Speaking and Listening: Toastmasters Experience

  There are three main segments to every Toastmasters meeting:  prepared presentations, impromptu speaking, and evaluation.  This past week, I was in three different Toastmasters meetings, and without even realizing it until they were done, I participated in a different one of those three segments at each meeting. At my first meeting on Monday, I gave a prepared persuasive presentation about the annual District 24 Toastmasters Conference that I am helping to put on.  Should you want to attend - the event is April 22-23 online with content available for 90 days afterwards.  You can sign up at d24tm.org, as I mentioned in the conclusion of my speech. At my second meeting on Tuesday, I provided an evaluation for the presenter of the day.  This individual is a very experienced speaker who used great descriptive language, vocal variety, and gestures.  As evaluators should, I did offer a couple suggestions for improvement: 1) have the speech progress from sm...

It never ceases to amaze me how much more likely people are to help you if you ask  them for help.  It also seems that how  you ask matters. I have seen this in Toastmasters:  when we send out a general, untargeted call for help, we get very few responses.  When we are more specific  either about what  we need or who  we are asking, we tend to get better responses.  I've noticed this especially with emails asking for help.  When I send a broad email to a large group asking for a response, it seems like I get fewer responses than if I email and address each person  individually.  I think people appreciate a personal  ask more than a broad  call for help.  They also feel more compelled to respond if you have messaged them directly vs sending out a general post or email. I also found that people want to know the expectations  behind what you are asking them to do.  Just yesterday I announced at a Toastmast...

Every year, our Toastmasters District hosts speech contests that progress through several levels of competition. Last year, I competed in humorous and even won at the District (roughly state) level. Being on camera for that competition could cause a fluttering of nerves, but it was also a lot of fun! This year, I am assisting and watching the contests, and have had great opportunities to learn and to enjoy the speeches I am hearing. It's nice to watch a well-run contest. It's also nice to help make a contest a success! So far, I have served as Toastmaster, "sergeant-at-arms," and tech support at contests. I have had the opportunity to work with a team in a supporting role to help the contest succeed. I am not the star of the show, and as tech support I may not even be seen, but I am still a part of running a good contest! Tonight was also an opportunity for me to be really behind the scenes. I was watching the YouTube stream that I had helped set up, but which ...