Leaders have to be passionate about their cause.  They have to truly believe in their goals, and inspire the same in others.  I’ve been asked why I’m passionate about Toastmasters.

The reason?  We create change.  Positive, constructive, uplifting change.  I’ve seen lives changed by joining Toastmasters, including my own.  I’ve seen shy people discover their innate abilities to speak up and speak out about issues they believe in.

I’ve seen Toastmasters members grow in so many ways, not just by becoming a better speaker, not just by becoming a better leader, but by becoming a better person.  They learn how to communicate, to listen, to give feedback, to think on their feet and sound smart when they talk.

Passion is what drives leaders to be great leaders — if you don’t believe in what you’re doing, your followers will notice, and performance suffers, if not turning into outright failure.  Passion is what drives excellence and success!

Toastmasters members get promotions at work, they find spouses, they find friends, they network, they find jobs, and most of all, they find themselves.  They discover abilities they didn’t know they had.  They blossom and grow and become outstanding human beings.

People enter Toastmasters at all levels and skills, and wherever they are, Toastmasters brings it up another level or two or ten.  There’s no passing grades, there’s no way to compare one DTM to another DTM and say they’ve learned the same set of skills.  Instead, we can confidently say that each member is better, much better, than when they gave their Icebreaker.

And confidence is one of the biggest things that Toastmasters gives people.  We show them that they can succeed, and succeed well.  That all they have to do is try, get (and give) constructive actionable feedback in a safe environment, and then do it again, even better the next time.

Some of the past annual themes have touched on these strengths, and the ones that have spoken the most to me include:

• Friends Helping Friends Succeed (JoAnna McWilliams, 2000-01)
• Changing Lives, One at a Time (Jon Greiner, 2004-05)
• Confidence. Leadership. Service. (Gary Schmidt, 2009-10)

So many other annual themes are great too, I hesitate to name only a few.  But they really characterize well what we are doing in Toastmasters.  It’s not just giving speeches.  It’s more.  A LOT more.