Fast Results E-Zine
When you sign up, you'll get instant access to my article archives, exclusive content and other freebies. Plus, we will never sell, rent or share your information so sign up today.
Search
Bookmark this Page
Blog Carnivals
Blogroll
Resources
Categories
- 10 Things (3)
- Blog Carnival (8)
- Bullying (4)
- Career (56)
- Communicators in the news (20)
- events (1)
- General (15)
- Goal Setting (21)
- Health (1)
- Inspiration (26)
- Interpersonal Communication (36)
- Job Interview (28)
- Leadership (5)
- Learning (2)
- Motivation (56)
- Networking (18)
- Online Success (11)
- Personal (7)
- Politics (20)
- Public Speaking (133)
- Quick Tip (7)
- Review (2)
- success (4)
- Time Management (5)
- Toastmasters (30)
- Video of the Week (14)
- Writing (5)
Archives
- August 2010 (6)
- July 2010 (6)
- June 2010 (13)
- May 2010 (3)
- April 2010 (2)
- March 2010 (11)
- February 2010 (12)
- January 2010 (6)
- December 2009 (7)
- November 2009 (12)
- October 2009 (12)
- September 2009 (3)
- August 2009 (6)
- July 2009 (11)
- June 2009 (16)
- May 2009 (8)
- April 2009 (7)
- March 2009 (10)
- February 2009 (7)
- January 2009 (8)
- December 2008 (5)
- November 2008 (3)
- October 2008 (7)
- September 2008 (11)
- August 2008 (9)
- July 2008 (18)
- June 2008 (9)
- May 2008 (14)
- April 2008 (14)
- March 2008 (11)
- February 2008 (10)
- January 2008 (13)
- December 2007 (13)
- November 2007 (2)
- October 2007 (4)
- September 2007 (3)
- August 2007 (4)
- July 2007 (3)
- June 2007 (4)
- April 2007 (1)
- February 2007 (2)
- January 2007 (3)
- December 2006 (2)
- November 2006 (7)
- October 2006 (6)
- September 2006 (12)
Why People Fail
| Posted by: James |
Email This to a Friend
|
I’ve never been a big fan of “date” movies – romantic comedies where you know the guy and the girl are going to get together at the end, but not sure exactly how they’ll get through the mess created during the first twenty minutes of the film. With these types of films, part of the plot line usually has to do with a guy who’s afraid of commitment.
I usually get frustrated with this plot line – the gal should just move on (or to make it a movie more to my liking, blow up his car while he’s driving away). But no, it gets drawn out for 90+ minutes and somehow the guy sees the err in his ways and decides that he was wrong to not commit in the first place and spend the second half of the movie trying to correct the situation. In most cases, there’s a happy ending but not always. But what’s interesting is that fear or lack of commitment happens a lot in real life and the results are often not a happy ending.
I’m frequently invited to speak at Toastmasters clubs about how to speak beyond Toastmasters. Last year, I gave a presentation at a District Conference on this topic and was excited about how much interest there was in learning more about it. It’s just a natural progression – once you’ve peaked in Toastmasters, you feel ready to go out and use these skills that you’ve mastered.
So here are the top then things I’ve learned about speaking beyond Toastmasters:
- Ums and ahs don’t really matter unless they are excessive.
- Going over your allotted time can quickly turn your audience against you.
I’ve had a number of people ask me lately about how to go from a Toastmaster to someone who makes money speaking. Many of these people want to speak on their area of expertise while others are looking to speak about speaking. Those in the former have it a little easier because the key there is to just continue to develop your expertise while you graduate as a speaker to different audiences. Those in the latter have a more challenging road ahead because speaking to a Toastmasters audience is significantly different than speaking to other audiences – a fact which is often overlooked when speaking about Toastmaster-related topics. So I’m going to focus on the latter group for this article, but the former will definitely get some benefit from this too.
In part one of this article, we talked mainly about the opportunities that exist within your own Toastmasters club to push yourself as a speaker. Most people that join Toastmasters don’t venture beyond their clubs, so they’re missing a whole new world of opportunity in Toastmasters for improving their speaking skills.
So here are some ways to flex those speaking muscles outside of your home club:
6. Visit other clubs
Last year, I did a presentation at a Toastmasters District Conference about how one can take their speaking to the next level. I’ve since been invited to give this talk to various Toastmasters Clubs (if you’d like me to speak at your club, please contact me) and I’ve learned that a lot of folks within Toastmasters are surprised at how many opportunities they have within the organization to push their limits as speakers.
85 years ago today, Dr. Ralph C. Smedley met with a small group of people in a YMCA in Santa Ana, California. That was the first Toastmasters meeting ever. It’s amazing how since then the organization has grown to over 250,000 members in over 12,000 clubs in over 100 countries.
So you’ve got a speech that was a bit hit at your Toastmasters meeting and you feel it’s ready for prime time. So what’s the next step along the path to becoming a professional speaker? I recommend taking your show on the road and speaking to local service clubs.
Service clubs are a great way to test the waters for your presentation. They offer you a real audience that will give you real feedback. While Toastmasters clubs are a great venue for learning how to speak, the audiences at these meetings are quite forgiving.
Popular Articles
- Interview Question: What are your strengths and weaknesses?
- Public Speaking Success: How to Get Ideas for Speech Topics
- How to Answer the Strengths and Weaknesses Job Interview Question
- Hannah Montana Takes “Racy” Photos
- Job Interview Questions: Where Do You Expect to Be in Five Years?
- A Fast Way to Improve Your Articulation
- 10 Questions to Ask During a Job Interview
- Public Speaking Success: Three Ways to Make a Speech More Interesting
- Public Speaking Benefits: How Public Speaking Skills can Help Your Career
- Public Speaking: How to Write a Powerful Conclusion for Your Speech
- How to Improve Your Articulation
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
- Marketing 101 – Logic, Emotion, Needs and Wants | rt Strategy | Kelowna Marketing Agency | Marketing Firm - Creative Strategy - Branding - Web Design - Advertising - Social Media - Public Relations
on Why We Feel Inadequate - Watch How You Use Social Media | Overnight Sensation - Public Speaking, Communication and Personal Development
on Overcoming Hopelessness: Part 2 – Getting Out of the Rut: - Watch How You Use Social Media | Overnight Sensation - Public Speaking, Communication and Personal Development
on The Social Media Trap - James
on How to Exit a Conversation - Ann Shea
on How to Exit a Conversation - Public Speaking and The Matrix | Overnight Sensation - Public Speaking, Communication and Personal Development
on Why Most Self-Help Books are Garbage - Carnival of Social and Tech: August 20th Edition | Looking Glass Blog
on The Social Media Trap - Rick Curry
on Why People Fail
Wordpress theme by Wordpress Themes & made free by Internet Marketing Center
© 2006-2008 James Feudo All Rights Reserved.

