Competent Communication programme

The first communication course you will tackle at Toastmasters is called Competent Communication, or CC for short. You might see on your club’s agenda that a member will be presenting their CC4 or CC10. This refers to the 10 stages you need to achieve in order to qualify as a Competent Communication (and get to add CC after your name :)

The stages of the Competent Communication course are as follows. Remember you can complete these as quickly or as leisurely as you chose. Some people complete their CC in less that 10 months (in other words, doing more than one presentation a month by visiting other clubs) while other members take longer, according to their specific speaking goals. The average length of time to complete the Competant Communication is between a year and 18 months.

The Competent Communication course outline is as follows:

  1. THE ICE BREAKER: This is where you get to share a little bit about yourself with your new club
  2. ORGANISE YOUR SPEECH: Learn how to put your speech together in a way that makes it easiest for your audience to understand
  3. GET TO THE POINT: Ensure your speech has a general and specific purpose in terms of what you want to convey to your audience
  4. HOW TO SAY IT: Concentrate on the words you use to convey your thoughts for more effective communication
  5. YOUR BODY SPEAKS: Enhance your presentation’s meaning and increase your credibility by using the correct body language
  6. VOCAL VARIETY: Practise using your vocal variety for maximum impact
  7. RESEARCH YOUR TOPIC: Make your point better by backing it up with facts, figures and anecdotes
  8. GET CONFIDENT WITH VISUAL AIDS: Experiment with the dreaded power point presentation and other visual aids to support your speech
  9. PERSUADE WITH POWER: Think about your last salary negotiation. Think you could have been more persuasive? This speech is for you!
  10. INSPIRE YOUR AUDIENCE: Motivate your audience to make a change. An immensely powerful skill.

Once you have achieved your CC you can move on to the Advanced Communication programme and hone your speaking skills further.