‘Create the Space’ Speech Video (Version Three)

Introduction

The video below is from April 11th, 2019 at SAP in Newtown Square, PA.  This is the third time I delivered this speech in public.  It’s seven minutes, thirty seconds long.  This version is much better than version two.

I won the third round of the Toastmasters International Speech Competition with this speech. That’s like winning the best speaker in Chester, Montgomery, Delaware County within Toastmasters.  This is also my third win at this level of competition.  The other two speeches that won were my “Eyes on the Situation” speech on depression and my “Lessons in Life from the Ring” speech on character development through sports.

I made a few changes from the second version.

  • I changed the opening since I was tired of shouting  “you are an accident” at people 🙂
  • I added asking the audience “Do you think you were a planned baby?” to get the audience more engaged.  I added this on-the-fly the night of this performance based on seeing other speakers engage the audience.  Competition = good.
  • I added another question “Do you struggle with personal time versus kids?” because who doesn’t?  Again, this was an easy way to engage people, relate, connect, etc.
  • I added the joke about my dog and double vision in chapter three.  Older people were uncomfortable with my “yeast infection” joke in the last two versions.  The more I deliver this speech, the older the audience gets so I adapted.
  • I added a joke about married men in their mid-thirties.  This will get better in the next version.
  • I shortened the ending but paused more to give everyone time to think.  Connections are stronger when you leave enough time to think.  Simple (yes/no) questions need one second to think.  More complex questions need three seconds.
  • My pace was much better because I cut about fifty words or twenty seconds out of the speech.  I was able to pause more without worrying about running out of time.

If you’re interested in hearing me speak at your company, event, or school, reach out or check out my other speech topics.

‘Create the Space’ Links

If you want to improve your public speaking or communication skills, check out my other posts on this speech. Look for a multi-part series on “How to Create the Best Speech of Your Life” coming soon.

Speech Video

Click here to watch the video on YouTube or watch on this website below.

If you’re a professional videographer, I will deliver this speech at a big conference in mid-May and would like a professional recording.  Reach out if you’re interested.