Title: My understanding of toastmasters values

Dear fellow toastmasters, and guests,

[introduction]

do you know the 4 core values of toastmasters? we have them on every agenda at the bottom. Yes, they are excellence, respect, service and integrity.

I shall explain my understanding of them and with the help of the 16th President of the United State – Abraham Lincoln, I hope to bring those words to life.

The first value is Excellence. Excellence means to complete our duty to the best of our ability. It does not mean that whatever we do is perfect.

Abraham Lincoln was born in near-poverty. His father was a carpenter and a farmer. Although he was respected, he was poor and couldn’t read or write. Lincoln had only about 1 year at school. With his mothers’ encouragement, he understood excellence and self-improvement at a very young age. He taught himself how to write, read and borrowed books from others to learn more.

When he turned 21, he left his home for bigger cities. There, he found his passion Law, and had the opportunity to practice debating and public speaking – a skill that served him well later on. With his friends’ support and his desire to learn, he became a lawyer and earned a reputation that elevated him to be one of the finest in his state.

The second value is Respect. Respect is our willingness to accept and to treat others as our equal, even though they have different opinions, strengths, abilities, goals and weakness.

Back then, many black people were held as slaves. Lincoln believed that the blacks are men too, and that all men are created equal and free, and that they have a right to enjoy their fruit of labour.

At that time the US was expanding. What to do with slavery in these new territories became a HOT POTATO. Since slavery had already existed, he believed that we should accept slavery where it was, out of necessity; stop it from going anywhere else, out of principles.

Many in the South disagreed. A house divided against itself cannot stand. This disagreement was ripping the country apart violently .

The third value is service. At toastmasters, we help each other grow and provide the space for them to develop at their own pace without them feeling pressured or pushed.

The service Lincoln provided was in his speeches and debates, which provided clarity in thinking and principles, inspiration and leadership. As a politician, ambitious to lead, he argued against slavery and contested the presidency.

He inspired others to believe that it was good to lift artificial weights from all shoulders – to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all, to afford all, an unfettered start, and a fair chance, in the race of life. He said: Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.

The final value of toastmaster is integrity. To have integrity is to be honest with your actions, feelings, and words, to be ethical and to keep your promises. We help out whenever possible, attend meetings, and are friendly to each other.

Lincoln entered the White House with the promise to keep the country together as one. That meant winning the civil war against the South and bringing them back.

The 4-year civil war tested Lincoln’s integrity. He dealt with difficult officials with vastly different opinions, replaced incompetent generals who lost in battlefields, saw destruction, death, damages and bloodshed that turned rivers red, broke the law to keep the law which drew increased criticism.

on a personal level, he lost his beloved son to disease and his wife nearly gone mad and treated him poorly. He sank into depression.

Nonetheless, he endured. And waited patiently. Finally, he found a team of generals who could bring victory and reunite the country once and for all.

With great timing and skills, he issued the law that paved the way to eventually free all slaves. In front of the dead, he said: from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that this nation….. shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.

Toastmasters clubs are a place for us to nurture our characters on a small stage to prepare us for the world stage. With excellence and integrity, respect and service, let us speak as he spoke and act as he acted.