Public Speaking Exercise Builds Confidence Muscle

I attended a Toastmasters (TM) Leadership Institute Conference in California last Saturday.  District 12 is home to 100-plus, Toastmasters clubs throughout the Riverside and San Bernardino Counties: http://www.toastmasters.org    

New Jersey offers 184, or so, clubs in various districts. One of the things I like about conferences is meeting up and conferring with fellow TMs. No two clubs are alike either in club dynamics, accommodating venue or diverse membership. We can visit other TM clubs all over the world; it's indeed an international fellowship and forum.

I also favor continuous learning especially when mentorship in public speaking and writing are on the agenda; I don’t have to reinvent any wheels.  Rather, I can improve the trusty, dusty wheels on which I’ve traveled many a professional path, with ne’er an irreparable flat tire.

I’ve been a member of TM since 2007: currently, Menifee Club
2002786. Here’s how I make time for the meeting:  I mark it in my calendar as an ‘A’ appointment every week, to the exclusion of all else. The meetings occur
whether I’m there or not.  If I miss out, I miss out, but there’s always next time – no demerits, no retribution, no kidding.  It’s kind of like going to the
gym for a work out:  I’m more likely to reap the health and well-being benefits when I slate a little time each day to take care of my physical vessel. 

There’s nothing punitive about my work outs. In fact, the sessions provide many luxuries: I don’t feel badly when I eat an ice cream cone or a whole box of cookies on occasion. I like how I look at this stage in my middle-aged life.  What’s more, my health (physical, spiritual, mental) is governed by the gym’s playground.  I’m free to partake of any piece of equipment or scheduled class the gym offers when I’m sad, happy, indifferent, angry, frustrated, hyper, distracted, tired, feeling lumpy, wearing ratty sweats or a pretty yoga ensemble.  I can go any time, as many times, wherever there’s a 24 Hour Fitness: 24/7, 360 days per year.

Still, there’s room for improvement.  I LOVE going to the gym to see my defined
biceps contract into taut, little muscle mounds when I do cable curls.  Watching my technique in the mirror, I think:That’s really me? Daaaang, girl!  Do another set!

Though the availability of TM meetings isn’t as infinite as the gym, TM still offers similar, public speaking exercises for a nominal fee (since it’s a nonprofit, educational, international organization), depending on the club.  For example, leadership training in club operations easily translates into my professional arena:  accounting; tending to membership; resolving minor conflicts; running logistics; planning events; meeting deadlines; proper attire, predicated on FUN!

I’m always ready to address various forums because I’m prepared to do so, imromptu, or no. I’m trained to facilitate meeting environments which begin and end on time. I know how to compose an agenda.  I’ve learned how to create and administrate websites in TM – the computer didn’t blow up, nor did the data disappear intocyberspace.  I’ve learned to effectively and diplomatically get to the point of the meeting or speech, with and without the use of PowerPoint.

I’m fundamentally timid, cultivating a growing confidence among TMs readily sharing their broad-based backgrounds.Organizations can hold meetings either open or closed to the public. For example: Prudential Financial Inc., located in Newark, is open to employees of the corporation, while the AT&T Middletown club is open to the public. Similarly, Bergen Toastmasters in Ridgefield Park is open to everyone.

As a Division ‘D’ Governor (Palm Desert, CA.) for one year, I functioned as a TM emissary to 22 clubs while completing the goals toward earning the Distinguished Toastmaster credential.  Now I focus more on TM mentorship and the collective goals of the organization.  I continuously morph into a seasoned speaker and wonderful writer, in large part, because I GET TO practice among my peers in TM who grant encouragement and constructive feedback in return. I’ve never  met a fellow TM I didn’t like. I’ve never been to a hospitable, TM event where I didn’t go back for thirds, stealthily sweeping through the salad and the dessert bars.  I’ll be hitting the gym this evening with a clear, calorie conscious and butterfly thoughts lighting on my vibrant, creative idea axons.

TM guests are always welcome.  For information on starting a club or
attending a meeting, check the TM website: http://www.toastmasters.org

Lynda StarWriter is a freelance writer and a professional speaker: lyndastarwriter@aol.com