Have you ever missed opportunities in life because of fear or a lack of experience? I have, and I regret those missed opportunities.

Let me share a story with you about the first area speech contest I organized as an Area Governor for my Toastmasters district. This was back in 2013, and I had 6 clubs in my area at that time.

One of my responsibilities as Area Governor was to organize the area level speech contest for the clubs in my area. I had no problem finding volunteers and working with others to find a venue for the event. I also prepared and printed the agenda, and I kept in contact with the contestants and contest officials. I also recruited the judges for the contest.

However, I had never run a speech contest before at the area level, or at any other level, and I did not have the courage to run the contest on the day of the event. Instead, I delegated the running of the contest to Judy, a fellow member of my Toastmasters club.

Judy ran the contest and gave out the awards. What did I do? I sat in the audience and did not have any role in the contest. I didn’t even hand the awards to the winners, even though I should have done so as Area Governor and contest chair.

Lack of Confidence

Lack of confidence kept me from participating in the area contest I organized. I let my inexperience and fear of failure stop me from experiencing what it was like to run the contest on the day of event. However, I only let that happen once.

Since then, I have organized many contests and I have taken on speaking roles at some of those contests, including serving as contest Toastmaster. I gained confidence by doing so, and I have even been contest Toastmaster for a district level contest with more than 100 people in the audience. I have also served in all other contest official rules, even the test speaker.

Now I have confidence in running Toastmasters speech contests. I have also learned that is important to try new things despite a lack of experience. This is how we learn, grow, and develop increased confidence and new skills. I even branched out and organized club officer training events.

Conclusion

Don’t miss out on opportunities in your life. Lack of experience doesn’t have to stop you. You can face your fears and try something new, which will give you increased self-confidence and new skills.

Don’t just work behind the scenes. Have the courage to step out of your comfort zone and try something new.