It was October and the shops were full of witches’ outfits and pumpkin shaped sweets. I had been a member of Worthing Speakers’ Club for a couple of months and was starting to think about my second speech. The task was ‘Research any topic and present it as a speech’. I’ve wondered for a long time why we cut funny faces on pumpkins for Halloween, and what is really the background to trick-or-treating? Toastmasters gave me an excuse to look into all of this and I had fun speaking about how pagans would ward off evil. In fact, I thought it was so much fun that a couple of months later I decided to research who Father Christmas really was and why we put tinsel on trees at Christmas. Now the ball was rolling! This spring my Toastmaster friends have seen “Susanne’s Tour of the British Calendar” stop at Valentine’s Day, Mothering Sunday, and Easter. I, on the other hand, have learned about cruise ships, organ donations, Harry Potter, walks in France, and a whole lot of other subjects that I would never had taken the time to read up on myself. The speech on 3D printing was really entertaining, who would have guessed that?
In Toastmasters you get evaluations and encouraging tips on how to improve your public speaking. Some members are yet to pluck up the courage and give their first speech, others are more experienced and there to help us who are still stumbling along. There are normally four 5-7 minute long speeches in a meeting plus other activities. Come as a visitor and see for yourself!