Toastmasters reaching out

President of the Imperial Champions Toastmasters, Nigel Scott, is making a call for Vincentians to join a Toastmasters club to hone their leadership and communication skills. {{more}}

In an interview with SEARCHLIGHT on Tuesday this week, Scott said that the club, although not a service organisation, is geared at developing and helping persons overcome their fears of speaking in front of large audiences and molding them into more confident individuals.

Scott noted that oftentimes persons only recognize the other organisations such as the Rotaract Club and Leo Club and forget that Toastmasters exist. “We want to put the name of Toastmasters out there to let the people know what we are all about,” Scott said.

Come October 22, Toastmasters International will be celebrating its 85th anniversary. Ralph C Smedley held a meeting about leadership and communication in 1924 in Santa Ana, California. That first meeting was the basis on which Toastmasters International was established.

Today, the non-profit organisation has nearly 25,000 members in more than 12,500 clubs in 106 countries. Just last June 30, 1073 new clubs were chartered.

Meanwhile, Governor of Division C in the Caribbean district Ewart Adams says that their main aim is to promote Toastmasters fully in St Vincent and the Grenadines and have at least two more clubs come on stream. The other club already established here is Toastmasters Achievers.

Adams noted that when the Caribbean district was formed in 2003, there were only 20 clubs in the four divisions. He said a challenge was thrown out by Toastmasters International for them to achieve 60 clubs and in turn they would be given provisional status. That goal was achieved three years later and today, the Caribbean District now boasts over 104 clubs.

Haiti, the fastest growing division in any of the districts, will play host to the Caribbean Conference for the first time in May 2010.

Earlier this year, Anika Stapleton, a member of the Imperial Toastmasters Club, became the first ever-regional Toastmaster to compete at the International World Speech competition in Connecticut, USA. Stapleton made history on May 16, 2009, in Jamaica, by taking the first place trophy in the Caribbean Toastmasters International Speech Contest.

Membership is open to any person over the age of 18. The Achievers Club meets every first and third Saturdays at the Paradise Beach Hotel from 4:30-6:30pm and the Imperial Toastmasters meet every first and third Thursday at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry at 5pm.(KW)