CHENNAI: He came, he spoke and he conquered — this line best describes Aditya Maheswaran’s impact as an orator, if his performance at Toastmasters’ ‘International Speech Contest’ (ISC) this year is anything to go by. The 28-year-old emerged victorious after battling it out against several first-rate speakers across successive levels of the contest, building a spot for himself at the ‘Oscars of Oratory’ — the prestigious ‘World Championship of Public Speaking’ (WCPS) 2014. A Toastmaster for over nine years now, he went on to achieve the title of ‘Distinguished Toastmaster’ (the highest award conferred by Toastmasters International on completing all communication and leadership projects) at the age of 23, making him one of the youngest members to have accomplished the feat. He has also been a TEDx speaker and a recipient of the ‘Young Achiever Award’ from the Rotary Club of Chennai Galaxy in 2011, inspiring many with his thought-provoking speeches and effortless performance on stage.
Success in contests didn’t come easy to him for he lost at the club level when he first participated in the ISC in 2008. In 2011, he participated again and got placed second at the division level. Aditya brought truth to the adage ‘third time lucky,’ by hitting the home run and making it to the WCPS this time. He currently works as a Leadership Consultant for Hay Group, Mumbai.
His mantra for success? “A simple yet powerful message in your speech is critical to touch the hearts of the audience and thereby win contests.” He elaborates, “My speech at the contests this year, ‘The scratch,’ is based on a real life incident. I had bought a new car which got scratched on the very first day. I felt really bad about it. That got me thinking that if a scratch on a car could cause so much anxiety, then what about the invisible ‘scratches’ we create, consciously and unconsciously, in our relationships with people? That’s how my speech came to life.”
To choose a good topic for your speech, he suggests to notice the events happening around you. “Observe the incidents in your life and find a message that will help impact the audience. We all have great stories to share. In just the last couple of hours, there may be a handful of incidents that you can turn into a beautiful speech. We simply don’t notice this and fail to connect the dots. For example, someone picking up a piece of paper from the street and throwing it into the bin can make a wonderful story on accountability and responsibility.”
One of the biggest challenges most speakers face on stage is being unable to connect with the audience. This, in turn, hinders their confidence and makes them question their effectiveness. The answer, says Aditya, lies in shifting the focus from yourself to your audience. “When I had first started participating in speech contests, I would see the whole exercise from my point of view. I would ask myself if my speech had a message, if I had included gestures and vocal variety to my speech, and so on. But now, I’ve learnt that in order to deliver a speech that makes an impact, I need to see it from the audience’s perspective. Two factors play a critical role: impact and connect. Every minute of your speech must create some impact on the audience. When you successfully connect with them, they’ll feel like they are a part of your life through your story.”
Aditya believes enlightenment dawns from the journey rather than victory itself and adds, “My biggest learning from contests can be summed up in these words — ‘Conclusion is what you arrive at when you’re tired of thinking.’ I’ve learnt that a speech can always be improved at every level. Even if I deliver the same speech 10 more times, there will be 10 more elements that can make the speech better. My second lesson has been that it is relatively easy to achieve 95 per cent of excellence in your speech. But when you’re competing against top-notch participants, it is critical that you achieve that five per cent of excellence too. This can be quite stressful, as every hand gesture and every bit of your voice modulation matters. So it is imperative that you strive to achieve excellence and not just focus on delivering a good speech. Thirdly, I’ve learnt that humility plays a large role in your success. By competing with many speakers of great calibre, you realise that you have a long way to go.”
His groundwork for success stems from hard work and preparation. “With respect to the content of my speech, firstly, I spend a lot of time contemplating on the message I want to leave the audience with. Only when I can articulate that briefly, in about 20-25 words, do I start scripting my speech. I spill all my thoughts out on a paper without worrying about the word limit. Then, I cull out what needs to stay in my story. When it comes to rehearsing my speech, I don’t usually form a panel of people and rehearse before them. I believe that 70 per cent of your preparation takes place in the mind. I spend a lot of time with myself and mull over the speech in my mind.”
Aditya is all set to cast his spell of words at the WCPS this year, with a simple belief. “Contests, irrespective of the level, are always hard. But if you think you have a good message to convey and create an impact on the audience’s lives, you’ll feel happy with your speech and won’t be able to wait to deliver it. To make sure I leave a mark, I’m not going to focus on any other question but this — if the speech I deliver will be the last speech of my life, what message would I like to leave for the audience? Once I am able to answer this question, half of my preparation will be done.”
— noorain.nasir@yahoo.com