Many together

One can tell a tale, but when many of us reunited tell each their own personal : "first time I..." Then all becomes bigger then each one separately.

Yesterday, 13 of us, from absolute beginner to master public speakers, told theirs. It was a great event and a real workshop, we learned from it, and where entertained in the same time.

Second Personal Storytelling Workshop 10 October Lewisham Speakers club meeting place. But we will also, 10 of us, visit Spark London's storytelling event at Canal Cafe, the 1st October!

"One learns best in an enjoyable environment" Ralph Smedley

Formating your book or novel for Kindle

Not always live, sometimes a book or novel to make known as e-book

here are some great advices on how to

- she made more in one month like this then 4 years traditional publishing!

From toastmasters international : tell life stories!

From toastmasters international

It's not just a speech –
it's your life story!

By Dee Dees, DTM


You look at the newly-distributed schedule for the upcoming month’s meetings and there it is... your name listed under “Speaker.” While you’re eager to complete the manual and achieve the coveted CC, you find yourself wondering, What am I going to talk about this time?

Look no further than your own life experiences. After all, that’s how we begin our Toastmasters journey – talking about yourself in our Ice Breaker speech. I suggest you continue down that path throughout the entire manual.

Too egotistical, you say? Too “all about me?” Afraid others will be bored? Not if it’s done with the audience in mind.

Let’s look at each project, and see how you can use your experiences, skills or interests to educate the audience, while also letting them get to know you better:


1. Ice Breaker (Objectives: Discover strengths and weaknesses of speaking.)

We already know that the Ice Breaker is an opportunity to give the audience a brief overview of your life, so they get to know you early on. While a mini-bio from childhood to the present is often the chosen format, you might also try some other options. How about describing the “inner you” – your philosophies, beliefs, values and goals. Or perhaps you’ll choose to focus on a life-changing event that guided your journey so far. There are lots of ways to let your audience get to know you. Be creative in how you present it.


2. Organize Your Speech (Objectives: Supporting material, transitions, strong opening and closing statements.)

This project is broad enough to give you lots of options for speech material. Using your life’s experience as a basis, consider some of the following topics: Your current or past jobs, military experience, organisations you’ve volunteered on or been part of, hobbies, or areas of expertise you might have. Use the speech to explain how you became interested in the subject, how you’ve gained your knowledge of it, and what you want to do in the future along these lines.


3. Get to the Point (Objectives: Inform, persuade, entertain, inspire, narrow down broad purpose into more specific one.)

This project, too, is broad enough to allow for lots of topics. Since you are talking about your life, discuss an issue that’s important to you and has influenced your life somehow. Perhaps it’s the importance of your college education, or the impact of having served in the military. Or maybe you’ve raised a child with special needs, or been the main caregiver for a parent with Alzheimer’s disease. Any of these would meet one or more of the objectives to inform, persuade, entertain or inspire.


4. How to Say It (Objectives: Select the right words, eliminate jargon, use rhetorical devices.)

This is the perfect project to tell about some of your favourite vacation spots; be sure to describe them vividly. Or describe your emotions during a major event in your life – marriage, the birth of your child, or retiring from your job. Describe a special person in your life, searching for just the right word to help everyone see and really know that person.


5. Your Body Speaks (Objectives: Stance, movement, gestures, facial expressions, eye contact.)

In this project, choose an incident in your life that will allow you to move around a bit more than you have in the past. Describe how you landed the 38-pound trout, your first time trying to hit a golf ball, or the agonies you go through in your aerobics class. Put your whole body into it! Or try a speech where your facial expressions do the talking – raised eyebrows, a smirk, or even the Bob Newhart blink, can all express a multitude of emotions or attitudes.


6. Vocal Variety (Objectives: Use volume, pitch, rate, add meaning and interest, pauses.)

Did you teach your teenager to drive? Have you had a heart-to-heart talk with an aging parent? Did you tell your boss what he could do with his job before you walked out? These are great opportunities to tell a little about events in your life where passion, emotion or drama were involved. You can change your voice for each part, or just use the varied inflections in your own voice as your emotions changed.


7. Research Your Topic (Objectives: use facts, examples and illustrations gathered from various sources through research.)

This would be a great time to speak about a favourite relative. Research how your ancestors ended up here. Bring photos of your grandparents and tell how they managed through the Depression. Tell about an uncle’s experience in WWII or Vietnam, and include information about the political attitudes of the era. Once you begin, the research will be fun, and you’ll be adding to your own life’s history by including the history of your ancestors.


8. Get Comfortable with Visual Aids (Objectives: Select visual aids appropriate for message; use them correctly and with confidence.)

While we normally associate visual aids with business meetings and seminars, their use can also be an excellent way to demonstrate a hobby, skill or talent you enjoy. I’ve seen props used to demonstrate the steps involved in building model ships, needlework techniques, food preparation, and scrapbooking. Computer- based visuals can flash pictures of a favourite trip on the screen. A flip chart or whiteboard can be used to list specific instructions for a craft or hobby that you enjoy.


9. Persuade with Power (Objectives: Use logic and emotion to appeal to audience; persuade them in some way.)

What are you passionate about? What social causes do you believe in? With what organisations do you volunteer? Any of these issues can educate an audience while also allowing you to explain your viewpoints, beliefs, concerns and passions. If you can convince a member of your audience to get involved in a specific cause, everyone wins!


10. Inspire Your Audience (Objectives: Challenge audience to achieve higher level of beliefs or achievement; appeal to needs and emotions, use stories, anecdotes, quotes.)

Choose a special event in your life; maybe a challenge you’ve overcome, a successful venture, or perhaps a life-changing decision you’ve made, and explain the importance of the event or what you learned from it. Present it in a way that the audience can also learn those lessons or be inspired by your experience.
–––
Once you’ve completed the basic manual, you can apply the same format of life story to many of the advanced manuals: The Entertaining Speaker, Speaking to Inform, Specialty Speeches, The Professional Speaker, Persuasive Speaking, Storytelling, and Humorously Speaking could all be used effectively to share your life experiences.


The Bonus!
If you typically write out your speeches in full, do whatever editing is necessary to make them more readable. If you usually just jot down notes, go ahead and write out the speech in full. As you complete each speech, file it in a three-ring binder. These speeches will serve as a basis for what may become a notebook full of stories of your life. A notebook that your descendants will one day treasure!

So remember, the next time you’re on the schedule, it’s not just a speech – it’s your life story!

Dee Dees, DTM, served on Toastmasters’ Board of Directors in 1994-1996. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Reach her at deedees44@hotmail.com.

Facettes : Storyteller, Comedian, Toastmaster

My different passions 2012:

Storyteller: Edinborogh and London
Comedian : London, Paris, Leicester...
Toastmaster : London

Each hatea taught me something different and each activity helped the other.

First came Toastmasters, speak in public, loving the audience and getting used to it. I fall in love with them, 4 years ago.

Then came telling personal true stories in theatre, at Townhall of Manchester, in Blackheath and London, even Edinbourg. Discovered 3 years ago, paid "pro?!" it gives me a new light on my life and courage to those listening to my,different tales created from parts of my life. Instant connection to the audience leaves us all happier, 'we can do'.

Third, came learning of standup comedy, going out to, now 50 times to different comedy clubs. Experimenting as standup with different, and in general, very reactive audience. finding out, I had Funny bones was a stunning experience for me, and at the same time I make laugh, I transmit a message: old is not as you may think, old can think or talk (or do) as young do.

Back to Toastmasters, to coach and create storytelling workshop. Last year, a very successful workshop, with 5 from it telling tales at the theatre at the finish, this year it will begin end of September, with new challeng and more experience. And, some of old learning last year, now teaching together with me.

All those different activities, and photography and blogging, relate and compliment each other. Looking observing relating life, our life and those around us. A beam of light, our view, my personal but in the same time general point of view.

More it is personal, more touches all who inside, feel but do not express it.

Begin with a story! as so many Ted speakers do

This is from another blog who did use a guest writer for it. Soon I'll add their names to this.

The first ten or twenty seconds of your speech is the peak of your audience's engagement level. It is not going to get any better as one by one your listeners will get distracted by their mental grocery lists or the next day's outfit.

Hook them fast with benefits by giving them an implicit or explicit reason to pay close attention.

Opening #1: The Personal Story

The most consistently successful opening is the personal story. 

Here is what you need to know. 

First, your personal story should really be personal. Tell your own story and share your observations. 

Second, make sure your story is directly relevant to your core message. If your goal is to inspire people to volunteer their time to feed the homeless, a cute story about how your dog can bark 'I love you' just does not belong. 

Third, fourth, and fifth, make your story highly emotional, highly sensory, and rich in dialogue. The story should be so specific that your audience is able to relive it with you. And sixth, start your story somewhere in the middle so that you immediate prompt your audience to wonder who, what, where, whey, why, or how.

In his TEDTalk, author and success expert Richard St. John demonstrated the power of using a personal story for his opening:

This is really a two hour presentation I give to high school students, cut down to three minutes. And it all started one day on a plane, on my way to TED, seven years ago. And in the seat next to me was a high school student, a teenager, and she came from a really poor family. And she wanted to make something of her life, and she asked me a simple little question. She said, "What leads to success?" And I felt really badly, because I couldn't give her a good answer. So I get off the plane, and I come to TED. And I think, jeez, I'm in the middle of a room of successful people! So why don't I ask them what helped them succeed, and pass it on to kids?

Did you visualize yourself on the plane? Did you turn your head and eavesdrop when the teenage girl, who came from a poor family, asked Richard for the secret of success? Could you feel Richard's disappointment about not having a good answer and his zeal to be ready to help kids in the future? Moreover, and more selfishly, are you now intensely curious what Richard St. John found to be the key to success? To find out, you will have to watch his talk on TED.com; I cannot spoil all the fun. But, at least you now know Richard's secret to capturing his audience with a personal story opening.

See also bellow : two stories begin and a story finishes the music teacher's speech - it works!

Michael Tilson Thomas: Music and emotion through time

He begins his wonderful Ted talk, with two personal stories. Ends it with yet, another. Before ending: you do it now.

 

 Michael Tilson Thomas: Music and emotion through time

New in London: comedy & workshop

FUNNY FITZROVIA - Fri 14 Sept 6 h 30

Not a conventional comedy gig nor a training workshop, but a unique, experimental blend of the two.  

MC/Compere

Barry Ferns
Finalist, Laughing Horse New Act Competition 2012


Running order:

Harriet Kelmsley 

Winner WeGotTickets New Act Competition Brighton 2011 

 Finalist, Laughing Horse New Act Competition, 2012

Yuki Tokeshi

 Award winning Humorous Speaker, Toastmasters Int'l

Glen Long 

 London Finalist, Humorous Speech Contest, Toastmasters Int'l

Julie Kertesz

Storyteller Spark London
Winner Silver Comedy Best Newcomer 2012, Leicester's Dave Festival :

 President Obonjo 

 President of Lafta Republic
 

Pierre LaPoule  

Le Breton anti Parisian Londoner / comedian

short break then:
Workshop segment 

Ola Aralepo
Humnorous Speaking Champion UK and Ireland, Toastmasters' Int'l 2011

Variety clubs

After True Storytelling at Canal Cafe Theatre (and other places) with Spark London, Comedy Club experiences in 50+ gigs, I begun to go out now to Variety shows. Tell humorous stories. Yesterday, at The Finsbury - exit 7 Manor House Tube, my story was very well taken and made also laugh a lot.

Direct from Edinburgh, where I delivered Humorous True Tales with Spark London

Places, with music, songs, comedy, storytelling at the same night.

It is an interesting experience, that I enjoy. Tonight, ~ ten minutes "Unexpected" story I created for Spark London this August in Edinburgh and went so well with Grant's Audience in Riddles Court.. 

Variety night, At The Finsbury, near Manor Tube, 8 30 pm

Firstly, it is longer then the short gigs and I have outgrown the beginner 5 minute comedy. I can have 10 or more minutes now even with gigs, but not yet everywhere. For Humorous Story we have 10 and I hope, soon 20 because stories need more breath with dialogue and scenes.

Already begun with humorous storytelling in one club, then a longer paid standup comedy in another, and longer comedy gigs in others. They all invited me back and referred me also to other clubs. I will combine, and go on to 20, preparing for After dinner places in the future too.

My first experiences, showed me also the differences of audiences.

More responsive usually in comedy clubs, and not only as laughter but for dialogue, in a variety show, the laughter is still there, but they are less used to answer back. To be seen and known, to remain more with rhetorical questions not waiting for people to cry out loud "yes, we want to know" for example. As I would not ask such question in the Theatre while telling a true tale, I should not in variety show either, or differently.

All audiences are great and I am in love with all of them, they are just, different.

Here from my last in the new Kaleido club.
"Thanks for a fantastic 10 mins Julie. It was a great atmosphere at the first night. Looking forward to the next one..." Nicola Kaleido www.clubkaleido.com

Clinton's wonderful rhetoric and specific examples too

text compared with delivery at
http://www.npr.org/2012/09/05/160643183/transcript-bill-clintons-convention-speech

It is long, more then 40 minutes and each minute is worth looking, listening, analysing it. And then back again to study all the things he used in it.

Just read about his great capacity to listen and focus on one who is speaking to him. Yes! Listening is also an important skill to learn.

A story hope and realisation

It was 5 years ago, before arriving in London.

I felt envy me too, to tell something and I thought I could make them laugh.

Without much conviction.

I had lots of laughs a few years ago in the center of France with the same story. I repeated a lot at home, this time, even taking short videos.

I called to say goodbye, my photo and blog mates, those living around Paris in a coffee bar in the 18th to listen to the fantastic couple arrived in Paris just for a while, the singer, her singing and playing the barrel organ. And others who are willing to perform.

My presentation was a fiasco. The desire was already in me to express myself. The desire was already in me, to make people laugh. The desire was already in me, to be more than just audience

It was not until I took photos in London for six months, I had six months "The Artist Way" meetups, and day by day wrote three pages in notebooks morning after morning, to begin to believe that I can try to be different as before, that I could do something else that I had always done.

First, tell about my life in public. Then, from last year's comedy.

Tonight, the first time, during a variety show, music and comedy, I'll be paid!*

Before me, a new medical intervention on my face. Behind me, teeth pulled out. Now, one ankle swells.

With all this, my main concern now, is how to make audience laugh for ten minutes!

A new part invented yesterday, while I was waiting my turn at the hospital :

"Born in Transylvania, I'm not a Vampire! My skin does not support sun. My eyes no longer tolerate strong light. But my teeth no more strong enough to bite!" and two other bits that went even better.

* Kaleida opening night went very well for me. Audience, organiser, and me, happy.

Michelle Obama - proves the impact of Personal Stories

At Democratic convention, the 4th of September, a magnifique speech by the first lady of united states, demonstrating the huge impact of sharing personal stories.

Here is the whole speech, but you can jump to look from 3 minutes and half... directly...

Tonight at Oxford, Monkey Business

Gigging tonight.

The Oxford, is on 256, Kentish Town, London NW5 2AA, Monkey Business Comedy.

Worried how it will go, and exhalirated at the same time.

No matter, soon I'll have behind me 50 successful comic performances, 100 speeches most with stories, each time I worry again, want to make it better, a little different.

While my stories are each time different, as I have lots of up and downs to tell about, the gig set carries very slowly. Improving testing with small spoons at a time. Writing it down, learning new bits, adjusting. I learned a lot by Standup Comedy. I continue to learn. Looking forward to meet new audience. And soon, combine comedy with stories, give them in the middle of music.

Most important, we are creating, and I imagined created the workshop with others imput too, about Personal storytelling. Just listened to Michele Obama's speech at the Democratic Convention, and was convinced more then ever of the impact of Personal Stories, exemples, in a speech. 

New Spark London storytelling in Hackney

Spark London: True Story-telling Open Mic

1st performance this Monday (and every second Monday of month from now)

Hackney Attic, Hackney Picturehouse 270 Mare Street, Hackney, London, E8 1HE, United Kingdom

Dave Pickering hosting

 

1st Theme: Back to School

The holidays are over and how better to face the jolt back into the "real world" than to come and share stories about it? Going back to school, going back to work, or even revisiting your past, we want stories about returning, about ending and about "the best years of our lives".
 

Spark London run true story telling events all across London... and now they’re coming to Hackney! 

 

The new Open Mic will showcase the stories of East Londoners and will take place on the 2nd Monday of each month at the Hackney Attic. Come along and watch people tell their true stories based around that month’s theme. Expect the unexpected as people sign up to tell their stories. It's an exciting and engaging atmosphere.

Perhaps you'll even be tempted to tell your story!