Last year I got the opportunity to write an article for Toastmaster Magazine.  I put my heart and soul into writing a funny and helpful article that related my experiences in Army Special Operations training to the pressure of preparing a professional presentation on short notice.  I learned one thing: if you’re fortunate enough to have an article featured in a publication with over 270,000 subscribers, someone is bound to read it!  Even though the article ran in April, 2011, I recently received an email from a Toastmasters Club member in the UK saying how he’d like to organize a “stress test” speaking event, like I wrote about in the article.

As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve had a blast in my pursuit to become a competent public speaker.  However, if I hadn’t practiced, I wouldn’t have been nearly as effective under pressure.  That’s why I’ve invested in programs like Toastmasters and Dale Carnegie.