PSGS Associates Lead Coastmasters to High Ranks

From The Source, Winter 2004
A Perot Systems Government Services publication

Tashya Allen, Club VP Membership
and Public Relations (Left),
Hansje Gold-Krueck, Club President

LARGER PHOTOGRAPH

While many people would rather sit through bumper-to-bumper traffic in the middle of summer than speak in front of a crowd, a number of PSGS associates at the NOAA Coastal Services Center (the Center) in Charleston, South Carolina, have devoted so much time and effort to honing their public speaking skills that they have earned an internationally distinguished ranking for their local public speaking group.

The Center hosts a Toastmasters club, dubbed "Coastmasters," where employees get together twice each month to give speeches and evaluate one another’s performance. The club is part of the larger Toastmasters International, whose more than 195,000 worldwide members participate in developing their communication and leadership skills. Of the 23 members of Coastmasters, 15 are PSGS associates, including all five club officers.

This year’s all-PSGS board of officers has led the club to a new honor &emdash; the "President’s Distinguished" ranking, which is reserved only for those clubs with outstanding achievements in education, membership, leadership, and communication. To reach this esteemed designation, a Toastmasters club must achieve a number of predetermined goals between July 1 and June 30. It took the Coastmasters only six months to accomplish these goals. This is the first year that the club has reached such a level.

"Most clubs don’t reach ‘President’s Distinguished’ in a year," notes Hansje Gold-Krueck, the club’s President. "We were really excited when we found out we did."

The officers say it was their recruiting efforts that had the most to do with this year’s success. The group identified those Center employees who might be interested in joining the club and actively sought out those people to invite them to meetings. The officers also posted a number of flyers around the Center. "We did a lot of outreach within the Center to make this happen," adds Tashya Allen, Vice President of Membership and Public Relations for the Coastmasters. "And we did lots of planning to be creative in hosting events and getting new members to come."

Kate Schaefer, who joined PSGS at the Center in October, decided to join the club after becoming intrigued by the signs and encouraged by her coworkers to attend a meeting. "Since I was new to the Center, I thought it would be a good way to meet people I wouldn’t normally get to work with. It also would help me keep fresh on presenting to groups of people."

Margaret VanderWilt, a PSGS associate who recently joined the club after two years at the Center, was also persuaded by fellow members and the new publicity. "I had heard about Coastmasters a lot already, and when I saw the signs, I thought, ‘Well, I might as well try this.’ It’s fun and I’ve gotten to know my coworkers a lot better through their speeches."

The increasing participation of these PSGS associates — not to mention their pivotal role in the club’s success — is making management proud. "We are ecstatic about the participation of PSGS associates in Coastmasters and their contributions to it," notes David Karinshak, PSGS Deputy Director at the Center. "Their work in the club reflects the importance we all place on developing skills and making work fun."

The club plans to continue focusing on membership and making meetings fun and worthwhile for members. "We’re mainly focused now on getting new members through their first 10 speeches and keeping existing members in the club," explains Allen. "We’re trying to keep it interesting and to help people at the Center — even if they don’t join Coastmasters — make their presentations better."

More Information:

PSGS Associates Lead Local Club to High Ranks