I performed my ‘Breaking through walls’ speech a second time. This was unexpected but Camberley Speakers contacted me as they had a spare slot. I was a little reticent as it felt a little weird to do the same speech twice but they were very encouraging!
In fact, the encouragement from Toastmasters clubs is always pretty amazing.
So, what did I learn from doing it a second time?
I was much, much more relaxed. I had not ‘touched’ the speech since the day of the original performance and I did not even take my notes with me to the second meeting. It flowed very naturally and the audience seemed to key into the speech much more which in turn helped me out. It felt much more like a performance to me as opposed to just giving my speech.
Something obviously clicked: I won ‘Best Prepared Speaker’ on the night and was also in the right zone to win ‘Best Topics Speaker’ as well!
Martin Berry, President of Camberley Speakers, told me afterwards that he feels that it is always the second time he gives a speech that it feels the strongest. Any time after that it starts to become more of a recital.
I have yet to need to give the same speech more than twice but as I have my gaze fixed firmly on competing in the speaking arena in the near future, I am going to have to get used to the idea!
Is there a ‘sweet spot’ for you when performing?
It will be great to see you when it gets to competition time!