Olivia will be in London mid April. The 12th morning, she will give us a 45' keynote, demonstrating her maestria, the 14th she will give an interactive workshop teaching us how to create and give motivational speeches. Freemasson's Hall, booking started for both events.
12th Celebrate diversity Division B Toastmasters Conference and then International Speech contest.
14th interactive workshop in the evening organised by three London Toastmasters Clubs
Revealing what makes us unique – a dialogue with Olivia Schofield
Olivia Schofield and Wodwik
She is a champion, she is our champion! Finalist of the international Public speaking competition at the Las Vegas Toastmasters convention in 2011, Olivia Schofield, who was representing our district, delivered a seminal speech (http://www.oliviaschofield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Wodwik.pdf) that propelled her to “world champion finalist of public speaking”, a role that she embraced with shine, pride and gratitude.
Passing 31 000 competitors to be part of the final 9, has helped her develop a knowledge in the field of public speaking and self-awareness very few can claim. The reason why she is so widely loved and appreciated however is that by doing so, she above all became a champion of herself.
This post is the first part of a discussion we continued in the form of a podcast (release this Friday, 14th March). Olivia has also agreed to help you prepare online for your own upcoming competitions and presentations within the frame of two exclusive webinars (15 minutes each) aiming at exploring your voice potential. They will take place 3rd and 17th April breakfast time (register NOW: details for joining at the end of this post) and I bet they will put you in a good mood for the rest of the day, as well as tickle your inspirational self.
Ruxandra Balboa-Pöysti: Olivia, you are one of the few adults I know who openly admits that a teddy bear changed her life. Who is Wodwik and in what respect did it change it?
Olivia Schofield: Wodwik is one of my bears. albeit, a very special one. As my mum
Olivia Schofield’s bears collection
always said about me and my sister, “you are both special, in different ways”. I feel the same way about my rather large family of bears. Here is a picture of them. Wodwik lived in a hospital and I met him when I went to speech therapy. I had a speech impediment as a child that effected my self esteem and made me feel bad about myself. Wodwik and I became friends and he ended up coming to live with me. That was what my finals speech was about and Wodwik, who also featured in the speech, had a non speaking role.
Bob Mohl and John Zimmer with Wodwik
and this is Wodwik having a bear with two of his friends Bob Mohl my speech coach for the international competition and John Zimmer the reigning European Champion.
Ruxandra Balboa-Pöysti: What does “public speaking champion” mean and what opportunities has it opened to you?
Olivia Schofield: That’s an interesting question. Many people think that the journey to the championship is a journey outwards, but actually it’s a journey inwards. It involves a lot of analysis and digging up the truth, then the truth needs to be shaped to gain it’s greatest impact. A speaking champion in my view is someone who craves connection, is seeking the truth and is willing to journey to their core. It has opened up many opportunities for me. Not only have I been invited to hold keynotes at District conferences from Florida to New York, Los Angeles to Australia, but I am now earning my living as a speaker and trainer. It is Toastmasters that have helped me make that transition.
Ruxandra Balboa-Pöysti: This is the time for speech competitions within Toastmasters, what type of advice can you give competitors at grassroots level to get as far as they can – to Kuala Lumpur this year?
Olivia Schofield and Wodwik all over the world
Olivia Schofield: At this time of year I am approached by enthusiastic Toastmasters from as far afield as India, to help with their speeches. Obviously with nearly half a million Toastmasters worldwide I can’t possibly help all those that ask. This is a great opportunity for me to give out some tips.
1. speak to connect with your audience, not to win.
2. Risk failure by taking a risk and exposing yourself.
3. Be as close to your natural self as you can be. What I mean by this is deliver the essence of you. Obviously the performance needs to be slightly bigger for this competition, but be true to who you are.
4. Speak to make a difference, speak to heal, speak to inspire.
5. You can’t do it alone, if you can’t afford a coach, ask someone you admire from Toastmasters to coach you. Get two to four of you together and coach each others speeches. I have a Sunday night mastermind group with Bob, John and Mel Kelly, we all help each other and in the end, may the best speech win. Bring on the healthy competition.
1. speak to connect with your audience, not to win.
2. Risk failure by taking a risk and exposing yourself.
3. Be as close to your natural self as you can be. What I mean by this is deliver the essence of you. Obviously the performance needs to be slightly bigger for this competition, but be true to who you are.
4. Speak to make a difference, speak to heal, speak to inspire.
5. You can’t do it alone, if you can’t afford a coach, ask someone you admire from Toastmasters to coach you. Get two to four of you together and coach each others speeches. I have a Sunday night mastermind group with Bob, John and Mel Kelly, we all help each other and in the end, may the best speech win. Bring on the healthy competition.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To explore the potential of your vocal variety, join Olivia’s webinars:
The voice of success I: early morning voice training with Olivia Schofield 3rd April 2014 8:00 am - 8:15 am To freely register for the webinar click on this linkhttps://global.gotomeeting.com/meeting/join/146586373 (100 attendees allowed)
The voice of success II: early morning voice training with Olivia Schofield 17th April 2014 8:00 am – 8:15 am To freely register for the webinar click on this linkhttps://global.gotomeeting.com/meeting/join/468041813 (100 attendees allowed)
You can also attend the webinar by phoning locally (list of phone numbers provided when registering). Take five minutes to understand how gotowebinar works if you are not familiar with it few days before the scheduled webinar http://support.citrixonline.com/en_US/GoToMeeting/video/GTMV00012
To know more about Olivia Schofield’s work and upcoming seminars:
Olivia will be in London mid April. The 12th she will give us a 45' keynote, demonstrating her maestria, the 14th she will give an interactive workshop teaching us how to create and give motivational speeches.
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