Collection of 3 videos on evaluations from Toastmasters 24×7. Some excellent information for beginning evaluators.
Posted under evaluations
This post was written by john on September 14, 2009
The Talking Pad
Five coffees, 3 blisters, and 1 replaced light bulb later and you now have your presentation ready. All night was a small price to pay for the impact your slides are going to have on your soon to be new client. And then the unthinkable happens…
“Technical issues” – the projector doesn’t want to play ball, you forgot the power cord, your laptop died, the file is corrupted, a blue screen, the mouse, anything that can go wrong… did!
What are you to do? Well, you can blabber on about how your slides would have shown this or that and blame technology for your shortsightedness… or you can take control of your destiny and use the “Talking Pad”
Seth Godin’s latest post tells you what the Talking Pad is.
thick pen or marker and a legal pad
This can be your backup when the unthinkable happens. BTW, it really isn’t unthinkable so much as it is ignored with the hope that it never happens.
BUT WAIT!!!!
If you can present a compelling presentation with a Talking Pad, why not do this in the first place? Why depend at all on slides? There’s not much that can go wrong with a thick pen (with a backup) and a legal pad – both of which are likely available for next to nothing anywhere.
BUT WAIT ONE MORE TIME!!!
Did you just let out a sigh of relief? Don’t get too excited. You will need to spend just as much time (hopefully not the night before) on preparing your Talking Pad presentation as you would for your slides. More possibly because this will not feel comfortable unless you practice it.
I suggest that the next time you give a speech to use the Talking Pad. Get comfortable with when you give your next Toastmasters meeting so that when it really matters you will be ready.
When you use the Talking Pad next, please let me know how it went and share what you learned from the experience.
Update:
Seth just did a follow up post on a Modern Talking Pad. Kinda like a Mad-Libs version where you fill in the blanks with your client.
Posted under Public Speaking
This post was written by john on August 19, 2009
Being a Professional Speech Coach
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
This post was written by john on May 1, 2009
6 Ways to Improve your Evaluation Skills
Today is Day 4 of our interview with Rich Hopkins.
Question: How would a Toastmaster improve their evaluation skills?
- Evaluating every chance you get.
- Taking notes on speakers they are not evaluating, and comparing them to what their evaluator says.
- Trying different note techniques – there are several templates available on the internet – or make your own.
- Record your evaluations. You’ll be amazed at what you said, and what you didn’t.
- Going to other clubs to evaluate speakers they are not familiar with.
- 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
Posted under Interview
This post was written by john on April 30, 2009
What is the difference between a good evaluation and a great evaluation?
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
Posted under Interview
This post was written by john on April 29, 2009
Evaluators Must Care About Their Speakers
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
Posted under Interview
This post was written by john on April 28, 2009
An Exercise in Listening
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
This post was written by john on April 27, 2009
Your message and your speech title
With Toastmasters International Speech Contest in full swing I wanted to share some advice I received from Lance Miller (World Champion in 2005) last year.
I was talking to Lance about my 2008 District speech entry. The title was “Spread Your Wings.” Lance asked me what my message was. I told him that the message was to… spread your wings. He immediately told me that it is generally not a good idea to have your message be part of your title.
It’s tempting to use your message as your title, but it unfortunately detracts from your message. There’s no element of surprise or mystery. You put your audience on the defensive and the judges may find your speech predictable.
Try to use a creative title based on an aspect of your speech. It can be difficult coming up with a great title. I posted some of my thoughts on a speech title for a Region winning speech.
Posted under Public Speaking
This post was written by john on March 22, 2009
What Steve Jobs can teach you about evaluations
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:
- Stick to the rule of three
- Use personal stories
- Keep it visual
- 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
This post was written by john on February 6, 2009
Stop running!
As is typical with 5 year olds, my son has a tendency to run everywhere he goes. Sometimes space is limited, so I try to prevent an accident before it happens. There are 2 approaches I have used, one that doesn’t work and one that does. First, the approach that doesn’t work:
Stop running!
and now, the approach that does work:
Use walking feet.
What is the difference? One focuses on the negative and what needs to be stopped. The more effective approach focuses on a positive solution and a solution.
Why am I saying this? Well, when we give evaluations in Toastmasters, we can choose between two approaches:
You may not be aware of it, but you had lots of ums and ahs in your speech.
or you could say:
I would like to see you add deliberate pauses between thoughts. Do this when practicing your speeches to reinforce the pattern. The pause can be really effective and much less distracting than an um or an ah.
The second approach is much more positive. It focuses on what the speaker can do and is very specific. You have given the speaker a tool to solve their problem.
Next time you give an evaluation, be positive and focus on the specifics of what the speaker can do. And if you would like your kids to stop doing something – try focusing on what you want them to do instead.
Posted under Toastmasters
This post was written by john on February 4, 2009
