A wise man (Benjamin Franklin) once said: Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.

I love learning. Wait!!! Let me be specific I love learning by doing, and Toastmasters has offered me just what I needed to build my character. About a month ago I delivered a presentation from an advanced manual, Interpersonal Communication project 1 Conversing with ease.

Where can you practice real life challenges and not be judged when you make a mistake? Rather, you get suggestions on how to do things better and you are acknowledged for what you did well.

Often when I talk to friends or strangers about Toastmasters, the follow up question is “What do you toast there? “I love it when I get this question as this is the time I get to brag about my Toastmasters experience. “We don’t only learn how to toast at Toastmasters, we learn how to lead, how to communicate and once you communicate well you gain confidence and people respect and trust you.” This is my selling line.

A few weeks ago I was at a church conference and I sat next to someone I didn’t know (Intentionally) because I wanted to practice what I had learned from the Interpersonal Communication manual. I followed the levels of communication steps: small talk, fact disclosure, view point and personal feelings. During the level 2 (Fact Disclosure) I spoke about my Toastmasters journey.

Me: I spend my 1st Monday evenings of month at a Toastmasters meeting for fun and inspiration
Her: Oh Toast what? (She asked with excitement on her face), I have been looking for a club around…
Me: Really? Okay, let me take your contact details, I will connect you with the presidents of the clubs around your area
Her: Thank you so much, my contact details 084…, I am so glad we sat together 

I AM PROUD TO TELL YOU THAT SHE WILL BE ATTENDING A MEETING this coming week. Shhhh I can’t share her name yet until she becomes a member. I have learnt and still learning real life scenarios.

Did you know that Toastmasters helps you practice real life scenarios that you can use in any given situation?

The Interpersonal Communication Manual is available as a module for our youths. The tendency is to focus on the popular Youth Leadership Programme Manual. Our youths could benefit a lot from this manual as they spent quite a lot of time on their phones on social media. Please consider this manual next time you plan a programme for the youths.

Gadifele Moeng

Area S2 Director