I am a liberal arts major from The Evergreen State College, where I studied photography and art history. My favorite photography instructor, Bob, made critiques a regular part of the class structure. In addition to critiques he emphasized the importance of editing. Since joining Toastmasters in November 2016, I see similarities with photography and speaking (communicating). In this article I will be drawing two parallels between photography and Toastmasters: critique and editing.
Part I
On the importance of critique
Before I joined Bob's class, I hadn't experienced someone else "dissecting" my work. The first time the class critiqued my work I was initially surprised by the truth. My classmate said everything I had internalized while creating the photos - that they were lacking substance. Lacking content.Sure, the photos were developed perfectly and they were in focus, but the content just wasn't there, and I knew it all along. "I just don't get it. There's nothing here. What am I looking at?! This does absolutely nothing for me," she said. She was right. There wasn't anything there. It was then that I realized the importance of critique; if she and others wouldn't have spoken up, who knows where I'd be!
This applies to not only art and photography but to communication and speaking as well. One can have the best delivery, body language, eye contact and vocal variety but if the content or message is lacking then the overall speech quality is likely to drop. The audience gets a fake veneer of a speech that's empty inside. Next time you set out to create a piece of art or a speech, start from the heart. That's where passion resides. If we do this, our content will shine and become a gift for the audience.
Evaluations at Toastmasters are a critical element of our club meetings; they give the evaluator an opportunity to flex their evaluator muscles of describing exactly why a speech is successful...or not. If no one "calls you out" on your performance, you will face a longer road to improvement and growth. If your evaluator says things that you yourself were thinking, it only reinforces and makes obvious the areas you need to work on.
Part II
On editing your work
After printing my contact sheets (photography thumbnails) in the darkroom, Bob would take his white wax pencil from behind his ear and circle the strongest images. He would describe to me what he saw in the thumbnails - explaining which images were the strongest and weakest and why. Knowing what made images successful, I began to start editing images on my own.When preparing for a Toastmasters speech, the same rule applies when it comes to editing. First, you go in the darkroom (your mind) and think about what you might want to say. Many ideas will surface, but not all can be incorporated into your speech. When you come out with your developed ideas, you still need to take that white wax pencil and only take the cream of the crop.
Since most speeches are only 5-7 minutes, the content must be succinct, well-crafted and carefully edited in order to give the audience your message in a clear, focused manner. If you leave in poorly cropped ideas or out-of-focus notions, it will make your content suffer.
Next time you go to prepare a speech, just remember that critiques and editing are what improve our skills. Without them our end product won't live up to its true potential. At Confidence Builders, we help each other live up to our own true potential in a supportive space...while having fun and creating lasting relationships!