A toast to communication and leadership
Would you like to improve your communication and leadership skills?
The Benoni Toastmasters Club can help you achieve that.
Founded in 1977, the Benoni Toastmasters Club will celebrate its 37th birthday, in September.
To mark this, the club will commemorate the day at their meeting on October 22, at the Benoni Lake Club, at 7pm for 7.30pm.
The club held one of two competition evenings for the year on Wednesday, August 27.
Toastmasters International was founded 89 years ago, in California, and offers its members a learn-by-doing platform to improve their public speaking and leadership skills at their meetings.
Benoni Toastmasters Club members meet at the Benoni Lake Club on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month.
At these meetings, the 35 members are given the opportunity to deliver an impromptu and a prepared speech in front of the audience.
The speeches are then evaluated, with the speaker being told whether he/she met the assignment’s objectives.
In addition to the speeches, members are given manuals, which teach them the foundation of public speaking.
The overall winner in District 74 then competes at the World Championships of Public Speaking, at the Toastmasters International Convention.
The Benoni Toastmasters Club’s incumbent president, Ian Bratt, said there are many benefits to joining the organisation.
“People join Toastmasters for many different reasons,” he explained.
“The most common is to develop their communication skills, particularly in front of groups of people.
“However, there are many other benefits, including developing increased confidence and improved leadership skills.
“The Toastmasters programme can be customised to meet a person’s individual needs.”
According to Bratt, Toastmasters helped him to grow his confidence.
“Despite having a good education, I was not confident when speaking to groups of people,” he explained.
“I followed the Toastmasters programme and gradually developed my communication and leadership skills.
“I now enjoy addressing groups of people, from small to large, on a variety of topics.
“I have also been requested to be the MC at numerous functions at work.”
According to Toastmasters International, public speaking skills can be pivotal in the work environment.
“If you are like most people, public speaking is not your favourite pastime,” said the organisation.
“Yet, survey after survey shows that presentation skills are crucial to success in the work place.
“The person with strong communication skills has a clear advantage over tongue-tied colleagues – especially in a competitive job market.”
Bratt said the Benoni Toastmasters Club offers people a non-threatening environment in which to hone their public speaking skills.
The club also reaches out to schools and corporates, groups and businesses, to develop their speaking skills.
Anyone over the age of 18 is permitted to join the club and there is a bi-annual fee and a joining fee.
For more information contact Bratt on ianbratt@global.co.za.
