Allen Paul

Is this Where Leaders are Made?

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Toastmasters International: Where Leaders are Made 

When I tell people that I am a member of Toastmasters the first thought they have is ‘oh, are you one of the red-coated masters of ceremonies who proposes toasts and introduces speakers at formal events?’.  Sometimes I explain that I’m not that Toastmaster even before they’ve asked.  I then elaborate and say that it is an organisation that helps people develop their public speaking skills – and the tagline is ‘Where Leaders are Made.’  This usually gets their attention.  The next question is ‘oh, and how do you do that?’ which is a great opportunity for me to explain what we do at Toastmasters – and that it’s not just building our speaking and communication skills. It’s having the opportunity to develop skills in leadership through taking on club officer roles to start with and then taking on district leadership roles, such as Area and Division Directors.  When I pitch the Toastmasters Youth Leadership Programme to head teachers I emphasise the fact that the students will be organising and running the meetings themselves which helps them develop vital leadership skills, in addition to speaking skills and confidence. Just this term I received a lovely email from a Head of Year teacher at the school where I have delivered the Youth Leadership Programme several times: 

We are currently going through our ‘Senior 6’ process at school, which is an application and interview process for our Year 10 prefects. The process will decide our 6 student leaders and head boy/head girl, and is pretty gruelling! It includes a ‘fish-bowl’ activity, speeches, tasks and an interview with the Principal.  

So far we have cut applicants from 31 to 14 following the fish-bowl exercise. One thing almost all of the successful students so far have in common is that they participated in the 10-week [YLP] course you ran for us last year! This is amazing and really shows the impact this has had on our young people.  

Needless to say, they have booked us to run a YLP with the new Year 9 group in the Autumn term.  I’m really looking forward to that – it is so rewarding to watch a group of 20 15 year-olds grow in confidence and communication skills over that time.  And we have a lot of fun – after all, Ralph Smedley said “we learn best in moments of enjoyment”.   I never have a problem getting one of them to chair the meeting – as soon as I say they will have the gavel to call the meeting to order, they all want to volunteer – and enjoy the power it gives them!  As for managing the timing – what fun to take charge of the timing lights to warn their friends that they are running out of time.  As for the Topics Master – yes, sometimes the questions they ask can be a bit vindictive on their friends – but they know it will be played back to them when the roles are reversed.  All the while they are learning valuable leadership and speaking skills. Oh, and what do we do about the awkward gait and shuffle when approaching the front of the room – we practise good posture by pretending we are models on the catwalk – one of them plays some lively catwalk music on their phone and we all take it in turns to stand tall, sashay up to the front of the classroom – and turn gracefully to face the audience – just as if we were at Paris fashion week.  It works – as has been evidenced by the success of some of the students getting those leadership roles for the coming year.   

The Youth Leadership Programme is an excellent project to run in any school or youth community group to teach valuable public speaking, leadership and communication skills. Running such a programme can also count towards the requirements for gaining your DTM award.   

If you would like to know more, please don’t hesitate to contact me. alkema@janetalkema.com

Spotlight on Growth: My Journey from Tech Partnerships to Toastmasters Leadership

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I’m a proud member of City of London Toastmasters, a club that has become a cornerstone of my personal and professional growth. Toastmasters, with its warm and supportive environment, has given me the platform to build confidence, refine my communication skills, and grow as a leader. While I work in the tech industry forging global partnerships, Toastmasters has helped me to communicate ideas, influence others, and speak with conviction. It’s the training ground where I’ve learned to turn thoughts into impactful words. 

My Toastmasters journey began after a humbling moment. A few years ago, I was invited back to my engineering college as the Chief Guest for an annual event. Standing on stage in front of 200 students, I wanted to inspire—but instead, I overwhelmed them with technology jargon that flew over their heads. That experience stayed with me. It sparked a desire to improve how I connect with an audience, to speak from the heart, and to share ideas in a way that truly resonates. 

Since joining Toastmasters, I’ve embraced every opportunity to grow. I remember the first role that I took up –  timekeeper, nervously clicking on the timer buttons. From there, I gradually stepped into other meeting roles and began giving speeches. As my confidence grew, I organised contests and eventually hosted meetings as the Toastmaster of the Day. One of my proudest moments was serving as the Master of Ceremonies at an event —a role that tested my presence, preparation, and ability to keep an audience engaged from start to finish. These experiences helped me shed my stage fear and equipped me with the tools to speak more fluently. 

Toastmasters has given me much more than just public speaking. It’s helped me develop as a leader. I currently serve as the Vice President Public Relations for City of London Toastmasters, where I’m responsible for communicating the club’s activities, celebrating member milestones, and maintaining a vibrant presence through newsletters, social media, and promotional content.  

At the district level, I also serve as the Incentive Lead. In this role, I work closely with the Club Growth and Marketing teams, analysing data, announcing award/incentive winners, and ensuring clubs know how to cash in their achievements. It’s a role that demands both attention to detail and strategic thinking, analytical skills that I now apply even in my professional life. These leadership roles have given me not only valuable experience but also the confidence to lead, support, and influence others, even beyond Toastmasters. 

A Memorable Year of Milestones at City of London Toastmasters

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Celebrating 29 years of community, growth, and connection 

This year, City of London Toastmasters marked a special chapter in its journey—our 29th anniversary! Held on 19th November, the evening was filled with reflection, laughter, and heartfelt stories as we celebrated nearly three decades of empowering speakers and nurturing leaders.

The celebration brought together members past and present. A highlight of the evening was a panel discussion with our past presidents, thoughtfully moderated by our club president, Apoorva Agarwal. Their stories reminded us of the deep roots and strong values that have shaped our club’s journey. We were honoured by the presence of some distinguished guests: Regional Advisor Lilian, District Leaders Seema Menon and Debbie Williams.  

Learning and Growing Together 

This year wasn’t just about celebration—it was also about growth. We hosted three impactful workshops: 

  • A fantastic Humorous Speech Workshop with Ola Aralepo, a two-time District Humorous Speech Champion, where members explored the art of adding laughter and levity to their speeches. 
  • A high-energy Table Topics Workshop with Luca Graziani, where members learned how to respond quickly and confidently in impromptu settings.  
  • An Evaluation Masterclass by Lynne Cantor Gayer, DTM, that helped members sharpen their listening and feedback skills. 

Encouraging Excellence 

Our club also held two speech contests 

  1. Humorous Speech & Table Topics Contest 
  1. International Speech & Evaluation Contest  

allowing members to challenge themselves, gain confidence, and step into the spotlight. 

Speakathons That Sparked Growth 

This year, our club hosted two Speakathons — special evenings designed to provide members an opportunity to accelerate in their pathways. These high-energy sessions were filled with back-to-back prepared speeches, offering both budding and experienced speakers a platform to take big steps in their Toastmasters journey. 

The room buzzed with enthusiasm as members delivered speeches ranging from ice breakers to Level 5 presentations, each one met with encouragement, constructive feedback, and warm applause. It was a celebration of courage, commitment, and continuous learning. 

Speakathon 1 Photo 

Speakathon 2 photo 

Ending the Year on a High 

We’re closing the year with pride, as many members began their public speaking journey with their Icebreaker speeches, while others completed levels and even entire Pathways, marking personal milestones in their communication and leadership journey 

At City of London Toastmasters, we’re more than just a club. We’re a community built on encouragement, shared goals, and a love for learning. Here’s to a fantastic year gone by—and many more years of growth, laughter, and inspiration to come! 

 

Spotlight on Division Director – Sushil Shah

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We asked Division Director Sushil Shah the following questions:

1. Can you share a bit about your background and what led you to join Toastmasters?
2. Can you share a surprising or funny moment from your Toastmasters journey?
3. If you could describe your leadership style as a movie genre, what would it be and why?
4. What’s the most unusual or creative idea a team member has brought to the table under your leadership?
5. What’s one thing you always do before a Toastmasters meeting that might surprise us?
6. If you weren’t spending time leading the Division, what hobby or activity would we find you absorbed in?
7. If you were stranded on a desert island and could listen to only three speeches from your Toastmasters experience, which would they be and why?
8. If you could have any superpower to help you in your role as Division Director, what would it be?
9. What are some exciting plans or events on the horizon for the Division?
10. and finally if anyone was considering being a future division director, what would you say to them

 

Watch the interview below:

Edited transcript

1. Can you share a bit about you’re your background and what led you to join toastmasters.
Hi I’m Sushil I am currently the Division 8 Director, I’ve been Toastmaster for about 8 years and my background comes from being an IT professional. In 2016, I was at the point that I was looking to change direction and progress my career. What it led to was somebody asking me “do you know how to do an interview?”, so I said “I know how to do an interview but when I’ve done them they give me a lot of feedback”. The enquirer asked me if I had heard of something called a Toastmasters. So I did some research, and I happened to stumble upon a club that was on my commute to work, but it was neither near my home not near work but I fell so much in love with that club. From the first day, I was absorbed and observed to see what it was that I was looking for, the next year I took committee role VP education, then president, then area director and the story continues till today. I am still enjoying toastmasters and being division director, it has been life changing for me, literally. I got a new job in a new company, I worked for a couple of big named technological companies and I’m currently working as a senior leadership in one of the largest companies in the world. That’s the journey for me in Toastmaster.

2. If you were stranded on a desert island and could listen to only three of your speeches, which would they be and why?
I don’t like listening to my voice, therefore the three speeches I would listen to again are:

  • One from past president and our current global director, she came to Toastmasters meeting wearing a white sari on the occasion of Orna South Indian festival and she talked so passionately about her mother and she showed a photo frame. That visual that really stuck in my mind.
  • The second one was delivered by another Toastmaster, and she talked about how she was able to being a Samarian and a person who was suffering from suicidal thoughts as she booked back into her life that was so inspiring and that she took out the inside outside on the substance element of the story.
  • And, the most memorable speech in my life, was a speech about Bob Marley’s speech and her dad giving her advice to don’t worry be happy. I could listen to that speech endlessly on a loop. There was so much drama in her speech, so much visual speech, and the way she brought across the speech to the audience that was amazing.

These 3 speeches on a desert island inspire me to do another speech in the next meeting of Toastmasters.

3. If you weren’t spending time leading this division, what’s hobbies and activity will we find you absorbed in?
Two hobbies that comes to mind is cricket and travelling. Cricket got me into Toastmasters, I still play cricket on weekends even during winter and summer. One of the ambitions that I have is to travel from London to India in a car someday before I complete my toastmaster journey. I will want to do a speech on that journey.

4. What’s one thing that you always do before toastmasters meeting that might surprise us?
I always try to go on easy speak, look at the agenda, and see who’s coming. If I see the agenda is not complete, I can enquire to the Toastmaster of the evening. Why it’s surprising? Because a couple of times when I’ve turned up at the meeting I didn’t know that the meeting was only table topics or didn’t know who the guest were, therefore by looking at the agenda I can find out and I can push to the Toastmaster to complete the agenda. I would recommend others to do that, and maybe volunteer yourself for roles to finalise the agenda, or encourage the Toastmaster to finalise the agenda as that is their role as Toastmaster.

5. If you could describe your leadership style what would it be and why?
My leadership style is unsurprisingly: Wolf of Wall Street. If you look behind the scenes, he is actually supported by trusted friends, his work is taken forward by his friends, and he relies on them to take it forward and to give him the feedback to drive it forward. My leadership style is always to rely on people I can trust and they can rely on me back and so trust and collaboration is important to my leadership style.

6. If anyone was thinking about being a future division director what would you say?
Just do it. What I did to understand when I took this position, is identify my learning path that I wanted to do, which was leadership journey. One advice, as I work in a full time job and I wanted to do justice to this role, was to rely on the team members like the area directors and club presidents that you work with. The biggest skill that you gain is time management and understanding the importance of collaboration and working with the people that you trust and they trust and depend on you, that’s the biggest leadership growth. So if you are thinking to be division director, go for it,  you won’t regret it.

Confessions of a PRM: A Conversation with Allen

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What inspired you to take on the role of District Public Relations Manager?
Back in the day, I was Public Relations Manager in District 20. So, when I moved to the UK and joined Cardiff Toastmasters, my mentor Jean knew my love for creativity and communication. She encouraged me to step into this role. Honestly, it felt like the perfect blend: using my creativity, working with a fantastic team, and having a bit of fun along the way. What more could I ask for?

What are some common mistakes clubs make in PR, and how can they fix them?
The classic one? Thinking PR is just the VP PR’s job. Nope! PR is everyone’s responsibility – yes, even you reading this. Every time you talk about Toastmasters to your friends, share a photo, or post something on social media, you’re doing PR. So next time you finish a meeting buzzing with inspiration, don’t just keep it to yourself – tell someone!

How can clubs improve their public image and attract more guests?
Word of mouth still reigns supreme. You don’t need a viral TikTok dance to get guests through the door (although… never say never). Just share how Toastmasters helped you – at work, in interviews, or even at weddings when you had to give that speech. Combine that with a strong presence on social media, and boom – your club starts to shine.

What role does social media play in your PR efforts, and which platforms have been most effective?
Instagram is my personal favourite – it’s where my creative side thrives. But for District 91, Facebook is still king. It’s where most of our members hang out. That said, I’m keeping my eye on Instagram – it’s definitely where the future’s heading. So don’t be surprised if you see more reels, stories, and Canva magic popping up soon!

If you could launch any PR campaign for Toastmasters, what would it be?
Funny you should ask – I’m working with our Club Growth Director Seema on something exciting! I previously ran a campaign called “Advance Your Career,” and we’re looking to bring it back. It aligns perfectly with our current “Ditch the Nerves” campaign, especially for those job-hunting or preparing for interviews. It’s PR with purpose – helping people grow professionally while discovering the benefits of Toastmasters.

What’s the most unexpected thing you’ve learned in this role?
You’d think it’s design or social media algorithms… but no, it’s people management. You get questions, feedback, complaints, sometimes all in the same email! – and it teaches you patience, empathy, and how to keep calm. It’s been incredibly rewarding.

If you could have dinner with any famous PR figure, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
Honestly? I don’t know any famous PR figures! I work in tech – I’m all about software and solutions. But I’ve learned PR through doing: from being a club President to handling marketing for events. I’ve taken inspiration from fellow Toastmasters, creatives, and anyone who’s made an impact. So dinner? I’d love to sit down with someone who’s making waves – not necessarily famous, but definitely inspiring. Plus, I promise to bring dessert.