TOASTMASTERS

INTERVIEW WITH DR PHILIP SELBY

SYLVIE JACQUE ONUG

Toastmasters, what an intriguing name for a club. What is it really?
Toastmasters is much more than a club. It’s a worldwide, non-profit organization which
helps people to develop their communication and leadership skills. Started in California in 1924, it now has over ten thousand clubs in more than sixty countries.

Each club meets regularly, usually twice a month. Members take turns giving short presentations, either prepared or impromptu. Each prepared presentation is evaluated by another club member who offers helpful suggestions. This process leads to a gradual development of public speaking skills over the course of weeks and months. A new member works through a manual with ten speech projects, each having specific objectives, and on completion of the manual receives the Competent Toastmaster award. The member may then work through a number of advanced manuals with progressively more challenging objectives, leading to more advanced awards. Thus there is a constant motivation to develop and improve.

Leadership skills are developed through organizing and chairing meetings, serving on the club’s committee, and serving as an officer beyond the club level, for example at the area, national, or European level of Toastmasters. These communication and leadership skills can be of immense value in one’s professional life, whether working in the private sector, the UN, or elsewhere.

What brought you personally to Toastmasters?
I first heard about Toastmasters when some friends and I were looking for a way to improve our public speaking skills. A search on the Internet led me to the Toastmasters International website: www.toastmasters.org, which lists every club around the world and gives contact details. That was in 1996 when there were three clubs in Switzerland, in Berne, Zug, and Zurich.

As I lived in Geneva the nearest club was in Berne, so I phoned the club president who invited me to their next meeting. I found that guests are always given a warm welcome. It was so interesting that I went to the District Conference in Lucerne the following weekend. There I met two ladies from Lausanne and we decided to start a club in this area, leading to the formation of the Geneva Toastmasters club in 1997, which became the fourth club in Switzerland. Now there are ten clubs in Switzerland and more are being planned. In Geneva we are celebrating our tenth anniversary and the club is flourishing.

What did you gain and are you still gaining from your involvement with Toastmasters?
Toastmasters has helped me to improve my communication skills in terms of self-confidence and public speaking ability. It has helped me to develop my leadership skills through setting up and organizing a new club; through serving on my club’s committee as Vice President Membership, Vice President Education, and President; and through serving in my current role as Area Governor, responsible for advising and supporting clubs in the French-speaking area of Switzerland.

It’s also been a lot of fun getting to know other Toastmasters from around the world. The Geneva club has about thirty-five members of a dozen nationalities, many of whom speak English as their second or third language. Most clubs, like ours, have their meetings in English, so some people join to improve their English-language skills.

Another great aspect of Toastmasters is taking part in conferences. Conferences and speech contests are held twice a year at the area, national, and European levels. Winners at one level can then compete at the next level, and so on. I’ve enjoyed competing at each level and won second place in a European speech contest. It was a great experience giving a humorous speech to an audience of about one hundred and fifty Toastmasters, especially when my humour was appreciated!

Those who are not competing may take part as judges in the speech contests or in other roles. Socially it’s an opportunity to meet Toastmasters from other clubs and countries. The European conferences, for example, bring together Toastmasters from seventeen countries.

How would it benefit UN Staff?
A Toastmasters club within the UN could be of enormous benefit both to UN Staff and to the organization as a whole.

Improvements in communication and leadership skills would help UN staff to achieve greater success in their professional life. Such skills could lead to better jobs and promotion within the organization.

The organization as a whole would benefit by having staff who can give good presentations, for example at staff meetings, and who organize and run meetings efficiently. Meetings, after all, take up much time and energy. Well-run meetings that keep strictly to an agenda and time schedule can be a great boost to an organization’s efficiency. These are among the skills one learns in Toastmasters.

How can we bring Toastmasters to the UN?
Very easily. Starting a new club requires at least twenty members, so the first thing would be to show UN staff what Toastmasters is all about and find out who would like to join. I would be glad to organize an hour’s demonstration meeting at the UN, with the participation of some of our Geneva club members, to which all interested UN staff are invited.

The cost is minimal, in fact Toastmasters provides the most cost-effective training one can imagine. There’s a chartering fee of $125 for the club to join Toastmasters International. Members pay about Frs. 20.– for their first speech manual, and a subscription of about Frs. 120.– per year. When you think about it, that’s incredible value for money!