Tag Archive for: Toastmasters

The Games People Play & the Value of Improvisation

/in , , , , /by

Donnell Ann BellBy Donnell Ann Bell

For a while now, Lois Winston, Stiletto Gang member and critique partner, and I have been sharing our Wordle and Connections results. Typically, we have no problem with Wordle. (We’re pretty adept at words.) However, when it comes to Connections, it’s a glorious day when I get all four rows right, and there are times I lose altogether. My husband, who is a linear thinker, gave up on Connections completely. He continues to work the New York Times crossword puzzles and Sudoku. My son and daughter, ages 38 and 41, work Wordle and Connections with us and we compare results. It’s a terrific way to hear from your adult kids each day.

I work Connections because, even if I bomb, I like to see where the editor was going with the clues. It’s educational, right?

Know something else that’s educational? Improvisation.

Have you ever watched the game show Whose Line is it Anyway? The program ran for twenty-two seasons, beginning in 2013, ending in 2024. In each episode, these talented comedians and actors, featuring Drew Carey, Aisha N. Tyler, Ryan Lee Style, Colin Mochrie, Wayne Brady, musicians Laura Hall and Linda Taylor, along with other guest stars, performed and excelled at Improvisation.

Acting as host, Carey, and later Tyler, gave the crew a scenario in which they were required to act out skits for points. Other times they were tasked with putting lyrics to music. The show, performed in front of a live audience (who often got into the act), was a hit because the members were so outrageously funny and the cast so good at thinking off the cuff and ad-libbing.

 

Years ago, I belonged to Toastmasters and reached the level of Competent Communicator. During meetings there is a section called Table Topics. Table Topics was created to help members get comfortable with public speaking. Members are given an unrehearsed topic and must discuss it in front of others for two minutes. As an introvert, I found Table Topics unbelievably hard, which is no doubt why I was so impressed with Whose Line is it Anyway?

As a writer, I love improvisation, especially when I have time to sit back and think about it. I ran a group a while back in which I would assign five random words and the start of a sentence. I took the words from the Merriam-Webster Deluxe Dictionary and the start of a sentence from a book off the shelf.

The instructions for my game were simple. Create a paragraph or two using the five random words. Participants were free to start with the sentence or further inside their narrative.

I think those who participated found the game fun and muse-inspiring. Several wrote exceptional paragraphs; some created short stories.

Would you like an example? Would you like to play a game?

Here’s how it works:

Finish this sentence:  Nothing explained the. . .

Five Random Words:

Damage

Firepit

Mirror

Plumbing

Stretch

Do you enjoy playing games? Love a challenge?  Be sure to comment here about the games you play. Feel free to work my improv and send it to me at www.donnellannbell.net/contact If I get enough responses, I’ll post three submissions on my next Stiletto Gang blog date, and with your permission, cite you as the author. For purposes of this contest, let’s keep the length to 250 words.

Happy thinking outside the box!

About the Author:  Donnell Ann Bell is an award-winning author who began her nonfiction career in newspapers. After she turned to fiction, her romantic suspense novels became Amazon bestsellers, including The Past Came Hunting, Deadly Recall, Betrayed, and Buried Agendas. In 2019, Donnell released her first mainstream suspense, Black Pearl, A Cold Case Suspense, which was a 2020 Colorado Book Award finalist. In 2022, book two of the series was released. Until Dead, A Cold Case Suspense won Best Thriller in 2023 at the Imaginarium Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. Currently, she’s working on book three of the series. Readers can follow Donnell on her blog or sign up for her newsletter at www.donnellannbell.net.

 

 

 

The Perils of Public Speaking

/in /by


Hannah Dennison began her writing career in 1977 as a trainee reporter for a small West Country newspaper in Devon, England. While the English countryside would always be home in her heart, she yearned to see the world on a grander scale. For more than a decade, she traveled the globe working as a flight attendant on private jets, while dreaming of someday landing in Hollywood to pursue a writing career. After an inspiring conversation with Steven Spielberg during a flight to the Middle East, Hannah decided to take his advice and follow her passion. Without a net in sight, she took a leap of faith and moved from England to Los Angeles, with her daughter and their two cats in tow. Once in Hollywood, she worked as a story analyst for several motion picture studios, while producing a hefty stack of her own screenplays. After enrolling in the UCLA Writer’s Program, Hannah decided to focus exclusively on writing long form narrative and began the Vicky Hill mysteries. Her first book, A VICKY HILL EXCLUSIVE! was published in March of 2008 with SCOOP! in March of 2009 – and the third, EXPOSE! will follow in December 2009. Hannah still has a demanding day job. For the past ten years she has worked as an executive assistant to the Chairman of a west coast advertising company. She is married to a fellow writer.

Call me naive, but I had no idea that public speaking would become such a huge part in my life as a published author. It’s one thing pretending to be someone else on stage or playing charades at Christmas, but being myself and trying to be witty and entertaining in front of strangers is mortifying. I can cope with simple book signings where spelling a name is easy enough; I can even handle a five-minute carefully rehearsed introduction, but it’s the bookstore appearances with a lively twenty-minute pitch that gets me hot under the collar. Taking part on a panel is only a tad more bearable because a) I am with kindred spirits and b) with luck, questions will have been sent over in advance—even though the Q & A that follows can sometimes be unpredictable.

You’d think I’d be more confident having published two books in the VICKY HILL mystery series with another coming out in December. I’m certainly better than the very first time I read aloud wearing a skirt above the knee. My husband said the audience was captivated by the speed at which my kneecaps were moving.

The worst is the after-dinner speaker gig that really sets my nerves on edge. My first humiliating experience came when I was guest speaker at a local mystery club with a three-course meal thrown in. No, I didn’t get plastered and fall off the podium in a drunken stupor but I was so anxious, I couldn’t eat a bite. When nervous, I make a habit of taking my eyeglasses on and off. On this particular evening—accompanied by the loud grumblings of an empty tummy—I thought I delivered my speech quite well. People seemed entertained. They were laughing. It was only on my way home that I discovered the large clump of strawberry cheesecake stuck in my hair above my right ear. I’d accidentally put my eyeglasses down in my dessert.

But now all that is about to change.

At a recent Los Angeles chapter meeting of Sisters in Crime, award winning Toastmaster maven, Susan Mayberry, and professional pitch consultant and author, Donna Sozio, gave us some great tips on the art of public speaking.

In a nutshell, it’s very cheering to know that listeners only pay attention to 5% of the actual words spoken, 38% to the tone of the voice and the remaining 55% to the presentation. The key is to be energetic and make eye contact with your audience. My favorite tip when reading aloud from a lectern is to type the excerpt in 18 pt font using only the top third of each sheet of paper. This means a quick downward glance keeps you on track. There is no shaking of papers with trembling hands and you can still maintain the all-important eye contact.

I was so excited by the sound of Toastmasters that I decided to go to a meeting. It was a lot of fun, not remotely daunting and membership will not break the bank. Each week there are assignments that you can take part in or just observe until you feel confident to give it a go. Generally, there are prepared speeches between five and seven minutes and a “table-top” topic (a spontaneous off the cuff presentation) running around two to three minutes.

Each week, members are encouraged to volunteer for various roles. The Wizard of Ahs must pay attention to the number of ah’s, um’s and word repetitions uttered by all speakers; the Grammarian is responsible for grammar and sentence construction; the Timer holds up various colored coded cards to ensure speeches are kept to the correct length and the Master of Chuckles is self-explanatory! Evaluation is offered in a way that I found surprisingly nurturing and supportive.

I signed up immediately. With my next public speaking engagement only a few weeks away, I’m looking forward to reading aloud, wearing a skirt above the knee and devouring everything on the menu.

Hannah Dennison
http://www.hannahdennison.com/