Episode 57: My Toastmasters journey - with Jayanti Mendhi

Welcome , ladies and gentlemen , to episode 57 of the Talkative Toastmaster podcast this week . It's my pleasure to welcome Jayanti Mendy to the show . Hang on , let me start again . Is that how I pronounce your name ?

Jayanti is currently a member of the Brisbane Leaders Toastmasters Club , which is one of the clubs in our Area 26 . She's worked through the presentation mastery path and is currently working through the motivational strategies path . She's also appeared on the TEDx stage and I can't wait to hear more about that process and that experience .

Jayanti , welcome to the show .

So six years ago , where I decided that I wanted to learn more about science communication I was a PhD student at the time and I thought it's really important that not only you work on your science , but also learn how to communicate the science and the research you're doing so it can be reachable for general public . So that was one of my main motivations .

I did have this big dream of also being on the TED platform . Oh good , definitely , but it was .

How do you find meeting on a Friday night , because I've not come across across a club previously that meets on Fridays , how ? How do you find that ?

The other two the first one that I joined , like I said , in 2019 was the Alpha Endeavour Club , because I live in Kelvin Grove and Red Hills , so it was very convenient for me to be in that area .

And then afterwards I met my partner , got married and we used to live in Nanda , so I used to be at the Clayfield Club for a while and then after that , we've now bought a house in Springfield Lakes , so it's quite far from the city out in the suburbs and there's no clubs here .

It's very long and Friday works perfectly for me because even if I come home late , I can just sleep in yeah , I love the aspect of socializing at Toastmasters on a Friday . It's kind of like going to a party , but yes yeah , it's , it's .

You know , it's great , great bunch of people . Yeah , I can absolutely see why you would want to be doing that on a Friday night . It's a nice start to the weekend , as they say . Yeah , and what do you most about other than , I guess , the people aspect , which we've just touched on ? But what do you most enjoy about being a member of Toastmasters ?

And you cannot answer saying it's about polydopamine coatings helping in regeneration and dental implant issues with fibroblast regeneration no , you can't so , um , it helps in your impromptu speaking skills in in your regular conversations with people talking about your research and really simplifying it , or everyone your family members , your friends , not just people in your

specific research areas . Having that ability to translate and simplify aspects of science , that's been a big part yeah impromptu communication . I find that I am a person who is very anxious , so it helps when I love doing prepared speeches .

I will carve out the time to do prepared speeches , but if you put me on the spot , that's my weakness and I get to practice a lot of that and the more you do it , the better you get at it yeah , definitely , and have you used Toastmasters as a place to practice a lot of those scientific types of speeches ?

I really started expanding into more diverse topics as I went through my Toastmasters journey . So I started with a motivation , but I guess on the way I also learned about so many different things .

And , yeah , you end up coming up with some weird and wonderful topics that you might not otherwise get the chance to do . Right , you're not going to be talking about that stuff at work or in your studies . So what's one of the most memorable speeches ? You would say that that you've you've done one of the most memorable speeches .

You would say that you've done one of the most maybe fun speeches that you've done .

Um , and I remember that I was um one speech away from being qualified for the international speech contest and I just dived into the contest straight away without ever not without ever knowing what contests were . And , yeah , they went through .

Um , so I think it was beginner's luck for me that I then went up to the area contest and then , after the area , I went um up to the district .

Yeah , yeah , so , uh , beginner's , but it was a speech about what feminism means to me , okay , about gender equality , and I think that's a speech that was very close to my heart and it got me noticed in the Toastmaster circles as well . Some people actually remember me saying you were the one who did that speech .

You know people , really those kind of things stick sometimes . It's just something that you really care about .

I'm just going to have fun with this and speak about things that matter to me or I care about , and at that time I did both the humorous and the international speech to the area contest with both of them . Oh wow , Yep . It was quite stressful doing two prepared speeches on the contest day , but I learned so much , and more than the outcome .

I remember at the area contest I was competing in the humorous category and all of the speakers were women in this category and I thought that was so interesting because , well , now there's more female stand-up comedians and things like that . But just thinking about it , it was so empowering for me . I really did not care about the contest .

I enjoyed the speeches of my fellow contestants so much . In a moment I actually forgot that I was competing and I was , so I really value that experience a lot . I would highly encourage everyone to compete .

It's good to lose also like , yeah , this time I didn't really compete as much , I only competed in two categories and I lost the contest level , which was still really good . Um , then you get to do different roles , like being a timer or being a judge and this .

So I would say , really get involved in the contest in some capacities , because there's a lot to learn from it .

Even ballot counting , you know , and how the judging process works and being a judge and really looking at all right , what's the best speech on the day according to these criteria . I agree with you . I didn't compete this year . I couldn't compete this year .

And you know a lot of judging and different parts of the supporting aspects and you learn heaps about the contest process and speaking and what makes a great speech and what judges are looking for . Yeah , all righty . And so tell me about this , this TED , uh , this TEDx experience , and you said you had a vague dream at one point about wanting to do it .

How did you get from there to actually getting onto the TED stage ?

You are an expert in your field or you have this great idea , and then you get called on to be a TEDx speaker and one day you go on the stage and you stand on this red dot and you deliver this inspiring message and people take away , and then you're etched on the internet forever , which , in some ways , is true , but there's also lots of little nuanced

things to it that people are not aware of . Well , for me , like I said , that was a big dream in 2019 . And then I think , end of 2019 , I I sort of I'd come one year being into Toastmasters , competing , doing all these things , and I reflected .

It was one of these moments where it was the end of the year and I was doing some journaling or you know , starting to set an intention for what was going to come for the year , and I thought to myself well , I think I'm actually good at speaking to myself . Well , I think I'm actually good at speaking , so I want to set an intention .

And I said , before the age of 35 , I want to speak on a TED platform . And at the age of 32 is when I did my TED talk , so oh , wow , very good . I did . I did check that one off the list . It was very much an intentional thing . Well , manifestation is very woo-woo , that's what people say .

But the way I see it is that sometimes science has shown this that when you visualize something or you see something with your mind's eye , you actually tend to see or notice more of that in the actual real world . Yeah . So when you really set that intention , sometimes you find ways to just make it happen .

You meet the right people and things fall into place for you . Yeah . And for me this was very much the case . So I met with some people who were associated or knew the TEDx organizers . I did have plenty of experience with science communication before that as well .

I was doing Toastmasters , obviously , which was a very , very good thing on my application that I've been doing lots of public speaking before I go into this application , that I've been doing lots of public speaking before I go into this , and then I had submitted pictures for this contest , which is called Science in Focus or Research in . Focus .

So I had submitted some microscopy images . So people in the QUT communications circuit kind of were aware of my pictures . Yeah , I pitched this idea to one of the ladies saying hey , I think this , I could turn this into a TEDx talk , and she said that's a great idea , you should do it . And I sought validation from the director of my facility , for example .

I said do you think this is a good idea ? Yeah , you know you write up this content and if , if you don't get selected for a TEDx , um , you know you can use that content for something else . So it there's nothing to lose for me and I decided to submit my application for it and it went through .

Um , I think that was the relatability factor was really important and I think that's what really got me the slot for being the TEDx speaker I was having a look and I'll link to your TEDx talk in the show notes .

Currently she's enjoying her romance with the scanning electron microscope , which captures stunning high resolution of pretty much everything from large rocks to tiny bacteria . And I mean , when I first watched it I thought , oh , it's going to be scientific and I love what you did with it .

And , as we were sort of talking about earlier , as a photographer , I just think the way that you were able to use the visuals in that talk really brought it to life . It needed visuals , for sure , yeah , so what happened then ? You applied and they accepted you . What then ? Did you get to practice it ? Did you have to practice it elsewhere ? What happened ?

Again , this is one of the things where my Toastmaster skills are very handy because it's essentially doing evaluations right . One of the things that Toastmasters teaches you with the evaluations is how not to take feedback . Personally , this is something really important to me because I am very self-critical .

I'm very emotional as a person to me because I am very self-critical . I'm very emotional as a person . I find that when you put in , remove all those elements and just see it from an evaluator's point of view , you're really switched on with your critical thinking . And that's where it's it's very .

It becomes very technical then not personal at all yes , good point and that's how , not only do you , you become a good evaluator , but you also become really good at incorporating feedback . You know what to reject , you know what to take on and improve , and you know that nothing's personal .

Yeah , for you to become a better speaker and all for all of us to collectively have this amazing TEDx event where we have really good audience engagement . So it was really like a crash course . I would say a very condensed crash course , so we would have group gatherings where we would practice our speech .

There was a lot of one-on-one feedback as well from the audience , and these are people who have never even heard of scanning electron microscopy or electron microscopy .

Um and I'm going to digress a little bit on this pathway about um speaking about , you know , imposter feelings or feelings like you know you're not the right person to do this because when , when I was given the opportunity , I was only about seven months into my role as the full-time microscopist I was doing microscopy for a long time , but I hadn't been in the

role for a long time and I had to really consciously put those feelings aside and ask myself what is the message that I really want to deliver ? I really want to show people is that science is beautiful . Yeah .

And it's meaningful , it has to be delivered in the right way because it impacts people's lives and it impacts people's decision-making , whether it's about taking a vaccine , doing that treatment or . People want to make decisions based on evidence and science and for that it's important for them to see the science , to understand the science and engage with it .

A lot of people feel isolated from it . It's really about bringing in that connection , and that's the message that I want to deliver , and that's what I really care about .

Absolutely , and it was this feeling of look at these pictures like what I see in the microscope every day is amazing and I really want other people to see that yeah that was the motivating factor for me that drove me to do this yeah , it's , it's very cool and I mean , I would encourage anyone who's listening to go and watch the the talk via the link and ,

yeah , just just sort of see what's under the microscope .

But I think as well , what I loved from a photography perspective was how you just added the colour and , yeah , you've obviously got a creative and artistic view to be able to look at something and go all right , well , here's how it looks , but here's how I can kind of make it look artistic and and even more cool than it than it already is .

So , yeah , I mean , do you , do you spend a lot of time doing that ?

She's from the faculty of creative arts and did take some of her images and I did have a long discussion with her when I was going to present her images , same as my colleague who had the TEM image of the bone that was . I definitely wanted to have her image because a lot of people in science like me and her .

We have this creative mind that needs to be channeled and I think we did such a beautiful job of choosing that color palette and having this philosophical idea that there's a tiny universe within our bodies yeah translated that idea , so I've got not just me , but other people who are also doing this , yeah , to be their voice , and I wanted to speak about what

they were doing as well .

Some people were I was very invested because I really wanted to put in my best effort , and I think some people are more natural or they have their content more organized . So it's it's up to person , but there is a bare minimum that you are required to put in .

Whereas , um , in the TEDx you're allowed prompts , you're getting help , and during my talk , I did actually end up needing ended up needing a prompt , and after the talk was was done and , um , it was amazing , people said really nice things , but I actually broke down and started crying after the talk because I felt like , oh my god , I needed this prompt yeah

and it . It made me feel , feel like it was not good enough . Um , but ultimately I had to think back and say , well , I've achieved this , this goal , and I've done this job of delivering the message that I wanted to . So it was absolutely . It was very high and low at the same time .

So I tell this to people if you're worried , don't worry , because you won't be able to see most of the people . Yeah , yeah .

You know what you do and the profession you're engaged in and it's always going to be something you can point back to and go yeah , I did that and you know . So . What has happened since then and how has doing that talk perhaps you know benefited you ?

Recently , I submitted an application for an event called science meets parliament um . Next year in february I'm going to be going to canberra to speak to a bunch of politicians and talk to them about microscopy yeah um it , it is definitely . It sits on my cv very well .

With a lot of other outreach work that I do with science I do the QUT open days , for example it sits nicely on my CV and hopefully in the long run I will get some more ripple effects out of it . Yeah . Yeah .

And when you're doing mentoring coaching other people um , it helps being a speaker on different platforms yeah because then you have this broader lens yeah and you've done a few different things , so you can speak to them from that perspective of you know , sometimes at Toastmasters , toastmasters is a great platform for developing your skills and , you know , really

applying them to outside of Toastmasters as well . So it shows people that you take those skills , you apply it to different platforms and also vice versa . Yeah . Take those TEDx skills , um , and things that you've learned better about outreach , about other topics that people speak about . Mm . And you learn that taking a prompt is okay .

Yes , yeah , you need a prompt yeah yeah , because in Toastmasters everything gets evaluated so much , so , um , you start becoming very conscious and you start , especially if you're competing yeah , yes , you look for that perfection , whereas other platforms are more about really delivering your message .

You don't necessarily hear a lot of ums and ahs and you know the . The speaking is refined , typically um but yeah , that goes behind it .

Um , you also mentioned you do a bit of work for open days at QUT and I've seen some of your other videos on that . Do you like ? Do you like , presenting online or do you prefer presenting , you know , on a stage in front of people ? Do you have a preference for that ?

I'm forced to improve upon things , so it's like you're playing this piece of music great musicians . Sometimes they're working on the same piece of music for many , many years . The way I see with Toastmasters there's people who are taking the same speech and they've really perfected it over a number of years .

In fact , colin Williams , who was our representative in Anaheim at the World Championship of Public Speaking , who's one of my Leading Edge Club buddies , was saying at a workshop the other day that he practiced his two speeches that he took to the World Championships like three , four hundred times and had developed them over a period of 10 years .

So you know sort of , yeah , that's the crafting of the speech and yeah , really focusing on the minute detail that you know most people would go , oh , what does that word matter ? What does that word matter ?

But yeah , I think that's one of the nice things about Toastmasters you can really get into the detail and geek out on that with other people who go , yeah .

She was my mentor for the contest when I was competing for the first time and the main thing that I learned was about how you utilize the space and meaningful use of space , but almost in a choreographed way . Yes . You're doing a dance , yeah , but you're doing a speech instead , and it's choreographed like a dance should be .

You know it's , it's , it is there is an element of use of the space and , and I think it's a balance between literally , as you said , you know , like dancing around and deliberately going to the four corners of the space just just for the sake of it , and doing it in a way that actually helps to punctuate what you're saying , you know .

So , yeah , it's , um , that point always seems to come up yes , and I think it's .

You know you're under massive scrutiny with you know and it's supportive scrutiny , but you know that that you've got people watching everything you're saying and every movement and are you making recommendations and is it analytical ? And I think sometimes that environment can make it more nerve wracking than it would otherwise be giving an evaluation of someone's speech .

I've never really gone above area level with an international humorous speech , above area level with an international humorous speech , so yeah , I need to kind of switch focus and try something and challenge myself in new ways , I think . And in terms of goals for Toastmasters , do you set yourself goals each year ?

Are you looking to achieve anything , particularly next year ?

Yes , you know , when you complete the project on pathways and you reach the next level , it's such a good feeling . I love that feeling and I haven't had anything in a while , so I was really hoping that I get the nudge to complete some pathways project . Being at this club , it's been good so far . Anil's pushed me to do a lot of evaluations as well .

You know every speech to be a pathways speech , which means that you are building on that educational pathway set out by Toastmasters , versus clubs that don't embrace it so much , and I always just sort of think you know that I think there's a lot of value in I am a big fan of Pathways .

I think there's a lot of value in it and it's part of the value that we pay for by being a member .

I can't remember what the name was the previous program that they had before pathways yeah so I was one of the pioneering people in that club where people were switching to pathways , and that was a good learning experience for me , because I was forced to learn about it . Yeah .

I did and now being at Brisbane Leaders where they're focused on Pathways , I think that's been really great for me .

So I think , other than the pathways thing , the other thing that really made me want to think about joining this club was they have a roster system for um for speeches , because what happens in certain clubs is that , um , you have very over enthusiastic people who are , who are very keen on developing their speaking and they're really out there , which is great for

them . We want to give them the opportunity to speak . But then there's also other people who have joined Toastmasters because they really want to overcome their fear yeah and unless they are nudged to do a speech , they will probably just stay submissive , and then the same people keep doing speeches when the other people don't .

Yeah , so having a roster system is um so great , because that really pushes the other people to do um some speeches and get out of their comfort zone yes not bad about this club , and the other thing I like about this club is , um , they really uh put in an effort to acknowledge when somebody's completed a level on the pathways program as well .

That , I think , keeps people motivated . So people talk to each other about what pathway they're on , what project they're on , et cetera . So they emphasise on those things , which I think is really great .

He was also a member of Mount Gravatt and we use the same rostering spreadsheet that you guys use and I agree , I mean to have the next couple of meetings planned out and names against it and if you know , you've got a speech in a couple of weeks . We find that people are way more likely to do them .

We never , we never have any issues filling speaking slots for four or five speeches each meeting . And yeah , I just find that the clubs who don't do that forward planning really struggle to get people doing speeches , which is why people join Toastmasters . So it's always boggling to my mind .

But yeah , anil set up that epic spreadsheet , the rostering spreadsheet , and yeah . So yes , I'm very familiar with that system and very much a proponent of prepared , you know , of forward planning the sessions and giving people notice .

I just I think it moves people through , you know , through their speech development and makes things a bit interesting , keeps the roster dynamic and and changed up each meeting .

Yeah , they can go onto their pathways and see where they're up to , I think , and as the VPE , I find that you don't get as many opportunities to speak and talk about , whereas this way he's being quite intentional with it .

It's just , you know , chatting with , with , as you say , like-minded people and , um , yeah , just just hearing people's stories , it's , it's very cool . It's it's we are all so diverse , but the reasons for coming to Toastmasters are normally fairly similar and , yeah , it's , it's very , very cool to to meet like-minded , like-minded people .

Now , what would you say to people out out there who aren't yet Toastmasters but are thinking about joining ? So , you know , 2025 , the New Year's resolution of sorting out , you know , improving their public speaking but they're nervous about going into their first meeting ? What would you say to them ?

If you're going to mess it up , you would 100% rather mess it up at a Toastmasters meeting than a work meeting .

It's not really about being critical , um , every time , in fact , when I do an evaluation , I make it a point of first , you know , there's a sandwich technique and those things , obviously . But , yeah , people , often , this is the , this is the evaluation template is that you will tell the people , tell the person , what they did .

Well , and you need to continue doing that yeah small things that they could work on slowly . It doesn't have to be from zero to being speaking in front of 200 people straight away yeah , absolutely yeah , it's .