How life’s worst tragedies turn into great speech material

by Carolyn Thomas ♥  @HeartSisters

I discovered Toastmasters back in 1987 (insert eternal thanks here to my dear friend Peter Forster for dragging me as his guest to my first meeting).  Since that day, I spent decades practicing my public speaking/ listening/thinking skills during our weekly club meetings every Thursday morning at 7 a.m. – which tells you that Toastmasters is tons o’ fun.

Or, that I’m a slow learner.

A really useful Toastmasters tip that I learned over lo these many years has been how to decide on a compelling speech topic, including this odd lesson:  “Life’s worst moments often make the best speech material”.

And that has never been more true than after I survived a heart attack.  Continue reading “How life’s worst tragedies turn into great speech material”

Why we keep telling – and re-telling – our heart attack stories

by Carolyn Thomas    ♥   @HeartSisters

A woman in the grocery store calls out from the neighbouring checkout line: “Hey! You’re the heart lady, right?” She continues, in what seems a much-too-loud voice, that she had been in the audience at one of my annual Cardiac Café presentations at the university. But “heart lady?” Is this really how I want to be known and recognized for the rest of my natural life?   Continue reading “Why we keep telling – and re-telling – our heart attack stories”