HAPPY TALK

Here's how I acquired the ability to speak in public. 12/22/2016

HAPPY TALK

I joined Toastmasters International in 1957 in order to improve my public speaking ability. This organization trains individuals over a period of three months during which time they complete a series of twelve speech exercises, each seven minutes in length. My Belmont, California club convened every Monday evening at a church hall, some of whose members served us coffee and dessert at the start of our 7 p.m. meetings. It helped create an “after-dinner” speaking environment. Prior to hearing prepared speeches, the group participated in an invaluable training exercise called “Table Topics,” which required members when called upon to give a one minute impromptu response to questions about current events.

Toastmasters training met and exceeded all my expectations. I learned how to prepare speeches on a variety of topics. It boosted my self confidence. It broadened my social life, bringing me into contact with men from all walks of life.

In 1959, the Belmont membership elected me its President. A local paper printed a blurb about the club’s choice. This whetted my desire to rise to an even higher rung in the organization’s hierarchy. In time, I became Area Director.

One year, having won a local area competition, I competed in a state wide speech contest held in Sylmar, near Pebble Beach. Each speaker picked a topic from a hat, and had an hour to prepare a seven-minute speech on that subject. I came in last but learned a trick. The winner had memorized a six minute speech and by adding a few topic related sentences at the beginning and ending of his prepared talk, delivered his unrelated message in a convincing fashion. One hears politicians do this all the time. No matter the question, they rattle off prepared remarks that have little or nothing to do with the topic, preceded by mentioning the topic, ending with another reference.

On another occasion, I helped judge a humorous speech contest. One contestant appeared on stage with a tray of glasses each filled with liquids simulating alcoholic beverages. His theme was, “World Travels.” He began by describing his trip to Paris, whereupon he drained a glass of wine. Next, he went to Edinburgh and toasted the audience with a glass of Scotch. With each leg of the journey, he consumed that country’s most popular drink. Soon, he pretended to be woozy and hilariously inebriated. His talk ended after he drank some fiery vodka in Moscow and ran off the stage, pleading for water. I rated him funny enough to be on a comedy show.

One evening an elderly Belmont club member gave a memorable talk on the subject of retirement. He said, “For the past twenty years, I trained myself to become a cabinetmaker, planning to use this skill to supplement my retirement income. My garage is now a woodworking shop. I have already built up a clientele for my products and am earning three hundred bucks a month on a part time basis. However, I have had a change of heart and instead of pursuing this activity full time, plan to become a minister dedicating myself to serve the prison population. Does this mean I wasted twenty years? No. Had this other calling not appealed to me, I would have enjoyed cabinetmaking. My point is you should begin now to plan for your retirement. Something else may come along that will replace it, but if not, you will be well prepared.” Of course, I never followed his sage advice and retired without a plan.

My career in Toastmasters ended in 1961 when the Belmont club lost its access to the church meeting hall and disbanded. After the Salt River Project hired me in 1967, I discovered they sponsored three clubs. They did not appeal to me. I did not wish to associate with fellow employees in this setting, thinking it would be too inbred.

My Toastmasters training served me well during my SRP days. I made a number of presentations to our board and spoke to employees at various functions, sometimes as the emcee at retirement affairs.

Its basic tenets still help me evaluate public speakers. The good ones: Maintain eye contact; shift their gaze from one side of the room to the other; avoid staring at just one person; do not put their hands in their pockets, jingling coins or keys; and they do not rock back and forth or sway while speaking. One of the best: Lou Holtz. One of the worst: President Obama. Watch him closely the next time he appears on TV. He directs his comment exclusively to those in his live audience, swiveling his head left and right, hardly ever addressing the TV audience by looking straight at the camera. This tendency unnerves me.

If a speaker says, “First, I am going to tell you what I wish to tell you. Then I am going to tell you what I said I’d tell you. In conclusion, I am going to tell you what I told you,” it’s probable the person had some Toastmasters training. That mantra is one of their basic tenets.

Another one is this: Stop talking when you have made your point.

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