Team up with Toastmasters to become a better speaker

Happy new year to all our readers from CIS Toastmasters. Our first meeting for the year will be on Tuesday, 20 January 18h30 at Old Edwardian’s Club in Houghton, Johannesburg. Please contact our Eunice Faiga, our VP Membership for any specifics.

By Dave Hodges • DEMOCRAT BUSINESS EDITOR • December 27, 2008

Shirley Bull, director of Business & Community Outreach at the state’s Agency for Workforce Innovation, has a lunch appointment each Thursday at noon. It’s where she and other friends and business associates work on their communication skills.
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“I just can’t tell you what Toastmasters has done for me,” she says of the organizations she has belonged to for 17 years, serving as the chapter president at one point.

First and foremost, it is a confidence builder. “It can help you in your career to learn public speaking,” she says.

Sooner or later, that opportunity presents itself. Perhaps you are scheduled to give a report at a staff meeting, present a paper at a conference, or stand before potential clients and give a marketing presentation. You might need to address a homeowners association or your fellow parents at a PTA meeting.

Still, the prospect of speaking before an audience can be scary. It’s consistently ranked among the things people dread the most. The approach of Toastmasters International is to give individuals a chance to work on speaking skills in a non-threatening, instructive environment.

It’s about overcoming the fear of the podium. Toastmasters, in fact, jokingly reminds us all that no one has actually ever died from stage fright, even though some may feel they could. And chances are no one is going to notice your knees shaking or that sweaty upper lip you develop when you are addressing an audience.

What you will get is coaching and support on the essentials — speaking clearly, having good eye contact and posture, using gestures effectively, and how to give a talk that gets your point across and is memorable. And while you are speaking, as I did at Shirley Bull’s Capital City Chapter recently, you learn how to gauge the length of your remarks with the help of a member who times you. Even in two minutes you can say a lot more than you think.

Tallahassee is fortunate to have several Toastmasters chapters meeting on various days. If being a better speaker in your business or profession is a goal of yours, the clubs are ready to help.

source: Tallahassee Democrat.

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