West Coastmasters Speech Club

21/02/2026

The Nordics and more friends! 😎

11/06/2025

Thank you to all our members, we did it - again!
We reached 9 points in the Distinguished Club Program, making this club ‘President Distinguished’, the highest quality mark of a club! 🥳👏

06/04/2024

07/08/2023

One of my biggest challenges as a speaker is that I talk too fast. I find it difficult to pause while speaking. I believe it's because I think quickly and, unconsciously, assume that everyone listening thinks just as fast.

Of course, that's not the case. And even if the listeners were thinking as fast as I am, I don't give them the space to reflect on what I'm saying. It's no coincidence that stand-up comedians speak slowly and pause frequently. They allow the audience to immerse themselves in the storyteller's tale, paint their own mental picture of what's happening, and when they reach the punchline, they let the audience pause in the narrative so they can enjoy their comedic inner vision. They wait for the audience to finish laughing before moving on with their repertoire. They want to give the listeners full value for their money.

It's like letting the listeners savor a hard candy. Feel the shape, flavors, and hardness, and suddenly the candy breaks, releasing the delicious contrast you've been longing for. You pause, and slowly let your tongue move in your mouth, allowing the flavors of the core to spread out over your entire tongue to maximize the taste experience.

Compare that to quickly biting off the candy to get to the good part. But instead of a smooth transition, you feel shards poking your tongue, and the crushed candy gets wedged into the gaps between your teeth. Both flavors now mix, and you can't enjoy either one separately. And once you've swallowed the candy, you spend 10 minutes with the tip of your tongue trying to dislodge the crushed candy stuck between your teeth.

In addition, pausing when you speak is a powerful way to make your listeners perk up. It's like a Netflix "cliff-hanger." The audience holds its breath, eagerly waiting for you to continue and reveal what you're going to say next.

Try pausing when you talk today and see how the people you're conversing with react.

Regards
Rodolfo Camps
Vice President Public Relations

13/04/2023

A small recap from the Division Contest we had few weeks ago.

Malin did her hattrick of winning 3 years in a row in Prepared Speech in Swedish. Nice.
Tom, as a non-native got a well deserved bronze in Prepared Speech in Swedish. How cool isn´t that!?

We at West Coastmaster want to thank all functionaries who made the competition possible and all supporters who showed up IRL and online. A Big Thank You to you all 😍 for making that day a fun a memorable day.

16/03/2023

Congratulations to Tom, Guillaume, and Dominika who made our club proud at Area (B5) Competition on last Saturday.

Congratulations to Malin on winning International Speech in Swedish at Area (B4) Competition.

Tom will proceed to compete at Division Conference, where he will compete against Malin.

Division (B) Conference (competition) in Gothenburg on 1-2 April. It is free to attend (dinner at own expense). You can register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScDS9533v0tnQOrmjI6jiyPAAYSKSlwuOyvF50N2S3TH2XVEQ/viewform

02/03/2023

Congrats Malin Toftefors 🥳🎉 for completing level 3 in you speech course Leadership Development. Well done!!!

14/02/2023

If you haven´t done it yet you should try out Yoodli, the AI powered Speech Coach.

Yoodli evaluates ums and ahs, repeated words, non-inclusive words and language, top keywords, and any “weak” words like “totally” and “really,” and more. The AI program will also track your pacing and eye contact and provide recommendations on whether you could have included more pauses.

https://app.yoodli.ai/

Give it a go and them visit us at our next meeting the 22nd of February.

Improve your confidence with personalized communication coaching from Yoodli. Get feedback on your speaking skills without the pressure of an audience.

30/01/2023

A huge congrats to Tom Marlow who has finished and completed the Toastmaster Pathway Engaging Humor. 🥳🏆
Well done Tom and thank you for all your funny and enlightening speeches.

If you are curious about this path designed to help build your skills as a humorous and engaging public speaker read more here https://www.toastmasters.org/pathways-overview/pathways-engaging-humor-path