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Why I Am A Toastmaster
By Harry A. Vander Krabben, CTM
Peachtree City Toastmasters
When people find out I'm in Toastmasters, they generally ask me, "Why?" Of course, being a Toastmaster, I’m always eager to talk on the subject. First, we live in a world of constant change. The career or job we thought was good yesterday has today become obsolete. Rules and strategies
today, may in a few short years no longer be valid. Yet, there is one inescapable truth that never changes — the ability to communicate effectively and confidently is extremely important to our lives and
our careers. When we think of past job interviews, how many of us have felt we did a great job answering questions that were asked of us? When
we’re called upon to give our opinions in meetings, were we as comfortable as we would like to have been? Wherever we look, people who speak
and write well have had tremendous advantages. Toastmasters allows us the opportunity to develop and improve these important speaking skills. Second, first impressions do matter. It may seem unfair in life to be judged this way, but the reality is that people make quick judgments, and in fact,
have always have had a need to do so. Throughout history, our survival has depended on first impressions. When people came into contact with
strangers, they couldn’t say "Gee! Let’s have a double latte and talk." Strangers represented risk to our survival. You had to judge very quickly
whether a stranger could be a friend or a dangerous enemy. Toastmasters gives you an edge when you are meeting people for the first time. Being able to speak with confidence and poise allows you to make that
good first impression and, with time, allows you to prove the first impression was the right impression. My last reason relates to the "problem" of being a better public speaker. When you lose your fear of speaking in front of groups, without hesitation, you
begin to standup at meetings or informal gatherings and speak about matters that concern you. As a result, people in the audience look at you and they
see a person speaking with confidence and poise and they assume you are a "natural leader." As we know, there are very few "natural leaders." Most
leaders have to learn the skills needed to be a leader. At Toastmasters, you can start by simply being the Toastmaster of a meeting or becoming one
of the officers of your club. As your leadership skills improve, there are a many officer positions you can hold. If you want to improve your speaking and leadership skills, join Toastmasters today. As you progress through the skill levels, you will watch yourself
go from a timid, unsure speaker to one who is relaxed, confident and very dynamic. More importantly, others will notice as well. Extracted from District 14 web site by Thib on 03-18-03
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