This photo of me was taken in 2014 when I won first place in the Humorous Speech Contest for my Toastmasters International district. As you can see here, I am all smiles as it was truly one of the happiest days of my life. However… What you DON’T see is all that happened behind the […]

You’ve just begun your professional speaking career – CONGRATULATIONS!! You’ve created your presentations that you’re ready to get paid for, started looking for events/organizations you can speak at, and have been passing your business card to anyone and everyone you come in contact with. Sooo…why are the engagements not happening? It could be for any […]

I’d bet my last dollar you’re familiar with the Transformers movies that have come out the last few years. These action films, full of explosions and unexpected twists, were directed by Michael Bay. Unfortunately, he experienced an unexpected incident of his own while promoting Samsung’s high definition curved TVs back in 2014. When a teleprompter malfunctioned, he […]

You’re not alone – when they first start speaking to audiences, many a speaker has found it challenging to come up with a topic or story from their life to talk about. It’s been said that our life is a series of moments, but I think it is a series of stories too. Stories that have taught us […]

Over the past seven years, I’ve competed in quite a few speech competitions. I’m still an active member of the Toastmasters International organization, and speech contests happen twice a year during the spring and fall. One of the proudest and happiest moments of my life was when I placed first, out of 8 contestants, in […]

The other night, I was at a meeting where there was a guest speaker.  I knew the gentleman, but more on an acquaintance level. So my ears perked up when the meeting MC began to formally introduce him to the group, since it’s always interesting what you learn about someone from their introduction. It started […]

“I don’t even know what her speech was about.”  This is what my mother said to me about the keynote speaker at the breast cancer survivors’ luncheon she recently attended.  I wasn’t sure if my mother meant that the speech wasn’t memorable, or that she didn’t get it.  I asked her to clarify a bit […]