Toastmasters: Where Leaders are Made
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The Mighty Devoted Communicators (MDC), a Woburn-based Toastmasters Club, held an Open House at Tocci Corporate Headquarters on March 24.
The event was designed to give prospective members a taste of what the club has to offer. Members shared experiences improving their confidence and public speaking skills through Toastmasters. Joe Flaherty, a current Toastmasters member, and Lila Tocci, MDC’s VP of Membership, were incredibly happy with the turnout.
“At the Open House, MDC held a regular meeting where members assume various roles – from the Toastmaster who creates a warm atmosphere to the Evaluation Team members who provide feedback on speech structure, length, and content. We are all continually striving to use engaging language and avoid fillers or clutch words such as ‘um’ and ‘you know.’ After the meeting, I was thrilled that six Tocci staff were inspired by the opportunity to improve their communication skills and signed up as new members!” notes Lila Tocci.
Tocci Toastmaster Testimonials:
I’ve always enjoyed being in front of an audience and getting the chance to make people laugh but I wanted to be able to present in a more formal capacity – so I joined Toastmasters. Even though I still get pregame jitters, the program has helped me significantly when presenting to a large audience or clients. Now that I am fully capable of delivering a presentation in a clear and concise manner, I am excited to see what doors it can open for me in the future.
Joe, Current Member
I thought that the Toastmasters Open House was wildly successful. During my time with the program, I have seen how hard it can be to generate interest for a club that focuses on one of the biggest fears that most people have, public speaking. I think that most people in our club had a personal desire to work on their public speaking so they sought out the program on their own. When you bring the open house right to the building you work in, inform everyone that the club will operate out of the office moving forward, and showcase some polished veteran speakers, it certainly helped to portray what the goal of the club is and what it can do for you individually all the while breaking down the wall of excuses not to join. Personally, I have learned a lot about what it takes to give an effective speech while also learning the things not to do that negatively affect a presentation. It’s helped me identify my weaknesses so that I can focus on improving them.
Jason, Current Member
The set-up of the Toastmasters Open House was unlike an average promotional meeting I have been to for other clubs. Instead of putting on a grand show for all the potential new members, the Toastmasters ran a relatively typical meeting to give the attendees a feel of what Toastmasters is like and what you could expect if you joined the club. Of course, each member took the time to introduce themselves and talk about their personal achievements and advances in public speaking since joining. The focus was on introducing potential new members to the program – some of which dove right in and gave ‘table-top’ improvisational speeches about topics like getting pulled over for speeding, proposed NFL rule changes, and what we’re giving up for Lent.
Tia, Current Member