Toastmasters helps their members succeed personally and professionally
Known as a safe place to fail, Townsville Toastmasters Club provides an inclusive environment to conquer ones nerves to boost personal confidence and professional leadership skills.
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KNOWN as a safe place to fail, Townsville Toastmasters Club provides an inclusive environment for people to conquer their nerves and boost personal confidence and professional leadership skills.
Toastmasters teaches members how to construct a speech, project their voice, use hand gestures and use the stage area for effective communication.
Leigh-Anne Metcalfe joined the club 14 years ago as she sought help after her new job required public speaking.
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“It certainly helped me in my career path with my credibility and confidence when I talked to people because part of my role was to educate people and it helped me feel confident to teach,” she said.
Toastmasters was founded in 1963 and has seven clubs in Townsville with 180 members ranging in ages from 18 to 80 years old from a variety of cultural backgrounds.
Ms Metcalfe took on the role of northern division director for the club last July and said empowering members was at the heart of the Toastmasters philosophy.
“Everyone has their own limits of how far they can go and where they want to go, and we take them to step up another level,” she said.
Toastmasters also aims to help job seekers think on their feet in interviews and portray the best version of themselves for prospective employers.
Ms Metcalfe said practising impromptu speaking skills had helped local military personnel secure job promotions.
“We have had situations where we have had members of the Townsville defence force apply for job promotions and have failed and have been told to go to Toastmasters and to come back,” she said.
Ms Metcalfe said seeing members flourish was the most rewarding part of being in the club.
“We had a young girl who came to the club six years ago and she had all sorts of health issues that dented her confidence and (she) couldn’t put two words together,” she said.
“After six years she has come out of her shell and she is so confident within herself, it is an amazing transformation.”
The club meets once a week to showcase speeches by members, who are then given verbal and written evaluations whereby their strengths and areas for improvement are pinpointed.
Ms Metcalfe said she had competed in national and international competitions for 11 years and now mentored other members looking to compete.
Originally published as Toastmasters helps their members succeed personally and professionally