I am very proud that I earned the title of Distinguish Toastmasters-DTM. It is the result of my 5-year effort. I have accomplished not only many speeches, but also leadership commitments. My original plan with Toastmasters was 1 year and leave. 5 years later, I earned my DTM.  I am still learning and enjoying it. It is a hundred miles long journey to build myself a better person today.

8 months after I joined Toastmasters, I did a presentation at work. As soon as I spoke up, I saw everyone had their mouth wide open. I shocked them by speaking up. They didn’t know that I practiced this presentation at my Toastmasters club. At that time, I was the 3 words queen. I was the shy and quiet one for many years at work. After the speech at work, I believed if I can do it at Toastmasters, I can do it at work!

How many of you have experienced difficult times at work or in your personal life? I have to tell you, the road is not always flat. The determination and commitment made me overcome the obstacles. When I was a club president, I got laid off. Most of my club members are co-workers. I was brave enough to continue attending the club meetings. After 2 meetings, I was completely relieved and stayed focused on my personal development. 

After the job search, I started a new position at work. At the same time, I became the Area Director. The completion of 10 prepared speeches with the legacy program plus speeches for contests, made me able to deliver a minimum of 1 speech a month; sometimes I delivered prepared speeches every second week. I was on fire to advance with the Pathways projects. Do I make you wonder how many hours I spend on Toastmasters? The answer is many hours!

As a full-time employee and a mother with 2 children, I have figured out an effective way of time management and how to balance activities for work, family and personal development. I have applied skills learned from my 1st path- Innovative Planning. I applied my communication and leadership skills to manage my family and train my husband. So far, my time is utilized effectively with a good plan. Besides my promotion at work, both my sons are doing great. My husband has never complained about my Toastmasters.

Most importantly, I am a good role model for my sons and they have learned from me to be independent and continue to improve themselves.

Road To DTM

To be honest with you, I never thought I would earn a DTM in the first 3 years with Toastmasters. It was something not reachable for me until I had completed the 1st path. Now looking back on my journey with Toastmasters, I have made new friends, found mentors and coaches and got to know many great leaders within the Toastmasters community. From the kickoff of the icebreaker speech, I maintained the momentum to deliver one speech after another speech. Besides the speeches, I realized my potential of leadership. I took the opportunity to challenge myself and went further. Today, I am a proud DTM and a Division Director with Toastmasters.

I took one step at a time. Sometimes, I moved slow, but I had never stopped. Over time, my small single effort has added up to a big transformation. Do you plan to join Toastmasters? How long have you stayed with Toastmasters? Have you experienced anything outside your home club? I guarantee that you will appreciate Toastmasters like me if you try all opportunities with Toastmasters. I believe if I can do it at Toastmasters, I can do it at work! To build ourselves better, all we have to do is to take One Step at a time.