Toastmasters

[maiforpeace]

How hard is toast to master, please?

Apparently, pretty hard!

I'm working with Ayaan on that.

Sounds like the master needs to get toasted.

Tie him up Ayaan, I'll hold his arms down.

[Ayaan]

How hard is toast to master, please?

Apparently, pretty hard!

I'm working with Ayaan on that.

Sounds like the master needs to get toasted.

Tie him up Ayaan, I'll hold his arms down.

We'll have to sneak up on him. :twisted:

[maiforpeace]

*creak*

Oops, sorry.

[Ayaan]

[fretmeister]

This thread interests me.

I'm a performer (magic / music) and a lawyer and I find public speaking / stage work easy. I find small groups of people much more difficult.

Sometimes I forget how others are rendered almost immoveable just by the idea of public speaking.

[rachelbean]

This thread interests me.

I'm a performer (magic / music) and a lawyer and I find public speaking / stage work easy. I find small groups of people much more difficult.

Sometimes I forget how others are rendered almost immoveable just by the idea of public speaking.

As a performer (music) who is an introvert, I am the same. In a large crowd you can look towards the back row, occasionally scanning and looking like you're making contact. In a small group you are forced to personally engage a small group of people or come off as very strange/awkward. I had no problem singing to a sold out crowd of a few hundred, but coffee shop shows with 10 people...

[fretmeister]

Rachel - are you able to split off rehearsals in your head from performances?

In magic I find that very difficult. My magical mentor still does training sessions with me and when we simply work on technique and concept I'm fine, but actually rehearsing in front of him scares the crap out of me despite the fact I completely trust him and all crit is useful and welcome!!

When I do table magic I sort of assume the entire room is my audience and not just the single table I'm sittting at.

[hadespussercats]

We had four speeches that night, mine was last. Another woman who I'd seen flub an evaluator competition was sitting across the aisle from me, so I saw her preparing for her speech. She had the whole thing printed out in one large block of text that ran over several pages. She flubbed the speech because she got lost and ran over time.

I think it's because she needs to break the speech into coherent blocks that then have 'hooks' that connect them together. The limited time for a speech (she had 5-7 minutes) forces you to hone it down to the basics, and then deliver it in a pre-determined order that leads from one concept to the next. I'm wondering out loud here, if her problem might also be a difference in male-female psychology where women tend to see things as interconnected, while men tend to compartmentalize. What is needed are the compartments of the speech to create the order, and then the interconnectivity to bring an over-arching binding.

No, I think her problem was that she didn't prepare her speech in a sensible way. How is a large block of text running over several pages conducive to someone looking up, out, and engaging with her audience? How could she even keep track of what line she was on?

Back when I was giving speeches more often, I generally only used cards or pages to keep from feeling nervous-- having them meant I didn't need them. And most of the time my cards were key lines written out, with some important blurbs or words in order (basically a very loose outline.)

[fretmeister]

^ agree totally.

When I'm in court I have very few notes - mostly only important dates or names of people / places. The only other thing that I fully write out is case law references.

Engaging with an audience is very different to just speaking AT them.

I don't like scripts at all, mainly because they don't allow for deviation and cause panic. Deviation is necessary so the speaker can adjust the presentation to the specific audience as they go along. This is particularly important when there is an element of participation from an audience (whether the judge getting in the way or an audience helper in a magic show) and ploughing on without improvements just makes things worse.

[amused]

These are timed speeches, usually 5-7 minutes. Green card at 5 minutes, you met the minimum, yellow at 6, red card at 7 gives you 30 seconds to wrap up or you're disqualified. A speech that short that has to make a point almost must be presented in a pre-defined order, which means memorizing it start to finish. That's the challenging part, for me. I can tell the speeches that are a rambling on, and they aren't nearly so effective.

[hadespussercats]

These are timed speeches, usually 5-7 minutes. Green card at 5 minutes, you met the minimum, yellow at 6, red card at 7 gives you 30 seconds to wrap up or you're disqualified. A speech that short that has to make a point almost must be presented in a pre-defined order, which means memorizing it start to finish. That's the challenging part, for me. I can tell the speeches that are a rambling on, and they aren't nearly so effective.

Do you ever practice your speech mentally while you skate?

I'm not a skater, but I've found that the rhythm of footfall and breathing while running can make that a good time to work things through, memorize lines, all that. And it can be nice to have something to keep your mind occupied-- especially if you can't listen to music for some reason...

[amused]

These are timed speeches, usually 5-7 minutes. Green card at 5 minutes, you met the minimum, yellow at 6, red card at 7 gives you 30 seconds to wrap up or you're disqualified. A speech that short that has to make a point almost must be presented in a pre-defined order, which means memorizing it start to finish. That's the challenging part, for me. I can tell the speeches that are a rambling on, and they aren't nearly so effective.

Do you ever practice your speech mentally while you skate?

I'm not a skater, but I've found that the rhythm of footfall and breathing while running can make that a good time to work things through, memorize lines, all that. And it can be nice to have something to keep your mind occupied-- especially if you can't listen to music for some reason...

Yes, the last time I recorded it and listened while skating. It didn't seem to help much that time, but I'll try it again. I need to give myself more practice time. I found that AFTER I gave the last speech that I was better able to remember it.

[hadespussercats]

These are timed speeches, usually 5-7 minutes. Green card at 5 minutes, you met the minimum, yellow at 6, red card at 7 gives you 30 seconds to wrap up or you're disqualified. A speech that short that has to make a point almost must be presented in a pre-defined order, which means memorizing it start to finish. That's the challenging part, for me. I can tell the speeches that are a rambling on, and they aren't nearly so effective.

Do you ever practice your speech mentally while you skate?

I'm not a skater, but I've found that the rhythm of footfall and breathing while running can make that a good time to work things through, memorize lines, all that. And it can be nice to have something to keep your mind occupied-- especially if you can't listen to music for some reason...

Yes, the last time I recorded it and listened while skating. It didn't seem to help much that time, but I'll try it again. I need to give myself more practice time. I found that AFTER I gave the last speech that I was better able to remember it.

Maybe you need to do both-- think it over and say it out loud a few times. I've heard the more different ways you interact with something you want to memorize, the better (writing it out, speaking it, listening to it, etc. ....)

Listening is passive. Maybe if you listened for the first half of a skate, then spent the rest of the time trying to recreate it in your mind without help?

(I'm not trying to be pushy! Just spouting some ideas.)

Good luck!

[amused]

You're not being pushy, I appreciate the tips! Writing it out is probably best to put it into memory, it's why they make you take notes in class.

[Blind groper]

Apparently, for many people, speaking in public is feared worse than death.
For me that is not the case. I have done some public speaking and I love it.
I am, in fact, afraid of that love. I love it so much, I fear it will warp and twist me into some kind of egotistical asshole if I do it too much.