Discovering the Value, Purpose and Lessons in Our Stories

I’ve been a member of Toastmasters since 1987.  Sometimes I’m asked why I continue.  It seems that some have a perception that once you know how to plan and deliver a speech you’ve developed the skills and you’re good forever.  That’s not the case.  Public speaking is a skill that requires practice.   The skill involves planning a message, delivering the message, interacting with the audience, gauging audience response and adjusting when necessary. 

I stay in Toastmasters predominately because I need to practice these skills.  When it comes to public speaking, I want to be much better than average. But among other reasons that I stay are because meetings are fun, and I enjoy seeing people develop in the Toastmasters club environment.

I’ve also come to realize that speaking is largely about telling stories. We need to discover our stories on our own, and then we need to voice them in order to shape and add color, and to fully understand their impact. 

For example, I recently delivered a speech about my experience of watching a Major League Baseball (MLB) game in every MLB city.  With the speech I was aiming only to entertain.  I’m a little bit proud and a little bit embarrassed by the ‘accomplishment.’  Proud because it’s not a common experience, and embarrassed because it’s more than a little self-indulgent.

I was surprised however when I asked people for their reaction to the speech.  Some people simply love baseball and enjoyed that aspect.  Some said the speech was about goal setting.  Some enjoyed hearing about the logistics of getting from Minneapolis to Milwaukee to Kansas City to St Louis in six days and seeing four games.  Some enjoyed the description of the travel, for example driving past the corn fields in Illinois and Missouri. 

My experience with this speech helped me further understand that we need to mine for our stories.   We all have them, but often we believe they’re not significant.  Then we need to voice our stories to observe and understand what resonates with an audience.  And finally when we voice our stories we can more fully understand the value, the purposes, and the lessons contained in the stories.


A Toastmasters club is a great place to practice public speaking and discover the value of your stories.  

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