All Fired Up With Nowhere to Go

I was all set for my first competition in the Toastmaster International Speech cycle. I had written my speech over several months, and trusted friends and fellow speakers reviewed it. They all made suggestions that helped, and I revised the speech. I practiced in front of another club, and I videotaped that performance. My friends attended and gave me valuable feedback. I practiced the words and added blocking (i.e., planned movement on the stage). Last night was to be my big night.


However, it snowed here in the Philadelphia area, and my meeting was postponed hours before I was to give the speech. I was so upset that I didn't speak to my poor, innocent wife for an hour after I got home. The reason was that I was stoked! I was ready! I was fired up! But I had nowhere to expend the testosterone that would have normally gone into the speech.
During the runthroughs, my friends gave me the feedback that I needed more energy, more drama. I knew the reason this was lacking... I was not totally familiar with the speech yet. But by rewriting the speech to improve it, giving myself extra practice to learn it, and take time to energize it, I felt that it was ready.

Now my contest is postponed for two weeks. But this was still a valuable lesson, because it reminded me of the importance of getting yourself up for a speech. The primary elections are teaching us a lot about momentum, and we speakers need it, too. I have also learned this from some of the Toastmaster World Champions. When I met Ed Tate, he advised me that at some point you need to "freeze the design" - stop working on the speech and work on your delivery to give your speech, not someone else's version of it. Also, when he competed, Ed did not stay in the room while his competitors spoke. Instead, he stayed outside, concentrating on his own performance.

Champion Darren LaCroix has used music on his headphones to keep him pumped while waiting in the wings. His playlist has included classic arena rock and the all-time anthem to victory, the theme from "Rocky."

The disappointment has dissipated, and my wife forgave me, as she has over the course of 29 years. But I am reminded that I need that energy when my contests go on. But please, dear God, don't let it snow again. While my speech will be better for it, I don't think my marriage or my blood pressure can survive it.