Did you Know?

Toastmasters Teaches the Fundamentals of Project Management

Toastmasters is known primarily by members of the public as an organisation focused solely on public speaking. We would all do well to remember the official slogan of Toastmasters: “Where Leaders Are Made.”

The High Performance Leadership manual is an example of how people learn valuable life skills in Toastmasters that can be used in a variety of disciplines, such as:
• Forming a team
• Convincing people to join your cause
• Holding others to account
• Business planning
• Taking stock of progress at various intervals and making necessary adjustments
• Report writing
• Providing verbal reports on progress made to an audience
• Time management skills in terms of regular meetings with your team
• Ingenuity and innovation

Essentially what the High Performance Leadership manual does is that it expects the Toastmaster doing the manual to get a team together around a specific cause. One makes speeches to the Club at various intervals to monitor planning, progress and success. This develops presentation skills which can be used in businesses, NGOs, political parties – really organisations of any kind.

Toastmasters are provided with positive feedback and constructive criticism. The manual also teaches one how to monitor others in that it falls on you to coordinate your team and to track their performance and attendance.
Innovation is encouraged as Toastmasters does not set in stone what the leadership project should be, but rather encourages the Toastmaster to come up with their own concept. Some projects have included mass membership drives and coordination of events and dinners.

It is not required that the project benefits the Toastmasters organisation itself as long as the member is learning and applying the various skills and tools which the manual is destined to impart.

The skills which Toastmasters develops in people are many.

Toastmasters International has added tremendous value to my life and I encourage all members that have not embarked on their HPL manual as yet to give it a try. It is a fantastic journey of personal growth and development you will not regret.

Michael Shackelton DTM