practice and preparation

it is one thing to prepare a speech

it is another to refine and practice it. this is where many want-to-improve-types fail – they fail to refine and rehearse, which is critical to good presentation.

i observed this successfully done this morning. a fellow toastmaster nailed a humorous speech; she had us laughing hard, we were putty in her hands. she was able to do this successfully, in part, by taking the time to practice in front of a couple friends and get input. she changed a few things and was able to take an already good speech and make it very good.

i like to do this with my wife and/or my kids; those close to us can provide great feedback. by taking advantage of feedback early on in your speech crafting you can bounce your initial ideas off and get rid of the bad and refine the good. by rehearsing with a near finished speech with people, you further refine and improve greatly.

every time i have rehearsed with my family my speeches have shown clear improvement. everytime i failed to rehearse with family, my speaking presentation lacked something.