Inspired by the speakers of 2015 - Division Conference
I still remember, in 2015 when I joined a corporate Toastmasters Club, I directly happened to attend the "Humorous Speech - Division Conference" held at Bharat Engineering College - Selayur. I had no clue about Toastmasters back then. When the humorous speech contest started, I could not stop myself from being inspired by each and every humorous speaker who represented different areas. They were the speakers who had qualified in the club contest and then at the area level and they had reached the Division. They were all from different professional backgrounds but they all had that common passion for public speaking and an extreme sense of humor and wit. The contest came to an end very late in the night. As I was traveling back, the silly thought of me qualifying to be a "division-level humorous contestant", kept coming to my mind. I knew it was too much to expect from myself. I was neither a public speaker nor that humorous girl who makes everyone around, 'laugh out loud'.
Avoided Humorous Speaking
I joined a community Toastmasters club (MTC) in 2016. Slowly my Sunday morning calendar slots were permanently filled with Toastmasters meetings. I went regularly and took up roles, and speeches and tried everything from taking up a tally counter role to being a contest chair. But whenever my silly thought of becoming a humorous speaker popped up, I would tell myself - "First become a good public speaker, then dream of 'humorous speaking' (which is considered to be the toughest style)."
Failure and Plan of Action
When I gained some confidence and participated for the first time, I failed miserably in the club level. What is the worst thing that can happen to a public speaker? Forgetting the script? No, that can be managed. Bombing in a humorous speech is worse. Imagine, you say something very funny (at least you think so) and the crowd stares at you thinking that the funny part is yet to come :)
People around me kept telling me that humor is something that cannot be developed. "It should be in-born, natural, and should run in your blood. You cannot hard work and become a humorous speaker." The more I failed, the more I wanted to learn the genre. I truly believed that any skill can be developed with consistent practice, hard work, and determination. Humor cannot be an exception. I started doing a few things:-
1. I kept including humor in all my speeches.
2. Every day, I started making a note of funny incidents that made me and others 'laugh out loud'. It became my source of original jokes for reference during speeches.
3. I started watching a lot of humorous movies, and standup comedy shows, and reading books in that genre. I paid close attention to each and every word uttered by the actors, their body language, and the impact it created on the audience.
4. I wrote and rewrote my speeches several times until I was satisfied that each and everyone in the crowd would relate to the humor and laugh.
5. I recorded my speech and watched it several times. I paid attention to my body language and the impact it would create on the audience. I kept making changes until I was fully satisfied. I became a strict critic of myself and would never approve until I reached an extreme level of satisfaction.
6. I played the video to all my family members and sincerely took their feedback.
2020 and 2021 - humorous Speech Contests
My diary was filled with resources for my "humorous speech contest". My world was in and around my kids. So obviously my speech was about the toil I underwent with a 2-year-old and a software career. I managed to reach the Area level in 2020. In 2021, I was bored of always showing myself as a mother in speeches. I decided to show the funny experiences I have had in my career, especially as a developer and later as a tester and then as a manager. I brought in a few similarities that I realized with software development and cooking. This speech made my silly dream come true. I was one of the Division contestants for the Humorous Speech Contest - 2021.
Aspire to Inspire
Why am I writing all this now? Some of the new colleagues in my club and people around me think that humor runs in my blood and I am a born humorist and public speaker. I wanted to shout out loud and say to all the aspirants that any skill can be mastered if the desire is extremely strong. I was an introvert, who felt dreadful to come to the stage and utter a word, not long ago. Dreams do come true, even if they are silly, provided we have a plan of action and stay focused and determined until we reach our goal. Remember, every failure is a learning. And there is always scope for learning and improvement and the belief that we have not mastered the skill yet, will take us to the next level of excellence.
Comments