Toastmasters

[amused]

I've never heard of it, but I suffer from a phobia of public speaking.
It really is that, as it's a totally unreasonable fear. Like most phobias, people who don't have it can't understand it, BECAUSE phobias are by definition totally illogical. You know perfectly well that there is nothing to be afraid of, and yet it doesn't make the slightest bit of difference. ...

Fear of public speaking is the number one fear shared by the most people (citation needed, I know, but I couldn't find it). It has a cool name though!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossophobia

Conquering a fear is about turning around and facing that inner demon head on. Like most people, I don't like rejection, but the worst that happens is that someone says 'no'.

http://www.toastmasters.org/MainMenuCat ... actor.aspx

[mistermack]

I've never heard of it, but I suffer from a phobia of public speaking.
It really is that, as it's a totally unreasonable fear. Like most phobias, people who don't have it can't understand it, BECAUSE phobias are by definition totally illogical. You know perfectly well that there is nothing to be afraid of, and yet it doesn't make the slightest bit of difference. ...

Fear of public speaking is the number one fear shared by the most people (citation needed, I know, but I couldn't find it). It has a cool name though!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossophobia

Conquering a fear is about turning around and facing that inner demon head on. Like most people, I don't like rejection, but the worst that happens is that someone says 'no'.

http://www.toastmasters.org/MainMenuCat ... actor.aspx

I didn't even know I had it till I was halfway through telling a joke to about a dozen people and just clammed up. It came out of the blue. I went from fairly confident to dreading it all in one go.
It's now the fear of freezing, not the fear of public speaking for me.
There is a difference, although those who haven't had it probably wouldn't see the distinction.

[apophenia]

I hear you, mistermack. I got much the same, I can't even begin to write a speech without getting all gnurled up inside.

[laklak]

I got masterfully toasted last night.

[hadespussercats]

Funny-- I thought Toastmasters was about speaking extemporaneously-- The night is very... extemporaneous! And I thought it was all toasts-- so people got over their fears by getting plastered.

[maiforpeace]

Funny-- I thought Toastmasters was about speaking extemporaneously-- The night is very... extemporaneous! And I thought it was all toasts-- so people got over their fears by getting plastered.

They do all of that at Toastmasters too.

"Table Topics" for extemporaneous speaking and the advanced manual "Special Occasion Speeches" for toasts and roasts and such.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Funny-- I thought Toastmasters was about speaking extemporaneously-- The night is very... extemporaneous! And I thought it was all toasts-- so people got over their fears by getting plastered.

They do all of that at Toastmasters too.

"Table Topics" for extemporaneous speaking and the advanced manual "Special Occasion Speeches" for toasts and roasts and such.

And getting over a fear of public speaking allows one to speak impromptu more easily. I'm sometimes called on without warning to "say a few things" and if I panicked I'd sound like a complete idiot. (Go ahead, you lot. ) I learned to talk "off the cuff" in the fifth grade. Our teacher was brilliant, he would call on us to speak about the previous night's readings in front of the whole class. A bit rough at first, but the ones who actually did the readings became aware that they could get up without any warning and talk intelligibly. This lesson carried me through many awkward situations later in life.

[amused]

So, I just came back from my first meeting. The very first person they called on, for the table top (?) topic, was me. WTF? The person who ran that part of the meeting was later dinged in his evaluation for calling on me. Yeah, NOW you tell him. And the topic, being Valentine's Day was to tell a story about getting burned by love. DOUBLE WTF? I smudged it into something less personal, and did okay.

[maiforpeace]

Good for you amused!!!

[amused]

Heh. Next week is a contest night, then the week after that I'm the grammarian, and get to pick the word for the day. I suppose 'dickhead' isn't quite in the spirit....

[maiforpeace]

Heh. Next week is a contest night, then the week after that I'm the grammarian, and get to pick the word for the day. I suppose 'dickhead' isn't quite in the spirit....

Is it a busy club? Did you sign up to do your Icebreaker yet?

[amused]

It's the biggest club in Austin, and they meet for 2 hours every week. Is that busy? I'm supposed to get some explanatory manuals about the speeches, including doing the Icebreaker. Hopefully that's within a week or two, then I'll schedule it. They seem somewhat focused on the competitions that are coming up, and appear to be working through a set routine of types of speeches. I really want to focus on business presentations, so we'll see how it goes.

[Delvo]

How big of a group does it take to trigger fear of speaking to a group? I'm having trouble imagining what the point is of overcoming such a fear if you don't have a job requiring public speeches. My guess is you're talking about potentially such a small minimum group that it could be triggered in routine social groups that almost can't be avoided (without being antisocial), but that's not my idea of "public speaking".

[Coito ergo sum]

It's all about practice. It's a skill that can be learned.

[Bella Fortuna]

..given enough booze.