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It was my turn to give a speech last Thursday in the Toastmaster’s club that I attend. I decided to give the speech on P2P lending. For me, the most difficult part of selecting this topic was cutting down the material into only a 7 minute speech.

The Toastmaster (the person running the meeting) gives a short for the speaker, but the content is often provided by the speaker. I asked the Toastmaster to mention that this a perfect topic for me because it intersects two of my favorite topics — finance and the internet.

During the speech, I explained the basics of Prosper.com and Lending Club. I also mentioned Virgin Money for family loans if someone wants to lend the full amount to a family member. I gave a quick overview of the process for both lending and borrowing. Not a single member of the audience attending the meeting had ever heard of peer-to-peer lending.

I mentioned that for unsecured loans, the rates are good for borrowers. However, many of the people attending the meeting can probably find a better interest rate on a loan with a HELOC from our credit union. Of course, that puts your house at risk. For lending, I explained that there is a risk of default, so a lender needs to spread the risk among several loans. Seven minutes go by very fast in a speech, so I did not have time to talk about as much as I would have liked.

A few of the audience members seemed interested in the topic and wrote down the website URLs, so maybe Prosper and Lending Club will have a few more members due to my speech.

If you are not familiar with Toastmasters, it is a club to practice public speaking skills. It helps with both prepared and impromptu speaking. It provides the chance to learn about interesting topics and to meet people from outside my area at work. I also find it to be a relaxing way to spend one day per week at lunch.