Towns of York Toastmasters

The General Evaluator as the name implies evaluates anything and everything that takes place throughout the meeting.   You are responsible for the evaluation team, which consists of the Evaluators, the Grammarian and the Timekeeper/Ballot Counter.  For obvious reasons this task is not usually assigned to a member until he or she is quite familiar with the club and its procedures.

Before the Meeting

1. Prepare a brief description of your role and benefits of evaluation for the benefit of the guests (30 seconds ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM - 10-15 seconds is ideal). 
2. Download a checklist from the website to help you prepare your report during the meeting.
3. Contact the Chairperson to find out if there are any planned deviations from the usual meeting format and plan accordingly if necessary.
4. Contact the Toastmaster to find out how many speaker are on the agenda and what projects they are presenting so that you can best assign evaluators.
5. Call all of the evaluators to brief them on their job and to tell them whom they’re evaluating and what evaluation format you will be using.  During the briefing, find out how comfortable they are evaluationg, and if appropriate emphasize that evaluation is a positive, helping act. As conscientious Toastmasters, their goal must be to help fellow Toastmasters develop their skills. Emphasize that evaluations should enhance or at least preserve the self-esteem of the speaker.  Suggest each evaluator call his or her speaker to talk over any special evaluation requirements.
6. In the event you are short of Evaluators make some calls and do your best to fill the empty roles.

On  Meeting Day / During the Meeting

1. Attempt to arrive early to give yourself time to settle in and notice how the "pre-meeting "is handled." How the room setup is handled and guests are greeted should be part of your evaluation. 
2. Greet all evaluators as they arrive at the meeting and ensure they have the speaker’s manual and understand their duties. If an evaluator is not present, you will have a chance to approach members as they arrive at the meeting and ask someone to fill in. If you need help, ask the Vice President Education or a long standing memeber for assistance.
3. When the meeting starts be ready to take notes and begin preparing your report as you obsevere the meeting.
   • Take notes on everything that happens (or doesn’t but should). For example: Is the Club’s property (trophies, banner, educational material, etc.) properly displayed? If not, why? Were there unnecessary distractions that could have been avoided? Did the meeting and each segment of it begin and end on time?
   • Cover each participant on the program. Look for good and unacceptable examples of preparation, organization, delivery, enthusiasm, observation, and general performance of duties. Remember, you are not to reevaluate the speakers, though you may wish to add something that the evaluator may have missed (only if there is a very pressing need).
   • Since there’s no evaluation of the Jokemaster other than whether or not people laugh or the joke falls flat, you may wish to comment briefly comment during the wrap-up if appropriate.
4. After the prepared speeches are finished you will be introduced by the Toastmaster who will shake hands and pass control of the meeting to you when you reach the lectern.
5. Give yourself a few seconds to settle in at the front of the room while the Toastmaster returns to his/her seat and then begin with a brief (10-15 second) explanation of your role.
6. Call the first evaluator and remain at the lecturn during the evaluation.  When control is returned to you should thank your Evaluator and then repeat the process until all the evaluations are complete.
7. After the completion of the evaluations, you should remind the audience to vote for best evaluator and prepare their ballots for collection.
8. While the ballots are being collected you should call the Grammarian to deliver his/her report. Remain at the lecturn during the report and wait quietly for contol of the meeting to be returned to you.
9. Thank the Grammarian and then call on the Timekeeper to provide the Timekeeper's report.  Again remain at the lecturn in silence until control is returned to you.
10. Thank the Timekeeper and wait for him/her to be seated before you begin your General Evaluator's report.

11. Wrap up by giving your general evaluation of the meeting, using the notes you took as suggested above. You may wish to comment on the quality of evaluations. Were they positive, upbeat, helpful? Did they point the way to improvement?  You will not have time to cover everything,pick what you perceive to be the most important points. 

12. At the conclusion of your report you should return control to the Chairperson. by making  a simple remark like "That concludes my report, and I now return control to the Chair" and then waiting by the lecturn and shake hands with the Chairperson before you return to your seat.

Tips and Other Important Points

• To ensure a successful meeting, contact the Toastmaster ahead of time to find out who the speakers are and what projects they will be working on so you can make the best possible Evaluator assignments. If you have a cancellation or are short of Evaluators,  make a few calls and attempt to obtain a replacement if the person hasn't aranged for their own replacement.  In the event of difficulty contact the VP  Education for assistance/guidance. 
• Arive early to give yourself time to get settled and arange for any last minute replacements.
• Keep your opening remarks brief (about 10-15 seconds) - you should NOT make a lengthy speech.
• The General Evaluator normally introduced by Toastmaster, and atthe conclusion of the evaluation segment of the meeting, you will return control to Chairperson.
• Evaluation should be is a positive experience designed to help people overcome weak habits and add power to good ones.  It is just as important to praise the postitive since what you focus on expands and will tend to crowd out the negative.  Keep your evaluation balanced and rememer to end on a positve note.
• Your report should take between 2 to 3 minutes and since you won't have time to cover everything you should concentate on the highlights.
• Relax, and have fun!

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Where did this come from?  Do we want to leave it?

The usual procedure is to have one evaluator for each major speaker, but this is not necessary. You are free to set up any procedure you wish, but each evaluation should be brief, yet complete. Methods for conducting the evaluation sessions are limitless. Review the Effective Speech Evaluation manual for ideas.