Toastmasters in Williams Lake is looking for new and past members to join them for their new season which begins Wednesday evening.
At the moment Marcia Reid says the club has four active members but they need five to seven members to maintain the club in Williams Lake.
The club meets at the Ramada Hotel on Wednesday evenings from 7 to 8 p.m. starting with their first session Wednesday, Sept. 28.
The club is a great way to develop the confidence to speak with people you may feel intimidated by and to learn how to give presentations in front of groups of people, says member Marcia Reid.
The one hour weekly sessions are conducted in a comfortable, relaxed setting, she adds.
"I joined to overcome my nervousness about speaking in front of people," Reid says. Although she now works in the office at the Ramada Inn, Reid says she started out at the front desk where she felt shy about talking with guests.
"It helped to build my confidence in speaking with people and about myself which I found difficult," Reid says.
She says the program is great for anyone working in sales or who has to speak in front of groups of people.
The program is self-paced and flexible allowing participants to learn about and practice various aspects of speech writing and presentation, develop leadership and critical thinking skills, improve listening and communication skills, and develop better time management skills.
Participants also develop self-confidence in their ability to lead meetings, build relationships, and become positive mentors, all skills that lead to career advancement.
Learning is achieved through a combination of education sessions as well as by participating and doing.
Toastmasters progress by levels depending on the number of speeches they give in a year, participation on the club executive, and in club, district, provincial and regional speech competitions.
Since Toastmasters is an international program, members also have the opportunity to participate in conventions around the province in places such as Harrison Hot Springs and Las Vegas.
"I though it was a cooking class when I first went and then discovered it was an hour where I could practice speaking in front of others," added Bob Sunner of Laketown Furnishings. "It transformed my life."