I advanced to the district-level in Toastmasters humorous speech contest

Despite some hilarious speeches, Thursday night I won my Toastmasters’ area-level Humorous Speech Contest. My speech was the same one I gave in my club’s contest: titled “Zach Everson’s entry in the humorous speech contest,” it’s about a competition my girlfriend and I have been having for the past year to see whose father is the biggest, well, dork.

Even before I heard the results, I was pleased with my performance. While I was anxious waiting for my turn to speak, I was calm when at the podium. I improvised, adding an anecdote that I’d remembered just a few minutes beforehand; did a better job making eye contact than I’d done in the past; and incorporated more physical movements. I still need to work on speaking slower, however.

And, as expected, the Table Topics competition was impressive to watch. The question was “You were elected mayor of Washington, DC, today; what will be your three biggest initiatives?” The impromptu answers ranged from firing the woman who’s the voice of the Metro and firing all of Washington’s teachers to banning automobiles and installing a light rail.

The district level of humorous speech contest will be October 6 (the time and location will be announced later).

Area-level Toastmasters’ humorous speech contest time, date, and location announced

As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m competing in the area level of the Toastmasters’ humorous speech contest.

The contest will occur from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. September 14 at 1850 I St. NW, Room 1-200, Washington, DC. Feel free to attend. (I need to begin rehearsing my speech; I haven’t given it any thought since the club-level contest a month ago and I never wrote down any of it.)

In addition to the humorous speeches, there also will be a Table Topics contest, where each competitor has to give an impromptu one- to two-minute talk about a subject just given to him or her.

I try to give a prepared speech at every Toastmasters meeting, so I don’t have much experience with the Table Topics, but being able to speak about a topic you’ve just been given is an impressive skill. After I earn my Competent Communicator certification, I probably will focus on Table Topics.

Tips from Toastmasters that will improve your writing

While preparing for a Toastmasters speech that I gave last night (Project 4: How to Say It in the Communication and Leadership Program manual), I noticed the speech instructions had great advice not just for speaking, but also for writing:

• “If you want listeners to understand and accept you, be sure to speak the same way they speak, using familiar words and concepts.”
• “Select words that leave no opportunity for misunderstanding.”
• “Select verbs carefully…use verbs that have energy. Shake, roll, and wiggle have more energy than move.
• “Use active voice…The active voice uses fewer words, is easier to follow, and sounds more lively and interesting.”
• “The verbs is, are, were, and was weaken your message because they don’t show action.”
• “Strive to say a lot in as few words as possible. Many words are unnecessary or are used as ‘fillers.’”
• “Use specialized terminology only when speaking to people familiar with those terms.”

Improving the spoken word

A client recently asked me if I critiqued people’s English when they spoke. While that’s the case with everything I read (which is probably why I get all of my news from The Economist and The New Yorker—they are well written and rarely have a distracting grammatical mistake), when listening I tend to only pick-up horrific gaffes.

Maybe my ears aren’t as critical as my eyes is because my speaking skills lag behind my writing and editing abilities.

I often talk like I write: I start a sentence, think of a better beginning mid-stream, and then start the sentence over. Hence listeners sometimes hear 1.5 sentences—and a confused look.

To rectify this problem, I joined the Global Links chapter of Toastmasters. It meets semi-monthly at the World Bank headquarters. My first speech is at the next meeting (a four to six minute bio sketch), although last week I gave the “word of the day” (one of my favorites, behoove).

The club is a mix of new and old members, some of who are not native English speakers–it’s impressive to hear them deliver a speech. Many of the members work in the development field as well, but there is a good mix of careers.

If you’re looking to hone your speaking skills, I’d suggest joining a club in your area.