Speech Project 2: TV Star!
How my club helped me shine.
By Diana J. Ewing
A couple of years ago, I was a happy beginner in Toastmasters, looking forward to developing my skills in the usual way – over time, at leisure, and with the personal support of my close-knit club. I’d given my initial Ice Breaker speech and was preparing for the second of 10 speeches needed to complete the Competent Communication manual. Several days before this presentation, I received a surprising e-mail from my club president: Our meeting was going to be televised! A film crew would cover the meeting for a local daytime TV show called Your LA. This was no common occurrence, he wrote me, and it would mean good publicity for our club, UniMasters, in Lake Forest, California.
Me? Speaking on television only four months after becoming a Toastmaster? Perhaps I missed something in the fine print when I signed up. Surely this was a joke or a rookie hazing tradition. It wasn’t. What amazed me was that the club officers had so much confidence in my abilities, they decided not to replace me with a more-seasoned speaker. Now that’s pressure!
For my speech topic I had chosen procrastination, something with which I have vast experience. Yet in this instance I didn’t procrastinate. I wrote the speech in plenty of time and was feeling good about my delivery as I practiced, right up until I read the letters T and V in my e-mail. That’s when the inevitable panic crept in.
As I continued to prepare during the 48 hours prior to the meeting, I tried not to think about everything that could go wrong. What if I stood up there and forgot my speech entirely? What if I fainted?
The two-man film crew arrived on the big day with yet another shocking request. Their host for our segment of the magazine-style show couldn’t make it, so would I tape some quick spots to introduce and close the segment and provide a little narration along the way?
Sure, guys. Do you want me to sing and dance, too? Things had progressed from merely nerve-jangling to downright surreal as I took on TV host as my other role for the day.
Prior to this, my television experience was limited to the haunting memory of being a contestant on the TV game show Wheel of Fortune. In that equally surreal episode, I suffered horrifying embarrassment when host Pat Sajak reminded me to “watch the board” after I repeated a letter that another contestant had already called. My brain had failed me then. Who’s to say humiliation wouldn’t strike again?
In the final precious moments before the filmed Toastmasters meeting began – a time when I had hoped to review my speech – I was outside, wearing a tiny microphone and welcoming TV viewers to join the fun. Fortunately, the guys from Your LA gave me a general idea of what to say for my various on-camera greetings and asides.
In my memory, that meeting and my speech are a blur; but when I watch the video, I’m proud of how well it went. Only snippets of my speech actually made it onto TV, and though I didn’t look quite as relaxed as I would have liked, I did manage to get all the words out with only a peek or two at my notes. That was good enough for me in my second speech ever. I even earned a few laughs in the right places.
The show highlighted other club members in various meeting roles and on-camera interviews, too, and everybody did well. There’s something about being in the unique and nurturing Toastmasters environment that helps people do their best. Or in my case – on that particular day – to survive!
At the time, our club was in transition from a small, closed, company group to one that welcomes the general community. Several former UniMasters members, our area governor and a past district governor also came to the meeting – boosting attendance for the TV debut of our club. I’ve learned that this is the kind of support and camaraderie that Toastmasters provides on every level.
Ironically, while my speaking abilities and self-confidence have grown immensely since that afternoon when the camera rolled, I can’t help but wonder if I might be even more nervous in the same situation today. Back then, I had little awareness of the various speech techniques, such as vocal variety, effective gesturing and moving around the stage – so I didn’t know to be concerned about such things. But now I know and would probably be a little anxious about these new issues. Could I be more nervous today, simply because I know more about what that can go wrong?
I may never know the answer to that question, but there’s one thing I am sure about: I’m definitely sticking with my friends at Toastmasters who helped me survive my second project, a TV debut. This group will be there for me, no matter what the project. If Oprah calls, I’m ready.
Freelance writer Diana J. Ewing is a member of the UniMasters club in Lake Forest, California. Reach her at dewing123@cox.net.