Learning by Reflecting

Last Tuesday, at Toastmasters, the public speaking club I belong to, I gave what I thought was my last speech in the pathway called Engaging Humor. 

Each Toastmasters pathway has five levels with three to four different types of speeches in each level. By the time you complete a pathway, you have given fifteen to twenty different speeches. It’s a lot of work.

Since my personality does not lend itself toward being humorous, Engaging Humor was by far the most difficult pathway I’ve ever gone through. But I wanted to learn how to add a little humor to my speeches, so I chose to take the pathway.

The morning after what I thought was my last speech, I went to the Toastmasters website to send my notice of completion to our Vice President of Education. I noticed there was actually one more project left for me to do. Ugh! 

“Reflect on Your Path” will be my last speech to give in this pathway and reflecting is quite productive. 

A very long time ago, I helped coordinate a women’s community Bible study. Over the course of ten years, I gave about one hundred Bible study lectures. My audience, on average, was a group of about forty women. 

I vividly remember my first lecture. I stood in front of my audience with my eyes closed the whole time I spoke. I was too nervous to look at all those women.

I’ve come a long way since then. 

I didn’t think I was a humorous person which made Engaging Humor a painful pathway for me. After reflecting though, I discovered I’d learned how to turn serious things into funny things.

After pondering on the pathway of Engaging Humor, I’m convinced that I’ve found my own style of humor.

Looking over the comments my audience wrote about my almost last speech, this one was the best: “You are humorous on a sharp and very witty side, smart, intelligent humor.” 

Why Bother

Why bother learning by reflecting? When we pause long enough to think about where we’ve been and where we are now, we get encouraged to “keep a going.”