Low Cost, High Powered Communications Training

Do you want to improve your communications skills, become better organized and become a leader? Do you want to know how to maximize your time, improve your grammar and conduct an effective meeting? Would you like to become a better listener, coach and humorist? Enrolling in a training course for all these different skills would be time consuming and cost a lot of money. Fortunately, that isn’t necessary if you are a member of Toastmasters International (TI).

Founded at a YMCA in 1924 in Santa Ana, California, TI now has over 260,000 members in about 12,500 clubs in 113 countries. TI helps individuals become more comfortable in front of an audience. The meetings provide many opportunities to practice communications and leadership skills. For a nominal yearly fee, Toastmasters (as the member are called) can participate in a variety of weekly meeting roles. Besides speakers, there are numerous opportunities for members to take the podium, all governed by established time periods. There are numerous leadership roles that allow you to practice skills each week that will make you a better communicator, listener and leader.

1. Toastmaster – This member is in charge of running the meeting much like a master of ceremonies. He explains the meeting structure, introduces the Table Topics Master, speakers and the Master Evaluator. He is responsible for keeping the meeting on track, on topic and on time. The Toastmaster communicates with the other major roles and all the speakers ahead of time to firm up the agenda and gather information for the introductions.
2. Table Topics Master – Table topics are questions on a theme that give members an opportunity to speak “off the cuff.” The TTM engages the group in the overall topic for the evening, and then proceeds to throw out a question and select a member to come up to the podium and give an answer. The TTM learns how to craft interesting questions on a theme and the members then have to think on their feet, organize their thoughts and present a one- to two-minute response to the question.
3. Speakers – Each speaker prepares a speech the previous week according to an outline in one of the TM manuals. This gives great practice in following directions, researching and organizing a speech, using props or AV, and of course, delivering an interesting speech using voice tone and pitch, body language, gestures and, at times, visual aids. Each speech has a time frame, ranging from six minutes to up to 40 minutes in length.
4. Evaluator – Each prepared speech is evaluated by a member of the club taking the role as Evaluator. This requires good listening and analytical skills, attention to the criteria for the particular speech and commenting on the delivery of the speech in an organized, positive manner. Evaluators practice coaching skills by critiquing the speaker’s performance in no more than two minutes.
5. Master Evaluator – This member is responsible for evaluating the entire meeting. This requires observing and evaluating the speech according to set criteria and then delivering that evaluation in an organized, helpful and interesting manner, all within three minutes.
6. Time Keeper – Armed with lights or cards in green, yellow and red, the time keeper has to record who is speaking, the topic and give the speaker the proper timing cues with the colored lights or cards. The green lets the speaker know she has met the minimum time; the yellow, one minute left; the red, it’s time to wrap up.

Members volunteer to fill the various roles each week, which helps develop responsibility, accountability and teamwork. By providing a safe, supportive environment, Toastmasters International is helping people find their voice, improve their leadership skills and advance their careers.

Mary Nestor-Harper, SPHR, is a workplace consultant, blogger, motivational speaker and freelance writer for communicationsjobs.com. Based in Savannah, GA, her work has appeared in Training magazine, Training & Development magazine, Supervision, BiS Magazine and The Savannah Morning News. When she’s not writing, she enjoys singing Alto II with the Savannah Philharmonic Chorus and creating original gift items available on http://www.etsy.spoolhardy.com/. You can read more of her blogs at communicationsjobsblog.com and view additional job postings on Nexxt.