On Saturday, Indian Institute of Management, Ranchi (IIM-R) became the first Business (B) School of Jharkhand to have an affiliation of Toastmasters Club (TI), a non-profit educational organisation that operates clubs worldwide for the purpose of helping members improve their communication, public speaking and leadership skills. The global club offers a programme of communication and leadership projects designed to help people learn the arts of speaking, listening, and thinking.
President of this Club Priyanka Samaddar who is also a student of Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management said that IIM-R got the opportunity for this affiliation due to its ‘holistic approach’ behaivour towards academic development. The programme commenced with a session on ‘Public Speaking and leadership Skills’ headed by Janaki P Pattanaik, division governor of district-41 of Toastmasters International wherein about 60 students comprising 10 students from Birla Institute of Technology (BIT) Mesra and Xavier Institute of Social Service along with 50 students from IIM-R itself. Sources said that a student interested in enrolling the course will have to register his or her name by paying an amount ranging around Rs 3000.
“There are about six learning phases. The duration of this programme depends on the grasping power of the participant. It includes ‘seminars and conferences’ as well besides regular training sessions. “In Jharkhand a similar club is running successfully at Indian School of Mines, a renowned engineering college,” Priyanka said. Also, the club conducted a meeting to show the general public the manner in which the toastmasters club meetings are conducted. The theme of the meeting was ‘Women are the real architects of the Society’ to honour and give respect to the women of the country on Women’s day.