A common form of Toastmasters speech evaluation is the “sandwich” form –
- Open with praise of things the speaker did well
- Add some suggestions for improvement – the “meat” of the sandwich
- Close with more praise for things you liked
Unfortunately, sandwich evaluations are not as effective as they could be – especially when they’re “top-heavy”.
A top-heavy sandwich evaluation is one in which the evaluator opens with fulsome praise – because he’s afraid the speaker will be upset by the criticism suggestions for improvement, and wants to soften the inevitable blow.
By the time the evaluator apologetically hems and haws his way through the (typically gentle) suggestions, he’s already shot his [praise] wad at the beginning of the evaluation, and has nothing new to add at the end (without repeating himself). And in a Toastmasters evaluation, the evaluator may be running out of time by the time the suggestions are delivered.
The top-heavy sandwich evaluation bears a strong resemblance to the front-loaded request. You know the one – when that co-worker from another department drops by your desk, all “Hey, buddy, how’s it going? How’s the family? How about that game last night, eh?” And on, and on, and on…and you’re waiting for the request, thinking “Geez, get ON with it already!” You know a request is coming – because the guy never talks to you otherwise.
What’s the better way?
Start with two facts (according to a book by Clifford Nass and Cynthia Yen) –
- People remember the end of a communication better than the beginning
- People remember criticism – er, “suggestions for improvement” – no matter where in a communication it appears
So when you’re evaluating a speech, save your best praise for last.
Don’t waste any of your “good stuff” at the beginning of your evaluation – the person you’re evaluating is probably waiting impatiently for your suggestions for improvement and thinking “Geez, get ON with it already!”
Open with some (a little) praise – don’t jump right into your criticisms of the speech. For one thing, the person you’re evaluating may be so used to the standard top-heavy sandwich evaluation that he will think your more effective approach is rude or overly critical.
Also, if you’re delivering an evaluation in a Toastmasters evaluation contests, some judges may have “sandwich evaluation” as part of their mental checklist when they judge a speech.
For judges like that, no sandwich means bad contest placing – so start with some praise.
But move it along – you want to give yourself as much time as possible for your suggestions before delivering your encouraging closing remarks.
To be most effective as an evaluator, use the (Mostly) Open-Faced Sandwich Evaluation:
- Open with some quick praise for the speech and its speaker
- Move into your criticisms and suggestions for improvement as soon as possible.
- Finish with most of your praise for the speech – and make it memorable, for the benefit of the speaker and anyone else in the audience.
Try a (Mostly) Open-Faced Sandwich Evaluation the next time you evaluate a speech!