When you are writing or speaking, you want to use language devices. You want to paint pictures in the minds of your audience by using descriptive metaphors and you want them to feel excitement when you use hyperbole to describe the odds in overcoming a struggle. There are a few language devices that I believe …
In my experience, most working adults get performance reviews once a year. I’ve only worked for one employer that did performance reviews more frequently. At that corporation, employees met with supervision once a month to review performance statistics and evaluate progress towards goals. I have also been very fortunate in that all the performance reviews …
I like to sew and crochet. When I engage in these hobbies I find myself slouching a lot. My shoulders are tense and I’m leaned slightly forward hunched while I stare at fabric or yarn. It’s not attractive. After a few hours in these contorted positions, my shoulders, neck, and back ache. I take breaks …
We’ve all been there. We’ve listened to interviews on the radio where experts are stammering over their facts. We’ve sat through presentations at work where a presenter is reading slides to us verbatim and filling what few moments of silence there are with empty words. We’ve been asked questions and instead of reciting what we …
When I talked about my first public speaking experience years ago, I fell into a very common trap. I was trying to deliver humorous lines but the tone of my voice and the rate in which I was speaking made me seem more like a robot reading from a telephone book. The speech was not …
Some Toastmasters have given well over 60 speeches at club events. I’ve completed- 9. I have a long way to go before I feel competition worthy. During my first speech, one of the things that my Evaluator remarked upon was my eye contact. Among the myriad of mistakes I made, he noted that my eye …
Epic poetry is a long narrative told with carefully selected language. If I were to compare epics to speeches- I’d say that an epic poem is like the State of the Union Address, wherein the President is orating using carefully selected language and words to tell a story and provide information about the direction of an …
When I was going to school, learning was done in person with an instructor in front of a classroom. The lessons could not be paused. The teacher couldn’t be stopped once they started speaking and it felt rude to interrupt and question them. I had to arrive early to get a seat where I could …
I am a member of two Toastmasters clubs, one at my place of business and another in my local community. Both of these clubs host two meetings a month where they assemble at a specific location at a specific time and they conduct club business. When I am at the meetings, I get the privilege …
Toastmasters International was founded in the 1970s. Their approach to public speaking as helped millions of people and has created a network of public speakers across the globe. For over 30 years, all Toastmasters bean their journey within the organization by getting a booklet of ten speaking projects. After completing these initial ten projects, an …