Best speaker Magazine Issue 2 - December 2017 | Page 36

WORLD CHAMPIONS
A LONG JOURNEY OF
SHARING AND CONNECTING
BY JOCK ELLIOT
THE 2011 WORLD PUBLIC SPEAKING CHAMPION TAKES YOU THROUGH HIS JOURNEY
TOWARDS WINNING THE TITLE AND ALL THE CHALLENGES HE FACED IN LIFE.
I
competed every year in the Toastmasters
International Speech Contest for about 33
years. Sometimes I was beaten at Club level
or Area, Division or District. In fact it was fourteen
years after I joined Toastmasters that I first won at the
District level.
So, why did I continue to compete for another
20 years? Well, I wanted to win. I hate losing and
I enjoyed the whole process, even though some
defeats were very bitter and disheartening. But they
say that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
and I certainly have more experience than anyone,
being a world record six times finalist in the World
Championship of Public Speaking.
The question then is what was I doing right and of
course, what was I doing wrong?
What I was doing right was writing good,
sometimes very good speeches. What I was doing
wrong was fourfold. Sometimes I wrote ordinary
speeches. Usually the speaker who won was
outstanding and I, and others, was simply beaten
on the day. I did not have the big stage show that
is so characteristic of American performances and
expectations. Finally and most importantly, my
focus was on my audience rather than on the judges.
What do I mean by that? Of course, the audience
is important but the audience doesn’t vote. But, I
hear you say, the judges are part of the audience.
However, I have come to believe that the audience
and the judges receive a speech in different ways.
The audience enjoys (hopefully) the journey but
the judges are trying to fit your speech into or against
the criteria on the judging form. Now, I always paid
close attention to the judging criteria and I believe
addressed each one adequately. But the judges need,
in my opinion, landmarks in your speech. In other
words, once they have established what your point is,
they need to be able to assess each criterion against
that, without having to puzzle over it. Remember,
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BEST SPEAKER MAGAZINE 2017