August Contemplation: 
Effective Communication—writing and speaking
Monthly Post #4

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. 
—Martin Luther King Jr.

In the early 90s I lived in Dallas. It was here, in The Big D, that my boss highly recommended I join Toastmasters International, a public speaking organization that empowers through effective communication. In a last-ditch effort to save my educational trainer job I joined. I credit Toastmasters with saving that job so long ago. Many years later, in April 2019 I rejoined this organization in Daytona Beach to hone communication skills that I had first learned so many years ago. 

I met Al and Carey Garrett through the Greater Dallas Toastmasters, who insisted that I meet their good friend Patrick, whom I would later marry. A few weeks ago, Patrick and I returned to Dallas to attend the Garrett’s daughter’s wedding. Just yesterday this beautiful young woman had been born. And now we were watching her walk down the aisle to begin a new chapter in her young life. 

Patrick and I stayed at the Embassy Suites near Love Field Airport and checked into a room with a spectacular view­—not of the parking lot or AC unit for a change, but rather a view that showcased a greenbelt that stretched to the Dallas skyline. To the right, jets lifted from the runway over skyscrapers and disappeared toward their destinations. 

Toastmasters founder Ralph Smedley said, “We provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered…” My Dallas view illustrates how it feels to be empowered—to lift off and take flight over tall buildings toward a place destined to be explored. 

Smedley, as a YMCA employee, was in the business of lifting up people, not by offering programs for the sake of programming, but rather to empower people to rise to their potentials by learning how to communicate and lead better. To wrap up August’s Effective Communication theme, I’d like to endorse Toastmasters, an organization that first empowered me in my mid 20s, and now at midlife. 

We provide a supportive and positive learning experience 
in which members are empowered 
to develop communication and leadership skills 
resulting in greater self-confidence and personal growth.

To learn more about Toastmasters go to www.Toastmasters.org. Or, I’d love to have you visit my home club, Toastmasters at Twelve. We meet both virtually and in person every Tuesday from noon to 1:00 EST. You can visit from anywhere in the world! Let me know if you’d like to drop in and I’ll send you the agenda and meeting link. I’d love to see you.