Natick Residents Toast To Better Communication Skills

For anyone whose stomach drops at the thought of speaking to an audience, you are not alone. 

On the first and third Wednesday of each month, fellow public speaking-phobics meet at Whitney Place on Route 9 to improve their communication skills. The group is called the Framingham/Natick Toastmasters, a division of Toastmasters International, an entirely volunteer-run organization focused on improving public speaking skills.

Member Dan Sharry said, “I’ve been a member for about a year and a half. It focuses on helping people become better communicators...through a variety of club opportunities to give speeches...before fellow members.”

He also said that when someone joins the Toastmasters, they receive various materials including a “Competent Communication Manual,” which includes a series of 10 prescribed presentations and speeches that members can give over the course of their time with the Toastmasters.

Though some members go through the 10 fairly rapidly, sometimes in only one year, Sharry said, “It’s the kind of thing where people maybe start slowly and then sort of pace themselves forward...the idea is to give people experience in speaking publicly [and] confidence to speak in public with the benefit of member feedback so they get an idea of how they’re doing.”

Each bi-weekly meeting has a specific agenda which allows people to participate at different levels depending on their comfort or their place along the spectrum of the manual. For example, there may be a one-minute invocation, or a thought for the day, followed by a one and a half minute humorous speech, all the way up to five or seven-minute speeches.

Sharry noted that one thing all members have in common is their fear of speaking in public.  “Everybody thinks that they are the worst public speaker in the world, I suspect.”

He also added, “Everybody improves,” and that there are a “variety of ways [the Toastmasters] formula helps people in all facets of becoming a better communicator.”

The Framingham/Natick Toastmasters meet from 6:45 to 9 p.m. on the first and third Wednesdays of the month and encourage curious parties to drop in and observe a meeting or two for free. The fee for joining includes a one-time payment of $20 and a twice-yearly payment of $43.

For more information about the Framingham/Natick Toastmasters, visit www.framinghamnaticktm.org.