Nervous About Speaking in Front of Your Council? Practice!
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to present an idea in front of your City Council? Have you presented before but want more practice? Do you want to watch someone else make their Strong Towns case in a persuasive way and agree with them? This is the meeting for you!
Join us Wednesday, August 31, for a mock council meeting, in which we’ve asked our Strong Towns Toastmasters members to prepare a persuasive speech or participate as a skeptical council member. Guests are invited to attend and enjoy the fun!
What kinds of topics can you expect to hear about? Our members are taking on the challenge of preparing a 5–7 minute persuasive speech on a Strong Towns topic.
Possible “Persuade the Council” Topics
Allow the construction of duplexes, triplexes, and other “missing middle” housing in a community.
Reduce the speed of residential streets to 20 mph.
Stop a proposed servicing agreement to allow the construction of a Walmart “power center” on the edge of town.
Encourage more local businesses to start up by allowing small businesses to be started in garages, alleyways, or the first floor of existing homes.
Add bike lanes to a nearby road linking two important parts of your community.
Serve the needs of all residents by addressing a barrier to accessibility.
Encourage the redevelopment of old buildings by allowing small businesses to use a building for up to two years before they need to have everything up to modern code.
Modify an existing street to slow the cars.
Appoint you as the city manager for one month so you can accomplish a few key goals.
And many more!
Thousands of nervous people have spoken in front of a council to propose ideas to make positive changes in their communities. Thousands more have great ideas, but a fear of public speaking holds them back. Luckily, confidence in public speaking can be built like a muscle. That’s where Strong Towns Toastmasters comes in.
Perhaps you can relate to the experience of Rodney Kazenske, a Strong Towns member from Denver Colorado.
While I have presented several times over the years to various city and town councils, and I believe been successful in all my applications, I definitely wouldn’t consider myself a competent presenter. Partially, I think this is because I don’t think there is one way you can prepare for or approach city councils. They seem to vary so much from municipality to municipality. Some cities are quite formal, while others, seem more like your neighborhood book club meeting.
I have felt that one of the most important traits, besides being or at least exuding a level of comfort, is to have the ability to be flexible and be able to adapt to different settings and situations. That’s one of my reasons for wanting to be a part of this Strong Towns Toastmaster group, not only to get more comfortable speaking in a variety of situations, but to learn how to better adapt and adjust when presenting or speaking.
Rodney Kazenske of Denver, CO, presenting to the St. Charles County, MO Planning and Zoning Commission in 2018.
In our Strong Towns Toastmasters group we meet online with people from across North America to practice public speaking skills in a safe, supportive environment. Want to try out that council member speech? We’ve got you covered with a speaking slot and dedicated speech evaluator. Our evaluators give feedback on your strengths, and tips about how you can build on what you have to make your presentation even stronger. Need to improve your interview skills? In each meeting we ask participants to answer questions based on the meeting theme. You can practice your impromptu responses AND listen to other people’s strategies as they respond.
The purpose of our Strong Towns Toastmasters Club is to provide a supportive environment for people with a wide range of experience levels to practice presenting in front of many different audiences. This will be the first time some of our members have ever given a speech like this. Feel free to join us and give your support!
Meeting Details (All Guests Welcome)
When: Wednesday from 8:00–9:30 p.m. ET.
Where: Zoom.
Sample Guide to Speaking in Front of City Council
Can’t attend the Toastmasters meeting? Here’s a great guide for speaking to a City Council prepared by by two housing advocates in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Additional Testimonial from Dr. Kevin L. Maevers, AICP, CZO (Roswell, New Mexico)
Fellow Strong Towns Advocates,
In study after study, results have shown that up to 75% of the population has glossophobia, or a fear of public speaking. While that may be inconsequential to many in our communities, for a Strong Towns Advocate, it is the power of your voice, your ability to persuade, and the passion that you have for the Strong Towns movement that will turn adversaries into partners and advocates.
I’ve spent nearly all of my adult life making presentations to city councils, planning boards, and governmental agencies. My estimate is that over the course of my career, I have given over 1,000 presentations varying in length from just a few minutes to over four hours. I’ve given award-winning speeches, and I’ve stumbled and fell flat on my face. But in each case, regardless of the outcome, I relied completely on my Toastmasters training to help me prepare and deliver with conviction, clarity, and confidence.
The Strong Towns Toastmasters Club provides an amazing opportunity to practice your messaging. To gain confidence and receive feedback in a supportive, collegial environment, where everyone has the same overarching goal: to advance the Strong Towns movement from town to town, city to city, and state to state.
By taking control of the opportunity given to you when speaking before a council, commission, or committee, you become the subject matter expert. It’s up to you to take charge of the room and use your voice to gain trust, change hearts and minds, and deliver a message of opportunity for positive growth and change in our communities.
It’s also an opportunity to practice responding to critics, in brief impromptu speaking sessions. These short, 1–2 minute responses to random questions hone your skills at responding in a calm, rational, and convincing manner to even the most random of questions, no matter how irrelevant or implausible.
If you’re passionate about the Strong Towns movement, we need you to join us. We need to add your voice to ours so that we can effect positive change in our communities.
I personally invite you to join the Strong Towns Toastmasters Club and learn, practice, and gain confidence alongside some of the best public speakers you will ever meet.
We’re having a special event on Wednesday, August 31, to practice speaking in front of your city council. There has never been a better opportunity for you to become a true expert on the Strong Towns philosophy and learn to gain the trust and confidence of your local governing body.
Please join us, and learn how and why the Strong Towns movement is gaining strength throughout the nation.
Speak with confidence!
Dr. Kevin L. Maevers, AICP, CZO
Community Development Director
City of Roswell, New Mexico
