Speaking Today - My Ice Breaker

I am speaking today at lunch. I have five to seven minutes to introduce myself as part of my CTM #1 exercise in Toastmasters. The CTM #1 is the first speaking exercise in the Competent Toastmaster Manual of the Toastmasters International training. Its called the "The Ice Breaker" and the purpose is to introduce myself as well as 3 or 4 interesting aspects of me and my life.

I am looking forward to it. I will speak, I will be evaluated - getting valuable feedback on how I can improve. My Evaluator has a rubric to use, noting things such as:

• What strong points does the speaker already have?
• How well did the audience get to know the speaker?
• Did the speech reflect adequate preparation?
• What are one or two specific suggestions you can make to help the speaker improve?

There are more, but you should get the idea.

I'm going to try to give as well as get during this speech, so I am presenting some listening tips as part of my speech... and then presenting a "quiz" to check their listening. It will be fun. More on the structure and results later.

This (Toastmasters) is the best program around, as I belabored in The Speakers Silver Bullet .