Young toastmasters break sound barriers

HAVE you ever felt awkward during conversations with colleagues, acquaintances, neighbours and even family members? How would you feel standing up before an audience?

Many people feel uncomfortable when they are trying to make a connection during a verbal exchange. So you can imagine that for some deaf people, this awkwardness can be multiplied by ten.

There was no evidence of this awkwardness at a recent celebration of ten deaf students from St Mary’s School for Deaf Girls and St Joseph’s School for Deaf Boys, who were completing the Youth Leadership Programme (YLP).

The YLP is a programme by Toastmasters that is designed to develop the speaking and leadership skills of young people.

I am a Teacher of the Deaf and a member of Athy Toastmasters Club. I thought that this would be an excellent initiative for Transition Year Students.

When I approached Adrian Melia, a fellow toastmaster from Kildare Toastmaster Club, to help me co-ordinate the programme, he was very excited with the proposal. Adrian then brought Toastmasters District 71 YLP Director, Brendan Haughton, on board and together with another Teacher of the Deaf, Flor O Mahony, from St Joseph’s School for Deaf Boys and we co-ordinated the programme over eight sessions.

Introducing the Youth Leadership Programme into St Mary’s and St Joseph’s was initially a challenge due to the variety of communication styles of the students.

Some students communicate through Irish Sign Language (ISL), others with Total Communication and some with speech only. But promoting language acquisition through effective communication epitomises the teaching styles of both schools.

We invited Transition Year students from a mainstream school – Kilcoole VEC – who had completed the programme to share their experience with us.

This turned out to be an excellent idea because those students had also studied ISL. All the students engaged in a small group discussion about the programme and participated in some impromptu speeches.

The meeting also gave our students an insight into the programme before they embarked on it. Observing them over the eight weeks, I witnessed each and every one of them overcome shyness and their habits – such as hands stuck inside pockets while speaking, lack of connection with audience by not using eye contact etc.

I saw them creating and presenting very memorable and effective speeches on topics of their own choosing such as

‘The Great Wall of China’ and

‘Capturing Memories’.

I felt privileged and proud to see the students enhance their eloquence, interaction and leadership skills through their preferred mode of communication within the friendly environment of the Youth Leadership Programme.

“Really, really impressed, entertained, amused and inspired

? is how the former World President of Toastmasters International, Ted Corcoran described our students as he observed them confidently taking the floor at the celebration day. Brendan Haughton has revealed that he has worked with many youth leadership groups but this group has surpassed other leadership groups and have produced remarkable results!

The students acknowledge the benefits of the Youth Leadership Programme. Aimee (16) from Dún Laoghaire, says that it gave her more confidence.

“When I started the programme, I was nervous,

? she said.

“Ever since I began to stand up and speak, my confidence grew each week and the next thing I know is that I’m more confident and it’s all thanks to Toastmasters!

?

The Transition Year students gained another feather in their cap as they have also come third in the Get Up and Go Mini Company Regional and National Finals.

The students were absolutely thrilled and Aimee (the manager) states

“we couldn’t be more proud of ourselves and it’s all thanks to Toastmasters who have helped us hugely with our speaking skills.

?

The structure of the programme gives the students excellent evaluation skills. When St Mary’s Principal, Eimear O’Rourke, stood up to speak at the celebration ceremony, she began by commenting:

“I am nervous standing up here today, speaking in front of such expert speakers and evaluators!

?

St Joseph’s student Darwin Zapata shared that:

“It’s always good to hear recommendations, even though you may feel it’s a bad recommendation.

“Remember, they’re not criticising you, they’re only trying to help you improve your speaking skills.

?

Other special guests at the YLP celebration ceremony included Bridie Corrigan Athy Toastmasters President, Anne Doyle Athy Toastmasters Vice President and Mairead Dillon The YLP Co-Ordinator for Republic of Ireland.

“As President of Athy Toastmaster it was an honour and privilege to see Toastmasters breaking boundaries in Cabra,

? said Bridie Corrigan.

I believe that all schools should try the Youth Leadership Programme. I would like to give you a quote that one of the students, Shauna Murphy, shared with her audience.

“If you can speak/sign, you can influence, if you can influence, you can change lives,

? she said.

You never know maybe one day, one of the students will become an inspirational professional keynote speaker! One thing for sure is that they are all primed for success.