For those seeking to reach the pinnacle of their profession, being effective at public speaking is an art form that they need to master as much as what it is that they do.
It is therefore not enough to be able to “walk the walk” when you want to be the best – you must be able to “talk the walk” too.
The 7C Alliance has recognised this and, in the interests of its top Senior Associates and Principal Associates being able to be the best they can be at walking AND talking, we have formed an alliance with St Paul’s Speakers.
St Paul’s Speakers is one of the clubs of Toastmasters International , a global organisation with a long history of success in developing successful public speakers. Some businesses, such as McGraw Hill (who the 7C Alliance has also established a relationship with in reselling its technical books at a discount to its members), have their own club that they use to develop the public speaking and leadership skills of their senior employees.
However it goes well beyond that. Toastmasters has a tried and tested way to develop public speaking skills that has led to it having over 250,000 members in more than 12,500 clubs in 106 countries. Each club works to the same formula of being voluntary and non-profit, allowing members to use a self-paced format with clear stages to development. This begins with an Ice Breaker speech, at the first stage, through to how to fully structure delivery of a speech that might be expected of an industry leader at a conference or even a politician on a podium for election.
The beauty of Toastmasters is that it can be seen as a fun night out too, as they allow guests to come and observe – and even participate too! For instance, some of the more amusing topics in the past include:
The topics can also be highly personal and intellectual at the same time, such as dealing with the condition of “Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity” (adverse medical symptoms caused through exposure to electromagnetic fields) or abstract and highly scientific, such as one recently given by a friendly local physicist on his work with data from the Large Hadron Collider – a device based in Switzerland that is being used to test scientist’s theories about the origins of The Universe. They can also be personal and personable, as well as highly amusing too – such as one member’s James Bond addiction that left the audience both shaken and a little stirred….
Hopefully this gives you an idea that it could be anybody, from all walks of life, on anything. It could even be you, a member of the guest audience, as every club night there are a set of impromptu table topics where anyone in the audience can be invited to talk.
The 7C Alliance is looking forward to a long and happy association with Toastmasters and to some amazing members amazing others with how they well they can talk – and walk the walk too!
The 7C Alliance has organised for an introduction to the St Paul’s Speakers Toastmasters club in London for members of the London IT Contractor Alliance Meetup (LITCAM) group for Wednesday, 12th May. If based in London and interested to attend, then please register for LITCAM using the form at the bottom of the page before 1st May.
As only limited space is available, all registrations will need to be confirmed by 7th May. If popular, we will also look at other open nights
To understand more about inclusion of Toastmasters in the Professional Development programme for Senior and Principal Associates of the 7C Alliance – and interest in becoming a member of the 7C Alliance – then register online using the form on the Contact Us page of the old web-site.
For those wishing to learn more about Toastmasters, and its educational programme, please visit the main Toastmaster’s site for further details.
Tags: Best Practice, leadership, principal associate, public speaking, senior associate
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