My dear friend Scott, who is currently in Belgium through the Fulbright Program, asked me about Toastmasters and what I do as Area Governor. I was hoping this would interest him because he is lecturing.

Hi Scotty,

Toastmasters is International–around for 80 years and is now in 40 countries. The most obvious reason someone might join is to improve their public speaking skills. What goes along with this is improved self-confidence, more concise speaking abilities, leadership skill development, improved spontaneous speaking skills, personal growth (via moving through internal blocks because public speaking is such a HUGE fear for a lot of people).

The goal of Toastmasters is to help people with the arts of speaking, listening, and thinking (simplified version).

As Area Governor, I serve the clubs in their efforts to achieve higher status in the DCP (Distinguished Club Program) which is basically a quantifiable way of measuring a healthy club. My primary responsibilities (as I see them) is to make sure the Club officers go through training, 2 club visits per club per year, put on 2 Area contests, and then help with whatever needs help. There are some other things but those are the main duties.

Interesting mix of people, and all in all, I can’t say enough good about the organization. Some of the weekly meetings are borderline spiritual experiences. One person gets up in front of a group of peers. They have prepared a speech, and in some cases have done some real soul searching in the process. The audience simply listens and supports the speaker with their attention & gives gentle and encouraging feed back. I’ve felt so much love in the room at times. And then we all go on to whatever we do in the world. I’m not sure if my group is a regularity or not. I do know that some people have been with the organization for over 20 years and that says something :)

XO Shawn