My Toastmasters journey, like most, has twists and even zig-zags and the story of how I wound up at Open Door started years before I knew there was more than a single Toastmasters club, period. I spent my first two years in a new club and nobody even understood what that CL manual was for. Finding that resource was an eye opener for me, which led me to realizing there is a large community of clubs and Toastmasters available as resources. Once I realized there was a well-defined path for a Toastmaster to follow, I started reaching out, going to conferences, attending contests, and even volunteering for district roles. <\/p>\n The funny thing about momentum is it catches up to you even when you didn\u2019t see it coming. I jumped in with both feet and one of my first clubs I was an Area Governor for was Open Door and it was probably the first time I saw how a well-oiled machine a club could be. The people were all so warm, caring and welcoming that after attending 6 meetings, and adn hosted 4 area contests in 21 months. <\/span>I just had to join them as my second club. I got more involved with the district (even hosting a conference First-Timers session), worked hard to complete my CL manual while continuing on my speech path and within 18 months<\/span> completed my DTM because of the club and their supportive members. Looking back, I couldn\u2019t have planned this but the journey was part of the process and I still have fond memories of how I got here and great expectations of where it will lead me. – Stuart Kramer, DTM, Immediate Past President<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n My story begins as a suggestion by my career coach. After hearing my life story she mentioned Toastmasters as a practice platform that would help me reach out and dare I say inspire those who may have my affliction. I recently spoke at a convention in front of 900 people and I utilized my Toastmasters experience to my advantage as my presentation was greatly received. I am now more poised and feel more confident not just in a public speaking forum but in life in general. This is the main reason I truly appreciate Open Door. \u2013 Todd Schwartzman<\/p>\n I joined Open Door Toastmasters in 2015. I am originally from China and a civil engineer by training. Growing up, I had always thought that public speaking was a skill that I was not born with. However, my fellow club members helped me to change that belief.<\/p>\n When I first visited the club, I was warmly welcomed and everyone was so friendly. They gave me a lot of encouragement to make the first step and give my Icebreaker speech. I have since finished my CC manual and am well on my way to finish my CL. I also served as the VP of Membership last year and am the VP of Public Relations this year.<\/p>\n What I gained from my Toastmasters experience was not just public speaking skills, what I learned was to always believe in myself, and to push myself out of my comfort zone to achieve more. I have a great mentor from the club and also made many good friends along the way. I am really grateful to have found my club and to have them as my support group! \u2013 Lu Ding, VP of Public Relations, CC<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Arnold and I started Open Door Toastmasters in 2004. Our club has been a President\u2019s Distinguished Club in all but our first year when we achieved 7 of the 10 goals toward a Distinguished Club status. All subsequent years we have been a President\u2019s Distinguished Club. Our membership varies between 35 \u2013 40 members. We … Continue reading “Club Spotlight: Open Door Toastmasters (Part 2)”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,22,50],"tags":[244,245,156,125],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tm83.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tm83.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tm83.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tm83.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tm83.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.tm83.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":527,"href":"https:\/\/www.tm83.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519\/revisions\/527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tm83.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tm83.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tm83.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.tm83.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/3.jpg\")
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