Mohammed Qahtani

Mohammed Abdullah Qahtani is a Saudi Arabian Toastmaster speaker, security engineer and author. He is acknowledged for his commendable work in the fields of personal development, leadership, and communication. He rose to prominence and limelight after winning the 2015 World Championship of Public Speaking.

Biography Qahtani grew up with a stutter and had experienced difficulties to speak eloquently in a consistent flow since his childhood. He was subject to bullying in his childhood for his stuttering speech impediment. He uttered a word for the first time at the age of six. He joined a Toastmasters club in 2009 based on a recommendation from one of his friends, to tackle and mitigate challenges related to stuttering. He went on to deliver speeches by managing to limit the impact of stuttering through immense practices. He played to his strengths in performing stand-up comedy as an undergraduate student at Arizona State University. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in the field of Computer science at the Arizona State University.

Career He gained significant traction and was a centre of attention in public speaking forum when he was adjudged as the outright winner of the Toastmasters International World Championship of Public Speaking in 2015, which was held in Las Vegas. He also set a benchmark by becoming the first Arab to emerge triumphant in Toastmasters International World Championship of Public Speaking.

Qahtani predominantly engaged in encouraging and empowering individuals to help them come out of their comfort zone by guiding them to practice effective communication skills. He has also delivered keynote speeches on importance of leadership to implement crisis management, importance of overcoming career burnout due to workload, importance of work-life balance and mitigation of resistance to change to focus on change management. He has also delivered motivational speeches and workshops with the intention of mentoring individuals to enhance their public speaking abilities.