RAHRC Toastmasters and Gavel Club
Dear All,
In Toastmasters, we learn communication and leadership in an easy and entertaining way. When I say entertaining, I mean in an enjoyable manner. A platform is provided to you and around you are members to support you and not to laugh at you. An appointed evaluator will help you to polish your speech. You will be appointed a mentor if you request or a coach to help you succeed.
The following are the 3 main gifts you may achieve when you are a Toastmaster.
The First Gift
First, participating in Toastmasters gives the gift of effective communication. Starting with a four-to-six-minute Ice Breaker. The education program develops and refines the skills of the speaker until they are giving 10, 15, and even 20-minute-long speeches!
The impromptu speaking session of a club meeting, which sometimes called Table Topics, teaches the speaker to organize their thoughts quickly and concisely for two minutes, with proper organization as for introduction, body and conclusion, giving meaningful pauses instead of filling time with stammers, hemming, and repetitions.
The various Pathways projects, these are the projects of main speeches that teaches leadership style, communication styles, evaluation skills, research and citation, speech organization, Mentoring and Coaching and the difference of the two, Negotiation skills, Change management, the difference between a manager and a leader etc. All these are done in a systematic way.
Pathways projects help the speaker to choose the direction they want to go and the skills they want to improve.
We go from timidly gripping our notes during an Ice Breaker to gracefully walking across the stage during an eloquent keynote speech.
The Second Gift
The second gift of being an active Toastmaster is analysis. By focusing on timing, quality of language, constructive feedback, and other aspects of speechcraft, we learn to see the mechanics and processes of not only giving a speech, but how to improve a speaker’s performance through insightful, positive feedback and suggestions.
How many of us wish our employers and supervisors were more skilled at analyzing our performance and giving helpful advice? They, like us, need Toastmasters.
The Third Gift
The third gift of being a Toastmaster is leadership. In many areas of our lives, we tend to say, “If I was in charge, I would run things differently,” or “If someone gave me the chance, I could do this better.” Naturally, we cannot all be the leaders we want to be at work and other associations, but in Toastmasters we can take charge of projects great and small to develop those leadership talents.
Being the Toastmaster of the Day gives us practice setting an agenda, coordinating participation, and facilitating meetings.
Leading a committee gives us a specific focus with like-minded individuals, a budget, and resources.
Serving as a club officer gives the opportunity to set goals, develop a vision, manage property, and resolve inevitable conflicts.
There is always something to do at the club or District level. Being willing to take charge and give yourself to the worthy cause puts you in a safe place to learn, you can make mistakes and nobody will be offended but help you, eventually, become a better leader. You are given the stage to practice the leader you want to be.
Ultimately, this is the threefold gift of Toastmasters: communication, analysis, and leadership. You first give them to yourself. You become a better communicator, an analyst, and a leader for your own improvement and growth.
In that process, though, you give these gifts to your Toastmasters club. You give better, more entertaining and educational speeches. You give more insightful, helpful feedback. You lead meetings and committees smoothly and skillfully, enriching the Toastmasters experience for everyone.
You communicate with patience and clarity with your family, colleagues, and community. You see how to make the world around you a better place, one step at a time. You then lead others in that process, enriching their world as well as yours. Ultimately, you give these gifts to the world around you.
Careful Language Selection
There is not a secret message that converts people instantly. It takes a lot of tones that goes into why someone decides to be on your side. It’s important to keep that in mind as you craft your message or pitch. How to do that? You need to learn the secrets. Join Toastmasters to learn the simple communication tricks, I am sure you will be grateful to yourself as you go along.
You will always feel welcomed in our Toastmasters meetings.
As we reflect on our first experience with the Toastmasters, it gives us a good insight on how we can be more welcoming and mindful of a first timer’s potential feeling.
What does this mean for our marketing efforts? We use language that not only speaks to prospects, but clearly communicates the benefits of Toastmasters. We make sure to avoid jargon when speaking to a prospect.
Jargon isn’t inherently bad. In fact, it’s great for communication between peers, and it creates a sense of belonging to a group. However, if someone is not part of the group, it creates isolation.
Not only does it create isolation, it’s actually emphasized to the newcomer that you don’t belong. It also puts someone in a position of power over someone else, that is terrible if you have someone new to the club.
Looking for inspiration? “Upgrade,” “delegate,” “growth,” learn these with Toastmasters in an easy, welcoming and entertaining way.
Take the time to consider how you want your year to go. Do your goals, focus on career or personal growth? Do you want to achieve a milestone? Simply, join Toastmasters, we will show you how to do it wisely.
If you have time, please visit us on alternate Thursdays at Palm room from 5 pm to 6 pm starting on Thursday 6th November, 2024, or you may call DTM Daniel Appiah on 87201228 or TM Amit Sijaria on 91429567.
With my Kind regards,
DTM Sheikha AlHarthy (mobile: 92818868)
Toastmasters Chairperson.