Leadership and Confidence

I realized the power of presenting in front of an audience many years ago. I was the PTA president at the small school my children attended. Part of my volunteer role included collaborating with the school administration and parents as well as lead the board activities. A big part of the role was motivating parents to act in support of school fundraisers.
 
As I stood on the small stage, in front of about 100 pairs of eyes, I had that aha moment. Along with the power I had for those few minutes, I recognized the need to respect my audience and be clear about my goals. This led me to Toastmasters, an organization focused on building leadership and presentation skills. 
 
For over a decade, I showed up for the Friday “Happy Hour” to support my fellow Toastmasters and work on my own skills. I realized that while I do love the sound of my voice, my audience does not enjoy hearing ah’s, um’s, so so’s, and tongue clicks. Thanks to the role of Ah Counter, I quickly became aware of those crutches and learned to exhale and pause instead. When I hear a “professional” speaker now and they are using these crutches, I get so distracted and judgey!
 
The first speech is called the Ice Breaker. Up to 6 minutes to talk about a subject we all know well—ourselves! The Pathway progresses through different components of speaking including purpose and vocal variety. To complete the Pathway, a Toastmaster also participates in other roles including serving as Toastmaster of the Day, basically the meeting facilitator.
 
I took a hiatus from Toastmasters for almost 15 years. One of the reasons I left my original club was due to no longer getting feedback or support to help me grow. Evaluations are another component of the Toastmaster experience. For every speech, there is an Evaluator listening to provide feedback. Feedback includes what the speaker did well, how they met the goals of the project, and constructive feedback to help the speaker improve. When I stopped getting constructive feedback from my Happy Hour club, I no longer felt motivated to continue attending. 
 
Toastmasters provides clear guidance on how to provide effective feedback through the Evaluator role. And keeping in mind that we all have different reasons for being a Toastmaster, we do a disservice to our colleagues when we don’t take time to overcome our own issues with giving and receiving feedback. We grow when we are faced with adversity. We feel appreciated when we connect with our audience and hear that we attained the goal of the speech. It’s a balance to evaluate another. We want to encourage as well as foster growth.
 
I am once again a Toastmaster, and it is a new era. “That’s not how we used to do it” is often on the tip of my tongue! The pandemic changed the organization, which had been resistant to any form of virtual identity. My preference is a live, in-person meeting. However, my weakness shows when I am speaking virtually. My challenges include connecting with the audience, being aware that there IS an audience I am speaking to and finding my speaker identity virtually. Since so much of life is now done virtually, I am grateful for this challenge. Feedback that I often receive (in and out of Toastmasters) is that I tend to rush my words and get off track when I get nervous. Yep.
 
Toastmasters has a low bar for entry. Essentially $10/month plus the club dues. The commitment is for 6 months at a time. And most clubs offer both hybrid and virtual meeting options. I encourage anyone seeking to build their skills in leadership, become more confident, or even just to meet and learn from a diversity of people, to check out Toastmasters. www.toastmasters.org