April 5th, 2009
Feeling some nervousness before giving a speech is natural and even beneficial, but too much nervousness can be detrimental.
Here are some proven tips on how to control your butterflies and give better presentations:
- Know your material. Pick a topic you are interested in. Know more about it than you include in your speech. Use humor, personal stories and conversational language – that way you won’t easily forget what to say.
- Practice. Practice. Practice! Rehearse out loud with all equipment you plan on using. Revise as necessary. Work to control filler words; Practice, pause and breathe. Practice with a timer and allow time for the unexpected.
- Know the audience. Greet some of the audience members as they arrive. It’s easier to speak to a group of friends than to strangers.
- Know the room. Arrive early, walk around the speaking area and practice using the microphone and any visual aids.
- Relax. Begin by addressing the audience. It buys you time and calms your nerves. Pause, smile and count to three before saying anything. (”One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand. Pause. Begin.) Transform nervous energy into enthusiasm.
- Visualize yourself giving your speech. Imagine yourself speaking, your voice loud, clear and confident. Visualize the audience clapping – it will boost your confidence.
- Realize that people want you to succeed. Audiences want you to be interesting, stimulating, informative and entertaining. They’re rooting for you.
- Don’t apologize for any nervousness or problem – the audience probably never noticed it.
- Concentrate on the message – not the medium. Focus your attention away from your own anxieties and concentrate on your message and your audience.
- Gain experience. Mainly, your speech should represent you – as an authority and as a person. Experience builds confidence, which is the key to effective speaking. A Toastmasters club can provide the experience you need in a safe and friendly environment.
Visit a Blue Tongue Toastmasters meeting!
Tags: audience members, blue tongue, blue tongues, confidence, conversational language, giving a speech, nervous energy, public speaking, smile, timer, toastmaster, toastmasters, toastmasters club, toastmasters meeting, visual aids
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April 4th, 2009
Blue Tongue Toastmasters will help your public speaking
People join Blue Tongue in order to:
- Develop their public speaking skills to persuade and convince others
- Learn to put their ideas across clearly and with conviction
- Improve their self-confidence before a group of people
- Learn to think quickly and clearly under pressure
- Learn to listen effectively and critically
- Learn to supportively evaluate someone else’s presentation
- Train to become a good leader
When you join the Blue Tongue Toastmasters Club you receive a complete training kit covering all aspects of speaking and evaluation. This kit includes Communication and a Leadership manuals. This manual reflects the years of experience Toastmasters has in helping people just like you. It takes you step by step through the art of making and evaluating speeches.What specifically will you learn to do as a Toastmaster?
In the Blue Tongue Toastmasters Club you will learn by doing
In particular you learn by doing with your efforts evaluated by your fellow Club members. You will be gradually introduced to the various roles within a Toastmasters meeting. Gaining proficiency in these helps build up your skills. The exercises will teach you how to:
- Give an impromptu speech
- Give a prepared speech
- Evaluate what you hear
- Introduce speakers
- Be a more effective leader of people
- Chair and run meetings
BTTM opens up networking and mentoring opportunities
How we communicate informally at events is every bit as important, if not more so, than being in the spotlight giving a speech. Knowing how to mingle and network may be more important to our overall success in life than anything else. BTTM gives you the skills and opportunities to network and have a mentor or mentoree which will help you grow professionally.Whether you work in a corporate environment or from home, whether you are a student or retiree, Toastmasters is the most efficient, enjoyable and affordable way of gaining communication and leadership skills.
You will become a better speaker
Toastmasters will give you the skills and confidence you need to effectively express yourself in any situation. By learning to formulate and convey your ideas, you open a new world of possibilities. You will be more persuasive and confident when giving presentations and you will improve your one-on-one dealings with others.
Your leadership skills will improve
Leadership is the art of persuading others to do what you wish. To succeed, you need to communicate, and you need to work as a team. In Toastmasters, you’ll do both. And you’ll find out how to vary your approach to suit the needs of different people, be they the audience for a speech, the committee for a fundraiser or your coworkers and managers.
When you Join you will join 235,000 other members who are wanting to succeed
Toastmaster has more than 235,000 members in 11,700 clubs in 92 countries. The meetings are organised so that everyone will have a chance to speak, should they want to. You schedule your own speaking assignments a few weeks in advance, so you’ll have plenty of time to prepare.
Speaking assignments are varied, with the first one designated as an “ice breaker” – a description of yourself and your life that lasts between five and seven minutes. You’ll be assigned a mentor to help you settle in and get through your first speaking roles. As you grow in confidence, you assignments will grow with you.
Importantly, whenever you stand up and speak, you receive encouraging, helpful feedback on how it went and how you can improve next time.
The membership is great value
While it is free to come along membership offers a range of benefits primarily teaching you to be a better speaker and leader. BTTM and Toastmasters International runs a number of courses for the members to progress from their first speech (the Icebreaker) to being a Distinguished Toastmaster. Membership is $40 (once off) + $50 each six months i.e. $90 for the first six months than $50 for each six months after that. Initially membership includes several manuals to guide you to be a more effective speaker and leader and continues to provide more advance courses as you progress over the years.
Tags: blue tongue, complete training, confidence, conviction, effective leader, exercises, fellow club members, giving a speech, impromptu speech, leadership, leadership skills, proficiency, public speaking, public speaking skills, self confidence, six months, speakers, speeches, toastmaster, toastmasters, toastmasters club, toastmasters international, toastmasters meeting, train
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April 3rd, 2009
Blue Tongue Toastmasters will help your public speaking
Blue Tongue Toastmasters (BTTM) is apart of the international Toastmasters organisation whose primary aim is to help you and it’s other members improve their public speaking skills. This is achieved through a number of different speaking exercises to cover the various types of situations where you will be addressing an audience. Toastmasters Clubs in Australia are the best place to improve both your communication skills and your leadership skills. Toastmasters will help you overcome any fear of public speaking while learning skills that will allow you to become more successful in whatever path in life you have chosen.
BTTM meets every second Wednesday at 5:45pm in the IBM Centre
Meetings are bi weekly on odd numbered weeks of the year e.g. week 1, 3, 5…51 of year. We meet at the IBM Centre on Level 13 Room 5 (601 Pacific Highway St Leonards, NSW). The meetings are held on Wednesdays nights at 5:45pm.
Blue Tongue is a non-profit educational organisation
Blue Tongue and Toastmasters International are non-profit educational organisations. Our members learn communication and leadership skills by practicing public speaking and working with others in a warm and friendly environment.
BTTM is a diverse group of professionals
Blue Tongue is a friendly group of professionals. Our members range from those who are just starting out their careers to members who are enjoying volunteering in the community since retiring. Our members include business owners, professionals working in the North Shore, PhDs and community leaders.
Everyone is welcome to come along and participate for free
Everyone is welcome to come along, watch, participate and join. It is completely free to come along and participate! When you come along you will be welcomed into the group of warm, kind-heart people who want to help you. It is free and there is no obligation to join so come along to the next session.
After a few sessions if you wish to join, the membership is great value
While it is free to come along membership offers a range of benefits primarily teaching you to be a better speaker and leader. BTTM and Toastmasters International runs a number of courses for the members to progress from their first speech (the Icebreaker) to being a Distinguished Toastmaster. Membership is $40 (once off) + $50 each six months i.e. $90 for the first six months than $50 for each six months after that. Initially membership includes several manuals to guide you to be a more effective speaker and leader and continues to provide more advance courses as you progress over the years.
BTTM opens up networking and mentoring opportunities
How we communicate informally at events is every bit as important, if not more so, than being in the spotlight giving a speech. Knowing how to mingle and network may be more important to our overall success in life than anything else. BTTM gives you the skills and opportunities to network and have a mentor or mentoree which will help you grow professionally.
Tags: blue tongue, exercises, giving a speech, leadership, leadership skills, public speaking, public speaking skills, six months, toastmaster, toastmasters, toastmasters club, toastmasters clubs, toastmasters international
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