5th and 6th Toastmasters Speeches

50 x 2, TE, 50 x 2 free
Sun is up once again! Yeyhey! For a while there I thought summer was over. It's been dark and gloomy these past few days. That and my allergies that have been acting up again discouraged me from going to the pool. But today, the sun's up and my allergies going away (thnx to virlix, carbocisteine and neozep), I couldn't help not going. Yah, "couldn't help" is the operative phrase here. Somehow, my drive from the house gets just a teeny-weeny bit more exciting when I anticipate driving over to the pool first. And my, what a nice bright morning! When I got to the pool, the water was churning with lots of kids. Hmmmm, I would've thought that the past rains would have dampened their spirits, but no, apparently not.

The bummer was when I jumped into the pool. Yikes! the water was not of the usual nice and comfy temp that I got used to. Nope, it was cold! That's the bummer, I should've known better that with the past continuous rains, the water would turn cool. That surprised me. Well, too late. I did think of getting out and getting my swim cap but, what the heck. I wasn't up for a great workout today. Just for me to get "the feel" back again is enough.

Last Wednesday, I delivered my 5th Toastmasters Speech (Your Body Speaks) to a very small group at the office's clinic area. Doc Noy was the evaluator. I realized the speech can feel so personal when speaking to a small group. I contrast that with a bigger group where there's so many faces to glance and "converse" to.

Some of the constructive feedback.

• Minimize gestures that are not purposeful. Avoid gestures just for the sake of gesturing. If unecessary, just put the arms by your side. (Yah, this is getting to be a habit of mine )
• Minimize examples (or scenarios) to just 1 or 2. Three might be an overkill.

Some of the nice feedback.

• "Smile on his face" throughout the speech made it very effective. (Somehow, it's easier to smile when speaking to a small group)
• Attention-getting opening. (Yah, the word "sex" is always attention-getting )
• Simple, easy-to-understand and "down-to-earth".
• Good outline, good delivery.

Naturally I was happy, but I was happier when I was invited to speak at Kimberly-Clark Phils. (the makers of tissues, diapers and cotton products) for my 6th Toastmasters Speech (Vocal Variety). And not only that, I was asked to be a prepared speech evaluator also (my first!). Without much thought, I readily agreed.

The folks at Kimberly-Clark Phils. were an enthusiastic bunch with all of them delivering their Icebreaker speeches. They were very hospitable.

Some of the constructive feedback for my 6th Toastmasters Speech:

• The speech could've been better demonstrated with a "direct discourse" between 2 people. (Agreed).

Some of the constructive feedback for my 1st evaluation:

• Better to address the evaluatee in the 2nd person rather than the "impersonal" 3rd person. (Agreed. What can I do, I'm from a technical background and we speak and write in the impersonal 3rd person.)
• Look at the person being evaluated and not so much at the audience for added sincerity.

I'm happy. Just 4 more speeches and I'd be getting my CTM certification. Overall, I had a great time speaking and evaluating at Kimberly-Clark. I certainly hope it won't be the last time. See all my Toastmasters Speeches online here!