An advantage of joining ToastMasters club (I'm sorry for too much posts on Toastmasters these days, but I'm getting so much involved that I can't resist talking about it :) ) is that there are people who would evaluate you and give constructive feedback. One of the feedbacks that one receives is the number of times speaker utter filler words such as 'Umm, Aah, annnddddd ...'. During my prepared speech, I didn't utter a single filler word. This probably happened because I was prepared and didnt forget anything during the speech. However, during all my impromptu speeches, I got a feedback that I say these words close to 4-5 times. Impromptu speeches last for only 1-2 minutes and so much usage of filler words would definitely wont categorize someone as a good speaker.
Nowadays, I take a lot of care while speaking English with my teammates during meetings or conference calls. But then one day, while talking to my family on phone, I realized that I falter as well as stumble while speaking in Hindi as well. This is a good realization as I now believe that without getting this corrected first, it will take a lot of time for me to gain expertize in English. I believe that the path would be much more easier and glib this way rather than jumping into the English territory first.
So, I'm gonna try this first and get my basics right.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Overdose of MC
People who have graduated from college and are now working in multinationals still feel that they are living student's life. I met one such fellow few days back. I must have spend good 5-6 hours with him and found that he spoke MC (Indianised version of Mother F***er) umpteen number of times. In fact, no sentence was completed without this word. I don't know what was he trying to prove, but, I felt only sorry for his senseless humor.
I agree that I too utter these words, but I do that cautiously. Every such word in a sentence has a purpose and we should pay respect to it. Using them without any need just makes me feel sorry for the speaker and nothing else. I've a friend at my workplace who I've seen speaking MC only once during my entire interaction with him for over a period of 4 years now. And I felt the impact when he said that. It just got better with the word. Bingo! thats how one should use these words. These are magical words, when used correctly sets the entire tone of the conversation.
I sincerely ask people to watch and learn from 'Pulp Fiction'. Contrary to what I've said above, MF is used in probably every dialogue of the movie. However, the word fits so perfectly in there that I cannot imagine Pulp Fiction to be a big hit without these dialogues. If you can do justice to these magical words, fine, use them else misbehaving with them only lowers your standard.
I agree that I too utter these words, but I do that cautiously. Every such word in a sentence has a purpose and we should pay respect to it. Using them without any need just makes me feel sorry for the speaker and nothing else. I've a friend at my workplace who I've seen speaking MC only once during my entire interaction with him for over a period of 4 years now. And I felt the impact when he said that. It just got better with the word. Bingo! thats how one should use these words. These are magical words, when used correctly sets the entire tone of the conversation.
I sincerely ask people to watch and learn from 'Pulp Fiction'. Contrary to what I've said above, MF is used in probably every dialogue of the movie. However, the word fits so perfectly in there that I cannot imagine Pulp Fiction to be a big hit without these dialogues. If you can do justice to these magical words, fine, use them else misbehaving with them only lowers your standard.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Practikke mackke mmannnn perppect
Can you read the title clearly?
You, probably, will speak in a similar fashion when you deliver your first speech in front of your audience. No matter how much prepared you are, you will definitely infuse a sentence that sounds similar to the title. Murphy's law/adage holds true in public speaking as well. For those who don't know about Murphy's law, it goes like this: 'If there is a small chance of going something wrong/unexpected in your activity (be it demonstration, presentation, public speech etc.), then it will go wrong during the activity'.
The fear of public speaking is always there in me. To take out this fear, I joined ToastMaster club in my office and delivered my first speech today. First speech is popularly known as the 'Ice Breaker' Speech where the speaker introduces himself to the club members. The speech should be about 4-6 minutes long. I prepared my speech well in advanced and keep on practicing again and again in my room and office's empty conference room. I was confident that I would be able to deliver a flawless speech. 3 of us were giving the speeches today (one was giving his P2 and other P4). I was the first one to speak. When I was invited by the toastmaster, my heartbeat gained a phenomenal speed and sound. Though no one told me, however, I felt that my heartbeat was much louder than my voice during the start. I was well prepared but suddenly started to lose words when I started speaking. I had to look into the eyes of the people sitting there while speaking (I used to prepare in an empty room) and Murphy bhaisaheb (brother) was just waiting for this moment. This was the unknown factor that I didn't deal with while practising earlier and started to lose concentration. I probably would have muttered something similar to Practikke mackke mmannnn perppect. However, I held back my conscious and ended well.
I got the award for Best Prepared Speaker of the session. Since I was competing with guys who were delivering their P2 and P4, I felt good in the end. My continuous practice saved me from the embarrassment I would have had if I was not well prepared. Indeed, Practice makes a man Perfect.
You, probably, will speak in a similar fashion when you deliver your first speech in front of your audience. No matter how much prepared you are, you will definitely infuse a sentence that sounds similar to the title. Murphy's law/adage holds true in public speaking as well. For those who don't know about Murphy's law, it goes like this: 'If there is a small chance of going something wrong/unexpected in your activity (be it demonstration, presentation, public speech etc.), then it will go wrong during the activity'.
The fear of public speaking is always there in me. To take out this fear, I joined ToastMaster club in my office and delivered my first speech today. First speech is popularly known as the 'Ice Breaker' Speech where the speaker introduces himself to the club members. The speech should be about 4-6 minutes long. I prepared my speech well in advanced and keep on practicing again and again in my room and office's empty conference room. I was confident that I would be able to deliver a flawless speech. 3 of us were giving the speeches today (one was giving his P2 and other P4). I was the first one to speak. When I was invited by the toastmaster, my heartbeat gained a phenomenal speed and sound. Though no one told me, however, I felt that my heartbeat was much louder than my voice during the start. I was well prepared but suddenly started to lose words when I started speaking. I had to look into the eyes of the people sitting there while speaking (I used to prepare in an empty room) and Murphy bhaisaheb (brother) was just waiting for this moment. This was the unknown factor that I didn't deal with while practising earlier and started to lose concentration. I probably would have muttered something similar to Practikke mackke mmannnn perppect. However, I held back my conscious and ended well.
I got the award for Best Prepared Speaker of the session. Since I was competing with guys who were delivering their P2 and P4, I felt good in the end. My continuous practice saved me from the embarrassment I would have had if I was not well prepared. Indeed, Practice makes a man Perfect.
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