A few years ago I joined Toastmasters, which is an international public speaking organization dedicated to helping its members improve their communication and leadership skills. As someone who has always been shy and who could never comfortably speak in front of a group ("group" being defined as anyone other than myself) I realized that it was time to finally face my fear head on, deal with it and overcome it.
When I attended my first Toastmasters meeting, I knew that this was what I needed to do. I wound up joining a corporate club in my neighborhood that opened its membership to the community. After being out of the workforce for so long, I wanted to gradually ease my way back into a professional setting. This seemed like a good way to start. Giving speeches is a main part of Toastmasters. It wasn't, and quite honestly, still isn't easy for me to get up and speak to a group of strangers. However, I discovered that when I converse with the audience like I'm talking to my close personal friends, I'm very comfortable and relaxed. As a result, the audience appears attentive and interested in what I have to say. What surprises me the most is how much I've actually come to enjoy this. This completely blows me away. Every time I address a group, I understand what Sally Fields felt like when she said, "I can't deny the fact that you like me, right now you like me! You like me, you really like me," during her acceptance speech for winning the Oscar for Leading Actress in 1985 for "Places in the Heart." Public speaking has became my hypothetical drug of choice. I now need my regular fix of feeling accepted, admired and appreciated for what I say. It's very addicting.
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