Page 9 - June-2021-Voices

Your speech topic—what prompted you to What do you do outside of Toastmasters that
choose the one you did? makes you feel complete.
The speech centers around me shooting out As I mentioned before, I am married to
a truck window with a BB gun and my mother’s a wonderful woman, Melissa, who keeps me

forgiveness. Mom died in 2018 from Lewy-Body grounded. Anyone who has heard me speak
Disease. For most of her adult life, she carried probably knows that raising our three kids was
a smooth little rock in her purse she called her (ahem) a small challenge. When they moved out
‘worry stone.’ She worried a lot because I was her Melissa looked at me and said, “I think we have

only child and I did dumb things. Since she died, PTSD—Post Teenager Stress Disorder.” We’re
I’ve carried her worry stone with me. Perhaps, still recovering.
subconsciously, I chose this topic to thank her
for all the times she forgave me.

Sadly, just a few days after the District 7 Yasmeen Telwala, DL3 - D7 SPEECH EVALUATION
speech competition this past month, my father
died unexpectedly. He was gone before I could CHAMPION
tell him that I had won. I’d like to think he would

have been proud of me—in spite of having to Please share your background (where were
replace that truck window. you born, etc.)
. I come from a beautiful city in the state of
People always want to know how you prepared Rajasthan in Northern India called Udaipur.

for the District contest – do you have a special The city is nicknamed “City of Lakes” and is
routine you follow, certain lucky socks you surrounded by the Aravali Mountains (one of
wear or something like that? the oldest mountain ranges in the world). I have
I don’t have lucky socks that I wear although I been living in different parts of Asia (Japan) and

do wear my smiley face “Walmart” tie - the one Europe (Rome and Bonn) in the last 10 years. I
on the front cover of this month’s magazine. It want to thank the COVID pandemic as it offered
makes me smile. Hope it makes others smile too. me an opportunity to work from home and
I took many long walks after I wrote the rough brought me back to my home city after a decade

draft of the speech. That was when I recited of living abroad. I arrived in Udaipur in January
parts of the speech to myself and listened to 2020 and that’s where I am now.
the words. I worked rhetorical devices and built

transitions. I captured the changes each day in When did you join Toastmasters and what
a Google document. prompted you to do so? How long have you been
a member, which club(s) do you belong to, etc.
Back the biographical info—married? Kids? I was introduced to Toastmasters by my

VOICES! | JUNE 2021 9