Page 24 - Voices-2022.05

FIELD NOTES
My Evaluation Signature
Megha Jindal, PM5
Do we have only one signature and are we happy with it? Megha Jindal, PM5, member of Feedbackers in
District 7 and Empower Toastmasters in District 97, shares the why, what and how of an evaluation signature
I hate my signature. It doesn’t have the swag
of Obama’s. Or the loopy loops of Marilyn
Monroe’s. I wish I could change it but it’s
everywhere—bank accounts, legal paperwork,
identity documents. I feel like a hostage to
my own ugly signature. Do you ever wonder
if it’s too late to create a new one?
When we do something well consistently,
in a way that’s unique to us, does it not become
our signature? At Feedbackers Toastmasters,
we like to do our evaluations exceptionally
well, in a distinctive way. Our evaluations
come to bear our unique signature. I would
like to share with you the value of having
an evaluation signature, some specimens I
admire, and how to design your own.
Why bother having an evaluation signature?
An evaluation speech is short, just 2-3
mins. A signature can give us a roadmap to
craft a good evaluation. We can focus on what
we are going to say instead of how we are going
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to say it. The signature takes care of the how.
Also, we know that an evaluation is a
speech, just like a prepared speech and Table
Topics. When it bears our authentic stamp, it
stands a much higher chance to engage and
stick.
After the April meeting of Feedbackers, I
requested feedback from our member Sheila.
I received a two page word document. Now
let me remind you, this was an evaluation
of an evaluation. Besides being packed with
solid gold, it bore the un-mistakable stamp
of Sheila. If she was delivering it in person,
it would be no different. Her feedback stuck
in my head – I still remember it. That is the
power of an evaluation signature.
What does it look like?
We all know of the sandwich technique in
evaluation - the most basic and foundational
signature. Some things to be improved
sandwiched between thick layers of all things