The present study focuses on the assessment of speech communication skills describing pedagogical assessment, the reliability and validity of performance assessment, and the various features of self-evaluation. The data was collected by interviewing teachers (N = 9), by conducting performance-based tests in upper secondary schools (N = 10), and by analyzing students' written essays (N = 219) on competent speech communication. Skills were assessed separately by the students themselves (N = 188), by teachers (N = 11), and by two groups of trained raters (N = 16 and N = 10). Analytic-criterion-based scales were used. According to the interview data, pedagogical assessment emphasized presentation skills, whereas group communication seemed to be rather an instructional method for education in literature on compulsory courses. The teachers highly appreciated positive and motivating assessment, but the students seldom get an opportunity to apply the information and guidance they got in order to perform in a more competent manner. ¨ The judgments of competence varied in some cases extremely. Several biasing tendencies were found. The biases in assessing skills seemed to be connected to the dissimilar valuations of content and delivery skills, and task-related and group-related skills. The students' self-assessments appeared to reflect perceptions of ease of interaction, overall activity, and satisfaction, rather than skills as such. The students emphasized the speaker's ability to speak in a distinct and sophisticated style. Competence in group communication was assessed using group-related rather than task-related concepts. The implications of the study for speech communication instruction and teacher training are discussed. Further studies are needed in order to develop more reliable and valid assessment instruments of presentation and group communication skills.