A picture speaks a thousand words. It was a photograph of a Toastmasters meeting that compelled me to know more about it. The photo posted by one of my friends spoke out loud about the meeting. The answer to my question about the meeting was attending a Toastmasters meeting (which seems obvious now!). Within a few days of first knowing about Toastmasters, I received a call from Dr. Jyotsna Rimal, the Club President. She wanted me to become a chartered member of Dharan Toastmasters. Wow! What a coincidence! I couldn’t have asked for more. I started imagining myself attending the meeting in the picture uploaded by my friend on social media.
On 1st March 2019, the club was chartered. With a demo meeting being conducted before that, we were familiar with the procedure of the meeting.
The regular meeting started with highly motivated professionals. Each one brought in their unique ideas and gave life to the meeting. I dared to give my first ever speech and what a feeling that was! The evaluation was done online as we were (still are) the only club in Eastern Nepal. But we managed it well with the help of our club mentors.
Our club meetings are filled with positive vibrations. The mixture of people of different age groups and different professions make the speeches even more interesting to listen to. While the speakers learn the art of speaking, the listeners learn to listen. Overall we are learning to communicate.
At Dharan Toastmasters we have doctors, teachers, businessmen, chartered accountant, etc. The variety can be seen in all the speeches delivered that conclude with a message which we might have never thought about.
In the one year that passed, we have grown a lot and continue to grow. It is no more a frightening thing to present ourselves in front of a mass. I personally have developed my skills as a better communicator. I realized this when I was put in similar situations before and after joining Toastmasters. The way I dealt with the situation was completely different. Toastmasters not only changed the way I speak or listen, but it also changed the way I think.
Saurav Agrawal, VPPR
Dharan Toastmasters Club
Published on Inkspire Issue 3. Click here for the full newsletter.