It’s hard enough maintaining good eye contact while you’re speaking to an audience. It’s 10 times harder after you’ve forgotten what you were going to say next. Places to practice making good eye contact: Cashiers at grocery stories, department stories, gas stations Baristas Wait-staff at restaurants Bartenders Table Topics section of a Toastmasters club meeting …
When I first joined Toastmasters in 2010, I thought I’d learn how to mentally force myself to have zero butterflies before getting up to speak. But that never happened. Speaking while nervous is how I got through the 10 prepared speeches in my Toastmasters Competent Communicator speaking manual.
I use a 1-2-3-punch combination of: inhale + square shoulders + smile It’s important that the combo starts with inhaling. This combo acts as a re-set back to confidence.
Each speech does not have to be perfect. You can mess up your next speech too. Your speaking path is an arc of fumbles that leads to self-confidence. When it comes to practicing public speaking in front of your Toastmasters club, feeling the feeling of feeling awkward is your goal. Flip the script on your …
Toastmasters Public Speaking Takeaways for Dec 2019 Read More »
In a Toastmasters speech contest, you can disqualify yourself by going under-or-over-time! Toastmasters’ International (inspirational/motivational) speech contest allows you to speak for 5-7 minutes – with 30 seconds of leeway. IE: you’re technically good from 4-minutes-and-30-seconds to 7-minutes-and-30-seconds. But if you end your speech at 4:29 or 7:31, you’re disqualified. I’ve seen it happen to my …
One of my competitors at the 2017 Toastmasters Division-level International Speech Contest froze for an excruciating 45 seconds in front of everybody. Then they tried to regain their place, managed a few single-word restarts, but continued to sputter for another 15 seconds. What Would You Do If You Froze On Stage? Here’s what world-renown speaking …
Patricia Fripp Answers: What To Do If You Freeze On Stage Read More »
“I don’t want to waste everybody’s time.” This was Joy’s answer when I asked her what was going through her mind when she stopped speaking after only 30 seconds – when she had a full 60 seconds available to her. “I couldn’t think of anything else to say,” she said. “I felt my face go …
Public Speaking Practice Tip: Getting Beyond Uncomfortable Read More »