Toastmasters – My First Meeting
According to some studies, public speaking is the biggest fear among people. Next on the list is dying. So, that means people would rather die than speak in front of others. Or is it the other way around? Lol
Anyways, I attended my first meeting at Toastmasters, an organization dedicated to great public speaking. I’ve been a long-time fan, and finally after many years, I made time to attend. Shout out to Kory for inviting me.
Despite sitting underneath the AC on a metal stool in a cold room, I enjoyed myself, listening to speeches about decision making, why someone joined Toastmasters and most intriguingly, the art of storytelling. I was fortunate enough to volunteer for what was called Table Topics.
I think it may be a real game, but Once Upon a Time was tonight’s Table Topic. Each speaker received three beginning cards and an ending card. We had one to two minutes to formulate a story, which was tougher than it seemed, especially because I kept thinking of movies. My beginning cards read: CHILD, QUEEN & MONSTER and the end card read – paraphrasing here – AND PUSHED THE EVILDOERS DOWN THE WELL. This challenge definitely put my brain into overdrive, which I liked. Here’s my story:
Once upon a time, there lived a queen whom everyone loved and she reciprocated the loved as she gracefully walked her kingdom. However, she had a big flaw and an even bigger secret – she was jealous of children’s youth and every full moon, she would not turn into a werewolf, but a monster – a child-eating monster.
Even when she had a daughter, she was still jealous, but in human form, she did not lash out and kept her composure. To keep her daughter safe, the queen would leave before every full moon.
Decades past and many children went missing. The queen eventually had a granddaughter, as curious and clever as she was cute. In time, the granddaughter learned of the queen’s tragic transformations.
The granddaughter convinced her mother to spy on the queen. The mother was devastated and probably in denial about the queen. To stop the reign of terror, the mother and granddaughter plotted against the queen. That’s when they pushed the evildoer down the well. The end.
To be honest, this story wasn’t as eloquent (last night’s word of the day, lol) when I told it last night. I added extra details and molded it to my liking. I had fun with it, even though I kept thinking of the film, Maleficent.
All in all, I was not only glad to speak at my first Toastmasters meeting, but in that two hour span, I learned a lot about effective storytelling.
Last but not least, everyone should participate in this awesome organization. Here’s a toast to Toastmasters!
2 Comments
All’s well that ends “well” – that sums up the story I suppose. It’s a good short story to put kids to bed! And having created it in a much shorter time tells how much the mind can do. Keep the imagination alive!
Ha! Nice pun! “Well” done! Imagination is what runs the world.