Toastmasters Club

	Get Ahead by Having Fun? Irving Public Speaking Club develops professional success in its participants.
“ You can feel your confidence level going up”

It sounds too good to be true. Can people really get ahead professionally by having fun? Almost always the real answer is no. But according to some enthusiastic members of the Plymouth Park Toastmasters Club, the answer is an emphatic YES ! If they work the Toastmasters program, lighten up and enjoy hemselves, fun is what it is all about. Recently a group of Plymouth Park Toastmasters members got together to talk about how their unique club empowers their professional performance and builds enjoyment of life.

“ Traditionally Toastmasters Clubs are recognized as non-profit service clubs that teach leadership development and professional communication. We do all of that, but it is not a closely guarded secret that the process is just plain fun! The Plymouth Park Club capitalizes on fun to build enthusiasm and maintain momentum,” said John Allums. “ We have so much fun! Sometimes it’s almost as if we are playing a party game or something. I really get energized!”

However the long-term payoff for many is the very real increased confidence and sense of well being they enjoy in their daily lives and increased pleasure in their work. Club member Sukjinder Purewal put it this way: “ The club is a friendly and supportive environment—almost family-like—where we help newcomers not only with communication and presentation, but really we help them build up their self-esteem and self-confidence. Almost subconsciously you can feel your confidence level going up.”

While increased fun and self-confidence are what keeps people coming back for more, there are specific, tangible benefits that enhance success. Gene Alexander recognized that by using what he learned in the club he got more opportunities to build his professional credibility and goodwill: “ In my last job for two years in a row I was asked by the Direct Mailers Association to co-present a seminar at the annual forum. That was a big honor and gave my company good exposure. It also gave me good exposure and helped me network.”

Many members have high paced and demanding careers. They need a situation that does not add stress, but releases it and prepares them to comfortably deal with the stress they already have.

Maurice Taitt found the Plymouth Park Club a shot in the arm for stress management. He stated the value of the club to his career was in not being caught off his guard when important clients suddenly question him. “ In my work I am required to negotiate contracts with various vendors and the skills I learned in impromptu speaking have helped me immensely. I also make presentations of projects to clients all over the world. Some years ago I traveled to East Africa to attend a meeting with the Prime Minister of Tanzania and I had to be able to answer his spontaneous questions.”

Bill Haas explained that everything the Plymouth Park Toastmasters Club aims to do encourages its members to succeed: “ Anything you do in the club, any activity you perform, helps you in some way. I learned how to focus on more than one thing at a time. That is a critical need in this day and world because there are so many things going on at once. I also learned how to organize my thoughts and if you can organize thoughts you can organize anything. I have impressed a lot of people with that.” The results from club participation can be immediate and dramatic.

Gene Alexander related how Plymouth Park Toastmasters energized him during a very dark period of unemployment: “ I got into Toastmasters because I was between jobs and I desperately needed to improve my interviewing skills. It helped me right off the bat! Now I have a new sales career and I can speak confidently with my customers. I have the added advantage over my competitors who are not Toastmasters and have not had the training.” Club participants come from all different backgrounds, and age groups, “ just like most work environments,” said John Allums. “ What we do here is directly applicable in most work settings.”

Bill Drissell emphasized leadership development describing it as a hidden benefit: “ The underplayed value of the club is the leadership secret. It has voluntary membership like all service clubs. The members are not bound by ties of affection or employment or authority, but by mutual self-interest. If you can lead people associated like that then you can lead anybody.”

“ Our club surroundings may not be opulent,” said Allums, “ but we are a non-profit organization and it costs next to nothing to participate.”

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