In its many renderings, one popular Bible quote suggests originality is impossible.
“The thing that has been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 9:1)
This is where character and free will come in. The pressure to win is strong and corrupting. Even competitors at Toastmaster contests try to get away with stealing someone else’s material.
Keep in mind the “nothing new” quote applies to good ideas, too, not just the bad ones; we can steal ideas from each other as long as we don’t plagiarize them. As long as we stick to a code that says we win when we let others win, too.
Ireland’s Westport Toastmasters home page states, “While Toastmasters isn’t necessarily all about competition, the intensity of competing can accelerate improvement.”
Emulating someone else’s speaking style can build confidence. The main non-plagiarizing rule to keep in mind when trying out someone else’s moves and content is to give them credit for it, while managing to make it your own.