The Narrabri Toastmasters Club has endured a disruptive period during the past three years, as have many other non-profit organisations.
After a change of venue no less than three times during 2021, the group has appreciated the opportunity for meetings to be housed at Narrabri’s 2Max FM community radio station during the past 12 months.
Led by president Marilyn Collins during 2022, and supported by vice presidents Gunasekhar Nachimuthu (education), Glenn Lendon (membership) and Anne Rae (publicity), secretary Bob Kirchner, treasurer Andrew Kerr and sergeant-at-arms Jean-Claude Leculier, the group has unfortunately been forced to fold due to an International Toastmasters Club ruling passed earlier this year that a club must secure a minimum of eight financial members.
Meeting on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month for the past 33 years, the club has enjoyedmdeveloping public speaking skills and encouraging others to learn alongside them in a non-judgemental environment.
It is an indisputable fact that the ability to speak confidently and comfortably in any situation within a family, social, or business setting can be learnt.
Many locals in the Narrabri region have participated in various short-term workshops run by the group and have greatly benefited from the experience.
The youth leadership and speechcraft programs have enjoyed great success during the past three decades and have been particularly gratifying for club members.
The youth leadership program is a workshop enabling those under the age of 18 to develop their communication and leadership skills through practical experience.
Targeting primary and high schools, the program teaches children to evaluate their own speaking ability, give impromptu talks and to control their voice, vocabulary and gestures.
The speechcraft experience was created for members to help non-members become better communicators.
Held in four, six or eight week sessions, Toastmaster’s speechcraft courses were aimed to give a boost to participants’ communication and public speaking skills.
The desire to feel comfortable speaking in public in a variety of situations is a common one.
Many locals have joined Toastmasters over the years for very specific reasons.
They overcome shyness, learn to present, and enjoy a confidence-building process, as well as helping others to reach their speaking goals with constructive appraisals conducted after each presentation.
Toastmasters Narrabri has encouraged a multicultural following throughout its term, having enjoyed seeing members come and go from Japan, China, India, Sri Lanka, England, Ireland, France, Columbia and Mexico.
In 2019 Narrabri Toastmasters launched the use of an innovative learning tool, a training software platform called Pathways.
Whether to develop a career or just to be more comfortable socially, it is worthwhile looking into the program which has 10 different paths to choose from.
It is quickly realised that there is so much more to learn than just standing up to speak in front of a crowd.
Each individual pathway is designed to improve dynamic leadership skills, to hold a commanding presence, to learn the art of persuasion, to enhance self-motivation, build strategic relationships, collaborate as a team, and to grasp the impact on your audience of visionary communication.
Sadly, the demise of the group means the valuable service is no longer available in Narrabri, but with a strong focus on public speaking skills in primary and secondary schools continually growing during the 21st century, the younger generation is certainly showing great promise for the future of this valuable genre.
Affiliated with the National and the International Toastmasters organisations, the club has seen around 142 members joining throughout the past three decades.
The club was an asset to the community and will be greatly missed.
