Your goal as an evaluator is to provide an honest reaction to the speaker's presentation in a constructive, supportive manner. Your evaluation should not be overly critical, but it shouldn't be "sugar coated" either.

When you are the evaluator, it is recommended that you contact the speaker before the meeting in order to find out what manual speech will be presented. You will be better prepared if you read through the requirements of the speech ahead of time.

Your evaluation will be a two to three minute presentation. Listen carefully to the speech, keeping in mind the goals of the speech. Take notes, but be careful not to start writing the evaluation during the speech. You will have time to do this after the speech is completed.

Before doing your first evaluation, read the Toastmaster's manual entitled "Effective Speech Evaluation". This manual has many tips for evaluators both experienced and inexperienced, including:

1.   Respond to the speaker in terms of his/her effect on you.

2.   Use the speech objectives as a way of organizing your reactions.

3.   Emphasize that these are your reactions/opinions and not absolute truths.

4.   Do not assume all of the audience reacted the same way. This is your reaction.

5.   Do not judge. Avoid "do's" and "don'ts".

6.   Give honest feedback, positive or negative. It's your opinion.

7.   Emphasize the speaker's strengths.

8.   Include at least one specific suggestion to improve for the next speech.

9.   Do not retell the speech or argue with the content.

10. Finish your comments with positive remarks.

Also recognize that being an evaluator is as much a benefit to you as it should be to the speaker. You develop an ability to listen carefully. You also gain the experience of speaking in a thoughtful manner with very little preparation time.