Robyn Richards

Most Recent DTM: October, 2013

Awarding Club: Canning Vale

Total DTMs Awarded: 2

My journey to DTM started long before I joined Toastmasters just over 3 years ago. My Husband, Mark, had been a member for a few years and he had always told me I would love it. I “knew better” and decided to stay away. That was until he tempted me with a Christmas meeting. Knowing I loved Christmas…the dressing up of myself, the house, everything, he told me how this was a special meeting with decorations, gifts and a Christmas theme. I went…and I was hooked.

Over the ensuing years I attended Victoria Quay Toastmasters for special meetings only, as our children were quite small. As they grew, my attendance grew and eventually I began to talk about having a club closer to home so we could both attend regularly. It took several years to come to fruition but in March 2008, Canning Vale Toastmasters was born from my nagging. I joined immediately, gave my Icebreaker speech the following week with wobbly legs and butterflies way out of unison and became the inaugural President. From there Mark has always been my mentor, pushed me into roles I didn’t believe I could do but he did… and my evaluator in the car on the way home. Today we have a double evaluation on those trips home which invariably last into the night, as our enthusiasm is also doubled when we have our partner to share this wonderful experience. Without his encouragement and experience I could never have achieved a DTM in just over 2 years.

The absolute best element of Toastmasters for me is watching others give their Icebreaker speeches. This is a special moment where you are privileged to watch a cocoon begin to open. I hope to see many more new Toastmasters “come to the edge and fly” to become a DTM as well.