How to Prepare a Toastmasters Speech, Part One

In which we answer the question - what is my goal?  

A Toastmasters speech is unlike any other speech you are likely to give.  Most speech writing starts with the topic already in mind, or at least a cohesive audience.  Perhaps the purpose of the speech is to give an update on a project, to persuade a potential client to purchase your services, or to inspire an audience of high school graduates to carry on to college - whatever it is, the purpose of the speech is centered around the needs of the audience, not the needs of the speaker.

In Toastmasters, the purpose and need are flipped.  The purpose of the speech is singular, and always the same - to help the speaker grow their skills.    The audience is diverse - it's probably not a cohesive group of your coworkers, your potential client, or high school graduates.  Instead, the audience is 10-20 (or more) random people with one thing in common - they want to be better speakers.

For many new Toastmasters, this leads to a challenging dilemma.  How do I write my speech?  What do I write it about?  We'll think about the what later, but for now, let's talk about the how.  I'm a process-driven person, so I'll share with you my process for writing a Toastmasters speech.  For this exercise, we will consider the very first speech a Toastmaster gives - the IceBreaker. 

How to Prepare a Toastmasters Speech, Part One - What's the Goal? 

The short answer is simple.  It's in the book.

Every Toastmasters speech is given from a manual, and is thus often referred to as a "manual speech" or a manual project.  The first thing I do when preparing a speech, then, is to read the manual.  The manual provides the learning goals of the speech, and the tactics to use when preparing and delivering the speech.

Step One.  Read the manual.  Carefully.  Thoughtfully.  Peruse it (contrary to popular belief, peruse means to read carefully, not to skim).  Internalize the purpose, the skill you will learn through giving the speech.

For me, this means highlight the heck out of it.  Sometimes, I even take the points I've highlighted and summarize them on a clean sheet of paper, boiling each one down to two or three words.  For the highlighted portion shown in the photo, I would note that the speech should be or have:

• 3-4 main points
• About me 
• Story 
• Opening, body, conclusion

Now that I've perused the manual, I know what I'm supposed to learn and accomplish in giving this IceBreaker speech.  I have the foundation I need to actually write it.

For the IceBreaker speech, because it is the very first prepared speech a Toastmaster will give, the goals are basic.  Essentially, they are to get up there and talk about yourself for 4-6 minutes.  That's it.  It's not profound, it's not complex - but for many, it is challenging and life-changing.

In Part Two, we will cover the actual drafting of the speech.