The Toastmasters Club is dedicated to building leaders, and the Treasure Chest Toastmasters is working to be better able to help people in the city improve their speaking skills and make the club more vibrant, bringing in training to help the officers in the club.
Marg Ustupski with the Toastmasters says that training is invaluable for the club because it helps the club officers better help the other people in the club itself.
“If we aren’t trained, we sometimes fumble our way through, but if you’re trained, it gives you a better background and a confidence so that you can give good service to others.”
While Toastmasters is largely known for helping people with public speaking, Ustupski says leadership skills are a priority for the club, as people take those skills out into the community at large.
Dwaine Senechal with the Treasure Chest Toastmasters says the local club wants to be welcoming atmosphere and help people in the community become better leaders and better speakers. The weekly meetings, where people practice their speaking skills through the program.
“The best thing about the night is the feedback, because you have all these people in the room who are aspiring to be good leaders and good communicators, who give you feedback on how you did. It’s never negative feedback, it’s always positive criticism to help you. You always walk away being encouraged in what you’ve done well and being challenged in what you need to improve.”
One of the goals of the meetings is to also teach people to speak within time limits. Senechal says it’s important to keep the meetings punctual because if they don’t, people might start to lose interest or think they don’t have the time to commit.
“People are busy, so it’s important for people to know that our meetings start at 7:00 and end at 8:00, sharp.”
Senechal believes that the communication part of the program is important for everyone, because being able to relate ideas to others is a skill that’s important no matter where someone is in their life.
“One of the reasons we believe Toastmasters is important is that the things that really change the world are ideas, aren’t they? And ideas need to be communicated, written or communicated verbally. It doesn’t matter if you’re a politician or just an employee in a company, we want to be able to articulate your thoughts clearly and concisely.”
Ustupski is a member of the Regina club, and they brought members to Yorkton to participate in training for the sake of developing their leadership skills. She believes that the mentors in the club are one of the benefits of the club, because it helps people develop their skills.
The club encourages people to take in a meeting if they have the chance. Senechal says that sitting in on a meeting will take the mystery out of the club, and allow people to see what Toastmasters does, and emphasizes that just sitting in on a meeting is a free way to see if the club is something someone wants to do.
Treasure Chest Toastmasters meet Wednesdays at SIGN on Broadway at 7:00 p.m. Meetings start again on September 14.
