A Toast to Self-Improvement

A Toast to Self-Improvement

By Theresa Frasch

Looking to enhance your resume, improve your interviewing skills, become a leader, enrich your business presentations, polish your sales skills, upgrade your team-leading abilities, or strengthen your listening skills? You can accomplish all this and more at the Burien Breakfast Toastmasters Club.

About Toastmasters

Toastmasters is a worldwide non-profit organization that has a presence in more than 70 countries. It is dedicated to helping members develop and enhance communication and leadership skills. The organization achieves this goal through regularly scheduled meetings that allow participants to gain practical experience in:

• Holding meetings -- each meeting members play various leadership roles and become accustomed to the process of meetings.
• Extemporaneous speaking -- a session called "table topics" provides opportunities for members to speak for a few minutes on topics assigned on the spot. This helps participants to become more comfortable with thinking and speaking on their feet.
• Planned speaking -- two or three members present short, planned speeches on various topics. Speakers have predetermined goals regarding skills to practice, such as persuasion, voice, language, use of gestures.
• Evaluation -- individual members evaluate each meeting and speaker, enabling speakers to receive constructive feedback and members to learn to listen and evaluate speeches effectively.

Getting Started

Burien Breakfast Toastmasters is open to everyone. New members are accepted on an ongoing basis, and visitors are always welcome. We meet at 7:00AM on the second and fourth Thursday of every month at the ERAC 15675 Ambaum Blvd. S.W. Burien, WA 98166. Contact Theresa for more information: burienbreakfast@gmail.com or 206-588-5088.