Better than you thought May 12, 2008

I’m a member of Toastmasters Inc. It’s an organization that helps you build leadership and public speaking skills. I’ve been a member for over a year and I honestly don’t know why it took this long for someone to drag me into this organization. It’s all about talking! And I love to talk. In my club, I’m a bit of a celebrity…if 20 people adoring you qualifies as celeb-status. They think I’m funny. They think I deliver great speeches. They think I have a special quality. Want to know what I think? I think that I need to prepare more. I think that I speak too fast. I think that I still haven’t delivered a good, well-rehearsed speech. So I feel like I’m cheating at something when they pour on the praise.

Now don’t get me wrong, I know that I have the gift of gab. And thankfully, I’m intelligent and intuitive and am put on this Earth to help other people see and realize their greatness. So with that mission, can you see how it doesn’t work for me to feel like a fraud in the one place that’s all about growing as a speaker?

Have you ever realized that you’re better at something than you thought?

I spent the better part of Saturday with Toastmasters in my region. I heard some great speakers. But mostly what happened is that I felt affirmed. I’m good enough where I am to speak before crowds. That was until the Toastmaster 1999 International World Speaking Champion, Craig Valentine, delivered a workshop called, ‘How to Keep Your Audience on the Edge of their Seat.’ The workshop was amazing! He was funny, engaging, commanding, organized and every other good thing you want to hear when trapped at a conference. At the end, I rushed to the back to buy his kit.

But as I listened to my bootleg copy of the workshop (sorry Craig, but I did buy the kit). I felt daunted by the task ahead. I have so much work to do to grow into the speaker I want to be. So I took a breath and played the audio recording of my last workshop. And I must tell you, I’m better than I thought. That’s not to say that there’s no room for improvement. There’s tons of room for improvement. But I feel encouraged.

So what’s in this for you?

1. Do you have a natural ability to do something? A talent that you see in yourself and/or that other people see in you? It may be a talent that you’ve never marketed or considered as valuable. Perhaps playing an instrument came naturally. Or you’ve always had a good eye for decorating. Maybe you’ve always been super-organized?
2. How can you raise that ability? Is it something that you need to practice? Is there a class that you can take? Can you teach it to someone else?
3. And lastly, since we’re all parents here, how can you share that ability with your children?

I have a friend who is an actress. She’s never staged a scene with her kids. I tell her to do it. Make up a scene about being a good listener or about putting away your toys. My son LOVES to talk. A lot. More than your children, I think. And I can’t fault him for it because he got it honestly. But I finally decided to teach him a little bit about story structure. Simple cues, like, what happened first? Who was there? And then what happened? How did it end? I’m teaching him to tell a more cohesive story.

So my friend, share your talents with your children. Not only to enrich their life experience, but also to remind you that you’re better than you thought.