After every speech, an evaluation is made. After you have presented a few speeches, you
will be asked to serve as an evaluator and will evaluate one of the prepared speakers for
the meeting. In addition to your oral evalua-tion, you will also give the speaker a
written evaluation from the manual. The evaluation presented by you can make the
difference between a worthwhile or a wasted meeting for your speaker. The purpose of the
evaluation is to help the speaker become less selfconscious. This requires that you become
fully aware of the speakers skill level, habits and mannerisms as well as his or her
pro-gress to date. If there is a technique the speaker uses or some gesture made that
receives a good response from the audience, tell the speaker so he or she will be
encouraged to use it again.
 | Prior to the meeting |
- Review carefully the Effective Speech Evaluation manual which you will receive in your
new member packet from World Headquarters.
- Talk with the speaker to find out the manual project he or she will be presenting. The
interview should include the goals of the speech and what the speaker hopes to achieve.
Find out exactly which skills or techniques the speaker hopes to strengthen through the
exercise.
- Evaluation requires exacting preparation if it is to be of value to the speaker. Study
the objectives of the project as well as the evaluation guide in the manual. Remember, the
purpose of evaluation is to help people develop their speaking skills in various
situations, including platform presentations, discussions and meetings. Achievement equals
the sum of ability and motivation. By actively listening and gently offering useful
advice, you motivate members to work hard and improve. When you show the way to
improvement, youve opened the door to strengthening their ability.
 | When you enter the meeting room |
- Look for the speaker and get his or her manual.
- Meet briefly with the general evaluator to confirm the evaluation session format. Then
confer with the speaker one last time to see if he or she has any specific things for you
to watch for during the talk.
 | During the meeting |
- Record your impressions of the speech in the manual along with your answers to the
evaluation questions. Be as objective as possible. Remember that good evaluations may give
new life to discouraged members and poor evaluations may dishearten members who tried
their best. Remember to always leave the speaker with specific methods for improving his
or her speaking.
- When introduced, stand and give your oral evaluation report. Begin and end your
evaluation with a note of encouragement or praise. Though you may have written lengthy
responses to manual evaluation questions, dont read the questions or your responses.
Your oral evalua-tion time is limited. Dont try to cover too much in your
talkpossibly one point on organization, one on delivery, and one on attainment of
purpose with a state-ment about the greatest asset and a suggestion for future
improvement.
- Praise a successful speech and specifically tell why it was successful. Dont allow
the speaker to remain un-aware of a valuable asset such as a smile, a sense of humor, a
good voice. Dont allow the speaker to remain ignorant of a serious fault or
mannerism; if it is personal, write it but dont mention it aloud. Give the speaker
the deserved praise and tactful suggestions in the manner you would like to receive them
when you are the speaker.
 | After the meeting |
Return the manual to the speaker. Add a verbal word of encouragement to the
speaker, something that wasnt mentioned in the oral evaluation.
Resource
- Effective Speech Evaluation (Code 202). . .included in new member kit

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