Toastmasters Offers Dinner Conversation
For most people, public speaking can be an intimidating prospect. For others, it brings on a down right panic. Toastmasters International aims to help people no matter where they fall on the scale. And a club in east Ventura County is making it even a little easier.
A roving supper club that meets at restaurants in Simi Valley, Moorpark, Thousand Oaks and Camarillo allows people the opportunity to experience the support and knowledge garnered at regular Toastmaster club meetings, but in a more relaxed atmosphere.
“These meetings take place in restaurants, where you might hear other noises and have interruptions,” explained Yuka Seltzer, who is involved in the organization’s management at the area level and serves as a coach for the Supper Club. “They offer a real-life environment and practice to overcome that kind of environment.”
The Supper Club welcomes guests and new members to its monthly meetings, whether they’re prepared to take on a speaking role or not.
“It’s very friendly and a very warm environment. Nobody sits alone,” said Brenda O’Brien, club president and past district governor. “And guests don’t have to speak at all if they don’t want to.”
But speaking and communication is what Toastmasters is about, after all. The organization provides a positive environment where people work together to improve their public speaking and other communication skills in a learn-by-doing setting. At meetings, participants give planned speeches, impromptu talks on assigned topics, offer evaluations, conduct meetings and develop skills related to timekeeping, grammar and parliamentary procedure.
This month, the organization meets on Friday at 6:30 p.m. at the Grinder in Moorpark, where the theme will be “success.” For more information about the club or attending one of its meetings, call O'Brien at 805-217-8771 or send an email to forbren@yahoo.com .
In addition, a Moorpark Toastmasters club meets weekly at 7 p.m. Wednesdays at the Chamber of Commerce office.
Find out more about the organization in general on the Toastmasters International website .
[["validates_presence_of",{"message":"Please enter your email address."}],["validates_length_of",{"too_long":"Your email address must contain between 5 and 100 characters.Impromptu Speaking Topics - News
The organization provides a positive environment where people work together to improve their public speaking and other communication skills in a learn-by-doing setting. At meetings, participants give planned speeches, impromptu talks on assigned topics
Scott Lucas from Shelby has already put CCCT on the map by recently winning the Table Topics speaking contest for this area. Table Topics is another name for impromptu speaking. It is a challenge assignment even for a veteran speaker.
Alexander also qualified for sectionals with his speech as well as in the Impromptu Speaking competition. At sectionals, Alexander was awarded gold and went on to compete May 28 at the State Presentation Day at UC Davis. At the county event Feb.
This April, at the University of Nebraska, Eastern Michigan University's Forensics team won the National Championship for impromptu speaking. Senior Tylor Orme, 22, won the impromptu speaking portion of the national
Members go through a series of topics to speak about that range from the first speech they will give about themselves — dubbed “The Icebreaker” — to topics like speech organization, getting to the point of the speech and inspiring the audience.
Maximize Your Impact Every Time You Speak — Smart Executive Update
Are you primed and ready for your next promotion? Are you confident and poised in your interactions with colleagues and superiors? Do you present well during formal presentations but feel unprepared during impromptu speaking situations? Are your messages succinct and to the point? Does your voice remain strong and your message clear when confronted or challenged? Do you enunciate clearly when rushed?
Success comes not just from what you know but from how you express yourself. Your ability to communicate with clarity, impact and authority commands respect from your listeners, and provides the foundation for career success,” she adds.
Remember these tips during your next presentation so that your first impression is a good one.
1. Drink water before and after your morning coffee, tea or Coke and avoid fatty foods or milky products before you speak. Many speakers mumble and omit syllables because they speak too rapidly. Be sure to pronounce the ends of words and all parts of many-syllable words, such as saying ‘going to’ rather than ‘gonna’ and ‘government’ instead of ‘govment’, to slow you down when speaking.
4. Maintain a constant volume through your statement and be sure to say the last word clearly and as a fact. Speakers often allow their voices to fade out or become gravelly at the end of an utterance which diminishes the clarity of their message. Inflecting the ends of your sentences upward can make you sound uncertain. Call and leave yourself a message on your cell phone and analyze your speaking tendencies.
5. Sit or stand using upright posture and gesture meaningfully. Pause rather than use “fillers” or non-words to bide time until you are certain of your message. Fillers such as um, er, so, and like distract from your message. It’s better to be silent and pause when uncertain of your message, even if it feels uncomfortable.
Be sure to maximize your career success every time you speak. If you feel that you need help in implementing these strategies into your daily routine, please call Dr. Miller at 202-580-6646 or visit www.voicetrainer.com .
Susan Miller, Ph.D. is principal and founder of Voicetrainer, LLC, a voice and communication consulting firm in Washington, DC. There she specializes in refinement of the speaking voice, anxiety reduction, accent refinement, presentation skills and treatment of the injured voice.
Topics Master at Central ToastMaster's meeting tonight. Table Topics is a great way to practice impromptu speaking.
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