T is for Toastmasters

Are you nervous and afraid to make a presentation at school, work, church or some organization you belong to? Do you just wing it and hope that you get your message across and will live to tell the tale?  You're not alone.

Public speaking is one of the most frequent fears.

There is an organization with a local club that will welcome you and help you. It is called Toastmasters.

Best of all it is inexpensive and fun!

I was a Toastmaster for a number of years. I would still be a member today if not for my hearing getting so bad that I can't participate.

Toastmasters is a communication and leadership organization. Everyone joins to improve their communication skills and then find out that their leadership skills also benefit.

The clubs offer you a chance to speak and be evaluated by your peers in a non-threatening environment. You will quickly learn to discard those annoying filler ah's, um's, you know's and dude's when you speak. (Most charge you a nickle every time you utter one in a meeting — luckily for me, my club had a quarter maximum fine.)

I joined, got my info packet and soon gave my first speech at the club. Not very much later, I was recruited as an officer.  I volunteered to write a weekly newsletter. I progressed.

In due course, I completed enough speeches and leadership positions to earn my Distinguished Toastmaster award. The DTM is the highest award available.  I won several state level newsletter competitions and won two International newsletter awards. In 1985, I was named Toastmaster of the Year for District 47, out of the 3,000+ Toastmasters in Florida and the Bahamas.

Toastmasters gave me the confidence to give presentations at technical conferences across the U.S., give keynote speeches to statewide conventions, speak on the rubber-chicken circuit in my community and give seminars for my company's HR department.  All this, despite the fact that I am an introvert supreme.

At one time, I got my boss involved with Toastmasters. One day, he gave a speech on our company's promotion procedure. The example he showed on the overhead projector was my promotion package. What a pleasant surprise. My work with HR and my speaking gigs at conferences was heavily noted in the packinge. In 50 years of working that is the only title promotion I ever received.

I have seen so many success stories among my Toastmaster buddies. I hope you will investigate Toastmasters and will share your success story with me. Peruse their website and find a club near you.