Toastmasters has been around for decades. I heard about Toastmasters a few years back, and I attended a Toastmasters meeting a few months ago. After some research, I was subconsciously convinced about becoming a Toastmaster to hone my communication skills, but it was my first meeting that made Toastmasters a conscious reality. As they say, the rest is history. Each Toastmasters meeting and each Toastmaster is inspiring, and at each meeting, we aspire to inspire each other.
At some point in our professional career, we all reach a point where a learning limit is reached. While our knowledge about a specific topic grows, we further remove ourselves from other forms of learning. Perhaps, I was at this point, and I needed a platform to improve my skills. Despite being fortunate to learn and write about many different topics as a content writer, I felt the need to push the envelope. Regardless of what we do for a living, at Toastmasters, everyone is participating in learning and effectively structuring our thoughts. In this process, we aspire, inspire, and aspire to inspire.
As humans, we love to consume content, either in the form of books, news, entertainment or conversation. Ultimately, we use this content to form our judgement and opinion about our areas of expertise, interest, and utility. Communication is vital in all aspects of our lives and the way we process information eases all forms of communication. Whether we are talking at home, discussing at an office or dealing with a cashier at the store, we need to communicate. Effective communication is developed from a series of verbal and non-verbal cues we have developed over time. A Toastmasters meeting gives us a glimpse of effective communication strategies used by people from different professions and walks of life. In the process, we draw from each other and facilitate aspiration and inspiration.
Each individual has a unique journey, and each individual has something inspirational about them. It is up to us to decide what is aspirational about each individual. What we draw from others is primarily determined by what we seek to build on as individuals. While there is no right or wrong, there is always room for growth for all of us. The beauty of a Toastmasters meeting is that we are all there to be inspired, seek aspiration and ultimately aspire to inspire others with our journey.
The next time you attend a Toastmasters meeting ask yourself, do you aspire to inspire? Chances are you do, and we all do, and that is why we are at a Toastmasters meeting.
Kriti Panth, Professionals Toastmasters ClubÂ
Published in Inkspire Issue 3. Click here for the full newsletter.