President's
Tip of the Week
Evaluating
Someone with More Speaking Experience
(3/3/08)
As
a new Toastmaster, you will almost always be called upon to evaluate someone with
more experience than you have. Don't let this panic you! Being a good evaluator
isn't the same as being an experienced speaker. To use an analogy, a restaurant
reviewer only needs to be an expert on eating food, not preparing it.
Evaluation
has three main components:
The Competent Leader manual offers projects
that will help you develop your skills in all three areas. This information is
contained in the first three projects in the manual. Be sure to take advantage
of what is offered there.
Before you give your first evaluation, ask
your mentor to give you some tips on evaluation. Your mentor can also provide
you with feedback after your evaluation so that you know where your strengths
lie and what you can work on for the next evaluation assignment.
In the
meantime, take notes during evaluations at the meetings you attend. Listen to
how experienced evaluators structure their feedback and the types of feedback
they provide.