Advanced Communication Manuals:
Beyond the Basics
Outline
· Think back to your very first Toastmasters meeting…
· What was your goal? Accomplished? New goal? Not yet?
· Competent Communication manual - starting point
· Advanced Communication Series manuals
· Examples:
o giving more effective management presentations at work
o presenting the toast at a wedding reception or anniversary party
o improving the humor in your presentations
· Fifteen different advanced speech manuals
· Few more pieces of information:
o Newer Toastmasters: Two advanced manuals – FREE
o Mentor suggestion – talk about the AC manuals
o Suggestion – “fun one” and “one you need”
· Think back to that “something goal”
· Toastmasters program, AC manuals can help
· Power; commitment to yourself
· Sign up for a manual speech. Your “something” is waiting for you.
Props Needed:
· A few sample Advanced Manuals
· 2-sided “Pocket Guide” handout (written and designed by Mr. Frank Storey, DTM, of District 18)
Note: Better quality copies of the AC “Pocket Guide” (as well as guides for numerous other TI programs) are available at: http://www.toastmastersofthebluegrass.org/files/
Advanced Communication Manuals:
Beyond the Basics
Take a moment to think back to your very first Toastmasters meeting. Why were you there? What was it you wanted to improve in your life? Even if you joined to overcome a fear of public speaking, you wanted to overcome that fear so you could do …… SOMETHING! What was that something? Did you accomplish that goal? Have you truly achieved what you wanted to achieve?
· If so, great! What’s your new goal? You do have a new goal, don’t you? You know, people are a lot like trees. We either keep growing, or we start to wither and die. Nobody wants root rot.
· If you have yet to reach your goal, if you have yet to reach you full potential, do you have a plan on how to get to the place you know you can be?
The Toastmasters Competent Communication manual (a.k.a. the “basic” manual, with ten projects) is a very effective starting point to gain confidence and develop your basic presentation skills. However, nobody joins Toastmasters just to be an “adequate” speaker. Think again about that goal – that thing that you want to accomplish – and the skills that it will require.
The Advanced Communication Series manuals are designed to help members fine tune the skills learned through those first ten speeches, as well as teach new skills necessary for more specific types of speeches. For example, the advanced manuals can help you develop the ability to give more effective management presentations at work, or present the toast at a wedding reception or anniversary party, or improve the humor in your presentations.
To help you do that “something” that led you to join Toastmasters.
(Either follow this part of the script or ask for categories from the audience
and use those to talk about a few of the Advanced Communication manuals.)
I’ll use the examples I just listed to show what I mean….
· The first example, giving more effective management presentations at work
§ There’s an entire manual entitled Speeches by Management.
§ Are these technical in nature? – There’s the Technical Presentations manual
§ Are you leading discussions? – Try the Facilitating Discussion manual
§ Do you have to speak with media? – The Public Relations manual, or even Communicating on Television could be just what you need!
· The second example, present the toast at a wedding reception or anniversary party
§ To start with, there’s the project entitled “Mastering The Toast” in the Special Occasion Speeches manual…
§ but if as part of the toast you’re going to tell a short story – check out the Storytelling manual
§ or perhaps read a poem – try the Interpretive Reading manual
And the third example, improving the humor in your presentations
§ There’s the Humorously Speaking manual…
§ and The Entertaining Speaker manual
§ and even The Professional Speaker manual has a project focused on entertaining your audience.
Of course, this is just a sampling. Toastmasters International currently has available 15 different advanced speech manuals, and no matter what communication skill you want to develop, there’s an advanced manual, or combination of manuals, that can help you to develop the skills necessary to help achieve your goal.
I have a few more pieces of information that I hope will be both interesting and helpful:
· To newer Toastmasters: Did you know that when you complete your first Competent Communicator award, headquarters will send you two advanced manuals of your choice? FOR FREE! As you work through the CC manual and reach your fifth or sixth speech, you will learn which aspects of speaking you enjoy (and excel at) and which ones “need work.” By your seventh or eighth speech, take a look at the different advanced manuals. Think about which ones would most benefit you, and which ones you’d really enjoy doing. That way, you can start jotting down potential speech topics for your advanced manuals ahead of time, and then hit the ground running.
· To the more “seasoned” Toastmasters who are serving as mentors: Don’t wait until your members have completed their CC to start talking about setting new goals. Talk to them about the advanced manuals once they reach speech #5, so they are thinking ahead, so the CC doesn’t become the end of their Toastmasters road.
· To everyone, here’s a suggestion about how to select your advanced manuals: Pick a “fun one” and “one you need.” It’s a little like following the medical advice of Mary Poppins: “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.” There are only five projects in each, so you’ll need to complete two advanced manuals to earn your Advanced Communicator Bronze, Silver or Gold. (The requirements are explained further in the Pocket Guide.)
Friends, the Toastmasters program is designed to help us all become better speakers. Specifically, the Advanced Communication manuals can help us hone those skills that we each need to work on, to help each of us reach that “something goal” in our own lives, and reach our true communication potential.
Your fellow club members are here to help, but the real power is in YOUR hands. Make the commitment to yourself. If you’re still working on your first CC, keep going, and look into the opportunities that the advanced manuals can provide. If you’ve already earned your CC, rededicate yourself to working toward your “something goal” by utilizing the projects in the Advanced Communication manuals.
And to all, do yourself a favor: Sign up now to do a manual speech within the next four weeks. Your “something” is waiting for you.
Mister/Madame Toastmaster….
Prepared by Karen Holland, DTM
District 28 February 2009
Prepared by Karen Holland, DTM
District 28 February 2009
Prepared by Karen Holland, DTM
District 28 February 2009