Meet A Toastmaster: Bonniejean Alford

Bonniejean is a member of two clubs – London Corinthians (District 91) and The Breakfast Club (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, District 35). She attends virtually from Illinois in the United States to enjoy amazing comradery, solid speech examples, and a different take on how to do the job of speaking.

She was brought into the London Corinthians club after she participated in, and won, their 24^th annual Persuaders’ contest earlier this year. She is currently working on her eights path, Effective Coaching. She is Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) twice and on her way to complete her third DTM. She also represented London Corinthians in the Humorous and Table Content Area contests this season.

London Corinthians Toastmasters

How do you feel about achieving so much?

I just do what I do. I don’t think I even thought about it as achieving “so much,” as you put it. I am not one who needs or even likes to be in a position with a lot of attention on me. That said, as a leader in and a member of a team for learning and growth, I believe serving as an example of success breeds more success from those in my circle, and in myself.

What is your secret?

Pathways makes it easy to weave projects into one’s life. I have been able to complete projects speaking in professional capacities, working with the VPE and other Toastmasters to ensure appropriate evaluation of my presentations. Also, I have worked on multiple paths at the same time. In fact, even as I am currently working on the one specific path, I have detailed out the projects in the remaining three paths, which will allow me to work ahead should an opportunity arise for me to fulfill a project.

When I work with clients or mentees, I help them weave together the aspects of their life to accommodate their goals, both within Toastmasters and beyond. If my method of progression works for someone’s life, I say take the path where their path shall lead, so long as one is open to growth as they step into the person they are meant to become.

What is your next challenge?

My goal is to complete all eleven paths by the end of 2022. Whether I repeat any paths will depend on whether that create new paths later. As to what I would recommend to others – they have to follow their journey, not mine.

Then, I seek to achieve the accredited speaker designation with Toastmasters and continue to compete, with a hope of one day taking the stage as the World Champion of Public Speaking. Beyond Toastmasters, I work to grow my Podcast (Life’s a Blank), publish my writing, and achieve success as the brand that is me.