Colorado
Orators' Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What is the Colorado
Orators League?
A. Colorado Orators is the local Agilent chapter of Toastmasters
International, an organization started in the 1930s and dedicated to helping
people develop and improve their public speaking skills.
Q. Why would I want to improve my public speaking skills?
A. The ability to speak in public is a critical component to being a
leader in any field. All good managers and leaders have the ability to
communicate with confidence to groups of people or one-on-one. In addition,
people have found that becoming comfortable with speaking to a group makes
their day-to-day interactions much more effective and pleasureable, even if
they aren't required to speak in public.
Q. How will Toastmasters help improve my speaking skills?
A. Through practice. The meetings are designed so that everyone gets to
speak during each meeting. Over time, your apprehensions about public
speaking diminish, and your confidence increases. The value of Toastmasters
is that you get to practice in front of a group that won't criticize you,
even if you're really bad (I know that from experience). Improvement is
dramatic with a consistent weekly effort.
Q. What kind of talks are given? What kind of
speaking will I do?
A. Every meeting has a several roles that are filled by members. Each one
of these roles has some speaking involved - basically giving a short report.
Also, each meeting has one or more prepared speech, along with an evaluator
for each prepared speaker. Finally, during table topics most remaining
attendees are asked to give an impromptu talk for two minutes on a given
topic. Impromtu speaking on a topic can be scary, but it's a valuable
learning tool. Topics range from technical subjects to humorous; all subjects
are fair game.
The Toastmasters workbook guides you through ten basic speeches. Each one
concentrates on a particular aspect of speaking, such as using voice,
gestures, or organization in your speech. The topic for each of your speeches
is entirely up to you. Subjects that interest you strongly make good
speeches.
Q. What kinds of people are in the club? Is it just a bunch of managers
standing around talking about golf?
A. Actually, the group is very diverse. It includes people from Agilent,
including retired employees and contractors, as well as non-Agilent people.
The only common attribute among members is a desire to improve public
speaking, and even then the reasons for doing so are different for everybody.
Some would like to advance in a career that requires speaking ability, others
seem to enjoy speaking, and some just like to improve themselves.
Q. How do I get involved?
A. The first step is to visit a meeting, held every Thursday morning at
7:15 to 8:15am in the "trees" rooms. You can see the group in
action, and see for yourself how it works. You may visit as many meetings as
you like with no obligation.
Q. Will I be asked to speak if I visit a meeting?
A. Guests are asked at the beginning of the meeting if they would like to
participate in the meeting's table-topics session, but there is no pressure
to participate.
Q. Can I join without being an Agilent employee?
A. While most members are obviously Agilent employees, anyone is welcome
to visit and join the club. Just show up in Lobby C at about 7:00am; one person escorts anyone without Agilent access
(guests and members) to and from the meeting.
Q. Without criticism, how can I improve? Don't I need feedback?
A. Every prepared speech you give will be evaluated by an evaluator, who
makes verbal and written suggestions for improvement, and comments about your
speech abilities. You may also ask other members for their feedback.
Prepared by Blake Leverett
|
