By Andrew P. Bennett DTM, Youth Leadership Encourager
The first Youth Leadership session is an exciting moment for our Toastmaster Coordinators and Young People. It was with pleasure that I joined Toastmasters Joanne Roxburgh and Julie Parker on Zoom as coordinators of our newest program with King’s College Aspire. The young people in this group are 16-17 years old. The program is being sponsored by City Limits Toastmasters.
We broke the ice with a getting to know you exercise during which all the young people spoke. Joanne gave an engaging presentation on how to find a topic and create a speech for the next meeting. Julie shared her skydiving speech complete with a video clip. I explained the skill of evaluation and led our very first attempts at a round-robin evaluation of the speech with the young people contributing their commendations and recommendations. The session ended with Table Topics in which every young person took part.
We are delighted to be working alongside Olivia Hylton – Pennant, Widening Participation Officer at King’s College and look forward to watching our group exploring their speaking skills over the coming weeks.
As one program begins another reaches its conclusion. We were very pleased to renew our contact with George Green’s School, E14 where the students, led by Paul and Sarah Andreas (Beckenham Communicators) as Toastmasters coordinators, accompanied by their teacher Diamond, enjoyed their program. I visited twice the group on zoom to contribute to the sessions and was able to see first-hand the progress made by the young people both in confidence and skills.
Here is some feedback from Hilde Lewis, Year 12 and 13 Leader at the school which I share with you all.
Toastmasters Youth Leadership transformed our young people into effective speechwriters and impromptu speakers. It provided a safe space and support network to feel comfortable making mistakes. All in all, it is a fantastic program that helps generate the attributes to become a leader of tomorrow.
Learn more about The Youth Leadership Program here.