If you have visited my bio page and read all the way to the bottom, you know that I am involved with Toastmasters, an international volunteer organization fostering public speaking and leadership skills. In fact I'm currently the President of my club, Southern Berkshire Toastmasters. In those two tracks, public speaking and leadership, there are levels of accomplishment as you work through the program manuals. For speaking, the first level is the Competent Communicator, then working through additional specialized books, there is Advanced Communicator-Bronze, -Silver, and -Gold. On the Leadership track, there is the basic Competent Leader, as you do tasks helping the club, then Advanced Leader-Bronze and -Silver, as you take on roles in the organization beyond the club.
I achieved my Advanced Communicator-Gold this past fall, and I have just finished what's called a High Performance Leadership project for my Advanced Leader-Silver. When you achieve those levels in both tracks, you automatically become a Distinguished Toastmaster or DTM. On Tuesday, March 29th, I reported to my club on my High Performance Leadership project, which was to create, market, and deliver a workshop called "Speaking Out with Clarity and Confidence" all about using the voice safely and effectively in any situation. So I'm now a Distinguished Toastmaster!
Video link coming soon!
