Speaking of Speechmaking: Local people hope to form Toastmasters chapter

A group of local speakers hope to establish a St. Mary Toastmasters Chapter club by mid-February. For this to happen, the group needs 20 members.

Area locals gathered for their Toastmasters meeting Wednesday at the St. Mary Chamber of Commerce.

Toastmasters International is a world leader in communication and leadership development, according to the Toastmasters website. The organization has more than 345,000 members.

Members improve their speaking and leadership skills by attending one of the 15,900 clubs in 142 countries that make up its global network of meeting locations.

Local bank professional and chamber board member Jason Bailey presented the idea to St. Mary Chamber President Donna Meyer.

And he is now the acting president of the local Toastmasters club.

The group started meeting around late July in 2016, Bailey said. The group meets twice a month.

There are future plans to host an open house. Bailey wants to generate more interest from the public by giving them an opportunity to come and see what the Toastmasters organization is about.

The club also wants to recruit more people to secure a charter.

“It takes 20 members to charter,” Bailey said. “I think we’re pretty close to doing that, which is why we definitely want to make sure we get it.”

Both Bailey and member Maria Izaguirre have prior experience with a Toastmasters organization.

“I was in a Toastmasters club at a prior employer,” Bailey said. “And it was a really good experience. I just know how important it is to have great public speaking skills because speech is everything.”

Izaguirre’s involvement in Toastmasters is close to four years. She attended a club called Tri-Parish Toastmasters in Houma. For her, joining was “all about personal development.”

“Toastmasters is a networking opportunity for leadership and public speaking,” Izaguirre said. “It’s progressive. It’s a very positive club. I’m very passionate about it, obviously. It’s fun and entertaining.”

Izaguirre stated Toastmasters is a great opportunity for young people. She is an advocate for young adults to join. Club members have to be 18 or older.

“It helps the younger people or people learn how to delegate, be a leader,” Izaguirre said. “It’s not just taking everything on your shoulders, learning how to organize and delegate tasks.

“And Toastmasters is international so you get to go up in rank. There are also speech contests.”

The organization seeks members from all over the parish because it will be named the St. Mary Parish Toastmasters club once it’s chartered.

“We just felt it would be a nice addition to our area to have that element of personal development available to people,” Bailey said.

“The nearest chapter is in Houma. So, it was a little inconvenient for some people to go to Houma.

“We felt it would be a good thing. And we had such a good response to get a chapter chartered here.”

Bailey already sees progress among the group.

“I think it’s going very well and I see a lot of progress,” Bailey said. “I see a lot of optimism in our members. And I see a lot of people improving their speaking as well from our initial start back in July.”

There is an initial one-time fee of $20 to join, Bailey said. Every six months, the fee is $45. So, it costs $90 a year. It can be paid in full or partial.

The group will meet next month on Feb. 8 and 22 at the chamber of commerce building in Morgan City. The public is invited to attend.