3 Things to Learn from a Maiden Toastmasters Speech

Guess who got best speaker for his maiden Toastmasters speech? No prize for making the correct guess. LOL!

Best Speaker for Prepared Speeches, circa April 2023

 

Proud and yet, I try to stay grounded and ask  myself – What is it that I wanted from joining the Toastmasters and what is it that I would want to achieve through this first speech?

 

Truth be told, one of the reasons why I joined Toastmasters Club (apart from the one reason I gave in the last post), is partly because I felt that I has lost part of  myself. Back then I used to be so confident. I had no qualms talking to strangers and I could carry on the conversations for hours with someone I just met for the first time, and could even make it look like we have been friends forever. However, as the years go by, I found my self-confidence and my perception of my own self-worth just plummeted with one incident after another, to the point that now, in 2023, I would get anxiety attacks, from just trying to reach out to a writer to ask for the permission to stage their work for the last Singapore Youth Festival. The anxiety was so bad, that I would usually just rush out of theatre to avoid being caught in the crowd after watching a performance. My anxiety was so bad in the earlier part of this year, that I will have heart palpitations from just taking a crowded train. That was how bad my level of anxiety was due to the lack of confidence and having low self-esteem.

 

From this first speech that I delivered today, I learned a great deal:

 

1. Pauses. Seem like a simple thing to do, but it really takes a lot of brainwork (in my case, at least) to remind myself to just stop and take a breather before going on to the next point. The pauses and breathing also helped me to regulate my heart palpitation. So I might try to use this the next time I get heart palpitation while taking the public transport.

 

2. Always focus on the faces that gives some degrees of reassurance. I felt that when you do this, you will feel a little more confident to keep going to the next parts. Just like life, there will be people who would want to tear you down; I just need to remind myself to ignore them and focus on the cheerleaders who got my back.

 

3. Paces. I learned that if I were to speak slow enough, I will then be able to listen to the things I'm saying a little better, and I would therefore be more aware of the situations/ surroundings and adjust accordingly based on the audience’s reactions. I realised that even in real life, I tends to go faster (in terms of walking, eating), to the point that I'd lose sight of what really matters. So, I just need to be more conscious to take things a little slower.

 

Of course, needless to say, I still have a long way to becoming an effective and confident speaker. I still have lots to learn. And I am excited of the many possibilities that may arise in this particular journey!

Written by: Adi Jamaludin