3 Lessons I Learnt From Attending Manchester Toastmasters
Last month I won the local “International Toastmasters Humorous Speaking” contest. I’ve been attending toastmasters for a couple of years now, and it got me thinking about my toastmaster journey in Manchester and the lessons attending a public speaking group has taught me.
These are the 3 lessons I have learnt from toastmasters and how these lessons can help you in your every day life.
Toastmasters Lesson One – Be Afraid
99% of people who turn up at Manchester Toastmasters, most of whom attend to increase their public speaking confidence, are afraid. Of course they are, speaking in front of a large audience for the first time is a scary experience.
When trying anything new, like public speaking, you will feel a little nervousness. What toastmasters teaches you is that you can face your fears, first by stepping onto stage in a friendly environment, only to realize that your perceived anxiety distorted the reality – public speaking is easier then you thought
So many guest at Toastmasters, stand up to take part in a “table topic” – an improvised speach lasting around a minute, only to say how easier if was from what they perceived it to be
This is true in life. We often give up on goals, back away from opportunities and allow the perceived fear to stop us from taking action. If you take part though, if you follow your dreams, you will often find that the reality of actions required, is easier to achieve then you thought it would be. The advice here is “jump up and give it a go”
Toastmasters Lesson Two – Evaluate Yourself
In toastmasters each speaker will be evaluated.
The evaluator will discuss your strengths and areas of development. With each evaluation you will improve your public speaking skills, increasing your confidence. You also become aware of your common mistakes, your barrier to being a perfect speaker.
Each speaker has his own personal barriers when it comes to orating ( a common one being how to react on stage when you forget the next line in the prepared speech). Once reconised you can anticipate this and plan how to overcome this area of development.
There are always barriers to your life goals, or you would have already achieved it. The mistake many make is that they don’t anticipate the barriers and continue to make the send mistakes over and over again.
Once you predict the barriers you can plan how you will overcome them, you can build up your resources and skills to make this barrier an easy problem to solve and as the barrier appears you will be confident, as you have already predicted this would happen
Toastmasters Lesson Three – Enjoy It
Im always keen on the idea of self development, setting goals and working hard to better yourself.
Many attend toastmasters for this reason – they want to be the best they can be. I applaud this, but be aware that this dedication to being the best you, can create stress as you constantly analyse your weaknesses to improve, as you always push yourself and set new challenges.
A key part in self-development, from public speaking to learning new knowledge is having fun. If you enjoy what you are learning, you will progress quicker, stress will be reduced which increases the learning power of your mind.
Having fun and enjoyment is key to personal success, which is why at toastmasters you are always applauded every time you step on stage
Chris Delaney NLP Life Coach, Hypnotherapist and Career Advisor is available for booking for One to One Private Sessions, Group Training Sessions and Public Speaking Events
Chris Delaney is also a published author “The 73 Rules of Influencing the Interview – using Psychology, NLP and Hypnotic Persuasion Techniques”
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