Join Toastmasters, release your inner Dr. Suess

Do you ever try to bring life to the stories you read to your children? Do you sing in the shower when no one is around to hear? Do you have a passionate and lively side of yourself that is just waiting to get out? Maybe you should try Toastmasters!

I am generally a quiet person in public. Most people who know me might not believe that I have a boisterous and rather wacky side. I recently had to speak in front of the sophomore class at our local high school. I only had a couple things to say. It only needed to be a couple minutes. I was terribly nervous. Honestly, I can't even remember what I said when I was up on stage or if I covered the points I meant to. No one threw anything at me, so I guess that's not bad for a high school audience. LOL.

After that experience I decided to expand my horizons a bit and join a local Toastmasters club.
The Little Norway Toastmasters Club is a small group of folks who really care about expanding their speaking skills, and in helping each other succeed. I went to a few meetings and got to know most of the members before I had to give my first speech, the "icebreaker".

I decided I needed to draw on some other parts of my life if I was ever going to get beyond my fear of speaking. Specifically I decided to draw on some aspects of being a dad. I learned early on that my kids respond much better to me when I exaggerate my emotions. I read stories to them. I also make some up, and we always have a lot of fun. My son asked me one time to tell him a story about me and a bottle. Now, I'm a WSU graduate, so I could go a lot of directions with that material! But since he's only 4 yrs old, I had to be creative. I spent weeks spinning new ridiculous yarns about the giant bottle that I could drive by running in it like a hamster. The point is that they loved it, and hoped to draw on that story-telling experience in my "icebreaker".

My first speech was titled "I am Sam". I started by reciting a few lines of Dr. Suess' "Green Eggs and Ham" in a similar way to how I might read it to my kids. I hoped that it would put me in a frame of mind that would carry my confidence through my speech. I sprinkled bit's of information about myself and my family into theme of why I am like the character Sam in Dr. Seuss' book.

My strategy paid off! I don't know if everyone in the room enjoyed the speech, but I can tell you that I did. The club really made me feel great about it, and I went home feeling actually elated about successfully conveying my message in front of a group of people.

So if you've ever considered building a skill in speaking, take this advice: go for it! Be bold, be creative, and find part of your life that really makes you feel good. Then draw on that as your foundation for successful speaking experience.

- Tim



.