How to Be an Effective Speech Evaluator

Whenever you speak in Toastmasters, you hold a speech. Speech evaluations are educational speeches, so:

  • Tell the audience what you will speak about.
  • Give specific and actionable feedback.
  • Repeat important points in the end.

General Tips

  • Take notes – so you capture all important points.
  • Remind the audience that your feedback is your personal opinion.
  • Point out useful tips for the whole audience – “What we all can learn from…”
  • Don't retell the speech, everyone just heard it.

The Sandwich Technique

  1. Start with things you liked. “I really liked how you…” or “You captured me when…” +
  2. Continue with room for improvement. ↑
  3. Finish with what the speaker did well and encouragement for coming speeches  +

The room for improvement is sandwiched between positive points, so you encourage the evaluated speaker from the start, and leave the speaker with a positive feeling.

In Toastmasters we focus on room for improvements. Just hearing what didn't work can be discouraging. Instead, speakers improve better if you as an evaluator point out:

  1. Specific example(s) of what they did.
  2. The effect on you and the audience.
    If you speak about the effects on the audience, say only what you observed, because you don't know what others thought or felt. For example: “We all laughed when…”. But say what you thought and felt.
  3. Their alternatives
    “What you could do…”
    “One effective way to … is to …”
    “You could add even more of [something the speaker did well].