Toastmaster Club

If you think that effective communication skills are just for businessmen and politicians, think again. There are so many areas in life where engaging public speaking, confident self-presentation and clear communication skills can work for your benefit. Whether you're a housewife managing a PTA meeting, or a student about to give an oral presentation, there is something a Toastmaster Club can do for you.

First off, what is a Toastmaster Club?

A Toastmaster Club is a local chapter of a large non-profit organization named Toastmasters International. And no, they'd be the first to tell you that they don't make toasters! What they do is provide a community-based network designed to assist people develop their presentation and leadership skills. The club is open to anyone interested; there are no restrictions based on age, gender, profession, field of work or even communication skill level.

A club typically meets once a week, for around 1-2 hours per meeting. Each meeting, a member is assigned to deliver a presentation to the group. The group in turn offers the speaker constructive feedback on their performance. Both areas of success and areas of improvement are identified; and structured modules provide guidance to ensure that communication skill development is progressive.

To maximize members' learning, a Toastmasters Club is deliberately kept small; usually around 15-30 members only per club. This doesn't mean that the program is exclusive, however. There can be as many clubs of Toastmasters in a city or state as there are people willing to create them.

You see, Toastmasters International is not a hierarchical organization with a central office, and subsidiary offices report to the main honcho. Instead, Toastmasters is what authors Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom would call a "starfish organization." Starfishes' arms readily break off to create new starfishes if needed; Toastmasters create as many similar clubs for as long as there are people who patronize the clubs. Each club has no instructor from the central hub.

Why join a Toastmaster Club near you?

The most obvious answer is to improve communication skills. While Toastmasters is the affordable alternative to paid Speaking Training Programs, it is by no means substandard. The environment of working with peers on a regular basis, on modules and exercises designed by experts and perfected over the years, makes Toastmasters one of the celebrated communication programs all over the world. In fact, Human Resource personnel are trained to see membership in Toastmasters International as a sign of competence and credibility.

But there are also benefits to joining the club that has nothing to do with communication.

To many, a Toastmaster Club offers an opportunity for members to feel good about themselves. Communication is an art form; and perfecting presentation skills can give as much satisfaction as perfecting wood crafts or dance, especially to an individual whose passion and interest are within language and dialectics. Furthermore, it's an opportunity to link up with peers who enjoy the same things. And because communication skills is closely linked to business management and/or networking, it is not unusual for the club to be a good starting place to establish a business network.

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