Page 25 - July 2020

FOCUS ON FEEDBACK
Feedback vs Evaluation
“Give me feedback and keep your evaluation to
yourself!”
A club member recently told me (in
unToastmasters-like language) that they weren’t
interested in receiving an evaluation. Not just
my evaluation—anyone’s evaluation. However,
feedback was gratefully appreciated.
Whaaaaat? Aren’t they the same? Just another
word for the same process?
Nope!
According to the Preceptor eLearning Course
taught by Dalhousie Unversity, Halifax, Canada:
. . . evaluation is the process of judging or
putting a value on a procedure, the degree
to which knowledge has been gained, or
a skill.
Feedback is a method of providing
information about a student’s learning
or skill acquisition in order to plan future
learning goals and to ameliorate behaviour
and skills.
Well. . . okay already! Surely that is just one
University’s opinion. Uhhh—not so. Several other
web sources either copied Dalhousie’s definition
or they are all in agreement. (I suspect the latter.)
Where does that leave us as Toastmasters? Do
we evaluate or give feedback? I guess it depends
on what you are assessing (aha! another concept
worth exploring). If I’m providing my thoughts
on a club’s performance, based on the Successful
Phyllis Harmon, DTM
Club program, I guess I’d be giving an evaluation.
The Distinguished Club Program statistically
measures a club’s ability to meet Toastmasters
yearly goals. Speech Evaluation contests measure
the contestants and place a value on the skills
they display during their stage time by rewarding
trophies to the top performers (judgment and
valuation).
Feedback, on the other hand, is what happens
during a club meeting. We provide feedback
to help our peers become better speakers. The
Moments of Truth assessment encourages
members to provide feedback on elements of
club life as part of a club improvement process.
Hmmmm, I see what my club member was
trying to tell me. Now I need to think some more
on what type of feedback I’m giving. Does my
evaluation (errrr, feedback) help the speaker to
define goals or improve behavior? I’m not sure.
Over the next year, this space will be devoted
to exploring feedback and tips and techniques.
for helping speakers improve their craft.
Feedbackers Toastmasters is focused on doing
just that. Each month they meet to provide
speakers with four in-depth assessments based
on the speaker’s goals. It seems to be an effective
method for improving speechcraft and the art
of feedback. After all, they continue to be judged
and valued as District Champions at every
conference.
VOICES! | JULY 2020 25