I am a member of a very vibrant Toastmasters club. Toastmasters is a group that teaches speaking and leadership skills through peer to peer evaluation. Most people think of it as an organization in which you go to practice public speaking. In my first year with the program I have found that Toastmasters is much more than that. Below is a short list of the ways that I have benefited from Toastmasters.
Confidence
I have an increased confidence and not just with speaking. At our club, members are encouraged to walk around and personally greet every member and guest in the room. This practice has given me the confidence to walk up and introduce myself to new people in other social and business settings. I have developed many new relationships that may have never occurred due to my prior shyness.
Introductions
How often do you meet someone only to forget there name immediately? At our club meeting, each member introduces another member or guest to the rest of the room. You also give a little nugget of information about this person. Assigning a piece of information to a face and a name really allows the person to sink into your memory.
Impromptu Speaking
Besides the prepared speeches, there are plenty of opportunities for impromptu speaking. One such opportunity is the Table Topics session of the meeting. A question is asked and then a member is called upon to answer it. This simulates real life events in which you may be caught off guard with a question such as in a job interview, or from your kids "where do babies come from?", etc. In addition to Table Topics, there are also the verbal speech evaluations and explanations of functionary roles. Speech evaluations are a two to four minute improvisational mini speech in which you provide commentary and suggestions on one of the prepared speeches. The functionary roles are predetermined but members often put there own spin when called upon to give an explanation for newer members and guests.
Listening
The functionary roles of ah counter and grammarian provide unique opportunities to improve your listening capabilities. As the person performing one of these roles, you have to listen intently to every speaker and report later on what was done well and what or who could use improvement. Each member also gives a written evaluation each prepared speech. To give an effective evaluation, you must pay close attention to speech structure, grammar, body language, and a multitude of other factors that go into giving a quality speaking performance.
Leadership
There are plenty of leadership opportunities in Toastmasters. You can be a Toastmaster of the meeting: organize the meeting scheduling speakers, evaluators, and other roles. You can be elected to an officer position of the club. There are several members of a clubs executive committee that coordinate events on a club level. You can also move up to leadership positions in the organization at a district level and above. Leadership opportunities are endless.
Networking
Between club, district, national and international events, Toastmasters is a great venue to meet people from all different backgrounds and industries. Besides meeting some great people on a personal level, my involvement with Toastmasters has led to multiple side jobs.
Community Service
Many Toastmaster clubs are active in the community teaching communication skills at schools, homeless shelters, and community centers. I personally had the opportunity to work with some local high school students in preparing speeches for competition. It was amazing to work with such talented young speakers. There is a saying "To teach is to learn something twice", I could not agree more.
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As you can see, Toastmasters is much more than public speaking. It is also a great value. Personal speaking and leadership coaches can cost thousands of dollars. The toastmaster dues for my club is under $100 a year. Check out the Toastmasters website for more information about the organization and to find a club near you.
-Rex
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