Some of my TM speeches to listen

You may choose one to listen, or go directly to Box.com and listen there. These can be also downloaded, I hope, write me if you have any problem with them.

I had a dream is an old speech, I told but not deliverred, after I listened to Chris's speech
Inner child is my speech number ten "inspirational"
Is there life after 70, speech number 3
May I take your picture, number 4

Only the Inner child was registered, I think on the spot, the others before I delivered them.

And the Ice did not break...

Going through the Competent Communicator Manual, by the Toastmasters International.  I did it, this year! The 10th November I become « Competent Communicator » finishing the projects number ten, from the Toastmasters first Manual, giving ten speeches.

The same day and evening, Richard gave his first "Ice breaker" speech. His was so much better then mine, a year ago! But each of us learn in our own pace and our own way.

Here is my story. Each of our story is different, yet, a bit the same too.

When we join a Toastmasters Club, we receive a first Manual called the Competent Communicator that teaches us the basics of making speeches, with ten projects for ten speeches. Each project teaches us a new technique and brings us farther in our  understanding and learning.

Speech n°1 : « Icebreaker »
Its goal is to give courage to speak before an audience, to « break the ice » of our fear and reticence to stand up in public It  also teaches us to look into the audience’s eyes,  not vaguely, but  many, one by one.

The theme recommended by the Manual is a personal story, because «it is more easy to talk about something you know well» but also so that the other members of our Toastmaster Club learn something about us, new members. It is also said, with each project you add something new, but apply all you have learned before.

As we were all "there" sometimes before, we all encourage the one giving the Icebreaker, in fact it is the main goal: give a good feedback, a good experience, give courage to go on.

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I have found my way to the Toastmaster Clubs in January through Philip, the president of the Lewisham Speakers club whom I met by chance. I begun preparing my first speech immediately, even if I was not sure exactly how. I'll write about how I prepared tomorrow.

 I was very disappointed, in February and March, as the Vice President of Education who  makes the programs told me: « You’ll be able to give it in May! » At the time, I did not know, most of us in this club were new!

In May? How could I wait so long?

I wanted to finish my first ten speeches until the end of the year! I have already gone through them 33 years before, even if I forgot most of it, so I had to refresh my knowledge. I wanted to begin fast, I was ready, I have repeated it day and night so many times!

I knew it by heart! World by word - perhaps that was my first mistake.

The second mistake was that I also did not plan time for the audience reaction, which is wonderful to have in any speech, but slows it down, extends the time you tell it.

The whole time  for an Icebreaker is around 5 minutes.

How to put 75 years in five minutes?

I decided to give the beginning. But how can I not wait until May to give the speach?

I joined a second Toastmasters club, Meridiam Speakers from Greenwich, and there, suddenly David, an Experienced and Advanced Toastmaster, Chairman of the Evaluation Contest asked for a volunteer, to give his speech at Croydon Speakers. They needed an Icebreaker speech to be evaluated by five Competing Evaluators.

« They will be the one’s judged, not you! » It seemed fun and interesting, but mostly it will give me occasion to begin faster.

"I’ll go"!
"Tomorrow? "
"Yes, I am ready. I know my speech. "

The title of my speech was « And the Ice did not break » a bit of humour I found while preparing this Icebreaker speech.

The tale that I have to reconstruct yet, begun when I was ten years old, under shell attacks in Budapest hidden with my parents and lots of others in a cave. How  later, after we have escaped the Nazis, we had to fled  now before the Russian soldiers who wanted women, and asked my mother to come next morning to peal potatoes in their kitchen. That is how they called it.

It was February, we had to pass the frozen Danube from Buda to Pest. All the bridges were blown up by the retreating German army, so we had to go through on the not so thick ice without going under. As my parents did take the minimum and we were very careful, the Ice did not Break and we get through. Some others after us did not.

I did arrive to this part, and suddenly, I realised my time was up.

I froze.

(The ice did not break…not as much as I hoped.)

I could not continue. The evaluators went out, to ponder what they will say about my speech so far. I have hoped to go farther in my life, until I arrived, at twenty years later in France, but I could not. .

The Toastmaster of the evening, Chairman in a contest, told me I can go on, my story is very interesting.

« Go on, if you want. As you want. »

I could not go on. My mind went blanc I should have, could have, but I lost my momentum. I did not know yet then, that the Toastmaster leading the day, decides. what will happened, how long anyone can speak. He or she decides what happens at that meeting.

I have imagined the scenes I will tell, first in the cave, then passing the Danube river, with my parents and a small slide to hold all we took with us, and also the one of me leaving Romania and the one of me arriving in France.  I have decided, from the beginning that the rest of my life’s story will be told in my two « home-clubs », to each telling a part of the tale about my life.

What was the most important, my Icebreaker, did his job, broke through the Ice! I had a wonderful contact with my audience, I even felt drunk of its pleasure! Adrenaline? Who knows.

Despite that I could not finish it,  despite that I got stuck, I felt so light-headed even the days later, that I decided immediately to drop lots of what I was doing before, mostly going to Photographic Meetup groups, Artist’s way Meetup, Discovery of London Meetups too, all or almost all, for devoting more time to prepare the next speeches, one after the other.

I did not knew, I did not remember, speaking to audience could be such a joy!

Three actors in a speech

In a speech or storytelling event, there are three actors present, important each of them.

There is the Speech or Story, I'll call it story, because every speech has something to tell, has it not?
There is the Speaker, Storyteller, the teller. Me or you, or him or her.
There is the Audience, the listener, the viewer of the story or speech.

And of course, some more important elements that link those three together, when I speek (or you do).

How I feel about Audience and how we connect together.
How I feel about the Story I prepare and I tell.
How the Audience is connecting to the story or speech.
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I wanted to begin speaking about the first Toastmaster Manual speech, the Ice breaker.  But before I did it, I thought I will look through my journal to see what I find there about my beginning in the London Toastmaster's Clubs. I found a stunning thing.

There was not much about it else that I went first to Lewisham Speakers at the beginning of February last year. Then to Meridiam Speakers a month later! I did find more in another notebook where I had my "three pages a day" from my The Artist's Way Meetup and Book of Julia Cameron.

In those three pages I was supposed to write what comes to my mind without thinking, in a streem of consciousness way. I wrote a lot about Toastmasters there. A lot less in my journal.

Why?

Even to ourselves, when we think and even more when we write, we do not tell "everything" and we do not tell it in the same way. Also in my French blog, I tell more personal things then in my English blog, and it is normal as we do not speak the same way with one friend then with the other or with our parents or children or teachers. To each we speak differently.

Finally that is how we should do with the Audience. Depending to whom we tell our story, we tell it differently. First because they do not know us or the things we want to speak the same way. And could not understand it like others. Then we do open more or less, depending to whom we do speak.

Also, personally, I am very open, and thus my sincerity comes accross when I speak and helps me connect, I do not speak the same inside the Toastmasters Club or outside, to my grand children or to my storytelling group. Telling exactly the same will not work. Plus, it will bore me, too.

So I did understand better, the need to think about the speech, adopting it to the people we speak to.

If even speaking to myself, in my 3 pages notebook and in my diary is different!

I begun at each club, giving an impromptu speech about Traveling.

At Lewisham, I was asked where I would like to go. I told my dream to go once at the airport and look at the departures and choose there and go. It is still a dream but once, I'll do it. Often, when we go somewhere we do not know for sure what awaits us, anyhow. It was a very short speech. I was not really inspired. I felt, those who listened could not understand me, not my English, but how could I think of going somewhere without planning.

At Greenwhich, I was asked to tell about a trip, and I spoke about my first holiday spend in England and Scotland, in 1976. They let me speak three minutes, well over the time! This time I succeeded to connect to those listening and enjoyed their reaction to my telling the tale. Of course, that encouraged me to go on and on...

The short, impromptu speeches when you answer to a question on the spot, are called Table Topics. Thirty years ago, when I went to the Toastmasters Club around Washington, we stayed near the table, but did not remain seated, answering them. Now, you go out to the front to answer. 

But at the beginning, even just standing up, instead of remaining seated seems difficult, it did to me at the beginning, also the second time was easier and the third time natural.

Speaking about my trip in Scotland, was more appropriate to introduce myself to a new club, then speaking about my dream to go somewhere on the spot. Also, their first reaction empowered me to go on looking at them as if they were already my friends. They also understood better, the tale and me.

With my first two short stories, I experienced already the importance of links of Speaker, Speech and the Audience!