WELCOME TO CLEVELAND FORUM

Cleveland Forum is a friendly, supportive group that meets twice a month in Cleveland.  The aim of our meetings is to improve confidence and communication skills, and meet other members of our community.  Members learn and practise many skills, including public speaking, how to prepare and deliver special occasion speeches, how meetings run, the roles and duties of office bearers, and workshop facilitation.  Feel free to contact us if you would like to learn new skills, enhance your abilities and meet new people.  Visitors are always welcome.

Email: forum@beconfident.org.au

Meetings

Meetings are usually held on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month, from 12.30pm – 2pm.

Meeting location is usually the Cleveland Library Meeting Room, corner Bloomfield Street and Middle Street Cleveland – please contact us before attending to confirm venue as it is subject to change. Email forum@beconfident.org.au

We always have a varied agenda so our members gain experience in many aspects of speaking.

Visitors are most welcome to come as our guest.

Email: forum@beconfident.org.au

Please note that many of our meetings include speeches AND learning segments to assist you to become a confident presenter.

Every meeting is different. We have a main speaker to a set title with other members speaking to the same title. Some meetings we have 2 titles for members to stretch their ideas. Some speeches are serious, some investigative and some are a lot of fun. Be ready for plenty of intellectual rigour!

Every meeting includes small tutorials in speaking and meeting procedure, with members taking turns to lead the meeting as Chairman if they wish to do so.

Schedule of meetings for 2026:

Thursday 16 July 2026 – 12.30-2.15pm  Learn how to present Opposing Views in a civilized manner!

Thursday 23 July 2026 – 12.30-2.15pm Public Speaking Course week 1    bookings essential

Thursday 30 July 2026 – 12.30-2.15pm Public Speaking Course week 2    bookings essential

Thursday 6 August 2026 – 12.30-2.15pm Public Speaking Course week 3   bookings essential

Thursday 13 August 2026 – 12.30-2.15pm Public Speaking Course week 4   bookings essential

Thursday 20 August 2026 – 12.30-2.15pm Public Speaking Course week 5   bookings essential

Thursday 3 September 2026 – 12.30-2.15pm Public Speaking Course week 6   bookings essential

Thursday 17 September 2026 – 12.30-2.15pm Speech Title Sell, Sell, Sell come along for a fun afternoon!

Thursday 1 October 2026 – 12.30-2.15pm  Speech Title A Fairytale With a Twist  sounds intriguing?  come and join us

Thursday 15 October 2026 – 12.30-2.15pm Speech Title  If I Could Trade Places With…

Thursday 29 October 2026 – 12.30-2.15pm Social Outing 

Thursday 5 November 2026 – 12.30-2.15pm Meeting Theme is: Reaching Out This is a community meeting, other clubs & organisations are invited to come along and share information about their activities in the community

Thursday 19 November 2026 – 12.30-2.15pm Speech Title Song’s with a Deep Connection 

Thursday 3 December 2026 – 12.30-2.15pm Christmas Party – venue to be confirmed

What others are saying …

I first joined Forum to gain some confidence to do best man speech at my friend’s wedding, the thought of getting up at such a big event in front of 120 people terrified me. The skills I learnt and opportunities available to put knowledge into practice was invaluable and I feel much more comfortable getting up in front of an audience in all situations than I did previously.  – Richard, Bayside Forum

Forum helped me in my career with speaking to clients and knowing how to highlight the main points of each project for their benefit and understanding. In my community I’ve been able to participate in meetings effectively and pass these skills to others. The people I’ve met in Forum have given me a greater knowledge of my community and how it works. – Pam, Cleveland Forum 

I was introduced to Forum by an amazingly helpful member whose guidance and mentoring helped me quickly see the importance of both speaking with confidence and being able to run an effective meeting in my role then as Retirement Living Officer.  Attaining and practising those skills meant that all avenues of my life changed and so many opportunities opened up.   I am forever grateful to Forum for its inspirational leaders and members.   – Elaine, Bayside Forum

Health and Safety

Please do not attend if you are experiencing any cold and flu symptoms.