I aspire to motivate and inspire people, and public speaking and storytelling are two important skills anyone with such a goal should have. I am also a YouTuber, a blogger, and a researcher, and we all know that an effective on-camera presence, storytelling and writing skills will go a long way in these areas.
So, I did stock-taking to identify my level of these skills and what sort of improvement was needed. I know that I am a confident speaker but when I am surrounded by unfamiliar settings or I am under pressure, I tend to either rush through my presentation or stutter or become blank, or all of the mentioned, in the worse case.
Moreover, my leadership skills had been long overdue for an upgrade. As for my writing skills, I’ll let my blog, research articles, and IELTS results do the talking.
Early this year, I decided to join Toastmasters International. Toastmasters is a worldwide programme – usually divided into clubs – where people go to improve their communication, leadership, and public speaking skills.
Members practice in front of a group of people who are also there to learn. They get evaluated and are given recommendations for improvement; and many other activities and competitions. Experienced toastmasters are there to guide, and yes, they understand your fears because once upon a time, they were like you… or worse.
I write all this to say that I started my first pathway (Dynamic leadership – the most chosen first pathway). Congratulations to me. My goal is to be better at public speaking, break away from memorizing scripts so I won’t be too scripted, improve not only my writing skills but also the skill of effective storytelling, and lastly my ability to speak on the spot (table topics does that).
I think this will be beneficial to me professionally as well as in my day-to-day life.
I did my first ever Toastmaster Icebreaker. The Icebreaker is the first project on your Toastmasters journey and the first speech you give for any pathway you choose (even if it is your second pathway).
The speech is 6 minutes long with a goal to introduce yourself to the rest of the members in that Toastmasters club. It can be nerve-wracking, especially if you are to speak to people that you don’t know.
Finding the topic to get started may also prove to be difficult. For me, I wanted a topic that is unique to me but doesn’t give away private-personal information. I didn’t want to bare it all at the beginning. No be only me get wahala and be weird somebody.
My topic was also to be one that will showcase a common theme in my life or accomplishments I am proud of or a passion, or hobby that is important to me. After not much thought, I chose this topic.
I wrote the draft. My mentor, an experienced Toastmaster, went through it and gave me tips that improved the write-up and VIOLA!! A killer icebreaker speech was made. Read it below and let me know what you think.
The title is
GET ONE TODAY
I’ll start by asking, “Who remembers Norma Jean Baker?” What did she do? Seems no one knows her. Well, maybe Shakespeare was wrong when he wrote: 'A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.' Greetings Madam chair, and fellow toastmasters. I was born in Nigeria and named Sinemobong. My name, by direct translation, means “that which pleases God”. It is my calling card, my public face to the world. Growing up in Nigeria we all wanted to have nicknames because they reflected, to an extent, our social status, intellectual strengths, or physical abilities. Within my circle of friends, the zeal to have a name beside the shortened form of our given names, or like we fondly say, “our government name”, was mainly inspired by the action movies we watched at the time. Nicknames are used across all cultures and generally as a term of endearment. A nickname reflects how others view the person and come to mirror how that person sees himself/herself. With aliases, it is either you give it to yourself, or you are christened with it. The latter has a greater chance of affecting one’s self-esteem positively or negatively. I knew this early enough from watching American high school movies and, mainly because naming people is very common in my country. The harder you resist the label you’re given, the longer it will stick in people’s minds. So, when I saw my brother practicing his newly acquired pet name, I tried to adapt it using the nickname guidelines that I’d developed based on my view of his nickname. There are • First, it should include some letters from your name. • Then, it should be short yet concise. • Lastly, it should be impactful. And fellow toastmasters, that is how my first moniker was created. But it was short-lived because back in boarding school, my friends gave me a different name. These names changed as we moved up in curriculum and classes. Since I was very good at biology drawings, I was called xylem because they couldn’t call me phloem as it sounded like phlegm. Then, I was called Sine theta because not only was I good at mathematics, but I was also one of the few girls that took up Further mathematics. So, I was crowned Sine theta. Some of my classmates tried to call me Tetraoxosulphate (VI) but, that was longer than my name and wouldn’t make sense. I didn’t like the fleeting nature of my nicknames as such, I decided to give myself one that, in my opinion, will last. Without putting much thought into it, I named myself, Dexter Nino. Dexter was from “Dexter’s Laboratory”, my favorite cartoon at the time before Jimmy Neutron, while Nino was from a wall clock that has been in our room for as long as I could remember. Anyway, proud of myself, I shared this news with my friends, but they didn’t budge. They still insisted on calling me sine theta. I was a tad frustrated because I took out time from my play time to craft that name. Not even an acknowledgment for such a cool act. Although, when I thought about it, Sine theta wasn’t bad after all. It just cemented the fact that I was a pro in Maths and that came in handy in my last terms of secondary school. 'Cos any issue with Maths, ask Sine theta she’ll show you how to solve it. It was a good enough recommendation that contributed to me being selected for a regional Mathematics Competition. I came out in the second position and won prize money. To date, some of my secondary schoolmates call me Sine theta. Fast-forward to undergraduate, I tried again to sell my “Dexter Nino” nickname, and once again I failed. In this case, they christened me Siybaby as a sign of endearment. Si from the first two letters of my name, y just for aesthetic then, baby cos I was the youngest in my clique. Dexter Nino made it through, but it was with friends I’d made post-secondary school but pre-university especially those who knew about Dexter’s laboratory and saw the similarities. So yes, some people still call me Dexter. You would think the naming ceremony would stop there but that wasn’t the case. Before I graduated from Uni, I came across this word for the first time. It has been misunderstood. Initially, it was just a regular word that was to reference bad character, but over the years, it has evolved to mean lively, bold, and full of spirit; cheeky even. I thought to myself, I like that adjective. It represents me. I am distinctively smart and can be stylish. That’ll be a great name for me. And how do I stand out? Let’s add my field of interest to it. And so fellow toastmasters, that was how Sassy Engineer was born. The friends I made post-Uni call me Sassy. In summary, nicknames are seen as a sign of friendship, and intimacy. They can be a shortened version of your name or a different word entirely. Nicknames can break down walls creating some level of trust as opposed to long formal names which could create barriers, depending on the situation. All my nicknames have not changed me – I am still Sinemobong. So, Shakespeare was correct when he said “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”. On that note, get a nickname today. Thank you. NB: Marilyn Monroe is Norma Jean Baker
