One fine afternoon of April 1, 2019, I got a Linkedin text message from a recently connected gentleman named Ajay Regmi in which he introduced himself as a motivational speaker and a life coach. For my sincere respect to the motivational speakers who dare and succeed to bring positive changes in the lives of people, I agreed to meet him at my office at Nagpokhari.
A gentleman as a person and a professional, I felt greatly connected with Ajay which built the foundation to plan further meetings. Since Ajay then was the president of Nepal’s first-ever Toastmasters club, Kathmandu Toastmasters, he mentioned his experience and the process of Toastmasters club meetings and explained how the leadership skills are developed through communication in this forum. I decided to be part of the Toastmasters meeting as a guest within a few weeks.
My experience with the very first Toastmasters club meeting I attended was so amazing that I impatiently waited until next Monday to attend another meeting. The warm and welcoming ambiance of the club, the genuinely connecting gesture from the members, the passion to grow as better speakers, and the value of growing together as leaders convinced me that Toastmaster is the right place for me to be a part of. After attending a couple of more meetings as a guest, there was nothing left for me to question why I shouldn’t join the club.
A few months of great experience at Toastmasters gave me an opportunity to attend a program called Citation which was another superior and exciting experience. And there came another wonderful opportunity to be part of the program of Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI). What an amazing festival it is to meet the leaders from all over the country, to participate and to witness amazing presentations; to get immersed in the ocean of knowledge and to get influenced and motivated by each of the mentors and participants who were from different walks of life.
Toastmasters enriches one with motivation to be a better leader through communication where events like TLI influence and inspire in order to reach new levels of leadership. Toastmasters, after all, is such a forum where introverts turn into extroverts, the extroverts remodel themselves as competent and persuasive communicators, and the competent persuasive communicators reincarnate themselves as inspirational leaders.
Ramesh Adhikari, Kathmandu Toastmasters Club
Published in Inkspire Issue 3. Click here for the full newsletter.