General Evaluator

Prior to the Meeting

The Chair will email the roster to everyone, and ask for confirmation of attendance.  Evaluators will be asked to confirm their attendance to you.  Follow up with them if they do not respond prior to the meeting. Evaluators should have their own replacements, if necessary.

Understanding The Role – Overview

• The preparation to evaluate the meeting officers is done throughout the meeting, while the evaluation of evaluators is done only once the evaluators have done their job, towards the end of the meeting.
• Even though the preparation starts with the officers (form 1) and ends with the evaluators (form 2), when presenting the report, evaluate the evaluators first, and the officers second. 
• Evaluating the evaluators should take 3 minutes, and evaluating the officers should take 2 minutes. 

Understanding The Role – Evaluating The Meeting Officers

• Throughout the meeting, after each officer has spoken, jot down very brief notes on Form 1.
• If the officer has done a “proper job,” without anything outstanding, don’t write anything.
• Just before presenting your report, look at your notes, and see which ones are “important to mention,” either because the job was very well done, or because the officer missed some important point (examples: a Grammarian’s word that was used many time, a toast that was too long or unclear about the name of the person we were toasting, a Table Topics Master who didn’t give clear instructions, a quizmaster who added a special twist to the questions, a Parliamentarian who did a very thorough job, etc.)
• Put a check mark beside the names of the people who have done a “proper job.” During the report, announce that some people have done well and just mention their names. They need to hear they have performed adequately, even without details. The check mark will make it easy to find the names quickly.
• Then, give a more detailed account on the 3 to 5 roles and officers that you have identified as “important to mention.”
• If you have to emphasize something that was not done well, turn it into a lesson for the future, when other Toastmasters will have to do this role.
• This part of the report (done last) should take no more than 2 minutes. 

Form 1 – Evaluating the Meeting Officers

Understanding The Role – Evaluating the Evaluators

• In order to save time, fill your form during the evaluation, while the evaluator is speaking, even if you have to add more notes at the end.
• Don’t write sentences, just bullet points.
• Put yourself in the shoes of the speaker who was evaluated. How would you feel? Would you know how to perform better the next time? Was the evaluator unclear at times? Would you have liked more suggestions?
• It is important to have a few notes in the first column (what was good in the evaluation). If you don’t know what would make it better, don’t write anything and don’t mention this part. Always finish your evaluation of each evaluator with something positive.

Form 2 – Evaluating the Evaluators

Evaluator’s Name	What was good in the evaluation	What would make it better	Something positive about the evaluation

Script – General Evaluator Report

Thank you Toastmaster ……………….. for that nice introduction, and welcome to the last part of the Prepared Speeches Session, the Evaluation.

The function of a General Evaluator is to provide feedback to the meeting’s participants. It is like holding up a mirror to reflect your performance back you. Feedback is an essential element of the learning process and is meant to encourage the drive to excellence and self-improvement.

My report is in 2 parts:

• Evaluating the evaluators
• Evaluating the meeting officers

Timekeeper, may I have the green at 4 minutes, amber at 5 minutes, and red at 6 minutes.

Give the report following the instructions and using the forms above

At the end of your report, highlight something positive or funny about one aspect – just one – such as the club, the members, the progress of some members, the theme of the evening, the way you feel, etc. You are one of the last people to speak. It is essential to leave the audience with a good feeling about the meeting.

Awards

It is now your role to hand out the awards for Best Table topic, Best Evaluator and Best Speaker.  Lead the applause and encourage the crowd to cheer the winners! 

Return control back to the Chair.

last updated January 15, 2021