Not Just for Small Talk : Toastmasters Help People Gain Confidence in Public Speaking
Make no mistake about it, most people don’t like to get up before a large group to give a speech.
At least, that’s what members of the six Conejo Valley chapters of Toastmasters International will tell you.
Toastmasters is a group in which people learn to step up to the microphone with confidence. And members explain their involvement by reciting their view that the fear of public speaking outranks the fear of death 2-to-1.
They add that public speaking would surely outrank the fear of flying, fear of the dark, and even the fear of sipping from a sick friend’s straw, if such a survey were ever undertaken.
“It’s the No. 1 thing people are afraid of,” said Laraine Ferguson, who presides over 200 club members in the Conejo Valley. “A lot of people don’t realize it until you put them up in front of a room full of people. Then they’ll know exactly what we’re talking about.”
Every week, secretaries and business executives, real estate agents and retirees slip away for two hours to practice public speaking in a controlled environment, where meeting halls act as incubators for self-confidence.
“This is a speaker’s sandbox,” said Jim Graham, a Toastmaster and former FBI agent. “We learn to be comfortable here so we can be comfortable anywhere.”
The groups largely comprise people who work in such professions as real estate and sales, where presentations are a staple.
Three of the local clubs are sponsored by corporations--two by State Farm Insurance Co. and one by bioengineering giant Amgen Inc. Members of each of those clubs practice their speaking skills with company co-workers.
The other groups are open clubs, and members are diverse in age, gender and occupation.
At every meeting, Toastmasters stick to an established routine that begins with two extemporaneous speeches. Members are chosen at random and provided topics to speak on for three to five minutes.
Faced with this daunting task, some speakers speed through the five-minute talk while others lose focus and stumble.
Through it all, warm cajoling is accompanied by the frequent clang of a bell, tapped to alert the speakers that they have tripped over a word, or accidentally slipped on an “um” or an “ah.”
“We try to walk a line where we’re supportive but we also give gentle criticism,” said Patrick Millar, one of the leaders of the Thousand Oaks club. “The goal is improvement, and if we give no evaluation of the speeches, then no one’s going to get better.”
After the impromptu speeches, two members present prepared talks of five to seven minutes. When they are finished, other members step forward to offer their opinions.
“Generally, what we try to do is give the evaluation like a sandwich,” said Erich Briggs, president of one Thousand Oaks club. “We surround the meaty, critical remarks with compliments.”
The friendly approach has a purpose, Briggs said.
“Each one of these people has come to the group for a reason, and we don’t want them to be afraid to get up and give this a try,” he said. “The encouragement is an essential part of helping people overcome their fear.”
Some, such as real estate agent Linda Carson, joined after several other self-help courses and groups had failed her.
“My fear of communication goes back to my childhood,” Carson said. “I was deaf in one ear, so when people spoke to me, I sometimes said the wrong thing in response.”
Teased and taunted by other children, Carson said she became introverted and shy.
“Just the idea of speaking in public made my knees shake,” she said. “This became the major issue in my life that I needed to overcome.”
Carson said she joined Toastmasters because it forced her to speak up. And every speech is a triumph.
“I can’t even describe how it makes me feel,” she said. “It gives you a great sense of accomplishment.”
Toastmasters International was founded 70 years ago in the basement of the Santa Ana YMCA. With 8,100 chapters worldwide and more than 170,000 members, the group has capitalized on the business community’s increasing need for people who can communicate.
“People realized they could get ahead in business if they could get up in a board room and give a well-prepared, organized presentation,” Ferguson said. “That’s why corporations latched on to the idea with such enthusiasm.”
Major corporations such as Rockwell International Corp., McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Co. and Bergen Brunswig Corp. all have Toastmasters chapters.
And Toastmasters graduates include such top executives as Paul Orreffice, former chairman of Dow Chemical Co.; Peter Coors, chief executive of Coors Brewing Co., and Les McCraw, chief executive of Fluor Corp.
Just as many members, however, are independent business people looking for ways to excel in crowded markets, and homemakers hoping to build their self-esteem.
Joan Graham, a published poet who joined the Thousand Oaks club two years ago, said preparing and practicing her short speeches has actually aided her writing.
“It has helped me organize my thoughts and it taught me to set and meet goals,” Graham said. “And you become very aware of the need to be judicious with language.”
In addition, Graham said, Toastmasters has offered a unique atmosphere in which to bond with strangers from her community.
“It’s a very eclectic group,” she said of the Thousand Oaks club that meets Thursday nights. “You develop an immediate connection with everyone because you know you’re all feeling the same things.”
Ultimately, longtime member Bill Ferguson said, members realize that the task at hand--improving public speaking--is a vehicle for a range of accomplishments that vary from person to person.
“In many ways, Toastmasters is a safe haven,” he said. “You try things out here that you can’t try in the real world because it doesn’t cost you anything to fail.”
