Thailand Live Tuesday 15 October 2024

[Hal65]

Hi all, I'm considering starting a Toastmasters club here if there's enough interest.

Toastmasters is an international nonprofit that helps people build confidence and communication/leadership skills. It does this through weekly group meetups where members take turns speaking, evaluating, and performing other club rules.

I think it's a lot of fun! When I started three years ago, I had real butterflies and was shy. Now I run a small marketing/consulting business. Needless to say, the skills you develop are quite valuable. I also like the social aspect. In Bangkok, some of the members go out for drinks afterwards. The meetings themselves are generally fun and lighthearted, a great place to meet people and hang out.

Here are some examples speeches to give you a sense of what Toastmasters is like. Both of these speakers happen to be men but statistically, there are slightly more women Toastmasters:

Another one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho9KV5SnS9c

I've spoken to the district organizers in Bangkok, and if there is enough interest, I will begin the process of chartering a club in Pattaya. We need a minimum of 20 members to start.

We will also need to figure out a good meeting time. The most popular club in Bangkok meets on a Tuesday at 6:30 PM. Personally I recommend this same time as people are getting off work and it's a slow day for most.

If you have other suggestions for when or where, to meet up, please post your suggestion here. If we're going to launch a successful club, we're going to do it together. Personally, I'm thinking a location around Central Pattaya Road would be ideal. Hotel rooms work, as do private restaurant rooms where we could have dinner meetups (a lot of people especially enjoy these).

If you're interested in joining the club when it starts, you can send me a private message. The cost is about $10 per month to be a member, most of that money going towards organization of the weekly meetings.

I look forward to making this happen and meeting some of you like-minded foreigners (Thais are also welcome) :-)

Edited June 6, 2015 by Hal65