a day ago
A Toastmasters world champion on finding her voice through motherhood
'Can you think of a time when life tried to knock you down? Who was your toughest opponent?'
When Ramona J Smith lobbed these weighty questions with punch in her voice and poise in her stance at the 2018 Toastmasters World Championship of Public Speaking, she had no inkling that a quiet coronation awaited her on the other side. She took the audience on a tour of her life punctuated with failures and letdowns, only to rise from the ashes and command the world stage with a life-changing speech 'Still Standing'. The phrase became a lasting motif of resilience in Smith's life, one that not only defined her identity but brought her a glory she had never imagined.
Seven years later, the words 'still standing' represents more than mere grit and emerging from the rock bottom. It now means, in Smith's own words, 'gratitude to still be speaking and to still be celebrated as a world champion.'
Speaking on the sidelines of Toastmasters (District Toastmasters Annual Conference) DTAC 2025 in Dubai, she said that she did not join the organisation with an intention to overcome stage fear. She had never been one to grow cold feet when on stage, but she recalled the moment when she felt an irrevocable desire to find her voice and release it to the world to echo. And it wasn't something external.
'When I became a mother, that's when I knew that I had to speak up for myself, because I was going to have to speak up for my son. I knew that I was going to have to step up as a leader because I had this little person watching every move that I was making and I wanted to be the best version of myself for my son.'
As an unwed mother, who she says is different from a single mother in the struggles that they face, it wasn't easy for Smith to emerge from the backstage of fizzles and frustrations. However, she proudly highlights the fact that her son had his father to fall back on in his growing years, and that gave her the opportunity and freedom to set out on her own from the theatre of her past. It shaped the way she showed up on the stage as a leader whose intention was to carry the message of finding one's own bearings in a world that is filled with distractions of every sort. It gave her the space to spread her wings in the comfort of knowing that her son was safe growing up well and strong with his amazing father.
For someone who meets adversities with the same equanimity as facing an audience, winning the World Championship wasn't just about making herself heard. It was also about shedding the fear of not being able to make her dreams come true. 'I'm afraid of not living my life to the fullest, that's the only fear I have, and how I navigate through that today is by continuing to show up globally and continuing to pursue my dreams and achieve my goals.'
Smith doesn't believe in merely pouring her words into the mic. For her a speech should be able to percolate into the minds of the listeners, leaving an irreversible impact on them, so much so that it transforms their lives in some way. Like most public figures who hand out practical life lessons and suggest coping mechanisms to successfully survive in a chaotic, digitally disturbed world, Smith too draws from the well-spring of her own struggles, experiences and lessons learnt and imparts them to people in forceful ways.
'Great speakers are great storytellers,' she says and segues into explaining how from being a mere speaker who wanted to tell her stories when she began her journey, she has now grown into an orator who uses her experiences to guide others towards discovering the greatness within themselves.
This leadership quality that now helps her empower others wasn't something she was born with; it was shaped by circumstances and honed by choice. It didn't emerge until she enlisted in the United States Air Force, where a military training instructor unexpectedly thrust her into a leadership role. 'It was when he pushed me into that role because he saw some characteristics in me that I didn't,' she recalls. 'I accepted it, and I was able to lead a group of 50 women I'd never met before through training. The title of 'leader' definitely found me. I didn't think I was one before, but I know for sure that I am one now.'
Her words carry the modesty of someone who didn't seek power, but grew into it. Her story affirms the truth that greatness isn't always something you're born into; it can be cultivated through intention, commitment, and the willingness to be of value to those you aim to serve.
Let's admit it — being a public speaker isn't easy. It takes courage to overcome the two major mental blocks that hold most people back: imposter syndrome and the trap of comparison. The nagging belief of 'I'm not good enough' isn't unique to speakers alone; it's something everyone who has stood on a victory podium has wrestled with at some point.
According to Smith, the antidote to this lies in pushing oneself beyond the safety of comfort zones. 'I train them and make them speak in a way they didn't even know they were capable of,' she says. 'They start to unlock a confidence they never knew was there, and along the way, they begin to discover different versions of themselves, and that's very liberating.'
In Smith's opinion, to be a great speaker, one has to have life experiences that not only one can share with authenticity, but also have the capacity to process those experiences and derive lessons out of them that can shift audience perspectives. 'Great speakers are shaped by struggle and intentional practice,' she says summarising the primary characteristics of a good orator on stage who can hook, hold and bind the audience in a spell.
Smith is undeterred by the invasion of AI in the creative space, of which public speaking is an integral part and holds unvarying certitude in her role as a speaker and life-changer. She is convinced that live, heartfelt communication in an era dominated by quick content and virtual personas has an undisputable place of its own. While she does not deny that 'AI can help to come up with ideas and creative statements and create creativity', there's still nothing like 'being in a group of people with whom you are laughing, having a good time,' she adds. The energy that genuine thought and communication bring is incomparable and 'there is no substitute for live interaction.'
Smith observed that what stood out most about the Toastmasters community in the UAE was their palpable excitement, deep passion, and dedication to the organisation. Unlike what she often sees back in the United States, where not everyone treats Toastmasters with the same level of personal investment, members in the UAE hold the community close to their hearts. She found their warmth and the way they received her and other world champions to be truly humbling.
While many individual stories and voices moved her during her visit, what remained most memorable was the collective spirit, a level of enthusiasm and commitment she considers among the strongest she's encountered in her journey.
Smith is disarmingly adorable when she says that if she hadn't become a world-renowned speaker, she might have simply been a stay-at-home mom. If there's one myth about public speaking she wishes to bust, it's the idea that it's 'hard, challenging, and terrible'. For her, the most powerful thing the craft has taught her is the ability to say, with conviction, 'I am enough.'
For someone who wakes up each day feeling happy and excited about what the hours ahead might bring, and who finds deep power in the quiet satisfaction of doing what she loves, that simple statement becomes a profound declaration for a lifetime.
