Hoffman Estates, IL: XL Toastmasters Club

Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Meets 3 PM Sundays Eastern Time
Attendance: (11 members and 2 guests)

First and foremost, Toastmasters is an organization geared towards meeting the educational needs of its members. Most people walk through the doors of their first Toastmasters meeting because they want to learn how to communicate better.

It was gratifying to see that commitment to self-improvement at the XL Toastmasters Club during my visit there recently. This is a club composed primarily of people who speak English as a second language -- and it's obvious that they are there to improve their communication skills. I especially saw this in the evaluations and, believe it or not, in the Grammarian's report. 

In her evaluation of Susan's speech, Annie suggested that Susan concentrate on memorizing her speech. That way, Annie said, Susan could focus on emotion instead of the words during her presentation instead. "Reading" one's speech, Annie remarked, "mitigates the power of the speech." Great insight!

In this club, the Grammarian lists the number of each of the filler words, such as "ah," "um," "er," and like, used by each member. I have always maintained that specific feedback to specific people leads to specific growth. In some clubs I've attended, they won't name names when it comes to filler words, because they are afraid of hurting someone's feelings. Me? I want to know exactly how I did so I can measure how much better or worse I do next time. That's the only way I can grow.

Other insights from the Grammarian for those whose first language isn't English:
  • Be confident in your speaking, no matter what your accent is. 
  • Try to speak and think in phrases, instead of one word followed by another word and then followed by another word. That helps the flow of the speech.
Both of these were very beneficial suggestions to those speakers. 

Members of the club welcomed me warmly and I appreciated that. One suggestion I made to them was to open the Zoom session at least 15 minutes before the meeting. Zoom at this club didn't open for me until four minutes before the meeting.




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