Seventy-five percent of Americans' greatest fear is public speaking. These people often suffer from dry mouth, sweaty palms, shaky knees and nausea while speaking in front of an audience.
For the Athenian Toastmasters, the solution to getting over this fear is to practice.
The Toastmasters is an international club that meets to develop leadership and public speaking skills. The Athens branch was chartered in 2004, said Susan Jago, vice president for public relations. It originally was started to provide administrative staff with the opportunity to improve their public speaking skills, but is now open to students, faculty and Athens residents.
The club meets weekly and members present speeches on the topic of their choice in front of the group. Members critique the speeches, and they offer suggestions to others for improvement, Jago said. The club also practices impromptu speaking.
When members join the Toastmasters, they receive a manual and start working on 10 speech projects. Each project focuses on different aspects of public speaking, such as hand gestures or vocal variety. After completing the tenth speech, members receive the title of competent communicator and can move on to become an advanced communicator. They can also start on a leadership track in which members practice by serving leadership roles in the club.
After Jago joined the Toastmasters, she noticed that her impromptu speaking skills greatly improved. She also lessened her use of words such as um and uh.
The Toastmasters have a grammarian who counts the number of filler words that members use. When these words are pointed out, speakers stop using them, she said.
It's a supportive environment
Jago said. The goal is to improve the individual's speaking ' not blast them for the mistakes they've made.
As an Ohio University doctoral student, Vamadaven Gowreesan has to speak at presentations and conferences, but he often was afraid to open his mouth when people were watching.
Gowreesan joined the Toastmasters in August 2005. He has noticed improvement and can now look at his audience while he speaks, he said.
To officially join the Toastmasters, members must pay semiannual dues of $33 and be 18 years old.
Toastmasters participant Eden Almasude is only 14. She cannot be an official member, but she has been participating in the Toastmasters with her mother, Nadia Mitchell, since October.
As a home-schooled student, Almasude has taken speech classes before but said Toastmasters was a different experience.
What's really helped me with Toastmasters is that they are all adults she said. It's helpful learning from people with more experience than your peers.
The Toastmasters meet every Tuesday from 12 to 1 p.m. in the Human Resources and Training Center on West Union Street.
It's a great opportunity for students going out in the business world Jago said. If you can speak up in meetings and feel comfortable
that'll really get you noticed.
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Wenda Williamson, a member of the Athenian Toastmasters club, delivers her 10th speech, "Take this job and ..." The 10-minute speech was a humourous look at loving your job. Completion of 10 speeches earns members of the club the title of "compete
