Hi Reader,

Speech contests. Why do we participate in them? To be honest, there could be many reasons, and it depends on what you want to get out of them.

And of course, winning is winning. But there’s a side effect—you also get a chance to fail. I’ve talked about this before. It’s a process, and even if you fail, you still gain a lot.

I want to share an interesting experience. Last year, sometime in September, I was asked to coach someone for the International Speech Contest conducted by Toastmasters. You must know that the season starts in February 2025 (which it did now). I was a little surprised because the request came in so early—even I hadn’t started this early when I used to prepare!

So it got me intrigued, and I agreed to see what happens when you start this early.

Here are some key learnings I had during this process—hopefully, they make you think about how you approach your own goals.

1) Having a clear goal. We can do a lot of things with our life and time. But the goal was very clear, and it made things a lot easier for me to help. This sounds simple, but most of the time, we waste a lot of our time because we do not have clear goals. Think about this.

2) Starting early does not mean you are going to waste time. You might think, why start so early when we can just begin a few weeks before the contest? That’s what we generally do. Indians (especially those who studied engineering) know what I’m talking about—late-night, last-minute miracles before an exam! So you can imagine why I got intrigued in the first place. That engineer in me still exists, and he shows up now and then!

Do you think starting early was a waste of time? Wrong. It was the best use of time!

I can bet that the time spent on this journey was the quickest, most hands-on work that anyone can put in to gain 10X confidence on stage.

When you start preparing, you are always filled with doubts. And those doubts are usually predictable but hard to answer:

• Is the story compelling enough?
• Will it connect with the audience?
• Is the message coming out well?

But when you start early, you get an unfair advantage. You have time to go over these doubts, try new things, and refine them as you go forward.

For example:

• The first speech wasn’t clicking. The message wasn’t initially clear. More importantly, his conviction wasn’t 100%. And here’s a crucial lesson: if you have a story to tell, you must be fully convinced of it yourself. Otherwise, it’s not going to fly. The initial speech was tossed, and another was created.
• There was enough time to test the speech in different clubs to see how audiences reacted. Even before the contest season officially began, the material was tested. This didn’t just improve the speech—it skyrocketed confidence.

3) The nuances matter. When crafting a speech, cohesiveness is key. You may not always notice it as a listener, but when a speech truly captivates you, it’s because a great deal of effort has gone into making it flow seamlessly. It just feels effortless, and before you know it, the speech is over. That’s the magic of a well-crafted speech—it pulls you in, keeps you engaged, and leaves a lasting impact.

4) The result is often predictable when the right amount of effort is put in at the right time. Even if my coaching client hadn’t won the contest, it would still have been a victory. Why? Because a wonderful speech was created—one to be proud of whenever opportunity knocks. That’s the real win: being prepared, confident, and ready for any stage.

What made the difference? Commitment, coachability, and consistency. I’m proud that every critique was embraced and every skill was honed.

This journey reminds us all—excellence in public speaking isn’t about perfection; it’s about persistence.

Hope this helps you in your journey.

As always, thanks for being awesome!

-Rama
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​P.S: I've a slot from March. If you're looking for personal coaching, please reply to this email.