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.

Title: “One Smile Per Argument”
Contest level: Area
Club: Capital City Toastmasters #142, Sacramento, CA – District 39, Area 51
Contest location: Sutter Cancer Center, Sacramento, CA
Date: Mar 24, 2011

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

My approach to life coaching involves a 3-step cycle:

1. Keeping you on track with your goals: keep you accountable and provide positive support without being judgmental.
2. Solutions to setbacks: provide unbiased feedback to help you work through setbacks, improve self-esteem and collaborate on positive reactions to negative situations.
3. Focus/re-focus: help you decide what to focus on, as well as help you re-establish a productive focus when you’re getting off track.

Then we keep repeating the cycle: stay on track (confidence) + solutions (feedback) + focus/re-focus (clarity)

Note: Life coaching does not go into recovery or anything that requires therapy. Life coaching will only touch on goals for the future, helping you stay on track toward those goals, developing solutions to setbacks and re-focusing. Depression, addiction – anything that requires therapy – is outside of a life coaches credentials. A life coach is not qualified nor licensed to handle therapy-oriented circumstances.

Unbiased feedback
Overwhelming clarity
Screaming confidence

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

~Reid Walley

Life Coach Reid Walley – Study Together; Stay Together – Hewlett-Packard from Reid Walley on Vimeo.

“Study Together; Stay Together” presented during HP Northside Toastmasters meeting at Hewlett-Packard in Roseville, CA, July 22, 2010. Invited to be a guest speaker by Kevin Levine (VP Education).

Reid Walley’s top 5 strengths:

1. Connectedness
2. Maximizer
3. Woo (Winning Others Over)
4. Communication
5. Positivity

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Life Coach Reid Walley – Toastmasters Speech 10 – If You Don’t Follow Your Passion, You Suck! from Reid Walley on Vimeo.

Title: “If You Don’t Follow Your Passion, You Suck!”
Date: June 28, 2010
Toastmasters speech number: 10
Toastmasters manual: Competent Communicator
Time limit: 8-10 minutes
Official time: 10:34 (disqualified by 4 seconds)
Evaluator: Danny Pastores
Toastmaster: Danny Pastores
Club: Capital City Toastmasters #142
Location: Sacramento, CA
No notes used

Books mentioned:
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