It was exactly 30 years ago today that my wife, Christine, gave birth to my twin sons, Cory Michael and Jason Paul . ..

I had just won the Regional Championship level of the World Championship of Public Speaking for Toastmasters International in Norfolk, Virginia several weeks before, and I had to make a decision to make. If my sons were not born before I was to leave, I would have to forfeit my position and have a surrogate replace me in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

The decision was made a somewhat easier when Christine delivered a bit early. Now I had another decision to make; do I abandon her with newborn twins to chase this dream of winning a World Championship of Public Speaking?

That decision was simplified with the arrival of a pair of grandmothers and another half dozen aunts, all of whom wanted a piece of the action. I had trouble getting seat time with my own twin sons.

Realizing this, Christine banished and shipped me off to Vancouver with a simple dictate: win or don't come home. No pressure there.

I had already blown it the year before by going eight seconds over my allotted time limit, thereby getting disqualified. I learned this after I was told that I had won. "Oops, we need that trophy back big boy. You went a tad long, eh." I didn't appreciate the Canadian "eh" postscript.

So I landed in British Columbia with this new dictate from my bride… to win or don't come home. My first inclination was to find a specialty shop and have a trophy made up that said 1978 World Champion Speaker, but my hypocrisy only goes so far.

The Toastmasters International Convention is a week-long gala that culminates with the World Championships on Saturday morning.

The entire convention is composed of two elements of people. The first are those political animals that venture through the process of running for International Director. These folks remind me allot of Trekies who have never missed a Star Trek convention. They are single-minded in their purpose. Some haven't missed a Toastmasters Convention in 40 years.

And then there's the other element like yours truly, who has no interest in letters after their name or holding office or becoming anything other than a better speaker. We are a minority at these conventions, but a respected minority nevertheless.

Since I had blown it the previous year by going a lousy eight seconds over my time limit, the word was out that "stupid was back for another go at it." Interestingly, I got a standing ovation during that speech in Toronto, Ontario in 1977. It lasted eight seconds. Duh!

Determined not to make that same mistake twice, I decided that I needed to focus on two things: 1- Finish on time, and 2- Find a way to be different.

The World Championship of Public Speaking features all nine Regional Finalists from throughout the Toastmasters International speaking world, which, at that time was composed of some 165,000 members in some 65 countries.

The judges meet with you prior to the contest to review the rules and to remind dummies like yours truly not to go overtime. By the time you reach the finals, you have already mailed in all the copies of your previous speeches, none of which can be similar in any way. After the District level of competition, you are required to write and submit a new and different presentation at each new level.

So I had the time thing down pat this go around after screwing up royally the year prior. Next, I had to find a way to be different. When we drew straws, I learned I would speak last. I immediately called Christine to tell her I was about to win. "How do you know that?" she queried. All I had to do was watch the first eight and find a way to be different. I did just that.

I'm was told by Terry McCann, the late Executive Director of Toastmasters International, that I was the first speaker in the history of the competition to venture out from behind the podium.

It startled some and amazed others and I suspect it clearly gave me the winning edge. So my advice to people today is simple: "Find out what everybody else is doing… then don't do it." That's pretty good advice in life if you think about it.