Oxford Speakers Club - Testimonials

Welcome to Oxford Speakers club - Helping you to improve your public speaking skills and confidence

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Andrew Moss Former Head of Public Relations, Oxford Regional Health Authority. Immediate Past President, Oxford Speakers Club		People ask me why I keep coming back to Toastmasters after 25 years. That’s easy. It’s because of the repeated excitement of watching members who start with very limited speaking skills blossom into a new-found confidence as speakers and leaders. It’s the process I went through years ago and I am still learning now.

Camille Koppen PhD student St John's Oxford		I joined the Oxford Speakers Club in order to improve my presentation skills and also to make my CV look better (after all, Toastmasters is a famous organization, and employers are looking for people presentation skills). Since joining, I have greatly improved my presentation skills (I enjoy presenting now) and have met some great new people. Now I attend meetings not to boost my CV but because I really enjoy the meetings and am learn a lot from them. From the first meeting that I attended, the club members were really friendly and welcoming, there was a great atmosphere. The club is a great environment to practice giving speeches because the members genuinely want to help you and are very encouraging. You also have the opportunity to listen to speeches by very experienced members (some with 25 years of Toastmasters under their belt!), which is inspiring, amusing (because they really know how to entertain an audience), and a great way to learn too. I would highly recommend coming along to one of our meetings, you'll learn so much and have lots of fun too!

Paul Ovington Consultant, trainer and interim manager. Owner of Oxford Management Solutions.		I joined Oxford Speakers Club to master the art of public speaking. I am at the stage of my career where I need to impart all my knowledge to other people and wish to do so in the most effective way possible. In particular, I run my own training courses in management and project management. Besides that, by listening to the other club members speak you can learn so much about life outside you own sphere of experience. It’s much better than watching the television!! I have gained confidence and am step by step becoming more expert at delivering important messages and wisdom. My training course deliveries in particular are far more effective than they used to be. My biggest regret is that I did not join such a club when I was younger. I would have got more out of life if I had. You will meet new people who have a common aim with yourself - to become expert communicators. The club is welcoming and very supportive.

Paul Ardern Oxford Speakers club Secretary		Having spent most of my life avoiding speaking in public, it took me a while to summon up the resolve to go to my first meeting. It’s come as rather a shock to realize that that was the hardest part. It’s a very friendly, supportive group and an ideal place not just to learn how to communicate better, but also to organize and run meetings and to work in a team. Being part of Toastmasters teaches lots of skills which are invaluable both in work and in life more generally. And it’s fun. You’ll never have to be scared again. .I wish I’d known about this earlier!

Ning-Ning Li Biochemistry Undergrad New College		I joined Toastmasters because I was sick of being absolutely terrified when talking to an audience greater than one. Giving good presentations is an excellent transferable skill for any profession, and I love attending because it gives me the chance to meet people outside the university circle with loads of interesting experience to share. No other place offers such a friendly and supportive environment for public speaking - the only way to improve is to get up there and do it!

Gavin Allinson Life coach		I joined Oxford Speakers Club in December 2004. I had heard a number of my clients mentioning that they were members of Toastmasters so I thought I would investigate. I was impressed by the breadth of experience and capability of the people at Oxford Speakers club, there were a couple of speakers who I thought wow they should be on the stage and there were some others who just froze and couldn’t get their words out. What was great was the encouragement that everybody received and the identification for areas of improvement. In the corporate world it costs a lot to get that type of training and feedback. When I joined I didn’t really have any fears about public speaking, but I realised that I had a long way to go before I could consider myself an effective communicator from the stage. The area I have seen most improvement in is my impromptu speaking skills. A regular part of each meeting is the table topics session where the speakers are called upon to give a 2 min speech on something they have had no preparation for (my most recent topic was to ‘sell grey squirrels to the audience’). When I first started I would be quaking in my boots about being selected; now I am disappointed if I don’t get a chance to participate. During the time I have been a member it has been amazing to see the development of the people who have come consistently and progress through the various assignments and that is a testament to the friendly atmosphere there is at Oxford Speakers Club.