I've been coming to Thursdays for three weeks and I still haven't put my name down. Every week I tell myself this is the one and then the sign-up sheet comes round and I pass it straight on. People who've been through this — what actually got you over the line?
Honestly? Signing up at the START of the evening, before the motion drops. Once your name is on the sheet the decision is made and you can spend prep time prepping instead of deciding.
Ask to speak in a novice room your first time — the chairs there are picked for being kind, and everyone else in the room is exactly as terrified as you. My first speech was 4 minutes of me reading my case file in the wrong order. Nobody remembers it but me.
Did my first one two weeks ago. The thing nobody told me: the seven minutes feels like ninety seconds once you're actually up. It's the sitting-and-waiting that's the bad bit.
Committee point: we pair every first-timer with an experienced speaker for prep, so you never walk into the room with a blank page. Grab literally anyone with a lanyard and say it's your first time.
Update: name went on the sheet last night. Spoke third for Opening Opposition on the compulsory voting motion. Sat down early, forgot my second argument entirely, genuinely cannot wait for next week.