I first heard about Toastmasters on the 4th September 2006. I know this because it was my first day of work after graduating from university in London, and another new joiner mentioned it at the induction. A mere 6 years and 2 days later, on the 6th September 2012, I went to my first Toastmasters meeting.

Two months prior to this, I’d upped sticks from London and moved to Dublin, all for the love of a good Irish woman! I found myself in a city where I knew only a few people from work. Recalling my previous introduction to Toastmasters and how I’d always been too busy to go in London, I decided to take the plunge and attend a meeting at Dublin Toastmasters, to try and improve my public speaking and to meet some new people at the same time.

During the Table Topics session I couldn’t muster up the courage to stand up and speak and I left the meeting a bit disheartened. I vowed that I’d come back the following week and that I would definitely speak, and I did. I can’t recall what I said, I’m sure that it wasn’t particularly eloquent or witty, but that didn’t matter. I received a hearty applause from the packed room at Buswell’s Hotel, I left that meeting on top of the world, and I haven’t looked back since.

Since joining Dublin Toastmasters I’ve completed eight of the ten Competent Communication speech projects, I’ve served on the committee as VP Public Relations and I entered and won the annual Table Topics competition – how far I’ve come from that first meeting!

But more importantly, since joining Toastmasters I’ve met loads of wonderful people – not just from Dublin Toastmasters, but from other clubs as well. Everyone is always so welcoming, it’s such a positive atmosphere and people genuinely want to see you succeed at improving your public speaking. The emphasis on learning by doing and receiving genuine, constructive feedback in a positive way is, in my opinion, the best way to improve.

And finally, I was back in the UK recently and at long last I went to my first Toastmasters meeting in London and you’ll be pleased to know that of course I loved it, I even answered a Topic at my first meeting!