I have been a member of Toastmasters for many years now. The skills that I have learned while being a Toastmaster has been incredible to me both professionally and personally.
The club is all about Public Speaking but it is much more than that!
Public speaking can be very intimidating for many people. In fact, it has been said that people fear public speaking more than death itself! That means that people would rather die before they get in front of a group to speak.
I always have the biggest smile in the room of a Toastmasters’ meeting when I see a member go from a timid shy speaker to a lion with the biggest roar. It is incredible to see the confidence and speaking ability improve in a relatively short amount of time.
Here are the additional benefits of being a Toastmaster other than just Public Speaking.
Here are the Top 4 Reasons that you should be a Toastmaster
1. One of the biggest reasons is that it improves your LEADERSHIP Skills
There are many leadership roles that you can participate in. Each of the roles will give you the knowledge that you might not ever attained in your current career. The leadership roles can go beyond the club level allowing you to network with other leaders within the Toastmasters community. I have been assigned the role of Area Director and oversea 4 clubs that have over 100 members combined.
2. Great Way to Network with Like Minded People
I helped charter a brand new club at my job. I was able to meet and work with people from other departments that I would of normally never spoke with. Taking on a leadership role at a district level allowed me to meet many other people. Many of them are like minded individuals and it has been a tremendous benefit to associate myself among them.
3. Helps you keep track of Time for Meetings
My club meets every Tuesday at 12pm. Majority of the members are sacrificing their lunch hours to participate. It’s important that we stay on schedule to ensure we don’t go over the entire hour.
4. Greatly improves your Listening Skills
This is probably one of the MOST IMPORTANT benefit of being a Toastmaster. Every speaker has a person evaluating the speech. Listening and paying attention to the speech is very important so you can formulate your analysis. That way you can formally deliver a proper feedback to the speaker.
Conclusion as to why you should be a Toastmaster today
There are many more examples that I can list. Another good reason is the cost of membership is very low. When you add up the numbers it’s less than $150 dollars to build up your communication skills every week. You will not find any cheaper options. Find a Dale Carnegie Class or even check out your local College. These classes typically range in the thousands
I suggest that you go to https://www.toastmasters.org/Find-a-Club/ to find a club near you. The meetings are free and opened to visitors. Visit as many different clubs you can and find the one that fits your needs.