JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM -- Everyone’s been there before. You’ve got to speak in front of a crowd but you feel nervous, palms sweaty, beads of sweat on your forehead, stomach in knots, throat dry. You feel lightheaded. You’ve got Glossophobia, or speech anxiety, which is the fear of speaking in public.
According to mayoclinic.org, for many people the fear of public speaking is higher than the fear of death, and is the most common phobia to have--but it doesn’t have to be.
Hickam Toastmasters is available to help.
Hickam Toastmasters is a chartered club under Toastmasters International, a non-profit organization dedicated to developing and sharpening an individual's public-speaking abilities, communication and leadership skills through hands-on workshops throughout the world. The club provides its members with an enjoyable, relaxed environment in which to learn public-speaking skills.
“Toastmasters is a way to hone skills, develop new skills and become a better communicator overall,” said Master Sgt. Brandon Cruz, 690th Cyberspace Operations Squadron and vice president of public relations for Hickam Toastmasters Chapter 520. “Toastmasters helps people develop who they really are.”
According to Cruz, the way Toastmasters operates is simple. There are no instructors who conduct the meetings, rather the club’s officers facilitate as the collective group contribute to the critique, constructive criticism and praise of each other's prepared speeches, evaluations and table-topic discussions or short impromptu speeches.
As Toastmasters mature and begin to develop their own presentation styles, they will prepare different genres of speeches from initial "icebreaker" speeches about themselves, to more advanced objectives such as persuasive, motivational and argumentative speeches.
“The value in the club is participating in the speeches, but you can move through them as fast or slow as you’d like,” said Cruz. “There is no pressure to do all the speeches, though it does really help you improve your skill.”
Cruz said Toastmasters can also help its members develop the ability to think and speak quicker on their feet and appropriately respond to questions asked publicly on the spot.
According to Special Agent Keith Hayden, 6th Field Investigations Region and Toastmasters vice president of education, Toastmasters is a communications club that also builds leaders.
“A lot of people are in roles that they know will require them to give briefings or speak in front of groups of people and they want to get better,” he said. “The motivation to join Toastmasters is different, no two people’s reasoning is exactly the same, but being a good communicator is universally important in life no matter what path we’re on.”
In addition to providing members a weekly opportunity to give speeches and practice their public speaking skills, the club is self-sustaining, and offers those looking for opportunities to lead a chance to become one of the club’s executive officers.
This way, each person has an opportunity to contribute differently at each meeting and learn a myriad of different skills.
“People come to Toastmasters to get better at public speaking, but that’s just what gets them in the door,” said Hayden. “The value is in the day-to-day role they have in the club, whether that’s organizing the meeting -- or mentoring fellow Airmen.”
Toastmasters can help Airmen in all areas of life, whether that’s presenting at a board meeting, speaking up during class, maintaining a casual conversation or developing leadership skills.
Hayden said Toastmasters is truly about getting its members to step out of their comfort zone to try different things and become experienced in areas they may otherwise shy away from.
“The only practice most of us get in leadership is in real time when the pressure is on,” said Hayden. “But in Toastmasters there is no pressure, you can be yourself while working on your leadership skills.”
Though learning how to be a good public speaker is no laughing matter, Cruz said the environment at the meetings are light and fun, and foster an atmosphere of openness and creativity.
“We try not to focus on military ranks in our meetings and encourage open dialogue,” Hayden said. “It’s hard for people to participate in that type of environment. It’s a speaking organization so we don’t want people to come in and be afraid to speak. We try to change up the meetings to keep it fresh and really cater to our younger members.”
Toastmasters is open to enlisted Airmen and officers of all ranks for a membership fee of $36 semi-annually. The meetings are every Thursday from 11:30-1230 in Hangar 2, Room 212.