Broadgate Speakers in the City

Stay On the Track

Toastmaster Magazine Feb 2005 Julieann Smith, CL

People on the Fast Toastmasters Track are regarded as enthusiastic go-getters and leaders we all should emulate. Hurrah to you all, blah blah, blah. There is another track, though, the Slow Toastmasters Track!

My theory is that it is better to be on the slow track than completely off track. I hope to rally back those who are off track or have left Toastmasters for whatever reason, and I want to inspire those active but non-speaking members. In his September 2001-2002 International President Alfred Herzing said that 75 percent of all new members each year do not complete the work needed to earn their CTM. If you are one of the more 60,000 new members per year who has not claimed that CTM, come back and resume your speaking path! Don't' worry how long it takes. Just keep your goal in sight and stay on track.

Let my experience remind you to stay the course. Shortly after giving my Ice Breaker at my first Toastmasters club, I moved, joined my second Toastmasters club, gave the same Ice Breaker again and attended meetings regularly. After six months I stopped attending, because I could not find the words to give that second speech, although I participated in all other roles. Many months later, I returned to the club and continued not giving speeches for another five months. I moved again, dusted off my non-updated Ice Breaker and delivered it to my third Toastmasters club, two months after joining.

It has taken only three years and two months to give my second speech! This is the Slow Toastmasters Track. You may not be impressed, but it was a huge relief for me. I recommitted to achieving my CTM and peeled off one speech per month for the next four months.

If you too are having trouble starting your engines, consider a recommitment. Tap into your feelings. Can you recall your first meeting as a guest? Can you remember why you joined? Can you feel the exhilaration of completing your Ice Breaker?

One of my purposes for joining Toastmasters was to be a better presenter of ideas at my workplace. Boring, fact-filled and unimaginative meetings were the order of the day for myself and fellow engineers. An intrigued audience listened as I learned to outline technical ideas within the framework of a humorous opening, metaphorical supporting points and a persuasive, summarizing conclusion.

As a direct result of Toastmasters I was confident and self-assured during my presentations, strengths learned from participation in and observation of excellent speakers in Toastmasters. Although I was achieving my initial goals, I discovered that I still has work to do toward Toastmasters goals and that recommitment didn't guarantee a smooth ride.

For example, I experienced the Bumpy Toastmasters Track when I went into teaching mode on my third speech, describing in five-to-seven minutes the origin of the universe according to one spiritual philosophy, as if flip charts could provoke enlightenment. I gave a speech 'about' laughter (there were funny parts too!), and a speech selling my idea of refreshment lanes on the Turnpike Expressway!

The Bumpy Toastmasters Track asks you to try out the edges when you speak. Those performances were edgy, and I knew it at the time. What this did was leave me with a warm, cosy sense of disappointment. The Bumpy Toastmasters Track requires that you plan to fail, do indeed fail, and then go back ready to do it again. Experiencing this disappointment easily prevents you from becoming overwhelmed when it unexpectedly happens later. Having overcome many of my rejection phobias, by proving that a person will not die from embarrassment, I recommitted once again to speak with and connect with my audiences, instead of speaking to my audiences.

To connect with the audience required more vulnerability. That Bumpy Track seemed like an ice rink compared to the Risky Ride of connecting with the vulnerability of the heart. This aspect of truly sharing yourself can frighten many of us away, because it seems like the greatest risk of all. But we are worth that risk. In my CTM-crowning speech, Keep the Peace, I shared my sister's successful beast cancer fight. I confessed my fears, love and devotion for her during her struggles through mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation. There is no safer place to be vulnerable than with my wonderful Toastmasters friends, who are the supports for whatever track I have travelled on.

Perhaps when I thought I was on the Slow track, I was just inching up to a critical point I needed to reach, just as on a roller coaster before I could easily be transported down the Fast Track on the accumulated momentum. So I held tight and veered onto the Leadership track.

For two years, I served as vice president public relations for our club. During this time, I had the pleasure of publishing our club newsletter on th4e first Tuesday of every month. In my PR job, I marketed out club using Toastmasters business cards at every opportunity, advertised contests and planned PR events. During my second term I was select to serve as the public relations officer of our area and while in that role, gave the public relations training presentation at South Florida Planet Toastmasters club, presided as contest master in our area's international and Table Topics speech contests, and earned my CL award.

A recent job change prompted a six-month hiatus from Toastmasters, but now safely back on the educational track, I continue to head toward ATM. Upon reflection, all tracks were the right track leading me to realize more of my potential, and this wonderful ride never ends.