Red Badge Program - Classification Talk

print this page

The Classification Talk is a wonderful opportunity to introduce yourself to your fellow Rotarians.  They are interested in your background, your business, your interests and your ambitions.  Therefore, you could tell them about your birthplace, your family, your education and how you happen to be in your profession or business.

In order to adhere to our one hour meeting time limit, your classification talk should last from 3-5 minutes.  Depending on how fast you speak, you can figure a sheet of paper, single spaced, with a 1-inch border will easily take you five minutes to deliver.  Remember, the classification talk is just an introduction.  The fellowship at our weekly meetings and socials will provide your Rotary friends with ample opportunity to know you better.

Preparing the Talk

Keeping the audience interested begins with the preparation of the speech.  Start by writing a comprehensive outline of all the points you want to cover in the order of their importance, working from general to specifics.  Consider touching on the following points:

• A brief history of your career, including why you chose your business or profession.
• The parts of your job you find most rewarding and most difficult.
• Standards of practice within your field, including ethical issues and how Rotary helps you deal with them.
• The characteristics most needed for success in your business or profession.
• The effect that outside forces have changed your field, and how they may be affecting other fields.
• A forecast of employment opportunities in your field for the coming decade.
• Educational requirements for entry-level jobs in your vocation.
• The advice you would think of giving young people thinking of entering your career field.

Using your outline, write out a complete draft of your speech.  Include examples and anecdotes to help explain complicated information and make your talk more lively.  Avoid professional jargon; your listeners will lose interest if they are puzzled about what you are saying.  Read your finished draft aloud and time yourself.  Is it within the 5-minute time limit?  Try out your speech on a colleague who would easily recognize points you missed.  Also, present it to a family member or friend outside your field who could point out details that are unclear and who will help you with your delivery.

Giving the Talk

The following guidelines can help you give a lively presentation and keep your audienced engrossed:

• Speak clearly and in an audible tone.
• Stick to your prepared text.  People tend to ramble when they try to adlib and lose the tempo of the talk.
• Avoid nervous habits, such as shifting from one foot to the other, coughing, or toying with a pen or pencil.
• Use hand movements sparingly, only to be more expressive.
• Maintain eye contact with your audience, looking up every few sentences.
• Avoid the urge to rush through your talk to "get it over with."
• Try to relax as much as possible; breathing exercises and other relaxation techniques work.
• Putting genuine emotion into your voice will help you establish a rapport with your audience.
• Consider using visuals to enliven your presentation.  You might consider slides of your workplace,an overhead projector for flow charts and diagrams, visuals on a whiteboard or flipchart.  If you use visuals, be sure to do a test run beforehand!
• SOLID PREPARATION IS THE KEY!