Follow these guidelines when evaluating the speeches of others:
Be honest and fair in your evaluation.
Adjust to the speaker’s style. Don’t judge the content of a speaker’s message by his or her style.
Be compassionate in your criticism. Always start by saying something positive, and focus on the speech, not the speaker.
Be selective in your criticism. Make specific rather than global statements. Rather than statements such as, “I just couldn’t get into your topic,” give the speaker something he or she can learn from: “I wanted more on why the housing market is falling. . . .”