A Freebee and My 3rd Toastmasters Speech

Simulated Open Water Swim:
My shoulders especially the right were sore from the street badminton last Saturday and yesterday. Even my right torso side hurt. Looks like I always overstretch. It's the "good" soreness though and no injury at all. The pool today was not clear. The hairball I found a the bottom was a dead giveaway that the weekend was packed! There must've been some wild hair-pulling (sabunutan) that occured. After seeing that hairball, I decided to leave the pool. At the showers, I found and took a one-time-used-only bar of soap that the weekenders must've left. These are the kind of freebies I usually get after a weekend.

I delivered my 3rd Toastmasters Speech (Get to the Point) last Saturday at the Bureau of Customs Building, not as a contestant, but as a Test Speaker. Others call it the Model Speaker where the competetion is between Evaluators. I was extremely delighted with my speech. This time, I did not miss a single line. Yes!

Before the program started though, I started worrying coz I overheard a technician saying the lapel mic isn't available. This, after all the assurances beforehand from the Division and Area governors that a lapel mic will be used. The technician simply setup the mic on a stand infront. Does he think that we're singers? I've always practiced gesturing with both hands so that presented an unfamiliar ground to me.

While I was waiting at my seat, I "practiced" holding a mic by using a ballpen pretending it was a mic while thinking out aloud my speech. Corz it was all subtle, else everybody would think I was nuts. It worked very well though. Onstage, I did one-handed gestures shifting the mic from one hand to the other. This time all the points of my speech flowed flawlessly. I had a couple of pauses to recall the points, but they were all unnoticeable.

After my speech and the evaluation proper, I was so pleasantly surprised and flattered when experienced toastmasters (two of them club presidents!) approached to congratulate me. They liked my speech! A couple of them have asked me to guest speak at their clubs. Aw, shucks. I suddenly felt like I was some celebrity. It was fantastic!

Some of the nice comments I received:
From Evaluator 1:

1. Intro was a sure attention getter.
2. Voice is well-modulated and loud enough.
3. It was like watching the National Geographic channel.
4. Showed mastery of the subject matter.

From Evaluator 2:

1. It's like I took a plane ride to Peru.
2. Very good opening. Invoked interest.
3. Very vivid details. Very educational.

From Evaluator 3:

1. Title is catchy and so is the intro.
2. Manner of speaking demonstrated confidence and competence.
3. Eye gestures / the ways you looked at audience were good.
4. It was like a box of chocolates that was savored to the end.

Thanx. Sometimes I amaze myself with my speeches. I guess my simple guidelines are:

1. Be prepared. Practice as much as you can BEFORE the day of the speech.
2. Don't continuously reread your speech up to the last minute. Enjoy the other speeches and the whole program as well. This will take your mind off nervousness.
3. Take to heart all the evaluation/feedback you hear. Although some may be superfluous, some are really gems that you should apply in succeeding speeches.
4. Smile before you start. Smile at the Contest Chair. Smile at the audience. This will really relax you and the audience will WANT to hear what you have to say.
5. Always think that you have something worthwhile to tell the audience - a nice story, an interesting fact, an intriguing opinion - anything you took the time to write.

Although one evaluator commented that my voice was well-modulated, I really thought I could've projected a much deeper voice that would've complimented beautifully to the mystery I was storytelling. But of corz a deep voice ALL the time would be monotonous and uninteresting. Overall, a fun session. It was fun to me coz there wasn't much pressure as I was not a contestant.

See all my Toastmasters Speeches online here!