Toastmasters International—

An Appreciative Audience For The Art Of Public Speaking

By Nancy K. Crevier

Speaking. Listening. Thinking. Everybody does these things without batting an eyelash. But not everybody does them well, and not everybody is comfortable with the way they form thoughts or the words that spill from their lips. And if these three automatic responses need to happen in front of a crowd with little time to prepare, adding a touch of stage fright can derail the whole kit and caboodle.

This is where Toastmasters International, and its local branches like WestConn Toastmasters, comes into play. Toastmasters is an organization that began in 1924 in California with a group of men who wanted to practice public speaking. The club grew in popularity to more than 10,500 chapters in 90 countries by the beginning of the 21st Century. Following a series of educational manuals that have been developed over the years, members learn the art of speaking, listening, and thinking in a positive environment with others eager to improve communication skills.

One of those chapters is WestConn Toastmasters, which meets the first and third Wednesday of each month at 8 pm at Wooster School in Danbury. Members from all over the western Connecticut region gather there, including several residents of Newtown.

Bruce Goulart has been with WestConn Toastmasters for more than 20 years, and was one of the first to join the group organized by the late James Kalley of Newtown. “I don’t even remember now exactly why I joined,” recalled Mr Goulart recently. “Jim Kalley encouraged me to join what was then a relatively new club.”

Charlotte Kalley, the wife of the late Mr Kalley, said that her husband enjoyed being with people of all calibers, and when they moved to Newtown, Mr Kalley felt that a Toastmasters club would provide an opportunity for men to better themselves. “Originally, Toastmasters was only a men’s group,” she said. “Now, I think there are probably more women than men in the group.”

WestConn Toastmasters first met in the Old Dominion Restaurant on Route 6, she said. As membership grew, the club moved to larger quarters at Danbury Middle School and then on to Wooster School.

“Jim saw that there was an educational purpose to Toastmasters,” said Ms Kalley.

Meetings are divided into three parts. Table topics are a form of impromptu speaking, followed by formal speeches, and then evaluation with specific feedback from the members.

“The act of presenting a speech gives you organizational skills,” said Mr Goulart. “Without Toastmasters, I wouldn’t have developed the skills to develop a speech. It helped me improve my speaking skills in all areas of my life,” he said. He is in the construction business, and frequently has reasons to communicate important information to others. “Toastmasters has given me the confidence to speak in front of people,” said Mr Goulart.

Another longtime Toastmaster is Don Lococo. As an employee of Datahr Rehabilitation (now known as Ability Beyond Disability) 13 years ago, Mr Lococo was asked to help people with acquired brain injuries gain confidence in public speaking and other speaking skills. The group eventually decided to become a chartered Toastmasters group, and became the Socially Speaking group in Brookfield. When the Socially Speaking group decided that a larger membership would benefit them, they merged with the WestConn club, said Mr Lococo. “WestConn has helped the Socially Speaking group and is very involved. This way, too, our members are able to go to a Toastmasters meeting on a weekly basis,” he said, which is quite beneficial for those working on speaking issues. “Toastmasters has helped some of the people I’ve worked with to gain confidence and reach personal goals.”

He has benefited from Toastmasters, as well, said Mr Lococo. “It has helped me in being comfortable speaking with all kinds of people in different situations, whether they are disabled or not. In Toastmasters, you make friends, and it’s a fun environment, never boring. You always learn something, too,” said Mr Lococo.

Even short-term, the organization can be beneficial, said Liz Fay of Sandy Hook. “I joined about a year ago because I teach rug hooking and textile arts classes and need to get up in front of people and speak. I wanted to get better at it.”

She went regularly for a few months and found the tips that she picked up there very beneficial. “The key is to get up and speak a lot. At the first meeting I went to, they talked about what makes a good speech: a beginning, a middle, and an end. You want to grab a listener’s attention, wrap it up, and go out with a bang,” she said. Having an “um” counter at the meetings to keep track of how many times a speaker pauses to say “um” or “ah” or other distracting thought-gathering devices was also helpful to Ms Fay, she said. “It makes you very aware of when you are about to throw one of those phrases in.”

The informal table topic portion of the meeting, in which a speaker is called upon by another member to speak on a topic selected by that person, is a great technique to practice off the cuff speaking, said Ms Fay.

“The feedback is really helpful, too. [The other members] never just criticize. It is a very supportive environment, and nonthreatening.”

Even though she is not presently active with WestConn Toastmasters, Ms Fay said that the good experience she had was enough for her to recommend it to others hoping to improve public speaking.

“I had always been a little uncomfortable speaking in front of groups,” said Tracy Van Buskirk, a vice president and portfolio manager at Webster Bank in Danbury. When she had to speak before a board of directors meeting about a year and a half ago, Ms Van Buskirk became a bit apprehensive. Her job also puts her in contact with a large customer base, and being able to better organize her thoughts, she thought, would give her a more professional image when meeting customers.

“I was aware of the Toastmasters organization, so I looked for a local group,” she said. She first joined the Socially Speaking group, but moved to the larger WestConn group eventually, where she was able to get more feedback and practice.

She found quick results in the group. “I got over that hump of having to stand up in front of people,” she said. “The evaluations always emphasize the positive and how you can make improvements.” She finds herself more at ease with speaking now not only in her role at Webster Bank, but as a scout leader, getting up in front of social groups, or giving data-filled talks to her peers. “Toastmasters shows you how to make a presentation succinct and to the point,” she said.

More than anything, Ms Van Buskirk believes that improving speaking, listening, and thinking skills results in the chance to say “yes” to opportunities a person might not have previously said “yes” to, and for both personal and career growth, that is a big plus.

As Toastmasters members master the various levels of speaking, she said, they are never judged against one another — except in competitions.

Bruce Goulart enjoys the competitions. “When there are competitions, I like to compete, for sure,” he said. “There are different levels of competition. The contest is either a more formal international speech contest or what they call a ‘tall tales’ competition. In the tall tales, the speaker has to develop and deliver an original speech.”

In February, Ms Van Buskirk entered her first competition, and walked away the winner of the local level in the tall tales division. “The speech had to be imaginative, short, and entertaining. You try to think about the vocabulary you are going to use, and find descriptive words that can invoke a feeling or image for the listeners,” said Ms Van Buskirk.

Her speech was entitled, “A Fanciful Creature That Lives in the Quarries of Maine.” She will go on to area competition later this spring.

Seeing real, measurable improvements in other members is gratifying, said all of the Toastmasters associates.

“The club is for anyone,” said Mr Goulart. “If you want to improve communication and leadership skills, it is a great place to go. Even if you’re comfortable speaking, you can always improve. You can always learn something.”