End Quote - My First Toastmasters Speech

This is where I grew up:

Below is my "Icebreaker" speech for Wells Fargo's Toastmasters club, Stagecoach Speakers. It was delivered on January 23rd, the day before my 21st birthday... and it was prepared the morning of.

My introduction was eloquently delivered by my Toastmasters mentor, and was based off of this description I gave him the day before:

"I'm a junior at Macalester College who stayed on with Wells after the summer internship period. Being an economist by undergraduate training, cause-and-effect relationships are my bread and butter. I've been extensively involved in the Twin Cities GLBT non-profit world, and after working with Regional Private Banking, I'm hoping to move into My Next Stage with Wells Fargo as soon as I find another position.

I'm excited to give my first speech since joining Stagecoach Speakers in July and, I am very thankful for Jerud & Jill who've helped me finally get up to the lectern."

The speech, titled "End Quote" went something like this [brackets show what I skipped to stay within the allotted time of 4-6 minutes, and the original had formatting to place emphasis, sorry you miss out on that here...]:
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"Thank you Mr. Toastmaster"
"Follow Toastmasters,

I’ve been thinking, thinking all night now, about what to tell all of you, today.

Heck, I guess I could start (over again, for the fifth time) by declaring myself a people person-- I love passing curious glances at strangers, and I’m right quick to strike up conversation, no matter the setting; I even get up real early on weekends (and that’s talkin’ 12 noon, college.standard.time) just to get juiced up on caffeine and chat with a buddy. It’s well worth it. I mean, the depth of satisfaction I’ve found by wholly dedicating myself… to having just a conversation-- meaning, having two or more consenting individuals using language and their bodies to exchange ideas and stories… it’s like the bass-line was just added back into the soundtrack.

I know from experience that sometimes, a conversation just waiting to happen at the copy machine can make you so anxious that you accidentally… drop your paperclip. Getting over that fear takes courage. Courage, that’s something thing I’d liked to be remembered for.

I guess the ‘Macalester College’ thing to do right now would be to ‘contextualize and re-discover our positionality’ before continuing with the concept of ‘courage’… but, before I even try to de-mumbo-jumbo that, let me share with you a quote to clarify what courage means to me: *ahem* As found on the back of Honest Tea labels everywhere, Ambrose Redmoon is quoted: "Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear." We’ve all been courageous at different times in our lives, but why didn’t it occur to me before this year, that courage has been such a powerful contributor to my success? Conquering fears = less dropped, and inevitably, broken office supplies! Wow, how couldn’t you win with that equation?

Well, I’ll be mindful and turn back to myself. [It’s good to give the humor crutch a rest.]

Courage, along with adaptivity and open-mindedness have been nurtured by my upbringing-- and well, that’s really what makes up Anna Min. I’m always surprised by the wide range of experiences, hard and happy, that any person has been through-- so I guess I wouldn’t expect any less from you all, as my audience today.

As few would immediately guess, I grew up on welfare. When not public assistance, my mother dedicatedly worked full weeks (for half of what I get paid today!), and she saved, and we had a car. Money was real tight, but no one went hungry. My mother had seen it worse, growing up in Korea after the war. Maybe that’s why she’s such a courageous woman. I remember her coming home after driving her school bus, having dealt with taunts all day from the kids who made fun of her broken English. Each night I helped her write their conduct reports, I’d retort with perfect grammar.

Perfect grammar on the yellow, white, AND pink sheet… try messing with my mother now. *brow raise*

Needless to say once my mother started gambling, things got rough. But I needed money, so I got a job—and it was that simple. This was middle school, and I was doing data entry at a local non-profit. I had my priorities together, they worked against harmful welfare reform, the kind that lets a family get cut off assistance because of a filing error. [It had happened to my mother before, her dutiful and timely reporting lost in the stacks… and we really hurt that month when they took away over half our monthly grant. Rough, and unfair.]

Okay, so I had that job, and funny enough, I finally felt secure enough to come out. During my coming out, I found renewed strength in my friendships, and also, had my bout with depression. I struggled with finding community, feeling valued, and having hope. Plus I was searching for someone to look up to, a role model. Ideally a successful butch, queer, woman of color with first-generation Korean immigrant roots… I’m still looking, by the way.

Climbing out of the dark and finding my community, well, I wouldn’t bill that as courageous—it’s instinctual, no? I really think open-mindedness, the ability to stay receptive to new opportunities and ideas, is really what got me up out of the dumps back then.
Now, how to connect adaptivity? Well, I want to share an observation with you, it’s one that’s interesting to think about: poor kids pay attention to how richer kids behave, but the reverse rarely happens. *pause*

If you don’t have the idea yet… poor kids don’t want to stay poor, so they pay attention to what will make them richer. Now, don’t assume that I’m all for reckless capitalism and competition. I get enough of that majoring in economics at one of the nation’s most liberal liberal-arts colleges. I guess that’s why I find it important to say that I really believe in taking care of my society—I have been blessed by the universe to have become an adaptable human being, which is a tool I can teach others to use too. Being open-minded and adaptive leads to creativity, and creativity leads to innovation, and innovation and invention advance our society’s quality of life.

[Getting back to the previous observation: Growing up, having ‘fun’ definitely felt like a rich kid’s pleasure. Imagine this: I’m watching movies like Ritchie Rich (little rich blond kid having lots of fun) on network TV instead of going out to play because there’s been too much fighting in the neighborhood. **imagine** ]

I grew up in Well Fargo’s backyard, and I think it’s important for everyone to remember that people of lesser means outnumber those with our many privileges. [Some people aren’t getting a fair shake, and I want to see them get it. The best way I could put it is: I work to achieve a net positive change in the world, because I believe that we’ll all have a better shot at greatness that way. I’m too small to know the all the implications of my actions, but I try my best to make them good ones—and I do a lot of hoping.]

(If time short, go to conclusion:) Well, I think I’ve touched on most everything… how I appreciate the art of conversation, strive to be courageous like my mother, stay open-minded to keep abreast of all of my surroundings, and adapt to whatever the situation brings. Well, I want to end by extending an open invitation to everyone in the room: if you are seeking a conversation buddy—I’d be more than happy to oblige. Thank You."
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[All below omitted to ring it at a final time of 6:14]
[Heck, what if the next great composer or computer scientist is growing up today in E-building off of 4th street? That’s why I volunteer with organizations such as District 202, where I first started as staff, then became the DJ program coordinator, and finally, served as Secretary on the Board of Directors. District is a GLBT youth center, located just minutes away from our tower. They provide space and coordination for discussion groups, performances, workshops, even homework help—and it’s all made possible by community support.

And, speaking of community support, I now volunteer on the communications committee of Philanthrofund Foundation. They actually granted me three scholarships my freshman year of college, which made a world of difference. Scholarships may seem like regular business for some house holds, but for my mother and I, it meant that the world was willing to accept her child, even if she wasn’t straight. When I was invited to help out the PFund, I jumped at the chance. These days, with my time shuffled between work and academics—I find donating a most satisfying task. Imagine how many of our problems today could be solved if everyone gave just a dollar… well, truth is, many of us can afford more than a dollar. Plus, donations aren’t like taxes, you know where you’re putting your money, and hopefully it’s where your mouth is.]
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Things that went well (according to group feedback): I was bold, open, "no bullshit", poised, sincere, clear, succinct, and geniune. I projected my voice well across the large conference room, and received comments on the use of vocal variety (inflections, pitch, volume...). I used my written speech naturally, spoke freely, not distracting the audience when I referred back to my notes. My conclusion was described as 'deft' by my personal evaluator, and the grammarian really enjoyed my use of 'heck' and 'juiced up'. One of my evaluations commented that my presentation looked well practiced, wow-- for writing it that morning!!

For our resident economist, a much more experienced Toastmaster-- the takeaway point was "the less fortunate".

One of the co-founders of the group said on his evaluation "You described yourself as Butch. Queer. This shows your confidence in yourself + your COURAGE!" and "Your voice is pleasant to hear. Have you thought about doing radio?"

Things that I could improve upon:
-Turning control over to the Toastmaster after my speech, because that's good meeting ettiquette
-Beginning with my key points instead of introducing them one by one
-Allowing for more, and planning for, pausing time after hard-hitting points, complex thoughts, or humor, part of which would be alleviated by a shorter written speech. (note how much material was skipped, rather seamlessly, but still skipped)

Things I want to do:
-Write shorter sentences and get rid of wordy words
-Videotape myself giving a speech
-Watch the use of slang (appropriate place, appropriate people)
-Pee