Off the cuff

I joined Toastmasters a couple of years ago to develop my speaking ability and confidence. I learned I have a knack for speaking "off-the-cuff." Surprising, because I have always had the worst time with improvisation. As an actor I felt the most comfortable and gave the strongest performances when I had a script and had prepared and rehearsed thoroughly. I had always preferred to deliver someone else's words to an audience "out there" beyond the apron of the stage. The larger audience the better - my nerves only get me when I am one-on-one.
Now in Toastmasters I am frequently called upon to improvise speeches on topics given on the spot. I should be terrified but instead I embrace the challenge. I take the topic – the little seed that I am given - and find a connection with my audience one by one. It is more intimate than I expected public speaking to be and much more so than even those performances at the tiny "Armory Free Theatre" in college. I find I have to work harder to bring my prepared speeches to the level of these extemporaneous speeches.
Now to be fair, the bar is necessarily set a little lower for "Table Topics" speeches, as they are called in the club. What I take away from this though is that I can be comfortable speaking on any topic.

And someday maybe I will stop being amazed at all the things we can do if we would get out of our heads and just go do them.

My local club: Toastmasters Plus
Toastmasters International

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