So what can I offer as testimony? Well, on July 17th I am scheduled to give a talk to the local ‘Roaring Women’s’ group in Coquitlam.

At this meeting I am going to let go of a Teddy I have held onto for 10 years, and attached to it, two very special pins from my first solo motorcycle tour!

It is a hard thing to do, to let this go, yet I have my memory and I have photo’s, the Teddy goes. 

Having trouble asking for a raise? Nervous about a future presentation? Having trouble giving your sales pitch with confidence?

What ever the issue, wouldn't you like to go from "Frightened" to "Fearless" when it comes to speaking to people, large groups or small? I sure did and that's why I joined Toastmasters. I saw a great opportunity to improve myself and have fun at the same time. l know enough to jump on a good thing when I see it.

There I was at 39 with only dreams. One dream in particular, the dream to start my own business.

Oh it was just an idea that I have toyed with for the last 10 years or so, give or take. I had ideas for a variety of businesses, ranging from a tour company, a health food café to a singles club. Yet alas, I was the ultimate procrastinator and something was missing that I didn't even know was missing. Can you guess what that was? "Confidence my friend, confidence!"

I always thought I was pretty confident, yet now when I look back, I realize I wasn't nearly as confident as I could have been and I wasted a lot of time as a result. That's a lot of time I could have been working on building a terrific business instead. Well, not to say that the over 20 years of experience I have has not provided me the skills I need to run a small business well, because it has. My experiences have brought me where I am today and they are all valuable.

I would like to know if there are many readers out there reading this that can recognize that perhaps they too just need a little more confidence to go after their personal dreams and turn them into reality.

For me, now that I have built enough courage to get to the next level, I did manage to settle on a great idea for a business. Organizing! After all, the idea to become a Home and Office Organizer had been brewing in me for years. Much of that experience I spoke of a moment ago taught me that there is a real need out there for this service today. Small to medium sized companies as well as individuals and families need to keep organized, and I intend to provide that service.

The business I started thinking about has expanded a great deal due to Toastmasters and now includes Speaking and Workshop opportunities. Without Toastmasters becoming a Speaker and performing workshops wasn't even a thought of mine yet now I see the great potential I have to move my business into more area's and broaden my market. It is very exciting!

It's an interesting thing that with my past business idea's I went pretty far in the planning overall; I mean they all grabbed me at one time or another and I still have many files saved for these ventures, yet I never felt I could really do it and now I am happy to say, thanks to Toastmasters, that I can. Well no doubt also due in part to some hard work putting the business together, yet anyone starting their own business knows you work harder when it's your baby.

The skills I learned also happen to be some of the skills I plan to teach others in the course of my business, such as how to hold short effective meetings. Part of being well organized in business is having effective meetings so learning how to facilitate a meeting is something I think many companies need to do to stay competitive. Many companies and organizations already recognise the benefits of the Toastmaster Membership as they have their own clubs or pay for their employees membership. The skills employees bring back to the company can turn a good company into an outstanding company.

As you see I believe that Toastmasters can benefit just about anyone. It sure helped to give me the courage to start my own business and also helped add to my list of goals, making my business plans more diverse. For me, gaining valuable skills and more confidence has helped to guide me to the next level where I could take my ideas and make them reality.

I feel that these Leadership and Communication skills could help for anyone. If you are not quite sure where you want to be in life, yet have some great ideas that you want to get out and turn into reality, or if you would like to be able to make a better and better presentation in your work and even if you just want to build the courage to ask for a raise, then Toastmasters may be for you.

I joined Toastmasters at the end of 2007 after just finishing a Speech Crafters public speaking course at the local high school. It was an excellent kick start to public speaking. The classes are a lot of fun also and I met so many interesting people. Speech Crafters Classes are taught using the same type of training manuals that are used at Toastmasters. You can join Toastmasters without doing the Speech Crafters course; it is entirely up to the individual. Another great thing about Toastmasters is that you can move at your own pace and the cost is less than 1/2 a cup of coffee a day.

Here I would like to review several of the benefits a Toastmasters Membership offers:

Develop valuable communications skills
Develop valuable leadership skills
Develop valuable teamwork skills
Develop listening and interpersonal skills
Form great contacts ... and some new friends!
Develop and grow as a speaker
Feel better about yourself

Confidence is something that can benefit you in many ways. From giving you the courage to start your own business, getting a promotion at work, being able to ask for things you want and to just generally feeling good about yourself. Don't underestimate what a little confidence can bring you. As Henry Ford once said, "Whether you think you can or think you can't - you are right."

Yet remember, "The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps - we must step up the stairs." ~Vance Havner.