Table Topics Speech Contest

Yesterday I participated in the Division B Toastmaster Table Topics (impromptu speaking) competition. Having won, I'll go to Charlotte in 2 weeks for the District (State) Championship, the final level for the Table Topics contest. (The International Speech contest continues on at the national level.)
The trophy I shall now drink my coffee from...

I usually don't get rattled by speaking or competing. It just is what it is and I have enough confidence in my speaking abilities that I know I can manage an answer, if not the winning answer.  But I must admit to feeling butterflies in my stomach when I saw the competition. I knew two of them to be excellent speakers. But we listened to the International Speech Contest first and by the time it was my turn, my nerves had worked themselves out.

The way the contest works is that each contestant is given the same question and then has 1 - 2 1/2 minutes to answer. The other contestants are in a holding room while the people before them speak, so they don't have the advantage of hearing the question ahead of time. By this logic, it really shouldn't matter when you speak, but I still prefer going near the end. There were 5 of us competing and I pulled the first slot--my least favorite.

The question was: "The mayor of your town has decided not to run for re-election. You decide to campaign for mayor. What will be your platform?"

Having gone first, I got to sit in the audience and listen to each contestants answer that followed me.  Everyone nailed it--there wasn't one person there who couldn't have won. Being objective though--and I think I'm pretty good at that--I would have placed me in 3rd place--maybe second. I did not expect to win.

Here's a comment I found fascinating. A young man came up to congratulate me and said, "When I saw you sitting in the audience before you spoke, I thought, 'Oh, she looks fragile. She will probably have a quiet and meek voice and presence.'" He went on to say how surprised he was at my command of the stage.

There are many words people might use to describe me--loud... opinionated... clumsy. But fragile? Not by a long shot. I had to laugh. Interesting that my non-verbals conveyed that to someone though.

I'll try to toughen up for Charlotte. ;)

Stop the Clock!

"No time! No time!" is what I feel like yelling from the rooftops. Three new (unsolicited) projects popped up this week, it's one of those weeks where I've scheduled an appointment for GYN, dentist, hair, and any other bodily function I may have, and I've got three projects all due on Monday that are gasping their last breath, begging for my attention. Add to that I need to get my feet out and pound some pavement with some miles and drive time to and from Greensboro  5 TIMES this week, and I feel like I'm running on fumes.

And yet... I'm not really. Time always appears. Life goes on.

I got my hair cut (okay yes, fine, and highlighted too) today and as I was pulling up to the shop, I reflected that hairdressing may be a nice job with little to no drama. Then I walked in the door and my poor stylist was running around like a chihuahua on speed, her helper who answers phones and shampoos clients and sweeps floors having called in sick with what my stylist suspected was less the flu and more of a major hangover.  DRAMA.

I really have low stress in my life... and am grateful for it. I spoke to a friend in Utah yesterday who's life has blown up in her face and I could feel her near hysterics on the phone.  Listening to real problems always puts mine in perspective.

And here's a bit of good news. I won our Toastmasters area impromptu speaking competition last night and will proceed to district finals on April 14th. The question asked was, "If you could travel to any point in time, whether it be past or future, what point would you travel to and why?"

My response was that I would travel 20 years in the future to see if the approximately 5 billion dollars I've spent on skin care throughout my life has been worth it. Forget visiting historical figures and bringing back wisdom for the ages. If I don't have the dewy complexion of a 15-year old in love when I visit the future, I am kicking some Arbonne butt.

Who says you have to be serious to win at speaking? Bring on the laugh track. I'm ready for the big time...   ;)

Critique on Public Speaking Book

For long, long, LONG time readers of this blog, you may recall that I at some point decided I would write a book on public speaking. I was doing a lot of teaching at the time on the topic at area and college universities as well as at writers conferences.  Based on what I observed, there are a glut of people milling about who are perfectly capable of being wonderfully adequate speakers, if they could just move past their fear.

Yes, I know..."wonderfully adequate speakers." Quite a lofty goal. And yet, it is.  Most people who give talks or workshops aren't setting out to earn their living in a speaking venue. They're not trying to be keynote speakers or stand-up comedians. They just want to get through the occasional presentation at work and feel good about doing so. We're so much a nation focused on being the best or #1 that we sometimes overlook "adequate" as a perfectly reasonable goal.

So I wrote a manuscript, The Occasional Speaker.   Then I rewrote it. Then I ignored it. Then I let a few people read it, listened to their comments, thought hard about how to improve the book, and ignored it again. Then this past summer when I won my week long writer's retreat at WildAcres, I took the manuscript, ripped it apart, reorganized it, and renamed it The Perfect Speaker (Doesn't Exist). I got home, and promptly stopped work on it. (I hope you all are gaining insight into the writer's process...)

A critique group I had been a part of before regrouped, and in January I gave the revised manuscript to 3 readers. I met with two of them yesterday to receive feedback. That's always a scary process. You absolutely want people who won't sugarcoat and will tell you the truth. Otherwise, what's the point? But ego is a tricky thing, and you sort of enter the room ready to duck if a hard ball comes your way.

I honestly didn't know what to expect. I've been through the manuscript and sometimes I read it and think, "Hey, this has some merit," and other times I read it and think, "Burn it now, quick,before anyone sees it." I've all but had the match in hand before I turn back.

So it was with a great sigh of relief that I received positive feedback yesterday. Not glowing. Both readers agreed I needed to tighten, condense, and do some reorganizing to get rid of repetition and create a smoother flow. No surprises there. One who read my early version said she liked that format better and thought it allowed for more humor. I'm not sure I agree. But it's worth pulling out the original format and comparing.

Having received comments and suggestions, I'm also currently motivated to work on the book--something I need to jump on before I blink and the feeling disappears.  I also still need to meet with my third reader and see if his reactions concur with the other two. There's always a wild card...

The question follows on what I might do with said book. It will be an incredibly hard sell to a traditional publisher, given that I'm not out earning millions as a speaker, re: someone worth listening to. Then again, the premise of the book is that you don't HAVE to be that big-time speaker in order to be a successful speaker.

I'm willing to self-publish and market myself, if need be. I could start teaching again, sign up with some speakers bureaus, approach regional companies and go with back of the room sales. I suspect that will end up being the case but I'll probably at least pull together a proposal and test the waters before I go that route. (Side note: When I was typing the title of today's entry, I slipped and typed, "Public Spanking Book." Freudian slip? Or maybe a hint from the Universe that the mistyped title will be a much easier sell than my book...)

I have got to get serious about prioritizing my work time or I'm forever going to be chasing loose ends instead of working on big projects. But that's tomorrow's blog...

"Niche Your Pitch"

I spoke last night at the Naja Greensboro chapter of the American Business Women Association. My topic was "Niche Your Pitch: How To Create Memorable Personal Commercials." I haven't spoken in a while and I forgot how much fun it is, especially with a group that's eager to participate.

I gave a quick background as to what comprises a personal commercial, went through a series of "Before" and "After" examples and then had the group brainstorm ideas for members on how to liven up their commercials.

There was a guest at the meeting who had completed her massage therapist training but now had to perform a certain number of practice hours on clients for free to receive her certification. She had just joined a networking group but felt--rightly--that just saying, "Hi, my name's Dee and I'm a massage therapist" wasn't gaining her any leads.

We came up with, "Hi, my name is Dee and I'm looking for people I can get my hands on," as an opener. She has the personality to deliver it and was thrilled.

A successful commercial is brief, unique, and memorable. One of the best commercials I've ever heard came from a member of my Wednesday morning leads group. Bill Simmons sells office furniture. Snore, right? But look at Bill's Commercial:

Hi, I'm Bill Simmons and I'm looking for dirt. If you pass a construction site, see dirt being moved, or even spot a bulldozer, call me. I sell office furniture and companies make decisions about furnishings while buildings are being built. Once a structure is up, it's too late. So remember, if you see dirt or a bulldozer, call me, Bill Simmons.

I love this because it's brief, unique (no one else in my group is asking me to look for dirt), and it has sticking power. Every time I see a bulldozer, I think of Bill and call him. It's a great example of giving people a memorable nugget of information and not overloading them with information they don't need.

I have the speaking bug, now. Might be time to put some energy toward landing more engagements. I'm speaking to a rotary club next month. Once you speak at one, it's easy to land invitations at others and that's a huge circuit. Something to think about.