The Voice - Helene, we would like to know first what the ToastMasters Club and the idea behind it is?
Helene: ToastMasters is a nonprofit educational organization that was founded 85 years ago in California, with the intention of helping those people who wanted to improve their skills in public speaking. It then grew worldwide; now in 106 countries, 12,500 clubs, with almost 250,000 members currently and quite a few millions members all over the 85 years. The worldwide experience of ToastMasters is available in our Toastmasters manuals in many languages.

The Voice - Would you please tell us more about ToastMasters in Belgium?
Helene: In Brussels there are 10 clubs in six different languages: English, French, German, Dutch, Irish, and Spanish. Being a capital this amount of clubs is normal and of course all these languages are a bonus here. For example, in London there are 25 clubs, and they are practically all in English.
When I came to B elgium two years ago, we started to build some bilingual clubs, Dutch/English, so expats could join. ToastMasters Club spread from Mol to Geel and to Antwerp and Gent. Recently, Toastmasters started in Hasselt as well. And now at last, we are in Leuven.
A very important note to mention is that once you are a ToastMasters Member in Belgium, you can visit all clubs in all other countries.

The Voice - What is so special about Leuven?
Helene: Of course Leuven is special, period! As a university town, it should have a Toastmasters Club to give an opportunity to all to have a bit of fun while learning the necessary skills for speaking and presenting.
The Voice - What kind of special events does Toastmasters Leuven organizes?
Helene: At regular times in Toastmasters meetings we have educational sessions to highlight some particular side of learning how to speak even better. Recently Lars Sudmann, a longtime German member and professional speaker, is giving a 45 minutes session called ‘The Humour Code’. It is mainly concerned with how to insert humor into one’s speech in order to keep attracting your audience in an easy flowing way. We are lucky to have him here. He gives educational sessions all over Europe in Toastmasters conferences. After his speech he will give a practical session for the members to participate in.

The Voice - Sounds interesting. Who should join Toastmasters Leuven?
Helene: Well, people who aim to improve their speaking or presentation skills, people who are too shy or scared to speak, and even people who think they are okay as long as they practice often enough. It is a great chance to be in a completely new environment where one witnesses others’ ideas and their ways of expressing them. In addition, speaking better enhances one’s leadership skills automatically.
The Voice - When and where can they find you?
Helene: People who are interested should have a look at our local and Head Quarters sites to get some idea: www.toastmastersleuven.be, www.toastmasters.org