Engineering Communications

Introduction

I would like to add to this Engineering Communication blog tips that I have found useful and information about an organisation, Toastmasters International, that can help Engineers (and non-Engineers!) improve both their communication and leadership skills and thus their confidence in all spheres of life.

Editor's Note: CR4 would like to thank English Rose for sharing this blog entry. Our purpose is to bring you information about her experience with Toastmasters International, not to endorse this or any other organization that develops public speaking and leadership skills.

We all know how important these so-called "soft skills" are in our professional, personal and social lives. We also know that the various courses run to teach these skills are usually expensive and have limited opportunities for practice and improvement, since they are aimed more at imparting knowledge than developing skills in the limited time at their disposal.

So what would you do if you found out that for around £10/$15 per month you could have access to internationally respected teaching materials, gain internationally recognised awards and have more fun learning than you ever thought possible?

Membership of a Toastmasters International club can give you all this and so much more. I joined in 2007 and am completely hooked! I'm also embarrassingly evangelical about the benefits I get from my membership and so in this blog series, I shall share some of the tips for improving your (and my) communication and leadership skills; a bunch of tales on the fun, support and friendship experienced at meetings; and reasons why the best way to benefit from this blog is to find your local club and get stuck in!

The watchword of Toastmasters International is "learning by doing"; you can not learn to be a better communicator just by reading some articles or books, or even, I contend, by attending expensive seminars and workshops. It is regular standing up and doing it that makes the difference, coupled with specific, personal, kind feedback on where you can make things even better. Every Toastmasters International club offers both of these elements. There are over 12,500 clubs in 113 countries around the world, serving over 260,000 members, so there will be one reasonably close to you. If not, TI can help you start a group in your city, town or company so you can share the benefits with those around you.

In my next entry, I'll take a look at the business of speaking, structuring speeches and conveyance of ideas.

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