Over the summer, I started to feel a need to become more involved in my school journalism club, so I decided to reach out to our one and only Mr. Decker. He informed me about an audio and visual program starting at some of the schools in our county. Immediately I was interested but there was a catch.

To join this program when school started, I first had to go through a certain online course over the summer called Toastmasters. Toastmasters is a nonprofit organization that helps members build confidence in public speaking and learn how to communicate with others.

Before I even started these meetings, Mr. Decker informed me that I would have to give a short speech and take various roles at each meeting. I was very committed to joining the audio and visual program, so I decided to join the meetings anyway even though I hated public speaking, especially in front of people I didn’t know.

I joined my first meeting in June, and I was surprised to see how welcoming everyone was. They kept me informed on what I missed in previous meetings and kept me engaged in the current events of the program.

During my first meeting, one of the members did an icebreaker speech. She spoke about her family and her life and how she hoped that the Toastmasters meetings would help her build confidence when talking in front of her peers. Another member gave an exhilarating presentation on the background of Van Gogh.

After the meeting was over, I received an email asking if I would be interested in giving a speech as a new guest. I was a little nervous about this speech because these were all new people to me and they were mostly older than me and more experienced.

As I was giving my speech, I noticed that every member and guest was paying full attention to me as I was talking, and when I was finished, they took a full minute to give me compliments and constructive feedback on what I previously said.

Everyone was meticulous about each response and made sure that I would be able to correct my mistakes for future reference. Throughout the rest of the meetings, I was given the opportunity to take up different roles in each Zoom call. For example, during one meeting, I was to ask at least three different people questions regarding the theme “memories” and each person gave a fully thought-out answer.

During one of the meetings, we even had the opportunity to hear a professional public speaker and help him practice for an event he will be participating in this October.

Overall during this past summer, I have learned several amazing facts about different people. I have learned tips on how to engage in public speaking around my peers and even people older than me while also keeping my confidence. I was able to experience so many opportunities that I would not have been qualified to do before these meetings.

Toastmasters is a great chance to better yourself while also working with highly educated individuals regarding several topics. I would absolutely recommend this course to anyone who finds themselves a poor public speaker or just wants to be able to have as many opportunities as I do now, all thanks to the Toastmasters organization.