By CJ Powers
One of my favorite evaluation techniques came from a man who was consistently present mentally and emotionally. He understood how to encourage, and also how to cut someone down—thankfully he didn’t. He also warned us about how some people evaluate based on what they think instead of what they’ve observed.
Over time, I watched his principles in practice at each meeting. While his speeches made me question his abilities, his leadership skills were off the chart—crazy good. He was excellent at encouraging and gently pushing people toward their personal goals. One of the women he mentored went from speaking too softly to be heard and understood, to boldly taking on the competition at contests.
I reduced his Sandwich Evaluation ideas to writing so we could all take advantage of his excellent leadership skills to advance our personal goals. Here are the five steps of the sandwich evaluation technique.
TOP BUN—Techniques Excelled At
When we picture a large burger with all of the fixings, we see it capped off with a perfectly baked bun (with or without sesame seeds). The top bun represents the positive aspects of the person’s speech, how well they used techniques, and the positive impact their speech made.
While it is tempting to start off with their obvious mistakes or areas of improvement, the only way a person will hear constructive criticism is to first understand the observed positives. Some of the more common positives worth voicing include:
- Clarity—Spoken language is clear and easily understood
- Vocal Variety—Use of tone (inflection, intonation, pitch), speed, and volume
- Eye Contact—Use of eye contact to engage the audience
- Physicality—Use of body language, physical gestures, and use of stage
- Audience Awareness—Ability to adjust to audience reactions and needs
- Comfort Level—Comes across comfortable in front of the group
- Relevant—Topic is interesting, well-constructed, and easy to follow
CONDIMENTS—Observe, Don’t Coach
The job of an evaluator isn’t to tell people how to change, based on our way of thinking or doing things, but to share what we observed during their speech. Coaches have the opportunity to know their players to a greater depth than the opportunity given to evaluators. We don’t know the person or their motivation. We only know what we’ve experienced in watching their speech.
Therefore, it is imperative that we only share what we witnessed and how it impacted or didn’t impact us. Sharing anything beyond what we’ve observed is of little use to the speaker and might even confuse and discourage them.
LETTUCE—No Reiteration
Have you ever seen an evaluation given where the person doesn’t share the execution of the speaker’s techniques, but rather shares an outline of what the speaker said? Boring. Or, should I just say this doesn’t help anyone. If you want to wilt the audience, then spew out your regurgitated outline of the talk.
Instead, focus on what you observed and share only items that will help the speaker grow in their abilities.
MEAT—One Key Area of Improvement
The meat is the hardest part of an evaluation. Narrow down the speaker’s problem areas to the single most important issue for them to work on. All too often we want to list all of their issues, but it could too easily devastate them. After all, they likely are already self-conscious about their beginning skills having witnessed the club’s best speakers.
Regardless of the speaker’s list of needed fixes, individuals are not capable of working on more than one item at a time. Therefore, its best to pick the one issue that will give the speaker the greatest growth in the shortest amount of time. It is also essential to share it as an area that they “might want to consider working on,” as it will advance their abilities and improve the presentation of their important messages.
BOTTOM BUN—Summarize Positives
Remind the audience about the impact and effectiveness of the speech. Paraphrase your own words about all the positive things the speaker accomplished. Share elements presented that reveal the speaker’s humanity and value. Reference the positive quality of their character that was revealed through the speech.
This is the moment when you are able to affirm the person as a valuable member of the club. It is also the time when you can share how much you are looking forward to their next talk based on one specific thing they did really well that will move them toward being a great speaker. The more a speaker focuses on what they do best, the easier it is to fix the few outlying problems.
This sandwich evaluation format is still the most powerful method I’ve seen that consistently grows speakers into confident people with opinions worth sharing. I hope you spend time practicing this method so you can give evaluations that make a difference in a speaker’s future.
©2020 by CJ Powers