So it's time for the biiiig speech, and you've written out your draft, practiced it over and over, have your notes set, your Powerpoint made, and you think everything's ready to go. So what do you do? You arrive ten minutes late, find the stage to be half the size you were planning on, your laptop has trouble connecting to the projector, and your panic makes you forget half your speech. What could you have done to fix this?

"How long is five to seven minutes in words?" "How do I give a good evaluation?" "What are good advanced manuals to start with?" I get a lot of questions about the Toastmasters program, and by request, I'm answering ten of these questions here.

It happens more often than we'd like to admit. The boss asks you to fill in for someone to give a presentation. You forgot you had a speech to give at Toastmasters, or a slot becomes available at the last moment. You have some time with someone you'd like to pitch an idea to. In any of these, you don't have much, if any, time to prepare. How do you handle these situations when you have to "say it in six"?

This is an adaptation of a script for a one hour long seminar presented at what's now the Lone Star College Cy-Fair branch, who wanted someone to speak about Toastmasters and public speaking. Yes, it's another article about speaking basics, but I thought it might be worthwhile to share here.