My icebreaker speech for Toastmasters: Why I want to change the world

This is a slightly changed version of my first speech at Toastmasters. It tells the background story of why I decided to become a toastmaster and tells you a lot about myself.

As of April 2020, I have travelled to 50 countries.

You can see, I love to travel. I love to travel for 3 reasons.

 First, the experiences I made will forever stick with me.

Hiking up volcanoes in Java to see the sunrise over the ocean, watching the blue flames of Mount Ijen burst out of the ground, enjoying Singapore’s skyline from the world’s highest pool, or playing football with aspiring monks in the mountains of Burma. (Yes, football, not soccer, we are in Europe).

Through those experiences I gained knowledge. Knowledge About myself, about the planet, and about people.

The second reason why I love traveling is food. I love to try regional dishes and observe local customs. And even though every country, even every region has their own food, food is also universal. It brings people together. 

Talking about people. They are the third reason why I love traveling. I love people. When I don’t hate them. It’s complicated.

I believe people are the demise of the environment and the planet.

Experiences like Getting scammed 10 meters out of the airport in Delhi, or cheaters trying to make money abusing their holy sites in Pushkar, or seeing a carpet of trash covering the ocean around the island of Mabul in Malaysia, because the villagers throw their garbage out of the window instead of using recycling bins provided for them, makes one lose faith in humanity.

But then there are other experiences, like locals driving me around town to find an affordable hotel, because I missed the last bus out. Or getting karate lessons from a retired Sensei in Tokio or traveling for two weeks through Sri Lanka with a mere stranger I only recently met in the hostel.

Those experiences gave me hope.

I believe that education and knowledge can change the world. People that know about the impact of their actions, work to save the environment and show kindness to others. So, my dream is to change people’s hearts and minds.

But I can only change people when they listen. That is why communication matters. That is why I choose to be a part of Toastmasters.

Currently I am working for a startup that helps banks make good investment advice accessible for everyone. I also host my own podcast to teach students and young professionals about finance. I hope, that all that sets me up to one day create a company that makes the world a better place by helping the people in it.

Now, let me summarise why I love traveling and what it has to do with me wanting to change the world. Traveling gave me the open mind, knowledge and experience I needed to change myself. Now, I want to learn how to influence other people’s minds with persuasion and effective communication. And my goal is to learn this skill from Toastmasters.

 Probably this endeavour is foolish. Nonetheless, I plan to embrace it. I hope you embrace it too and maybe tonight think about how you can use your skills to make the world a little better. Thank you.