Reviews of
West Herts Speakers Club
Read here what our members say about our club Being able to present information effectively is one of the most important skills one can develop. Despite several years lecturing in higher education, I found that in business I was not as effective in communicating ideas to prospective clients as I would have liked. I joined Toastmasters to try to work on these issues and the benefits of membership have exceeded my expectations. Participating in Toastmasters meetings enables me to practice many different presentation skills in a supportive environment and, as a result of receiving regular feedback from other members, I now find myself able to evaluate the effectiveness of business presentations while I am in the process of delivering the information. This has meant that I can adjust my presentation to better achieve the outcome I desire rather than just wondering what went wrong afterwards, as used to be the case. - Keiran H.
I really enjoyed participating in your club and found alot of the speakers extremely inspirational but I've decided to commit my time to a bigger interest of mine. On that note I would like to extend my thanks to you and all the members of West Herts Speakers Club - I think you are doing a good thing and it seems to work well. Thanks again and best of luck for 2007!! Enjoy your speaking! - Mark L.
Overcoming a stammer since I was 6 years of age. I have fought all my young life, a stammer that prevented me from communicating the childish needs when making friends with other children. School was a particularly stressful time where I was picked on by teachers & pupils alike. I attended a clinic for speech disorders most of my school life with no real improvement. My mother even took me to a hypnotist to achieve a cure with no lasting effect. My most stressful period occurred in my twenties & thirties when I had to hold down a supervisory job as an area service manager in charge of 18 engineers. I managed to hide my stammer on occasions by switching words I knew I could not say. This method however robbed me of the articulate use of the English language and eventually I would stammer anyway. I still attended, over the years many courses to improve my flow of speech with no lasting results. The Dave McGuire course for stammers made a dramatic change in my flow of speech using a combined method of operatic diaphragmatic breathing and deep tone coupled with street work in talking to people and declaring openly I am a recovering stammer. I returned to four follow up courses to maintain the fluency I had achieved and to learn how to cope with relapses. The Dave McGuire course recommended Toastmasters to gain confidence in speaking to an audience. I attended The West Herts Speakers Club as a guest for a couple of months and found it to be a welcoming and friendly place where people from all walks of life joined to improve their communication skills. I took the plunge and became a member and it was the best decision I ever made, it was literally life changing. Through the series of talks I had to undertake, and receiving feedback through evaluation in a friendly but firm manner I gained confidence and learned how to use body language as a tool to enhance and compliment my vocal skills. I said it was life changing; well I went on to train as a teacher and have successfully held classes at colleges in Luton. I have also become a Deacon in my Church and part of my ministry is to read the Gospel and preach to 300 people attending our services. It’s a dream come true and a miracle: (I had to say that!) - Jim G.
So it’s thanks to Toastmasters for the guidance and speech skills over the years in helping to maintain a competent level of communication to cater to my needs.