Eastside Madison Toastmasters!

Who are we?  We are a Toastmasters club in Madison, WI  (actually, Monona, WI to be more precise).  I've been a member of this club since 2004, and a Toastmasters member since October 1992.

My name is Jim, and throughout this blog adventure I will be joined by other members of this club.  We will share our Toastmasters experiences & adventures.  If you live or work on the east side of Madison, please feel free to join us for a meeting.  Our club website is at http://1366.toastmastersclubs.org/.  If you live elsewhere, the good news is that there is probably a Toastmasters club near your home or work.  Toastmasters International's website is www.toastmasters.org.

I guess the best place to start is "why are you still a member after 19 years?  Haven't you learned to speak by now?"  Good question.  As we all know, one never stops learning.  Am I a better speaker now than in 1992?  I believe so.  I believe so strongly.

But I still have room to improve.

I owe so much to Toastmasters.  I am able to speak in front of groups of any size.  I still get those pesky butterflies in my stomach, but now I'm their master - instead of the other way around.  I make them fly in wonderful formations.  I also took advantage of the leadership skills one can learn, and not only have held officer roles at the district level, but these skills have helped at work.  You see, I'm one of those pesky computer programmers.  We usually like talking with our mouse, but now I can talk to my mouse, my keyboard, co-workers, directors, and vice-presidents.

Why join Toastmasters?

I think the best response is a line of dialogue from the Academy Award-winning film "The King's Speech".  In case you haven't seen it (and I do recommend it), the story follows Prince Albert, soon-to-be King George VI.  The king has a severe stammer and his wife hires a speech therapist named Lionel Logue to help the king.  Prior to the coronation, both men are in Westminster Abbey where the king is rehearsing his dialogue for this momentous event.  Logue begins to irritate the king and refuses to listen to him.  The following exchange occurs:

King George VI: Listen to me. Listen to me!
Lionel Logue: Listen to you? By what right?
King George VI: By divine right if you must, I am your king.
Lionel Logue: No you're not, you told me so yourself. You didn't want it. Why should I waste my time listening?
King George VI: Because I have a right to be heard. I have a voice!

That final line sums up the movie -- and why anyone would want to join Toastmasters.  No matter who we are - King, President, CEO, computer programmer - we all have a voice.  We all have something to say.  With our voices we can entertain, inspire, cajole, instruct, empathize, argue, amuse, flirt, euologize, or sympathize. 

Toastmasters can help you find your voice and shape it.  It can give you the confidence to be heard - at home, school, work, in the world.  Find your voice.  Discover your passion.  Shape your world.