D50 After Dark Podcast
**Video available with a FREE Spotify Account.
Highlights
(1:44) Toastmasters speech evaluation leads to an unexpected book opportunity
(3:27) Discovers and joins a publisher’s writing challenge
(5:17) Book published in February 2021, inspired by fellow Toastmaster MJ Presley
(8:38) Reveals the story behind her book’s powerful title
(12:18) Uses Toastmasters speech structure for book organization
(13:48) Announces plans for a children’s heart health book
(15:00) Encourages all Toastmasters to write books
Summary
In this engaging D50 After Dark episode, Mickey Bennett continues his conversation with Denise Castile, Program Quality Director, focusing on her journey from speaker to author. After giving a Toastmasters speech about her heart attack experience, Denise was encouraged by her evaluator and fellow member MJ Presley to write a book. Through a serendipitous Facebook discovery, she joins a boutique publisher’s writing challenge to write several hours every day. That exercise eventually leads to her book “I Don’t Want to Die Like This: A Survivor’s Guide to Thriving After a Heart Attack,” published in February 2021. The title came from her actual prayer during the heart attack, and despite her editor’s initial resistance, it proved to be the right choice.
Denise discusses the emotional five-month writing process, including working with both the publisher’s editors and an external editor she specifically hired. She applied Toastmasters speech structure principles to organize her book, treating each chapter as a separate speech with its own purpose.
Practice emerges as a crucial theme, with specific emphasis on using timers to prepare for contest conditions. Bonnie describes how timing cards can be disconcerting and suggests practicing with a five-minute target for even-minute speeches to provide buffer time. Mickey adds the important tip of never stopping mid-practice, as it creates a habit that cannot be used in actual contests.
Looking ahead, she plans to write an illustrated children’s book about heart health to commemorate her 10-year survival anniversary in July 2025. Throughout the interview, Denise emphasizes how Toastmasters provided not only the initial inspiration but also the structural framework and confidence needed to become an author. She believes everyone, especially Toastmasters, has a book within them, because their speeches already contain stories worth sharing.
Recent Comments