I am no longer a member of Toastmasters and because the only reason anyone ever visits this blog is because of the toastmasters speeches I posted here, I feel a need to explain why I’m no longer a member. I really do believe that Toastmasters is a wonderful organisation that has done and will continue to serve a very important purpose in teaching people how to speak out in public. This is all the more important in Ireland, a country which is in transition from a society beguiled and befuddled by authority and institution, to one respecting the contributions individuals make and which will appreciate those courageous enough to think out loud, to risk being different.
During my time in Toastmasters I have heard many wonderful speeches and listened to some amazing speakers. I really do get it.
The educational program is the heart of every Toastmasters club. It provides members with a proven curriculum that develops communication and leadership skills one step at a time, with many opportunities for awards and recognition along the way. – from the website
But maybe I get it too much because for many Toastmasters the social aspect seems to be more important than the educational aspect. I’m sure there is a balance to be struck between the two but I’m not seeing it. I have a sense that many people who attend Toastmasters meetings have an expectation of being entertained by a speaker but for me this expectation is at odds with placing the “educational program” at the heart of every Toastmasters club. There is one advanced manual on The Entertaining Speaker, only one.
I have discovered I have a knack for picking competition winners. When judging I fill out my guidelines form, marking as best I can according to those guidelines but knowing that the most entertaining speaker (not speech) will always win. Not the most thought-provoking or challenging or best delivered but the most entertaining. I have also come to the conclusion that this is because the people most likely to be running clubs are those who have a vested interest in keeping them going. These members are those for whom Toastmasters is a very important social outlet. They are the ones who are there, meeting after meeting, who see new members come and go but keep the whole thing going, year in and year out. They have probably heard far more bad speeches then good ones and they see the same mistakes made over and over again. But sometimes I am left wondering if the drink in the bar afterwards has become more important than the meeting itself.
Herein lies a problem for the future. We have just come out of a time in this country when image was all that mattered. As long as you looked the part, had the house, the car and did the ski trip in winter, nobody cared. Like the bankers and property developers, we all fooled ourselves into believing that the party would go on for ever and sure we were here for the entertainment and what harm in that. Well we now know that there was harm. There was nothing under the bonnet. Much employment in this country was a one trick pony: construction, flipping houses and buying shares.
We will need people who can speak up for themselves. We will need people who have something to say and know how to say it with conviction and passion. We will need people who can deliver a message that people don’t want to hear. As all the institutions and authority figures of the past crumble to dust, we will need to be convinced that they are not being replaced by a new crop of greedy, egotistical, self-orientated pimps. In parish councils and school boards of management, in unions and company boardrooms, we will need people with the skills to prepare what they have to say in advance, to structure what they have to say in a way that engages their listeners and with the confidence and experience to deliver their message effectively. Because without them, the politicians and the bankers, the Berties and the Seanies of this world will ridicule and disparage those with the courage to seek to show us a better way.
Dear Fellow Toastmaster:
It sounds to me as though one bad apple is spoiling the entire barrel. Have you looked into the possiblity of joining another club? Different clubs have different themes and policies. See if you can find one that does not meet at a bar. My club meets at a restaurant in the evening hours. The manager allows us to meet there under the condition that we at least buy coffee. The drawback here is that we have to learn to deal with outside nuisances which in itself is a good skill. If you look at the videos on my site you’ll see and hear the waiter(s) pouring ice into a soda dispenser or serving as we speak. All-in-all, we are one big happy family with one common goal – learn how to communicate through public speaking.