Talking Head

Communist Orator Harangues the Crowd at Speaker's Corner Hyde Park London

So, here I am, 56 years old and a gaga novice in ToastMasters. I've been doing another go at the "Artist's Way" (I've started on Week 1 of the 11 week regimen)and I believe that TM appeals to me because I am actually able to do some creative writing and stand up and spiel away about any topic I so choose. It is a very creative process. I am at a point in my life where I am attempting to recover my creativity.... but I honestly had NO IDEA that I would end up in ToastMasters.

I got involved because I am fairly new in this island community and I began to feel like it was time to reach outside my (lovely little) Church community and get acquainted with some community folks. At least I think that was the motivation.

I headed out one dark, rainy, winter night (November) for a location I really wasn't too familiar with, and in a car I hadn't driven for about six months. This is heady stuff for a middle-aged, introverted, middle-income, semi-retired, myopic, white woman. Got my juices running, if you will.

The small group of strangers in the austere room at the rec center were friendly and very...hmmm...civil? courteous? polite? Those very gentile traits that are rather rare on the ground in the 21st Century. I was shaky and giddy, but I felt very welcomed. It was a little like going to a school reunion back on the prairies... people looked vaguely familiar and they treated me like I was someone that they maybe knew as well.

Kindness is such a scarce commodity these days that it is sometimes rather suspect. The fact that the 'core' group of ToastMasters have been coming for several years is an indicator, I think, of the genuineness of their bonhomie.

And although 'communication' is supposedly at the foundation of the program, I believe that there is a sincere love of people operating in the little club that I attend... and a love for the written/spoken language. Outside of an English department, where are you going to find that in a group these days?

I am putting together my fifth speech (of ten-- towards my Competent Communicators' award, the first level in ToastMasters).

Unfortunately I have left it to the last day and now must attempt to learn the mechanics of gestures and movement, write the actual speech, and rehearse it so I won't need notes. Feels a little like a cram, but I know that that is just one of those silly nightmare echoes... the reality is that I will go in, do my best, have a few laughs, learn some great stuff (even about myself), and come home feeling 100%. I highly recommend the experience!
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