Project 1 Ice Breaker : My School

My School

Madam toastmaster, fellow members and guests. My name is Warisa Nantasiri. I am 26 years old. For my first ice breaker speech, I would like to talk about –  My school.

I come from a very remote small town in Isaan, the northeastern part of Thailand, where the majority of the population are farmers. So I would say, my first school was my aunt’s farm where I learned how to do farming, I know every single part of the process of how to grow and harvest 5 acres of rice. My favorite class was when I got to ride a water buffalo while my uncle made it plough the rice paddy and he would teach me about organic agriculture.

When I turned 7,  I went to public kindergarten school. As far as I remember, I was scheduled to take a nap everyday after lunch. Everyday single day. Five days a week. The teachers made students nap for 2 – 3 hours, woke up and went home. Do you ever wonder when your Thai friends said sleeping is their hobby? See, almost all of us has trained to sleep since we were kids. One day I said to my mom, mom, I don’t like taking a nap. Then next semester, she sent me to primary school, yet another Thai traditional public school. I learned how to read and count numbers when I was 8.

Now, the next thing I’m going to tell you is massive.  I would like to give you a clear picture of my experience in Thai public school. Primary school, middle school, high school. The whole system. 8 am in every morning, I sang the national anthem and prayed for lord Buddha,  went to class, and greeted the teachers.  I sat in the class all day and sometimes read out loud for teachers. I spent 10 years adjusting myself to the school system, the fundamental principle is profoundly simple. 1. To beat the exam. 2. To get a good GPA. That’s all. Every year, I would be given a set of books – mathematics, all subjects of science, Thai literature, history, English and so on according to government policy. At the end of semester, I would have to pass the multiple choice exam based on the books. I had to memorize everything that was contained in the books. In the classroom, it was a competition where everybody competed to memorize everything. If I asked questions, that meant I was bad at memorizing. To the teachers, there were only right answers and wrong answers – without reasoning the argument or systematically explaining why it was so. Critical thinking? What was it?

Pathetically, if I wanted further discussion and had more questions, the teacher would suggest I take their special class and pay more money for their extra time.  So not only I had to go to school on weekdays, but also I had to take special classes after school and weekends to beat the exam and get good grades.

Yes, I was angry and stubborn enough not to fall into the system. I was determined to do whatever it takes to rise  above it.  At the end of 10 years I was given an empty bag that society called ‘’education’’. I felt like the system had put me in the box where  I was taught to be frightened to be wrong or to make mistakes. I was chastised and humiliated if asked questions. I felt like I couldn’t think for myself or have my own opinion, but only had to agree with the books or the teachers.  However….

I finished high school and I still went to university in Thailand and it was a bit different as I had freedom to think a little bit more. But for my whole life, I was desperate and hopeless. I was always trying to escape from the system as far as I could get.

I got a scholarship to the university in Japan for a brief summer, took advantage of a work experience program in the United States. Granted! I worked for Mcdonald in Mississippi….! And today, I am here, standing in front of you, looking back and saying  goodbye to the past. That stubborn little girl, riding a buffalo who didn’t know how to count numbers until the age of 8. Now, I am trilingual. I speak Thai, English and Japanese fluently. I work for one of the top prestigious technology company in the world. I’ve come a very long way.  Yet, the human spirit inside me continue to strive to be more.

Thank you.

Back to you.

 

A little personal. I am  thankful for joining the toastmasters. I have learned a lot from this amazing experience, every progress from preparing to ending my speech. I gain a lot more confident in public speaking. I gain more skills on how to think and speak systematically and clearly. Importantly, I overcome the fear of speaking in front of the crowd. It was not just to go there and talk. I valued the opportunity I had and put a lot of effort to improve myself, to be a better communicator and leader. I received very impressive evaluations from the evaluators, and wonderful comments from guests. I am honor and deeply inspired by the generosity feedbacks from everybody.

 

Now, let’s get to the tips that will help you master your first speech. Trust me, I had fear of speaking in public and all kinds of negative self-talk I put on myself. But you know what, after I broke the ice, my confidence sore!

Let’s get to work.

1. Project 1 : The Ice Breaker

For your first speech project, you will introduce yourself to your fellow club members and guests and give them some information about your background, interests, and ambitions. Practice giving your speech to friends or family members, and strive to make eye contact with some of your audience. You may use notes during your speech if you wish. Read the entire project before preparing your talk.

Objectives:

• To begin speaking before an audience.
• To discover speaking skills you already have and skills that need some attention.
• To introduce yourself to your fellow club members.

Time: 4 – 6 minutes

 

What you need to do

1. Prepare your speech

2. Timing

3. Practice, practice, practice

4. The power of pause and tone

5. Don’t expect yourself to be perfect

6. Breathe

Let’s break them down :

 

1. Prepare your speech

On your first speech, you need to talk about yourself, anything that will give the idea of who you are, your background or anything about yourself. Easy- because you are going to talk about yourself. But a little tricky because it’s your first time and you’re scared of talking in front of those people gather their eyes on you! Well, you need to be PREPARE from the beginning. Read the objective carefully. Do the research on famous TED talks or online blogs. Mine for example. Try to get the idea of what kind of speech outline. Then when you come up with idea, WRITE THEM DOWN. Seriously, just draft your speech. It’s like writing the essay. Beginning, body and conclusion. If you want your first speech to be a bit more impressive, design your talk to be more emotionally engaged. Make it personal. For example my speech, I talked about how miserable my experience in Thai public school was. How determine I was to overcome the bad system. And I also put a little giggle joke for the speech not to be too miserable. Remember to try to use adverbs to enhance the emotional –  profoundly, fundamentally, systematically, pathetically etc.

2. Timing

Now you have your speech drafted. Try to read out loud and time your speech. You need to make it 4 – 6 minutes. If it’s too short, add some more sentences. If it’s too long, eliminate some unimportant details or if you don’t want to leave anything, just make it short and concise.  Too much information may overwhelm the audience. Your speech should be approximately 700 words or 1 and a half A4 paper.

3. Practice, practice, practice

Talking about yourself is easy. But talking in front of the crowd is not. That’s why you need your speech drafted and memorize your speech. Ever heard of ‘’fake it till you make it’’ ? It’s ok to memorize your first speech. But you have to practice until you feel comfortable and confident. The trick is, try to remember the outline of your speech. What is it about from the beginning, in the middle and the last part of the speech. Importantly, remember your critical keywords. Practice your speech over and over until you feel like you don’t need to look at your draft anymore. You can parice in front of the mirror and evaluate yourself. And it is very helpful to practice with your friends. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Practice your speech in front of them. Get the chance to practice easing your nervousness. Or you could ask for the professional mentors at your toastmasters club. Value this opportunity and put efforts on it. Don’t just go there and babbling about yourself. You can do that at any networking meetup.

4. The power of pause and tone.

“The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.” – Mark Twain

On your speech, you don’t want to sound like R2D2 in the Star Wars. You are giving meaningful and inspiring speech to your audience not reading for them. You want your audience to understand you and your talk. To pause effectively at the right spot will also give you a chance to engage with your audience. Give you some space to breath and flow to the next sentence. Also, you may add a little more tone on some critical keywords. You don’t want your talk to be monotone and boring. There are lots of TED talks that you can observe how they pause and tone the speech.

5. Don’t expect yourself to be perfect

Perfection doesn’t exist in this earth, unless you’re a unicorn. Don’t put pressure on yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. You went observing the toastmasters last night and like oh, she’s fantastic, I want to beat her. DON’T! Nobody expect you to be perfect. At the toastmasters, everybody is willing to help you and support you. Our goal is to improve ourselves and help each other. Just believe in yourself and do your best.

6. Breathe

Nervousness is common to every speakers. Before you’re giving the talk, simply just do a small meditation. Close your eyes calmly. Big inhale, pause and exhale a little longer. Repeat 4-5 times. It helps ease your nervousness. During your talk, if you forget your speech, don’t panic, just breathe and smile. Grab your speech back from the air and go with the flow. The show must go on. Breathe. Don’t be afraid of the audience. Think of them as friends who want you to succeed and are eager to help you.

 

 

Sum Up

Here’s how to master your first speech :

1. Prepare your speech – Do a lot of research and draft your speech.
2. Timing – Time your speech and make it 4-6 minutes.
3. Practice, practice, practice – Practice your speech with your friends or mentors.
4. The power of pause and tone – Remember to pause and tone your speech.
5. Don’t expect yourself to be perfect – Just believe in yourself and do your best.
6. Breathe – Take a deep breathe before your speech and when you have anxiety. Don’t forget to smile.

 

Now you get the ideas of your first speech. Get out of your comfort zone and show yourself you can do it! Goodluck!

 

Like Shakespeare said,

” There’s nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so. “