Thinking on your Feet

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Effective Communication is a ‘must have’ in this electronic age. Being an effective communicator takes real skill. Communication skills have to be developed, honed and added to on an on-going basis. Communication is the basis of interpersonal skills and the greater your awareness of how it all works, the more effective your communication will be. To be effective in business, you have to communicate well. To be a good manager, you have to communicate exceptionally well. Communication is individual. We are not all the same. There is never one right way to communicate. Authentic effective communication always happens when we reply on those things we know to be true about or for ourselves. Your personal style can say more for you than all the words you use can. Most people look at what is wrong with themselves and other people, rather than focusing on what already works. Remember many things have to be working well for you to have got this far already. The communication cycle works as follows and you can take responsibility for every stage:
Spoken - Heard - Understood - Agreed To - Acted On - Implemented.
In Toastmasters you will become aware of where you or others tend to fall off the cycle. So, can I give you any greater reason for joining Speakeasy Toastmasters?

PERSONAL IMPACT

Personal impact includes key elements of Communication; Presentation; Assertiveness and Influencing techniques. All these components enable you to make the impact you want. We all can improve our ability to influence others. You all cringe at that interview that went badly wrong or that appraisal you wish to forget. Here is an opportunity to ensure that you will not repeat these experiences. In order to know making an impact works, there are a few areas you have to consider, and study.
 Knowing how and why things go wrong
 Improving your ability to influence others
 Understanding rules and conventions and boundaries
 Speaking your mind without offending
 Finding our how others see you
An awareness of all of these will increase confidence and raise self esteem. Come along to our next meeting as a guest and see for yourself how we put these skills into practice. We do it in stages and in an encouraging way.

Thinking & speaking on your feet.

There may be an occasion when you may be asked to stand and say a few words without being given any prior notice. This is where being involved in the table topics session of a toastmasters meeting really helps out. It trains us how to think and speak on our feet. A club member gives out a topic to another member and they can speak on that topic for up to two minutes. The person giving out the topic is not trying to catch anybody out but to encourage another member to come up with a structured and response.

At our last meeting Gerry Kelleher was the topics master for the evening and he has a great skill in putting people at ease and allowing them to come up with very good replies to his topics. His topic regarding whether or not supporters should be left on to the pitch after the All-Ireland drew a great response.

Also on the night we had the club table topics contest, there were five contestants and they all replied to the topic very well. The topic while challenging ‘Marriages are all happy, its having breakfast together is the trouble’ brought many humorous responses from the contestants. A special mention for one of the clubs newer members Declan Curtis who replied very well to the topic even though it was his first time taking part in a toastmasters contest. The winner on the night was Ray Ryan and the runner up was Tony O’Regan. Ray now goes on to represent the club in the Area Final, which takes place on the 20th of October in the Galtees club in Mitchelstown.

The clubs next meeting will take place on Thursday 15th of October and will return to its usual format. The meeting will begin at 8pm and finish at 10pm and takes place in the Garden room in the Hibernian Hotel.

Guests are always very welcome and will never be asked to speak. For more information about the club please go to our website at www.speakeasytoastmasters.com