President's Tip of the Week

How to Win a Toastmasters Evaluation Contest
(6/23/09)

Source: Thank you again to the consummate Toastmaster mentor, Andrew Dlugan for his article on Evaluation Contests. Read this article if you’re planning to compete!

If you have dreams of winning, then you must familiarize yourself with the judging criteria:

1. Contestant delivers great “praise” and “areas for improvement”, but neglects specific suggestions to improve. This contestant will score well on Analytical Quality (40 points), but poorly on Recommendations (30 points).
Tip: Remember the meat, vegetables, and cheese from the sandwich technique.

2. Contestant fails to watch the clock and does not have time to summarize — a potential loss of 15 points.
Tip: Don’t try to cover everything. Use the five minutes with your notes wisely to pick out only your best points. With my speech evaluation form, I typically capture about twice as many things as I can describe in a 3-minute evaluation.

3. Contestant covers only the points mentioned by other contestants. It is possible to deliver a good (or even great) evaluation, but still score poorly because you will invariably be compared to other contestants.
Tip: Hone your speech critique skills. Try to avoid the obvious elements of the speech which all other contestants will notice. Instead, aim to analyze elements many will miss.

4. Contestant has marvelous analysis, but poor evaluation delivery. They score low on the 15 points for Technique.
Tip: Based on my personal experience, I think delivery tends to be weighted even higher by most judges. Particularly at higher levels when many contestants are very strong, the contestant with the most dynamic delivery often wins.

Good luck, and happy evaluating!