Toastmasters International has been the most influential organization in my personal and professional development. Over the years I have been a member, I have become more confident, more action orientated, and better able to accomplish the goals I have established for myself. With that being said, there is one trap that Toastmasters has created and I wonder if you have fallen into it yourself.

What is the trap?

Imagine for a moment that you are in a presentation outside of a Toastmasters meeting. As you sit there listening to the speaker, what do you notice?

• Is the speaker pacing the room in a way that is annoying?
• Does the speaker laugh too hard at his or her own jokes?
• Did the speaker point directly at someone in the audience?
• Was the speaker using ums, ahs, you knows, and other filler words?
• Did the speaker not have a clear opening, body, and closing?

If that is all you picked up from the speaker, then you have fallen into the trap.

The trap is expecting every speaker to speak like a Toastmaster.

As a Toastmaster, you learn a system for speaking more effectively. The Toastmasters system makes you more confident, effective, and better prepared as a speaker. What the system also does is create a trap that makes you believe that every speaker has to speak like a Toastmaster.

The secret to being a respected speaker is not that you have eliminated filler words, but that you have changed the lives of the audience for the better.

If you have a desire to become a professional speaker, then know that the person that is writing the check is not deducting money for each um and uh. They are paying you to make a lasting impact on the lives of the audience. This can be done with or without the techniques taught by Toastmasters.

I was reminded of this fact when I was reading a public speaking advice blog. The writer of the blog was critiquing one of the most highly paid coaches and speakers in the world, Marshall Goldsmith. In his critique, he talked about the bad habits Marshall had and how it distracted from his effectiveness as a speaker.

Having read Marshall Goldsmith’s bestselling book, I was interested, so I watched the video the blog referenced:

Was laughing at his own jokes annoying?

Did he not follow all of the “rules” of public speaking?

Yes, but that video changed my life for the better. After the first few moments, it didn’t matter what habits he had. All that mattered is that I am far better off in life after watching the presentation. That is more than I can say from many technically perfect presentations I have seen.

Do we need to continue to improve our speaking habits?

Yes, but the most important part of the speech is the message. Focusing on the techniques can be a trap for many Toastmasters and loosening up a little on “the rules” could be good for us all.

Today’s guest post is from Bob Jensen, a fellow Champions’ EDGE Member. In his post, Bob discusses Club Coaches and how a coach can assist struggling Toastmasters clubs. Bob’s article is a great overview of the club coach program and I am grateful for his contribution.

Toastmasters International recognizes that there is a natural ebb and flow to club membership cycle. Unless proper care and feeding is given to a Toastmaster club’s membership program, an otherwise strong club might find itself facing a precipitous decline in membership in a relatively short period of time.

Once a club has 12 or fewer members, the chances of the entire club folding are very high.  “Club Coaches” are promoted by Toastmasters International as the official remedy for clubs on life support.

Why does club membership decline?

Toastmasters International points out that there are many factors affecting club membership, such as unexciting/routine programs, layoffs in corporate clubs, etc.

What I’ve noticed are several distinct trends, in particular:

• Corporate clubs start out very strong, but around the 18 to 24 month mark in a club’s lifecycle, membership drops off as members get their Competent Communicator award and do not wish to pursue any of the advanced manuals. This is typically around 35% of a club’s membership! Without a steady stream of replacements within the company (new hires and newly interested employees), a club chartered at the usual strength of 20 can dip down to a precarious 12 or so members very quickly.
• Some clubs have a number of “grizzled veterans” who have plans to become professional speakers. They have completed many advanced manuals and now use their club to practice their off-manual speeches. New members may join but often get frustrated after delivering their icebreaker speeches and disappear.
• Many clubs will have a year being led by very successful “Type A” leaders. These leaders often do a less-than-adequate job of grooming their successors, or promote “followers” who lack the leadership experience to continue a club’s success in subsequent years.

Enter the Club Coach

A club that hits the magic 12 member threshold can (and should) request a club coach from their District Governor as soon as possible.  A District Governor can appoint up to two club coaches to a specific club.

I’ve seen three types of club coaches:

• The hard-charging energetic newcomer, relatively inexperienced in Toastmasters (maybe has a CC) but has the enthusiasm to make a difference.
• The midlevel Toastmaster, three to five years experience, who is looking for the checkoff required on the DTM requirement to serve successfully as a club sponsor/club coach.
• The Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM), who has done this before and enjoys doing this….or is doing a favor for the District Governor.

Each of the above club coach types has its own unique benefits and pitfalls. A DTM, for example, while having a wealth of experience, may be somewhat older and set in his/her ways.

It is vitally important to negotiate a good fit between the club coach and the toastmasters club. It is perfectly acceptable to ask the District Governor for a trial period (60 days should be fine) to see if a Club Coach is agreeable to your members. Make it very clear to the District Governor that your club reserves the right to seek a replacement club coach if it feels there is not a good fit!!

Club coaches do receive training from Toastmasters International, however, a good many coaches tend to disregard some or all of this training. Some club coaches arrive at a club with the intention of remaking the club into the image of their “home” club, in direct contradiction of Toastmaster policy.

Members should realize that the primary function of club coaches is to provide advice and direction.

Beware the Ides of ….APRIL?

Toastmasters collect club dues in October and April of each year. Quite often, club membership will decline in the April dues period to the magic number of 12.

There is a special situation you should watch out for in April: there is a certain type of Toastmaster who sees an opportunity to get a “quick” club coach credit by volunteering in April with the intent of manipulating the system to get a quick DCP credit by June 30th (the end of the Toastmaster year). In essence, these Toastmasters want to compress a year’s assignment into a few short months. Be particularly wary of accepting any club coach in this period. They’ll often join your club and contribute a CC or an advanced award they’re working on, and will focus almost entirely on membership building, including applying heavy pressure on former members to rejoin  (offering unofficial “club discounts” for renewals) and occasionally signing “phantom members” (club coach spouses being first and foremost). These club coaches won’t fix underlying issues, they merely supply a fresh coat of paint over a rickety foundation.

Club coaches CAN help

Like everything else in life, there is a vast range in the quality of Toastmaster club coaches. Some Toastmasters can give great speeches but cannot supply club leadership, and vice versa. A club coach is only as good as the Toastmaster filling the role. Make sure you have a good fit with your club, have expectations  discussed and agreed to in writing, and work as equal partners with your club coach and a faltering club can right itself and become successful once again.

Bob Jensen is a District 14 Toastmaster living in Peachtree City, GA.  He is a member of the Peachtree City Toastmasters club.

Sitting in a training class, I found myself starting to wonder about the point of the class. We had an agenda, workbooks, and trainers but the point was slipping away. You could see the attention of the audience slip and the trainers begin to go on to autopilot. What was one thing that the trainers could have done to get our attention from the start and keep it through the two days of training?

Ed Tate in one of his lessons on the Champions Edge shared with me a technique that gets the audience interested in your presentation, and keeps them engaged in long speeches or training sessions. Before we get to the lesson, let me share with you how our facilitator started the class I attended.

She first reviewed the agenda for the next two days. After reviewing the agenda, she gave an introduction to the HR department and talked about the resources that the HR department had available for managers. Though the speaking was pleasant, it didn’t get my attention or keep me engaged. I have attended many classes, presentations, and workshops where the opening did not compel us to be engaged. Not engaging the audience reduces the value of the information you will share and makes it more difficult to sell your message over the length of the presentation.

The lesson that Ed Tate shared was to sell the benefits of the training at the beginning of the class. Don’t review the agenda, which only describes the content of the training, but share what the expected outcome of the training will be on the participants.

Think of how this could have been accomplished in the class I attended recently:

“At the end of this training course, you will have the tools to save at least an hour a week that you would have spent looking for the information we will share with you. In one hour, we will share with you nine HR pitfalls that managers trained in avoiding, have saved 10 million dollars of litigation expenses for our company and they will help you keep your. Managers that have taken this course previously, have saved the company over three million dollars in expenses related to employee medical affairs.”

In order to capture the attention of an audience, you have to sell them on what they are going to learn. If you demonstrate to them that this information can be used to have a positive impact, then you will get your audience to pay attention to what you have to say. Not selling your major points can cause confusion and it will make it harder to sell your points when you get to them in the presentation.

As you work on long presentations, training sessions, and workshops be aware of the benefits that your attendees will gain. Then when opening your session, share specifically what monetary, time, or other benefits can be had from paying attention. Sharing the benefit will increase attention, engagement, and give people a sense that you are providing value which makes them engaged.

Leave a comment and let us know the last time you heard an engaging or disengaging opening to a speech.

Why don’t you practice your speeches more?

photo credit: S.Su

I have observed hundreds of speakers in the past four years of my Toastmasters membership. It hasn’t mattered if those speakers are brand new or old-timers, you can always tell when they have not practiced. I see it in the reliance on their notes, the overuse of filler words, or the lack of structure in the presentation. If I can tell, your audience can tell, and you are going to lose them.

So why aren’t you practicing?

Do you feel that you do not have enough time? Do you not know what you really want to say? Did you sign up to give a speech, so now you are going to give one whether you are ready or not? Do you think that it is just not your style?

My favorite excuse is, “I am not going to be a professional speaker, so I don’t need to practice. I want to keep it real.”

So you think that only professionals practice? You think practicing will make it seem unnatural? What about Steve Jobs? He is not a professional, but he spends hours practicing his presentations. So do successful sales presenters, pitchmen, and professionals. They have all taken to heart the advice, “Practice until it looks natural.”

The most “natural” speakers spend hours practicing for a 10 minute speech.

You have to practice.

If you want to be effective as a speaker, then you must schedule time to practice your presentations. It doesn’t matter if it is in a Toastmasters club or for a presentation to a trade group. The habit is important to develop, because it will allow you to get your point across, make your audience believe your message, and deliver value to the listeners.

Most speakers have a 5 to 1 rule for practice. That means that for every minute of your speech, you practice for 5 minutes, so a 10 minute speech would be practiced for 50 minutes. Is this the most important speech of your life? Then maybe you should make it 10:1 or more. The point of the ratios is to give you a time to schedule to get up there and give your speech.

Is practice boring, silly, or downright painful? Yes it is, but everyone that has ever done anything important in life has practiced. Whether it is in sports, music or art, every profession requires a level of practice. It doesn’t matter if you are an amateur or professional; if you are passionate about what you are doing…practice.

You audience will thank you.

I am reading Marshall Goldsmith’s, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, and it has been enlightening. As a leader, it has given me perspective on the habits that hold leaders back and keep them from attaining their true potential. What struck me about the cases presented in the book was the use of 360 feedback forms with the persons that were being coached. As a Toastmaster this interested me, because we are always giving feedback to our members, but are we doing it correctly?

It has been some time since I dug into the topic of evaluations on this blog, so I am glad that Goldsmith’s book piqued my interest in talking about it again. The evaluation process in Toastmasters is beneficial to our members, and when done effectively, can truly improve all members of a club.

In the Toastmasters evaluation materials, we always talk about using the sandwich method. “The Sandwich”, means that we point out areas for improvement between two positive comments on the speaker’s speech. This is done to motivate the speaker to improve by building on their strengths.

On paper it makes sense to do that, but does it work in practice? I ask, because I too often see many members only talk about what they like about the speech but never about what they need to improve. No speaker is perfect and by helping speakers discover their weaknesses, we can help them improve in their speaking.

That is one of the key principles in, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There. Goldsmith points out what the weaknesses are in our abilities and pushes us to correct our faults that are holding us back. It is something that I see lacking in many evaluations, but not all.

I can tell you from personal experience, that there are three people in one of my clubs that let me know what my weaknesses are. Though to a new Toastmaster, I might seem good. To more experienced speakers, I am stiff and robotic in my delivery at times. While many people would hate to have that pointed out – over and over – I love it. It gives me a reminder of what I need to improve on and my progress in removing that flaw from my speaking.

Do we need to eliminate the positive comments? No, because I agree that they reinforce the speaker and let them know what they are doing right. What we need to improve is our tracking of what people say are our weaknesses. It wouldn’t hurt to keep a log of what people say you need to improve. This allows you to target the areas you have the most negative feedback from and discard the areas where there are only one or two comments of it being a weakness. Then you can focus on improving the target areas one at a time. Targeting one weakness can help eliminate feelings of being overwhelmed by areas for improvement.

Evaluations are important to the Toastmasters educational program. They help you learn what you are doing well and what you need to improve. So as you get up to give one, think about how you can target key areas that the speaker can improve. What are their weaknesses? If you are a speaker, think about how you can track feedback you are getting and then improve one thing at a time.

You can get there.

Today’s guest post is from a new Toastmaster in one of the clubs I am in, Katie McCartney. I asked Katie to share her thoughts on being a new member and what she looked to get out of the organization.

I joined Toastmasters recently to improve on my speaking skills and to gain some new insights in the industry of public speaking.  I was concerned going into the organization because I feared that either I was going to find a “coffee club” or advanced people in speaking that they were not interested in assisting in my quest to get better or just very competitive to win speaking contests.  Well instead of finding the click that I feared, I found a very open and inviting group.  Those who are just starting out in overcoming their speaking fears, people who are developing into a speaker, and those who are so polished that I am looking forward to sounding like them some day.  Everyone was open and honest with each other and wanted to help each other improve.

I have learned so far that public speaking is not an innate talent.  Although we may have the calling to go into speaking, speaking is something that should be practiced and refined.  Refining what you do is a part of becoming that polished speaker.  Having poise in front of everyone is indispensible in any situation whether it is in front of 1,000 people or just 1 person.  Having poise and polish under pressure is indispensible.

My goal for Toastmaster is to continue to hone my speaking skills and develop that exterior self confidence and poise that I feel that I have inside myself.  I am here to develop my whole self and put sometime in the development of what I find vital for my industry and career.

About Katie McCartney

Katie has been practicing Real Estate since April of 2007, and recently received from RE/MAX Affiliates the brokerage’s 2008 Rookie of the Year Award.   She believes real estate is working with you to manage the project of selling or buying a home.

Katie started her career in Management Information Systems right here in Columbus, Ohio 10 years ago.  SK Ventures embodies her desire to see technology used more effectively as a meaningful and useful tool to assist businesses in their never ending quest for prospects, leads, and just plain relationship building.

Katie lives in Worthington, Ohio with her husband of 9 years, Sean who is an IT Network Manager for The Ohio State University’s Business and Finance.  Katie and Sean have one child, Ron (2) and one fur child, Edy (6).

You can read more of Katie’s writing on her blog at: www.katiemccartney.com

I often get asked why I care so much about speaking. I will have people tell me, “Chris, why does being a ‘great’ speaker matter so much to you? Our speaker John is a ‘good’ speaker, why does he have to be a ‘great’ speaker?”

As a speaker devoted to learning the art of public speaking, I have hung around a lot of awesome speakers. Through the Champion’s Edge, I have had the opportunity to spend time with and learn from the speaking awesomeness of Patricia Fripp, Craig Valentine, Darren LaCroix, and Ed Tate. In my interactions with them, I have realized something…they have their lives together. I cannot directly credit speaking, but when you meet them, you realize that they have got it together and are moving forward in their careers.

I know what you are thinking, “Chris, you don’t have to have your life together to be a great speaker.”

Oh really? I disagree.

In my opinion, to be truly great on the platform, you have to be great off the platform. That means that you have to have a level of self confidence that comes from being someone who has their life together.

“But Chris,” you are saying, “what if they are just acting? They don’t need to have their lives together if they are just acting.”

That is true. You don’t need to have your life together to be a good actor; however, I think that you can tell when someone is acting on or off of the platform. Now, don’t get me wrong, a good speaker that is a good actor can get away with a lot of your time and money; however, many of those ‘actors’ are found out or after awhile or the spell wears off and you see the speaker of being nothing but the hollow platitudes they repeat.

This is why I push so many people to attempt speaking greatness, because I know that improving your speaking improves the quality of your life. As a Toastmaster, you see it in prison clubs, in retirement homes, and in corporate environments. Becoming a great speaker pushes your self confidence up, and in doing so allows you to know that you can do more than you ever thought.

So for those of you that ask, “Why does being excellent matter?”

I say it is because the pursuit of speaking greatness changes lives…for the better.

Think about it.

Last night I had a conversation with one of my mentors Darren LaCroix. During our conversation, we talked about what separates a good speaker from a great speaker. Guess what, it isn’t platform skills but your intention when you are speaking.

This is a tough lesson for me to wrap my brain around. When I am on the platform, I want to blow the audience away with my speaking skills, but guess what…that skill is second to connecting with your audience. It is what is killing me this contest season. I am spending so much time working on my speech, that I forgot the most important part…the audience.

When you are speaking, you have to remember that you are not there for you. As a speaker you have a commitment to the audience and making sure they leave with some tangible value added to their lives. Whether you made them laugh, cry, or ponder their current life, you have to add some value that makes you remarkable and memorable.

So as you are working on your next speech, think about what is in it for the audience. If there is only you, then look to your life, find a message in a story, and give them something to take home with them. It is the best way to connect and be remembered and repeated.

So what are your thoughts? What is your intention?

One of the complaints that new speakers have is not having anything to speak about. Three and a half years ago, when I started my speaking voyage in Toastmasters, I agreed with that complaint. Now however, I see speech ideas everywhere and after you read this post, I hope that you agree with me.

Today was a great example of how my mindset as a speaker has changed. I had been having a bad day and not feeling very creative. Then as I walked into the break room of our office, I saw the weather forecast on the monitor. For tomorrow’s forecast it said, “UNKNOWN.”

At that moment, something clicked and within three minutes I had written the introduction, a short part of a story, and the message that I wanted someone to get from that part of my speech. The title of the speech is, “Tomorrow’s Forecast.” All of that from a missing forecast on the television.

The mind shift that I want you to try to take is to not look at the world as devoid of things to speak about, but instead look at the abundance. Some of the greatest speeches start from humble beginnings. Though small events that happen in your life might not seem relevant in a speech, it is the similarities that you have with others that makes you connect with audiences. So pay attention to small failures, a small bit of good luck, or just listen to your inner monologue. Ideas on what to speak about are all around you and sometimes it is the most simple of stories about your life that resonate with those that will listen.

Still you still not convinced? Then humor me for one more minute.

Stop reading and look around your current environment. What are the objects that are around you? How did they get there? For example, what stories are attached to the quote on the wall of your office, to the person sitting next to you at work, or to the place you happen to be sitting? What brought you where you are today?

Just answering those questions and noticing the world around you will open you to infinite speech ideas. It is now up to you to use them. Will you speak about why that quote appealed to you on that day? Will you tell the story of your coworker’s triumph over cancer, or will you talk about the people sitting near you in the airport. What story do they have and what story will they allow you to create in your next speech?

This post ended up being so long, that I am breaking it into two parts. Part 1 was posted yesterday and part 2 follows:

If you didn’t catch my post from Saturday, the Lady and the Champs workshops give you the opportunity to hang out with four Toastmasters World Champions of Public Speaking and NSA Hall of Fame Speaker Patricia Fripp to learn more about the art of speaking and gain specific knowledge to make you a better speaker. The workshops also teach you about the business of speaking and how you can develop more opportunities to speak.

Allow me to continue my review of the remainder of the seminar.

Craig Valentine

“How to Create Killer Content”

WOW! This presentation rocked. It provided so much value to everyone in the room, that Craig had sold out of all of the physical copies of his home study courses before he got to the back of the room. Not only did I walk away with some killer content pointers (and a home study course), but it demonstrated a point Darren made during his keynote on developing product to share with people that want to be trained by you. Craig demonstrated that this knowledge was valuable and he did it in a way that made us all want to take a piece of him home. This is one program that you have to see at some point in your life.

“How to Master Delivery: A Coaching Program”

This was a great breakout, because it addressed how you perform on the platform. After this session I felt that I better understood what techniques that when internalized, separate the good speakers from world class. In this session, I learned how to use questions to the audience better, move on stage, and how to get the audience to connect.

Darren LaCroix

“Got Mentors? Mentors Made Me Who I Am! Who, What, and How?”

Darren is one of my favorite keynote presenters, because he has such a great presence during his keynotes. He is one of the few speakers that manages to touch your heart and soul making you laugh and cry. I am go grateful for the opportunities I have had to meet with him over the last few months and he always provides the best content and is a wonderful person to be around.

I am lucky, because I got to see this presentation at the District 40 conference in November. Mentoring is a very important topic for me, because I have always struggled with being coachable. Many times my ego gets in the way of being coached, and this keynote highlighted for me the reason why I have to open up and allow myself to be coached. This keynote helped me see where I am still closed off to feedback and gave me some ideas to put into practice in my life.

“Got Humor? Comedy Secrets for Professional Presentations”

This was an important session for me, because I am not funny. I am not joking, I have been working the past few months to become less like a robot on stage and work on my humor. This session gave me a great introduction to the basics of comedy in presentations and I look forward to testing new material in upcoming Toastmaster projects.

In Summary

I really enjoyed this conference. Having attended another camp a few months ago, I understood the value of attending a live seminar but this was really a step above other workshops I have attended. Not only were the sessions with Patricia and the Champs awesome, but everyone in attendance was positive, focused on improvement, and willing to talk about their experiences.

One of the most valuable experiences during this camp was the EdgeNet Summit. Being a Champions Edge member gave us free access to Fripp and the Champ the day before the main event and it was an amazingly useful session. For more information on the Summit, check out my post from Saturday where I talk in more detail about the value I got from the Summit.

I look forward to my next opportunity to attend the EdgeNet Summit, Lady and the Champs, or other live seminars as my budget will allow.