Living my life the gentle way

This week I was privileged to give my very first speech (The ‘Icebreaker’) at Farnham Speakers. Not only was it my first Toastmasters speech, it was the first prepared speech for the club due to it being the inaugural evening!

I have already written a blog about the whole evening. As this is my personal site, this one is going to be oriented around my personal experiences in putting this together.

I wrote the core of this speech when I was first introduced to Toastmasters and it was easy to do: Everything in this speech I am passionate about and truly believe. However, it was then ‘parked’ for quite a while: The intention was always for me to do it at the club launch. Also, as I was going to be joining as a founder member, I wasn’t eligible to present it at any other club due to not being signed up.

Shortly before the opening night I got to work on perfecting it. I am incredibly blessed to have Nicky Kriel as my mentor. She really helped to transform my speech from a good one to one that was exceptionally well received on the night.

Here are the sorts of things that Nicky suggested:

• SLOW DOWN. I was rattling through with no pauses. By deliberately slowing down, and remembering to breathe, everything improved. My confidence increased. I was engaging more and reading the audience better.
• IT’S A SPEECH, NOT A BOOK. By practising it ‘live’ I realised that certain aspects sounded like a lecture rather than a fluid speech. Nicky pointed some of these out and I also ‘felt’ the stifled elements when she made me perform it in front of her.
• DON’T SAY TOO MUCH. When the speed was reduced it became really obvious that I was saying too much. The audience would glaze over. Loads of content was actually removed to tighten up the speech. However…
• EMPHASISE. My speech has a few key points. These were changed to be reiterated in different ways to ensure the audience totally absorbed them. So, have fewer ‘things to say’… but make sure they are strongly put across with variety.
• BE PERSONAL. As an ‘Icebreaker’ speech the idea behind it is to introduce myself. In the original draft the second half had drifted away from it being about me, and just about judo. Nicky suggested tweaking it to have my personal associations present throughout. This was key in keeping it engaging and not just sounding like a lecture about judo.
• YOU DON’T NEED NOTES. She took my notes away! I struggled… then realised I knew much more than I thought. This encouraged me to practice (typically in my car!) until I knew the speech perfectly and was confident to just get up and do it. Note that I never memorised the speech word for word… it is a speech, not a recital!

As a result of this fantastic advice, and practising the speech enough so I was confident that I could deliver it without thinking too much, I incredibly enjoyed presenting it to the club. Sure, I was REALLY nervous beforehand but once I was in front of the audience I just relaxed and went with it. Hopefully this shows in the video above!

I do have lots to work on, of course: I was about 20 seconds faster which implies some nerves were present. There is some pointing and hand clasping. I need to work on addressing everyone in the room… not just those in the first few rows. This is why Toastmasters is so helpful!

Now I need to start writing my second speech!