Toastmasters

My (second) career involves a significant amount of public speaking and briefing senior management and client stakeholders. And since I'm not the best public speaker (although I have no trouble chatting up just about anyone in an informal setting), I decided to join Toastmasters a few months ago.

I've found it way more interesting and, gasp, fun than I ever thought it'd be. I've only given one speech so far (my Icebreaker speech), but I usually get up and speak in one way or another each week. That part is still a bit terrifying, but it's getting less and less terrifying each week. I was voted Best Speaker the night I gave my Icebreaker speech, so that helped a ton with my confidence.

Anyway, I was just curious if any of you have ever participated in Toastmasters and if so, what did you think of it?

 

Good God, that's a circle of hell for me. I have no idea how people speak publicly. Too much crippling self consciousness for me. Cool that you were able to dive right in, though.

 

It definitely took some getting used to. Still is, in a way. I joined in November, but didn't give my Icebreaker speech until mid January. I figured eventually someone would ask why the hell I'm there if I'm waiting so long to give my first speech.

It's been almost a month since then, and I'm not even close to ready for my second.

 

That scared the shit out of me.

 

Yeah but @QYFW doesn't know anything, so...

 

I know how to kick your ass in fantasy football.

 

Yeah good luck enthralling an audience of strangers with that one! *slinks away*

 

A Toastmasters group meets at my library every week. Not nearly as many weirdos as you'd think, but they have their share.

 

One of the cool things about Toastmasters is you get the chance to perform impromptu speaking each week. It's called Table Topics. There's a theme each week and someone asks questions related to that theme and calls someone up to answer. Helps you think on your feet and learn to organize your thoughts quickly, often about topics you know little about. That, also, is 100% terrifying.

 

I’ve been meaning to do this for a while.

I’m perfectly comfortable speaking in public - I’m just not interesting or organized enough to be effective at it.