Life Etc Etc

A year ago my commentary on International Speeches talked about the myths that should be avoided while preparing a speech for an International Speech Contest (ISC). Today with the Toastmasters contest season once again in full swing I am going to point out certain pitfalls which if avoided will improve the overall value of your speech and also solidify the audience connect. The speaker and the audience <Photo Courtesy: Wan San Yip  on  Unsplash > I llogical Premise : A Premise is the base upon which your entire argument/speech is built and in many cases forms the opening statement of the speech. The conclusion that you attempt to derive through your speech is only as good as the assumption (the premise) you make.  Its therefore necessary that this premise is credible and is generally acceptable. Premises such as "You can't be successful until you hook someone who is successful", "Sleaze and not substance sells films", "There's no such thing c...

India's whitewash of Australia in the recently concluded T20 series was built on some strikingly brilliant individual performances.The victory obviously left me elated but also took me down the memory lane of some singularly awe inspiring performances in Cricket. Now a lot of these performances may not be not well known but inspiration in life comes from quality and not popularity. So without any further delay lets look at three ' stand and deliver'  performances from the 90s, a decade that revolutionized Cricket. WV Raman anchors : WV Raman's stay at the top was very brief but no body could deny his talent and ice cool temperament. Both of these skills were on display when India took on South Africa in the 3rd ODI of a series which was rapidly going down hill. South Africa batted first and set a target of 215 for India. The modest target looked unattainable considering the fact that India hadn't crossed 200 even once in the first two one day interna...