Recommended: Completion of eight speeches

The role of the General Evaluator is to evaluate everything that occurs in the meeting that has not already been evaluated. This report is the lifeblood of the club because it tells us what we are doing well and where the meetings can be improved. The General Evaluator’s report is 8 minutes.

When the Toastmaster gives you control of the meeting, ask the Timer for the times of the prepared speeches only, as the evaluators may want to comment on length. Thank the Timer, and ask each speech evaluator and the Table Topics evaluator for their evaluations, always stating which speech is being evaluated. Lead the applause at the beginning and end of each evaluation and thank the evaluator. Ask for the Grammarian’s, Um/Ah Counter’s and the remainder of the Timer’s reports. Lead the applause at the end of each duty and thank them. Ask people to vote for the best evaluator and provide the names of those eligible. This includes: Table Topics Evaluator, Speech Evaluators, Grammarian and, if used, the Um/Ah Counter. Begin your report with the more advanced roles, including evaluations of:

• The Toastmaster;
• The Table Topics Master;
• The Table Topics Evaluator; and
• Each Speech Evaluator.

Then continue with evaluations of:

• Room setup;
• Greeting of guests;
• Toast;
• Grammarian;
• Um/Ah Counter;
• Timer;
• Smile Story; and
• Chair.

Give a few words of appreciation to each of the duties. A comment or two suffices for those who were neither outstanding nor need improvement. Praise what worked well and give suggestions for improvement as needed. Be concise; you have a lot to get through.

As the club needs good evaluation to prosper, give the Evaluators special attention. Could they have been more sympathetic or supportive? Did they give specific suggestions on how to improve? If they didn’t, what would you have suggested? Remember, however, that you are not to evaluate the speakers.

End with a summary of how you felt about the meeting. Did you have fun? Was it lively, enthusiastic, a learning experience? Thank everyone for his or her participation and return control of the meeting to the Toastmaster.