How often do we, as Table Topics Masters, ask a question, and not care about the answer?  I think it is most of the time.  I know I have been guilty of it.  Revelling in the genius of my questions, rather than caring about the answer.

I think we could make a huge difference in the quality of table topics if we first and foremost care about the answer we receive.  When we care about that answer, we will ask a different question.  Illiciting a story that engages the audience should be the goal.

Think about this the next time you are Table Topics Master and let me know how it goes.

Prior to the Dale Carnegie course I believed that conversation was a process by which I could demonstrate my cleverness, complain about what was bugging me, and argue with people in order to teach them how dumb they were. To me, listening was the same thing as being bored.  I figured it was the other person’s responsibility to find some entertainment in the conversation. That wasn’t my job. Yes, I was that asshole. But I didn’t know it. The good news is that once I learned the rules of conversation, I was socially reborn. It turns out that active listening is more fun than talking, although sometimes you need to guide the conversation toward common interests.

Where else can you learn about and practice active listening than at Toastmasters?

Update:

Scott has an additional post on active listening.  I find it useful to think of it this way.  If you talk, you only learn what you are saying.  If you listen, you learn what someone else is saying.

http://toastmaster-liza.blogspot.com/2010/05/welcome-to-my-toastmasters-blog.html

If you have posted your Toastmasters contest experience on your blog, please post a link in the comments.

Perhaps one criticism in a hundred is actually a useful and generous contribution in your quest to reorganize things for the better.

Elevate your evaluations to really give the recipient the ammunition they need to make a difference.

There are many considerations.  You need to take into account the needs of the model speaker, and the needs of the evaluators.

Model Speaker Needs…

• to have thick skin.  This is especially true at lower levels of the contest where evaluators may not choose their words as well as they might.
• to be able to benefit from receiving feedback.  This means that you are providing value to the model speaker.
• to have given a few speeches at the club level.  This relates to them being able to receive the feedback.
• to not use notes if at all possible.  Notes become something that must be talked about and are so obvious that any evaluator can see it.
• to record their speech and the evaluators (getting permission) as they feedback is going to come thick and fast.
• to give a 5-7 minute speech (it is in the rules).

Evaluators Need…

• a model speaker that gives them a challenge.  Especially at higher levels, experienced speakers really separate the good evaluators from the great ones.
• a model speaker that is not too challenging.  At club and area, it is helpful to have a speaker that is not too seasoned.  The judges are looking for more than “I couldn’t find anything to improve.”
• a model speaker that has prepared a speech and has practiced it.  The evaluator can then focus on really helping that model speaker improve their communication skills.

 A little thought put into picking a model speaker will pay off when you have a fantastic learning opportunity for everyone at the contest.

The second recommendation I make is to check out Andrew Dlugan’s excellent series on speech evaluations.  He even gives pointers on winning the evaluation contest.

Now go and give the contests your best shot!

The scalable, profitable strategy is to change the game, not to become the most average.

If you want to become the best speaker you can be, you need to stop doing what everyone else does.  A New Year is fast approaching.  Use 2010 as an opportunity to redefine yourself.  Here are some ideas:

1. Compete in all the Toastmasters contests.  Yes, even Table Topics.
2. Prepare.  Prepare your speech.  Prepare for the contests.  Talk to the speaker before the meeting.
3. Join an advanced club.  Start a new club that pushes the envelope.
4. Present outside your club.  At a job group, Kiwana’s, Rotary, etc.
5. Push the limits of all of the Toastmaster roles.  Act out the Quote of the Day, do a backwards meeting, etc.

You left your comfort zone when you joined Toastmasters.  You regained it by being a member for a year or two.  Now is the time to push the envelope again.  Join me, and have fun!

Very interesting discussion.  To win the World Championship of Public Speaking, you only need to create a takeaway message, have a universal theme, have something that the audience can use and implement, make the audience laugh, smile, and think.  That’s all.  Do that, and you will have a great shot at beating out 35,000 other contestants.

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never us a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

All excellent advice for speech creation.  In reading the piece, you can see how Orwell uses different figures of speech to add dimension.  I harp on about #4 a lot.  Stories come alive when you use the active tense.  Try it in your next speech and let me know how it goes.