IS public speaking one of your biggest fears?
Well, fret not.
Penang state executive councillor Zairil Khir Johari said Toastmasters International District 51 (Northern Region) would be holding a series of weekly talks at Starbucks stores by Toastmasters members to promote their programme on ‘Effective Communication & Leadership’.
He said the series of talks, known as ‘Toastmasters Coffee Chats’, would be launched at the Starbucks Pulau Tikus store on Sept 27 at 7.30pm.
“I greatly encourage everyone, young and old, to take up this offer to sharpen their public speaking skill. It is a good skill for everyone, regardless of what you do,” Zairil, who is also the Tanjung Bungah assemblyman, told a press conference at Komtar today.
“This is an interesting programme done weekly every Friday. Anyone can come, register online using the QR code or the link.
“Public speaking helps you to focus your thoughts and to craft what you want to say in an effective manner. It is a very good skill to have, that’s why I think it’s a very good effort to come out with this programme.”
Also present were Pulau Tikus assemblyman Chris Lee, the District 51 programme quality director 2019-2020 Carmen Loo, TLI education lead K.K. Chee, Toastmasters Coffee Chats publicity lead Joanne Tan, who is also Gurney Hydro Toastmasters Club president, and Promenade Toastmasters Club public relations vice-president Sharene Kwan.
Lee explained that since 1924, Toastmasters International has helped people from diverse backgrounds become more confident speakers, communicators and leaders at the different branches all over the world.
“One of the biggest fears in people today is public speaking. A typical Toastmasters meeting can help the person as it provides a member opportunities to give speeches and express himself.
“It’s kind of a way to have a group of people to support one another to improve their public speaking and communication skills.
“Toastmasters is a pathway that can groom future leaders. It was over 10 years ago during a Toastmasters meeting that I declared that I wanted to enter politics. So, it has a pretty sentimental place in my heart,” said Lee.
He added that Toastmasters members would be given a topic, usually on a simple subject, to speak on the fly but that would get the person moving.
When a person subscribes to a Toastmasters club, the person would be given assignments to prepare different speeches. He would be evaluated based on his speeches and given feedback on how to improve.
Admission to the ‘Toastmasters Coffee Chats’ is free but participants are encouraged to buy a drink as the organisers are not renting the place.
Loo said basically, the target audiences are the young working adults and young professionals who wish to improve their communication and leadership skills.
“The series of talks will run for the first month, every Friday. We have invited our distinguished toastmasters who are professionals in their industry respectively.
“They will share their expertise as well as how they have applied the effective communication and leadership skills in their career. We want to reach out more to the community,” Loo said.
Chee said besides learning communication skills, an equally important aspect of the training would be to sharpen one’s listening skills.
“In the Toastmasters’ programme, we also help you to develop acute listening skills and analytical thinking through the process of evaluating another person’s speech,” Chee said.
“In order to give helpful and meaningful feedback, you must be able to process what you have heard and then express your feedback in a manner that is not threatening, offensive or repulsive. You must express it in a manner that the person who is being evaluated accepts it willingly, readily and happily.”
District 51 (Central and North Peninsular Malaysia) director Christopher Choong will be the speaker for the first talk on ‘Workforce Transformation: Gen X – Today’s Learners, Tomorrow’s Leaders!’ on Sept 27.
Other distinguished speakers are Sarjit Singh (professional speaker, trainer & life coach), Charles Tan (founder of kopiandproperty.com), Michael Xavier (managing director & principal consultant of SpeakRight Consultancy), K. Muthukumaran (senior engineer and certified L&D trainer), Saw Chin Bin (ISO9001 quality management system consultant & trainer), Kay Sock Phoh (Jobstreet regional sales manager), K. Shankar (Jobstreet regional sales manager), Joanne Tan (professional trilingual hostess), May Cheah (certified basic life support instructor/instructor trainer) and L. Thannimalai (HSBC corporate leader).
To register for the talks, go to http://bit.do/TMcoffeechat.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Alissala Thian