ALKHOBAR, 20 September 2006 — Many people lack the training and stamina to effectively deliver a clear thought; today’s fast-paced, technological world is in desperate need of good communicators and leaders. The person with strong communication skills has a clear advantage over tongue-tied colleagues — especially in a competitive job market.
Toastmasters International, a nonprofit educational organization, has been working for more than 75 years to serve this purpose and help people conquer their pre-speech jitters. From one club started in Santa Ana, California, Toastmasters has grown to become the world’s largest organization devoted to developing people’s public and interpersonal communication skills.
Since Dr. Ralph C. Smedley organized that first club in October 1924, nearly four million people have enjoyed the benefits of being a member of Toastmasters. The organization now has approximately 175,000 members in 8,800 Toastmasters clubs in approximately 70 countries.
A Toastmasters club is a “learn-by-doing” workshop in which people sharpen their skills in a comfortable, friendly atmosphere. A typical club has 20 to 40 members, who meet weekly to learn and practice public speaking techniques. The average club meeting lasts approximately two hours. On joining a Toastmasters club, members’ progress through a series of 10 speaking assignments designed to instill a basic foundation in public speaking. When finished with the basic speech manual, members can select from among 15 advanced programs to develop speaking skills that are geared to specific career needs. When finished with the basic speech manual, members can select from among 15 advanced programs to develop speaking skills that are geared to specific career needs. Members also have the opportunity to develop and practice leadership skills by working in the High Performance Leadership Program and serving as leaders at various organizational levels.
There is no instructor in a Toastmasters club. Instead, members evaluate one another’s oral presentations. This evaluation process is an integral component of the overall educational program. Besides taking turns delivering prepared speeches and evaluating those of other members, Toastmasters give impromptu talks on assigned topics, usually related to current events. They also develop listening skills, conduct meetings, and learn parliamentary procedure.
Thousands of corporations that sponsor in-house Toastmasters clubs are aware of the effectiveness of this simple learning formula. These clubs serve as communication training workshops for employees. Every year, more and more business and government organizations are discovering that Toastmasters is the most effective, cost-efficient means of satisfying their communication training needs.
The functioning of the Toastmasters International starts from world headquarters, district, division, area, club and finally member, each playing their respective roles for a common goal. Division F, which is a part of District 79, overlooks the functioning of 15 clubs in the Eastern Province. It has seen an increase of five more clubs this year. All these clubs are divided into four areas.
Division F has organized a series of events to enhance the communication and leadership skills of Toastmasters. As a first step, a weeklong workshop of Dr. Randy J. Harvey, World Champion of Public Speaking 2004, was conducted on Sept. 24-30, 2005 under the Sensational Speaker Series. More than 100 Toastmasters from the division participated and benefited from this series of presentations. Celebrated Toastmasters on various subjects of interest conducted seven workshops.
In a bid to spread the message of Toastmasters to the corporate world, Division F has recognized Abdallah S. Jum’ah, president and CEO of Saudi Aramco, as the Petroleum Executive of the Year Award and presented him with a token of admiration for his achievements.
Division F Annual Conference 2006 was organized on March 23-24, 2006, at Le Gulf Meridien Hotel, Alkhobar under the “Leading and Leaving a Lasting Legacy” theme. More than 750 Toastmasters and their families attended the conference.
Toastmasters were pleased to have several special guests including John Kincannon, consul general, US Consulate, Dhahran and Abdul Aziz Al-Khayyal, Senior VP Refining and Marketing & International Operations, Saudi Aramco. The keynote speaker was Ted Corcoran, the immediate past international president. The attendees were quite pleased with the organization of highly subsidized event and the educational value they derived from the two-day conference.
As a result of Division F’s continuous efforts in promoting Toastmasters within the community and corporations, a number of both community and corporate clubs have been opened and more and more people began benefiting from the Toastmasters Educational Program. It will continue for years to come. As of now, four new corporate clubs called Tanglaw Toastmasters Club, Sailors Toastmasters Club, Ras Tanura Refinery Toastmasters Club and Al-Rashed Toastmasters Club and one community club, CIGI Toastmasters Club have been launched.
“Abdulrazaq Ali Alturki will be chosen as the ‘Best Division Governor of the Year’ as a recognition of his countless efforts and sincere hard work in promoting Toastmasters in Saudi Arabia,” said Vijay Boloor, district governor. He said that Alturki had been selected as the “Best Area Governor of the Year,” when he served as the Area 9 Governor for the period 2004-2005.