MOUNT VERNON – The members of the Mount Vernon Toastmasters Club #1259 invite the public to join them for two fun events in the coming weeks. On Thursday, January 29th the club will host a speech contest for eligible club members at Central Ohio Technical College’s Knox Campus, Ariel Hall (236 South Main Street, Mount Vernon) from 12:00-1:00 p.m. A select number of club participants will present a five-to seven minute speech on any subject they choose, and each speaker will be judged by their peers. The winner of the club contest will go on to compete at the area level in February.
Speech contests are a Toastmasters tradition and an important part of the Toastmasters educational program. Each year thousands of Toastmasters compete in the Humorous, Evaluation, Tall Tales, Table Topics and International speech contests. Competition begins with club contests and winners continue competing through the area, division and district levels. The International competition has two additional levels — semifinal and the World Championship of Public Speaking.
The second fun event that the Mount Vernon Toastmasters Club is planning is an open house on Thursday, February 12th from 12:00-1:00 p.m. Community members are invited to join the club for its regular meeting at Ariel Hall to learn more about the Toastmasters mission, its educational program, and the personal and professional benefits of being involved with the Toastmasters organization. Light refreshments will be served, and guests will have the opportunity to ask questions and walk through the membership application process with a club member if they so wish.
“We have been planning to do an open house for some time now because we want members of the community to see how much fun we have at our meetings,” said Kim Barton, President of the Mount Vernon Toastmasters Club. “Not only are we developing our communication and leadership skills, but we’re doing it in a fun and spirited way. We joke that our meetings are like therapy because we all leave with a smile, but it really is true. We have a great group of members and I think we all enjoy each other’s company, so the fact that we’re growing both personally and professionally is just an added bonus.”
Jan Reynolds, the club’s Vice President of Education, agreed. “The camaraderie of our club is always fun and enjoyable, but what’s really neat is to see how with each new member our club dynamic changes just a bit, always for the better. We truly enjoy the personal and professional exchange that happens at each meeting, and we look forward to seeing how our club will grow over the next year.”
The Mount Vernon Toastmasters Club meets the second, fourth and fifth Thursday of every month at Central Ohio Technical College’s Knox Campus, Ariel Hall (236 South Main Street, Mount Vernon) in the Ramser Family Community Board Room (Rm 120). Guests are always welcome! For more information, please visit the club’s website (www.mtvtoastmasters.org) or Facebook page (Toastmasters of Mount Vernon, Ohio). If you are interested in joining the Mount Vernon Toastmasters Club to improve your public speaking and/or leadership skills, please contact Nick Clark, Vice President of Membership, at 740-398-2966 or mtvtoastmasters@gmail.com.
Toastmasters International is a nonprofit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network of meeting locations. Headquartered in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, the organization’s membership exceeds 292,000 in more than 14,350 clubs in 122 countries. Since 1924, Toastmasters International has helped people of all backgrounds become more confident in front of an audience. For information about local Toastmasters clubs, visit www.toastmasters.org. Follow @Toastmasters on Twitter.
