Speaking Elevated

Category: Confidence

  • Speak Louder for Clarity and Confidence

    Speak Louder for Clarity and Confidence

    Many people aren’t commanding. When these people speak up, they don’t sound confident. It’s hard to hear what they are saying. It could be because they worry what others may think. Maybe they don’t want to impose on others by being too loud. To be the speaker you want to be you need volume.

    How loud should a person’s default volume be when speaking to a group? It should be right below yelling. If it’s right below yelling, your words will be clear. At that loudness, your volume won’t convey a lack of confidence, but you’ll be perceived as someone with conviction.

    Keep your desired energy when you speak loudly. When people working together try to speak louder for clarity, their vocal tone can sound like anger. Avoid this, and try to keep your energy positive or neutral. Choose to exert the energy of a motivational speaker, a professor, or a singer.

    By speaking loudly with the right energy, you will be heard and understood.

  • Become a Better Public Speaker through Toastmaster Roles

    Become a Better Public Speaker through Toastmaster Roles

    If you want to be a good public speaker, then you should also strive to be a good leader in meetings. Toastmasters has roles in its meetings to build a leader in you. Learn to host meetings, transition to others, give reports, and give feedback. By performing these roles you’ll get to level up your skills.

    Look at the responsibilities of these Toastmaster roles:

    RoleResponsibilities
    PledgeDirects everyone to stand, prepare and start the pledge in sync
    GrammarianTake notes of key phrases and grammatical feedback. Reports on this at the end.
    EvaluatorWrites a mini-speech to give feedback to a speaker. Makes the evaluation a learning process for everyone.
    Table Topics MasterLearn to give interview questions to several members, and transition between each
    General EvaluatorGives feedback on how members can make future meetings productive
    ToastmasterFinds replacements for missing members. Introduces and concludes the core meeting. Transitions through all the parts of the meeting.

    By looking at the list of responsibilities you get to see the skills you gain by performing the role. Running meetings, giving on the fly feedback, reports, and transitioning to other members. These are skills that are necessary whether your in a company, organization, or running parties for traditions. If you want to be the person who is worthy of a promotion, gain leadership skills with Toastmasters.

  • How I gained my confidence and you can too

    How I gained my confidence and you can too

    Before I first joined Toastmasters I never thought I’d be a public speaker. I had a knack for making presentations and assembling content in college, but I’d always be nervous when I presented. I needed to gain confidence.

    So I tried watching communication videos and reading tips online. It was ineffective. I needed a safe place to practice. I could try at home, but it wasn’t the same. That’s when I stumbled across Toastmasters. “Learn how to become a confident speaker,” the advertisement said.

    I made it a visit to the club and knew it was exactly what I needed. I knew I wasn’t ready for a speech or to lead the meeting as Toastmaster. I knew I had to start small. Of course, I can give a joke and a motivational quote. So I did it. Of course, I can be an Ah-Counter and a grammarian. I did those roles too. Each time I experienced a role, I believed I could do the next role. This continued until I completed all roles in a Toastmasters meeting.

    No matter which role I did there were always mishaps. Missing the count of the word of the day. Using the wrong title to call someone. Forgetting parts of my speech as a speaker. Making those mistakes was embarrassing and painful, That pain emphasized the problems I had to work through. And I kept coming back to practice.

    With practice, I make less mistakes. My speeches and presentations are better than its ever been. I’ve been in Toastmasters for two years now, and I thought by now I wouldn’t be nervous when I speak. I still am nervous but the difference is I have confidence in myself.

    I’ve been in rough spots and learned to push through it. Forget a part of my speech? Keep on talking as if you aren’t missing anything. Forget the word of the day. I’ll admit it’s my fault. Someone reminds me I skipped a role responsibility. I thank them and perform it. From experience, I know that when I make a mistake, I can depend on myself to pull myself through.

    If you want to transform your speaking skills, get that experience. Push yourself. Keep on speaking.

  • You have more potential than you know

    You have more potential than you know

    There was a sweet warm-hearted woman who quit my Toastmasters club. She loved the members there, and the members loved her back. Perhaps we failed her because she felt we didn’t do enough to help her.

    Jane was a very talented speaker. Whenever she talked she had a bit of warmness. Depending on the table topic, she can draw you in with her choice of words and the emotion she put into it. Even though she was talented, she didn’t know it.

    Jane always was nervous about speaking. Rarely I could pick up a bit on a slightly nervous tone, but she would finish off strongly. She came to Toastmaster’s about facing her fear of public speaking. She was very active, and came frequently. I didn’t know she felt like she wasn’t growing until she quit.

    Jane had signed up for a big role. Jane had been around long enough that I was sure she would handle it fine. She received our club’s guide to the role the day before the meeting. Jane notified us she wouldn’t make it to the meeting and didn’t show up again.

    The board contacted her if she was alright. This was when she explained that she felt as if we weren’t able to provide her with the support she needed. We gave her all the material she needed to perform the role. Yet what she was missing was confidence.

    Jane had a potential she wasn’t aware of. If she had performed, she would’ve been able to gauge her level. She has embarrassed herself before in front of the other members, but in Toastmasters we want our members to grow.

    I’ve seen many people like Jane come in. They can speak better than they realize, but they need to develop confidence. After this experience, I hope I can inspire confidence in others so they can see the potential they have. This blog is dedicated to helping support those like Jane or me who needed help when we didn’t know who to ask. If you lack confidence, I hope you can learn about it, and find people in your club to lean on.

  • Facing your fear of public speaking

    Facing your fear of public speaking

    The heart pounds fast. The body become stiff. You are in the front of the room, giving your first speech. Its a struggle standing there, saying your lines. Its overwhelming because you may look like a fool. At this moment you are faced with your fear of public speaking.

    Many new Toastmasters go through this experience. Its such a challenge that they join to overcome their fear of public speaking. Its common, but why do so many people have this fear?

    Why do we fear public speaking?

    People don’t want to be judged negatively. When a person comes up and speak for the first time, he’s worried he’ll be seen as inadequate. He’s worried he may not have the skills to to look confident through the speech.

    People know they shouldn’t care what others think, yet they still get nervous. They are afraid of being judged by themselves. They don’t want to speak. They don’t want to be in front of everyone, only to underperform. Its hard to accept being an incompetent speaker. To be such a beginner. But in order to get better we need to accept our current level to get better.

    Overcoming this fear

    There is no easy way to overcome fear. If you try to understand it alone, it doesn’t cure your fear. You need to condition yourself with the the mindset that you’ll be okay no matter what the outcome is. That you can improve. The best way to overcome the fear of public speaking is by doing it.

    Knowing this will not make it easier. But as you give more speeches you will slowly accept any judgement you receive. You will learn to become a better speaker. You will see your improvement. When you realize your learning potential, your public speaking level will matter less.

    Conclusion

    You forget a part of your speech? You skip and maybe bring it back later. You start to forget a line? You bring a notecard next time. As obstacles arrive, you learn to solve them. This is what experience provides you. An opportunity to look back and see your improvement. An opportunity to look back and see that you were always ok.