“Your life tells a story and there is someone out there who needs to hear it.  You may think your story is not sensational, but it does not have to be sensational it just has to be sincere.  If your audience can relate to you and your experiences, and chances are they will, then you [...]

Interview with Darren LaCroix by Kasey Heintz My mouth was wide open and my head tilted back as I laughed with those around me. I felt part of a family. We were watching a humorous speech at a Toastmaster contest and all of a sudden there was sheer comfort in the room. To say the [...]

How do you filter feedback that you get from your audience? Whether you’re giving a professional speech, doing a slideshow presentation for co-workers, or in a speech contest — feedback is the most important part of preparation. Make no mistake…

The speech contest is a timed event. Contestants are given five to seven minutes, with a leeway of thirty seconds. Anyone who goes over 7:30 is usually disqualified. In my case, however, there was a timing light malfunction. The contest rules state that if there is a malfunction the contestant will get thirty extra seconds. [...]

I actually studied the tapes of and tried to contact most of the winners from 1990-2000. I was surprised at how accessible they were, and how open they were with their insights. (I did not contact them until I had won my Regional and was going to the World Championship.) Mark Brown, 1995 WCPS, said [...]

Yes, I had two designated coaches, and a lot of “unofficial” coaches. My first coach was Dave McIlhenny, a Past District Governor and District speech contest winner. I wanted help from someone who had won before. When you want to learn something, who do you go to for help? Dave guided me through the District [...]

Yes, and no. It was not the winning alone that made me a professional speaker. Although I continued to work at Bose, I had been building my speaking career since 1994. Every year I planned to quit Bose “in January.” And each January led to the next. Then one day a fellow employee, Brad Creamer, [...]

I laugh when I hear that people think World Champions get prize money. There was prize money (not that much) several years ago, but not any longer. And I think the decision to stop was a good one. There is quite enough tension already without the added pressure of prize money. I believe the contest [...]

Let’s define “practice.” I believe you cannot “practice” by yourself. You can only “memorize” when you are alone. We present differently when someone is watching. I practiced my speech twenty-two times (including once at a prison club). A CEO I now coach recently told me that the best thing I’d taught him was that creating [...]

For each of the top three levels of the contest you must have a different speech. There are judges who have outlines of your previous speeches to ensure that you are not using prior material. Many serious competitors work on all three speeches from the start. But I prefer to focus on one speech at [...]