Publicly Speaking

I had the honour of judging a public speaking contest at the weekend (not Toastmasters).

The speakers were professional adults; the standard variable. Without a doubt, the stand-out speakers were the storytellers. Yet, many of them made a basic error. This error, in my opinion, reveals the speaker to be inexperienced, unconfident and unaware of the audience's needs.

Sheep walkers walk with the sheep. They do what everyone else is doing. They follow.

Sweet talkers do what works. They make a connection with the audience (in the context of speaking and Toastmasters).

Here are three tried and tested techniques for sheepwalking Toastmasters who want to be better than just OK.