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Toastmasters Speech Series: Your Guide to the First 10 Speeches by Andrew Dlugan Apr 24th, 2008

This is the first article of the Toastmasters Speech Series — a collection of articles which examines the fundamentals of public speaking.

Not familiar with Toastmasters? Find out here.

For Toastmasters and non-Toastmasters alike, these articles show how you can graduate from speaking fear to inspiring your audience.

The format for the series will be one article for each of the ten speeches which comprise the introductory Toastmasters manual — the Competent Communicator Manual.

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The Toastmasters Speech Series

1. The Ice Breaker 2. Organize Your Speech 3. Get to the Point 4. How To Say It 5. Your Body Speaks 6. Vocal Variety 7. Research Your Topic 8. Get Comfortable with Visual Aids (coming next) 9. Persuade With Power 10. Inspire Your Audience

For Toastmasters and Non-Toastmasters Alike If you are a Toastmaster, this is your guide through the first ten speeches. For each speech project, we’ll look at tips, techniques, and wherever possible, written and video examples of speeches which demonstrate the goals.

If you are not a Toastmaster, consider this an introductory public speaking course. Each of the 10 speeches covers one fundamental skill for public speakers. This is the solid formula on which the Toastmasters program is based. If you’ve never joined Toastmasters or taken a public speaking course, this series will be a primer for you.

Overview of the First Ten Toastmasters Speeches As the articles are published, each of these will turn into links to those articles.

Speech 1: The Ice Breaker — The first speech of the Toastmasters program is about introducing yourself to your peers, providing a benchmark for your current skill level, and standing and speaking without falling over.

Speech 2: Organize Your Speech — Introduces the basic concepts of organizing a speech around a speech outline.

Speech 3: Get to the Point — Clearly state your speech goal, and make sure that every element of your speech focuses on that goal.

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Speech 4: How to Say It — Examines word choice, sentence structure, and rhetorical devices.

Speech 5: Your Body Speaks — Shows how to complement words with posture, stance, gestures, facial expressions, and eye contact.

Speech 6: Vocal Variety — Guides you to add life to your voice with variations in pitch, pace, power, and pauses.

Speech 7: Research Your Topic — Addresses the importance of backing up your arguments with evidence, and touches on the types of evidence to use.

Speech 8: Get Comfortable With Visual Aids — Examines the use of slides, transparencies, flip charts, whiteboards, or props.

Speech 9: Persuade With Power — Discusses audience analysis and the different forms of persuasion available to a speaker.

Speech 10: Inspire Your Audience — The last of ten speeches, this project challenges the speaker to draw all their skills together to deliver a powerful inspirational message.

Sample Written Speeches and Speech Videos Each article will include several examples of real speeches written and delivered by Toastmasters.

The purpose of including these samples is not to say “Look, here’s the right way to do this project.” In fact, there is no single “right way.”

Instead, I hope these sample speeches will provide ideas and inspiration for you as you search for relevant topics from your own life experiences.

Next in the Toastmasters Speech Series

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The next article in this series addresses Speech 1: The Ice Breaker

Toastmasters Speech 1: The Ice Breaker by Andrew Dlugan Apr 24th, 2008

Ice breaker (or Icebreaker) is a term which describes an activity which reduces tension and anxiety in a group.

Thus, it is fitting that the first Toastmaster speech project is titled The Ice Breaker.

This article of the Toastmasters Speech Series examines the primary goals of this project, provides tips and techniques, and links to numerous sample speeches.

The Toastmasters Speech Series

1. The Ice Breaker 2. Organize Your Speech 3. Get to the Point 4. How To Say It

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5. Your Body Speaks 6. Vocal Variety 7. Research Your Topic 8. Get Comfortable with Visual Aids (coming next) 9. Persuade With Power 10. Inspire Your Audience

Why is This Speech Important? The Ice Breaker speech has three aims:

1. Introduce yourself. Your ice breaker speech topic is you – something about your life, your job, your hobbies, your unique interests, your family, or any combination of these. You are an absolute authority on this topic, and everyone in the audience will learn something about you.

2. Begin to conquer the fear of speaking in front of a group. It is nervewracking when speaking in front of a new group. If you feel this nervousness, remember that a Toastmaster audience is always supportive and understanding. Nobody is grading you, and nobody will mind if you stumble through 99 “Um”s and “Ah”s. If you get up, say something, and sit down, you have succeeded in this project.

3. Provide a “base line” of your current strengths and weaknesses. Some new members have no public speaking experience, while others have years of presentations behind them. No matter where you fit into this spectrum, your goal is to improve from your starting point. This first speech helps club members gauge your current strengths so that they can make specific recommendations to help you improve.

Tips and Techniques The Competent Communicator manual has a wealth of helpful advice. You can download a PDF version of the first project from the Toastmasters International website.

Here are a few other things which may help you:

“Nobody expects you to be a world-class orator. Just do your best.”

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Ask for Help If you have a mentor, don’t hesitate to ask them for help. If you don’t, feel free to ask any other club member. Perhaps they can share what they spoke about for their Icebreaker. Perhaps they can help you select a topic. Perhaps you can practice it privately before the meeting. All other members have gone through the Ice Breaker before, and can provide words of encouragement.

Practice Helps You don’t need to practice the speech 35 times, and you don’t need to have it memorized. However, your nervousness will be reduced considerably if you give it a couple of practice runs out loud (even if your only audience is you).

Timing The recommended time for the Ice Breaker speech is four to six minutes. It may seem like a long time, but in later projects, you’ll start wishing you had much more time to deliver your message. Don’t worry too much about going under or over time. Just aim for somewhere in that range.

Notes There are no rules on the use of notes. If you need notes, use them. If you don’t need notes, don’t. Either way, don’t worry about it. It’s okay if you read your ice breaker from a script (just try to look up once in a while), if you refer to cue cards, or if you talk without notes.

Don’t Expect to be Winston Churchill This is your first challenge. Nobody expects you to be a world-class orator. Just do your best. Once you have established your “base line”, then you can aim to raise your skill level in future projects.

Speak Up and Slow Down Two common effects of nervousness are mumbling words and racing through the speech. Try to avoid these, but don’t worry if you can’t help it.

Humour Reduces Your Nervousness If you are comfortable incorporating humour into your ice breaker, go for it. The laughs from the audience will reduce your nervousness. An easy way to do this is to make a self-depracating joke at the start. (If nobody laughs, don’t worry about that either… it’s something to work on later.)

Apologizing You may feel an urge to apologize to your audience (e.g. for uttering too many “Um”s, for losing your place, etc.). There is no need to do so! Often, the audience doesn’t notice the little glitches, and it is much better for you to ignore them too.

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Topic Ideas for Your Ice Breaker Speech Although your broad topic is yourself, there are numerous angles to take, and several ways to organize your speech.

Don’t worry too much about the organization of the speech; later speech projects (especially #2 and #3) encourage you to focus more on that. However, having said that, one of these ideas may help you overcome writer’s block.

Idea #1: Chronological

For many people, a series of chronological snapshots of their life is the easiest to write and deliver.

Example: Ravi Singal takes this approach with his Ice Breaker: Why Me? Try Me!

Example: Oleg Kagan starts at birth in his Ice Breaker speech.

Idea #2: Topical

Discuss a series of elements of your life to provide a “sampling” of your life. For example, you could open up by talking about your family, then discuss your career, and conclude with your hobbies.

Example: Bob Cain addresses his love of travel, then photography, and then his career/education in his Ice Breaker speech. (video)

Idea #3: Common Thread

Select a common thread that runs through your life, and share brief stories where this common element appears. It might be a signature phrase, a philosophy that guides you, or even something obscure like peanut butter. (i.e. imagine stories through your life where peanut butter played a role)

My own Ice Breaker speech followed this general structure. It was titled “Andrew of All Trades – Master of None” and touched on several examples where I have breadth, but not depth of knowledge.

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Example: Steph Corwin provides a great example with her Ice Breaker titled Swimming Through Life.

Idea #4: One Key Event

Focus on one critical event which took your life in a completely different direction.

Example: Tanya Huang talks about moving continents in Made in Taiwan, Calibrated in Canada.

Idea #5: How I Got Here…

A combination of #1 and #4, explain the series of decisions or events that brought you “here”, where “here” might be the place you currently live, the job you currently have, the life you lead, or the decision to join Toastmasters.

Example: Tracy Buxton does this wonderfully in her Ice Breaker titled I used to be June Cleaver, but I’m not sure who I am now.

Example: Jill Williamson also demonstrates this approach in the aptly titled How I Came To Be Here. (video)

More Examples of The Ice Breaker Here are a few more sample written and video speeches which may provide inspiration for you.

Written Speech Examples

Words Have Power by Monkey Sri My Enduring Purpose by Benjamin Life is Like a Box of Chocolates by Kevin Chester Kuo Interest-aholic by Didier Thizy When I close my eyes by Shalabieh My Name is Shay by Seamus McInerney End Quote by Anna Min I am Not Who I Thought I Was by Michael Harris

The Toastmasters Speech Series

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1. The Ice Breaker 2. Organize Your Speech 3. Get to the Point 4. How To Say It 5. Your Body Speaks 6. Vocal Variety 7. Research Your Topic 8. Get Comfortable with Visual Aids (coming next) 9. Persuade With Power 10. Inspire Your Audience

Video Speech Examples

5 Years by Betsy Dewey No, I was Not Named After a Charlie’s Angel by Farah Ulat Life is a Beautiful Dance by Sharon Burt Loves to Hear Herself Talk by Stephanie Bryant Inspiration of My 9-11 Inspiration Video by Alex Johnson Who Am I? The Reluctant Speaker by Paul Clausell

Next in the Toastmasters Speech Series The next article in this series examines Speech 2: Organize Your Speech.

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Toastmasters Speech 2: Organize Your Speech by Andrew Dlugan Apr 29th, 2008

When you speak, does your audience get it?

If your audience doesn’t grasp your message (even though your topic is one you know they are interested in), you need to rethink the way you present it. You need to organize your ideas to promote understanding.

The second Toastmasters speech project addresses organizing your speech. This article of the Toastmasters Speech Series examines

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the primary goals of this project, provides tips and techniques, and links to numerous sample speeches.

The Toastmasters Speech Series

1. The Ice Breaker 2. Organize Your Speech 3. Get to the Point 4. How To Say It 5. Your Body Speaks 6. Vocal Variety 7. Research Your Topic 8. Get Comfortable with Visual Aids (coming next) 9. Persuade With Power 10. Inspire Your Audience

Why is This Speech Important? There are four aims for this speech:

Use an outline which aids understanding. I previously discussed several speech outline examples in detail.

Transition smoothly from one point to the next. Craft an effective speech opening. Craft an effective speech conclusion.

These are fundamental skills that you apply to every speech you’ll ever deliver, whether it is a 2 minute off-the-cuff speech, a 15 minute business proposal, or a 60 minute keynote.

Transitions are the Key

Of the four elements, appropriate transitions are most lacking in the majority of presentations that I have seen. Most speakers have an introduction and conclusion, with supporting material arranged in some form of outline. But, there is often little in the way of transition phrases that link the speech together in a cohesive unit.

In a written piece (like this article), headings, bullets, and punctuation provide cues to the reader that help them understand the macro-organization.

In a verbal speech, use pauses and transition phrases to achieve this effect so that the audience knows when one point ends, and the next begins.

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What I Did for Speech 2 For my second speech topic, I chose The Open Directory Project (ODP). Here’s a brief outline and the key transitions I used:

1. Opening – State topic: the what, who, and why of ODP. 2. What is ODP?

1. Large – 4.5 million sites 2. Internet Directory (compared to a telephone book to

aid understanding) 3. Transition: “Something this large doesn’t just spring

out of the earth. Someone has to build it.” (this leads naturally into the “who”)

3. Who builds ODP? 67,000 volunteers! 1. Volunteer demographics 2. Volunteer roles 3. Transition: “What inspires 67,000 people to volunteer

their time?” (this leads naturally into the “why”) 4. Why is ODP important?

1. Anyone can join 2. Data is free 3. Data complements results of Google and other search

engines 5. Conclusion – Summary of 3 main points, and a call-to-action to

check it out. 1. “I hope this talk has whet your appetite to find out

more.” This was a reference back to the speech title: A Taste of ODP.

Topic Ideas for Toastmasters Speech 2 Select a straightforward outline to organize your speech:

1. The Classic “Three Supporting Points” 2. Chronological 3. Geographical

Idea #1: The Classic “Three Supporting Points”

In this outline, you begin by stating a premise in your introduction, support it with three reasons or three supporting points in your body, and then summarize in your conclusion. It doesn’t need to be 3 points,

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but this is a convenient number that fits well with a five to seven minute speech.

Example: Maile provides an excellent example of clear and parallel structure for a speech with How Dance has Helped Me In the Real Estate Business (video). Her basic structure is:

Opening: “20 pounds and nine years ago, I was a dancer…” which leads into stating 3 dance principles which help in real estate.

Principle 1: Practice Perfect Performance Principle 2: Visualize the Result You Desire Principle 3: Get Out and See the People Conclusion: restate three principles

This speech was especially strong because of a consistent pattern that was used for each of the three points, along with a parallel structure. The pattern applied was:

Transition: “the second principle I’d like to share…[name principle]“

Lesson from dance: “… as a dancer… [explain principle in dancing context]“

Relate to real estate: “… this technique has also served me well in the real estate arena… [explain principle in real estate context]“

Maile used this parallel pattern for all three points, and the speech is very easy to understand. The Toastmaster evaluation of this speech (video) is also available.

Example: Tanya Huang also demonstrates this classic method in a speech titled Cougarlicious (written). Her basic structure is:

Open with a surprising revelation: she wants to be a “cougar” when she grows up.

Definition of a cougar. Reason 1: Fashion.

Transition: “So, why do I want to be a cougar when I grow old? My first reason is…”

Reason 2: Confidence Transition: “Confidence is another quality …”

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Reason 3: Aggression Transition: “Aggression is another cougar

characteristic…” Conclusion: Sums up speech by reiterating the three reasons,

and explicitly saying “These are the cougar qualities and the reason I want to be a cougar.”

Idea #2: Chronological

A chronological outline is appropriate for many speeches that describe a sequence of events. It is also appropriate for describing a process or a step-by-step technique.

Example: Brian demonstrates this technique with a speech about Six Sigma (video).

Introduction to Jack Welch and origins of Six Sigma Definition: What is six sigma? List the 5 Stages: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control

(and then stepped through each stage with explanation) Conclusion to reinforce importance of Six Sigma

Note his transition phrases which give a direction or imply a sequence (“… from there, we…” or “… after analyzing, we…”).

Idea #3: Geographical

A geographical outline is a convenient method to organize a speech about travels, or where you are contrasting your topic (e.g. pastries) across many locations (e.g. French pastries vs. German pastries vs. Dutch pastries).

Example: Elizabeth Mitchell uses this method in Seven Lessons from Seven Continents.

Of note, the introductory words for each segment (“My first continent…”, “My second continent…”) clearly mark the boundaries for each of the seven segments of the speech.

More Examples of Organize Your Speech

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Here are a few more sample written and video speeches which may provide inspiration for you.

Written Speech Examples

Scotch by Chris Lee Democracy! God help us by Seamus McInerney What’s in a Name? by Amit Bhatnagar

The Toastmasters Speech Series

1. The Ice Breaker 2. Organize Your Speech 3. Get to the Point 4. How To Say It 5. Your Body Speaks 6. Vocal Variety 7. Research Your Topic 8. Get Comfortable with Visual Aids (coming next) 9. Persuade With Power 10. Inspire Your Audience

Video Speech Examples

Videoblogging by Stephanie Bryant 37.5 Hours by an unknown speaker

Next in the Toastmasters Speech Series The next article in this series examines Speech 3: Get to the Point.

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Toastmasters Speech 3: Get to the Point by Andrew Dlugan May 26th, 2008

Have you ever been to a painfully bad seminar with audience members murmuring to each other…?

“What was that about?“ “He was all over the place today.“ “What was her point?“

These are symptoms of a speech that had no clear objective and was not focused on achieving that objective.

The third Toastmasters speech project stresses the importance of clearly identifying your target objective, and then maintaining precise focus to achieve it. This article of the Toastmasters Speech Series examines the primary goals of this project, provides tips and techniques, and links to numerous sample speeches.

The Toastmasters Speech Series

1. The Ice Breaker 2. Organize Your Speech 3. Get to the Point

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4. How To Say It 5. Your Body Speaks 6. Vocal Variety 7. Research Your Topic 8. Get Comfortable with Visual Aids (coming next) 9. Persuade With Power 10. Inspire Your Audience

Why is This Speech Important? Your aims for this speech project revolve around being focused and precise:

Determine your general purpose. Focus in on your specific purpose. Ensure that the entire speech maintains focus on your

objective.

The Easy Part: Get to the Point

Your first task is to get to the point. Before you generate an outline or your first draft, be sure you know your purpose precisely. Make sure you can state it in a single simple sentence.

A common pitfall is to choose topics which are too broad; remember that your time is limited. This can be challenging, but if you adopt the practice of determining your purpose before writing anything else, you will find this to be the easy part. (Read an earlier article about selecting a speech topic.)

The Harder Part: Stay Focused On the Point

The much harder part — and the part that many speakers struggle badly with — is staying focused on the point.

No speaker intends to stray from their purpose; rather, it happens quite accidentally. Somewhere between getting to the point and writing the first draft, a collection of off topic elements are inserted into the speech.

It might be an off-topic opening anecdote which is “too good not to share”.

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It might be some jaw-dropping statistics that are only remotely related to the topic.

It might be the latest whiz-bang effect in PowerPoint that is glitzy, but content-empty.

Find these extraneous elements, and eliminate them while editing your speech. Every element of your speech must reinforce your purpose. Each time you edit your speech, your goal should be to sharpen the focus. (Read a previous article with six power principles for speech editing.)

What I Did for Speech 3 My speech topic was Raising a Reader. (I had just finished reading the excellent book from Jim Trelease titled The Read-Aloud Handbook. I highly recommend it for parents.)

My original purpose was going to be to encourage the audience to be lifelong readers. I discovered a wealth of supporting evidence. However, I felt this topic was too broad.

Instead, I wrote my specific purpose: “After hearing this speech, the audience will be able to identify three reasons why reading aloud to a child is the best way to encourage them to be a lifelong reader.”

To support this purpose, my speech was organized as follows:

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Opening hook which illustrated the strong correlation between life success and a love of reading.

Body of speech gave three benefits of reading aloud to children. Each was supported with simple facts and stories. Reason 1 – Increase the child’s listening vocabulary. Reason 2 – Gives the child a reading role model. Reason 3 – Associates reading with pleasure.

Conclusion repeated the three benefits and emphasized that these benefits were easy to achieve.

Other Ideas for Toastmasters Speech 3 Below are three sample speeches delivered to satisfy Toastmasters speech project 3. All three are excellent examples which have a very clear purpose and strong focus on that purpose.

For each of these three example speeches:

What are the general and specific speech purposes? (Do you agree with those that I have listed?)

What techniques were used to reinforce on these purposes? Was the speech focussed, or were there elements that did not

belong?

Example #1

Lessons Learned in Napa by Emilie Staryak (video)

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General purpose: To persuade. Specific purpose: To convince the audience to be open to

new experiences by sharing lessons learned on a winetasting weekend.

The speech opening was strong. It identified the four lessons:

1. You don’t have to be a wine connoisseur to enjoy Napa.

2. Wine tasters are not as hoity-toity as you might think. 3. Your tastes can grow if you allow them to. 4. Don’t just stop to taste the grapes.

Focus: The lessons were supported with a series of personal stories. Every story related to these lessons. For example, the first lesson is supported by sharing that she and her husband were beer drinkers, but are now planning a second trip.

Conclusion: The concluding sentence (“Who would have thought that two beer drinkers would be planning a second trip to Napa valley?“) reinforces the speech purpose.

Example #2

You’re Going to Wear THAT?!? by Arnie Buss (video)

General purpose: To inform Specific purpose: To provide advice in handing questions in a

problem area. Introduction:

Opens with a problematic question (the speech title) that many in the audience have probably experienced.

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Outlines 3 frameworks from which we answer questions

1. our child self (the victim; taking blame) 2. our parent self (passing judgment) 3. our aware self.

Demonstration #1: “Why do you only ever think of yourself?” Excellent demonstration which gives three possible responses which correspond to the three frameworks.

Demonstration #2: “Does this dress make me look fat?” This question generates humor (particularly since asked by a male audience member). However, it isn’t focused because the speaker has no “good” answer.

Demonstration #3: “Why don’t you ever take me anywhere?” Another excellent demonstration applying the three frameworks.

Conclusion: A very solid conclusion which focuses on the specific purpose. He advises against using the first two frameworks, and then suggests using the third. “It doesn’t enhance the relationship to make yourself wrong [1 is bad]. It doesn’t help enhance the relationship to make the other person wrong [2 is bad]. So, whenever you’re asked an entrapping question, never answer it until you find out why its being asked. Track the intent of the question. [3 is good] Don’t take the blame, track the pain. [memorable closing line]“

Example #3

Value Generated vs. Mark-Up Fund Raising by Paul Miller (video)

General purpose: To inform

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Specific purpose: Contrast two philosophies of fundraising, and suggest tools to evaluate fundraising strategies.

Introduction: Clearly identified the specific purpose of the talk.

Story #1 (Boy Scouts & popcorn): Excellent example of mark-up fund raising.

Story #2 (Balloon dog): Excellent example of value generated fund raising.

Numbers and Statistics: all focused on speech purpose e.g. “10 dollars leaves community versus 5 cents leaves community”

Transition to the second half of the speech: Identifies 3 criteria for evaluating fund raising: (1) effect on individual (2) effect on community (3) effect on environment.

More Stories: illustrate each of the three criteria

More Examples of Get to the Point Here are a few more sample written and video speeches which may provide inspiration for you. For each speech, you might read (or watch) it first, and then check to see whether you agree with the general and specific purposes that I have listed for each speech. If you agree with me, then perhaps the speaker has achieved their purpose.

Written Speech Examples

The Devil’s Gardens by Les Aquino General purpose: To inform Specific purpose: To describe the relationship between the Schumanni ants and Hirsuta trees in the Amazon rain forest.

Channelled Authorship by Seamus McInerney General purpose: To inform Specific purpose: To describe the concept of channelled authorship. (The last line of this speech is priceless.)

To Live Once by Edwin Vinas I will not give general or specific purposes for this speech because the speaker has specified his purpose along with the speech text.

Break the Chain by Amit Bhatnagar General purpose: To persuade Specific purpose: To encourage the audience to stop forwarding chain email.

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Blushful Moments by Felicity General purpose: To persuade Specific purpose: To encourage the audience to celebrate embarrassing moments.

You Put Your Left Arm In by Kane Baltetsch General purpose: To entertain Specific purpose: To share the history of the “Hokey Pokey” dance.

The Toastmasters Speech Series

1. The Ice Breaker 2. Organize Your Speech 3. Get to the Point 4. How To Say It 5. Your Body Speaks 6. Vocal Variety 7. Research Your Topic 8. Get Comfortable with Visual Aids (coming next) 9. Persuade With Power 10. Inspire Your Audience

Video Speech Examples

The Fair Tax by Alex Bein General purpose: To persuade Specific purpose: To convince the audience that a 23% national sales tax should replace individual income tax and several other taxes.

A Mystery of Matter by Chance Litton General purpose: To inform Specific purpose: To introduce the audience to the wave-particle phenomenon.

Have a Little Faith in Yourself by Karen Woodson General purpose: To inform Specific purpose: To highlight sources of low self-esteem and methods to improve self-esteem.

Double Your Happiness By Doing This by Vince General purpose: To persuade Specific purpose: To persuade the audience to overlook the temptation to pass judgment.

Appreciation by Heather General purpose: To persuade Specific purpose: To encourage the audience to appreciate life.

Dyslexics are Anything But Dumb! by Rosetta Ishag General purpose: To inform Specific purpose: To talk about the characteristics of dyslexia.

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Next in the Toastmasters Speech Series The next article in this series examines Toastmasters Speech 4: How to Say It.

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Toastmasters Speech 4: How to Say It by Andrew Dlugan Aug 19th, 2008

Does your audience need a dictionary to decipher your speeches?

Do you write your speeches with encyclopedic diction?

Do you draw your speechwriting inspiration from legal documents?

Technical writing, essays, financial reports, and legal writings all have their place — but none of them belong in your speechwriting.

Speeches which use simple, conversational language are more enjoyable to listen to, easier to follow, and more likely to be remembered.

The fourth Toastmasters speech project guides you to use simple, but descriptive language in your speeches. This article of the Toastmasters Speech Series examines the primary goals of this

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project, provides tips and techniques, and links to numerous sample speeches.

The Toastmasters Speech Series

1. The Ice Breaker 2. Organize Your Speech 3. Get to the Point 4. How To Say It 5. Your Body Speaks 6. Vocal Variety 7. Research Your Topic 8. Get Comfortable with Visual Aids (coming next) 9. Persuade With Power 10. Inspire Your Audience

Why is This Speech Important? The aims for this speech project focus on your selection of words and phrases:

Choose words and grammar which communicate clearly. Choose words and grammar which appeal to the senses. Eliminate jargon.

Tips and Techniques

1. Choose Descriptive or Story-based Topics

Any topic can work, but to flex your speechwriting muscles, choose a topic which lends itself to vivid descriptions. Speeches based around stories or experiences will challenge you to select words and phrases to transport your audience from their chairs to the setting where your speech takes place.

2. Use Sensory Language

Make your audience see what you see, feel what you feel, taste what you taste, smell what you smell, and hear what you hear. In short, draw upon all five senses to create a completely immersive description. Transport your audience to a movie theatre by describing:

Sight: the dizzying special effects of the martial arts scene

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Smell: the wafting aroma of buttered popcorn Sound: the booming surround-sound effects which made you

jump from your seat Taste: the sweet licorice Twizzlers which melt in your mouth Touch: the claustrophobic squeeze of your knees pressed into

the seatback in front of you

3. Use Repetition Wisely

Repetition of phrases throughout a paragraph, and repetition of sentences throughout your speech make your speech memorable. Wrap your speech around a signature phrase.

4. Avoid Topics About Words or Language

I often see Toastmasters choosing topics for project 4 which are about words or some other aspect of language, like poetry or figures of speech. For example, both Barren Words and Metaphors (by Oleg) and Swearing (by Andrew E. Scott) are very interesting speeches with language themes.

However, I recommend against choosing this type of topic. Rather than talking about words, let the focus be on your use of words, phrases, and grammar. Similarly, for project 5 (your body speaks), you should choose a topic that allows you to use your body, not a topic that is about body language. Further, in project 8 (get comfortable with visual aids), you will learn more by using visual aids to enhance your message rather than talking about projectors or flip charts.

What I Did for Speech 4 I wanted to choose a topic that would allow me to employ sensory words, so I elected to speak about my recipe for barbecued hamburgers.

The title of my speech was Recipe for Love, although it came to be known by its signature phrase (“the Meat, the Method, and the Merge”).

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Speech Organization

The speech was organized quite simply around the burger preparation process:

Introduction — I introduced the topic by placing it in the context of things which had been said the previous week and were thus familiar to the audience.

The Meat — Preparation of the burger patties The Method — Cooking the patties The Merge — Combining the patties with the bun, “fixings”,

and condiments Conclusion — Quick summary which restated the signature

phrase in the speech.

Rhetorical Devices

Rhetorical devices employed in this speech:

Alliteration: “tasty tips”, “brilliant barbecued burgers”, “the meat, the method, and the merge”, “personally prepared patties”, “manufacturing a mouthwatering masterpiece for your mate”

Repetition: “the meat, the method, the merge” was used throughout the speech

Sensory words and phrases

I deliberately crafted the speech so that it would appeal to all five senses:

Sight — “could cause flames to shoot up, enveloping your burgers”, “pleasing cross-hatch pattern”, “feast for the eyes as well as the palette”

Smell — “The spiced butter will start to percolate through the meat and will release aromas that will make you the envy of the neighborhood”

Sound — “you’ll hear the pleasing crackle of the barbecue” Taste — “spicy butter mixture”, “crisp lettuce, ripe tomato,

onions with pop, sweet pickles, chili peppers, smoky bacon” Touch — “take each patty in the palm of your hand, and press

down forming a valley”, “massage the patty into a pleasing thickness and shape”

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Topic Ideas for Toastmasters Speech 4

Example #1

The Impossible Task by Sara Piaskowy (written)

Alliteration: “The task seems impossible, insurmountable, the idea is incomprehensible!”, “Sometimes it is staccato, sometimes smooth”

Repetition: “smell” repeatedly (see below), “Now I LOVE mangos. Love in capital letters L.O.V.E. mangos.”; “I have learned how…” used in three consecutive sentences; “Burkina Faso has…” in four consecutive sentences near the conclusion.

Simile: “the time like sand slipping through the hour glass”, “hit you like a brick wall”, “the strength and intensity of the heat makes you feel like the sun has come unhinged and is on a trajectory path headed straight towards you”

Metaphor: “colors that can lift even the saddest of moods” Sensory phrases

Sight — “a river of motos zooming past”, “Ruffles and feathers and zigzag hem lines”

Sound — descriptions of music, “when there is no music… the sound of the language is what is entrancing”, “sing song, up and down, loud and soft quality to what I hear”

Touch — descriptions of dry, reddish dust everywhere; extreme heat

Smell — “there are several types of smells; there are rancid smells, urine smells, the smell of garbage, a body odor smell, dried fish smells, and don’t forget the smell of exhaust or the unpleasant odor of burning plastic which somehow wafts through your house unannounced.”

Taste — mangoes and other fruits, rice with red sauce, etc.

Example #2

1, 2, 3… Full stop! by Shrilatha Putthi (written)

Repetition — “3-speech Toastmaster” is repeated many times in the speech; “nightmarish nightmare”

Similes — too many to list (how many did you find?). Many go culturally beyond my North American roots, but one must

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remember that Shrilatha’s audience would be quite familiar with these cultural references.

Alliteration — “tormenting truth”; “fun and frolic”; “gloriously grand gold”

Triad (several are alliterative too) — “dejected, disgusted, and devastated”; “enjoyment, excitement, entertainment”; “I was, I am, and I will be…”

Example #3

Get Your Motor Running by Karen Woodson (video)

Simile: “hit me like a ton of bricks” [0:57] Sound: “and then the powerful statement ‘Gentlemen, Start

your engines’ is announced over the loud roar of the audience” [1:25]

Sight: “a night race when the lights reflect off the shiny paint” [2:25]; numerous references to flags of different colors flying

Triad: “bone-jarring, teeth-gnashing, wheel-spinning crash” [4:05]

Alliteration and Triad: “covered in confetti and either champagne, coca-cola, or gatorade” [5:55]

Another descriptive phrase: “as the rubber burns… roar of the engines… only during ‘cautions’ do the crowds relax enough to sit down” [3:35];

Example #4

The House on Silver Spring Lake by Leena Oh (video)

The opening paragraph embodies the goals of this project wonderfully. Fifty-nine words, and Leena uses sensory phrases which draw upon all five senses:

Imagine waking up in the morning, the sun streaming through the pine branches into your bedroom window (sight). You hear birds chirping (sound), and woodpeckers tapping for their breakfasts (sound). It’s chilly, so you try to stay in the warmth of your covers (touch) as long as possible, but you can’t resist the smell of breakfast and coffee (smell) drifting up from the kitchen.

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Further, note that of those 59 words, only three have more than two syllables: imagine, woodpeckers, and possible.

More Examples of How to Say It Here are a few more sample written and video speeches which may provide inspiration for you.

Written Speech Examples

The Brain is Our Universe by Edwin Vinas Edwin provides a detailed analysis of his goals for the speech, and the audience reactions he hoped to provoke. This analysis includes a review of the rhetorical devices he employs.

My Uncle Dinny by Séamus McInerney Filled with sensory phrases. e.g. “We would have tea stretched out before the cream coloured range. I can still smell the turf fire and hear the big clock ticking as it always did.“

The Greatest Thing I’ve Done by Noryfel Bien The opening is especially strong for two reasons: 1) It darts through a series of descriptive experiences that are easily visualized. 2) It uses repetition effectively. “I haven’t” and “I’m not” are used multiple times before the key transition phrase “I am a teacher” which leads into the body of the speech.

Are you getting the most out of your chocolate by Lu The choice of topic allows numerous taste, smell, and touch sensory phrases.

Fueling the Cooking by Les Aquino Apocalypse Now by Nitesh Luthra You’re What You Eat for Your Breakfast by Amit Bhatnagar The Key to Understanding Me by comment dit-on

The Toastmasters Speech Series

1. The Ice Breaker 2. Organize Your Speech 3. Get to the Point 4. How To Say It 5. Your Body Speaks 6. Vocal Variety 7. Research Your Topic 8. Get Comfortable with Visual Aids (coming next) 9. Persuade With Power 10. Inspire Your Audience

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Video Speech Examples

How to Keep a Conversation Going by Jason McGarva People Who Have Inspired Me by Pa Toastmasters member Why Skill Based Play is Good by Paul Miller Unknown by Capital Communicators member Kindergarten by Michelle Cohen Say Cheese by Sherry Lu Our Motivations by Eric Brown Unknown by Deepak Mittal Unknown by Daniel Habedank China is My Future by Beau The Decline of the U.S. Dollar by Elie Ishag Goodbye by Zeki Yimdirim How to eat during the holidays by Mary Ann The Art of Communication by Shenequa Mitchell The Language of Play by Emilie Staryak Profits of the Journey by Rosetta Ishag So Many Topics, So Little Time by John Armstrong The Endangered Species Act by Elizabeth Guzman Where Words Can Lead You by Arnie Buss Unknown by Tom Wilson

Next in the Toastmasters Speech Series The next article in this series examines Toastmasters Speech 5: Your Body Speaks.

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Arms tucked behind body for the first 70 seconds of

speech. Try to keep your hands and arms in front and “ready” to gesture.

Repetitive gesture, both arms out in front, palms up, hands going up and down. [e.g. 4:40 to 5:20, and other times]

Effective Body Language Broad smile accompanies “I had lots of fun there”

[2:20] Authenticity! While saying “Projection”, arms project strongly

outwards to complement words [2:48] Emphasize opposites by providing opposing gestures.

Arms sway to right = “too fast”; arms sway to the left = “too slow” [2:52]

More Examples of Your Body Speaks The Toastmasters Speech Series

1. The Ice Breaker 2. Organize Your Speech 3. Get to the Point 4. How To Say It 5. Your Body Speaks 6. Vocal Variety 7. Research Your Topic 8. Get Comfortable with Visual Aids (coming next) 9. Persuade With Power 10. Inspire Your Audience

Here are a few more sample video speeches which may provide inspiration for you. As you watch some of these videos, ask yourself which body language is effective and which is not. Then, try to emulate the best behaviors in your own speech.

The Joy. The Ecstacy. The Moment by Anonymous Home Invasion by Annie Stuck in a Rut by Jason Turner Unknown by Sanjiv Santhanam Death of an Apostrophe by Chris J Unknown by Julia Billingsley Competition by David Stokes Couch Exercise by Eric

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Change by Accident by Bruce Invest a Little Discipline by Harsh Singhal Learning from Kids by Sachin Shah (including an evaluation) What Winners Do To Win by Lisa

Next in the Toastmasters Speech Series The next article in this series examines Toastmasters Speech 6: Vocal Variety.

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” @ 2:08 Notice the variation in pitch @ 2:25 and 2:40, and also

how this is accompanied by gestures The Art of Procrastination by Chance Litton

Effective vocal variety throughout. The speaker’s variation in pace and pauses conveys

much of the humor. Is Your Dream a Loud Gong or a Faint Whistle by Daniel Unknown Title by Anonymous Last Child in the Woods by Paul Miller That’s Just Rude by Dianne Friend or Foe: It’s All In Your Perspective by Robin Sioux Hockey Fan by John Sanders My Turn Around by Jerome Moore Who Wrote That Book? by Stephanie Bryant Beyond the Nineteenth Hole by Glenn Woodson It’s Your Money by Anonymous Unknown by Dick The Upside of Failure by John Armstrong

Next in the Toastmasters Speech Series The next article in this series examines Toastmasters Speech 7: Research Your Topic.

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Toastmasters Speech 7: Research Your Topic by Andrew Dlugan Sep 7th, 2010

Imagine that you are writing your next great speech. As you scour your mind for the fact that will clinch your case, you will discover one of two things: either you know it, or you don’t.

Most of the time, you won’t know every piece of information you need to make a compelling argument, but you can find it.

The seventh Toastmasters speech project encourages you to go beyond your own knowledge and opinions, and fill in the gaps with various forms of research.

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This article of the Toastmasters Speech Series examines the primary goals of this project, provides tips and techniques, and links to numerous sample speeches.

Why is This Speech Important? The Toastmasters Speech Series

1. The Ice Breaker 2. Organize Your Speech 3. Get to the Point 4. How To Say It 5. Your Body Speaks 6. Vocal Variety 7. Research Your Topic 8. Get Comfortable with Visual Aids (coming next) 9. Persuade With Power 10. Inspire Your Audience

The objectives for this speech project are to conduct appropriate research and then incorporate this research into your speech to provide support for your key arguments.

Tips and Techniques

1. Don’t know what to research? Anticipate audience questions.

As you take your speech from an idea to an outline, and then to a rough draft, ask yourself the following question: “If I delivered this speech as is, what question would my audience have?” If you don’t have the answer (due to your subject expertise), then you’ve got to research it. Then, once you incorporate this new research into your speech, ask yourself the question again. Repeat a few times until you’ve covered the key questions.

2. Use websites, but use them wisely.

There’s a wealth of information out there, and you’d be stupid not to utilize it.

But don’t be lazy when choosing your sources. I’m a huge fan of Wikipedia and I have used it for early speech research. However, I

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wouldn’t always trust my reputation as a speaker on the information provided by an encyclopedia that anyone can edit. Instead, look for primary sources. For example:

Speaking about the health benefits of apples? Seek out a nutrition website, not a chat room.

Speaking about high-definition televisions? Grab specifications from the manufacturer website, not Twitter.

Speaking about the Oregon Dunes? Head to the US Forest Service website, not Facebook.

The quality of your source matters. (See this article about speaking ethos.)

3. Don’t use only websites. “Don’t include statistics just because they are jaw-dropping. Include them because they improve the strength of your argument.”

Sure, the Internet has lots of answers, but not all of them. You might also try:

Books, newspapers, magazines, etc. Go to the business, the attraction, the town hall meeting, the

park, the beach, the mall, or whatever location allows you to gather first-hand knowledge.

Interview an expert, whether in-person, on the phone, or via email.

Conduct a survey yourself.

You will raise your credibility by going beyond the “easy” or “expected” source (the web).

4. Keep it relevant.

Remember the lesson learned in speech 3: every element of your speech must reinforce your purpose.

Don’t include statistics just because they are jaw-dropping. Include them because they improve the strength of your argument.

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Similarly, don’t include quotations from a famous person or source with the intent of name-dropping. Include them because they express one of your arguments more succinctly than you could otherwise express it.

5. Cite your sources.

As mentioned in a previous article about improving your persuasiveness:

A statistic may be accurate, but without citing a source, your audience may dismiss it. By citing a source, you tip the scale towards believability.

6. Provide necessary context.

Facts, statistics, quotations, and whatever else you discover in your research can rarely be presented all alone. In most cases, you’ll need to wrap your research by providing some context, and explaining the relevance.

For example, suppose that your research tells you that a certain exercise burns 800 calories of energy. Depending on the knowledge of your audience, this may be a meaningless number. To give it meaning, you have to provide the context. e.g. 800 calories is one third of the recommended daily caloric intake. (Note that this value depends on gender, weight, etc. Choose a value which is representative of your audience… or provide a range of values.)

7. Don’t cram too much in.

Avoid the temptation to just collect an array of statistics and then spew them at your audience, one after the other. Your speech should be supported by your research; it should not be the research.

But what if you have more research than you can reasonably fit…?

8. Surprise your audience with a handout.

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In your speech, you only have time to refer to the most relevant research. But a great way to follow up your speech (all speeches, but especially for this project) is to provide additional research on a handout. A single page is often enough. It’s a good place to list websites or other sources, or any other information which leads your audience towards your call-to-action.

“Your speech should be supported by your research; it should not be the research.”

What I Did for Speech 7 I researched options for cutting the fuel costs for your car, and presented these to my audience.

I included the following research in my speech:

A chart showing gas prices for a 3-year period (on gasbuddy.com). I presented this as a chart early in the talk to illustrate how drastic the overall change has been to set the context for my talk.

The sum of federal, provincial, and local (transit) taxes that are included in the gas price. (Where I live, taxes add up to one third of the total price!)

The range of fuel efficiency among different classes of vehicles (a factor of six between a Toyota Prius hybrid and a Dodge Ram truck), and also between vehicles in the same class (varies from five to forty percent).

The fuel efficiency difference between a vehicle which is properly maintained, and one which is not (up to 13%).

The fuel costs associated with running your air conditioning rather than opening your windows (up to 10%, depending on your speed).

Fuel savings from driving style (up to 25%) e.g. maintaining a steady speed rather than constantly speeding and braking.

Fuel savings from streamlining your car (up to 5%) by removing roof racks or heavy items from the trunk.

Fuel savings from buying at the “right” time of day (up to 5%).

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Most of my research was done on various government, automotive, and consumer websites. I presented the sources as part of my talk. (Unfortunately, the links are dead now.)

For the “time of day” research, I compiled this myself by recording the price difference at the same gas station every day for one month when I drove by it several times per day (to and from work, etc.) On average, the gas was 5% cheaper in the evening relative to the morning price.

To make the research more meaningful, I also presented the dollar savings which could be realized for an average commuter in Greater Vancouver, where I live. ($632 a year!)

Toastmasters Speech 7 Examples The Toastmasters Speech Series

1. The Ice Breaker 2. Organize Your Speech 3. Get to the Point 4. How To Say It 5. Your Body Speaks 6. Vocal Variety 7. Research Your Topic 8. Get Comfortable with Visual Aids (coming next) 9. Persuade With Power 10. Inspire Your Audience

Here are a few sample video speeches which may provide inspiration for you. As you watch them, ask yourself which elements of the speech were likely researched, how well was this researched material presented, and did it support the speaker’s arguments?

Sugar Blues by Kelly Cornell Note how the speaker makes numbers more

meaningful by comparing them to other values. Also, she uses teaspoons to aid understandability rather than the less commonly known grams. e.g. Average American consumes more than 100

pounds of sugar every year, compared to 8 pounds of broccoli.

Lemon poppyseed Clif Bar has 21 grams of sugar (5 teaspoons).

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Chocolate glazed cake donut (Dunkin donuts) has 14 grams (3 teaspoons). 16 ounce Starbucks frappucino has 44 grams of sugar (10 teaspoons). “That’s like eating 3 donuts!”

Although the speaker cites the USDA as the source for the 10 teaspoons/day recommendation, no other sources are cited through the speech. For example, who says Americans consume more than 100 pounds of sugar a year? Since the speaker is an authority herself (she is a nutrition counselor), citing her sources isn’t critical, but it would be good.

Adapt or Die – Income Diversification by Mary Ann Let the Music Play by Ravi Mittal The Monster that Ate Wall Street by Srinivas Ankareddy The Hug Effect by Heather The Federal Reserve by Frank Things You Did or Did Not Know About Victoria by Matt Some Like it Hot by Reuben Fear of Rejection by Anonymous Who gets more rebounds? by Jason Zhang

Next in the Toastmasters Speech Series The next article in this series will examine Speech 8: Get Comfortable with Visual Aids.

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