I am currently typing this up from Zavida coffee shop, downtown Toronto. For being an out of towner, the lovely barista gave me a free cookie, the people of this country are so nice! Would you say no to a free cookie? Give them a follow and if you are in the area, drop by and then let me know if their coffee tastes any good, for I whole heartedly abstain from coffee, its smell and taste abhor me. You ever tried Indian tea? #ChaaDaCup
I caught an Uber down here, through crazy Toronto traffic, from North York, where I was at the offices of Dell Canada, visiting their Toastmasters club. Last December, I was out in New Delhi, India where I visited and spoke at fellow clubs Adobe and Tata Consultancy Services, you can read more about that in a previous post: http://spreadwisdom.co.uk/international-experience-and-now-competent-leader/
Today I delivered speech 10 from my competent communication manual, whose objectives are to inspire your audience;
I titled my speech PURPOSE AND AMBITION and spoke upon my journey of first joining a toastmaster club, becoming an officer within and now president. How its opportunities have led me to network with people all over the globe, attend workshops, meetings, conferences, competitions, attend and also host club officer training, mentor, facilitate and promote public speaking development and leadeship skills. It has presented me with situations where I’ve had to think on the spot and conjure a plan of action for a variety of situations, sometimes a meeting, workshop and quite often an impromptu speech.
Being able to think on my feet, deliberate a plan and take my club to a distinguished level brings me a wealth of experience in management, mentoring and peer engagement. Read about the distinguished status at http://thetoastrack.club/status-upgrade-distinguished/
Through my meeting with the International President Mike Storkey, whose key message was to Step Up and Step Out, I understood further the need to step out of my comfort zone and challenge myself. This resonates with me at a deep level, I often say that ‘Opportunities will present themselves in wrappers unknown.’ Carpe Diem!
Mike spoke further of the goal of Toastmasters is not to make better Toastmasters, rather for its 300,000+ members, in 140+ countries, to take these skills out of their clubs and into other areas of their lives both personally and professionally. Being able to practise these skills, to be effective in communication and leadership gives you great “Confidence. Joining Toastmasters allows people to build the skills they need to become more confident public speakers and stronger leaders in every area of their lives.” – Read Forbes article here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorgan/2016/02/18/why-you-should-join-toastmasters/#778ca09f749e
I strongly believe that effective leaders must be effective communicators and therefore have also taken it upon myself to reach out to other clubs, in my local area and as of recent, internationally. If you are from my local area and are not keen on taking your speech practice to other countries, then I encourage you to at least get as far as Trojans in Ealing and Riverside in Twickenham, both great clubs I’ve been warmly received by.
Taking this ethos a step further, I reached out to the Dell Canada Toastmaster club who were happy to have me and were able to give me a speaking slot and an evaluation thereof. The members were all very excited and interested in welcoming an international guest, ready to learn from each other and share tips, skills and tested methods of speech success.
During my speech, I asked a bold question, if anyone knew what their purpose was, I get mixed responses usually, and this was all the same, sometimes it’s the posing of the question that strikes more than the actual question itself. It’s not a bad thing if you do not know what your purpose is, but are you proactively doing something about that, in any way, subtle as it may be, create that movement, I invoke the thought that says you need ambition in your life.
This ambition will help you gauge an understanding of purpose, you understand it in your own way, through a medium of experience. Popular phrase ‘Don’t knock it till you try it’ was maybe trying to hint at just that, you can’t write something off if you have not experienced it, Don’t judge a book by its cover; whichever way you want to phrase it. If you feel the tiniest nook of the universe presenting you with an opportunity and your gut feel its a positive potential, go with it, figure out the details later. Finding my way to this coffee shop with no data, but pure confidence to approach someone in the street to ask for directions without any embarrassment or inability to communicate. It’s just great that the people of Toronto are so nice, my nephew will thank the guy at the Nike shop, even though he did nothing to help! I sit on the fence with that, as I unbox a fresh pair of Air Force Ones! sucker for a bargain
At a Tony Robbins conference, I learned about how he had the opportunity to go to a Jim Rohn conference and it was a choice between rent and the tickets. If you do not know who either of these two people are, then stop and google them both now. http://lmgtfy.com/?t=v&q=tony+robbins
He couldn’t miss the conference with one of his idols, so he took a leap, he went ahead and bought the tickets and then conspired, internalised, engineered scenarios and thus manifested situations and circumstances to be able to work extra hours or graft in another format to be able to then earn enough to also pay rent that month. Talk about taking a leap hey, or aka #HUSTLEHARD. everyday I’m hustlinn!
Jim Carey’s Yes Man is a great film to watch for this topic, gauge your own viewpoint of course, and let me know what you think.
Gaining evaluations and networking with like minded people allows you to gain the perspective of other viewpoints and notes for improvement in ways you have not heard of yet. Being open to and understanding alternative views can only improve your grasp of a situation or method, gathering more data on your approach and style helps with continuous improvement.
Through the experience of being part of other international organisations, I’ve really felt the benefits of global communities, adventure, networking and learning through participation.
I reached out to several clubs in Toronto, had a few offers to attend, not all of which manifested, so I give thanks to the global community and to Dell Canada for their hospitality.
Taking steps like this push me far out of comfort zone, I feel it is strong to grow in ways that challenge you, push you and help you grow in exponential ways.
If you are scared or worried, that’s okay, use that energy, channel it in a constructive way. What is the worst that can happen? You fall flat on your face? in that instance, you have at-least fallen forwards by 5-6 feet, you have still moved towards your goals and exercised your inert nature of progression.
I thank you for reading this, if it helps or resonates with you on any level, or if you feel a friend could do with reading this, please share. If you have constructive feedback, please feel free to reach out to me directly or contact me via my social channels – all available in the footer of the site.
Have ambition, get out and tackle the world, find your purpose and move towards your dreams!
From Toronto, without coffee, but full of zeal!
-Sumit Sharma