Page 8 - Voices-2021-05
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COVER STORY















                                                                         your day. If you literally don’t die of
                                                                         embarrassment, you’ll get another try.

                                                                         I also plan on utilizing the soundcheck
                                                                         and embracing the phrase “testing
                                                                         1-2-3” in the future.


                                                                         Get Over Yourself

                                                                         I was in love with the concept of my
                                                                         first speech more than the message it
                                                                         provided. When delivering any speech

       four contestants. I was surprised I did that well.                I try to remember the audience is
          Next up—the International Speech Contest.  giving me 5-7 minutes of their life! That’s time
       As the first speaker, I was excited and ready! My  they’ll never get back and it’s not helpful for
       speech was about my first Evaluation Contest  them to hear an opera of mi mi mi.

       after I had contracted non-contagious walking             After my second-place finish and discovering
       pneumonia. I shared the challenges I faced in  that both winners would go on to compete in the
       competing in spite of said pneumonia. I felt good  Area Contest, I assessed my options and deployed
       talking about that contest during this contest  the next lesson immediately.

       which I thought was a unique concept. It earned
       me a second-place finish with no technical  Change Strategies
       glitches.                                                 If something doesn’t work, change it! Coming
          Hooray! In this case, there were only two  in second place told me my speech had to change

       people competing and I didn’t get disqualified,  before the Area Contest. I assessed the speeches I
       so I was guaranteed to get either first or second  had given in the past year and “Drop Shot” kept
       place. Perhaps not a huge level of competition  coming to mind. I could use it in this year’s Area
       but a good go for the effort I made.                  Contest because I had only presented it within

                                                             my club. What I liked best was its message of how
                 Lessons Learned                             trying different things and failing will eventually
                                                             lead to your victory. It was also fun to perform
       Life Happens                                          the corresponding running, swimming, and

       The notorious mute button is not your friend!  badminton gestures.
       Seriously, I learned having a bad experience  Practice, Practice, Practice

       didn’t mean I was doomed forever. Sometimes             Though I gave this speech the year before, I
       things don’t go as planned. Perhaps it’s not  was rusty. Changing the entire speech meant




       8      ONE COMMUNITY
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