Coolum Communicators is celebrating its 15th year helping Sunshine Coast locals practise the art of public speaking.
The club was first sponsored by Nambour Toastmasters in 2006.
Coral McVean was a member of the Nambour club at the time and is still a current member.
As past District Governor, she did the groundwork for the fledgling Coolum club in 2005.
“I went shop to shop to get a feel for whether there was interest in a Toastmasters Club for Coolum, which there was! That was when the hard work began,” Ms McVean said.
“We spent two hours a day for weeks at the local library, preparing for a speech craft course, and we held demonstration meetings at the Lions Hall. The Hyatt Coolum were invited to sponsor their management team and so the club’s foundations were laid. Coolum Communicators charter function was held at the Hyatt on 9th of February, 2006.”
The club has some long-serving members, too. Marilyn Freeman has been a member of Coolum Communicators for seven years and believes this club has the recipe right.
“Coolum Communicators has always been innovative. It has adapted to technologies and has been willing to change how meetings are run, particularly through COVID,” Ms Freeman said.
“From the start, its members have been committed to building an environment for self-development with a focus on creativity and imagination.
“Coolum Communicators just keeps on proving to be innovative, energetic and supportive to all its members, and it’s a huge amount of fun besides.”
Toastmasters International has been helping people from diverse backgrounds develop into confident speakers and communicators since 1924.
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The organisation’s proven education program guides its 300,000 strong membership worldwide across more than 15,800 clubs in 149 countries.
But it’s the local level that makes all clubs tick.
Coolum Communicators has a diverse membership with real estate agents, artists, writers, marketers, psychologists, retirees and students.
It’s the right environment in which to learn new skills, build confidence and practise public speaking.
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When Ms Freeman was asked why she keeps Marilyn coming back, she said: “I just love speaking. I joined to become a better speaker. But Toastmasters offers so much more, the ability to develop self-confidence and to learn how to listen. These are core skills which impact every area of our lives. I have learned so much more than the art of public speaking.”
Toastmasters has a proven program for helping people develop the confidence and skills they need to become good at public speaking.
Coolum Communicators is a community-based Toastmasters club that meets on the second and fourth Wednesday of the month at the North Shore Community Centre, Mudjimba.
For more information about attending as a guest, email coolumtoastmasters@gmail.com or find them on Facebook.
