Toastmasters Speech_Gaurav Odhyan

 Good evening everyone, first I would also thank SR for letting me speak tonight. To be true I wanted to practice my public speaking and where can you get and audience of this size who have to listen to you even if you suck. I was confused what should I speak about then I decided I will speak about myself, that is easy and frankly who don’t like to talk about themselves. I will try to keep this short, I know many among you don’t like to listen to what others have to say – Bret will agree. I was born and raised in India. It is a funny country. I cannot speak for the United States but in my country neighbors and relatives have a full-time job judging others. So when I got a job at SR, my cousin sister asked me where is my job, I told her it is in Las Vegas – there was a sudden change in her expression, she replied is it not a drugs and gambling city. I told that is not the only reason I chose Vegas, weed is also legal and we have the world biggest strip club in the world. My sister hardl

We all have heard never judge a book by its cover but ours is indeed a judgmental society. We love to judge others, It is not a flaw it is just human nature. Our society does not allows anybody to be just himself. Judging is a double-edged sword. If we judge someone to be lower or worse than us then it can create an insecurity or phycological marks on the person who is judged. But we also tend to judge others who are better than us and that creates jealousy and unnecessary comparison. Judging without a strong reason is just not sensible. I cannot speak for the United States but in my country neighbors and relatives have a full-time job judging others. Last time I went home, my cousin sister asked me where I live, when I told her Las Vegas – there was a sudden change in her expression, she replied is it not a drugs and party city. Her tone implied that I spend most of my time in the casinos losing all my money. She must be thinking that I chose to work in Las Vegas because of the casino

Many of you must have heard that do what you love and you will not have to work another day in your life. There is no lack of people advising to follow your passion and it sounds great too. First time I was introduced to this idea was when I was 8-9, actually it was not for me but for my much older cousin. I still remember the day vaguely, we were in my aunt house and drinking tea (not me, I was made to drink milk at that age). They were contemplating whether my cousin should choose a career in medical or engineering. She was advised to follow her passion and then asked is her passion in engineering or medical (given 2 options) Nevertheless I was extremely happy that I learned about a secret key that will setup my life for success. But now the difficult part came which nobody discussed during that tea meeting. I did not know what my passion was and where to look for. I was told you cannot figure out passion just by thinking what your passion is, you need to try out things before you kn