David ShostakInstructor, Coach, Mentor and Retired Senior Program Manager| RetiredMission Viejo, Ca, United States
Communicate, communicate, communicate. Communication is one of the most important things you will ever do. You need to communicate to the administration people, staff people, your team, your peers and executives. You need to learn how to communicate clearly, to the point and how to get your message across. Toastmasters will provide all the material and support to be a better communicator and presenter. Saving Changes...
Alvaro CoutoIT Project Lead| ARCONICAllison Park, Pa, United States
I've been in Toastmaster since Jan/2019 and I recommend it. Great deal for public speaking, networking, etc. Saving Changes...
David ShostakInstructor, Coach, Mentor and Retired Senior Program Manager| RetiredMission Viejo, Ca, United States
Great to hear! As you work at it you will learn a lot and get better at communication and making presentations. Saving Changes...
Raymond MillerIndependent Professional Freelance Project Manager and Consultant| Self-EmployedNorth Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
I have been in toastmasters since 2013, and I can say beyond the impact of the communication and leadership portions of the training for me, the area that has had the most impact recently has been mentoring, and helping people become so much more confident speakers and communicators.
I truly believe if everyone around you is a good communicator, and are skilled at evaluation then your entire team benefits, if everyone in a team is able to separate their ego from any task, and focus on the deliverable, it is so much easier to receive and deliver feedback, and also to put that feedback to immediate use. Saving Changes...
David ShostakInstructor, Coach, Mentor and Retired Senior Program Manager| RetiredMission Viejo, Ca, United States
Excellent points and you learned there is a lot more to being a good communicator and presenter. Saving Changes...
I did Toastmasters for a while. It was helpful in some ways, but eventually started to feel a little formulaic. I would still recommend it to someone with minimal experience giving presentations or uncomfortable in front of groups. Toastmasters provides plenty of opportunities to speak in front of people, get accustomed to time constraints when presenting, and clean up poor speaking habits (and, so, but, um, pregnant pauses...)
I'm considering joining the National Speakers Association, at the recommendation of a friend who is a professional speaker, to take my public speaking skills to the next level.
Aaron: I recommend you check out Toastmasters, again. The new Pathways (education) Program might be more valuable to you. Everyone chooses 1 of 11 paths, so you won’t experience every member following the legacy Competent Communication path. Variety will be more apparent and customization (optional projects) are a big part of each path. Some projects are not speeches. i.e. you might choose to write a blog. Evaluations are more customized, too, enhancing that aspect of Toastmasters.
(I’ve been a Toastmaster for 4 years.) Saving Changes...
