Question 11: What did you do to improve your ability to give kind, yet meaningful evaluations?
To improve my ability to give kind, yet meaningful evaluations, I pay attention to every evaluation I hear. How did they structure their evaluation? How did they phrase the feedback? How meaningful was the evaluation?
When you really look at other evaluators in a critical way, you start to notice patterns. Great evaluators use “I” statements instead of “you” statements. Great evaluators also don’t appear to be self-concious when giving areas for improvement. The feedback comes from a place of confidence. Finally, great evaluators are doing the evaluation for the speaker rather than to show-off how great an evaluator they are.
Pay attention to each and every evaluator. Attend other club meetings to get variation. Districts often have evaluation workshops where you can learn a lot and also ask questions. Attend evaluation contests and see if you can determine why some participants placed and others didn’t.
Posted under Toastmasters
This post was written by john on March 1, 2009
