April 5th, 2009
Feeling some nervousness before giving a speech is natural and even beneficial, but too much nervousness can be detrimental.
Here are some proven tips on how to control your butterflies and give better presentations:
- Know your material. Pick a topic you are interested in. Know more about it than you include in your speech. Use humor, personal stories and conversational language – that way you won’t easily forget what to say.
- Practice. Practice. Practice! Rehearse out loud with all equipment you plan on using. Revise as necessary. Work to control filler words; Practice, pause and breathe. Practice with a timer and allow time for the unexpected.
- Know the audience. Greet some of the audience members as they arrive. It’s easier to speak to a group of friends than to strangers.
- Know the room. Arrive early, walk around the speaking area and practice using the microphone and any visual aids.
- Relax. Begin by addressing the audience. It buys you time and calms your nerves. Pause, smile and count to three before saying anything. (”One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand. Pause. Begin.) Transform nervous energy into enthusiasm.
- Visualize yourself giving your speech. Imagine yourself speaking, your voice loud, clear and confident. Visualize the audience clapping – it will boost your confidence.
- Realize that people want you to succeed. Audiences want you to be interesting, stimulating, informative and entertaining. They’re rooting for you.
- Don’t apologize for any nervousness or problem – the audience probably never noticed it.
- Concentrate on the message – not the medium. Focus your attention away from your own anxieties and concentrate on your message and your audience.
- Gain experience. Mainly, your speech should represent you – as an authority and as a person. Experience builds confidence, which is the key to effective speaking. A Toastmasters club can provide the experience you need in a safe and friendly environment.
Visit a Blue Tongue Toastmasters meeting!
Tags: audience members, blue tongue, blue tongues, confidence, conversational language, giving a speech, nervous energy, public speaking, smile, timer, toastmaster, toastmasters, toastmasters club, toastmasters meeting, visual aids
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April 5th, 2009
Toastmasters teaches you good communication skills to be a good leader
From a humble beginning in 1924 at the YMCA in Santa Ana, California, Toastmasters International has grown to become a world leader in helping people become more competent and comfortable in front of an audience. The nonprofit organisation now has nearly 235,000 members in 12,036 clubs in 106 countries, offering a proven – and enjoyable! – way to practice and hone communication and leadership skills.
Most Toastmasters meetings are comprised of approximately 20 people who meet weekly for an hour or two. Participants practice and learn skills by filling a meeting role, ranging from giving a prepared speech or an impromptu one to serving as timer, evaluator or grammarian.
Toastmasters makes learning fun
There is no instructor; instead, each speech and meeting is critiqued by a member in a positive manner, focusing on what was done right and what could be improved.
Good communicators tend to be good leaders.!
This non-profit organisation offers a proven – and enjoyable – way to practice communication and leadership skills. Here’s how it works:
- A Toastmasters meeting is a learn-by-doing workshop in which participants hone their speaking and leadership skills in a friendly atmosphere. A typical group has 20 to 40 members who meet weekly or biweekly to practice public speaking techniques. The average meeting lasts one hour.
- Members learn communication skills by working in the Competent Communication manual, a series of 10 self-paced speaking assignments designed to instill a basic foundation in public speaking. Participants learn skills related to use of humor, gestures, eye contact, speech organization and overall delivery. When finished with this manual, members can choose from 15 advanced manuals to learn skills related to specific interests.
- Members also learn leadership skills by taking on various meeting roles and serving as officers at the club and district levels, and by working in the Competent Leadership manual and the High Performance Leadership program. In our learn-by-doing approach, we don’t lecture our members about leadership skills; we give them responsibilities and ask them to lead.
- There is no instructor in a Toastmasters meeting. Instead, members evaluate one another’s presentations. This feedback process is a key part of the program’s success. Meeting participants also give impromptu talks on assigned topics, conduct meetings, serve as officers in various leadership roles and learn rules related to timing, grammar and parliamentary procedure.
Thousands of corporations sponsor in-house Toastmasters clubs. Businesses and government organisations have discovered that Toastmasters is an effective, cost-efficient means of meeting their communication training needs.
Toastmasters groups also can be found in governmental agencies, as well as in a variety of community organisations, prisons, universities, hospitals, military bases and churches.
Tags: basic foundation, competent communication, competent leader, evaluator, eye contact, gestures, good communication skills, good communicators, good leaders, leadership, leadership skills, nonprofit organisation, profit organisation, public speaking, public speaking techniques, speech organization, timer, toastmaster, toastmasters, toastmasters club, toastmasters clubs, toastmasters international, toastmasters meeting, toastmasters meetings, train, typical group, world leader
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April 4th, 2009
The success of a Toastmasters meeting depends on the programme participants.
There are many roles to fill, and each job is designed to improve the members’ public speaking and leadership skills. Program participants must know and understand their duties so they can prepare for them. Some roles can be combined – for example, the Ah-Counter might also be the grammarian or listen for uses of the word of the day.
Tags: leadership, leadership skills, public speaking, toastmaster, toastmasters, toastmasters meeting
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April 4th, 2009
Media Release
Attention: Toastmaster Clubs, Business and Technology Editors
For immediate release
Blue Tongue caught in ‘net!
The Blue Tongue Toastmasters web site looks set to become one of the world’s leading Toastmasters sites, with the kind donation from CreateMy.com.au to the build the club a new website to take the club into the 21st Century.
Blue Tongue Toastmasters is a Not for Profit Organisation, whose focus is on improving communication and leadership, but neglected the new most important form of communication, the Internet. With 99% of Australians on the Internet now it is more important than ever to have an effective website to communicate with you stakeholders.
The website (bluetongue.org.au) allows the community to see what the club is, the many benefits, when the upcoming meeting, to contact the club and interact.
“We are excited to work with a club which is providing the community with such a wonderful service. Public speaking is fear of many people. Learning skills such as how to deliver a impromptu speech is very important for business people. To donate a website to such a fantastic organisation is an honour.” Dale Hurley, founder of Create My.
“When you build an effective website your business will grow. Every business needs a website and it must at a minimum communicate who you are and allow interaction. Usability is often overlooked in favour cost-saving which in the long term costs more in lost sales”, says Hurley.
e-businessguide.gov.au highlights a number of benefits of having a high value website, primarily:
- Make it easier for people to do business with you
- Create cost-savings and operational efficiencies
- Create additional revenue
- Reach more customers and markets
- Improve marketing and promotions
The Blue Tongue site, contains when and where meeting are, public speaking tips, and forums where the community can “talk” with other people and experts, along with other web 2.0 technologies.
CreateMy.com.au has pledged to create and donate a community website every 2 months to a Not for Profit Organisation. If your NPO needs a new website contact dale info@createmy.com.au. Create My is a website design and development company in the North Shore which specialises in websites to help small businesses grow online.
For further information, contact: Dale Hurley, Founder and CEO, Create My, dale@createmy.com.au, 0403 599 026.
Tags: australians, blue tongue, dale hurley, impromptu speech, improving communication, kind donation, leadership, profit organisation, public speaking, public speaking tips, technology editors, toastmaster, toastmaster club, toastmasters, upcoming meeting
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April 4th, 2009
Blue Tongue Toastmasters will help your public speaking
People join Blue Tongue in order to:
- Develop their public speaking skills to persuade and convince others
- Learn to put their ideas across clearly and with conviction
- Improve their self-confidence before a group of people
- Learn to think quickly and clearly under pressure
- Learn to listen effectively and critically
- Learn to supportively evaluate someone else’s presentation
- Train to become a good leader
When you join the Blue Tongue Toastmasters Club you receive a complete training kit covering all aspects of speaking and evaluation. This kit includes Communication and a Leadership manuals. This manual reflects the years of experience Toastmasters has in helping people just like you. It takes you step by step through the art of making and evaluating speeches.What specifically will you learn to do as a Toastmaster?
In the Blue Tongue Toastmasters Club you will learn by doing
In particular you learn by doing with your efforts evaluated by your fellow Club members. You will be gradually introduced to the various roles within a Toastmasters meeting. Gaining proficiency in these helps build up your skills. The exercises will teach you how to:
- Give an impromptu speech
- Give a prepared speech
- Evaluate what you hear
- Introduce speakers
- Be a more effective leader of people
- Chair and run meetings
BTTM opens up networking and mentoring opportunities
How we communicate informally at events is every bit as important, if not more so, than being in the spotlight giving a speech. Knowing how to mingle and network may be more important to our overall success in life than anything else. BTTM gives you the skills and opportunities to network and have a mentor or mentoree which will help you grow professionally.Whether you work in a corporate environment or from home, whether you are a student or retiree, Toastmasters is the most efficient, enjoyable and affordable way of gaining communication and leadership skills.
You will become a better speaker
Toastmasters will give you the skills and confidence you need to effectively express yourself in any situation. By learning to formulate and convey your ideas, you open a new world of possibilities. You will be more persuasive and confident when giving presentations and you will improve your one-on-one dealings with others.
Your leadership skills will improve
Leadership is the art of persuading others to do what you wish. To succeed, you need to communicate, and you need to work as a team. In Toastmasters, you’ll do both. And you’ll find out how to vary your approach to suit the needs of different people, be they the audience for a speech, the committee for a fundraiser or your coworkers and managers.
When you Join you will join 235,000 other members who are wanting to succeed
Toastmaster has more than 235,000 members in 11,700 clubs in 92 countries. The meetings are organised so that everyone will have a chance to speak, should they want to. You schedule your own speaking assignments a few weeks in advance, so you’ll have plenty of time to prepare.
Speaking assignments are varied, with the first one designated as an “ice breaker” – a description of yourself and your life that lasts between five and seven minutes. You’ll be assigned a mentor to help you settle in and get through your first speaking roles. As you grow in confidence, you assignments will grow with you.
Importantly, whenever you stand up and speak, you receive encouraging, helpful feedback on how it went and how you can improve next time.
The membership is great value
While it is free to come along membership offers a range of benefits primarily teaching you to be a better speaker and leader. BTTM and Toastmasters International runs a number of courses for the members to progress from their first speech (the Icebreaker) to being a Distinguished Toastmaster. Membership is $40 (once off) + $50 each six months i.e. $90 for the first six months than $50 for each six months after that. Initially membership includes several manuals to guide you to be a more effective speaker and leader and continues to provide more advance courses as you progress over the years.
Tags: blue tongue, complete training, confidence, conviction, effective leader, exercises, fellow club members, giving a speech, impromptu speech, leadership, leadership skills, proficiency, public speaking, public speaking skills, self confidence, six months, speakers, speeches, toastmaster, toastmasters, toastmasters club, toastmasters international, toastmasters meeting, train
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April 3rd, 2009
Blue Tongue Toastmasters will help your public speaking
Blue Tongue Toastmasters (BTTM) is apart of the international Toastmasters organisation whose primary aim is to help you and it’s other members improve their public speaking skills. This is achieved through a number of different speaking exercises to cover the various types of situations where you will be addressing an audience. Toastmasters Clubs in Australia are the best place to improve both your communication skills and your leadership skills. Toastmasters will help you overcome any fear of public speaking while learning skills that will allow you to become more successful in whatever path in life you have chosen.
BTTM meets every second Wednesday at 5:45pm in the IBM Centre
Meetings are bi weekly on odd numbered weeks of the year e.g. week 1, 3, 5…51 of year. We meet at the IBM Centre on Level 13 Room 5 (601 Pacific Highway St Leonards, NSW). The meetings are held on Wednesdays nights at 5:45pm.
Blue Tongue is a non-profit educational organisation
Blue Tongue and Toastmasters International are non-profit educational organisations. Our members learn communication and leadership skills by practicing public speaking and working with others in a warm and friendly environment.
BTTM is a diverse group of professionals
Blue Tongue is a friendly group of professionals. Our members range from those who are just starting out their careers to members who are enjoying volunteering in the community since retiring. Our members include business owners, professionals working in the North Shore, PhDs and community leaders.
Everyone is welcome to come along and participate for free
Everyone is welcome to come along, watch, participate and join. It is completely free to come along and participate! When you come along you will be welcomed into the group of warm, kind-heart people who want to help you. It is free and there is no obligation to join so come along to the next session.
After a few sessions if you wish to join, the membership is great value
While it is free to come along membership offers a range of benefits primarily teaching you to be a better speaker and leader. BTTM and Toastmasters International runs a number of courses for the members to progress from their first speech (the Icebreaker) to being a Distinguished Toastmaster. Membership is $40 (once off) + $50 each six months i.e. $90 for the first six months than $50 for each six months after that. Initially membership includes several manuals to guide you to be a more effective speaker and leader and continues to provide more advance courses as you progress over the years.
BTTM opens up networking and mentoring opportunities
How we communicate informally at events is every bit as important, if not more so, than being in the spotlight giving a speech. Knowing how to mingle and network may be more important to our overall success in life than anything else. BTTM gives you the skills and opportunities to network and have a mentor or mentoree which will help you grow professionally.
Tags: blue tongue, exercises, giving a speech, leadership, leadership skills, public speaking, public speaking skills, six months, toastmaster, toastmasters, toastmasters club, toastmasters clubs, toastmasters international
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April 3rd, 2009
Blue Tongue Toastmasters is more than raising your glass to toast…
We meet every second Wednesday at 5:45 pm in the IBM Centre St Leonards. It is free to come along.
Upcoming Meetings
About Us
Blue Tongues Toastmasters is located in St Leonards on the Sydney Lower North Shore. We are part of a vibrant volunteer world wide organsiation of Toastmasters International. We welcome visitors and encourage you to visit and participate for FREE before deciding to join. If you are going to come please do contact us before attending as IBM is a Secure environment.
What do we do ?
- Develop your public speaking skills to persuade and convince others
- Teach you to put your ideas across clearly and with conviction
- Improve your self-confidence before a group of people
- Teach you to think quickly and clearly under pressure
- Educate you to listen effectively and critically
- Teach you to supportively evaluate someone else’s presentation
- Train you to become a good leader
Tags: blue tongue, blue tongues, confidence, conviction, public speaking, public speaking skills, toastmaster, toastmasters, toastmasters international, train
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