By the time you have given a few speeches or presentations – and hopefully received some useful feedback – you will probably have a list of things to work on in order to take your skills to the next level.

While it’s tempting to want to ‘fix’ everything as quickly as possible, it’s usually better to focus on one thing at a time. Trying to focus on too many things at once can often mean you forget to focus properly on any of them!

So each time you speak, just pick one thing to work on. For instance, on one occasion you might decide to concentrate on maintaining good eye contact with the audience. After that you might choose to focus on doing less “umming” and “erring”.

At Toastmasters, we meet twice a month and you get regular opportunities speak and to focus on “just one thing” – so you can get through a lot of “things” in just a few weeks.

In addition, each new member has the option of being assigned a personal mentor who is focused on their development and can help them to improve their skills in specific areas. A mentor will provide longer-term support and encouragement and will be in a perfect position to monitor the member’s progress over time.