Why I Became a Distinguished Toastmaster and You Should Too

Distinguished Toastmaster is the highest achievement you can receive from Toastmasters International. Typically it takes multiple years to achieve and it means you are a very competent public speaker and leader.

To achieve the Distinguished Toastmaster status I had to:

• Give 40+ speeches some 5 minutes long other 1hr long
• Spend 1 Year in a leadership position as an Area Director overseeing 5+ clubs
• Spend 6 Months in a leadership position in my club
• Sponsor a new club
• Host and organize an event that had 100 attendants.

To say the least it isn’t for the faint of heart. It took me 3 years and at times was a full time job that I wasn’t getting compensated for. 

…

Yea I know, it sounds crazy and you are most likely wondering is it worth it? Why in the world would you do this?

The catalyst to this adventure

Have you ever been given an opportunity in life that is massive, like more than you could have expected. You show up, give it your all and feel like you are on top of the world.

But a few days later, you realize that nothing has changed. You bombed, and you didn’t even know it. You take a look back and realize that you could have done so much better.

Yep, this is exactly what happened to me 3 years ago.

I was on stage and I thought I did amazing, but in reality I bombed. I looked at my speech and was painfully aware of how bad I did.

I joined Toastmasters not to achieve this DTM status, just to not completely suck when I got up on stage.

From the pure standpoint of public speaking training, there isn’t a better alternative to live practice. It’s one of the few skills that you can’t read a blog article, or watch a Youtube video and learn how to actually do it.

You actually have to get up on stage. Like stand up comedy.

You will never find a standup comedian who doesn’t put hours and hours of time on that stage.

But…

There is a difference between joining a Toastmasters club and becoming a Distinguished Toastmaster.

The First Major Milestone

Steve Jobs has this quote

“You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.”

It was my first year of Toastmasters and I just finished my tenth speech. In my club we record every speech and I looked back at my very first speech. I saw such an improvement I was blown away.

Those bad habits I saw that originally sent me to Toastmasters was gone, and I had this new level of confidence.

I was also being seen as a leader in my club which was funny because I felt like a baby fawn still trying to learn to walk at times.

But I did have this little niggle in the back of my brain. If you improved with only 10 speeches, what happens after 50? 5x better than I am right now?

(the answer is actually much more than that, exponential growth is a real thing)

The Results Of Distinguished Toastmaster (and why you should do it too)

As someone who is a public speaker, having a place to practice is essential. You need a place to work on your craft while also not being judged. It doesn’t matter where or how you create this space, creating one is a must.

That said, there is a massive difference between just becoming good enough and really focusing on mastery.

“The master has failed more times then the student has started”

Everyone who has achieved the status of DTM will say that the journey is unique to them.

When it comes to public speaking the progress and results are almost self evident. The hidden gifts are in the leadership portion of the program.

For instance, as an entrepreneur I’m very motivated, driven, and a self starter. But I learned through achieving my DTM that I’m actually highly capable of leading a team through delegation tasks, inspiring efforts and trusting others.

Learning this helped me restructure my business and created a more scalable model where I achieved more results for less effort.

In the end, you get out of it what you put into it.

Let me know if you have ever joined Toastmasters or achieved your Distinguished Toastmaster status.

For those of you who want to learn more about Toastmasters, check out this Youtube video Toastmasters is it worth it?