Beaverton Oregon, Toastmasters

Table Topic Evaluation

Table Topic Evaluation

 

Table Topic Evaluations are not done by every club.  In a 1 hour meeting it is difficult to incorporate every role.  Quite often this role is sacrificed in favor of having an extra speaker.  Conversely, some people believe that every speaking role should be evaluated in some form or another.

At Timber Talkers, we do have a Table Topic Evaluator.

The Goal 

The goal of the Table Topic evaluator is to highlight effective techniques used,  and suggest improvements or other areas to explore for each Table Topic participant.

What not to do 

Many times Table Topics Evaluators fall into recounting each of the table topics.  This does not help the participants and should be avoided.  If this happens, the General Evaluator can mention it in their evaluation.  Alternatively, someone can mention it to the Table Topic Evaluator after the meeting.

What to do

If you are not to recount the table topics, what are you supposed to do?

The Table Topic Evaluator can be effective by looking at the areas covered by regular speeches.  For example, did the table topic participant:

  • Make effective use of gestures?
  • Use vocal variety to add interest to their speech?
  • Organize their speech effectively with an opening, body and conclusion 

This is not all though.  The Table Topic Evaluator can also look for the following things:

  • How well did the participant answer the topic?
  • How creative was the participant in answering their topic?
  • Did the participant incorporate other parts of the meeting into their topic?  (theme, speeches, etc) 

The most important area a Table Topic evaluator can address is offering alternatives for next time.  The evaluator has the luxury of time to come up with some creative ways to answer the topic.  Use this time to give the participant ideas on how they can really make a great response next time.

Remember, Table Topics do not have to reflect real life.  Encourage this in your club.

Summary

The role of the Table Topic Evaluator is to help the table topic participants improve their extemporaneous speaking skills.  When evaluating, ask yourself if your feedback will help the speaker improve.

 
Last Updated ( Friday, 29 February 2008 )
 
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