The words came during a powerful and often theatrical presentation by the 1999 world public speaking champion Craig Valentine. Sharing his story, he said he had been a well-paid IT professional when he decided to pursue his passion of public speaking.

“When I approached the company vice president with a resignation letter, he dissuaded me saying he would increase my salary by 200 percent. I told him my leaving the company was not a financial decision,” Valentine said. “He again offered me up to $100,000. That was a big amount then, and it still is a big amount now. I told my wife about my dream of public speaking and the vice president’s offer. I thought her reaction would be ‘take the money, you fool.’ But then she told me, ‘Craig, your dream is not for sale.’ That was the clincher, and here I am before you talking about the art of public speaking.”

Arab News Editor in Chief Khaled Almaeena captivated the audience with the story of the newspaper’s history and its achievements.

“Arab News was started by two brothers from a garage in Jeddah. Right from day one, it made a difference in the lives of its readers. The story of Arab News, which completes 35 eventful years on April 20, is the story of Saudi Arabia. As the country marched ahead, so did we,” Almaeena said. “Arab News is not in the business of inciting people, or promoting hatred, or sensationalizing stuff. We don’t do that. That was the reason why we were among the first to welcome Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah’s call for interfaith dialogue and harmony,” Almaeena said.

“We at Arab News always focus on the points of convergence rather than divergence. Our philosophy is to bring various nationalities onto one platform. We act as a bridge,” he said. “When Arab News was launched there were no human rights organizations. We were the ones highlighting the stuff that was happening to our expat guests. That is still the case. We have given a voice to the voiceless.”

One measure of a newspaper’s success is what its readership comes to expect from it.

“One night I got a call from a young man who said he wanted to see me urgently. I asked him what was the reason, and he said his mother-in-law was beating him. So I asked him, how it was I came into this picture? He said ‘because you are the Arab News.’ I was speechless. Then I arranged for a friend of mine to speak to the mother in law, and the poor fellow escaped the beatings.”

Almaeena said women have come to play an important role in the newspaper’s popularity and success.

“Forty percent of our subscriptions from Saudis are Saudi women. They have the money, and that is a fact and they want to read what is happening in and around Saudi Arabia. At Arab News 74 percent of our Saudi staff are women. The No. 2 at Arab News is a woman,” he said, referring to Managing Editor Somayya Jabarti.

The conference theme was “Conquering Heights,” and the organizing Jubail Toastmasters Clubs reached a new pinnacle of success for its divisional grouping.

Division L Gov. Waheed Lateef and Conference Chairman Taher Moinuddin said the event attracted a record number of Toastmasters, many of whom are business leaders who see the group as an effective way to improve communication skills.

“We have people from all over the region — from Dubai, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jeddah, Riyadh and all the cities in the Eastern province,” Lateef said.