For the last 3 weeks, I have focused on little else other than the upcoming speech at Blogworld. It was an honor to be accepted, after submitting this video proposal. As with all things, however, after the excitement calms down and the dust settles, you are left with real work to do and in this [...]
speech
“You idiot” might have been one of the first phrases I learned in English. It was not necessarily directed at me. It was often directed at the little boy sitting next to me in class in Turkey and spoken loudly and clearly by our disgruntled British teacher. In that classroom, our written and spoken English [...]
Extemporaneous Speaking will give you a second thought about becoming that professional speaker! In the pursuit of our goals, it is inevitable that on every path, we will encounter a beast we would rather avoid. I call it a beast. In nice business language, it is called a challenge, and you may have other names [...]
Living a life without dreams is like eating without tasting, kissing without feeling, and being alive without living. Making a dream come true, then, how grand that must feel. Fulfilling. Sublime. Transcendent. A lasting joy for the soul and a temptation to believe anything is achievable! I can think of nothing more compelling for self-confidence, dignity and sense [...]
On November 6th and 7th, I attended my first Toastmasters Conference to support and cheer the contestants. It was the District 37 Conference in the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina. One of the best parts and motivators was the drive and rooming with a fellow Toastmaster who is also a dear friend and on this [...]
I have loved giving evaluations since I first joined Toastmasters in 2002. The rush of excitement after my first evaluation was pleasantly surprising. It extremely valuable to cultivate and sharpen a skill that enables you to provide effective feedback to a speaker, regardless of their level of public speaking skills. It pushes your limits both [...]
July 10th, 2009: It was the 2nd Friday of the month again and our Toastmasters meeting was in full session just before noon. On this particular occasion, our new President had a special theme in mind to kick off the new Toastmaster year: Roasting of the Past President, me! In the 1-minute video below, I am opening the [...]
Public Speaking originally started with the Ancient Greek Orators, and while society, culture and technology have evolved the process tremendously, the foundations of public speaking as a form of communication to a group of people remains intact. A good speaker can deliver a bad message well, while an average speaker can manage to remain unnoticed [...]
