Jerome wondered about the the difference between the 80:20 strategy we use to provide evaluative feedback to each other and the 90:20 principle discussed in The Speakers Handbook.
Good question. The primary difference has to do with the purpose.
The purpose of the 80:20 strategy simply a way to give feedback to a person who is trying to improve a skill. We want to be sure to provide a supportive and honest environment where people can practice their skills. They want to know how they can improve and what they did well. Students (and teachers, and parents, and co-workers) often have a tendency to "whitewash" the feedback because they don't want to say anything that might hurt the speaker's feelings or embarrass him or her.
ToastMasters International uses the 80:20 method to help speakers and evaluators acknowledge that EVERYONE has room to improve and that each of us ACTUALLY does improve with practice and knowledge.
An 80:20 evaluator really pays attention to the speech and the speaker ... and starts the evaluation with something that the speaker has done well and possibly bring up area they have improved. This is the "what worked" focus of much of the evaluation. But the evaluator does not leave it with that. They graciously and honestly inform the speaker how they can do better next time. What specific issues of speech structure and delivery he or she can really work on. Not really "what didn't work," but "what can be improved." And finally the evaluator ends with another positive observation and encouragement.
The idea is to "sandwich" the feedback so that the scary, and very necessary, part is not the primary emphasis of the evaluation .... so that it is preceeded and followed by encouragement. The whole thing should take between 90 seconds and 2 minutes.
The 90:10 Principle is a tool to teach interpersonal communication. It describes the idea that a persons "weaknesses" are not necessarily the opposite of their "strengths." Instead they are an excess of the same quality, habit, or behavior. It teaches the evaluator to "frame" comments in a constructive way that is not hurtful or embarrassing.
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1 comment:
So Basically a 90:10 is a good feed back for someone that doesn't want to give a not so personal response to someone's speech. I like the 80:20 cause it makes the person feel as if you did care about their speech. It takes a lot to compose a decent let alone a good speech, so feed back that says you care is the best feed back.
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