An article about the deep underlying meaning of Toastmasters.

‘What is Toastmasters?’

Every Toastmaster is asked this fundamental question over and over again….

And WHY is it so important?

Because the Toastmaster’s reply has the power to plant a seed that can change a person’s life forever!

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Did you ever pay attention to what happens in those few milliseconds before we answer the question ‘what is Toastmasters?’……

Another SILENT question lingers in the back of our minds….

‘To Say or not to Say?’….. ‘To Say or not to Say?’

Do you say and delve deep into your heart and soul and answer from within?

OR….

Do you not say, stay at surface level and deliver the standard message… ‘Toastmasters is a public speaking, communication and leadership club; and it can help people in all areas of their life, including work, personal life and relationships’?

The famous poet, Rumi, said…. ‘there is a voice that does not use words…. LISTEN’….

Could it be that Toastmasters enables us to hear the whispers of that inner voice and translate them into words? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The truth is that people join Toastmasters for different reasons and people leave for different reasons, but those who stay, stay for the same reasons! I can list for you the reasons why people stay…. but that would be ‘Not to Say’…. Or I can ‘Say’, by sharing with you some revelations.

At my first Toastmasters meeting I experienced how people can use words to create light. Not in the literal sense, but how by arranging their words eloquently – and with emotion – the audience were able to see things that they could not see before. I realised that the word inspiration comes from the words ‘in’ – ‘spirit’ – that is when the speaker’s message by-passes the audience’s mind… AND STRIKES STRAIGHT AT THE HEART – spirit to spirit.

A TRUE CONNECTION is created!

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Then it all started with my first TM speech which I titled after Oscar Wilde’s quote ‘Be yourself, everyone else is already taken’. I didn’t know it at the time but what a fitting title it was… because Toastmasters is in fact the place where every single one of us can be just that… ‘our true selves’.

And the more we ARE ourselves – the more we KNOW ourselves – the more we can CONNECT with OURSELVES and OTHERS.

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On the last day of a trip to Japan, Vladimir, Chris and I sat down for lunch at a pavement café in Tokyo; when a 93-year old man from Kyoto (with a handshake as firm as mine) walked in and wanted to sit with us. The waitress asked him to leave and we were not sure if he was homeless but he looked harmless – he wanted to practice his English and share some of his life experiences with us – so I told the waitress it was fine.

As he sat and I told him where we were from, his reply so powerfully resonated with me that I remember the feeling until today – he uttered the words: ‘no nationalities, only human beings’.

My friends…. even though each one of us is unique, made up of our own collection of life experiences, let us not celebrate the differences, let’s celebrate the commonalities.

After all, could it be that the word HUMANITY comes from two words ‘HUMAN’ and ‘UNITY’?

This is also what Toastmasters is about!

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Ladies and Gentlemen, Rumi said ‘there is a voice that does not use words, listen’.

Yes, on the face of it, Toastmasters is a public speaking club, but in ESSENCE…

TOASTMASTERS is a PLACE that GIFTS THE POWER OF WORDS to that silent voice within! AWAKENING our ONENESS, CONNECTION and UNITY.