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Toastmasters International Can Make You a Better Speaker, Leader, and Business Professional
February 20, 2008

Monday’s post discussed all the myriad ways that you can become—and market yourself as—an expert in your chosen field. One of those ways is by becoming a public speaker and giving talks to industry groups, seminar audiences, and other such venues likely to attract potential clients. The fly in that ointment is that, if you are like most other people, you have a dread fear of public speaking. Studies over the years have found that people are more frightened of public speaking than of death.

I was one of those people. Then, seven years ago, I joined my local Toastmasters club and it has made an incredible difference in my life. I gradually learned good speaking skills, and overcame much of the anxiety I had in standing in front of a crowd. I have since given many talks to various graphic arts industry groups, something I could never have done—and, in fact, actively avoided—a decade ago.

For those not in the know, Toastmasters International—says their Web site—is a world leader in helping people become more competent and comfortable in front of an audience. The nonprofit organization now has nearly 220,000 members in 11,300 clubs in 90 countries, offering a proven—and enjoyable—way to practice and hone communication and leadership skills. I have been a member of Thorobred Toastmasters in Saratoga Springs, NY, since November 2001, and in that time have served as president of my club and as governor of Area F4, overseeing a half dozen clubs in Saratoga and Washington Counties. I am currently the treasurer of Thorobred Toastmasters, a position that is gradually turning me into a Dickens character. (The Toastmasters International Web site lets you ssearch for a club by ZIP code.)

I mention Toastmasters in this space for several reasons. The first, as I already mentioned, is that improving your public speaking skills can help you become an acknowledged expert in your field. The second is that Toastmasters meetings often function as idea exchanges and important networking opportunities. For example, a couple of years ago, I was in the market to buy a house and, rather than comb through newspaper ads or cold call a realty office, I knew that a Toastmasters member owned his own realty business, spoke often about real estate, and had used his Toastmasters training to help get a gig teaching real estate courses for a local college. What better expert to consult in order to buy my first house? Three-and-a-half years later, I write this in the home office of the house he helped me buy. He got new business, and I got a trusted expert to help with one of the biggest decisions of my life. I call that a win-win scenario.

Other Toastmasters members use club meetings to rehearse business presentations, get valuable feedback on the effectiveness of their presentations, and sometimes even pitch their own services. As a result, whenever I am in the market for something a Toastmasters member sells or provides, he or she is at the top of my call list. (Although, one of our members sells components for nuclear power plant control systems, which I can’t say I will ever really be in the market for, but still...).

The goal of Toastmasters speeches is not to make sales pitches, but members’ speeches often provide new ideas and perspectives on a wide range of topics. Even if they aren’t directly related to my business, I find that they are valuable food for thought that can get me to look at something in a different way than I had before. In fact, as I mentioned on Monday, this week’s posts were inspired by a speech one of our members gave recently.

In sum, there is a variety of ways of becoming and promoting oneself as an expert:

• learn and keep on top of news and trends in one’s field by reading print and electronic trade news sources, as well as attending industry events;
• network with others in your industry to exchange ideas and/or provide advice;
• write about topics in your field, either  by starting or contributing to a blog, or by contributing to trade publications, or by producing your own print or electronic newsletter—or even a book; and
• speak about topics in your field to industry groups or other audiences of prospective customers; joining a Toastmasters club can also help with developing speaking skills as well as providing an important idea exchange and networking venue.

We all want to hire experts; why shouldn’t you be one of them?

Posted by Richard Romano on February 20, 2008 | Comments (1)