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By Teena Myers

If it’s your goal to publish your writing, public speaking skills are an asset. Most unknown authors sale to family and friends because they know you. Then sales take a nosedive. After speaking to a group is the only time I had a line of customers at my book table.

When a friend invited me to visit a Toastmaster meeting, I accepted. A group of writers taught me how to improve my writing. Therefore, it was reasonable that a group of speakers could teach me to be a better speaker.

The format of the Toastmasters meetings bore similarities to a writer’s critique. It helps a writer improve in their craft by receiving comments from other writers. Replace writer with “speaker” in the preceding sentence and you have a Toastmasters meeting. Toastmasters takes the process a step further by evaluating everything. The 5-to-7-minute speech is evaluated. The evaluator receives feedback on his or her evaluation of the speech. And the overall meeting is evaluated.

Becoming a Competent Communicator is the first step. That goal is accomplished by preparing and delivering ten speeches. Each speech added a new skill to master. The initial speeches dealt with things familiar to writers: organizing your thoughts, getting to the point and using the right words. I was almost halfway through the book without too much of a challenge, but still chained to what I had written. I did more reading than speaking.

Speech five sent me into uncharted waters. Is my body language screaming I don’t want to be here while I try to win hearts with words? I had to be aware of my facial expressions, how I stood, moved, and gestured. If that wasn’t enough to remember, speech six demanded vocal variety. A flat monotone will not hold a listener’s attention.

The club president encouraged me to give speech six without notes. I threw myself into deep water to sink or swim. After I delivered speech six, without notes, he encouraged me to attend a district meeting and give the speech I had titled Love Excluded Me.

Toastmasters is an international organization with competitions. I am not competitive. Becoming a better speaker was my only intent in joining Toastmasters. “Not interested,” I said. Undeterred, he continued to encourage me. When I learned the meeting was a contest, I was even less interested in attending, but on the day of the district meeting I relented.

I had become comfortable speaking in front of ten friendly faces whom I knew were pulling for me. I wanted to know if I would be comfortable speaking in front of a larger group of strangers. I arrived at the district meeting and sat next to my club president where I learned another choice bit of information. I was competing against him, a gifted speaker with excellent delivery. Nothing like a little pressure.

I stood before thirty, mostly strangers, and delivered “Love Excluded Me” as though I were talking to friends. The flashing yellow light warned me I had too much information and discovered another skill. Editing while talking. I edited two sentences out of the end to guarantee I did not exceed the time limit. As soon as I sat down a woman handed me a hand-written note. She loved the speech.

I politely waited for the last two speakers to make their presentation before I left. Scores needed to be tabulated, and the winners announced before the meeting concluded. I attended to test my comfort zone, not to compete, so I left. Another woman stopped me as I walked to the elevator. She loved the speech too.

A few days later, I received an email titled “Celebration Toastmaster: Congratulations Teena!!!” I was the winner of the Area 14 International Speech Contest. The announcement made me smile. Apparently, I became a competent communicator before I finished all the lessons. And I beat the club president who was disqualified when he exceeded the time limit.

If I had permission to sale books at the contest, the people who handed me notes would have bought my book, because they connected with me. Every time a church gave me a few minutes to speak about my book, I had a line of people at my table or at my box on a church counter.

Selling your books at conferences and festivals uses the same principles of public speaking, but you will be talking to an individual, family or small group of friends. If you can make a friendly connection with them, you have a better chance of selling a book.

A good place to start your study or polish your current skills of public speaking is the next Southern Christian Writers meeting on March 15, 2025 featuring Lisa Abramson. She has a BA in Theatre Arts and Masters in Speech Communication. Lisa lectured at Western Oregon University for eleven years in Speech Communication, including Public Speaking and Oral Interpretation, Listening, and Interpersonal Communication.

Southern Christian Writers has hybrid meetings. Everyone is welcome. The meetings are free to attend. Attendees can join us in the Gospel Bookstore, Westside Shopping Center, 91 Westbank Expressway, Gretna LA or join the meeting on Zoom. Go to https://scwguild.com/agenda/ on the SCW website for the Zoom link.