The Larchmont Rotary Club welcomed Ameil A. Sloley as our guest speaker on March 1st. Using an informative slideshow, she gave our audience an introduction to Toastmasters International and how it improves its members' speaking skills.
Ameil is the president and sergeant-at-arms of the Monroe College Toastmasters Club. She is also an adjunct professor at Monroe College in New Rochelle, teaching in its business school. In 2012, the Monroe College Alumni Association saw the need for Toastmasters, not just for its students, but the New Rochelle community. Ameil joined the new club, primarily to affect change within Monroe’s student body as well as to connect with like-minded individuals. As a teacher, she had seen first-hand the fear public speaking had on her students.
Toastmasters currently has over 270,000 members in over 14,200 clubs in 148 countries. All clubs are not alike; each club has a different theme. Toastmasters’ goal is to develop communication and leadership skills resulting in greater confidence and personal growth.
Typically, each club will have seven officers, who play different roles during a club meeting. Afterwards, meetings are evaluated by several officers. Ameil described the six “pathways” and the five P’s of public speaking: Pitch, Pace, Power, Pause and Poise. She encouraged us to find a club in our area and investigate when they meet and what they do. One slide showed how a prospective member gets started.
