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Istanbul is soon to have its own chapter of Toastmasters, an international group
whose members are interested in developing their public speaking and communications
skills. Toastmasters International currently has over 10,500 clubs and more than
200,000 members in approximately 90 countries.
How Toastmasters Works
At Toastmasters, members learn public presentation skills by speaking to groups
and working with others in a supportive environment. A typical Toastmasters
club is made up of 20 to 30 people who meet once or twice a month for about
an hour. Each meeting gives everyone an opportunity to practice:
- Conducting meetings. Meetings usually begin with a short business session
which helps members learn basic meeting procedures.
- Giving impromptu speeches. Members present one-to two-minute impromptu speeches
on assigned topics.
- Presenting prepared speeches. Three or more members present speeches based
on projects from the Toastmasters International Communication and Leadership
Program manuals. Projects cover such topics as speech organization, voice, language,
gestures, and persuasion.
- Offering constructive evaluation. Every prepared speaker is assigned an evaluator
who points out speech strengths and offers suggestions for improvement.
The group is now calling for members, and will soon be setting up the schedule
and location of meetings. Members must be fluent in English. Anyone interested
in joining can contact Matt Krause to find out the specific details of the Istanbul
group. mattkrause1969@yahoo.com, mattkrause@mattkrause.com
