Motivate and Educate through Effective Evaluation

The information below will be especially of use to those who are less familiar with giving an evaluation.   It includes the whole process from the moment you sign up for the role to the presentation of the evaluation and returning the written form to the speaker.  Please consider all of the information, but make the words your own when you present the evaluation.

The Speech Evaluator role in the meeting is to provide constructive and encouraging feedback that supports the speaker to improve their public speaking skills and confidence. The main responsibilities of the role include:

• Identify the speaker’s selected Path and Level.
• Convey the speaker’s objectives for the speech.
• During the speech, take notes of what you enjoyed and what could possibly be improved.
• Give a 2-3 minute written and verbal evaluation of the speaker's performance.

Before the Meeting

• Find out who are you evaluating.
• Identify which Path and Level speech the speaker will present. You can either ask the speaker or -- if you're a member of Spirited Speech Masters -- check the meeting agenda which typically includes Path, Level, and Project.
• Familiarize yourself with the speaker’s Path, Level, and Project objectives.
• Consider the skill level of the speaker, e.g. beginner or advanced.
• Ask the speaker to send you the evaluation form for the speech. If a member of Spirited Speech Masters, a link to complete the evaluation form for the given project is usually available on the meeting agenda.
• Inquire if the speaker has any specific areas he or she wish to work on.

When Introducing the Speaker

• Be sure to clearly state the objectives of the speech or Project, for example:
  "The objective for Susan's speech today is to ______"
• If possible, provide a short bit of information about the speaker, such as "Susan is a Project Manager for the Shared Services Department. In her role, she often presents detailed project plans to clients, colleagues, and upper management."

The Evaluation

As you might have guessed, the speech evaluation is the crux of the Speech Evaluator's responsibilities. The key to developing a helpful evaluation is to focus on specific tasks in each of several stages:

During the Speech

• Use the evaluation form to take notes on what you liked and what could possibly be improved.
• Look for three things in the speech:
  1. Organization: did the speech flow well? did it have a clear opening and closing?)
  2. Mechanics: vocal variety (volume, pausing with purpose, cadence, and enunciation)
  3. Emotion: Was the speech engaging? If applicable, how convincing was the speech?
• For beginning speakers, consider focusing on speech organization and speech mechanics. For more advanced speakers, consider focusing on more advanced speech mechanics and speech emotions.

Preparing Your Evaluation

Use the time during the meeting devoted to Table Topics to prepare your evaluation. To help plan your evaluation delivery, follow this format for feedback:

• Positive feedback:
  • Focus on what you liked about the speech
  • Find a positive comment about what you most enjoyed or that exceeded expectations for this speech's objectives and draw a circle around that comment. For example:
    "I loved how John showed pictures of his family to visually communicate his message during his Icebreaker, which was not a specific requirement of the speech."
  • Try to find two comments that are related to the speech assignment. For example, assuming the speech assignment were to focus on speech organization:
    "The speech had a great opening; she opened her speech with a question to capture the attention of the audience. The speech had a great ending that was tied to the question the speaker asked in her speech's opening."
• Opportunity to improve comments:
  Find one comment that will take the speaker’s skill to the next level and circle it. For example:
  "I was sometimes distracted by the speaker looking up at the ceiling while speaking." or
  "I noticed the speaker tended to keep his hands in his pockets while giving the speech, which I found distracting."

Delivering Your Evaluation

When delivering an evaluation, your goal should be to both educate and motivate the speaker. To do so, consider using the "sandwich approach" to providing feedback. In this technique, any negative feedback is "sandwiched" between two or more positive bits, thus softening the impact of the critique.

Some additional notes:

• Meeting hand-off: If meeting in person, stand and shake the General Evaluator's hand when called upon to deliver your evaluation.
• Educate to improve: Anything you observe should only be shared if it can help the speaker become better and reach his or her goals.
• Praise: Be sure to begin your evaluation with positive impressions.
  • Direct your attention to the speaker, and be sure to smile.
  • Present your evaluation with a positive, optimistic, and motivational tone.

Completing the Evaluation Form

It is always recommended that speakers retain a copy of their evaluation form, in case it is later needed for verification. Many speakers also retain copies of their evaluation forms for posterity, so be sure to take care that your comments are legible.

• When filling out the evaluation form:
  • Record your name, the title of the speech, and the date the speech was delivered 
  • Review your notes and record
    • One comment about an aspect that exceeded expectations
    • Two or more comments about the way in which the speaker met the objectives of the assignment
• Answer the questions at the end of the evaluation form.

Final Thoughts

Whether spoken or written, always try to avoid the following when presenting an evaluation:

• No borrowing forgettable evaluations (do not read out all the points you have written down).
• Avoid adjectives such as "good" and "excellent" or adverbs such as "very" which don't convey information about what is being praised. Instead, choose alternatives that describe the aspect of the speech more clearly.
• Avoid phrases such as “You need to”, or “You want to” or “You have to”; instead use, “I liked”,” I suggest”, “I loved your way of using.” Generally, try to not use “you” when writing or delivering the evaluation.
• Don’t summarize the speech.
• While we don't want the speaker to remain ignorant of a serious public speaking fault, personal or potentially sensitive faults should be written or communicated in a one-on-one, private conversation and not conveyed out loud.
• In the end, be gentle and non-confrontational with your evaluation.