Last night, we brought our Leadership and Management Short course students to a very exhilarating evening at the Milliners Toastmasters Club in Milan.

Toastmasters International is a non-profit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network of clubs. Headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, the organization’s membership exceeds 357,000 in more than 16,600 clubs in 143 countries. Since 1924, Toastmasters International has helped people from diverse backgrounds become more confident speakers, communicators, and leaders.

Our students were able to see, listen to and evaluate speeches given by memebers of the organization, which in turn made them inherently more aware of the techniques used by professional speakers on a stage.

We also had the Opportunity to interview Stefano Andrea Garzia, president of the Milliners Club:

Q: Tell us a little bit about Toastmasters

A: Toastmasters  was founded in the United States almost a century ago but it’s been present in Italy for about 25 years and the very  first italian Toastmasters Club was actually founded here in Milan. There’s roughly 30 clubs currently active in the whole country and five of them are in the Milan area so we’re really proud of that. We’re also the only club in Milan completely in English.

Q: Why should anyone choose Toastmasters?

A: Toastmasters has a very specific methodology that’s rooted on the concept of putting you on stage from the very moment you join the Club: you learn by doing, by putting into practice the techniques that get delivered to you thanks to the constant feedback from the other members.

Q: So it’s more based on practice than plain theory?

A: Absolutely, but there’s also quite a bit of reading and studying to do while practicing speeches on stage. Whenever a new member joins the club we provide them with the access codes to our portal where they can download all the study materials.

 

 

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