Civil Service sets up Toastmasters Club
Matthew Tibbetts receives his charter member certificate from Acting Deputy Governor Gloria McField-Nixon
(CNS Local Life): The charter ceremony of the Civil Service chapter of the Toastmasters Club, the international organisation dedicated to improving speaking and leadership skills, was held in the Government Administration Building on Friday, 23 March 2018. The event, in which 22 charter members were inducted and the club’s executive committee installed, was presided over by the area director of Toastmasters Club Paul Persaud.
Inductees were pinned by Acting Governor Franz Manderson and given their charter member certificates by Acting Deputy Governor Gloria McField-Nixon. Assistant Financial Secretary Michael Nixon was installed as club president.
In extemporaneous remarks Manderson and McField-Nixon congratulated the inductees on joining the club, which will furnish them with the requisite leadership and oratory skills to progress further within the civil service. They commended Toastmasters on the setting up of the club whose core values of integrity, respect, service and excellence dovetail with the civil service’s mandate to provide the infrastructure to invest in the service’s most important resource – its human capital. They also thanked the area director and Toastmaster Josette Lawrence for introducing the programme to the civil service, laying the groundwork for establishing the club and providing ongoing mentorship to members.
Persaud and master of ceremonies Ayon Baxter spoke of the journey of personal and professional growth that founding members are undertaking. They added that the process allowed members to enhance their communication skills by practising impromptu speaking and delivering prepared speeches.
The new club, which was officially chartered by Toastmasters International in January, has twice-monthly lunchtime meetings and will be holding a membership drive later this year, to attract 10 new members. “We want to form a second club if the membership grows beyond 50,” said Lawrence, director of the Cayman Islands National Archive and the club’s vice president of education. “We also want to extend this training and development opportunity to civil servants in Cayman Brac.”
Members will learn communication and leadership skills through the Pathways education platform, which includes motivational strategies, presentation master, leadership development, innovative planning, visionary communication and team collaboration.
Category: Civil Service
