18 - Peer Evaluation Tips
There will most likely be instances throughout your life and career when you will be asked to analyze and evaluate other people’s speeches. You may even have to evaluate your boss! Therefore it is very important you learn how to analyze and provide thorough evaluation techniques.
A good rule of thumb is to give the type of feedback you would like to receive.Do not be overly critical.
Use “I” language whenever possible. “It seemed to me that the transitions weren’t obvious.”
Try to avoid “you” language. “You didn’t have any transitions.”
Rather than “You were always looking down!” maybe say, “I noticed you didn’t look up very often.”
Be specific on your area of improvement. Generalized comments such as “that was good” (what was good?) rarely give us specific things to correct.
Be helpful. We know how good it feels when people offer us solid comments to help us grow as speakers.
Your Peer Evaluations
Your class is an excellent opportunity to begin the practice of creating direct helpful evaluations of your speaking peers. Your evaluations are to be completed in the Assignments tab of Student Sheet.
As you watch the speech and fill out the Peer Evaluation form, use the following questions as guides for your analysis and evaluation. True analyses and evaluations are not limited to only these questions—be thorough.
Did the speaker make the speech relevant to the audience (how did the speaker connect the topic of the speech to the audience’s interests)?
Was the speech well organized? Was the pattern of organization the speaker used for his/her speech evident? Was a preview included? What about transitions? Was the speech easy to follow? Explain.
How were the main points supported? Description, examples, statistics, personal stories and experience, etc.?
How was the speaker’s delivery (eye contact, gesturing, tone, rate, fluency, facial expression, stance, confidence, enthusiasm, and overall preparedness)?
If visual aids were used in the speech, were they integrated into the speech? Did they support the information being presented? Were they an “aid” and not the focus of the speech?
On the back of the Peer Evaluation form, please identify at least three strengths and three weaknesses you saw in the speech, and three specific ways the speaker can improve the next time he/she speaks.
