Why Choose Toastmasters?
This page is about some of the benefits of Toastmasters membership, as is the “official” version at the Toastmasters International website. You are also welcome to see some famous faces who chose Toastmasters – the list might surprise you.
Back in 1994, Tom “In Search of Excellence” Peters had this to say about Toastmasters:
“Join Toastmasters. Oral communication skills count enormously. A lot of managers aren’t bad at public speaking. But “aren’t bad” ain’t good enough, not if you’re wise – and especially these days when jawing with the same old gang from year to year is becoming rare. Height and hair colour may be in the genes. Public speaking isn’t. It’s a skill that can be studied, polished, more or less perfected. (Toastmasters) does a fabulous job of helping people shape up their communication skills.” (Tom Peters, The Pursuit of WOW, 1994).
The only change is that we now call what we do “soft skills”, and they are transferrable; change jobs or careers and they go with you. We talk about “work” and “career”, but those skills extend into everything we do. We sell confidence. Ask yourself:
- How many job descriptions contain the phrase “communication skills”?
- What could you accomplish if you could present your point of view more persuasively?
Benefits of Membership
You and your company
Membership doesn’t just benefit you, but also your employer. Here is a summary of what both of you can expect from Toastmasters..
We sell confidence. By learning to effectively formulate and express your ideas, you gain confidence – and that opens a whole new world of possibilities.
In time, you will become more persuasive and confident when giving presentations, and you will improve your one-on-one contacts with others.
Communication and Leadership Benefits
Communication adds to or subtracts from our efforts to build solid relationships. It demonstrates our competence and confidence…. or lack of it. Like any skill worth having, it requires an investment of practice and coaching and the dividends are invaluable.
Leadership is the art of empowering others to achieve what needs to have done. Effective communication with others enhances the understanding and openness of any team, which helps that team achieve its goals.
In a Toastmasters club, you will improve both communication and leadership .
BETTER SPEAKING
This page has information on how Toastmasters helps you become a better speaker.
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BETTER LISTENING
We have one mouth and two ears, so in theory we listen twice as much as we speak. For those who sometimes forget that, this page has tips on how Toastmasters helps you to become a better listener.
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BETTER THINKING
This page has information on how Toastmasters helps you become a better thinker with effective speech evaluations. Being able to give useful feedback is one of the cornerstones of the Toastmasters programme.
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BETTER LEADING
You will find out how to vary your approach to suit the needs of different people. They could be the audience for a presentation, the committee for a fundraiser, co-workers or managers.
In one sentence, how does it work?
Toastmasters provides a safe place to practice what you are learning, whatever that may be, at your own pace.