A few weeks ago I had lunch with a friend I hadn’t seen in a long time. We went to a casual dining place and we both had salads. We had a wonderful time catching up, we laughed and shared memories and then we parted ways.
A few weeks later I saw my friend and she wasn’t as happy to see me as the first time. I asked her had I done something wrong and she proceeded to tell me that on the day we had lunch she had some spinach in her teeth from her salad and I didn’t tell her. She had gone on with her day and noticed she was getting funny looks and snickers but she blew it off as nothing. It wasn’t until she made it home and her husband told her she had something in her teeth that she realized why people were snickering. I reassured my friend that I had not noticed anything in her teeth but had I noticed I certainly would have told her.
This incident caused me to think about the power of feedback in the Toastmasters program. Feedback is one of the most important aspects of our Toastmasters program. Some would say it is the glue that holds the program together. Giving members constructive feedback on their speech and leadership projects helps them hone and sharpen their communication and leadership skills so they aren’t unwittingly walking around with “spinach in their teeth”. Good feedback will mitigate funny looks and snickers when they stand to speak. Receiving meaningful feedback is how we grow our skills.
I wouldn’t have let my friend go out into public with spinach in her teeth had I known. And we shouldn’t let our fellow Toastmaster members go out that way either. Let me say right here and now, “Please tell me if I have spinach in my teeth!”
If you are asked to be an evaluator in your club here are a few evaluation starters to give good feedback.
- Meet with your speaker before the club meeting and find out what they would like for you to evaluate them on.
- Get an advanced copy of the evaluation form so you know what the objectives of the project are.
- When in doubt as to what to say use the P.I.E. method of evaluating. (Give Praise, Give an area of Improvement, Give Encouragement)