Public Speaking Tips: On Toastmaster Evaluations

Welcome to Public Speaking Tips: Toastmaster Evaluations.

I recently attended a Toastmaster workshop on evaluation. There were two presenters and they had plenty of good material. Problem was they went too long without sufficient breaks. They also tended to divert away from the main subject matter a little too often. Be that as it may, the initial presenter brought up a very valid point. Toastmaster evaluations are, in the main, both too shallow and too brief- far too brief.

Take the typical speech being prepared by a Toastmaster. Generally he or she has to present for a period of five to seven minutes. The preparation for such a speech might run into several hours spread over weeks prior to the actual event. They're coming up with a speech topic, writing it; then mental rehearsal, practice at home. It’s not uncommon for the upcoming speaker to put in anywhere between ten to fifty hours, depending upon how conscientious and/or nervous they are. I think in my first few speeches, presented over thirty years ago, I would have spent over twenty hours in preparation, including rehearsal - perhaps longer.

But then again, I was a very nervous starter.

Okay, maybe a lot of Toastmasters don’t put in that long in preparation. Let’s be generous and say that they use up only ten hours. Ten hours! And they speak for six-and-a-half minutes. Then comes the evaluation.

So let’s take a look at a typical three-minute evaluation. The audience is told what the speaker spoke about. This takes up a full minute. The speaker knows what he or she spoke about, so does the audience, but invariably the evaluator mentions it anyway – if only to fill in time.

The speaker is told what he/she did well. This takes roughly a minute. This is good stuff, particularly if the speaker needs this sort of bolstering.

The opening and final words of the evaluator often are: “Thank you, Madam Toastmaster, Toastmasters and guests... It was my pleasure tonight to evaluate, Joe Blow, with his speech about...

Final words: “But overall a good speech. I look forward to hearing Joe speak again” Another twenty seconds are used up in these niceties.

This leaves forty seconds for the evaluator to actually give the speaker some solid feedback as to how to improve and perhaps demonstrate how to do it. Yep, around forty seconds - if the speaker is lucky and the evaluator doesn’t give the usual stereotype stuff about:

“not enough eye contact.”

“You favoured the right hand side of the room, “ and

“You walked around a bit too much.”

All valid, perhaps for the novice. Exasperating for the advanced speaker who actually wants to hear some subtler ways in which to improve.

Okay, let’s be generous. Let’s say the evaluator is excellent and actually manages to present an indepth two minute critique on how to improve. It’s still only three minutes! Compare three minutes to ten hours of preparation... Do you see what that workshop presenter was getting at?

Over the years I’ve belonged to a number of speaking organisations: The National Speakers Association of Australia, Rostrum Clubs of New South Wales, and the Australian Storytellers Guild, as well as Toastmasters. NSAA does not have evaluations. Neither did the ASG. And Rostrum had a special person trained to present evaluations. But what NSAA and ASG did have were plenty of ‘How to”-type workshops.’ And maybe that’s what we in TMI should opt for; maybe not in all of our club environments, but perhaps in a new series of ‘Advanced Toastmaster Clubs.’ Just a thought.

But to get back.

How much do we really learn from listening to our evaluators? In the initial stages, when we’re subject to great stage fright, the praise and encouragement works wonders. If done right, it fills the tyro speaker with confidence, imbues the desire to go on. It certainly did with me. But what happens after that Toastmaster has given a dozen speeches? Thirty? Fifty? Do they really learn by listening to their evaluators? Or do they learn more by watching experienced and recognized good speakers, then emulating what they like about them. Watching, observing what top speakers do, is how most of us learn, I suspect. Watching ourselves – if we can get hold of a video of ourselves – is an even more effective way.

The best way, I think, and I’ve only just discovered it after all these years, is to have a public speaking coach. A coach will tell you and show you how to improve. Then they’ll get you to act it out. Not only that, they will really focus on you (unlike the average Toastmaster evaluator, who is often more concerned about how they are coming across) giving you their entire attention. You might have to pay for that attention if you go to someone who earns their living by this method – but you really will learn, and learn quickly.

Are Toastmaster Mentors able to provide this sort of service? Well, not really. A better way is to become part of a small group who are dedicated to giving honest feedback. People you know who won’t pull their punches. But being part of that sort of thing is another topic altogether. So to get back:

Three-minute evaluations by Toastmasters? Well, they have their place. After all, they’ve been around since Toastmasters was founded. But how much do these evaluations really contribute to the overall improvement of our members ability to present in the longer term?

I think the tenor of this article expresses my views.

I hope you enjoyed Speaking Tips: Toastmaster Evaluations.

Tom Ware. DTM.

Dundas TMC 70/2692