Episode #60 - Stories That We Can Tell Ourselves & To Others: An Interview With Alexandre Matte

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Welcome to the podcast where relationships, confidence, and

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determination, all converge into an amazing, heartfelt experience.

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This is Speaking From The Heart.

Joshua: 00:00:11

Welcome back to episode number 60 of Speaking From the Heart, and today

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we're featuring another Toastmaster that has made a positive contribution

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to society as a whole, and again, I appreciate all the Toastmasters that have

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been on the show and have shared their experiences in the month of November,

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so If you are interested in checking out what Toastmasters is all about,

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check out the link in the episode notes.

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You'll be able to find a club near you that will be able to provide a opportunity

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for you to practice your communication and leadership skills, but today we

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have an international Toastmaster coming from Canada; Alexandre Matte, and is a

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storyteller who can transport you to the time and the place that he's describing.

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He practices the art of storytelling every day with his most difficult audience:

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his three daughters age two to 10, and being the recipient of the Storytellers

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of Canada Emerging Storyteller Award in 2018, Alexandre is a professional

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speaker and storyteller and an occasional actor on stage or television.

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He has multiple times been decorated at the International Speech Contest

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in Toastmasters in which he had placed second, or what I like to call first

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runner up, in the World Championship of Public Speaking in 2022 out

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of a field of 30,000 contestants.

Joshua: 00:01:31

After 15 years of managing finances of cultural organizations, most recently

Joshua: 00:01:36

as the Director of Finance of the oldest cultural center in French Ontario, he

Joshua: 00:01:40

transitioned from counting to speaking, and since that time, Alexandre has

Joshua: 00:01:44

created the standout community, making professional coaching accessible to

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all, and he is also the host, along with his co-host, Roger Caesar,

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of the Weekly Great Convos podcast.

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Now I have to say that in this episode we not only explore his journey to get

Joshua: 00:02:00

to the World Championship of Public Speaking, similar to Rich Hopkins who we

Joshua: 00:02:04

just interviewed, but we also talk about some of the things that have made him to

Joshua: 00:02:09

be really successful in what he is today, and more importantly, he has helped me,

Joshua: 00:02:15

even in this interview, to realize the true importance of what Toastmasters, let

Joshua: 00:02:19

alone contests in general, can do to bring the very best version of ourselves out,

Joshua: 00:02:24

in which we describe quite clearly, and with to such surprise to me, that I was

Joshua: 00:02:30

even acknowledging the fact that he spoke some truth as it relates to that subject.

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But with that, let's go to the episode.

Joshua: 00:02:39

All right.

Joshua: 00:02:39

We're here with Alexandre Matte.

Joshua: 00:02:41

Alexandre, thank you for sharing your heart with us today.

Alexandre: 00:02:45

It's a pleasure to be here with you.

Alexandre: 00:02:47

Joshua.

Joshua: 00:02:48

Yes.

Alexandre: 00:02:48

Thanks for having me.

Joshua: 00:02:49

Yeah, thank you so much and I really have been excited to have

Joshua: 00:02:52

this interview with you, especially that one of the idols, essentially

Joshua: 00:02:56

of the World Championship of Public Speaking is here, the first runner

Joshua: 00:02:59

up from 2022, so that means so much to me that you have taken some time

Joshua: 00:03:04

to do this, so thank you as well.

Joshua: 00:03:07

Alexandre, I really want to talk a lot today about not just what has

Joshua: 00:03:12

gotten you started in public speaking, but really about how you've gotten

Joshua: 00:03:16

through that journey, so let's break this up into some bite-sized pieces.

Joshua: 00:03:19

First off, I know that my audience was really excited to hear about your journey,

Joshua: 00:03:25

essentially getting to where you're at, but what actually got you started

Joshua: 00:03:29

in Toastmasters in the first place?

Joshua: 00:03:31

Can you talk about that a little bit?

Alexandre: 00:03:33

We would have to go back to 2007.

Alexandre: 00:03:37

I was new to this city in Sudbury, Northern Ontario.

Alexandre: 00:03:43

I was there for work and that's essentially all I did, because

Alexandre: 00:03:49

I had no family, no friends.

Alexandre: 00:03:51

When the workday was over, I just went to my small apartment.

Alexandre: 00:03:54

I watched an episode of Star Trek and that was it.

Joshua: 00:03:57

I love, and you're speaking right to my love language of Star Trek or even

Joshua: 00:04:01

just talking about that before the show.

Alexandre: 00:04:03

That's right.

Alexandre: 00:04:04

Yeah, so I had nothing to do during the evening, so one Wednesday afternoon, when

Alexandre: 00:04:09

I got an email through my work email I saw an invitation to join a Toastmasters club.

Alexandre: 00:04:16

"Come practice your speaking skills", or, "Come see what we can offer for you."

Alexandre: 00:04:22

I thought " Okay, Toastmasters, so, okay, I guess it's a bunch

Alexandre: 00:04:25

of people practicing toasts.

Alexandre: 00:04:26

I've got nothing better to do.

Alexandre: 00:04:28

I might as well go", and it was right beside my workplace anyway, and I

Alexandre: 00:04:32

didn't have a car, so it was perfect.

Alexandre: 00:04:34

The stars were aligned.

Alexandre: 00:04:36

I went to see them and I thought, "Okay, this is going to be really

Alexandre: 00:04:39

strange being in a room full of people who are really good at public speaking

Alexandre: 00:04:44

and can speak so well", and then I realized, "Oh, they're not so good.",

Alexandre: 00:04:50

or wait, that sounds a little mean, but they're not all professional speakers.

Alexandre: 00:04:53

They're not.

Alexandre: 00:04:54

They are there because they want to improve their skills and there were some

Alexandre: 00:05:01

who were just getting started and some who had been there for a long while.

Alexandre: 00:05:05

They had me participate in the Table Topics improvisation,

Alexandre: 00:05:10

and I just had fun with it.

Alexandre: 00:05:11

I was extremely nervous standing up in front of these people and I

Alexandre: 00:05:16

realized, "Oh man, if I'm nervous, just speaking for one minute, how am

Alexandre: 00:05:20

I going to get a good career if I want to make it farther in wherever I am?"

Alexandre: 00:05:25

Now, keep in mind this was 15, almost 16 years ago, so I was quite young

Alexandre: 00:05:31

just getting started professionally, so I knew it was going to be important

Alexandre: 00:05:35

for me to be able to express myself in front of a group, whether it be at

Alexandre: 00:05:39

work or elsewhere, and there were some members there who I admired particularly.

Alexandre: 00:05:45

I can mention Michel.

Alexandre: 00:05:47

Michel Lafrance, who was the president of the club, and just the way he

Alexandre: 00:05:51

conducted the meeting and commanded the silence, I thought, "Huh.

Alexandre: 00:06:01

That would be nice to have as a skill, so it took me still a few weeks to make

Alexandre: 00:06:08

up my mind, but because the members were so nice and kind and generous, I joined

Alexandre: 00:06:13

finally four weeks later, and, just a few months later that they said, "Hey.

Alexandre: 00:06:17

You should be the president of this club."

Alexandre: 00:06:20

"Ah, oh, really?

Alexandre: 00:06:21

Okay."

Joshua: 00:06:22

I have to interrupt.

Joshua: 00:06:23

I have to tell you that's sort of what happened to me too, was like, "Oh, I'll

Joshua: 00:06:26

join", and being in the United States myself, I joined a club and literally

Joshua: 00:06:30

three months later I was like, "Hey, can you be president while you're doing

Joshua: 00:06:32

that and learning everything?", so, i'm glad that we have that in common.

Joshua: 00:06:35

Thank you.

Joshua: 00:06:36

Somebody finally says the same thing that I've been through.

Alexandre: 00:06:39

Yeah, and what was interesting is that the role of president sounds

Alexandre: 00:06:42

super important and a lot of work.

Alexandre: 00:06:47

It is, but my first year as president, I was so well surrounded by the other

Alexandre: 00:06:52

executives that, it's like I almost didn't need to do anything because the outgoing

Alexandre: 00:06:57

president was with me and pushing me when I needed to, and all the vice presidents

Alexandre: 00:07:03

and anyway, really great team and we managed to get the great results that

Alexandre: 00:07:07

year, but it's that year as a president that then they gave me another challenge.

Alexandre: 00:07:13

It was Sue Glazier who said, "It looks like you are really starting

Alexandre: 00:07:18

to enjoy talking in front of us.

Alexandre: 00:07:20

I think you should start talking in front of other people as well.

Alexandre: 00:07:24

You need to join the International Speech Contest."

Joshua: 00:07:29

Mm.

Alexandre: 00:07:31

Wow, and I probably said, "Nope, nope.

Alexandre: 00:07:35

Competing; trying to beat other people; I hate it."

Alexandre: 00:07:39

I really despise competition.

Alexandre: 00:07:41

I rejected it, but Sue was so wise, so gracious, she said, "Stop looking

Alexandre: 00:07:49

at it as trying to beat other people.

Alexandre: 00:07:53

I see, Alexandre, that you really want to improve your public speaking.

Alexandre: 00:07:58

If you want the best way, the best path to improving your public speaking

Alexandre: 00:08:04

skills, the contest is that path."

Joshua: 00:08:08

When you were preparing for even the International Speech Contest

Joshua: 00:08:11

for the first time, did you have a sense of nervousness, or even fear,

Joshua: 00:08:16

of what other people might think, because you literally said that

Joshua: 00:08:20

you've seen the engagement of others.

Joshua: 00:08:23

You were really, really good at that, but yet, here you are, you're

Joshua: 00:08:27

going to compete in front of a whole bunch of other people that don't

Joshua: 00:08:30

know your speaking style whatsoever.

Joshua: 00:08:32

Was that a weight on your shoulders?

Alexandre: 00:08:35

Whew.

Alexandre: 00:08:36

Hey, good question.

Alexandre: 00:08:37

I have to think back, so 2009 is the first time I participated in the speech contest.

Alexandre: 00:08:42

I do remember the first time I competed just at my club,

Alexandre: 00:08:46

I was a little bit nervous.

Alexandre: 00:08:48

The first time I competed, I went through all the stages.

Alexandre: 00:08:52

I went at the club, at the area, the division, I went to the district, and

Alexandre: 00:08:57

then the district is probably the most nerve wracking because there's 200 or 300

Alexandre: 00:09:01

people in the room, and I'm relatively new I think by that time, because of all

Alexandre: 00:09:07

the practice I had done, I was already feeling much more confident, but still

Alexandre: 00:09:12

quite nervous because the nervousness arrives when I am not well prepared or

Alexandre: 00:09:18

well-rehearsed or when it's something new, so if you've got something new and it's

Alexandre: 00:09:23

not well rehearsed, then that's the worst possible point, so as long as I was well

Alexandre: 00:09:26

prepared, even if it was a new environment such as the district speech contest in

Alexandre: 00:09:32

front of 200 people that I don't know or have just met, I was fine with it.

Alexandre: 00:09:38

Instead, going to the next step, that was even more nerve wracking because

Alexandre: 00:09:42

then I was going to another city in the United States, with literally nobody

Alexandre: 00:09:46

that I knew, so I was quite nervous going into that other stage, so it's

Alexandre: 00:09:52

really interesting that I get these experiences one by one, and by going

Alexandre: 00:09:58

through it, then I was better equipped to do it again in the years that followed.

Joshua: 00:10:03

I'm curious, before you actually had your run to the WCPS,

Joshua: 00:10:07

or the World Championship of Public Speaking, how many times did you

Joshua: 00:10:10

actually go through the competition cycle until you got to that point?

Joshua: 00:10:15

Is there a number that you can fix to this whole time?

Alexandre: 00:10:18

Yeah.

Alexandre: 00:10:19

I remember counting them; so I started in 2009 and the last time was in 2022, so

Alexandre: 00:10:25

that's 14 possible times to participate.

Alexandre: 00:10:31

For one year, I didn't participate because I was into the politics of Toastmasters.

Alexandre: 00:10:35

I was a district officer for one year.

Alexandre: 00:10:38

I didn't compete because I was a new father, so I was on maternity leave.

Alexandre: 00:10:43

So does that mean I competed; 11 times!

Joshua: 00:10:46

Wow.

Alexandre: 00:10:46

11 times.

Joshua: 00:10:48

What made doing it the 12th time, I guess that if I did my math correctly,

Joshua: 00:10:53

doing it that 11th or 12th time, getting to really being the first runner up of

Joshua: 00:10:59

the World Champion of Public Speaking, what do you say you did differently

Joshua: 00:11:03

that time than the other times?

Alexandre: 00:11:05

Mm-hmm.

Joshua: 00:11:05

Was there a magic formula that you utilized because knowing your

Joshua: 00:11:09

background, being a storyteller yourself, I think that it's really important to be

Joshua: 00:11:13

able to express and share our stories, and being fellow coach, I know that

Joshua: 00:11:17

I work on that a lot with my clients, is have your story so that you have

Joshua: 00:11:20

something to share, so I'm wondering, did you have your story ready to share

Joshua: 00:11:24

this time to really push it forward?

Alexandre: 00:11:27

Yeah.

Alexandre: 00:11:28

You know what?

Alexandre: 00:11:28

Something changed in my approach this last time, so 10 or 11; we'll have to

Alexandre: 00:11:33

write in the show notes exactly how many.

Joshua: 00:11:35

Yeah, yeah.

Joshua: 00:11:36

We'll have to figure that out.

Alexandre: 00:11:37

I'll fix the math.

Joshua: 00:11:37

Yeah, we'll fix the math, and for those that are listening,

Joshua: 00:11:40

you can check out the show notes.

Joshua: 00:11:41

We'll definitely put that in there.

Joshua: 00:11:42

Go ahead.

Alexandre: 00:11:44

So a while ago, I guess 2010, 2011, I was getting ready for the contest,

Alexandre: 00:11:51

and I had just followed a workshop in which they asked just tell a story.

Alexandre: 00:11:58

Think of a story that you've lived through, that you've never told publicly,

Alexandre: 00:12:03

and what is it, and I immediately thought of my trip that I had in

Alexandre: 00:12:08

Jerusalem just one or two years before.

Alexandre: 00:12:11

Okay.

Alexandre: 00:12:12

I want to share about that almost magical moment that I had when I was

Alexandre: 00:12:16

at the Western Wall of the Holy Temple of Jerusalem, so I developed a story

Alexandre: 00:12:21

around that and it really helped.

Alexandre: 00:12:23

I made it to the world semifinals that year, but my other speeches, among other

Alexandre: 00:12:29

years, I was using the same approach, finding a nice story that I enjoy telling,

Alexandre: 00:12:35

but every time I had difficulty or it took long time to figure out why I was

Alexandre: 00:12:40

sharing the story, so two years ago, I was sharing a story of a going to the

Alexandre: 00:12:48

Eiffel Tower in Paris with my family.

Alexandre: 00:12:51

It's a really, really fun story about planning the perfect visit, but

Alexandre: 00:12:56

finally, it's not as perfect as planned, obviously, but I was struggling and

Alexandre: 00:13:02

with my coach, we managed to figure out a message, but notice I say a

Alexandre: 00:13:08

message, and not the message, because it could have gone different ways.

Alexandre: 00:13:14

Last year when I was preparing for the world championship, when I finally made

Alexandre: 00:13:17

it to the final, I reversed the process.

Alexandre: 00:13:20

I started with the message I wanted to share with the world, and it all was

Alexandre: 00:13:26

from one single experience during a ski trip when I was a lot younger, and I had

Alexandre: 00:13:34

learned that lesson, but I had parked that idea aside because it wasn't a speech,

Alexandre: 00:13:40

it wasn't even a story, it was just a very short conversation that I had with

Alexandre: 00:13:44

a friend, and when I discussed that idea with Mark Hunter, 2009 World Champion

Alexandre: 00:13:52

of Public Speaking, and my coach last year, he said, "I think we can make this

Alexandre: 00:13:56

work", and together we figured out how to weave a speech around that message.

Alexandre: 00:14:05

It was a lot of work, much more than my previous way of doing it, which

Alexandre: 00:14:11

was just find a story, tell the story, and then make a point, but it was so

Alexandre: 00:14:16

rewarding because I created, I think, the best speech of my life for that

Alexandre: 00:14:26

speech that made it all the way to the semi-finals of the World Championship.

Alexandre: 00:14:30

Now, for the final speech, I needed to create a new speech, and the way that

Alexandre: 00:14:36

I did that, because I had less time to work on it, I took a speech that I had

Alexandre: 00:14:41

developed a few years ago, but again, I was telling a story about my family

Alexandre: 00:14:47

and our family recipe and the no baked cake, if you remember that, Joshua?

Joshua: 00:14:52

Yes, I do, and for my listeners, you definitely want to

Joshua: 00:14:56

check out the no baked cake recipe.

Joshua: 00:14:58

I won't give it away.

Joshua: 00:14:59

I'll let you do if you want to.

Alexandre: 00:15:00

Yes, of course, so, a nice story about my family, about the

Alexandre: 00:15:04

family recipe, but the message wasn't exactly what I wanted to share, what

Alexandre: 00:15:09

it had just been this is so easy.

Alexandre: 00:15:11

You don't know the importance of family.

Alexandre: 00:15:13

Be there with your family when they're there, blah, blah, blah.

Alexandre: 00:15:16

We've heard that before, so I told my coach, Mark, I said, "I really want

Alexandre: 00:15:20

this to be about tradition, but I don't know how to weave this message into my

Alexandre: 00:15:27

story", so we needed other examples.

Alexandre: 00:15:30

We needed other anecdotes and together we managed to figure out how to do it.

Alexandre: 00:15:34

In other words, that was a long-winded way of saying, I concentrated, first

Alexandre: 00:15:40

of all, on the message that I wanted to deliver to my audiences, and

Alexandre: 00:15:46

because I was so passionate about those messages, that's why everything,

Alexandre: 00:15:52

all my actions that I did, whether it was editing my speech, rehearsing it,

Alexandre: 00:15:57

or trying to get some evaluations, I was always thinking, " Is this action

Alexandre: 00:16:00

that I'm doing getting me closer to my objective of getting my message across?"

Alexandre: 00:16:06

By starting with the message, I was able to get much farther

Alexandre: 00:16:09

into the contest because it made for much more powerful speeches.

Joshua: 00:16:15

Backing up a bit, before you even hit the stage, knowing that you were

Joshua: 00:16:18

going to be in the semi-finals, tell me the feeling, or the feelings, that you

Joshua: 00:16:23

had that ran through you, knowing that you had made it that far at that point.

Joshua: 00:16:28

Was there a sense of trepidation, excitement, fear of, "Oh my

Joshua: 00:16:34

gosh, I can't believe I did it.

Joshua: 00:16:35

Now I have to figure out how I might need to make this speech even better because

Joshua: 00:16:39

I'm going to go against the world at this point; some of the best of the best?"

Joshua: 00:16:43

Was that overwhelming for you, or was that sort of a validation?

Joshua: 00:16:49

I'm always curious, especially being that I've been a Toastmaster myself, and my

Joshua: 00:16:53

audience has known this, for almost 11 and a half years at this point, getting

Joshua: 00:16:57

onto almost 12 years, I know that for myself, I always wonder what's going

Joshua: 00:17:02

through the people's minds that are going through this process, and I got

Joshua: 00:17:07

a little bit of a taste of it from Rich Hopkins who was just on the show, and I

Joshua: 00:17:11

was showing you a little bit about that.

Joshua: 00:17:12

Rich's story is unique in itself of how he organized a group of people to have dinner

Joshua: 00:17:18

and everyone looked at him like, "Wait.

Joshua: 00:17:20

I don't want to have dinner with you.

Joshua: 00:17:21

You're my competition", but he had a unique taste to what he's

Joshua: 00:17:26

been through, but I'm kind of curious what happened with you?

Alexandre: 00:17:30

Yeah, and Rich, what can you say, has a supporting

Alexandre: 00:17:32

role in a big movie in 2008.

Joshua: 00:17:35

Yes.

Joshua: 00:17:35

We talked about that too.

Alexandre: 00:17:36

2008.

Alexandre: 00:17:36

Yeah, yeah-

Joshua: 00:17:37

Yeah.

Alexandre: 00:17:37

Movie SPEAK, so it was incredible to see his transformation,

Alexandre: 00:17:41

his way of how he changed his way of seeing the contest, and I

Alexandre: 00:17:45

had that sort of experience too.

Alexandre: 00:17:46

I think many people who participate in the contest, they often,

Alexandre: 00:17:50

they start and think, "Ah.

Alexandre: 00:17:51

I want to be the world champion.

Alexandre: 00:17:53

I'm going to get glory.

Alexandre: 00:17:54

Everybody's going to like me.", and then there's a point when we realize, "Huh.

Alexandre: 00:17:58

Maybe that's not why I am here.

Alexandre: 00:18:01

Maybe there's another objective."

Alexandre: 00:18:05

When I received the news, I actually didn't receive the news until a friend

Alexandre: 00:18:10

called me because I was on the road.

Alexandre: 00:18:12

I was driving to chalet or we're going to have a week with my

Alexandre: 00:18:17

mother-in-law, so I'm there in the car.

Alexandre: 00:18:19

My spouse is beside me.

Alexandre: 00:18:21

Our three kids are in the back, and it's end of June; probably June

Alexandre: 00:18:25

30, and I've been waiting for this news to come for weeks, so I've

Alexandre: 00:18:30

put it aside, I'm thinking, "Ah.

Alexandre: 00:18:32

I don't know.

Alexandre: 00:18:32

Am I going to make it or not to the semifinals?", and I receive a phone call.

Alexandre: 00:18:38

It gets through the Bluetooth in the car system, and I see it's from Roger Caesar,

Alexandre: 00:18:44

my friend from my area, my district, and also the guy who won third place the

Alexandre: 00:18:51

World Championship just the year before.

Alexandre: 00:18:53

I said, "Hey.

Alexandre: 00:18:54

Roger, what are you doing?", and he says, "Ahhhh, Alex.

Alexandre: 00:18:56

Oh, you made it.

Alexandre: 00:18:57

I'm so happy.", and he's just so excited as he usually is,

Alexandre: 00:19:02

but even more than usual, I'm thinking, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, Roger.

Alexandre: 00:19:05

Wait a minute.

Alexandre: 00:19:05

Whoa, whoa.

Alexandre: 00:19:07

Are you telling me that I; can I guess why you're calling me?

Alexandre: 00:19:10

Am I through?"

Alexandre: 00:19:11

"Yeah.

Alexandre: 00:19:12

Didn't you, didn't you get the email?

Alexandre: 00:19:13

I got the news really quickly.

Alexandre: 00:19:15

I wanted to call you", so he's the one who called me before I had a chance to

Alexandre: 00:19:20

read the email, so it was quite exciting, and then we arrived at the destination.

Alexandre: 00:19:25

I was thinking, "Okay, now.

Alexandre: 00:19:27

Whew.

Alexandre: 00:19:27

This is exciting.

Alexandre: 00:19:28

I've got the opportunity that I've been looking for 10 years", because

Alexandre: 00:19:31

the previous time I made it to the world semifinals was in 2012,

Alexandre: 00:19:36

exactly 10 years earlier, and I don't want to use the word fail, but

Alexandre: 00:19:39

just not quite made it to the final.

Alexandre: 00:19:41

I was this close to make it to the finals, so when I realized I've

Alexandre: 00:19:45

got this opportunity now, I guess two thoughts came in my mind.

Alexandre: 00:19:50

First, "All right, now what do I do to get this opportunity to share my big

Alexandre: 00:19:56

message in front of the biggest stage of my life in the world championship?",

Alexandre: 00:20:01

so, in other words, to make my semi-final speech so good that I make

Alexandre: 00:20:04

it through, and the second is, "Huh.

Alexandre: 00:20:08

I guess I should have been preparing for the past month.

Joshua: 00:20:12

Yeah, maybe it might've been a good idea to maybe just have that ready.

Alexandre: 00:20:16

Yeah, and that's what I've been telling to people who win their district.

Alexandre: 00:20:21

There's a one, two, or even more month period where you're just waiting for the

Alexandre: 00:20:27

results of the regional quarterfinals, and during that time, some of them

Alexandre: 00:20:34

are working on their final speech in case they make it through, and

Alexandre: 00:20:37

others are like me and think, "Ah.

Alexandre: 00:20:40

Either I'm not going to make it or I don't have time", and that was sort of me.

Alexandre: 00:20:44

I mean, I was very busy in the month of May and June with

Alexandre: 00:20:47

visiting schools, giving workshops.

Alexandre: 00:20:50

I was traveling also.

Alexandre: 00:20:52

That's why I had put the contest aside.

Alexandre: 00:20:54

I guess, a little bit secretly, hoping that I wouldn't make it through so that

Alexandre: 00:21:00

I wouldn't have all this work to do, but I was so excited when I got the news.

Alexandre: 00:21:03

I thought, "All right, this is my chance to represent my district, my

Alexandre: 00:21:09

city, my friends, and to make the best possible speeches that I can

Alexandre: 00:21:14

make so that my messages come across."

Joshua: 00:21:17

You have a similar story to a friend of mine that I have

Joshua: 00:21:21

known for many years, and you have even followed probably yourself.

Joshua: 00:21:25

Mr.

Joshua: 00:21:25

Aaron Beverly, who aaron Beverly took the first runner up during his year in

Joshua: 00:21:31

which a couple years before he actually did win then the World Championship of

Joshua: 00:21:35

Public Speaking, and I know that for him it was something that was really

Joshua: 00:21:40

and tremendous opportunity for him.

Joshua: 00:21:42

He's really gone on to do a lot of different things for himself, which I've

Joshua: 00:21:46

been following closely myself, and love to have Aaron on the show at some point.

Joshua: 00:21:50

It's even talk about his experiences with this too, to kind of have a comparison

Joshua: 00:21:53

to you, but I'm kind of curious.

Joshua: 00:21:57

Knowing that you were first runner up, are you disappointed that you were just this

Joshua: 00:22:01

close and I'm just holding my fingers up being this close, very small chance of

Joshua: 00:22:05

just being able to be the world champion?

Joshua: 00:22:08

Are you disappointed in that, and if you're not, or if you

Joshua: 00:22:11

are, can you explain why?

Alexandre: 00:22:14

Well, disappointed isn't the correct word.

Joshua: 00:22:17

I was hoping you would say that and correct me.

Joshua: 00:22:19

That was my trap I was setting.

Joshua: 00:22:21

I'm glad that you didn't fall for it.

Alexandre: 00:22:23

If you look at the announcement; go to the recording of

Alexandre: 00:22:26

the announcements of the results when they announced second place winner.

Alexandre: 00:22:30

I think you just barely see me jumping up and down, because I was so excited

Alexandre: 00:22:34

just for the recognition of placing in the top three, and also I could

Alexandre: 00:22:41

say, I don't know if Roger Caesar is listening, but I thought, "Ha,

Alexandre: 00:22:45

I've made it better than Roger."

Alexandre: 00:22:49

Roger and I are great friends, and he's the first one who to call me after the

Alexandre: 00:22:52

results also, he is, "Ah, congratulations!

Alexandre: 00:22:54

Yay!", I said, "Hey, Roger.

Alexandre: 00:22:56

You know what this means?

Alexandre: 00:22:58

I made it farther than you, my friend.

Joshua: 00:22:59

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Joshua: 00:23:01

Good-

Alexandre: 00:23:01

And he said-

Joshua: 00:23:01

That's a good point.

Alexandre: 00:23:01

And then he said, "Oh, well, listen.

Alexandre: 00:23:03

It doesn't matter where you're first, second, or third.

Alexandre: 00:23:06

It doesn't matter.

Alexandre: 00:23:07

What's important is that we're now in the same category", and yeah, it's easy

Alexandre: 00:23:11

to say when you're only third place.

Alexandre: 00:23:14

We have a great relationship, Roger and I.

Alexandre: 00:23:16

That's why we created our podcast.

Joshua: 00:23:18

Yes.

Alexandre: 00:23:18

We talk about that later, but no, I was so excited for that recognition.

Alexandre: 00:23:23

For the past 10 years I had just been working on getting the opportunity

Alexandre: 00:23:29

to share something of importance in front of the world stage.

Alexandre: 00:23:32

I was dreaming of the opportunity to have 2,000, 3,000 people in front of me.

Alexandre: 00:23:39

Now, the context was different.

Alexandre: 00:23:41

I was alone in a studio.

Alexandre: 00:23:42

There were 700 people in the venue in Nashville, but about 4,000 people I hear

Alexandre: 00:23:47

were watching online live, so I did have thousands of people that were there,

Alexandre: 00:23:52

so getting the second place trophy, or prize, was the cherry on top, so I

Alexandre: 00:23:58

wasn't aiming for the title of World Champion, and by the way, when we win

Alexandre: 00:24:04

the championship, we are automatically disqualified from competing again, so this

Alexandre: 00:24:09

means maybe one day I will compete again.

Joshua: 00:24:13

Yes, it does mean that and I know as of this recording when we're

Joshua: 00:24:17

doing this, the 2023 World Championship public speaking hasn't happened yet, so

Joshua: 00:24:21

when you're listening to this, I know that there will be results of that, which

Joshua: 00:24:25

I'll put those links of the results in the show notes that you could take a

Joshua: 00:24:29

look at and even listen to some of the winning speeches, but Alexandre, I'm

Joshua: 00:24:33

really curious about this and this has been something that's been on my mind

Joshua: 00:24:36

for a long time, and from somebody that has gone through the circuits maybe a

Joshua: 00:24:40

dozen times or getting close to a dozen times, and even working with contestants

Joshua: 00:24:44

that are going through this process.

Joshua: 00:24:46

I'm really curious about your thoughts with this.

Joshua: 00:24:49

Do you think that contests help us to become better communicators or even

Joshua: 00:24:54

be better leaders overall, and I guess this answer I'm hoping to hear from you

Joshua: 00:24:59

doesn't have to be necessarily limited to what your experiences have been in

Joshua: 00:25:02

even Toastmasters because, and I am more appealing to the listeners that

Joshua: 00:25:07

aren't Toastmasters have no idea what this is about; what we're talking about.

Joshua: 00:25:11

Do you think that pushing ourselves to become something that we never thought

Joshua: 00:25:15

possible can be done through contests, or does it take a longer process, maybe

Joshua: 00:25:20

working with a coach, maybe working with someone that is pushing you to your upper

Joshua: 00:25:25

boundaries that you never thought you had?

Joshua: 00:25:27

Can you give us your thoughts on that?

Alexandre: 00:25:31

Yeah, of course.

Alexandre: 00:25:34

For me, the contest had been life transforming.

Alexandre: 00:25:38

Participating in the contest was; Hmm, let me think about this so that I'm accurate.

Alexandre: 00:25:46

I think participating in the contest has been more useful for me than all

Alexandre: 00:25:54

the other aspects of the Toastmasters training program, especially in the past

Alexandre: 00:26:03

few years, not only because it helped me hone my public speaking skills, but

Alexandre: 00:26:12

because if I wanted to really be effective in sharing a message, in other words, of

Alexandre: 00:26:24

convincing someone of thinking a certain way or of doing something particular,

Alexandre: 00:26:31

one thing that has been important for me, and this I share with my own coaching

Alexandre: 00:26:37

clients is, are you listening to yourself?

Alexandre: 00:26:42

Oftentimes, sometimes we'll say, "You know, this is why this is more important

Alexandre: 00:26:47

than anything I've got to tell you.

Alexandre: 00:26:49

This is what needs to be done right now, and you've got this big message."

Alexandre: 00:26:55

Then, you ask, "Okay, so how's it been working for you?"

Alexandre: 00:26:59

"Well, sometimes, I don't know.

Alexandre: 00:27:00

It's not so good."

Alexandre: 00:27:01

"Okay.

Alexandre: 00:27:01

Well, are you really living up to the message that you have that you're

Alexandre: 00:27:06

sharing?", so I'll give you an example.

Alexandre: 00:27:07

My semi-final speech last year, it's all about having conversations

Alexandre: 00:27:12

with people with whom you disagree.

Alexandre: 00:27:16

I give the example of a political discussion.

Alexandre: 00:27:18

Those can get heated.

Alexandre: 00:27:21

One example that I was going to use in my speech, that almost made it to

Alexandre: 00:27:25

my final script, was when I saw a post on Facebook from a friend who said

Alexandre: 00:27:32

something like, "If you voted for such candidate, I don't want to know about you.

Alexandre: 00:27:37

You can kindly remove yourself from my friends list and from

Alexandre: 00:27:39

my life.", and I did that.

Alexandre: 00:27:44

I removed myself.

Alexandre: 00:27:45

I thought, "Oh, well if she's not open to conversations, then I'm not

Alexandre: 00:27:48

going to speak with her anymore."

Alexandre: 00:27:51

That was four years before my speech, and I thought, "This is a great

Alexandre: 00:27:54

example because I'm showing people that she's wrong because she's not

Alexandre: 00:27:58

listening to anybody", but it made me realize I wasn't listening to her.

Joshua: 00:28:07

Oh yeah.

Alexandre: 00:28:09

While I was looking through my speech, I'm thinking,

Alexandre: 00:28:12

"I can't share this example.

Alexandre: 00:28:15

I'm a hypocrite.

Alexandre: 00:28:16

If I use this example, not only if I use this example, but if I leave it as it is",

Alexandre: 00:28:23

I reached out to her four years later.

Alexandre: 00:28:27

I just invited her for a conversation and I shared with her what I was doing and why

Alexandre: 00:28:34

I reached out to her, and then I talked about that particular Facebook post.

Alexandre: 00:28:38

You know what she said?

Alexandre: 00:28:39

She said, "Oh, yeah.

Alexandre: 00:28:40

I was really in a bad place at that time and I was feeling mad

Alexandre: 00:28:43

because of the election results.

Alexandre: 00:28:45

I didn't really mean it."

Alexandre: 00:28:47

I'm like, "I should have reached out to her back then.

Alexandre: 00:28:51

It might have prevented the falling out of a relationship.", so are

Alexandre: 00:28:57

you really listening to yourself?

Alexandre: 00:28:59

That's what I mean.

Alexandre: 00:29:00

It really made me think of what I was sharing and go through it all, so

Alexandre: 00:29:05

if people, when they're working on a speech this much, like you're working

Alexandre: 00:29:10

for months and months, for one moment that will last seven minutes long.

Alexandre: 00:29:15

One speech; and if you really dig deep into your own life to figure out,

Alexandre: 00:29:20

"Okay, are you living your own message?"

Alexandre: 00:29:22

If you're not, it means that you've got something to correct before

Alexandre: 00:29:25

sharing that message, so that's why participating in the speech contest,

Alexandre: 00:29:30

for me, has been instrumental not only in making me a better speaker,

Alexandre: 00:29:35

but in making me a better person.

Joshua: 00:29:38

Thank you for that, because for some skeptics, which I will freely admit

Joshua: 00:29:43

to even you and my audience, and you know this because we've had conversations and

Joshua: 00:29:47

you were even surprised to see this too.

Joshua: 00:29:49

I often felt that contests might not always be the best vehicle for ways

Joshua: 00:29:54

in which we can improve ourselves, but I think today, you've given a

Joshua: 00:29:58

strong testimony to that effect.

Joshua: 00:30:00

I have one last-

Alexandre: 00:30:01

Oh, Joshua.

Alexandre: 00:30:02

Yeah.

Alexandre: 00:30:03

It was important for me to share this with you because I can go back to something

Alexandre: 00:30:07

that I saw on The Official Toastmasters International Members Group on Facebook.

Alexandre: 00:30:12

Someone mentioned, "It is moving towards the time that we stopped

Alexandre: 00:30:15

contests altogether and got on with enjoying club membership.

Joshua: 00:30:19

Yes.

Alexandre: 00:30:19

As if club membership can't be enjoyed with contests.

Joshua: 00:30:22

Yes.

Alexandre: 00:30:23

And Joshua responded, "1000%.

Alexandre: 00:30:26

I never thought of contests as proving anything."

Joshua: 00:30:29

Yes, true.

Alexandre: 00:30:30

That was a while ago, and I thought, "Joshua,

Alexandre: 00:30:32

we're going to talk about this."

Joshua: 00:30:33

Yes.

Joshua: 00:30:33

We are and I wanted to put that in here because I am one of those people and I

Joshua: 00:30:38

think that for me, it's been about the hard work, but hearing your story makes

Joshua: 00:30:42

me realize that there are different ways to all getting to that solution

Joshua: 00:30:47

that we all want to have, which is the communications and leadership aspect,

Joshua: 00:30:52

so yes, thank you for calling me out on that and thank you for that too,

Joshua: 00:30:57

because I think it's so important to think about those different perspectives,

Joshua: 00:31:00

because I sounded like that woman.

Joshua: 00:31:02

I literally did sound like that woman too, that you were even saying,

Joshua: 00:31:05

"I'm going to be a hypocrite if I use this as part of my speech."

Joshua: 00:31:07

You're absolutely right.

Joshua: 00:31:08

I had that same problem too.

Joshua: 00:31:11

Here's my final question before we wrap up, and I'll give you a few moments

Joshua: 00:31:14

to talk about your coaching business and even the podcast for that matter.

Joshua: 00:31:19

Do you feel that you, you, yourself, are making a change in this world as

Joshua: 00:31:25

a result of your experiences with the World Championship of Public Speaking?

Joshua: 00:31:29

Not just through your clients, but through what you are doing to

Joshua: 00:31:34

become the best version of yourself.

Joshua: 00:31:37

Do you feel like you're doing that?

Alexandre: 00:31:41

Yes.

Alexandre: 00:31:41

If I didn't feel that I wouldn't do it.

Alexandre: 00:31:45

After sharing a speech like what I did at the final stage last year,

Alexandre: 00:31:51

sometimes people, or any speech really, when you're in front of an audience,

Alexandre: 00:31:54

people will come up to you and say, "Oh wow, you're such a great speaker.

Alexandre: 00:31:57

That was a fun story", and they're elevating you, like, "Oh yeah,

Alexandre: 00:32:01

this feels good.", and I got a lot of that through the years.

Alexandre: 00:32:04

I still do sometimes, but after sharing a really great speech as humbly I did

Alexandre: 00:32:12

last year, I got messages and emails and texts like this: "After hearing

Alexandre: 00:32:22

you, Alexandre, I'm going to make some changes around me so my family will maybe

Alexandre: 00:32:29

be a little more cohesive", or, "I'm going to do something in my work now.

Alexandre: 00:32:34

I'm going to try something new so that the ambiance is better.", or, "I haven't

Alexandre: 00:32:39

talked to my brother-in-law in a long time because we disagree on some things.

Alexandre: 00:32:43

Maybe I need to make the first step."

Alexandre: 00:32:47

When people come to you and share this sort of testimonial, it means

Alexandre: 00:32:53

you're really making a difference, and that's why I do what I do, because

Alexandre: 00:32:57

I think it can make the world a better place, even just one person

Alexandre: 00:33:00

at a time, one speech at a time.

Joshua: 00:33:03

All it takes is just one decision that can ultimately change the

Joshua: 00:33:07

perspective of so much, and I really appreciate you answering that, because

Joshua: 00:33:11

I think it's so important to hear it from someone that has gone through

Joshua: 00:33:14

that and has done it so many different times, so thank you for sharing that.

Joshua: 00:33:19

Alexandre, I want to give you the last few minutes here to share about your business.

Joshua: 00:33:22

How can people reach out to you if they're interested in being coached by

Joshua: 00:33:25

the first runner up of World Championship Public Speaking 2022, and how can

Joshua: 00:33:30

they even listen to your podcast?

Joshua: 00:33:31

Tell us a little bit about your podcast as well, because I'm sure that

Joshua: 00:33:33

they would want to go check you out.

Joshua: 00:33:35

So last few minutes are yours, sir.

Alexandre: 00:33:37

Yes, of course, Joshua, and by the way, I mentioned my coach, right?

Alexandre: 00:33:40

Mark Hunter, who was instrumental in helping me reach the final stage.

Alexandre: 00:33:45

He wasn't the only one who helped me.

Alexandre: 00:33:46

There were dozens, if not, hundreds of people, even just small feedbacks

Alexandre: 00:33:50

of people that helped me along the way, so I think it's important

Alexandre: 00:33:52

to mention that it's not just me.

Alexandre: 00:33:54

It wasn't just me with one person.

Joshua: 00:33:55

It's the relationships that we build that really help to

Joshua: 00:33:58

create that best version too, and that really helps a lot to know.

Joshua: 00:34:02

I know I have people just like that in my life.

Alexandre: 00:34:06

So, after I won second place, and not only from second place,

Alexandre: 00:34:10

but reaching the finals, I was already decided I'm not participating anymore,

Alexandre: 00:34:14

at least not for the foreseeable future.

That's what I wanted to do: 00:34:16

make it to that final stage, so I'm really happy

That's what I wanted to do: 00:34:20

to be able to offer what my coaches have offered me, and that is guide other

That's what I wanted to do: 00:34:27

people to make their best speeches ever, so I do that with different people in

That's what I wanted to do: 00:34:34

different ways, but the best way for you to find out more about what I can

That's what I wanted to do: 00:34:38

offer is going to my website, which is my name dot com, alexandrematte.com.

That's what I wanted to do: 00:34:44

We might need to say one letter at a time.

Joshua: 00:34:48

Yes.

Alexandre: 00:34:49

But Alexandre is like Alexander, but r e at the end, and

Alexandre: 00:34:54

Matte is like when you sit on a mat?

Joshua: 00:34:56

Yeah.

Alexandre: 00:34:57

But you-

Joshua: 00:34:57

Yes, yes.

Alexandre: 00:34:57

But you add an e?

Joshua: 00:34:58

Add a T and an E, especially for those that are from America,

Joshua: 00:35:02

you will have to add those letters.

Joshua: 00:35:04

Yes.

Alexandre: 00:35:06

It would've been shorter just to say all the letters.

Joshua: 00:35:08

I'll have it in the show notes anyway, but No-

Alexandre: 00:35:10

It's great.

Joshua: 00:35:11

Reinforce it-

Alexandre: 00:35:11

People can-

Joshua: 00:35:12

so.

Alexandre: 00:35:12

People can click on it directly.

Joshua: 00:35:14

Yes.

Alexandre: 00:35:14

But, that's my website where you can find out more about me and you

Alexandre: 00:35:16

can watch my speeches by the way, and when you get in touch with me, I've got some

Alexandre: 00:35:21

really cool offers, like the model that I used to craft my speeches is based on

Alexandre: 00:35:25

the Hero's Journey from Joseph Campbell, and it was really useful for me to write

Alexandre: 00:35:31

my speeches, so you can get a copy of that when you sign up on my website, and

Alexandre: 00:35:36

you mentioned the podcast, well, it is called Great Convos, because it's partly

Alexandre: 00:35:42

based on the speech that I had about great conversations, so I have great

Alexandre: 00:35:47

convos with my co-host, Roger Caesar.

Alexandre: 00:35:51

Every week now, we've just finished season one with our 20th episode.

Alexandre: 00:35:56

By the time that we're speaking now, but by the time that this

Alexandre: 00:35:58

airs, we'll be in full with season two with new surprises, new guests.

Alexandre: 00:36:02

It'll be really cool, and for more info about that, you can go on

this website: 00:36:06

greatconvos.live.

this website: 00:36:09

Greatconvos.live.

Joshua: 00:36:12

And I won't clarify the spelling on that because I think

Joshua: 00:36:14

it's pretty straightforward.

Alexandre: 00:36:16

I think so, and if it's dot live, it's because we are live.

Alexandre: 00:36:19

We're on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Alexandre: 00:36:21

We do this on Monday at lunchtime for us on the East Coast; so it's 12:30

Alexandre: 00:36:27

Eastern Time, and we will eventually be on more platforms, so Facebook and

Alexandre: 00:36:32

LinkedIn for the moment, but we have a lot of fun with it, and we just have

Alexandre: 00:36:35

great conversations similar to what we're doing right now, you and I, Joshua.

Joshua: 00:36:39

Yes.

Joshua: 00:36:39

Yes, and honestly, this has been a really fun conversation.

Joshua: 00:36:43

It has been an honor to be able to learn a little bit more about your story and

Joshua: 00:36:48

to be corrected on the importance of our contests and how we can make things

Joshua: 00:36:53

better in our lives, so thank you for setting the record straight with me, and

Joshua: 00:36:57

more importantly, thanks for inspiring possibly a generation of people, maybe

Joshua: 00:37:01

even Toastmasters that are listening to this as well, to be able to not only

Joshua: 00:37:06

share what's inside of their heart, since this is about speaking from our hearts,

Joshua: 00:37:11

but more importantly, being your true, authentic self, no matter how many times

Joshua: 00:37:15

it takes to get on that stage and be able to share it, so Alexandre, thanks

Joshua: 00:37:19

for being on Speaking From The Heart.

Joshua: 00:37:20

It's really been a privilege and an honor to have you as part of my show.

Alexandre: 00:37:24

Merci Beaucoup!

Alexandre: 00:37:25

Thank you so much.

Joshua: 00:37:26

I want to thank Alexandre for being willing to be a guest on

Joshua: 00:37:30

my podcast and just the incredible interview that we had together.

Joshua: 00:37:34

It was really a joy to have, for the first time actually, somebody that had come

Joshua: 00:37:39

so close to being the World Champion Of Public Speaking on the show, and that was

Joshua: 00:37:45

a real joy and I appreciate both Alexandre and Rich for being part of that experience

Joshua: 00:37:50

with me, because I think that we learned so much from those individuals that have

Joshua: 00:37:56

gone through so many different things in their lives to achieve the success that

Joshua: 00:38:00

they have, and I think that really leads into a lot of the conversation that I had

Joshua: 00:38:05

with Alexandre because he's been able to have so many good things happen because

Joshua: 00:38:10

of this experience being in Toastmasters, but I think for us, there might not be

Joshua: 00:38:16

good and strong people sometimes that are in our lives, but we can have the

Joshua: 00:38:21

things that make us feel good inside if we're willing to just share a little bit

Joshua: 00:38:25

of the love and knowledge that we have within ourselves, and I feel that he's

Joshua: 00:38:29

been on a journey, especially after the World Champion Of Public Speaking, to help

Joshua: 00:38:33

so many different people, which we even talked about in this episode about the

Joshua: 00:38:37

willingness to continue paving it forward for others that might want to share in

Joshua: 00:38:42

some of the same spotlight that he's been able to share throughout his journey.

Joshua: 00:38:47

I think sometimes we have to go through this journey that we have with

Joshua: 00:38:51

the people that support us, not only with the ways in which we're being

Joshua: 00:38:55

involved, in which Toastmasters helps a lot with, but it's about having

Joshua: 00:38:59

that close association with others.

Joshua: 00:39:03

Oh; having association with others.

Joshua: 00:39:06

Yes!

Joshua: 00:39:07

Those are always great opportunities for us to just acknowledge and

Joshua: 00:39:11

engage and have conversations, maybe sit around discussing which ways

Joshua: 00:39:16

we can be able to become better.

Joshua: 00:39:19

Am I rambling?

Joshua: 00:39:20

Does it sound like I'm rambling?

Joshua: 00:39:22

I might be rambling, and I'm saying all this to say that sometimes we just go

Joshua: 00:39:27

through those notions of just wanting to be associated with someone and I think

Joshua: 00:39:30

that for each of us, whether we're doing it intentionally or not, we might not

Joshua: 00:39:35

spend enough time with the people that truly care about us the most, and I

Joshua: 00:39:39

think that we often have to pay homage to those individuals from time to time

Joshua: 00:39:44

so that we can acknowledge what they have truly given to us, because let's

Joshua: 00:39:49

face it, if it wasn't for them, We wanna be able to get to where we're at right

Joshua: 00:39:53

now, which often begs the question: What is the story of which we want to

Joshua: 00:39:59

tell not only about ourselves, but about the people that influenced who we are?

Joshua: 00:40:05

What can we do to narrow it down so that we have just those people

Joshua: 00:40:10

that we truly care about, that are circling us, to help us to understand

Joshua: 00:40:15

what we are capable of doing?

Joshua: 00:40:19

I know for the longest time in my life I had that struggle, and I have

Joshua: 00:40:22

to admit that even in Toastmasters starting out being the most socially

Joshua: 00:40:26

awkward person, which obviously many of you, my listeners, have found

Joshua: 00:40:30

out later on, that I had autism.

Joshua: 00:40:35

It really stunted my ability to work through many of the things that

Joshua: 00:40:39

oftentimes some people take for granted.

Joshua: 00:40:42

Being able to interact with others was really a challenge for myself, but I

Joshua: 00:40:47

think that for many of us, we often walk into venues or even situations for

Joshua: 00:40:52

that matter when we are involved with public speaking more specifically, in

Joshua: 00:40:56

which we have to focus on the message that we want to have and be able to

Joshua: 00:40:59

create a story from that, and I think Alexandre really has mastered that.

Joshua: 00:41:04

If he hasn't mastered it, it's because he definitely has been working on that craft

Joshua: 00:41:08

and continuing to perfect it, but I think for somebody that has been recognized by

Joshua: 00:41:12

even the Canadian government in one ways than one about the ways in which he's

Joshua: 00:41:17

been able to do storytelling, I think it certainly exemplifies the fact that maybe

Joshua: 00:41:21

we should pay attention to his story.

Joshua: 00:41:24

The story that he shared even in this episode, for that matter, of how he's

Joshua: 00:41:27

gotten to where he is, is something that shows that we are all human.

Joshua: 00:41:33

We're not these individuals that we can look up to as idols, thinking that

Joshua: 00:41:37

they have led exemplary lives and that they've been able to get to where they

Joshua: 00:41:41

need to be just because of the work that they put within themselves, but it's

Joshua: 00:41:46

really about not just really sharing that message that we have, or even

Joshua: 00:41:51

sharing what we are capable of doing.

Joshua: 00:41:54

It's about sharing it with others that have truly blessed us in our lives

Joshua: 00:41:58

to create some of those opportunities that we necessarily take for granted.

Joshua: 00:42:02

I know for myself, I have taken for granted so many of the things that

Joshua: 00:42:06

Toastmasters provides, and even for a period of time, I had been utilizing what

Joshua: 00:42:11

Toastmasters has given me to show me what I have been missing out on in my life.

Joshua: 00:42:17

Let's face it.

Joshua: 00:42:19

I would not be here if it wasn't for the fact that Toastmasters has shown me some

Joshua: 00:42:23

of the courage and some of the strength to do a podcast just like this, let alone

Joshua: 00:42:27

even open a business for that matter, that is helping others to see their true

Joshua: 00:42:32

voice, whether that is the verbal or the nonverbal, but sometimes, we have

Joshua: 00:42:38

to learn how to shout at the top of our lungs to share the message that we have

Joshua: 00:42:42

inside of ourselves, because that's the only way some people want to listen to it.

Joshua: 00:42:47

Does that sound familiar?

Joshua: 00:42:49

I hope it does, because in some episodes past, we have talked about

Joshua: 00:42:53

that concept of being willing to shout from the mountaintops, from the

Joshua: 00:42:56

valleys, from the in-between, where someone disagrees, being able to make

Joshua: 00:43:01

that point, but I think what's really important here is about living and

Joshua: 00:43:05

realizing that sometimes, even if we're not the first runner up of a contest,

Joshua: 00:43:10

we can learn so much about ourselves.

Joshua: 00:43:12

I mean, look at what Alexandre has been through.

Joshua: 00:43:15

He's had to go through it several times in order to get to where he is to

today, and that is the key: 00:43:19

persistence.

today, and that is the key: 00:43:24

Can we change our way of thinking as a whole by being persistent?

today, and that is the key: 00:43:29

Are we willing to listen to ourselves by being persistent over and over again

today, and that is the key: 00:43:34

by creating some of those best works in our lives, whether they're still

today, and that is the key: 00:43:38

in progress, or they are finished.

today, and that is the key: 00:43:41

I feel a lot better after listening to this episode of hearing the successes that

today, and that is the key: 00:43:46

help us to get to what we ultimately want to do, and I think that is really the key.

today, and that is the key: 00:43:51

We really want to be able to do some of the best things in our lives if we're

today, and that is the key: 00:43:54

willing to challenge that status quo, and I think that for many of us, we often have

today, and that is the key: 00:43:59

to challenge that status quo by just doing it; by making us feel like we're capable

today, and that is the key: 00:44:06

of doing such things, by being willing to speak our hearts, to be able to understand

today, and that is the key: 00:44:12

and learn what it is to go through some of those things in our life that maybe

today, and that is the key: 00:44:18

just maybe a competition can provide.

today, and that is the key: 00:44:22

Sometimes we just need that nudge.

today, and that is the key: 00:44:24

We just need to be pushed in that right direction and sometimes having those

today, and that is the key: 00:44:28

people around us, maybe they don't even know us very well, but they help

today, and that is the key: 00:44:32

us to go into that path that we need to go into, that definitely creates

today, and that is the key: 00:44:38

some of those opportunities that we are able to excel in; to literally become

today, and that is the key: 00:44:44

something that we are recognized in, so that we provide not just that easy

today, and that is the key: 00:44:50

mixed cake, as Alexandre talked about, that formula that always works if we

today, and that is the key: 00:44:56

need it in a pinch, but to be able to evolve into some of those relationships

today, and that is the key: 00:45:01

with people that we often don't evolve into, which is really my point.

today, and that is the key: 00:45:08

He's been able to have these relationships with people throughout this whole entire

today, and that is the key: 00:45:12

process that he's been through, not only with building the family that he has,

today, and that is the key: 00:45:17

but also understanding and fulfilling a promise that he had deep inside of

today, and that is the key: 00:45:21

himself that he wanted to do, and maybe that pause, especially of what he's doing

today, and that is the key: 00:45:27

right now to help others achieve that dream, might be helping him to get to

today, and that is the key: 00:45:31

that ultimate goal, but sometimes that self-reflection inside of ourselves,

today, and that is the key: 00:45:36

that moment in which we capture some of those best moments of being willing to

today, and that is the key: 00:45:41

say that we need to grow during this time of need, can ultimately become something

today, and that is the key: 00:45:46

of a powerful Eiffel Tower in itself.

today, and that is the key: 00:45:50

I feel that we can always have a story of creating that message, that concentration

today, and that is the key: 00:45:55

of what we want to ultimately become, if we're just willing to share some of the

today, and that is the key: 00:46:00

things that we have in which we have deep down inside of ourselves, to not only

today, and that is the key: 00:46:05

showcase what we're truly all about, but we're willing to say that we are able

today, and that is the key: 00:46:09

to focus not just on that message, but on the other people that are around us.

today, and that is the key: 00:46:16

For the longest time, and even as we talked about the reflection of

today, and that is the key: 00:46:20

contests, I always thought that maybe this is the only way to do it.

today, and that is the key: 00:46:27

I think that this interview challenges me a bit on not only what we can do,

today, and that is the key: 00:46:31

maybe that same formula over and over again that sometimes we often go to when

today, and that is the key: 00:46:36

we feel like that is the answer to move forward, but I think that it also helps

today, and that is the key: 00:46:41

us to understand that there's always more than one answer to that big earthly

today, and that is the key: 00:46:46

equation that we're trying to always solve, which really boils down to the same

ons that I just asked earlier: 00:46:52

What is the story of which we want to tell?

ons that I just asked earlier: 00:46:58

What can we do to narrow it down?

ons that I just asked earlier: 00:47:01

Do we need to shout at the top of our voice in order to make that point?

ons that I just asked earlier: 00:47:06

Can we change our thinking as a whole?

ons that I just asked earlier: 00:47:09

Are we listening to ourselves?

ons that I just asked earlier: 00:47:12

I think that those questions, all combined, whether you want to take it

ons that I just asked earlier: 00:47:15

in a public speaking context or not, can ultimately change the course of

ons that I just asked earlier: 00:47:20

not just our futures, but our ways of moving forward, one step at a time.

ons that I just asked earlier: 00:47:26

No matter what step we take, it can be for the better if we're willing to do

ons that I just asked earlier: 00:47:33

the work that's behind it, and maybe we get a nice, cool story to tell others,

ons that I just asked earlier: 00:47:40

way down the road, of our true successes.

ons that I just asked earlier: 00:47:44

Thanks for listening to episode number 60 of Speaking From The

ons that I just asked earlier: 00:47:47

Heart, and I look forward to hearing from your heart very soon.

Outro: 00:47:51

Thanks for listening.

Outro: 00:47:52

For more information about our podcast and future shows, search for Speaking From

Outro: 00:47:57

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Outro: 00:48:02

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Outro: 00:48:08

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