Resources to Develop Public Speaking

**Posts:** 2 · by **rohm** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 3:21 pm

To remove the fear of public speaking, try these resources:

Toastmasters:

* clubs meet twice monthly to develop speaking skills
* non-profit, inexpensive dues
* on-going club setting; some clubs have been in existence for 20 years
* each suburb has a club, a major city has many clubs; some clubs are company clubs

google: Toastmasters

Christopher Leadership Course (non-profit):

* they run 8 week and weekend courses on public speaking
* active in NY, Detroit, Chicago
* non-profit, inexpensive dues
* develops enthusiasm, gestures and confidence

google: Christopher Leadership

Dale Carnegie Course:

* active in major cities
* renowned for their public speaking & human relations course
* for profit

google: Dale Carnegie

I am currently active in 2 Toastmasters clubs and am a non-paid volunteer for Christoper Leadership course. Not involved with Dale Carnegie.

Thanks.

**Posts:** 25 · by **kundi** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 2:16 pm

How do you like it?
Did you make a lot of progress?

**Posts:** 48 · by **TheDailyInspiration** » Mon Jul 25, 2011 4:23 am

Thanks for providing these resources. I find that Toastmasters is a great resource and we have a few locally that are very active.

Are you a member of these societies and if so what are the biggest things you've learned from them?

--
Devin Ambron
Leadership and Lifestyle Development Expert
Founder of The Daily Inspiration

**Posts:** 56 · by **william3252** » Thu Aug 04, 2011 2:45 am

Thanks for the post! Toastmasters seems very interesting, I think I'll look into it.

**Posts:** 48 · by **TheDailyInspiration** » Thu Aug 04, 2011 11:40 am

I'm interested to know anyones experiences with the Toastmasters organization. If anyone has attended a meeting or know someone who has, please let me know. I'd love to hear from you.

**Posts:** 6 · by **George Torok** » Thu Aug 04, 2011 8:42 pm

I can speak for my experince with Toastmasters. They teach and reinforce the fundamentals of public speaking. I was an active member for seven years and today I am a paid professional speaker and executive speech coach.

**Posts:** 60 · by **catharsiz** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 6:35 pm

I was part of a Toastmasters and it was great.

**Posts:** 19 · by **Nervsys** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 4:18 pm

I can definately recommend toastmasters.

It's a good friendly environment and cost effective too.

Just try more than one club if you can as some are much more business orientated than others, and these may not be your style.

With toastmasters there is no hurry to join either, so don't worry about turning up and then having to get your cash out straight away. Be a quest a few times and see what you think.

**Posts:** 2 · by **J.L. Retlaw** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 5:08 am

TheDailyInspiration wrote:I'm interested to know anyones experiences with the Toastmasters organization. If anyone has attended a meeting or know someone who has, please let me know. I'd love to hear from you.

Hello, All!

First, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is J.L. Retlaw and I am a new member on the forum. I look forward to becoming acquainted with the members of this community.

In response to The Daily Inspiration's request for feedback on Toastmasters, I would like to state that I am an advocate of their program. In addition to helping their members build public speaking acumen, they also aid in the development of leadership skills. I find this to be a powerful combination; as one builds skill in one area, the other area also benefits.

It has also been my experience that the organization and its members seem to strike a good balance between being understanding and supportive, on the one hand, and urging each individual to continually stretch a bit beyond his or her current reach, on the other. In this regard, I am reminded of the work of Lev Vygotsky, the social systems theorist who developed the concept of a "Zone of Proximal Development" that has profoundly influenced the teaching profession. The placement of learning opportunities just beyond the student's ability to independently perform, and then providing the scaffolding needed to help the student achieve, results in optimal learning. This is easy to understand from a purely common sense perspective. If a task is easily performed, there is no learning - only doing. If a task is too difficult to perform, the incentive to try is destroyed. However, a task that is achievable with effort and guidance results in forward progress. This is what I have observed in the Toastmasters' clubs to which I've been exposed.

Cheers!

**Posts:** 1 · by **valerie101** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 2:19 pm

I think I'll try Toastmasters, I really need help with public speaking !

Thanks !

**Posts:** 19 · by **Nervsys** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 3:42 pm

valerie101 wrote:I think I'll try Toastmasters, I really need help with public speaking !

Thanks !

I'm sure you'll find it worthwhile, and Good Luck Valerie.

If you're in the UK where are you based? I might be able to suggest a club.

**Posts:** 12 · by **Klinical** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 3:27 am

thanks for the tip on toastmasters. I heard only good stuff about it.

**Posts:** 239 · by **simonr** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 7:10 pm

of mine (self interest declared!) from a few weeks ago started an interesting debate on twitter with a lot of support for the main point.

http://www.curved-vision.co.uk/presenta ... t-of-view/

That said, not everyone agreed!

I've said it before and I'll say it again - the strength of TM is that you get peer feedback. The weakness is that you get only *peer* feedback. Some of the feedback I've head their has been brilliant. Some of the feedback I've heard there was er....

.... erm.... I'm trying to find a polite term for it....

..erm..... unhelpful.. .Yes, that's it!

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