Toastmaster Ice Breaker
Tonight I gave my first Toastmaster speech, termed, Ice Breaker for the first talk. It is to introduce yourself and gain experience for the first time.\r\n\r\nI practiced what I wanted to say for days in advance, and then the day of, I actually recorded the time required to read the two and a half pages that I had written. Trepidation set in as I realized the talk was 2-3 minutes over the 4-6 minute window for delivery. Some discomfort tried to slip into my confidence until I focused on the fact that I already knew the longer version and that it would be less stress to deliver a shorter version. I just needed to chain-saw out some verbiage. It always seems to stretch my ego to carve out words that I have so brilliantly crafted and felt were the bare essentials. How remarkable that I have that feeling often when writing and rewriting material.
The Toastmaster instruction manual relates that it is usual to return to your seat realizing that you left out critical components. That certainly applied to me. On returning to my seat, I quickly reviewed my coveted written speech. To my chagrin, I realized I had left out more than one essential paragraph. Then it dawned on me that no one else would know what I inadvertently deleted. A truism for sure.
As expected by my psyche, the evaluation was full of praise. My evaluator was a long-term member of Toastmasters. He gave me accolades, however, none that matched his closing. He exclaimed; “I am an educator and all I can say is A+. That had a profound effect on me. It gave me extreme confidence and coalesced my return to the US as a new and profound acceptance of my talents and commitments to self-improvement and success. My new persona is nearly complete. I am now a Speaker and Author.
