So you GET to give a 10-15 minute speech to the membership! Excellent! Politiicans would die for that much time. Hear a few tips. Write the speech. Read the speech 3-5 times. Put the main points on index cards. Then rehearse your speech at home multiple times. Time yourself as you do it. You have to do it out loud so you can get used to hearing yourself. Videotape yourself. Borrow an empty room at the school and their video camera if you don't have one. You'll see yourself freeezing in front of the "podium" (a cardboard box on the kitchen table) in your house with knuckle crenched, or see yourself swaying back and forth. You can correct this as much as you can and learn over time. Time yourself. The hardest part is, if you mess up, you'll want to stop, but you need to keep going.
As you review your videotape, ...
Count you ah's, so's, and number of times you start a sentence and before you finiish it, you restart the sentence.
Decide if there will be audience interaction. It drastically can affect the amount of material you have time to cover.
Here's a sample agenda to run a PTO meeting. (Hand out copies your agenda as people arrive)
0) Start around the sign-in sheet and pencil you bring from home (Name, address, student's name, Student's teacher, email address, phone number) Some people have the secretary do this. This goes into next months minutes.
1) Approval of the minutes from the last meeting. Hand out copies for people to read as they arrive. Check for a raising of hands to see it everyone has read the minutes. When most people have raised there hands, then take a vote to approve them.
2) Treasurer report. Hand out copies for people to read as they arrive.
3) Principal's report
4) Past business
5) Plans for event #1 Coming up next
Cover the 5 w's (What, When, Where, Who, Why)
Detail A of event #1
Detail B of event #1
6) Plans for event #2 coming up after that one
Cover the 5 w's (What, When, Where, Who, Why)
Detail A of event #2
Detail B of event #2
7) Request from member's of the audience to discuss a new topic
8) Announce when the next meeting will occur
9) Adjourn the meeting
Reward yourself for a job well done at Dairy Queen. It only gets easier the next time if you improve your technique as you go.
Check out your local Toastmaster club (google it) for more public speaking experience.
