Speak in public no sweat

Public speaking still ranks up there high on many people’s list of favorite fears, even outpacing traditional anxieties or outright fears of spiders, dentists, heights or clowns.

Luckily, there are plenty of options in the Northwest to improve one’s professional speaking abilities in a comfortable, welcoming environment: Toastmasters, an international organization that seeks to develop people’s speaking and leadership abilities, is one of the choices.

“Toastmasters is designed to promote these skills, and works to improve yourself in your work and in your personal life,” said Dave Weidner, the area governor for this Toastmaster District 9, which includes much of the Inland Northwest, and also vice president of education for Selling North Idaho Toastmasters and vice president of public relations for the Spokane Uptown Toastmasters.

Currently there are 11,300 Toastmaster clubs in 90 countries, with more than 220,000 members. In the Spokane/North Idaho communities, there are more than 20 clubs, with about 20-30 members per club. Several new clubs are chartered each year.

Next year will welcome a General Dynamics/Itronix club and a Premera Blue Cross club and continuing development of the new Airway Heights club, which includes inmates at the Airway Heights Corrections Center, plus several volunteers from area Toastmaster groups who have assisted in creating this unique group.

Each club meets for an hour each week, sometimes at a business, sometimes at a restaurant. Meetings traditionally include prepared speeches by members, followed by encouraging evaluations of their presentations by other members, and “Table Topics,” which helps members develop impromptu speaking skills by asking members and guests to discuss an unknown subject for at least a minute.

Though certain Toastmaster clubs have specific membership requirements, most clubs are open to anyone and guests are always welcome. Meetings are designed to accommodate most personal and professional schedules, from lunch groups to morning coffee clubs to evening clubs. Monthly membership dues are $4.50 but individual clubs may offer other fees or services.

For more information visit www.toastmasters.org or contact Weidner at (509) 325-1804 or by email at davew@cet.com

If you would like to share information about your club or service organization in future issues of pinch, please contact pinch Editor Joe Butler at (509) 459-5059 or joebu@spokesman.com.