Helpful Hints for the

10 Toastmasters Basic Communication

and Leadership Program Projects

#	Project Title	Time (minutes)	Summary Objectives	Hints
1	The Ice Breaker	4-6	Introduce yourself to the Club.	Prepare three 1.5 to 2-minute speeches on your past, present and future. With all connected, you end up with a 4.5 to 6-minute speech. Perfect!!!
2	Organize Your Speech	5-7	Give a speech that is organized.	Give a speech that has an opening, body and close…i.e. Tell them what you are going to say, say it and tell them what you have said.
3	Get to the Point	5-7	Organize a speech that has general and specific purposes.	Ensure that the beginning, body, and conclusion all tie into and reinforce the purpose of your speech. Try it without notes.
4	How to Say It	5-7	Select precisely the right words; avoid jargon and lengthy words.	After you have written your speech, use a thesaurus to pick better words to express your thoughts. If, by now, you are having trouble coming up with speech topics, use a newspaper article to build a speech around. Be sure to use an article on a subject that interests you.
5	Your Body Speaks	5-7	Use gestures and body language in a speech.	Pretend that you are an Italian taxi cab driver giving a speech on “How to Communicate with Your Fellow Drivers”. In other words, use your face, your hands, your legs – your body to communicate your message.
6	Vocal Variety	5-7	Explore the use of voice, volume, pitch and rate.	Tell a children’s story using both loud and soft voices, high-pitched and low-pitched voices, and with part of the speech spoken rapidly and other parts more slowly.
7	Research Your Topic	5-7	Collect information about your topic from various sources.	Start with what you already know, any available literature you have on hand, and then search the Web. Organize what you have then fill in the gaps with specific facts, examples and illustrations.
8	Get Comfortable with Visual Aids	5-7	Learn the value of props.	Pick a topic that lends itself to props and build a speech around it. e.g. “How to Make the Best Pizza East of Chicago” or “How to Play a Good Game of Basketball”
9	Persuade with Power	5-7	Win the audience to your point of view.	Pick a topic you feel strongly about and one that the audience may not agree with. Then build your case.
10	Inspire Your Audience	8-10	Use emotions to really inspire your audience.	Get a copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul (any of the several editions). These books have many great inspirational stories that you can build a speech around. After your speech, there won’t be a dry eye in the room!! Then congratulate yourself. You’ve just completed all the assignments for your CTM!!! Fantastic!!!