Why Lessons Are Better Than Speeches

by Promod Sharma, President 2011-2012, CC

Confession time. I don't like giving speeches. There's too much preparation and practicing. The timing needs to be right.

In Toastmasters, each speech has specific criteria which get progressively tougher. That's why I haven't done in a speech since becoming a Competent Communicator three months ago.

Real Life

In real life, do you deliver speeches? I give presentations. The length is generally 45-60 minutes, including questions. A speech isn't the right form of practice but a lesson is.

At Goodyear Toastmasters, a lesson is typically 15-20 minutes long. You can practice a full presentation in three or four sessions over a period of months. Or you can practice the core elements in one lesson.

At first, giving a lesson may look like difficult because you have more time to fill. The opposite is true.

Lessons

A lesson is much easier than a speech. You're not expected to memorize. You're more likely to use visual aids like PowerPoint. There's time for audience participation, which develops your impromptu skills. You're not rushed.

If you feel nervous in the beginning, you'll have more time to recover. You'll have more time to try different things. When you watch the video playback, you may spot unintended behaviour more easily. Perhaps your body language changes when each time you get a question.

If you're using PowerPoint, you can use Presenter View to help you remember your content. When you're live, you don't want to look like you're simply reading. When you're practicing, Presenter View is very helpful.

The Topic

If you already know your topic and don't need visuals, you can prepare a lesson in minutes.

If you're doing an important presentation (for work, say), you won't want to rush the preparation. As you do more lessons, you may be able to reuse elements such as slides. 

Crutches

If you normally use visuals for lessons, try one without. I've done that several times recently

• Using Social Media To Grow Your Practice
• Mastering The Mastermind
• Mastering Time

You're then better prepared should equipment malfunction.

That’s the lesson for today, Class dismissed.

Links

• Prepare a lesson in minutes
• How to discuss taboo topics
• Getting a video recording of your speech
• You’re a Competent Communicator. Now what?
• Be cautious with vocal variety
• image courtesy of ihor-seamless

Promod Sharma blogs about marketing at marketingactuary.com and tweets about trust @trustandyou.

Create A Lesson In Minutes

by Promod Sharma, President 2011-2012, CC

A speech takes hours to prepare and practice. A 15-20 minute lesson takes minutes to prepare. Here’s how:

1. Pick a topic you know well
2. Create a mind map
3. Include audience interaction

There’s no need to practice, but practice helps.

The Right Topic

Preparation takes time unless you pick a topic you already know well. Choose a hobby for instance. You'll cut your stress level and exude passion.

At our core, we're much alike. Pick a topic of interest and value to a general audience (even if you're talking to a specialized group).

Today, I'm giving a lesson on Mastering Time via three proven, simple techniques. It's based on a blog post I wrote a few months ago,

Mind Map

A mind map is a simple, visual way to organize, re-arrange and deliver your lesson (for a primer, read preplan your speech with a mind map). For a lesson, I use three branches

1. hook: draw the audience in quickly the way an action movie does
2. content: give the substance with the boring bits removed
3. action: leave the audience with a simple next step

Here's a screen shot (click to enlarge). This mind map took 21 minutes to develop. I might make minor refinements.

You can use a printed mind map for your delivery  but you’ll get more flexibility on a tablet.

Interaction

If you're just going to talk, spare your audience by putting a recording on YouTube. You'll be more polished and able to reach a larger audience.

If you're going to consume an audience's irreplaceable time and attention, invite them to participate. What do they think? What are their experiences? Do they have better ideas?

Interaction helps your audience build their skills too. That's an important part of Toastmasters.

Time Crunch

What happens if you have less time to give your lesson than expected? You can be irate and demand your full allotment. Or you can hone your skills by adjusting. 

Last week I had a lesson on Mastering The Mastermind (based on this post). I thought I'd have 20 minutes but only 10 minutes were scheduled. Other segments took longer than planned. To help the meeting end on time, I was asked to finish in eight minutes. I agreed to the challenge.

Here's how: I left the hook and action intact (and had them reasonably memorized). In the middle segment, I cut out portions and removed the audience participation. The result was essentially a speech. I finished in six minutes and 55 seconds. I don't think the audience noticed or suffered.

Without a mind map, I would have scrambled to prune. With the mind map, I made adjustments as I spoke.

Your Lesson

My lesson for tonight has taken 21 minutes to prepare (though I've been thinking about it for two days). I'll refine and practice a bit. The total time will be less than an hour.

If you're new to giving lessons, you needn't race the clock. You needn't fear that a lesson is tough to create either.

Links

• Three time tracking tools that work
• Prepare your speech with a mind map
• How to discuss taboo topics
• Overcome the chaos of English pronunciation and spelling

Promod Sharma conducts independent Actuarial Insurance Reviews in the Greater Toronto Area.

How To Discuss Taboo Topics

by Promod Sharma, President 2011-2012, CC

You can discuss taboo topics in Toastmasters if you're inventive. What you want to achieve? That's the core question.

Let's say you want to talk about politics. What's your goal?

• Do you want to test your persuasive skills?
  
• Do you want feedback on the logic of your arguments?
  
• Are you trying to share your passion?

Your approach would vary for each.

Persuasion

If your topic is controversial, you'll have difficulty convincing members with strong opinions. Why not let them persuade themselves?

You could give a Viewpoint. Here you share you give background and your opinions for a few minutes. The Chair then leads a group discussion. You take notes and summarize the results at the end.

A Debate is another option. Here attendees think of arguments to support their side and negate their opponents. The discussions tend to be lively but not deep. The goal is to win rather than have a civilized discourse.

Involving your audience gives you a better understanding of how others think. You will likely see that opinions vary. You might even change your own thinking.

Logic

If you want to test the logic of your arguments, get group feedback. With a Viewpoint, the Chair runs most of the segment. You may wish to maintain control by giving a Lesson instead. Express your thoughts and leave enough time for a group discussion (which you lead).

Perhaps you want the audience to role play. Perhaps you want us to pretend that we're undecided voters or opposing voters.

Passions

You might be passionate about a polarizing topic like abortion. Remember that your Toastmasters club is a place for you to develop your skills. Your topic may get in the way and prevent you from getting better.
When you're passionate, your enthusiasm will affect the audience. You might not see flaws in your thinking because you see your views as "obvious". You could easily be wrong.

If your topic is controversial, you may get labeled a zealot. How does that help you going forward?

Substitution

You may be better results by discussing an uncontentious topic instead. Perhaps a topic that members know little about. For instance, you might talk about a hobby like woodworking. Since you know the subject, you can focus on developing your skills.

Links

• Viewpoint: The living legacy of Goodyear Toastmasters
• A must-do for all speakers
• Three mistakes seminar speakers make
• What goes wrong when presenting outside your club
• image courtesy of Streuli Silvan (Switzerland)

Promod Sharma has used Toastmasters to discuss topics ranging from the boring (e.g., insurance) to the polarizing (e.g., social media). His website is at promodsharma.com.