The Toastmaster’s Edge

TM Bibhu Panigrahi

I remember the day when Sanjay asked me if I had heard about Toastmasters International, a non-profit organization that helps people learn communication and leadership skills. He was full of praise for it, apparently because he was involved with it during his decade-long sojourn in the US. The name Toastmaster sounded like another pseudo-American pizza outlet, like U.S. Pizza. Though I heard him out with poise, I couldn’t believe that something I had never heard about could be so good. The first impression lasts long, they say. Even if it is true, I don’t want to remember the first meeting of Amdavad Toastmasters Club. Four morons like me got together in my office training room on a Sunday morning and pretended to be conducting a meeting. Raghu was the toastmaster of the day, the prepared speaker, and the table topics master. Sanjay was the table topic speaker, the speech evaluator, and the general evaluator. I played the role of timer, ah counter, and grammarian. We also had a guest, whose name I do not remember. Actually, the guest had gone missing even before the meeting was half way through. Before Toastmasters happened to me, I had nothing do with anything public, let alone public speaking. All my life, I had been a very private person. I had read more books than the number of people I had met. However, as the membership of Amdavad Toastmasters grew over the last one and half years, I discovered many things about myself. First, I discovered that I wasn’t unique in my thoughts and feelings - there were many others who thought like me. It was slightly disappointing at first, since I had been revelling in the delusion of being absolutely unique in this world. Later, I was happy that I did not have to read a book to feel a part of this world. I did not have to write a blog when I had an indomitable urge to express myself. I could share my thoughts with real human beings, and I could belong in a group. Second, I discovered that my vociferous reading had not made me very wise. In fact, real learning starts only when you put down the book and start taking action. I had read scores of books about communication before I had even heard of Toastmasters, but only after I got an opportunity to practice at Toastmasters meetings that my learning began. I am still a beginner in communication, but I know those who are sitting in a closet reading a book about communication are yet to begin. Third, I discovered that I enjoyed institutionalised education. I have never been fond of formal education because it is too prescriptive. While doing masters in English literature, I spent most of my time in the university library, but I read everything except English literature. I thought the only job of an educational institution was to forcibly confine learners to a narrow field of learning and prevent them from acquiring knowledge about a wide range of subjects. Finally, in Amdavad Toastmasters, I got an institution that gave me the freedom to choose what I wanted to learn, at my own pace, without unreasonable restrictions and stupid examinations. Let me explain what I mean by saying that it gives me freedom to choose what I want to learn. At Amdavad Toastmasters Club, I am learning so much beyond public speaking. I am learning how to meet and greet people, how to strike a conversation with people when I meet them for the first time, how to listen to others intently and purposefully, how to provide feedback and handle criticism in a group, and much more. In short, I am going through the basic process of socialization, which, unfortunately, had not happened in my case through all my school and college years. Thank you Sanjay for introducing me to the idea of Toastmasters! Thank you Raghu for pushing me into it, somewhat forcefully! Thank you KP and Biswajit for sustaining the fire. And thanks to each member of this club for helping me become a social animal. I wish our education system was half as effective as a Toastmasters club.