By joining Toastmasters International and the El Presidente Club, you’ll be in company with people who work hard to improve their communication and leadership skills. Toastmasters provides the avenue to engage and fellowship with other speakers and leaders in different industries and company set-ups. There are numerous membership benefits that include unlimited resources for leadership skills, management development, public speaking, and other related communication materials. You'll also establish linkages with local, foreign, and international clubs, areas, divisions, districts, and access to professional networking and recognition in the field of leadership and public speaking.
What’s in store for you at the El Presidente and Toastmasters?
- A great opportunity for networking and professional exchange with the different industry practitioners and top-notch businessmen and entrepreneurs.
- Information on current trends and emerging issues in leadership and communication.
- Exploration of the best public speaking and leadership and management practices.
- Continuing education and professional development through membership gatherings, trainings, seminars, and conferences.
- Access to a multitude of resources, including a monthly subscription to a Toastmaster magazine delivered at your doorstep, the latest communication, leadership journals, documents, and whitepapers.
- Special member rates on all Toastmaster-sponsored events, products, and services.
- Professional advice and assistance on organizational and leadership challenges from a panel of helpful co-Toastmaster members.
- Toastmaster Membership Kit that includes a Membership ID and communication and leadership manuals.
Are these all worth it for PHP 3,000 as a first-time member? Of course! Training and learning programs cost you PHP 10-15,000 pesos for a two-day engagement only.
Not convinced? Here are some more ideas why Toastmasters is for you.
- Develop valuable communications skills
- Employers value, seek out, hire, and promote people who communicate effectively. Customers are also drawn to good communicators.
- Here’s what business guru Tom Peters had to say: “Join Toastmasters. Oral communication skills count enormously. A lot of managers aren’t bad at public speaking. But “aren’t bad” ain’t good enough, not if you’re wise – and especially these days when jawing with the same old gang from year to year is becoming rare. Height and hair color may be in the genes. Public speaking isn’t. It’s a skill that can be studied, polished, more or less perfected. (Toastmasters) does a fabulous job of helping people shape up their communication skills.” (Tom Peters, The Pursuit of WOW, 1994)
- Develop valuable leadership skills
- As a Toastmaster, you have an opportunity to take advantage of a range of leadership opportunities. You can do so within the club from week to week (e.g. Chair, Toastmaster, and General Evaluator).
- You’ll also have the opportunity to move beyond the club and exercise leadership in the broader Toastmasters Community: e.g. Area, Division, and District.
- Develop valuable teamwork skills
- Teamwork skills are extremely important.
- How do you inspire and motivate people to achieve a collective goal?
- How do you pull a team together to implement a vision? In Toastmasters, you’ll learn how to do this and other aspects of team building.
- Develop listening and interpersonal skills
- A good Toastmaster is a good listener. He or she learns to be sensitive to an audience’s needs.
- As a TM Evaluator, you also learn to be tactful in conveying feedback to others.
- Form great contacts … and some new friends!
- Through Toastmasters, you will have a chance to meet people from various walks of life – people you probably wouldn’t have had the chance to meet otherwise.
- Some long-lasting friendships have originated at Toastmasters!
- Develop and grow as a speaker
- Ever had a ‘peak’ speaking experience?
- Ever really ‘connected’ with an audience? Find out what’s it is like!
- Gain valuable feedback on yourself
- It’s not easy to gain an understanding of how we come across to others.
- In Toastmasters we will help you become more aware of how others perceive you.
- Think through issues – and a captive audience to get things off your chest!
- The act of preparing a speech is a wonderful way to focus the mind.
- What better way to vent your spleen or share your passion about something than having a regular forum for sharing it with others!
- Feel better about yourself – and you’ll be making a difference to those around you
- Toastmasters does wonders for our self-confidence and our self-esteem.
- You will come to appreciate yourself more, to have greater confidence in yourself.
- Those around you will begin to look to you as a mentor and a leader.
- Take advantage of these opportunities week-in-and-week-out –at a fraction of the cost of other forms of communications skills training
Here's also a great article from Fortune to help you understand more:
