Toastmasters Club 1523 Open House in the Green Room at the LIbrary: You Are Invited

Will you join us?

Club 1523. (Click to enlarge)  

This coming Thursday our Toastmasters Club 1523 is hosting an Open House in the Duluth Library. The public is invited. (This means you.)

I myself began attending Club 1523 in December and quickly discovered that Toastmasters is not just about becoming a better speaker, but also about becoming a better leader. It's an impressive program that was started in 1924 by a fellow named Ralph Smedley in Santa Ana, California. Ralph's aim was to help improve communication skills in a group of young men he was associated with. Today there are now 352, 000 members in nearly 16,000 clubs worldwide.

Our newest member, Jane Kim, addressing to the group.

The club meetings have a somewhat formal structure that makes meetings efficient without feeling rigid. There are usually two speeches each week and a Table Topics segment in which members have an opportunity to practice impromptu speaking. This is my favorite part of the meeting. A Table Topics Master selects the topic which you can't anticipate, forcing you to assemble in your mind a structured two-minute talk. It's a great skill to have because if you're ever in management or at a function as a company spokesperson, it's almost certain that at some point in your career you'll be called upon "to say a few words."

Whether for professional or personal development, you never know how far you can go as a speaker or leader until you move outside your comfort zone.

In addition to dealing with the basic issue of stage fright, you learn how to write a speech, engage an audience, how to deliver that speech with confidence and how to grow from each speaking experience via constructive feedback.

Whether you're comfortable or terrified as a public speaker, Toastmasters will help you improve. This Thursday's public meeting will give you a chance to see what they are all about.

Consider Yourself Invited 

OPEN HOUSE 

TIME: 6:00 p.m.

THURSDAY, March 11

PLACE: THE GREEN ROOM @ THE DULUTH PUBLIC LIBRARY 

Located on the Michigan Street level of the library, 

down one flight of stairs from the Checkout Desk.