The Wealth of an Individual Depends on the Value It Can Create. – Grow Your Own Economy

Last week I gave my first speech at BVC’s Toastmasters Club. Everyone said I would do well because I was a teacher; however, this kind of statement only made me feel worse. Presenting a speech in front of my peers terrified me, so I read an article titled: Fear of Public Speaking. 

In her article, Hildy Gottlieb says:

Here’s what I realized. When I was afraid to do Public Speaking, the fear was all about ME. What if I choke, what if I mess up, what if I don’t remember. Me me me.

But when I was teaching, it wasn’t about me at all. It was about the students (i.e. the audience) and the content.

The students needed to learn the content, and someone had to teach it to them. I could be boring or funny-looking or have my dress rip across the back (that really happened once - don’t ask!) and still what would matter was that I shared this critical information with as many people as possible otherwise they would never learn it!

Once I stopped focusing on me, me ,me… I was never nervous again.

The Toastmasters Club at BVC was started by the Centre in Excellence in Immigrant and Intercultural  Advancement and meets every Thursday during lunch. The meetings are timed to the minute to respect people’s prior commitments. At the moment, the Toastmasters Club at BVC is at capacity, but it is part of district 42 which offers many more clubs in the Calgary area –including one club which is hosted at the public library just next door. The following link can provide more information on how to find a club near you: http://d42tm.org/. The Toastmaster Club prides itself on creating better leaders, better interviewees, better hosts, and of course better speakers. What do you have to lose? Become more valuable!