I’ve just started at Toastmasters and I’ve got mixed feelings about the ordeal experience. I love writing speeches and getting immediate feedback (so different from the long-delayed feedback that is the norm when you write novels). On the other hand, public speaking terrifies me.
But not only am I giving speeches, I’m also watching myself on the video, and posting the videos here on my site.
Posting my speeches now feels a little like sending out manuscripts before they’re ready. It’s not so much that these speeches are rough drafts—they’re not. I’ve practiced them fifty times by the time I say them on stage. But my skill level is still so low that even though the speeches are not rough drafts, they are not good.
And yet, I’m inclined to post them anyway, as painful as that is, because if I want to gain competence in public speaking, I think I need to learn to do more than give my speeches in front of the friendly folks at Toastmasters, who will always clap for me. I need to also be OK with putting pictures and videos of myself on the internet where anyone can see them. I’m pretty sure the more I do that, the more comfortable I will become with owning the fact that I want to be a speaker.
And maybe posting the speeches here will be fun. Maybe these videos will be like before and after pictures. Maybe the speeches will keep getting better. One can hope anyway. 
So here we go:
- Ice Breaker 12/13/2012
- Organize Your Speech 01/03/2012
- Get to the Point 01/31/2012
