Have you ever shared your ride with someone? did you like it? Was it fun, entertaining or was it a complete disaster? Whether we want it or not, ride sharing apps are becoming more and more common in our society, and many countries are picking it up. Big companies like Uber and Lyft have pioneered the idea and it doesn’t look like it’s gonna stop anytime soon.
When I moved from NYC to California, everyone told me I HAVE TO buy a car. I decided to challenge the idea and said, “What if I don’t?”.
If you own a car, you probably know better than me, all that takes to maintain, pay for insurance, gas, parking, car washing and on and on. That sounded too much of a hassle and although NYC is the complete opposite of the West Coast in terms of public transportation availability, I still thought it wouldn’t hurt trying.
About two years later and completely ride sharing dependent, something happened…
I met the most interesting, fun, real and honest human beings I’ve ever met in my entire life, in such a relatively short period of time. Being locked in a car with strangers turned out to be more fun than I ever imagined. It allowed me to strengthen my communications muscles at every ride I took.
Being an opportunist Toastmaster as I am, I started to sneak in some bits of my speeches during most of those conversations. Curious about me? Here’s the best version of my Ice Breaker. Want to learn about Toastmasters? Here goes my Toastmaster of The Day role intro. Want to hear about one of my favorite stories? Get ready to listen to my best speech to date! It even served as a place to explore and practice speeches in the works.
The only real difference is that there isn’t a stage, but instead a setting for a casual and exciting conversation. Which is to me the key ingredient to the best speeches I’ve ever listened; the ones that don’t feel rehearsed or prepared, but instead more spontaneous and organic, tailored to the audience.
Just like at Buddies. Uber rides allowed me to meet a diverse number of very interesting people, who served as an audience to topics I was passionate about. The big difference is that Buddies are more supportive and friendly, with great focus on feedback and improvement, where ride sharing isn’t nearly as close.
Where else are you finding opportunities to share your message to the world? It doesn’t have to end in your Toastmaster meeting.