Step out of your "comfort zone"

Many of us live the majority of our lives in something known as our “comfort zone”.  We tend to do things that are very familiar and don’t require much extra effort. It’s like how water always travels the path of least resistance. 

This is natural, but it’s also beneficial to “step out” of our “comfort zone” from time to time. Doing so helps us gain knowledge and at the same time, build confidence. This is also true as a member of a Toastmasters club. 

During regular meetings, members give presentations on projects taken from various manuals. After every presentation, the speaker receives an evaluation from a fellow member. The evaluation highlights the good pieces of the speech and also provides examples of areas for improvement. This valuable information provided during the evaluation validates the good habits of the presenter and identifies items to improve upon.

Although a member’s first few speeches can prove challenging, members become much more comfortable as they continue presenting speech projects. They naturally become more confident and speeches can eventually become part of their “comfort zone”. 

Twice a year, clubs hold speech contests. They are speech competitions that allow members to “step out” of their “comfort zone” in a friendly, but competitive environment. Member speeches are judged with awards given for 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place. The competition’s 1^st place winners move onto the Area contest where they compete against the 1^st place winners from other clubs.  

Challenge yourself to become your very best

These contests allow members the opportunity to challenge themselves by creating a presentation that may win at the club and possibly the area level.

At Cedar Hill Toastmasters, we held our fall speech contest on Thursday, September 21^st. Several great speeches were presented. Congratulations to all our contestants!

Our regular meetings will resume on Thursday, October 5^th.

We hope to see you there!

Paul Horvath

Cedar Hill Toastmasters Club

2017-2018 Vice President Membership