If sweaty palms, a quivering voice and shaky knees are something you experience when you have to speak in front of people, a club exists that may be able to help you put those anxieties aside and improve your public speaking.
Toastmasters International is designed to help people conquer their fear of public speaking in a friendly environment and to improve speaking, listening and thinking skills.
Benoit Lavigne, a Beaufort resident, was a guest at the Jan. 17 Beaufort Chapter of Toastmasters International meeting and became a member that day. He heard about Toastmasters years ago but said he never had the time to join.
"As I get to represent my company in front of large corporations, it is important that I be able to convey my message clearly and professionally," said Lavigne, who works at CIMTechniques in Beaufort. "If you have to deal with other people in a professional capacity, you can gain tremendous benefits from Toastmasters."
According to the club's mission statement, Toastmasters is "to provide a mutually supportive and positive learning environment in which every member has the opportunity to develop communication and leadership skills, which in turn foster self-confidence and personal growth."
The first Toastmasters club was organized in 1924. Today the organization has more than 200,000 members in more than 10,000 clubs in approximately 90 countries.
The Beaufort chapter's meetings begin promptly at 8 a.m. with an introduction by E.G. Sebastian, president and area governor for Area 14, which includes Beaufort, Bluffton and Hilton Head Island. Bluffton and Hilton Head have their own chapters, and members can attend any of the chapters' meetings. The Beaufort chapter has been meeting continuously since 1993. The Hilton Head chapter formed in 1987, and the Bluffton chapter formed in 2004.
The toastmaster assigns table topics and randomly chooses members to deliver a one- to two-minute impromptu speech, forcing them to think quickly on their feet. The meeting's toastmaster, David Zanone, chose Lavigne for one of the discussions.
Lavigne's topic: Why was the American flag placed in the corner of the room?
Not knowing if Toastmasters International had specific reasons for the location of the flag, Lavigne successfully stumbled through a detailed, intellectual-sounding rationale for its position.
Although he did seem uncomfortable with the topic and uttered some "ahs" that the "ah" counter caught, Lavigne was awarded a ribbon at the conclusion of the meeting for best table topics speaker.
As the members work through the Toastmasters program, they give a number of speeches that emphasize different aspects of public speaking. Table topics train members to think on their feet. The prepared speech is another genre.
Members are evaluated by a number of measures. An evaluator critiques prepared speeches and offers feedback that acknowledges the speaker's strengths and areas that could be improved. Eye contact, hand gestures, cohesiveness and voice inflection are also judged.
The "ah" counter and grammarian listen closely to everything the speakers say. The "ah" counter is responsible for tracking the number of filler words such as "ah" and "um" speakers insert into their speeches. The grammarian listens for grammatical errors within the speeches.
Since the first meeting Lavigne attended in January, he has been selected for another table topics discussion and is scheduled to give his first prepared speech of four to six minutes in early March. He admits that being called on for table topics is unnerving.
Lavigne said, "When my name is called, the first thought is 'Why did he pick me? What can I possibly say?' As I stand, I have some butterflies, but once I start speaking, things calm down and the words just flow. Before I know it, two minutes have elapsed, and it's over. As with many things in life, getting started is more difficult than actually doing it."
Contact Amy Rigard at (843) 986-5537 or
arigard@beaufortgazette.com. To comment: beaufortgazette.com.
Picture by Bob Sofaly, The Beaufort Gazette