Toastmasters 2017

Hey there! I'm here again after a week break. Nice to see you!

Our next task was to evaluate three performances at Toastmasters 2017 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: Kevin Stamper, Simon Bucknall and Manoj Vasudevan. 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 “Pull Less, Bend More” by Manoj Vasudevan.

№		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	16
	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	9
II	Speech Delivery	40	30
	Vocal presentation	20	15
	1) volume
	2) tempo
	3) pitch
	4) emphasis
	5) clear articulation
	Physical presentation	20	15
	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	85

The second performance that I’ve watched was “What James Bullock Taught Me” by Simon Bucknall.

№		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	9
	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	4
	Creativity (comment on art/uniqueness/individualized nature of the speech)	10	5
	TOTAL POINTS:	100	86

And the last performance that I needed to watch and analyze was “Speak Up” by Kevin Stamper.

№		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	14
	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	9
	TOTAL POINTS:	100	99

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

He started his performance very unusual. He interacted with the audience right away. He asked the audience to count to three with him. I liked his performance a lot, because it was very touching and sometimes I wanted to cry, because Kevin’s stories were amazing.

The organization of his speech was just perfect. The introduction was effective, it was very funny and smart; he interacted with the audience, as I said earlier, and made people laugh right away. His introduction was perfect also because there were a lot of things that made me think about my voice and how unique my voice was. Kevin’s message was understandable, clearly explained and well-structured. I would not add anything to his performance. I even smiled through tears when he was talking about his daughter and how she started to talk.

The support of his speech was great as well. He used a lot of stories from his life, about his daughter, about his nun, a therapist, etc. Everything was well-described and I felt like I knew all of these people. Kevin’s voice is very calm and beautiful I liked the performance not only because he is a great public speaker but also because of his voice. A unique one.

Cohesion. He managed to make perfect transitions from one part to another and he was able to unify all the facts and stories together. From a story about a nun to a story about his child. He carried his message till the very end and everything Kevin was saying was to the point of his presentation. He didn’t ‘fall out’ from the message and was talking to us that it is important to finally find our voices and speak up. To be honest, I thought that a perfect soundtrack for his performance is a song by our Russian singer Polina Gagarina – ‘Million Voices’. His performance reminded me of this song.

I loved his vocal presentation. Kevin’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. He also was whispering sometimes and it added some magic to his performance. I liked how calm and strong at the same time his voice was.

As for his Physical presentation he made eye contact with the audience, interacted with the audience, his face expressions were just perfect and I didn’t want him to end his presentation. I wanted to watch the video non-stop. He also used a lot of gestures especially when he was describing his daughter. And was dressed in a nice suit.

 He was speaking for about seven and a half 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 didn’t think that it was too long or too short, everything was on time. But I wanted to hear some more actually (and I mentioned it earlier). Kevin’s speech was creative and very unique (as his voice, too) so I liked this speech the most.

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