Angela Lansbury Speeches and Making Speeches

Zoom is the leader but not the only host. Because it is the most popular, it is worth your while doing a regular practice. If you are doing nothing else, set up a one to one meeting with a colleague or family member in the next room. 

Checking Lighting

Practise on both your laptop and mobile, or both your laptop and big computer screen. See which shows your face to best advantage. 

Check your background.  Clear clutter. You might wish to remove bottles of alcohol, including empty ones, even ones used as table lamps, in a Moslem country, especially if touting for business and networking. You don't want them looking at another speaker's table topic and yours, thinking both are equally good, then voting for the other person, without even realizing why they felt more at ease. y

You might feel the same about your statue of Madonna, or your hanukiah.

Alternatively, if the theme is a Moslem festival, Christmas or Easter, Diwali, Hanukah, you might want to festoon your room with symbols and add a backdrop, taking unless it is the theme (Unless you want to make a point and festoon your room with overt or subtle religious, political and national symbols.) 

Lots of business used 

Checking Sound

Check sound quality. I am often asked to stand up to deliver a speech. Or I hear other speakers being told to challenge themselves, stand up.

If you are relying on your laptop microphone or a headpiece microphone this limits your movement away from the screen. Alternatives are to invest in a separate camera, free standing microphone. As we are faced with more and more work and leisure time online, the cost of these accessories becomes less of a luxury, more of a necessity, less of a flash in the pan, more of a regular requirement, less of a dream, more of a need.

Particular clubs have specific people assigned to let you in, so it is worthwhile contacting them in advance so they are familiar with your name. otherwise, they will wait for a brak in proceedings and ask, 'Does anybody know ... (name)?'

The club secretary might say, "Yes, he's from such and such a club/organization, and he phoned me last week. Let him in."

At a meeting of Braddell Heights Advanced, the President said, "Nobody knows this person. I am not letting them in. It is too great a risk. We don't want our meeting disrupted. If they really want to come along, they can contact a member, who will call a committee member, we can verify who they are and why they want to join, and join the next meeting. I'm blocking them so they don't keep distracting me."

At Singapore online the two hosts are usually Willi, founder of the club, and Alicia, VPE, and they may pass one of the hosting functions to the Toastmasters of the day. While the president is giving the opening address they are too busy to let you in.

So, plan in advance.

The other thing to watch is the timing. Whatever the time is in the country of the meeting, I have found that that time is embedded in my brain, either from previous meeting I have attended whilst in that country, or because I get repeated reminders giving that time. I have attended up to 21 meetings a week (yes, three a days and I nearly always remember to check the time, in both the host country, and where I am currently. I also write down the ID and password.

About the author

Angela Lansbury is vice president public relations (for short, VP PR) of Braddell Heights Advanced club. To contact any club, go to toastmasters international find a club. Note that it had ORG in the link.

# posted by Angela Lansbury Author @ 2:11 AM