Sita receives highest Toastmaster’s award

About ten years ago, the graduate of Bishop Anstey High School’s Class of ’78, a manager in the finance industry, who has always been extremely shy and hesitant about being in the limelight generally, read an article in the newspaper about the international group.

The main thing that caught her eye was its interest in public speaking.

“I saw people who could get up and speak fluently. That was wonderful but I will never be able to do that,” were her thoughts. “Then I saw a familiar face, Sonia Alexis who also worked in the bank. We were both in Republic at that time, and this encouraged me even more.” Background research showed that Toastmasters International, a world leader in communication and leadership development, with more than 345,000 current members in 142 countries, began as a series of speaking clubs, organised by Ralph C. Smedley during his time working for the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in Bloomington, Illinois, USA. Today Toastmasters International World headquarters is located in Rancho Santa Margarita, California.

As director of Education at the YMCA, Smedley saw a need for the young men in the community to learn how to develop interpersonal skills, including how to speak, conduct meetings, plan programmes and work on committees. Smedley wanted to help them. And that was the birth of Toastmasters. The first unofficial Toastmasters meeting was held on March 24, 1905, and the first official meeting on October 22, 1924. There are now ten clubs in Trinidad and Tobago, hundreds in the Caribbean and thousands throughout the world, where many are corporate clubs operating within organisations. In Trinidad they are community clubs that are open to the public.

Millions of people worldwide have benefitted from the Toastmasters educational programme. A Toastmasters club adopts a “learnby- doing” philosophy, wherein each member learns at a pace suited to his or her developmental needs.

The Toastmasters programme is divided into two separate tracks, Communication and Leadership, with members progressing along each track by presenting speeches and taking on roles within their club, district, and Toastmasters International itself.

“Is Toastmasters Right for You? is one of the first questions to be asked,” Mangal said. “If you want to become a confident public speaker and strong leader, Toastmasters is the place for you. You’ll find a supportive learn-by-doing environment that allows you to achieve your goals at your own pace. Toastmasters has changed the lives of members. Patricia Belmar, a warm wonderful person, was president when I joined,” Mangal said. “I was encouraged to join and thought this would be a good opportunity to develop my skills in public speaking, especially through the very practical programme with lots of learning material, manuals divided into projects which you actually have to complete.” Mangal soon learned that it was not all about public speaking but moreso about leadership development.

This organisation is run as a multi national corporation, around the globe, and the programme is delivered through its clubs, structured organisations run by volunteers who annually elect an executive committee to manage the clubs from July 1 to June 30.”What it does especially for young people who aspire to management but are not yet there is to give practical experience in dealing with leadership issues, such as how to deal with people. Everybody does it at their own pace.” Mangal, who completed the Distinguished Toastmaster Programme in April and is one of a handful to have achieved this distinction in TT , described her road to the DTM.

“Forty speeches, five presentations, 11 leadership projects, mentoring several new toastmasters, served my Toastmaster club as treasurer, secretary, VP Education and president, served as district secretary and area director in District 81- Caribbean, and coached a new club.

I see it as a great learning experience for young, aspiring leaders...

Meetings are programmed by each club, and are held one or more times per month, depending on the club which exist in various areas with one in Tobago.” Mangal described it as “a practical classroom where you receive projects to complete. A manual lays out the outline of different ways on how you develop your speech.

You are assigned a mentor who will help you in the preparation of your speech and make sure you are ready to deliver, which is then evaluated and used to improve your skills which will help with the next project.

After six speaking projects you can then evaluate others so you are developing listening and thinking skills.