Community Spotlight-

Tracy Toastmasters

A club to help you learn important speaking skills.

Communication is essential in the business environment. Many careers are either damaged or improved as a result of the person’s ability to provide a quality presentation or their ability to rapidly form an organized and detailed response to an unexpected question. I used to admire people on television who were skilled enough to formulate an organized response to those unexpected questions under pressure.

   I was fortunate to attend a university that required all students to present material to the rest of the class, but many people have difficulty speaking in front of a group. So where can a businessperson go to learn to speak in front of an audience, to be more confident is social settings, and to get structured training in leadership? Right here in Tracy!

   Last year I joined the Tracy branch of the Toastmasters International club. I found members of the club to be friendly and helpful. Joining the club only cost about the same as a decent dinner and I was fiven several booklets on how to improve my speaking skills. I was also provided with my workbook containing the material to prepare my first ten speeches necessary to obtain my Competent ToastMaster (CTM) certification. The rest was up to me with the assistance of the other club members.

   I attended every meeting for nearly four months as I worked toward my CTM certification. Depending on the dedication of the individual and the availability of the schedule, the CTM can take anywhere three months to two years.

   The Tracy Toastmaster's club wanted to have one more CTM awarded before a certain date so I made a commitment to achieve this milestone.

   I prepared a speech for each week whether I was scheduled to speak or not. I relied on scheduled speakers having to cancel and was ready to jump into any speaking opportunity on a moment’s notice. The strategy worked and I was able to achieve my personal milestone of completing my first ten speeches in only fourteen weeks.

   Along the way toward my CTM certification, I was required to write a speech for each of ten specific learning objectives. The first speech was the easiest as it was an icebreaker that allowed me to tell the story of my life while not having to achieve any objective other than breaking the ice and speaking in front of a group while knowing my speech was being evaluated.

   The Toastmasters organization requires that another member evaluates each speech and the evaluations are polite, filled with compliments, and filled with ways the speech could have been improved. Providing feedback by sandwiching the suggestions between opening and closing compliments is a very positive and comfortable way to have a presentation evaluated by your peers.

   The CTM certification is not the end of the trail with the Toastmasters program. Upon achieving that first milestone, each club member may elect to move forward toward three levels of Advanced Toastmaster (ATM).

   Toastmasters is not just about speaking at club meetings. Toastmasters conducts speaking competitions that allow the club member to distinguish themselves for their excellence in speaking.

   I enjoyed my experience with Toastmasters in Tracy and recommend the experience and training for anyone who would like to improve their communications skills. I would have continued toward my ATM certification if my schedule had allowed me to attend the meetings. Toastmasters helped me to step out of my comfort zone and become a much better speaker and presenter. As a college instructor who must lecture and run a class for five hours at a time, I can say that I draw heavily on the training I received.

 

   The club is open to the public and meets every Friday at 7am at Perkos Café in the Lincoln Shopping Center located at Eleventh Street and Lincoln in Tracy. Anyone who is interested in attending a Toastmasters meeting may stop by on any Friday.

Don’t be surprised if you are invited to speak.  For further details, you may also contact Kevin Richter at (925)567-6513.

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