I was elated when I found out that I was salutatorian of my graduating high school class. A salutatorian is the student having the second highest rank who delivers the welcoming speech during the graduation ceremony. Up until that point, my closest experience to giving a speech had been delivering short lines in a Christmas play and reciting bible verses in front of my church congregation. I had the opportunity to join a debate team in high school but declined because I believed only extroverted people were great public speakers. I wanted to stick to writing my thoughts and having someone read them. I wasn’t scared about giving the speech; however, I knew I had to rehearse it ahead of time to mitigate uneasiness.

After I wrote the speech, my mother helped me practice. She told me to make sure that I give eye contact to the audience, inflect my voice, and smile. Another public speaking tip that I used was to imagine myself successfully delivering the speech. When it was time to deliver the speech, I was nervous  but channeled my nervousness into my delivery. I walked up to the podium and smiled at the students before I began. As I addressed the class, I heard one student say, “she is happy.” Hearing this relaxed me. After the graduation ceremony, a few students came up to me and said I did I great job. I enjoyed the experience; however, I didn’t think I would have to give a speech again.

During my sophomore year in college, I was required to take an introduction to public speaking class. The project from this class that stood out, was a group presentation that required our group to come up with a concept for a night club. My contribution to the presentation was teaching a short dance routine that was to be performed in the club. I enjoyed doing this because I wasn’t shy about dancing in public.

I didn’t give a formal presentation again until I defended my chemistry master’s thesis. I prepared by studying my thesis multiple times, writing down questions that I anticipated being asked during the defense, and rehearsing my presentation. The defense was an hour-long including questions. That was the most speaking I had ever done and I was relieved when I successfully finished the defense.

After I graduated and began my professional career, the only public speaking that I did was answering questions about my research during poster presentations at scientific research symposiums. In 2018, a job recruiter contacted me from LinkedIn to see if I was interested in a leadership position. He reviewed my resume and noticed that I didn’t have much public speaking experience. He told me that I would have a better chance at obtaining the leadership position if I joined Toastmasters International because I could give presentations and take on leadership positions within this organization. I joined a local Toastmasters club and starting speaking. During my first year, I became Vice-President of Public Relations and throughout the years, I served as Vice-President of Education and Vice-President of Membership. Although I didn’t get the position, I have been fortunate to learn and develop leadership and public speaking skills with fellow Toastmasters.

The highlight of my speaking journey was when I was asked by Dr. Mansur Hasib, a dynamic speaker and fellow Toastmaster, to be one of the keynote speakers in the Personal Branding for Everyone, Fall 2023 Global Conference. I present a speech entitled “My Time is Not Your Time”. During the speech, I talk about my personal experiences and the experiences of famous people who were delayed in achieving success. I encourage the audience to keep going after their goals despite the delays.

My journey into becoming a speaker has been riddled with starts and stops. However, April 2024 will commemorate my sixth year as a speaker. I’m excited to see what opportunities are ahead of me to encourage others to improve their public speaking skills to boldly share their stories.