Toastmasters
Toastmasters has been an incredibly helpful experience for me. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in improving communication and leadership skills. Many people fear public speaking, not just those of us who stutter. Toastmasters helps us gain the confidence needed to let our voices be heard, in our own way. In six years, I have held three club leadership positions. I have been Treasurer, Vice President of Education, and President of my chapter. I am currently an Area Governor and have completed the Toastmasters High Performance Leadership Project.
I have been involved in mentoring,and have had the privilege of seeing a person I am mentoring find her way and her voice. I was a member of a second club for Advanced Toastmasters, which helped me come out of my comfort zone even more. I have earned my ACG in August 2010, and along with my CL. I am close to receiving the highest designation awarded in Toastmasters – Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM.)
My biggest challenge has been to keep within Toastmaster time frames. My stuttering often manifests itself in prolongations and hesitations, which sometimes makes it impossible to stick to 5-7 minutes. I am OK with that for now, as I am still reveling in the magic of having found my voice. I have challenged myself to enter one Toastmaster speech contest, and have helped to facilitate several area speech contests.
Toastmasters and acceptance of stuttering has made a huge difference in my life. If you haven’t tried it, come and visit a club. You will find a supportive atmosphere with people who share the same goals, stuttering or not. (Updated 5/18/2012)
3 Responses to "Toastmasters"
April 12, 2010 at 7:28 PM
I heard of Toastmaster and few of my friends even insisted, but ignored them as I’m PWS and was scared internally to even think of speaking in public. After this article I should find Toastmasters Club in Calgary and try to join for leadership skill development. Thanks for this article. Manan
June 12, 2011 at 4:20 AM
I will try the next month. Do you have any advice for my first time? It’s nice to see there are people like you. I will do also my best.
June 4, 2009 at 10:39 PM
I actually attended a toastmasters meeting once and never went back as I thought this is no place for people who stutter.
I see where this has helped you a lot as you seem so confident in your speech deliveries that even though you stutter on some words, it does not distract from your speech.
I should try it again