Bolton Banter Toastmasters boosts your self-confidence

Bolton Banter Toastmasters wants to help you feel confident.

Public speaking, whether at social events, work functions, or simple communications exercises, can be difficult for some. That's where Toastmasters comes in to help.

Toastmasters is an international club in 143 countries around the world. It is a non-profit organization dedicated on educating about public speaking and leadership skills, creating confident, driven and strong communication skills.

Bolton has their own Toastmasters club, known as Bolton Banter Toastmasters, run by local residents. The club was chartered on May 17, 2006 and has been educating and providing community involvement within the club for more than 10 years. Members gather at the Albion Bolton Community Centre the first and third Thursday of the month.

Currently, the club has 14 members. Bart Burness, VP Membership, talks about the joys of Toastmaster and who benefits.

“People who want to personally improve themselves, they don't want to settle with who they are,” he said. “People who have fear of public speaking and want assistance and channels to overcome that fear. Sometimes people get into job promotions that require them to speak in front of people for the first time, and they didn't do much of that in their previous role but now that they have been promoted they're required to speak in front of a bunch of people. Some people have situations like weddings, or social activities that they need to practice on,” he said.

Founded in 1924, Toastmasters has traveled all over the world with members of all diverse backgrounds.

Each meeting holds featured speakers. Members choose the topic they wish to speak about, and this brings interesting stories, and learning more about people.

To contact the group, visit www.boltonbanter.org or call 905-951-8435.

The Bolton Banter Toastmasters executive includes Gemma Duley, past president; Karen Singh, (back) Sergeant at Arms; Bart Burness, vice-president Membership & Treasurer; Zlata Proudlock, (front) president and Adrianna Hartley, public relations.