My Toastmasters Experience

A Quick Summary

A few days ago, I attended a local Toastmasters meeting near where I work. For those unfamiliar, in a nutshell, Toastmasters is an organization that is in the business of empowering individuals by developing communication and leadership skills.

Meeting Layout

Meetings are very organized, which I liked. The meeting I attended began with an introduction to Toastmasters and what the day’s meeting would hold. There would be two prepared speeches, some table-top speeches (impromptu speeches where anyone could be called on), several bouts of voting, and assessments.

Know what you want to say and how to say it

It appeared that each time someone spoke, they were very mindful of what they were saying. They deliberately avoided the “umms”, “likes”, and “ahhs” that litter today’s improvised speech. Listening to everyone I began to realize the power that is behind speech and communication. I found that you can say more using less words when you organize your thoughts and deliver your message with appropriate word choice.

Pauses are your friend

When you know what you want to say and have devised how you want to deliver the message, you can take your time. I realized that the reason why we use those filler words is due to our unease with silence during conversation. Several speakers during the meeting seemed to have mastered the art of the appropriate pause — this is much different from the dramatic pause. There was no fear of the silence; on the contrary, they embraced it and utilized it to give the audience an opportunity to fully take in what they had just said.

Look smart without glasses

The effect having good communication skills produces is quite amazing. Nothing makes a person seem more intelligent than what comes from their mouth. I believe it’s the second characteristic people judge upon meeting someone new, following their appearance; however, I believe it holds much greater weight.

Remember that you’re always being evaluated

What surprised me most about Toastmasters was the depth to which they evaluate one another. It seemed like everyone was watching for everything from everyone. The speakers were evaluated; and in turn, their evaluators were evaluated. Everyone was listening for sentence fillers, looking for appropriate gestures and use of floor space, word choice, eye contact, and much more. This made me contemplate how possible it was that we do this level of evaluation to others in our daily lives. We’re constantly judging others based on these factors and more. The lesson taken away from this was to always be vigilant of how you’re portraying yourself. Never let someone develop a false or negative impression of you; display your best self and force their opinion according to your will.