Toastmasters: An Englishman Abroad

Back on March 30 I entered a Toastmasters Speech Contest in Silicon Valley which was held at SAP. I gave this speech on my first months in the US in the mid-1970’s, when I arrived as a graduate student to study sociology at Tufts University. Every word is true, describing things that actually happened to me.

I won the contest and and went on to the next level. Unfortunately I had added some killer phrases and a compelling conclusion while forgetting to do a word-count or rehearse with a stop-watch. I went over the 7:30 maximum allowed time by a few seconds and was disqualified.

Still, it was ton of fun. An adrenalin rush. Every speechwriter owes it to their clients to stand on the podium from time-to-time. Experience an audience first-hand. Otherwise, you’re like a celibate writing a sex-manual. You might describe the position accurately, but until you assume it yourself you don’t know Jack.

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Hi Ian,

Amazing. There I was, intending to tell you about a ‘Great Speeches of the 20th Century’ series currently being published by The Guardian newspaper in the UK, and your latest post references An Englishman Abroad! Serendipity.

Anyway, it’s as I said: The Guardian is issuing a weekly supplement, beautifully produced, covering great speeches, each with a foreword by a major figure. So for example today’s was Kruschev’s speech disclaiming Stalin in 1956 with a foreword by Gorbachev; last week was Nelson Mandela’s address from the dock in 1964, foreworded by P.W.Botha.

I don’t know if you can obtain these supplements in the US, and unfortunately I cannot find them on the Guardian website. However there are a couple of mentions: their rationale for which to choose; and commentary on the reaction to the series.

I just thought you might find this of interest. Seeing as you’re included in my syndicated writing feed, I like to look after my syndicatees!

Regards
Friendly Ghost

PS I hope I got all the links right in this comment - I wish I could preview it!

[...] to a comment by The Friendly Ghost I’ve been made aware of the current series running in The Guardian [...]

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