Chuck Romero's Experience - International Speech Contest 2009

cromero@4tsg.com — Sun, 03 May 2009 14:11:00 GMT

Fellow Toastmasters,

I recently competed in the International Speech Contest. It was a great experience in building my skill in creating and delivering a speech. I would like to tell you about it.

I initially wrote an outline for my tenth speech and tested it by delivering it at a party in front of a large group of 50 people. They responded positively. I then gave it as my tenth speech at Toastmasters of Lincoln Park and I got some very positive feedback in my evaluations.

I felt positive about the speech so I tweaked it and gave it again at the Toastmasters of Lincoln Park International Speech contest. To my surprise I won first place. I then competed in the Area contest against two other clubs and I took first place again. The next step was to compete at the Division contest where I would compete with the winners of four other Areas within Toastmasters in Chicago.

At this point, I decided to tweak my speech by eliminating a major part of it and putting in two new pieces to improve the content and make my message stronger. I rehearsed it 20 times until I felt confident that I could deliver it with enthusiasm. The day of the contest I found myself competing against 4 other very good, polished speakers who could command an audience’s attention with laughter and suspense. I felt I gave the best speech of my life.

When it came time to give the awards, unfortunately I did not get 1^st, 2^nd or 3^rd. Honestly, I was a little bit disappointed. My loss made me realize that I needed to still mprove my speaking skills. When you see other great speakers getting animated, shouting, gesturing wildly and the audience is responding so positively, you realize you have to take your speaking abilities to a higher level to win.

However, when I look back, I was very pleased because I had improved so much. When I first started Toastmasters three years ago, I couldn’t get my feet to move two inches during a speech. When I was giving my speech at the competition I was walking back in forth in a space of about 40 feet from one side of the audience to the other to make sure I could get I eye contact with everyone in the room.

My other weakness has always been vocal variety. At one point in my speech during the contest, I found myself imitating a young girl yelling at me when I was a teenager and then having me respond in a very quiet meager voice.

Whether you win or lose in a competition, you still win because you will find that pubic speaking helps you in so many other areas of your life: feeling comfortable at parties, socializing, telling stories, breaking through shyness and business interactions.

The contest has given me the confidence to realize that I could do even better next time as long as I keep practicing and try to learn from my mistakes. I highly recommend you participate in any upcoming contest. It will force you to grow.

Chuck's Experience At The International Speech Contest

Chuck Romero's Experience - International Speech Contest 2009