Toastmasters 2016

Hi, my readers! How's it going? Have a good day!

Our next task was to evaluate three performances at Toastmasters 2016 with the help of a chart from the student’s book. We were meant to listen to their performance and then select our own winner.

So three contestants that we need to evaluate are: Josephine Lee, Aaron Beverly and Darren Tay. I must say that I absolutely loved all the performances. These people are awesome public speakers, I loved watching these videos so much because it was a unique opportunity to learn something from them right on the spot.

So first performance that I watched was “Outsmart, Outlast” by Darren Tay.

№		Max points	Given points
I	Speech Content	45	39
	Organization (comment on effectiveness of introduction; clarity of body, including both major divisions and support points; and efficacy of conclusion)	20	16
	Support (comment on speaker's use of facts, stories, illustrations, examples and/or logic to expand, explain, defend, inform the audience)	15	14
	Cohesion (comment on the speaker's ability to unify the speech and keep clear focus through use of transitions, summaries, and other unifying elements)	10	9
II	Speech Delivery	40	35
	Vocal presentation	20	15
	1) volume
	2) tempo
	3) pitch
	4) emphasis
	5) clear articulation
	Physical presentation	20	20
	1) eye contact
	2) gesturing
	3) posture
	4) facial expression
	5) movement
	6) dress
III	General Effectiveness	15	15
	Amount of time used (8 mins)
	Adherence to time requirements (comment on whether or not the speaker made good use of time, including whether the speech was too short or too long)	5	5
	Creativity (comment on art/uniqueness/individualized nature of the speech)	10	10
	TOTAL POINTS:	100	89

The second performance that I’ve watched was “I will be there” by Josephine Lee.

№		Max points	Given points
I	Speech Content	45	40
	Organization (comment on effectiveness of introduction; clarity of body, including both major divisions and support points; and efficacy of conclusion)	20	20
	Support (comment on speaker's use of facts, stories, illustrations, examples and/or logic to expand, explain, defend, inform the audience)	15	15
	Cohesion (comment on the speaker's ability to unify the speech and keep clear focus through use of transitions, summaries, and other unifying elements)	10	5
II	Speech Delivery	40	37
	Vocal presentation	20	17
	1) volume
	2) tempo
	3) pitch
	4) emphasis
	5) clear articulation
	Physical presentation	20	20
	1) eye contact
	2) gesturing
	3) posture
	4) facial expression
	5) movement
	6) dress
III	General Effectiveness	15	15
	Amount of time used (8 mins)
	Adherence to time requirements (comment on whether or not the speaker made good use of time, including whether the speech was too short or too long)	5	5
	Creativity (comment on art/uniqueness/individualized nature of the speech)	10	10
	TOTAL POINTS:	100	92

And the last performance that I needed to watch and analyze was “Leave a lasting memory using as few words as possible and strive with every fiver of your being to avoid being the type of person who rambles on and on with no end in sign more likely than not causing most listeners to sit and think to themselves oh my goodness can somebody please make this stop” by Aaron Beverly.

№		Max points	Given points
I	Speech Content	45	45
	Organization (comment on effectiveness of introduction; clarity of body, including both major divisions and support points; and efficacy of conclusion)	20	20
	Support (comment on speaker's use of facts, stories, illustrations, examples and/or logic to expand, explain, defend, inform the audience)	15	15
	Cohesion (comment on the speaker's ability to unify the speech and keep clear focus through use of transitions, summaries, and other unifying elements)	10	10
II	Speech Delivery	40	40
	Vocal presentation	20	20
	1) volume
	2) tempo
	3) pitch
	4) emphasis
	5) clear articulation
	Physical presentation	20	20
	1) eye contact
	2) gesturing
	3) posture
	4) facial expression
	5) movement
	6) dress
III	General Effectiveness	15	10
	Amount of time used (8 mins)
	Adherence to time requirements (comment on whether or not the speaker made good use of time, including whether the speech was too short or too long)	5	5
	Creativity (comment on art/uniqueness/individualized nature of the speech)	10	5
	TOTAL POINTS:	100	95

And I want to analyze his performance in details, because I liked this performance the most.

He started with a joke. Because the title of his speech is way too long and he understood that the audience was going to laugh when the host will be reading it. But the message behind this title is that just because you said more it doesn't mean people will remember what you said. Aaron was smiling a lot, made some jokes and switched the emotions of the audience perfectly. At one moment I wanted to laugh and at another I wanted to burst into tears.

The organization of his speech was incredible. The introduction was effective, it was very funny and smart and Aaron asked the audience a lot of questions. His introduction was perfect and after his introduction I wanted to listen to him to understand what he wanted to tell and why he had chosen this topic. His message was understandable, clearly explained and well-structured. He even made me cry with his story about the girl who said that the happiest day of her life was the day when her mother told her she was proud of her.

The support of his speech was huge. He used a lot of stories from his life, about a girl, about his co-worker Austin and that bus-lady. Everything was well-described and I felt like I know all of these people. And that I had seen them somewhere. I must also admit that Aaron’s voice is beautiful and I enjoyed it very much.

Cohesion. He managed to make perfect transitions from one part to another and he was able to unify all the facts and stories together. He carried his message till the very end and everything Aaron was saying was to the point of his presentation.

I loved his vocal presentation. Aaron’s voice is beautiful and it was a pleasure to listen to him. He had clear articulation, perfect volume and I liked the way he pronounced the words. He made a lot of jokes and was playing with the pitch of his voice and I liked that, too.

As for his Physical presentation he made eye contact with the audience, his face expressions were just perfect because sometimes I thought that we was talking to the audience through his face. He also used a lot of gestures. And was dressed in a nice suit.

 He was speaking for about eight minutes and I did not think it was too long, because he delivered the message to everyone and I think that he touched everyone’s heart with this performance. I wanted to hear some more actually. Aaron’s speech was creative and very unique so I liked this speech the most.

My leaderboard looks this way: 1. Aaron Beverly, 2. Josephine Lee, 3. Darren Tay

What do you think of these performances? Did you enjoyed them? Whom did you like the most? Tell me in the comment section.

By CAMOMILE