What's New?
Toastmasters: Public Speaking Skills Aren't Debatable
RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, CA - If you are like
most people, public speaking is not your favorite pastime.
Yet survey after survey shows that presentation skills are
crucial to success in the work place. The person with strong
communication skills has a clear advantage over tongue-tied
colleagues - especially in a competitive job market. Many
people pay thousands of dollars for seminars to gain the skill
and confidence necessary to face an audience. But there's
another option that is less expensive and held in high regard
in business circles - Toastmasters International. This
organization has been around for nearly 80 years and offers a
proven - and enjoyable! - way to practice and hone the
communication and leadership skills of its members.
From one club started in 1924 at the YMCA in Santa Ana, California in 1924, Toastmasters has
grown to become the world's leading organization helping people conquer their pre-speech
jitters. Since that first club was organized by Dr. Ralph C. Smedley, nearly five million men and
women have enjoyed the benefits of Toastmasters membership. The nonprofit organization now
has approximately 190,000 members in 9,500 clubs in 78 countries.
How Does it Work?
A Toastmasters club is a "learn-by-doing" workshop in which men and women hone their skills
in a comfortable, friendly atmosphere. A typical club has 20 to 40 members, who meet weekly or
biweekly to learn and practice public speaking techniques. The average club meeting lasts
approximately one hour. Membership is affordable; total annual fees are usually less than $75.
Upon joining a Toastmasters club, members progress through a series of 10 speaking
assignments designed to instill a basic foundation in public speaking.
When finished with the first speech manual, members can select from among 15 advanced
manuals to develop speaking skills that are geared to specific interests. They are: Public
Relations, Specialty Speeches, The Entertaining Speaker, Speaking to Inform, The Discussion
Leader, Speeches by Management, The Professional Speaker, Persuasive Speaking, Technical
Presentations, Communicating on Television, Storytelling, Interpretive Reading, Interpersonal
Communication, Special Occasion Speeches and Humorously Speaking. Members also have the
opportunity to develop and practice leadership skills by working in the High Performance
Leadership Program and serving as leaders at various organizational levels.
There is no instructor in a Toastmasters club. Instead, members evaluate one another's oral
presentations. This evaluation process is an integral component of the overall educational
program. Besides taking turns delivering prepared speeches and evaluating those of other
members, Toastmasters give impromptu talks on assigned topics. They also develop listening
skills, conduct meetings, serve as officers in various leadership roles and learn parliamentary
procedure.
The effectiveness of this simple learning formula is evidenced by the thousands of corporations
that sponsor in-house Toastmasters clubs. These clubs serve as public-speaking and leadership
training workshops for employees. Every year, more and more business and government
organizations are discovering that Toastmasters is the most effective, cost-efficient means of
satisfying their communication training needs.
Toastmasters clubs can be found in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as
in a variety of community organizations, prisons, universities, hospitals, military bases and
churches.
Community Service
Toastmasters also benefit their communities by conducting the following types of programs:
- YOUTH LEADERSHIP - public speaking training for junior and high school students.
- SPEECHCRAFT - a "short course" in public speaking for adults in business, education,
industry and government.
- SPEAKERS BUREAU - to help other nonprofit organizations and community and
government groups tell their stories to the community.
- GAVEL CLUBS - bringing Toastmasters training to prisons and other institutions.
- SUCCESS/LEADERSHIP and SUCCESS/COMMUNICATION PROGRAMS - educational
modules in a how-to format on topics such as conducting productive meetings, effective
listening, parliamentary procedure, evaluation, creative thinking, leadership, management
and training.
|
