If you speak in public, you have an incredible opportunity right now. Toastmasters is having their annual evaluation contest. Each contest needs a “model speaker.” This speaker will be evaluated by as many as 10 Toastmasters (depending on the level of competition).
The benefits to the model speaker are:
- An opportunity to try something new with your speech.
- An opportunity to give a speech in front of a new audience.
- Feedback on the speech from people experienced in giving speech evaluations.
- Feedback from multiple people on the same speech.
- A chance to network with a new crowd.
Getting feedback from multiple evaluators is crucial. If there is a recurring theme of improvement in the evalautions, then it is likely an area of your speech that needs some attention. In addition to areas for improvement, you will get feedback on areas that you are effective in.
If you are a professional speaker earning thousands of dollars for every speech you do, you may shrug this off as having limited value. Where’s the harm? At a minimum it is a chance to get in front of a new audience that may result in speaking opportunities down the road.
What’s the benefit to Toastmasters? Having new and different speakers for the contests stretches the skills of the evaluators. It is too easy to settle into a rut. If you are organizing a Toastmasters contest this Spring, reach out to the local community and give a non-Toastmaster a chance to shine.
Posted under Toastmasters
This post was written by john on March 26, 2009
Quality looking blog! I will hopefully meet you Monday at ITTL meeting… have a good weekend!