Smile Story - The Senator (3 min)

For my speech notes, I'll group the speech into logical parts and pick out keywords that will trigger my memory.  This was a joke I pulled from the internet for my "Smile Story".

[start speech]

While walking down the street one day a US senator is tragically hit by a truck and dies.

Soul arrives in heaven, met by St. Peter @ entrance. 

St Peter: "Welcome to heaven. 

1.       Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem.

2.       We seldom see a high official around here,

3.       We're not sure what to do with you."

Senator: "No problem, just let me in"

St Peter: 

1.       I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up.

2.       What we will do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven.

3.       Then you can choose where to spend eternity.'

Senator: "Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven"

St Peter: 'I'm sorry, but we have our rules.'

HELL

St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell.

The doors open and he finds himself in the

A.      middle of a green golf course.

B.      There a clubhouse and standing in front of it

C.      friends and other politicians who had worked with him.

1.       HAPPY - Everyone is very happy and dressed up nicely.

2.       GREET  - They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people.

3.       PLAY & EAT - They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and champagne.

Devil is there, who really is a very friendly guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes.

Having such a good time, it's time to go.

Everyone gives him a farewell and waves while the elevator rises...

HEAVEN

The elevator goes up, up, up and the door opens where St. Peter is waiting for him. 

St Peter: 'Now it's time to visit heaven.'

Senator spends the day in heaven

1.       with a group of contented souls

2.       moving from cloud to cloud,

3.       playing the harp and singing.

 They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.

DECISION

St Peter: "You've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity."

The senator reflects for a minute, then he answers:

"Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell.'

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell.

REALITY

Now the doors of the elevator open and he has in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage.

He sees all his friends,

1.       dressed in rags

2.       picking up the trash and

3.       putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above.

The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder.

Senator:  "I don't understand. Yesterday,

1.       there was a golf course and clubhouse, and

2.       we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and

3.       danced and had a great time.

Now there is just

a.       wasteland full of garbage

b.      my friends look miserable.

c.       What happened?'

The devil looks at him, smiles and says, 'Yesterday we were campaigning... Today you voted.'

[end speech]

The Table Topics Challenge (2 min)

My club (Thunderbird Toastmasters) has a 2 minute speech role called "Thunderbird 101".  I decided mine would encourage people to volunteer more for table topics.  I'm guilty myself of shying away from it, but after doing this speech, I'm pumped!  (Now that's self-motivation!)

[start speech]

Have you ever noticed that some people are really good at BSing their way through life? Have you thought, “How do they do that? And how do I learn how to do that?”

That’s what table topics are for! It’s to practice speaking without having any preparation. And if you think about it, we speak impromptu every day, all day long. Table topics speaking could very well, have a bigger impact on your life than prepared speeches.
The key to impromptu speaking is not WHAT you say, but HOW you say it! Next time you come up here for table topics, remember these two techniques:

1. First, intro-body-conclusion: Start with an introduction of your topic, state your supporting content (that’s related to the topic), and then end with a conclusion that summarizes your topic.
2. Second technique is to just let the words flow out and don’t worry about whether it’s truthful, or it’s right, or whether people will believe you. What’s important is that your words come out in a confident manner.

At first, you’ll struggle just to apply these two techniques because you might forget about them, but each time you do them, your brain will remember a little more, and by your 50th table topic, it’ll likely be natural by then!
Next time when the table topics master asks for a volunteer, shoot up your hand regardless of the topic. Only when you challenge yourself, will you grow.

[end speech]

My Toastmasters Blog

I started this blog to store my speeches for others to get use out of.  Toastmasters is about sharing knowledge and skills, and while I'm not verbally delivering these speeches, I still think the information itself is useful!  I'll probably end up posting other useful information about speaking too, for everyone to benefit from including myself!

If you're interested in joining Toastmasters, there is sure to be a local club near you.  You can find one using Toastmaster International's Find a Club search.  Most or all clubs let you come a few times for free to check it out.  You can watch some introduction videos that tell you more about Toastmasters.

Each club has it's own "personality".  Some are casual, some are business-like.  It's ok to hop club to club to find one where you feel like you fit well!  Personally, I only went to one club and liked them from the start, plus they were within walking distance, so it was an easy decision to stay.