Most successes are often – or largely – dependent upon how one has the ability to master communication.
The ability to communicate well is a skill that is not just required for major presentations or pitching ideas, but is also essential for even the simplest form of communication, such as having a cordial conversation.
Regardless of whether they are in the private sector or the public sector, employees face an endless exchange of ideas, messages, and information as they deal with one another or with customers on a day-to-day basis.
For those who strive to improve their communication skills, Toastmasters is one such club that exists solely to train and produce members, who are able to hone these skills, especially in making speeches and presentations. Each of its members also benefit by becoming a more confident listener, critical thinker and effective leader.
Founded by Dr Ralph C. Smedley, the Toastmasters was initially set up for young men to practice their after-dinner speeches in a social environment. To date, nearly 300,000 men and women are improving their communication and leadership skills using the values and model that Dr Smedley developed.
Toastmasters International first came to Malaysia in 1993, and since its inception, Toastmasters Malaysia has dedicated itself to help Malaysians enhance their communication and leadership skills.
In Malaysia alone, there are about 253 clubs and meetings; held in English, Mandarin, Tamil and Bahasa Malaysia.
Today, the State Government is gradually embracing Toastmasters as one of the key training components to improve standards of communication skills and also serve as a platform to groom future leaders.
Toastmasters Joint Installation Dinner 2012
The Toastmasters International District 87, Area D2 held a joint installation dinner in December that brought together five government and government-related clubs namely, Chief Minister’s Department; Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC); Harwood Timber Sdn Bhd; Sarawak Women’s Bureau; and Angkatan Zaman Mansang (AZAM) Sarawak.
“We started off with our very own Toastmasters Club (for the) Chief Minister’s Department in 2007, which was the first Toastmasters club ever to be set up in the Civil Service of Malaysia and that led to other new clubs like STIDC, Harwood Timber and even the Sarawak Women’s Bureau,” said the State Secretary, YB Tan Sri Datuk Amar Haji Mohamad Morshidi Bin Abdul Ghani.
The State Secretary’s text of speech was read by YBhg Datu Haji Misnu Haji Taha, Deputy State Secretary (Human Resource).
Apart from that, the State Secretary noted the Sarawak Government would continue to support the Toastmasters programme, especially towards activities to help civil servants to improve their communication skills.
The State Secretary also thanked Toastmasters International for acknowledging the efforts and contributions in the development of communication and leadership programmes under Toastmasters education in the State.
Toastmasters focuses hugely on educating its members about the fundamentals of communication and that has helped ‘unlock human potential to strive for greatness’ – as mentioned by the State Secretary:
“Transformation is really about people being encouraged to change. Not change for change’s sake, but recognising the potential to be better.”
The State Secretary, in his speech, commended DTM Dr. John Lau for becoming the first Malaysian to serve as President of Toastmasters International.
“His appointment tells us that Malaysians are capable of being world class players.”
He went on to encourage the civil servants to aim for world-class standards and not to be sub-par in anything that they do. In many ways, the Sarawak Civil Service (SCS) and Toastmasters share similar values: Integrity; Dedication to Excellence; Service to the people; and Respect for the individual. All of which can be applied across the board in terms of the Government’s journey in transforming the people and nation for a better future.
“It’s my sincere wish that more Toastmasters clubs will be set up in more government or governmentrelated agencies and department,” the State Secretary added.
Journey of Toastmasters within the Sarawak Civil Service
The Chief Minister’s Department (CMD) Toastmasters Club started in 2007 and is championed by the current Charter President, Encik Mohamad Abdul Rahman, who is a Special Administrative Officer for the Service Modernisation & Quality Unit (UPPQ) of CMD.
From the outset, AZAM Toastmasters Club helped charter the CMD club in 2007 (the start of a new club is usually charted by an existing club) and took the club under its wings for a year; supplementing leadership trainings, workshops and other training exercises.
As mentioned by the State Secretary, CMD Toastmasters Club made history when it became the first Toastmasters club ever to be chartered from the Civil Service of Malaysia. Spurred on by the achievement of the Sarawak CMD, last year the Sabah CMD set up their Toastmasters Club, as well. To add to that, CMD Toastmasters Club paved the way for other government-related Toastmasters clubs to start up in Kuching, namely Sarawak Women’s Bureau in 2008; STIDC (2010); and Harwood Timber (2011). Each club is home to 15 to 25 members with regular meetings averaging 10 to 15 people.
Leadership is a key thrust emphasised by Toastmasters as a measure of success in the organisation.
There’s a saying: “Everyone communicates, but few connect.” Leadership that realizes the importance of communication skills in an organisation – influence, negotiation, presentation, and speech delivery – can help greatly in fostering the growth and success of Toastmasters educational program in their organisation. Toastmasters’ program is more than just public speaking. It encourages confidence building, leadership building, creative thinking and a great place to meet new friends.
Mr Adrian Chung, an Assistant Director in the Human Resource Management (HRM) Unit, CMD is the President of the CMD Toastmasters Club for 2011-2012.
According to him, in the seven years that the CMD Toastmasters Club has been in existence, they were proud to see how CMD Toastmasters education programmes benefited Government officers along the way.
“We have seen a steady rise of membership with support coming from all levels of the civil service with groups from N17 to N32 joining on a weekly basis.
“This goes to show that civil servants too, are willing to take up the challenge to improve their public speaking and communication skills,” said Chung.
The Toastmasters programme in any organisation is a great tool in fostering culture change. Toastmasters prides itself in the ‘fun in learning’ culture. In the clubs, it is important to keep the fun alive through creative topics, speeches and weekly meeting themes that add humour in the learning process.
At the event that night, the President of Toastmasters International Dr Lau presented the ‘Presidential Recognition Award’ to the State Secretary, in recognition of the State Secretary’s invaluable contribution towards the development of communication and leadership programmes in Sarawak. The award is also the first international recognition to be presented by Toastmasters International to a high-ranking government official.
Other notable achievements include:
Achieved President Distinguished Club Award in 2011-2012 Term. (President ACB Adrian Chung) Miss Loh Tii Ming, N17 (Registry Clerk at HRM Unit) became the 1st Runner up in Div D, Area D2 and in Div D (Kuching) level Speech Evaluation Contest. CMD Toastmasters Club received the ‘High Achievement Award’ from Div D Toastmasters.
History of Toastmasters
Toastmasters International is a non-profit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network of clubs.
Founded in October 1924, the organisation currently has more than 280,000 members in over 13,500 clubs across 116 countries.
Each week, Toastmasters helps more than a quarter million people of every ethnicity, education level and profession build their competence in communication so they can gain the confidence to lead others. Since the organization’s inception, more than four million people worldwide have found their voice and gained confidence through the proven Toastmasters programme.
This year, Toastmasters International will be celebrating its 89th anniversary. Each new member is assigned to a mentor who will take the new member through a programme called the ‘CC’ (Competent Communicator) followed by ‘CL’ (Competent Leadership) – a series of speeches that one has to take on.
The topics covered are designed in a way that it helps one to gain confidence and eloquence through introducing of oneself, talk on a certain topic, all in the name of bolstering confidence through oral communication. All this is accomplished within a time frame of five to seven minutes, where the speaker has to be monitored and evaluated by a Time Keeper, ‘Ah Counter’, Grammarian, Speech Evaluator, and General Evaluator.
A Semi Annual Speech Contest is held to bring together local clubs to cultivate better public-speaking skills between clubs, presenting an opportunity for clubs to present their best or upcoming speakers.
An annual international convention is also held to bring together more seasoned Toastmasters to compete amongst themselves.
Over the years, conventions have been held over at Bali, Jakarta, Brunei, Sabah and even involving some western countries.
Be it in communication, managing meetings, giving presentations, delegating, building and to even leading a team, all encompass the type of activities carried out by a typical Toastmasters weekly meeting.
At Toastmasters, members are able to learn all these skills, at a very low cost. Moreover, they don’t just learn but they also get a chance to practice. Even though some people would argue that they are naturally born to be good communicators; the majority can also be groomed.
Like leadership, communication can be learnt and people can learn to be charismatic if they have the eagerness to learn.
