Macintalkers Toastmasters

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"I joined Macintalkers two years ago. I had heard people talk about the organization, but I didn't know how transforming the experience would be. In my two years, I’ve had the chance to learn about not only speaking better, but also about myself and how to be more in command in front of an audience. I feel more at ease and more willing to take calculated speaking risks to try new things. I like Macintalkers because it focuses on innovation. The energy in the group pushes me forward. That doesn't mean I'm done learning. In fact, I have a whole lot of areas where I can continue to learn. But what I have learned so far has helped me in my job and my personal life. I've learned how to lead and how to follow. Sometimes those lessons aren’t taught in the same school. From my experience, they are in Macintalkers."

Chris H.

"I am a shy person by nature. I don’t have difficulty dealing with people one on one or maybe two on one. However, I’ve always had problems if I had to stand up in front of a group to speak. I almost have an unnatural fear, which overwhelms me and causes me to freeze up. This inability to speak in front of a crowd was the impetus that brought me to Macintalkers. Macintalkers has given me the opportunity and a venue in which to stand up in front of a friendly and comfortable crowd to practice my public speaking. My development in public speaking is by no means over and will be an ongoing process, but I have taken the first necessary step in overcoming the unnatural fear of a crowd. What was required was practice. The more I stand up and talk, the more comfortable I feel and less fearful."

Steve M.

"I am still fairly new but I have learned a lot about speaking in terms of watching my grammer, Umh’s, and Ah’s. I am also becoming more comfortable speaking in groups as I am learning it is more about the message and not about me."

Tim V.

"I attended an event with small icebreaker games. Each team was taken to a separate room and shown a 5 minute movie clip. The teams had 25 minutes to improvise on it then gather back in main room to act it out on stage.
After everybody in my team refused to take the lead dacoit role, I took it. We started rehearsing. I was disappointed that the whole team kept forgetting their dialogue and the sequence in which they were supposed to deliver. Even on stage I had to make signs to people to remind them of their dialogue.
Later on I was talking to a friend about how the whole team was making same mistakes over and over. My friend mentioned that the team was making mistakes because they were very nervous due to stage freight and
public speaking. Only then I realized that I was not nervous at all and stage freight did not even cross my mind once...thanks to Macintakers!"

Vinay A.

"I joined Macintalkers to polish my existing speaking skills. The member feedback has proved invaluable. I’ve found the diverse nature of our group facilitates an environment to develop a well-rounded speaker. Each week I learn from the members. I enjoy the scheduled time to focus on my goals and myself. But more so, it is wonderful to be in the presence of such interesting individuals that share my common goal and come at it from a different perspective."

Julie G.