Federico Riedinger

Toastmasters Speech 1: The Ice Breaker

by Andrew Dlugan

Published: Apr 24th, 2008

Ice breaker (or Icebreaker) is a term which describes an activity which reduces tension and anxiety in a group.

Thus, it is fitting that the first Toastmaster speech project is titled The Ice Breaker.

This article of the Toastmasters Speech Series examines the primary goals of this project, provides tips and techniques, and links to numerous sample speeches.

Why is This Speech Important?

The Ice Breaker speech has three aims:

1. Introduce yourself.
   Your ice breaker speech topic is you – something about your life, your job, your hobbies, your unique interests, your family, or any combination of these. You are an absolute authority on this topic, and everyone in the audience will learn something about you.
2. Begin to conquer the fear of speaking in front of a group.
   It is nervewracking when speaking in front of a new group. If you feel this nervousness, remember that a Toastmaster audience is always supportive and understanding. Nobody is grading you, and nobody will mind if you stumble through 99 "Um"s and "Ah"s. If you get up, say something, and sit down, you have succeeded in this project.
3. Provide a "base line" of your current strengths and weaknesses.
   Some new members have no public speaking experience, while others have years of presentations behind them. No matter where you fit into this spectrum, your goal is to improve from your starting point. This first speech helps club members gauge your current strengths so that they can make specific recommendations to help you improve.

Tips and Techniques

The Competent Communicator manual has a wealth of helpful advice. You can download a PDF version of the first project from the Toastmasters International website.

Here are a few other things which may help you:

"Nobody expects you to be a world-class orator. Just do your best."

• Ask for Help
  If you have a mentor, don't hesitate to ask them for help. If you don't, feel free to ask any other club member. Perhaps they can share what they spoke about for their Icebreaker. Perhaps they can help you select a topic. Perhaps you can practice it privately before the meeting. All other members have gone through the Ice Breaker before, and can provide words of encouragement.
• Practice Helps
  You don't need to practice the speech 35 times, and you don't need to have it memorized. However, your nervousness will be reduced considerably if you give it a couple of practice runs out loud (even if your only audience is you).
• Timing
  The recommended time for the Ice Breaker speech is four to six minutes. It may seem like a long time, but in later projects, you'll start wishing you had much more time to deliver your message. Don't worry too much about going under or over time. Just aim for somewhere in that range.
• Notes
  There are no rules on the use of notes. If you need notes, use them. If you don't need notes, don't. Either way, don't worry about it. It's okay if you read your ice breaker from a script (just try to look up once in a while), if you refer to cue cards, or if you talk without notes.
• Don't Expect to be Winston Churchill
  This is your first challenge. Nobody expects you to be a world-class orator. Just do your best. Once you have established your "base line", then you can aim to raise your skill level in future projects.
• Speak Up and Slow Down
  Two common effects of nervousness are mumbling words and racing through the speech. Try to avoid these, but don't worry if you can't help it.
• Humour Reduces Your Nervousness
  If you are comfortable incorporating humour into your ice breaker, go for it. The laughs from the audience will reduce your nervousness. An easy way to do this is to make a self-depracating joke at the start. (If nobody laughs, don't worry about that either… it's something to work on later.)
• Apologizing
  You may feel an urge to apologize to your audience (e.g. for uttering too many "Um"s, for losing your place, etc.). There is no need to do so! Often, the audience doesn't notice the little glitches, and it is much better for you to ignore them too.

Topic Ideas for Your Ice Breaker Speech

Although your broad topic is yourself, there are numerous angles to take, and several ways to organize your speech.

Don't worry too much about the organization of the speech; later speech projects (especially #2 and #3) encourage you to focus more on that. However, having said that, one of these ideas may help you overcome writer's block.

Idea #1: Chronological

For many people, a series of chronological snapshots of their life is the easiest to write and deliver.

Example: Ravi Singal takes this approach with his Ice Breaker: Why Me? Try Me!

Example: Oleg Kagan starts at birth in his Ice Breaker speech.

Idea #2: Topical

Discuss a series of elements of your life to provide a "sampling" of your life. For example, you could open up by talking about your family, then discuss your career, and conclude with your hobbies.

Example: Bob Cain addresses his love of travel, then photography, and then his career/education in his Ice Breaker speech. (video)

Idea #3: Common Thread

Select a common thread that runs through your life, and share brief stories where this common element appears. It might be a signature phrase, a philosophy that guides you, or even something obscure like peanut butter. (i.e. imagine stories through your life where peanut butter played a role)

My own Ice Breaker speech followed this general structure. It was titled "Andrew of All Trades – Master of None" and touched on several examples where I have breadth, but not depth of knowledge.

Example: Steph Corwin provides a great example with her Ice Breaker titled Swimming Through Life.

Idea #4: One Key Event

Focus on one critical event which took your life in a completely different direction.

Example: Tanya Huang talks about moving continents in Made in Taiwan, Calibrated in Canada.

Idea #5: How I Got Here…

A combination of #1 and #4, explain the series of decisions or events that brought you "here", where "here" might be the place you currently live, the job you currently have, the life you lead, or the decision to join Toastmasters.

Example: Tracy Buxton does this wonderfully in her Ice Breaker titled I used to be June Cleaver, but I'm not sure who I am now.

Example: Jill Williamson also demonstrates this approach in the aptly titled How I Came To Be Here. (video)

More Examples of The Ice Breaker

Here are a few more sample written and video speeches which may provide inspiration for you.

Written Speech Examples

• Words Have Power by Monkey Sri
• My Enduring Purpose by Benjamin
• Life is Like a Box of Chocolates by Kevin Chester Kuo
• Interest-aholic by Didier Thizy
• When I close my eyes by Shalabieh
• My Name is Shay by Seamus McInerney
• End Quote by Anna Min
• I am Not Who I Thought I Was by Michael Harris

Video Speech Examples

• 5 Years by Betsy Dewey
• No, I was Not Named After a Charlie's Angel by Farah Ulat
• Life is a Beautiful Dance by Sharon Burt
• Loves to Hear Herself Talk by Stephanie Bryant
• Inspiration of My 9-11 Inspiration Video by Alex Johnson
• Who Am I? The Reluctant Speaker by Paul Clausell

Next in the Toastmasters Speech Series

The next article in this series examines Speech 2: Organize Your Speech.

A couple weeks back I wrote about Sumatra PDF, a speedy and lightweight replacement for slow and lumbering Adobe Reader. I really hit a nerve! Several readers wrote in with their own assessments of Adobe Reader and favorite PDF readers. I'll share their suggestions this week, and give you some tips for working with Foxit Reader (one of my favorite apps). But first, an open letter to Adobe.

Adobe, Are You Listening?

Dear Adobe,

You almost got me. After opening a PDF in Adobe Reader 9, I decided to accept your pop-up offer to upgrade to version 10 (also known as Adobe Reader X). A few seconds later, I was staring at your download page, with its bright yellow Download now button just waiting for my click. Easy-peasy.

But then, with my index finger poised over the mouse button, I noticed something on the righthand side of the page–you know, the area often reserved for ads. In fact, it kind of looked like an ad, which is why my eyes initially passed over it. But then I looked closer, and here's what I saw:

Hey! You were going to sneak McAfee Security Scan Plus onto my system, as evidenced by the already checked "Include in your download" box. I wonder how many thousands of users never noticed that, then sat there scratching their heads trying to figure out how this mysterious security utility ended up on their systems. I wonder how many suspected it of being a fake, then wasted time and/or money trying to remove it. I wonder what kind of impact the software had on system performance, especially on machines already equipped with other security software. (When these kinds of tools overlap, they can actually cause problems.)

Bad Adobe. Bad! Alas, you're not the only culprit of this obnoxious behavior. As I wrote in How to Avoid Unwanted Toolbars: "many shareware, freeware, and even commercial programs try to slip in a browser toolbar during installation; and if you're not paying attention, you might click right past the setup screen that lets you opt out. For example, when you install a Java update, you'll end up with the Yahoo Toolbar unless you uncheck a box along the way."

There's only so many times I can caution readers to pay close, careful attention when installing anything–even from a company as seemingly trustworthy as yours. How about you accept a little of the responsibility? If you're going to try to shovel unwanted third-party software onto users' systems, at least leave the box unchecked by default.

Remember, users have plenty of alternatives to Adobe Reader–like, say, Sumatra PDF. Do you really want to give them another reason to switch?

Your friend in computing, Rick

Need to Edit a PDF That Can't Be Edited? Here's How

The PDF format is great for sharing documents, but it can be a hassle, too. For example, have you ever received a PDF containing form data, only to find that Adobe Reader won't let you complete any of the fields?

That happens when the PDF is created without the necessary administrative rights. In other words, it's like the editing capability for that document was turned off. Sure, you can always print the PDF and fill it in by hand, but doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of an electronic document?

The solution is to use a PDF reader that allows editing even when the PDF itself does not. I recommend Foxit Reader, which, among other things, lets you add text to any PDF.

The first time you run Foxit, it'll ask if you want to make it the default PDF viewer. That's entirely up to you, but I find Foxit to be smaller, faster, and less intrusive than Adobe Reader (though it doesn't offer quite the same level of security).

To edit a PDF, start by opening it in Foxit instead of Reader. Next, select Comments, Typewriter Tools, Typewriter Tool. Now just click wherever you want to add text, then start typing. (The program offers other markup tools as well, in case you're interested.) When you're done, you can save, print, or e-mail your marked-up document.

Foxit Reader is free, but be sure to decline the Ask.com toolbar it tries to sneak in during installation. (Adobe isn't the only company that tries to push unwanted software.)

Reader Suggestions

herbk98 says: "Cute PDF Writer. Download and install it. It's small, it's free, and it reads, writes, and prints .pdf files. Some of the best things in life are, indeed, free."

mikeyr says: "Nitro PDF Reader. The free version is great and will surprise you with its small footprint and robust features."

ulimrose says: "The constant request for updates of Adobe Reader was annoying. I switched to PDF-XChange Viewer years ago."

If you've got a hassle that needs solving, send it my way. I can't promise a response, but I'll definitely read every e-mail I get–and do my best to address at least some of them in the PCWorld Hassle-Free PC blog . My 411: hasslefree@pcworld.com . You can also sign up to have the Hassle-Free PC newsletter e-mailed to you each week .