Every Breath You take, Every Speech You Make, We are Watching You….

A winner to my mind is someone who wins a competition, but with one rider - a competition with himself / herself not another. In an external competition, one may lose, for only one can win - that is the kind of life we have set up for ourselves - from LKG to a  performance appraisal and extreme unction - life is a series of competitions with others around and afar. We compete for attention, love, fame, money, comfort and what we consider a great quality of life, which is a variable based on perspective and personality.

In toastmasters worldwide, not just at the winners club, winning is the key.... The club's name however does to add to the pressure to win. Winning at winners, I have learnt in my two and half years here, is all about competing to be a better toastmaster... with yourself not with another – it’s therapeutic – Most clubs in movements other than the Toastmasters teach you and often compel you to compete against others.

The key take away then from this article is – learn to step out of your comfort zone each time it is time for you to speak. Every Speech you make, Every Breath you take.. must be an occasion to win against yourself - maybe with help of a mentor, evaluator, public speaking tips from the web expert google or just by observing and listening to speeches of value from all the other clubs and or all on your own.  It’s all about noting the criticism, bettering your performances, working on weaknesses and moulding your strengths. At the end of it all you will be a winner – every time you step on to the stage. But how do you compete against yourself? Simple – by excluding others from the competition. Focus solely on your last performance or the lack of it and compete against that. As you do that regularly, you will start to rely on yourself to win. That is the power of internal competition.

Let’s take your first speech. You have to begin by writing it down, unless you’ve done it before. Even then it’s best written down – it will add structure to your free flowing thought. So first things first… write your speech. Maybe you have never written one in your life. So that’s where the competition begins.. You have to step out of your comfort zone (I’ve never done it so I’d rather not) and get into the unknown - accept this change of environment enthusiastically and it will become an unforgettable adventure - where you can learn even if you fail - reject it, or accept it reluctantly (a case of you have to do it because you’ve paid the fees) and it will end up being torture that must be done with soonest. Begin by looking at others speeches on the internet - substitute your life for theirs and get the help of a Mentor - There are many veterans of the Toastmasters movement ever willing to help out if you meet them half way. You won’t be spoon fed but your mentor is most likely to sit with you at the table and help you swallow the gruel. 

Then the day arrives - you have been given a slot to speak. You are making your first speech in public. You have memorized and practiced - you have never done it before, your language is poor - you think in the vernacular and have to speak in the Queens language (not necessarily Queen Victoria though) - your mind is numb with fear and your memorized speech goes for a toss. You feel embarrassed, you feel like a worm, you’ve seen so many brilliant speeches before you and here you are incompetent and unable to stand and deliver when it matters most – That’s the moment when you will give up and tell yourself that competition is not for me. But that’s also the time you must tell yourself you are a winner – and you will breast the finishing tape. You do it once, you will do it again and again – breaking barriers – your self-imposed barriers and forging ahead, till the day comes, when you will have to search for an element to best yourself.  

It is at this moment, that a winner could become a loser – He / She knows it all, has done it all, and he / she stops learning, stops competing and becomes static in a dynamic world.  That is not the culture of the winners club nor the toastmaster’s movement – so never stop competing…against yourself.

Come on, we are watching you – every breath you take, every speech you make…