WITH THE HELP OF BROOKLYN’S BEST TOASTMASTERS
RACHEL ASHKENAZI
MANY YEARS AGO, I FOUND MYSELF IN A LEADERSHIP POSITION, SOMEWHAT ACCIDENTALLY. THIS WAS NOT SOMETHING I WAS READY FOR NOR WAS I FULLY COMFORTABLE WITH IT. I KNEW I HAD THE POTENTIAL FOR THE BACK-END WORK, BUT BEING FRONT AND CENTER WAS NOT SOMETHING I WANTED ANY PART OF.
Even more traumatic was finding myself, some months in, writing a speech to be delivered in front of thirty women. I wrote, I drafted, I edited. I woke up that morning with laryngitis.
I took to the podium with my body shaking from nerves and my voice cracking every other syllable. Miraculously, I somehow managed to crawl through the speech. I doubt anyone understood a word I attempted to say that afternoon. But it was over and I could breathe again. Until the next month when I had to do it all over again.
I wrote, I drafted, I edited. I woke up that morning with laryngitis. I kid you not, this pattern happened five or six times that year. Public speaking was, quite literally, making me sick. I vowed never to be in that position again and made sure to stay behind the scenes for the next several years, comfortably so.
And then I hit a wall. I had reached the point where making any progress on any of the paths I was leaning towards required public speaking skills, or at the very least the ability to address a crowd and not turn four shades of red. Only so much could be done without using your voice.
You could research public speaking to death, as I did, read books, as I did, study the greats, as I did, but the only way to truly get better at public speaking is through practice, and plenty of it. There is just no way around it. And so I jumped into Toastmasters, not willing to leave my dreams unrealized.
I reached out to Allegra Mamiye, President of Brooklyn’s Best Toastmasters (BBTM), who introduced me to the process and became my Toastmasters mentor. It was just that simple. One phone call and I had the full championing of the Toastmasters team behind me. It’s this combination of a dedicated mentor and an encouraging toastmaster group that allows each member to achieve success.
BBTM is our community club, chartered with Toastmasters International, a worldwide organization with a mission to create leaders through public speaking. BBTM is an incredibly supportive space where we’re all working towards the same goal, each of us at our own level and pace, each of us maintaining our individuality.
Whether it’s to present in front of a board, solicit on behalf of a charity or add polish to social media videos, this is the place to build those skills. When you’re comfortable in front of a crowd, the world opens up. You can put your ideas to use and make change, help others, create beauty. Effective communication skills are the gateway to confidence and leadership and to personal, familial and career success.
Toastmasters addresses the many aspects of public speaking. Most speech requirements have specific goals attached to them ranging from the preliminary steps of organizing and researching content to pinpointing and refining your personal delivery style. Skills like voice intonation, pauses and body language are worked on. Persuading an audience and using visual aids are practiced as well.
After one year in this amazing club, I’m still in disbelief every time I don’t get nervous before delivering a speech. I’m excited. I look forward to organizing my thoughts and words and sharing them. At the meetings, I’m eager to hear from my peers, to learn from them and witness their growth. When we partake in Table Topics, the impromptu speaking portion of the night, we laugh and challenge each other with our sometimes silly, sometimes thought-provoking questions.
Outside of Toastmasters I notice a difference too. I make a conscious effort to speak up more in meetings. I encourage a more elevated, descriptive vocabulary from my children. I learned to mentally prep what I’m going to say before I say it. Perhaps, most importantly, I haven’t had laryngitis in years!
For me, the Toastmasters benefits really come down to one simple thing—having a space to regularly exercise my public speaking skills. The how-to steps of speechmaking and evaluating we practice are incredible but that’s not what the main event is for me. BBTM is a place to learn, to trip and fall, and get back up without professional or social consequences. And the feedback is specific, ensuring we will do better next time.
This past July we had the thrill of our first in person meeting in over a year! For some who joined while on Zoom, it was a chance to finally meet our new crew in person. Taking these relationships offline was so rewarding and the energy in the room was palpable. The live/real time interaction between speaker and listener is something Zoom just can’t replicate. Our creativity has been rekindled and this is the year we’re going to push ourselves and take BBTM to new heights!
And so I invite you all to step into the Toastmasters arena and come practice with us. Please reach out to Nellie Haddad, VP of Membership, at nellbell1818@aol.com to strengthen your skills and elevate your life, infusing it with a renewed energy and a readiness to express yourself.
Get inspired. Build yourself. Share your mind. Live your dreams. Join Toastmasters.
Rachel Ashkenazi is Vice President of Public Relations, Brooklyn’s Best Toastmasters. She is a life long student who is always learning and growing.
