To have 80 odd persons assembled in a room to pursue the enhancement of their communication and leadership skills was a fantastic experience last Saturday at the La Pirogue for the first ever Toastmasters Convention in Mauritius. I was so pleased to have been present and to experience the vibrant energy born and grown from the seeds planted a decade ago by a few with Mark Wenick to start in Mauritius a toastmaster’s chapter.

Toastmasters in Mauritius today, is four dynamic clubs meeting regularly, twice monthly, to provide opportunities to its members to sharpen their skills through collective learning in a highly positive and friendly atmosphere through a proven format proven by Toastmasters International.

How  did my participation to Toastmasters contribute to my learning and personal growth?

When I joined Toastmasters in 1998, I had already a working career behind me. As a matter of fact I was entering the third phase of my life careers. The first phase was my apprenticeship to being a leader at work. The second one was to put my learning to test. End 1997, I was offered the opportunity and challenge to regenerate my working career in a position, that I have never lived before. As the new Cluster Director of Rogers Group, I was given the task of heading with the different Managers Company’s related to Retail trade. In the lot were companies that needed severe restructuring, expansion, and also some of them even to be prepared to be sold off at the most profitable time.

I had to be an even better communicator and leader. In the hind sight on reflection, what I learned from Toastmasters then was the absolute necessity to balance my right brain activities with more of my left brain ones. I realised that it is good and pleasing to be in an innovative mode but it was necessary to combine the rigor and tedious aspects to succeed in any task. A good leader needs an appropriate balance in his strategic thinking and formulate his communications to suit the audience targeted. Toastmasters allow me to test and honed these skills.

So why not join a toastmasters Club?