You must be thinking why I am wearing a jacket here in this sweltering summer! I will tell you why, but before that, let me give you some background..

I was never a stage person.  Every time I tried that in School or College, the results were disastrous. I have sung on stage, spoken a few words, received prizes, given a brief thank you speech.. but all that, quite reluctantly. If I had my way, I would have loved to receive my awards in a jungle, or sing a song in my bathroom and transmit it to the world – err, I mean just the audio of it

I used to fantasize being a smarty pants on stage, cracking jokes, talking, connecting with people.. But I never tried to bring that fantasy into reality. Because one step on the stage would bring the cruel reality crashing down upon me! I would go weak in my knees, I would start sweating when everyone else was shivering with cold, and my heartbeats would match those of a Hummingbird!

Over time, I figured out that the only way I could get my fear of public speaking out of me, was by being funny.. I started specializing in humor.. which means I have special demands from my audience.. I expect them to laugh at whatever I say! Or else, I suddenly change my speaking genre to Anger! Now being funny, is a serious business! Shivering and comedy don’t go hand in hand.. and these meeting rooms get really cold after some time.. That’s where the jacket comes in.

And that brings us to the first point here on the slide – and it is to “know your speech requirements. Know the environment, the temperature, the humidity, pollen count, Carbon Monoxide levels.. well, maybe not that.. but you get the point!

One really needs to find his/her own style of public speaking. Once you find it, nothing can stop you.. except this clock of course!”

I remember my first day here.. I was sitting harmlessly in my chair listening to people talk – just like I have done it for years in various places! My minimal expectation from life at that point, was that nobody would find me attractive enough to drag me in front of everyone to speak! But they did! I smiled my way to the podium, but honestly, smile, just happens to be my birth defect.. somehow I just can’t get rid of it from my face! So that wasn’t my confidence, it was rather a nervous smile that I carried from my chair all the way to the podium. I said something that had a tinge of humor.. so people laughed, and I conveniently assumed that they did not laugh at me, but at what I had said.. <pause>

“When you are nervous, use the emotion that you are most comfortable with.“<pause>

Then there was the Ice breaker speech. I had heard some ice breakers before, where they talked about who they were, what they had accomplished and such. And here I was, totally exposing myself by talking about how I had failed at all the things that could have made me famous! But surprisingly, I think I struck some chord there with the audience that day, and they seemed to like the speech.

That’s how I learned my next lesson – to “to be what you are, rather than pretending to be what you are not”

The speeches kept going, and over time, I realized that there was more to this than meets the eye. I realized that “when it comes to public speaking or any public performance, keeping your stomach in the right state is very important“! You need to make sure you are not going on empty stomach, otherwise, your growling stomach will be more audible than you are! At the same time, you should not overstuff yourself either. Or else you will have to burp your way through your speech – which won’t be very pleasant!

My next lesson was – “know thy enemies“.. I fought a lot of speeches like mini-battles and just like in a battle, you have enemies too! Enemies, such as Memorizing the speech, body language, voice,  tone, expressions, having a good eye contact.. Do you feel uncomfortable looking directly at your audience? I did… Every time I looked at someone for more than 2 seconds, my eyes would want to go for a walk! One needs to recognize these enemies and work on them. Besides these technicalities, I have 2 main enemies in Toastmasters.. That clock and the ooh-aah-umm counter! But whenever I see people like Sameer, Rebecca, and others speaking without offending these enemies… <pause>.. I get even more MAD at them! – <pause>.. By “them”, I mean my enemies.. not Sameer or Rebecca!

There are many such things.. I just disclosed some of my trade secrets.. The most important of all is the fact that one needs to understand that a Speech is a DIALOG that you are trying to establish with your audience. If it is not so, it will be met with a lot of yawns!

People ask me what has Toastmasters done for me.. well, I know I am still not the kind of speaker I would want to be. But I have learned to break my silence here. I have rediscovered myself in the process and realized, that I too, have a voice..