Dear fellow Toastmasters, is this YOUR opportunity to lead?
- Nominating Form
- Application Form
- Officer Agreement and Release Form (please fill out the officer role you are applying for, not your current role).
Consider. Encourage. Apply! #BE a #Toastmasters Leader.
Dear all,
Today is a very humbling day for me. It reminds me of my very first day in a Toastmasters meeting, 7 years ago.
Like many of you, I joined for improving my communication and social skills. I believed that this organisation could help me do that after reading Keith Ferrazzi’s book “Never eat alone”. From day one, I saw how Toastmasters empowers people to do magical things and how people by better expressing themselves can ultimately make the world a better place. This is the very same inspiration that continues to drive me today.
It is an incredible honour for me to lead and serve Toastmasters Belgium until 30 June 2020 together with an amazing team. I have been fortunate to work closely with all of them previously. They are excellent: Monica Dimitru – Area Director B1; Marie Dubost – Area Director B2; Valentina Caimi – Area Director B3; Ignaas Vermeulen – Area Director B 4. I have asked Zsuzsanna Corridori to devote additional time to the Division, although she will the District 59 Pathways Coordinator. I am also looking forward to working with Lidiya Bogdanova and Mona Elleathey on PR and Marketing. As we start a new phase of our journey together, we have shared some background about ourselves in our website (www.toastmasters.be ).
Congratulations to all those who have stepped up to your club leadership for the 2019-2020 programme year. Leadership is one of the premier advantages of membership in Toastmasters.
How is Toastmasters Belgium doing?
While we have seen great success, we are hungry to see more.
In our early history, our target was to charter clubs across the country. This may develop further in the upcoming months with the chartering of two new clubs, new prospects and members creating clubs in cities such as Mons, Soigne, Kortrijk, Mechelen/Antwerp, Charleroi and Liège.
Nowadays, our main challenge is to strengthen the existing club structure: access to affordable & suitable meeting facilities; empowering club officers to run their clubs effectively; and enriching our community with new active members- 30 is the new 20.
What is next?
As we look forward, we must consider what each of us could bring to this effort. The opportunity ahead will require us to reimagine a lot of what we have done in the past and to do new things. We sometimes underestimate what we each can do to make things happen.
In fact, we have all the elements: talent, a good brand, our voices, the platform, many resources (including financial), an important and interesting network of members & alumni, positive energy and lot of enthusiasm.
I invite you to use your Toastmasters Membership as a platform to make your personal goals becoming reality. I truly believe that when we find meaning on what we do, everything is easy and flows.
We hope to meet many on you on the events taking place this year. Below a few FREE trainings provide to Club officers and other Members. We vividly recommend you to join all of them, as the content will vary and are a valuable space where work on common projects across clubs.
If you are a club officer 2019-2020 and are unable to join us in any of the trainings dates (June, July or August), please contact us urgently by email toDistrict59divisionb@gmal.com Thanks in advance, this is very important.
There are thousands of opportunities around, some of them can be found by clicking here. You can always contact me, the area directors or your club officers to explore them.
Let us build on the Division foundations together!
Helena RUIZ FABRA
Director
Toastmasters International
District 59- Division B
Where leaders are made
Phone: +32472844347
Email: District59divisionb@gmail.com
Congratulations to our Division B winners at the 2019 International Speech and Evaluation contest:
Delphine Morin – 1st place – French Evaluation Contest (Club des Orateurs)
Valérie De Coster – 1st place – French Speech Contest (Club des Orateurs)
Thomas Vervaet – 2nd place – Dutch Evaluation Contest (Toastmasters Gent)
Renaat Toppets – 3rd place – Dutch Speech Contest (Toastmasters Hasselt)
Nick Felix – 2nd place – International Speech Contest (Berlaymont Toastmasters)
Here are the results of Division B Contests held in Brussels on Saturday 27th of April 2019:
International Speech Contest:
1. Nick Felix – Berlaymont TM Club?
2. Dhaval Sawkar – ToastMasterCard Club
3. Erik Luijts – TM Gent
English Evaluation Speech Contest:
1. Thomas Vervaet – TM Gent?
2. Sudip Chatterjee – Brussels TM Club
3. Lucrezia Scarapicchia – Aperitivo TM
Dutch Speech Contest:
1. Renaat Toppets – TM Hasselt?
Dutch Evaluation Speech Contest:
1. Thomas Vervaet – TM Gent?
French Speech Contest:
1. Valérie De Coster – Le Club des Orateurs?
French Evaluation Speech Contest:
1. Delphine Morin – Le Club des Orateurs?
The 2019 Division Spring Conference will welcome the competition for International Speeches and Evaluations (EN/FR/NL) in our most competitive contest yet!
You will also have the opportunity to attend interactive workshops and to connect with other members from the 21 clubs in and around Belgium.
Find our more on EasySpeak, or in our event section
Coming up: TLI 2019
On January 27th 2019, Toastmasters Division B (Belgium, Lille and Zeeland) will organise a one-day open event that offers both Toastmasters and non-Toastmasters the opportunity to develop their communication and leadership skills through an inspiring keynote session, hands-on breakout sessions and insightful workshops.
Who should attend?
This Toastmasters Leadership Institute event is open to everyone: club officers, members of Toastmasters clubs as well as guests.
Do join if you are currently a club officer or certainly if you are interested in taking up a club leadership position in the near future.
Why should you attend?
With this event, we aim to enable current and potential club officers to fulfill their role effectively and to inspire all participants to become the best leaders they can be. At this event, you can also network with 70+ members from the 21 clubs in and around Belgium (Division B: Belgium + Lille + Zeeland)
Where? When? How much does it cost?
The event will take place on the 27th of January 2019 between 10:00 and 17:45, at the European Communication School in Brussels.
Participation costs 15 € and includes event entrance, lunch and coffee breaks.
Programme, Details and Registration on EasySpeak
Facebook event page
Toastmasters Belgium in The Bulletin
Toastmasters was featured this December in an article about Public Speaking in The Bulletin, an English-language quarterly magazine and website published in Brussels.
In it, distinguished Toastmaster Zsuzsanna Corridori explains the Toastmasters concept, and how members can join.
Related: Find a Club near you
At this link, pictures from the Humorous Showcase / Triple T event on 14 November 2018 at Espace du Marais in Brussels
Photo credits: Ruben Loodts – Otherwhere
This event was organised thanks to the financial support of Toastmasters District 59