Success Stories
Tell Us A Story
Stories with happy endings are enjoyed by all. Do you have a success story to tell about how being a Toastmaster helped you at home, at work, in the community, or in the world? We'd love to hear it. Click on "Share Your Success" and fill out the form (with details!) You can check the box to remain anonymous or not. Click "Submit." We look forward to reading your unique story.
Armelde Pitre
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"Dull" Topics Don't Have to be Dull - Thanks to Toastmasters! I was asked to provide some technical training and the topic was placed at the end of all full-day agenda. The topic is generally acknowledged to be dull and dry. |
Armelde Pitre is a club officer in Thames River Club in Lisbon,CT.
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When my daughter Tanya decided she wanted to put up an Academic Decathlon team in her new high school in New Fairfield, I knew she would need a lot of help. Decathlon was a totally new idea in her school and she would need all the help she could get to train a team of nine decathletes in ten subject areas. So I volunteered to coach the speech and interview events of the competition. I even pulled in members of my home Toastmasters club, WestConn Toastmasters, to help coach the young decathletes by delivering lectures on speech writing and delivery, and listening to and critiquing the decathletes' speeches. Ruby Parker is the Area A4 Governor for 2010-11 and is a member of WestConn Toastmasters |
Michael Aron
At my company, I ran a very productive meeting and received a very nice compliment from a Senior Vice President. As the Business Continuity Coordinator, it is my job to maintain our Disaster Plan as well as to keep the Crisis Management Team updated on it. I recently held a meeting to discuss changes to the plan and to get a convenient date from the team for a test of the plan. My meeting was scheduled for 1/2 hour. I wrote my agenda on a flip chart and we ran through it item by item. We completed the agenda including date selection in 20 minutes. As people were filing out, one of the Senior Vice Presidents on the team turned to me and said, "Mike, your Toastmaster's training really shows."
Michael is a Distinguished Toastmaster and a member of two clubs in Connecticut.
Maureen Murray
Like many people, I was not comfortable speaking in front of strangers. This year, my daughter asked me if I would like to give a toast at her wedding. She and my son-in-law live in Hollywood, and work in the entertainment industry. After my initial hesitation, I thought about all that I have learned since joining Toastmasters.
I built a speech. Opening, to grab the audience. Middle, to hold the audience. And the ending, to wrap up all I needed to say. Good posture. Proper delivery. Simple, right?
However the guests included people that they worked for, with and people who worked for them. Big money, and big names. The toast was about a mother's love for her child, and the magic that your child makes you see. The magic that we miss due to the hectic pace of day to day life. A touch of humor in the middle of the toast broke the emotional impact a bit.
It worked. How well? Tori Spelling was a guest at the wedding. She came up to me and told me that my toast was beautiful and it made her cry. Me? I said something that Ms. Spelling heard and it hit home? Me? Yes, me.
Thanks to Toastmasters, I was able to express my love and gratitude for my child, and her new husband. This is the example that I use when explaining just one of the perks of being a member of Toastmasters.
Maureen Murray is a club officer of BAC Talkers Club at Bank of America in East Hartford, CT.