Maybe your livelihood depends on crafting and delivering compelling presentations. Or perhaps you simply want to able to hold your own in a typical conversation. On our January 15th meeting Kathy Strobl explained how joining Toastmasters could benefit those in either situation.
Since 1924 Toastmasters International has provided practical training in public speaking. It currently has over 16,000 clubs around the world and 95 clubs in the Edmonton area alone.
Kathy ran us through what comprises a typical meeting at the Dawnbreakers Toastmasters club downtown. Stan Bissell, Kevin McLeod, James Wynters, Darren Chin and Patrick Gibson were chosen at random and gamely accepted the challenge of speaking for at least one minute on an aspect of Rotary that related to them personally.
The tendency of even the most comfortable speakers to sprinkle filler words (uh, um, like) and unintended pauses into their discourse is heavily ingrained. Toastmasters provides continuous opportunities to overcome speech disfluencies and to develop other skills that allow you to convey information and opinions in the most compelling manner.
Kathy chose Scott Young to close out her Toastmasters session speaking about the benefits and challenges of volunteering with the Canadian Ski Patrol at Marmot Basin in Jasper. Kathy acknowledged the commendable job he did while offering some suggestions for improvement that allow Toastmasters to fine tune their technique.
For more information on Dawnbreakers Toastmasters go to https://5143.toastmastersclubs.org/. There you'll find links to Toastmasters International and other Toastmasters clubs near you.