Never turn down stage time. ~~ Darren LaCroix   Click Below to Listen to Today's Show Insert Podcast Link Here It's Time to Crown the World Champion of Public Speaking. I've entered the Toastmasters International Speech Contest for the last 3 years, since I started Toastmasters. The International  Speech Contest is held in most Toastmasters clubs around the globe. This is the only speaking contest in Toastmasters that goes past the District level to the international level. Each year, those contestants that have won Club, Area, Division and District move up to the next level - The Semifinals. The semifinals are held each year at the Toastmasters International Convention. This year it is in Washington, DC in the the United States. It is this week. It is scheduled start August 17th. Yes, it is this week, tomorrow, and I am going to be there. This year I entered for the two clubs I belong to. My company club, First Republic Toastmasters is a closed club and only open to members of our company. I also belong to an open club, Cable Car Toastmasters. Cable Car is one of the oldest Toastmasters clubs in San Francisco. I will include a link to our club in the show notes. If you are in the downtown San Francisco area at 7 a.m. on Tuesday mornings and want to wake up with a bang, the bang of the gavel as the club starts at 7 a.m., connect with us and we will great you with open arms. Yes, I said 7 AM. Yes, it's early. Yes, you will have fun and get a jolt of adrenaline to start your day with positivity. I'm Not  A Semifinalist I guess I should go ahead and break the news before we go any further.                   I am not a semifinalist. I did not make it past the Area level this year. I have been to the Division level before, but this year I didn't make the First Republic club, but did win the Cable Car club contest. I won 2nd Place at our Area level contest. Our District 4 winner, Gina Grahame is a Semifinalist and will be competing this week in DC. Our First Republic club officers are attending the International Convention as well as many of our District 4 leaders. We are looking forward to meeting new friends and are looking forward to cheering Gina on as she goes to get her goal of World Champion Speaker. I want to be the a Toastmaster World Champion Speaker. This is one of my goals in my path to become a paid motivational speaker. This episode of Goal Getting Podcast is part of our Back To School Series. I consider myself in school to learn to be a Toastmasters World Champion Speaker. I am learning from some of the best. I watched as Gina ascended from Area through Division, and win the District level awards. This week I will get to watch her compete on the World stage with great Toastmasters. I want to be there. I will be cheering her on and visualizing myself on the stage as well. What am I doing to learn to be a Toastmaster World Champion Speaker? Never turning down stage time, as 2001 World Champion Speaker Darren LaCroix said on the How To Become A World Champion Speaker CD. World Champion Speakers I have had the pleasure and honor of meeting Hall of Fame Speaker, Patricia Fripp at a couple of our San Francisco Toastmasters events. We had the opportunity to host her for a seminar at one of our First Republic Toastmasters club meetings where she shared some educational and inspiring advice. I learned a lot in that visit. Cable Car Toastmasters also sponsored her for an event in June and again she shared valuable advice about speaking and presenting. She is a dynamic lady and a tremendous speaker. The interesting fact is she actually began her Toastmasters journey at Cable Car Toastmasters. I won't say the year, but it was a while ago. At the Cable Car event, she gave away her CD How To Become a World Champion Public Speaker to the attendees. This CD features Patricia Fripp facilitating an entertaining, action-packed, idea-rich National Speakers Association session with two Toastmasters International World Champion Speakers, 2000 Champion Ed Tate and 2001 Champion Darren LaCroix. I am excited to meet these two gentlemen at the Convention this week. Ed Tate is speaking Wednesday night. I had the opportunity to listen to the CD over the Independence Day weekend as I drove my dog, Sophie across country to Atlanta. I had long days of driving and listened to the CD over and over again. I think I listened at least 10 times over the 3 day drive. If you are a Toastmaster or you want to learn speaking skills from two World Champion Speakers, you should pick up a copy. I will have information on how to get a copy at the end of the show notes. I will also have contact information on how to contact Patricia, Ed and Darren. These great speakers present the exact tips that helped them win their competitions. Patricia also offers several points of advice. She, too, is a great speaker and teacher. There is so much information on the CD that I won't go over...