On Thursday night, I attended the Allegheny Mountains Toastmasters club via Zoom. I came because I wanted to cheer on one of my good friends who was speaking about her Toastmasters journey so far. I met Dr. Liz and her husband last year at the Area Speech Contest that was being held in Johnstown. As a matter of fact, that will have been exactly one year ago tomorrow.
The Area Contest is next Saturday in the same place, but due to work commitments I am unable to attend.
Liz’s presentation was very thorough and informative. She began her path in the Summer of 2023 and shared with us how Toastmasters has helped her. She also talked about the Speech-a-thons that she held last year. I attended the second one in April via zoom. Her husband also spoke as well. I got to learn a little bit about him and what he does for a living.
As Liz reflected on her path last night, it reminded me of the time I also shared the same speech. I began my path in July 2020 and reflected on it in September 2024. I’m no stranger to speaking, having joined Toastmasters in June 2011. The end of this year will mark 15 years for me. It took me eight years to achieve my Distinguished Toastmaster, getting the award in August 2019.
In that time since getting my DTM, I dealt with a lot of things. Discouragement has probably been the biggest factor due to COVID and having to get used to the new medium. Other factors include:
- Burnout following my Distinguished Toastmasters achievement.
- Job transition as I left a longtime place of employment.
- In my journey, I’ve also dealt with feelings of rejection.
- Trying to gain acceptance upon coming out (I’m still unsure whom I identify as)
- Impatience from trying to get attention and growing too fast in my fashion journey. I should have taken a step back as I was getting established in my new job back early in 2022.
- Insecurity from lack of self-love and other things.
Despite all of this, I completed my path and am still thriving in my Toastmasters journey. After some time away from giving speeches, I plan to begin another magnificent speaking streak this Spring.
Our Table Topics Master kept with the theme of Summer, and presented us with some warm and sunny topics. I ranked the seasons from favorite to least favorite. While Summer is not #1, it’s still up there. While Winter isn’t at the bottom, I choose as my least favorite. Yes, the days are longer but you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. March and April can still present opportunities for snow to fall. As we learned last May, it can be a cool month. The warm weather teases are nice, but don’t get too attached, especially in PA. At the end of the night, I even won Best Table Topic speaker.
As a bonus before we moved onto the evaluation portion of the meeting, Phil asked us what we least like about Summer. Everyone gave some interesting answers. A majority said it was the heat and humidity.
We had a round robin evaluation as the club all gave their feedback on the awesome speeches from the Kopcos. We wrapped up at 7:15 and I thanked Liz for the invite.
Stylish 🍒 