A Note to the Losers in the 2015 World Championship of Public Speaking

Yeah, congratulations and all to 2015 World Champion Mohammed Qahtani. I was watching here in my office in Colorado as you literally smoked the competition.

But this post is for the rest of you. The losers. That's all 95 of the rest of you - because everyone knows taking 2nd just means you're the first loser, right?

In case you don't know, I know how it feels. I've lost all 12 times I've entered the International Contest. I've lost at club. I've gotten lost going to Area, and not showed up. I've lost at Division, 5 times (three of those, I was lucky enough to go to District, anyway). Lost at District this year, for the first time - because I went OVERTIME. Lost at the semi-finals 6 times. Lost at the Finals, twice. The highest I've ever made it? 3rd Place.

And let's not even talk about all the losses in Table Topics, Evaluation, Humorous and Tall Tales. Because, frankly, I just don't like to think about them.

So I'm a loser too. Just like YOU.

And I know how you feel. Especially when people come up and say wonderful things like:

'You gave a great speech'
'I had you placed in the top three'
'I thought you should have won'
'If you had drawn a better speaking order....'
'The winner just had a lot of support in the audience'
'I just don't understand the judges'
'Your message meant so much to me'
my personal favorite, from 2006, when I took third in the Finals 'You finished right where I picked you!'
and, finally, one I use myself 'You're a winner anyway!'

(Editor's note: One I can't identify with, but sympathize with is: 'Toastmaster judges are just biased against women'. But let's save that for another day.)

We hear that. We nod. We smile. We say thanks. And we even try to believe it. But for awhile at least, most of us are seething just a little bit inside. Wondering what we did wrong. Thinking about what we aren't going to get to do. Questioning the judging, our writing and delivery, our coaches, and perhaps even whether or not this whole competition thing, or even Toastmasters thing, is even worth it anyway!

OK - I get it.

Time to SNAP OUT OF IT.

First - Let's face it - you gave a great speech. ALL of you did. And yet, only 10 were going to win the semi's, and only one was going to win it all, no matter what. If you reshuffle the semi's, you'd have different winners in many instances. Heck, if you pit all 10 finalists against each other in a semi - well then you'd have a whole different contest on Saturday. I bet even if you had all the Finalists compete in front of a different set of judges, you'd have a different outcome.

The contest is about finding a CONTEST WINNER even more than it is about finding the best speaker in Toastmasters. Luck of the draw & luck of the day both play strongly into the outcomes. Even those champs that say great things like 'I already knew I was going to win because of the work I put in' or even 'Make the only question be whose in 2nd place' could have fallen to different fates if things had fallen slightly different.

And yes, I'm fully aware of the maxim 'The harder I work the luckier I get'. I'm in favor of both hard work AND luck.

Second - You just finished in the TOP 96 speakers in all of Toastmasters. Out of about 30,000 competitors. That's the top 1/3 of 1 percent. Some of you finished in the Top 30, 20, 10 and 3. That's pretty doggone impressive, isn't it? For some of you, it wasn't even your FIRST time!

You just spoke to audiences of several hundred (or a couple thousand) people on a great stage (or two), with full mics, lights, and cameras. A far cry from your TM meeting back home, I bet. You can pull some sample video without breaking copyright law, and grab a few screenshots here and there to promote yourself, right?

You just spent a tremendous amount of time (hopefully) honing your craft, speaking in front of new people over the last few months, getting coached, and dreaming of 'what if'. That makes you A - a much better speaker than you were a few months ago. And B - aware of the 'what if' you want - which you can pursue without a trophy, in virtually every scenario. Whatever you want to do, you are closer to it now than ever before. Don't chase the wrong trophy.

Third - No whining. No believing the excuses you hear made for you. Don't blame the judges, or the speaking order, or the crowd, or the organization. Don't blame...whatever you want to blame. Even yourself. You did your best. They did their best. Can you do better? Fine - accept that, and do better next time. But the more time you spend whining, the less time you spend getting better. Take it from a recovering whineaholic!

Fourth and Finally - You're only a loser if you choose to identify as such. I give entire keynotes about this concept. Find your victories. Celebrate them. Build upon them. Whether you ever enter another contest or not is inconsequential. You've done something tremendous this summer/winter. Don't minimize, don't regret it. Learn from it. Be better because of it. Give more to your audiences because of it. Give more back to Toastmasters because of it.

You may not be the World Champion of Public Speaking - but you're damn good. Don't chase the wrong trophy, continue to Speak and Deliver, and WIN...Anyway!

International Speech Contest Checklist - It Begins Now....

Unless it started yesterday, or last month, or if you're in Australia, several months ago! 

Legend has it that 5-time World Championship of Public Speaking Finalist John Howard would start writing his next International Speech on the plane ride home. That's not actually a legend - his wife, one of my early mentors, Shirley Howard, told me that herself.

If you haven't started, and you are serious about the contest, then you're already behind. I admit, this might sound a bit dramatic, but hey, it's been 3 1/2 months since Dananjaya Hettiarachchi won the latest crown - what have you been doing!?

OK - enough hyperbole - but now is as good a time as any to start looking at the contest. Below is a checklist you might want to keep handy as you make your way through the competition for the first, or fifteenth, time:

International Speech
Contestant Checklist

The Basics:

- Eligibility - Are you a paid member? Have you given your first six speeches? Has your CLUB paid THEIR dues? Check out both your club status and your own on the Toastmasters.org website. I've heard many horror stories of people thrown out of the contest for lack of making sure all their ducs were in a row - even a District Winner or two who were DQ'd for the Semi's

- Contest Schedule - When and Where are all the levels of the contest? Are you free to compete on all those days? You can compete regardless, but if you are serious about advancing, clear your calendar, and for the higher levels, start planning your finances to get there and give your best speech.

- Your Message(s) - what do you want to say? Often the hardest part of the process. 2001 World Champion Darren LaCroix talks about finding that one most important message you would share with your child (or in his case at the time, his nephew, I believe). Of course, you need at least TWO messages to win the title, unless you have two disparate speeches with the same point, which might be a bit of a risk. Often, we start our speech writing with stories we want to tell - I go into this a bit more in 'What Came First, The Story or The Point?' My best advice - figure out what you want to say, then focus on how you want to say it.

- Writing the Speech - yes, WRITE THE SPEECH. You might be able to win in your club with an off-the-cuff speech, but don't bet on moving on much further. Write it. Edit it. Edit it some more. Winning speeches are between 600 and 1000 words - my personal rule of thumb is 720 words or less, to account for pauses and laughter. Keep all versions of your speech - you might end up with 20 or more iterations. You never know when something from version 1.0 becomes fresh again two months later.

- Attire - Appearance is on the judging form. Is what you're wearing appropriate the speech, and to the event? Are you going casual because it's 'just' the Area Contest? I 'suit up' at every level past club, and depending on the club I'm competing in, I might wear a suit there too. Ladies, obviously you've got a lot more to worry about than us guys generally do - but a nice dress or pantsuit is going to work for you at most any level. For all genders, consider this: if you're equal to your competition on every other spot on the judging form, your outfit could put you over the top, or under the ground.

- Prepare to Lose, or to Win - essentially, be prepared to Win Anyway. I have won contests I should have lost, and lost contests I should have won, most likely. Of course, you want to go in confident, with the feeling that you're going to give your best speech, and that victory is possible, or even likely. But remember, you don't control all the variables, you only control yourself. Win with grace, lose with grace. As someone who is forever on celluloid seen mouthing a swear word when his name wasn't called, please just trust me on this one.

Beyond the Basics

- Video/Audio - record EVERYTHING. Video preferably, audio if necessary. It doesn't have to be high quality - it just needs to be enough for you to be able to review it - and you MUST review it. I hate watching my videos. It's painful. The rewards of knowing what you look and sound like, however, balance out the pain. (Besides, after you win it all, just think of the product you can make with those old recordings!)

- Practicing at Toastmasters Clubs - a very common practice these days, even by folks who've only won their club level. You want feedback, and that's great. Be careful how you take the feedback, and what you do with the feedback. At the end of the day, you're the one who has to give the speech. I've heard many who've done the 'club tour' say they wouldn't do it again, that it can be overwhelming, and even paralyzing. Personally, I don't practice outside my club during the first four levels - club to district. I want the speech to remain fresh in my mind, the judges mind, and the audiences mind. So consider the pros and cons in your approach, and choose your clubs, and your feedback, wisely.

- Who's the Competition? - I'm known for knowing my competition - attending the competitions so that I won't be surprised by any of the speeches I'll be facing. I try to keep a low profile, but I'll also step in as a timer or a vote-counter if they are struggling for volunteers. Of course, just because you see a speech at Area doesn't mean they'll give the same one at Division, so you can't ever try to write your speech 'against' someone else's, and the competition is usually so diverse that that approach would be like chasing rabbits. You don't need to know your competition, and most contestants I've met don't really 'scope out' the competition. Do what makes YOU comfortable.

- Know the Venue, and the Viewers - show up early! Even if you've competed in the exact room before, it may be set up differently. Know what to expect sound-wise. Walk the stage. Give your speech to an empty room if you're the first one there. When people come in, greet them. Don't tell them you're a contestant, just talk to them, take an interest in them. Be real, and connect. It's a lot easier competing in front of an audience of friends than an audience of strangers. (Another reason, by the way, to go to the other competition - to meet more people you don't know that you'll want to know later on.)

- Coaching - it wasn't that long ago I heard debates about whether coaching was even ethical in this competition. That has died down quite a bit over the last decade, and most, if not all, serious competitors have a coach, or even a coaching TEAM.

Finding a coach isn't that hard - there are plenty of people in your District, heck, maybe in your club, that can help you. Past Champions are often available to coach you (prices may vary). Even past competitors, like Dilip Abayasakera and Maureen Zappala coach contestants. Of course, I do as well.

If you choose to pursue a more formal coaching agreement, make sure expectations are set, that personalities mesh, and that the coach has something to offer that you might find yourself a bit concerned about on your own - be it humor, stage presence, or storytelling.

A Final Word

Just like Toastmasters itself, you'll usually get as much out of the contests as you put in, in terms of growth, energy, and joy. If you go in only for the gold (or acrylic) trophy, you'll likely come home with nothing but disappointment in the long run, and even risk becoming bitter and resentful towards an organization that works to uplift and support all involved. I've watched it happen - people blame the judges, the venue, the audience - anything but themselves in this contest. I've done it myself.

Compete for yourself - for growth, for experience, for FUN - and you'll get that regardless of how the judges rank you. Yes, you always want to strive for the best when you Speak & Deliver, but when all is said and done, prepare to Win, and Win Anyway!

Bonus Video - Dananjaya's speech, if you haven't seen it yet.....

Speak & Deliver in Kuala Lumpur

I've been busy - a bit too busy, perhaps - getting ready for the semi-finals of the Toastmasters World Championship of Public Speaking in Kuala Lumpur on August 21.

Lots of practices, lots of fundraising, all on top of regular life with six kids.

In about 11 hours, I'll be on a plane out of Denver headed toward Tokyo, before switching planes to head to KL, where I'll arrive at 4 am Tuesday.

Thursday night, at 7 or so, my contest will start, and by 9, I'll know if I'm headed back to the Finals Saturday morning as a contestant or an observer.

I've been in this position before. Seven times previously, to be precise. But this year is different for me. I'm less focused on the trophy, and more focused on the message, and on the joy of the journey, as cliched as that might sound.

91 of us are going to be competing Thursday, and only 9 will advance to the Finals, and out of them, only 1 will crowned World Champion. The rest will be slightly celebrated by their friends and family, and even their local districts - but the overall feeling will be disappointment for most, and a feeling of being a downright 'loser' for others.

Nevermind that all of them will have won their District Contests, and 8 of the final 9 can say they made it to the Finals, and two of them can even say they finished in the top 3 in the WORLD. They will be branded by some, and perhaps by themselves, as LOSERS.

NOT ME. Not this year. There's a whole movie out there where I let myself be branded as a 'loser' in this competition - albeit a loser who never gives up. This year, that's just not going to happen.

How can 91 winners become 90 losers and a champion at the hands of 100 or so judges who are imperfect at best in their ability to objectively judge? How can 91 winners become 90 losers when the difference could literally be a handful of points between 1st and 'last'? How can 91 winners become 90 losers when all of them likely worked their tails off, and ended up giving a strong speech with a message that was important to the audience?

The contest is a zero-sum game, but we don't have to play along, my fellow contestants. We were winners from the minute we decided to enter our club contest - all 30,000 of us. We are winners for working the last several months to represent our districts, our families, ourselves in this contest.

A trophy should not define us. A trophy will not define me. Let the winner win - and rejoice. But let the rest of us remember not to chase the wrong trophy, and Win, Anyway.

Is Your Mess Stopping You From Sharing Your Message?

This is my 'Win Anyway Podcast' - but it crossed over into speaking this time around - so I thought I'd share with the rest of you!

Are you getting mixed messages about your sharing your messy message?

Tune in to today's Win Anyway Podcast and decide for yourself how much sharing your life, and your mess, with the world can help them, and YOU.

Ignite Win Anyway

Have you heard of TEDtalks? Yeah, I thought so.

But, have you heard of Ignite? Not as many of you, I'm sure. Ignite is also a worldwide speaking platform, organized by local groups, which grew out of the first event in Seattle - apparently to give the 12th Man something to do when they aren't cheering on their Seahawks during the NFL season.

Five minutes, twenty slides is their schtick - short speeches tied to a slide show that advances every 15 seconds whether you're ready or not. When you're out of time - you're done. Sell from the stage and you're likely booed by the typically Generation Z audience. If you're boring, expect heckling.

Here's an example of a typical speech:



A real challenge, to be sure, especially for my pretty positive topic of 'Win Anyway'.

When I went to the Ignite preparation meeting to find out what I might be in for, I realized the audience wouldn't be my typical group of conservative professionals and Toastmasters - though many would be similar to actual members of my club. They encourage a contrarian approach, and even recommend swearing in an appropriate manner.

As seasoned a speaker as I am, working in this format is pretty foreign to me - which is exactly why I want to participate. So I've submitted my proposal, and all I have to do now finish in the top 15 or so vote-getters and I'll end up on stage at the Oriental Theatre in Denver in late February, and leaving with a pretty professional video of me in front of a large audience giving my core message. Not a bad deal, right?

So I'm asking you for your vote. I have no campaign promises, no special prizes - but I do promise to post the video here when it's ready! 'Win Anyway' is the second option in the voting list - but you have to vote for all of them - yes, no, and 'meh', essentially, for the vote to register. By the way, feel free to vote for the first one as well - it's a submission by my fellow club member, who accepted my challenge for our club to submit as many proposals to Ignite as we could.

To vote, head here: http://ignitedenver.org/spark-voting/

Thank you, in advance, for helping give me yet another venue to Speak...& Deliver!

Bonus Video - an Ignite presentation from fellow TM Danielle Edmonds!

Time Flies When You're Having Fun...

Nearly a month since my last post? Doesn't feel like it, that's for sure.

This may seem odd, but I've actually been busy speaking...and coaching...even coaching someone giving a speech about being - wait for it - too BUSY!

How do you handle it when you realize you've left a project, or a blog, unattended to far longer than you imagined? My clients often tell me how easy it is to put off writing their speeches, finding stories for their story log, and contacting potential places to speak. Indeed - I completely understand.

The only answer is to get back to it - to put aside the feeling of overwhelm, the worry that you must come back with some gargantuan effort, and just write, or speak, or call, or whatever it is that you have put aside for so long, and build momentum.

So what have I been busying my time with?

Doris Duke Theatre, filling up for SPEAK.

A trip to Hawaii, for one, where the Toastmasters of District 49 welcomed me to a screening of Speak the Movie. 200 people showed up at the Doris Duke Theatre in Honolulu for a movie style showing. Afterward, I took questions for about 45 minutes, on everything from my mindset to my future plans to how my kids are now, five years later.

Willie Jones - 1997 World Champion of Public Speaking

Sheryl Roush - Accredited Speaker, Author

My host, Cain Kamano, and his wife Liz, showed me a great time the rest of the week, and had arranged for me to give an abbreviated version of my Win Anyway keynote to three Toastmasters clubs in the area, including the home club of World Champion of Public Speaking Willie Jones - who actually showed up and provided me with some valuable feedback afterward.

My last night there was yet another Toastmaster meeting, this time sharing the stage with Accredited Speaker Sheryl Roush, as she and I were assigned to evaluate two speeches that were just a day away from being given at their District contest. If you haven't experienced Sparkle-Tude in person, you can't miss a chance to spend time with Sheryl. Watch for her coming to an event near you!

Coming home, I began going down the homestretch with a few clients competing at Divisional and District rounds of the Toastmasters International Speech Contest here in my home District 26. It's been tremendous working with so many speakers, helping them take their speeches to a higher level than before, and creating a wonderful gift for their audiences. 

At the conference itself over the last weekend, after watching the inimitable World Champion of Public Speaking Jim Key give two outstanding sessions focused on achieving excellence and the value of storytelling, I delivered my own 45 minute breakout session on Creating Championship Speakers with Championship Evaluations - stressing the importance of giving, and RECEIVING, feedback in the most effective ways possible.

Surrounded by 2003 World Champion of Public Speaking
Jim Key and Vocal Coach and Voice Actor Hilary Blair

Before he flew off Sunday morning, Jim kicked off a morning devoted to professional speaking by giving us tips on starting a business as a speaker, followed by some individual coaching. Rounding out the morning, Hilary Blair, professional vocal coach and voice-over professional, offered an entertaining and informative review of vocal exercises and a look into how our voice works both for and against us. I closed the event with 45 minutes with an interactive look at Discovering and Defining your Message, ending with a quick tutorial about product creation.

A whirlwind month, and I've only shared some of the highlights. What have you been doing - what have you been busy with? What stages have you graced? Are you out sharing your message and making an impact? I know you are - many to a much greater extent than I have this month. Share your story in the comments - I love hearing about your successes!

In the meantime, it's OK to get a bit busy, and to get caught up in the gust of wind as time flies. As long as you always remember to occasionally land and catch up, and always, of course, to Speak...& Deliver!