At Bromley Speakers, we give people all sorts of opportunities to develop their communication skills – mainly, delivering prepared or impromptu speeches, or evaluating speeches to guide and encourage other speakers… but there are many other projects you can tackle if you wish, such as writing a blog, moderating a panel discussion or leading a project team. The common thread that runs through all of these is to have an opportunity outside your workplace to try different challenges and see how you get on, knowing that if it doesn’t go so well, you’ll get help and encouragement to set you up to succeed next time.
So there’s only one thing you need to get the most out of Toastmasters: the ability to say “yes”.
One of our club members who definitely has the habit of saying ‘yes’ is Dave Henson. Dave has always been ready to volunteer for whatever role is needed in a club meeting – writing a speech, giving an evaluation, devising topics for impromptu speeches or indeed running the whole meeting. Dave said ‘yes’ the role of club President in 2018-19. And Dave said ‘yes’ to the challenge to write and perform a stand-up comedy set last year. He followed that up by saying ‘yes’ to delivering a stand-up gig at a club in Ireland, where he pulled off the remarkable feat of getting an international audience to laugh at his stories about famous people from Bromley (don’t believe it? The youtube link is here).
So of course, when Dave was asked to write a piece for the Toastmasters magazine, he said ‘yes’. He’s an expert on making slide presentations deliver a powerful message (see Dave’s website) and put together a great piece, 5 Basic Tips for Effective Slide Presentations
Soon afterwards, Dave was contacted by the Toastmasters International podcast team, Greg Gazin and Ryan Levesque, who had read his piece in the magazine and loved it. They asked if Dave would do a podcast for Toastmasters, and received the usual reply: “yes”. So the podcast Breathe Life Into Your Slide Presentations was recorded and (I know you’re way ahead of me already) Diana Passow, Senior Marketing Manager at Toastmasters International said they had heard it and loved it – and would Dave like to give a keynote speech at the Toastmasters International Conference? Of course, the answer was “yes”, followed by “er… where is it?”. Suffice to say, Dave was not disappointed to learn that it’s in the Bahamas this year.
So, our own Dave Henson will be giving a keynote speech at the Toastmasters International Convention in the Bahamas, and we’re thrilled for him (and of course, not even slightly jealous…)
It just goes to show where things can lead if you are willing to give things a try. All you have to do is say “yes”.
Don’t forget to send us a postcard, Dave!
