Opening Address, chapter meeting 5th Oct 2005

- Nathaniel Koh, ATM-S, CL, (then) Vice-President Education

"Toastmasters is a learning experience. Every person, from the new, nervous member to the World Champion of Public Speaking, from the Sergeant-at-arms of a club executive committee to the International President of Toastmasters International, every person is learning.

Toastmasters is not an exclusive organisation. It is an inclusive one. We did not join Toastmasters because we were already excellent and well-known for our public speaking skills. No. We joined because we were afraid of public speaking and we wanted to conquer that fear and improve ourselves.

We pay fees to join and maintain our membership. It is like school. We pay school fees, we study, we learn, we sit for exams, and in the end, we get a certificate, diploma, or degree out of it.

Yes, in Toastmasters, we have our various awards – Competent Toastmaster, Advanced Toastmaster Bronze, Silver, Gold, Distinguished Toastmaster. But these are not the “be all, end all” of our learning experience.

These awards are motivators. They are there for us to aspire towards, for us to have an aim. They are there to recognise our efforts in improving ourselves.

So while chasing for those awards, while wanting to get those certificates, let us strive to make our experience in Toastmasters more worthwhile.

Every chapter meeting is an enjoyable learning experience, whether or not we are holding an appointment.

While our project speeches and presentations are essential to building our public speaking skills, let us also keep in mind that appointments like Timer, Ah Counter, Sergeant-at-arms, Evaluator, Table Topics Master and Toastmaster-of-the-evening, they are all equally important in developing a more holistic and effective skill-set in public speaking.

Even if we are not an appointment holder in a chapter meeting, we are also able to improve ourselves when we listen to the speeches and evaluations. In doing so, we are consciously or subconsciously improving upon the mistakes of other speakers, and we may use some of skills we observe.

To conclude, any person can be called a Toastmaster by just paying the membership fees to any club. But we do not automatically become effective public speakers simply by paying membership fees. It is what we do with the title of a Toastmaster that makes us effective public speakers."