SPEECH TIPS

 

·        When you take your place at the lectern, stand in a COMFORTABLE way with good but comfortable posture and LOOK AT YOUR AUDIENCE.  Take note of where the TIMER is.  Do this while addressing the Toastmaster, your fellow Toastmasters and the Club’s guests for the evening.

·        BREATHE naturally when speaking and begin your speech.

·        Use PAUSES to help you emphasize something in your speech and to help set up your audience for a sentence with impact in your speech.

·        Use BODY LANGUAGE, GESTURES AND FACIAL EXPRESSIONS to help add impact to your speech.

·        Use VOCAL VARIETY to add interest and to help you emphasize portions of your speech.  A whisper can be very effective; so can a shout or suddenly loud voice or a sound.  So can laughter or other emotional expressions.  BREATHING will help you project your voice and make it more powerful, so you can have greater vocal variety. 

·        Create “WORD PICTURES” OR IMAGES in your speech, to help create a picture of what you are talking about for your audience. 

·        Use any NATURAL TALENTS AND ASSETS you already have to help you inject yourself into your speech. 

·        SMILE AT YOUR AUDIENCE!  But don’t forget that FACIAL EXPRESSIONS MATCHING YOUR SPEECH also add impact. 

·        PRACTICE YOUR SPEECH WITH A TAPE RECORDER.

·        When writing your speech, start with the manual requirements and your idea for the speech.  Then start developing your speech.  Writing a speech out in longhand, such as you would do for an essay is not encouraged, as you likely won’t remember the best sentence you ever wrote and you may tend to depend on your speech as a crutch, when you need to concentrate on delivering the speech TO YOUR AUDIENCE, AND NOT ON YOUR NOTES.  Put an outline together with BULLETS for you to refer to, when practicing the speech.  You need an attention-grabbing OPENING, a BODY that is detailed enough to get your points across with impact and feeling, and a CONCLUSION that is memorable.  All sentences should FLOW smoothly from one to the next, without sudden jolts or sudden unexplained changes in your speech.  The audience should be able to follow you with your story as though they were living it with you and understanding it all the while.  The most successful speech-writers and speakers follow THIS TIME-PROVEN FORMULA:  1) tell them what you’re going to tell them; 2) tell them; and 3) tell them what you’ve told them.  So a “ROADMAP” of your speech, akin to the speech outline, is a good way to GUIDE YOUR AUDIENCE through your speech and keep their interest as your speech develops.  It tells them what you are going to speak about, letting you come across as a well-organized speaker who is prepared.  Remember – you are taking your audience on a journey and you want them there with you, every step of the way.  Help them come along for the ride.

·        PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!!!  That old cliché exits for a reason:  “PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT.”  There is no substitute for practicing your speech and the more you practice it, the better you’ll be able to deliver it.  Practice with a family member, a significant-other, a friend, a colleague – someone you trust to be honest with you but who will also be fair and supportive in their appraisal of your speech. 

·        Remember that once you are “up there” at the lectern, ONLY YOU KNOW THE SPEECH YOU WANT TO DELIVER; none of the audience knows what you plan to say.  So should you miss a word, a sentence, or change something in your speech, nobody will ever know, except you, so don’t worry about getting every single sentence as you originally intended it to be while practicing.  You may speak an even better word or sentence while “up there,” since that is where the “MAGIC” OF SPEECH happens and is where you grow into a good and better speaker over time.  You want to deliver your speech such that you convey the spirit of your planned speech, rather than every single word as originally planned – which seldom happens, if ever.  Get comfortable with the story-telling and the gist of your speech.  That is when the speech will flow smoothly and is when YOU will enjoy the speech.

·        RELAX!!!  We have all either been in your very same shoes or will be soon, so ENJOY THE SPEECH AND THE OPPORTUNITY TO GROW AS A SPEAKER.  Every time you go “up there” is another chance for growth and learning and development as a speaker.  Take it with pride and the expectation that YOU WILL LEARN from this speech and every other you deliver. 

·        Take the time to SPEAK WITH YOUR SPEECH EVALUATOR AND ASK HER/HIM TO HELP YOU by watching/listening for specific issues you want to work on.  We all have issues we want to work on all the time.  The evaluation is to help you learn and grow as a speaker.  Work with your Speech Evaluator to help you work on any issues you want to deal with.   Their helpful feedback should fit into your next speech, to help you further fine-tune your future speeches.

·        TIMING YOUR SPEECH is something you can work on while you are putting your speech together.  If you have 3 bullets to cover in the speech body, and have an attention-grabbing opening and a great conclusion, you can try to ALLOT ABOUT 1 MINUTE TO EACH OF THESE SPEECH COMPONENTS, which, when put together in a finished speech, should help you reach the 4.5-7.5min average speech time easily.  Periodically glancing at the Timer is a good idea, so you know how you are doing with your speech timing.  You want to AVOID THE RED LIGHT, WHICH MEANS YOU ARE AT THE END OF YOUR SPEAKING TIME ALLOTMENT.  When we go overtime, we use another’s time and that’s not fair to them.  We also throw the meeting’s schedule off and that’s not fair to the whole audience.  Your time allotment gives you a range, regardless of speech project, so MAKE SURE YOU ARE WITHIN THE TIMING ALLOTMENT FOR YOUR SPEECH.

·        ALWAYS ADDRESS THE MEETING’S TOASTMASTER, YOUR FELLOW TOASTMASTERS AND GUESTS PRESENT WHEN YOU OPEN, AND THE TOASTMASTER WHEN YOU CLOSE.  This will also help you come across as professional, poised and in control of the situation.

·        SPEAK AS OFTEN AS YOU CAN TO PRACTICE.  Each speaking opportunity is a chance for you to learn and grow and develop more as a speaker.  We can never have too many opportunities for growth and development. 

·        IMPROMPTU SPEECH AND PREPARED SPEECH, AS WELL AS COMPETITIVE SPEECH – DEBATE – ARE ALL SPEECH OPPORTUNITIES YOU CAN USE TO HELP YOU GROW AS A SPEAKER.  Speaking may be compared to muscle use; the more you do it, the better and stronger you get at it and the less nervous you will be. 

·        BE CONFIDENT IN YOUR ABILITIES; WE’RE CONFIDENT ABOUT YOU!!!

 

COMMUNICATION RESOURCES

·        Communication & Leadership Manual ~ 10 speech projects with helpful information on speeches & their components ~ after successful completion of all projects, you earn the CTM (Competent Toastmaster) designation

·        Advanced Communication & Leadership Manuals ~ aka “Advanced Toastmaster Manuals” ~ 15 to choose from with a wide variety of speech projects & helpful information on speech ~ after successful completion of 6 of the 15 manuals, you earn the ATM-B, -S & -G (Advanced Toastmaster-Bronze, -Silver & -Gold) awards

·        Toastmasters International materials on-line:  www.toastmasters.org ~ some are free & others are low cost

·        Toastmasters New Members’ Kit materials ~ variety of pamphlets with helpful information about speech & its components ~ you receive this when you join as a new member, e.g., “Your Speaking Voice:  Tips for Adding Strength and Authority to Your Voice;” “Gestures:  Your Body Speaks – How to Become Skilled in Nonverbal Communication;” “Effective Evaluation: Tips and Techniques for Giving Helpful Evaluations”

·        The Better Speaker Series ~ series of modules with helpful information on speech

·        Success / Communication Programmes ~ series of programmes on different communication topics, for presentation to the Club or another audience

·        Speech Contests, contest materials & training sessions

·        Accredited Speaker Programme

·        Speakers Bureau

·        “10 Tips for Successful Public Speaking”  ~ article ~ Toastmasters International website

·        “Public Speaking Skills Aren't Debatable (PDF)”  ~ article ~ Toastmasters International website

·        Just Say a Few Words:  The Complete Speaker’s Handbook ~ by Bob Monkhouse (book that may be purchased, although President has a copy) ~ helpful for humourous speeches & speech in general http://www.torontodebate.org/VPE/index.html

·        www.dictionary.com ~ FREE dictionary website with audio version of words

·        www.toastmasters.org ~ Toastmasters International website

·        www.toastmasters60.org ~ Toastmasters District 60 website (ours)

 

 

 

LEADERSHIP RESOURCES

 

·        Communication & Leadership Manual ~ information on meeting roles, Executive roles & leadership

·        When You Are the (President, Vice-President Education, Vice-President Membership, Vice-President Public Relations, Secretary, Treasurer, Sergeant-At-Arms) Guide to Effective Leadership ~ information on 7 Club Officer roles

·        High-Performance Leadership (HPL) Programme ~ project you design to develop your leadership skills

·        The Leadership Excellence Series ~ series of modules with helpful information on leadership

·        The Successful Club Series ~ series of modules with helpful information on Club leadership

·        Success / Leadership Programmes ~ series of programmes on different leadership topics, for presentation to the Club or another audience

·        Youth Leadership Programme ~ for those wishing to work with youth groups to help them learn the benefits of Toastmasters & the confidence-building Toastmasters does ~ great opportunity for mentoring young people

·        Conferences & Conventions

·        CL (Competent Leader) award ~ upon successful completion of its requirements, you earn this leadership award

·        AL (Advanced Leader) award ~ upon successful completion of its requirements, you earn this leadership award

·        Out-of-home-Club leadership opportunities:  Club Sponsor, Mentor, Coach; various Offices at the Area, Division & District levels ~ see District 60 website:  www.toastmasters60.org

·        Robert’s Rules of Order (10th edn.) ~ Parliamentary Procedure   

·        New Leadership materials that Toastmasters International will be launching in 2006

 

DEBATE RESOURCES

 

·        "A short history of debate" ~ article ~ author:  Paul Cheeseman, ATM-S, former Club VP ED

·        “Debate Speaker’s Responsibilities” ~ “cheat sheet” ~ for paid Club members only ~ contact VP ED

·        “Debatemaster’s Role Description” ~ “cheat sheet” ~ for paid Club members only ~ contact VP ED

·        “Debate Evaluator’s Role Description” ~ “cheat sheet” ~ for paid Club members only ~ contact VP ED

·        “Debater’s Code of Conduct” ~ for paid Club members only ~ contact VP ED

·        “Debate Terms Definitions” ~ for paid Club members only ~ contact VP ED

·        http://www.bartleby.com/bartlett/ ~ Bartlett’s passages, phrases & proverbs traced to their sources