What inspires you?
One thing that I love about Toastmasters is that it is so flexible that it meets a wide variety of needs with the same program. I like to think it stretches to meet you where you are. If you need help with your career or need to prepare for an interview, we have the Dynamic Leadership path or table topics. If you are feeling a little isolated or lonely and want to meet some new people, come to any meeting at any club and you will find people who want to get to know you. If you want to prepare for an upcoming presentation, there is a Presentation Mastery path and a lot of presentation experts in our district who are happy to coach you to success.
We all have different reasons for starting our Toastmaster journey and we all have different reasons for staying. Our personal reasons may change over time, but now more than ever, our ability to inspire each other, is what keeps our clubs going. Toastmasters has been a constant source of inspiration for me over the years. I was inspired by previous District Directors, who I admired and thought, if only I could ever be half as good at that, how amazing would that be?! Little did I know, it would lead me on this path. But you can’t help but want to try when you get to meet people like Mona Cooley, Carolyn Kaldy, Jocelyn Hastie, Catherine Secundiak, Chuck LeBlanc and Christina Kruis. They inspired me with their confidence, vitality and knowledge!
Most of you will have had contact with at least one inspirational District Leader, your Area Director. They visit your clubs to get to know you, to assist you in making your club even better and to encourage you to continue to do what you do well, achieve success through giving speeches and doing evaluations! You can meet other inspirational leaders and see them in action at club leadership training, speech contests and our spring conference. If you are on the club executive as a President, VP of Education or VP of Membership, you got the opportunity to participate in the Area Council and got to meet other club leaders in your area. Maybe you played a leading role in a successful Area Contest and enjoyed discussing the Area Reports and now you are considering taking on the Area Director role next year. Follow that inspiration and DO IT! The District Leadership Committee is waiting to hear from you!
Another thing that truly inspires me is our members! Have you ever had a problem you needed help with, and someone gives a speech that address that same problem? I have, repeatedly. Have you ever seen a speech that made you laugh, when you most needed a laugh or maybe inspired you when you just didn’t think you had any gas left in your tank? Yes! I know that feeling too. Maybe it was your speech that kept me going! You may not know it, but it’s your contribution that keeps all of us motivated. It’s your contribution that keeps me paying membership dues (due by the end of March by the way), that turns clubs into successful Go-Getters, that helps clubs win Talk Up Toastmasters awards and creates amazing speech contests! Thank you for being a part of this never-ending source of inspiration. I hope you feel that inspiration too!
Katrina Aburrow, DTM
District Director (2021-2022) | District 42
Toastmasters International
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