Kate Fraser Smith

Kate, what drew you to stepping into your first Toastmasters meeting?
I’ve always been aware of Toastmasters, my mum was a member whilst we were living in Cyprus in 1994, and I remember listening to her practice her speeches. Incredibly, that time still inspires her, as over Christmas she presented me with one of the props she painted 30 years ago! I loved the fact that she played with words to share her ideas and passions, and I wanted to experience that.

One of the key tips, when moving abroad (or anywhere) is to attend clubs to meet likeminded people so that it’s easier to make friends. And, so, when I moved to Southampton, Toastmasters was my first point of call.

You’re journey in Toastmasters has been a bit stop and start, can you share what brought you back this time?
Yes, in total I’ve been a member of Toastmasters for about 2.5 years. I started in 2011 and came for one year. In that job, I was on-call and therefore couldn’t put in the time into Toastmasters that I wanted to, and I only managed to do my icebreaker. The passion, joy and community that I felt from Hamwic Speakers carried with me, so I was delighted to have been invited to their 10 year anniversary. A small time to rekindle some friendships and meet new people, this time I attended for about a month or so… work was still a barrier for me. I did manage to attend a meeting in Montreal. Finally, having changed jobs, and was no longer on-call, I realised that I hadn’t progressed in my career as quickly as I wanted to and was healing from stress. With some reflection, and now available time, Toastmasters was a real possibility for me to practice skills, and increase my confidence in speaking and confidence in who I am (that had been stripped away). I am very chuffed to say that I’ve now been a member for almost a year’n’half, and looking forward to many more years.

How did you come to raising your hand to be president of Hamwic Speakers, what have been some of your most rewarding experiences? What initiatives or projects are you particularly proud of?
I took a leap. During the autumn contests, a district leader highlighted the district conference and mentioned the opportunity to support the conference organising team. I snapped the QR code. A few months later, I emailed Amy and that was that. Amy put me to work. Being a part of the conference team, was an incredible experience, I met so many people, it opened my eyes to all the opportunities that there are in Toastmasters and the vast experience that others have developed over their own journey. Because of this experience, and of the community at Hamwic Speakers, I felt that if I put my hand up to be president, I would be supported in the role and be pulled up if needed, and directed towards best course of actions.

There are so many rewarding experiences to name, I think the ones that stand up are those that I’m working with the committee and members on different activities. As president, I’m looking at the club members differently, I seeing how each one supports each other in their journeys and pathways, how each members have that passion for Toastmasters and want to share the tips they’ve come across. We celebrated Hamwic Speakers 15^th Anniversary and we had all past presidents and old members come and be with us, such a joyous occasion.

You mentioned that you feel like you’re a lifelong advocate for Toastmasters. How do you incorporate this advocacy into your daily life or professional role?
I seem to always be on the look out to support people I meet, whether walking through my place of work, or with conversations within my job roles, I want to share with them the confidence that learning the skills of public speaking brings to their life. And, also a location to hear speeches that covers all sorts of topics that you wouldn’t even think about that helps in seeing the world through a different perspective.

Imagine a newbie walks into your club looking wide-eyed and hopeful. What’s the first piece of wisdom you’d offer them?
I typically bring the new member to the front, before the meeting starts, so that they can ‘feel the stage’, and feel what it’s like standing there. They get to have that initial shock of exposing themselves, but in a safe manner before all the eyes are on them and the silence is there. So, that if they get asked to a question, or be called up to do a table-topics they are already prepared (a tiny bit) for that initial shock and can breathe through it.

What strategies have you found effective in keeping club members engaged and motivated?
As a committee, our VP Education has been trying a new way of engaging with members. She is organising with members to take on the role of Toastmaster a few weeks before, and provide them with supporting material as they then encourage members to deliver speeches and take on the different roles. As we know the Toastmaster Wears Many Hats.  We also, encourage and celebrate the diversity of doing warm up, table topics in a different way. So, every meeting seems to be different each time and still structured! As a club, our yearly calendar includes doing a walk around our city centre, handover committee meeting at the park, a festive meeting, workshops etc.

What’s one Toastmasters milestone you’re itching to hit in the next year?
I’d love to finish my pathway! That early memory of only doing one speech that first year, continues to be my push to work through my pathway. I’ve enjoyed playing with the theme of each speech as I learn on basecamp. And, my second milestone, is being more confident at doing evaluations and humorous speeches.

What is one message you would like to share with the district that keeps you inspired and driven in Toastmasters?
Recently our Mentoring Officer gave an insightful speech with a graph that showed the level of energy needed to see progress in your personal public speaking goals, between someone who is inconsistent vs someone who is consistently delivering a speech or taking on a role. My message therefore, would be to put your name down each meeting to do something, or take on a committee role, because you only need a small amount of energy each time as you take those small increments.