"Speak"

Speak is the first Toastmasters documentary movie. In the movie, they interviewed the contestants of the world championship of public speaking. Two of the contestants had inspired me greatly.

Rich

He and his wife have six children to raise, and as his wife takes care of the children, he needs to make his family's ends meet. Even though life has been harsh on him, he still chose to chase after his dream of becoming the public speaking world champion. Later on he even had to amputate a leg, he still hadn't given up his hope. 


Even though many of his friends didn't support him on chasing his dream, he still insisted on giving it a shot. He didn't succeed in wining the world championship at his first try. However, he didn't just give up. He constantly practiced his speech and he came in second place the next year. As he was able to let people hear his voice, he got more clients and eventually he was able to make his family's ends meet.  

LaShunda

She had six surgeries before she entered the 2008 world championship. It was hard enough to deal with her own health problems. Her doctor, her sister and herself were not certain that how much more time would she be able to stay with them. However, she didn't get defeated by the disease. She looked on the positive side of life, and kept fighting all the odds against her. As a result, she won the 1st place of world championship of public speaking.


Nobody else knows how much of potential and ability you have. People who told you that you will not be able to do it, some of them don't even care about you will succeed or not. If you know this is your dream, then go for it! There's no indication of what will happen in the future. We might not have a long time to live, but we can decide what we want to accomplish right now. I would rather chase after my dream, then regret later when I don't have the chance anymore. As Steve Jobs said "You get to find what you love...If you haven't find it yet, keep looking, don't settle."

The championship doesn't mean so much as a competition for the first place after all. it's about making a difference in others. It's about making your voice heard. What really wins the audience is the speaker's sincerity and being authentic. Not everyone can step on the stage of World Championship. Only the ones who fought so hard with their hindrance, the ones that they want to share their experience of how they overcame the obstacles on their way, and the ones who truly can inspire the audience. 

Speak - Come find your voice.