One of the unintended consequences of having a strong club with 20+ members is that the prepared speaker rotation is such that several weeks or months may pass between your scheduled speeches. If you would like to speak more often than that, try preparing a “hip pocket speech.” This is a speech that you have written and rehearsed a few times, but haven’t delivered to the Electric Toasters yet. It ideally is on a topic with which you are very familiar. Carry a copy of the speech – maybe not in your hip pocket (!), but in a folder or notebook that you bring each week to Toastmasters. Then when a speaker needs to give up their role for the week, you already have a speech ready to go. This will help you meet your educational goals faster, and will help our meetings run more smoothly. Recently, one of our members used “hip pocket speeches” to deliver three speeches in three consecutive weeks – only one of which he was scheduled for!
By Jason Kent, VP Education
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