WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE EVALUATION?

When I won the Division Z Evaluation Contest in 2008, I was elated, but when I was not even placed in the District 80 Evaluation Contest a few months later, I was deflated.  I had made two fatal mistakes: (1) I had packed too many points in my evaluation speech (and was probably one of the two contestants who went overtime) and (2) I had insulted the test speaker.  Nevertheless, it was an educational experience as I had learnt an invaluable lesson.

After observing the more proficient evaluators and evaluating many project speeches, I have come to realise that the key to effective evaluations lies in 3Ses: Structure, Sincerity and Sensitivity.

Structure

Some evaluators include a mishmash of points randomly put together, which makes the speech difficult to follow.  An effective evaluation speech must have a clear structure that is easy to follow. I use the basic structure: Introduction + 3 commendations + 3 recommendations + Conclusion.  The commendations and recommendations should be clearly delineated using numbers, acronyms or alliterative triads (i.e. a group of 3 words or phrases beginning with the same letters).

I must give credit to Wekie Tay, the Division Z Evaluation Champion in 2009 who impressed me immensely with his effective use of alliterative triads in his evaluation speech.  Thereafter, I tried using alliterative triads in my future evaluations and found that it worked like magic every time.

Sincerity

An effective evaluation should not be a plethora of platitudes or an exercise in whitewashing.  If you did not find the speech inspiring, do not say that it was inspiring. Be true to yourself.  If we glorify the speaker, we are doing him a great disservice.  An effective evaluation serves as a mirror image to help a speaker realise his strengths and areas for improvement.  

Sensitivity

Speak the truth in love - that's a good rule to follow.  While we want to be sincere and truthful in our comments, we also want to sensitive to the feelings of the speake and avoid being tactless.  During the District 80 Evaluation Contest in 2008, I actually told the test speaker, "Your conclusion is so forgettable that I can't even remember what you said." On hindsight, that might have been more positively re-phrased as "Ending your speech on a strong note will help you leave a deep impression on your audience."  Now I learn to use positive language to explain how the speaker could have improve on certain aspects of his/her speech.

In conclusion, an effective evaluation  has a clear structure, sincere comments and is sensitive to the speaker's feelings. The end result of which is that the speaker is motivated to improve his speaking skills.