Inspired by Obama? Develop Your Public Speaking and Leadership Skills at Amesbury Park Library
Surfing the internet last night, I came across snippets of Barack Obama’s latest public speech. His words were truly inspirational. I wondered to myself how was he able to commemorate the lives of those taken away in the Tucson shooting earlier this month while still being able to motivate Americans on striving to be better in their private lives?
The answer is one which I deduce from Malcolm Gladwell's powerful book, The Outliers. I highly doubt that Barack was born with this skill, instead it’s likely that he developed it through thousands of hours of practice coupled with mentorship and training.
If you are inspired by Barack’s public speaking skills, you can develop them too! Amesbury Park Library is offering a toastmasters club targeted for teens between the ages of 12-17. The service is delivered by Toastmasters International, a not-for-profit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills. Certification is given to those who successfully pass the program, some of the best public speakers in the world were certified by Toastmasters International.
The program will restart in the early spring, see program details for more information.
8 thoughts on “Inspired by Obama? Develop Your Public Speaking and Leadership Skills at Amesbury Park Library”
Barack Obama never went to Toastmasters.
He went to Occidental, Columbia, and Harvard, but his grades have never been released. There is no explanation for this. He’s the only American president in history for whom this is true.
Perhaps Obama’s grades were just too good. So impressive that we would look upon them and grow discouraged. Or maybe the guy just couldn’t crack a book and was a straight D student. We’ll probably never know, because those grades are likely to remain sealed.
One thing we know for sure is that he speaks in complete sentences. And that is truly inspirational.
Hi Joe:
Thanks for your interest in interacting on our blog.
A few things about your comment:
Yes it is true that academic performance is confidential. These records are protected by the institutions in which he learned and governed by privacy laws in the US.
I’m sorry if you misunderstood the overall premise of the article. It is not to say that Barack attended toastmasters per say, but rather that he had many years of practicing public speaking and mentorship along the way.
As for your sarcasm, Barack is an inspiration not because “he speaks in complete sentences” but because he is a motivational speaker. His speech on the Tuscan Shooting is a testament to that – supporters and non-supporters highly regarded his words.
For better or for worse, there has been a public interest in the academic transcripts of political transcripts ever since George W. Bush’s were published by the New Yorker, and he was revealed to have been a ‘C’ student. Gore’s were released, Kerry’s, McCain’s, and of course, Palin’s. Since then, in fact, every candidate’s transcripts have been released, except for President Obama’s.
Why do you suppose this is?
I suppose it’s because releasing them would destroy his unearned reputation for intelligence.
As for his public speaking? Meh. I’ve never quite understood what all the fuss is about.
There is nothing the American liberal fears more than being called a racist. Therefore, they grade everything President Obama does on a bell curve, because they fear if they raise doubts about the teleprompter-in-chief, they’ll open themselves to accusations of race bias. Therefore, President Obama is always ‘a wonderful speaker’, an ‘inspiring leader’, ‘the smartest guy in the room’. No actual evidence is ever needed, for to ask for evidence would be to risk being called racist.
Sorry, I realize I’ve gone way off topic here. I just enjoy bursting the Obama bubble, as so few are willing to do.
I’m sure Toastmasters is a very valuable exercise in gaining poise and presentation acumen.
I was very impressed with Pres. Obama’s State of the Union
Address, last night. I was expecting something else on PBS, but couldn’t tear myself away. He’s in a league of his own; Toastmaster’s will do for the rest of us !
Hi Jorge: Thanks for this great post! I’ve heard about toastmasters and I think a certain 15 year old i know will really like it. I’ll get her to find out more about toastmasters. Any opportunity for youth to speak confidently in public is a great opportunity for them.
Great! Getting comfortable speaking in front of a group is tough stuff, especially for teens. At the Amesbury Park location, under the guidance of an experienced club lead, teens mentor each other. This can be an effective mentorship piece, as it is often difficult for people to speak publicly in front of their peers.
The contact for the Toastmasters club at Amesbury Park is Mary Szatcker. You can email her for more information – me.speaking@hotmail.com or call Amesbury Park, 416-395-5420
For other toastmasters meeting locations in Toronto, go here: http://reports.toastmasters.org/findaclub/searchresults.cfm?Country=Canada&State=Ontario&City=Toronto
Let us know how it goes.
Obama is very much a public speaker and so was Ronald Reagan. But there is one thing I would like to point out all of the President’s that we have had were poor students when it comes to their grades. The biggest feature to their success was their desire to do something big with their lives. Our American Presisent’s were Leaders of men and knew how to get the job done. And being great public speakers is a must if you are going to run a country. One other thing “Toast Masters” is a great organization to be a part of. It teaches loyalty, respect, and honesty above and beyond.
Thanks for your reply.
I absolutely agree with you that public speaking is a must for any successful political leader, and any leader for that matter. It’s all about engaging and motivating your audience through effective communication. An organization like Toastmasters certainly has developed people around the world into confident and effective speakers. The library is proud to support this program.