GUMBO GURU: Charlotte’s Country Kitchen
May 5, 2015
Wallace Thibodaux
May 13, 2015
Your palms begin to sweat and your face blushes red as you look out into the audience. The nerves kick in and the speech you’ve prepared over the last few weeks slowly begins to slip from your memory as you make your way to the podium.
The art of public speaking is one very few feel confident about and researchers believe it is often a common stressor because it lends itself to potential negative judgment.
Tri-Parish Toastmasters, formed in April 2013 as part of a global organization devoted to improving communication and leadership skills, aims to reduce this fear through engaging presentation-style meetings, held every second and fourth Thursday of the month at the Terrebonne Parish Library North Branch.
Each meeting is run by different members who volunteer to take on the roles of Toastmaster, the host, Evaluators, who critique prepared speeches, Table Topics Master, the person in charge of running an impromptu speaking portion of the meeting, and a WAG master, the member who encourages the use of new words, points out crutch words and makes note of grammar use.
Meetings begin with prepared speeches, often outlined in a project book followed by each member, Michelle Ohmer, organization president, said. This book allows members to focus on one communication skill at a time through prepared speeches on topics about the individual’s interests and can be completed at each member’s own pace.
An impromptu speech portion follows, and those in attendance are selected at random to give an on-the-spot two-minute talk based on a given topic.
“I got very lucky [at my first meeting,]” Ohmer, who joined the group with her husband, Joel, in July 2013, said. “The Table Topics Master asked me to act like I was a tour guide and I was to encourage people to come and visit Lafourche Parish. I’m from Lafourche Parish, I grew up in the cane field and it was easy for me, in my mind, to pretend I’m driving down the roads and share everything.”
Although this first speech was nerve-racking for Ohmer, it motivated her to commit completely to the group in an effort to improve her communication skills.
“By the time I walked to the podium, I could feel that same feeling I always felt every time I went in front of a group of people,” she said. “I could feel myself losing my breath, my face was turning red, but I took a breath and said, ‘That’s it. I have to do this. I’m doing this for me, I’m here for me, everyone else is here for themselves and everyone else is here because they have the same issues.’ I was so happy that I did it.”
Members also work on listening skills, giving reports on the prepared speeches and providing encouraging feedback to help others improve. This evaluation is positive, Vice President of Public Relations Kyle Smith said, and is part of what makes Toastmasters a unique and safe space to hone the skills people need to be successful professionals.
“Everybody starts out that way,” Smith said. “I compare it to a gym. You go there to get stronger, get feedback. It is terrifying at first because not everybody is used to public speaking. You’re in a controlled environment and the people there have been where you have been so everybody has sympathy for one another.”
As a college student in Lubbock, Texas, Smith enjoyed speech class, but recognized his lack of communication skills. Upon transferring to the Houma area to work as an engineer a year ago, the 23-year-old sought out organizations that could offer him the education he desired. When he found Tri-Parish Toastmasters, e knew it was a perfect fit.
For Ohmer, a program specialist for the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, the organization has provided her the skills needed to take on leadership roles, something she said she often let co-workers do before joining the group.
“It fit well with my job description. I can do everything I’m required to do, but after going to Toastmasters, I see that I still fit well with everything I need to do, but I could do it better. I could be more confident and reach out to more people than I have before,” she said. “Before, I would just make contacts and keep it small, where now I can branch out and talk with more people about our activities. … I feel that I can talk to people better, have more confidence and not just stand aside and let someone else take the role.”
Ohmer said the group also hopes to begin a Toastmasters Leadership Institute in the Fall, an effort she hopes will get children comfortable with taking leadership roles in school organizations.
Because it allows people to speak about things they love, a wide range of topics are discussed and members form friendships rooted in bettering each other. Those relationships also span across the state through yearly competitions, something Smith said has provided him with wisdom from those with successful careers.
“As a young professional, most people there are a good 10 years older than me and much more established, so it’s a great place to go and meet people outside of the usual crowd.”
Ohmer said the diversity within the local group and at competitions is also what makes the involvement so exciting.
“We’ve had a doctor, a lawyer, a college professor, a house wife,” she said. “We all come from different places and know different things, so the Toastmasters club, to me, is almost like an open magazine. It follows the same outline for every meeting but you’re learning different information not just about speaking, but things people are passionate and interested in. We pull from things we enjoy so that we can learn this skill.”
