Chris Murphy
Evaluation Speech 2020 Contest Winner
When I joined Toastmasters in June 2017, I just wanted to give speech after speech. However, one thing that struck me was your improvement is only as good as the feedback you receive. Feedback and specifically speech evaluations are a key but in my opinion an underrated part of the Toastmasters journey. The skill of delivering feedback in a way that helps the person develop both in terms of what they do well and what they can improve on is invaluable, no, it is vital.
I realised that giving effective evaluations was a skill, a skill you can hone. So, I worked on this. I evaluated every speech at our club. I read about evaluations. I went on workshops with notable figures in this world such as Freddie Daniells. Gradually I improved, I saw what I hadn’t seen before, the depth of my evaluations improved and as that grew so my passion and enthusiasm did too. It wasn’t an overnight transformation but steadily speech by speech my language changed, my evaluations changed and people’s reactions to my evaluations, yes they changed too, People wanted my input and so my foundations grew even stronger.
The power of listening
The success of active listening in Toastmasters clubs is based on a process of evaluations. We give feedback to each other on our speeches. We evaluate the roles we take in meetings. Every year we hold a speech evaluation contest, which allows members both to demonstrate their skills and allows them to keep learning and improving. Contestants observe a five-to seven-minute test speech and then present a two-to three-minute evaluation of the test speech. There are four levels to the contest, Club, Area, Division, and District, winners will progress through each level which ends at District level, where all the Division finalists will complete in the District Conference. Our Evaluation Contest winners come from across the District and are listed below.
Year | Contest winner | Club | Division |
D91 | |||
2019-2020 | Chris Murphy | Tunbridge Wells Speakers | H |
2018-2019 | James Cross | Kings Cross Speakers | C |
2017-2018 | Chinkata Okpara | Excalibur Speakers | L |
2016-2017 | Tazud Miah | Early Bird Speakers | C |
2015-2016 | Ga Lok Chung | City of London, Kings Cross | K |
2014-2015 | Alex de Jong | Northavon Speakers | A |
Year | Contest winner | Club |
D71 | ||
2014 | Simon Bucknall | London Cardinals |
2013 | John Webber | Solent Speakers |
2012 | Lynn Cantor | Excalibur Speakers |
2011 | Chris Boden | Maidenhead Speakers |
2010 | Jane Cameron | Southside Speakers |
2009 | Simon Bucknall | Excalibur Speakers |
2008 | Hilary Briggs | Grosvenor Square Speakers |
2007 | Kate Atkin | Anglia Communicators |
2006 | John Evans | Thamesdown Speakers |
2005 | Bob Ferguson | Excalibur Speakers |
2004 | Chris Cox | Cambridge Speakers |
2003 | Janet Rose | Maidenhead Speakers |
2001 | Ian Rees | Maidenhead Speakers |