RECAP: August 15th MEETING OF B&P TOASTMASTERS

Hello Everyone:

The lazy, hazy days of summer effect was evident at high noon last Friday when one looked around Joe’s meeting room. The unspoken question was: “Where is everyone?” Just before apoplexy set in a late rally filled the tables and the final head count was 19, including five guests, two “para-” members (more about para in a moment), Inge Geiger and David Borden; first-timer Linda Tucker; and second-timers Terry Coutinho and Uli Chapa.

              We interrupt this message for breaking news. August is club contest month at Business & Professional Toastmasters. This Friday, 8/22 will be Evaluation Contest and Friday, 8/29 will be Tall Tales Contest. As we go to press, the Evaluation contestants are: Jason Meek, Clair Geiger, Frank Suarez, Helen Hunter, and Kathy Moore. So far, Tall Tales contestants are: Jedi Knight, Dave Cornell; Texas Old Timer, Mel Mountjoy; Debonair Frank Suarez; Jet Setter Helen Hunter; Mr. One-Word, Ed Dylla; and the irrepressible Aunt Mabel, aka Kathy Moore.

You can still enter either contest. Contact Pat Hopper or David Bamberger for details.

Back to this “para” business that Wordmaster Pat Hopper brought with her in the form of “para-Olympics” which described organized athletic contests, such as Special Olympics. Para is a prefix meaning, among other things, “similar to; resembling.” Thus, para-Olympics ranks as the gold medal winner for most erudite word put before the club in 2008.

After the word of the day everything seemed easy. TMOD David Bamberger introduced General Evaluator Jason Meek who unilaterally dispensed with the Listener then introduced the members of his team, Timer, Ed Dylla; Ah Counter, Ajani Abdul-Khaliq; and Grammarian, Stella Park.

Then it was time for the speakers and first to the front of the room was birthday girl, Deborah Borden. Yes, it really was her birthday. She said she might cry but she didn’t. Instead, she went through the ways one can think of age, e.g., chronological, spiritual, mental, emotional (she left out her chakras), and the life lessons inherent in each of these components. Her born-on date was 8/15/45, formerly known as VJ Day a historic moment that inspired her father to choose “Victoria Japanesa” as her given name. He was later overruled by Deborah’s mother.

Next up, Kathy Moore. Her persuasive speech, “Membership is Everybody’s Business” covered membership goals and how B&P can once again have a roster of 45 like we had for so many years. Currently we are at 33 members and Kathy offered four simple techniques for us to embrace. 1. Bring a guest. 2. Put your old Toastmaster magazines in your doctor’s waiting room. Affix a label with contact information for B&P. 3. Put out meeting flyers at your work or apartment house. The upcoming Tall Tales Contest offers an opportunity to advertise B&P on a flyer. 4. Contact former members whom you miss. Invite them to return. Kathy is VP-Membership this session and she will be glad to help you with these and other ideas.

The last speaker was “Lefty” Clair Geiger who’s speech from the advanced communication manual, Communicating on Television, was anything but left. The object of his assignment was to prepare a controversial TV editorial of 4 – 6 minutes. Clair chose the subject of public prayer and came squarely down on the side of tradition. He supported a renewed commitment to public prayer and drew material from historical documents. A Q & A session followed with impromptu questions from Kathy Moore, Ed Dylla and Helen Hunter.

While the evaluators were writing and rehearsing, Table Topics Master Mel Mountjoy surveyed the room and concluded that everyone was fair game. So Grammarian Stella Park got up and defended public school uniforms. Albert Gallatin offered his response to high gas prices: he’d rolled out his old car and left the van in the garage. Evaluator Ed Bierschenk took both sides of the bikini car wash issue recently in the news then nonchalantly asked where it was as if he didn’t know. Pat Hopper asked, “What’s a reverse mortgage?” and Ajani Abdul-Khaliq considered light rail a viable public transportation option.

It was General Evaluator Jason Meek’s turn and he called upon evaluators Elaine Miller, resplendent in lei and Hawaiian garb, to critique Deborah; Helen Hunter to analyze Kathy; and Ed Bierschenk to review Clair.

Time was running down and presiding officer, Kathy Moore, announced the winners for the day. Table Topics went to, uh… I didn’t write down who won. Sorry. Best Evaluator was Ed Bierschenk and birthday-girl Deborah Borden won Best Speaker. The Norris Yates Spirit Stick was missing along with last week’s winner, Jan Davis, so we’ll have to wait another week for that one. Just another reason to be at Joe’s this Friday for another terrific soiree.

Exercises for Releasing Stage Fright

“How To Use Your Subconscious Mind To Let Go of Stage Fright”

Get Your “Four Brains working in Tandem”

Exercises for Releasing Stage Fright

B (1) Breath: Deep Diaphragmatic Breathing. Breathe in from the Diaphragm to the count of 6. Hold it for 3. Then breathe out to the count of 6. Do this 10 times twice a day to relieve anxiety. Also do deep breathing before any speaking engagement.

(2) Body: (1.) It’s hard to be nervous when you put your body in a confident position. Stand as if you are fearless and you create that reality.
(2). Sit in whole brain posture: ankles and wrists crossed, to get both halves working together.

A Anchor: Associate public speaking with: your happy place, your safe place, your favorite color, an empowering word to create instant feelings of relaxation prior to your speaking engagement.

Affirm: Use positive affirmations, but for best results, use them while you are in an altered state of consciousness. Always make sure your affirmations are: positive, present tense, and in language that has an emotional charge for you. For added impact, turn them into a song.

V Visualize : This is the BEST way to do goal setting that I know about:

What is your goal regarding public speaking? For example: Is it: “I want to be able to give a speech that is entertaining to my audience and remain calm and relaxed while giving it by __________ (fill in the date)”
Now, What will you see, (hear, feel) that let’s you know you have achieved it?

*V = Visual smiling, clapping audience
*A = Auditory audience members telling you “Great Job!”
*K = Kinesthetic feel relaxed, peaceful, confident

Building the Perfect Public Speaker

(This speech was given by ATM-B Kathy Moore to the club she mentors, Marriott River Center Toastmasters in San Antonio in May, 2006.)

If I were asked to build the perfect public speaker, I’d add one part Billy Graham to one part Leonardo da Vinci, blend with one part Robin Williams and stir in a dash of Izzy the Bee Charmer from the movie “fried Green Tomatoes.” My task today is exactly that—to help each of you become the best public speakers you can be.

Notice I didn’t say “better.” I said “best.” One thing you will learn as a Toastmaster is to be very precise with your words.

You’ll find that being one of the best public speakers around adds so much to the quality of your life—in terms of self-esteem, career advancement, and just plain old fun, you won’t want to stop at just getting better. Trust me on this.

Now let’s get back to my analogy. To be an excellent public speaker, you must be able to:

1. move people to action like Billy Graham
2. paint a picture with words like Leonardo painted on canvas
3. entertain your audience like Robin Williams
4. and develop a voice that could literally charm the bees out of the trees.

At this point, you’re either feeling up to the challenge or are considering whether or not to slither out of the back door. Bear with me a little longer. Before anybody gets overwhelmed, lets break our analogy down into manageable parts and examine each one more closely.

What do you suppose made Billy Graham so good at getting all those folks to take action and become saved?….

He had a clear, consistent purpose or mission.— to save souls

Whenever you prepare to give a speech, first ask yourself: “What am I trying to accomplish? What do I want my audience to do? To take some action? To change their opinion? Or just to laugh at my story? As you begin to prepare your speech, you might find it helpful to actually write a precise mission statement first.

Let’s suppose you’ve been put on a task force at Marriott to help improve customer service across all departments.

Your mission statement might read:

“I want my audience to come away “on fire” with the prospect of improving customer service in their departments.

A speech with that mission will be very different than one whose goal is “to teach my audience what constitutes excellence in customer service.”

One speech will stir the audience to use their own creativity. The other has a more methodical feel to it. Both have the potential to be superb speeches. What matters is the goal in each case.

In the first speech, you might do some storytelling; give examples of Marriott employees who went the extra mile, even open by reading a “happy letter” from a satisfied guest.

I once gave a speech entitled “Heroes in everyday Life” in which I told the story of an Avis bus driver whose wonderful outlook on life still makes me smile twelve years later. I opened that speech with the words to Bette Midler’s song “Wind Beneath my Wings.” (Sing)

My goal was to show my audience that we all have the ability to be heroes to someone else just by being the best we can be in whatever we do.

And that includes public speaking.

By now, you should have noticed my Leonardo showing. As a top-notch public speaker, my words are my tools. Make them yours, too.

To paint a picture with words, are you going to say, “Needless to say, the woman from Indianapolis was very happy with her stay at Marriott River Center?” No!! If it’s needless to say, don’t say it.

How much more picturesque to say, “The harried business woman from Indianapolis was so thrilled with the extra effort that Gladys Smith from housekeeping went to on her behalf that she sent a “happy letter” to Gladys’ boss and booked her next three business trips here at River Center.

The secret to painting with words is to read them to someone with their eyes closed and ask them if they could see a picture in their mind. If they say “no,” painting some more.

A close cousin to the artist is the entertainer. Who could forget Robin Williams’ portrayal of DJ Adrian Cronower in “Good Morning, Vietnam!”? He took GIs who were home sick, bored and unmotivated and got them all fired up. He did it by relating to them through the Rock-n-Roll music they enjoyed by humoring them with zany commentary, amazing changes in his vocal variety and by gaining their trust. Those troops knew without doubt Adrian Cronower had their best interest at heart.

By the way, I highly recommend watching great movies as a way to develop your speaking abilities.

And finally—we come to the Bee Charmers, Izzy. Great speakers have an aura about them, a stage presence if you will. I believe that aura is love. As a professional hypnotist, I frequently work with clients who want to let go of Stage Fright. One of the main suggestions I give them under hypnosis is to feel the love in the room being directed at them and to send it back to their audience. When you can focus on speaking as a way to show your audience how much you love and appreciate them, you will be on the best high you’ve ever had in your life. The feeling of euphoria that comes from delivering a speech “totally in the moment,” not worried about anything, just being connected is simply indescribable.