Hey Friend,
I used to be too scared to speak up in small work meetings…
Now I regularly speak in front of large rooms full of business owners.
How did this happen?
Let me take you back to the 13th of April, 2022.
Four years ago.
I walked into my first Toastmasters meeting.
If you’ve never heard of Toastmasters, it’s a global organisation where people come together to practise one of the most feared skills in the world:
Public speaking.
One of my mentors, who is a world-class speaker — once told me that he and his wife did Toastmasters for two years early in their journey.
He said it was the best (and cheapest) personal development course they ever did.
Today, they have spoken on stages in front of thousands.
I remember being at their home on the Gold Coast years ago.
Seeing their Toastmasters trophies on display.
And I thought to myself,
“I would love to have one of those one day.”
(I’ve always loved a trophy lol)
Public speaking is something I’ve always been drawn to. Watching someone with the ability to engage, educate and entertain an audience.
I’m one of the weirdos who actually enjoys getting up on stage.
Even though I’m nervous as hell every single time.
I joined a chapter in the Adelaide CBD called “Adelaide Central.”
After my first meeting, I was shell-shocked.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to come back.
But thankfully I did.
In fact, I doubled down.
I joined two chapters straight away so I could practise every week and accelerate my growth.
Monday marked four years since I started that journey.
Four years.
Damn.
That’s the length of a university degree!
(But far more valuable)
Because in a world that’s rapidly changing, where AI is the ‘hot-topic’ everyone is focused on…
Soft-skills like public speaking, storytelling and leadership will become even more valuable.
And Toastmasters helped me build all three.
So why did I say goodbye last week?
The timing felt right.
When I saw that my four-year anniversary was coming up, something clicked.
I was already scheduled to run a workshop at the end of the meeting and had no idea what I was going to talk about.
So instead, I turned it into an impromptu farewell speech.
I remember looking into the eyes of members who had been with me since day one.
I could see the emotion in their eyes.
I could feel the emotion building inside of me.
Then someone yelled out:
“You’re not breaking up with us, are you!?”
Lol.
It brought a bit of lightness to the moment.
And probably saved me from crying on stage.
I received a standing ovation.
An image and feeling I’ll never forget.
On the drive home,
With all this bottled up emotion inside of me, I knew what I had to do…
I put on my Spotify playlist called “Make Me Cry.”
(Yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like lol)
And I cried the whole way home.
Because even though I knew I made the right decision.
Letting go of something that’s been so important to you is hard.
Toastmasters has been a big part of my identity over the past four years.
It’s been pivotal in shaping who I’ve become.
But life moves in chapters.
And you’ve got to realise when it’s time to turn the page and step into your next chapter.
What made this even more memorable,
Is that the same mentor who encouraged me to start Toastmasters…
Is also the one who’s opened a door for my next opportunity.
A full-circle moment.
I can’t speak highly enough of what Toastmasters has given me.
The skills.
The stories.
The growth.
The confidence.
The connections.
But now it’s time to create space in my life for something new.
