Earning your Competent Communicator Award (CC) is the first step in the Toastmasters Communication Education Program. The CC manual is comprised of 10 speech projects. The 10 speech projects will help you develop your speaking skills one step at a time. Each project is designed for you work on one individual aspect of a speech.

During the process of mentoring Toastmasters I identified nine core factors for completing the CC manual. By applying these factors you can complete your CC manual within four to five months, or whatever target dates you would like to set for yourself.

Factor 1: Read Each Project Carefully - Read the entire project at least twice before you start each project so that you will have a clear understanding of the objective. Review the "executive summary", and the "objectives" for each project to help you understand your goal. This is important because the project evaluation guide is a reflection of the overall project. Your evaluator will be able to provide you with a proper evaluation for self-development. Use the evaluation guide help structure your outline.

Factor 2: Choose Only the Topics That YOU Are Interested In! - Speaking on topics that you are interested in helps your speechwriting, will increase your confidence, improve your performance, and help you overcome nervousness. Think of topics associated with your personal life such as, self-employment, employer, non-profit agency, ministry, career field, or any particular course of educational study. Select a topic that you can speak about in successive projects that connect data and other information. Keep it simple! Do not waste your time with topics that have very little interest to you. Speaking on these topics will undermine your performance.

Factor 3: Plan Your Speech Projects in Advance - Start by identifying your target timeline for you to complete the CC Manual. The normal timeline to complete the entire manual would be one Toastmaster year, which is July 1 to June 30. Your timeline can be adjusted to an earlier date. Discuss this with your mentor. Your projects should be completed in the order listed in the manual. (Note: Once you've planned your projects you will want to always have speeches ready, and on hand so that you can speak at a moment's notice. This will come in handy when other members who are scheduled to speak during a meeting cancel, and can't attend. You will want to stay in contact with the Toastmaster of the day for open speaking opportunities.)

Factor 4: Your Speechwriting is the Heart of your Speech - You are not writing your speech for someone to review as a report for reading. Here are some helpful tips:

1. One important thing to remember is that you are writing for the "listening ear"
2. Ensure that you have identified the right purpose for your speech (Persuade, Inform, Entertain, or Demonstrate)
3. Write your speech as if you are talking to someone
4. Double space your sentences to identify/create your transitions
5. Review for grammatical errors as well as spelling errors
6. Ensure that you have an opening, body (2-3 main points), and a close
7. Do not write long sentences
8. Use short paragraphs and short words

Factor 5: Always Meet Your Time Requirements - This is a very important factor! Your fellow club members will appreciate you for this. The easiest method for accomplishing the time factor is the "Word Count" method. As you have reviewed your CC manual, you know that eight out of the ten projects are timed for 5-7 minutes. Using Microsoft Word when writing your speeches make this an easy task.

Example: The average person speaks at 100-120 words per minute. Your speech should be between 600-840 words maximum in length to accomplish 5-7 minutes. (120 words x 5 min=600 words / 120 words x 7 min=840 words)

Factor 6: Practice Makes Perfect - Practice, practice, and more practice. Practice your speech in front of a mirror, your friends, family, or co-workers.

Factor 7: Work Closely with Your Mentor - Your mentor can help you stay focused on both your short term and long term goals, and advise you about your Advanced Communication Goals.

Factor 8: Learn Through Evaluation - As you evaluate your fellow Toastmasters, you can focus on items for improvement when you are speaking. For example: Eye contact, body gestures, nervous habits, and voice control.

Factor 9: Explore Other Clubs - There are several benefits for joining other clubs such as:

• Being evaluated by other Toastmasters
• Dual membership will help increase your opportunities to speak
• Increasing your network for learning and self-development

If you use these (9) factors not only will you achieve your Competent Communicator Award you will also become a Competent Communicator.