The last Humorous Speech Contest, I did not manage to go for the Division level competition. So I'm now making it a point to go for the division A competition on 9 May 2010.
My speech was "It's All In Your Mind".
I thank those of you who went for the competition today. Your support and 'All the Best' gave me courage and confidence to remember a speech I wrote only the night before.
I also thank the person who gave me pointers on my previous speech, thus my need to rewrite a whole new speech.
As you give more speeches, it becomes more difficult to find topics. No matter how confident you are, if you can't find a topic, the confidence level falls.
However, putting together your ideas and making it your own great speech is not difficult.
A few pointers to finding a topic:
- Imagine what would be relevant to your audience. Topics that are close to the audience's heart, will bring you nods and 'yes' and a big round of applause.
- Put your topic into a manner where your examples emphasise your topic.
- Repeat your message at least 3 times throughout your speech, ingraining the message you want the audience to remember.
Because I finished writing my speech only the night before the contest, I read it out loud twice before I fell asleep, rearranging certain paragraphs in my mind. When I woke up, I read it out again one more time. And I read it out loud again on my way to the venue. Lastly, I wrote out the sequence of my speech in point-form to make sure I remember what to say before and after.
I share my experiences, in the hope that those of you who read this will be encouraged and write better speeches than I have.
Lastly, PLEASE DO NOT WRITE YOUR SPEECH AT THE LAST MINUTE!
I'll see all of you on the next MIM Toastmasters Club meeting!
