Toastmasters

by K-rule Azlan Monday, February 21, 2011 2 comments
Not so recently I've been quite active with Toastmasters. STIDC formed its own in house Toastmasters Club, a platform on which members are able to train n practice public speaking and impromptu speech skills. Highly recommended for thise who aim to deliver an effective speech. It also teaches the skill on speech management and organization, emphasizing on the time management and objective of the speeches.

Its good in a way that it teaches you the basics of what effective speech is, and how to deliver it. In addition, you learn to control your nervousness in speaking in front of a crowd, and voice control.

However, in my previous experiences with Toastmasters, which was in my college years, I learnt the huge difference between adult toastmasters, and students toastmasters, especially in evaluation. Students are more critical, and comments made are straightforward and adresses the speaker's problems and how to improve themselves. Adults, however, tend to sugar-glaze comments, IMO making it hard to interpret what areas require improvements. So I sorta learnt another skill - how to sugar-glaze comments.. Quite a contradiction to my preferences, which is to say it blutly.. but I suppose I have to adapt to environment..

In any case, in Toastmasters, I hope to be a quality speaker, and not just aim to complete the speech projects to gain the recognition that Toastmasters gives. Quality, being the keyword..

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7
Labels:

About author: K-rule Azlan

After 5 years working in the information and communications technology divisions for various industries, I'm very excited to follow my own path in the social media environment. A self-proclaimed social media specialist, I am enthusiastic about the proliferation of social media around the world. In my spare time I enjoy travelling, socialising, going to festivals, frequenting the local eateries and watering hole and attempting the gym.

2 comments :

  1. Marty DickinsonJune 18, 2013 at 11:54 PM

    Just found this post as I was searching around for toastmasters posts related to evaluations. My brother was in a college Toastmasters club for a while and my Aurora Colorado Toastmasters club is made up of more working professionals. Having experienced both, it seems to me that the quality of evaluations rests not on age but on the club's culture and mentoring. How people are taught to evaluate will dictate the quality of evaluations that are given at any toastmasters club.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownJune 19, 2013 at 10:31 AM

    Now that you've pointed it out, it does seem that way. In college, however, I don't remember our mentor teaching us how to evaluate and how to deliver an evaluation, she simply gave a few ground rules : be direct, be respectful, be polite, and everyone is entitled to their opinion. In the later club, our mentor would go through tedious details on the whole process of evaluation. We even had evaluation contests - something that I find awkward at first (the evaluators being evaluated) but found to be a great learning experience nonetheless. Thanks for leaving a comment. Cheers!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments ( Atom )