Welcome to the limited series return of BETWEEN THE PAGES, running Mondays and Wednesdays now through mid-December 2020! Dubbed BETWEEN THE PAGES: FINDING MY VOICE, follow Shannon’s journey as she learned and grew to become more of a public speaker, and how she’s still learning today! Today is Installment 25, “Finding Toastmasters4Writers”.
I knew that finding a Toastmasters group that would interest me would be a tough bill to fill. First off, the group had to meet on the weekends, as due to my work hours being involved with any weeknight event was out for me. The group would need to embrace creativity to some degree; I wanted to be able to speak at conventions on creative topics, not exclusively executive luncheons or people someone who made a living public speaking.
Honestly, I had real doubts of finding any group that would fit that bill.
To my surprise, my research turned up a local Toastmasters club meeting in North Hollywood on Saturdays that would be having an open house in the near future. Even more surprising was the club’s name.
Toastmasters4Writers.
The name clinched it. I had to show up and see if this would be the place for me. I hadn’t liked the profiles of anywhere else I’d seen locally that met the weekend criteria.
So, my husband and I went and heard the guest speaker, and then saw the members of the group in action for the second half. At the end of the meeting, I found out they were offering to cover the joining fee if you paid the national and local dues that day.
Nothing I saw that day made me think it wasn’t the place for me, and I knew there were no other clubs I had interest in checking out. So, I chose that day to pay six months worth of dues and make it my home club.
What happened next? Check out the next installment.