Tips for Toastmasters
- Time Yourself
This one would seem to be obvious. When you re preparing a speech or presentation and you have a time limit you need to know how your preparation is going relative to the time limit you will be given. Many times I have found that I am rushing a speech to try and fit in more content than I should. This almost always leads to me going over time.
- Pace yourself This goes hand in hand with timing yourself. Pacing is important in that you don't want too minimize your speech by rushing through it. Also you need to keep it moving to keep the audience interest. Appropriate pauses add impact to your words. Leaving time for audience to comprehend and internalize what you have said.
- Arrive Early
This is a good practice to get into with your regular toastmasters meeting. Even though you may already be intimately familiar with the speaking area, the audience and the atmosphere you will be speaking in, it gives time for those preparations you need for you presentation. When I was MC of a big event for work I arrived an hour early to get the lay of the room and speaking area to familiarize myself with peoples names that I would be introducing and so forth. Remember as Vince Lombardi said: "If you're early, you're on time. If you're on time, you're late. If you're late, don't bother showing up,"
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