I’m going to Toastmasters again this week; I’ve been a member of Bloomsbury Speakers (which strangely enough, is based in Clerkenwell) for just over a year and it has been brilliant as a place to practice different kinds of public speaking. My work involves a lot of presenting, whether that be pitching ideas to clients, internal teams or sharing information with partner organisations, so it’s helpful to have a place where you can practice speaking regularly.
I’ve been to a number of training sessions on presenting as part of my professional development over the years, and given the fact that many courses cost around £500 per attendee for the day, Toastmasters beats all of them on ROI by quite a margin; the average cost of a Toastmasters membership fee stands at around £160 for the whole year. However, this is not one of those ‘you get what you pay for’ scenarios. This is why I think Toastmasters is much better than presentation courses if you want to develop speaking skills:
- Structure: Toastmasters educational programmes are exceptional at encouraging development It helps you develop not only public speaking skills, but also leadership skills. They have two main programmes that all Toastmasters begin with: the Competent Communicator manual and the Competent Leadership manual – each of these contain 10 assignments which you can practice during one of the bi-weekly meetings. Attending meetings every two weeks, or at the very least once per month ensures you continue the momentum necessary to develop.
- Duration: in the same way that I’ve never heard anyone learn how get better at playing the violin after a one-day course, skills develop best when there is a learning format that enables someone to practice repeatedly over time, and constantly add new skills each fortnight. People usually complete both manuals over the year, giving them a good but not overtly lengthy stretch of time to work on speaking skills.
- Community: being with others who are on a similar learning journey helps greatly in terms of maintaining momentum. It’s often the case that with shorter courses, the skills that get taught wane over time as life gets in the way; there are usually no ‘accountability buddies’ around that you can talk to about your experiences. Whereas the community within Toastmasters (especially when you start doing contests) is highly motivating; you get the sense that you are never ‘finished’ and that there are always new things you can try and ways to grow.
So if you live or work in Clerkenwell, I’d definitely encourage you to come! Find us here.