Evaluation Tips for the Classroom

Kubesch uses these Toastmasters-­based evaluation tips in her ­classroom:

• Connect with the student prior to their speech. That helps give them a feeling of support.
• Offer no more than what one student can take in. Keep suggestions to no more than three. 
• Indicate parts of a speech that need clarification and point to areas that work well. Students tend to redo all of their work not knowing if any portion of it is good. 
• Go easy on praise. Sharing only positive feedback is detrimental. Many educators fall into this trap in a misguided effort to increase their students’ self-­esteem, Kubesch says. This backfires as it quells a student’s ability to accept that their work is not perfect, and educators lose their constructive feedback skills. 
• Keep a student’s dignity intact. ­Address them by name while sharing what went well in their speech. Address the audience when mentioning what can be improved. Focus on the speech, not the speaker.