Toastmasters meets tonight, March 27, 7pm
The NPC Toastmasters group returns to its normal format tonight with three new speeches scheduled. All guests are welcomed; there is no charge and you do not have to be a Press Club member to visit or join.
Our March 20 meeting was the first step of the annual international speaking contest. Congratulations to Shelja Purohit and Caitlin Vogus, winners for Best Speaker and Best Evaluator. Purohit and Vogus will now compete at the area level contest on April 4. Purohit gave an entertaining speech on the challenge of communicating generationally. One example was her emailed request to ‘have a word’ with her young male assistant. He responded, “A word?” and Purohit was a bit agitated by his terse response. It turns out that among people his age, that phrase can be code for other, more intimate activities. A perfect example of an unintended double entendre.
Purohit has been a member of the NPC Toastmasters group for two years and joined because she wanted to improve her communication skills.
Vogus was one of three contestants who together heard the same speech. The contestants were then sequestered and returned to the room one at a time to provide critical feedback in a two-to-three minute timeframe. This is truly an exercise in listening, organizing your thoughts quickly, and then explaining those thoughts in an engaging way. Vogus has excelled in this exercise before and this will be her second time representing the NPC Toastmasters at the area level.
Vogus is a practicing attorney and has been in our Toastmasters group for nearly a year. She said that she joined Toastmasters to hone her courtroom speaking skills.
Whether you are in a courtroom, on the the air, or just want to polish your communication skills, Toastmasters can help you. New members work through a manual of 10 speaking exercises, then branch out to other themes of their choosing, such as storytelling, dramatic speaking, or business leadership. Come see what Toastmasters is all about.
The NPC Toastmasters Club meets on the second and fourth Mondays of each month at 7pm. There is no charge to visit and no limit to the number of visits. Membership fees are about $130 per year.