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Ask for Feedback!

James B.
January 8th, 2006

Top secret info!

Giving and receiving open and honest feedback is a good thing.

The Green Light

Give the "green light" to progress -- ask for feedback!

You will be amazed at the positive suggestions and tips you will get.

Giving Feedback

Start with small and simple suggestions.

Later on you can slam them into the boards, take offer their helmet and deliver that knock-out suggestion.

But start off with something small unless you know they can handle it.

About James
When James isn't working on web projects for his company he enjoys building our club web site.

Toastmaster Tip: Ask for Feedback!

Relax! Nobody's perfect

The Cycle of Success
Evaluate Where am I now? Am I headed in the right direction? Plan Where do I want to go from here? What are my goals? What steps will take me there? Implement Just do it! Mistakes are opportunities to learn and improve.

My high school physics teacher was fond of saying:

"If you're perfect you can't improve any more.
The only time you can't improve any more is if you're dead!"

I'm not dead yet! So I guess that means I have some small, tiny, perhaps even miniscule room for improvement. :)

The Cycle

I like to think of improvement as a continuous cycle of small steps. It all starts with evaluating where you are now. Next you have to figure out where you want to end up. From here you have to break it down into smaller steps to help get you there. Now the fun part. You have to put in some elbow grease and make it happen.

Improvement can happen in leaps and bounds. Or it can happen slowly. Sometimes you may make "mistakes" or "fail" along the way. The only true way to fail is to not get back up when you fall down. Each time you fall and get back up that's one less time you have to fall before reaching your goals.

Where does Feedback Come into play?

So what's feedback got to do with all this?

What better way to help evaluate your communication skills than to ask a fellow toastmaster for their opinion?
Feedback from fellow members can help you focus on the areas that need most attention. Often you will get a tip that builds on your existing skills to help get you there.
Build and implement new skills with Table Topics and prepared speeches. At every stage you get a chance to experiment and get feedback from fellow members. It's like having a personal communication trainer at your weekly communication fitness center!

Cycle of Improvement: Evaluate, Plan, Implement

Imagine you are a hockey player

Want an example? Imagine you are a hockey player.

How fast can you skate? Do you have a fear of performing in front of an audience?

Evaluate: Get a second, third, fourth... opinion

Often we may be more critical of ourselves than others are. Sometimes we are blind to our own flaws.

Having a professional coach or trainer in your corner can be a big help. Your fellow members can help guide you to your goal.

The more feedback you get the better. As always, take each piece of feedback with a grain of salt. Don't be afraid to ask for another opinion. If many people are giving you similar suggestions to work on then it might be worth considering the advice.

Other members in the club may have faced (or be facing) the same challenges you are. How did they overcome their fear of public speaking? How did they improve their eye contact? If you ask you just might just learn a new trick or two that could work for you.

Plan: Coaches can help!

Coaches can help guide you. But it's your life, and guess what? You're still the star player on this particular team.

So what's your plan? Are you trying to get a gold medal? Have fun? Or just get a little exercise? Like you, your goals will be unique. Like sports, practice at public speaking can improve your game. Your goal will help point you to the steps and practice you'll need along the way.

If you feel like you've been slammed into the boards one-time-to-many times? Feel that you keep missing the net? Try something new. Ask a fellow member to take off the gloves and hit you with a suggestion or a new trick shot to try.

Implement: coaches don't leave during the game

In hockey when you start the game the coaches don't pack their bags and take a vacation. Take a quick look around the room the next time you're giving a speech or doing table topics.

Notice any familiar faces? Those are probably your fellow members and coaches. Don't be shy. Ask for feedback and suggestions every meeting! Yes, every meeting.

Repeat...repeat...

This cycle never ends. If you truly want to kick up your progress to a new level try to internalize this process. Eliminate any negative self talk about failure and mistakes.

Don't think in terms of failure. Think in terms of lessons learned. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!
Keep your goals in focus. This has a powerful effect. Your brain will automatically zone in on your goals and make getting there easier.
Change is continuous. Your job may change. You might move to another city. Your priorities may be flipped up side down by events beyond your control. Sometimes this means you have to change your goals to go along. Changing direction doesn't always mean failure.
And as always...relax. Give yourself a break.

-- James B.

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