Speech & Preach

I gave a particular sort of speech yesterday for my Toastmasters club. I had signed up to give a speech weeks ago, and mostly forgotten about it since then. This is the danger of committing to things down the line. It's less likely that there'll be trouble if I only commit at the last minute, but taking only last minute opportunities exclusively would leave me out of a lot of stuff, so forgetting about some of the things I agree to is a price I'll have to pay.

In any case, the speech I gave was intended to persuade, and what I decided on, since I forgot until about the day before, was to pick something funny. It would have taken more time and energy than I had to give to try to do something really serious, but what I picked was also partly serious. I decided to try persuading people to see the Hulk Hogan movie "No Holds Barred". It's a pretty crazy movie, but I would seriously vouch for it to anyone.

Assorted Activities

This past Thursday, like the Thursday before it, was an eventful one for me. It began with an audition. It was an absurdly easy one, so if I get the part, it will be because I was born to play it. It was purely based on looks, to the point that it might have been for a print ad instead of a TV commercial, and they hardly needed to have me physically come in. I didn't mind so much, since the audition was one of maybe three to take place in my own neighborhood.

I didn't have plans after that, but because I was in and out of the audition so quickly, I reasoned that I ought to go to my Toastmasters meeting as I would have if the audition had not come up. The best and only way to reach the meeting in a reasonable amount of time was to walk, as I have plenty of times in the past. I actually made the meeting on time, and it was a good one. They say it's good to have an activity to take your mind off an audition right after it happens, and so I was well taken care of on that score this time.

Back At It For Audience New

For the first time in a long time, I gave a speech today in my Toastmasters club. I can't say how it went just yet, as I'm writing this in advance. Let's call this one of those "The Secret" things, and I'll say for now that it went very well. It's yet another of those ones where I finally got on the ball about it a day in advance when it finally began to feel real. It would feel rather strange if I were ever to give a speech that could really be said to have been prepared.

This speech comes from the beginner's manual, which I am going through for the second time. It reminds me how much I have yet to learn even in the area of the fundamentals. This particular speech concerns the use of visual aids, which I have always eschewed for fear of their ability to fail at the worst of times and to distract from the main thrust of a speech even at the best of times. I have high hopes that I will handle my visual aids well this time.

Peach! Peach! Peach!

A couple nights ago, I gave a keynote speech at a Toastmasters conference. I referenced this yesterday, when I wrote about frantically traveling across town in a cab to get there. The two events are tightly linked. The moment I leapt out of the cab, I ran over to the front desk of the venue, which directed me to the right room. I then spent a minute pointlessly talking to the person manning the registration table. It really didn't matter whether I was comped or not, since I was too late for dinner (or at least I was told that).

I then located the person I really needed to talk to, and was sent over to my table where I put on my necktie and received a wireless mike. This terrified me. I have always feared technology in speaking and in other performances, since they have such an alarming propensity for failing at critical moments. In any case, with microphone and tie on my person, I sat and waited for the time to give my speech. It's good that I had some time, since I had to shake off the panic that had me in its grips for the three hours preceding.

Defeat!

I lost my Toastmasters speech contest yesterday, and that was unpleasant. I had won the first two rounds of a four round contest in which competitors give "Tall Tale"-style speeches. It felt as if I had something akin to the winning speech from last year's humorous speech contest, and while I won't say I was complacent, I did feel as if I might be fated to have it happen for me again. I did nothing different on that basis, but perhaps expectations were a factor nonetheless.

There is really nothing to do in such a contest but the same thing over and over again. The competition has no ability to impair you, nor you them. It was therefore of no consequence to me who I would be facing before I saw them at the contest yesterday. Once I did, I felt little concern over the threat they posed, not (like I said) that I changed anything consciously. I wouldn't know how to ease up at that point.

A Win

As I think I must have said before, it's contest season for Toastmasters, my public speaking organization. For me that means two things. There is the inevitable string of requests that I run the raffle for various contest, and I've done that a time or two so far. I also, of course, enter the contests myself, sometimes going far and sometimes not. Yesterday was the second round for me as a contestant, following the opening club round.

It was weeks ago that I won the first round. The time in between was even longer because the second round was delayed, and so I was concerned that I would struggle to recall my speech at all. This speech is in the "Tall Tales" contest, so it's akin to a Paul Bunyan or John Henry-type story of fanciful exaggerations. Mine concerns the origin of laughter, incorporating both ghosts and the Marx Brothers. I do not find that distinguishing myself from others is my problem.

First Strike

Contest season has come around again in the world of Toastmasters. In the last cycle, I did not do overly well with my International speech (which is a standard speech that commonly is inspirational or otherwise dramatic), which is not surprising. Not being especially at ease with such emotions in life, how could I be expected to marshal them to my benefit in a speech? More surprising was that I did poorly in the Table Topics contest. That's just improv, which should be my area.

In the cycle before that, it was evaluations again (I think) which I did not go far in, and humorous speech, in which I was lucky enough to win it all. I hope to duplicate that success this time with a speech that is rather promising in a contest that matches my strengths tolerably well. Without going into too much detail, I spun a yarn of the Marx Brothers inventing laughter to combat ghosts in depression-era New York.

Victory Formation

As I write this, I'm coming down from a tremendous high. I should set the stage. I've been in a humorous speech contest for the Toastmasters organization for the last few months. It began with the contest of my own club, progressing to larger and larger contests encompassing more clubs. I had been used to winning in my own club and being defeated in the next round or the round after that. It was to be different this time.

My speech, which was meant to satirize the predatory efforts of those in the entertainment industry to purport to have it in their power to make stars of anyone who takes their seminar, won in my club, and then in the area contest. It subsequently won in the division contest, bringing me to the point of being one more victory away from going as far as you can go with a humorous speech. That would be the district level.

Giving Weekend

On Friday, I was shooting a short film (or a video sketch, depending things that I couldn't explain. Even more inexplicable is the premise and my role in it. Without spoiling the plot, I play a man in a chicken suit who is a wine aficionado and a smoker, to say nothing of his romantic proclivities. It took a few hours of my afternoon, and for a while I thought I'd have to go into the evening with it as well. I didn't but I thought I did long enough to make the next morning difficult.

This was when I had to be at a Toastmasters contest which was being held kind of far away and definitely very early. I didn't have to do that much, but I had to do it for ten hours. There was a meal accompanied by snacks and some beverages, along with entertaining speeches. The thing was more the logistical burden on me, but I dealt with it and then moved on to my next event. It proved to be much more arduous than what preceded it.

Food & Fight

From time to time, I participate in a speech-giving contest as a part of my activities in Toastmasters. Of course, the most important thing that I get out of that experience is the food. It is, therefore, bitterly disappointing when there is no food. One might as well be told that a baseball game is not to be part of the day's attractions at Dodger Stadium, or perhaps more accurately that there is to be no food offered during the game.

I have to restrain myself from eating before it is my time to speak. Needless to say, many foods are less than conducive to making yourself understood in a pleasant fashion. I won't go into that any more than I already have. Other foods simply slow you down, deprive you of energy or saddle you with far too much energy. I'm not much for strict observance of a diet, but contest organizers could learn a lot about the foods that set you up for success.

Speech Up

You may recall that I'm a member of Toastmasters. It's a public speaking organization. The idea is that you're improving at it. As long as I've been in the organization, I am often a poor example of how it should be done. I speak less often than I used to. I tend to disdain a lot of visual aids and proper apparel. I consistently wait until the last minute to prepare my speeches. So it was for the big speech contest the other day.

I knew I'd be doing it a month or two months before the day. That might as well be a million years, or a date that exists outside of time in infinity. It doesn't even seem real. Rather than planning something, I'd be more likely to make jokes about expecting to be dead then. Well, it eventually started to feel real. With maybe a week to go, I started to think seriously about planning a speech. Naturally day by day something more pressing seemed to come up.

55 Hours Of Living Fully: Part Four

Today I share the fourth part of my latest epic personal story. Where I left off yesterday, I had just lost two speaking contests in Pasadena, and was heading home. I got home from the contest around 11 that night, staying up  until about midnight. There was to be no rest for the weary, however. I  attend a second Toastmasters club which meets at 7:30 in the morning on  Fridays, and for this meeting I was scheduled to give a speech. I'd  missed a few meetings, so I overrode my tendency to cancel at the last  moment when I have a late Thursday. The vagaries of the public  transportation timetables would compel me to get up at four in the  morning. I could have slept another hour, but would then have needed to  rush to shower and get out the door. Even when getting up at an early  hour, I prefer to allow myself time to prepare at a leisurely pace. An  hour wouldn't have turned indecently early to reasonable.

I got up at the intended hour and negotiated the commute well enough. After I got underway, I realized that my legal pad was missing.  I do much of my writing in legal pads, and this one contained some  stuff I felt was important. I panicked for a few minutes as if I had lost my birth certificate. I tried to imagine where I might have left it and how I might retrieve it. I had used it at the contest, and realized I left it there in my distracted state. I calmed down, decided that neither the pad or its contents were irreplaceable. I decided to just re-write what had been in there instead of ever going back to get the pad, as there wasn't so very much written in it that I needed.

55 Hours Of Living Fully: Part Three

A couple of days ago, I began my latest multi-part account of a personal experience. Where I left off yesterday, I had just gotten home very late after bible study, and had my Toastmasters meeting the following afternoon to think of. More important than the meeting itself was what transpired before the meeting: a practice of the humorous speech which I would be giving that evening for a Toastmasters contest. Regrettably, I was late for the practice session, thanks to a failure in the chain of buses I had to take. Naturally, I was beating myself up and cursing up a storm in my mind the whole way there, and as usual for nothing. The people I was to practice on were casually eating lunch and seemingly had given no thought to any question of my punctuality. I was terribly rusty and raw in delivery of my speech, and giving in in the middle of a bustling cafeteria helped matters none at all. I felt good about getting the gears moving anyway, and they say a bad rehearsal makes for a good performance. I always say that with the hope that it is true in such situations.

The actual club meeting went fine, and I went home. From that moment, my mind was in preparation for the aforementioned contest. I gave the speech over and over again in my head. When the time came, I headed out for the bus which would take me over to Pasadena's Old Town, where the contest was to be held. More specifically, hosting the contest would be a facility owned and operated by the Scientologists. The building itself was a remarkable historic old bicycle factory, and it is to the credit of the Scientologists that they paid tribute to the building's roots in some of the interior architecture. At the risk of repeating myself, it was quite a place. Solid brick and reminiscent of the Bradbury Building downtown on the inside. All that aside, I will admit to being somewhat uneasy in the place. I believe in tolerance, however, and so I live.

No Contest

Most of the time, a Toastmaster's campaign to improve at public speaking keeps them within the confines of their own club. Indeed, one could remain in that realm throughout their time in the organization. To do so, however, would be to remain in a comfort zone where the last measure of progress can never happen. That's partly why I personally participate in every speaking contest that I can with gusto. The way it works is that each club tends hold its own contest to select contestants who will advance to the next level. From there, contestants are winnowed down as the contest progresses through several more rounds, culminating in a climactic round.

In my first contest, it went only as far as the Division level, which is not big enough that you end up sleeping in a hotel bed. It was a relatively modest competition containing an impromptu speaking contest as well as one for "Tall Tales". In that one, I won at the club level, but lost at the second round. I like to think that I had a fairly decent showing for my first try, and that I learned quite a bit. The final round, held at the Jon Lovitz Comedy Club in Universal City, was quite an experience, as is any event that you walk away from with a pineapple.

Filling In The Gaps

To get back into the swing of things: Thanksgiving was really very nice. Flying is always a minefield, and managed to only step on the edge of one in getting the last flight on my return delayed. There was nothing to complain about, really. I'm only human; I'll suffer through about anything if a free Heineken is offered as a salve at the end.

A Little Something

Not much energy to say all there is to be said, but it was a good, full day of high triumph, great anxiety, fun and friendship.

I soldiered through exhaustion and the stress of misplacing a dvd due back to the library to deliver my 10th Toastmasters speech, which makes me a Competent Communicator. When you do that, you get something like what is pictured below.

Monday Night

The improv class I sat in on was fun. I enjoyed picking up things from a different teacher and class. Although they don't espouse a different way of doing things per se, they are different people and are not really exposed to what we are doing (as I have until now not been exposed much to their work), so the result is something a little unique.

Following that was the experimental theater class. This week, we did all floor exercises, which were strenuous, challenging and pleasant. I will not be there next week, since I will be out of town, but look forward to returning in two weeks. On the way home, I stopped at a high end grocery store which I don't usually patronize. I was glad that they were open until 1am, and have decided that their baked goods are far superior to those of Ralphs (no surprise). Nonetheless, I am unlikely to shop their on a regular basis.

Today, there was a bonus Toastmasters meeting, where I felt I gave another good evaluation. I think I may be improving with those. Following that, I had to go to a library by MacArthur Park to pick up a DVD for movie night, and took the opportunity to pick up the prizes at a nearby 99 Cents Only store. Heading home from there, I encountered an older guy I have talked to several times on the bus. He is a night security guard and boxing history buff. I helped him with some heavy stuff he was carrying, and had a beer with him while he was toying with an antique clock and some things he had just bought. It was very nice to get to know him a bit better.

Tomorrow I may be helping out with a little additional shooting for the movie I was working on. If so, details will follow.

Done Thoroughly In Time

Given a bit of time to think about it, here's my report on the big event from yesterday: One of the organizers (who is a member of my own club) asked me to be there early help to help set up. Thusly, after sleeping not very much the night before, I got up at 5 o'clock in the morning. I got the coffee going, and jumped into the shower. Once my bathroom routine was through, it was time to dress. I suppose I have something of a reputation among some circles for dressing quite casually.

Therefore, I was asked to dress "business casual". I don't have a natural understanding of such terms, but went with a pair of black slacks, a nice collared shirt and no tie or jacket. I tastefully restrained my hair and moustache, and headed out around 6am. The event was at the Jon Lovitz Comedy Club at Universal Citywalk, which is fairly near to me and easy to get to. I caught the bus at about 6:11 and arrived at the bottom of the hill on which Citywalk lies about 6:24. It took just a few minutes to walk up there, as their shuttle does not start running until 7 on Saturdays.

Snippet

I took part in a big Toastmasters event Saturday, and I want to write it up properly, but haven't got it in me just at the moment. I'll have it sometime Sunday, and it will be excellent.

Class

Last night at improv class we had the final week of our musical block, and it was as fun as ever. I still have some trouble, but feel considerably better about doing it than I did at the start. Mostly my difficulties lie in the ordinary challenges of improv, although I could stand to develop a better singing voice. After my scene, the teacher compared us to Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady.

In that scene, our suggestion was cruise ship (an old college friend of the teacher had come to town for a show aboard a cruise ship, and was in attendance). I initiated by establishing that we were at a buffet-style restaurant aboard a cruise ship, praising the macaroni salad. My partner then developed an allergic reaction as I looked on unsympathetically. He then went on to reveal committing a murder on a previous cruise and expressed great anxiety.