At Toastmasters, some people make more progress than others.  Improvement is a function of three variables:  I = E + R + P.  E = Evaluation, R = Reflection, and P = Practice.   I can get good Evaluation, and read all about 'Owning the Stage' and watch the DVDs from Darren, but if I don't practice what I learned, I would be stuck at the same level.   I've seen some speakers stuck at the same gear for a while, not able to breakthrough.  I think one of the major obstacles for beginner speakers, is that there are so many things they are told (by evaluators or by themselves) to improve, and they try to do everthing at once.  Or don't know where to start at all.

I love basketball.  But I am a beginner, and I really do not have aspirations to be a professional player.  But I do want to improve, not only during practice, but during game time.  In the beginning I sucked at everything:  offense, defense, rebound, free-throws, passing, dribbling.   And I was an embarrassment to my team.  What I did, and what professionals do, was to develop one move at a time.   I first practiced catch and shoot from the corner.  Only catch and shoot.  And during game time, that was the only move I would use.  Then, I practiced dribble-twice-and-shoot.  And only that.  For the next game time, that was the only move I would use.  

There are many 'moves' in speech delivery.  Perhaps, beginners can focus on the basic ones, such as 'hand gestures that describe magnitutes and directions'.  Compose a speech that has plenty of opportunites to put that move into play.  During your stage time, you will be able to feel comfortable with that specific move.   Examples of basic moves may include "hand gestures that describe emotions", "Slowing down",  "Speeding up", "A mix of slowing down and speeding up".   The competent communications manual forces the member to go through the 10 speeches in that order for that same reason--to practice a particular aspect in a speech.  However, I recommend that you should focus on a specifics move.  There are many 'moves' that fall into the 'Body Language' category.  

The next move that I want to practice is using the stage to depict location or time.  I will compose a speech that has separate locations, so I can utilize the stage effectively.  Let's see how that turns out.