New to Toastmasters

Well I have started on a new journey in my life.  I have joined Toastmasters!

In March I joined a local Toastmasters club to improve my public speaking and to network with like minded individuals.

Toastmasters International is a world leader in communication and leadership development. Our organization has more than 352,000 memberships. Members improve their speaking and leadership skills by attending one of the 16,400 clubs in 141 countries that make up our global network of meeting locations.  To learn more about Toastmasters click here.

On July 2nd I prepared and delivered my first prepared speech – the Ice Breaker speech.  In this speech you are to introduce yourself to the club and speak 5 to 7 minutes sharing details of your life you want to share.

For me five minutes was not near enough!  I can talk all day about me.  I am a subject matter expert on myself don’t you know, and have a few years with myself as well.  But for the sake of the other members I shared in less than 7 minutes.

Now I have been a leader, teacher, singer, master of ceremonies and coach for most of my life.  I really don’t have a problem talking in front of other people, but this crowd is different.  They all are trying to better their speaking abilities and know when I am messing up – they are just looking for it!

There is someone at the meeting who counts the number of times you say – uh, ah, so, and so, use improper grammar and repeat yourself.  This person had a field day with me.  I know I have a problem with my dialect and use of the English language, but I don’t care to stand up and share what I know.

My speech was titled “Blackberry Wisdom”.  Wonder where I got that idea.  Through the speech preparation I found my life can be best summed up by sharing a few details from the different seasons of my life.

So now with the 1st speech behind me, I am ready now to aim toward becoming a Distinguished Toastmasters (DTM).  Let the journey begin!