Paneelikeskustelun pitämistä harjoittelemassa Izabel Velez, Roberto Bolomey ja allekirjoittanut.
Mitä hyötyä saan Toastmasters-puheklubista yli kymmenen vuoden jäsenyyden jälkeen? Tässä on muutama esimerkki.
Toastmasters-kokouksissa pidetään puheita, mikä auttaa minua pitämään yllä lavarutiinia.
Kun on jatkuvasti yleisön edessä, ”tosielämän” esiintymiskeikat eivät näyttäydy poikkeuksellisina haasteina.
Kokouksissa ei harjoitella vain puheenpitoa, vaan kaikkia kuviteltavissa olevia esiintymistilanteita.
Esimerkiksi yksi osa valmistautumistani maanantaina olleeseen keikkaan, jossa juonsin vaativan paneelikeskustelun, oli tietysti paneelikeskustelun vetäminen Toastmasters-kokouksessa.
Perusasioita on aina hyvä kerrata. Toistoja, toistoja, toistoja.
Kuvassa aina luotettavat panelistit Izabel Velez ja Roberto Bolomey. Kuvan otti yksityiskohtaisen palautteen antanut Oscar Santolalla. Vaikeusasteen lisäämiseksi tämä harjoitus tehtiin espanjan kielellä.
Toastmasters-kokouksissa voi kokeilla uusia ideoita ja testata miten ne toimivat käytännössä.
Uuden puhekikan tai harjoituksen ensimmäistä kokeilua ei kannata tehdä työpaikalla tai asiakkaan edessä.
Ensimmäisestä vedosta löytyy aina jotain parannettavaa tositilanteeseen. Joskus käy myös niin, että huomaa paperilla hyvältä kuulostavan idean toimimattomaksi käytännön puhe- tai opetustilanteessa.
Toastmasters on loistava harjoitteluympäristö, jossa mokaaminenkin on hauskaa.
Just for the heck of it, a keynote speech in ten seconds 😀
It’s this time of the year again: the season of the Toastmasters autumn speech contests. All over the world, people are competing in two categories: humorous speeches and improvised speeches. Loads of fun.
This Saturday, I’ll be hosting this speech contest in Helsinki. It’s called an area contest, with participants from Finland and Estonia.
No one, except me, knows the topic of the improvised speeches. 😃 The contestants will find out the topic 30 seconds before they begin their speech. 😬
In the attached video from exactly a year ago, from the same contest, you’ll see a primer in stage presence and body language in ten seconds 😀
Also, you can find a couple of brief thoughts about hosting an event behind this link.
I’ll publish something more comprehensive on the topic of event hosting later this year.
For now, come and see a bunch of superb speakers at the event space ”Vapaakaupunki” at the Redi shopping center at Hermannin Rantatie 5 in Helsinki this Saturday, October 25 at 12:00 (doors open). The program starts at 12:15. The language of the contest is English.
Waiting for my time to shine. Photo credit: Alessandro Rampazzo
Would you like to improve your public speaking skills in a hobby setting?
In addition to paid work in the public speaking coaching domain, the hobby side of practicing public speaking skills is now in full swing after the summer holidays.
Here are a couple of options that I’m familiar with, because I’m there myself 😃
Last Monday I gave a speech at the Stadi Talkers Toastmasters club.
It’s always a pleasure to be on stage at this club that meets at a bar downtown Helsinki. The audience is friendly and supportive. They don’t throw you with a pint of beer, even though based on the feedback I know that every speech of mine, while having its strengths, it also has room to improve for the next time. This club is in English. 🇬🇧
Stadi Talkers meets bi-weekly on Monday evenings at 6pm Finnish time, next time on September 8.
This Wednesday evening I’ll be hosting a Finlandia Toastmasters club meeting.
It’s otherwise the same as described above but this one is in Spanish. 🇪🇸 We have native speakers as well as mere mortals like me.
We are hybrid, so you can also participate via Teams from anywhere in the world. Meetings occur every second Wednesday at 6pm Finnish time. Bienvenid@!!!
The Famous Speeches Reading Club is something I started with a couple of friends last year.
As the name suggests, we practice public speaking skills by reading renowned texts, a method of learning that has been used already since the ancient Greeks. We read traditional speeches, movie speeches, poems… whatever contains impactful language in a compact package. This one is in English. 🇬🇧
We meet on Zoom every two weeks on Tuesday evenings at 6:15pm Finnish time for about one hour. Reach out if you’re interested in joining!
All in all, I would encourage you to use every opportunity you get to speak up and to be on stage, because the best way to improve your public speaking skills is to practice, practice, practice, constantly.
It’s a lifelong journey and today is a good day to begin.
Four of the team members conducting a workshop at the Toastmasters district conference in Torun, Poland, in May. Photo credit Wiktor Guryn.Our team for this past year.Our team for the year 2023-2024.At the annual District Conference in Toruń in May 2025.At the annual District Conference in Łódź in May 2024.Four of our team members at the District 108 annual conference in Łódź in May 2024.Some of the District 108 Core Team members and Area Directors in the year 2024-2025.Some of the District 108 Core Team members and Area Directors in the year 2023-2024.
Getting big things done takes a village. At Toastmasters International, my public speaking organization, the year ends at the end of June. So, I thought it’s time to say thank you to a couple of good folks.
Today I have served two years as the Conflict Resolution Adviser and had the privilege to lead the Conflict Resolution Team for our Toastmasters International, District 108, comprising seven countries: Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Russia and Kazakhstan.
It’s been quit an incredible journey and it wouldn’t have happened without the following people.
Olga Turek-Woźniak was the first Conflict Resolution Manager at our District a few years back. She got things started, encouraged me to take this role and gave me good advice in the beginning.
Kamil Chmiel, as the District Director, asked me two years ago to accept the role of the Conflict Resolution Adviser in our organization. First I hesitated but I’m glad I said yes.
Łukasz Chomicz, as the District Director for the past one year, asked me to serve another year.
Kamil and Łukasz have been great partners in making things happen.
The fantastic fantastic Irina Četovičienė, Jurgita Keblyte, Justyna Lipska, Ernestas Ryselis, Magdalena Suraj and Daniel Zakharov served on my team in the 2023-2024 term.
The equally fantastic Roberto Bolomey, Irina Četovičienė, Paweł Lachowicz, Michał Moroz, Ignas Prakapas, Vadim Vasilyev and Karolina Wróbel served on my team for the 2024-2025 term.
With these teams, we have coached our Toastmasters members through tough spots, helped them manage and resolve conflicts, organized trainings and workshops and created a Conflict Resolution Guidebook for all our members to use.
Within these teams we have also supported, coached and educated one another.
One of my most memorable moments of these two years was when my team members said how much they had benefited themselves from learning more about conflict resolution.
We have not only helped other people but as a by-product, we have grown as human beings ourselves.
In addition to the team itself, my Polish brother, former Region 10 Advisor Piotr Chimko was always there, ready to converse about things big and small.
Working with Margherita Brodbeck Roth was one of my most rewarding and educational experiences in the past two years. Thank you.
Last but not least, there’s the Core Team of District 108, including our Area Directors: it’s been a tremendous honor and pleasure to work with each one of you. Oftentimes it’s also been a lot of fun. It would be too many names and too many fond memories to list here. You know who you are.
If I forget to mention someone, it’s because of my occasionally bad memory.
As to my biggest achievement in these two years, I think it is that I had the wisdom and luck to be able to recruit such talented and motivated members to my team. Together we have created a strong foundation for the future.
The future looks very good also because Michał Moroz will lead our conflict resolution function for the next year.
A new Toastmasters year begins tomorrow, so what next? Time will tell. For now, I’ll just cherish all the learning and all the friendships.
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who’s been part of this journey. As Ignas Prakapas said at our last team meeting, this is not a goodbye but a see you later!
Ignas and Pekka performing a role play on corrective feedback. Photo credit: Wiktor Guryn.
Did you know that dealing with disagreements, conducting difficult conversations and resolving conflicts are skills that can be learned?
They are skills that can be learned just like public speaking, sales or leadership skills.
Your ability to respond to disagreements and conflicts as well as to conduct difficult conversations affects your happiness and success at work and in your private life, every day.
I have today served two years as the Conflict Resolution Adviser for a global public speaking organization that I’m a member of.
The organization is called Toastmasters International, and I’ve had the privilege to lead the Conflict Resolution Team at the organization’s fantastic District 108 comprising seven countries: Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Russia and Kazakhstan.
It’s been a pretty incredible journey and and these are some of the lessons I have learned:
A conversation, a disagreement or a conflict is primarily about emotions. Facts also count, but much less.
People have a deep need to feel heard, to feel acknowledged, to feel seen. They need to have their emotions acknowledged. Until that has happened, they are not prepared to listen to your point of view. That’s the key to conducting difficult conversations and resolving conflicts.
We usually don’t like to take the initiative to address conflicts because we are afraid that speaking out may put us in trouble. We are afraid of damaging a relationship, our status in our community, or our position at the workplace.
Yet, when we don’t speak out about our frustration, we tend to act it out. The other party is usually aware that something is wrong even if we don’t take the initiative to resolve the conflict.
The longer a conflict is allowed to simmer, the more difficult it becomes to solve. I have seen many conflicts that have been going on for years before someone speaks out.
Most conflicts start small and are about relatively small things. Often they are about nothing more than well-meaning people misunderstanding each other. Then they easily grow when people start expecting the worst from each other.
I’ve seen people take disagreements to court, even conflicts about seemingly small things, because feelings have been hurt. The sad thing is that a court of law is not a place to get your emotions acknowledged. From a court you don’t get justice, you get a verdict.
The good news, again, is that conflict resolution skills can be learned by anyone. It takes time and dedication, but it’s well worth it, and I believe it’s an investment that we all should make.
The guidebook is free of charge for anyone and I don’t even ask you to give your email address or any other information about yourself in exchange.
The only thing I ask from you is to read it, apply what you have learned and share it with anyone you think might benefit from it.
I believe this guidebook may be useful also for Toastmasters in other parts of the world, as well as basically any citizen of the planet.
This guidebook is brought to you by the Conflict Resolution Team of Toastmasters International, District 108: Roberto Bolomey, Irina Četovičienė, Paweł Lachowicz, Michał Moroz, Ignas Prakapas, Vadim Vasilyev, Karolina Wróbel and yours truly.
Proudly presenting the brand-new Conflict Resolution Guidebook published by our team. Photo credit: Wiktor Guryn.
There are conflicts between people in all organizations. Toastmasters, an organization dedicated to helping people excel at public speaking, is a rare exception in having had the wisdom to of set up a conflict resolution function within its organization.
What do I mean by a conflict?
Conflicts are usually the quite mundane issues and arguments between people at a business, at a hobby or at home.
Most often it’s about someone having insulted another person, either on purpose or unknowingly.
Then, over the weeks, months and surprisingly often even years, the issue grows. People avoid talking to each other and instead talk negatively about others behind their back.
A huge amount of people’s energy is wasted in a negative spiral, instead of productive work.
Stress levels rise.
All this prevents organizations from achieving their full potential. It makes it harder for people and organizations to reach both their short- and long-term goals, whether they are about sales, profit or qualitative goals.
For the past twelve months, I’ve had the privilege of running a conflict resolution team at Toastmasters. While the organization is global, my district consists of seven countries and about 2,000 members from the Baltics, Finland, Kazakhstan, Poland and Russia.
For the past year, the team led by me has been able to help people resolve a number of issues between people. As a result, this district has been more effective and better reached its goals, as well as supported the well-being of the members.
Recently, something extraordinary happened at the final meeting of the outgoing conflict resolution team.
I asked everyone to tell what has been good about our activities, as well as what could be done better next year. To my surprise, everyone mentioned something I didn’t expect.
Everyone said that in addition to having been able to help other people, they had grown personally.
Helping other people resolve their conflicts had made all group members more aware of their own behavior in conflict situations. As a result, they had begun to think about new ways to navigate through difficult conversations of their own.
I realized that I had had exactly the same experience. For example, I now react more calmly in a difficult situation than before.
I’m also more aware of the different ways of behavior I can choose from when a potential conflict arises.
Increasingly, I become conscious of the various options on the spot, instead of as an afterthought: “I wish I had said this and that” or “I wish I had not said this and that”.
It turns out that helping other people resolve difficult situations was a twelve-month free of charge self-development course.
So, huge thanks to Magdalena Suraj, Irina Cetoviciene, Daniel Zakharov, Jurgita Keblyte, Justyna Lipska and Ernestas Ryselis for serving in the team.
Special thanks Kamil Chmiel for coming up with the idea in the first place, and to Piotr Chimko and Olga Turek-Wozniak for encouraging me to take on the challenge.
Does your organization have a conflict resolution adviser?
Toimiiko yrityksesi espanjankielisissä maissa? Tai onko espanjan kieli harrastuksesi?
Viime viikolla Finlandia Toastmasters -kerho piti Helsingissä tilaisuuden, jossa kerroimme yleisölle puhe- ja esiintymistaidon salaisuuksia …espanjaksi.
Paikalla oli osallistujia Chilestä, Argentiinasta, Meksikosta, Perusta, Portugalista ja Suomesta.
Omassa esityksessäni kerroin, miten oman alansa syväosaaja, esimerkiksi tutkija tai insinööri, saa yleisönsä huomion ja saa kuulijat vakuutettua.
Esimerkkinä esittelin yleisölle Nokia 888 puhelimen (kädessäni kuvassa), joka oli konsepti tulevaisuuden puhelimesta.
Nokia 888 oli nuorille teollisille muotoilijoille järjestetyn kilpailun voittaja. Vaikka puhelin oli vain idea, eli sitä ei koskaan valmistettu, se toi aikoinaan Nokialle valtavasti huomiota kansainvälisessä mediassa.
Jos osaat havainnollistaa ajatuksesi ja jopa tehtyä demon tuotteesta, jota ei ole vielä olemassa, olet askeleen muita edellä.
Tilaisuuden juontaja Oscar Santolalla ja toinen puhuja Roberto Bolomey.
Roberto Bolomey kertoi miten työnhakija saa työpaikan puhumalla oikeista asioista oikealla tavalla. Hän kertoi myös kulttuurierojen ymmärtämisen tärkeydestä sekä työnhaussa että työnhakijoiden etsinnässä.
Tilaisuuden juonsi esiintymistaidosta jo kaksi kirjaa kirjoittanut Oscar Santolalla.
Jos haluat vakuuttaa asiakkaasi espanjaksi, tai jos haluat harjoitella juhlapuheen pitämistä espanjaksi, liity Finlandia Toastmastersiin.
Tapaamme kahden viikon välein Helsingin keskustassa ja opimme harjoittelemalla esityksiä ja saamalla niistä palautetta kannustavassa ilmapiirissä.
Trying hard to deliver a speech as it was generated on the spot by artificial intelligence. Photo credit: Polina Feshchenko
This week artificial intelligence (AI) and humans competed against each other for the first time at a public speaking club in Helsinki.
The task was to give a short, improvised speech about a topic given to the speakers on the spot. The speakers, including ChatGPT, had just thirty seconds to prepare on stage before delivering the speech.
ChatGPT’s speech topic was “Explain to a five-year-old what the internet is”.
This was the prompt given to the computer:
Write a humorous two-minute speech to a five-year old about the internet, with the past, present, future structure, containing five metaphors, two quotes and including the word contentious three times, and mentioning Tuomas, Topi and Lauri and the Stadi Talkers Toastmasters Club.
Here’s the speech generated by the computer, and delivered by the undersigned:
Good morning everyone!
My name is Tuomas and I’m here to talk to you about the internet.
Let’s start with the past. Back in the day, the internet was like a dark and mysterious forest. It was full of secrets and surprises, but it was also a bit scary. You had to be careful not to get lost in the depths of the internet.
Now, let’s move on to the present. The internet is like a big playground. It’s full of exciting games, funny videos, and interesting people. It’s a great place to explore and learn new things.
Finally, let’s look to the future. The internet is like a giant library. It’s full of knowledge and information about almost anything you can think of. It’s also a great place to connect with people from all over the world.
Now, let’s talk about the people who use the internet. They are like a family. They share their experiences, their ideas, and their stories. They also help each other out when they need it.
The internet can also be a contentious place. People often disagree and argue about different topics. That’s why it’s important to be respectful and open-minded when discussing things online.
As Topi, one of the members of the Stadi Talkers Toastmasters Club, said: “The internet is a great tool for learning, but it’s also full of dangers. We must be careful to use it responsibly.”
And as Lauri, another member of the Stadi Talkers Toastmasters Club, said: “The internet is a great place to explore and discover new things, but it can also be contentious. We must be careful to stay safe online.” So, my five-year-old friend, remember to use the internet responsibly and stay safe!
Thank you for listening.
Let’s look at how the computer did.
What the AI did well and where it failed
The speech is complete and makes sense in many ways.
ChatGPT used the instructed speech format (past, present, future), even though halfway through the speech it completely abandoned it.
The speech contains a variety of metaphors, probably more than we’d see in an average two-minute speech.
There’s plenty of material in the speech that can be used when designing a real speech.
The speech was supposed to be humorous, but humor was missing.
The speech began with a “Good morning”, at 7pm in the evening.
ChatGPT made a wrong guess about the name of the speaker.
“Back in the day”, the internet was NOT like a dark and mysterious forest. It was actually a pretty joyful place.
ChatGPT had no meaningful vision about the future of the internet.
ChatGPT is usually good at finding quotes and addressing them to the correct person. In this speech, however, it put words in the mouths of the wrong people.
Last but not least, AI almost completely missed its target audience. ChatGPT did hardly anything to adjust its message to a five-year-old as instructed.
Who won the speech contest?
The contest was won by one of the humans. His speech was well structured, humorous, and to the point.
Out of the 23 voters at the club, only two gave their votes for ChatGPT.
In my next post, I’ll write about the implications of what happened in the contest. Stay tuned.
P.S. From now on, I’ll include a discussion about using AI in speech writing in all of my public speaking trainings.
Would you like to become a better communicator? 