Toastmasters
I have been a member of Toastmasters for several years, and normally I get a sense of immense satisfaction from each and every meeting. I arrived tired from a full day at work, and at the end of the meeting I bounce home with energy and enthusiasm for life. Toastmasters revives and inspires me.
Lately, however, I have felt less excited at the end of each meeting. It stems from no longer being involved in local leadership and from a sense of feeling like I could do certain things better than other people are doing them, such as speaking in a more animated way or introducing a topic better.
At our last meeting we had a speaker who is supposed to be a more "advanced" Toastmaster, who has competed in regional contests and who really takes speaking seriously. However, I found his speaking style to be overly dramatic and bordering on theatrical monologue. At one point he forgot the end of a sentence, proving that he was in fact reading from a script and did not fully comprehend what he was saying. This person did not have an evaluation but I nevertheless drafted a full evaluation of him merely for myself.
The speech was disproporionately bright and cheery for the room or for the occasion - it sounded like a motivational speech that rebel teenagers are forced to listen to but never identify with.
My father has an "emotions" chart in his dental office. It has pictures of emoticons ranging from dazzlingly happy to depressingly glum. As a medical practitioner, you are supposed to establish the emotional level of the patient, and act in an emotion that is one or two levels above the patient. Acting way too cheery with a depressed patient will cause them to be out of touch and not identify with you. For instance, if the patient is like "Life sucks", then they won't understand you if you respond with "No - life is great!" But if you answer with "Yeah, life's hard sometimes, but you know, it gets better and this is how...", then the patient sees you in a more reasonable light.
Having said all this - Toastmasters is a fantastic public speaking organization that has had a tremendous effect on my speaking skills, and I highly recommend it to everyone - you learn just as much from the sub-par speeches as you do from the exemplary ones.
Lately, however, I have felt less excited at the end of each meeting. It stems from no longer being involved in local leadership and from a sense of feeling like I could do certain things better than other people are doing them, such as speaking in a more animated way or introducing a topic better.
At our last meeting we had a speaker who is supposed to be a more "advanced" Toastmaster, who has competed in regional contests and who really takes speaking seriously. However, I found his speaking style to be overly dramatic and bordering on theatrical monologue. At one point he forgot the end of a sentence, proving that he was in fact reading from a script and did not fully comprehend what he was saying. This person did not have an evaluation but I nevertheless drafted a full evaluation of him merely for myself.
The speech was disproporionately bright and cheery for the room or for the occasion - it sounded like a motivational speech that rebel teenagers are forced to listen to but never identify with.
My father has an "emotions" chart in his dental office. It has pictures of emoticons ranging from dazzlingly happy to depressingly glum. As a medical practitioner, you are supposed to establish the emotional level of the patient, and act in an emotion that is one or two levels above the patient. Acting way too cheery with a depressed patient will cause them to be out of touch and not identify with you. For instance, if the patient is like "Life sucks", then they won't understand you if you respond with "No - life is great!" But if you answer with "Yeah, life's hard sometimes, but you know, it gets better and this is how...", then the patient sees you in a more reasonable light.
Having said all this - Toastmasters is a fantastic public speaking organization that has had a tremendous effect on my speaking skills, and I highly recommend it to everyone - you learn just as much from the sub-par speeches as you do from the exemplary ones.
posted by Allison at 8:49 PM
4 Comments:
Hi, Alli. Do you remember me. Japanese student.
Have you ever been tagged to complete a meme? If not, a meme is a group of questions that one blogger answers, and then "tags" other seven bloggers to complete the questions in their own words.
I'm going to tag you. If you don't hate such a stuff, you will find the question for yourself (and my answer) when you come to my blog.
I'm hoping you will answer and "tag" these questions. Bye :)
Alli -- If you are interested in a professional writing assignment on blogging, please email me. Not a joke or a scam. kevin (at) renegademarketing.com
thanks!
kevin
I feel your pain! When you have people who claim to be "Toastier" than thou, it only can mean that the club members will be forced to break out super-critical evaluation mode.
As you know, many member are quick to white wash a speaker, especially an experienced speaker who they like. But when people come in to your club and try to tell you how it is, a good response is a strong and well put evaluation.
I mean let's face it, some people need a little mentoring, but many seaasoned TMs aren't looking for a teacher, we're looking for critiques from commrades. :)
Judd
You're right - we're all looking for honest feedback, especially as we progress as speakers. I like to think that I can dish it out as well as take it.
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