Author: Grace Li
We are happy to announce Maiwand Speaks as our next interviewee in the Student Spotlight Series.
Q1. Please introduce yourself and your mission.
Hi, I’m Maiwand, a passionate youth speaker and advocate for positive change through public speaking and healthcare. My mission is to inspire and educate young people and help them understand that their potential is limitless. I aim to do all this through a keynote performance that I have called “Light Up Your Future, Understand Your Past”, which you can book me for via my email or Instagram. I truly do aim to show that young voices can drive real impact in their communities.
Q2. Can you share how your journey with public speaking began? Is there a moment or experience that inspired you to start speaking?
My journey with public speaking began with a desire to make a difference in my community. A pivotal moment was when I started doing public speaking competitions. Since then, I have been crowned the Lions Public Speaking Provincial Champion, a TEDx Speaker with over 1.8k views on a channel with 44 million subscribers, and a professional keynote speaker who goes to schools, conferences, and events all around Ontario to deliver motivation and make human beings uncover their potential and believe in themselves.
Q3. You talk about being a “youth visionary”: how do you see public speaking empowering young people specifically?
I see public speaking as a tool that will empower people to express themselves and believe in themselves. The word “youth visionary”, for me, does not mean the fact that I am a youth speaker: it comes from the fact that I aim every single day of my life to make people better. To make them understand that dreams are true, and that no matter what you do, if you put your mind to it, you will succeed. That is the kind of positive change that I aim to have as a Youth Visionary. A positive outlook on the world that fosters leadership and confidence to human beings all around this world.
Q4. Can you describe a moment where your speaking helped someone make a change, either in their life or in your wider community?
One memorable moment was during a keynote performance in Mississauga. After finishing the performance, a student came up to me and he said “Maiwand, you inspired me to keep on chasing my dream to be an airline pilot. A lot of people were doubting me, my friends even. They were saying I could not do it, it was not possible, it was not realistic. However, you helped me change that perception.” It is for this reason that I do what I do. To make an impact on an amazing individual’s life is so important to me, and that is why I do what I do. To add, the reason why I am calling it a performance is because really it is… anybody could go on stage and talk, but what public speaking really is, is making people impacted by your words. That is what I do.
Q5. Where do you see your work going next? Are there any big goals or projects you’re aiming for this year?
Looking ahead, I will expand my keynote speaking. I will speak to more schools, events, and conferences, and I will become successful in that way. I say that not in a state of arrogance, but in a state that you are suppose to believe in yourself to accomplish your dreams. I feel having goals is very important, but to me there are not goals, they are things that I will do. That is what I believe in, that is what I promote, and that is what I do. To help more people understand their potential, believe in themselves, and discover who they are, that means the world to me, and I will continuously do this work every single day of my life, because it is an obsession, and it is my life.
Thank you so much to Maiwand Speaks for joining us on this interview! Please check out his work here: linktr.ee/MaiwandSpeaks
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