A Toast To Toastmasters

When I say “Toastmasters,” I’m not talking about heating bread or spreading butter, even though I always make that joke and it’s always funny (to me).  What I’m talking about is the world’s premier speaking organization.

Toastmasters exists for the purpose of growing your public speaking and leadership abilities. It’s all over the world, including at least five groups within a ten mile radius from my house. It’s an organization I’m proud to be a part of.

What’s so great about Toastmasters?  There are a lot of reasons, but here are my faves:

You face your fears.  Primarily the one that’s worse than that of death.  The one that makes your mind empty, gut full, mouth dry, and palms wet.  The one you never get around to facing.  My greatest fear was the forever pause that could potentially occur if/when my mind goes blank and causes everyone to stare and think I’m dumb.  That was a real fear.  Toastmasters helps.

You clarify your own thoughts.  We all hold self evident truths and are experts in a wide array of topics – in our mind.  They make perfect sense until we try to explain them to someone else.  Nothing clarifies and completes your thoughts better than having to speak it out loud to a group of people.  You’ll find yourself doing research confirming things you thought were settled.  You’ll check sources and question your assumptions.  And then you’ll find yourself nitpicking whether you should use “there is” or “there are.”

You think about things you either never thought about before or haven’t thought about since you began your super busy monotonous life.  What song would you listen to if you could only listen to one song again?  What superpower do you wish you had and why?  Who’s been the greatest influence on your life?  These questions are answered in the segment of the meeting called Table Topics where you are called on to stand up and speak off the cuff for a minute or two on whatever the topic of the day is.  It’s fun, scary, and will get your mind moving.

You meet new people and make new friends.  Although you may be 100% different from everyone in your Toastmasters group, you’re all there for the same mission.  For that one hour a week, your group becomes your strongest advocate.  You will appreciate the cheers and high fives you get after you give your first speech, do a Table Topics talk, or successfully take on the role of Toastmaster.  It’s like a support group.  A few years ago, my wife showed me a video of a children’s play she directed where all the kids wept after giving their performance.  I get it now.

Lastly, and perhaps best of all, Toastmasters is at least 10 times more effective than college and it costs 1,647,458,549 times less (based on a $30,000 annual tuition).  You show up when you can show up.  There’s no penalty for being tardy.  We know you’ve got things to do: it’s OK.  (Just don’t sign up for a role and no-show).  Get as involved as you want to or are able and grow at your speed.  It’s perfect self-improvement for the self-motivated.

So here’s to you, Toastmasters.  Thank you for helping me become someone who can fearlessly speak in front of my friends for five to seven minutes with purpose, intention, and minimal “ahs,” “ums,” “you knows,” or pregnant pauses.  To you I raise my figurative glass.