Speechcraft

I joined a communication workshop to help me gain confidence in my public speaking ability. This is a step I am taking towards a goal I have to share my accessibility knowledge and demonstrate that I am the professional I've worked hard to become. The Speechcraft program is held by experienced Toastmasters who help non-members, like me, work on fundamentals of public speaking. I am most excited with their approach to active listening and critical evaluation surrounded by positive feedback.

Speech 1 - The Icebreaker

The Icebreaker Speech can be a topic of your choice. Since it’s about you and this is meant as a way to introduce yourself to the group, it can be about anything – your family, your background, your hobbies, or anything that is unique to you. This speech is used to identify where your speaking skills are at. It must be well-formed with an opening, body, and conclusion. For our group, we were asked to speak with a duration of two to four minutes.

My speech at the workshop had a duration was 3 minutes and 40 seconds and was clean with 0 filler words used.

My evaluator and other attendees provided me the following feedback for my actual speech.

  • Excellent speech. Great use of metaphors, intonation, terrific script. You have a gift!
  • You used good, descriptive words.
  • Work on not relying on the script so much. Try to go without it.
  • Some of your hand expressions were low and cut off, though we aren’t concerned with that since we are meeting virtually.
  • It was worth coming tonight just to hear your speech!

Since our group meets virtually, I practiced by recording myself with the same equipment I would use during the speech. I’ve shared one of these practice rounds with you below.

Below is a transcript of the video.

Introduction

To Reach for the Horizon by Lacy Skrzeczkoski.

This is a rehearsal for my icebreaker speech titled “To Reach for the Horizon”. I will share part of my life’s journey about taking goals one step at a time.

Opening

I grew up on a farm in Central Wisconsin. Daily chores kept me strong, but I was far from fit. Remember those one-mile fitness tests we would get in grade school? Every step for me was agony. I had no interest in running for sport or for fun.

Body

Fast forward to my college years at Green Bay. The campus was surrounded by miles of beautiful, wooded trails. Runners were everywhere and seemed to be having so much fun! What was I missing out on? I already loved walking on the trails so I decided to try little bursts of running. I started wondering, how far can I go? Without any plan or any goals, my ambition to run faded.

How far can I go?

Soon after graduating, I joined Peace Corps and served in Africa. A group of volunteers I was with were chatting about this marathon they were going to run at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa. Eager to belong I blurted out I would run too. Silence fell across everyone. A tall, athletic looking man looked at me, gave me elevator eyes, then said, "You? You can't." I was embarrassed. A white heat burned through my chest that day.

You? You can't.

I was out of shape and I couldn't even run one mile. But I started training anyways. I ran until the burn in my legs and the fire in my lungs was unbearable. Then I would stop and go home. I did this day after day going a little farther each time. I envisioned a point at this hill way far in the distance. I set a goal. I was going to reach that point. And I did one day. And then sometime after that I went farther and a little bit more, just kept pushing myself more and more. Six months after I first started this make-shift running program, I crossed that finish line. To say this experience was eye-opening is an understatement.

After Africa, I went to California for awhile and had endless adventures, including running a marathon while pregnant with my first child. Eventually the marathon finish line was not enough. How far could I go? And then I found out about endurance events known as ultra-running, which is a sport devoted to distances beyond a marathon. I found my calling.

Conclusion

These days, I'm firmly rooted back home in Wisconsin. I love spending time with my husband, my two children. We have our shelter cats and dog. I still have my adventures and I have completed over 10 ultramarathons. Some of you may be wondering at this point, how far can she go? At the end of last September, it was 85 miles in a single day. Someday I will go farther. What started out as a dream to finish a marathon has defined a path for how I tackle all my goals in life. And what I've learned through running has given me a formula to succeed in going after anything no matter how far away it seems. I'm so thrilled to join Speechcraft to help me reach more of my dreams including using speech to advocate for accessibility and inclusivity.

Website: https://lacy-skrz.github.io/

Thank you for watching!