"You have so much presence, I was so impressed." The visitor to my Toastmasters club made my day when she said that during the break after my speech.

I didn’t feel especially impressive. Aside from reading my draft through several times at home and then stumbling through it without notes — until I took a wrong turn — while driving to the club, I hadn’t practiced my speech.

I think I’ve learned to identify three to five main points of my speech and focus on those. I don’t go crazy trying to memorize my speech. When I practice, I try to identify a few places to pause for humor. 

My evaluator liked that I tied my intro to my speech. I forgot my book, so I don’t have any of his written comments.