“We learn best in moments of enjoyment” was a favourite saying of Ralph Smedley, the man who founded Toastmasters in 1924. Anne Carre, founder of the BYTE Your Tongue Toastmasters club, couldn’t agree more.

Anne Carre is a natural people developer. She has been with the Bytes Group for 17 years, overseeing the technical and customer support areas.

Eight years ago she first raised the need to develop the communication and leadership skills of technical and sales employees. “I knew from experience that many young people struggle to move from the computer interface to the customer interface that requires high levels of communication and interaction,” says Anne. This often happens when the good technical people are promoted into sales, consulting or customer training roles.

In early 2009 Anne’s persistence paid off when Bytes agreed with Toastmasters International to start two Bytes clubs: Eloquence in Motion at Bytes Managed Solutions and BYTE Your Tongue at Bytes in Midrand.

Toastmasters is not only about talking. “The supportive and positive environment offers the perfect place to cultivate the attributes of a true leader,” says Anne.

Anne was voted BYTE your Tongue’s first club president. From the outset the club gained a solid following, and currently has 30 full-time members. Its remarkable growth caught Toastmasters International’s eye and the young club was named the most promising new club in the Southern African Region in 2009. In the same year, Toastmasters International also acknowledged the role that an organisation plays when management actively encourage their staff to form a Toastmasters club.

This award was presented to BYTE Your Tongue on 17 October by Poh Kim Siong, a Distinguished Toastmaster and International Director.

In 2010, BYTE Your Tongue achieved Select Distinguished Club status, an honour seldom attained by a new club.

In July this year, Anne was asked to become area governor of Division H5 and now shares her nerd-busting people magic with the five clubs under her wing.

“I would like to acknowledge the dedication and commitment from an incredible committee as well as the commitment and perseverance from our passionate members, without whom we could never have enjoyed the phenomenal success that our club has achieved,” says Anne

A toast to Rene
On 2 October it was announced that BYTE Your Tongue’s Rene Schoeman has won the Van Blerk Memorial Trophy for 2010. The award is given to a person who has been a Toastmaster for between one and two years and who has made a significant contribution to the goals and mission of her club.

The recipient should also be recognised by her fellow club members for outstanding contributions in a number of specific areas, such as membership building and retention. The Southern African region of Toastmasters consists of 127 active Toastmasters clubs in nine countries.

This year, 27 nominations were received for the Van Blerk Memorial Trophy.

“I have personally witnessed an incredible transformation in the speaking abilities of our members and this can only have positive spin-offs for our business.”
Rob Griggs, MD of Bytes Systems Integration

“Toastmasters gave me my voice.”
Rene Schoeman

Toastmasters has energised me, and is a lot of fun.”
Skip Franzsen, president of BYTE your Tongue