September 7th was a special day not only for Toastmasters members in Taiwan but also for all the members of Toastmasters International around the world. Because on this day, Toastmasters members around the world gathered to celebrate the achievement of
Mr. George Yen, former District 67 Governor, who was elected to serve as the International President of Toastmasters International to lead nearly 300,000 members in 122 countries beginning this past August. Yen will be the first Taiwanese International President in the history of Toastmasters International since its founding in 1924.
九月七日，對於在台灣以及全世界的國際演講協會的會員來說是一個十分特別的日子。因為在這個特殊的日子，來自各地的演講會會員集聚一堂，並一同慶祝顏瑛宗先生在今年八月份起就任國際演講協會世界總會長的榮耀。顏瑛宗先生先前擔任國際演講協會台灣區總會長(District 67)；而現在，身為世界總會長，他將帶領分布在全球122個不同國家，將近300,000名演講會會員。同時，自從國際演講協會於1924年創立以來，顏先生也將成為第一位來自台灣的世界總會長。

In order to recognize this honor, a special celebration party was arranged on September 7th at the American Club Taipei for Mr. George Yen. He seized the opportunity to recognize corporate Toastmasters clubs such as Far Eastern International Bank, China Trust, PwC, Ernst & Young, IBM, Intel, HP, Motorola, Trend Micro, etc., for their efforts and dedication to fostering outstanding communicators and leaders.
為了歡慶這難得的榮耀，中華民國國際演講協會在九月七日於台北市美僑協會，特別為顏瑛宗先生舉辦了一場慶祝派對。在這場盛會中，顏先生也特別利用這難得的機會表揚企業分會，包括遠東國際銀行、中國信託、資誠、安永、IBM、Intel、 HP、Motorola、趨勢科技等，並感謝這些企業分會在培育優秀溝通及領導人才上的所付出的努力與貢獻。

In addition, several distinguished Toastmasters club members were invited and gathered at the venue. The host of the party consulted them about the meaning of the Toastmasters motto “Where Leaders Are Made” and about how to become and educate a great leader in Toastmaster clubs. Those senior members gave fruitful and wise suggestions and comments based on their life and Toastmasters experience.
此外，這場盛會也邀請了許多國際演講會的傑出會員齊聚一堂，並由會議主持人帶領各自分享演講會格言「Where Leaders Are Made」的意涵，以及如何在演講會中不僅自己成為一名優秀的領導者，也訓練出更多優秀的領導者。為此，每一位資深的傑出會員都分享了他們在演講會中的生命歷程，同時也給予會眾實用又充滿智慧的建言與意見。

At the celebration party, Mr. George Yen also shared his experience and memories about from being a Toastmaster member to the International President through a keynote speech titled “My Magical Journey”. The following is the summary of his speech content:
在慶祝會中，顏瑛宗先生也藉由一段專題演講，分享了他從一位演講會會員轉變為世界總會長的經歷與回憶。這段專題演講的題名為「我的奇幻旅程」，以下為顏先生專題演講內容的摘要:

The Practice Field of Life
I am truly humbled by this event and the full capacity of nearly 200 participants. When I first stepped into a Toastmasters meeting nearly 24 years ago upon my return to Taiwan, little did I imagine in my wildest dream that I would become the International President of this global organization of 300,000 members in 122 countries!
人生的道場
在這場慶祝盛會與在場200多位參與者當中，我真的感覺到我的渺小。在24年前我剛回到台灣並且剛開始參加國際演講協會的會議時，即便在我最天馬行空的夢境裡，我也從未想像我會成為遍布全球122個國家及300,000會員的國際演講協會世界總會長。
Over the years, I have been asked the question, “George, when are you going to grow out of Toastmasters and join a grown up organization like Rotary or Lions?”
I think I have finally found the answer to this question. That is, “as a lifelong learner, I have not finished growing!” and hopefully, I never will.
在過去的幾年裡，我時常被問一個問題，那就是:「George，你到底甚麼時候才會成長，離開國際演講會，然後去參加像扶輪社或獅子會這種比較像大人的組織?」我想，最終我找到了這個問題的答案；那就是，「身為一位終身學習的人，我一直都在成長!」，並且，我希望我永遠不會停止成長。

This concept of never ending growing and learning perhaps describes the best what Toastmasters is about to me. It is what I would call “The Practice Field of Life(道場)”. What distinguishes Toastmasters from most learning experiences such as school, books and lectures is that joining Toastmasters is experiential learning, allowing people to participate, learn, and explore themselves at will, as opposed to passive learning.
這種從不停止成長與學習的概念或許最能夠形容國際演講協會在我生命中所扮演的角色，也是我所謂「人生的道場」。參加國際演講會與其他多數透過學校、書本、與課堂授課的學習經驗十分不同，相較於過往被動式的學習，參與國際演講屬於一種體驗式的學習，它幫助大家實際參與、學習、並且自由地探索自我。

Knowing Yourself before Leading Others
Toastmasters International is built on an insight of our founder Dr. Ralph Smedley in 1924. The insight is based on his famous quote that “the first result of speech training is self-discovery.” Benjamin Franklin wrote that “there are 3 things extremely hard, steel, diamond and to know thyself.” Yet, self-knowledge is at the heart of leadership because we need to lead ourselves before we can lead others. This powerful insight of the Toastmasters founder is exactly the spirit of Toastmasters.
When a speaker delivers a speech in front of an audience, he is accountable for what he says to others. The speaker needs to think through his message which requires a high degree of self-awareness and self-confidence. This may be the reason for the saying that, “people fear public speaking more than death.” Indeed, the first victory I claimed after joining Toastmasters is self-confidence; I know, many of you are probably thinking George always appears confident, and you would not believe how nervous I was during the first few years in Toastmasters!
領導別人之前先了解自我
國際演講會的建立基礎來自於創辦人Ralph Smedley博士於1924年創辦時的精神。這個精神來自於他個人著名的一句格言:「演講訓練所孕育出的第一項成果就是發現自我」。班傑明•富蘭克林曾經寫道:「有三件東西是非常堅硬的，那就是鋼鐵、鑽石、以及了解你自己。」然而，了解自我正是成為一位領袖的核心要素。因為我們必須在領導他人之前先領導自我，而國際演講社創辦人這種強而有力的領導精神正是每個演講會會員都應該具備的精神。
當一位演講員在聽眾面前發表演說時，他必須為他所說出的每一個字句負責。這位演講員必須仔細地思想他所傳遞的訊息，而這個過程需要高度的自我意識與自信感。也許就因為如此，有人說:「比起死亡，人們更害怕公開演講」。的確，在我加入國際演講會後所獲得的第一個戰利品就是自信感；我知道，你們當中有許多人也許會覺得我總是充滿自信，但你們絕不會相信以前的我是多麼地容易緊張，特別是剛開始參加國際演講協會那幾年的時候。
How Toastmasters has Changed me
I realized that Toastmasters changed me in so many ways; ever so unconsciously and painlessly. We all know how difficult it is to change oneself. Besides self-confidence,
I also acquired a few valuables experiences and skills which I apply to my life largely:
國際演講協會如何轉變我
國際演講協會在我生命的許多層面中改變了我；這種改變的過程甚至是在我沒有感覺到的時候就自然而然發生了。我們都知道要改變一個人有多麼地困難，除了自信感以外，在國際演講協會中，我同時獲得了許多可以應用在我生命中的寶貴的經驗與技能:

1. Evaluation skills: When we are in Toastmasters, we evaluate others’ speeches and give feedback. While doing that, we need to have critical thinking to decide what’s good and what’s wrong, this trained critical thinking is something I apply to our businesses leadership and family education and makes me a less authoritarian leader and better listener.
1. 講評的技巧:在國際演講社中，我們會評論彼此的演講表現並且提供意見回饋。而當我們這樣做的時候，我們必須具有評論的思維來決定甚麼是好、甚麼是不好。而我將這種訓練後的評論式思考模式實際運用在事業與家庭教育上，同時也讓我成為一個願意放低姿態的領袖，也更容易傾聽別人的意見。

2. Humor: After joining Toastmasters, I successfully overcome my weakness of always being a serious leader. That is, I have become a much more humorous person than I ever used to be. Meanwhile, I changed the way I think as well as my mindset because of a better sense of humor. This makes me think more effectively and become a more approachable leader.
2. 幽默感: 在加入國際演講協會之後，我成功地克服了我的一個弱點，那就是我看起來總是像一個嚴肅的領袖。現在的我相較於以往變得更有幽默感，這也改變我的思考模式與心境，讓我可以更有效率地思考且成為一位更容易親近的領導人物。

3. Four core values: Integrity, respect, service, and excellence are Toastmasters’ four fundamental values which I integrate in the corporate values of the companies I lead. It is essential to base any corporate joint venture on integrity, which will lead to trust and respect from your partners. Also, to become an outstanding leader required the willingness to be a servant first. Similar as in Toastmasters clubs, in the corporate field we learn how serve others, and then learn from others before we could become a leader to lead the whole team into excellence.
3. 四個核心價值: 誠信、尊重、服務、卓越是國際演講社的四個基礎價值，也是我結合在所領導的公司中的企業精神。對我而言，將企業的共同利益奠基於誠信之上是非常重要的，因為它會幫助你贏得合夥的信任以及尊重。同樣的，想要成為一位傑出的領導人就必須願意先成為一位僕人。就像在國際演講協會中一樣，在企業中我們學會怎麼服務別人，然後懂得向我們的夥伴學習，並且領導整個團隊朝向卓越的事業目標。

Although in Taiwan, Toastmasters is known as a place to practice English and communication skills, Toastmasters is in fact about leadership development. Communication in general and public speaking in particular are only means to that end. All good leaders are great communicators; but not all communicators are leaders.
And leadership is important because everyone is or will be asked to lead one day.
雖然在台灣，國際演講協會普遍被認為是一個可以練習英文與溝通技巧的地方；事實上，更重要的是，國際演講協會提供了培育領導特質的機會，而廣義的溝通與其他的公開演講訓練僅僅是達到領袖培育的方法而已。所有傑出的領袖都是好的溝通者，但不一定所有的溝通者都可以成為好的領袖。而擁有領袖特質是十分重要的，因為每個人在現在或將來都有可能領導別人。

In conclusion, the main appeal of Toastmasters to me is it is an unparalleled practice field of life, or a platform for lifelong learning. The former Prime Minister of Great Britain Margaret Thatcher once said, “what we practice becomes our habit, our habit becomes our character, and eventually, our character becomes our destiny.”
總體而言，國際演講協會最吸引我的地方就是它是一座無可比擬的人生道場，或是一個終生學習的平台。前英國首相瑪格麗特•柴契爾曾經說過:「我們所練習的事物會變成我們的習慣，我們的習慣會變成我們的人格特質，而最後，我們的人格特質會變成我們命運。」

Therefore, my dear fellow members, distinguished guests, and all our friends, In Toastmasters we keep up our practice, and we never stop growing with each other.
因此，我親愛的演講會友們、各位嘉賓、以及所有的朋友們，在國際演講會中我們將不斷地練習，並且不斷地與彼此一同成長。