I haven’t had the chance to update my blog in quite some time, but no, I did not win my club’s International Speech Contest.  There was only one other contestant and he did a great job with his speech.  It was titled “The Rainbow Connection” and he somehow tied Barack Obama, Kermit the Frog and himself.  I thought the only way I could win was if he completely screwed up his speech.

The two issues I had with his speech are 1) he mentioned a strip club as part of his story, which while it is acceptable within the contest rules may not suit well with some of the judges and others in the audience, and 2) using the “Yes We Can” slogan several times, not because of President Obama or the politics, but it was also the slogan the Immediate Past District 30 Governor used for many years.  The IPDG was someone that I and many others have very little regard for, sidestepping many issues during her time as a Top 3 officer, focusing on fluff such as this slogan and other things those outside of District 30 office care about, unless it is to save her legacy, this one being the most blatant example.  Interestingly enough the contest winner, who only joined Toastmasters last summer, already had problems with her as he witnessed her presentation at our last Winter TLI and is part of the District 30 Spring Conference Committee, in which he had a heated exchange with her while at a committee meeting when the IPDG was speaking loudly at a Past District Governors meeting held at the same room.

Here is the draft of the speech I gave at my club contest, some of which I brought up in past blog entries.  I did not single out particular people but some of the problems I mentioned were singlehandedly triggered by particular individuals:

In My Own Terms

Reaching my 10 years in Toastmasters this month, you could say that I accomplished and witnessed plenty of things in this organization. I have served as the president of my primary club a few times, served both as an Area and Division Governor; the latter during the year District 30 was #3 in the world. I lead or was part of several successful Toastmaster events and conferences, and was a willing volunteer to most events I attended. I was willing to travel far and wide for Toastmasters, including nearly 150 contests, 5 Region V conferences and two International Conventions, including the one which Ed Hearn won World Champion of Public Speaking. I was the 2005 District 30 Toastmaster of the Year and a Distinguished Toastmaster. You would think that everything is all and well for me and nothing could go wrong, right?

Well let me tell you another side of the story. I was very unhappy with my involvement and with what I’ve seen in District 30. There were times I was trying to help others in Toastmasters, yet I was yelled at and put down by those in higher power. I still did not think I have done anything wrong, it turns out they had no respect for what I and others do unless it matches their view of the world. I’ve seen District officers manipulating the numbers, claiming that what they are doing is benefitting the people they are serving, but it is all for their personal and political gain. I’ve seen both tough challenges and routine work put off by some of these officers, so they could impose their politically correct world. Can you believe that there is only one issue of our District newsletter each of the last two years; however District 30 is wastefully spending their time on frivolous items such as division rivalries, like the average member really cares about it? Basically you could say that these people are not much different from Rod Blagojevich! Because of this I vowed never to serve as a District 30 officer or in a committee again and stayed away from some of the events I used to frequent.

It was not any better in my primary club. Several members who promised to work with me the last time I was club president put me in a position where I was set up to fail – one was a long-time member who was the VP of Education that showed complete lack of interest in the job, and decided to abandon the club after only a couple of months and call on the club to fold. And after I spent the rest of my term keeping the club alive, the reward I got after the term was over was to continue serving as their babysitter, with the other members and officers looking for me to bail them out or waiting for me to do something, even though I was no longer the club president or a VP. The banks and auto companies have the Federal Government to bail them out, the club members have me.

About this time last year, I felt burned out and disillusioned with being a District 30 Toastmasters member to the point I was seriously considering two options. One was to drop out of District 30 and move to neighboring District 54 as I attended a training session there and they seem to run their district as if they cared about every single member without any self-serving ambitions. I have had a hard time believing that District 30 represented their members and myself and can’t foresee that in the coming years. The other option was to drop out of Toastmasters completely as I felt I have accomplished all that I could and wasn’t sure there is anything else I could do. During March and April it seemed like a foregone conclusion that I wasn’t going to be around anymore.

So why am I still here in Toastmasters and in District 30? I began to realize that I’ve spent plenty of time and energy make other people happy, sacrificing my own self, and when they were not happy about me, I was increasingly unhappy with myself. It turns out that there is a “third” way of dealing with this situation. I could set up my involvement in Toastmasters and with my current clubs without being taken for a ride. I’ve been in this organization long enough to know I can remain involved only in my own terms and could care less what you and others think.

I now have three aims as a Toastmasters member:

  1. Be selective as to who I’m willing to help. There are still a lot of people in District 30 I liked and there are some I really want to help out and be there for. In the past I helped people indiscriminately only to have some taken me for a ride, so I’m now picking and choosing who I feel are worth helping out.
  2. Continue to work on my speaking and leadership skills, as I realize my Toastmasters education is incomplete as I still could improve greatly.
  3. Share what I have learned over the years – What makes it hard for me to walk away from Toastmasters is that I experienced so many things that other members should know. One thing I’m doing is working on a blog which I write periodically about my thoughts and experiences in Toastmasters along with lessons learned and what I think is right.

I learned a lot in my 10 years in Toastmasters, about the organization, about dealing with people and about myself. After going through a lot I think I know what place I have in this organization. That is why I remain involved in Toastmasters and in District 30 but only in my own terms.