Local executive elected to elite Toastmasters post

Jul 21, 2013 News

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Having been elected to the distinguished position of District Governor, charged with overseeing the operations of 122 Toastmasters clubs in 19 territories, Finance Director and Company Secretary of Insurance Brokers-Guyana Ltd., Ewart Adams, has ambitious plans for District 81.
District 81 comprises clubs from English, Spanish, French and Dutch-speaking countries ranging from Puerto Rico in the North all the way to Guyana in the South.

Adams, who was unchallenged for the coveted position, is the first District 81 Guyanese to be elevated to such a status. Although he was elected to the post on May 18 at the Pegasus Hotel, Adams officially assumed the prestigious position on July 1. His tenure will continue for one year.
He previously held the positions of Lieutenant Governor of Education and Training (2012-2013), Lieutenant Governor Marketing (2011-2012), Member of District 81 Marketing Committee and Club Vice President Education (2010-2011), Division Governor (2009-2010), Area Governor (2008-2009), Club Vice President Membership (2007-2008), Finance Chair and Logistics Committee member Guyana Conference (October 2007), Club President (2005-2006), Club Vice President Education (2004-2005) and Club Treasurer (2003-2004).
In August of last year, the now District Governor was presented with an award by Toastmasters International for excellence in marketing.
And he intends to remain an outstanding force to be reckoned with in the Toastmasters arena.
According to Adams, Toastmasters is an international organisation, with a presence in 116 countries around the globe. It was founded in 1924 and is committed to improving leadership and communication skills among its members. Moreover, when the organisation was rebranded in 2011, it included the tagline ‘where leaders are made’ thus giving renewed emphasis to developing leaders.
Adams, who himself has benefited considerably from his Toastmasters involvement, noted that members usually benefit either in their personal capacity as a speaker or as a leader in their own setting, be it work or generally.
As an admitted introvert, Adams said in 2003 he joined Toastmasters, a move which worked wonders to cure his shortcoming.
“Before you would not have gotten me to go on a radio or television programme to speak…Toastmasters have changed all of that; I have been on several television programmes either through Toastmasters, the Scrabble Association or even the Guyana Sickle Cell Association.”
In order to achieve his latest position, Adams had to complete at least 47 speeches together with projects using various requisite Toastmasters manuals.
He disclosed that the Toastmasters Clubs operate in such a way that they teach members to learn by doing and entails people helping people. Sessions are conducted similar to a parliamentary session whereby there is order throughout meetings.
After an initial business session, an education session commences, where members have prepared speeches that are in keeping with the Toastmasters manual objectives. This is followed by impromptu sessions where members speak on topics during which they are evaluated.
Adams himself is a member of the Georgetown Toastmasters Club, which is the oldest Club in the Caribbean having been in existence for 54 years.
“We have six clubs in Guyana and another is coming on course shortly; we are currently in the process of doing paperwork for Unicomer Pacesetters, which is a Toastmasters Club which will be formed by Courts, the furniture Store,” Adams said.
And it is such development he intends to encourage during his tenure as District Governor.
He disclosed that his vision is to, at least attain, a President’s Distinguished District with a better standing, perhaps even where District 81 is propelled to the top five ranking Districts in the world.  Last year District 81 was placed seventh.
But according to Adams, through better coordinating and motivating of District 81’s Executive Committee, with a view of having clubs under them perform to the optimum, it is anticipated that District 81 will have a higher ranking by next year.
In the Toastmasters Club programme there is usually a distinguished club programme where Clubs can participate and attain one out of three accomplishments. These are: attaining the Distinguished Club status, that is, the club must achieve five out of nine goals; a Select Distinguished Club status which must achieve seven out of nine goals or a President’s Distinguished Club, which must achieve nine out of 10 goals.
Adams pointed out that “the number of clubs that are distinguished, together with your membership goals that are met, and new clubs chartered… that is the measuring rod for your District to be positioned over and above others.”
However, the District Governor’s influence in his home country is no more than an ordinary member, although he is ultimately in charge of all clubs in the District.
“Here I am just known as the District Governor, but at my club I am just an ordinary member …that is the structure.”
A Toastmasters Club should comprise a minimum of 20 but not more than 40 persons who can hail from any walk of life and have any level of qualification. In fact, according to Adams, once an individual would have attained the age of 18 and have a fear of public speaking, the place for them to be is a Toastmasters Club.
“Even if you like speaking and you think that you can excel as a speaker or you simply need leadership skills, the place for you to be is Toastmasters,” Adams insisted.
In his capacity as District Governor, Adams is slated to attend a Toastmasters International Conference next month in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, which will culminate with the World Championship of Public Speakers forum.

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