Lessons Learned: Episode 1 UHHHHHHHH

Believe it or not, I used to really be into Toastmasters when I was living in Korea.

It was definitely a hobby.

If you aren’t familiar with Toastmasters, it’s a member-based non-profit that helps people improve their public speaking, communication, and leadership skills. 

Upon reflecting on Episode 1 of the podcast, I realize that not being active recently with Toastmasters has taken its toll.

When I was editing the audio for the podcast, the number of uhhs and filler words clipped was egregious.

My thought was I worked really hard to be a ‘competent communicator’, so how has my public speaking slipped into this state? 

My conclusion now is that it simply is a lack of practice. Even if you have built a muscle for something, not doing that activity for an extended period of time will cause you to lose the progress the muscle has made. Maybe, not completely, but significantly.

So, now I will intentionally stay conscious of the public speaking strategies I learned years ago.

A clear beginning, middle, and end are necessary for storytelling.

Filler words aren’t necessary; just take intentional pauses as needed. 

It will be a challenge because the way I record is from a topic outline.

There is no script.

So those filler words were thinking indicators for me to pull from my prior knowledge and experiences. 

Episode 2 has already been recorded, and I already have a lot fewer uhhhs, but the filler words still need work.

Well.

Episode 3 will be even better!

Continuous improvement is my goal.