Your First Speech
Angela Lansbury
I think everyone should have the option to start on their Icebreaker in Level one immediately. Then, when they are confident about the system, and have heard several speeches from different Pathways, they can then choose the path.
Many people put off giving their first speech, in the old system as well as Pathways, up to one year! Instead, we should have first timer table topics, of the type which form the basis of an icebreaker speech, so that someone who has done two two-minute topics has the basis of an Icebreaker.
All first timers, and everybody, should be evaluated in table topics by a table topics evaluator. This was always done in my UK clubs and I was astonished when I came to Singapore to find nobody did it.
Angela Lansbury. I once had a new member who kept putting off giving her Ice Breaker for about 4 months. I convinced her to let me interview her for one of my advanced communication projects. I told her we would sit in chairs at the front of the room while I asked her some easy questions to answer. I asked her about her school days, her friends, does she still keep in contact with her friends, and why she wanted to join toastmasters. She did not know this was actually her Ice Breaker speech until the Evaluator gave the verbal evaluation of her talk. After that, she was able to give a speech every 4-6 weeks and complete her CC in 12 months.
Sometimes, you need to find creative ways to kick-start a new member.
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