Learn by doing; teach by example

Xi'an Toastmasters Friday meeting

Its time to write about Toastmasters.  High time!  I devote most of my spare time to this group of 100 or so Chinese members of the Xi'an branch of an organization that started 90 years ago in the USA and now spans the globe.  TM now has over 300,000 members in clubs in 135 countries!
The local clubs work well for me for 2 main reasons:
1)  I get to meet, and make friends with,  many local people who have a strong interest in developing themselves and in improving their English.  Even though I'm much older than them (they average 20s to early 30s in age) I can add a lot to their efforts as a teacher and a native English speaker.
2)  TM gives me the chance to make speeches on topics I find interesting and to get immediate feedback on what I have said.  Even though I have been familiar with speaking in public for my entire life I find there is still much to learn.
So far in Xi'an I have delivered 4 four speeches: Why I came to China, Kayaking in the ocean, My Chinese love affair in Thailand and Stories from Greek mythology.
    At this point in the relationship I find myself much more deeply committed to helping these clubs to develop.Toastmasters is very competitive.  They evaluate each speech during the same meeting.  Although the evaluations are very encouraging, they also usually have suggestions for improvement.  I need to plan the organization of my speeches so that my main idea comes across very clearly.  In addition to this challenge

Fraser and HahaLynne

The Golden Apple - 'For Amy'

I need to keep it slow and tailor my vocabulary to my audience.  The time limit is usually seven minutes.  In addition the prepared speeches there are also opportunities for impromptu speaking.  You get a surprise topic and need to deliver an effective two minute speech with no preparation time.  Then the members vote on which they liked the best.  Since I have a huge advantage I usually win these competitions.  So I try to take my name out of the competition and just give my speech as an example.  Its a lot of fun!

    In the future there will be a conference in Xi'an where clubs will come from all over China.  I'm hoping to be part of that.  It all fits into my wider aspiration of increasing communication between the Western world and the Chinese world on the ground level.

Simply gorgeous