Draft a speech on Monday to be delivered 4 days later, on Friday. Turns out I spent only 4 hours crafting the 10 minute speech. And it went really well!

Inspired by an article in Toastmaster Magazine’s April 2011 edition entitled “How to Write Your Speech in One Hour” (pg. 8), I set out with a similar goal.

My goal was to spend as little time as possible crafting this speech. And with no rehearsal at all – none. It’s my newest speaking experiment to become more comfortable with the fear of public speaking. For this speech I focused on topics that I knew well or experiences in my life that really sank in. My plan was to just flat-out make bubble-notes, block the order/flow, then write an opening line and a conclusion. And no rehearsal. None. Simply know the order/flow of the story. And stick the opening and closing!

The goal is to feel like myself on stage; like “it ain’t no big deal.”

Mon, Apr 23: Initial list of possible speech topics.
Time spent: 1 hour.

Tues, Apr 24: Narrow down to 2 topics (it was between “WordPress how-to” and “Juicing”). Draft final topic: “Juicing.” Public speaking tip: This was a topic I knew well, as I’d been juicing for the past 2.5 months and could easily discuss the topic. I first blocked out the “flow” of the speech by drawing 2-3 boxes next to each other. Then repeated this box-drawing process for at least another 3-4 rows. Next, I titled each box and added some basic text. Each row gets labelled with a letter (A, B, C, D), and each box within a row gets numbered (1, 2, 3).
Time spent: 2 hours.

Wed, Apr 25: Write 2nd draft of final speech. Change title of speech to: “What Does Kale Look Like?” Public speaking tip: This question of ‘what does Kale look like’ was a real turning point for me in my actual juicing experience and served as a strong memory/flow anchor. I wrote this final draft in a letter-paragraph, number-sub-paragraph format. The paragraphs switch back-and-forth between a “storyline” focus and a “product/how-to” focus. This helps to keep the speech easy to follow, relatable and sharable.
Time spent: 1 hour.

Fri, Apr 27: Presented model speech for the District 39, Div D Toastmasters Evaluation Contest. Location: Sacramento County Board of Supervisors Chambers, 700 H St, Sacramento, CA.

Note: the title of this post is definitely a nod to Tim Ferriss and The 4-Hour Workweek

1st place winner, Reid Walley, at this evening’s Area 51/52 Toastmasters International Speech Contest! Woot! Now on to the next round of contests starting April 20, 2012 in Sacramento, CA.

War Veteran, Amber Forest, served in the Army in Iraq. She returned a very different, difficult and depressed person. She lost her job and then her house – and ended up homeless for 10 months during the winter in Colorado.

Then somebody mentioned that she might have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and recommended that she visit the VA Hospital. She went. And now she’s way up on the upside of all the hell that is PTSD.

PTSD was the topic of Amber’s speech Monday evening (Nov 7, 2011) at our Capital City Toastmasters meeting in Sacramento. It was her Ice Breaker, which is the very first speech that anybody gives. It was amazing! The best I’ve ever heard in the 2 years that I’ve been a Toastmaster.

Her story about working through PTSD is the sole reason that Amber joined Toastmasters – to get her story of hope out to the world.

Amber stood in front of us and presented her speech with such conviction, honesty, humility and proof-of-hope. I was her speech evaluator, and I got to mention that she presented the best Ice Breaker I’d ever heard! And nothing in her speech was over-dramatic, hyped up or depressing. It was simply the truth about war, combat Veterans, PTSD and hope.

Amber shared all the facts and symptoms of PTSD. And she shared some of the triggers that set off debilitating flashbacks – hers is the sound of helicopters. She also mentioned that as she was spiraling out of control, she had no idea what was actually going wrong with her. It took an outside observer to suggest that she might be suffering from PTSD and that she should visit the VA Hospital.

Toastmasters is part of her recovery. Not for PTSD itself, but for spreading the message of hope to other soldiers. Amber has fought in Iraq, suffered the symptoms and the triggers, been homeless – and is now high up on the making-it-back side of life! She’s living proof that actually getting help and getting a proper diagnosis really works.

Amber’s Toastmasters speech was solid, factual and an easy-to-follow recipe for all Veterans who find themselves losing their job, their family, their home and their life.

After Amber’s speech, everybody replied how motivational it was. And it was. But it wasn’t rah-rah, you-can-do-it, go-get’em kinda stuff. It was straight from the battlefield, straight from the heart, and the steps that actually worked for her. It was an autobiography with a purpose, a plan and a path out of misery.

• Great Speakers Tell Stories
• Great Speakers Connect to the Audience
• Great Speakers Deliver Takeaways
• Practice Wins Every Time

Read Chris Brogan’s full post: Memorable Speakers Blend Stories, A Connection to the Audience, and Takeaways

“I just watched your YouTube video “If you don’t follow your passion, you suck” and was thoroughly impressed.

“I’m doing my 10th [Toastmasters] speech this week and wanted to say thank you for the inspiration. You truly are an amazing speaker. I found the link to your website on YouTube and it seems as though you also have a successful business. The company I work for, BluEra, builds evolved and awakened teams from executive search and team transformation practices. Much of what you said in your speech was very relevant to what I see and do in a given day.

“Best of luck with your business and thank you again for posting your video, it was a pleasure to watch.”

Hilary May Smith
Toastmasters member
Calgary, Canada
Oct. 2011

Sept 9, 2010, Sacramento, CA
District 39, Area 51

By Nick Morgan

“Why is most public speaking so awful? Why do we subject our fellow human beings to this form of torture when there are so many better things we could all be doing, like cutting our toenails, baking snickerdoodles, or watching re-runs of The Prisoner?…”

Read the rest, and click the “download” link for Nick’s free 10-page PDF of “Before You Open Your Mouth: The Keys to Great Public Speaking”: http://changethis.com/manifesto/show/58.06.PublicWords

Nick Morgan is founder of: http://www.publicwords.com/

Toastmasters Humorous Speech Contest 2010 – Life Coach Reid Walley – 2nd Place Winner from Reid Walley on Vimeo.
Title: “A Good-Night’s Sleep”
Contest level: Area
Club: Capital City Toastmasters, Sacramento, CA – District 39, Area 51
Contest location: Sutter/Buhler Cancer Center, Sacramento, CA
Date: Sept 9, 2010

It’s Monday. And I’m participating in a Toastmasters Humorous Speech contest on Thursday.

I’ll be rehearsing my speech out-loud 5-6 times today, maybe more. Then – and here’s the magic – I’ll get to “sleep” on it tonight. “Sleeping on it” is vital. My speech must have time to marinade into my being, into my muscles, into my gut. Tomorrow I’ll rise and repeat: out-loud rehearsal and sleep-on-it. Wednesday, rise and repeat! Thursday: contest!

That’s 3 days of out-loud rehearsal and 3 nights of sleeping-on-it.

UPDATE: I took 2nd Place in Thursday evening’s Toastmasters Humorous Speech “Area” Contest 2010 (District 39, Area 51, Sacramento, CA). Woot!

“The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.”

~Mark Twain