A Timmins woman made it to the podium at a national competition by sharing her story about being diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder while pregnant.
Maya Woronicz won third place at this year’s Speaker Slam event in Toronto. It was her first time in a competition of this size and the win moved her on to the wildcard competition in September to try for a spot in the finals.
“I was definitely nervous, but it was good nerves. There was a lot of excitement,” she said.
The Grand Slam: Inspiration Speaking Finals are being held in November, with the winner being crowned inspirational speaker of the year and taking home a prize package valued up to $50,000.
Writing and honing her speech was a new experience.
“You don’t realize how short five minutes is when you’re writing it,” she said. “It’s one of those things that take months to edit and play around with to figure out how you want to present it.”
In it, she shares her experiences with being diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis, the birth of her daughter who is now three years old, and her journey toward acceptance.
“So many more people are getting diagnosed with autoimmune diseases, and they can take years to diagnose,” she said. “You’re just constantly like, what’s going on, what’s happening?”
Psoriatic arthritis is an autoimmune condition affecting the skin, nails, and joints. For Woronicz, it meant extreme pain through months of her pregnancy.
"I couldn't walk unless it was from the bed to the couch. I needed help with something so simple as peeling my own orange," she said in her speech.
Being a self-proclaimed open book, getting personal wasn't hard for her.
"The hardest part of getting on there and sharing the story was, would anybody relate to it? Would anybody understand where I’m coming from? That was the big thing I was struggling with," she said.
She said the speech really started to come together when she began practicing it out loud to herself.
“I found that I found my flow better doing it that way, and that’s when a lot of the editing started and honestly progressed pretty quickly,” she said.
She worried whether people could relate to her experiences, but the other speakers and the audience found a connection in all the different stories shared during the event.
“Someone will always relate. That’s the great thing. It gives you a voice,” said Woronicz. “Everyone was so different but could relate to all of these peoples’ stories no matter where they were coming from.”
Placing third at the competition was a surprise to Woronicz, as she’d never done something like it before, but between family, friends, and the Timmins Toastmasters group, she felt prepared to take on the challenge.
“They didn’t know my story, so it was awesome to hear from them whether or not they were able to take away the points that I was hoping for and whether or not it flowed properly,” she said. “Sometimes when we say our story, it makes sense to us but to others, it’s kind of like ‘How did you get from point A to B?’”
While her third-place finish doesn’t guarantee a spot in the next round of competition, it does enter her in the wild card competition in September.
“All I know is that I still have a chance,” she said.
