Kevin Cottam's "The Nomadic Mindset UNCOVERED" Workshop

There is no beginning to your journey (to who you are)

There is no ending to your journey (to who you are)

You are migrating to expansion.

Here are the paradigm shift questions. As a Toastmaster, what is challenging you in your speaking journey? Are there worthwhile behaviors that are lost and need to be brought back? For example, your initial enthusiasm and efforts to be a better public speaker. Are these lost on you as time goes by? If yes, would you consider migrating to bring it all back over and above?

Professional Speaker, Executive Coach and Author Kevin Cottam, PCC, ACS, posed these thought provoking questions and went on to seek opinions from the participants on the true meaning of NOMAD. Most replied to the likes of "moving from place to place .....".

No. Its actually "the movement of the mind", quoting from Batgerel Bat, someone Kevin met in his own awesome journey.

There are three mindsets. Namely: Nomadic, Builder and Settler. These change from time to time, with one dominant or take precedence over the others in the moment.

Given a hypothetical situation: An annual conference to be organized by Anchorvale CC Toastmasters Club is in consideration. A settler in the Club will want to assume no risk and choose not to take it up. Another member, a builder, will want to take action and aspire to have the conference to be held on time and under budget. A nomadic in the Club will be adventurous and seek to look out for new frontiers and hence explore possibilities. For example, nomads are excited to leverage on the most technologically advanced digital devices to outreach to bigger masses to join the annual conference. From the neuroscience perspective, a builder thinks in the head, a settler thinks in the heart, whereas the nomadic thinks in the gut.

"Think Vastly, Act Narrowly", quote from Binderiya, a Student at the National University of Mongolia, from the book, The Nomadic Mindset.

Kevin later shared more of his own personal journey to highlight the importance of having a nomadic mindset. His childhood days were spent in the west coast of Canada. Moving on, he later went to the city to study figure skating. He did well and became a Canadian champion in figure skating. Moving further on, he later took up a dancing job in New York, then at Moulin Rouge in Paris. Moving on again, he went back to Canada as a figure skating choreographer, then figure skating coach, then speaker, before eventually becoming an author. His stint in Mongolia is where The Nomadic Mindset came about. He learned from the nomads, "migrate is for survival, for a better life". That is when he come to realize he is not running away, being crazy going for the unknown after accomplishing much in the earlier pursue. He is simply running towards expansion, evolution and growth. Looking back, he can well connect the dots now.

"You must be ready to learn how difficult this situation is...... the difficult truth." - Benson Muntere, Maasai Warrior from Kenya.

That, in essence, is to face the lion.....

The ongoing pandemic and Toastmasters are helping us to evolve, by facing the lion; to take on much needed leadership roles. Do keep that movement of the mind. Do not put the mind within restrictive barriers. Be courageous by being still, alert, curious, a listener and an observer. Henceforth, to be a better person, a better speaker. This, is the message Kevin is conveying to all of us.

Do check out this awesome book, The Nomadic Mindset: Never Settle … for Too Long, by Kevin Cottam. It is a leadership book for adventurous, courageous, and bold leaders. It is based on harvesting the ancient wisdom, qualities, and mindset of nomadic cultures as a new way to lead successful, engaged organizations. Also click on the YouTube video below for a short introduction to this book.

Written by Wee Chee Sian, ACB, ALB

Peter Lee's "Mental Fitness In A Turbulent World" Workshop

Vader: The Emperor has been expecting you.

Luke: I know, father.

Vader: So, you have accepted the truth.

Luke: I've accepted the truth that you were once Anakin Skywalker, my father.

Vader: [angry retort] That name no longer has any meaning for me.

Luke: It is the name of your true self. You've only forgotten. I know there is good in you. The Emperor hasn't driven it from you fully. That was why you couldn't destroy me. That's why you won't bring me to your Emperor now.

Vader: I see you have constructed a new lightsaber. Your skills are complete. Indeed you are powerful, as the Emperor has foreseen.

Luke: Come with me.

Vader: Obi-Wan once thought as you do. You don't know the power of the dark side! I must obey my master.

Luke: I will not turn. And you'll be forced to kill me.

Vader: If that is your destiny.

Luke: Search your feelings, father. You can't do this. I feel the conflict within you. Let go of your hate.

Vader: It is... too late for me, son. The Emperor will show you the true nature of the Force. He is your master now.

Luke: [resigned] Then my father is truly dead.

Luke Skywalker confronts his father, Darth Vader, in a final climactic duel before the evil Emperor Palpatine in Return of the Jedi, the final film of the original Star Wars trilogy. This is resemblance of the struggle within our mind. Some self talk propel us forward. Some self talk pull us backward. The side we have to choose. The decision we have to make. The choice we have to take. A battle between saboteur and sage.

Hence, the message of weakening our saboteur and strengthening our sage is what Peter Lee, DTM, ACC Coach (ICF), hopes to deliver to participants of Anchorvale CC Toastmasters Club's "Mental Fitness In A Turbulent World" workshop held on 21 November 2020.

What is happening in today's world? As reported in The Straits Times, experts predicted the ongoing pandemic will have a long-term effect on mental health in Singapore. They are, unfortunately, expecting more cases of depression and anxiety. Therefore, naturally, the questions arise. How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your work? Why would you want to learn mental fitness? 

Responding to the first question, Club President Rusman Hadijanto, CTM, CL, DL5, mentioned his work life is like a roller coaster ride, moving from job to job. This is due to the right sizing of the enterprises he had worked for. These enterprises are facing financial constraints. Valliappan Selvamani, CC, CL, added he is now working longer hours at home. He treasures the interaction with his colleagues. Hence he felt a sense of loss when this interaction is reduced. Helena Lim, CC, on the other hand, is affected little as she has already been working from home for five years. She opined the crux of working from home is time management. She enjoys playing with her pet dog for stress relief.

Active responses from participating members

Peter gave thanks to Rusman, Valliappan and Helena for their sharing. He went on to describe his own experience. With the onslaught of rapid technological changes, many jobs had extinct, or are already on the verge of extinction (in Peter's words, "becoming dinosaur"). The pandemic is accelerating this process. Assisting his clients to think of possibilities for raising skills and productivity, work on their strength, to ultimately cope with taking on new roles is his occupation. This transition to adapt to the nation's economic restructuring efforts would not have been smooth without mental fitness.

To help participants understand the parallels between physical fitness and mental fitness, Peter posed another question. What is Fitness to you? Just like any physical fitness, mental fitness is a continuous journey. You need to constantly build and maintain the muscles to perform well. Your capacity to respond to life's challenges is in proportion to the strength of the muscles of your mental fitness. Figuratively, it can be thought to be similar to: physical fitness levels needed to climb Bukit Timah Hill, Mount Kinabalu as well as Mount Everest are all different.

There are three main uplifting impacts to your life in having good mental fitness; peak performance, peace of mind and healthy relationships.

Positive Intelligence is a term crafted by Dr. Shirzad Chamine, a professor in Stanford University, synthesizing the four areas of science, namely; positive psychology, neuroscience, cognitive psychology and performance science. Using factor analysis to discover the root causes, three core muscles at the root of mental fitness are identified. They are; Saboteur interceptor, Sage and Self-command.

The master saboteur, Judge, comes in three modalities; self judge (eg. blaming oneself), judging others (eg. skeptical) and judging situation. Upon further explanation of the characteristic of each of these modalities, Peter invited participants to give their thoughts.

Sarah Ong, IP1, gave an example of intercepting the Judge, taking a leaf from the travel restriction. Do not think of the present pandemic in a negative light (judging situation). Holiday makers can still explore interesting places in Singapore.

Beside the Judge, there's nine other accomplices. They are the Controller, Hyper-achiever, Restless, Stickler, Pleaser, Hyper-vigilant, Avoider, Victim and Hyper-rational. Each of these has a persona and its residing in all of us, one taking precedence over another.

Majority of Anchorvale CC Toastmasters Club members are Hyper-achievers.

The saboteurs and sage reside in different regions of our brain, survivor brain (with voices of saboteurs) and positive intelligence brain (with voice of sage). Both perform important functions and are essential. The survivor brain alert and trigger you to immediate action to move away from pain and danger. Ever heard of fight or flight? The positive intelligence brain is the knowing brain asking, is the pain long enough for it to be useful (realization, wake you up, etc) and short enough not to permanently damage you? Staying in negative emotion (saboteur) hurts ability to see clearly and respond with empathy, curiosity, creativity, or laser-focused action. Saboteur might generate success but not happiness. Sage generates your highest success and sustained happiness.

That leads us all to the sage perspective - every outcome or circumstance can be turned into a gift and opportunity. To highlight the wisdom behind this perspective, Peter brought to the table the stallion story, 'Sai Weng Shi Ma' (塞翁失马). The message is, not over reacting to every single event. Just had a patch of bad luck? Do not worry, just wait it out. It is just as likely to turn into good luck. Click on the YouTube clip, Maintaining Perspective, below to learn more about this stallion story.

To embark on the road to mental fitness is analogous to visiting a gymnasium to do weight lifting reps, short for repetitions. There are Positive Intelligence Quotient (PQ) reps for mental fitness too. Self-command is henceforth like upgrading your operating system to quiet your saboteur and activate your sage thru these PQ reps.

Ten seconds PQ rep exercise:

Please put the thumb and first index fingers together and rub, feeling the ridges with intense focus for 10 seconds.

Cheng Kok Siong, TM, commented the ten seconds PQ rep exercise brought his mind to a focus, and a sense of peacefulness felt.

Two minutes PQ rep exercise:

Please sit comfortably with your spine straight and relax. Your head straight. Your chest open. Your feet flat on the floor. Please close your eyes when you are ready. Take your right hand and place it on your heart. And notice your heart beat. Your heart beat sensation might be very subtle, so you might need to move your hand around a little or press a little harder to feel your heart beat through your hand. Just keep noticing your heart beat. I start count, gently let them go and refocus.

Now put your right hand on your stomach and notice the gentle rising and falling of your stomach with each breathe.

Now do some reps with your sense of touch. Rub your fingertips gently against each other with such a tension that you can feel the fingertip ridges on both fingers.

Take your time and whenever you feel ready, open your eyes.

Tan Siew Foong, TM, commented the two minutes PQ rep is soothing and helped her to calm down.

Always remember, lasting positive change requires twenty percent insight and eighty percent mental muscle just like any other physical discipline. Do have the readiness, willingness and capacity to take on upping the level of your PQ for continued success.

Heartfelt thoughts from participants as the workshop come to an end

For a deeper dive into the subject matter, check out the awesome book, Positive Intelligence - Why Only 20% of Teams and Individuals Achieve Their True Potential and How You Can Achieve, by Dr. Shirzad Chamine. Also click on the YouTube clip, Know your inner saboteurs: Shirzad Chamine at TEDxStanford, below to learn what are now between you and your true potential.

 

Written by Wee Chee Sian, ACB, ALB

Thomas Chen's "The Power To Empower" Workshop

Do you aspire to unleash your giant within and become a great leader? In our 167th Chapter Meeting, we have the privilege to invite Thomas Chen, EC3, an Entrepreneur and International Business Strategy Coach from Pasirisian Toastmasters Club back to Anchorvale CC Toastmasters Club to conduct a workshop on how to empower to accelerate to a greater leader.

The bubbly Thomas set the audience members’ mind on fire by asking us “What is definition of Leader and Great Leader”. He highlighted that everyone is a leader because everyone influences someone somehow in our social and corporate world. Everyone uses different leadership type and multiple leadership style in different context but he/she has distinctive primary leadership style which one should capitalize on. 

Thomas highlighted that great leader like our late Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, Martin Luther King (an American Christian minister and activist) and Bill Gate (Microsoft founder) differ from other leader in, these great leaders know how to empower effectively. He reiterated John C Maxwell’s quote that “Leaders become great not because of their power but because of their ability to empower others”.

Empowerment is about giving autonomy or authority to someone to do something, In workplace, it is a philosophy that encourages workers to make their own independent decisions and managers giving workers the proper support for them to feel confident in their roles. Thomas shared the 6 benefit of Empowerment- 

Build trust in team.

Empower is best way to gain trust, to show your staff that they have your trust. This is the strongest emotion for the team.

Team feels more confident of their ability when they are empowered.
When the team is confident, they will take ownership of their work and are more motivated and engaged.

Empowerment encourage participation.
Thomas quoted the success of Google and Facebook who tap into individual expertise to drive innovation and inspire creativity through empowerment.

Empowerment enhances team competency. It is teaching a man to fish than to give him the fish.

Empowerment facilitate Continuity of the organization. It empower new member and fresh talent to leadership development. Hence enhances Succession planning.

Effective Expansion allows the system to leadership expansion. Thomas cited McDonald as one of the successful model for expansion in empowerment.

Active participants of the workshop in Anchorvale CC Toastmasters Club's 167th Chapter Meeting

You want to set your team to success? Thomas provided the 6 steps to an effective empowerment 

Step 1: Identify and specify Organization objectives. 

For everyone to move toward same direction, they need to see the ultimate goal. To avoid employee having a free rein, it is imperative to clearly define the project boundaries and expectations. This reinforce the standard of quality. Thomas quoted Salesforce.com, inc. an American cloud-based software company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Salesforce.com is one of Fortune 100 best companies to work for. Salesforce exponential growth is inspired by the Ohana culture based on family values which employees use it to gauge their KPI. 

Step 2: Leader needs to have clear communication of expectation 

As a leader, it's your job to get everyone on the same page. Precise clear communication is the key for people to know what they're supposed to accomplish. 

Step 3:- Assess and amplify the level of readiness of the team. 

One of the key takeaways is focusing on strengths, especially when you are looking at yourself and your team. By understanding each employee's strengths and weaknesses you as a leader can empower them in the ways that work best for them and your company. 

Step 4: - Gradual & Incremental responsibility allocation. 

Thomas cautioned that learning to lead is a process of learning by doing. Learning occurs incrementally and gradually so best leader knows the difference the type of decisions and have the discipline to empower as much as appropriate. 

Step 5:- Praise the process and encourage the empowered. 

Thomas emphasize the importance of praising the process of getting the effort, the way the employee get the result. This is to encourage improvement and progression. 

Step 6:- Review reflect and readjust. 

Finally it is imperative to always check whether you had empowered correctly. It is worth to take time to review your plan against activities. Access how far you had accomplished and readjust on whether empowerment is done correctly. 

Thomas concluded that Empowerment begin with the end at mind and in every organization great leader can be made. 

In conclusion, empowerment build trust, motivate and facilitate growth. To empower, we need to identify the objective and communicate the expectation and have vivid objective. Assess the strength and weaknesses of the team and teach the employee to fish. Finally it is imperious to review, reflect and readjust the activities.

The Saturday afternoon was another day well spent in a Toastmasters Club meeting, I had a lot of takeaway from the interactive workshop to morph into an effective leader. 

Thank you Thomas for sharing these valuable tips.

Written by Helena Lim, CC

Thomas Chen’s Master Storytelling Workshop

We at Anchorvale CC Toastmasters Club were about to be transported to the most magical land with our Wizard of Oz Speaker, Thomas Chen, EC3, Entrepreneur and Coach who hails from Pasirisians Toastmasters Club.

We were promised that it would be a lesson to captivate. A lesson to remember. A lesson in storytelling mastery. We have heard plenty about Thomas Chen and were eagerly looking forward to being mesmerised.

Storytelling by Thomas Chen: the equivalent of completing the advanced manual

Thomas began by asking the audience members to share what they thought storytelling is. There are so many definitions of it. Sharing experiences, inspiring people, recollecting events, communicating a message, teaching a lesson. All of it is true. Therefore, storytelling is so powerful because it can profoundly influence and capture anyone.

Thomas shared how storytelling is used everywhere in our lives, from work, school, business, socialising. Storytelling brings us on a journey of discovery.

Thomas used the example of Pokemon. Why has it survived multiple generations? It is built on story telling. There is a progression of how the main character went on a journey as a beginner trainer to a Pokemon Master. People are enthralled by that and keep returning for more.

Storytelling is not just used to entertain; storytelling has created billions of dollars in sales. Thomas gave examples such as Nike using the story of Lebron James’ humble background to drive sales by telling how they can transform anyone into superstars if they work hard. Or how Russell Brunson closed 3 million-dollar deals in his technical presentations using stories.

Thomas highlighted how storytelling is more effective if you tell stories which make the audience feel like you (the speaker) are like them (the audience). This is because it promotes relatability and connects the speaker and audience. Hence, for our members who are planning to tell stories soon, do remember to make it as relatable as possible.

Thomas explained clearly about the structure we must have in our stories. The 5 C-s.

Context	Where it all began. 5Ws and 1 H. As much description as possible.
Catalyst	What caused a change? The trigger?
Consequences	What happened after the change or the trigger?
Change	Enlightenment. The process of learning or improving.
Call to Action	Main message, the call to action, the main lesson.

A story with the 5 C-s would be able to take you on a journey and convey a message.

Components of an impactful story: the dramatic journey

To create a story, we need to have the end in mind which is the main message. This is highly crucial as this would allow us to create content that supports the main message. Without a main message in mind, we would write / tell stories that have no direction and ultimately will not convey a message / call to action.

Stories can be knowledge, personal experiences, observations, or popular references. Hence, there are endless possibilities of stories to create. Thomas shared examples of past World Champions of Public Speaking such as Darren Tay or Mohammed Qahtani. They had colorful stories which captivated the audience and a clear message at the end.

Thomas provided some tips to create richer stories such as using more descriptions, having dialogues, or showing emotions of the characters.

Some of the best speeches were rehearsed and refined a million times. This is what we should do if we wish to tell a great story. What we prepared the first time, would have been edited, fixed and finally we would have a work of art that would have been quite different from the first draft.

When we test our stories, we need to ask if the audience could relate to it, understand it, visualise our content, feel emotions, and be engaged? If the answers are all yes, then you have a story that will capture hearts and be remembered.

Just when we thought we had learnt the perfect recipe to crafting a beautiful story, Thomas had more tips and tricks rolled up his sleeves, much to our delight.

He told us something simple but easily forgotten. We must know who our audience is if our stories are to resonate with them. There is no point telling a group of children stories about how you survived a financial crisis. It is not something that would stir emotions within them.

It is also important to have hooks in our stories. These would keep the audience engaged such as moments of suspense, surprise, or stirring emotions. Other hooks would be asking questions, having activities, or maintaining eye contact.

Additionally, having a vivid and descriptive vocabulary would clearly help the audience visualise your story. However, it is important to note that having a vivid vocabulary does not mean having huge bombastic words. There are simple yet powerful words that can be extremely descriptive. One example is instead of saying unconventional, use unique. For more words you can play around with, you can visit https://www.synonym.com/ and learn more words to use.

Simplify to Amplify

Thomas even touched on the use of props. We should question its necessity by asking if the story has a similar impact without the prop. If your answer is yes, then forget the props. Just remember how Darren Tay used his white underwear in his world championship winning speech. It was essential; it brought the audience into his world and his feelings. The impact of his speech would have been quite different without the underwear.

Thomas concluded by urging us to maintain a story bank. Sometimes, moments of inspiration strike us at the most unusual times. It would be good if we maintained a record of these stories somewhere, perhaps in google drive on a doc or writing on a notepad. We might never know when we can use our stories as teachable moments, to build relationships or to create a million-dollar opportunity.

Each and everyone of us has riches of stories

Thomas shared all the above without rushing and in such an easy to understand format. I believe our members have benefitted greatly from his masterclass. Thank you, Thomas, for being so sincere and generous with your knowledge.

Thomas mentioned that he has a wish that we should all pass on something we have learned to someone else. It is quite incredible that Thomas has passed on a bucket full of valuable knowledge to so many of us. Hopefully, we can all transform our stories and help others tell better stories with the resources that Thomas has given us.

Written by Salma Begum, ACB, ALB

Book Review by Desmond Chong: The quick and easy way to Effective public Speaking by Dale Carnegie.

“Try your best to develop an ability to let others look into your head and heart. Learn to make your thoughts, your ideas, clear to others, individually, in groups, in public. You will find, as you improve in your effort to do this, that you—your real self—are making an impression, an impact, on people such as you never made before.” 

― Dale Carnegie, The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking

This book provides a quick and concise method about improving your public speaking skills, in a few simple but important rules and some tips as well. Simple but importance examples and rules are shared and Carnegie sums it up into 5 steps

The 5 steps highlight the importance of public speaking not only in a professional stage but also how effective public speaking helps not just in a corporate environment but also in daily lives and allows you to know how to convince others by display a high level of confidence.

Part one explores the fundamentals of acquiring basic skills with a few simple points. For example taking heart from your own experiences or even others, keeping your goal before you, predetermine your mind to Success and also seize every opportunity to practice which eventually leads to success. He emphasizes how to build confidence by first acting confident, preparing in the proper way and the importance of never making a scripted speech. Speaking about something which you are deeply passionate or highly experienced about is certainly the way to be connected about your topic as your listeners are likely to be easily bored or disconnected with a mechanical memorized speech.

Part two then goes about looking at the speaker, Audience, and speech. It goes into limiting the subject and about developing reservice power and in particular, goes into the kinds of examples and the illustrations that can add to an engaging speech, for eg using metaphors to create vivid pictures in your mind

Part three looks into the purpose of prepared and Impromptu talks. Great insights about  how to do talks to persuade/ inform and convince with preparation, Impromptu speaking can be persuasive, informational or even entertaining depending on the occasion demands to make your communication powerful.

Part four goes deep into the art of communicating and how to deliver the talk. Effectively shows how being eager to share your message will ensure you deliver your speech with ease and your audience will be eager to hear your message.

Part five relates to how to use specific details to apply to everyday conversation and most importantly in public speaking situations

I find this book highly insightful, engaging and effective. It gives great for everyday communication in both personal and business situations. I would really recommend this book for everyone, especially to the budding toastmasters.

“In almost any subject, your passion for the subject will save you. If you care enough for a result, you will most certainly attain it. If you wish to be good, you will be good. If you wish to be rich, you will be rich. If you wish to be learned, you will be learned. Only then you must really wish these things and wish them with exclusiveness and not wish one hundred other incompatible things just as strongly.” 
― Dale Carnegie, The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking

Book Review By Desmond Chong

Book Review: "The Art of Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie"- written by Ram

I was nervous;

My palms were sweaty; and
I had butterflies in my stomach.

This is how I felt one day, when I was standing in front of hundreds of students at a school event. All these years, I always tried to avoid all situations wherein I would have to be on a stage or speak in public. But something got into me last year, and all I wanted was to learn and improve my public speaking skills, and that is when toastmasters came into my life’s journey.

There is a Buddhist proverb,

“When the student is ready, Teacher will appear.”

Do you have Glossophobia?

Forget about you and me, even Google is scared of public speaking. Check out the first fear it lists out in search results. (hahaha)

Well, some individuals may feel a slight nervousness at the very first thought of public speaking, while others experience full-fledged panic and fear. Same was the case with me; I hated giving public speeches; but then it vanished when I joined Toastmasters Club in October 2018.

It was 8th December, Christmas special chapter meeting, Anchorvale TM's club president, Chee Sian took up a role of Santa Clause and gifted 3 books on public speaking written by Dale Carnegie to club members, and I received "The Art of Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie".

The book is indeed a classic, published in 1915, and covered basic lessons of public speaking. Though the book was published 100 years ago, it’s clear that nothing has changed over the years in terms of information, tips and tricks mentioned in the book to become a better speaker. All the tips mentioned in the book about how to make your content better, and the ways to articulate it more effectively, the methods to enhance voice and tone, the importance of rhetoric’s etc it just perfect.

The most important message shared in the book is very simple and straight forward. You must learn to speak by speaking; Practice, practice and PRACTICE.

Each chapter has extensive exercises but I'm not sure of their effectiveness without a mentor to check the results, or the progress. While reading initial chapters, I managed to answer the questions given at the end of every chapter but eventually I skipped I felt the need of mentor/evaluator to cover the exercises.

Overall, this book is wonderful resource especially if you are beginner. It covers vital aspects of speaking in public; showing up, standing confidently on stage, getting rid of monotonous tone, effective body language etc. For new people who want to enhance their craft, this book will help as it gives ample explanation and importance to all the skills needed to improve. I think, once you start speaking in a group, you may start referring from this book and then you can measure yourself as to how are you doing.

Key take away from the book

MASTER YOUR FEAR

Giving a speech isn’t a matter of becoming fearless; it’s a matter of mastering your fear.

Consider below 4 Basic factors to be an effective public speaker

1.      Be Absorbed by Your Subject.  If you feel deeply about your subject you will be able to think of little else. Concentration is a process of distraction from less important matters.

2.      It’s equally important to have something to say. If you haven’t prepared your material and practiced your speech, doubts and misgivings are sure to assail you the minute you open your mouth. To avoid this, the author advises memorizing at least the first few sentences of your speech.

3.      After preparing for success, expect it. Expecting success doesn’t mean you should be overconfident and complacent. Rather, maintain your humility – not a cowering, servile humility, but a sort of vibrant humbleness, an eternal openness to improvement. Cast aside your self-involved fears, and be willing to succeed.

4.      Assume Mastery Over Your Audience. If you assume it you can almost invariably make it yours. If you assume the negative you are sure to be negative.

MASTER YOUR PRESENTATION SKILLS

The below ideas help in engaging your audience.

Hammer your Monotony tone; How would you feel if someone plays only one key while performing on piano? You may wonder why this guy is hitting only one key all the times, why can’t he use other keys! People will feel same when we use same tone across our speech.

Then, what would be the solution? Emphasis is a matter of comparing and contrasting your speech’s central ideas and a basic way to do that is to stress important words.

Practice your way to effective body language; but it would be wonderful if gestures come spontaneously out of true feeling. 

The next way to use your imagination is to image the speech you’re about to give. In other words, prior to delivering a speech, you should create mental images of how that speech will go.

EXERCISES TO BOOST YOUR CONFIDENCE

How to Develop the Carrying Power of the Voice

·         It is not necessary to speak loudly in order to be heard at a distance. It is necessary only to speak correctly. If you will only use your voice correctly, you will not have much difficulty in being heard.

·         A hard-fought basketball or tennis game is an efficient way of practising deep breathing.

·         Voice is a series of air vibrations. To strengthen it two things are necessary: more air or breath, and more vibration.

·         Breath is the very basis of voice. As a bullet with little powder behind it will not have force and carrying power, so the voice that has little breath behind it will be weak. Not only will deep breathing from the diaphragm.

Purity of Voice

·         This quality is sometimes destroyed by wasting the breath. Carefully control the breath, using only as much as is necessary for the production of tone. Utilize all that you give out. Take in breath like a prodigal; in speaking, give it out like a miser.

Voice Suggestions

·         Never attempt to force your voice when hoarse.

·         Do not drink cold water when speaking. The sudden shock to the heated organs of speech will injure the voice.

·         Avoid pitching your voice too high--it will make it raspy. A wide range will give you facility in making numerous changes of pitch.

·         You can make even a whisper audible to all if you place your voice correctly.

·         The way to do this is to pitch it forward.

·         Practice this by holding your hand before your face and forcefully saying words such as “crash,” “dash,” “whirl” and “buzz.”

·         Do not form the habit of listening to your voice when speaking. You will need your brain to think of what you are saying--reserve your observation for private practise.

Concluding Hints

·         No urgency.  Haste shows lack of control.

·         Do not apologize, it won’t help. Go straight forward.

·         Increase your vocabulary.

Conclusion:

There’s only one way to become an effective public speaker: practice, practice, practice. That being said, there are techniques that’ll help you succeed. For starters, avoid monotony by effectively using emphasis, let your gestures emanate from sincere feeling, turn your audience into a crowd and improve your voice by deep breathing. Finally, test your arguments and the arguments of your opponents, and use imagery both to prepare for and to construct your speeches.

But, what happens if you keep practicing wrongly, you will end up perfecting wrong way. And joining Toastmasters club helps you build that confidence in front of audience. If you don’t know where to start or how to start, Anchorvale TM Club would be right choice.

Quotes from the book:

• Practice, practice and PRACTICE; If no one else will listen to you, listen to yourself
• Destiny is not a matter of chance. It is a matter of choice.
• The worst punishment that human ingenuity has ever been able to invent is extreme monotony, solitary confinement.
• If you believe you will fail, there is no hope for you. You will.
• The first sign of greatness is when a man does not attempt to look and act great.
• You must learn to speak by speaking.
• Speech-giving isn’t a matter of becoming fearless; it’s a matter of mastering your fear.
• Concentration is a process of distraction from less important matters.
• Buildings have need of a good Foundation that lies so much exposed to the Weather.--WILLIAM PENN.
• One day Ennui was born from Uniformity.--MOTTE.
• "Get your principles right," said Napoleon, "and the rest is a matter of detail."

Ram