Speaker 1 0:08

You're listening to the Talkative Toastmaster podcast. I'm your host, melanie Serplis. In this podcast, we explore how Toastmasters can help you to polish your public speaking skills, communicate with confidence and amplify your authenticity. You'll hear from my fellow Toastmasters and I how this global organization has impacted our lives for the better and how it could impact yours. Now let's get talkative, okay, well, welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to episode 17 of the Talkative Toastmaster podcast. This week, I'm joined by fellow Toastmaster, matt Isles, who's a member of the Fraser Coast Toastmasters Club. Some of the highlights of Matt's 10-year Toastmasters journey include being a club president, a District 71 Table Topics winner and a semi-finalist at the 2022 World Championships in Nashville. Matt is also a TEDx speaker and part-time professional speaker. Welcome, matt, it's a pleasure to have you on the show.

Speaker 2 1:15

Hey Mel, Nice to be here.

Speaker 1 1:18

You've had plenty of Toastmasters experience and a lot of high-level speaking experience by the sounds of it, but could you perhaps start by telling us what you most enjoy about being a Toastmaster?

Speaker 2 1:31

I'll look at this. Probably a couple of things. Really. I really enjoy watching somebody do their first speech like their icebreaker, their very first speech and then meeting them a couple of years later or something, just seeing how far they've gone. I really enjoy that about Toastmasters. I guess the other thing I like is personal development and get out of it A little bit of watching other people do this stuff and a little bit of what I get out of Toastmasters.

Speaker 1 1:56

Okay, what actually got you into Toastmasters all those years ago? What made you decide to join?

Speaker 2 2:05

I was standing on a beach and I was doing a coaching session. There was a bloke standing on the beach and he said mate, you should do Toastmasters because he was a Toastmaster. I said, you know what? Somebody else has tried to convince me to do Toastmasters and I rocked up to one session and I thought no, this isn't for me. Then I went back the second time after this bloke said I should go and do it. And Bingo, I was hooked, loved it.

Speaker 1 2:31

Okay, what was it about the first time that made you think you might not go back?

Speaker 2 2:36

Every club's different and I just went to a club that just wasn't going to be a fit for me. It was just a different sort of club, they just ran it differently. No one there was sort of in my age bracket, there was no common interest or anything. But the second time I tried, a different club and it was just a completely different outcome Found some people who I really liked there, got conversations going and then once I understood its value, then, as I said, I was hooked.

Speaker 1 3:03

Okay, great. I think you make an interesting point there about different clubs have different vibes and if you don't find one that fits your needs, the first club you join, keep going until you find another club that does. I can't emphasise that enough.

Speaker 2 3:21

Yeah, I think it's like sport. It's just like sport. I've spent most of my life in sport and sometimes you play for a team or a club and you think, oh really, this isn't for me. You can go to the next one and, bingo, you're off and everything clicks. So yeah, try different clubs, for sure.

Speaker 1 3:39

Absolutely. I recommend that all the time. Now, you've obviously done a lot of different things in Toastmasters, but what perhaps has been one or two of the most valuable skills that you've learnt during your time in the organisation?

Speaker 2 3:55

I think, like most Toastmasters, they're going to say listening, and that's for sure, and it's a skill like you use outside of Toastmasters all the time. The ability to listen to people and to actively listen and participate in conversations means that you're heard really well too. That's something I definitely learn at Toastmasters. I think it's something, as I said, that's probably changed my entire career and life outside of Toastmasters, even my home life, just becoming a better listener. And the second thing is just being able to structure conversations, knowing that things have a beginning and a middle and end and how to put them all together. It means that you can walk into a room and start talking to people in a professional manner and people actually stop what they're doing. They pay attention to you because you're making sense.

Speaker 1 4:45

Absolutely the ability to be able to construct even a mini speech at short notice or no notice. We get a lot of practice at that at Toastmasters, so it is a great skill what about speech development? Because to get to the semi-finalists in the world speaking championships, you must have put a lot of effort into the speeches that you delivered there and then refined it. So could you perhaps walk through that process? What was that like for you? Thank you.

Speaker 2 5:19

Yeah, sure, look, it's probably one of the things that I like most about Taste Masters is getting your ideas, the concept, fleshing it all out and turning it into something that's entertaining or it tells something that you want to tell. Most of the presentations I do are social speeches, so they're about not about things that affected me and how I learned something and how you can empower yourself by following what I did. It's all about the social impact on all of us and community and something that we can all do, and I love fleshing those things out. And, like everything in my life, I always find new ways to do things.

Speaker 2 5:57

So I'm profoundly dyslexic they call it word blind and so I can't write things down. I can't write a speech down and work it that way. I use my phone and I just start talking into it and then I'll listen back to it and I'll talk back into it again and I'll listen back to it. And I live in Harvey Bay and so I walk on the beach, but previously, when I was down on the farm in Tassie, I just talk to the cows and always recording my speeches, and then that's the way I sort of fine tune them.

Speaker 1 6:31

I do the same thing. I actually walk and talk because I find that I can't type or write as quickly as I think. So I use a dictophone to get my speeches out, at least a first draft, and then I can edit it and do whatever I need to do. But it's great. I think that you find it encourages you to find the ways that best work for you. It's not just about sitting and writing for hours, but I think walking and talking gets the brain moving.

Speaker 2 7:01

Yeah, for sure. I always think that the guy who invented the CD was a Japanese inventor I can't remember his name. But to invent things he swims underwater with an underwater pen and paper and write his ideas down. But it's the activity that helps the creativity. So instead of just being stuck there trying to think about things where that sort of writer's block gets in the way, you're out there, you're in the environment, things happening around you, they're kind of like minor distractions and then you can just be freer. Fine, you probably do. Look silly on a beach practising your speeches at 5am in the morning while people walking past or walking around you giving you a really wide berth.

Speaker 1 7:46

They might be inspired. You never know Potential members for Toastmasters, who knows? But so the speech that you gave for the World Championship speech, was that the same speech the whole way through, or did you change speeches or build on the same speech over and over each level you went?

Speaker 2 8:08

Yeah, no, that speech I did the whole way through, from beginning to end. Now it was the same message. I should say it wasn't the same speech. So what I initially did in a club competition is definitely not what I did on the stage in Nashville, tennessee. There was 50 variations of it until I thought I had what I liked to present, but at each stage obviously the speech was good enough to keep me in the game.

Speaker 1 8:39

And had you been in different level competitions before, what was the highest level of competition that you'd got to in Toastmasters?

Speaker 2 8:51

There was a set I won the District 79 Table Topics so that was about five years early. So I've been in Toastmasters for 10 years and I won that one when I was down in Tassie on the farm and I'd made Central Division a couple of times with an international speech. But I've probably only really competed maybe five times out of the 10 years that I've been a Toastmaster for other reasons, just not being able to commit for all sorts of stuff work, family, children, whatever.

Speaker 1 9:26

So 2022 was just a spectacular year, and you picked a topic and a speech that obviously very much resonated throughout Australia. So did you actually? Was that representing Australia as a? Who were you competing against in that particular competition?

Speaker 2 9:44

So there was 28 of us from all the way around the world. They, Toastmasters, say that you know 30,000 people start that journey every year, starting from club competitions all the way through, and I made it down to the last 28. So there was two of us picked out of the Australia. I'll say so Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, I think, Indonesia and Malaysia that group, that big chunk Two of us came out of there.

Speaker 2 10:14

That happened to be me and a girl from Melbourne and we went over and competed and they just did the semifinals and then the final the next day. You know like it's bang bang and unfortunately I didn't make it through to the final eight, but you know, it was just. It was an awesome experience, met heaps of great people. It was good fun.

Speaker 2 10:37

Yeah, it was really good fun and we travelled for however many. I don't know how it is. I think it's 28,000 kilometres for seven minutes each. Like it's a long way for seven minutes.

Speaker 1 10:48

It's a lot of commitment.

Speaker 2 10:51

That's dedication.

Speaker 1 10:52

That's amazing. And what are some of the lessons you would say you learned from that journey? I mean, there's an amazing result, congratulations, what a great effort. But what would you say that you took out of that whole year's worth of experience? Because it would have taken between all the competitions you would have had to have participated in other than the time. Yeah, what would you have taken away from that experience?

Speaker 2 11:18

Well, look, you meet a lot of very different people with a lot of very different goals, and everyone's up there for whatever their reason is. Some of them are there to tell a story that they're really, really passionate about, about loved ones, or a mission or a vision that they have. Those are there because in winning it enhances their career. You know, like there's a lot of fantastic professional public speakers that come out of these contests and there are some people that are there who are just there to experience the moment.

Speaker 2 11:51

You know like, oh, I wonder, if I do this a little bit better, will I make the next round, you know, and they're just really excitable. So I think that's the biggest thing. Just the variety of people that you meet in Toastmasters is amazing. Now, as I said to you before, like I've done a lot of stuff in sport, so when I've done a lot of stuff in sport, I've been hanging around with a lot of males between the ages of, you know, like 18 and 28, and they're all driven on sport.

Speaker 2 12:20

Well, toastmasters is nothing like that. You know, like there's no, there's no club with like a 10 year age bracket in it and there's not. Everybody is there to be a winner. Not everybody comes there already with brilliance, you know they come there. Some of them come there with fear of public speaking. Some people come there because it's a great way to meet other people. Some people go there because there's nothing on TV on a Tuesday night, and I like people go for all sorts of reasons, and I think that's what makes Toastmasters really unique, because you can have somebody an 18 year old sitting next to you and a 85 year old on the other side, and they're there for completely different reasons.

Speaker 1 13:02

Yeah, I love that about Toastmasters. It's so diverse and so eclectic and immune, and you see it at the club level, you see it at every level, and every club has particular kinds of characters in them and very similar characters.

Speaker 2 13:17

Yeah, exactly right. As we said before, you know, like, go out there and find a club. That's right for you. It's definitely the right thing, cause you know, some of them just have these personalities in them that make them really, really attractive. Some of them are really comforting and allow people to grow slow, you know, and others are very, you know, like you know, professional. This is your next thing, this is what you're going to learn next time. You know and really drive you through so you know you can find whatever you're looking for.

Speaker 1 13:44

Yeah, definitely.

Speaker 2 13:46

And for me it's one that's close to home.

Speaker 1 13:49

I think that helps too. If it's easy to get to, you're more likely to go consistently, and the consistency is what helps, I think, to get the value out of it. Now, the TEDx talk had that been a goal for you in Toastmasters, or did that come out of doing the 2022 World Championship talk, or how did that TED talk pan out?

Speaker 2 14:13

I came out of doing the 2022 talk, I was approached by somebody who said we're looking for a professional speaker to come and do a TEDx and it was a youth TEDx, yeah. And so I said, yeah, sure, look, I'll come along and do that. And you know, they had a topic for it and so I just wrote a speech to run with that. But, look, a lot like the competition, you know, and you hear a lot of people say I just went in it for fun. Yeah, you know, just went in and learned something else. And TEDx was really similar. I'll be honest with you. Like, on the day of the TEDx, there were a couple of people there who were so focused, so drilled, so professional, because if they got a million clicks, they were going to make it Right. It was even at the TEDx I performed that.

Speaker 2 15:01

Somebody actually had their own film crew follow them around for the day, so they created a backstory about it. You know like it was. Yeah, that was full on. But yeah, look, I just went because it's something I hadn't done before. Somebody asked me to do. It had a bit of fun, you know the audience was. You know it was a group of young people and, you know, for my work. I work a lot with young people working inside community to assist people, so it's, kind of you know, a perfect scenario for me to speak to.

Speaker 1 15:32

Yeah, definitely, and do you find that you're able to use that as a resource? Now I'll pop the link to your TEDx talk in the show notes, but do you find that it sort of opens up more conversations or you can point people to it and just gives you another, I guess, resource to point people to?

Speaker 2 15:52

I'd love to say yes, because I know that that's an exciting thing doing your TEDx. But to be able to do you know, I've seen it. Once I put it in a bio that I sent to you that I'd done a TEDx, and that's about the end of the promoting I do, yeah, fair enough, and I work with people in community. Yeah, I've got no ambition outside of that. So now, look for me, it was just a fun thing to do.

Speaker 1 16:17

Yeah, awesome, and it's a great speech. So, as I said, I'll pop that in the show notes and, if anyone would like to go and listen to it, I've got a funny story about that speech.

Speaker 2 16:26

Yeah, great, and the reason why it was a youth thing. And by the time I got on I was a 10th speaker and I was 2.30 in the afternoon and I had this prepared speech, a TEDx style speech, and I got out there and TEDx is quite different. There's like only 100 people in the audience and only 20 of them were still awake, and so I dropped my first two lines and then I thought, nah, I just got to try and wake some of these kids up. So I just sort of flipped it around and turned it into like a four minute impromptu and trying to inspire kids to focus on what I was doing on the stage.

Speaker 1 17:07

Yeah, oh, wow, tough crowd.

Speaker 2 17:10

You probably see it in the clip they flashed the kids and there's all of them, their heads and their hands starting off the side. But now look, like everything in life it's just great fun, just experience it, have it crack out.

Speaker 1 17:22

Yeah, absolutely, and it's a great message In terms of how you've been able to apply the skills at Toastmasters to other areas of your life. You mentioned listening being one very important skill, but are there others, whether it's through the leadership, through club president role or other aspects, that you can say yes, I've learned that at Toastmasters and I can apply this in other areas of my life?

Speaker 2 17:48

I guess the answer is yeah. Look, when it comes to the processes that you go through at Chase Masters, if you take on any of those leadership roles and of course you learn how to lead and that's always a useful skill it doesn't matter what you do. You're at work or sometimes literally at home, although some of those battles I've still never won with my wife she's always the leader there. But you know, I think that's a good outcome and something that I've really used. But, to be honest with you, it's really the confidence of the fact that you know what you're doing and you know your craft. So an environment where you have to speak, you know how to do it.

Speaker 2 18:27

If people getting agitated around you in a workplace, you know how to handle it. You know you don't sort of fall in and get sucked in and there's nothing worse than watching people in a meeting and they're giving their presentation but it's slow or it's too long or it never gets to the point of people switching off and you think they put all that work into that and got nowhere with it. But you know you're just having the confidence to say look, I know how to communicate, I know how to get people's attention and I know how to get my message across. So, at the end of the day, my hard work that I put in actually has value. You can be the most skillful person in the world at something, but if you can't communicate how to do it or your message and all of your knowledge is lost.

Speaker 1 19:15

Yeah, it's so true, and I find in the workplace that so much of the focus is on the content and the PowerPoints particularly, rather than the delivery and all those other things, the other aspects of speech development and delivery that we learn, and so it's all content, content, content and often death by PowerPoint, as opposed to really engaging and getting the point across, as you were saying.

Speaker 2 19:42

Yeah, exactly right. Well, most of the people I work with is the community groups, community organizations or people who are having troubles in their life. They're having difficulties in all sorts of things, everything that's out there and quite often I find myself in front of six, eight, 20 different people for different reasons, and most of them don't wanna hear me or listen to me. They've got bigger issues, but I've gotta be able to get their attention really really quick and I gotta get the message across really really quick. So they've got other options to choose in life, and Toastmasters has given me the ability to do that really, really quickly.

Speaker 1 20:19

And, would you say, table topics? Has that practice of table topics and impromptu speaking has helped that particular aspect of what you do, just that on the spot, having to think on your feet?

Speaker 2 20:32

Yeah for sure. You know, the funny thing about table topics is I'm not quite sure if I've actually benefited from the getting the subject and putting it together quickly. The benefit that I get from table topics is to be succinct. You know you've got two minutes to get that whole message across in the best format that you can, and that's the real trick and the real gift I think table topics gives you.

Speaker 1 20:57

Yeah, the focus. It's easy to waffle, yeah, I guess that focus and the conclusion that you get to in the end. And so what would you say to people out there who are interested in Toastmasters might have heard about it, their mentor may have told them to join Toastmasters, or some bloke on the beach said you should go, ha ha ha, but they're mildly terrified of going. What would you say to those people out there?

Speaker 2 21:24

Like everything in life, just give it a go. The worst thing you can do in life is do nothing. And if tastemasters isn't for you, look, then it's not. But try multiple clubs before you make that decision that it's not. If you want to be a more confident person, a better speaker, a better listener and generally be able to get your message across so that you are heard, then what you're going to learn at Tastemasters is what is going to improve those factors in your life. And remember that, look, you're going there for you. That's what it's all about.

Speaker 2 21:57

We love to say in life oh, you know? No, everything's about everybody else and nothing's about me. Well, it's kind of untrue. You're going there to learn skills to benefit you, and if you focus on what's happening and the things you've got to learn and not involve yourself in whether you like somebody or whether you're not it's a group situation then you'll be fine. You'll fly through it. Tastemasters is a club. It's diverse. Get in there, learn what you need to do, benefit from those skills that are there and enjoy it.

Speaker 1 22:28

Yeah, definitely.

Speaker 2 22:29

I think people go to Tastemasters already prejudged that they're not going to like it. That makes sense. Oh, they're nervous of it. Yeah, and sometimes, if you think that strongly, you can walk away with that belief. The actual thing's that's not true. You go to Tastemasters. You are there to learn something and you're there to learn it because you want to be great at it. It's like learning your guitar or any musical instrument or how to paint or anything like that. It is a skill. You're not born with it. You might be born with charisma. It's not born with the ability to wrap a conversation up and communication up in a manner that works really, really well.

Speaker 1 23:08

And I think, particularly these days where so much of our communication is online or by text, or consuming information in tweets and 160 characters or whatever it is, to actually be able to structure a speech and do that in person. I think it's almost becoming a lost art, and so having to focusing on that is, I think, going to be a superpower in the coming years because so many people aren't focusing on it.

Speaker 2 23:38

Well, the funny thing is is that every Tastemasters club should be packed, because nowadays we live in an environment of constant communication. I mean, when I was growing up, I saw my mum every day when I came home from school and I saw my grandparents once a month. Now everybody sees each other almost every day. Just they pick up the phone, they talk, they zoom, they face chat or whatever they blink and we'll call it. You know, there's all these ways to communicate and people's entertainment now is not watching TV with ads, it's watching YouTube and it's watching people do all of these things, of which a huge chunk of it is communicating.

Speaker 2 24:20

And if you want to make great YouTube videos or you want to do a TEDx or you want to get your message across and you want to tell your story, then go to Tastemasters and learn how to do it, so at least other people are entertained by it, other than just you. Yes, yeah, absolutely. Everyone knows the slideshow, when they were a kid, of their auntie and uncle going to Paris or something. Yet to sit through two hours of slideshows bored, the only people who enjoyed that were my auntie and uncle. And that's the same way when most people communicate, and the only person enjoying it is the person who's saying it. But why not entertain everybody with your great story?

Speaker 1 24:56

Yeah, absolutely. There's never been so many platforms for people to do that. I don't know.

Speaker 2 25:02

We're just drowning it all the time, and that's why I'm really surprised that Tastemasters and Pax, because it's the only place to learn how to do it and it's remains.

Speaker 1 25:13

No, absolutely, and it remains one of the best value forms of personal development out there. You can't find anything as valuable as Well. You know, oh, my cat just landed on the desk, yeah, but just in terms of the value you get for the annual membership fee of a couple of hundred bucks, it's amazing.

Speaker 2 25:34

Yeah, look, it's awesome value when you look at that. I mean you pay a couple of thousand dollars to play golf and all you get is cranky. Pay a couple of hundred bucks on the Tastemasters and you know, get inspired.

Speaker 1 25:47

Yeah, exactly. And so what are some of your goals for Tastemasters in the coming year? I know you said you were toning it down a little bit after your spectacular 2022 and the TEDx talk last year, but yeah, what are your next steps in Tastemasters? What would you like to achieve going forward?

Speaker 2 26:08

Oh look, I'll probably come back and do some more competing in the not too distant future. It is my favorite thing about Tastemasters is the competitions.

Speaker 2 26:17

I really look forward to them because it's a goal and it's got a timeline on it, and that's what I like most about. You know, setting a goal, I like a timeline. So I'll come back and compete again, probably next year, and have some fun with that and just see where it takes me and, you know, see if I can top what I did once before. Or, you know, maybe just get up there and inspire other people to have a crack at it.

Speaker 1 26:44

Yeah, definitely. I think the more people that we can get at a club level to compete and even just getting them along to the next level Competition to watch and to see what happens, we sort of need to demystify the competitions because I think even once you're in Toastmasters people can be way put off by competing.

Speaker 2 27:04

Yeah, they can be. But, you know, a lot of people get put up by competing. It's probably because they don't want to compete against people who are better than them, and that doesn't make any sense to me. Hmm, you know, the only way to get better is to be measured by your peers. That's it. Hmm, you know, it's great to be a big fish in a small pond, yes, but the world isn't that. You know, get out there and learn it and see it and watch other people do something and if you like it, you know, steal it, add to you, you know, add that another arrow to your quiver that gives you another ability to do something. And Then, and then home it, fine tune it and have another crack and I guess there's always feedback in Toastmasters too.

Speaker 1 27:48

There's never any shortage of Feedback from people about how better you know, how to do things better, how to improve your speeches.

Speaker 2 27:55

They're right, and the feedback is always kinder than the feedback you give yourself.

Speaker 1 27:59

Yes, yes, yes, if only we could be as kind to ourselves as we are with other people the world.

Speaker 2 28:07

Yeah, I think everybody's their worst critic, aren't they? Yeah, definitely, oh, we should have done that better. Yeah, you gotta do better by learning.

Speaker 1 28:17

And indeed now is. Is there anything else that you'd like to share about your either your Toastmasters journey or that you've learned along the way?

Speaker 2 28:27

I don't think so. I just again earlier just said just everyone should give it a go. I think if you're interested in communication look, some people aren't I get it. It's not for everybody but if you're interested in communication and you want to feel more self-confident when you're either presenting at work or having Conversation at home or chatting to some friends down the beach Toastmasters a great spot to start.

Speaker 1 28:50

Absolutely Well, matt, thank you so much for sharing your Toastmasters experience with us. You've given me, and no doubt our listeners, plenty of inspiration and practical tips, most of which is to just give it a go to think about for 2024, and I wish you all the best for the year ahead.

Speaker 2 29:11

No worries and keep up the great work, mel doing a fantastic job.

Speaker 1 29:16

Thanks so much, matt. If you're ready to unlock your potential, consider joining a Toastmasters club near you. Check out the find a club link on the Toastmasters international website at wwwtoastmastersorg. It's worth visiting a couple of different clubs as a guest to see which club best suits you. If you do take the leap and visit a meeting, I would absolutely love to hear your experience. Feel free to message me at talkativetoastmaster at gmailcom or Tag me in the comments if you found this podcast on YouTube, facebook, instagram or Twitter.

Speaker 1 29:55

Thanks for listening to today's show. Head to talkativetoastmastercom, where you'll find the show notes for this and all other episodes, as well as links to some awesome Toastmasters resources. If you found value in today's content, I'd really appreciate if you could share it with friends and colleagues who may be interested, or Leave a review on iTunes. I'm going to be sharing my Toastmasters experience with you. I'm going to be sharing my Toastmasters experience with you. I'm going to be sharing my Toastmasters experience with you. Leave a review on iTunes. This helps more people to find us. Until next time, remember the words of Seth Godin if it scares you, it may be a good thing to try. Have a great week.