Toastmasters International: Becoming A Competent Communicator

A couple of weeks ago I finally joined Toastmasters International. I first heard about Toastmasters from Steve Pavlina, one of my favorite writers on the subject of personal development. Later I read that others such as Scott H Young were also honing their public speaking skills with the help of Toastmasters.

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I guess you could say it’s taken me a bit longer than I expected to become a member, but now that I’m in I’ve noticed a huge difference immediately. Before joining I used to say ‘I am afraid of Public Speaking’, and when I would go up in front of an audience I would feel my nerves and it would bother me. As soon as I joined something inside me clicked that says ‘No, I am not afraid…’ but I still feel my nerves. Only now I think of the nerves as a natural response of my body, and move forward without letting it hinder or paralyze me.

The Mission of Toastmasters International:

Toastmasters International is the leading movement devoted to making effective oral communication a worldwide reality.

Through its member clubs, Toastmasters International helps men and women learn the arts of speaking, listening and thinking – vital skills that promote self-actualization, enhance leadership potential, foster human understanding and contribute to the betterment of mankind.

It is basic to this mission that Toastmasters International continually expand its worldwide network of member clubs, thereby offering ever-greater numbers of people the opportunity to benefit from its programs.

I would say that not only is this mission statement ambitious, but it’s also well on it’s way to be realized.

Competent Communicator Manual

With entry into Toastmasters one is handed (or rather mailed) their very own manual for progressing from nothing to a competent communicator. It consists of 10 lessons, each one building upon the next.

  1. The Ice Breaker.
  2. Organize Your Speech.
  3. Get the the Point.
  4. How to Say It.
  5. Your Body Speaks.
  6. Vocal Variety.
  7. Research Your Topic.
  8. Get Comfortable with Visual Aids.
  9. Persuade with Power.
  10. Inspire Your Audience.

Upon completion of all 10 lessons you are able to choose your directions and pick up a number of advanced booklets. The interesting part about the booklets is that they come with instructions on how to evaluate the speaker. By following these instructions, anyone can be a good asset in helping you improve, even if they aren’t a master speaker themselves.

So far so good. I will keep you guys posted on my experienced with Toastmasters. If you are already a member of Toastmasters, please share the impact that toastmasters has had on your life, career, and self-esteem.

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Posted by in Communication | June 16, 2008 | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumble | Print | 13 comments

  • http://www.linkedin.com/in/lewishowes Lewis

    Toastmasters has opened up many possibilities for me Alex. I have met some great friends and influential movers and shakers from being an active member in Toastmasters.

    Main improvements since joining:

    1. Ability to captivate my audience.
    2. Ability to speak without notes
    3. More confidence when presenting and when meeting high profile individuals
    4. Less fear in speaking
    5. Becoming a better listener (I have given a few evaluations and this forces you to listen to every part of the speech)
    6. Better leader- I have filled almost every role, and this continues to give me the necessary skills to lead a discussion or a meeting.

    There are many benefits, and these are a few that have helped me. I highly recommend visiting a few clubs in your area to see which one works best for you.

    Great post Alex

  • http://www.jungleoflife.com Lance

    Toastmasters is a great organization! I was involved with this great group for about four years. Currently I am no longer a member because of other family commitments. However, I will say that prior to joining this group, I hated getting up in front of a group. Now I do it regularly (well, it’s still not my favorite thing, but…). Toastmasters has definitely made public speaking easier, and for that matter, is a great leadership training course too. I ended up getting both my Competent Toastmaster (CTM) and Competent Leader (CL). I also had the opportunity to speak at a district event, and this, too, is a great opportunity to get you out of your comfort zone (the small group you usually meet with). For the small $$ amount for the membership fee, this is one of the greatest values you can get from any training you will ever do.

    Good luck and enjoy the experience!

  • http://stakloaed.net Stak Loaded: How to make money doing nothing!

    I actually love public speaking but it sounds like Toastmasters is really useful because it expands on how to deliver a more powerful message too, rather than just building confidence, right? Looking forward to hearing more about it.

  • http://www.alexshalman.com Alex Shalman

    That’s awesome Lewis, it sounds like you got a lot out of Toastmasters. I’m going to stick with the club I am in now. I like the vibe, and it has produced a lot of great speakers.

  • http://www.alexshalman.com Alex Shalman

    Wow, CTM and CL, you did great. I’ll ge there in about a year too.

  • http://www.alexshalman.com Alex Shalman

    It’s not a confidence course, it’s about the technique. Confidence will come as a side effect of repetition.

  • http://yes-to-me.com/ Akemi – Yes to Me

    Ah, here is another new TM!
    I joined my local group just a month ago, and was just preparing my first table topic fro tomorrow. Last week I was the jokemaster and I enjoyed a lot.
    One of my long-term goals is to become a professional motivational speaker, and I hope TM will help me in this.

    Good luck to you!!

  • http://stakloaed.net Stak Loaded: How to make money doing nothing!

    Sounds good, would like to see some future posts about what you learn from it.

  • http://sixminutes.dlugan.com/ Andrew

    Alex:

    Congratulations on taking the plunge into Toastmasters. I hope you find it to be every bit as rewarding as I have.

    I have been a member of Toastmasters for about 3.5 years. When I joined, I thought my presentation skills were alright, but I quickly realized that I wasn’t nearly as good as I thought. I’ve worked through several manuals, participated in (and won) numerous speech contests, and had great fun all along the way. As a spinoff, I’ve been giving seminars and courses where I work. I’m now running a public speaking and presentation skills blog where I occasionally publish Toastmasters articles.

    My primary piece of advice for you is to really work at it. The Toastmasters program is largely self-directed, and the benefits you receive are proportional to the effort you put in. I know of individuals who “coast” through the manuals, not really applying themself. Their growth is minimal. On the other hand, I know of individuals who make every effort to extract as much as they can from each speech project, and from meetings as a whole. These people realize tremendous growth in their communication skills and their confidence. You can too.

  • http://www.purposepowercoaching.com Chris Edgar

    I liked the practical advice in this post, and I’d add that one technique I’ve used to build public speaking confidence has been focusing my attention on my breathing when speaking-related nerves come up. Ideally I’ll breathe without pausing between inhales and exhales. This restores my peace and focus.

    Generally this is a helpful meditation technique, but there’s also support for this in psychological research — when you keep your breathing constant and steady, it indicates to your autonomic nervous system that you’re surviving the experience you’re in and you’re not in danger.

    Best, Chris

  • http://stakloaded.net Stak Loaded – How to make money doing nothing!

    I consider myself a good public speaker and some of the best advice I’d give is to just understand that people don’t really care, you can say whatever you want and no one will remember it the next day, so just have fun and don’t be uptight about it.

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