Page 32 - voices.10.2018

ON THE PATH

one performance felt inadequate (granted, I have be a better trainer; I don’t want to be better at
a background in theatre and stage shows could putting my audience to sleep (unless I’m studying

run several weeks). It wasn’t until my second to be a hypnotist or an anesthesiologist). Now we
year in Toastmasters that my mentor told me have the second project in every Level 1 telling
that I could do a speech again. He told me that us that we can give a speech, get feedback, and
members were doing speeches multiple times give it again. Wahoo! I’ve seen the light! (Yeah,

for competitions. I can be a bit histrionic at times— you should
I was stunned. I hadn’t even thought about it. see me live.)
I was assuming the earth was flat the whole time. So . . . do you understand why I think project
But it’s ROUND! Of course, we can do speeches 2 is exceptional? It takes an intangible, back of

more than once! It’s not the end of the world! the hand (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) concept
My horizons were expanded. floating around Toastmasters and makes it
Toastmasters realized this needed to be a tangible, concrete, and foundational. There’s no
foundational idea and so they made it into a hesitation here; no “Do you think I should do

project. If I had just stopped to think about it?” I love it.
it, I would have realized that it is silly to do a Maybe the idea of doing a speech multiple
speech only once. We often say the same thing times is obvious to you. But in my travels,
multiple times (my parents did when I was a I hear that members don’t have time to

teenager—and increased their volume each time get a speech ready to present at the next
they said it—even though I heard them the first meeting or when they are scheduled to
time—sheesh—I wasn’t deaf, I just didn’t want speak again. Newer members will often fail
to do what they told me). to show up at a meeting in which they were

In the professional realm, I work on projects to speak because they aren’t ready. This means
that are very similar to the project I just finished. I that members who have been around awhile get
am also asked to speak about topics over and over to do a hot seat speech (pro tip: those
again (especially to one coworker that I swear seasoned members are merely

is still a teenager! I think he’s deaf—oh! Sorry taking a speech they’ve
Mom and Dad). In fact, right now in Toastmasters given several times and
I am going from club to club, training event to doing it again).
training event, talking about one thing and one If you are tempted

thing only: Pathways! to not show up for a
I have learned much from evaluators that tell speech because you
me how I could make my presentations better aren’t ready—don’t
or connect better with the audience. I want to create a whole new

32 ONE COMMUNITY