The home of advanced speaking in China…
In a little over three hours on Sunday afternoon, more than 100 Shanghai Toastmasters were treated to a valuable Education Day. We were led most eloquently by David Yang CC (Microsoft No. 1) and Jackie Zhao CC (Lighthouse), our hosts who provided engaging interactions through the afternoon while linking the various sessions.
You will find videos from parts of the session here.
In early 2008, as one of my last speeches before I completed the DTM requirements, I presented a speech at Pudong Toastmasters. This speech explained how you can achieve your DTM, and explored the challenges and steps that you can take. For this speech, I created a document to help us keep track of our speech progress, The Path to DTM. It’s now on the CAT website so please do use this as you can.
When I first joined Toastmasters, I saw the first 10 speeches as my focus. Along the way, I realized that there was much more that I could learn by taking things further.
Yet completing a DTM requires a very significant commitment over an extended period of time – a DTM will have usually delivered more than 50 separate speeches over at least 3 or 4 years. And there are some specific rules that you’ll need to follow – some projects count for some awards, but not for others. And you have to do things in the right way too – not just be a good speaker: I had to redo a component entirely because I didn’t have the records from when I completed one step years earlier… it’s almost like part of becoming a DTM is learning what the rules are, and making sure that you can follow them!
But it’s about setting your own standards. Where would you like to take your skills? It took me 11 years to complete my DTM – but I’m sure that you can do it much faster 
CAT has a number of specific initiatives that can help increase your chances of making it to DTM. And that’s one of the things that we focus upon – how to help you take your skills to the next level. You can find out more about The DTM Track here, on our website, or even better by attending one of our meetings.
I remember meeting Mark Hunter when he was preparing for a speech contest in around 1999. My cousin told me that he “had a voice like chocolate” – apparently in contrast to my own. Ten years have passed, and Mark has gone from being the Champion of District 69 to being World Champion. And we congratulate him.
You can listen to the start of his speech here.
The local newspaper records that, “Mark Hunter is proof positive of what can be achieved with a liberal dose of self-determination and an appreciation of the power of love.” And they have included the text from his speech in this story on his great achievement.
Mark, you probably don’t remember me, but congratulations!
- Daniel Smith, DTM
Below is the text of the speech. There seem to be a few errors amid the wonderful examples of alliteration – can you pick them?
Continue reading ‘Congratulations Mark Hunter – World Champion of Public Speaking 2009′
Contests for English Evaluations and Humorous and Table Topics for Chinese.
From 19:10, 2009-08-27
It’s always a challenge to weed out our distracting mannerisms. Sometimes it’s a gesture. Or a phrase. And sometimes it’s a facial expression.
Last week, I saw an experienced speaker who would poke his tongue out at his audience! It was very natural – he probably didn’t realize that he was even doing it – but after I noticed it, I couldn’t help but chuckle whenever he did it again. And again. And again!!!
Mannerisms come from all sorts of places. Sometimes they are big; sometimes they are small. Sometimes it can be an expression of nervousness. We pick them up from our friends, family and famous figures. I have had some mannerisms that I originally used deliberately, but then they became so habitual that they grew out of control!
Look out for these mannerisms. They allow your audience to focus on your style that they forget what you say.
One of the easiest ways to identify these mannerisms is to watch yourself on video. Preferably with some supportive friends – who can point them out and help you find better ways of expressing yourself.
CAT has our Peer Mentoring sessions – where you get together with a few other experienced speakers and help each other get better. But whatever your level of speaking, look to help your audience get your message better by eliminating your mannerisms.
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