Have any of these happened to you?

1. Slow down your speaking. Have you ever been given this advice? You might think that the way to make this work is to add time to your presentation.

Better? Cut unnecessary content.

2. The speaker before you went over time. Should you just plow through your complete presentation? Even while the audience is checking in with their watches, and out on you?

Cut content.

3. We’re you asked to do your 40-minute keynote in 20 minutes? Should you plan to speed up your presentation?

You guessed it…cut content.

Is there a trick? No, just a process:

First, go back to the beginning. Ask yourself, “What is the point you expect your audience to walk away with?” Craig Valentine calls this your foundational phrase. If you can’t get it to 10 words or less, your audience won’t get it either.

Next, look at the content that doesn’t support this phrase. We all love anecdotes and quotes that sound good. Stephen Covey says, “Be Proactive”. If you only include them because they sound good without really supporting your point, you need to let them go. Cut them. Now.

Do you have any activities? Can you bring in something that takes less time? Maybe you can take that 5-minute group activity and replace it with a 2-minute one. I did that recently at a training…oh wait…you don’t need to hear that.

Take a close look at the stories you use. Do your stories have characters that aren’t important to the point? Are there any superfluous words or phrases? Let them go.

Are you adding commentary? Sometimes this may be valuable, but not always. Be sure adding your opinion supports the audiences needs. If you are doing it for yourself, cut it.

Having to figure out how to speak less can be annoying, but if you avoid cramming information in you can avoid cramming your audience out. It’s tough to do the first few (hundred) times, but once you master the skill of cutting out unnecessary content, you’ll be more effective when you do speak, and you’re audience will be more likely to want to hear you again.

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.

Good question.

I’ve heard and given a number of answers to this question, and here are some that I’ve been told are best:

1. Speak outside of your club more. Take your experience on the road. Offer to speak at non-Toastmaster groups, and also speak at other Toastmaster clubs. If you have a really well put-together presentation on a popular topic like networking, job hunting, social networking, or something else that could draw a crowd, offer to give that presentation at another club’s open house to help them attract guests. If you don’t, then put one together.

2. Keep giving manual speeches. Whether you use idea #1 or not, every speech you give in front of a Toastmaster’s audience should be a manual speech. I keep a CC manual handy all of the time, plus I’m usually working on one or two advanced manuals as well. Also, it’s okay if you give a speech you’ve given before. It will have changed a bit based on what you learned, and should always be a manual speech. Look here for more ideas on repeating CC manuals. Most importantly, others will see you working on the manuals. If it’s good enough for you, it’ll be good enough for them.

3. Take on additional leadership roles. Not just Division Governor or higher roles, but there are plenty of “operation little bit” roles you can take on too. Volunteer to help with registration at a contest or conference, be a contest master, judge, or help find a location for your area contest. Serve as an assistant Area Governor, conference chair, or webmaster. If you haven’t heard of a role you’d like to do, suggest it!

4. Mentor a leader. Help your Club President, Area Governor or District Governor to do a better job. Offer to be on someones HPL (High Performance Leadership) guidance committee.

5. Coach a club. You may have done this for your first DTM, or maybe not. But many clubs still need coaches, and even clubs in the 13-19 member range could use some unofficial coaching. Offer to help with a membership drive, or speak (as in idea #1).

6. Call me. Contact your District Governor if you have questions or ideas. I (they) can refer you to someone who could use your help and expertise. If you don’t want to bug your DG, call your Area or Division Governor first.

Completing your  DTM isn’t the end of the path. It’s the start of your journey as an experienced Toastmaster. Take advantage of your experience and strengths, and help others get the most from their Toastmasters membership.

Recently, I ran a brainstorming session (Facilitating Discussion manual, project #2) at my Toastmasters club. The problem we were discussing was “Toastmasters Training”, and I was looking for input on what they, our club members, were most interested to learn. Toastmasters has a plethora of prepared topics we can use, ranging from 10 minutes sessions to four hour seminars. Plus, we have some experienced members capable of creating some awesome sessions on their own.

As luck would have it, one of those members had just presented a Leadership Excellence Series module on Resolving Conflict, so I had a great example to point to right off the bat.

Did they ask for Team Building, From Speaker to Trainer, or Organizing your Speech? Nope. Nearly every idea in the brainstorming session centered on one theme: helping new members understand (and benefit from) Toastmasters. The topics?

1. Orienting new members to the club
2. How to run special events (contests, open houses and our annual Christmas Party)
3. How to use the club, district and TI websites
4. Toastmasters organizational structure (Area, Division, etc.)
5. How to be a Mentor (for new members)
6. Goal setting for members

Also, they mentioned a need for a more robust welcome packet and some type of display of our member’s progress (see an example here)

Next step: I need to turn this into usable information for my club. That is, how do we meet this need? Goal Setting, Mentoring, and Orienting New Members each have modules that can be downloaded (free). In fact, there’s even supporting articles for some topics, such as mentoring.

Here’s the initial plan I will submit:

1. Split Orienting New Members into multiple sessions
   1. The Toastmasters Education Program (successful club series)
   2. Meeting Roles and Responsibilities (successful club series)
2. Split How to run special events into two sessions
   1. 12-15 minute session on Club Contests – related article here
   2. We  will need to develop a 12-15 minute session on special events (open houses and parties) – there’s a related TI manual called, Put on a Good Show.
3. Split the How to use the club, district and TI websites into three sessions
   1. Using TI’s website to manage your profile, order items and find information
   2. Using the Club website
   3. Using the District website (calendar and resourses)
4. Discuss the Organization structure, including the service chart and WHQ Org Chart. Could be a 5-7 minute speech, including projects 7 or 8 from the CC manual.
5. Deliver the Mentoring module (successful club series)
6. Deliver the Goal Setting and Planning module (leadership excellence series)

We will need to get a volunteer for each session, and work with the VP Education to schedule these periodically, like one per month. I think this is very doable.

Running a brainstorming session with your club can be an eye-opening experience. In a short 21 minute session, I compiled enough information from my club to make the plan above.

Do this at your club, and you can find out what your members have wanted and it may allow you to better support them in their goals.

You may not find the same request in your club. But if you go in with an open mind, you’ll find what your club needs and you can make a plan to support your members. Give it a try! Leave a comment with the results.

Editors note: This has been reprined from the District 22 Blog

1. Figure it out for yourself (difficult, time-consuming, and a high probability of failure/quitting)
2. Learn from experts on your own (Books, Videos, other “learn at home” courses)
3. Learn from the experts directly

The first method is the slow, painful, learn-from-every-single-mistake method that has made America great. You may choose to believe that there are no shortcuts in life, but this method is a certain long-cut – don’t kid yourself. Another misconception is the lower cost here. But, if you delay future earnings while you patiently (and painfully) get better, is it really saving you money, or costing you more down the road?

The second method uses books, audio lesson, teleseminars and such to reduce the learning curve while keeping costs low and flexibility high. The advantage here is:

1. You can learn from the best
2. On your own schedule
3. At a lower cost than other options

This can be a great first step to see if the expert’s style will suit you, and get you through the basics without the deeper investment. Plus, when you’re ready to make the call and work directly with the experts, you’ll get more out of the experience, and avoid paying a premium for basic information. Translation: you can jump into the more advanced content.

Recently, I had the privlige to work directly with Darren LaCroix and Craig Valentine. Both Darren and Craig are among the best in speaking, highly successful professionals and highly sought after as speech coaches. One of the programs they run is called, The Secrets of Storytelling Champ Camp. Something you already know: The call it a Champ Camp becasue they are both World Champions of Public Speaking.

The advantage here was since I had learned quite a bit from both Darren and Craig from their CD and DVD content, I was able to really get some valuable advanced training in a single weekend. We took an idea I had for a story – the day I was laid off in 2009 – and turn it into a complete story with the ability to reach my audience.

The important factor here was to start by developing the 5 C’s of great storytelling. Characters, Conflict, Cure, Change and Carryout. These give you the basic structure to a powerful story. Then we worked through some additional techniques and If you want to learn about this storytelling process, check here.

Which method have you chosen? Are you getting the results you hoped for? If not, maybe it’s time to make a change and move to the next level. You can see real impovement if you’re willing to do the work, practice, and learn from the best.

Stop wasting time with the long-cut.

Note: All links to the World Champions Edge are affiliate links. There’s no difference in cost to you, but if you’d rather not use the affiliate link, you can go directly to http://www.worldchampionsedge.com/.

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

What’s the difference? I think that it is a decision that the club makes. Either A, you choose to treat 20 as a finish line (i.e. “we just need to get to 20 in June to make distinguished”), or B, you treat 20 as a minimum for having a successful club all of the time.

What are the pros and cons? Well, in option A you trade doing less work marketing for doing more work running club meetings and other functions. You may have an easier time getting speaking slots, but fewer folks are getting experience and the pool of great evaluators is small. If a few people miss a meeting, your speaking to a small audience and probably doing double (or triple) duty.

In option B, you do more work publicizing and marketing the club, and also a little more work scheduling. More members means more speakers, more evaluators, and more people having fun. It’s surprising how contagious that can be.

So how do you get from A –> B? There’s a simple (but not easy) process:

1. Decide to do it – it seems to take about four dedicated members to get the group on board.
2. Make a plan – how will you market your club? Website, Company paper, Library bulletin board, etc.)
3. Set the example – give manual speeches and invite guests
4. Hold your members accountable – don’t be harsh, but ask how they are approaching others, and how they are doing on their goals
5. Have fun!

Getting to 20 isn’t the finish line. Treat it like your minimum and you’ll see just how successful and FUN your club can really be!

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?

Conner Cuneen, DTM -Pillars of Marketing Wisdom

Conner looked a little stiff starting out – and gave us 100,000 welcomes (an Irish thing)

All people dream, but not equally – Laurence of Arabia

Clear and compelling vision
- Successful businesses have a clear vision on what success will look like
- Howard Shaw – Starbucks – his vision while visiting Chicago – “in 5 years time, everyone on this street with a Starbucks cup in their hand”
- Starbucks now has over 17,000 units globally

Do you have a clear and compelling vision?
Do your people know the vision?

- in 2003, McDonalds recorded their first ever quarterlyy loss
- the CEO said “wouldn’t it be something if we had clean restrooms and hot, fresh food in all of our restaurants?”
The share price then? $12.50 Now? $87

- one suggested vision – get your staff to start thinking, “I want this customer to say as they are leaving ‘hey, I liked that place, I want to come back.’”

…you must see and feel what you are thinking

genchi genbutsu – go to the source and learn
If you understand your marketplace and your customers – you have a better chance of succeeding in that market

When Toyota decided to launch the Lexus brand – they sent their design engineers to live in Laguna Beech California to observe and understand their target audience.

Toyota wanted to create a child of America

You don’t need a Toyota budget, you just need a searching, inquisitive mind.

- do an online survey
- just call your customers and ask

Brand experience
- your behavior drives what people say about you
- what people say about you is your brand

asked “how many Guinness drinkers in the room”

the perfect pint takes 119 seconds to pour

Don’t just sell a product, sell the experience – Harley Davidson, Starbucks, Apple.

Interesting miss – he discussed the difference between an iPod and a Zune and said “if I offered every one here an iPod or a Zune, I bet 98 percent of you would take the iPod.” Why not make it more powerful and let us see us answering that with 98% or more?

list three words you would like someone to say about you, after you have left the room:

_________      _________      _________

Conclusion was a good wrap-up of the three points. He asked us some points, but again missed an opportunity. He asked us what coffee company he mentioned. we all said Starbucks. Then he asked us how likely it was that we would see one in the next 24 hours. hmmm. he didn’t prompt that earlier, and most of his audience will be in this hotel for the next 24 hours. Although, it turned out well with the same questions about McDonalds and Lexus.

To be honest, this presentation feels very similar to his presentation last year. My three words about Conner – “very good speaker”

editors note: I missed the second speaker

Tammy Miller, DTM, PID - Colors of Life
- imagine a blank canvas – 8 feet high by 8 feet wide – completely white – blank – it represents all of our lives
- is your life like than canvas, like a mural, or like a coloring book?
- what’s in a coloring book? no color, just black lines
- started with blank paper, then coloring books – color inside the lines
- in business, we’re told to think outside the box…color outside the lines
- colors everywhere – even in this hotel
- look at the carpet, she mentioned it’s really quite ugly – so you look up in the casino, not at the carpet
- people bring colors into our lives
- places bring colors into our lives
- hospital operating rooms are green because that is relaxing
- she asked the audience of 200-300 people how many people work out in a gym every day? less than 5 people raised their hands. She said that Gym’s are sometimes painted blue (inside) because research has shown that blue has the effect of making us work out longer and harder
Crayon box
- Red is the color of energy and confidence
- Green is the color of nature
- Yellow is the color of happiness, joy and laughter – Legal pads are yellow because yellow is the color of creativity
- Blue is the color of peace, spirituality and wisdom
(green had as much time devoted to it as the other three together)

When she learned she had cancer
- gather a group of friends to be her humor team
“We cannot always change what happens to us, but we can change how we respond”
- her color changed from gray to pink…hot pink
- we never know what we are being prepared for

The colors of our lives are created by the choices that we make
wrapped up by tying in her opening about the canvas, mural and the coloring book

Last year I was able to accurately predict who would receive the Accredited Speaker designation. This year, I was less accurate. I thought Tammy Miller was the one I’d pay to see, but I might be biased in that I’ve met her and heard her speak at past conventions. As it turns out Conner was the only recepient of the designation this year.