May 27, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) graduate assistant has launched the UAB Toastmasters Club. Meetings will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at Spain Wallace Tower, Auditorium, 620 19th St. South.
Toastmasters International is a worldwide organization that helps people to become more competent and comfortable speaking in front of an audience. The organization has nearly 250,000 members in 106 countries.
"This is the first Toastmasters club at UAB," says Anne Bet, founder and president of the new club, past president of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Evening Speakers Club and a graduate assistant in the UAB Department of Microbiology. Bet launched the new club with support from the UAB Graduate Student Association.
"I participated in the NIH Speakers Club and had a really good experience," Bet says. "It's well-recognized, and it did so much for me personally. I wanted to bring that experience here to UAB."
Through UAB Toastmasters, members will learn how to speak with clarity and fluency, think on their feet, develop meeting and leadership skills and increase their vocabulary. There are no instructors. Instead, members provide each other with feedback in a positive way, which builds confidence, Bet said.
All UAB students, faculty and staff are welcome to join the UAB Toastmasters Club, as are members of the Birmingham community, Bet says.
For more information about the club, membership dues and more, contact Bet at annebet@uab.edu. For more information about Toastmasters International, visit the website at www.toastmasters.org.
About UAB
Known for its innovative and interdisciplinary approach to education at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is an internationally renowned research university and academic medical center and the state of Alabama's largest employer. For more information, please visit www.uab.edu.