MISSOULA - Every Thursday, a group of Missoulians meet bright and early at 6:30 a.m. to practice something that is nightmare fuel for some — public speaking.
Toastmasters International — a non-profit organization with clubs all over the world — aims to help people develop their public speaking skills and speech confidence.
Lucca Scariano, the president of the Missoula Toastmasters club believes that public speaking is a skill everyone should have.
“It’s just a fantastic skill to learn," he says. "For a lot of people that’s their number one fear is public speaking, so coming here to conquer it is always a goal of a lot of folks, and people come up here shaking for the first time to being able to speak confidently with no issues.”
The group assigns roles to participants each week, including timekeeper, evaluator and daily joke teller. They also set a theme for each week and knock on the table when the 'keyword' is said.
This week's theme had to do with breakfast and meal times, and the keyword was 'appetite.' The assigned 'toastmaster' led the meeting.
A person is chosen to make a longer speech, and the rest of the group gives notes and suggestions on how to improve. Despite the evaluations, the group is very supportive of each other.
“We call it a safe space to learn how to public speak," participant Ian Rufe said. "We always clap for the speakers and we always try to show support at any point.”
Scariano says that because of the supportive atmosphere, a toastmasters meeting is the perfect place to overcome public speaking anxiety, "it’s easier to do it here because it’s just a really supportive, welcoming group.”
The regulars at the club see themselves, and each other, improve and gain confidence every week.
“It’s really amazing to see the transformation of people who initially come, are nervous, and then a few weeks later, their confidence is so much greater," Missoula Toastmasters club vice president Sonja Skovlin told MTN News.
Participants have the opportunity to speak about anything, but many people workshop speeches for other events, such as eulogies, job interviews and, of course, party toasts.
"For an organization that I worked for I wanted to do some educational outreach, so I developed a speech for that and I gave it here, and to do that it gave me a chance to practice that speech and get a lot of valuable feedback," Skovlin explained.
Gary Schild, the assigned speaker for the week of Feb. 9, says he has been coming to toastmasters meetings for five years.
“I think it was about five years ago, I had to give a speech at work, a presentation for work, and I was so nervous getting up to it, and this is something that had been going on my whole life, and finally, at 50 years old, 45 years old, I decided it was time to take care of at least some of the nerves of public speaking and standing in front of people and talking."
The group says anyone is welcome to come to the meetings, and newcomers are not pressured to participate. Regardless of skill level, everyone is welcome to attend.
“We have great public speakers that are trying to get better, and then we’ve got people like me when I first walked in that I was just absolutely shaking to stand up and say anything," Schild said.
More information on the Missoula Toastmasters club or how to attend a meeting can be found on their Facebook page, or their website.
