(1) Overcoming Your Fear
It is a well documented fact that one of the biggest fears people have is that of speaking in public . The root cause is often a lack of confidence and/or negative self-talk.
Each of us knows that in order to progress in our career, to achieve harmony in our personal life, or just to interact with others, we must communicate effectively and show the necessary leadership qualities when called upon.
This is a learned behaviour pattern and the Toastmasters organization provides both the vehicle and the setting by which this can be accomplished.
-
Overcoming Your Fear
-
Progressive Steps
towards Self-Confidence -
Guidance Along the Way
-
Ongoing Communication & Leadership Training
(2) Progressive Steps towards Self-Confidence
When you first start with Toastmasters, you are not given a speech assignment right away. Instead, your speaking roles may be confined to minor roles (Table Topic Participant, Quizmaster, Grammarian, etc.). Within 2-3 weeks, you are introduced to the initial Toastmasters manual, obtained as part of the 'New Members Kit' and appropriately entitled 'Basic Communication & Leadership' manual. This program lays out a step-by-step approach, comprised of 10 speech projects, each building on the information learned in the preceding projects. It is a logical progression, starting out with what is easiest to talk about (Project #1: Introduce Yourself) to the final task in the manual (Project #10: Inspire Your Audience).
As you go through each of the 10 projects, you will note that each has a specific objective. You will find answers to the most common questions about speaking in public:
- How do I get my audience focused on what I have to say
- How do I get my Point across
- How do I persuade or inspire my audience, etc., etc.
If you want to know the specifics on each assignment in the 'Basic Communications and Leadership' manual, or for that matter, an overview of the 70 projects in the 'Advanced Series' that you may be interested in pursuing eventually, you can click the link below. Suffice to say here, that the initial manual is designed to give you a good foundation for being a public speaker. After that, you can further enhance your speaking skills by choosing from a large variety of specialty manuals, depending on your interests and specific objectives.
(3) Guidance Along the Way
On joining Toastmasters, each member takes an oath to the effect that he or she will support you in your quest to conquer present inadequacies, by giving you valuable feedback on each of your speech presentations.
More than anything else, it is this critical review of your assignments, pointing out what you did well and which areas you could improve on, that puts you on the fast track to becoming a better speaker. Imagine, some 20+ fellow members, all having different likes and dislikes and representing different levels within the educational program, giving you their assessment. Wow! Where could you get this kind of feedback week after week for less than $200 per year? It is therefore no wonder that Toastmasters program is so popular.
(4) Communication
& Leadership Training -
An Ongoing Process
In addition to learning to present prepared speeches, you can take on other functions in a typical meeting, or compete in speech contests. You also have ample opportunities to sharpen your leadership skills. Try organizing a contest or special event night, join various committees, run for club executive positions, or any other function that benefits the club. Thereafter, you can progress towards Area, Division, or District endeavors. The opportunities are out there! To assist you in improving your leadership skills, Toastmansters International has developed a whole series of 'Success Leadership' projects. These are similarly summarized and accessable through the link below.
As you can see, there are many reasons why joining Toastmasters pays major benefits.
Refer to Member Index: Education
This section gives you complete details on the various
manuals, both Basic and Advanced.
| Back |  |
| Next |  |
