INTRODUCTION OF MATT WARREN BY JORY
“Our speaker today is going to talk about his recent work on his Statement of Purpose. As a part of the Ice Breaker project, Matt Warren will share a little about his life growing up as a serial entrepreneur. What life was like, what happened, and what life is like today.. Mr. Timer, Matt will need four to six minutes for his presentation. Please help me welcome Toastmaster Matt Warren with his presentation, “Drafting a Statement of Purpose”.
ICEBREAKER SPEECH #1
The reason I joined Toastmasters is because I have a message of experience, strength and hope to share with the world. My communication goals are that I would like to improve my public speaking skills, specifically around the fact that I have stuttered since I was a young boy. I was told that my brain moves faster than my mouth and I’m here today to work on that opportunity.
I am also writing a book in the form of a memoir and want to be more fluid and effective as a public speaker to help promote my book but also to help change lives for the better. I’m actively recording and editing videos that I’m using as a digital workshop to help the person who I once was.
Ms President, Mr Toastmaster, and fellow members, Good morning! My name is Matt Warren and I’m excited to be with you today.
Why are we here on this earth?
What are we doing? What is the point in this life?
Recently, I have been working on a little project with a good friend of mine. We have been challenging ourselves to get our Statement of Purpose on paper.
Have you ever written out a Statement of Purpose?
If so, GREAT because you will get what I’m going through. If not, I’d like to challenge YOU to give-it-a-go sometime.
What I plan to share with you this morning is a little history about my life, what happened in 2017 after my Granddad passed away and what life is like today.
I grew up in the Irmo area, was the middle child and was one of those rare kids who had a PhD mechanical engineering entrepreneurial father. I wanted to be just like him and own my own business, but I knew from day one that I was not an engineer!
At 9 years old, I had a shoe shining business and made 80 bucks cash shining neighbors’ shoes.
At age 10, I sold POGS, which were little game pieces that were all the rage back then and sold lemonade and was a babysitter for the neighbor’s kids.
At age 12, my brother and I went into business and formed J&M lawn service which stood for Jason and Matt’s Lawn Service. He was five years older than me and had the transportation at the time. I bought him out 3 years later right before he was going away to college.
At age 15, I paid cash for his share of the business, all the equipment, and our 12 or so loyal clients. I changed the name to Matt’s Lawn Service and grew it to two crews that maintained 33-35 yards a week.
My senior year of high school when my allergies got bad from all the leaf mold and pollen. My allergist made me quit cutting grass, but I just didn’t close the doors of the business, I sold it all to a large-scale landscaper who bought all my worn-out equipment and my book of clients.
A month later, my senior year of high school, I started Pinestraw Plus. I found a supplier of clean long needle pinestraw and sold bales to landscapers and homeowners. At the end of senior year, I had sold over 8900 bales of pinestraw and decided it was too good to quit, so I told all my clients that I was going away to Clemson but that I would be back for spring break, fall break and over the Christmas holidays and would love to continue to service their pinestraw needs.
The business grew and by the end of my four years at Clemson, I had over 700 clients who called once or twice a year for pinestraw to be either delivered or spread. I had moved well over a quarter million bales of pinestraw while going to college.
Fast forward to 2017, WHAT HAPPENED.
I had created a solar business and was now installing solar panels on top of homes and businesses during the initial boom of the solar industry. My Granddad on my dad’s side became real sick and passed away that year. That was my first close family member to pass away, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I spiraled downhill fast with depression, drug abuse and alcoholism. I was really close to my Granddad and he taught me a ton about one of my main passions, gardening and making things grow.
After he died, I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t talk about emotions my feelings and turned to alcohol and drugs to cope with the loss and the trauma.
My sobriety date is March 1st, 2018 and I’ve been clean and sober since then. That is 3 years, 8 months, and 21 days…but who is counting, right?
I have changed every area of my life for the better and continue to work on myself daily….including my fear of public speaking.
Writing my Statement of Purpose recently, I realized that I’m still an entrepreneur at heart. I want to combine what I know about the solar industry, indoor hydroponic farming and one of my passions to provide clean water to those in need.
My Statement of Purpose goes something like this: I help people have clean water, clean food, and energy that’s affordable, sustainable, and safe through indoor farming containers, solar that charges batteries and water purification systems.
If you are interested in drafting your Statement of Purpose, make it in the present tense. Make it something that is specific and something that will get you up in the morning.
As a second grader, I was pulled out of class to go to a speech therapist because I stuttered so bad. I want to move past that and face the fear of public speaking head-on.
I’m Matt Warren, one of your newest Toastmaster members and I’m grateful to be here and to share with you a small part of my story. Thank you for letting me share.
COMMENTS AND EVALUATIONS
TIME: 5 mins 27 seconds
Used good humor, good transitions, closing about the 2nd grade was random
They recommended that I use the title multiple times, in the intro, the body and the conclusion.
I used “And” as my filler word many times. It’s okay to pause.
Liked “fast forward” and my use of time to help guide us through.
