I competed against the best of the best from my club who were finalists in a Toastmasters speaking contest and I did not get to proceed to the next level.

Although I was not able to see the performances of all of my fellow contestants, I get to see at least two fellow contestants performed and they showed how a seasoned speaker performed and it was awe inspiring.

This was an evaluation and table topics contest, ideas needed to be almost instantaneous and we were not given any clues about what we needed to prepare prior to the contest.

I evaluated a charismatic young man’s speech on the topic of ‘Values’ and one of the main feedback I gave was to use metaphors that all would be familiar with, I gave an example of how a cup of coffee would cost around $6 to one but to a doctor who works graveyard shift, having one could mean staying focused and saving lives.

Giving metaphors would help member of the audience who may not have similar experiences, understand your context. The speaker spoke about NS, and the women in the audience may not be able to grasp or appreciate the speakers experience in relations to value of a pack of cigarettes.

I was then given a topic right there and then and had to think on my feet to talk about it. The topic was not easy for me and I had two minutes to deliver and I don’t speak fast!

I spoke what came to mind and after my turn, the speaker after me came and he was hands down one of the best speakers I’ve seen. A well deserved first prize winner for table topics segment.

For me, I give myself a pat on the back for saying yes, because I know that taking this massive fourth step would bring me closer and closer to my personal goals, which is to be the visionary communicator to serve human beings and to share the importance of dedicating our lives to practice self-mastery and for them to value the work that I do.

I thank my mentor Terence Kenneth John Nunis for always pushing me off the cliff, just like an eagle that pushes its eaglet off the cliff so that it could soar to the skies; of course with some hard knocks on the way down and up.