by Victoria Reynolds
People ask me all the time why I’m still in Toastmasters, long after I joined it for learning public speaking. The truth is, Toastmasters is soooo much more than public speaking.
It is a self-improvident program that changes peoples lives and those who move up through leadership are some of the most heart-centered people I’ve had the pleasure to meet and do business with. They volunteer to lead because they want to serve and because it helps to make them better people in every walk of life.
I’ve seen people’s lives dramatically shift, just from learning how to be confident speaking their truth. Effective communication, whether on stage, in person, on social media, in conference calls, effects every person it touches. Great communicators become natural leaders. That’s what Toastmasters is really all about – and you get it all for less than $10 a month.
I don’t need Toastmasters anymore for being comfortable on stage or television. Toastmasters took care of that years ago! Now I stay because it is helping me to become a better leader and to empower others to lead.
What the world needs now, more than anything else, are heart-centered leaders. We need leaders who serve the greater good, rather than to feed their own egos and pocketbooks.
Toastmasters cultivates service leadership and that’s why I love Toastmasters.
Thank you Lin Van Gelder for re-posting this from my Facebook page. I spent yesterday morning as a judge at an Area Contest with the theme, I Love Toastmasters. Then I left the contest to meet up with my Division Director and the other Area Directors to set a plan in motion for igniting more positive energy into our clubs. I left those two meetings truly inspired by the amazing people around me and what all of them bring to the world.