Humorous speeches to me are a bugaboo. I've had two washouts - one before I gave my icebreaker which can be put down to inexperience, and one after I had received the title of Competent Communicator last year. The second time, I was ready to leave Toastmasters, or forever give up my dream of making the audience laugh.
But as this year's contest announcement came, I had an idea - make a few hilarious incidents in my life into a speech. I typed up the script and I started to practice. But there was a BIG problem. The script required me to step completely out of my boundaries, my serious self, let go of all my inhibitions. It wasn't a step out of my comfort zone that was required, it was a launch from the Earth to the Moon. I did not know whether I could!
Then came one of the most surreal experiences in my life. My next project (ACS 3) is a story with a moral and I've been struggling to find one that is suitable for a grown up audience. A week before the contest, I was about to drift off to sleep when a speech just came to me, fully written. I felt like I was reading through a written script - I knew when to use voice modulation, what gestures to use, where to stand and when to use emphasis, all in an instant. The speech was based on Tennyson's "Lady of Shalott" written in 1842. A poem I loved, but the speech had a moral that I had not thought of or read anywhere else. I typed it out as it came to me. 790 words. I checked the manual. 5-7 minute time limit. It was perfect. My subconscious had presented me with a fully drafted and timed speech.
But as this year's contest announcement came, I had an idea - make a few hilarious incidents in my life into a speech. I typed up the script and I started to practice. But there was a BIG problem. The script required me to step completely out of my boundaries, my serious self, let go of all my inhibitions. It wasn't a step out of my comfort zone that was required, it was a launch from the Earth to the Moon. I did not know whether I could!
Then came one of the most surreal experiences in my life. My next project (ACS 3) is a story with a moral and I've been struggling to find one that is suitable for a grown up audience. A week before the contest, I was about to drift off to sleep when a speech just came to me, fully written. I felt like I was reading through a written script - I knew when to use voice modulation, what gestures to use, where to stand and when to use emphasis, all in an instant. The speech was based on Tennyson's "Lady of Shalott" written in 1842. A poem I loved, but the speech had a moral that I had not thought of or read anywhere else. I typed it out as it came to me. 790 words. I checked the manual. 5-7 minute time limit. It was perfect. My subconscious had presented me with a fully drafted and timed speech.
The speech is about a lady who sits in a stone tower, weaving a magic web because she is cursed. A voice has whispered to her that if she looks upon the towers of Camelot, "a curse will befall her." For years and years, she sits, watching the world go by in a crystal mirror. Finally one day, on seeing Sir Lancelot as a flash in her mirror, she leaves her weaving and looks out. She sees Camelot, her web floats out, her mirror breaks. She leaves the tower in a boat. She sings a sad song as the boat moves towards Camelot and dies before she reaches Sir Lancelot.
The moral of the story, according to the speech that popped up in my head - she did not know what the curse is. She spent her whole life locked in a tower because of her fear. The fear of the unknown was so overwhelming that she did not let go even when she left the tower. Ultimately, she died without ever having seen anything but shadows. So, dear Toastmasters, do not let whispered curses rule your life. Do not be satisfied with shadows. Step outside that fortress, leave your comfort zone. Seize opportunities!! That was my conclusion. But before I could deliver this speech, I had to face the humorous speech contest.
On the day of the contest, my hands shook and mouth ran dry when I wrote down the title of the script. I was standing outside the room most of the time. I was not this nervous for my icebreaker - I had not been this nervous since my schooldays. I was ready to pull out from the contest till the moment my name was announced. It was so far beyond what I was comfortable doing, that my knees shook and hands shivered when I took the stage. The room was suffocating and I was hyperventilating when I finally shook hands with the contest chair, and I ran right out of the room. Only when I left the room and my heart slowed down did I realise, I had made an audience laugh!
My objective on taking the stage was to get through the speech with a few laughs. I ended up winning the contest.
My objective on taking the stage was to get through the speech with a few laughs. I ended up winning the contest.
When I came back home, when I opened up the "Lady of Shalott" script after dinner, I finally knew where the script had come from.My subconscious mind wanted me to leave my comfort zone. An ordinary subconscious gives you dreams that tell you what to do. A Toastmaster's subconscious? It gives a seven-minute speech!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment