There are about 8,000 Toastmasters clubs internationally and 151 in Oregon. Toastmasters is a nonprofit organization that helps people conquer fears of public speaking and helps them to gain leadership roles.
The group meets every Tuesday at the Labor & Industry building near downtown. Most of the current members are professional state government workers.
President Adele O'Neal said she joined 14 years ago and credits Toastmasters with her success in her job in the personnel division of the Department of Consumer and Business Services.
Each meeting generally has a theme, and members are appointed to various positions. The Toastmaster is the person who runs the meeting and keeps everything going smoothly.
Someone else leads a table topics discussion, where questions related to that week's theme are then directed at various members, who stand up and improvise a short answer.
The Grammarian is the person who keeps track of the uses of the "word of the day," as well keeping track of connective words (such as "and") as well as "ums" and other stutters.
The bilingual part of the club helps both native Spanish and English speakers. Member John Hardiman, who works for the state of Oregon's insurance division, said he uses Spanish in his job and used the club to practice his language skills.
Native Spanish speakers like Ruth Kemmy are able to gain confidence with public speaking in English. Kemmy, who is originally from Ecuador, helped start Los Bilingües Toastmasters in December 2002 and is the group's only native Spanish speaker.
Member Robin Filley said she was terrified of speaking in public before joining Toastmasters three years ago. She works as a secretary with the Department of Education and works among people with Ph.D.s.
Hardiman added: "It took about six months for Robin to do her first speech in the club, and now we have to say, 'Wait, wait, give someone else a chance to speak.'"
Lee Coyne, the guest speaker at the Nov. 22 meeting, impressed the group with his ability to speak clearly, make appropriate gestures and interact with his audience.
Coyne said public speaking is a fear for many people. In fact, he said a common analogy is that people say they would prefer to be the person in the coffin at a funeral than the person giving the eulogy.
"Public speaking is your collective report card," he said. "You're under the microscope. It's a fear of rejection, a lack of confidence. The best way to describe Toastmasters is we help to make those butterflies in your stomach fly in formation."
Jessie Hopkins said she joined not only to help with her Spanish skills, but also to enable her to give speeches for classes. Hopkins is pursuing her master's degree and also works for the state.
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