Bill Peng, Say what I want to Say?, C6
Bill Peng, Say what I want to Say?, C6
Who are we? We are Toastmasters. What are we pursuing for? We are pursuing for excellent leadership and communication. Following this 700-dollar manual, we learn how to be great Toastmasters. From C1 to C10, this book provides a “way” for us to become great speakers, Such as Ice-Breaker … and Inspire your audience. These skills are just like the spices in the food, they make everything in your speech seem to be more meaningful and powerful. So, after practicing these skills every day, we will become great Toastmasters, right? …Actually, I doubt it.
I once met some interesting speakers, who are really good at using these skills, maybe a little bit too good! Let me show you some examples:
Situation 1: Ya-Ni was raised up by a special person, “You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains…”So although china using lots money to seduce her “Money, money, money…” she still fights for Taiwan. Why? Because she has dream. “I have a dream…”
Situation 2: “The Fire rages…”wow, I am so scared…
OK, let’s come back. After seeing those examples, wow, they are so good at using vocal variety! Don’t you think they seemed a little strange? But they all add a lot of spices in their speeches! However, as you know, whether a food is delicious or not, is not depends on how much salt, oil, sugar or spices the cook added, but depends on how well the cook coordinate these formula. Using those creative skills in the lecture doesn’t means it is good, it is proper or it is suitable for the circumstances. Can you imagine when Winston Churchill was cheering up his British fellows, he suddenly sang, “you raise me up” on the stage? Can you imagine when president Obama deliver his speech, he said “Change!!!! That’s the only way…”Can you imagine that? No. So, from the examples above, we know that just practicing the skills on the manual is not enough for us to become great Toastmasters.
You might argue that those speakers I just mentioned are not good at integrating those skills. If we coordinate these speaking strategies very well, and practice over and over again, then we will become a great toastmaster. Well, again, I doubt it. I once knew a speaker who always got the championship in the area contest. She is so experienced and well trained that she even knows every judges taste, “Oh, this judge put emphasis on the vocal variety very much, so I will deliver my speech with high pitch, or low voice. That judge, oh, she cares about eye contact very much, so I should use my eyes to look into her eyes, with a big smile on my face, make she feel “Oh, you are so touching!”As to that judge, oh that guy is a little bit too serious. So when I look at him, I should show a poker face with a serious expression. As to the content, well, it is also important to fit the judges’ tastes. Since we are just teenagers, we don’t have many experiences, so how can we deliver a speech that can touch every judges heart and beat all the competitors? In this case, just making outs some stories is acceptable!”Her words seems make sense! However, when one day we follow the manual and become a really excellent speaker, when one day all the audience will believe every words we said, but we just using those fancy strategy to package our speech with something “make out” inside, will we become great “Toastmasters”? No! We are just some “salesmen”. We are just some slaves of the contest.
Then how can we become real toastmasters? The answer is our “sincerity”. My dear fellow members, this stage are a place to say what we want to say, share our stories from our heart. Our experiences may not so exciting or amazing, but they are true! So I hope every one of us can always be honest to ourselves, because it is our sincerity that makes speeches valuable; it is our sincerity that really touches everybody’s audience; it is our sincerity that makes us became real toastmasters; it is our sincerity that makes NTUTM a warm and sweet home.
