A New Toastmasters Club in the Southside of Brisbane by Anil Perera

Source:brisbane 4eb sri lankan newsletter – dæhæna – october 2021

Brisbane Leaders Toastmasters Club held a function recently to celebrate founding of the Club. Toastmasters International is a nonprofit educational organisation that teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network of clubs. The organisation’s membership exceeds 300,000 in more than 15,800 clubs in 149
countries. Since 1924, Toastmasters International has helped people from various backgrounds become more confident speakers, communicators, and leaders.

Out of the twenty charter (founder) members of the club, ten are of Sri Lankan origin. Its members come from diverse professional and cultural backgrounds. Members present their prepared speeches, typically of 5-7 minutes duration, and get opportunities to speak impromptu for 1-2 minutes each. All speeches are evaluated by other Toastmasters who provide constructive feedback on what the speaker did well and offer suggestions for improvement.

At the charter dinner, members were inducted by Robert Green; District 69 Director of Toastmasters International. The Club Officers were installed by Graham Cairns; Eastern Division Director. The club sponsors are Anil Perera and Katya Skorik. Club mentor is Zenda Foon. Jagath Wanigasekera was awarded the Toastmaster of
the Year award.

Brisbane Leaders Toastmasters Club meets on 1st and 3rd Friday of each month from 6.45pm to 8.45pm at the Garden City Library, Upper Mt Gravatt. If you’d like to attend a club meeting as a guest,
please contact the club by email: brisbaneleaders.tm@gmail.com or call 0416 012 099.

Anil Perera