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Speech Breaker

Get ready to laugh with the Speech Breaker voice-jamming challenge game! Put on the headphones and talk into the microphone, but look out—the mic has a delay built into it! This video shows you everything you need to know to get started.

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INSTRUCTIONS

US - English

Product Instructions

Speech Breaker Game

Hasbro Games ( E1844 )

File Size : 22.1 MB

PRODUCT INFO

Can you overcome the voice-jamming challenge? You're reporting live from the scene! Put on the game headset, talk into the microphone, and get your teammates to guess who/what/where without saying any of the words on the cards. What's the catch? The microphone jams your speech with a built-in delay. As you talk, you'll hear your delayed voice through the game headset, making it harder to speak clearly. For example, how would you report that ""an Alien is Swinging Kettlebells in a Glass House"" without saying any of those words - and in just 30 seconds - with your speech jammed? 

• Includes electronic game microphone with built-in timer and headset, 100 cards with 400 scenes, and instructions.
• Voice-jamming challenge game
• Includes game microphone and headset with built-in delay
• Describe the scene to teammates without saying any words on the cards
• Expect ""technical difficulties"" and lots of laughs
• Includes 100 cards with 400 scenes
• Ages 14 and up
• For 4-10 players 
• Requires 3x 1.5v AA Alkaline batteries. Batteries not included.

Some of our vintage or prior versions of toy and game instructions may be more difficult to decipher or have less clarity. If you have any concerns or questions please contact our Consumer Care department at https://consumercare.hasbro.com/en-us

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Speech Breaker

Basic game rules, buy speech breaker, other games, speech breaker game rules.

• Electronic game microphone with built-in timer and headset

Quick Start

Put on the game headphones and get ready to report.

Press the button on the game microphone to start the 30-second timer, and immediately draw a card

Quickly describe the whole scene without saying any of the words shown. Hurry up!

Once the timer runs out, your teammates must guess the entire scene correctly. Arguments are welcome if it's not exact.

"It's the kid in the classroom who always kisses up to the instructor and he's doing something that dentists do with a drill and he's in a tiny residence that small pretend toys that are people live in".

"The teacher's pet is filling a cavity in a dollhouse!"

Object of the Game

Get your team to accurately guess who, what, and where as the game microphone and game headset cause you to experience "technical difficulties".

The Microphone and Headset

When it is your turn to report, put on the game headset.

Make sure both game headphones are securely sitting on your ears.

The game microphone unit has a built in 30-second timer.

To start the unit and gameplay, press the button on the microphone shaft.

You will hear a breaking news sound and the light will start flashing, letting you know that you should begin reporting.

During play, as you speak into the microphone, you will hear your voice played back to you in the headphones with a slight delay.

Hold the microphone as close to your mouth as possible for the best delay experience. If the sound volume is too loud, use a quieter voice.

When the 30-second timer is up, a static sound will occur letting you know that you should stop speaking.

Troubleshooting

If you started the timer on the microphone too soon, press and hold the button for three seconds to reset it.

If the game malfunctions, hold the button down for three seconds to reset the game. If this does not solve the problem, replace the batteries.

Put the microphone unit and cards in the middle of the playing area.

Break up into two teams.

The last person to forget what they were trying to say is the first reporter.

On your turn as the reporter, put on the headset.

Press the button on the microphone shaft to start the timer.

You will hear a breaking news sound and the light will start flashing. Begin by saying,

"Reporting live from the scene".

Flip over the top card and read it to yourself quickly.

Don't forget that the timer has started! Don't let your teammates see it.

If you don't recognize part of the scene, quickly look at the other three choices on the card and pick a different set. Do it fast! The timer is still running

Describe the scene out loud to your teammates immediately. You may NOT say any of the words on the cards.

Use the full 30 seconds to give as many clues to your teammates as you can.

Remember to hold the microphone as close to your mouth as possible.

Note: Your teammates can't shout out what they think the answers are until the report is over. Silence on the scene!

After 30 seconds, a static sound will occur and the light will turn off. You must stop reporting.

It is now up to your teammates to say who the report was about, what the person was doing, and where they were doing it. (E.g., The teacher's pet is filling a cavity in a dollhouse).

If the team guesses all three exactly, or close enough for everyone to agree that it counts, keep the card as an earned point.

It's now the other team's turn. Hand the unit to a player on the other team. Repeat the above steps.

End of the Game

Once each player has reported three times, count up your team's cards. Whoever won the most cards wins.

In the event of a tie, each team picks their best reporter and they go back and forth until one of them cannot accurately report their card. The other team wins.

3 Icebreaker Speech Examples: Captivate Your Audience and Break the Ice

Do you remember how every TED talk begins? It’s like this. Imagine you’re the speaker. you’re standing in a room full of strangers, the air thick with awkward silence. Your heart pounds, your palms sweat, and you desperately wish you could just disappear. Sound familiar?

If you’ve ever felt this way, then you’re not alone. I’ve been there. After countless speeches, I still feel the same when I’m doing a speech in front of a new audience. Glossophobia is a common experience that affects millions of people worldwide. But what if there is a way to overcome your nerves and confidently engage with others? Break the ice between you and your audience.

Well, it’s the icebreaker speech. A well-crafted icebreaker speech can be a powerful tool for breaking down barriers, fostering connections, and leaving a lasting impression on your audience.

So today I thought we should explore three captivating icebreaker speech examples that will inspire you to create your own. I’ll also provide tips on how to tailor your speeches to specific audiences and contexts.

So, whether you’re a student facing a class presentation, professional networking at a conference, or simply someone who wants to improve their social skills, this guide will equip you with the knowledge and confidence you need to break the ice.

Icebreaker Speech Example 1 – The Unexpected Hobby

Have you ever met someone who had a hobby so unusual that it left you completely intrigued? Well, I once met a guy who was a master unicyclist. He could juggle, ride backwards, and even do tricks while balancing on his unicycle. It was so impressive that I couldn’t help but ask him all about it.

Hello everyone, my name is [ Your Name ], and I’m a bit of an oddball. I’m not into sports or video games like most people. Instead, I have a rather unusual hobby that has taken me on some pretty exciting adventures.

You see, I’m a collector of vintage vacuum cleaners. Yes, those noisy, clunky machines that most people just push around until they break. But to me, these relics of the past are fascinating pieces of history.

Each vacuum cleaner has a story to tell, a reflection of the era it came from. I love researching their origins, learning how they worked, and imagining the homes they once served.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Vacuum cleaners? That’s not exactly a thrilling hobby.” But trust me, it’s more exciting than you might think.

I’ve travelled to recycled shops, garage sales, flea markets, and antique shops all over the country, searching for these rare gems. I’ve met some amazing people along the way, fellow collectors who share my passion for these forgotten machines.

And most importantly, I’ve learned a lot about history, technology, and even myself. I’ve discovered that even the most mundane objects can hold a wealth of knowledge and inspiration.

Conclusion :

So, the next time you see a vacuum cleaner, don’t just dismiss it as a boring household appliance. Take a moment to appreciate its unique design, its historical significance, and the story it has to tell.

Who knows, you might just discover a new hobby that takes you on some unexpected adventures and you will remember this oddball’s name ( your Name ).

Things to focus, on when you do your version of this speech example 1

• Introduce yourself and your unique hobby. Which makes you different from others.
• Tell your personal story related to your hobby.
• Connect this hobby to a common interest or experience with the audience.
• Finish with a thought-provoking question or call to action.

Icebreaker Speech Example 2 – The Childhood Dream

Have you ever had a dream so vivid and so powerful that it shaped your childhood? A dream that fueled your imagination, ignited your passion, and set the course for your future journeys? Today, I’d like to share with you my childhood dream of becoming an astronaut.

Hello everyone, my name is [ Your Name ], and I’m not your average person. Since the moment I could grasp a crayon, I was filling my notebooks with sketches of rockets, planets, and aliens. My bedroom walls were adorned with posters of the cosmos, and my bedtime stories were tales of space exploration.

You see, I had a dream – a dream to escape Earth and explore the vast expanse of the universe. I visualized myself as an astronaut, floating weightlessly within a spacecraft, gazing out at the mesmerizing beauty of distant stars.

My dream wasn’t just a fantasy; it was the driving force, the burning passion that propelled me through my school years. I read many books on astronomy, built models of solar systems, and spent countless nights with my telescope, looking up at the starry sky.

Of course, my dream wasn’t without its challenges. Some doubted my abilities and dismissed my goals as mere childish fantasies. But I refused to let their negativity extinguish the fire within me.

Instead, I used their doubts as fuel, as motivation to prove them wrong. I studied harder, excelled in my science classes, and even participated in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Space Camp.

Through it all, I never lost sight of my dream. It was the beacon that guided me through the storms of negativity and propelled me towards my goals.

And while I may not have yet fulfilled my dream of becoming an astronaut, I’ve learned a valuable lesson along the way – the power of dreams. Dreams can ignite our passions, fuel our determination, and shape our destinies.

So, I encourage you, my friends, to never let go of your dreams. No matter how impossible they may seem, hold on to them with unwavering belief. Because all these things around you once were dreams.

Things to focus, on when you do your version of this speech example 2

• Introduce yourself and your childhood dream.
• Describe your passion for your dream and the obstacles you faced.
• Share your realization that pursuing your dream is not about reaching the destination but about the journey.
• Encourage the audience to reflect on their dreams and aspirations.

Icebreaker Speech Example 3 – The Unexpected Inspiration

Have you ever experienced a moment that completely shifted your perspective? An unexpected encounter, a profound realization, or a simple act of kindness that left an indelible mark on your soul? Today, I’d like to share with you my story of unexpected inspiration, a moment that transformed my outlook on life.

Hello everyone, my name is [ Your Name ], and I’m a firm believer in the power of inspiration. I’ve always been fascinated by the world around me, constantly seeking new experiences and perspectives. However, it was during a part-time job at a local Sushi restaurant that I encountered an unexpected source of inspiration – an elderly gentleman named Mr. Kalinga.

Mr Kalinga was a regular at the restaurant, a gentle soul with a weathered face and a twinkle in his eye. Despite his hardships, there was an unwavering optimism that radiated from him. He greeted everyone with a warm smile and a kind word, his presence radiating a sense of peace and contentment.

As I interacted with Mr. Kalinga, I was struck by his resilience in the face of adversity. He migrated from South Asia to this country and faced countless challenges throughout his life, yet he never lost sight of his gratitude for the simple joys in life. He found beauty in the smallest of things, a blossoming flower, a platter of Sushi, a child’s laughter, the warmth of the sun.

Mr. Kalinga’s unwavering positivity was a revelation to me. I had been so focused on my worries and anxieties that I had overlooked the abundance of blessings in my life. His simple act of finding joy amid hardship was a profound lesson in perspective.

From that day forward, I carried Mr.Kalinga’s spirit with me. I started to appreciate the little things and to find joy in the everyday moments that often go unnoticed. I learned to embrace challenges as opportunities for growth and to approach life with a sense of gratitude and optimism.

Mr. Kalinga’s unexpected inspiration transformed my life. He showed me that happiness is not a destination but a journey, a journey that is enriched by our ability to find joy in the simplest of things.

So, my friends, I encourage you to open your hearts to the unexpected. Embrace the moments that surprise you, the encounters that challenge you, and the experiences that inspire you. For it is often in the most unexpected places that we discover the profound lessons that shape our lives.

Things to focus, on when you do your version of this speech example 3

• Introduce yourself and a person or event that unexpectedly inspired you.
• Share the story of how this inspiration ignited a spark within you.
• Highlight the power of unexpected inspiration and its ability to change perspectives.
• End with a message of empowerment, encouraging the audience to seek inspiration in everyday moments.

Final Thoughts

Today, we’ve explored three icebreaker speech examples that have the power of storytelling, humour, and personal connection. These examples have highlighted the significance of embracing unique passions, pursuing dreams, and finding inspiration in unexpected moments.

Key Takeaways:

• Icebreaker speeches are not just about breaking the ice; they are about creating human connections, leaving a lasting impression, and sharing your unique voice.
• Effective icebreaker speeches are tailored to the specific audience, context, and personality.
• Storytelling, humour, and personal connection are key elements of captivating icebreaker speeches.

Call to Action:

We encourage you to practice crafting icebreaker speeches that showcase your personality, passions, and experiences. Embrace the opportunity to connect with others on a deeper level, leave a positive impact on your audience, and discover the joy of public speaking .

Final Advice:

Remember, icebreaker speeches are not about perfection; they are about being true to yourself and sharing your story with others. Embrace your unique voice, let your personality shine through your words, and enjoy the journey of crafting your icebreaker speeches.

Check out my Toastmasters icebreaker speech to find some inspiration.

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Toastmasters Speech 1: The Ice Breaker

Thus, it is fitting that the first Toastmaster speech project is titled The Ice Breaker .

This article of the Toastmasters Speech Series examines the primary goals of this project, provides tips and techniques, and links to numerous sample speeches.

• The Ice Breaker
• Organize Your Speech
• Get to the Point
• How To Say It
• Your Body Speaks
• Vocal Variety
• Research Your Topic
• Get Comfortable with Visual Aids (coming next)
• Persuade with Power
• Inspire Your Audience

Why is This Speech Important?

The Ice Breaker speech has three aims:

• Introduce yourself. Your ice breaker speech topic is you – something about your life, your job, your hobbies, your unique interests, your family, or any combination of these. You are an absolute authority on this topic, and everyone in the audience will learn something about you.
• Begin to conquer the fear of speaking in front of a group. It is nervewracking when speaking in front of a new group. If you feel this nervousness, remember that a Toastmaster audience is always supportive and understanding. Nobody is grading you, and nobody will mind if you stumble through 99 “Um”s and “Ah”s. If you get up, say something, and sit down, you have succeeded in this project.
• Provide a “base line” of your current strengths and weaknesses. Some new members have no public speaking experience, while others have years of presentations behind them. No matter where you fit into this spectrum, your goal is to improve from your starting point. This first speech helps club members gauge your current strengths so that they can make specific recommendations to help you improve.

Tips and Techniques

The Competent Communicator manual has a wealth of helpful advice. You can download a PDF version of the first project from the Toastmasters International website.

Here are a few other things which may help you:

“ Nobody expects you to be a world-class orator. Just do your best. ”

• Ask for Help If you have a mentor, don’t hesitate to ask them for help. If you don’t, feel free to ask any other club member. Perhaps they can share what they spoke about for their Icebreaker. Perhaps they can help you select a topic. Perhaps you can practice it privately before the meeting. All other members have gone through the Ice Breaker before, and can provide words of encouragement .
• Practice Helps You don’t need to practice the speech 35 times, and you don’t need to have it memorized. However, your nervousness will be reduced considerably if you give it a couple of practice runs out loud (even if your only audience is you).
• Timing The recommended time for the Ice Breaker speech is four to six minutes. It may seem like a long time, but in later projects, you’ll start wishing you had much more time to deliver your message. Don’t worry too much about going under or over time. Just aim for somewhere in that range.
• Notes There are no rules on the use of notes. If you need notes, use them. If you don’t need notes, don’t. Either way, don’t worry about it. It’s okay if you read your ice breaker from a script (just try to look up once in a while), if you refer to cue cards, or if you talk without notes.
• Don’t Expect to be Winston Churchill This is your first challenge. Nobody expects you to be a world-class orator. Just do your best. Once you have established your “base line”, then you can aim to raise your skill level in future projects.
• Speak Up and Slow Down Two common effects of nervousness are mumbling words and racing through the speech. Try to avoid these, but don’t worry if you can’t help it.
• Humour Reduces Your Nervousness If you are comfortable incorporating humour into your ice breaker, go for it. The laughs from the audience will reduce your nervousness. An easy way to do this is to make a self-depracating joke at the start. (If nobody laughs, don’t worry about that either… it’s something to work on later.)
• Apologizing You may feel an urge to apologize to your audience (e.g. for uttering too many “Um”s, for losing your place, etc.). There is no need to do so! Often, the audience doesn’t notice the little glitches, and it is much better for you to ignore them too.

Topic Ideas for Your Ice Breaker Speech

Although your broad topic is yourself, there are numerous angles to take, and several ways to organize your speech.

Don’t worry too much about the organization of the speech; later speech projects (especially #2 and #3) encourage you to focus more on that. However, having said that, one of these ideas may help you overcome writer’s block.

Idea #1: Chronological

For many people, a series of chronological snapshots of their life is the easiest to write and deliver.

Example: Ravi Singal takes this approach with his Ice Breaker: Why Me? Try Me!

Example : Oleg Kagan starts at birth in his Ice Breaker speech .

Idea #2: Topical

Discuss a series of elements of your life to provide a “sampling” of your life. For example, you could open up by talking about your family, then discuss your career, and conclude with your hobbies.

Example: Bob Cain addresses his love of travel, then photography, and then his career/education in his Ice Breaker speech . (video)

Idea #3: Common Thread

Select a common thread that runs through your life, and share brief stories where this common element appears. It might be a signature phrase, a philosophy that guides you, or even something obscure like peanut butter. (i.e. imagine stories through your life where peanut butter played a role)

My own Ice Breaker speech followed this general structure. It was titled “ Andrew of All Trades – Master of None ” and touched on several examples where I have breadth, but not depth of knowledge.

Example: Steph Corwin provides a great example with her Ice Breaker titled Swimming Through Life .

Idea #4: One Key Event

Focus on one critical event which took your life in a completely different direction.

Example: Tanya Huang talks about moving continents in Made in Taiwan, Calibrated in Canada .

Idea #5: How I Got Here…

A combination of #1 and #4, explain the series of decisions or events that brought you “here”, where “here” might be the place you currently live, the job you currently have, the life you lead, or the decision to join Toastmasters.

Example: Tracy Buxton does this wonderfully in her Ice Breaker titled I used to be June Cleaver, but I’m not sure who I am now .

Example: Jill Williamson also demonstrates this approach in the aptly titled How I Came To Be Here . (video)

More Examples of The Ice Breaker

Here are a few more sample written and video speeches which may provide inspiration for you.

Written Speech Examples

• Words Have Power by Monkey Sri
• My Enduring Purpose by Benjamin
• Life is Like a Box of Chocolates by Kevin Chester Kuo
• Interest-aholic by Didier Thizy
• When I close my eyes by Shalabieh
• My Name is Shay by Seamus McInerney
• End Quote by Anna Min
• I am Not Who I Thought I Was by Michael Harris

Video Speech Examples

• 5 Years by Betsy Dewey
• No, I was Not Named After a Charlie’s Angel by Farah Ulat
• Life is a Beautiful Dance by Sharon Burt
• Loves to Hear Herself Talk by Stephanie Bryant
• Inspiration of My 9-11 Inspiration Video by Alex Johnson
• Who Am I? The Reluctant Speaker by Paul Clausell

Next in the Toastmasters Speech Series

The next article in this series examines Speech 2: Organize Your Speech .

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43 comments.

Humor in ice-breakers is rare as speakers are anxious to get off the mark. And the fear, what if humor bombs ?

However, some of the most memorable ice-breakers I have watched had a streak of self deprecating humor in them.

Here are some samplers: Title of an ice-breaker : “Past imperfect.Present tense”.

Yet another speaker : “My attitude towards life is in my blood. B(e) Positive !

There was this girl Anisha Rasquinha who said ” Man of my dreams ? Nothing grand. I don’t expect him to come on a white horse. Just a BMW will do !” I still remember these speeches simply because of the subtle humor.

Good point, CK.

Toastmasters who approach their Icebreaker speech with significant fears are unlikely to attempt humor for fear it will not register.

I like your examples of humorous speech titles. Since the title is said by someone else, there’s no fear of the humor bombing. If the audience doesn’t laugh, no problem. If they do laugh, then it is a great way to start your first speech… with the whole audience smiling already!

I think I was into my 3rd speech before I made anyone laugh… and even then it was accidental. More on that in a future article.

are all toastmasters speech that people give are uploaded on youtube?

My personal favourite of a humorous speech opener in an ice breaker goes like this

” I feel the best way to break ice is to pour whisky over it. However, I will attempt a less exciting way for about six minutes !”

He had the audience in splits right from the word go and needless to add we tried his method of ice breaking after the meeting !

Hi, I am VP-PR at Lagoon Toastmasters in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Your resources are very useful for the aspiring Toastmaster. I will be pointing fellow members to your site regularly. Keep up the good work!

Regards, Sailesh. Discover, Develop, Distinguish.

http://www.lagoontoastmasters.com

Aha! So you, Andrew, are the author of all the icebreaker tips! Thanks for the help and encouragement. I think I’ll get a bit more sleep than I thought I would when I first became aware of the extent of my obligation. After sweating alot, I’ll do fine (and may live to tell about it).

this was very helpful

Hi. I would just like to say that all these articles and videos have helped me. Wish me luck in my icebreaker!!!!!

Thanks for the great tips and examples! Had only 2 days to put my ice breaker together and your information was invaluable. I even won best speaker 🙂

Hello Andrew, Great description, thank you. We’ve added a link to your page in one of our posts to help out future members get a better sense of this. Regards, Alex Chan St-Lawrence Toastmasters (Montreal, Canada)

My Icebreaker Speech on cherished childhood memories. http://toastmasterspeeches.blogspot.com/2009/01/project-1-speech-ice-breaker.html

Hello, this is Monkey Sri. Thanks for linking to my blog! I’ve changed the URL, so you may want to update your link: http://thebioimp.blogspot.com/2008/06/words-have-power.html Thanks!

Excellent idea to share these tips and samples! I hope you get a chance to finish the series. It prodded me to post my own Ice Breaker (another example of “Common Thread”), along with other member contributions, on our club site: http://www.chamberclub540.com/sharables.htm

I used this site extensively for preparing my first speech for ToastMasters ,which I am going to deliver today .

Thanks a ton for nice and very useful features on this site.

Please keep up this work.

Here is my first speech – http://hr-universe.blogspot.com/2009/09/toastmaster-speech-1-ice-breaker.html

Regards Santosh

I agree totally. The first few minutes in any speech are crucial. If you only just fumble your way through, the rest of your speech will not be particularly inspiring. Getting the levels of anxiety down at the beginning is key to getting a good start, and using an icebreaker to engage the audience helps them, and you. Just knowing you are an expert (“the” expert) is not enough to allay our fears, sadly. And reasoning (“I know my subject…they came here to listen to me,” etc) just doesn’t reduce our stress levels!

Hi, I love your perspective on ice-breaker speeches. It is great to hear ice-breaker speeches which give us more information on the speaker, his experiences, interests and events that moulded his personality to give it its present shape.

This article helped me deliver my “Public Speaking Triumph and Disaster Toastmasters Ice Breaker:” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55CPJ7rUd8U Good luck to everyone!

Your articles are very helpful. But when I see those ice-breakers examples, I feel like the ice-breaker I have prepared is quite pale in comparison. I also think it’s hard to incorporate humour in it. This is asking a lot for a first speech.

The examples are just that: examples. It doesn’t matter if your speech is different. Everyone will have a different ice breaker speech, and that’s fine.

Can I bring props? It’s only my second meeting and I jumped in this both feet to do the ice breaker. A big part of who I am is a woodturner and would like to bring a 2 or 3 small pieces to have on the table to showcase what I do and answer questions.. Would that be appropriate?

There’s no rule which says that you cannot bring props. If your Ice Breaker speech heavily focuses on your woodturning pursuits, then it may add value to bring in examples of this work. My advice for you would be to make sure that the speech is about yourself (where woodturning is one of your hobbies or passions) and avoid making the speech _about_ the woodturning pieces themselves (i.e. don’t make the speech about “how to turn Christmas tree ornaments”). You can certainly devote future speeches to focus on woodturning skills/examples, but the first speech should be about yourself. Make sense?

Similarly, there’s no rule against Q&A for an Ice Breaker speech, however I would advise you not to design your speech in this way… this time. While handling a Q&A is an important skill for a complete speaker, it can also be a very time-consuming component in a presentation. It would be easy to speak for 2 minutes and take questions for 4 minutes, but this would not allow you to meet the objectives for this first TM project. Try filling your available time with your speech this time. Near your speech conclusion, you might say something like “If anyone has questions about the wood pieces I showed, I’d love to talk about it after the meeting with you.” Again, future speech projects can be designed with an included Q&A in mind, but I think you will gain the most value from “pure” speaking for the first speech.

I have just joined toastmasters and am not very good at speeches. Your information has helped me A LOT. thanx!

I’ll be starting my Icebreaker session very soon. And I’m glad I found your blog! Thank you. All the contents here are very useful.

My icebreaker theme was ‘Challenge and Response’ – My life has been a series of challenges and responses. Please visit http://www.lagoontoastmasters.com for the complete script of my icebreaker speech which had won best speaker award

Thanks for the super helpful articles on each speech. Definitely helped me with my first speech entitled, “Becoming a Technical Evangelist” http://bit.ly/aliceTMicebreaker

very nice post. Quite helpful for a me as I’ve to deliver an ice breaking speech in a couple of days. Thanks for sharing

I’m wondering if there’s any chance I could access those video or article line which be shown as good example …really eager to see how did they perform this role…as I still hesitate to do my first ice break presentation…

I went to my first toastmasters meeting last night. I’m curious about the contents of the basic books that are used and was pleasantly surprised to find your link.

Thanks so much Andrew for these tips, very helpful.

I recorded my experience of doing my Icebreaker and my speech transcript here ( http://bit.ly/TQ8I5f ), and have linked to this post as it’s so useful.

This site will really help my icebreaker coz its my firsttime to deliver a speech for our oral and communication subject! Thank you!

Hi, these are good tips but lots of your links no longer work. If your still updating this blog it would be great if these were fixed as its a useful resource (and one of the first that comes up in a google search for icebreaker tips)

Going to school to be a alcohol and drug counselor had my first mock group today and pretty much mind went blank I need to get over this fear of public speaking and have more confidence in myself will toastmaster help me with this fear .and does it cost to go to your meetings thanks for taking time to read.

Hello Mr. Andrew Dlugan, Good Day! Two months before I joined Toastmaster in Kuwait and attended couple of meetings. This is really good platform for learning and gain knowledge how to stand and deliver and 100’s of audience. I shall be glad if you can send me regularly your good speeches so that I can ready and learn and pass ahead to others. Looking forward to hear from you Thanks Yunus

Hi Andrew, I am giving my icebreaker speech tomorrow and can only thank you for your insight and experience sharing this for me. I am using humor and a variation of the ‘imagine your audience naked’ joke to open and close my speech. Looking forward to it. Thanks Bren

I so enjoy this website. Thank you so much for publishing it. Often refer new Toastmasters to your website.

Regards, Margy Sneeden South Africa

I am a new member to the Toastmaster community and needed some guidance for preparing my talks. I found this website and am discovering it has rich, rich resources. The Comments below are one of the incredible sources of encouragement, wisdom and guidance. Thank you for this website, it’s invaluable!

I’m finding this helpful as I steer myself towards my first meeting in Sooke B.C

Good day I would like to become part of the toast masters south Africa currently living in Soweto south of Johannesburg,

Kindly send me details on how to join the close toast master group around.

Have a brilliant day,

Kind regards

Hello Martin,

Not sure if you found a club yet. Just in case, here is the link that should take you to the clubs close by you: http://www.toastmasters.org/Find-a-Club?q=Soweto%2C%20Gauteng%2C%20South%20Africa&radius=150

Marvin Wiley Jr.

I’m looking forward to learning mindful and effective public speaking.

Hello there,i need to get started with the course but don’t know how i should do it. BTW i live in Iran. Can somebody help me plz? Thnx

Dear Andrew

Today is my first speech an ice breaker at toastmaster event. One of my best friend had advised me to come forward at he event since he is already a toastmaster for quite some time.

I am not a good orator or a speaker at functions kindly advise me how to present a good speech in front of audience. What things have to be keep in mind while give a speech.

My wife and I just gave our Icebreaker Speeches last month. I thought hers was great; mine was okay. I did mine in chronological order.

I also typed it out and posted it on my blog if anyone is interested: https://hendrixjoseph.github.io/toastmasters-icebreaker-speech-the-story-of-joe/

Recent Tweets

The Ice Breaker, tips and links to numerous sample speeches to help you reach your goal. https://t.co/o0hdXY2WS4 #Toastmasters — @RadiantRhetoric Jan 15th, 2016

Toastmasters Speech 1: The Ice Breaker https://t.co/kNVDT6xr72 — @sgrealtynet Jan 16th, 2016

I hope this article would be useful for you. Enjoy it! 󾌵 https://t.co/1GTsEUxCZ3 — @SagradaFamiliaT Jan 16th, 2016

Share this ice breaker story with new members to boos their confidence. https://t.co/E7eYM2ekw7 https://t.co/KSzggy0rk2 — @D83Toastmasters Feb 24th, 2016

Toastmasters Speech 1: Ice Breaker https://t.co/CeTi7hbstK by @6minutes — @D51MTM Feb 24th, 2016

@ConanVenus @kyle_mullaney Read this nice article by Andrew https://t.co/gmvyogWO7K Also watch couple of #icebreaker videos on YouTube. — @evaluatespeech Feb 24th, 2016

Toastmasters Speech 1: The Ice Breaker https://t.co/QCDEAuhm92 — @ThinkSales101 Mar 24th, 2016

Early tomorrow morning is my Ice Breaker speech at the Innsbrook Toastmaster meeting. #toastmasters… https://t.co/HXjEyZMLoy — @LCrowco Apr 4th, 2016

Toastmasters Speech 1: Ice Breaker https://t.co/FLfgSdZOsQ by @6minutes #toastmasters — @tmohapatra May 19th, 2016

Nervously working on my #Icebreaker speech for my @OaklandHillsTM #Toastmasters meeting tomorrow. https://t.co/t79iLi535y — @keeliamurphy1 May 30th, 2016

29 Blog Links

Toastmasters Speech Series: Your Guide to the First 10 Speeches | "Public Speaking in Singapore" — Sep 3rd, 2008

Conejo Valley News : Join a Toastmasters Club to Improve Your Communication Skills — Nov 3rd, 2008

St.Lawrence Toastmasters Club » What’s an “Ice-breaker” speech? — Feb 3rd, 2009

Updated Toastmasters Speech Series: Your Guide to the First 10 Speeches | "Public Speaking in Singapore" — Aug 30th, 2009

Toastmasters – Ice Breaker: Waking Up In a Nation of Immigrants < ~C4Chaos — Oct 21st, 2009

Gundy Gabbers Toastmasters Blog — Nov 16th, 2009

Toast to the Master of Pot Holes « Sprout — Apr 4th, 2010

If You Can Meet With Public Speaking Triumph and Disaster, and Treat Those Two Imposters Just the Same | Kevin's Notes — Sep 21st, 2010

Competent Communicator Objectives « Calgary Toastmasters — Oct 26th, 2010

The Road to Rhyme - Farnham Speakers — Nov 1st, 2010

Effective Tools For Toastmasters | ptpltmc — Nov 9th, 2010

How A Sitcom Saved My Life | We Can Rebuild Her — Nov 24th, 2010

My family and other animals - Farnham Speakers — Feb 24th, 2011

Your first 10 speeches | Speakmasters — May 4th, 2011

Secundum Artem - Farnham Speakers — May 26th, 2011

The Ice Breaker Speech « First Oakville Toastmasters #2245 Blog — Aug 29th, 2011

Public Speaking Downtown Montreal Parler en public | St.Lawrence Toastmasters Montreal » Bienvenue à nos nouveaux membres Mathieu, Ann! — Sep 19th, 2011

Impossible Dreams? Then Double the Persistence and Double The Results | 8 Women Dream — Oct 2nd, 2011

My First Toastmasters Speech « carlos-m.net — Nov 9th, 2011

How I gave my “ice breaker” at Toastmasters | Dre@mer — Apr 22nd, 2012

Question 796 « BETWIXT AND BETWEEN — May 10th, 2012

Toastmasters Icebreaker Speech HelpShawnee Huie — Sep 6th, 2012

This Week in Toastmasters | July 22 – August 3 | Chase Polaris Toastmasters — Sep 14th, 2012

Guildford Speakers | Becky Ladley — Sep 15th, 2012

Three Examples of Ice-Breaker Speeches « Moving People to Action — Oct 20th, 2012

That One Time When I Nearly Died : Alan Perlman — Dec 7th, 2012

That One Time I Nearly Died : Alan Perlman — Dec 7th, 2012

Guildford Speakers | Social Quirk Events — Feb 5th, 2013

Ice breaker marathon on April 18th, 2013 | Toast of CIBC Toastmasters Blog — Apr 8th, 2013

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Speech Breaker Game

About this item.

• Voice jamming challenge: This party game is hysterical as players try to overcome the voice-jamming challenge; the Speech Breaker Game includes game microphone and headset with built-in delay
• Party game for teens and adults: Get 4-10 friends together to play this hilarious game that's an ideal ice-breaker game for parties, family reunions and game night; for ages 14 and up
• Includes 100 cards with 400 scenes: Your speech gets messed up as you try to describe the scene to teammates without saying any words on the cards
• Game is easy to set up and play: This game takes very little time to set up; expect wacky and weird technical difficulties and lots of laughs
• Electronic game microphone: Speech breaker includes an electronic game mic with built-in timer and headset

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Product description.

Can you overcome the voice-jamming challenge? Youre reporting live from the scene. Put on the game headset, talk into the microphone, and get your teammates to guess who/what/where without saying any of the words on the cards. Whats the catch? the microphone jams your speech with a built-in delay. As you talk, youll hear your delayed voice through the game headset, making it harder to speak clearly. Youre reporting live from the scene. Put on the game headset, talk into the microphone, and get your teammates to guess who/what/where without saying any of the words on the cards. Whats the catch? the microphone jams your speech with a built-in delay. As you talk, youll hear your delayed voice through the game headset, making it harder to speak clearly.

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How to Watch Joe Biden's 2024 White House Correspondents' Dinner Speech

P resident Joe Biden is slated to deliver remarks at the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) dinner on Saturday before a crowd of journalists, celebrities and politicians as protesters have vowed to gather outside the event.

The Context

Outside the dinner site, protesters have pledged to rally against Israel continuing its war in Gaza. The conflict began after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, that left 1,200 people dead and saw over 200 more taken hostage.

In the nearly seven months of war, the Palestinian death toll has surpassed 34,000, with more than 76,000 wounded, according to the Associated Press, per the Gaza Health Ministry. While the Hamas-run ministry does not differentiate between combatants and civilians in their count, it says at least two-thirds have been children and women.

The staggering number of Palestinian deaths has ignited international criticism that has led to protests across the globe. The death toll and distressing images of children dead in the rubble of bombed buildings resulted in mounting calls for a ceasefire and increased pressure on Biden to take a tougher line on Israel, a longtime U.S. ally.

What We Know

Comedian Colin Jost, known for his role on Saturday Night Live , is expected to deliver humorous jabs at the president and other politicians during the annual event at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C.

The WHCA hosts the black-tie event that usually features the sitting president and popular comedians mocking politicians and current events. In previous years, Biden has used the dinner to mock his political rivals, notably former President Donald Trump .

The dinner will air online on C-SPAN's website beginning at 8 p.m. EST and can also be viewed on C-SPAN's YouTube channel as well C-SPAN's TV channel.

Newsweek reached out via email on Saturday to representatives for the White House for comment.

More than two dozen journalists in Gaza recently wrote a letter published by Medium that urged members of the press corps to boycott the historic event.

"As Palestinian journalists, we urgently appeal to you, our colleagues globally, with a demand for immediate and unwavering action against the Biden administration's ongoing complicity in the systematic slaughter and persecution of journalists in Gaza," the letter states. "We insist you publicly boycott the upcoming White House Correspondents' Dinner on April 27 as an act of solidarity with us — your fellow journalists — as well as with the millions of Palestinians currently being starved in Gaza due to the Biden administration's continued political, financial, and military backing of Israel and cut-off of funding for live-saving humanitarian aid."

Photos captured before the event began showed dozens of protesters trying to block guests outside of the venue.

In an interview with Sirius XM radio host Howard Stern on Friday, Biden said he planned to emphasize the importance of a free press during his WHCA dinner speech.

The president also told Stern that the media is not hard enough on Trump, the presumed 2024 GOP presidential nominee, saying: "I think some of them are worried about attacking him, worried about taking him on."

What's Next?

The WHCA dinner begins at 8 p.m. Biden is expected to deliver remarks around 10 p.m. and will be aired online.

Update 4/27/24, 6:18 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information and background.

Related Articles

• Pro-Palestinian Protest Attempts to Drown Out Pro-Israel March at Columbia
• Here's What Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine Are Getting Under the Aid Package
• Protesters Hang Palestinian Flag from Venue Before Joe Biden's Speech

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How to Write an Icebreaker Speech

Last Updated: February 1, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Christopher Taylor, PhD . Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 480,594 times.

An icebreaker speech is any kind of speech that introduces yourself to an audience. You can give an icebreaker speech in a lot of different contexts: when you're accepting an award, toasting a couple at their wedding, or making a business pitch. Choosing the topic of your icebreaker, carefully drafting and editing your speech, and practicing it before you give it can help you write a successful icebreaker speech.

Icebreaker Speech Template and Example

Choosing the Topic of Your Icebreaker

• For example, if you're accepting an award, you'll want to introduce yourself to the audience. A chronological account of your life tells your audience where and when you were born, the first memory you can remember, and where you went to college.

• For example, if you're giving your speech at a business meeting, you might want to focus on your most impressive business-related accomplishments.
• If you're giving your speech in an academic setting, you might want to highlight your academic accomplishments, including degrees and certifications.

• For instance, if you are a veterinarian , you might talk about your first pet, your first job caring for animals, your decision to become a veterinarian, your current practice and your current pets.
• This is also a great approach if you're writing a wedding toast. Focus on your friendship with the couple (or just one of them) and how it has influenced your life over time.

• For example, if you're a surgeon , you might talk about your most difficult case and how it led you to pioneer a new technique. If you're a military veteran, you might talk about being in combat and how it changed you.

Drafting Your Icebreaker

• 1 Brainstorm what you want to say. Now that you have an idea of a topic, write down everything you want to include in your speech. Be sure to introduce yourself first. Organize the information chronologically as you plan to say it, then go through and cut out any unnecessary or irrelevant information.

• For example, if you're giving your speech at a business gathering, you could start with a quote from the company's founder.
• If you're giving a wedding toast, it's generally best not to joke—what you think is funny can sometimes come across as mean or embarrassing to the couple getting married.

• For example, if you're giving a speech that focuses on when you became a doctor as a key moment in your life, your first body paragraph might talk about how you liked helping people as a kid, the second paragraph might talk about your decision to go to medical school, and the last paragraph might talk about what it felt the first time someone called you “doctor.”

• For example, if your icebreaker speech has been about how you became a doctor, you could end by saying something like "Little girls who help clean up their friends' 'booboos' on the playground grow up to be doctors. Thank you so much for having me. Have a great day."
• You could also say something like "If you want to be a doctor, remember that there is nothing more important than a passion for helping people and a commitment to hard work."

Preparing for Your Icebreaker

• You don't have to memorize the speech, but it should be clear that you know what's coming next while you're speaking.

Community Q&A

• Don't forget to introduce yourself! This seems like the most obvious thing to include in your speech, but a lot of people forget when they're nervous. Your audience needs to know who you are! Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://virtualspeech.com/blog/tell-story-delivering-presentation
• ↑ https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-publicspeaking/chapter/topical-organization/
• ↑ https://icebreakerideas.com/writing-icebreaker-speech/
• ↑ http://toastmastersd17.org/resource/icebreaker-speeches/

About This Article

To write an icebreaker speech, start by choosing a topic, which could be a chronological account of your life. Then, brainstorm all the points you want to make in your speech, keeping in mind that the speech shouldn't be longer than 4 to 6 minutes. You should begin with an introduction where you introduce yourself to the audience and include a fun quote or joke you can relate to so you grab their attention. Then, write 3-5 body paragraphs based around the theme of your speech. Finish with a 30-second conclusion where you thank the event's organizer and sum up your main theme. For tips on how to prepare to give your icebreaker speech, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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10 Public Speaking Ice Breakers That Actually Work

An icebreaker is an activity in public speaking that is designed to engage the audience and break the ice to get them ready to hear what you’re about to say. However, many of the icebreakers out there that the internet sites recommend are pretty average at best and in most cases downright awkward to use.

So I wanted to compile the list of 10 icebreakers that actually work.

[youtube id=”7hXF7vVEs5A” mode=”normal”]

So what are these 10 icebreakers that actually work?

Now I’m going to break these into two distinct categories:

1) icebreakers for larger groups of people

2) icebreakers for smaller groups of people.

Now I’m going to assume that you’re in a more formal public speaking setting.

When you’re in a more informal, maybe a really small training group, where it is very hands on then these icebreakers might not work as well and you might need something that is more interactive.

But I’m assuming we’re at corporate meeting or a conference,or a church event or something like that Where it’s more formal public speaking engagement. So what are some of the icebreakers that we can use?

Public speaking ice breakers for large groups

1. make a joke at your own expense.

Now, I want to say – avoid making really lame,very generalised jokes that don’t have to do with you. Definitely avoid jokes that might offend someone as well!

You don’t want to make a joke at the expense of anyone in the audience, a joke at the expense of the company, or a joke at the expense who’s introduced you, but the joke at the expense of yourself tends to work really well because you’re pointing at yourself so people can just laugh along with that.

Jokes like…

“Before coming here tonight I was discussing my talk with my wife and she said to me: ‘Don’t try to be too charming, too witty or too intellectual, just be yourself.’”

Don’t expect full blown laughter with any of these jokes, but it’s just kind of a teaser, just kind of warms it up.

If you’re at a formal dinner setting, and everyone’s getting the same meal or they have two alternating meals, you can say:

“Don’t you think it’s amazing that 200 of us all came together tonight and we all chose the same meal?”

They’re corny but sometimes they can work.

You could say: “Look, I have a bad feeling about this, I was talking to [whoever introduced you], they said they were going to tell a joke before I spoke but instead they just introduced me.”

So you’re implying you’re the joke.

These are some ideas for a couple of jokes that you can do, obviously one that you come up yourself is probably better.

Tie in the context of the company you work for or the situation you’re in. The more personal and more appropriate to the situation, the better are the jokes going to work.

2. OPEN WITH ‘RAISE-YOUR-HAND’ QUESTIONS

You want to do a couple of things before when you’re doing raise your hand questions.

Firstly, you want to be positive with your raise your hand questions . Like: “Raise your hands if you want to be happy in life!” “Raise your hand if you want to make a million dollars!”

You don’t want to create negative raise your hand questions , because then you’re going to create a negative environment. So you’re saying: “Raise your hand if you don’t have much to show for the last year!” It’s not going to make people feel very good about themselves.

And when you’re doing raise your hand questions try to ask questions that most people are going to raise their hand to.

The whole idea of the raise your hand questions is to get audience’s engagement, and to get group involvement, so the people on the outskirts who aren’t really getting into your talk feel like they should get into your talk.

So if you open with a raise your hand question to which only person in the room can raise hand to, it’s going to be pretty awkward for that person. But if you ask a question where 9 out of 10 people raise their hand, that one person that doesn’t raise their hand kind of feels awkward because they’re not doing it.

It’s like using positive peer pressure.

3. START A STORY BUT DON’T FINISH IT

So when you get there, just say: “I just want to tell you a story that I think it is very important for my speech today.” Or you go on and tell your story, but you leave the conclusion out and you say: “I’ll get back to that towards the end.”

And so what you’re doing – you’re drawing people in with stories, but you’re not finishing your story so it keeps them engaged.

4. GET AN INTRODUCTION

A lot of people wouldn’t classify this as an icebreaker, but it really is. Get someone to introduce you and talk you up a little bit and get people warmed up for you as you come on to the stage.

Then the audience is anticipating your coming and you don’t need to break the ice as much because it’s already been a little bit broken for you.

5. BREAK SOME NEWS (BIG OR SMALL)

I was recently reading Robert Kiyosaki’s book, Retire Young, Retire Rich. And he talks about an investment talk that he did, and he couldn’t think how to open his presentation.

As he was reading the morning paper, he came across a story about a couple who had retired about 10 years early. But he then used that news to tie into his story.

So when you get up on stage and you say: “I’ve read this really interesting article in the paper today,” or “Something really interesting or strange happened to me today.”

We are inclined as a culture to want to be ‘in the know’ so when something is happening in the news and people are talking about it we want to hear what it is.

So that’s a good way to get people engaged – to break some sort of news, whether it’s news that’s happened in your country or on the globe or whether it’s just something new that has happened in your life that’s a bit odd and a bit interesting.

6. ASK EVERYONE TO COMPLETE A SIMPLE TASK

Get the audience to say to the person next to them: “I’m so glad you’re here today.”

So everyone in the audience has to say that. Or tell them to give the person next to you a high five or give the person a handshake or turn around and say hello to the person behind you or in front of you.

So you get people to complete this small menial task that engages them with people around them and just kind of opens them up and gets them a little more engaged in your presentation.

7. OPEN WITH A QUOTE

Probably not the best icebreaker in the world but it can work especially if it’s a great quote and if it’s very specific to what you’re going to be talking about. Keep it specific to the context or make it a little bit funny.

So surf the internet and look for some quotes and potentially open with a quote.

PUBLIC SPEAKING ICE BREAKERS FOR SMALLER GROUPS

So public speaking icebreakers for smaller groups.

8. GET EVERYONE TO INTRODUCE THEMSELVES AS A SUPERMARKET ITEM (OR SOMETHING ELSE)

Get everyone to introduce themselves in a strange way.

You could say: “I want everyone to go around the room and I want you to introduce yourself, introduce your name, and then tell us what item in the super market you would be?” or “what item in a hardware store you would be?” or “what kind of fruit you would be?” or “what kind of dish you would be?”

Or you could even do something like: “What is your porn star name?” (which is the name of your first pet, and then your last name as your porn star name is the name of the first street you lived in). So use these sorts of funny things, funny ways for people to introduce themselves.

9. GET EACH PERSON TO INTRODUCE THE PERSON NEXT TO THEM, GIVING THEM A FICTITIOUS LIFE

This can work if the group doesn’t know each other at all, but it can also work if the group does each other and so you just say: “Look, this is Bob, and he’s actually a super hero at night, he moonlights as a super hero, and his super power is that he can spit fire,” or you make up whatever it is and people are inspired to use their creativity.

10. DO A QUIZ

This can be something like you just asking questions to the audience and they have to raise their hands if it’s yes or leave it down if it’s no.

You can have it in such a way that people stand up and if they’re wrong, then they have to sit down.

If you’re at a conference, you can do it based on previous content that they should have heard and remembered. Or you can do it based on anything.

Ice Breakers That Actually Work

So there’s some icebreakers for you – 10 icebreakers that aren’t too awkward.

They aren’t mindblowingly amazing but they do work. They are very effective and I hope that gives you a starting place to look out where you’re going to open up your speech.

12 thoughts on “10 Public Speaking Ice Breakers That Actually Work”

very exciting kind of ice breakers. I like them

I enjoyed that.

We would like to know more about ice breakers

super way to address meetings

It’s really interesting and hope to learn more in future.

this is so gonna help me with my presentation next tuesday thank you so much

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I love this! I have a graduation speech next month and will be speaking and am going with number 6! I’ve tweaked it a little bit I know its going to loosen the mood and make us connect more!

this helped me so much during my speech!!!! i recommend that you read this!!!!

I really, really liked these icebreakers. I’m gonna use them for sure in the future.

thanks so much. this is really helpful for my public speaking speech i have to prepare and give over. i feel a little more confident now.

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College protesters seek amnesty to keep arrests and suspensions from trailing them

What started at Columbia University has turned into a nationwide showdown between students and administrators over anti-war protests and the limits of free speech

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Maryam Alwan figured the worst was over after New York City police in riot gear arrested her and other protesters on the Columbia University campus, loaded them onto buses and held them in custody for hours.

But the next evening, the college junior received an email from the university. Alwan and other students were being suspended after their arrests at the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” a tactic colleges across the country have deployed to calm growing campus protests against the Israel-Hamas war.

The students’ plight has become a central part of protests, with students and a growing number of faculty demanding their amnesty. At issue is whether universities and law enforcement will clear the charges and withhold other consequences, or whether the suspensions and legal records will follow students into their adult lives.

Terms of the suspensions vary from campus to campus. At Columbia and its affiliated Barnard College for women, Alwan and dozens more were arrested April 18 and promptly barred from campus and classes, unable to attend in-person or virtually, and banned from dining halls.

Questions about their academic futures remain. Will they be allowed to take final exams? What about financial aid? Graduation? Columbia says outcomes will be decided at disciplinary hearings, but Alwan says she has not been given a date.

“This feels very dystopian,” said Alwan, a comparative literature and society major.

What started at Columbia has turned into a nationwide showdown between students and administrators over anti-war protests and the limits of free speech. In the past 10 days, hundreds of students have been arrested, suspended, put on probation and, in rare cases, expelled from colleges including Yale University, the University of Southern California, Vanderbilt University and the University of Minnesota.

Barnard, a women’s liberal arts college at Columbia, suspended more than 50 students who were arrested April 18 and evicted them from campus housing, according to interviews with students and reporting from the Columbia Spectator campus newspaper, which obtained internal campus documents.

On Friday, Barnard announced it had reached agreements restoring campus access to “nearly all” of them. A statement from the college did not specify the number but said all students who had their suspensions lifted have agreed to follow college rules and, in some cases, were put on probation.

On the night of the arrests, however, Barnard student Maryam Iqbal  posted a screenshot on the social media platform X  of a dean’s email telling her she could briefly return to her room with campus security before getting kicked out.

“You will have 15 minutes to gather what you might need,” the email read.

More than 100 Barnard and Columbia faculty staged a “Rally to Support Our Students” last week condemning the student arrests and demanding suspensions be lifted.

Columbia is still pushing to remove the tent encampment on the campus main lawn where graduation is set to be hosted May 15. The students have demanded the school cuts ties with Israel-linked companies and ensure amnesty for students and faculty arrested or disciplined in connection with the protests.

Talks with the student protesters are continuing, said Ben Chang, a Columbia spokesperson. “We have our demands; they have theirs,” he said.

For international students facing suspension, there is the added fear of losing their visas, said Radhika Sainath, an attorney with Palestine Legal, which helped a group of Columbia students file a federal civil rights complaint against the school Thursday. It accuses Columbia of not doing enough to address discrimination against Palestinian students.

“The level of punishment is not even just draconian, it feels like over-the-top callousness,” Sainath said.

More than 40 students were arrested at a Yale demonstration last week, including senior Craig Birckhead-Morton. He is due to graduate May 20 but says the university has not yet told him if his case will be submitted to a disciplinary panel. He worries about whether he will receive a diploma and if his acceptance to Columbia graduate school could be at risk.

“The school has done its best to ignore us and not tell us what happens next,” said Birckhead-Morton, a history major.

Across the country, college administrators have struggled to balance free speech and inclusivity. Some demonstrations have included hate speech, antisemitic threats or support for Hamas, the group that attacked Israel on Oct. 7, sparking a war in Gaza that has left more than 34,000 dead.

May commencement ceremonies add pressure to clear demonstrations. University officials say arrests and suspensions are a last resort, and that they give ample warnings beforehand to clear protest areas.

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Vanderbilt University in Tennessee has issued what are believed to be the only student expulsions related to protesting the Israel-Hamas conflict, according to the Institute for Middle Eastern Understanding. More than two dozen students occupied the university chancellor’s office for several hours on March 26, prompting the university to summon police and arrest several protesters. Vanderbilt then issued three expulsions, one suspension and put 22 protesters on probation.

In an open letter to Chancellor Daniel Diermeier, more than 150 Vanderbilt professors criticized the university’s crackdown as “excessive and punitive.”

Freshman Jack Petocz, 19, one of those expelled, is being allowed to attend classes while he appeals. He has been evicted from his dorm and is living off campus.

Petocz said protesting in high school was what helped get him into Vanderbilt and secure a merit scholarship for activists and organizers. His college essay was about organizing walkouts in rural Florida to oppose Gov. Ron DeSantis’ anti-LGBTQ policies.

“Vanderbilt seemed to love that,” Petocz said. “Unfortunately, the buck stops when you start advocating for Palestinian liberation.”

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Delivering a Fiery Icebreaker at Toastmasters: Holistic Guide & Sample Speeches

Juhi dhruva.

• Toastmasters

What is an Icebreaker Speech at Toastmasters?

An Icebreaker is essentially the first project in any path of Toastmasters , the one that kick-starts your journey with the organisation. It is a short speech, about four to six minutes in length, the primary objective of which is to introduce yourself to the club.

The Icebreaker, or Project 1 (P1), is one of the last common links between the former curriculum of Toastmasters that which included CC and CL etc. and the new Pathways . If you’re wondering what’s the difference between an Icebreaker Speech before & after Pathways , there is none.

The Icebreaker speech in both the manuals is the same with the same objectives. It is beyond this project that the curriculums diverge in different directions. So irrespective of whether you are on the old curriculum or the new one, if you are giving an Icebreaker, this article is aimed at helping you sail past swiftly and smoothly. 

All projects at Toastmasters are defined with a given set of objectives and for the Icebreaker the objectives are simple. They are –

• To begin speaking in front of an audience
• To discover the speaking skills that you already have and the ones that need attention.

This article aims to introduce you to the basics of speechwriting and editing that will help you draft your Icebreaker, a healthy prep routine and other important things to keep in mind as you begin your public speaking journey.

I have broken down the article into 3 major steps:

Drafting Your Icebreaker Speech

• Prepping to Deliver the Icebreaker

Delivering the Icebreaker

Towards the end of the article, we have also included a short list of Sample Icebreaker Speeches which you can download for your reference. You can click here if you want to go to that section directly.

What Type of Icebreaker Speech do You Want to Write?

On the surface, this seems easy. All you have to do is introduce yourself to the club but it’s only when you begin mulling over it will you realize that it is going to be a tough job to clock in at least 500 words. I have often seen two kinds of Icebreaker Speeches.

• The first type of Icebreaker is the one where the speaker in literally a span of four to six minutes strives to sketch his/her entire life for the audience. Right from where they are from to their school to the college, work and in some cases about their families and children as well.
• The second type of Icebreaker that I have usually seen is the one which appeals to me the most. The one where the speaker comes forth and presents an interesting episode of their life and how it changed them over time.

Both the types have their pros and cons. The first type can often get a little boring since it focuses more on the factual information like where the speaker grew up, where they got their education and how they landed up their job, in some cases also about their spouses and children and eventually how they ended up at Toastmasters and what do they look to take from here.

If this is the type of Icebreaker that you had envisioned let me tell you that you this too can be made interesting. A simple way to do this is to bind the speech around the basic science of speechwriting – The Undisputed Power of Three Narratives .

An easy thing would be to pick up an incident from childhood, then one from teenage/early adulthood and one from college or workspace. Ensure that your anecdotes are short and crisp so that you don’t exceed the time limit and that they all introduce different facets of yourself to the audience.

For eg. I once heard an Icebreaker where a college student spoke about how he used to love playing cricket as a schoolboy, moved to the guitar in high school and is eventually now passionate about working in the finance sector.

Three narratives that introduced us to three different part of his life but he bound them at the end by saying how passions change with time and age and with more exposure to reality.

The second type of Icebreaker, if that’s what’s on your mind is actually an interesting one. Here I have seen people bring forth the most interesting anecdotes and explain them in detail and via that introducing themselves.

I once heard a speaker build his Icebreaker on his tough battle against smoking and how leaving it changed him. I wrote mine around my experience of changing cities for college and how this experience changed me.

This type of Icebreaker usually leaves you with a greater room for creativity to thrive and the wackier the experience the more attention the audience will give. It also doesn’t get monotonous like the previous one where there may be a greater possibility of a continuous non dramatic flow of information from the speaker to the audience.

Remember an Icebreaker might also be your first attempt at speechwriting so be kind to yourself.

Researching for the Icebreaker

This might sound funny, why would you need to research for a speech where you have to introduce yourself but believe me you need to.

Researching doesn’t always mean going online. Researching also means that you reach out to your mentor and other club members who have just done their speeches. Walk up to them and ask for tips. If they’re okay sharing their speeches and video recordings of it, learn from them as well.

Remember the 1-100-1 formula …

A school senior who has been a two time Ted Speaker once introduced me to what I now call the 1-100-1 formula. The 1-100-1 formula expands to illustrate that for every 1 minute that you spend onstage you speak not more than 100 words and for every 100 words you speak there has to be 1 hour of research, writing, editing and rewriting that should go in. The second part of the formula, the research and editing bit you may want to save for later projects but the first part surely implies here.

The Basic Outline of an Icebreaker Speech

Buoyant beginning.

A fellow toastmaster once heard a draft of my speech that began with a quote and told me that it was the most cliché of all beginnings and that it might put off the attention of the audience. This is not true. Having a non-quote beginning is great but you can make your way around a quote one also. Let me take you through both.

1. The Quirky Way to Begin

You can begin a speech with a question, or an absurd fact or a statistic or a randomly thrown statement. These all work as engaging beginnings. You can work your way around these then.

For ex. I began my speech with a question, “Who wouldn’t want to leave home”. I once heard a speaker begin his with “Did you know that crabs can crawl backwards as well?” etc. These often work in terms of the fact that they engage the audience instantaneously for the first few seconds and then a strong narrative from thereon can take off.

2. The Traditional Quote Beginning

If you’re looking to begin a speech with quotes you can use a trick that I once heard someone at my club pull. Instead of using just one quote he used three similar ones and managed to evoke curiosity. You can also to use three quotes that are completely unrelated to each other and still manage to evoke curiosity.

The power of three can be used in any way and not just in narratives. Remember, Toastmasters as a platform will never curb your creativity unless you resort to talking about religion, sex and politics something that is not permitted at any Toastmasters club worldwide.

Related Article: 15 Powerful Speech Opening Lines (And How to Create Your Own)

This is where the major chunk of your speech lies. Your stories take a full-fledged shape here and hence this requires the most amount of attention. This shouldn’t scare you. Just draft it as naturally as you can and run it by your mentor or another Toastmaster friend and take their opinion.

Ensure that the start of your story is at the end of the introduction and then unraveling in the body.  The sample speeches attached will give you a better idea of how to go about this. Make sure the transitions are fluid and seem seamless.

There is no shortcut here but the repeated practice of writing and rewriting and editing. You can always seek help from your mentor or also any other Non-Toastmaster friend who you think is good with writing.

Conclusive Conclusion

Personally, in my experience, the speeches that have stayed with me long after the speaker gets off stage have been the ones that have had the speakers conclude in a positive, cheery, happy and uplifting note.

Always remember, most studies state the attention span of the audience is the greatest in the first seven seconds and then the last seven. Like you strive to capture the audience’s attention in the first seven, try to leave them mesmerized in the last seven.

An Icebreaker, especially since it’s one of the most personal speeches that you will ever give, leaves ample room for the audience to be left feeling warm and fuzzy. Check the sample speeches attached. They will give you a better idea of it.

Tantalising Title

The title is the first thing the audience will hear so make sure it catches their attention and makes them want to hear more. It should be aimed at whetting their appetite and leave them asking for more.  The wackier the title the better it is.

For example, I based my speech on my experience of changing cities for college but I titled it Oreo Cheesecake. Remember to tie it in the speech somewhere, either in the start of the end of make a reference to it. I once did the speech on the Global Hunger Crisis and titled it Fortune Cookie . I didn’t mention it anywhere till the end where I said that not all of us are born with fortune cookies and thus we must try and do our bit and not waste food.

You can download my Icebreaker speech here.

A Quick Word on Humour

Humour is one of the easiest ways to connect with the audience and that is all you would want to do with the icebreaker. I would suggest try inculcating a little humour.

No, don’t get me wrong. The entire speech doesn’t have to have humour but a little somewhere will lighten the mood and make the audience root for you. It is difficult to add humour but not altogether impossible. I have attached some tips that helped me.’

Let it flow naturally

A fellow club member who has been a corporate comedian for almost seven ears once told me this. He said that forcing humour into a speech is the worst thing a speaker can bring onto himself.

Humour should stem from real-life experiences that have led to laughter and the more relatable they seem the more likely the chance of the audience laughing.

Since the Icebreaker is all about your story, there can be no better chance to use this tip. Eg. I used an instance if sibling squabble in my speech that managed to evoke laughter.

Verbal Stylistics

If it is difficult to come up with humour it is tougher to ensure that it doesn’t get lost in ineffective delivery. Ensure you use the tools of vocal variety and taking pauses at the right moments for the humour to sink in.

This will come with practice so make sure you rehearse it with different people before you deliver.

Prepping to Deliver Your Icebreaker Speech

Rewriting and Editing the Icebreaker

Once you’re done writing you may feel that quite a bit of your job is done but it has just about started. Most of the work is going to rewriting and editing.

A cousin who is also a creative writing tutor with school children once taught me a very simple thing. She said that the first draft isn’t even the most inaccurate depiction of what’s on your mind. It is merely you putting thoughts to words. The more I toastmaster, the stronger my belief in her words get.

What is the ideal speechwriting prep routine?

There never was and can never be an ideal speechwriting prep routine. Everyone has a different way of working and the only way to understand what works for you is by letting yourself write, fall and falter and then revise your methods. For now, I can tell you what works for me.

I usually build an ideation map that has the main points of what and how I want my speech to look like. I then do a first draft. This is someplace where I let my thoughts flow to words naturally without worrying about the word limit or the grammatical part.

Once I am through with this, I usually let the write up ferment for some time. Depending on when the speech is scheduled to be delivered and my college routine, this period is usually anything between a few hours to a few days.

Why is redrafting necessary?

Once you get back to the draft with fresh eyes you’d want to make multiple changes and that’s where the magic begins. You will feel the writing blossoming into a clearer and more accurate version of what you had in mind. The more drafts you give the better it is. For an Icebreaker, since it’s your first speech a couple drafts are okay.

The catch here is to not to keep mindlessly drafting and redrafting but also to run them by other people for their opinions. All good speeches are a culmination of writing that is a reflection not only of the views of the speaker but also that of reviews from mentors.

Here, the important point is to ensure that no mentor’s say is ultimate. Take their opinions but if you feel that you don’t wish to incorporate it in your write up, let it be.

Editing the Icebreaker

The most important part is editing. If you’re someone like me who loves writing this is usually an area of problem. Editing, one must understand is not only about cutting down on words and the length of the speeches.

It also refers to the reframing of sentences in a way that they are really impactful and also reconstruction of sentences to enable ease in the implementation of verbal stylistics.

Step 1 to Editing

If your write up is exceeding the word limit, the first step is to bring it under the word limit. You can do this by simply chopping off unnecessary words. Eg. “For the past one year” can just be “For the past year” etc.

Step 2 to Editing

Once you’re done with this and the write up is still not in the given word bracket, go back and begin cutting short sentences. A ten-word sentence can easily be cut down to a seven or maybe even a five.

Eg. “When I took the leadership test on the Toastmasters Portal, it ranked me an equal on both, the Affiliative and Altruistic styles” can be chopped off to “The Toastmasters leadership test determined both Affiliative and Altruistic styles of leadership for me”. A twenty-one-word sentence chopped off straight to a fourteen word one.

This is obviously something that will come with practice but a trick you must aim to master. If you’re unable to do it by yourself reach out to a writer friend or an editor one, your mentor or the person touted to be having the best language and writing skills at the club.

The fermentation philosophy also works here and always keep coming back to the write up for editing every few hours with a set of fresh eyes. Once you’re done rewriting, editing and rewriting confirm with your mentor and lock your script.

Take the Aid of Your Toastmaster Mentor

One of the best parts about being with Toastmasters is the Mentor Policy at Toastmasters. All members whether new or old, experienced Toastmasters or inexperienced ones are allocated mentors by the VP Ed of the club.

Your mentor is your go-to person for everything at Toastmasters and someone who will actually end up being your first and closest confidante over time.

The prep method changes from speaker to speaker and mentor to mentor and club to club. Usually, what I have experienced at my club especially with my mentors is a three step process that we follow to prep for the speech:

• The first step is working on the write-up. I tend to take at least a couple of drafts of a speech. The first one is usually completely my ideation and execution which I then share with my mentors and the following drafts are a compilation of their views on how to make it better and my understanding of it.
• Once the script is locked, we move on to the second stage that is audio and video recording of the speech . Here, I first usually send an audio recording of my speech to my mentors for them to understand and help me better the vocal variety, tonality and range which is then succeeded by a video recording to better the hand gestures and expressions and stage movements.
• Once this is through, we proceed to the final step of prepping which is practicing in front of the mirror and with your peers.

My mentors have often been very particular about two things. One that I practice at least nine to ten times before I get onstage and second that these practices are a culmination of me speaking in front of a mirror and in front of my peers.

At first glance, this may seem a little intensive and unneeded but believe me, it will only help. It will make you more confident and easy onstage.

Practicing with Your Peers

When you practice with your peers and see their reactions it will make you understand how to make your delivery more effective. All speakers tend to unconsciously bend towards a few delivery stylistics naturally.

For eg, some tend to be better at intonation and modulation probably by virtue of being voiceover artists or actors at maybe some point of time in school or college. Speakers who’ve had a stint as dancers tend to use non-verbal stylistics like those of expressions and smile and hand gestures more effectively.

This can sometimes distract the audience if any are used in excess. To avoid these mishaps on the last day, when you practice with your peers ask them to keep an eye out for this and help you modulate it to proportion.

Is practising at the venue is necessary?

Another thing that really worked in favour for me was practicing my Icebreaker with two other Toastmasters at the venue a fortnight before the meeting I was to speak in. This helped in two ways.

One, obviously because I was practicing with fellow Toastmasters I could get comprehensive feedback but most importantly, speaking at the venue fostered me with greater confidence since I could get a feel of what the Big Day would be like.

I know this may not always be possible, but a simple alternative to this can be reaching the venue a little early and using the time before the meeting to practice with another member and take their feedback. The idea is to get comfortable with the venue.

Related Article : Surprisingly Simple but Effective Processes to Practicing for a Speech

It is finally the Big Day. You’ve prepped enough and now you should just relax and let things unfold their way. It is very important to prep right, but on the final day it’s even more vital to ensure that you don’t doubt your prep.

To ease your nerves, mentioned below is a simple checklist that will help you in ensuring that you’re calm and composed when you take the stage.

Dress Right

Ensure that you are dressed comfortably but not too informal. A semi-formal outfit would surely work. The last thing you want is your outfit to distract you and the audience while speaking.

Ladies, that frilly dress maybe really pretty and can pass for as semi-formal too but if your venue is going to have too many fans it might lead to some wardrobe malfunction scares that you don’t want while speaking. Ensure that you keep these things in mind while dressing.

Dress in a pale pinks and blues and greens since science says they are calming and will do you good if you’re too nervous. If your nervousness is pulling you down, don on a yellow since it is an instant mood up lifter and will make you feel cheery. Again these are just suggestions and not mandatory at all.

This is of primary importance. It is going to be a long day and a tiring one too. Ensure that you have enough fuel to keep yourself going. Don’t have a heavy breakfast if you’re someone who gets nauseous out of nervousness. Have some fruits and light snacks and some juice perhaps.

Try and not consume caffeine since it will only worsen your anxiety (in my experience). If you feel like you need a boost, try green tea. It has the right amount of caffeine to wake you up but not enough you fuel your anxiety.

Reach the venue before time

Usually a normal Toastmasters meeting would require all role players on the agenda reach at least thirty minutes before the start of the meeting to ensure that the meeting begins on time.

Since it’s your first time onstage I would suggest that you reach the venue a little earlier and take in the atmosphere, and calm your nerves. Check the acoustics situation. A lot of venues have paltry acoustics due to the way they are constructed and hence practicing even a little of your speech will give you an idea of how to throw your voice.

This is important because it makes sure that a situation like this doesn’t reduce the impact of your speech.  

I once did a speech in a room with paltry acoustics that had all fans running and to top it there was a heavy downpour outside which led to the rains also hampering the speech impact.

The only feedback that I got on that speech was to speak louder since people beyond the third row couldn’t hear me. Had I come in early and practiced this with someone not only would it have helped me with my confidence but also with my understanding of the bad acoustics of the room. 

Therefore, it is better to figure these things out beforehand since if you realize it during the speech it would distract both the audience and you. If you are going to use a microphone and a podium the need for practicing is even greater since here too there are chances of malfunction.

Getting Onstage

The moment you had been dreading or awaiting is finally here. The TMoD has called you onstage and shook your hand and left. The audience is waiting patiently to hear you and all you can hear is your heartbeat racing.

I am listing below a few things for you to keep in mind before you begin and also while you’re speaking that I really wished someone had told me before I got speaking.

Breathe before you begin

Before you begin, take a moment to soak in the atmosphere and the energy of the room. Take in a few deep breaths tell yourself you got this, look into the eyes of the audience, smile and then begin.

Try to keep a positive body language

This means no folding of arms around the chest, no slumping of the back and drooping shoulders. Make sure your legs don’t jiggle. Strive to make controlled movements towards the audience with open arms and don’t forget to SMILE. Remember, Phyllis Diller’s words, “ A smile is a curve that can set anything straight” . This will warm up the audience and also ease your nervousness as well.

Related Article: Body Language Guide to Public Speaking (The Do’s and Don’ts)

Keep a check on pace and tone

Nervousness usually translates in an unprecedented increase in pace and also a certain loudness both of which it is easy to fall prey to. Ensure that you are a little aware of these things while speaking. This will make sure that the overall impact of your speech is better and not marred by the nervousness.

Try and maintain eye contact

Another major hindrance that I have noticed most speakers face is that of maintaining eye contact. Most of us, out of our nervousness choose to evade eye contact and either look at the walls or blank spaces or anywhere but into the eyes of the audience.

If it’s your first time doing a speech this is completely understandable. I would suggest that to counter this you find your people in the audience. You can get your friends and family and scatter them in the audience and keep making eye contact with them letting everyone feel that you’re talking to them.

If you can for some reason not do this, try finding your people at the club. The ones you’re the most comfortable around and the ones whom you laugh and engage the most with. Then practice the same hack of making eye contact with them.

Related Article : Why Eye Contact & Facial Expressions Will Make or Break Your Speech

Be Yourself

Remember, the main objective of the Icebreaker is to show your mentor and evaluator what delivery stylistics come naturally to you. This speech is to give them an idea of your strengths and weaknesses and how they can work on both. Therefore, be as natural as you can onstage and just be you.

It is normal to be in awe of a fellow speaker and want to emulate them but if that style of delivery is not natural to you then don’t.

There is always time later to learn from them and emulate their style or even better add it as an accessory to your own. Understand, this is your story and should only be said in your way for the impact to deepen.

Things to Know as You Receive Your First Icebreaker Evaluation

If this is your first speech at Toastmasters, it’s probably also going to be the first time you receive an evaluation. Here are some things to keep in mind as you receive your Icebreaker speech evaluation.

Understand that the Evaluator’s word is not the ultimate

One of the most enriching segments of a Toastmasters Meeting is the Evaluation segment where each speaker is allocated a dedicated Evaluator who evaluates the speech for him/her.

Remember that an evaluator is no God and feel free to only take whatever portions from the evaluation that you deem enriching enough for yourself. If you feel that there’s nothing, feel free to leave it out.

Ask for Feedback from Fellow Members

A lot of times the evaluators assigned are new members learning the ropes of the craft themselves and thus you might feel that you weren’t satisfied with the evaluation that came your way.

In such a scenario feel free to walk up to the senior members and ask for feedback. In fact one should do this regardless of whether they are satisfied with the speech evaluation or not.

Cherish your First Time with Toastmasters

The icebreaker is going to be one of the many of your firsts at Toastmasters and for some of you, might also be your first time speaking in front of an audience.

Cherish it, for all firsts are always special in some way or the other and they never come back. Remember to enjoy the process, the writing, the prepping and the delivery.

Video Record your Speech

If you are comfortable, ask someone to record the speech for you. It will help you later understand things in a much better way especially the criticism but will most importantly serve as a beautiful memory to look back on a few years down the line.

Sample Icebreaker Speeches

Over the years I have been fortunate to meet several amazing speakers. It gives me immense pleasure to share some of their very first speeches (the Icebreaker). Are these speeches perfect and follow every guide stated in this blog? Of course, not. And that’s not the point.

The point is to take inspiration from these speeches to help better draft your own Icebreaker. You can download them as PDF versions here:

Oreo Cheesecake

This is My Start

The Perfect Moment

As we keep getting more writers who have been through Icebreakers, we will keep adding more sample speeches for you to take inspiration from!

Final Words: Smile Through Your Mistakes

If you goofed up onstage it is fine, just smile through it and don’t be too harsh on yourself. It was your first time, you will make many such mistakes at Toastmasters and always remember that Toastmasters is a platform that aims to encourage you to make mistakes aplenty so that you learn the right way.

I still remember when I was giving my Icebreaker I sort of forgot something in the first thirty seconds itself. I masked it really well and no one in the audience could gauge it but my evaluator, not even my mentor. Somehow I just stuck to it and felt really wretched about it.

Now when I look back the only regret that I have is that I didn’t spend those minutes enjoying my time onstage but delved in the misery of a trivial mistake.

My only tip to you, it is OKAY to falter and stutter. The more graceful and human you are about this the more forgiving the audience. What is not okay is to delve in it and ruin your mood and not have fun. That is the only regret I have in my time with my club.

This is the beginning of a new journey that is going to be full of ups and downs and learnings and mistakes and just like Rumi rightly said, “Trust the magic of new beginnings”. It is going to be a roller coaster ride, one that you’re going to love, so brace yourselves and Welcome to the Toastmaster Family.

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Author Interviews

Barbara walters forged a path for women in journalism, but not without paying a price.

Tonya Mosley

In 1976, Barbara Walters became the first woman to co-anchor a national news show on prime time television. She was only in that role for two years, but her arrival changed news media.

"She's such a consequential figure for journalists, not just for women journalists," biographer Susan Page says. "The path she cut is one that many of us have followed."

Page is the Washington bureau chief at USA Today and the author of The Rulebreaker: The Life and Times of Barbara Walters. Though they never met, Page says speaking to hundreds of Walters' friends and colleagues and watching hours of her interview tapes gave her a sense of her subject.

Page describes Walters as a fearless journalist who didn't shy away from controversy or tough questions. She battled sexism throughout her career — especially from her first co-anchor, Harry Reasoner, who, Page says, scowled at Walters' presence and tracked how many words she spoke on-air compared to him.

Trailblazing journalist Barbara Walters has died at 93

After leaving the nightly news post, Walters became known for her long-form interviews. Her conversations, which blended news and entertainment, featured a wide range of subjects, including Fidel Castro, Vladimir Putin, Richard Nixon, Monica Lewinsky, Michael Jackson and Charles Manson. In 1997, she created The View , a daily talk show with an all-women cast of co-hosts.

"One thing that I thought was interesting about Barbara Walters is that she thought all sorts of people were interesting and worth talking to," Page says. "She really expanded the world of interviews that [national] journalists were doing to include not just presidents, but also notorious murderers."

For Page, Walters' success feels personal: "It never occurred to me when I was looking at a career in journalism that I couldn't do big interviews with important people because Barbara Walters did. ... Even though I've been in print journalism, not TV journalism, I benefited from the battles that Barbara Walters fought."

Interview highlights

On her family life that drove her to work hard

Understanding the source of her drive was hard to understand and I think crucial. And I decided after doing all this reporting about her that, that there was a moment that ignited the drive in Barbara Walters, and that was when her mother called her and told her that her father had attempted suicide. Her mother didn't call an ambulance. ... [Barbara] called the ambulance. [Barbara] rode in the ambulance with her father to the hospital. And she realized almost in an instant that while she was going through her first divorce, she didn't really have a career that as of that moment, she was going to be responsible for supporting her father, who had just tried to commit suicide, her mother, who was perpetually unhappy, and her special needs sister. And that that was going to require her to get serious, to make some money and to sustain that. She always had the sense that it could all disappear in an instant.

On news co-host Harry Reasoner's hostility about working with Walters

He was so openly contemptuous of her on the air that the director stopped doing two shots. That is a shot where you could see Harry Reasoner watching Barbara Walters speak because he was always scowling. It was so bad that they got many letters from mostly women viewers complaining about how she was being treated. ... It was really an untenable situation and one that took a while to unravel, and it was one that unnerved Barbara Walters. It was the one time in her career when she thought perhaps she had made an error so great that she would not recover. She said that she felt not only like she was drowning, but that there were people trying to hold her head under the water.

On a turning point in her career, when she interviewed Fidel Castro

So this was in 1977. She was still officially the anchor [of ABC Evening News ], but things were not going well. And she landed this interview with Fidel Castro, who had been interviewed only infrequently by Western journalists. And ... she got in a boat and crossed the Bay of Pigs with him. He drove his jeep across the mountains with her sitting next to him, holding aloft his gun to keep water from splashing on. It was a great interview. A very tough interview. She asked him about freedom of the press, which didn't exist in Cuba. She pressed him on whether he was married. This was a question that he had refused to answer. ... So he finally gave up and answered it and said formally, no. So it was a great interview and it was a comeback interview for her. It both showed what she could do in an interview, and it made her feel more confident again.

On her interview with Richard Nixon when she asked him if he wished he burned the Watergate tapes

That was in a particularly difficult interview, because the only way the Nixon people agreed that she could do it was to do it live. There was no cutting out some extraneous matter to get that last question in, she had to be incredibly alert about controlling the interview so that she would have time to ask that question. And the other thing that we should know about that question is she always wanted to ask the question that everybody wanted to hear, even the toughest question possible, like would you have burned the tapes? She wanted to ask the one that people wanted to hear the answer to. That was one of [her] great gifts. And she figured out that by preparing for hours and hours and writing down proposed questions on small 3x5 cards and shuffling them and revising them, and finally having them typed on 5x7 cards to ask. She would let an interview go where it went. She didn't always follow the cards, but she always had a plan in mind for how she wanted to get the interview started. What she wanted to do in the middle and the thing that she wanted to do at the close to give it a real kick.

On her friendship with Donald Trump

They were transactional friends. She went to his wedding. He went to the celebration of her third marriage. He was often a guest on The View when The View started in 1997. He was then a real estate developer in New York. And if they were short a guest, they could call up Donald Trump and he would come over and be on the show or even do a cameo skit. ... And, in fact, one ABC executive told me, when Donald Trump got involved in politics, that there was a feeling, some discomfort, that she had given him a platform and a legitimacy that maybe he wouldn't have had otherwise.

On her preparation for her infamous Monica Lewinksy interview

Barbara Walters was working on asking the questions, but at the same time, Monica Lewinsky was working with her team on how to answer the questions. The question that gave the Monica Lewinsky team the most trouble was that question, "Do you still love him?" Because at the beginning of their practice sessions, she said yes. And then she said she couldn't say no because she did love him. And she loved him some of the time. And, they warned that that was not an effective answer to have. So you hear her, in this interview giving the answer they had worked out, which was no. But then in her follow up, she does acknowledge that sometimes she does still have warm feelings for him. On the Barbara Walters side, they worked a long time on what the closing question would be, because that's a powerful position in an interview like this, that last question. And they settled on, "What will you tell your children?"

On Gilda Radner's impression of her as "Baba Wawa," mocking the way she spoke

She was wounded when she heard this. For one thing, even though there was this exaggerated lisp that Gilda Radner used, nobody had any doubt who she was parodying. And, Barbara Walters had this speech anomaly. She called it a bastard Boston accent. Other people called it a lisp. Whatever it was she had tried, she'd gone to voice coaches early in her career to try to fix it, and it failed. So her feelings were hurt when the skit was done on Saturday Night Live . Now, it also made her famous. She came to terms with it, but I think she always found it kind of hurtful. ... When Gilda Radner died ... Barbara Walters wrote a sympathy note to her widower, Gene Wilder, expressing sympathy on her death, and signed it, "Baba Wawa."

On her reluctant retirement

She worked into her 80s. ... When she was in her 70s, she was working at a time when most women had been involuntarily retired. So she worked as long as they would keep her on the air. But as she started to sometimes miss a step, there was concern that she would embarrass herself or undermine some of the professional work she had done. ... The people at ABC convinced her it was time to retire. And then CNN came in with a secret offer to put her on the air at CNN, which she was considering when her friends came back and said, no, it's time. ... There was a grand finale on The View , where two dozen women prominent in journalism came and paid tribute to her. And on her last, big show on The View. And when she was backstage afterwards, one of them came up and said ... "What do you want to do in your retirement?" And Barbara said, "I want more time." Meaning I want more time on the air.

On if she was happy

I asked 100 people who knew her that question: Was she happy? And a few people said yes. Joy Behar of The View said "happy-ish," which is not a bad answer, but most people said while she was proud of what she had done and that she loved the money and the prominence that she had won, that she paid this huge price on the personal side — she had three failed marriages. She was estranged for a time from her only daughter. She never lost that feeling that she was always competing and could never stop and be content. So she had the most successful possible professional life, but I think she had kind of a sad, personal one.

Thea Chaloner and Joel Wolfram produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Beth Novey adapted it for the web.

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President joe biden pokes fun at donald trump at wh correspondents' dinner, 2024 white house correspondents' dinner joe biden mocks donald trump ... over ny criminal trial.

President Joe Biden put on his comedy hat at the White House Correspondents' Association's annual dinner Saturday – throwing a major barb at Donald Trump for standing trial over a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels .

As the night's featured guest, Joe strolled up to the podium for his speech at the Washington Hilton in D.C. before a packed crowd of journalists, government officials and Hollywood stars to celebrate the free press.

Right from the get-go, Joe poked fun at his chief rival and presumptive Republican 2024 presidential nominee – Trump – while first tackling the age issue saddling both candidates.

Joe said, "I’m a grown man running against a 6-year-old,” mocking Trump for his often-adolescent behavior. In case you forgot, Joe is 81 and Trump is 77.

Biden then ripped Trump for his alleged scheme to pay off Daniels to muzzle her during the 2016 presidential election.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg won an indictment against Trump who is now spending his days in court fighting numerous charges that could land him in prison if convicted.

“Donald has had a few tough days lately. You might call it ‘stormy’ weather,” Joe joked, alluding to the infamous hush money payment to Daniels.

Joe also dinged Trump for not getting an endorsement from his former Vice President Mike Pence . "My vice president actually endorses me," Joe bragged, referring to current VP Kamala Harris . Then Joe got serious for a moment, pointing out Trump's "attack on our democracy."

After 10 minutes, Joe sat back down in his seat as "Saturday Night Live" Weekend Update co-anchor Colin Jost walked up to the podium and took the comedy reins. During his act, Jost mostly made fun of Biden and Trump while the audience laughed their butts off.

Among the celebrity attendees were Jost's wife Scarlett Johansson , Chris Pine , Questlove , Molly Ringwald , Sophia Bush and her partner Ashlyn Harris .

Of course, there were also many famous journalists present, such as NBC's Kelly O'Donnell and Lester Holt .

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Is the crackdown on US university campuses a threat to free speech?

Hundreds of students and academics have been arrested during rallies opposing Israel’s war on Gaza. 

Students in US universities are speaking out against Israel’s devastating war on Gaza.

The protests began in New York’s Columbia University last week.

But the police crackdown that followed caused the anger to spread to other universities in the United States and even in Europe and Australia.

The students say their right to protest is being crushed.

Presenter: Laura Kyle

Jude Taha – Palestinian journalist and student at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

Jeremi Suri – Historian and professor of global leadership, history and public policy at The University of Texas at Austin

Rina Shah – Political strategist and a former senior congressional aide