Discover the Speakers Bureau
Toastmasters is a safe and supportive environment where we can practice our communication and leadership skills. The friendly and familiar faces in our home club can be a welcome sight when we are first starting out, trying new techniques, or simply are feeling nervous. But over time, we may find that we want to challenge ourselves by speaking to a less recognizable group. The District 6 speakers bureau can help identify opportunities to find new audiences.
Benefits to you
Joining the speakers bureau has several potential benefits, including:
- Stretching your skills by speaking before unfamiliar groups where you will practice crafting your speech for people who do not know you.
- Potentially getting opportunities to give longer speeches than you can give as part of a typical Toastmasters project.
- Getting exposure to new people and organizations who may have future speaking opportunities.
You are also an ambassador for Toastmasters when you visit an outside organization through the speakers bureau, demonstrating its value through your example.
If you hope to someday pursue opportunities for professional speaking, joining the speakers bureau may be a step along that path. Although you cannot accept compensation for speeches arranged through the speakers bureau, you will still learn the skills needed to arrange and deliver a successful professional presentation. Also, your speech may generate interest in engaging your services again – and if that happens, then you are allowed to receive compensation for subsequent speeches.
The first step to joining the speakers bureau is to visit the speakers bureau page on the District 6 website and fill out an application form. Tell us about yourself and about your speech topics. If you appear to be a good fit for an organization looking for a speaker, we will connect you together and let you make arrangements.
Benefits for Other Clubs
During the pandemic, there have been far fewer in-person speaking opportunities than in the past. At the same time, many clubs have seen their membership decline while meeting online. To respond to both of these trends, the speakers bureau is taking a somewhat new direction. In addition to matching speakers with opportunities outside of the district, we are now also matching speakers with other Toastmasters clubs. If your club would like to expose your members to new speakers while filling gaps in your schedule, then you can request a speaker through the speakers bureau. We hope that this change will both provide more opportunities to our speakers and help clubs in the district to continue to provide vibrant, high-quality meetings. So, whether you are speaker looking for a place to speak or a club looking to bring engaging content to your members, check out the District 6 speakers bureau.
About the Author:
Edward Burke, DTM is the District 6 Logistics Manager as well as the Speakers Bureau Chair for Toastmasters Program year 2020 – 2021. He is also the President of HealthToasters Club.