Every Toastmasters meeting you attend is improving your skills, bit by bit.
But sometimes it is necessary to under go some more intense studies, for that, Toastmasters has you covered as well!
At least twice a year, your local Toastmasters leadership offers several training sessions. These sessions are primarily for people that serve executive roles, so that they are more effective, but they also have seminars that cover various communication and leadership topics.
A typical session might include a keynote speech, an hour of specific role training, followed by one or two other seminars that range from how to use humor more effectively to better networking techniques.
What is even better, is that these sessions are free, or very low cost, usually around $5, and that is so that they can provide snacks (for in person sessions).
Here are some of the highlights of a recent training I attended in February 2023.
The first keynote speaker was an entreprenuer in China, joining us live from overseas! His message was the importance of being an interesting speaker and he talked about his own journey from being bankrupt, to having millions of followers and being a consultant for companies.
The next speaker was local to Calgary, but his message was universal: we need to better understand our leadership styles through 4 approaches:
- Doing things together – creating team work
- Engaging, Bonding, Harmonious, Transparent, Empathetic
- Doing things first – creating change
- Innovation, Forging, Risk taking, Persuasive, Confidence
- Doing things fast – creating results
- Action, Directing, Discipline, Competitive, Demanding
- Doing things right – creating precision
- Process, Efficiency, Diagnostic, Knowledgeable
We probably do not fit into these categories exactly, we may exhibit characteristics from various approaches, and that’s ok!
Knowing your strengths allows you to compensate for your weaknesses, helping you achieve the outcomes that you desire.
The session ended off with a panel discussion from TEDx speakers and how such speakers can help improve the club experience. The speakers were approachable and encouraging; anyone with a passion can give a TEDx talk!
Not every training session is exactly the same, there will be sessions to help with each of the roles, but other than that, it is luck of the draw on who will be speaking. I’ve had a mostly positive experience, and I invite you all to attend a training session or two, you will grow!
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