Building upon our original foundation:

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During a recent meeting at Toastmasters, we received some very good counsel for one of the core members of the club. He reminded us to recollect what our original motivations for joining Toastmasters were. We may have wanted to improve our ability to communicate more effectively for a certain cause. Or we may be motivated to be more effective communicators to achieve a higher position in our employment.

He suggested that as we prepare our future speeches that we choose topics that will relate to the original purpose of why we joined the organization. If someone wanted to be a better storyteller, then he advised that we pursue the storytelling track in Toastmasters. If we wanted to communicate more effectively on certain topics, then we should practice those topics during Toastmasters. That way, we become experienced in communicating our specific interests while we gain communication skills through Toastmasters.

One way I can relate this advice for me, is perhaps to the use of object lessons. If I’m in general conversation with someone and I want to emphasize a point, I may compare it to physical object and how it is used, and then relate that comparison to some personal theme.

I wanted to use this same advice in regards to teaching at church, family or other opportunities. If our students have a passion for sports, we may want to touch upon the principles of successful sports, in conjunction with religious themes to better relate the principle to our listeners. Or if we want to touch upon a moral topic, we may want to include every day events of life, to help identify potential challenges.

The principal I want to emphasize here is that we don’t have to just corral our practice of better communication to only a once a-week meeting. We can continually work on our communication skills every day in various circumstances. We can use imagery, observe body language to determine the receptiveness of our audience or we can see how our word choice can either weaken or strengthen the theme we are promoting.

I invite each of us to review our personal goals and see how different parts of our lives can contribute to achieving that goal. I think this could make us more effective teachers.

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