Hasn't helped me yet,I'm thinking of quitting.

I attended five sessions in a row, but I felt that it wasn't helping at all. I wasn't able to make any speeches or even talk that much at all. The amount of clapping just seemed absurd to me, and I felt as though when I did utter anything, I was being judged (and not in a friendly way).

I realize that it's difficult to allow everyone a chance to speak, but I just ended up listening to other people speak about things I didn't care about, which wasn't the goal at all. I don't know, did I totally miss the point somehow?

I had let my social anxiety ruin my life. It kept me from job advancements, as I wouldn't speak up in meetings and, when I did, my blushing gave my insecurity away. I joined Toastmasters as a way to start working on my anxiety, and it made an amazing difference. After taking smaller roles in meetings, I began giving speeches. Over time, I became less self-conscious, and even started to have fun with it.

After several years of membership, I did the unthinkable: I applied for a job that required travel and public speaking. Eight years and 46 states later, I'm a living testament to Toastmasters. I even perform improvisational comedy with a group around Charlotte.

To be clear: Toastmasters is not a miracle cure. It will take effort, time and patience, but if you stick with it you will be amazed at the difference. Visit several different clubs before joining, as their "vibes" vary significantly and it's important to find the right one for you.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions about it, and good luck!

A toastmaster meeting is 3 parts. First part is prepared speech where you give a 5 - 7 minute talk about anything that interest you. Newbies are intimidated by this. Remember you are there to be comfortable in front of an audience.

Second part is table topics or impromptu speech for 1-2 minutes. You are asked a question and you have 1 -2 minutes to respond. I used to be scared of table topics. Now I am a seasoned toastmaster, I learned not to answer the question but talk about anything I wish to talk about for 1- 2 minutes.

Third part is evaluation where you will evaluate the speech given by another speaker. Evaluation is generally the sandwich method. You say what you liked about the speech then where the speaker can improve and finally what you liked about the speech.

Please join toastmasters. It will help you overcome some of your SA.

I went to my first Toastmaster group today. It was a very popular group apparently, there were more than 30 members total. I was greeted by a few very mature and experienced gentlemen wearing official badges for TM. I found the meeting to be very structured, in fact one of the most formal meetings I've been to (like a city hall meeting). TM makes public speaking seem like a hobby almost, as theres ongoing competitions and prizes involved within the organization. Almost everbody gets put on the agenda for minor roles such as time keeping and grammerist or bigger roles like making a speech. For those that aren't, they're included in the table topics to give impromptu speeches. It seems like everbody has to speak at some point.

I felt somewhat nervous when I had to introduce myself briefly, but I also understood that many people feel or felt the same way. I was somewhat overwhelmed though by the amount of people there and imagining giving a speech in front of such a large audience would be frightening (and of course being evaluated afterwards!). There is so much to learn about public speaking like tone, content, gestures, emotions, when getting past the anxiety part is a feat in of itself! How could you even think about the right way to speak when you're too scared to? A lot of practice apparently. I wish there would be an intermediate step before making a public speech and I'm not sure how to go about it.