Category: Speaking and Evaluating

The Toastmaster magazine has previous issues of magazines available to download. There are lots of presentation tips going  back to January 2007. (Here's the link)

All of us at some point in our speaking career have to give a speech, but don't have the time to prepare. Illness, family problems, extra time needed at work - these are all valid reasons to be in a situation where you have to speak, but haven't prepared like you normally would want. What … Continue reading Writing a Speech in Five Minutes

When you think of old, very old, extremely old speakers. Who's the first person which comes to mind? Larry King? NO - this speaker is older than Larry Impossible you say, no one is older than Larry. Well let me tell you a story. Larry,  had a teacher back in 3rd grade I believe where … Continue reading Aristotle’s Rules for Persuasive Speech

After watching the Jan. 25, 2011 Presidential Sate of the Union speech, I saw something I've never noticed before. It appeared that many people, senators and representatives, were looking down, reading his presentation from a prepared text, instead of looking up at the President. It's discourteous to the speaker, but almost inevitable if you hand … Continue reading Speech Tip for the President

If you're going to use volunteers in your presentation, it's best to sign them up ahead of time. If you don't know the group ask one of the leaders who might be a good willing participant and then go up and make sure it's ok with them. Jolene Brown shared this tip From Speakernet News … Continue reading Volunteer Tip

I just read an interesting article from the NT Times which seems to relate to giving a speech. It  says, "The research, published online Thursday in the journal Science, found that students who read a passage, then took a test asking them to recall what they had read, retained about 50 percent more of the … Continue reading Practicing a Speech – Tip from the NY Times

The Actual Introduction The introduction is where your audience forms their first impression about you. Although it is only a small part of your entire presentation, it is here that you can either grab your audience or totally turn them off. It should have five things: 1. An "attention getter". Never assume the audience is … Continue reading Introductions – 101

The Rule of THREE By Fred E. Miller Read This – Understand It – Use It! No Sweat Public Speaking! - 3 Fingers Three blind mice. The Three Stooges. Three strikes – you’re out! Ready – Aim – Fire! The third time is the charm. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The number … Continue reading Rule of Three

While I like using music in a program, unless you have a decent voice and know the words, keep the singing to the pros.

This speaker probably won't be elected, but his speech and platform won't be forgotten.

Tumminia ( 2 minny ah) I was talking to a Missouri journalism student and he told me that one of the things he was taught was to use pronouncers to help in the pronunciation of difficult names. You take the name and break it down into its phonetic components and put those components into parenthesis. … Continue reading Pronouncers

Bob Gergen was nice enough to share this with the club. Universal-Evaluation-Template

Thanks to Fred Miller for permission to share this tip. ****************************************************** Reading Aloud Will Improve Your Delivery. Practice -Practice -Practice We’ve all heard that mantra, and it’s true. And one of the best ways to improve your voice is to: Read Aloud – Read Aloud – Read Aloud Hearing yourself as you speak, and listening … Continue reading Reading Aloud

by Fred Miller (thanks for permission to use your articles.) My Presentation Was So Good, There Are No Questions - Correct? Don’t bet on it!Many people are shy, and your audience may be full of people who want to ask something, but don’t want to be the first to raise their hand. Some are concerned about asking … Continue reading Are There Any Questions?

Rule #1 for any presentation is to know as much about your audience as possible. Here’s a checklist I use to do just that. ################################### PRESENTATION/AUDIENCE QUESTIONNAIRE These questions are designed to help me prepare a program specifically suited to the needs of your group.  Please take a moment to answer all the questions fully … Continue reading Know Your Audience

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K7LecguB00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvjPDzRBMRA

If you're even slightly interested in becoming a professional speaker, subscribe to SpeakerNet News. It's put out by professional speakers and is free. At times it also has some good speaking tips. I read it every week. - Tom T.

Here's a good example of how a speaker uses his hands for gesturing. He only holds them together in front of himself for 5 out of 90 seconds.    

Carl Hendrickson has graciously accepted the post of "Last Minute Speaker Committee Chairperson." His job is to find last minute fill-in speakers for the regular Toastmaster meeting.  Ideally these might be educational speeches and/or topics which have been suggested by our last club survey. Those topics are listed at the bottom of this posting. Here … Continue reading Last Minute Speakers

Last night I asked the question of club members if they wanted to be adequate, good or great speakers. 99% indicated they wanted to be great speakers.  One of the tips I shared with them is that if you want to be a great speaker, you need to listen to and watch other great speakers … Continue reading Adequate, Good, or Great – What Do You Want to Be?

I had a fellow Toastmaster give me a call and asked me what to do with her 12 minute speech when the manual calls for a 5 to 7 minute speech. I gave her three options: 1. Cut, Cut, Cut. While we'd all like to think that everything we've written is earth-shattering and "A" material, … Continue reading What to Do with a 12 Minute Speech

For a new speaker, the lectern can be a great hiding place. You can physically hide most of your body, you have your notes right in front of you and to prevent your shaking you can always grab onto it for support. For an advanced speaker however, the lectern becomes a barrier. It keeps you … Continue reading Lectern – In Back – In Front – or Move It

Here's a quick way to research your speech topic - use Google Alerts. While most people will use the Google Search engine when working on a speech, most of that information is old. It could be years old, months old or at least weeks old. Wouldn't it be great if you could get the very … Continue reading Google Alerts for Speech Research

Here are a few tips on using a lectern. No, it's not a podium - see wikipedia. 1. If you're the Toastmaster or Master of Ceremonies, you should try to sit right next to the lectern. This facilitates the transition from one speaker back to the Toastmaster and doesn't waste everyone's time waiting for the … Continue reading Lecterns 101

The Ambassadors of Harmony encapsulate a lot of things we would like to bring as a speaker. Energy, movement, hand gestures, facial expression and surprise.  The next time you find yourself scheduled as a speaker ask yourself the question, "How can I be more like the AOH? (Note - they practice in St. Charles Mo., … Continue reading Speaking Like They Sing – Ambassadors of Harmony

Archives of the Toastmaster magazine are available to view and download. If you click on the monthly magazine you will get the entire magazine. (click here)

Dee reminds us that we use vocal variety all during the day. Just remember to use those same vocal inflections in your next speech.

Effective Evaluations Tips

Bill gives us some great tips on using gestures.

In Front of the Lectern Carl H. Hendrickson, DTM The ancient Greeks and Romans would speak for hour after hour without notes. But many Toastmasters, novice and veteran alike, cannot leave the comfort zone of the lectern or do away with their crutch – their notes. But, by knowing a few memory “tricks,” each of … Continue reading Speaking Without Notes

Thanks to Robert Graham (robert@grahamcomm.net) for these tips. Few things can bond and establish a connection with a group like learning everyone's name quickly. I routinely do this with groups of up to 15, and the look on their faces, when 10 minutes into the workshop I can call everyone by their first name, is … Continue reading Remembering Participants’ Names