Dr. Dilip Abayasekara is a Professional Speaker, Trainer, and Speech Coach. He also serves as Associate Pastor at Middlesex UMC, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He was the first-ever Sri Lankan-born International President of Toastmasters International, serving in 2005-2006. A native of Colombo, he completed high school at Royal College. He did his university education in the United States, eventually earning a Ph.D. in organic and polymer chemistry.
During his first career as an industrial chemist, he joined Toastmasters International and discovered talents and aptitudes that introduced him to the life changing power of the spoken word. Honors, awards, and recognition for his skills and knowledge eventually led him to leave his first career and start his own company, Speaker Services Unlimited, a professional speaking, training, and coaching company which has since developed into the company, Dr. Dilip, LLC. His list of clients includes the Pentagon, Hershey Corporation, Northrop Grumman, PNC Bank, Veteran’s Administration, and the United Nations Development Programme. He has written extensively in the field of communication and personal development and is the author of The Path of the Genie – Your Journey to Your Heart’s Desire(Executive Books, Mechanicsburg, 2004) and co-author of the book, Public Speaking with Power, Passion, and Purpose(Legends School of Transformation, Bangalore, India, 2012).
Dr. Abayasekara has also served as an adjunct faculty member of the Eastern University, School of Professional Studies, and continues to lecture at Central Penn College. In 2015 he earned a Master of Divinity degree and was commissioned as a Provisional Deacon.
Dr. Abayasekara has won numerous awards including second place at the 1992 World Championship of Public Speaking, finalist at the International Platform Association’s Speaking Ladder competition, Accredited Speaker designation by Toastmasters International for professional level speaking skills, and a presidential citation from Toastmasters. He and his wife live in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.
