Pradosh Nag

How does participating in a club contest help you to improve your public speaking skills? Completing the regular speech manuals do help to transform you from being an unsure, hesitant and insecure speaker into a confident mature and a very good speaker. So – do you stop challenging yourself when you become a CTM, ATM, AC, or a “good” speaker?
What do you gain from participating in a club contest?

A) Confidence B) Challenge C) Overcoming Obstacles C) Winning D) All of the above.

The answer is (D) all of the above.

You may be a good speaker but participating in a speech contest will help to transform you from being just a good speaker to becoming a great speaker.

CONFIDENCE

Just submitting your name is the first step in gaining the confidence to participate in a contest. I remember the first year I joined Markham Sweet Talkers. I was intimidated but very admiring of the participants in the club contest.

CHALLENGE

A year down the road I took the challenge myself and submitted my name for the humorous speech contest. Just the intent of participation got my adrenalin flowing and something amazing happened – as I prepared harder and harder for the contest my nervousness turned into excitement!

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES

In participating in the contest I had overcome the first obstacle in becoming a good speaker. I had gained enough trust in myself to go out there and do my very best. I even surprised myself - not only did I do my best - I had gone way beyond my own expectations - the judges had decided that I should represent the club in the Area Contest!

WINNING

When you participate in a contest – do you always win? Yes – each and every time. Representing our club was a new challenge for me - all over again. I was to perform in front of a slightly larger audience with other speakers who were winners of their respective club contests. Participating in the Area Contest was pulse throbbing with suspense and anticipation. As I stood in front of a packed audience my nervousness was contained in excitement. By the end of the evening I had delivered my personal best in any vernacular situation I had ever been in. It was not enough to win a place in the top three but it set standards for me far beyond any standards I would have set for myself had I not allowed myself the chance to participate. In my mind I was a winner!

The next time we have a club contest you don’t need to challenge anyone but yourself to overcome any hesitation or obstacles in your way to becoming a winner. Take the opportunity to transform yourself from being a good speaker to becoming a great speaker