A Night of Tens

The best laid plans however can end up the swanee or in a similiar idiom, up the creek.  Our Club President could not make tonight's meeting, which meant that I had a serious decision to make.  That decision involved holding out completing my own ten speeches due to not to seeing eye-to-eye with certain situations, all of which either had to do with other clubs I used to be with or with online groups where I was not happy with outcomes.  It was time to bury this hatchet and move on with life, and last night I decided I would fill in the third speaker role and finally register my 10th Speech which I titled "5 Years". 

Not that it took my five years to complete my 10 speeches.  I had rattled off 9 speeches within the length of the first year before I unexpectedly encountered an individual online who was confrontational.  The outcome of that confrontation was an instant decision by me to walk.  I never tolerated BS very well and no matter what time I had invested, it became a sunk cost.  I would rather not continue then to stick around wasting my energies on unnecessary battles.

Last night, I was not simply delivering my 2nd 10th Speech - for I had delivered a 10th Speech two years ago at my fourth Toastmasters Club called "City Centre" (hence the name online of CityVP) but another dispute over unexpected moderation in a discussion group led me packing my bags for a second time.   Over the last year I have been with my present fifth club and even though I have immensely enjoyed the club experience, old habits die hard and that old habit was holding onto the past - the result of which is that my present club is my 5th Club.

As I formulated what it is I was going to say, my 10th Speech had plenty of material which is the last five years at Toastmasters, but the objectives of the speech was that it must be an inspirational speech.  Having jotted down seven points that made the semblance of a good story, I finally delivered was my first official speech at my new club, but a repeat of my 10th - and the importance of this one is that it will be processed later this month via our Club President as a completion and registered with Toastmasters International. 

My principal message to our campus club members was that I did not need to give them an inspirational speech because the club itself is inspiring, that the students in the room where the actual inspiration and the underlying personal message was quitting the habit of quitting.  In one way the habit of quitting has led me to arrive at a club it did not go through my head about joining and that I had the necessary qualifications to join (this is a campus restricted club), but having joined a club that I love being at, it made no sense to continue habits that die hard.

The first speaker delivered a well prepared speech, though his primary inclination was to deliver a perfect speech - but I let him know as VP of Education that "perfect is the enemy of good", a useful aphorism and an even better practice.  I also gave him the opportunity to repeat the same speech in its "perfect form" at the Advanced level, so he could both complete this portion of the program and move on to delivery skills at the next "Bronze" level.  Moreover it was a lesson for me to focus on due process rather than allow myself to get sidetracked in politics or squabbles that have nothing to do with the educational delivery or my own club relationship.

So I have turned a new leaf, I unexpectedly became the third speaker today, so there must be some form of providence which shone, because the Club President has never missed two meetings in a row and last week she was very sick, having shown dedication to the club by turning up sick in the past.  It is good she is recuperating and also recognizes her priorities include health and well-being, while the unexpected was dealt with very well, and by the end of "A Night of Tens" - much had been accomplished.  

That provides the spring-board for next week's meeting as well, because that will be a significant milestone for the club in its present form as well.  That is matters for next week, but for this week, it was an important meeting and it was a meeting that not only put the club on track to meet its annual goals, but it sealed my relationship with the club also, and so there was lots to celebrate today and far more important, lots to look forward to as I share his success.