In late summer of 2014, one of our members, Roger Starnes, began meeting with a group in Wilmington, Ohio called the Wilmington Expressives*. They are a Toastmasters International* group that meets twice a month to help people like him do a better job speaking in public. The group works on avoiding words like “uhm”, “ah”, and “uh” in speech, as well as working on timing, delivery, effective communication, and using good grammar etc.
Last night Roger was asked to do a 5-7 minute speech at his group meeting, and he has two speeches left to do in order to complete his Competent Communicator manual. One was a project on using visual aids. Short on time to prepare, he selected a visual aid that he uses often, needs to use more, that he wanted to try to present in a different way than most visual aids are used in such speeches. While the talk went fairly well and was on time, his outline was one that he felt would work well as a post on this website for us to think about, so here you go…
“My Visual Aid”
Toastmasters Speech by Roger Starnes – 02/09/16
Nearly 3,500 years have passed since my visual aid was written.
The history it records extends many thousands of years beyond that. How many? No one is sure.
From this history, we can learn the order of how all things came into being (interesting this same history parallels the scientific view of the creation of life!), but my visual aid does not show that many random accidents and ever-present chance just worked out.
No, instead my visual aid tells the story about a Power far beyond anything we know. A power that even science can’t explain so they avoid finding a source for their claims.
My visual aid is a story of how people like me came to be, and how we tend to be a faulty people, often self-seeking and easily forgetful that we exist only by supernatural forces.
My visual aid contains the history of a people to whom a promise was made, and while this people were often corrupt, through their lineage a promise was fulfilled.
My visual aid not only tells us that a Supreme Power that caused things to come into being, but also made those things work in ways that are not possible by mere chance.
My visual aid tells me that the people to whom the promise was given, have come and gone, but the promise was realized in their time. A promise that assures everyone who opens the covers of my visual aid and follow the directions can be assured of himself or herself, a realization that what we see – here and now – is not all there is. That there is a place where our thoughts are formed, where are dreams are made, where laughter is produced and where our sorrow is felt that is not physical.
My visual aid is substantial in text through stories, records, history, predictions, lineages, and fulfillment of promises.
- 300 pages of my visual aid is dictionary
- 547 pages of my visual aid is history leading to a single promise
- 252 pages of my visual aid is history and teaching for us about that promise
- 81 pages of my visual aid is information and concordance
My visual aid is full of directions and remedies for those who read it today to go beyond what life offers.
What is my visual aid? See below…
*The church at Waynesville does not officially endorse, support, or encourage membership with Toastmasters or the Wilmington Expressives group. Roger Starnes is a member at the Waynesville Church of Christ, and as a member he felt compelled to share his speech on a ‘visual aid’ that should be a topic of conversations in all Christian’s lives. Roger does encourage others to check out Toastmasters on their own. If you live near Wilmington, Ohio, contact Roger!