Toastmasters is an international organisation dedicated to communication and leadership skill development. Through its worldwide network of clubs, Toastmasters helps people build their communication skills so they can gain confidence in leading others.

Toastmasters is a supportive and positive learning environment dedicated to helping people gain the skills, confidence and proficiency to effectively express themselves, says Janet Williams, one of the organisers of a Toastmasters Festival of Adult Learning event held at Melville Intermediate School in Hamilton.

“Great communication skills help people with their confidence and Toastmasters helps to develop those skills. We had an amazing festival event on Saturday 9 September with around 22 people attending and trying ou Toastmasters for the first time,” Janet says.

“People who chose to come along got a full-on slice of the Toastmasters’ experience which started with a session on the importance of communication and public speaking. The learners then got to experience a Table Topic – a long-standing Toastmasters tradition that involves learning the skills of impromptu speaking. We also had one of our extremely experienced evaluators at the festival event so learners had an overview of the evaluation process.”

Many of the participants at the event came from the Hamilton Combined Community Trust, which included Chinese, Filipino, Nepalese, Indian and Māori. Some of the participants were keen to visit one or more of the 11 Toastmasters clubs in the Waikato region to learn more. Feedback was positive, including, “I learned so much from all the speakers, it was truly inspiring.”