Cheers to getting confident!

Lately I have started to speculate that there is a gene for being a bad public speaker and that it runs in my family (yip, that's right, I blame everything on genetics). About a month ago my sisters decided to do something about this and started going to toastmasters in Dunedin. Funnily enough, I am not the world's number 1 speech giver - more one of those blushing, shaky, stuttering types. Therefore I decided to go to toastmasters too...

Turns out that it is AWESOME (well I haven't done a speech yet but still AWESOME)!! The group I visited was in a old church hall and had some of the nicest people, most of them being substantially older than me. From the moment I arrived I felt like I was in a movie, one of those english-y feel good movies with an eclectic group of people who all pull together in a moment of crisis (but for the most part provide hilarious entertainment through their crazy shenanigans).

I also learned a few tips about public speaking as you can also learn from Rustboy below...






















Fig 1. What a toastmasters member could look like although doesn't have to look like (everyone is welcome).

















Fig 2. Rust boy demonstrating the importance of using your eyes as well as your arms to gesture. In this photo you can see Rustboy displaying the proper body language for "wide". When talking about wide things, arms should be stretched out and eyes should be really open (kind of like what they would look like if you were surprised).

















Fig 3. Rustboy again demonstrating the importance of using your eyes as well as your arms to gesture. In this photo Rustboy should be displaying the correct body language to use for "narrow". When talking about narrow things, arms should be brought in close to the body and eyes should be really squinty (kind of like the eyes a cat makes when they are happy). Unfortunately this is more difficult body language for Rustboy to show because his arms can't come in very far and he cannot close his eyes. However let's commend Rustboy for trying: Good job Rustboy!

Ps. Leigh sent me this link, go to it!