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Cat got your tongue?

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  • 19-08-2009 10:00am
    #1
    gyser
    Registered Users Posts: 1 ✭


    I don't know if you're like me, but when I got married, I spent the weeks preceeding it petrified of making a speech. The two things I never liked were being asked to sign a sing or make a speech - of any duration. Twenty years or so later, I still don't like to be asked to sing but I can now, thankfully, put a few words together, with a lot less nerves. I suppose better late than never.

    If you're like me and need to overcome this fear, why not consider visiting/joining Toastmasters? There's probably one near your town.A Toastmasters Club is a public speaking club and believe me - have plenty of people who came there for the same reason I did - to calm my speaking nerves and develop my speaking skills. I joined my club "Blarney Toastmasters" in 2002, my only regret is I didn't do it earlier!

    Toastmaster Clubs generally meet for two hours every fortnight and are fairly well structured. Normally, the first part of the evening is a Topics Session - where members are asked to comment/talk on something for about 2 minutes (if possible) - don't worry - guests are never asked to speak - unless they want to. The second part of the night is for prepared speeches which could be anything from 3minutes to 12 or so, and are generally very educational. Other members act as evaluators for the prepared speeches and give guidance on how to improve delivery of speeches. It's all very re-assuring.

    So, bite the bullet - try it out. If you're in the Cork / Blarney area, you're welcome to try my club Blarney Toastmasters - we meet the 2nd & 4th Tuesday of the month starting on Sept 8th at 7:45 in the Blarney Woolen Mills Hotel. http://blarney.freetoasthost.net/ - Alternatively, if you live elsewhere in the country, you can find a Toastmasters Club near you by visiting http://www.toastmasters.org/


    Regards
    Gerard Gillen (blarneymem@gmail.com)
    Tagged:


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