Page 7 - voices-2023-02

COVER STORY

J ourneys

Bob Hall, DTM

Erik Bergman, DTM

Speechless. A Toastmaster is seldom at a loss for words, yet
that was the case for Bob Hall, DTM, when he heard his name
called at January’s Celebration of Leadership as the District 7

2021-22 Toastmaster of the Year.
“I was speechless,” he recalls. “I choked up a little bit, and
then I found a few words of gratitude. I was really humbled to
get singled out. A lot of people in the District have done a ton

of work and deserve a lot of credit.”
Hall, 67, jokes that he suffers from “volunteer elbow,” a
condition that causes his arm to shoot up reflexively whenever
someone asks for help. That led him to serve as an Area Director

a few years ago, where District Director Lorri Andersen watched
him lead a “Happy Birthday” singalong for a member at a club
they were both visiting. The next thing he knew, he was saying
yes to her request to coordinate Toastmasters Leadership

Institute (TLI).
He didn’t stop there: Hall became the District’s Webmaster
too. As he puts it, “The elbow sprang into action.” As if that
wasn’t enough, Hall also serves Division G as Area 84 Director.

Andersen says it was Hall’s courage, wisdom and experience
that first caught her eye. “He’s the kind of person when he does
a job, he will do his best. I could sense that Bob was the right

VOICES! | FEBRUARY 2023 7