My first Toastmasters meeting

About 3 weeks ago, I mentioned my desire to join a local Toastmasters club in order to conquer my fear of public speaking. Well last Tuesday, I went to my first meeting. I HATED IT. It made me uncomfortable, and nervous, and I couldn’t wait for it to be over so I could go home and never go back again. But that’s how I know that this is the right place for me to be. It’s not just a career skill I’m trying to gain, it’s a life skill. Whether it’s going to a panel job interview, presenting in a meeting at work, networking within your industry, or even just socializing at parties with people you don’t really know – it’s something we all have to do in our lives. And some of us (like me) just aren’t that great at it.

So I’m going to think about it for a few days, but I’m pretty sure that I’ll end up forking over my money to pay to spend my Tuesdays being awkward and uncomfortable. The only thing holding me back at this point is creating time in my schedule. Because I have non-work-related obligations as it is on Monday & Wednesday evenings, as well as Saturdays and Sundays throughout most of the year, I need to make sure that I’m giving myself enough time to work and write and be creative. I already feel like I’m stretching myself as it is, but perhaps if I can organize myself a bit better, I can find a way to free up my Tuesday evenings.

What is it going to cost ?
There is a $45 initiation fee, and semi-annual payments of $80 for the club that I am joining. It’s actually more expensive than I thought it would be, but because this is a business-related expense, I could write it off come tax time.

How was the meeting?
The meeting was different than I thought it would be. Almost everybody at the meeting has a role to play, and it was very structured. Every time a person spoke, they were timed. There were scheduled speeches, as well as impromptu short speeches where someone calls on a member to come up and speak on-the-spot about a topic. I think I’ll be okay with the scheduled speeches because you get to prepare for them, but those impromptu speeches are a little scary. There are also people evaluating your speech, and they will give you feedback in front of the group after you are done. There is also a grammarian who will look out for unique words and phrases, and count your filler words (like ‘and,’ ‘um,’ and ‘like’).

Everybody there was very supportive and because I was a guest at the meeting, I had the choice to opt out of the impromptu speeches – which I clearly did. :) I did get a chance to address the group for about 30 seconds at the end of the meeting though. Baby steps!

2 Responses to “My first Toastmasters meeting”

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1. Min Min says:

   Monday, March 7, 2011 - 07:58am at 7:34 am

   Between 2006-208, when I was living overseas in Asia and the US, I met a lot of people. I also got really good at introducing myself and can make a good impression fast … in a social setting. However, I was reminded last Saturday at a job fair that I STILL get nervous during interviews! I know it can be frustrating, but good on to you commit to Toastmasters. I’ve thought about it and am still screwing up the courage for it … !

   Reply
2. Krista says:

   Wednesday, August 10, 2011 - 04:10am at 4:51 am

   I hate public speaking. It makes me nervous and uncomfortable. I need to take some sort of public speaking class to get over this. Maybe I should check out toastmaster in my area. I never knew something like this existed.

   Reply

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