Final Thoughts.
Another reason it took time to make my final posts is I wanted some distance from the sting of not winning 1st place. That disappointment surprised me. I guess the competitive fire that burned hot during my windsurfing competition days of yore is still as intense now as it was then.
I consider myself a better evaluator than before I started this journey. In fact, it has unexpectedly led to a sales speech coaching opportunity! It shows you just never know...
It's been a great journey and I hope my documenting it will be of aid in your evaluations. It has been pointed out to me that I've just made it harder for me to compete for next year by sharing. However, my 19 year career as a software developer and 3 years of windsurfing competition has ingrained in me the belief that you become better when your compeitition gets better. It is my hope to compete against some of you in the 2010 District F Speech Evaluation Contests.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
District F Championship Round - Part 5 of 6
I asked Philippa Burgess (Evaluation Contest Target Speaker) for her thoughts on why I took 2nd place rather than 1st.
Philippa said I was the only evaluator that pointed out that she was giving a persuasive speech that did not achieve its goal. She said that provided clarity for my constructive criticism. However, I didn't mention the obvious mistakes that all the other evaluators pointed out, such as making better use of her props and the stage. If I had taken only a few seconds just to list the obvious mistakes that might have made the difference between 1st and 2nd place.
Philippa said I was the only evaluator that pointed out that she was giving a persuasive speech that did not achieve its goal. She said that provided clarity for my constructive criticism. However, I didn't mention the obvious mistakes that all the other evaluators pointed out, such as making better use of her props and the stage. If I had taken only a few seconds just to list the obvious mistakes that might have made the difference between 1st and 2nd place.
District F Championship Round - Part 4 of 6
I asked the other two winners of the contest to add their thoughts to mine on preparing their evaluation before taking the stage. Here are our answers...
Barbara Gordano - 3rd Place:
"Well, had I known I was speaking I would have mentally prepared! You see, I wasn't scheduled to participate in the Evaluation on the day of the contest; the winning Evaluator who beat me in the prior competition - for one reason or the other - did not turn up...lucky me! Jumping into the contest at the last minute was my greatest mental hurdle; it took all (of my) large sums of energy to keep my nerves at bay and I did so by constantly reminding myself to stay focused on the mission at hand - giving the best Evaluation to help my fellow Toastmaster grow."
Me - 2nd Place:
"For me, it was tough as this speech was not as clear as the speeches I evaluated at the Area and Division levels. Then it hit me. The reason the speech was not clear was because the speaker was not clear on what she wanted to accomplish with this speech. This was a persuasion speech mixed in with an information speech. Because of this the speaker did not achieve her goal, which was to take action. This insight was at the heart of my evaluation."
Julie Tang - 1st Place:
"Before the contest began, I reminded myself that I needed to select 2-3 strengths, and at least 2 things that the speaker could improve on. I also knew that my speech needed an introduction, a body and a conclusion. As I was taking notes, I wrote down strengths when I saw them and areas that the speaker could have done better on. One thing I didn't do was write every little thing down. I was quite selective on what I wanted to write down; otherwise, it would be too overwhelming for me. For the areas that needed improvement, I asked myself, "What advice would I give her that would benefit her the most?" and "How would I model that for her?" When we were brought outside to formulate our thoughts and organize our speeches, I carefully examined what I had written down. From there, I mentally made revisions that would give the biggest impact and rehearsed the outline of my speech as best as I could."
Barbara Gordano - 3rd Place:
"Well, had I known I was speaking I would have mentally prepared! You see, I wasn't scheduled to participate in the Evaluation on the day of the contest; the winning Evaluator who beat me in the prior competition - for one reason or the other - did not turn up...lucky me! Jumping into the contest at the last minute was my greatest mental hurdle; it took all (of my) large sums of energy to keep my nerves at bay and I did so by constantly reminding myself to stay focused on the mission at hand - giving the best Evaluation to help my fellow Toastmaster grow."
Me - 2nd Place:
"For me, it was tough as this speech was not as clear as the speeches I evaluated at the Area and Division levels. Then it hit me. The reason the speech was not clear was because the speaker was not clear on what she wanted to accomplish with this speech. This was a persuasion speech mixed in with an information speech. Because of this the speaker did not achieve her goal, which was to take action. This insight was at the heart of my evaluation."
Julie Tang - 1st Place:
"Before the contest began, I reminded myself that I needed to select 2-3 strengths, and at least 2 things that the speaker could improve on. I also knew that my speech needed an introduction, a body and a conclusion. As I was taking notes, I wrote down strengths when I saw them and areas that the speaker could have done better on. One thing I didn't do was write every little thing down. I was quite selective on what I wanted to write down; otherwise, it would be too overwhelming for me. For the areas that needed improvement, I asked myself, "What advice would I give her that would benefit her the most?" and "How would I model that for her?" When we were brought outside to formulate our thoughts and organize our speeches, I carefully examined what I had written down. From there, I mentally made revisions that would give the biggest impact and rehearsed the outline of my speech as best as I could."
District F Championship Round - Part 1 of 6
Sorry it took awhile to put out the final posts for this blog. I had to wait on the other winners and the target speaker for their thoughts.
Here is the breakdown of the final 6 posts of this blog:
Part One: Background Information and the Target Speech
Part Two: Video of 3rd Place Evaluation
Part Three: Video of 2nd Place Evaluation
Part Four: Mental preparation of top 3 finishers
Part Five: Thoughts of the target speaker, Philippa Burgess
Part Six: Final Thoughts
The District F Speech Evaluation Contest had 8 contestants, each representing a different Division within the District. District F covers all of Orange County and the southern half of LA County.
The target speaker was Philippa Burgess, a member of Warner Brothers Toastmasters, in District 52.
The winners for the contest are Julie Tang, 1st place, myself 2nd place and Barbara Giordano took 3rd.
The target speech was titled "The Power of the Teleseminar" and was from 5 to 7 minutes. In her speech, Philippa used a movie clapboard as a prop to introduce herself as a member of Warner Brothers Toastmasters. She also used a phone as another prop.
Here is the breakdown of the final 6 posts of this blog:
Part One: Background Information and the Target Speech
Part Two: Video of 3rd Place Evaluation
Part Three: Video of 2nd Place Evaluation
Part Four: Mental preparation of top 3 finishers
Part Five: Thoughts of the target speaker, Philippa Burgess
Part Six: Final Thoughts
The District F Speech Evaluation Contest had 8 contestants, each representing a different Division within the District. District F covers all of Orange County and the southern half of LA County.
The target speaker was Philippa Burgess, a member of Warner Brothers Toastmasters, in District 52.
The winners for the contest are Julie Tang, 1st place, myself 2nd place and Barbara Giordano took 3rd.
The target speech was titled "The Power of the Teleseminar" and was from 5 to 7 minutes. In her speech, Philippa used a movie clapboard as a prop to introduce herself as a member of Warner Brothers Toastmasters. She also used a phone as another prop.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Practice, practice, practice - Part 2 of 2
I went to the Speakers Bureau in Garden Grove. I had the chance to evaluate two 20 minute speeches.
First speech was inpirational. The main thrust of my evaluation was organization. The speaker gave a personal story on how he overcame a motorcycle accident where he was told he would be in a wheelchair the rest of his life to having just put 200 miles on his new motorcycle. He talked on using that accomplishment to help others overcome physical handicaps. He also talked on healing his own hernieated discs through exercise.
He had a lot of material and that was the problem. There were 3 speeches wrapped in one. My recommendation was for the speaker to ask this question: "What do I want my audience to do after hearing my speech?" The answer would guide him in organizing his material.
The second speech was a "how to" speech. It was how to generate energy in your presentation through connecting to your audience. The speaker began with a story of visitng the WWII memorial to the American Soldier in Bastogne, the famous city featured from the Battle of the Bulge, as a young child. She contrasted her first visit with her father to her second visit to the memorial with her mother by how her mother helped her emotionally connect to the sacrifice made by the slain soldiers.
The story demonstrated how developing a connection increases the energy in an experience. The speaker then talked about how to increase you ability to make a connection through 4 different connection activities. She then wrapped up with an exercise using 7 volunteers to demonstrate a connection activity.
The speaker is a wonderful storyteller and an accomplished speaker. My evaluation's focus was on two things:
1. Transistion from personal story to the 4 connection activities and
2. Organization of material in each connection activity. My recommended format was:
a. Benefit(s)
b. Activity description
c. Activity examples
These two speeches provided excellent practice for the upcoming District Championship. I'm thankful to the Speakers Bureau to giving me the opportunity to practice.
First speech was inpirational. The main thrust of my evaluation was organization. The speaker gave a personal story on how he overcame a motorcycle accident where he was told he would be in a wheelchair the rest of his life to having just put 200 miles on his new motorcycle. He talked on using that accomplishment to help others overcome physical handicaps. He also talked on healing his own hernieated discs through exercise.
He had a lot of material and that was the problem. There were 3 speeches wrapped in one. My recommendation was for the speaker to ask this question: "What do I want my audience to do after hearing my speech?" The answer would guide him in organizing his material.
The second speech was a "how to" speech. It was how to generate energy in your presentation through connecting to your audience. The speaker began with a story of visitng the WWII memorial to the American Soldier in Bastogne, the famous city featured from the Battle of the Bulge, as a young child. She contrasted her first visit with her father to her second visit to the memorial with her mother by how her mother helped her emotionally connect to the sacrifice made by the slain soldiers.
The story demonstrated how developing a connection increases the energy in an experience. The speaker then talked about how to increase you ability to make a connection through 4 different connection activities. She then wrapped up with an exercise using 7 volunteers to demonstrate a connection activity.
The speaker is a wonderful storyteller and an accomplished speaker. My evaluation's focus was on two things:
1. Transistion from personal story to the 4 connection activities and
2. Organization of material in each connection activity. My recommended format was:
a. Benefit(s)
b. Activity description
c. Activity examples
These two speeches provided excellent practice for the upcoming District Championship. I'm thankful to the Speakers Bureau to giving me the opportunity to practice.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Practice, practice, practice - Part 1 of 2
Pasadena Jaycees Toastmasters club meeting.
To prepare for the upcoming District F contest I arranged to be an evaluator for an advanced speech. It was the Storytelling Manual #4 project which is using story to elicit emotion. I was a bit distracted as I was running a Flip video cam taping the speech. The result was I wasn't able to take notes. I then tried to use a Table Topics approach to giving my evaluation. In other words, I thought I'd try a spontaneous method.
Suffice to say, I didn't win the Best Evaluator award for the night. The person who won did a GREAT job. My club then gave me a Roundtable evaluation on my presentation.
From the experience I was reminded of two things:
First: I had taken for granted my ability to reinforce my points with gestures and vocal techniques. Having stage experience I naturally employ these things when I get up in front of an audience. In fact this ability played an important role in both my Area and Division wins. However, taking this ability for granted runs the risk that I may forget to use it at the District contest.
Second: The importance of taking notes. The importance does not lie in having the notes available during the acutal presentation. Rather it is in the fact that it gives you the raw information to figure out what is the theme of your evaluation and what information to use to support that theme.
From my younger years competing in windsurfing contests, I learned the importance of practice. It's not so much to gain new insights. Its rather to be reminded of what made you successful in the first place.
Part 2 will be Nov. 12th
To prepare for the upcoming District F contest I arranged to be an evaluator for an advanced speech. It was the Storytelling Manual #4 project which is using story to elicit emotion. I was a bit distracted as I was running a Flip video cam taping the speech. The result was I wasn't able to take notes. I then tried to use a Table Topics approach to giving my evaluation. In other words, I thought I'd try a spontaneous method.
Suffice to say, I didn't win the Best Evaluator award for the night. The person who won did a GREAT job. My club then gave me a Roundtable evaluation on my presentation.
From the experience I was reminded of two things:
First: I had taken for granted my ability to reinforce my points with gestures and vocal techniques. Having stage experience I naturally employ these things when I get up in front of an audience. In fact this ability played an important role in both my Area and Division wins. However, taking this ability for granted runs the risk that I may forget to use it at the District contest.
Second: The importance of taking notes. The importance does not lie in having the notes available during the acutal presentation. Rather it is in the fact that it gives you the raw information to figure out what is the theme of your evaluation and what information to use to support that theme.
From my younger years competing in windsurfing contests, I learned the importance of practice. It's not so much to gain new insights. Its rather to be reminded of what made you successful in the first place.
Part 2 will be Nov. 12th
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Division B Contest - Part 2 of 3 - My process
Part Two: My Mental Process
Hoo boy! I thought the Area contest target speech was tough! During Nigel's speech I tried to take the short "trigger" notes that Jeffrey Washington had suggested. Didn't work for me very well for this speech so I went back to my own way of note taking.
My first goal was to determine what type of speech it was. That was challenging because of Nigel's opening tone of his speech. When he changed the tone from humorous and light-hearted to tragic that threw me off. It was not until the end when he talked about his reason for joining Toastmasters and giving speeches to help others avoid the emotions he experienced that's when I knew this was an Inspirational speech.
My next goal was asking myself, what is the goal of an inspirational speech? Why it's to inspire the audience to act. Now I had my baseline to prioritize my notes. This is important as you only have 3 minutes and 30 seconds at the most for your evaluation. Optimally, you want to start wrapping up at 2:30 so you don't exceed the time and disqualify yourself.
I had drawn 2nd of the 4 contestants which is good for an additional 4:30 minutes added to the 5 minutes all the contestants were given to organize their notes.
In the room we were isolated in I then looked at the notes I took during the target speech. Then I created an outline of the main points. When my time came I was ready. I felt prepared enough to hand my notes to the Sgt-at-Arms. This freed up both my hands. Also I didn't want to run the risk of breaking the rapport with the audience by always glancing at my notes.
I believed I had a good shot at winning for the reason I had come up with an insight that I didn't think any of the other contestants had come up with. That insight was the heart of my evaluation.
The insight was this: an Inspirational speech seeks to inspire people to act. You accomplish this by having the audience imagine themselves in the same situation and experiencing the same emotions. Since it was emotion that motivated Nigel to act, having the audience go through the same type of strong emotion should also get them to act.
Hoo boy! I thought the Area contest target speech was tough! During Nigel's speech I tried to take the short "trigger" notes that Jeffrey Washington had suggested. Didn't work for me very well for this speech so I went back to my own way of note taking.
My first goal was to determine what type of speech it was. That was challenging because of Nigel's opening tone of his speech. When he changed the tone from humorous and light-hearted to tragic that threw me off. It was not until the end when he talked about his reason for joining Toastmasters and giving speeches to help others avoid the emotions he experienced that's when I knew this was an Inspirational speech.
My next goal was asking myself, what is the goal of an inspirational speech? Why it's to inspire the audience to act. Now I had my baseline to prioritize my notes. This is important as you only have 3 minutes and 30 seconds at the most for your evaluation. Optimally, you want to start wrapping up at 2:30 so you don't exceed the time and disqualify yourself.
I had drawn 2nd of the 4 contestants which is good for an additional 4:30 minutes added to the 5 minutes all the contestants were given to organize their notes.
In the room we were isolated in I then looked at the notes I took during the target speech. Then I created an outline of the main points. When my time came I was ready. I felt prepared enough to hand my notes to the Sgt-at-Arms. This freed up both my hands. Also I didn't want to run the risk of breaking the rapport with the audience by always glancing at my notes.
I believed I had a good shot at winning for the reason I had come up with an insight that I didn't think any of the other contestants had come up with. That insight was the heart of my evaluation.
The insight was this: an Inspirational speech seeks to inspire people to act. You accomplish this by having the audience imagine themselves in the same situation and experiencing the same emotions. Since it was emotion that motivated Nigel to act, having the audience go through the same type of strong emotion should also get them to act.
Division B Contest - Part One of Three - The Target Speech
Division B Contest - Oct 17 at Wescorp in San Dimas
Well, I won! On to the District F contest in Fullerton on Nov. 14th. This first part will give information on the target speech. The second part on my mental process during the target speech and the 5 minutes all the evaluation contestants were given to organize their presentation. The third part is a video taping of my award-winning evaluation.
Part One: The Target Speech
Title: One for the Road
Presenter: Nigel
Props: 2 beer bottles, a silver colored goblet and a Power Point presentation given on an overhead above the speaking area.
Nigel opened his speech in a relaxed manner talking of going to the pub. There he talked about conversations which always involved drinking. His opening slide displayed his speech title. He then showed a picture of his pub, the King's Arms and then made a joke about Royal Body parts being the names of pubs, with the Queen's Chest and the Prince's Head pubs close by.
He then talked about a fateful night with 4 of his friends and at closing the call for a last round. Nigel spurring his mates on with a query of "One for the Road". He changed the tone of his presentation when he talked of his 4 friends ending up in a fatal car crash. To underscore his point he showed a picture of the car wreck. He then talked about his guilt about urging his friends on taking "One for the Road".
Nigel then transitioned into the story of Candy Lightner, who due to her daughter's tragic death from a drunk driver, established M.A.D.D. He then talked that in spite of the progress, there are still over 16,000 alcohol-related deaths in this country. To make that statistic more impactful he said that was the equivalent of 40 jumbo jets crashing. He then posed the question the difference in response to the deaths happening if in 40 jumbo jets versus the same number of deaths due to alchohol.
He then ended his speech by saying he joined Toastmasters recently because he wanted to do something about the guilt he has carried for over 30 years due to his perceived part in his 4 friends deaths.
Well, I won! On to the District F contest in Fullerton on Nov. 14th. This first part will give information on the target speech. The second part on my mental process during the target speech and the 5 minutes all the evaluation contestants were given to organize their presentation. The third part is a video taping of my award-winning evaluation.
Part One: The Target Speech
Title: One for the Road
Presenter: Nigel
Props: 2 beer bottles, a silver colored goblet and a Power Point presentation given on an overhead above the speaking area.
Nigel opened his speech in a relaxed manner talking of going to the pub. There he talked about conversations which always involved drinking. His opening slide displayed his speech title. He then showed a picture of his pub, the King's Arms and then made a joke about Royal Body parts being the names of pubs, with the Queen's Chest and the Prince's Head pubs close by.
He then talked about a fateful night with 4 of his friends and at closing the call for a last round. Nigel spurring his mates on with a query of "One for the Road". He changed the tone of his presentation when he talked of his 4 friends ending up in a fatal car crash. To underscore his point he showed a picture of the car wreck. He then talked about his guilt about urging his friends on taking "One for the Road".
Nigel then transitioned into the story of Candy Lightner, who due to her daughter's tragic death from a drunk driver, established M.A.D.D. He then talked that in spite of the progress, there are still over 16,000 alcohol-related deaths in this country. To make that statistic more impactful he said that was the equivalent of 40 jumbo jets crashing. He then posed the question the difference in response to the deaths happening if in 40 jumbo jets versus the same number of deaths due to alchohol.
He then ended his speech by saying he joined Toastmasters recently because he wanted to do something about the guilt he has carried for over 30 years due to his perceived part in his 4 friends deaths.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Evaluating the Information Speech
I got to practice for the upcoming Division B Evaluation Contest by going to the Speakers Bureau meeting in Garden Grove.
The speaker I evaluated gave a 20 minute information meeting. The theme for my evaluation was presenting the information in a way that made it personal. In other words, make each audience member realize they had a problem or someone close to him/her that had a problem and that the information to be presented offered a solution.
For this speech, the information was on an Eastern method to relieve stress. To engage the audience in the beginning, I suggested asking two questions of the audience:
#1 Are you stressed right now?
#2 Do you know someone who is stressed?
What the speaker did was invoke statistics from a Gallup Poll regarding California residents and one of the reasons for the stats was stress. I pointed out this was too abstract. It also ran the risk of a listener not believing he/she was a part of the statistics mentioned. In other words, hey you're not talking about me so why should I continue to listen to you?
To recap my methodology:
#1 Figure out it was an information speech
#2 What are the main obstacles preventing that information from being received by the audience.
The speaker I evaluated gave a 20 minute information meeting. The theme for my evaluation was presenting the information in a way that made it personal. In other words, make each audience member realize they had a problem or someone close to him/her that had a problem and that the information to be presented offered a solution.
For this speech, the information was on an Eastern method to relieve stress. To engage the audience in the beginning, I suggested asking two questions of the audience:
#1 Are you stressed right now?
#2 Do you know someone who is stressed?
What the speaker did was invoke statistics from a Gallup Poll regarding California residents and one of the reasons for the stats was stress. I pointed out this was too abstract. It also ran the risk of a listener not believing he/she was a part of the statistics mentioned. In other words, hey you're not talking about me so why should I continue to listen to you?
To recap my methodology:
#1 Figure out it was an information speech
#2 What are the main obstacles preventing that information from being received by the audience.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Inspiring Evaluations - Part 2 of 2
Part Two of Jeffrey Washington's Inspiring Evaluations Presentations
Contest Tips;
1. Familiarize yourself with Contest Manual. Look at a Judge's ballot.
2. Be unique - something to differentiate yourself from the other competitors
3. Sit at the front row - to be able to see everything the speaker does
4. Take short "trigger" notes - Don't miss anything the speaker is doing
5. Evaluation is a regular speech - Have an open, body and close
6. Anticipate things - i.e. smile, vocal variety
7. Remember your are being evaluated by the judges the minute you step on stage.
8. Have the spirit of supporting your fellow competitors
9. Keep your focus from you and on the speaker
10. Enjoy the experience
Evaluating the English as 2nd language speaker:
Encourage the speaker as much as possible. Jeffrey quote used in evaluating one such speaker, "I'm sure you English is much better than our Japanese."
Contest Tips;
1. Familiarize yourself with Contest Manual. Look at a Judge's ballot.
2. Be unique - something to differentiate yourself from the other competitors
3. Sit at the front row - to be able to see everything the speaker does
4. Take short "trigger" notes - Don't miss anything the speaker is doing
5. Evaluation is a regular speech - Have an open, body and close
6. Anticipate things - i.e. smile, vocal variety
7. Remember your are being evaluated by the judges the minute you step on stage.
8. Have the spirit of supporting your fellow competitors
9. Keep your focus from you and on the speaker
10. Enjoy the experience
Evaluating the English as 2nd language speaker:
Encourage the speaker as much as possible. Jeffrey quote used in evaluating one such speaker, "I'm sure you English is much better than our Japanese."
Giving Inspiring Evaluation - Part 1 of 2
Looking for any information that can give me a competitive edge, I saw Jeffrey Washington's presentation "Inspiring Evaluations". Jeffrey's presentation was in two parts.
The first part was on the different approaches in evaluting an Icebreaker versus an experienced speaker.
The second part was Evaluation Speech Contest tips. Jeffrey is a previous District F Evaluation Speech Contest Winner. Here is Part One...
#1 Goal of evaluator is to help speaker improve.
Two fears that can hinder an evaluator:
1. Don't want to hurt the speaker's feelings
2. Don't know if speaker takes feedback well.
Four Areas to be covered:
1. Icebreaker vs Veteran Speaker
2. Being specific and demonstrate feedback
3. Use humor
4. Evaluating the English as 2nd language speaker
Being prepared to evaluate:
1. Always bring your CC manual to the meeting
2. Call speaker beforehand to ask if speaker has any areas to be focused on for evaluation. By calling beforehand, motivates speaker to bring "A Game" to presentation.
Evaluating the Icebreaker:
Remember the speaker is doing a lot of negative self-talk. To address this give a praise heavy evalution. At the most, give one area to improve. Also acknowledge speaker's anxiety by pointing out courage to give 1st speech.
Evaluating the Experienced Speaker:
Can provide more constructive criticism even to the most experienced speaker, even to as accomplished a speaker as President Obama: http://www.toastmasters.org/FunctionalMenuCategories/Media/PressReleases/Evaluation-of-Inaugural-Speech.aspx
Also, ask the experienced speaker if any areas to focus evaluation on. As Jeffrey Washington says, "You may be a new Toastmaster, but you are not a new person."
The first part was on the different approaches in evaluting an Icebreaker versus an experienced speaker.
The second part was Evaluation Speech Contest tips. Jeffrey is a previous District F Evaluation Speech Contest Winner. Here is Part One...
#1 Goal of evaluator is to help speaker improve.
Two fears that can hinder an evaluator:
1. Don't want to hurt the speaker's feelings
2. Don't know if speaker takes feedback well.
Four Areas to be covered:
1. Icebreaker vs Veteran Speaker
2. Being specific and demonstrate feedback
3. Use humor
4. Evaluating the English as 2nd language speaker
Being prepared to evaluate:
1. Always bring your CC manual to the meeting
2. Call speaker beforehand to ask if speaker has any areas to be focused on for evaluation. By calling beforehand, motivates speaker to bring "A Game" to presentation.
Evaluating the Icebreaker:
Remember the speaker is doing a lot of negative self-talk. To address this give a praise heavy evalution. At the most, give one area to improve. Also acknowledge speaker's anxiety by pointing out courage to give 1st speech.
Evaluating the Experienced Speaker:
Can provide more constructive criticism even to the most experienced speaker, even to as accomplished a speaker as President Obama: http://www.toastmasters.org/FunctionalMenuCategories/Media/PressReleases/Evaluation-of-Inaugural-Speech.aspx
Also, ask the experienced speaker if any areas to focus evaluation on. As Jeffrey Washington says, "You may be a new Toastmaster, but you are not a new person."
Monday, September 28, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
TM Club Evaluation Speech Practice
To practice for the upcoming Division B contest, I arranged to be the evaluator for an Advanced Manual speech. It was from the Information Speech manual and this speech's goal was giving a demonstration.
The primary difference between a TM prepared speech and a contest speech is in a contest you have to figure out the type of speech is being given.
In an information speech, the message is more important than the messenger. The biggest problem with most information speeches is the tendency to mistake quantity over quality. In other words, valuing amount of information over clarity.
This speaker had a great prop and good visuals, which he used to great effect in the 1st half of his speech. Then he diluted the impact of his message in the 2nd half of his speech with too much abstract information. Abstract in that he did not relate the additional infomration back to the prop and visuals presented in the first half.
Since we had guests, I had to devote time to explaining that evaluating an advanced speech require that I offer more constructive criticism than normal. Therefore, I had less time than usual. Determining my strategy allowed me to priotize my comments, ensured that I communicated the most important points and that I stay within the time limit.
To help me with the upcoming Division B contest to held Octover 17th, my club then gave me a roundtable evaluation which was very helpful.
The primary difference between a TM prepared speech and a contest speech is in a contest you have to figure out the type of speech is being given.
In an information speech, the message is more important than the messenger. The biggest problem with most information speeches is the tendency to mistake quantity over quality. In other words, valuing amount of information over clarity.
This speaker had a great prop and good visuals, which he used to great effect in the 1st half of his speech. Then he diluted the impact of his message in the 2nd half of his speech with too much abstract information. Abstract in that he did not relate the additional infomration back to the prop and visuals presented in the first half.
Since we had guests, I had to devote time to explaining that evaluating an advanced speech require that I offer more constructive criticism than normal. Therefore, I had less time than usual. Determining my strategy allowed me to priotize my comments, ensured that I communicated the most important points and that I stay within the time limit.
To help me with the upcoming Division B contest to held Octover 17th, my club then gave me a roundtable evaluation which was very helpful.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Area B-1 Contest - Part Two of Two
The Area Contest
There were 6 total contestants besides myself. 3 women and 2 other men. I drew 3rd in speaking order.
The target speaker was an advanced speaker, whose speech title was "Passing the Generational Torch".
I was surprised by the quality of the speech because in the past target speeches are usually given by speakers who are still working ont their first speech manual. The reason is many of the contestants at this level are usually first-timers.
At first I had a moment of panic, as the usual standard points I include in an evaluation were no longer valid in light of the how good the target speech was. I calmed myself down by remembering the holistic guidelines I set for myself and set about organizing my presentation.
Being 3rd in order gave me the additional time to decide on how I was going to present. Following is the organization I came up with:
The presentation was of the speaker's family history, focusing on family members who lived during the Civil War. This made the history relevant and was enlivened by the speaker's sense of humor.
Because of the quality of the speaker and the speech I decided to use a theme of coaching a storyteller. What the strengths the speaker had as a storyteller, how he could make those stronger and what constructive criticism could I provide to make the story clearer.
I was surprised by how nervous I was as I began. Intellectually I knew I was rusty as it had been years since I last presented outside of my TM club, but it was still a shock emotionally.
Having my holistic guidelines and several keynote points to organize my evaluation allowed me to be spontaneius and fun. For example, I pointed out one of the speaker's strengths was coming across to the audience in an affable manner which would allow the forgiveness of a lot of sins. In the resulting audience laughter I then qualified my statement by saying the speaker didn't have that many sins to worry about.
I focused my constructive criticisms on the speaker's transitions from the opening to the body to the conclusion. I also pointed out the an item he was given by a relative which was the source of his searching his family background would have had more impact if he had actually brought the item in question to show the audience.
Another of my points was complimenting the speaker on his voice and urging him to think of it as an instrument and using its full range and use of pause to make the presentation come across as more varied.
The result was I won to advance to the Division contest in October.
There were 6 total contestants besides myself. 3 women and 2 other men. I drew 3rd in speaking order.
The target speaker was an advanced speaker, whose speech title was "Passing the Generational Torch".
I was surprised by the quality of the speech because in the past target speeches are usually given by speakers who are still working ont their first speech manual. The reason is many of the contestants at this level are usually first-timers.
At first I had a moment of panic, as the usual standard points I include in an evaluation were no longer valid in light of the how good the target speech was. I calmed myself down by remembering the holistic guidelines I set for myself and set about organizing my presentation.
Being 3rd in order gave me the additional time to decide on how I was going to present. Following is the organization I came up with:
The presentation was of the speaker's family history, focusing on family members who lived during the Civil War. This made the history relevant and was enlivened by the speaker's sense of humor.
Because of the quality of the speaker and the speech I decided to use a theme of coaching a storyteller. What the strengths the speaker had as a storyteller, how he could make those stronger and what constructive criticism could I provide to make the story clearer.
I was surprised by how nervous I was as I began. Intellectually I knew I was rusty as it had been years since I last presented outside of my TM club, but it was still a shock emotionally.
Having my holistic guidelines and several keynote points to organize my evaluation allowed me to be spontaneius and fun. For example, I pointed out one of the speaker's strengths was coming across to the audience in an affable manner which would allow the forgiveness of a lot of sins. In the resulting audience laughter I then qualified my statement by saying the speaker didn't have that many sins to worry about.
I focused my constructive criticisms on the speaker's transitions from the opening to the body to the conclusion. I also pointed out the an item he was given by a relative which was the source of his searching his family background would have had more impact if he had actually brought the item in question to show the audience.
Another of my points was complimenting the speaker on his voice and urging him to think of it as an instrument and using its full range and use of pause to make the presentation come across as more varied.
The result was I won to advance to the Division contest in October.
Area B-1 Contest - Part One of Two
Before the Area B-1 Contest.
I attended a meeting of the Founder's District Speakers Club at the Crystal Cathedral. Attending helped me prepare for the upcoming evaluation contest because the Speakers Bureau has speeches given by either Toastmasters who are professional speakers and those who wanted to turn professional.
Speakers bureau evaluations are a round-robin format as all the members have the chance to participate in the evaluation. This helped me to learn and hopefully pick up a few evaluation pointers.
The day before the contest I decided on how I was going to approach the contest. One idea I debated was having a checklist of things to look for. I decided against the checklist as I felt it would make my presentation too mechanical.
As an alternative strategy I decided on keeping several holistic goals in mind. These were:
1. Giving an inspirational evaluation meaning the type of evaluation that would insprie the target speaker to give their next presentation at a higher level.
2. Focus on the strengths of the speaker that helped convey his/her message.
3. Give constructive criticism on areas that took away from his/her message.
I attended a meeting of the Founder's District Speakers Club at the Crystal Cathedral. Attending helped me prepare for the upcoming evaluation contest because the Speakers Bureau has speeches given by either Toastmasters who are professional speakers and those who wanted to turn professional.
Speakers bureau evaluations are a round-robin format as all the members have the chance to participate in the evaluation. This helped me to learn and hopefully pick up a few evaluation pointers.
The day before the contest I decided on how I was going to approach the contest. One idea I debated was having a checklist of things to look for. I decided against the checklist as I felt it would make my presentation too mechanical.
As an alternative strategy I decided on keeping several holistic goals in mind. These were:
1. Giving an inspirational evaluation meaning the type of evaluation that would insprie the target speaker to give their next presentation at a higher level.
2. Focus on the strengths of the speaker that helped convey his/her message.
3. Give constructive criticism on areas that took away from his/her message.
Speech Evaluation Contest Setup and Rules
1. The contestants are informed of the rules and contestant order determined.
2. A 5-to-7 minute "target" speech is given to be evaluated by contestants.
3. A period of time is given for the contestants to complete their evaluations.
4. All the contestnats notes are gathered and the Sgt-of-Arms takes all of the contestants, except for the first contestant to evaluate, out of the room.
5. Each contestant is given 2-to-3 minutes to give their evaluation with a 30 second grace period, meaning an evaluation can last as long as 3:29 seconds without being disqualified for going over time. On the other hand, an evaluation must meet a minimum time requirement, which I believe, is 2 minutes. I'm not sure because as far as I know I can't recall any being disqualified of being short on time in all the years I've been competing.
6. A minute is given for the judges in the audience to make complete their notes.
7. The next contestant is brought in.
8 After the last contestant, the judges are given 2 minutes to wrap up.
9. The judges make their decision.
2. A 5-to-7 minute "target" speech is given to be evaluated by contestants.
3. A period of time is given for the contestants to complete their evaluations.
4. All the contestnats notes are gathered and the Sgt-of-Arms takes all of the contestants, except for the first contestant to evaluate, out of the room.
5. Each contestant is given 2-to-3 minutes to give their evaluation with a 30 second grace period, meaning an evaluation can last as long as 3:29 seconds without being disqualified for going over time. On the other hand, an evaluation must meet a minimum time requirement, which I believe, is 2 minutes. I'm not sure because as far as I know I can't recall any being disqualified of being short on time in all the years I've been competing.
6. A minute is given for the judges in the audience to make complete their notes.
7. The next contestant is brought in.
8 After the last contestant, the judges are given 2 minutes to wrap up.
9. The judges make their decision.
Pasadena Jaycees Toastmasters Club Contest
Since this happened before I started this blog, this will be taken from what I can remember. The club contest was held August 26th.
There was one other contestant, Robert "Bob" Helbing. Bob is one of the founders of the club and is one of the club's best evaluators. I knew this was going to be a tough competition.
The target speaker, a club member, gave an information speech regarding going to the movies.
Bob was first and then me on the order of speaking. Unfortunate, because I was out of the room I missed Bob's evaluation. Fortunately, this gave me additional time to mentally organize my presentation while waiting to be called back to the room.
When you only have 2-to-3 minutes you have to decide which are going to be your most important points. This additional time was critical to the contest's result.
A key for me was backing up each of my evaluation points with a specific example, either through from the targe speaker's presentation or giving an illustration. For example, when doing a contrast of two points. I suggested pointing to the left when making a point and then pointing to the right when making the counter point giving a non-verbal gesture.
Our club contest used all the attending club members as judges by having each person vote on who they felt did the best job. Before the result was announced a round-robin roundtable evaluation was held where each member could make a comment or pass to the next member.
For myself, the constructive criticism was focused on being careful on not sounding patronizing and adding more "atta boys" to my evaluation.
The result was I beat Bob, primarily because my evaluation appeared better organized. It was pointed out that we had two contrasting styles, Bob's was more content-oriented and mine was more context-oriented.
On to the Area Contest in September!
There was one other contestant, Robert "Bob" Helbing. Bob is one of the founders of the club and is one of the club's best evaluators. I knew this was going to be a tough competition.
The target speaker, a club member, gave an information speech regarding going to the movies.
Bob was first and then me on the order of speaking. Unfortunate, because I was out of the room I missed Bob's evaluation. Fortunately, this gave me additional time to mentally organize my presentation while waiting to be called back to the room.
When you only have 2-to-3 minutes you have to decide which are going to be your most important points. This additional time was critical to the contest's result.
A key for me was backing up each of my evaluation points with a specific example, either through from the targe speaker's presentation or giving an illustration. For example, when doing a contrast of two points. I suggested pointing to the left when making a point and then pointing to the right when making the counter point giving a non-verbal gesture.
Our club contest used all the attending club members as judges by having each person vote on who they felt did the best job. Before the result was announced a round-robin roundtable evaluation was held where each member could make a comment or pass to the next member.
For myself, the constructive criticism was focused on being careful on not sounding patronizing and adding more "atta boys" to my evaluation.
The result was I beat Bob, primarily because my evaluation appeared better organized. It was pointed out that we had two contrasting styles, Bob's was more content-oriented and mine was more context-oriented.
On to the Area Contest in September!
Introduction
This blog's purpose is to share my journey toward my hoped for goal of winning the Toastmasters Founders District Speech Evaluation Contest. The total blog may be shorter depending if I get to advance to the next level.
There will be 6 total posts on this blog as follows:
1. Introduction
2. Setup and Rules of Speech Evaluation Contest
3. Pasadena Jaycees Toastmasters Club Contest
4. Area B-1 Contest
5. Division B Contest
6. Founders District Contest
The District Contest is the highest level that you can go. Only the International Speech Contest goes higher.
There will be 6 total posts on this blog as follows:
1. Introduction
2. Setup and Rules of Speech Evaluation Contest
3. Pasadena Jaycees Toastmasters Club Contest
4. Area B-1 Contest
5. Division B Contest
6. Founders District Contest
The District Contest is the highest level that you can go. Only the International Speech Contest goes higher.
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