Experiencing Satisfaction following your Speech

by J.A. Gamache
3rd place Champion in 2001 at Toastmasters International's
World Championship of Public Speaking

Are you often dissatisfied with your speeches? Maybe your expectations are unrealistic. Stop being hard on yourself, and schedule your own learning goals.

When I first started, I was always disappointed after giving a speech. No matter how much people praised me I was still unsatisfied with my performance.

Do you feel the same? Do you require perfection from yourself? Are you under the impression that unless you receive a standing ovation, your speech was a failure?

One day I realized that my feelings of failure were due to the fact that I was comparing myself to some of the public speaking stars who earned thousands of dollars for each performance. Of course the comparison was unfair, but I had
yet to realize that my heroes had taken years to get where they are today.

I understood then that my goal of being a public speaking virtuoso was still a good goal, but a long-term one. Accepting that I was still an apprentice, I came to realize that I needed short-term goals in order to progress towards my dream of becoming a star performer. That's when I decided to schedule learning goals for myself.

What is a learning goal? A simple, measurable goal that touches only one aspect of public speaking.

Try it! For each speech, challenge yourself to improve one aspect of your performance... but only one! Promise yourself you'll be satisfied if you succeed at that one goal.

Here are a few examples of challenges I gave myself:

- Speak without notes
- Stop rocking back and forth
- Look the audience in the eye
- Smile throughout my speech
- Speak slower to breathe easier
- Be more expressive
- Dare to talk about a difficult subject--the kind that usually makes me cry
- Make more pauses
- Stay within the time limit
- Use my voice in a variety of ways
- Have fun during my presentation

And so on...

For your next speech, stop expecting perfection of yourself. Instead, challenge yourself to meet a learning goal like those mentioned above. Since these objectives are easier to reach, you'll be satisfied with your progress after each speech.

Happy writing!

©MMVIII J.A. Gamache http://www.jagamache.com
All rights reserved.

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