E2 – The Toast

What this episode covers

In This Episode I talk about Toastmasters and how I think it can help me in podcasting. I also share my most recent Toastmasters speech “You’re Better Than You Think” and feedback. Links * Toastmasters Show Credits Hosted, produced, mixed, edited & scored by Mark Transcript Welcome to ApexThis.Podcast. A podcast about…podcasting; or rather a chronicle of my journey to start a publishing media podcasting side business? This will be a behind the scenes look at what I’m doing to make that happen. I’ll share tips and best practices that I learned along the way. These tips and best practices will be something that you can use to start your very own podcast and share your voice with the world. My name is Mark and this is episode 2 “The Toast”.  Toastmasters. If you’ve followed me this far along, you would have heard this word before. What is it? Toastmasters Internation is a global communication and leadership program. You navigate through a workbook that takes you through various types of speeches to write and perform. You also step into various roles in which you take the ownership, learning invaluable leadership skills. Don’t worry, the environment in Toastmasters is very supportive. You have mentors that guide you through your speeches. You receive feedback from everyone regarding your speech and you have a specific evaluator that records your overall speech feedback. This feedback tells you what went great, what to watch out for, and what to keep doing. Now, most people are absolutely afraid of performing their speeches, but if you start with Toastmasters, I believe you will build that confidence and it’s in thanks to the supportive environment of your Toastmasters Club. While sounding a bit like an infomercial, I was not paid nor do I receive any kickback for my statement. It’s a club that I enjoy and one that has improved and refined my public speaking. Today’s speech is speech #4 “How to say it.” This speech objective is to choose the right words and structure to communicate my ideas clearly and vividly while using rhetorical devices to enhance and emphasize ideas per the handbook. Speech #4 is, as you guessed, the 4th speech when starting out. There are 10 total speeches in the first workbook, so I have a few more to go to advance to the next level. My speech that you are about to hear is recorded at home. My goal was to record my speech live, but things had not worked out in that way for this one. Future speeches will be recorded, and you will be witness to all my nervous ticks. What you will now hear is a 2nd draft of the speech after a full re-write. After the speech, you will hear a recording of my post-speech thoughts and feedback I received. You’re Better Than You Think My body was outstretched on the couch and as I slowly came to, I could hear the alarm playing, making me aware that my time to sleep had come to an end. As the house was sound asleep, I crept around, as quiet as a mouse, trying my best to not arouse those who dwelled within. I was soon on the road again having spent 11 hours on it the day prior. This trip was shorter. This trip was to meet my friends for some bicycling fun. The horns sounded, which signaled that the ride had begun, but we were still getting ready. I took a deep breath recalling that for the past 3 weeks I’ve thought of nothing more than my first experience and how brutal the hills were. And like that, I was snapped back into reality. Back to the present, with the close of a trunk. We were all ready to go. Our cars were locked. Our sunglasses were fixed to our faces to block the morning sun and I was clipped in. With a start, one pedal stroke beget a 27-mile journey. A journey that did not turn out like I expected.

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