Welcome from our president, Nina Prager
I first visited a Toastmaster meeting in 2011 when I still lived in Germany. Although I enjoyed the meeting as guest, at the time I couldn't face the prospect of choosing something as a pastime that required me to speak in front of others on a regular basis.
The second time I joined a Toastmasters meeting was in 2019 - East Herts Speakers -and I signed up as member right at the end of the meeting. The atmosphere at East Herts Speakers was so friendly and supportive, I wanted to come back and finally learn to be more at ease with public speaking. I liked that by being a member of a the club you have the opportunity to continually practise and improve your skills as opposed to a one-off course.
I joined the committee in 2020 as Vice President Public Relations, and since then served in this role twice, and was also Vice President Membership in the meanwhile, looking after members.
My work requires infrequent speaking in front of others, and giving regular feedback and although I still have some nerves after 4 years of being a member, the fear has subsided and made space for a feeling of excitement instead.
I not only learned how to deal with nerves and speak with more ease in front of others, I learned how to write compelling speeches, give useful feedback, organise events, communicate and realise my ideas in a committee. And made some new friends along the way.
This year I am honoured to serve our learning community as president, and continue to make the club the great space it is to help more people to become confident public speakers.
East Herts Speakers is an established speakers club, part of the Toastmasters International Organisation, a non profit organisation run by its members for its members with the goal to empower individuals to become more effective communicators and leaders.
We meet every 2nd & 4th Tuesday of every month at 7.30pm for 7.45pm start. We have around 25 members and we are a diverse club, with members of all ages (currently we have members between 21- 84 years of age) and a variety of backgrounds.
Some of our members joined to overcome their fear of public speaking and to help them improve their presentation skills, some to improve their communication skills in both personal and professional life. Others joined because they were new to the area and wanted to be part of a community in which they can grow.
Our meetings are run by our members. Meetings are fun, friendly and supportive – the key ingredients which makes learning rewarding, exciting and enjoyable. We encourage and support each other to achieve our personal goals. At every meeting there we have prepared speeches, constructive evaluations, impromptu speaking opportunities and leadership roles. The meetings allow our members to build their competence in communication, grow in confidence and gain the experience to lead others.
We always end the meetings with a chat and we always have a lot of fun!
If you want to see for yourself how East Herts Speakers can help you achieve your goals we invite you to attend one of our meetings as a guest. Meetings are free of charge to guests, there is no obligation to join or to speak at the meeting if you don’t want to. It’s your opportunity to experience how the club is run and meet some of our members. We guarantee that you will have a warm and friendly welcome.
- Nina Prager
