Should every speech be a manual speech?
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This entry may seem alien for those who aren't Toastmasters members. The TM program, while self paced, is still very structured. You can not earn awards without completing certain tasks. Most of those tasks are manuals of speeches.
I first heard the line "every speech should be a manual speech" when I first ventured into district leadership about 3 years ago. Before then it would have never occurred to me that I should not be speaking from manual. I assumed that anyone in the organization would continue to work on developing their speaking skills. Obviously it was a ideal, but incorrect assumption. For one year I assumed this line meant that you should be seeking feedback from every opportunity you have to speak within the organization (and maybe outside the organization if someone is there to give you an evaluation). I assumed that those people who handed me their CC evaluations would take my comments as seriously as I took the feedback I was given. I quickly learned that I was not totally correct.
I pose the question: should every speech be a manual speech?
There are two sides to this: getting feedback and cheating your way through the DCP requirements. Hear my arguments for both sides and then you tell me.
1: Yes, it's an important way to continue developing your speaking skills
I am VP of Education for my club and this gives me a speaking spot at each meeting to give an educational tip. These tips run about the length of a 5-7 minute speech. I have set a goal of learning to be a better mentor and giving these tips helps me do that. I rely on feedback from these speeches to develop my skills. I use the CC manual to provide me with feedback and I do my best to actually fit my tip to the lesson of the speech. There is no manual to help me speak as a mentor so I make do with what I have. If I am at a business meeting for the district I also like to receive feedback on my speaking. I can only improve with feedback and the manuals provide me with feedback for specific objectives. It may be a simple CC speech, but you never know which evaluator is going to hit the nail on the head for something you didn't know about yourself as a speaker. It is important that we see every speech we give as an opportunity to get feedback and grow as communicators. The manuals help focus those evaluations.
2: No, making every speech a manual speech is just another way to cheat the DCP requirements
When I first heard about every speech being a manual speech, I as also told that we should stick to the CC awards and turn them in as we finished the manual. This was also followed by someone throwing a photocopied evaluation into my hands with instructions to just fill it out. I wanted to talk with said speaker about the speech, but I never got the chance. The evaluation was taken out of my hands and the speaker rushed out of the room like I was a leper. This idea of every speech being a manual speech is just another way for the district to cheat their way to distinguished status. It ensures they will reach the goals of how many CC awards they have. They do not take the evaluations seriously and it does nothing to improve their communication skills. How do I know this? You would too if you had been to one of our district TLIs and listened to some of the leaders speak. They clearly take nothing away from any of these manual evaluations.
Now it's your turn. What points did I miss? What rebuttals do you have for my arguments? What is your final verdict? Should every speech be a manual speech?
I first heard the line "every speech should be a manual speech" when I first ventured into district leadership about 3 years ago. Before then it would have never occurred to me that I should not be speaking from manual. I assumed that anyone in the organization would continue to work on developing their speaking skills. Obviously it was a ideal, but incorrect assumption. For one year I assumed this line meant that you should be seeking feedback from every opportunity you have to speak within the organization (and maybe outside the organization if someone is there to give you an evaluation). I assumed that those people who handed me their CC evaluations would take my comments as seriously as I took the feedback I was given. I quickly learned that I was not totally correct.
I pose the question: should every speech be a manual speech?
There are two sides to this: getting feedback and cheating your way through the DCP requirements. Hear my arguments for both sides and then you tell me.
1: Yes, it's an important way to continue developing your speaking skills
I am VP of Education for my club and this gives me a speaking spot at each meeting to give an educational tip. These tips run about the length of a 5-7 minute speech. I have set a goal of learning to be a better mentor and giving these tips helps me do that. I rely on feedback from these speeches to develop my skills. I use the CC manual to provide me with feedback and I do my best to actually fit my tip to the lesson of the speech. There is no manual to help me speak as a mentor so I make do with what I have. If I am at a business meeting for the district I also like to receive feedback on my speaking. I can only improve with feedback and the manuals provide me with feedback for specific objectives. It may be a simple CC speech, but you never know which evaluator is going to hit the nail on the head for something you didn't know about yourself as a speaker. It is important that we see every speech we give as an opportunity to get feedback and grow as communicators. The manuals help focus those evaluations.
2: No, making every speech a manual speech is just another way to cheat the DCP requirements
When I first heard about every speech being a manual speech, I as also told that we should stick to the CC awards and turn them in as we finished the manual. This was also followed by someone throwing a photocopied evaluation into my hands with instructions to just fill it out. I wanted to talk with said speaker about the speech, but I never got the chance. The evaluation was taken out of my hands and the speaker rushed out of the room like I was a leper. This idea of every speech being a manual speech is just another way for the district to cheat their way to distinguished status. It ensures they will reach the goals of how many CC awards they have. They do not take the evaluations seriously and it does nothing to improve their communication skills. How do I know this? You would too if you had been to one of our district TLIs and listened to some of the leaders speak. They clearly take nothing away from any of these manual evaluations.
Now it's your turn. What points did I miss? What rebuttals do you have for my arguments? What is your final verdict? Should every speech be a manual speech?
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