Toastmasters in Tyneside

Well, Toastmasters is a global brand after all and it had to happen eventually! I’m going to go along to the inaugural meeting tonight (at Dance City for good pragmatic reasons) this evening (Monday 23rd March, 2009) to see if I can help out… not because I’m a particular fan of Toastmasters (as regular readers will know!) but more because some of the people setting it up are reasonable friends of mine.

I love the idea of Toastmasters, really I do. I love the fantastic idea that you get peer reviewed and therefore grow in skill and confidence as a public speaker. I do, however, have a hesitation about it, too… in that you only get peer reviewed – and if your peers aren’t up to the job, the review you receive won’t be much use, either.

Thing is, I’ve seen some really bad advice given to speakers at Toastmasters (eg: drink plenty of chilled water when you’re presenting) and that just takes the edge of the great idea I think it could-and-should be.

I’ll let you know how things go!

Simon is one of the UK's most highly regarded presentation skills trainers and professional speakers in the fields of presenting, confidence and emotional resilience.

1 Comment

Comments are closed.