I advanced to the area-level in Toastmasters’ humorous speech contest

Last week I won my Toastmaster club’s humorous speech contest with a spiel about my dad. I’d share it here, but I never wrote it down. I’m forcing myself to speak without notes, so when preparing my speeches, I just jot down the main points, memorize them, and then rehearse in front of the mirror.

While I was pleased with the content (my dad does give me a lot of fodder), I need to continue to hone my speaking skills.

Before the contest I read a Toastmaster’s book on communicating with body language. It helped a lot—not only to gain my audience’s attention and underscore the points of my speech, but also to dissipate my nervousness. In my previous two speeches I had no idea what to do with my body. Using gestures when speaking provides a physical outlet for anxiety.

Anyway, I’ll be giving my speech again at the area-level contest on September 14. I’ll post the time and place once I get that information.

3 Comments

Mike Berta  on August 21st, 2006

Congrats on your speech contest win. I’ve hosted and won up to the District level. Good luck!

From Penang Malaysia  on August 23rd, 2006

Wow! congratulation to you, it must be a very outstanding speech.
Our club’s contest is on tomorrow.

Zach Everson  on August 24th, 2006

Thanks! Did you participate in your contest, From Penang? If so, how did you do?

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