Speech...Sugar...Diabetes

When in doubt, blog.

I set out a task for today and that is to write out my 9th Toastmasters speech. The theme is "Persuade With Power" and I need to persuade listeners to adopt my viewpoint and take action on something in 5-7 minutes. Humph. Easier said than done.

A few ideas have come to mind and I seem stuck on a "fundraising" kick. Give more money to Haiti, give more money to the diabetes association, give more money to...stop right there. Let's go back to the diabetes thing. I've been a type I insulin dependent diabetic since July 1995. There are two major organizations that are responsible for diabetes research and fundraising in Canada. One is the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) and the other is Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). Most of the money raised by the CDA goes to type II diabetes which is logical because more people have type II (adult onset, no insulin required) than type I. JDRF is exclusively dedicated to type I. My mind thinks that this is where I should keep my focus for my speech and enlighten my audience about what type I diabetes is all about and how it affects those who have it. Also, to stress how important it is for the JDRF to keep up their work. We need a cure. Not another insulin delivery device but an actual cure. Until that happens we need to keep working. Did this blog entry work? Am I feeling sufficiently focused and ready to speech write? Not really. I'll keep on typing. It'll come to me.

Well, what do I want to say in this speech? I know that I want to:
- explain what diabetes is
- mention the difference between type I and type II
- demonstrate with passion how type I takes a serious toll on the body (I recently got life insurance and guess what age I'm assessed at for risk purposes? Any guesses??? 47!!!! I was 34 at the time of getting the insurance.)
- stress the importance of supporting JDRF iniatives
- call my audience to action to learn more about the JDRF

Phone just rang interrupting this blog. I stopped to speak to an employment recruiter. Position was not of interest but it's still nice to get a phone call. Gives me someone to talk to. Ha ha. Back to the speech. I think those points gave me a focus. Off to write.