Icebreaker

One of the more gratifying aspects of my job is hearing from former students about how they have used what they have learned, and—even better—how they have been inspired to learn more and improve on their own. So it really made my day recently when David Cheng, Director of Engineering at Qualcomm in Shanghai, wrote to tell me about the progress he has been making in Toastmasters; so much so, that I asked him to write a guest post. I hope David’s post will in turn inspire others to challenge themselves to become better and more confident speakers:

I have always had the problem of speaking on the stage. Off the stage, I could talk easily even with a group of strangers. I didn’t realize the seriousness of this problem until I took Jack’s presentation class. The last task for the training was to prepare a speech to the executives. I picked a topic that I was very familiar with. I thought the 5 minute speech wasn’t going to be too hard.

Surprise! My mind blanked out when I was up there!! At the end of the class, I asked Jack how I could resolve this. He suggested the Toastmasters International. I decided to give it a try.

After surveying a number of clubs, I picked a conveniently located corporate club. The friendly setting really helped to ease the nervousness. However, I still had the problem of speaking out on the stage. It wasn’t until my 8th project in which I partnered with another Toastmaster that I felt like I wasn’t speaking on the stage.

I also didn’t script the talk, but only remembered the key points. From this, I learned that too much pressure and too much worry about being “correct” caused a commotion in my head that I forgot what to say.

In addition, I also found the evaluation role that Toastmasters program was very beneficial to mitigate my problem. It reminded me of Jack’s Precision Questioning class I took some time ago. Picking the good points and bad points of other’s speech required critical thinking. The exercise helped when I did my own speech. It was like reading vs proof-reading. When one presented, everything seemed logical to the speaker but that might not be what the audience perceived. Only when one heightened self-awareness and listened to oneself while speaking would the person be able to refine his or her talk through rehearsal. Being an evaluator helps developing that skill. This is the part that I am working on now.

Eventually, I hope to answer table topic questions with ease. The impromptu speech is very demanding. It requires one to think on his or her feet, organizing what he or she wants to say with supporting material on the spot. It all comes down to practice and preparedness. I have asked many fellow Toastmasters how they do the table topic so well. In fact, they thought about what could be asked before the meeting. Practice does make perfect.

All in all, the whole experience improves my technical skill, personality and point of view. I am a better speaker and thinker, more affable and articulate, and view things with wider mind. I have to thank Jack and the Toastmasters. More to Jack because without his encouragement and trainings, I would not be a successful Toastmaster.