It was among the most troubling times of my life. I was asked to give a speech to my fellow cadets and was a wreck. I was shaking; I couldn’t make eye contact. I don’t know how I got through it. Later, I overheard one of the other cadets telling someone how bad my speech was.
Flash forward almost 30 years. I’m a middle-aged man, and it is my turn to give my first speech, called an “Ice Breaker,” at my local Toastmasters Club. I’m smooth and confident. I have rehearsed this and rehearsed it. Part of the meetings were 2-minute impromptu speeches on topics given randomly, and I nailed mine. As my longer speech ended, I received a standing ovation. When the meeting ended, I learned I was voted both best speaker of the night and best impromptu speaker by the club.
So, what happened in those 30 years? Did I grow up? Did I get a job that allowed me to hone my skills enough to excel in Toastmasters? Most of those 30 years were spent not doing public speaking training, but I did have a lot of practice with my speaking skills. Around 12 years ago, I was hired by the Schizophrenia Society of Alberta to give community education presentations. We provide a short PowerPoint presentation, then share our personal stories. I had improved my confidence and skills until the pandemic, when everything came crashing down.
It appears I sat down on my sofa one day, and then years passed since the end of the pandemic. When it was time to go back to in-person work, I was shy and nervous again, just like when I was a teenager. I knew I needed to do something about it.
Toastmasters Introduction
I found a Toastmasters meeting nearby, located in a Royal Canadian Legion Hall, something that made me feel a connection to the support we gave the Legion when I was in the Air Cadets. The meeting began with the group reading a tongue-twister as a warmup. Then, there was a business meeting, impromptu speeches, a break, and then 5-7 minute prepared speeches. Everything was evaluated, and a person was timing all aspects of the meeting.
My first impression was that the meeting was a lot of fun. Also, right away, I was friends with two group members. It was a diverse crowd; some people were new to Canada and wanted to build their language skills, and learned after joining that Toastmasters had a lot more to give them. Some were there to enhance their work; there was even a student who had ambitions of attending Law School.
What Toastmasters Is About
I thought Toastmasters was all about 2-hour meetings and that it was limited to a short course. But through the Toastmasters website, there is a huge amount of training videos, exercises, assignments, and even different ways to advance your abilities. I first chose a pathway called Presentation Mastery. I have decided that I will try to give one 5–7-minute speech every two weeks, which has taken up a lot of my time, spent learning online, writing my speech, and rehearsing it until I don’t need notes. I believe in lifelong learning, and Toastmasters not only gave me that, but it also gave me tangible skills to advance my career as a writer.
Many times in the past 15 years, my writing has led me into public speaking situations. It first happened early in my career when I was asked to teach creative writing. I did this a few times, and it was rewarding but difficult. Then there were writing workshops, panel discussions, and book launches. In so many ways, I needed to enhance my communication skills, and there was also always the chance I would be asked to give a keynote speech for a mental health conference, something that often comes with free travel and excellent pay.
When I first restarted Toastmasters meetings two years ago, I wasn’t sure what I was getting into. After trying out the online learning pathways and paying my dues, I was incredibly enthusiastic about the benefits Toastmasters held for so many. I recall talking to one former property manager about how amazing I thought the program was, and she told me (she managed many buildings) she often sends her employees to Toastmasters because it is an excellent way of improving confidence as well as communication and leadership skills.
Just about any organization can benefit from paying modest club dues and encouraging employees to attend Toastmasters. One of our members even writes off his dues at tax time as job training expenses.
The Benefits of Toastmasters
One of the great things about Toastmasters is that there may be 15 or 20 people in a meeting, but they all have a chance to participate. Each meeting requires a Sergeant at Arms, a Host/Toastmaster, speech evaluators, general evaluator, table topic master (impromptu speech leader) along with a grammarian, an “ah” counter, a timer, and anyone who isn’t assigned a role still has a chance to write notes to each of the speakers.
It may seem daunting that everything is evaluated, but Toastmasters believes in the ‘sandwich’ method of criticism, where you evaluate and give one positive comment, one point of improvement, then another positive comment. I have found that I grow in knowledge and strengthen friendships each time I go, and I always look forward to working on the website after meetings.
The Toastmasters Organization offers many benefits to those who attend. I don’t know how it happened, but in my email recently, I received an invitation to attend a conference in Ottawa and be on a panel of speakers. It happens in May, mental health awareness month, and I simply can’t wait. I have become so confident in my speaking that I don’t even need notes, and I no longer experience the severe anxiety that plagued my teen years. Toastmasters has brought me a long way.
