Re:Ask HN: Any success with Toastmasters?
by weinzierl on Saturday May 09, 2015 @09:29AM
(#9516313)
I got my "Competent Communicator" a few years ago. It took me about half a year and I think the time was very well spent.
Where I found Toastmasters very valuable was for getting feedback, it's a significant part of their program.
You'll have to invest time to see results, there is no shortcut to become a better speaker. That's also the only reason I stopped, I couldn't afford to spend the time to have a reasonable improvement.
Quality of clubs varies somewhat in my experience and you have to spend some time to find a good club.
To put this into perspective: My education was in Germany and public speaking is not part of our curriculum, neither school nor university. Also debates in the form they are done in the U.S. are completely unknown here. Toastmasters really fills a gap in that respect. If you grew up in the U.S. Toastmaster (at least how it's done in Germany) might be a bit boring for you.
You'll have to invest time to see results, there is no shortcut to become a better speaker. That's also the only reason I stopped, I couldn't afford to spend the time to have a reasonable improvement.
Quality of clubs varies somewhat in my experience and you have to spend some time to find a good club.
To put this into perspective: My education was in Germany and public speaking is not part of our curriculum, neither school nor university. Also debates in the form they are done in the U.S. are completely unknown here. Toastmasters really fills a gap in that respect. If you grew up in the U.S. Toastmaster (at least how it's done in Germany) might be a bit boring for you.