Among Others

If you are part of Toastmasters, you already know what I am about to say. Toastmasters Contests are a big part of what happens on a year basis and the Evaluation Contest is when a target speech is selected and the contestants each evaluate that speech.

In this post, I wanted to outline an effective approach to providing evaluations to speakers. This method first reassures the speaker of their strengths and then inspires them to push the envelope on those skills. Providing that perfect balance of critique is the challenging task of a great evaluator. Remember you do not create the speech, and may have no familiarity with the topic at hand when you are asked to evaluate, you are also given no time to rehearse or practice your speech in advance. Evaluations are a type of impromptu speaking with a focus on what the speaker did well and what they could improve upon.

Tips on providing strong evaluations to a speaker:

1. Listen and Watch the speaker with Great Attention: Yes, that seems a very obvious tip but one worth noting. It is possible to forget your role when the agenda shows your speaker as the last to speak, and generally, no one will prompt the evaluator again. Paying attention and observing the speaker from all angles and aspects is your most critical role as an evaluator

2. Always start on a High Note: Always start your evaluation with praise. Always without an exception. When you think about the widespread fear of public speaking, it should serve as a reminder that regardless of the speaker’s performance, it takes courage and preparation and effort to deliver a speech, and for that, a praise is note-worthy.

You can try either a format of good-bad-good or good-bad-good-bad-….- good, always starting and ending on a high note. In general, all evaluations should start on a high note. While you can easily provide the same exact information by delivering good-bad or bad-good, the outcome of the first far exceeds the latter and order matters here.

3.Balance the feedback on the positive: I can be the harshest critique, for me and for all those who wish me to give them the straight scoop. But I have learned at Toastmasters that delivering an evaluation that is heavy on the “do things better” side rather than “you did well side” will sadly not have the intended effect. One thing to consider is your level of club. We have an Advanced club and it is expected that evaluations be tough and growth-inducing for the speaker. In a beginner club, you may need to exercise far more sensitivity in the number of tips you dispense relative to the amount of praise, at least until the confidence of speaker is built.  So heavy on the positive notes. These can be small details, or generic statements as long as they apply to what the speaker did.

4. Demonstrating your points clearly: You may have a lot of good advice on what the speaker can do to improve. It would be of little value if they do not understand the advice with utter clarity. This happens a lot because we may assume the speaker knows well how they were perceived in the audience and jump right to why that should have been different. Instead, try this 3-pronged approach:

~ Clearly explain your impression of what the speaker did or intended to do
~ Describe what could be done differently in that exact situation
~ Explain why this suggestion will have more effective result for the speaker

For instance, if they pace the floor, (1) I demonstrated the pace, (2) next, I mentioned why it was ineffective – because it distracted us from listening to her- and (3) last, I suggested what could be done more effectively (a more purposeful walking of the room and addressing the audience).

5. Delivering the Evaluation Poised as a Role Model for Speaker: It is easy to forget that because you are evaluating someone else, you can let some of your own good speaking form slide. Remember, even giving an evaluation is a speech. You are addressing an audience, and you are claiming to know how a good speaker ought to present herself. To that point, remember all your public speaking tools:

Speak clearly.
Use no filler words.
Have a great posture.
Smile and be pleasant.
Enunciate your words clearly.
Address the audience.
Address the Speaker often.
Use gestures effectively.
Use correct pronunciation and grammar.
Finish strong and on a high note.
Enjoy the process. Feedback is MOST appreciated when it’s sincere and honest

I served as the President of our Toastmasters Clubs several times while I was in my corporate job. I am no longer a member but I learned a lot about leadership and success that has applied to running my own business successfully. So in this post, I’d like to share with you the highlights of running a Toastmasters Club successfully and what to do and what to avoid. I want to draw on what we the members learned from the process and from each other. How we grew. What we will keep and what we will toss. Here are the secrets of our year together as Advanced Toastmasters, always learning, always aspiring for higher goals, and documenting our lessons learned for our own reference and for posterity!

10 Tips on Running Successful Toastmasters Meetings

Here are my Top Ten Tips for running efficient, dynamic, successful and fun Toastmaster Meetings all year long:

1. Commit to Meet: Meet often, meet for the full session, and do not cancel meetings for any reason, especially for lack of attendance. Clubs that meet less than once a month seriously lose momentum, and while it’s very challenging to hold a full meeting with less than 6 attendees, I encourage you to commit to regular meetings of at least twice a month.

2. Watch the Clock: Start and end meetings on time. I have a regular yoga practice on Sunday mornings, and people are always late. The instructor starts her class when the hand of that clock strikes 10:30am, be there one of us or all of us. I admire her courage to be punctual in the age of tardy. We have been guilty of that, and we have suffered bad habits as a result. Start your meetings on the hour sharp, and never go over. Respecting people’s time, those who are already in attendance, and sending a kind message to those who are late, will set a high bar for your club.

3. Capture it on Video: We finally established a routine for capturing every single meeting on video. The labor and commitment takes coordination between 3 people, with the heavy lifting falling on our fabulous videographer. The hard work pays off in high-quality video segments from every portion of our meeting, where the speakers can view the video for the best evaluation of their own speech, that of watching themselves in action. Living in today’s technological advancement, setting up the process can consist of an affordable video camera with a tripod, two members who know basics of video etiquette, help set up the room for best lighting, and can offer to segment the video appropriately after the shoot. Since most Toastmasters websites have storage limits, we have chosen Amazon S3 for easy upload onto cyberspace with links off our website.

4. Follow the Agenda: Planning makes everything go smoother. In the case of Toastmasters meeting, you must have an agenda to follow. Changes to it are inevitable at the very last minute. The agenda sets the tone for the meeting, and far from making it strict or too structured, it only serves as a way to set clear expectations with your audience. If you are Toastmaster for the day and have open roles in your agenda, arrive 15 minutes earlier and ask the first arriving members to volunteer. If you do not have enough speakers to fill the time, conduct a long and creative Table Topics. Always follow the agenda to run a clean, efficient, and professional meeting.

5. Spice things Up: Having a regular meeting all the time is fine but you should aim for great. Recently we had a Contest, a Panel Discussion and a Roast of the Past President (excerpt posted above), after which we welcomed 3 new members to our small club. Having fun in Toastmasters is one of my mantras. I refuse to believe that we cannot have the time of our life as we are improving our speaking and listening skills. So spice up a regular meeting with a contest, a debate, an interview of imaginary roles, a creative table topics, or many other types of meetings imaginable. You can even move things around in the agenda, have speakers first or table topics first, or introduce a short break for socializing.

6. Balancing Truth and Kindness: Giving a thorough, valuable and well-received evaluation takes skill and practice. Knowing that the evaluation needs to help the speaker improve their skills as well as encourage them is important. Encouragement can be achieved through kindness but improvement is more dependent on the truth. Having high-quality evaluations in a club sets the tone and level of speaking skills, and encourages a sense of friendly competition yet camaraderie among the members. Everyone knows they need to improve, but if no one tells them how…..

7. Learn to Improvise: As a Toastmaster of the meeting, you are bound to run into last minute changes. Your speaker drops out, your evaluator does not show, your attendance does not warrant a good table topics, and the energy may just be too low to make it through the hour. A good Toastmaster needs to prepare for the variations and fill in the gaps. Always have a theme to the meetings, and research the theme to share enough of the subject with the audience. Be ready to volunteer others for roles, be ready to fulfill a mandatory role in absence of original candidate, and do not forget that people look to the Toastmaster for the direction of the meeting, so have a plan and act, if not know, what you are going to do during the meeting.

8. Meet and Greet your Guests: The interest of club members is the highest priority of the club, and generally in most meetings, you will not have guests. Our first Toastmaster year happened to have frequent guests, on average 1-2 every other meeting. It became apparent very soon that we needed to have a clear guest policy to maximize the benefits of the occasion for the guests and the club. It is important to be coordinated here, especially if you meet in a place where guests need to enter through a secure corporate building and be escorted inside by a club member. This is one of the major issues for not being able to start club meetings on time. Coordination on informing guests in advance of meeting, receiving guests, warmly welcoming and engaging them appropriately at the club meeting are key to success for both your members and the guests.

9. Taking care of Business: Club meetings are a great time to take care of club business. The business of running a club should be of interest and relevance to your members, and the best way to get their attention is in the meeting, either at the beginning or end of the meeting. I prefer the end so as not to take away momentum from a great flow, and to wrap up with reminders on what needs to be done. Are membership fees due? Do you have a Toastmaster for next meeting? Do officers have an update to make? Are there any concerns to voice? Share the club business at every single meeting.

10. Inviting outside Speakers: Having exposure to speakers outside of your club’s membership is motivational and brings in a nice fresh air of diversity and perspective. Too many of us are committed beyond our max so bringing these opportunities into a club meeting that most members are already dedicated to goes a long way. This is a nice way to integrate those different types of meetings and trying a new format. If other speakers are Toastmasters, they are always more than willing to speak to other clubs; it helps promote their network and exposure as well. If the speaker you seek is outside Toastmasters, and especially if they are in any demand, you can use your network to connect with them and ask if they would do a pro-bono speech to support the mission of Toastmasters.

In the end,  remember running great club meetings is about common sense and highest delivery of ordinary skills. It is beautifully said in a quote by John D Rockefeller:
“The secret of success is to do the common things, uncommonly well.”