... shy and introvert follower. I quit this job in Schaumburg, IL with all these frustrations and I started my new job at Department of Human Services in Springfield, IL. It was about time for me to do something about my communication skills and stop being shy in front of an audience. I had heard from a friend about toastmasters and I looked up online for a club in Springfield, IL. Fortunately, I chose to make a visit to McBrian Lincoln Douglas Toastmasters in April, 2008 and I felt very welcomed by the friendly gestures of the members. I did hear some great speeches in that meeting from the members and I decided these are the people who can certainly help me groom my speaking skills. I joined and gave my first ice breaker speech called "Me Myself". Though it was humorous, I can certainly say it was mediocre in the way it was delivered. But the club members were supportive and my evaluator put in a 'sandwich' style evaluation, finding some positive elements even in that extremely bad speech. My journey with Toastmasters International and the Toastmasters Members started from there and has been only a phenomenal and fantabulous one. McBrian Lincoln Douglas Toastmasters club is what I call a 3D- Diverse club. It is diverse with age; I get to hear a 23 year old speak and I also get to listen to the great wisdoms of 95 year old member. It is diverse with geographical background; there are people who...
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...TRIUMPHS OF TRAINING PGR Nair In the year 1996, when I was the president of Cochin Film Society, I organized a week long “Film Appreciation camp” in Cochin drawing people from all over Kerala. PK Nair, the former curator of National Film Archives of India was the Camp director. The purpose was to give training to movie buffs on how to understand and appreciate good films. It included screening of over 40 world film classics ranging from “Battleship Potemkin” (Eisenstein) to modern masterpieces like “Elektra My Love” (Miklos Jancso) followed by discussion sessions. The Camp was inaugurated by the great Malayalam Novelist and Jnanpeeth award winner MT Vasudevan Nair, popularly known as MT. MT is also well-known in Kerala as a film script writer whose films have won National awards several times. During his speech he inspired us with a powerful example of transformation a film society in Karnataka achieved through training. In a village near Belgaum, every evening the Belgaum film society used to freely screen film classics in world cinema to an assembly of villagers in a maidan. The films included works from masters such Akira Kurosawa, Bergman , Federico Fellini, Michelangelo Antonioni, Satyajit Ray. A veteran Kannada film critic used to make an introductory appreciation speech about each film and he would then translate the English subtitles into Kannada language so that the villagers understood each film in all respects. A month following this regular exposure of...
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...MEMBER ACHIEVEMENT RECORD Member Achievement Record for: ___________________________________________________________________________________________ NAME Use this form to track your progress in Toastmasters’ educational programs. By recording manual completions and other activities, you can monitor progress toward the CC, ACB, ACS, ACG, CL, ALB, ALS and DTM awards. My club has assigned a mentor to help me. My mentor is: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ LAST NAME FIRST NAME EMAIL ADDRESS __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ADDRESS TELEPHONE NUMBER (DAY) __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CITY STATE/PROVINCE ZIP TELEPHONE NUMBER (EVENING) TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION AND LEADERSHIP TRACKS The Toastmasters educational program consists of two tracks: a communication track and a lead rship track. You can participate e in both tracks at the same time or choose just one to start. Both tracks provide recognition for specific accomplishments. The diagram below shows the award rogression in each track. Following pages provide more detail. p LEADERSHIP TRACK Competent Leader AND Competent Communicator Advanced Leader Bronze Advanced Leader Silver New Member DTM Competent Communicator ...
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...an idea; define or solve a problem; gain consensus for a decision; provide training; or encourage motivation. Why are they there? Is attendance mandatory? Any time anyone attends a meeting, they will always be asking themselves, "What's in it for me?" Be sure you answer that question for them. What information is needed to support your purpose? How will you present it? Keep your points short, concise and understandable to your audience. Use visuals to clarify and reinforce your message. Where is it going to take place? The room that the presentation is in will have an impact on how you present. Will you need a projector or can you use flip charts? Will you need a microphone? Do you need a riser (podium)? Presentation Format From Toastmasters International, Inc.'s Communication and Leadership Program comes a typical...
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...10 Reasons to Join Toastmasters! 1. Develop valuable communications skills Employers value, seek out, hire, and promote people who communicate effectively. Customers are also drawn to good communicators. Here’s what business guru Tom Peters had to say: “Join Toastmasters. Oral communication skills count enormously. A lot of managers aren’t bad at public speaking. But “aren’t bad” ain’t good enough, not if you’re wise – and especially these days when jawing with the same old gang from year to year is becoming rare. Height and hair color may be in the genes. Public speaking isn’t. It’s a skill that can be studied, polished, more or less perfected. (Toastmasters) does a fabulous job of helping people shape up their communication skills.” (Tom Peters, The Pursuit of WOW, 1994) 2. Develop valuable leadership skills As a Toastmaster, you have an opportunity to take advantage of a range of leadership opportunities. You can do so within the club from week to week (e.g. Chair, Toastmaster, and General Evaluator). You’ll also have the opportunity to move beyond the club and exercise leadership in the broader Toastmasters Community: e.g. Area, Division, and District. 3. Develop valuable teamwork skills Teamwork skills are extremely important. How do you inspire and motivate people to achieve a collective goal? How do you pull a team together to implement a vision? In Toastmasters, you’ll learn how to do this and other aspects...
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...COM 225: Public Speaking ASU Fall 2013 • T/Th 4:30-5:45 PM • SL #70374 Instructor: Dr. Karen Stewart Office: Stauffer Hall 220 E-mail: Karen.A.Stewart@asu.edu Office Hours: Monday and Tuesday 1:30-3:00pm Phone: 480-965-5095 (HDSHC main office) and by appointment WELCOME TO COM 225! The purpose of this course is to enable you to better understand theories and practices of public speaking. This course is designed to improve not only your delivery techniques but also your speech-writing and persuasion abilities. Additionally, this course is arranged to develop the skills necessary for you to critically evaluate both written and spoken speeches of others and to enter the public dialogue on issues that are important to you and your life. I am confident there is much to gain from the study of public speaking. The skills developed by engaging in this course work have practical applications in each of your lives. Although your participation may take place in various forms and environments, each of you will inevitably face the task of delivering, constructing, or consuming speeches. Developing your public speaking skills will prepare you for school or work presentations, job interviews, political campaigns, community meetings, and many other situations as well. BENEFITS OF THIS COURSE The objectives of this course are to: • Improve your speech delivery • Understand the ability to create effective speeches • Improve your listening...
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...A.J. Claudio English 312 May 6, 2012 Public Speaking Statement: Public speaking can be challenging when people are struggling to get their speech together. When on-stage speaking in front of a group of people may not seem so bad, unless you are unprepared to speak then it may become extremely nerve racking. Delivering a speech is easier for some than for others; however, it may be difficult for anyone who is ill prepared. Some ways you can be unprepared is by not spending your time writing your speech, getting all the facts straight and in order. This results in your work remaining incomplete. Also if you do not rehearse you are more likely to make a mistake or say something that doesn’t contribute to the subject of your speech. When all the facts are in order, the speaker is able to exude confidence when delivering his/her speech. A well written speech will also stick to the point and follow a certain order, whether it is time sequence or importance. When writing a speech, one must keep in mind who they are speaking to and what is the purpose of giving the speech. If you do not spend the time writing with a purpose, delivering the speech may become very difficult. So research your subject, find a purpose, and write with confidence. In class while watching my classmates delivers their speeches I was able to identify the people who were prepared and those who weren’t. The ones that were prepared had a very well executed presentation and they kept me involved. They...
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...Movie Review: The King’s Speech The King’s Speech relates to this course by showing someone who struggles with presenting speeches in front of large crowds of people, eventually gets over his fear and accomplishes his goal by giving an amazing speech. I’m almost for certain that more than half of my public speaking class is afraid to give a speech in front of people due to nerves. To me, giving a speech in front of people makes me nervous and scared. I feel like the King George VI because I tend to mumble and move around a lot when I give speeches. If I were in the King’s situation I would seek help just as he did. But instead of freaking out all the time, I would practice my speeches and try to find different tactics that would help me remain calm while I’m presenting. This movie makes me believe that public speaking is intimidating. But with a composed attitude and a straightforward speech I will be able to tackle the nerves and give a worthy speech. To form a good impression on the listeners I have to make eye contact with the audience members, speak slowly and loud, take pauses when needed, and show appropriate facial emotions when I’m sincere about what I have to say. When preparing my speech I have to create an introduction that gets the audience’s attention, so then they will become interested in what my speech is about. Seeing the King’s speeches fail made me realize that I should take appropriate actions when feeling apprehensive. I should act confident, know what...
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...The Art Of Public Speaking Jemaire D. Steward New York University The Art Of Public Speaking The person who understand the importance of getting their message across in a clear, confident, and persuasive manner and are looking for ways to elevate their delivery from 'good' to 'great'. Successful Public Speaking offers specific, easy to practice strategies and tools to help you: structure your material for the best impact; cope with nervousness; maximize the effect of your presentation by using compelling visual aids; and connect with audiences of varied sizes. It also offers sound advice on how to avoid common public speaking mistakes, that even experienced speakers sometimes make, and tips on how to master the art of storytelling. The three main types of speeches are the informative, the persuasive, and the special occasion. Before deciding which best suits their purposes, however, speakers should first establish their objective in delivering the speech. Once speakers have the objective clearly established, they are then equipped to make the most suitable choice regarding what type of speech to deliver; however, before making this decision, they must have a clear understanding of the three main types of speeches. As the word “informative” implies, an informative speech “informs” those in attendance by providing them with information. Therefore, the speaker is a teacher, and his or her purpose is to educate the audience regarding a topic; and that topic may be an object...
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...Whitney July 28, 2014 SPC 205 A01 Mal Reeder Outlook on Public Speaking In order for public speaking to become a skill, there are a few areas in which I need to improve to make it a suitable strength. Public speaking is not a weakness for me but I would like to transform it into one of my strengths. During my four to five minute Tell A Story speech, I really didn’t have any weaknesses besides not having effective speaking notes and learn to write less. My strengths with this speech was that I was very raw and emotional which Ms. Reeder said was a great way to introduce myself to the class and her. I really don’t have to worry about eye contact or getting my audience’s attention and setting the appropriate mood for my speech. With my Tell A Story speech I truly believe that this is one of my best speeches. Now with my Informative speech my strengths were that I was very happy giving the speech and very engaging on the Information that I was teaching my classmates and teacher. I had a couple of weaknesses with this speech, like I needed to have more sources from different places instead of all coming from the same source, I didn’t have a good Artistic last line but overall everything was excellent. Finally, my Persuasive speech was not the best one of them all. I really don’t believe that I was well prepared to give this speech due to the simple fact that when talking about the death penalty, it’s kind of hard. I admit that I had a lack of research when giving this speech...
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...Elizabeth Ann Armstrong Course Speech (27 WEB 201108) Test Quiz 3 Started 8/29/11 3:09 PM Submitted 8/29/11 3:14 PM Status Completed Score 17 out of 20 points Time Elapsed 4 minutes. Instructions Answer questions. Question 1 .1 out of 1 points Reggie had a speech to prepare. He selected a topic, did his research, and sat down to draft the speech. He outlined the main points first and added the introduction and conclusion later. Is this a "textbook" way to organize a speech? Answer Selected Answer: Yes; your text suggests to start with the body of the speech first, then go back and draft the intro. Correct Answer: Yes; your text suggests to start with the body of the speech first, then go back and draft the intro. . Question 2 .1 out of 1 points The primary objective of class lectures, seminars, and workshops is to Answer Selected Answer: inform. Correct Answer: inform. . Question 3 .1 out of 1 points When you inform, which of the following do you accomplish? Answer Selected Answer: all of the above Correct Answer: all of the above . Question 4 .0 out of 1 points If the central idea is "There are three ways to interpret the stock-market page of your local newspaper," and you organize the speech into three parts, which method are you using to generate the main ideas? Answer Selected Answer: all of the above Correct Answer: logical divisions . Question 5 .1...
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...People in my group are easy to talk to and it wasn’t hard for us to choose the topic. We had several options but cultures around the world become our final topic because we all from different background and also talked about the specific food, places and shared why this culture values important to us. Since this is a public speaking class assignment, therefore, Jay and other classmates are our intended audience. This is another reason we why we choose our topic because we thought food and traveling around are the things our classmates will be interested. We used Panopto to record our speech as the assignment required. None of my group members used it before but Rohit (our tech guy) took the responsibility to doing all the technology integration besides his own speech part. I am glad that we have actually intended to imagine that what if someone fails to record his or her speech; therefore, we record our individual part separately and combine them together. Hence, even if someone made mistakes, she or he can do it again without ruin other’s speeches. I think we planned ahead well so we used our own time and delivered. It not only saved time but also with less pressure compare to record speech while people are watching you. This is completely different experience to complete group speech by using a mediated tool rather than presenting in the class. I think there are more strengths than challenges. Since we never used it before, so the attempt is already a succeed because there...
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...Body Language Body Language: Body language is the movement or position of your body that shows other people how you are feeling, even though you do not tell them in words. It includes both gestures and postures. Gesture: Gesture is a movement of the hands, arms or head, etc. to express an idea or feeling. Posture: Posture is the way in which someone usually holds their shoulders, neck and back, or a particular position in which someone stands, sits, etc. Important gestures: Gestures are components of speech, not accompaniments or ‘add-ons’ (Adam Kendon’s 2008 term), but actually integral parts of it. If you look around and watch someone talking face to face or through mobile in informal terms, you are likely to see the hands and arms in motion. Gestures are considered as the most evocative form of nonverbal communication the speakers can employ. No other kind of physical action can enhance your speeches in as many ways as gestures. They clarify and support your words, dramatize your ideas, lend emphasis and vitality, help dissipate nervous tension, function as visual aids and stimulate audience participation. So gestures should be purposeful, meaningful and visible. "I am the most spontaneous speaker in the world because every word, every gesture, and every retort has been carefully rehearsed." George Bernard Shaw Types of gestures: There are four major types of gestures: 1) Descriptive gestures 2) Emphatic gestures 3) Suggestive gestures and 4) Prompting gestures ...
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...American University of Science & Technology English & Translation Department Course Syllabus Fall 2012-2013 Course Title: ENG 205 – English Communication Skills Chairperson: Mr. Fadi EL-Hakim Textbook * Public Speaking An Audience-Centered Approach By Steven A. Beebe –Susan J. Beebe, 8th edition * Writing Research Papers By James Lester, 11th edition Course Description Most careers require some level of public speaking ability, whether it involves making a proposal to your group or management at work, making a sales presentation, teaching people how to use a product or system, or making a presentation to your employees as a manager. Sometimes we face other public speaking situations; including teaching young people how to do something, making our opinion known at a public meeting, or commemorating special events. Course Objective: The aim of this course is to help students become a more effective and responsible speaker and listener. It will encourage them to communicate more openly in different settings (speeches, group discussion, interviews, etc.). This course will also enhance effective public speaking skills, and research methodology techniques. Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to: * differentiate between the basic forms of speeches: informative and persuasive. * become articulate in speech making * increase your confidence in your public speaking ability. * learn principles of...
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...In A Concise Public Speaking Handbook third edition, chapter 22 explained “Informative Speaking.” An informative speech is speech which usually shares information to better a person’s understanding of the topics demonstrated. Some common goals when giving an informative speech include: speaking to improve others knowledge, talking to keep the audience’s interest, and speaking to be remembered. There are 5 different types speeches that fall under the category of informative speeches; which are speeches about objects, procedures, people, ideas, and events. Even though, these speeches have resemblances, they each have unique arrangements. When presenting a speech about a person, using details about the person’s life or stories can be of use when gathering support materials. Visual aids can also be of great use for supporting materials, when delivering a speech about objects and or procedures. The use of stories, examples, and statistics can also enhance an informative speech presentation, about events and or ideas. Other topics that were discussed in chapter 22 are how to speak clearly, the use of principle,s and techniques to teach adults. For example, some people learn better by listening, others learn better by reading as oppose to an oral presentation, meanwhile others learn better through images and words, and some people learn better by being active. In addition, different ways to maintain the interest of the audience were also discussed, that includes telling stories, presenting...
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