Toastmasters helped me overcome a crushing fear

Yikes! Public Speaking. That is almost as scary as handling snakes. Unless you are really into reptiles, then it can be even more frightening.

Toastmasters can lead you from being a virtual non-speaker into a confident speaker in an exciting and enjoyable way.

Let me tell you my Toastmaster’s Story. A Toastmaster friend of mine invited me to a meeting. I was definitely intrigued from the start but was barely able to say my name out loud during the introductions. It took me 7 meetings before I had the courage to sign on as a member. Joy, my friend and mentor, was with me all the way.

It took some time before I was ready for my first speech. The first speech is called the Ice Breaker. It is supposed to be about your life. I spoke about my travels around the world. The most thrilling times were when I rode an elephant in the northern jungles of Thailand and when I walked on the Great Wall of China. Once you get through your first speech and discover you are still alive, it gets easier for each subsequent speech.

The Ice Breaker is the first speech in the Competent Communication Manual. The manual contains 10 speeches each stressing a different speech skill. For my second speech I chose to speak about one of my teenage sailing experiences. The title of my speech was “To Win or Not to Win, That is the Question”. My crew and I were in the lead in an important race. If I could come in first I would win a trophy. Just when I thought I had the race clinched, a big gust of wind almost capsized the boat. My crew fell off the boat, but we still had a chance to win if I could get her back into the boat fast enough. Well, I tried pulling her on board, and she tried her best to climb in. As we were struggling, we watched two boats pass us by and cross the finish line.

We finally got my crew into the boat and finished 3rd. I guess the moral of the story is winning isn’t everything, but it sure would have been sweet.

After you finish your Competent Communication manual, you pick two advanced level manuals. I chose Speaking to Inform and Humorously Speaking. I wrote a speech entitled “From House to Home”. It concerned our first house that was in a super seedy section of Spenard, two blocks in from massage parlor row. The house was totally dilapidated. The speech was about our attempts to fix it up. The club had a contest and I won. I went on to the Area Contest and came in 1st. The next level was State. I was really nervous. Before the contest there was an open bar and dinner. The audience was getting loosened up – it didn’t hurt that the Toastmaster was really funny and put the crowd in a good mood. When it was my turn to speak, I went up to the mike thinking I might die. But instead of feeling nervous, I was overcome with a tremendous rush. I didn’t come in 1st, but I came in 2nd.

If I could go from nearly speechless to 2nd in the State Contest with the help of Toastmasters, just think how far Toastmasters can take you! You’re invited to join us on Tuesday’s downstairs in the MTA building from 6-7 p.m.. I hope to see you there.