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| Jodie Sanders — the classic club underachiever |
Speaking skills? Didn't really need them for anything. At the time, our club didn't emphasize the CL manual, so the subject of leadership skills never came up. I took a year and a half to do five speeches. I was the classic club underachiever.
Then I was drafted as Vice President Public Relations. Surprisingly, my commitment to Toastmasters started to grow. I finished my Competent Communicator and I started doing advanced speeches.
At that time, I had no particular plans to take my Toastmasters involvement any further. Then two things happened. First, I was asked to be the News Editor for our district. Because I was not planning to be a club officer again, I thought “I’ll have plenty of time for this.” Then the second thing happened. Our club’s newly-elected president moved out of state, and I was asked to take her place. When I said yes, I thought to myself “Am I crazy?”
Now I was really, truly, and deeply into Toastmasters. Being News Editor was fun. And being the president was a challenge, and that experience developed my leadership skills like lifting weights builds muscles!
This year, I am an area governor. I oversee and assist six Toastmasters clubs to better serve their members and to reach their goals. My favorite part is celebrating their successes with them — like a new member joining or someone making their 10th speech.
Four years ago, I would never have imagined that I would be excited about giving lots of speeches, but a big plus of my current position is that I get to do just that. Now, I never turn down an opportunity to speak. As far as being a leader goes, both big and small leadership opportunities come my way quite often now. As a Toastmaster, I feel I am truly flying high!
Jodie Sanders
