My second speech

I gave my second speech at Toastmasters tonight. The title was "This Will Put Fur On Your Chest". Three guesses what that was about and the first and third guesses don't count.

The chapter I belong to has a club goal for every member to give three speeches. I am now two thirds of the way towards that goal. Next week will be our last meeting for the year so if I get my third speech ready for next week then I will have reached that goal.

Some of the feedback I received was:
-good use of humour
-interesting how I personified my cats
-nice conversational style and great storytelling

Instead of reading from my speech like I did for my Icebreaker I had prepared index cards. I made a point on an index card for each paragraph in my speech. The process helped me to memorize my speech. The only time I had to refer to my index cards, the only time that I wasn't sure where I was going next and had to refer to the cards was at the end. I didn't know where I was supposed to go next because I was finished and all I had to do was close it!

The feedback I got about my use of index cards was to write out my points on a single sheet of paper and leave it on the lectern. That would free up my hands so that I express myself better.

I think that I didn't spend any more time preparing for this speech than I did on my Icebreaker, but I did use my prep time differently. Maybe prepping for a speech doesn't have to take as much time as I think it will.