General Evaluator

PURPOSE:
The General Evaluator is responsible for the evaluation of the entire meeting. In practice, the General Evaluator evaluates every portion of the meeting. This begins with the opening of the meeting, through the business meeting, introduction of the Toastmaster of the Evening and every participating member, including the speaker evaluators. The exception would be the prepared speakers who have individual evaluators. However, if a speaker evaluator had overlooked an obvious opportunity to praise a speaker or to point out a means to improve their presentation, you will have the chance to make a few comments accordingly.

PRIOR TO THE MEETING:
Check with the Toastmaster of the Evening to see if there will be any planned deviations from the usual meeting format.

Using the last published agenda, familiarize yourself with the structure of the meeting. You should also be familiar with the Meeting Roles & Responsibilities which define each participants role as performed in the club. In particular, the General Evaluator works alone as an observer of the meeting.

Prepare a brief but thorough summary of your role as General Evaluator that explains your role in the program to visiting guests.

AS YOU ARRIVE AT THE MEETING:
Arrive a few minutes early as the meeting will start promptly at the planned time.

Sit near the back of the room to allow yourself full view of the meeting and its participants.

DURING THE MEETING:
Take notes on everything that happens (or fails to happen) at the meeting and pay particular attention to the overall management of the meeting as well as the performance of the individual participants.

Your report should comment on the quality of preparation, organization, delivery and general performance of each individual. Although the General Evaluator does not evaluate prepared speakers or topics speakers, feel free to add something that an individual evaluator may have missed. The General Evaluation should recognize and encourage examples of good performance but we also need fairly positive recommendations on the improvement of inadequate performance.

When called upon by the Toastmaster of the Evening, to give your report, you should precede this by a brief explanation of your role. Next, announce the speaker evaluators in the order they are to assume control of the lectern. Upon completion of the last evaluator, you will then proceed to the lectern and deliver your evaluation of the meeting.

When you have finished with your evaluation, return control of the meeting to the Toastmaster of the Evening by saying: "Toastmaster of the Evening", remaining at the lectern until she/he arrives; shaking hands and then return to your seat.

As General Evaluator, you should also set an example of good time keeping. The general evaluation should fall within the time frame of eight to ten minutes; the green light will be turned on at eight minutes, amber light at nine minutes, and the red light at ten minutes.

RESOURCES:
Chairman (Code 200)

SAMPLE GENERAL EVALUATOR'S CHECKLIST

MEETING PREPARATION:

• Were the guests/visitors greeted and looked after efficiently
• Was club information readily available
• Was the room properly equipped/lights, lectern, clock, voting slips, etc., all in place
• Were up-to-date programs available without excessive last-minute changes
• Were the individual functionaries "ready-to-go" when required
  

TIMING/FLOW:

• Did the meeting start on time
• Did any individual segments run over and why
• Did the meeting restart on time after the break
• Was the meeting fast-paced and under control/comment on any disruptions
• Did the audience know what was going on at all times
  

INDIVIDUAL FUNCTIONARIES: (Toastmaster of the Evening, President's Opening Address, Table Topics Master, Timer, Ah Counter, Evaluators, Language Evaluator)

• Was the individual well-prepared
• Was the individual's contribution well-delivered
• How well were the objectives of the function/segment achieved
• Comment on any creativity/new ideas
  

AUDIENCE REACTION:

• At the end of the day, the success of the meeting must be judged by audience reaction.
• Did the audience find the meeting interesting and informative
• Did the audience find the meeting entertaining
• What was the "mood" of the meeting
• Did the audience lose interest at any point
• Did any contribution offend members of the audience
• Were the audience "moved" by any contribution
• Were there any special moments which provoked a strong audience reaction
  

FINALLY:

• Give your overall impression of the meeting