Features
Can We Talk?
Campus-based Toastmasters group offers members a sympathetic ear to calm public-speaking jitters
BY TERESA PITMAN
What scares you the most? Spiders? Snakes? High places? Confined spaces? These are all possible panic triggers, but one thing that makes a lot of people's lists is speaking in public. Just the thought of standing in front of an audience can make many of us break out into a sweat. If you share this fear and want to send it packing, Toastmasters can help.
“The program begins with baby steps,” says Peggy Pritchard, past president of Town and Gown Toastmasters and academic liaison in the U of G Library. “It gives people a safe, affirming environment where they can get up and give speeches and get feedback to do better next time.”
Completing the first stage of the program means giving at least 10 speeches, but Pritchard says each one builds on what the speaker has previously accomplished. “You can move on to more advanced speaking or to learning leadership skills, depending on your personal goals.”
Toastmasters International is a non-profit organization that's been developing public-speaking and leadership skills in local clubs since 1924. The U of G-based chapter, which meets Wednesdays from 7:15 to 8:15 a.m. in the OAC Boardroom in Johnston Hall, was launched in 2000. Members are drawn from both the University and surrounding communities.
Current president Hakeem Shittu, a graduate student in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, joined more than a year ago.
“I'm doing my PhD, and my goal is to become a professor,” he says. “Having public-speaking skills is essential to my career plans, but I'm quite shy. When I heard about Toastmasters, I knew this was the opportunity I'd been looking for.”
Shittu says he was surprised by the warm reception he got at his first meeting. And even though his nerves got the better of him for a while, “no matter how terrible your speeches are, the evaluations always start with the good things, letting you know what you did well.”
In the year since he started attending meetings, he's seen proof of the benefits. “I'm a teaching assistant in my department, and since joining Toastmasters, my evaluations have improved drastically. And I no longer feel shy when I have to talk to people.”
Prof. Blair Nonnecke, Computing and Information Science, knows just how Shittu felt. He lived in terror of public speaking when he was young.
“I avoided certain courses when I was an undergraduate to minimize having to speak or do presentations,” he says. “But as I got older, I realized how important public speaking is.” He joined Toastmasters in February.
Kathy Hanneson, co-ordinator of the College of Arts Media Centre, has been a Toastmasters member for seven years. She joined because she wanted to give better presentations at meetings and to feel more comfortable making introductions when the women's barbershop chorus she belongs to did public performances.
One meeting activity she's found particularly helpful is called “Table Topics.”
“The idea is to get practice in impromptu speaking, so everyone is assigned a topic. The topics are all related to the theme of the meeting. The goal is for each person to give a mini-speech in one minute on the assigned topic, with the same structure you'd use for a longer speech.”
These short talks are always fun and even the subject of some friendly competition, she says. Participants vote on which talk was the most convincing or entertaining, and a trophy is given to the winner.
That trophy has a dual purpose, adds Hanneson. “As a speaker, you often have to present awards or accept them, so this gives you some practice in doing that.”
There's also a dual purpose in the feedback group members give each other, she says. Besides helping the speaker learn what worked and what didn't, it builds the critiquing skills of the listeners, who take turns offering oral evaluations.
“You're often called on to do this kind of thing if you have to supervise people, and in Toastmasters you learn to do it in a positive way.”
Nonnecke says he was surprised by the quality of the critiquing done at the meetings.
“Many of the members aren't just good speakers — they're also very good listeners. From them I've learned something I hadn't expected — the art of criticism.”
He says this has proved useful in the classroom, where his students are often required to give presentations.
“Toastmasters has taught me how to create a more positive ambience for my students and give helpful feedback.”
Shittu adds that learning to evaluate others also improves your own skills and techniques.
“You learn not only from your own mistakes but also from seeing what other people do well and what mistakes they make.”
Nonnecke says he's been impressed by the number of international students who join the group. The first talk each new member gives is a personal introduction, and he's found these to be extremely valuable.
“We rarely get a chance to hear people tell their stories, and the people in this group are very interesting. There is great camaraderie and a real sense of mentoring. You can take away from it whatever you want — speaking skills, critiquing skills, meeting skills. It's all there for you.”
For more information about Town and Gown Toastmasters or to inquire about attending a few meetings as a guest, contact Eric Maginnis at ericmaginnis@sympatico.ca.