Toastmasters may also enjoy reading articles in another bimonthly magazine

Speaker magazine from the U.S. National Speakers Association is subtitled The Art and Business of Professional Speaking. There is a web page with a directory of bimonthly issues you can read for free.

The latest issue is January-February 2020. Pages 22 to 25 have an excellent article by Ben Glenn titled Tips for a Creative Mindset. The seven he describes are: Research, Write it down, Be curious, Incorporate pop culture, Travel, Go for a walk, Test your material. Pages 26 to 29 have a great article by actor coach Tom Todoroff titled Sharpen Your Stagecraft. Tom advises:

“There are essentially five motivations that bring an audience to the theater or cinema: to laugh, to cry, to learn or be enlightened, to be scared, or to be stimulated….

It’s your job as a speaker to take the audience on a journey. Unlike acting, though, the script comes from you! Strive to craft a story, first on paper and then in performance, that touches on all five of the essential audience motivations. By engaging ‘the head and the heart and the hips’ you will leave your audience feeling deeply moved, inspired, and motivated by your words.”

On November 6, 2019 I blogged about Excellent advice on how to deal with a distraction or an emergency during your speech, and linked to another article from Speaker magazine.

A cartoon in my dummy magazine cover was modified from one at Wikimedia Commons.