Category: Speech preparation

District 83’s Speakers Bureau Under Development

Are you looking for an opportunity to deliver longer speeches in front of a new audience? Do you want to wiggle your toes in the sea of Professional Speaking without dipping your entire foot? We have a solution for you – the District 83 Speakers Bureau!

The purpose of the District 83 Speakers Bureau is to promote, grow, and market the skills and services of club members within our district. Our mission is to connect speakers with engagements that add value to the communities we serve. Membership to a club within District 83 is required. We value integrity, excellence, accountability, customer service, customer satisfaction, community and member service. Can you fulfill these values? We need you!

Membership to the speakers bureau is by audition and there is a $25 application fee. The audition speech is 18-20 minutes long on any subject that the candidate wishes to present. We expect to have our first run of auditions after the Spring Conference. Candidates will be notified within 3 days of their status in the bureau.

Before we can go public, we need to engage speakers to advertise! Speaking engagements booked through the bureau are complimentary; however, any engagements you book through your contacts with others are not under the Bureau’s control.

The Member Handbook and application are available. We have a date and location scheduled for the auditions in July. Please send a request for all information to the Speakers Bureau mailbox.

Remember, you must be a member of a club in District 83 in order to receive an application. Hurry before it is too late!

If you have any additional questions, please send them to the Speakers Bureau mailbox.

Joyce’s Ice Breaker Speech – Insights of a New Toastmaster

At a recent Carpe Diem Toastmasters club meeting, I had the honor of hearing Joyce Quinn’s “Ice Breaker” speech entitled “My Career”.  It was interesting to learn about her youth and the decisions she made and the experiences she had that led her to a career as a Speech Pathologist.

Joyce is an active member of our club.  She is always willing to perform various and multiple meeting roles.  She is also very agreeable to fill these roles even “on the fly” right at the start of a meeting when last minute help is needed.  I recall that, from her earliest days with the club, she would even volunteer to be a Table Topics speaker.  However, it took Joyce a few months after joining to schedule her first speech, despite encouragement from club members. 

I was curious about her hesitancy and asked for some insight about what led her to Toastmasters and about the preparation efforts for and the presentation of her first speech, in the hope that she could enlighten others who have also newly joined a club and could be feeling some hesitancy about speaking. 

When considering joining Toastmasters, Joyce believed that the noncompetitive and encouraging environment would help her to improve her overall communication and presentation skills and help her to become more outgoing.  She felt that becoming more proficient in these skills would give her more confidence professionally.   When asked about her hesitancy to schedule the “Ice Breaker” speech, Joyce mentioned that she first wanted to become acclimated to the club members and the club environment.  Basically, she wanted to build up her courage.

Joyce outlined for me the preparation process she used for her speech.  She gave lots of thought to what she wanted to say and what people would want to hear.  She read her Competent Communicator manual, looked on the web for sample speeches, and even met with her mentor; who happens to be me.  When her thoughts were sorted about her intent, she wrote out her speech and practiced it a couple of times in the days beforehand.

I asked Joyce about the appropriateness of the evaluation she received.  She felt that her evaluator’s feedback was positive, constructive and that the specific insightful points mentioned were helpful.  She believes that the overall experience, preparation through presentation and evaluation, was positive and is looking forward to her next speech.

Joyce offered these recommendations to others who are thinking of presenting their “Ice Breaker” speech:

    • Think about your club’s warm reception and friendly environment to overcome any apprehension that you might have.
    • Keep your momentum going… as soon as you start making speeches always be planning your next one.
    • Don’t let your fears stop you!!!

What great advice for all of us!

Are You Suffering from Butterfly Effect?

You have been preparing for your speech for days. You rehearsed it many times over your head and you have been waiting for this moment, yet when the Toastmaster announces your name, all of sudden you feel gazillion butterflies swarming in your stomach making you very uncomfortable. You look around nervously. Out of nowhere, you have sweaty palms, your hands are shaking, your heart beats faster than normal, your mouth feels dry, and no word comes out of your mouth when you try to speak. All you want is to run away.

Does this sound familiar to you? I hope not.

However, if you are one of those people who gets nervous before presenting a speech and are suffering from the “butterfly effect,” there are things you can do to calm yourself before you begin to speak. Over time, I have gathered steps from many sources to help calm me when presenting a speech. I am going to share them with you.

Keep in mind sometimes nervous energy can be a good thing because it can be converted into an enthusiastic speech. Therefore, having a little bit of the butterfly effect helps you be more prepared and focused. On the other hand, if the butterfly effect stands in a way of your performance, you can try the steps to calm yourself before speaking.

Continue reading “Are You Suffering from Butterfly Effect?”

Get Ready for the Holly Jolly Holiday Speech!

Don’t give a speech that makes Santa fall asleep!

Holidays are right around the corner. Holiday parties, corporate gatherings, and family events provide an opportunity for you to meet new people and reconnect with old acquaintances. These events are opportunities to put your best foot forward by presenting your ideas and making an impact on your audience.

We are all not born with the gift of confident public speaking but it is an art which we can master. Here are a few tricks to nudge you in the right direction toward public speaking.

1. Join a Toastmasters Club today. Toastmasters provides an informal platform to practice your speech and improve speech delivery, intonation, and presentation styles. This will be helpful in adopting a positive and confident approach to the speech and overcome public speaking anxieties.

2. Overcome stage fright and anxiety by visualizing your speech and the audience. Focus on a friendly face in the audience and draw confidence from positive acknowledgement in the audience. Before delivering your speech, try relaxing breathing exercises, which can be done anywhere, anytime you feel stressed.

Continue reading “Get Ready for the Holly Jolly Holiday Speech!”