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Showing posts with label Evaluation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Evaluation. Show all posts
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Obama vs McCain Table Topics Session
Photo taken from BBC News
My personal reaction while watching live the last of the third debate between Senator Barrack Obama and Senatohr John McCain was answering questions sitting facing each other around a table.
How did they fare as table topics speakers?
Initially both have to overcome nervousness:
Obama: I felt he tried to keep himself looking cool and focused. Seldom smile, serious. Lots of ehs when he struggles.
McCain: Tried to look cheerful and smile and even laugh. His eyes wink a lot and he always seem to make his eyes bigger. Always using the paper and pen to give the impression that he is taking down notes.
Obama: Flashed his rare all teeth bared smile when John McCain made a claim he does not agreed. Based his argument of facts and numbers. More logical.
McCain: Used his hand gestures liberally. Like to bring out names of others and tell stories. More personal.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Evaluation is an Art
Have you ever heard of these comments before?
a) "Evaluation is the cornerstone of the Toastmasters program"
b) "Evaluate to motivate"
c) "Evaluate the speech, not the speaker"
d) "Don't whitewash"
e) "Give specific practical ways on how the speaker can improve"
f) "I am here to cut and polish you until you become a diamond"
g) "I hope you can rehearse more but anyway it was a great speech, congratulations and move on to your next project"
Evaluation is a skill and an art that we perform and we observes others others performing it at every club meeting.
It involves careful listening, quick thinking and impromtu speaking.
If we remind ourselves that our primary purpose is to encourage the speaker to continue speaking and to improve further, half the battle is won.
Evaluation speech contest is the best place to see how a great evaluation is done as the contestant have to demonstrate all the judging criteria of being sensitive and positive yet analytic and specific.
But be wary that it can be overdone because the all evaluation contestants are in a combative and competitive mode to get the most of judges' attention and points.
At the club meeting, the evaluation can be tailored more closely to the specific and personal needs and speaking experience level of each speaker.
For example, a speaker could be a last minute replacement for another member who suddenly cannot attend the meeting. Consideration must be given that the speaker had not much time to rehearse.
In another situation when visiting another club, you were suddenly given the honor of evaluating a speaker that you have not met before. While this is a golden opportunity for the speaker to get a fresh and valuable outsider independent feedback , if not careful, it can be like stepping on a landmine.
What if the project speech delivered was not well rehearsed or failed to meet any of the project objectives. Should the evaluator be diplomatic, avoid any strong medicine and use neutral statements. Or be sincere and honest.
One possible way is to test the water. Ask the audience and project speaker leading questions during your evaluation to check if the audience and speaker share your sentiments.
A more open and direct evaluation can always be done on a one-on-one level with the speaker after the meeting.
Remember that members join Toastmasters to help improve their self-confidence. Everyone can have a bad hair day.
The art of evaluation is a constant mix and balance of maintaining the self-esteem as well as helping the speaker to grow further.
If you have not evaluated before, you can start by being the Ah Counter. You will realize soon that it is not how many Ah you caught but how you deliver your report. Establish eye contact, use humor and don't cause embarrassment when announcing the one with the highest number of ahs.
If you want to know who are the experienced evaluators who can help you, look no further. There is a Division N Evaluation Contest this October 25th Saturday afternoon in Penang. Ask your Club President or Area Governor or Division Governor for details of venue and time.
a) "Evaluation is the cornerstone of the Toastmasters program"
b) "Evaluate to motivate"
c) "Evaluate the speech, not the speaker"
d) "Don't whitewash"
e) "Give specific practical ways on how the speaker can improve"
f) "I am here to cut and polish you until you become a diamond"
g) "I hope you can rehearse more but anyway it was a great speech, congratulations and move on to your next project"
Evaluation is a skill and an art that we perform and we observes others others performing it at every club meeting.
It involves careful listening, quick thinking and impromtu speaking.
If we remind ourselves that our primary purpose is to encourage the speaker to continue speaking and to improve further, half the battle is won.
Evaluation speech contest is the best place to see how a great evaluation is done as the contestant have to demonstrate all the judging criteria of being sensitive and positive yet analytic and specific.
But be wary that it can be overdone because the all evaluation contestants are in a combative and competitive mode to get the most of judges' attention and points.
At the club meeting, the evaluation can be tailored more closely to the specific and personal needs and speaking experience level of each speaker.
For example, a speaker could be a last minute replacement for another member who suddenly cannot attend the meeting. Consideration must be given that the speaker had not much time to rehearse.
In another situation when visiting another club, you were suddenly given the honor of evaluating a speaker that you have not met before. While this is a golden opportunity for the speaker to get a fresh and valuable outsider independent feedback , if not careful, it can be like stepping on a landmine.
What if the project speech delivered was not well rehearsed or failed to meet any of the project objectives. Should the evaluator be diplomatic, avoid any strong medicine and use neutral statements. Or be sincere and honest.
One possible way is to test the water. Ask the audience and project speaker leading questions during your evaluation to check if the audience and speaker share your sentiments.A more open and direct evaluation can always be done on a one-on-one level with the speaker after the meeting.
Remember that members join Toastmasters to help improve their self-confidence. Everyone can have a bad hair day.
The art of evaluation is a constant mix and balance of maintaining the self-esteem as well as helping the speaker to grow further.
If you have not evaluated before, you can start by being the Ah Counter. You will realize soon that it is not how many Ah you caught but how you deliver your report. Establish eye contact, use humor and don't cause embarrassment when announcing the one with the highest number of ahs.
If you want to know who are the experienced evaluators who can help you, look no further. There is a Division N Evaluation Contest this October 25th Saturday afternoon in Penang. Ask your Club President or Area Governor or Division Governor for details of venue and time.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Palin vs Biden - Who will be a better Toastmaster
Photo courtesy of ABC News: Sarah Palin vs Joe BidenWatching live on television the the debate of Vice President Candidates in St. Louis, Missouri.
Republican candidate: Governor Sarah Palin
Democrat candidate: Senator Joe Biden
My personal evaluation and humble opinion:
1) Eye Contact:
Sarah has more direct eye contact with television screen while Joe was reading more from the text and looking at moderator more.
2) Good use of words:
Sarah: "There was greed there, there was deception and there was corruption", "Darn right", "Heck a lot of"
Joe: "Let Wall Street run wild". "Deregulate, deregulate, deregulate". "Guess what"
3) Ah Count:
Sarah: None detected. Sometimes, change sentence mid air.
Joe: Very few. Ummph. Fumbled on some words and corrected himself.
4) Dress Code:
Sarah: Business suite all black with earings and American flag pin
Joe: Black suite, white shirt, blue tie and American flag pin
5) Body Language:
Sarah: More facial expresiion, shake her head when she says "no".
Joe: Used hand gestures effectively, left hand, right hand and both. Holding a pen in his hand.
6) Vocal Variety:
Sarah: Great emotional variation but sometimes the pitch goes high
Joe: When talking on hot topics, excellent vocal amplification but usually lower voice.
6) Overall:
Both Sarah and Joe are outstanding speakers and debaters. We can learn a lot from these two fine orators.
Only area for improvement that both Sarah and Joe often do not reply to the questions asked by the moderator but quickly moved to their view points they want to share with the millions of television audience but that is politics.
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