Butterflies flying in formation

For the past three years, I’ve been a member of the Blue Ox Toastmasters club. We meet every Monday lunchtime (except holidays), at the Bonneville Power Administration building, just over the MAX tracks from the Lloyd Center.

“Toastmasters International is the leading movement devoted to making effective oral communication a worldwide reality”, according to the Mission Statement.

“Through its member clubs, Toastmasters International helps men and women learn the arts of speaking, listening and thinking – vital skills that promote self-actualization, enhance leadership, foster human understanding and contribute to the betterment of mankind.”

Toastmasters clubs don’t promise you will never again have butterflies before speaking in public, rather the programs help you learn to make the butterflies fly in formation (Quotations search attributes that phrase to one Dr. Rob Gilbert). Participants take turns to give speeches, provide feedback, tell jokes, share new vocabulary words, and attempt to talk for 1-2 minutes on a topic given immediately before. At every meeting, we share a lot of laughs. It’s a great way to make new friends, and to learn about a broad range of topics from listening to whatever the speaker chooses to talk about. I’ve arrived at meetings with my head full of Zoning Code issues or the latest norovirus outbreak, and left thinking about Portland-based novelists or a trip across Africa. Highly refreshing.

There are many clubs in Portland, so you can surely find one that fits your schedule – early morning, lunchtime, evenings, whatever works for you. There’s a group in City Hall; there’s a Progressives group, if you’re looking for one with a political focus. You are welcome to drop in on most groups, any time. The Blue Ox club is holding an Open House meeting tomorrow, Monday January 29, 11:45 a.m. – details and directions here – so if you’re shy and want to stop by when other newcomers will be checking it out, this is an excellent opportunity. Our guest speaker, Gary Schmidt, is a Clackamas resident who works for Senator Gordon Smith. Mr. Schmidt is currently 3rd Vice-President of Toastmasters International, and will likely head the organization next year. Please come and visit with us!

If this doesn’t sound like fun to you, you may be making the same flawed assumption that I did before I tried it – that Toastmasters is likely full of elderly men in suits (even bow ties) who train for performing Master of Ceremonies duties at formal after-dinner speeches.

Wrong. At Blue Ox, we have young folks not long out of high school and college, through to retired people including one venerable elder who’s been a member for over 50 years. Women and men in about equal numbers. Several participants who speak English as their second language, and a diverse range of economic and cultural backgrounds. Most of the participants in my club seek to improve their speaking skills to help in work-related situations like presentations, sales, and committees. We have jobs like biologist, accountant, sales representative, non-profit advocacy group administrator – and several nurses, each of us working in a very different area of the profession. Everyone needs to speak to someone, sometime. Toatmasters can help anyone speak more effectively.

And Toastmasters is not only about speaking. The program helps you become a better listener, and to give feedback in a constructive and positive manner. It offers many opportunities for learning leadership skills. And best of all, it is a relentlessly positive environment. I often comment that I want the rest of my life to be like Toastmasters. You get applauded for standing up. Applauded when you sit down. Applauded for shaking hands. Applauded for any speaking at all, no matter how many times you said “um, er….” If you want to join an organization where a diverse group of people continually and consistently support each others’ improvement in the art and science of interacting with the world, try Toastmasters.