History
Sutton Coldfield Speakers Club was originally founded in about 1968 as Sutton Coldfield Toastmasters Club for men only, affiliated to the American organisation Toastmasters International. The club left Toastmasters in about 1971 and joined the British-based Association of Speakers Clubs. It has since become open to both sexes. The original aim of The Association of Speakers Clubs was to improve the standard of after dinner speeches and it was generally laid down that speeches should be restricted in length to 7 minutes. We have been at our current venue at Aston Wood Golf Club since 2000.
The Club
Club members come from a variety of backgrounds and occupations. We have helped train very many people in public speaking and many of our members have achieved job promotion through their improved speaking ability. We pride ourselves in achieving excellence by practicing public speaking in front of a sympathetic audience in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. We provide a structured program for beginners and more experienced speakers. The beginners are gradually given an opportunity to make a variety of types of speech, so that after a relatively short period, they become competent speakers, confident to speak in front of any audience. All speeches in a session are evaluated by more experience speakers to give each speaker the benefit of advice. All members have to opportunity to speak at every meeting. It has been found that this approach does work.
Educational courses on public speaking are available which impart many of the necessary skills, but these generally lack one essential: the opportunity to practice regularly. This is where joining the club is beneficial. On two evenings a month, members can be sure of having the opportunity to practice.
The need to learn public speaking skills
In the modern world it is not always easy to have the opportunity to make a speech in public and as a consequence many people are nervous of speaking in public. However, in order to progress in almost every trade of profession the ability to speak well in public is essential. It is common at many job interviews for candidates to be required to give a presentation. Senior staff are required to make regular oral reports and presentations. At many business meetings it is beneficial to have speaking confidence, to make a contribution or to ask questions.
At social functions such as weddings, speeches are required. These can be made much more entertaining and interesting to listen to if delivered by a skilled speaker.