Every other evaluator looks at one speech. The General Evaluator looks at the entire meeting. You lead the evaluation team, and you tell the club honestly how the night went. It's a role that can change the quality of a club over time. Here's how to do it well.
What the General Evaluator does
You run the evaluation portion of the meeting and lead the evaluation team: the speech evaluators, Ah-Counter, Grammarian, and Timer. You also observe everything else, including timeliness, preparation, organization, and how well each role was carried out.
Before the meeting
- Check that every speaker has an evaluator
- Contact your team and confirm that they know their job
- Have evaluators speak to their speakers ahead of time
- Prepare a checklist of what you want to watch
In Toastmanagers, the schedule shows your full team and who has confirmed. Evaluators are lined up with speakers by number, and the role reminders go out by themselves, so you don't need to chase five people separately.
Your checklist for the meeting
- Did the meeting start and end on time?
- Was the room ready, and were guests greeted?
- Did the Toastmaster make smooth transitions?
- Were speakers introduced properly?
- Were the Table Topics engaging and inclusive?
- Did evaluators offer specific, useful feedback?
- Did the helpers explain their roles?
A sample script
"Thank you, Toastmaster. Our evaluation team will now share what we saw tonight. Evaluators have been listening for what worked and what could work even better. First, please welcome Lena, who will evaluate our first speech."
Then introduce each evaluator, and call on the Timer, Ah-Counter, and Grammarian in the order your club uses.
Your meeting review
This is the part only you can give. Aim for about two minutes.
"We started two minutes late, and we made it up by the break, so thank you to the Toastmaster for keeping us moving. Our guests were greeted the moment they arrived, which is exactly right. One thing to try next time: two evaluators repeated the speech back to us before getting to their feedback. Let's go straight to what will help the speaker."
Evaluate the evaluators
Mention at least one thing each evaluator did well, and give the team one point to work on. People seldom get feedback on feedback, and it's how a club's standards improve.
Common mistakes
- Repeating what the evaluators just said
- Giving a list of small faults
- Skipping the evaluators entirely
- Running out of time because the meeting was already late
Have the data, not just your impressions
A meeting review carries more weight with facts behind it. Toastmanagers keeps them for you.
- Timing log: the Meeting timer records each segment, and you can review it when the meeting wraps up
- Grammarian report: word usage and observations are recorded in the Grammarian tool
- Meeting notes: officers can keep notes on each meeting, and they stay with the meeting in the archive
Next quarter, you can see what the club kept doing and what it fixed. A paper form can't give you that, because it's usually thrown out on the way to the car.
Have Every Report Ready at the End
The Timer's log and the Grammarian's report are both built into Toastmanagers.
Get Started FreeNo credit card required.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who should be General Evaluator?
A member who has already evaluated speeches and understands the agenda. It's a good next step after a few turns as Evaluator.
How long should the General Evaluator speak?
Your own review should be about two minutes, plus short introductions.
Should I name people when something went wrong?
Praise by name. Frame the improvements around the meeting, not the person.