By Karim PremjiAlmost eight years ago, Allstate Canada asked Toastmasters to host a demonstration meeting for their employees to help them with their presentation skills. Within minutes, the meeting was fully booked. While Karim Premji, an eBusiness Manager with Allstate Canada was too late signing up, he was invited back a few months later to a second demonstration meeting where Club Officers were being elected.

Not wanting to miss out on an opportunity again, Karim responded quickly to the Sergeant-at-arms position; before the Chair could complete the request for nominations Karim put up his hand for a nomination. . The club chartered with 35 members after that second meeting, with Karim as a chartered Club Officer.

It was at Club Officer training in the months that followed, that Karim realized the true value of Toastmasters and the impact it could have in his life and that of his club members. He networked with other newly elected club officers in the District, attended other club meetings, and went to his first Conference in the fall. He shared his learning with his members through speeches and presentations. Although getting speaking opportunities in a large club was a challenge, he achieved his Competent Communicator award in 18 months.

Karim’s Area Governor was aware of his enthusiasm for Toastmasters and encouraged him to apply for this role the next term. With the support of Allstate Canada’s Vice President of Sales, Karim was appointed Area Govenor in the next elections. By the end of his term as Area Governor, Karim completed his first Distinguished Toastmaster Award, Sponsored and Mentored two new clubs, successfully coached two clubs back to health and received the District 60 Area Governor of the Year Award. In the following year, he received the District 60 Toastmaster of the Year.

In 2008, Karim’s focused shifted towards his MBA in Financial Services, and he thought it was time to take a break from Toastmasters. However, the call came to compete in the Evaluation Contest and Karim re-discovered his enthusiasm. He competed at the club, area and division level and re-discovered the benefits he had learned as a newly elected club officer—through leadership, you can positively impact the lives of the people around you.

After reaffirming his commitment, Karim applied for the role of Area Governor once again. This time, he wanted to demonstrate how a corporation can give back to the community and how the values of Toastmasters and his employer matched. Through his High Performance Leadership project, Allstate Canada hosted over 18 events that term including 5 club officer training sessions and 9 Youth Leadership workshops. With almost 50 speeches presented that term, he also fulfilled his personal goal of completing his second DTM in one year. He won the District 86 Area Governor of the Year in 2009-2010 and Toastmaster of the Year for 2010-2011.

In August 2001, through the Project Management Institute (PMI), Karim learned that Joseph Fernandes was working on starting a new speciality club for Project Managers. The two connected and with the help of Joseph and his team, a demonstration meeting was held on September 15, 2011 at the Downtown location.

The quick start of PMTM mirrored Karim’s experience with Allstate Canada, as most clubs take a lot more time to charter. With most charter club officers new to Toastmasters, they too have an incredible opportunity to learn about the world’s leading organization focused on the individual member’s communication and leadership personal development skills.

Karim is now working on his fourth DTM designation and is only two courses away from completing his MBA. He is currently helping build a club in Richmond Hill through the Speechcraft program and is an active Mentor to Project Management Toastmasters clubs officers and members. His future plans include continuing to help PMTM at both locations and serve the District.