Are you working on your advanced Toastmaster manuals?  If so, Seth has some advice for you in how you approach them in the myth of preparation.

Read the post and then come back here.  Take note of the novice stage which I think is equivalent of being competent, and working towards distinguished.

We diddle around in the novice stage because we’re afraid. We polish (but not too much) and go to meetings (plenty of them) and look for deniability, spending hours and hours instead of shipping. And the product, in the end, is not so much better.

And then Seth goes on to say:

I’m all for expertise. Experts, people who push through and make something stunning–we need more of them. But let’s be honest, if you’re not in the habit of being an expert, it’s unlikely your current mode of operation is going to change that any time soon.

Don’t just go through the motions with the advanced speeches.  Don’t become a DTM just for the title.  Use these speech opportunities to explore your limits.

Yet another thought provoking post by Seth Godin.  This time the post refers to using price as a competetive advantage.  It was the closing line that hit me though…

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!

Excellent article on CopyBlogger asking Are Vampire Words are Sucking the Life Out of your Writing? The topic pertains very much to speeches too.

I would add the word “thing” to the list for speeches.  ”Thing” is such a non-descriptive word.  There’s always a better word than “thing” that describes the subject of your attention.

Yet another post from Seth Godin related to speaking!  Maybe I should rename the blog to Seth Godin as applied to Speaking?!

In a recent post, Seth talks about Ignoring Sunk Costs.  Go take a minute and read his post.

How does that relate to speaking?  Glad you asked

We are in the throes of contest time at Toastmasters.  There are many speakers vying to become the World Champion of Public Speaking.  They likely have a number of speeches from previous contests that they could consider using.

When considering which speech to choose, ignore the sunk costs.  Don’t consider the amount of time you put into a speech as a reason to use it.  Just because a speech has been evaluated more does not mean it is better than a fresh speech that only you have seen.  Go with the speech that energizes you.  Go with the speech that you can infuse with passion.

Just read a blog posting from Seth Godin entitled “Mechanics vs. Intent.”  It follows on from my previous post on What is Your Intent.

Seth boils down the discussion into such a simple form.

…if you don’t go the extra mile and I end up not caring, all the tactics in the world won’t help.

Although Seth is not talking directly about giving a speech, his words are just as relevant.  No amount of vocal variety, movement, or gestures will help you if you don’t go the extra mile to share your message.

If there’s no passion behind your message, please stop wasting both our time.

No matter how scary the prospect is to put your passion into your speeches, you owe it to yourself to share it with the world.

It doesn’t have to be a speech about world hunger or curing cancer.  It can be as ordinary as a fishing trip, a kitchen disaster, or a trip to Costco.  I don’t care about your mechanics.  All I care about is that your eyes light up when you speak.

Update:

Just read a post entitled Passionately Speaking by Robert Killen.  Complementary to this post:

Passion is the one thing that will get your audience to sit up and take notice. Without it, all the best slides and statistics will inevitably fail to ignite them.