Severna Park Toastmasters Help Improve Speaking Skills, Marketability

Raise your hand if you’ve ever had a King’s Speech moment, blanked out mentally when speaking, or maybe added one too many ah, ums, and, you knows. Go ahead, raise your hand, no one’s looking.

Yep, thought so. It happens. And it happens a lot to most of us at one time or another. So much so that many refrain from public speaking altogether. 

Coming to the rescue are members from the local nonprofit Severna Park chapter of Toastmasters International. But unlike Toastmasters of the past that may come to mind, today’s members are young, hipper, diverse students, professionals, and homemakers - all wanting to improve their communication skills.

“We are a nonprofit, member-driven organization,” said Andre Butler, the group’s vice president of membership. “We don't conduct public speaking courses, there are no instructors, and no one's work is graded.”

Outside of the group, Butler is a student at Anne Arundel Community College studying Criminal Cyber Crime and an employee at a local car dealership. His skills have come in handy for class presentations. 

“I’ve been able to practice some of my class presentations here first,” said Butler who attends the group along with his father Mark Butler, a engineer with Northrop Grumman.

“In Toastmasters, the club meetings are the workshops where members not only give speeches but manage meetings and perform other roles that give them practice in a variety of communication experiences. I like to think of it as a fitness club for speaking skills,” said the younger Butler.

Hey who couldn’t use a fitness club for honing your speaking skills.

Severna Park resident Paul English, who has been a member of the local Toastmasters chapter since it was chartered last June, agrees. He’s uses his new found skills in his career as a consultant in project management in the power industry and as a trustee for a boys club in Covington, VA.

“My fear wasn’t public speaking, but speaking publicly,” said English. “I’ve spent a good deal of time overcoming that phobia.”

He’s not alone. Surveys have shown that public speaking is among the top fears most people have – in fact, it’s been said that many of us are more afraid of speaking in public than of death.

At Toastmasters, members learn to overcome their anxieties by speaking to a small group of fellow speakers through impromptu and/or prepared speeches and who, in return, provide constructive feedback in a supportive manner.

The emphasis here is on supportive. Speakers-in-training even add to their vocabularies each meeting, learning one new word to incorporate into their talks.

“Toastmasters is a big laboratory where everyone gets to experiment in a risk-free environment,” added English. “You can iron out kinks and improve your confidence.”

Weekly club meetings consist of 20 to 30 members who rotate through the roles of speaker, evaluator, timer, or grammarian in order to provide positive feedback. The program is self-paced and skills are geared towards improving leadership abilities.

“The goal is to provide a mutually supportive environment that enables you to gain valuable leadership skills,” said Oscar Zalamia, a 15-year member of Toastmasters International and a past district governor.

And if you didn’t already need another reason to join, consider the fact that this basic communication skill may be the very thing that might give you an edge in keeping your job or finding a new one. 

“The griff (the meeting’s daily word of the day) of the matter is that excellent speakers get jobs faster, get their ideas heard, and typically get promoted or earn more,” said Zalamia.

Zalamia’s speech during a recent gathering went on to add that good communication is an art form. And developing and honing this very important skill can give you a distinct advantage in today’s world with the added confidence it brings, both personally and professionally.

In these tough economic times, it’s even more imperative to make yourself as valuable as possible – whether you’re holding down a job or seeking employment.

Since the first Toastmasters group began in California back in 1924, more than a million men and women internationally have benefited from its communication and leadership programs. Today the organization serves members in 113 countries through 12,500 chapters.

Members of the Severna Park chapter gather on the first and third Tuesday of each month throughout the year at on Baltimore Annapolis Blvd. Meetings last for one hour, beginning promptly at 7 p.m. For additional information, visit www.severnapark.freetoasthost.org or contact Andre Butler at 410-487-3381.