Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Time to reach for my goals....

For several years, I've had a dream...it wasn't in the forefront of my mind, but it was something I've pulled out every now and then. When I "grow up" in my wildest daydreams, I want to be a conference speaker. There...I said it. I've never admitted it to anybody except for John, my dear husband.

Over the past couple of weeks, I've had the opportunity to be interviewed by two television stations and the local newspaper about the Twins group I helped establish. I also had the chance to do an impromptu speech telling about the work I do in early intervention. During the speech, I realized how much I enjoy speaking (once I got started and the nerves settled down!)

So I made a plan. Obviously, I'm not ready to book a tour. (Please...hold your phone calls!) But, if I ever want to be ready to be asked to speak, I need to start preparing. This weekend, I made a to do list.

Short term goal: public speaker
Long term goal: motivational speaker

Steps to achieve the goal:
1. Join Toastmasters International
2. Seek opportunities to talk about anything.
3. Start writing in a journal or blog every day.
4. Take a class on writing and/or speaking.

Today, I took the first step. I looked up Toastmasters (a public speaking club) and found a local meeting (tomrrow at lunch!). I called the contact number and spoke to a member of the club, and I made plans to attend tomorrow's meeting. 20+ years ago, I took the Toastmasters, Jr. program in high school.

I don't know where it's going from here, but it should be fun!

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