The Cayman Islands’ newest Toastmasters Club is officially active.
During a meeting in Cayman Academy’s canteen hall on 27 June, officers and members were officially inducted and installed. Each was presented with a badge and a certificate to mark the occasion.
The club was chartered on 5 May with 21 members who had registered. Area Governor Gregg Anderson, the first from the Cayman Islands to perform in that role, said public speaking was “the No. 1 fear in the world” but advised members not to be deterred. The tagline of the new Eminent Orators Toastmasters Club is “Remarkable Speakers, Inspired Leaders” and its motto is “Speaking Confidently, Leading By Example”.
Learn by doing
Toastmasters International was set up in 1924 as a nonprofit organisation to develop public speaking and leadership skills through practice and feedback in local clubs. There are 13,000 clubs across the world with some 270,000 members. It is described as a “learn-by-doing workshop in which participants hone their speaking and leadership skills in a no-pressure atmosphere”.
Members gain feedback from their peers after impromptu talks on assigned topics as well as conducting meetings and developing timekeeping, grammar and procedural skills.
After the certificate presentation and the installation of officers, Caymanian saxophonist Junior Hynes performed a soaring saxophone solo and then Carla McGarvey read out an entertaining poem about her own journey to attaining her Toastmaster status. Finally, president Carla McLaughlin thanked sponsors, mentors and attendees and Pastor Shian O’Connor of the Cayman Islands Conference of Seventh Day Adventists closed the meeting with a prayer.
The club meets on the second and fourth Mondays of the month from 6 to 7.30pm at Cayman Academy on Walkers Road. For more information contact carlamcl@candw.ky