Chennai: “Say a little and say it well” is a popular Irish maxim that sheds light on our verbal skills. At a time when many educational institutions are focussed on scoring marks and ignoring holistic development, it is the social set-ups like Gavel Club (chain of Toastmasters Club) that help children have a way with words and hone leadership skills.
While there is a Toastmasters Club “Walkie Talkie Nanganallur”, the team has initiated Reverse Dream Gavel Club for the welfare of younger generation.
“Across the globe, there is a dearth of young leaders and I felt the value ought to be nurtured from childhood. I sensed the opportunity to get a community together in Nanganallur,” tells Manasa Kumar, area director of Toastmasters Club when asked about what prompted him to initiate it.
Inaugurated on recently, it provides a practical platform for children to better themselves. “Although the functionality of Gavel club is same that of the adult’s group, the focus is exclusively children,” shares Manasa.
Asked about the typical schedule at Gavel Club, he says, ‘We have three segments – prepared script, impromptu or table-topic and evaluation session. On a regular basis, we invite eminent public speakers from other branches to encourage and guide the children.”
However, it is not becoming a public speaker, the members of the community are also given the opportunity to don a leadership role.
“When a participant enrolls as a member, they get opportunities to head as vice-president and take part in contests happening organised by Toastmasters International across the globe,” Manasa adds, who is also the counsellor of the neighbourhood Gavel Club.
Elaborating about the range of events, he states, “Since it is an international network, a contest begins from intra-club and ends at the international level after several rounds of scrutiny and challenges.”
To add extra value to their sessions, they have a mentoring session; wherein a senior Toastmaster will review and provide feedback to the script prepared by the speaker.
Adding a feather to Walkie Talkie Nanganallur, Gokul Narayan is representing the senior club in the division-level evaluation contest. The children of Gavel Club meet every Sunday at Neel Software, No 2, Iyyapa Nagar, Duraiswami Garden between 11 am and 12.30 pm and can be reached at 98846 69074.