich Hopkins

In addition to finishing 3rd in the 2006 WCPS, Rich has been a 5 time District Evaluation Contest Finalist, winning 3 of those 5 times.  He has been a Toastmaster for over 10 years and has expanded significantly on Toastmaster evaluation theory as a professional speaker and presentations coach.

Visit Rich’s blog to see his current progress towards making it a 3rd time to the WCPS and also follow Rich on Twitter.

Related Posts

Who learns from a Toastmaster speech?

Posted under Interview

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

Question 13: How do you go about being spot on in finding one key area to focus on for improvement?

This is an interesting question as I don’t know that I am necessarily spot on in the areas I focus on.

Experience plays its part although I think that confidence plays a big part too.  When you suggestion areas for improvement with confidence, that confidence is passed on to the speaker and the audience.  When you make suggestions without confidence, you can make the best suggestions in the world, but the speaker will likely ignore them.

I also don’t usually suggest just one area for improvement.  As my skill improves, I make more and more suggestions for improvement in such a way that they don’t even come across as such.  We learn the simple sandwich technique early on, 2 pieces of bread surrounding 1 layer of meat.  The true power comes from multi-level sandwiches where there are many more thinner pieces of bread with meat layers that are not so obvious.

So, don’t worry too much about finding the one key area.  Make suggestions you are comfortable with.  Do it with confidence.

Posted under Toastmasters