Westside Toastmasters is located in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, California

Compel Through Commitment

The key to being compelling lies in your own commitment to and connection to your topic. And it comes from knowing exactly what you want to say. Sound familiar? We're back to the original task of defining your purpose—knowing what you want to say. But that second step—persuading—needs a commitment from you to your topic. Funny stories, slides, and startling statistics all may help you make your case, but your own commitment as a speaker—the passion and the tangible belief that you can summon—is hard to beat when you combine it with a logical, informative presentation.

In 1976, Norman Vincent Peale (famous for his book The Power of Positive Thinking) wrote another book called Enthusiasm Makes the Difference, in which he stated that enthusiasm can not only help you cope with any problem you may face, it can help you harness the power to motive yourself and others. To be the excited—and exciting—kind of speaker people remember, you must believe in your material. This is especially true when your purpose is to convince or motivate. Your enthusiasm must be genuine and palpable; anything contrived will seem just that.