How to Speaker the RDG Way

1. What is the Speaker?

The (prepared) speaker role is the cornerstone of improving members' skills in public speaking. The primary purpose for many people coming to Toastmasters is learning how to present in front of an audience. All speeches at the club are expected to be project-based speeches, which helps both the speaker and the club progress toward their goals.

Of course, the primary benefits of the speaker role are to increase your confidence and skill with public speaking.

2. Before, During, & After the Meeting

This chapter will cover preparation to be done before, during, and after the meeting that a prepared speaker should do.

2.1. Before the Meeting

A large part of giving an effective speech is in the preparation. Practice, practice, and more practice will go a long way to calming your nerves. 

Review the manual description of the project at least twice to get an understanding of the objectives before putting together a speech. 

Your mentor can help you generate ideas as well as refine them into speeches. They can also be helpful in being someone to give you a dry run on your speech before you give it. If you do not have a mentor, contact the VP of Education. If you are thinking about going with a controversial topic, you may want to consult with more senior members about it.

Make sure the Toastmaster has your name (with correct pronunciation if in doubt), speech title, manual, speech number, objectives, and introductory remarks. If possible, send this to them at least three days in advance, but bring a printed copy in case they forget. For clubs using Easy Speak, you should make sure your speech details are entered at least three days in advance.

Communicate with your evaluator about what you’d like them to look for. This can include effective use of your strengths as well as your weaknesses. These points do not have to be manual objectives; for example, if you have trouble with transitions, you can have your evaluator monitor for that.

If you are using props or visual aids, place them under the lectern or close by so that you do not have to fumble with them or spend time setting your speech up, or otherwise have them ready to go before the meeting starts. Assign a lighting control person if need be before the meeting. Likewise, if you are using notes, have them placed either under or on top of the lectern before the meeting starts so that you will not need to spend time setting them up. If you are using PowerPoint, make sure you test it on the device you plan to use it with before the meeting starts. Be sure to bring connection cables (VGA, HDMI, etc.) as appropriate, and blank your screen before the meeting starts. 

If you have handouts, you will likely want to have these passed out ahead of time, but face down. When the time comes to use them, you can instruct people to turn them over.

2.2. During the Meeting

After the roles have been introduced, the Toastmaster will call the first speaker after reading their introduction. Approach the lectern and assume control by shaking the Toastmaster’s hand. Pause a few moments to let the applause calm down and focus your eye contact. Begin your speech. It is not necessary to begin with “Fellow Toastmasters and guests”, but it is a common practice (you can work the phrase in later if you wish).

Don’t end your speech with “Thank You”. We should be thanking you for taking the time and making the effort to make your speech. Usually, you will indicate you are finished by turning toward the Toastmaster and saying “Mr./Madam Toastmaster”. 

If desired, you can have your speech recorded. Arrange recording duties with another member, such as your mentor or evaluator. If your club has a video master, they should record you.

2.3. After the Meeting

After the meeting, you should do the following:

• Get with your evaluator to get any other feedback they may have. 
• Review any notes given to you about your speech to improve your next one.
• Complete your after speech assessment in Pathways and upload your evaluation sheet.
• If your speech was recorded, watch the recording and note areas for improvement. You may want to try a few different reviews, for example, one with the sound off, then just listening, then both audio and video together.

3. Suggestions

• Get your speech recorded to watch later. You know what you want to accomplish with your speech more than anyone, and video will give you an audience-level look at your performance.
  
• If your club uses a collapsible or mobile lectern, you may want to have it moved to encourage a more open atmosphere to your speech. You may want to have “stage instructions” for the Toastmaster to move it for you as well (place these in your written introduction). Remember to help replace it after your speech as well.
  
• Come to the meeting early so that you can help arrange the room to your liking, as well as spend a few minutes in front of the lectern. Doing this will make being in front of the live audience not so much of a shock, allowing you to open with more power and poise.
  
• Remember that evaluators are not perfect, and that they are giving their opinion of what you can work on to improve. Learn to take their criticism gracefully. Remember, you are at Toastmasters for education, not validation (to quote Craig Valentine).
  
• If you are using notes, make them large and readable from far distances and keep them to two pages if possible. Use different typefaces, bold, underline, highlighting, and whatever other accents you wish to make key points stick out. This way, you may not need to even read the content of the note because the accents will trigger your memory.
  
• Remember that 700 words in a document translates into a 7 minute speech, though your cadence may vary. Practice timing your speeches to be sure.
  
• For your introduction, make sure to cover the 3 C's: Content (a little bit about what you're going to talk about), Credibility (why you're qualified to talk about it), and Context (why it's relevant to the audience). You should bring a printed copy of the introduction with you in case the Toastmaster forgets their printed copy.

3.1. RDG Introductions

One of the biggest missed opportunities many Toastmasters (and speakers in general) have is not taking advantage of a quality introduction. The introduction is essentially a free minute or less to warm the audience up and sell them on why they should pay attention to your speech. How do you come up with your introduction, and what do you put in it?

Let's start with a typical, not very good introduction for a speech about the history and future of web browsers:

"I'll be speaking about web browsers for this project"

What's wrong with that? Lots of things! First, it doesn't tell the audience why they should listen, and it isn't very specific about the content. It doesn't include the speech objectives or details. It doesn't tell us why you're qualified to talk about the topic. Worst of all: It doesn't create any interest.

To change this, you need to consider what people want in an introduction. They want to know what's going to be talked about - the content. They want to know why it's relevant to them - the context. They want to know the credibility of the material and the speaker. The audience also wants these three C's put in you-focused language.

Content is easiest to start with. We want a little taste about what you're going to talk about. Think of movie trailers and how they drop hints about the premise of the movie without revealing the plot. Some sample content items for our topic might be:

• The origin and history of web browsers
• What the current market looks like
• What future developments are coming

Context is how we bridge our content to the audience's interest. We want to make a big promise that our speech will deliver on that will help the audience be able to know, feel, or do something. In our sample case, this is clearly a know. If your speech has a process, you can use statements like "by listening to and applying this speech, you'll get the five keys to being a better person" or "you'll get three easy ways to crush procrastination for good". If your speech is more story-based, you can sell the emotions the story or stories are meant to convey: "this gripping tale of noir detectives is a fresh take on the genre" or "after you hear David's harrowing tale you'll never look at life the same way again". Remember: Keep these you-focused. Some sample context statements include:

• You'll learn about some of the secrets of the browser wars (people love "hidden" knowledge)
• You'll learn about browser alternatives you can try to improve your computing experience
• You'll be ready for what's next in web browsers

Finally, it's time to address credibility. If your speech is about a process (as in the above "three easy ways", for example), the credibility should be more about the process than the person. If it's based on a story, credibility statements can be more about the impact the story has had on others. Credibility also flows from your history, training, and experience; for example, if you're a pediatrician, you have credibility when speaking about medical matters for children. Some samples:

• This process has been shown by 50 local companies to dramatically improve sales by 15% or more (specificity builds more credibility)
• As a lawyer specializing in patent law for over 15 years, this is what you need to know if you're submitting an invention
• This story was found to be "completely hilarious" by 10 out of 10 relatives asked (a little humorous, here)

Now for some samples relevant to our above topic:

• Our presenter has been using the Internet since before the rise of Google
• Our presenter has used over 20 different web browsers, both on desktop and on mobile
• Our presenter has done hours of research on this topic and is going to share some surprising findings with you (a little generic, but usable)

Let's put all of this together into one sample introduction.

"The web browser is a staple of Internet use. But do you know when the first web browser came out and who made it? Do you know the players in the web browser market? After listening to this speech, you'll know how the web browser was born, a little about its tumultuous upbringing, and finally, where things are headed. You might just find a new web browser you'll want to improve your Internet experience with as well. 

Our next speaker has been using the Internet since Alta Vista and Lycos were a thing back in the 90s, and has used many flavors of Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator (now Mozilla Firefox), and Google Chrome, and wanted to find out more about the history of these applications. Now, he'll share some of those discoveries with you. Please help me welcome..."

Much better! Now we satisfy the three C's in an audience-focused way. If this is being put on paper and it's a Toastmasters speech, we'd just need to put the speech title, project title, objectives, and time limits. 

If you want a worksheet to help you develop your introduction, check the resources section.