World Champion Evaluator evaluating like a champion

by J.A. Gamache
Third place Champion at the 2001 Toastmasters International
World Championship of Public Speaking

Here’s a tip used by theater people to prevent memory blanks.  On the day of your presentation, just before getting on stage, repeat your text rapidly without emotion.

I once wrote a play for children and hired some professional actors to help me deliver my tale. On the day of the show I was happy as we were setting up the stage and the sound system when I heard one actor say to the others: “Let’s make a rehearsal!”.

I was shocked. We didn’t have time for a rehearsal! We only had a half hour before the kids would come in the room.

To calm me down they explained to me that they would not do a regular rehearsal but instead an exercise called a “speed run-through” aimed at bringing the text back to their memory.  That’s all. They would do it as they would work on something else. We would rehears the play but the actors would simply say their part rapidly without interpreting it.

I found it to be a quite ingenious way to refresh one’s memory. In addition, once it was over I was less nervous. I felt more confident because the exercise proved to me that I knew my text since I just said it out loud.

Here’s what I suggest. A short while before giving your next speech, say your text out loud, rapidly and without emotion.  You should make this exercise even if you don’t know your text by heart. Read your notes out loud if you have any.  What’s important here is to refresh your memory just before you speak.

Is it a guaranty that you won’t have a memory blank? No.  However, it will decrease significantly the risk that such an accident occurs. Having taken such a precaution you’ll be less stressed and that will make a difference on stage!

Happy speech!

©MMX J.A. Gamache www.jagamache.com. All rights reserved.

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Posted under Guest Article

In You should write your speeches and presentations, Frank Adamo tells us that we should write out our speeches so that we can refine, massage, and condense them.  He quotes David Brooks, the 1990 World Champion of Public Speaking:

It is absolutely necessary to write a speech and refine the speech as many times as necessary.

It is important to have a speech written down so that you CAN edit it.  This does not mean that you have to write it first.  To keep your speech conversational, many experts suggest that you use a voice recorder to capture the speech and then transcribe it.

I agree with this advice when it relates to a 7:30 Toastmasters contest speech.  Every second counts.  When it comes to an hour long speech, I think being genuine and conversational is much more important than culling a few words here and there.

Packing more into a speech may not be what the audience really needs.  They may need to feel a connection with a real human being who isn’t concentrating on giving a highly optimzed speech.

My recommendation is to record your speech.  Transcribe your speech.  Then, take key areas of that speech and edit those.  Internalize, but don’t memorize.  Don’t edit the whole thing – unless it is for the World Championship of Public Speaking contest.  Even if it is for the contest, determine if highly edited speech is your style.

Posted under Toastmasters

I just read the latest article from Darren LaCroix, the 2001 World Champion of Public Speaking.  The article hit home for me so much that I am immediately blogging about it.

The article talks about intent and is relevant to the Toastmasters contest season that is underway.  Don’t pass this by if you are not competing though.  The advice is useful in many more areas.

The essence of the article is that no matter how well prepared your speech is, it is the intent you have while delivering your speech that determines the connection you make with your audience.  If this is a contest, then it can affect the outcome.  If it is a paid speech, it can affect your business.  If it is a company meeting where you are suggesting an idea or an interview question, it can affect your career.

I recently came second in the speech contest with a speech that was one of the best I ever gave at club.  At the club level my intent was to give the best speech I could and also convey the strong emotion I feel about the situation with my Dad.  When I gave it at Area, I was trying to repeat that performance.  In trying to repeat a performance, I stumbled.  Instead, I would have been best served having the same intent.  This is easier said than done of course.  In the speech contest, you give the same speech multiple times.  The Curse of Knowledge from your previous performances affect your next performance.

I thought I addressed this issue somewhat.  The previous year at the District level I over prepared my speech.  I didn’t place and that gave me a real kick in the teeth.  I decided that I needed to practice less, and let the speech be real.  Unfortunately, purely practicing less was not the problem.  You guessed it, it was my intent.

I also came second in the evaluation contest.  This surprised me.  I pride myself on giving great evaluations.  I went into this Area contest with the intent to do enough to win.  My focus was on the next level, not on delivering the best possible evaluation I could.

Your intent also comes across loud and clear to other audiences.  When you interview for a job, is your intent to impress?  Could it be that intending to be genuine and sincere would serve you best?

Having the best intent is not easy.  In contests, the goal for many is to win.  How can you put that aside?  Darren has a suggestion for this.  He chose his winning speech topic based on a question from Mark Brown.  The question was:

Pick a child from your life.  If you were going to die tomorrow, what’s the one lesson you have learned from your life that you would pass on to that child to help them through their life?

This is not something you can do in a few minutes.  It may take you days or weeks.  Once you have it though, it is gold.  Now, when you give the speech, imagine the child is in the third row and give the speech to them with all of the conviction you can muster.

Now THAT is great advice.  Good luck!

Posted under Toastmasters

With Toastmasters International Speech Contest in full swing I wanted to share some advice I received from Lance Miller (World Champion in 2005) last year.

I was talking to Lance about my 2008 District speech entry.  The title was “Spread Your Wings.”  Lance asked me what my message was.  I told him that the message was to… spread your wings.  He immediately told me that it is generally not a good idea to have your message be part of your title.

It’s tempting to use your message as your title, but it unfortunately detracts from your message.  There’s no element of surprise or mystery.  You put your audience on the defensive and the judges may find your speech  predictable.

Try to use a creative title based on an aspect of your speech.  It can be difficult coming up with a great title.  I posted some of my thoughts on a speech title for a Region winning speech.

Posted under Public Speaking