163: The Power of Words | Mohammed Qahtani

Mohammed Qahtani is a World Champion in public speaking having won the Toastmaster's event competing against 30,000 people from 100 countries.  
Mohammed was born and raised in Saudi Arabia and didn't speak until he was 5 years old. He used to stutter when talking and reading and he remembers a teacher smacking him across the face and asking him if he was stupid due to his inability to read out loud.  Appalling as this recollection is, Mohammed actually found solace in another student who pushed him to fight against the fear of public speaking and stuttering by reading out the school bulletins each and every day to overcome his fear. Day after day, disaster after disaster, Mohammed started to enjoy speaking and started to find that he would stutter less and less. 
By a strange twist of fate, Mohammed met the teacher and student in later life and both did not remember what they had said and the impact (both negative and positive) that they had on Mohammed. Instantly he realised the Power of Words in our lives which in turn would become the basis for his World Champion winning speech. 
Mohammed joined Toastmasters when he found himself stuttering again in later life and competed for a few years before reaching the final in 2015 in Las Vegas in front of a live audience of over 4,000 people. 
Mohammed also experimented with comedy, a skillset which featured in his winning speech. During our conversation Mohammed talks about how he structured the speech and how and why he incorporated certain elements from his life lessons and how they continue to guide his understanding of the power of what we say in any given moment. 
All leaders cast a shadow of their leadership. Words matter, people matter. Be a force for good. 
www.qahtanispeaks.com
Watch the World Champion winning speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwbI8VOsDTo

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