A mastery of public speaking allows you to relate to the audience and gain their trust, a read by PAN Communications.
While convening an open house meeting in Kisumu during the weekend, Kisumu Governor Prof Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o he noted that the club has provided a leeway for professionals to go up the ladder.
Ken Agutu, the president of the Kisumu Toastmasters said the club offers to grow their communication, and better their public speaking and leadership skills.
“We come into the space irrespective of our national and cultural differences, united under the umbrella of toastmaster, make a difference in our lives and influence people
Emilia Siwingwa
He noted that the club has provided a leeway for professionals to go up the ladder.
“Clubs are the basic unit, they belong to an area, which belongs to a division and a division belongs to a district,” he said.
“We invited the Governor just as the head of the City to come and see what we do in terms of public speaking, which he so much appreciated,” furthered Agutu.
Gracing the club’s meeting was Emilia Siwingwa, the district director at toastmasters international district 114 which covers Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Siwingwa said the club comprises of journalists, entrepreneurs, consultants, teachers, doctors, and lawyers among other professionals.
“We come into the space irrespective of our national and cultural differences, united under the umbrella of toastmaster, make a difference in our lives and influence people,” noted Siwingwa.
The underlying message of Toastmasters is how we relate with other people, essentially that is what matters, build soft skills and interpersonal skills to steer vertical growth.
They prepare speeches based on a given number of projects and based on a pathway that they select
Toastmasters Club
The club was chartered in December 2017 but due to covid, many of the meetings were held virtually.
Agutu said they help members who join to get into the groove of bettering their speech and personal growth.
“They prepare speeches based on a given number of projects and based on a pathway that they select,” he noted.
The Pathway is a course name that they select, we have 11 in total and upon joining, pick one that suits you.
Pathway courses are presentation mastering, which has a majority, motivational strategies, visionary communication, persuasive influence, engaging humor skills, and competencies.
Agutu adds, “We have 2 club meetings every month, with prepared and impromptu speeches.”
There is also constructive feedback given by speech evaluators which helps the speaker look back at what they have done and grow into their next project.
An open house meeting is an opportunity to engage with guests, people who want to know more about Toastmasters, help them join, and become better speakers.
We believe that being good public speakers is at the heart of everything you do and feel there is an opportunity to talk about it
Toastmasters seek to identify how public speaking can help people grow in their places of work, leadership positions, and in building society.
I do management consultancy, a lot of training, and conference facilitations, being a part of this club has made everything better
Ken Agutu
Achievement
Every toastmaster has picked a pathway and speeches are from projects done in their pathways.
Agutu says after joining Toastmasters, he realized he was a public speaker who didn’t have a structure and would talk without leaving any memorable thing.
“I do management consultancy, a lot of training, and conference facilitations, being a part of this club has made everything better.”
Emily Owiti, Kisumu Club Deputy president, was referred to Toastmasters by a friend after doing her communications undergraduate course.
Emily says: “to better you, they point out very specific things about your speech.”
Today she is a lecturer at the University of Nairobi and her delivery has changed.
Toastmasters also teach time management; we are translating what we are learning to our workplace.
Membership
To join the club, an individual has to search for a club in his town on the Toastmaster’s website.
Once one has located a club, they fill out a membership form which helps to identify weaknesses and strengths using a checklist.
After paying a registration fee of six thousand shillings, one is introduced to the club, paired with a mentor, and given access to a portal of online learning resources.