Page 9 - Voices! - September 2015

FROM THE DESK

Be a Sponge!

by Leanna Lindquist, DTM Program Quality Director
Toastmasters Can Propel Your Career to New Heights
Opportunity abounds in Toastmasters. It begins in your club as you take
advantage of speaking opportunities. You become more confident,
willingly step out of your comfort zone and develop your own style
of speaking. Serving as a club officer can help you develop leadership
skills that you can leverage in your workplace. Being the Toastmaster
provides the experience to plan and run meetings successfully.
I know a number of members who are using Toastmasters to boost their
careers. They are gaining as much experience and skills as they can as
fast as they can. Here’s how:

• Signing up to give speeches and fill roles on a regular basis
• Joining multiple clubs to increase speaking and evaluating opportunities
• Visiting other clubs to expand their experience
• Attending District events to meet more people and increase knowledge
• Holding club offices to develop leadership skills
• Serving as judges at speech contests
Many members have compared what Toastmasters has to offer to other programs. Popular programs to build
leadership and speaking skills can cost in the thousands of dollars. They may require that you fly off to big
cities and stay in hotels. Videos and access to online materials come at a price. It costs about $100 a year to
join a club. Clubs are in your neighborhood or at your work place. Every week you can lead and speak, and
best of all receive immediate feedback. Low cost conferences with internationally acclaimed speakers are
available. The Toastmasters International website has a free video library and a variety of public speaking tips.
You receive a monthly magazine. Linked In and Facebook posts connect Toastmasters worldwide.
At the International Convention, World Champion of Public Speaking Darren LaCroix gave each of us a sponge.
To me it represents absorbing all I can; from other Toastmasters and from all the materials Toastmasters offers.
Toastmasters can boost your career and change your life. Soak up all you can.

FAQ: To Judge or Not to Judge

Every year the same question is asked: If someone competes in a contest can they be a judge? This is what
the Toastmasters International rule book says: “The following are ineligible to compete in any Toastmasters
speech contest:

a) A member serving as a chief judge, voting judge or tiebreaking judge beyond the
club level for a contest in which the member is still competing or intends to compete.”
For example: if you are a contestant in an Area Humorous Speech Contest you cannot
be a judge and compete in the same type of contest. This is in the interest of making it
as fair as possible for all contestants.

Volume 2 Issue 3 - SEPT 2015 9