My Second Speech

This evening I delivered my second speech at the local Toastmasters Club. I took my audience on a journey to the top of the world i.e. the speech was all about trekking to the summit of Mount Everest. Five weeks ago, I had delivered my 1st speech there and it had turned out to be a splendid performance, which outdid even my expectations. As such, the audience was really looking forward to my speech this time and phew! I messed up this time. It was not that there was any technical flaw in my speech delivery but the damn thing is that I kept my both palms inside my pants' pockets all through my speech. And only once I had to give a long pause cos I had really forgotten a small detail. I think my voice had become monotonous during the speech. The speech lasted for 7min 12 sec. Anyways following are the comments and suggestions given by fellow toastmasters.

Opening might have been a bit detailed to let audience be dragged into it. Hands out of pocket. Slow pitch and breaks to let audience understand. You did not use any notes, good! Good part of information.

- Arvind Gupta (my personal evaluator for the evening)

Good speech, loud and clear. You did not use any notes - very good! Your both hands were mostly inside the pockets - try avoiding it in your next speech.

- Naresh Kantoor

An interesting start - you were very fast: slow down! Remove your hands from your pockets. Please practise or rehearse your speech a little more before delivering it. You made the journey to the top of the world sound easy - When do we go?

- Deepak Menon

Great topic, well structured. I liked the way you took us on a journey.

- Janet

A good topic, which could have been delivered with much more panache. Hands in pocket are a total no-no. In the earlier speeches work with topics that you are familiar with. Practise in front of a mirror. Good work on sentence construction and use of language.

- Vikram

Good beginning - were a little fast and should have taken your hands out of your pockets. Good use of words. No use of notes - good! Good structure & phrases well added. A job well done.

- Prerna

Very nice topic, good story. It was very informative to me. Next time keep your hands out of your pocket. Practise your speech. You were breaking up during sentences.

- Sudhir

Lost the tempo in between. Good use of words. Could have made small notes before coming so that technical points could have been spoken. Good Speech.

- Joy

Hands in pockets - totally out of question. Good voice. Confident. Had humor. Informative, but perhaps too complicated for an ordinary person. Good finish.

- Sriram

The adventure captured through words was a valiant effort. Famous last words too. Open up by focusing on removing your hands from pockets.

Good beginning. Good choice of topic. Were too fast. Speaking slowly would have added effectiveness. Be relaxed and use your hands. Nice ending. Very well researched.

Structured speech delivery. Good build up. Hands should have been out of pockets.

Good beginning. Imagery evoking choice of words. Keep your hands out of pockets. Informative speech.

Very nice topic selection. No use of notes (should have referred to in the middle). Better eye contact should be there. Why hands in pockets?? Restricted body/hand movements.

Fine opening. Nervousness visible. The voice modulation is an area of concern, sounds great in the beginning but becomes monotonous. One good point I noted is the tremendous research on the topic. You know you used notes?

- Sachin

You were not at all good.

- MYSELF

I will make sure that my next speech is going to be a bomb :)

Au Revoir