Nicely toasted: Helping public speakers one syllable at a time

Frontiersman

MAT-SU — If you show up for a Mat-Su Toastmasters breakfast with a loaf of bread and stick of butter, you may be disappointed.

For more than a decade, the local chapter of Toastmasters International has been helping people become better public speakers, listeners and leaders. An ongoing series of classes on speechcraft is drawing a handful of new and veteran “Toasties” (as those in Toastmasters International call themselves) each Tuesday morning. From 7:15 to 8:45 a.m., they work on their speechcraft while filling up on breakfast at the Windbreak Café in Wasilla.

“It’s just a comfortable place to be able to practice speaking and gain confidence in speaking, and leadership skills,” Mat-Su Toastmasters President Pat Purcell said.

By offering an outlet for people to practice and develop their speaking and listening skills, Toastmasters can benefit nearly anyone, Purcell said. For example, job-seekers present themselves better to potential employers if they can communicate clearly.

Locally, the Mat-Su club has helped business leaders, students and clergy, Purcell said. In her case, Purcell said she discovered Toastmasters about a year ago. Then a member of the Mat-Su Borough’s school board and an ongoing participant on the local Republican Women’s Club, Purcell said she realized the benefit of being a better listener and communicator.

“I thought (before Toastmasters) that I had a pretty good understanding of what you need to know,” she said. “But what you need to know and actually doing it are two different things. Toastmasters have a better way.”

That better way allows her to consider more carefully what she says before articulating a point, Purcell said.

“I think before I speak a little more,” she said. “It does make you stop and think, and now when just listening as part of a group to someone else speak, I find myself critiquing the way they’re speaking.”

What makes Toastmasters successful is its environment that depends on small groups — usually about 20 — that doesn’t meet in a classroom-type format, Purcell said. Instead, all are encouraged to speak on varied topics for short periods of time — one or two minutes. Each meeting also has members take turns performing critiquing functions.

• The grammarian keeps track of the grammar used during the meeting and points out errors.

• Someone known as the Wizard of Ahs counts the number of times people use unnecessary pauses in their speaking with an “um” or “ah.”

• The toastmaster runs the meeting.

• All are encouraged to bring “table topics” to present.

“There’s a whole art to being able to critique someone’s speech,” Purcell said.

That art is also very helpful when applied to practical purposes, she said. When Purcell was working on her spiel to recruit local Girl Scout leaders, she first tried it out on her fellow Toasties. The final result was a pitch that was very successful and has been used in other applications.

“Anyone can benefit from this, from the Girl Scout leader to the preacher to the homemaker who wants to communicate better with her husband,” she said.

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.

TOASTY TIDBITS

• Mat-Su Toastmasters meets mornings at the Windbreak Café in Wasilla, 7:15 to 8:45 a.m. Tuesdays through March 24.

• Cost is $39 every six months, plus a $20 registration fee. A $59 fee for the club’s current 2009 Speechcraft series includes registration and membership for six months.

• Worldwide, Toastmasters International has nearly 235,000 members in 92 countries.

• The group offers free resources online at www.toastmasters.org.

• For information about the Mat-Su Toastmasters, call club president Pat Purcell at 373-1777.