Meet our featured Royal Oak Toastmaster for the month of May... Pam Melick, DTM
Q: How did you hear about Toastmasters? How long have you been a member of the club? I first heard of Toastmasters when I lived in Chicago in the late 1990s. I can’t remember where I first heard about Toastmasters, but I remember visiting several clubs before deciding to join my first club. I first became a member of Toastmasters in April 2020. Since then, I’m been a member of clubs in the Chicago area, Vancouver, WA, and now in Royal Oak. Q: What objectives do you hope to accomplish or what are you working towards as a member of this club? I was first asked this question as a contestant of an Area speech contest being hosted by a prison club in Washington state. My answer then is the same as it is today. My goal is to speak to of a small, intimate group of 5000+ people. I’ve seen what an event that size looks like. I was so impressed by the speaker’s incredible calm and confidence. My hope is to be have that in front of an audience someday. Q: How have Toastmasters helped you in your professional or personal journey towards becoming a better speaker? Toastmasters is my practice lab. It is a place where I can hone my message and skills. In the early 2000s, I visited a National Speakers Association meeting in Illinois. One of the members told me to join Toastmasters. He told me that, while NSA could help me build my business, Toastmasters would help me build and polish my speaking skills. Q: Share a fun fact about yourself I studied belly dancing for 10 years with one of the pioneer instructors in the United States. If you’re curious, search Dahlena in YouTube to watch her dance. Q: Who would you most like to have a conversation with? Why? This is a really difficult question to answer. When I’m asked this question, I feel like I should be picking someone renowned. 20 years ago I would have picked Ice-T because I heard he was a big believer in giving back to the community and wanted to know more about what he did. But now… I don’t have heroes, never have had. And the ones I would have liked to talk to are long dead. So, for now, I’ll continue to have conversations with ordinary people. Wisdom and enlightenment come from unexpected places, and I’m open to receiving them in whatever form they appear. Q: What is the best public speaking tip you've received? I've received many tips on public speaking over the years. But the tip I carry with me always I received from David Brooks, 1990 World Champion of Public Speaking. He told us, “make a point, tell a story.” I’ve never forgotten his advice. We can regurgitate all the facts we want, but people relate to the story. The story helps make the information stick. As Carl W. Buehner once said, “They may forget what you said – but they will never forget how you make them feel.” Q: What is a tip you'd like to share "with" others? Do you. Listen to other speakers to discover what intrigues you about how they speak. Learn what lights you up about their talks and presentation skills. These are clues as to who you are becoming as a speaker. Then explore what they bring forth in you and how you can incorporate what you’ve discovered into your speaking style. These are the clues to who you are becoming as a speaker. Practice and refine them until they become like a second skin. Then do you.
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May 2021
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