What you Can learn From travelling online to online speech contests

What I learned from watching five sets of contests over the past two days:

Visual is very important.

Magic and memorable words are important. Your humorous or serious speech needs a symbol. Watch the international winners. Which ones do you remember?

VISUAL Prop

I recall

1 the speech with the man taking off the ski jacket to show his slimmer inner self,

2 the speech about suicde and kind words which starts with a cigarette,

3 and Singapore winners Darran Tay on bullying by others and your innder self - he was wearing his white pants (Americans say underpants) over dark trousers (Americans say pants) and 4 Wiwiek with her bowl of food about visitng the elederly and not procrastinating until it is too late.

CATCHY TITLE

I have heard dozens of speeches on facing fears. I remember one book, Feel the Fear and do it anyway. Alliterative. Simple.

YOUR NAME
Mention your name and tell people how to remember it and find you on the net.

HUMOUR

A humorous speech needs four things.

A silly situation.

A visual

contrasting chrters in conversation

Surprises

A joke every minute - seven in a seven minutes speech.

If you don't have seven jokes you are not funnier or somebody else will be funnier than you are.

Call to action
End with a call to action.

What is my call to action?

Find an online club and learn. Form an online meeting. Facetime your friends. Learn about Google hangouts, and zoom. Educate the elderly.

Useful Websites
Toastmasters International Find A Club

About the Author

Angela Lansbury, not related to the actress, is a travel writer and photographer (semi-retired and travelling online during Corona crisis); speaker, speech trainer, teacher of English and other languages, Englsih language contest judge.