I am an introvert. In 1994 I joined Toastmasters International. When people asked me why, I always told them that I knew that one day I’d have to give a million-dollar speech, and I wanted to be ready for it.

I was an active member of Toastmasters for about 10 years, went through their program and even won a number of speech contests. I have given many presentations, some as long as two full 8-hour-days, where much more than a million dollars of business was at stake, and I came through.

Today I can pretty much give a speech on demand. I still get the butterflies, everyone does, but I can control them and come out with success. Toastmasters has made that possible for me. I cannot imagine a business career where Toastmasters does not play an important role.

Here is an example of a presentation or speech that did not go so well.

Michael Bay is a successful movie producer of Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, and the Transformers film series. But success does not a speaker make.

Watch this and cringe. This is what we have Toastmasters for.