International Stuttering Awareness Day 2020 Mark Dorrity DTM of District 73 Toastmasters shares his story about how Toastmasters helped him work on his stutter.
“In 1988, I collapsed during a run suffering severe heat stroke. I was in a coma for two months. When I came out, I could neither move nor speak, and my left leg was amputated.
I had to relearn how to speak from the scratch. Despite 18 months of rehabilitation, I’d slur and couldn’t be understood.
When I joined Toastmasters (in 2014), warm-up would terrorize me. It was tough to get my thoughts together and then speak. That year I gave my ice-breaker speech. I was confident till I saw the audience. When I stood up to speak and saw everyone, I felt so weak, I couldn’t balance myself. I forgot my speech halfway. But the evaluator was very kind.
So has been my mentor, Liz Allwood, who has guided me through many opportunities that Toastmasters has to offer.
I completed my Competent Communication and Competent Leadership – CC and CL – manuals in one year and was the keynote speaker at District 73 Toastmasters Semi-annual Conference in 2015.”
As told by Mark Dorrity DTM, Member – South Yarra & Toorak Toastmasters clubs
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