A new corporate club flourishes in the Paris area: Toastmasters Gemalto gets chartered!
January 10th, a special meeting was held to celebrate the corporate club of Toastmasters Gemalto becoming chartered, in December 2016, after 2 months. Now employees at the Gemalto Meudon headquarters can develop their public speaking and leadership skills at lunchtime. The club, composed of 26 members, has been meeting twice a month since October.
The project to set up a corporate club was led and nurtured by the previous President of Toastmasters of Paris, Silvia Candido, who works for Gemalto. Silvia encouraged a core team of employees who were interested in Toastmasters to help launch the club. Thanks, Silvia!
With the help of Carol Bausor, a club sponsor, Silvia set up a demo meeting to show potential members a typical Toastmasters meeting. At the demo meeting, Colleen Shaughnessy-Larsson and Hélène Fages each gave a speech. The demo meeting was a great way to show potential members what happens, and to hear speeches from experienced Toatsmasters.
So 9 meetings later, 20 members have completed their ice breakers. Meetings are always full and the club has just welcomed a new member! 2 of our members will be representing our club at the Area A4 contest on March 11th: Aline Borne for the International Speech contest, and Sylvie Soudin for the Evaluation contest.
The club would also like to extend its thank you to the many Toastmasters who have come and helped kick-start the corporate club by taking on roles at our meetings.
Here are some photos of the celebration with a fantastic cake baked by fellow member Anne Bobin!
Here is what Toastmasters Gemalto club members say:
““I am pleasantly surprised by this beautiful club where I learn a lot at each meeting.” – Mbeugué Sall, Sergeant-at-Arms
““I am proud because I don’t feel at ease speaking in public and I overcame this feeling by forcing myself to do it.” – Anne Bobin
““Being asked to talk on the spot about a non-prepared topic in front of 20+ people for one minute is challenging, but after a couple of sessions, Toastmasters is making this much easier to do! It’s about structure and practice.” – Nicola Joels, VP Public Relations
If you fancy joining a future meeting and sharing your Toastmasters experience, please sign up on EasySpeak!