Marelize Swart has a great story. It deserves to be written.

She’s coming to the Conference in Nanaimo, and without a doubt, she is a first timer.

Can you say ‘rookie in the Area contest?’

She joined Toastmasters at most 1 month ago. Yep she’s a rookie, as we like to say.

This week she was in an Area evaluation contest. Yes you read it correctly – the Area contest. If you do the math you’ll realize she joined and then jumped into the Club contests.

Someone suggested it and her reasoning was ‘what can I lose?’

Many of us have been members for years and we haven’t made it beyond our Club contests. Isn’t it inspiring to have a newer member join and show us how it can be done?

Marelize shares, ‘I’ve learned a lot about my own fears and I learned I can throw ‘caution to the wind’ and jump right in.’

The classic Toastmaster interview

I caught up with Marelize (virtually) and asked her a few questions.

Linda: Why did you join Toastmasters, in general? 

Marelize: “Over the course of the past year or two I have become more and more interested in giving presentations and talks to people. But I felt so uncomfortable speaking in front of groups that it somehow kept me stuck and too afraid to try. I am sincerely hoping that things will change for me now that I have finally joined Toastmasters.”

Linda: How did you feel the first time you walked through the door?

Marelize: “It just felt so right as I was as ready as you can be as joining a TM club has been on my ‘to do list” forever!”

Linda: What made you decide to join specifically at the moment you did?

Marelize: “I met inspirational speaker and author Brock Tully that speaks on Kindness –  a topic of great interest to me.  He subsequently put me in contact with fellow-TM Club 59 member Gillian Roberts that co-authored the book “The Thought that Changed my Life Forever.” With that connection, I instinctively knew that TM Club 59 “was meant to be my club” and I joined the very first night.”

Linda’s note: Marelize also joined Evergreen Toastmasters to get double the Toastmaster exposure!

Linda What do you do for a living? 

Marelize: “Psychologist in private practice.”

You can catch Marelize and all the other first timers at the First Timers reception Friday night (5pm) before the conference officially begins.

What about you?

Are you a first timer? Do you know of any first timers who are attending?

Come on, spill the beans, please!

Stay well, until tomorrow,

Linda