Toastmasters helps a leader polish his skills
 

Leadership challenges are invigorating. I have launched or led four businesses, as well as a Toastmasters club, a Rotary club, and a Rotary Fellowship. As a Rotarian and a Toastmaster, I can tell you that both organizations transform lives, although in different ways. And both have had an impact on my life.

 

I knew I needed to step up my game when I was tapped to serve as president of the Rotary Club of Santa Rosa. I wanted a higher level of skill and self-confidence in order to lead my club and represent Rotary in the community. My wife had been a Toastmaster for a year, and I had visited her club a few times to watch her speak. She had really begun to blossom. I thought this program could help me.

 

When a speaker canceled shortly before a Rotary meeting, I was ready. With only two hours’ notice, I gave a half-hour speech about my recent trip to the Rotary International Convention.

 

The Rotary Means Business Fellowship provides networking opportunities for Rotarians. I’ve given presentations about the fellowship at three conventions and to Rotarians all over the world. In each of those situations, my experience as a Toastmaster and Rotarian helped me feel confident in my ability to share my message in front of hundreds of people. The founding and nurturing of the Rotary Means Business Fellowship is one of my most fulfilling personal achievements.

 

For 30 years, I owned a business with two dozen employees. As the boss, you tell an employee to do something, and they do it. In a volunteer organization, you have to motivate people to want to do something, or it won’t get done. Holding officer positions in Toastmasters and Rotary has helped me become a more effective leader.

 

The alliance between Rotary and Toastmasters is sparking new learning and leadership opportunities. Rotarians are enrolling in the communication and leadership development courses that Toastmasters created for Rotary members and are practicing their public speaking skills at Toastmasters clubs. And Toastmasters members are honing their own skills by speaking at Rotary meetings.

— AS TOLD TO ARNOLD R. GRAHL