You're listening to the Talkative Toastmaster podcast . I'm your host , melanie Surplus . In this podcast , we explore how Toastmasters can help you to polish your public speaking skills , communicate with confidence and amplify your authenticity .
You'll hear from my fellow Toastmasters and I how this global organization has impacted our lives for the better and how it could impact yours . Now let's get talkative . Welcome , ladies and gentlemen , to episode 29 of the Talkative Toastmaster podcast . This week I'm speaking with my guest and fellow Toastmaster , alex Stevenson .
Alex has been in Toastmasters for nine years and is currently the president of Chelmer Speakers .
He says one of his recent highlights in Toastmasters was coming second in the Eastern Division International Speech Contest , and I was there to see Alex's speech about the lessons his beloved dogs taught him , and I thought the speech was as thought-provoking as it was hilarious . Alex , welcome to the podcast .
Much obliged . Thank you very much , Mel . Very warm welcome Cheers .
It's great to have you . I'm sure you have a lot of stories about Toastmasters , but could you perhaps start by telling us why did you decide to join ?
Sure thing . Well , it wasn't necessarily a matter of need to improve public speaking at the time .
I was actually 17 when I started looking at joining and , funnily enough , we started the chat with reminiscing about my dogs in my life , because I met a toastmasters member at the dog park mom and dad , so it started very charismatic , lovely gentleman by the name of mike scarrett who is one of the founding members of chalmers speakers so and mike was good friends
with philip bait who we both know is a very well-renowned Toastmaster . Through Mike we got introduced to this lovely group . He brought mum , dad and I along to be his guests . So we went as a family . Actually it was a nice little more of a social weekday family thing , more than anything any particular public speaking journey .
It was a really nice community club , and so we were all founding members as well of trauma speakers . It went from there and nine years later , uh , some people have gone down different paths , but I'm still here , I suppose that's great .
I love how you met at a dog park . How ironic having it's so interesting where you meet Toastmasters and the conversations you happen to strike up that somehow put you on the Toastmasters path .
Indeed , and Mike was very , very persuasive as well . He had that way about him . Another lovely trait of some Toastmasters their rhetoric and persuasive speech .
I don't think I've heard Mike speak , but I've certainly heard Philip speak in many of the competitions in the last few years . So it's amazing to think you can be exposed to people with such broad experience , like Philip and Mike and the people on the stage and now yourself , you know , at recent competitions . How has that journey been for you ?
The contest journey .
Oh , it's been pretty . I suppose fulfilling yeah , I guess , is the most appropriate word .
Particularly , one of the reasons why I found my recent performance at International so fulfilling is , you know , I spent a while especially in my sort of younger years when I sort of first joined seeing the more experienced speakers participate and represent our club in these competitions and even going along to some and seeing some amazing speakers throughout the years
at contests . Just being able to be the one for the first time um for myself , that is , representing the club and trying to go um , competitive and toe-to-toe with the amazing speakers out there , feels great do you get nervous before those types of competitions ? oh , absolutely , absolutely .
Yes , make sure long beforehand not to eat anything or to , yes , think happy thoughts . There's definitely a few strategies I use to calm myself down or get in the zone .
Oh , what are a couple of those strategies ?
One of them is a lot of them are the key things I try to impart on newer guests when they join . You know , as as little toastmasters lessons , I suppose another of our great members from back in the days , rosalind hunter , britain . She used to say you're always going to have butterflies in your stomach and it's just about getting them to fly in formation .
Yeah , I love it .
Yeah , Imagining a bunch of butterflies flying in circles . You know , I guess it's a nice , pretty visual . I also like to get in the headspace of whenever I do a speech or whenever I'm listening to a speech . The audience is there to enjoy you .
So make sure to give a great performance and have a great time up there , because they want you to have a great time . You want to enjoy what you're seeing and enjoy what you're delivering . Just try to make it more of a positive outcome .
I get the sense that new guests or guests that walk into Toastmasters meetings think , wow , these people are really good , they must never get nervous . But it's so not the case .
In fact , when I was delivering an evaluation in the recent contest , I actually sensed I was getting more nervous as I went on which is I've never really experienced that and I could feel my voice going and getting wobbly and then I noticed that .
Then I got self-conscious that I was getting wobbly and I just that hasn't really happened before and I think , yeah and I don't know if it was the room or the lights , or but yeah , it was worse , that I actually noticed that I was nervous and then I had to deal with with that .
So it was weird , but anywho , you know you get through and I think what you're saying about everyone there in the room wants you to succeed and if you can , seeing a speaker that perhaps either loses their train of thought or just is searching for that next thing , to say everyone's like , come on , come on , you can do it , that's true , yeah .
To say everyone's like , come on , come on , you can do it . Yeah , both , we all know what it's like to to be in that moment of potential terror and but hey , you should um look if your voice was going wobbly .
I mean you should do that more often .
It worked out very well for you in the evaluation some things you plan , some things just happens on the spot . But what I love about your speeches is that they are very controlled . You know exactly what you're going to say and they're very measured and so you can then focus on humor and and your gestures and the words you use .
And I really enjoyed watching that about you as a speaker the times I've seen you competing . So , yeah , it's like I need to get to that level of control oh no , thank you , I suppose , suppose .
So maybe it's not obvious , but sometimes , in the same way that you are hearing yourself while you're up there and then trying to adjust , I'm sometimes I'm thinking , oh god , what's the ? What's the word , what am I going to say ? Two words from now , okay , half a second from now . What am I going to do ?
So it's the same boat , and part of the fun , yeah , is being able to go on the fly . Sometimes . So , even if it seems controlled , there's still a lovely little tinge of chaos .
Yeah , what did you say ? The 10% wiggle room the other day ?
Yeah , 90% try to have it down . That was generous . It's probably 70% .
It sounds like it's 90% from a listener's perspective . Thank you . So what do you enjoy most about being a Toastmaster ? Has that changed over the time you've been in the organization ?
I think it has changed especially .
You know I've still hopefully got many more years to go and so it might change again , but in my earlier years it was still being able to prove that I could do certain things , whether it was feeling really great about a certain table topic , and you know I'd be thinking , wow , great , I'd feel good for a few days after that because I'd gotten to that point
or being able to , I guess , see that your progress was really good or more important to me per se in my earlier days . But now I think what I most enjoy is sometimes relearning things . What would that I you know , but like that's how it is . Sometimes you have to relearn lessons that you learned a few years ago .
You know you may have actually been , theoretically , a better speaker , um , a few years ago , and picking things up again or learning them in a different way and still still hearing critiques like that's .
That's the thing too is one of the hardest things to get newer members or guests to do is sometimes yes , please give critiques to potentially more experienced speakers than you , because it's fresh eyes , fresh perspective , and so when I get a good bit of feedback of something I could have improved or done much better , that's really valuable and great to hear .
So those are the things I probably enjoy most at the moment is hearing new , new diamonds from our younger speakers .
Yeah , okay , and what would you say is something that you've relearned over the time .
Oh , something I've relearned is probably structure , yes , being able to structure what you say in terms of having a clear purpose to your speech , whether that's a table topic or whatever role you're doing in a Toastmasters meeting .
Even the reason that something I had to relearn probably is , I suppose , having that decorum or formality in addressing and approaching a speaking role is something that's still important at our club and there's probably a period where people were very experienced there weren't too many newer members and we got a little bit comfortable , rested on our laurels and people
would . People would sometimes heckle in a fun way , in a fun way , you know , like everyone knew each other , but there was having kind of to relearn a bit more decorum , I suppose , and formality .
Interesting that you mentioned structure because I think when I joined Leading Edge , there's quite a lot of actual professional speakers and speaking trainers and the like . They are very focused on structure and not just the standard opening , body , conclusion , three main points in there and they have quite a few different structures .
So when you're exposed to different structures like that from excellent speakers , yeah , it just opens up a whole new world , I suppose . Okay , all right , got to relearn aspects of structuring speeches and different styles and storytelling , which is not really that standard .
You know there's always an opening and a conclusion , but what you do in that middle can vary pretty dramatically . And , yeah , it's been a bit eye-opening .
Not just in that sense of , I suppose , formality to a speech or whatnot . But if you don't have structure sometimes you can go way over time . You can have a nice little , you can have a , you can have a fun little rant and ramble 15 minutes later yeah , exactly , lose . Lose the ability to hear yourself . The red light's been on .
If they wanted to , they could have helped you . They could have beeped you three times , and sometimes that's the worst of when it's just you haven't kept a time , and , whether that's a toastmasters and sometimes in our professional lives , people take a lot of time to make a point so , and that's not good myself guilty .
Yeah , I think that is but again , I'm hyper aware of yeah I never run under when I speak .
If I'm gonna go either way , it's going to be well cooked . In fact , I'm surprised I haven't been evicted from any of the competitions I've ever been in , because I know I come very like scary close to the time limits of being evicted . You know being disqualified in terms of skills that you have mentioned .
You know , beyond creating speeches , what types of skills would you say you've learned at toastmasters that you can apply elsewhere ?
very good question . Aside from creating speeches , a definite one is thinking on the fly with table topics , and you know a lot of people . Experienced speakers will give you different strategies for how to go , and you know a lot of people .
Experienced speakers will give you different strategies for how to go about it , but a lot of it is have some ground base for how to approach these questions . That might throw you off in life in any context , you know , but table topics is definitely something that's helped me with tackling off the wall questions .
Um , that again , I know sometimes that I've been like , oh , thank god , I've had practice in this . I think it especially in maybe even presentations when I was at university , when people would ask questions after a presentation .
Um , that gave , and that happened quite a lot throughout my studies and it was great to just not be so afraid of what questions might be . Just know that if you got asked it , you can receive the question . Let it mull if you need to , but not rant or ramble and give something . Yeah , exactly , aside from tabletop , I think .
Yes , again , trying to be aware of time and back to that , those two come to mind .
I think it's about condensing the message as well and just because we can go on for however long it takes .
It's sort of like old film photography , where you had to get the shot right , whereas digital you can take as many shots as you like and you can do that , but I think you sort of lose the art of actually getting the shot right , whereas digital you can take as many shots as you like and you can do that , but I think you sort of lose the art of actually
getting the shot right in the camera the first time because you can edit it and whatever . And I think it's a little bit like that with timing in Toastmasters it forces you to get it right , get it condensed into that , whatever time limit you've got , and that could probably be employed a little bit more effectively in the workplaces , true .
I'll say one more bit that I've definitely picked up from Toastmasters aside . It is maybe the most important thing so it's a shame I've almost left it out was something you're a master in evaluations being able to give good feedback to people when they need it or ask for it .
And structured feedback , not just , not always just saying oh that could have been better , you know no , but actually fleshing out constructive , actionable things that will help people improve and that they'll appreciate yeah , supportive of is great and it feels great , and that that's something that Toastmasters allows for is the environment to both give and receive that
feedback very openly and construct how you give it and present it .
I think one thing that's been really drilled into me and it's really sunk in probably in the last 18 months is just giving very specific examples . You know you can be effusive in your praise and it was great and all this , but just giving actual specific examples .
And I know that when I get feedback about my speeches what I'm really listening for is what can I do better and what's an example of how that speech could have been better by implementing that . So I think it's that extra step of when you did this , it had this impact . And if you were to think about doing X , y and Z , it would have this impact .
So it's that going that little bit extra about oh it was great hand gestures . Well , which bit ? I think that's been drilled into me and probably a function of again being evaluated by some of the speakers in Leading Edge . I mean , my Mount Gravatt Club is fantastic and there's some very experienced Toastmasters there .
But I found that when I was preparing for the evaluation contest , for example , and I was being evaluated by the 20 members of Leading Edge in preparation for the contest , it was horrifying . It was probably more nerve-wracking than the actual competition .
So , yeah , that was kind of my preparation in the lead-up to the contest was being evaluated by , again , a lot of professional speakers , and I find that terrifying , which I love . It's exactly why I've joined that particular club .
Yes , evaluation-ception . Always fun evaluating the evaluation of someone's evaluation .
Yeah , it almost seems a bit , you know , circular . But again , if you're not being given feedback on how you present your evaluation , you're not going to know . You're not going to know , you're not going to improve Absolutely . Yeah , and the number of applications that has outside the organization is fantastic .
I mean , you've been doing Toastmasters for a long time , so do you think it's had a positive impact on your career ? Do people comment on your ability to present things like ? Do you get that sort of feedback at work ?
I do . I believe I'm supposed to be quite concrete about it . I do notice that I don't have much apprehension really about approaching any people in general , whether that's been doing my studies or in more personal situations in at work or whatnot .
I've also never really shied away at work from taking on more public speaking roles , whether it's presentations in town hall or or whatnot . So I definitely have a few people who've noticed that . But you know , if we're talking about work , you know they also . I'm no closet toast masters member .
So especially at the yes at the conference when we we got the spiel about go on , share it with a stranger again , I'm , I'm , I'm running thin on my options there .
You like sharing the Toastmasters love out there .
Yes , and I'm trying to share the value of it Me too .
I think it's a great organization and I think so many people could benefit from it , but I guess I've got to be ready . It's like anything If you don't think you need it , then you're not going to turn up , I guess .
On that note , what would you say to people out there who are interested or whose mentor may have mentioned toastmasters to them , but they're like no , I couldn't do that . That's I'd love to , but it's not for me .
what would you ?
Say to them so perhaps for those in this situation whose mentor had mentioned it or who may be on the fence , I would say I'll say more towards those who are thinking of going and who may be already kind of semi-committed to going Try two sessions , because it's definitely something where you need to make sure you have the opportunity to recognize , perhaps , where
you can improve and then make the decision on whether it's the best medium for you to improve or if this is the right setting and if now's the right time and if it's something you want to , but I think it's important for people to give themselves the best opportunity to sometimes yes , take that step towards confronting one of the most horrifying things that affects
most people being public speaking and try making sure , instead of just having this unknown fear about it what about it scares you , just put yourself in the deep end once or twice , see what that does for you and go from there .
And even if you don't , even if you don't join you , you already took massive steps into trying to better understand yourself definitely just get in the room .
Yeah , it's amazing how much you even learn just by osmosis and just by watching and listening what's going on . That in itself is valuable .
True , true .
When you go about creating your speeches , because you've done really well in competition , so you obviously have a way of constructing speeches in a way that's compelling and that's humorous . How do you go about constructing your speeches and getting to that competition level of speech ?
It's unfortunately not so formulaic . I can't give you a straight answer . Usually , when I'm writing a speech , it really does have to be something I care about first and foremost and want to share .
I don't see the value in sharing something that I can either create a story out of that I believe in , or or that I can add things to you know and add value to , to build something more out of it . And I do , I guess , what called self-conscious or awareness or whatnot . But like I try to step out of frame a lot just to recognize what .
What does this sound like ? What's going to resonate ? And you know , I want the audience to . It's more about wanting to make the audience feel things , wanting them to connect and and and laugh and and enjoy at the end of the day , I think most of my speeches at the end I want it to be entertaining , I suppose .
I think when the crowd can see that they're being entertained , it's enjoyable .
Not only do I enjoy that feeling , but I really enjoy providing it . That's probably the motivator behind writing my speeches , but in terms of how they come to be , like god , sometimes yeah , sometimes the speech will write it like I don't know how to say , other than sometimes it writes itself .
I get it . Some stories just appear , although they present you know situations and go well , okay , that's a speech . I can get a speech out of that um , yeah , yourself , how would you ?
how would you sometimes say you've approached your speeches ?
probably quite similarly , in that I'll have an idea , or I and I look at the objective . Sometimes I'll look at the objectives of the pathway speech I'm doing and go , okay , what topic would make this interesting or funny ?
Or , again , probably , like you , that some of them are random , some of them I will try to think about stories that I like telling and that you know how people have their stories , their known stories , and everyone that knows them knows that story about them .
I can think of travel stories that I probably haven't done speeches about but I could rattle off given the opportunity . So there's probably some that are baked there just waiting to be told Others .
And lately I've done a lot of impromptu speeches because as the president of the club , I'm seeing the agenda going back and forth and sometimes we'll need to fill a speaking slot .
So I've been doing quite a lot of impromptu speeches to the point where I haven't actually done a really solidly prepared speech for quite a while and I'm thinking I really want to write a speech like sit down and really construct a speech with thought , as opposed to it's five o'clock , my meeting's .
At seven o'clock I'll do a speech and so I enjoy that mild terror of having to bash together a speech very quickly , but now I think it's . I want to focus on the refining and that very controlled , measured delivery where you've considered all of the words and all of the gestures and all of the vocal variety and just really crafting it .
So , yeah , what I do find , though , if I'm constructing speeches , I will often go for a walk and take my phone and my dictaphone and just talk it out .
So I'll talk out the first draft and because I have an idea of a structure , and whether that is , you know , opening three points , conclusion , or past , present , future , or I'll get a structure in my mind , depending on the type of story it is , and then I'll just literally talk out a speech and I'll transcribe it and then I'll start to edit it .
So that's working quite well , because I can talk a lot quicker than I can write .
I did hear a tip once that if you have writer's block or , I guess , speech writer's block start with once upon a time and that activates the storytelling part of your brain and you don't have to keep the once upon a time , but it just almost gets your brain into that storytelling mode that we were conditioned , you know , with as as as kids .
So you learn far , far away yes , exactly , exactly .
And are your parents still in Toastmasters ?
saw a spot there or not . Yeah , I've tried , but they've um traveled a lot , so they live in england at the moment . Actually , I'll be honest , they're southwestern , so they're in plymouth , but I haven't checked . If they've got a club , they probably do . But yes , if you're willing to search , give it a , give it a quick one .
But even though they they have , when we've discussed it , definitely seen the value of the time .
Getting them to go back is tricky and , as it is , with a few members who've taken a hiatus from the club and getting back on , you know , it may make sense , complete logical sense , enjoying the club , enjoying the people , but just getting back in the swing can be a challenge .
Yeah , yeah , look I get it . I started my Toastmasters journey about 35 years ago I think , when I first went to a club , with my mother in fact , and yeah , and I went in and out and I've been back in the organisation for about three years , but I think now I just really enjoy it .
I just can't imagine leaving it in the way I've woven in and out before I sort of really enjoy it and I think when you move into roles like club leadership or president or area-level roles and things like that , it just gives you a different perspective as well . So how are you ? Have you been president before ?
I have for Chalmer . A couple of times I keep joking that it's , it's , it's very it's on the verge of being Supreme leader , but but yes , it's definitely have been and you're right , it does give a different perspective . What motivates members of the club and what keeps them coming back ?
yeah , I like having the visibility of being on the exec in whatever capacity to have a say in , like a real detailed say in in the club and what goes on , and you know how members are traveling and it's a volunteer organization , but there is still that idea of how to make it better and how to improve it and yeah , I like that aspect of it most of the
time , sometimes like , oh , someone else could do this . So are you going to be looking at roles , either club level or area or otherwise ?
Indeed , I need to honestly get my head more around what some of the area or above roles mean , because you know I do like competing . I've kind of enjoyed it the past few years and I want to be able to and not worry about it . I've kind of enjoyed it the last few years and I want to be able to and not worry about it , I know .
You know , that just takes me , I guess , resolving my ignorance about some of it . I'm sure everything would be fine , depending on what role I took .
But I think there are some roles that you can't compete like . That rule you out of contention for the contest , so it's a trade-off right .
Indeed , you just get to have the enormous stress of organising them instead , or whatnot , yeah .
Exactly .
With none of the trophies or you know . I know I guess I'll still definitely be doing club roles and maintain oversight . So there's a couple of members , very , very much qualified members , who can take on president and whatnot . Um for next year .
But we'll see how it goes yeah , so which pathway are you working through at the moment ? I believe it's dynamic leadership and how are you finding , have you ? You must have done a couple of pathways , I'm guessing oh no , actually I'm a bit .
Yeah , I do need to . Maybe , funnily enough , I need to get my act together with submitting them . One for me . I think I'm worried about others getting others in the door too much or whatnot , or then aligning my own sometimes with with the pathway okay I do have the legacy system is still so I have my cc and cl , but um , yeah , that's it now .
Now it's public , now it's on the podcast . I'll get it in this year we'll find a way , so you're going to embrace pathways yep , oh , absolutely , and we've managed to adjust quite well and I think people have gotten a variety of streams . The club , I'll get it going back on the horse oh , there you go and what's , what's your pathway for them ?
I'm me asking you yeah , I'm doing .
I'm doing one pathway per club . So I'm doing , I think , presentation mastery for mount Gravatt and for Leading Edge . I'm working through motivational strategies and we're back . We just had a little technical incident with the internet , I think chopped us out . But so what are your goals for Toastmasters for the coming year ? What are you looking at ?
it is mostly for me more executive focused and since that's trying to focus on club health and promotion and trying to get our base number up again , so that is probably going to get most of my attention personally from Toastmasters .
Yeah .
I would like to also see how I can assist particularly the area leadership or area director , and even beyond the division director , with trying to go for some more different Toastmasters offerings , different , different toastmasters offerings . I guess what I mean by that is one thing we did in our area a while ago which was a lot of fun was the humorous debate .
So that was good time . It was just a completely separate event which all the clubs in the area , everyone put a team together and was given a topic , a debate topic and each club would take rounds putting in one of the speakers , and so that was really fun back in the day .
We're talking four or five years ago now for the club , so an example of something that's a little different a little bit , and that was at an area level that was an area level .
Well , cool Again .
I keep going with the idea , but it's just about taking that initiative .
The next step , it's the kind of idea where someone will go . That's great . You should organise it .
Yes .
But that sounds cool . I'd be up for that . I'll get a team together If you organise it . I'll get a team together from Macrovat . We're actually in clubs in the same area , which was a new development this financial year .
Yes , and area is one thing . I suppose it would require all areas , but it also might be easier . Even at division , you know , across 16 clubs or so , four will definitely join , you know and compete , whereas perhaps that area it also might be a little more challenging to get definitely so .
Is there anything else you would like to share before we wrap up ?
I think one of the things I'd like to share maybe leading on from the point of various toastmasters events , like the humorous debate or whatnot is um , I guess if you're a member , try to look for ways to go against the grain sometimes or spice up your toastmasters journey , or if you're helping run a club , how can you add maybe a new segment or switch up
things to enrich the Toastmasters journey of your members ?
The reason I say this is whether it's a debate that adds a whole nother dimension of ways that people can improve their public speaking and their skills during this chat , about being able to think impromptu with table topics or having the value of being able to structure and dissect and pull apart a speech and give critique .
But there's an array of different mediums of speech that I don't even think perhaps no club has been able to tap into about how we can all improve our communication and public speaking . So don't be afraid to think outside the box as well .
Well , I look forward to hearing about an upcoming debate in the area of the division next year .
I'd be terrified if we're on opposite teams .
So yes , Alex , it's been a pleasure speaking with you about your Toastmasters journey and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what magic you can create in your speeches next year . It's always interesting to see you speak , and entertaining for sure . So I wish you all the best for your coming year in Toastmasters . Very sweet Mel .
Likewise Can't wait to see what happens in .
all the best for your coming year in Toastmasters . Very sweet Mel . Likewise Can't wait to see what happens in all the best at District . Thank you .
Yes , I need to get a bit more practice in , I think , in front of bigger crowds . I'm not quite sure how that's going to happen , but see what I can do . So , yeah , look , thanks again and I'll chat to you soon . If you're ready to unlock your potential , consider joining a To . Thanks again and I'll chat to you soon . Club best suits you .
If you do take the leap and visit a meeting , I would absolutely love to hear your experience . Feel free to message me at talkativetoastmaster at gmailcom or tag me in the comments if you found this podcast on YouTube , facebook , instagram or Twitter . Thanks for listening to today's show .
Head to talkativetoastmastercom , where you'll find the show notes for this and all other episodes , as well as links to some awesome Toastmasters resources . If you found value in today's content , I'd really appreciate if you could share it with friends and colleagues who may be interested or leave a review on iTunes . This helps more people to find us .
Until next time , remember the words of Rave Robinson the best speeches come from the heart and reflect your passion . Speak as if your life depended on it . Have a great week .