Often when I’ve finished a presentation someone will come up to me and say “Gee, I wish I could speak in public like you” to which my response is always “Well, you can because speaking is not a talent but a skill… and skills can be learned.”

So, of course, then they ask me where I learned to do it and that’s when I can fondly reply “By joining Junior Chamber International (formerly Jaycees) one of the best service clubs ever.”

And that’s true. It’s where I tasted really serious rewarding and challenging personal development and participated in debating contests, presentation skills workshops and oratory competitions amongst a host of other great activities. Frankly, JCI gave me the skills to do what I have done for the last 30 years or so… presenting to audiences everywhere.

That’s why it was wonderful to be invited to a reunion of my JCI friends last Sunday and to hear what they had done since we were kicked out at the compulsory retirement age of 40… and what JCI is now doing. Like most service clubs their numbers and the number of clubs aren’t what they used to be but the quality training is still as great as ever. There’ll at least be a club in your capital city that’ll be worth crawling over broken glass to get to!

So, if you know someone between the ages of 18 and 40 who wants to get the best personal development training on the planet get them to have a look at JCI. They’ll find them at www.jciaustralia.org.au

The photo shows the national president Natalie Viselli and me at Sunday’s function.