Youth Toastmaster Public Speaking Workshops

This workshop focuses on four main components of public speaking, with the concentration determined by class members: 1) The Point Story that develops personal storytelling and organization; 2) humorous speaking that aims to connect tastefully; 3) impromptu speaking that is "courage (and confidence) under fire"; 4) oral interpretation that expresses with vocal and visual emphasis. An "unspoken" component is listening as an audience member and taking on individual roles to provide feedback, from noting language and grammar use to counting "ah's" to giving encouraging evaluations that emphasize personal comments on "grows and glows."

The Four Seasons Toastmaster Club in Hendersonville has focused on speaking, listening, and leadership skills for nearly 20 years, and now it has an in-person and online (Zoom) presence. Before the pandemic, it sponsored three similar workshops of 10-16 youth aged 10-17 years old meeting weekly for about an hour for a run of 8-10 weeks. The instructor then and now is Stan Coss, who is the incoming club president and wants to facilitate new workshops that have even more flexibility and impact. This is based on his increased Toastmaster experience and his four years of instruction of public speaking at BRCC.