Boston Toastmasters

Toastmasters clubs around the world (including our own!) are planning to hold contests for the International Speech Contest. In the first few months of the new year, members will deliver their best speeches in the hopes of earning first place in their club contest, and progress through Area, Division, and District contests before placing in the initial rounds of the World Championship of Public Speaking.

It's inspiring to know that every speech that makes it to the World Championship of Public Speaking began at a local Toastmasters club and that any club member has the potential to grace that stage. This year's winning speech from Sabyasachi Sengupta is an expression of skill, mastery, and joy that public speaking can bring in unifying a worldwide audience with a message that resonates across cultures and identities.

What can you bring that allows you to connect people together, and how can you use your voice to make it happen? Toastmasters is the place for you to find out!

“World leaders have proposed turning off the sun to reduce the impact of global warming”

“The proof is in the chocolate”

“The existence of dinosaurs of which we were so mistaken about”

These were just some of the unique topics and creative responses crafted by our members and guests at this week's Boston Toastmasters meeting. The excitement we've been experiencing in the last few weeks has inspired and invigorated us as a club! We're excited for what the months ahead will bring as we welcome new members and guests to experience what Boston Toastmasters and Toastmasters International can do to transform their public speaking and leadership skills.

You can join us on the journey too! Contact us to find out more information about our club and Toastmasters International.

Take the Leap! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/visit-boston-toastmasters-tickets-154654831765

i am worth the effort it takes to try something new

This week's meeting left us with an important point that came through in an insightful and thought-provoking evaluation of one of our member's speeches: We might not always have the data, but you do have experiences and insights that the audience might not have and that adds to your credibility as a speaker. This got us thinking about the ways we can establish credibility as a speaker and what we can do to foster this effectively in our audience.

5 Ways to Establish Your Credibility in a Speech - Professional & Executive Development | Harvard DCE Establishing credibility in a speech will help you to gain trust and boost your impact.

Contest Update!

Congratulations to our members Sutikshna Veeravalli and Danny Strick for winning the Area 41 contest last Wednesday night! They will be moving on to the Division D contest on Saturday, March 23rd, where they will go head to head with the winners of the International Speech and Tall Tales Contests from Areas 42, 43, and 44.

We're excited for you both and are looking forward to the Division D contest!

The act of reflection and incorporating feedback is an important skill to have in our professional lives. At this week's meeting, we saw that on display with one of our speeches along with two icebreakers from our new members where we learned a lot about who they are, their unique personalities, and even a little inspiration to rekindle the fire of our Toastmasters journeys.

This weekend, we have our club outing and next Tuesday, January 30th, will be our International Speech and Tall Tales Contest. We'll return to our standard meetings on Tuesday, February 6th.

Joe Kowan's speech from the TED Stage gives us solid guidance in managing a key fear of public speaking: Check it out below!

How I beat stage fright Humanity's fine-tuned sense of fear served us well as a young species, giving us laser focus to avoid being eaten by competing beasts. But it's less wonderful when that same visceral, body-hijacking sense of fear kicks in in front of 20 folk-music fans at a Tuesday night open-mic. Palms sweat, hands...

Last night’s meeting featured strong speeches that challenged us to consider bringing dogs into our lives, make brave and bold professional transitions, think on our feet with exciting table topics, and offer meaningful feedback to speeches and speakers. We’ll be looking forward to our next meeting on Tuesday, January 23rd, our club outing on January 27th, and our International Speech and Tall Tales Club Contest on January 30th!

Insightful Reading:

Council Post: Why Professionals Should Embrace Public Speaking (And How You Can Get Started) Public speaking does more than just elevate you in the eyes of your manager and senior executives. Your presence on stage at conferences and events can also affect your industry reputation.

BTM End-of-Summer Picnic - [RSVP by Sunday 9/18 3:00 pm] - https://mailchi.mp/171e3f15b952/its-that-time-of-year-boston-toastmasters-summer-picnic-5894751

Boston Toastmasters June Newsletter - https://mailchi.mp/bb897cb61367/boston-toastmasters-newsletter-5542192