Why Join Toastmasters?

"I'm an extrovert so public speaking shouldn't be a problem, right??"

This was the question I repeatedly asked myself prior to joining Toastmasters. I just couldn't understand why public speaking sometimes gave me heart palpitations. I am often told that I rarely meet a stranger yet place me in front of a group of people and watch my confidence go right out the window. At times I am focused and effectively make my point; other times my nerves take over and it's a struggle to collect my thoughts. Since my job requires me to both speak in group settings and to facilitate meetings, the ability to effectively communicate my thoughts is a must. I saw joining Toastmasters as a personal investment. And I am happy to report that the investment has shown dividends.

Toastmasters has provided me a supportive place to strengthen my public speaking skills and build confidence. The feedback provided in club meetings by my fellow Toastmasters is invaluable. By attending and participating in meetings, I continue to improve as a public speaker while having fun at it. Yes, I used public speaking and fun in the same sentence.

Guess what the most important lessons I have learned at Toastmasters are? First off, there isn't a magical public speaking gene some are born with. Most great speakers work at being great. Secondly, the fear of public speaking is VERY common. And last but not least, with practice your fear lessens. I am living proof of that. I encourage anyone struggling with public speaking to come visit a Toastmasters meeting and see what it's all about. Who knows, the great speaker in you may be waiting to be let out.

LOUDOUN TOASTMASTERS AREA AND DIVISION WINNERS              

 

AREA 53 CONTEST WINNERS (FALL 2015) LEE CROSBY (HUMOROUS SPEECH CONTEST) AND LISA HOLLIDAY (TABLE TOPICS CONTEST)

DIVISION  WINNER ( FALL 2015)     LISA HOLLIDAY (GOLD)

CONGRATULATIONS LEE AND LISA!

Loudoun Toastmasters Humorous Speech & Table Topics WINNERS (FALL 2015)
       

Lee Crosby (Humorous Speech Winner)	Lisa Holliday (Table Topics Winner)
Kevin O'Neil (Second Place)	Lesley Abashian (Second Place)

                         
                                      

What do I write speeches about?

One of my Toastmasters mentees recently asked me this question. This is the advice I gave her.

The simple (and probably non-helpful) answer is "anything." Don't make the mistake of trying to come up with speech topics out of whole cloth. I once read something that radically changed how I look at preparing for these speeches: you could do the same speech for all ten CC manual speeches, just tweaking it each time for whatever that assignment is emphasizing.

So, here's a list of ideas:

• Hobbies: what are you interested in that you think others might be? I have done four total manual speeches on different aspects of Star Trek (and discovered a few "closet Trekkies" in the process :-). I also did a speech combining public speaking skills and the Israeli martial art of Krav Maga, of which I am a practitioner.
• Interesting things you've read about: I did a model speech (also storytelling manual speech) on St Peter from the Bible, when he denied Jesus three times and Jesus later redeemed him. I also did a speech on how to learn a foreign language, which I used for two manual speeches (CC #8 and #9).
• Your job: what's cool, or interesting, or little-known, or encouraging, about your job or jobs you've had? I did a speech on APIs, which is a big part of my job.
• Messages you want to get out there: my CC#10 speech, which I also used as a contest speech and as several speeches from the Storytelling advanced manual, was on women's situational awareness for self-protection. It was actually not a very good contest speech, though I won a club level with it, but it was such an important message I wanted to get it out there.

See a theme? (1) Speaking on things I know about. (2) Using essentially the same speech multiple times, tweaking it each time. I used that basic Star Trek material for four different speeches.

Obviously, each speech was different, but I only had to do the research once. Don't reinvent the wheel every speech. That's actually real-life, by the way: absolutely no speaker out there actually writes new speeches each time. You re-use lots of previous material, customizing it for the occasion and audience.

New England School of Law 2015 Commencement Address

Last Friday, I had the honor and privilege to watch my daughter, Justine, graduate from the New England School of Law. The Honorable Ralph D. Gants, a Massachusetts Supreme Court Judge, presented the commencement address. As a Toastmaster, I have been trained to listen to speeches with a constructively critical ear. Judge Gants didn?t let me down.

He combined humor with a serious message to these 200 law graduates, inspiring them with a concise, purposeful delivery that opened and closed with a reference to the Star Wars movie franchise.

In the speech, he urged them to ignore the common ?nonsense? surrounding the law industry, giving brief but sound reasoning to his arguments:

1. That we have too many lawyers in our country
2. That we do not need lawyers, that all they do is slow us down and generate needless litigation
3. That only large law firm?s deal with the most challenging legal issues.
4. That all the innovation in our society is being driven by entrepreneurs, business people, and investment managers, and that lawyers are still doing law the same way they have for generations.
5. That law is no longer a vehicle for social change.

He opened and closed the speech, which lasted no longer than 10 minutes, with references to Jedi knights. A transcript of the speech can be read at nesl.edu

"May the force be with you!" (Kevin O?Neil, CC, Loudoun Toastmasters, May 28, 2015)

7 Things to do when you give a short speech

7 Things to do when you give a short speech

(source: Inc. Magazine article by Bill Murphy Jr., published May 14, 2014)

1. Decide to present 3 main points.
   An effective 5-7 minute speech allows you to present 3 messages-build your speech around only 3. And 3 is a good number-not too few or too many.
2. Prepare and practice.
   Try out your speech in front of others, time your speech, and rewrite it; “polishing” will improve your message.
3. Know when to quit.
   Once you’ve made you point, finish and sit down. And be sure to time your speech so that you stay within 5-7 minutes.
4. Plot out the course of your speech.
   Plan on a minute for the opening and closing and a minute for each point. The extra two minutes will allow you to run over as you move through your speech. You may want to tell the audience things like, “that was my first point, here is my second”, etc.
5. Give them something to look at while you’re talking.
   It gives them something to look at while you speak, something to visually remember to reinforce your message. It can be a prop, photograph, etc.
6. Share a part of yourself
   Connect your personal experience, feeling, emotion, belief, etc. with your message. And let them hear it in your voice, facial expressions and body language.
7. Make sure you are heard
   The best speeches are as much about making sure everyone can hear you and enunciating clearly as they are about preparing, organizing and practicing. Make sure where you are presenting allows everyone to hear, change your position in the audience or get audio equipment if necessary.