Toastmasters and Speaking Circles®:
Two complementary but very different approaches
to public speaking
by
Carla Kimball
©2004, Carla Kimball
All rights reserved.
My approach to public speaking blends together a comprehensive set of stress management tools with a specific public speaking methodology, developed by Lee Glickstein of Speaking Circles International, called Speaking Circles®. I've had a number of people attend my Speaking Circles who are also members of Toastmasters (a nationwide program of public speaking clubs). Because people often ask me what are the differences between the two, I decided to do a systematic analysis and comparison of these very different approaches to public speaking.
With this in mind, I consulted with a number of people who have experienced both modalities. I want to especially thank a colleague of mine, Carolyn Kingston, who has attended a number of Speaking Circles and holds the office of Sergeant at Arms with the Lexington Toastmasters Club. Her input and perspective on Toastmasters were invaluable in my preparation of this comparison.
What stands out most from my conversations is that, while Toastmaster and Speaking Circles are both highly disciplined with very specific formats and structures, what happens within each is very different. In Toastmasters, the purpose is to develop competence and professionalism. In Speaking Circles, we develop “public speaking from the inside out.” The primary purpose in Speaking Circles is to help people develop a sense of confidence, ease and presence; and a natural outcome of this is that we become more authentic and competent speakers. Below are some specific examples of how these two very distinct approaches accomplish their purpose.
Polish
and Unpolishing
In Toastmasters you polish your skills as a speaker. In Speaking
Circles you discover that the most compelling thing a speaker can
do is to just be themselves and often this involves an unpolishing of
patterns, habits, and performance techniques. You learn to be comfortable,
relaxed and at ease just being yourself in front of a group.
Preparation: Being vs. Doing
In Toastmasters you get multiple opportunities to plan, organize, prepare
and deliver talks with specific objectives. Guidelines are provided for
each presentation to assist you in this process. In Speaking
Circles there is no preparation. In fact, you get the most out
of the experience if you resist the urge to plan and prepare. Instead,
you learn to respond to the immediacy of what's happening in the moment.
Silence is encouraged as you learn to “listen” to yourself
and your audience. We begin to think of a speech as a conversation rather
than a presentation.
Giving and Receiving
In Toastmasters you learn how to engage the audience through preparing,
practicing and delivering effective, attention-getting speeches. In Speaking
Circles you learn how to receive the audience; to connect and be
with each person in the audience; to read and respond to what is happening
in the room; and in the process, the audience becomes very engaged.
Flexibility and Balance
In Toastmasters you learn flexibility and gain the ability to think on
your feet through an exercise called Table Topics – participants
are chosen randomly to do an impromptu speech for 1-2 minutes on a given
topic. In Speaking Circles flexibility and balance
come from learning to trust yourself and to be comfortable being yourself
in front of an audience. Speaking Circles cultivate letting go
of the need for perfection, of doing it just right. The primary goal of
a Speaking Circle is to cultivate a sense of safety so that you
can experiment, play and try out new ways of being in front of an audience.
Feedback
In Toastmasters you receive supportive feedback in the form of a speech
evaluation - which includes what you did well and ways you can improve
both on your presentation style and your material. In Speaking
Circles the feedback does not relate to what you have to say but,
instead, focuses on the essence of who you are. It is positive and emphasizes
your strengths. The feedback serves to transform the very strong inner
self-critic that is so quick to find fault into a gentle, loving appreciation
of who we are and how we present.
In Toastmasters...
Club members take turns serving in roles such as Toastmaster, Speech Evaluator,
General Evaluator, Table Topics Master, Grammarian, Timer, etc.
In Speaking Circles...
There's a trained facilitator to hold the space. Speaking turns are videotaped
for viewing privately at home with very specific instructions on how to
view yourself with compassion and no judgment. Participants get at least
two opportunities to speak in front of the group at every meeting.
To learn more about Toastmasters you can visit their website at http://www.toastmasters.org.
RiverWays Enterprises offers a number of different public speaking programs that incorporate Speaking Circles as the an essential tool for becoming a more relaxed, confident and authentic speaker. Visit www.riverways.com to learn more about our programs and services.
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Carla Kimball, M.A., M.B.A. is a speaking presence coach, workshop facilitator and president of RiverWays Enterprises. Over the past 18years she has presented and coached on a diverse set of business, stress management and communication topics to thousands of business and service professionals. Client companies include leading financial management, health care, and accounting firms.
Carla offers a selection of regular public speaking presence and presentation skills programs and coaching services for individuals as well as for corporate groups. Carla works from inside-out and helps people become more confident speakers while establishing a strong relationship with their audience.
Carla is a prolific writer on public speaking topics and currently offers a 26 week subscription to The ABCs of Presence in Speaking, Leading, and Life!, a newsletter which presents one article and exercise a week organized alphabetically with a unique perspective on public speaking issues. She has also recorded a 45 minute DVD on The Seven Crown Jewels of Public Speaking Presence. And, she has distilled her approach to public speaking presence into a workbook/audio set entitled the SpeakingPresencesm Toolkit.
Carla is based in Cambridge, MA.
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Speaking Circles are a registered trademark of Lee Glickstein and Speaking Circles International.
(You may freely copy and distribute this article as long as you keep the content intact and unchanged including title, author, copyright notice, text, author biography, contact information — (www.riverways.com — and this entire notice. )
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