Created in 1956 to help men and women improve
their leadership and communication skills.
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Created in 1956 to help men and women improve their leadership and communication skills. |
In the
meantime, ask questions. Sometimes we get preoccupied with our meeting
duties and don’t always get a chance to talk with or fully explain
Toastmasters to our new members. This
doesn’t mean we aren’t interested or ready to help.
The club officers and other members are all eager to help
you. Call on them at any time and
don’t hesitate. Just ask at the next
meeting, call us on the telephone, or send an email.
You should
bring both the Competent Communicator Manual and Competent Leader
Manual to Each Meeting.
Because you will be regularly handing these
manuals over to your evaluators, we suggest that you write your name on
the cover of both manuals. (It’s easy to
accidentally swap with someone else!).
* Additional Handbooks
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"Ice Breaker"
Executive
Summary: Practice giving your speech to friends or family members (if you wish), and strive to make eye contact with some of your audience when giving your speech. Carefully read the entire project to yourself before preparing your talk. Objectives:
By now you may have heard speeches by club members and may have participated in activities such as Table Topics. This, therefore, is your opportunity to give your first prepared talk and “break the ice.” The best way to begin your speaking experience is to talk about a familiar subject, such as your life up to now. Of course, this subject is too broad for a short four-to-six-minute presentation. You must narrow it by selecting three or four interesting aspects of your life that will give your fellow club members insight and understanding of you as an individual. These might include your birthplace, education or family. You could explain how you came to be in your present occupation and tell the audience something about your ambitions. Or you could explain the effect an incident from your youth has had on your life. One speaker donned hats as she talked about her life. She wore a chauffeur’s hat as she talked about driving her children to their activities, a fireman’s hat as she discussed the emotional “fires” she encounters daily at her work, and a chef’s hat as she told of her love of cooking. Once you have the highlights of your talk in mind, weave them into a story, just as if you were telling it to friends around the dinner table. Share significant personal experiences. The more personal your talk, the warmer the relationship will be between you and the audience. Opening, Body and Closing. Like any good story, your talk needs a clear beginning and ending. Create an interesting opening sentence that captures the audience's attention. Memorize your opening and closing. During the body of the speech, you may use some notes if you wish.
A memorized
beginning and ending enable you to start and finish your talk with
confidence and ease. In any speech, it's best to select a few main
points (three or four at the most) and emphasize them by using
examples, stories or anecdotes. If you merely state a fact and then
continue, most of your audience will miss the point. You should make a
point, and then
state it once more in order to be clearly understood. This is a good
skill to learn. Choose your points and illustrations carefully. Too
much information (or too much detail) may overwhelm the
audience or put them to sleep. Remember, you're speaking, not reading. Many speakers begin by writing out an entire speech, then breaking it into parts, and finally writing just the key words on each page. Preparing Yourself. Now the talk is ready to give, but are you ready to present it? Practice the talk until you are comfortable with it. You won't need to memorize the body of the talk, since you already know all about the subject. As mentioned earlier, you should memorize the opening and closing (conclusion). Present the talk to a family member, a friend or your Toastmasters club mentor. Ask for comments. They may give you some helpful suggestions. If you have a tape recorder, record the talk and listen to it carefully, making any necessary improvements. Using a tape recorder or video tape recorder are two of the best ways to improving your speaking ability. Instead of thinking of this presentation as "making a speech;' think of it as a talk before a group of friends, sharing information of interest. Don't be afraid of the audience. They have already experienced the same feelings you're having. They want you to succeed and they're eager to help you! Presenting Your Talk. Once you've prepared and practiced your talk, relax. Nervousness is common to every speaker, no matter how experienced. In fact, you can put this nervous energy to work for you by using it to add excitement to your delivery. No one is going to notice a little quivering in your voice. Much of it will soon disappear as you become involved with what you're saying. While being introduced, take a deep breath and slowly exhale. This will help your voice sound resonant and natural. Begin by facing the Toastmaster and saying, "Mr. (or Madam) Toastmaster," then face the audience and say, "Ladies and gentlemen..." or "Fellow members and guests..." Pause, then begin with your memorized opening. While speaking, make "eye contact" with various members of the audience, first looking directly at one person for a few seconds, then looking at another, so people feel included in your talk. As you do this, glance periodically at the timer. If the red light comes on while you're talking, move smoothly to your conclusion and finish quickly. Observe time limits whenever you speak. Don't worry about what to do with your hands (during your 1st speech). Leave them at your sides if this makes you more comfortable. You'll have opportunities to practice "body language" later. NOTE FROM SOME EXPERTS about losing your place while giving a speech. Unless what you have missed is totally vital to your presentation, speech or story, just move on. In over 80% of the time, nobody will know that you lost your place except you! Finish with your memorized closing (conclusion). Some speakers say "thank you" at the very end to signal to the audience that they are finished, but this is not necessary. Instead, after you say your concluding words, nod at the Toastmaster of the meeting and say, "Mr. (or Madam) Toastmaster" and enjoy the applause. Your Evaluation. After you finish, you'll probably begin evaluating yourself even before you return to your seat. You might have left out some parts of your talk, as mentioned above. You may also think that these parts were some of the best parts. Every speaker thinks that. Just congratulate yourself on having delivered your first speech, then write down the things you did well and the things you want to improve to make your next speech even better. To supplement your self-evaluation, an experienced club member will help you by evaluating your efforts. Before the meeting begins, give your manual to this evaluator so he or she may make notes on the evaluation page of this project. This gives you a permanent record of your progress. If you want the evaluator to observe something in particular, be sure to inform the evaluator in advance. Ask other members for additional comments after the meeting (some may give you their own brief written comments during the meeting). These comments may or may not be useful to you, but you should consider them carefully. Remember, each evaluation is an opinion of how that person perceived you and your presentation. These opinions most likely (but not always) will be helpful to your self-development. |
Here is a very brief look at the other nine speeches. These projects will be thoroughly described in your Competent Communicator Manual:
The next
nine (9) speeches in the Competent Communicator Manual cover the
following basic areas:
They are: