What I learned from the contest Saturday October 14th 2017 London Business School

Arriving Early
I was lucky to be in the contest. I had been placed third and the first place winner was unable to attend so I was one of the two contestants from Harrovians Speakers' club. As Woody Allen is often quoted as saying, turning up is half the battle. I could have gone from London to Singapore, but chose to stay. If I had not been a contestant I could have been a helper such as a ballot counter, timer or judge.

I had arrived in good time for the afternoon contest last year and found our division's event overlapped with another region's morning contest. So this year I ordered free tickets for both events through online Eventbrite.

I seemed to spend hours of preparation the night before as well as on the mornings. Selecting the right underwear, clothes, shoes, emptying my bag, collecting my props, printing the tickets, revising the speech and re-printing it, collecting food for a snack lunch (boiled eggs), bread, tomatoes.

Boiled eggs, shelled, and small tomatoes.

Plums cut in half to fit in the box.

The route

Coming up the Baker Street escalator I was entranced by the moving advertisements. (When I came home later down a different staircase the ads were static.)

At Baker Street station I asked the way at the station.  (Not the front entrance passing the Sherlock Holmes statue.) 

The exit was via the passage out passing Boots Chemist onto Baker Street.

So, Landmark one is Boots Chemist.

I recalled the landmarks from last time.

Landmark 2 is the London Transport Lost Property Office.

Landmark 3 seen from a distance on the left is the tower of the former Abbey Building. Art Deco, pre-War, before the war, as my parents used to say, meaning pre-WWII.

I regretted not having time or permission to go insides. However, later I read about it in Wikipedia and found nothing had been preserved from the old days except the facade.

Landmark 4 on the right a shop selling London souvenirs.

Landmark 5 on the right as you walk north, a shop selling Sherlock Holmes clothing. 

Landmark 6 a small, simple Sherlock Homes café with pictures of Sherlock Holmes on the walls.

Opposite is landmark 7 across the road, the Sherlock Holmes shop and museum with a queue of people, outside on the pavement (Americans say sidewalk). 

Then the Victory pub on the corner.

A sign points to Lord's Cricket Ground. The London Business school is to the left.

I arrived early, with food in my bag.

Before the speech, we received advice on speeches from a previous winner. She told us:

1 Practise
1 She rehearsed her speech many times, four times a day.

I had done that too, but often ended up adding irrelevant off the point daydreaming side stories. I suppose you have to be prepared for the fact that 9 out of 10 revisions are not an improvement, in order to gain 1 time in ten an improved line, or more succinct or alliterative way of saying the same thing.

2 Colours
She said she wore a bright colour. She was in green. (Yes, I was already in red.) She pointed out that men in black disappeared into the black curtain backdrop at finals. A white suit would disappear into a white background.

She was right that you need to see the venue in advance of the day, either on video or in person.

Stage Size Area and Visibility
My speech, Wear the right shoes, depended on my putting on a man's size eleven shoes. I found a man in the front row of the audience who agreed to let me wear his shoes. However, the seats were desktop seats, so nobody could see my shoes.

The area was small, so no room for pacing up and down, only two or three paces in each direction.

The moral - if  your speech depends on shoes and your lower half can't be seen, lift up the shoe and limp along.

Accents and Characters
Another of the winners had very distinctive accents. You need to work on two or three sets of contrasting couples you can bring out in an impromptu speech. If you don't have anybody else, an exaggeration of yourself contrasting your husband and mother and father or childen.

Props
Who had the best props? Warren, the winner, used the board at the back for a diagram he had drawn in advance.

London Business School Club
Warren is a member of the Business School club. He says it's the cheapest club. It also meets twice a week on Tuesday and Wednesday. That makes it easier to get a speaking slot.

Engaging With Audience
I engaged with the audience. Be positive.

The Humorous Speech Contest

The Impromptu Speech Contest (Table Topics)
The winner went through childhood, teenager and adult. She had once been advised that by a previous speaker. It gave shape to her mini-speech.

I and several others started well but ran out of steam. You need to plan your conclusion and summarise your speech and end decisively, ideally with something amusing.

Angela Lansbury, humorous speaker, CL, ACG.