The Little Known Secret Of The World’s Best Speakers And How You Can Join Their Ranks
It was Proust who said: “The true voyage of discovery does not consist in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” In fact, we all need new eyes to break new molds, see things in a new light, and make new connections that we’ve never seen before if we want to progress in any area of our lives. Years ago I made an amazing discovery that transformed my world and started the transformation from an industry follower caterpillar to a market leading butterfly. I discovered the closely guarded secret of the best presenters in the world and in this article I share with you how you can join their ranks.
World-wide conference organizers, some of the most prestigious speaker bureaus and some of the most internationally recognized professional organizations, such as ATD (Association for Talent Development), SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management), IFS ( Institute of financial services and CIPM (Chartered Institute of Personnel Management), to name just four, travel the world annually to find the best of the best speakers to present their lectures. These speakers have the power not only to persuade, but to motivate. and inspire people to the heights. words united to become enchanting stories, these high-level speakers lift spirits, rekindle hearts and engender hope. They give relief to the weary, strength the weak and direction the vagrant using powerful stories. What’s their secret – what did they do to ascend to such lofty heights of flawless performance?
About the year 2005, I came across an article that I considered at the time one of the best of all time. It was on the subject of personal excellence. Towards the end of that article, the writer commented with an air of finality: “ If you want to write and speak as phenomenally as I do, join Toastmasters. ” I shrugged and thought to myself, surely those must be special. class of comedians. A year later, I attended a seminar organized by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria at the Hilton Hotel, Abuja, where around 12 CEOs made presentations. Of the lot, one was way above the rest. His presentation was electric, he presented himself with class and panache. The entire presentation was enriched with multimedia, with video and audio clips. I was curious, so I chatted with him over the course of the lecture. Do you know what he told me? He proclaimed with pride shining in his eyes, if you want to be able to present the way I presented, join Toastmasters. That’s when I connected the dots.
Toastmasters International is a global movement where speakers and leaders are literally minted around the world. There are Toastmasters Clubs in every corner of the world and, at last count, the clubs numbered around 15,550. It is in club meetings that members learn communication and leadership, the main skills that distinguish the best from the rest. William Blake was the one who said, “on the one hand there are things that are known, on the other hand there are things that are unknown, between them there are always doors.” Toastmasters International is the secret door you need to move your act to world class. There are no professors, teachers or tutors in the clubs, each member learns by doing, that is, speaking. Through a system of evaluations and a system of holding hands of the members, the members progressively go from amateurs to world champions.
Although Toastmasters is a hobbyist club, as I stated earlier, by following its proven approach, started in 1924 by its founder, Dr. Ralph C. Smedley, it begins to transform from an industry-following caterpillar to a leading butterfly in the market, speaking with panache, poise and polish. In club meetings you learn the rudiments of professional speech. Learn to speak clearly, use body language, and how to be inspired by stories. As Christiana Baldwin once said, “Words are how we think, stories are how we connect.” Members have witnessed extraordinary transformations in speaking, self-confidence, and platform prowess within six months of joining the club. From the Toastmasters amateur learning platform, you can join the truly professional ranks such as the National Speakers Association, Global Speakers Federation, and others if you want to take your game to the next level, but start from scratch. Anyway, why should you join Toastmasters? Because, if I may say so, there are no awards for average performance!