In this motivational talk, the speaker reflects on the paradox of hyper‑connectivity in the AI era—while technology links us, many feel isolated. He shares two personal crises (a 2019 visa delay that kept him away from his family during his mother’s angioplasty, and a solitary 2020 UK lockdown) and explains how belonging to communities such as Toastmasters helped him stay grounded. He then outlines four core reasons why community membership is vital: (1) genuine connection beyond work or family circles; (2) recognition and a sense of achievement that fulfills an innate human need; (3) opportunities to experiment with and practice leadership, especially the “leader without a title” model; and (4) the chance to serve and make an impact. The talk concludes with a call‑to‑action inviting listeners passionate about communication, storytelling, and public speaking to join the Confident Storytelling Hub, a community aimed at nurturing authentic storytellers across India and abroad. The speaker ends with encouragement to keep learning, growing, and stepping out of comfort zones.
Chapters
In the world filled with AI, ChatGPT, and all the other tools and all, there is a real crisis going on, and I want you to pay very close attention to this. What I'm talking about is the community living, is being part of a community. You see, over the last few decades, we have become so self-centered. We have gone from being a joint family to a nuclear family. We've gone, created walls in in our offices that even though we are hyper-connected, we are actually very alone and lonely. Do you agree to that? So in this video, it's my small attempt to share some of the things that has kept me grounded, that has kept me connected, even though I've gone through various ups and downs in my life. Let me start by telling you a personal story. It was 2019. I was in the United States, and due to some visa complication, I couldn't travel back to India for almost 6-7 months. And my family, my mother, my father, all of them were in India, even my wife and daughter. And I haven't talked about that publicly, but my mother was going through angioplasty. It was very difficult time. But you know what? What kept me going was being part of a good network of friends, being part of certain communities like Toastmasters. And those communities helped me stay grounded. Back in 2020, it was only one week when I reached UK. I was living all alone in my apartment when the lockdown was announced in the whole UK. And for the next almost 11 months, I stayed alone in a house, almost alone in a house, with no contact, physical contact from outside world. And you know what kept me going? Was being part of various communities. So let me share with you some reasons why being part of community can really help you. Number 1, it creates a connection. You see, a lot of us have very few connects outside our personal and professional world, right? Maybe you know a set of people in your office, maybe a set of people in your home or in your society, but what about the vocational communities? What about the skill-based communities? What about the networking community? This is where the real connection comes, because there people are not connecting with an agenda. They're connecting with the intention to network, with the intention to build relationship. Number 2 is a lot of time I have seen that people who are very good tends to be ignored by their management, by other places. They don't get that recognition. And as humans, we all have that innate need and desire to be recognized for what we do. But when you become part of any such communities where what you do gets recognized, it gives you a real sense of achievement. Yes, I've won a number of awards in various communities, but for me, those are not just trophies or some material. Those are small proof that I matter, my voice matters. So if you're part of a growing community, this can really help you fulfill that innate human desire. The third reason, the ability and opportunity to experiment, to lead. There are always two types of leaders, I say. One is the leader with the title and the leader who had no title. One of my favorite book on leadership is the book by Robin Sharma, which says The Leader Who Had No Title. Amazing book. If you have not read that, I highly recommend that you go and read that book. And this video is not sponsored by Robin Sharma, by the way. The two types of leadership. The first type we all know, we all know people who have been given title because of their experience, because of their qualification, but they don't deserve to be leader. I am being controversial here, but this is the truth. I have seen so many corporate leaders who don't deserve to be leader because they don't have the basic human sense, the way to talk, the way to connect with other team members. And then there are others who who have not given the title designation of being a leader, but they are excellent leaders. And what you'll find is that if you're part of a community which is a growing positive community with a common intention and common mission, more times you will find that there are leaders who are not really worried about the title or the recognition that they receive. This is what can inspire you if you are a leader, even though you may not have the title You can be part of a leadership in one of those communities to be able to serve. One of the other human necessities is the ability to serve and make an impact. So I hope this video has initiated a conversation in your head. I hope this video has helped you gain a little bit clarity on why you need to be part of a community. If you are somebody who's passionate about communication, storytelling, public speaking, and you're still not part of a community and want to be a part of a growing community with members from all parts of India and even various countries outside, I would request you to consider joining Confident Storytelling Hub, where our mission is to create authentic storytellers, authentic speakers who are here to support each other, who are here to challenge each other to grow and to make an impact. So the details are in the description. If you want to be part of the community, come and join us. And as I say every time, until next time, keep learning, keep growing, and keep going out of your comfort zone. I hope to see you— yes, you— in the Confidence Storytelling Hub very soon. Take care and story power to
