1. Get feedback at every level. Ask someone, in advance, to give you an evaluation. Make it from a manual (CC projects # 2-6 always work, 9 and 10 may work as well) and ask them to keep the judging criteria in mind when they do. Use a different project each time you give the speech (both in practice at your club and at contests). This should be in addition to your coach (if you have one) so you get a fresh perspective.

Why? It blows me away to see someone not do well, then ask what they could have done differently. Some will even say, “I wish I could hear what the judges were looking for.” You don’t want to hear from them. They took just one minute to decide on your score. Then they concentrated on the next speaker. Get someone good to pay attention to you, and get some feedback you can use.

2. Don’t worry about the judges. Yeah, that’s easy to say, but there is more to winning a contest than being liked by the judges. Plus, they can tell when a speaker is talking just to them.

Why? They are looking for your skill as a speaker, and some things they take into account are how you reach your audience, and how the audience reacts to you. Make sure to remember your audience before you speak.

3. Watch your competition. See as much of them as you can stand. Visit other clubs (don’t judge – that’s a rules violation) and other Area and Division contests when you can. Carpool if you need to. Others are going.  

Why? There are some great techniques on display, and some colossal blunders you may want to avoid. Plus, seeing how different speakers use different room configurations and how audiences react can teach you volumes to improve your own speaking ability.

4. Get some help. I mentioned a coach in #1 above. There are professional options, but you don’t have to spend money to get help. You just have to decide how much time you have, and how much time/help you’ll need. Sometimes members of your club or a nearby club may be willing to help you. Just ask. Chances are you can find someone willing to help, even if it’s just a little.

Why? Practice helps you, but without feedback it has little value. It’s good to have someone to help you focus your practice and serve as a filter for all of the suggestions you’re going to hear.

5. Remember, it’s about being the best speaker, not just having the best speech. This one is a lot like #2 – easy to say, hard to prove. After all, the greatest speaker in the world won’t win with a dull, boring speech. But then, the greatest speaker in the world wouldn’t give a dull, boring speech either. The best would know their audience, know their message, and know themselves.

Why? That’s just how it is.

This advice may not be for you, but if you are in it to win it, you might want to consider doing more than you have before. Do your best…be your best…that’s what competing and winning is all about.

Editors note: If you are thinking about professional coaching, check out World Champions EDGE (Affiliate link). This is a great resource, and the first month is just $1.

Now’s the time of year when we look at where we are, where we’d like to be, and why did my mother do this to me???

Ok…Freudian issues aside, how can we look forward to a positive 2012?

Start with a look at yourself. Look at these categories and ask yourself, “Where am I?”

1. Education - do you have the degree you want, the skills you need or the abilities that will get you ahead? How can you bridge the gap in 2012?
- Take a class. No you don’t always need a degree to make a difference. Pursuing a degree puts you ahead of your peers, plus as you finish each class, you know new stuff. Yeah, it’s pretty cool.
- Read. Find your pace and bump it up a notch. Read a book once a year? Now read one every three months. If it’s already once every three months, up it to every other month. When you can, go with one a month. Look at “My Favorite Books” on the right side of this page for some ideas, or just browse your local library and/or Barnes & Noble (where I am right now).
- Join Toastmasters. Yeah, you saw it coming. No better way to improve your speaking, leadership and networking skills.

2. Job - I lovw the quote that 20 years of experience is usually just one year repeated 20 times. If you find that you fit into a similar category, what are you going to do about it?
- Take some additional training at work. Online or in person, most companies offer classes that can improve your skills. Take advantage of them.
- Look at the education options above. They apply at work in many ways.

3. Family - If you could make one change that would make your family life better, what would it be?
- Be specific! Don’t say “spend more time with the kids.” Try, “dedicate one hour on Mon/Wed/Fri to teaching my daughter to speak French.” or “Take my family out to a movie at least twice a month.” You get the idea?

2012 doesn’t have to win any awards for “best stresser” if you take a reasonable approach to setting that next resolution. You don’t have to bridge that gap from where you are to where you want to be in just one year. Take a look at wh

A lavaliere microphone
The audience needs to be able to hear the speaker on stage, and no matter how well I think I project, the fact is any room with more than 50 people in it should be served by some type of microphone/speakers.

A perpetually full glass of room-temperature water
It depends on how long I’ll be stranded on stage, but I know I can’t speak to a group for more than 20 minutes without needing at least a sip.

My notes
Of course I know my material, but I never know what kind of distraction might take me off course and require a quick glance to be sure I cover everything I intended.

My handouts
It’s nearly always a good idea to provide materials to the audience. Plus, I can include information on other services and I like to send out a sign-up list.

My Flip video camera (I still can’t believe they discontinued those)
I always want to record my presentations. As valuable as other evaluations are, nothing beats watching my own presentation to see what I really did.

Your list might be different, but these items serve to make a pretty sound presentation. What’s on your list?

Simple vs. Easy

These words are not only used interchangeably, but also as a redundant pair on a regular basis. If fact, it is simple and easy to use these words incorrectly.

If you find the difference confusing, think of them like this: It’s simple to get more aerobic activity in your life, just walk for an hour each day. However, that may not be easy for everyone.

Necessary vs. Sufficient

These don’t get mixed up by the author or speaker so much, but sometimes by the listener. For example, it’s considered necessary to have valuable content in your blog for it to be a success. But all the great content in the world won’t insure success. It is necessary to have that content, but not sufficient. When you’re giving advice about things that have to happen, it may be important to mention that more may be needed.

Think about weight-loss ads that say “success is not typical.” That’s because their products were just one of the necessary steps in the overall program that made the photos you see happen.

What kind of word misuse do you encounter? Better, which ones have you misused yourself?

How can that be? I was wondering that too, at first. It’s simple if you think about it. Lets say you have a group of tasks that you need help with. It doesn’t even matter what they are, or when you need them. Now, add in an e-mail from me that says, “How can I help?”

Do you send me the first task on the list? Do you send me something simple that I can’t screw up? How do you decide? How do you even start to figure it out?

This question comes up in my mind because of my work in Toastmasters. There is a lot of work to be done, and a lot of potential volunteers out there. The trick is trying to match the needs with the skillsets, which I’m sure is a common problem in any volunteer organization, and even in the corporate settings.

So what is the solution? I think that it comes in two parts. First, you have to be able to define your need. I say that, knowing that even well polished job descriptions coupled with accurate and truthful resumés don’t often lead to good matches in the corporate settings. However, you can’t let the difficulty of doing the job right paralyze you from doing the job, right?

Second, you want to get your volunteer pool to shift gears and start providing you with ideas on how they can help, not just offers of help. As an example, I recently had one volunteer step back due to some scheduling issues. Before I had a chance to look for a replacement, I received a request from another member to step in and help with an important task that was needed in the short term (next two weeks). That was far better that 6 “How can I help?” messages.

What’s my strategy? I’ve been working with our team to put together specific needs, much like job descriptions. This can work in your small business or Toastmasters club too. Define the job and see who fits the bill. If you can’t find anyone, change the description and see if you get the right experience to at least cover a portion of the job.

How do you get them used to volunteering for specific tasks? You have to be specific.

What is the job?
What is the importance? To whom?
What is time requirements?
What are the travel and communication requirements?
Who do they report to?
What defines success?

There are probably other questions, but answer those above and you’ll likely have a description someone can understand and decide on.

I recently tried this in our TM District, sending a brief description to 101 Club VPs of Membership. I receive about 7 positive responses, and ended up with 4 volunteers for jobs we had never filled before. So far so good – and more will be coming.

If you’re like me and you have tasks that need to be done, whether in a volunteer organization or a small business, take the time to outline your need first. Then you can answer the folks who ask the tough question, ”How can I help?”

More importantly (as we enter the contest season), how do you give a winning evaluation?

First – Open Strong. The first words out of your mouth should be something great about the presentation. i.e. “Mike, it’s clear that you did quite a bit of research to bring us this presentation, and it showed. Mister Contest Master, fellow toastmasters and guests, Mike’s speech really hit the mark today, wouldn’t you agree?” Find something that you saw the audience react to and use it to get them to agree with you early.

Avoid: “For the next 3 minutes and 30 seconds…” in your intro. It’s redundant, it wastes time, and worst of all is says your main concern is the clock, not the speaker.

Next - Be Specific. There’s nothing more useless than hearing “if you made your closing longer, it would have made the speech stronger.” Really? You don’t say? Your advice is “add more closing”?

Try this: “Teresa, your closing felt rushed to me. You want to accomplish a couple of things during that time. One, summerize your points, and two, leave us with your best takeaway. When you see the green light, that should be your cue to finish up your last main point. Be done by the yellow and you’ll have time for a complete closing…”

Always – Care. They can tell when you don’t. This starts before the speaker is introduced. You have to approach the evaluation as if the speaker came to you and said, “My job depends on getting this right. Can you help me?” If your goal isn’t to help the speaker, then the judges probably won’t help you.

Finally – Summarize and be positive. The most important feedback you can give is to tell them what they specifically did well, and how to repeat it.

Avoid: “I look forward to your next speech.” Not because it’s trite, but because it’s vague. Be specific. Give them a reason you’re looking forward to the next speech, “John, You really hit the nail on the head with your woodworking tips, and I look forward to seeing how you’re next speech will give us more cool ideas for home improvement.”

Other thoughts: I’ve seen quite a few techniques, like G.L.O.V.E.,  A.C.E. and others used in competition, and the results are mixed. When I watch these evaluations, I ask myself is what you’re doing for the speaker or for yourself? If you use one of those techniques, it’s for the speaker. If you spend time describing it first, then it’s for you. Make sense?

Will these tips gaurentee you a win? Of course not. But if you open strong, care, and be specific in your feedback you’ll be competitive and more importantly you’ll help your speaker keep getting better. Isnt’ that what it’s really about?

If you are a Toastmaster, you might be struggling with a topic for your next presentation. The last two posts I wrote were about sparking ideas, but not specifically for speaking. Here are a couple of prompts I’ve come up with to help me generate speaking ideas:

1. What have I spoken on before that people enjoyed? What feedback did I get?

2. What have others in my club spoken on that people enjoyed? Is there something related I could speak about?

3. What has been missing from our club meetings? Has anyone spoken about shopping on-line, hybrid cars, job interview tips, or anything that might  interest our club?

Brainstorm on each of these for just 3-5 minutes per question. This should give you a pretty good list.

Next, answer the questions more fully for each one. For instance, in question one you may have answered that you once gave a great speech on FaceBook, and and some may have responded by telling you that they joined FaceBook thanks to you.

This gives you two really great choices. First, if it’s been a while, give a similar presentation. Go back to that manual and look at the feedback. Make a few adjustments and give the speech. Second choice: Give a follow-up presentation. You could talk about privacy settings, having a fan page, or how fun it is to follow famous people. Be creative, and remember that by limiting your scope you can do two things. 1 – keep their interest and 2 – save some topics for a later speech.

Follow the same thought processes for the question #2 ideas, and for things missing, think about what you know and what you’d like to learn. Use that as your guide and remember to keep the scope small.

Use prompts like these, and soon you’ll have plenty to talk about!

The next prompt in The Writers IdeaBook is to write about a time where you were feeling a bit creative. The idea is to recapture that creative flow and let that writing lead you somewhere creative again.

Reading this today caught my attention because of a recent blog post I read from Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert. Scott talks about how so many time fillers in our lives, including TV, video games, new blockbuster movies every weekend, and social networking like FaceBook have conspired to take away our boredom to the extent that we no longer have time to be creative.

When I read that, I realized that my most creative time was usually when I was driving my car with the radio off. What about you? Think about it for a minute. When was the last time you were bored, and just thought about random stuff? More importantly, when was the last time you took time to be creative?

Yes, this involves some writing, even for the non-writers. Think about the last time you had some creative ideas, about anything. Be specific. Think about where you were. The sounds, the sights, the smells.

Were you by the pool, smelling the sunscreen, feeling the warmth of the sun and hearing the splashing noises the kids were making? Were you at Starbucks, taking in the aroma of fresh roast coffee and listing to customers struggle with the difference between tall and grande?

What were you thinking about?

What ideas came to your head?

What ideas are coming now?

Are you writing them down?

Maybe if you aren’t having any good ideas, you aren’t letting yourself get bored enough.

Last weekend I attended our District’s Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI) training in Kansas City, and I spoke during our “Lunch and Learn” session.  The topic was Team Building. Including the lunch itself, the session was in a 50-minute block. Although I did receive a lot of positive feedback, there were a few things I could (should!) have done better.

First Lesson: Start Strong
Mistake I made: Starting too soon after the lunch was provided. When it comes to a lunch and learn event, you want to give your audience enough time to get through most of their food. Especially if you are like me and you build a lot of audience interaction into your presentations.
Why I did it: No good reason; I just started a bit too quickly. My excuse was trying to make sure we had the most time possible for the presentation. Looking back, I think that 3-5 fewer minutes with a more effective beginning would have led to a better session.
Effect the mistake had:  People were not very responsive to early questions. This caused the energy in the room to stay lower than I would have liked.
Possible fixes, on-the-fly:
Ask rhetorical questions – I could have said “I know you’re eating so this is rhetorical…does anyone like working for an autocratic leader?” This would allow them to participate in their own heads without feeling bad about not responding with their mouth full.
Switch from an audience-interaction opening to a storytelling opening. Since storytelling has not been my strongest method, this is the one I continue to work on myself.  Note for fellow Toastmasters, I’m starting the Storytelling manual as my next Advanced Manual. Craig Valentine has some great material on the subject.
Fix for next time: Allow a few more minutes to finish the main course.

Second Lesson: Get them back after an exercise (or break)
Mistake I made: I tried to get their attention after an exercise by simply talking (i.e. ” can I have your attention”). You’ve seen it before, just plowing ahead with my material as they slowly quieted down. It was not very effective…
Why I did it: I’ve seen quite a bit of the “Clap once if you hear my voice” technique, and I thought (poorly) that I wanted to avoid doing it again.
Effect the mistake had: It took folks time to get on board, also those ready to listen couldn’t hear me clearly over the murmuring.
Possible fixes on-the-fly:
Use the “clap once if you hear my voice…clap twice if you hear my voice” method. The nice thing about this method is you can switch to it anytime without materials.
Fix for next time: Lesson I learned from Ed Tate - Use other items to capture attention, like a toy clapper, chimes or other “polite/cute” noisemaker.

Third Lesson: Set expectations for group exercises
Mistake I made: I ran an exercise for the group. The idea was to get into pairs and ask each other a couple of “get to know each other” questions. I didn’t tell them that I would call on a few of them to share the results.
Why I did it: I initially planned to run the exercise and not include audience response due to time. As we went through, I looked at the clock and saw that I indeed had time to allow a couple of examples from the audience, so I made the change.
Effect the mistake had: Many of the folks simply did the exercise without taking notes.
Possible fixes on-the-fly:
Don’t change the exercise on-the-fly. This would have avoided the issue completely.
Walk up to one or two people during the exercise and ask them to be my “volunteer” when called upon. If I had tried this, I could have had two people with notes ready and my change would have worked more smoothly. 
Fix for next time: Provide a handout with the exercise defined and stick with it. I could always trim down the exercise, but adding to it on-the-fly was a mistake.

Learning lessons from your speaking doesn’t do much good if you don’t make the changes based on those lessons. Worse still if you (like I did) choose to fall back into an old habit (or three) when you’re in front of an audience. Lucky for me, the Toastmasters audience didn’t beat me up too bad. Had I misused those techniques in a paid environment, I may not get asked back.

The trick here is to develop habits that work in your chosen speaking enviornment. Since that includes lunch sessions and group interaction, my speaking checklist needs to include the three “fixes for next time” from above. If you don’t have a checklist, now is the time to get one started.

Is there a point where writers just go through a slump? Or, do you have to have a published batting average for it to be an official slump? It’s hard to say.

So what’s the answer? Write something about writers block!