Toastmasters Bratislava

Number ONE in the world

2011-08-28T22:52:00.000-07:00

Time for a content up-date :))

In the season 2010/12 Bratislava Toastmasters was the best performing TM club in the world when it comes to the number of education awards which were achieved by its members.

To be the best in-between more than 12,000 peers does mean something!!

Btw, the proven Toastmaster program we deliver in Slovak and German as well.

You want to brush up your presentation and leadership skills? I believe there is no better place to do so. Check it out.

2009-01-10T00:23:00.000-08:00

Toastmasters Bratislava – An Introduction

From a humble beginning in 1924 at the YMCA in Santa Ana, California, Toastmasters International has grown to become a world leader in helping people become more competent and comfortable in front of an audience. The nonprofit organization now has nearly 250,000 members in +12,000 clubs in 92 countries, offering a proven – and enjoyable! – way to practice and hone communication and leadership skills. Most Toastmasters meetings are comprised of approximately 20 people who meet weekly for an hour or two. Participants practice and learn skills by filling a meeting role, ranging from giving a prepared speech or an impromptu one to serving as timer, evaluator or grammarian. There is no instructor; instead, each speech and meeting is critiqued by a member in a positive manner, focusing on what was done right and what could be improved.

Good communicators tend to be good leaders. Now there is Toastmasters in Bratislava as well! We are looking for active members! Check it out!

Our Mission
The mission of a Toastmasters club is to provide a mutually supportive and positive learning environment in which every individual member has the opportunity to develop oral communication and leadership skills, which in turn foster self-confidence and personal growth.

FAQ / Frequently Asked Questions

Why Toastmasters?

Whether you're a professional, a student, a stay-at-home parent, or a retiree, Toastmasters is the best way to improve your communication skills. Toastmasters can help you lose the fear of public speaking and learn skills that will help you be more successful in your chosen endeavor. You'll listen better. You'll more easily lead teams and conduct meetings. You'll comfortably give and receive constructive evaluation. You already have some, or all of these skills. In Toastmasters, you will enhance them.
At Toastmasters, members learn by speaking to, and working with, others in a supportive environment. A typical Toastmasters club is made up of 20 to 30 people who meet once a week for about an hour and a half. Each meeting gives everyone an opportunity to learn and practice the skill of communications.

Who can join Toastmasters Bratislava?

To join the club you only need to be aged 18 or above, have the motivation and courage to contribute to the community and develop your own communication and leadership skills.

How often there is a meeting?

We meet regularly once a week on Monday at 18:30, start meeting is at 19:00. There is always a competent person available at 18:30. This person can provide you with more details about the actual organization of the meeting and respond to your questions before the actual start. So we strongly encourage especially guests to come a bit earlier.

How long does a Toastmasters session last?

The session usually lasts 1,5 hours. After that we usually go to have some dinner and talk.

Where do you meet?

Currently we meet in the Coffee and Co within the City University on the Pannonska Street.
Do I need to pay something if I want to visit a session as a guest?

No, you are not required to pay anything to see a session at Toastmasters Bratislava as a guest. In fact we actually encourage you to come over and see for yourself how such a session works. However, to actively participate in sessions – take one of the speaker or other roles – you have to be an active member of one of the Toastmasters’ clubs around the globe.

What topics are discussed at a session?

Any! Honestly, there are no fixed topics to speak about. Mostly, a person giving a speech chooses subjects that he or she is familiar with.

What happens at a meeting?

The Toastmaster of the Meeting gives a short introduction to the meeting presents the meeting‘s schedule. This is followed by the main part of the evening – the speeches. There are usually 3-4 prepared speeches and later on a session of unprepared – impromptu speeches called Table Topics.
After the speeches session there comes an evaluation part of the evening because in Toastmasters everything is evaluated. These are also short speeches by other members to give feedback to the speakers on what was good and what would need a little improvement.

What´s a "Prepared Speech?"

When you join Toastmasters, you receive a basic speaking manual with ten speech projects. Each project calls on you to prepare a speech on a subject of your own choosing but using certain speaking principles. Each manual project lists the objectives for that speech and includes a written checklist for your evaluator to use when evaluating the speech. Thus, if you're scheduled to speak at a meeting, you generally pull out your manual a week, or two, in advance and put together a speech on whatever subject you like, but paying attention to your goals and the objectives for that speech. Then, when you go to the meeting, you give your manual to your evaluator and that person makes written comments on the checklist while you speak. During the evaluation portion of the meeting, your evaluator then gives an oral commentary on how they felt your presentation went. The purpose of the extensive preparation and commentary is to show you what you're doing well, and what areas you may need to work on.

What is "Table Topics"?

Table Topics is fun! It's also terrifying. Basically, it calls on members and even some guests, if they are willing, to present a one to two minute impromptu speech on a subject not known to you until the moment you get up to speak! A member of the club assigned to be Table Topics master will prepare a few impromptu topics and call on members of the audience to stand up and speak on the topic.
Topics might include current events, or philosophical types of questions, or even wacky questions that most often lead to very humorous presentations.

What is an "Evaluation?"

The Evaluation program is the foundation that Toastmasters is built on.

All prepared speakers, should have their speaking manuals with them and should have passed them on to the evaluators beforehand. During the speech and after, each speaker’s evaluator will be taking written notes and furthermore, plan what to say during the two to three minute oral evaluation.

Evaluation is tough to do well, because it requires an evaluator to do more than say "here's what you did wrong." A good evaluator will say "here's what you did well and here's why doing that was good, and here are some things you might want to work on for your next speech and here's how you might work on them." It's important to remember that the evaluator is giving his/her point of view. Other members of the audience can, and should, also give you written, or spoken comments on aspects of your speech they feel are important.

What´s all the emphasis on time limits?

As noted above, speeches have time limits, Table Topics have time limits generally 1-2 minutes and evaluations have time limits of 3 minutes generally. The exception to this regards both Table Topics and General meeting evaluations. The timing is intended to keep the meeting on time and to put practical limits on various parts of a meeting.Time limits are rarely enforced to the letter, but you may be ‘clapped down’ if you go on an on. It depends on the style of the individual club. Clubs generally use a set of timing lights to warn the speakers of the advancement of time. For an example:
· If a speech is from 5 to 7 minutes. A green light will be shown at 5 minutes,amber at 6, and red at 7.
· In two minute Table Topics, the lights would be shown at 1 minute, 1.5 minutes and 2 minutes respectively.
When the green light comes on, you've spoken the required amount, though you need notfinish at this point. When the yellow light comes on, you should begin wrapping up. By the time the red light comes on, you should be at the closing stages of your presentation. The only time you are actually ‘penalized’ for going over, or under the required time is in speaking competition; in speech contests you must remain within the interval, or suffer disqualification.

What speech projects are there for me to work on?

In the basic ("Communication and Leadership" manual), there are ten speech projects:

1. Icebreaker - 4 to 6 minutes - begin speaking before an audience, discover speaking skills you already have and skills that need attention.
2. Organize your speech- 5 to 7 minutes - select an outline that allows listeners to easily follow and understand your speech.
3. Get to the Point - 5 to 7 minutes - prepare a speech that has a general purpose (to inform, persuade, entertain or inspire) and a specific purpose. Project sincerity and conviction.
4. How You Say It - 5 to 7 minutes - select the right words and sentence structure to communicate your ideas clearly and vividly.
5. Your Body Speaks - 5 to 7 minutes - use stance, movement, gestures, facial expressions and eye contact to express your message and achieve your speech's purpose.
6. Vocal Variety - 5 to 7 minutes - use voice volume, pitch, rate and quality to reflect and add meaning and interest to your message.
7. Research Your Topic - 5 to 7 minutes - support your points and opinions with specific facts, examples and illustrations gathered through research
8. Get Comfortable With Visual Aids - 6 to 8 minutes - select visual aids that are appropriate for your message and the audience, use them correctly with ease and confidence.
9. Persuade With Power - 5 -7 minutes - persuade listeners to adopt your viewpoint or ideas or to take some action.
10. Inspire Your Audience - 8 to 10 minutes - The final speech in the manual calls on you to inspire your audience by appealing to noble motives and challenging the audience to achieve a higher level of beliefs or achievement.

As you can see, all ten projects above are wide-open for you to choose whatever topic you like. Even if you pick a controversial subject, Toastmasters audiences will evaluate you on how well you presented your subject, not on whether they agreed with you or not.

Toastmasters in Bratislava

2008-12-16T00:25:00.001-08:00

From a humble beginning in 1924 at the YMCA in Santa Ana, California, Toastmasters International has grown to become a world leader in helping people become more competent and comfortable in front of an audience. The nonprofit organization now has nearly 235,000 members in 11,700 clubs in 92 countries, offering a proven – and enjoyable! – way to practice and hone communication and leadership skills. Most Toastmasters meetings are comprised of approximately 20 people who meet weekly for an hour or two. Participants practice and learn skills by filling a meeting role, ranging from giving a prepared speech or an impromptu one to serving as timer, evaluator or grammarian.There is no instructor; instead, each speech and meeting is critiqued by a member in a positive manner, focusing on what was done right and what could be improved.

Good communicators tend to be good leaders.

Now there is Toastmasters in Bratislava as well! We are looking for active members! Check it out!

Check the changes!

2008-07-18T05:49:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Our meetings continue through the summer on every other Monday (see the list). The September 1st we will skip, as it is a public holiday and most of us will enjoy a long weekend :)

But then, from 08.09.2008 on, end of the slow business! We will meet on a weekly basis! Looking forward!

Club business!
In our last meeting we formally voted for the club name and approved the club officer positions. Paperwork was done, sent to the US and ..... now we are waiting. Let u know asap when I know more.

Cheers,
Klaus

We hit it!

2008-06-25T12:41:00.000-07:00

Great news! We have 20 charter members and 3 club officers for our new Toastmaster club.

Club business:

In order to follow the democratic parliamentarian procedures of Toastmasters International the club officers have to be conformed by voting on a business meeting.

The meeting on the 07.07.2008 will be a traditional meeting as well as a business meeting in order to conduct according to the rules of TI.

Following people are standing for election as club officers:

Olga Durakova Treasurer and club secretary
Radovan Kavicky Vice President PR
Klaus Hammer Club president

There are still open office positions which can be applied for. In case you are interested, please let me know.

Name of the club:

Currently we use the expression “Toastmasters Slovakia”, “Toastmasters SK”, “Toastmasters BA”. These are working versions. If you could come up with an other suggestion let me know. We will vote about the club name on the next meeting as well.

Meeting roles and speeches:

As always, please apply for roles mentioned:

Evaluator, giving structured feedback to a speaker (3 slots)
Word of the day,
Table Topic Master,
Timekeeper,
AH-Counter,
Quizmaster.

Time to sign up :))

Cheers,
Klaus

Third meeting

2008-06-11T00:04:00.000-07:00

It was again a great meeting earlier this week. Impressive speeches, professional evaluations and a funny table topic session contributed their part to the good mood and positive energy during the event. Leo, Jana, Olga, Andrea, Rado, Ivan, Milos, Laco, Saliyad and Georg did a great job. Thank you for your active participation. I am already looking forward to the next event.

And here we are. In order to get the agenda filled these are the roles we are looking for on the 23rd:

Speaker, doing a speech from the manual
Evaluator, giving structured feedback to a speaker
Professional Tip of the day, presenting a practical tip we can use in our day-to-day live
Word of the day, introducing a new English word in order to enrich our vocabulary
Who wants do be the Table Topic Master, facilitation the Table Topic session
Timekeeper, keeping track of the time people use for their speeches
AH-Counter, reporting on the use of pointless filler words
Quizmaster, doing a check on the participants´ attention.

Please sign up!

Status of the club:

We are now 14 people who have expressed to join the club. That is an unbelievable number taking into consideration how young the club is. Thank you for all your support and there is still space for a lot of new members.

Cheers,
Klaus

P.S.: For whom who has joined and needs a manual, let me know

Second meeting

2008-05-27T13:36:00.001-07:00

The second meeting of our group happened to be already without the support from other clubs. Nevertheless, it was a great meeting. There was a lot activity from the participants. Quit impressive for a such a new group.

There were already 2 speeches from the “Competent Communicator Manual”, the basic training material. The first speech project is the so called Ice Breaker. Both speakers, Miso and Georg, showed a great example of commitment and dedication, and good communication skills.

Additionally we did an educational session on speech evaluation within Toastmasters. The trained content was put immediately into action. Again, the participants showed a high level of initiative.

Looking already forward to the next meeting: How want to take on a role during the event? Pick one of these activities:

Speaker, doing a speech from the manual?
Evaluator, giving structured feedback to a speaker?
Professional Tip of the day: Present a practical tip we can use in our day-to-day live?
Word of the day: Introduce us to a new English word in order to enrich our vocabulary?
Who wants do be the Table Topic Master?
Timekeeper, AH-Counter and Quizmaster are to be covered as well.

These are 10 opportunities to take an active role during the next session. Please sign up!

Status of the club:
We have received the “Club kit” from the US. So I have the “New Member Packages” for 20 people. In case you are interested let me know and I can forward the material to you asap. Precondition of course is to become a club member J.

We have already one person who signed up to take on a Club Leadership Position (or a VP as it is called in Toastmasters). Radovan is prepared to get into the team, preferably as a VP of PR. Anyway, there are still some more empty places to be filled…. I am happy for ever further application.

Next meeting is on the 09.06. at 18:30 room A3.12in within the UniEco. Guests are welcome anytime! Spread the word!

Hope to see you there,
Klaus

After D-day!

2008-05-13T13:43:00.000-07:00

We had a great start of our TM club. Many people visited the meeting, others apologized that they could not make it. Leo and Hedwig gave a great lession in what TM is all about. Once again thank you for effort!

A very promising start! I am positive we are reaching the needed amount of members for club chartering by the end of the month. Please help us to find as many people possible who would be interested to become Toastmasters.

We still have to fill several club management functions. These are VP of education, VP of membership, VP PR, Club Secretary, Treasurer, Sergeant in arms and the marketing committee Chair person. Interested? http://www.toastmasters.org/Members/OfficerResources.aspx

What we recognize yesterday was that we obviously have to start our meeting half an hour earlier. Otherwise we conflict with the closing of the whole University building.

So, days stay the same, time for the start changes to 18:30. I hope that will work out for you. Find here more info within the next days.

Cheers!

First Meeting 12.05.2008 at 19:00 in the Econ. University

2008-05-05T13:40:00.000-07:00

Dear Colleagues! Dear Friends!

I am proud to announce that the first Toastmaster meeting in Slovakia will be held on the 12.05.2008 at 19:00. At the same time I am most happy to tell you that the Economic University of Bratislava is ready to support us with a (class) room for our future meetings.
http://www.euba.sk/

On this place many thanks to Mr. Rudolf Sivak as the rector of the University for this great support.

This first meeting will not be a normal TM meeting but a so called demonstration meeting. Friends from the Viennese Toastmaster clubs will introduce how a TM meeting should be organized.

Hedwig and Leo Ziegler are Toastmasters for many years. They will demonstrate their skills and share with you their experience. I believe there is a lot we can gain from their presentations.

The detailed agenda of the event I will forward you within the next days.

During the meeting I will introduce you as well to the state of the club. There I will reflect on the next steps we have to take in order to become a full member of the world wide TM family. Of course there will be enough space for questions and answers.

Please, share this info with all people who are interested in improving their public speaking and leadership skills. We are welcoming all people who are interested to join us.

Toastmasters as substitute for traditional communication training?

2008-03-26T02:30:00.000-07:00

Having joined TM in April 2007 in my time in Prague I was extremely impressed by what I have experienced. In order to get some other opinions I have posted LinkedIn the question:

Can an active participation within Toastmasters replace traditional presentations skills training?

View here some of the answers:

http://www.linkedin.com/answers/using-linkedIn/ULI/124130-15522615?browseIdx=6&sik=1206522575497&goback=%2Eamq

If you have to choose either or than choose Toastmasters. If you have both choices, take traditional training and Toastmasters as complimentary.

Independent source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toastmasters_International

Want to learn more about it? Contact me on klausgerthammer@hotmail.com

What is this all about?

2008-03-20T12:58:00.000-07:00

It is the goal of the authors of this blog to establish a Toastmaster club within Bratislava. With this, people who live and work in this city will have finally the opportunity to become members of and profit from this extraordinary organization.

Whether you're a professional, student, stay-at-home parent or retiree, Toastmasters is the best way to improve your communication skills.

Toastmasters can help you lose the fear of public speaking and learn skills that will help you be more successful in whatever path you have chosen.

You'll comfortably give and receive constructive evaluation.

If you already have some or all of these skills, you will enhance them at Toastmasters.

The mission of a Toastmasters club is to provide a mutually supportive and positive learning environment in which every member has the opportunity to develop communication and leadership skills, which in turn foster self-confidence and personal growth.

Learn more http://www.toastmasters.org/

Interested to have a chat about it? Contact us!

klausgerthammer@hotmail.com

Toastmasters in Bratislava! Spread the word!