By KATH GANNAWAY
YARRA Valley Toastmaster clubs played host to Jim Kokocki, international president of the organisation last week, and introduced him to a Valley-wide audience through Yarra Valley FM 99.1.
Mr Kokocki, an entrepreneur and business consultant, is in Australia as guest speaker at the District 73 Toastmasters Convention which was held in Adelaide on the weekend 20-22 May.
Toastmasters was founded in 1924 with the aim of teaching public speaking and leadership, and the four Yarra Valley clubs, Healesville, Wandin, CFA District 13 and Lilydale are among more than 15,400 clubs in more than 130 countries world-wide.
Healesville member and past club president Kim Harris joined fellow Healesville member and Yarra Valley FM 99.1 presenter Cora Zon at the Woori Yallock studio on Thursday 19 May, to talk Toastmasters, business, communication and music.
In terms of tools for a successful business, Mr Kokocki said there were four steps which could be summed up in the acronym AIDA – Attention; Interest; Desire and Action.
“You need to grab their attention, interest them in how your product or service can help them, create a desire for what you are offering and persuade them to take action such as buying or visiting your website,” he said.
He said while the business environment had changed over time, the foundational skills of communication and leadership remained solid.
Responding to a question on building communication skills, he said the key was to find an opportunity to practise and deliver your message.
“Knowledge can come from a lot of places, such as reading a book, but it is not sufficient,” he said.
“You need a place to practise and you need feedback from a mentor or as part of a group to point you in the direction of where you may be very strong, or where you need development.”
Ms Harris said it was a wonderful opportunity provided for Mr Kokocki to share his insights and experience with a large audience.
“What it has illuminated for me is that we have this world-wide organisation and this huge team in Toastmasters, so it really opened my eyes to the idea that we need ways of working more collaboratively, but also that we are doing this together, and not doing this alone.
“It’s definitely a privilege for our (Toastmasters) area, and for this community because a lot of what he was talking about was finding a place where you can learn skills and then take those skills out into the world, and that we need low cost ways of doing that as well.”
Mr Kokocki said he took great pride in the thousands of clubs around the world.
“I’m proud of the efforts of local club members who provide an environment in which members can become more confident to develop their communication skills and leadership skills,” he said.
