
Ask HN: Any success with Toastmasters? - giaour
I&#x27;m looking into ways to get better at public speaking and have heard great things about Toastmasters. Has anyone here had success with their program as a way to prep for conferences and tech talks?
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MaDeuce
10+ years ago, a software development manager that worked for me had obvious
problems with public speaking, even to small in-house groups (5+ people). She
attended Toastmasters and, after a couple of years, was a changed woman. She
now makes a great living through consulting and professional development
seminars she sells.

Granted, she was both highly motivated to improve and extremely talented, but
after seeing the complete transformation she underwent through Toastmasters, I
became a believer in Toastmasters.

I think Toastmasters is perceived by most as a conclave of dorky awkward
people who like to give boring speeches in front of a captive audience. It may
or may not be that, but my experience with her and others, is that it is also
quite effective in imparting valuable communications skills.

I think many view boys that earn their Eagle Scout rank in the same way --
they are square, uncool, dorks, doing things that nobody cares about --
anachronisms. But, in the long run, the life skills they get are priceless.

My experience has been that that there are many technical prodigies in any
industry. However, the population of technically competent people that are
highly effective communicators is quite small. Being at ease when
communicating in the large, or in the small, gives one a huge leg up in
competing with their peers.

My personal opinion is that it would be hard to go wrong giving Toastmasters a
shot.

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weinzierl
I got my "Competent Communicator" a few years ago. It took me about half a
year and I think the time was very well spent. Where I found Toastmasters very
valuable was for getting feedback, it's a significant part of their program.

You'll have to invest time to see results, there is no shortcut to become a
better speaker. That's also the only reason I stopped, I couldn't afford to
spend the time to have a reasonable improvement.

Quality of clubs varies somewhat in my experience and you have to spend some
time to find a good club.

To put this into perspective: My education was in Germany and public speaking
is not part of our curriculum, neither school nor university. Also debates in
the form they are done in the U.S. are completely unknown here. Toastmasters
really fills a gap in that respect. If you grew up in the U.S. Toastmaster (at
least how it's done in Germany) might be a bit boring for you.

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todd8
This is a bit off topic, since the question is specifically about
Toastmasters. I haven't done Toastmasters myself, but the people that I know
that like it feel that they have gotten a lot out of it. Despite the self-
selection bias, I would recommend Toastmasters because communication skills
are so important in the software field.

My company took a new approach and was making good progress with our product
when the Open Software Foundation decided that industry standards in the area
were needed. This posed an existential threat to our existence since no one
else was doing what we were doing in our unique way. Instead of working as the
software architect behind our design, I was thrust into role of software
evangelist and had to speak persuasively in front of huge audiences (hundreds)
and even participate in panel debates defending my designs against every
imaginable critique from IBM, HP, Dec, Apollo, etc. They had deep talent,
outside consultants (Carnegie Melon Univ professors, etc.), and they were all
trying to take down my company.

Naturally, the most important way for a software person to be successful is to
know your craft and be able to make software, but once you start to rise
through the ranks you and your endeavors will greatly benefit from the ability
to give a good technical presentation.

I had the good fortune of teaching a few courses in grad school and this led
to an opportunity to do some internal training on new software methodologies
in my first real job. I worked on doing it well, and this eventually resulted
in me being sent to Sweden, England, and Germany to speak about the company's
software to our own engineers and customers. All of this prepared me for what
I had to do for my own company's success years later.

Suggestions for getting comfortable with public speaking: start out easy
(magic shows for your nieces and nephews), avoid Power Point (at first) and
learn to think on your feet in front of an audience at a white board, work
with material you know, and watch videos of excellent presentations in your
field from conferences (there are so many on the internet now).

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inerte
We have it here at Yahoo. I've personally never been to one, but I know a
couple people that have and they've liked. Can't you do one session for free
and see if you enjoy it?

~~~
weinzierl
You can do as many sessions for free as you like, even actively participate in
the sessions (impromptu speeches, giving feedback). The only rule is that only
members are allowed to give prepared speeches.

My recommendation is to try out a few different clubs to find one that suits
you.

