Home » Resources » What Is An Ice Breaker Speech In Toastmasters?

What Is An Ice Breaker Speech In Toastmasters?

If you’ve recently attended a Toastmasters meeting as a guest and have decided to join up, you might have heard about the ice breaker speech. If you’re unclear as to what the ice breaker speech is, this is the right article for you.

In this article we’ll explain exactly what an ice breaker speech is, how long it should last and the subjects you should talk about. Keep reading for all you need to know about making your ice breaker speech.

What Is The Ice Breaker Speech At Toastmasters?

As the name suggests, the ice breaker speech is a short talk that all new members make to introduce themselves to the group, to break the ice. It is your opportunity to introduce yourself and share something about yourself with the group.

It is intended that your ice breaker speech will help you connect with other group members and help them get to know you better. The ice breaker speech allows you to tell the group something about yourself to help them get a better idea of who you are, what you do and how you think.

Why Do Toastmasters Have An Ice Breaker Speech?

The idea of an ice breaker speech at Toastmasters is to get you started on your Toastmasters pathway. It’s your first proper speech and a great way to introduce yourself to other members. The ice breaker speech also gives you your first opportunity to get the feeling of public speaking.

Plus presenting an ice breaker speech helps you to understand the basic structure of public speaking.

How Long Is The Ice Breaker Speech At Toastmasters?

At Toastmasters, the ice breaker speech should last anywhere between 4 to 6 minutes. It’s the first speech that all members present to their clubs but you often have to give more than one ice breaker speech.

This is because you will need to give an ice breaker speech before embarking on any of the pathways available at Toastmasters. There are 6 specialised learning paths called pathways which are;

1. Dynamic Leadership
2. Engaging Humour
3. Motivational Strategies
4. Presentation Mastery
5. Persuasive Influence
6. Visionary Communication

Plus another 5 legacy paths which are;

1. Effective Coaching
2. Innovative Planning
3. Leadership Development
4. Strategic Relationships
5. Team Collaboration

Each pathway has a minimum of 14 projects and includes at least one speech. These projects cover various subjects including understanding your personal communication style to gaining tips on leadership and discovering how best to connect with others.

To complete a path you have to finish 10 required projects and 4 electives. So the ice breaker speech is a great way to get you in the correct mindset for future club projects.

Remember, you only need to give one Ice Breaker per Pathway, and it sets the tone for the rest of your experience. If you choose to complete multiple pathways, you’ll need to give multiple ice breaker speeches but most members only give the one initial ice breaker speech and that’s the one we’re concentrating on in this article.

What Should Your Ice Breaker Speech Be About?

Your ice breaker speech should be a way of telling other members something about you. However, you could never condense your life so far into a 4 to 6 minute talk, so you need to think of 3 or 4 interesting aspects of your life. These aspects should help your audience to understand something about you as an individual.

You could include where you were born, your education history or something about your family. You might want to include how you came to have your current job, what you did previously and where you see yourself in the future.

Or you might feel more comfortable talking about your youth and how certain events in your past moulded you into the person you are today. Or you might choose to speak about any hobbies or out of work interests you are passionate about. 

The choice really is yours, it’s your speech and you can talk about any aspect of your life that you feel comfortable speaking about.

Ice Breaker Speech Preparation

Once you have a rough idea of the main subject matter for your speech,  you need to turn it into a story that others will find entertaining. Don’t look at it as giving a talk to strangers, imagine you’re giving your talk to friends or family.

Don’t forget to give some personal information about experiences that you have had. The more personal you make your speech, the more you’ll be able to connect with your audience.

Ice Breaker Speech Structure

Like all good stories, your ice breaker speech needs a clear beginning and a clear ending. You need to think about an interesting opening statement that grabs the attention of your audience. The main body of your speech should be informative yet entertaining enough that others don’t drift off into their own thoughts and stop listening to you.

You can use factual information, add humour and emphasise any main points by relating stories, examples or anecdotes. If you just state the point, some members of the audience might miss it. So try to make the point and then say it using different words to illustrate the point.

Don’t give too much information away in your ice breaker because too much information might overwhelm your audience. To make it easier, here’s a sample ice breaker outline to get you started;

• Opening Sentence
  Grab your audience’s attention with a quote, question, or short story
• Body
  Share 2 or 3 key aspects of your life (your background, passions or goals)
• Conclusion
  Tie it all together with a takeaway or reflection
• Closing Sentence
  End with a memorable phrase or thought

Practice makes Perfect

Once you have a few decent ideas for your speech, keep practising it over and over until it sounds exactly the way you want it to. You can take a few cue cards to place on the lectern, but only refer to them when you’re stuck.

You’re giving a speech, not a reading so try to memorise your speech as much as you can. You might find it easier to write out a full speech and then break it down into separate parts each with a key word or phrase, and just write that word or phrase onto the cue cards.

You need to practice your talk until you’re comfortable with it and can repeat it without referring to your written copy. This will probably be the easiest speech you’ll ever give because you already know the subject matter, you.

Be sure to memorise the first and last sentences and the rest you can wing if you get really stuck. Although it’s best to practice your speech until you’re as near to word perfect as you can be.

Try giving the speech to a family member, a good friend or your Toastmasters mentor. Ask for feedback because they might have some useful tips that could help you.

If you can, film yourself or at least make an audio recording so you can get an idea of how your speech will sound to others. Listen to the recording and make any changes that you think might be necessary.

Don’t think of this as a scary speech in front of strangers, think of it as a talk that you’re giving to new friends. Look at it as sharing interesting information with others who might well like similar things to you.

Making Your Speech

Once you’ve prepared and practised your talk, try to relax. It’s natural to feel nervous, most speakers experience nerves before public speaking. 

You can use those nerves to your advantage in your speech. Make that nervous energy give an excited edge to your speech and remember people that don’t know you well are not going to notice a slight shakiness to your voice. Plus that will soon disappear once you get going.

As you’re being introduced, take a deep breath and exhale slowly this will help your voice sound calm and natural. Start by facing the Toastmaster and say something like, “Mister/Madam Toastmaster”, then face the audience and say “ladies and gentlemen (or fellow members and guests)”. Then give a slight pause and say your opening sentence.

While giving your speech make eye contact with members of the audience. Don’t stare at one person for too long, but make sure to make eye contact with various members throughout your speech. This makes people feel included in your speech and makes them more likely to pay attention as well.

Don’t be too concerned about what to do with your hands at this stage, just keep them by your side if this feels comfortable. You can practice hand gestures as you progress on your journey through Toastmasters.

At the end of your speech, after your concluding sentence, you can either say “thank you” or say “back to you Mister/Madam Toastmaster”.

Common Ice Breaker Speech Mistakes

Keep in mind, preparation is important, but so is knowing what to avoid. Here are a few common mistakes to watch out for;

• Trying to tell your entire life story in 4 to 6 minutes
• Speaking too fast due to nerves
• Reading your speech word for word
• Forgetting to make eye contact with the audience

If You Dress The Part, You’ll Feel The Part

It’s important to consider how you’re going to dress for your ice breaker speech. When you look good, you feel good so aim for comfortable but smart attire and make sure your hair is styled as you like it etc. When you know you look right it’s one less thing to worry about before making your speech.

You’ll be able to focus all of your attention on remembering your speech and remembering to make eye contact with various members of your audience.

Don’t Be Your Own Worst Critic

Once you finish your speech, you’ll probably be making judgments about your speech even before you sit down. This is common and almost every speaker does the same.

Listen to the evaluation given by the club member who was given this task and take on board their points. You should also ask other club members for any feedback they might have too. You should listen to all of the feedback given but remember, it’s only other people’s opinions and while most will usually be helpful, they’re not always.

Think about the way you presented your speech and ask yourself if you could have improved on it at all. If the answer is no, then relax, you did what you could. Any constructive criticism from the evaluator or other club members might help you for future speeches but don’t beat yourself up.

What The Evaluator Is Looking For

You will have been given an evaluator to assess your ice breaker speech and they will give their report after you have completed your speech. There are set qualities that the evaluator will be looking for which are;

• What strong points does the speaker have?
• How well did the audience get to know the speaker?
• Did the speech show adequate preparation?
• Did the speech have a definite opening, body and conclusion?
• Did the speaker use notes?
• Did the speaker talk clearly and was the speech loud enough?
• What did you like about the speech?
• What could the speaker have done differently to improve the speech?

Start Strong, Stay Confident

Your Ice Breaker speech is more than just a formality, it’s the first step in your Toastmasters journey and a chance to show your fellow members who you are.  Above all, don’t let perfection get in the way of progress. The Ice Breaker is designed to ease you in, not to test your limits. 

Treat it like a conversation with new friends. Share what makes you, you, and use this speech as a launching platform for all the growth and learning Toastmasters has to offer.

SEE ALSO: How To Take On The Grammarian Role At Toastmasters

Frequently Asked Questions