Zoom Is No Substitute For In-Person Nervousness

Zoom is no substitute for standing in front of an audience and getting sweaty palms, butterflies, and feeling nervous. Meeting for Toastmasters over Zoom was always a last-ditch effort to keep the club going during the pandemic. I’m sure this was true to various degrees for all 15,000 clubs and 300,000 members worldwide. Our club…

What Are Your Zoom Online Conferencing Turn-offs?

What Are Your Zoom Online Conferencing Turn-offs?

During this evening’s Toastmasters Zoom meeting I posed the following question: What is your biggest turn-off when watching / hearing someone speak via Zoom? Fantastic answers from Capital City Toastmasters #142 in Sacramento, CA Ring-light reflecting in speaker’s glasses/eyes Speaker shuffling papers Speaker’s head/face out of frame Speaker slurping beverage Speaker eating food Speaker smacking…

Good Eye Contact Takes Practice

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…

What Part Of Public Speaking Makes You Nervous?

The public part or the speaking part? The following Facebook comments from fellow Toastmasters provide a deeper insight than I imagined: Author W. Faye Portman: “Speaking [part]. Saying the wrong thing.” Linda Thompson: “Pubic part. I like talking.” Clark Pierce: “For me it’s the public part depending on the audience and topic. I gave a speech about failure…

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Toastmasters Public Speaking Takeaways for Dec 2019

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…