Speech Analysis #4: Evaluation Forms, Tools, and Resources

Previous articles in this Speech Analysis Series covered how to study and critique a speech, how to approach the task of evaluation, and how to use the modified sandwich technique.

This article provides a speech evaluation form and explains how it supports you in studying and evaluating speeches.

Speech Evaluation Form

First things first… download a copy of the free speech evaluation form.

I created this form for use in Toastmasters Evaluation Contests (a topic of a future article here), but I have since used it as a general purpose speech evaluation template.

Why this speech evaluation tool may work for you…

• It is simple — one single-sided page.
• Lots of white space, to facilitate taking notes.
• Flexible. The labels and boxes are not tied to any particular style of speech, e.g. speaking to inform
• Rows recognize the three broad areas to be analyzed: impact, content, and delivery. These are in order of importance from top to bottom.
• The critical nature of the Opening and Closing is recognized with dedicated rows on the form.
• Two columns emphasize the necessity to recognize both the strengths and weaknesses of a speech or speaker.
• Evaluation Opening and Evaluation Summation are for notes which lead to an oral evaluation (e.g. in Toastmasters). They can be ignored if you are analyzing the speech in a different context.

An alternate speech evaluation template…

At a speech evaluation workshop that I recently led, one speaker told me of the speech evaluation template that works for him.

It is wonderfully simple, consisting of just two rows (Content, Delivery) and three columns (I felt, I saw, I heard). “Content – I Saw” might include things like props or slideware, while “Delivery – I Saw” might cover gestures or facial expressions. This template allowed him to effectively analyze the speech his way.

I strongly encourage you to develop a template that works for you. Maybe the examples here are perfect. Maybe they need a tweak. Maybe you need something entirely different as an aid to capture your thoughts and observations. Whatever the case, an evaluation template can help you.

Critiquing a Speech: Advice from the Blogosphere and Beyond

There’s some great advice elsewhere in the public speaking blogosphere and elsewhere on speech evaluation:

• How to Give a Killer Evaluation: lifehack.org
• Speech Self Critique Guide: Navy Speakers Bureau
• Evaluation Resources from Toastmasters New Zealand
  Includes “step-by-step approach” to speech evaluation, 10 steps to becoming an evaluation champion.
• Evaluation Template – Wendy Betteridge (PDF)
• The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Evaluators: Dr. Dilip Abayasekera, former Toastmasters International President

Next in the Speech Analysis Series

The next article in the series is Toastmasters Evaluation Contests.