O

nce upon a time, a man failed to deliver a speech after joining a royal dinner. A lion was about to eat the man, but right before the man was mauled, he whispered to the lion that it needed to give a speech in front of the other guests after eating him.

Frightened, the lion quickly turned on its tail and sneaked away.

This story demonstrates that even a terrifying lion is scared to speak in public.

Such feelings are shared by many people who are shy or hesitant to present their ideas in front of other people.

One of those people is Steve Kosasih, who used to be insecure about speaking in front of a lot of people. He remembered how poor his public speaking was when he worked as a manager for a major food company 13 years ago.

“There were many experienced employees in that company. I was wondering how I could stand out,” he told The Jakarta Post during a recent Toastmasters convention in Ancol, North Jakarta.

Kosasih said he learned about Toastmasters at an event in Singapore featuring motivational speaker Anthony Robbins.

“I had never heard about Toastmasters before. After that event, I searched the Internet and joined a Toastmasters club named metropolitan in Kuningan,” he said.

Toastmasters is an international non-profit organization that teaches communication and leadership skills. Established in 1924 by Ralph C. Smedley, the organization now has more than 260,000 members in over 12,500 clubs in 113 countries.

Their official website states that Smedley, a director of education for the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), decided to create a training in the form of a social club after observing that many youth needed more public speaking and leadership skills.

Kosasih attends the regular meetings of his club and took the Toastmasters manual seriously to improve his communication skills.

“I was very clumsy and nervous in my first speech. Err… My name is Steve.. Er…,” he said while standing up to illustrate the situation.

After completing the first 10 programs, he asked the Toastmasters International headquarters in the United States to send his certificate to his boss at the food company. His boss later gave him the opportunity to do presentations throughout the country.

“I got promoted four times in two years,” he said, smiling from cheek to cheek.

He said interviews for his next jobs went smoothly, as he never failed to communicate his skills and talents to his prospective employers. Steve, who has been in Toastmasters for 13 years, now proudly has the prestigious position of director of finance at the state-owned forestry company Perhutani.

But how many people have similar experiences to Kosasih’s?

Risti Brophy, the chair of the first division of Toastmasters in Jakarta, said the organization has 1,300 members scattered in cities across the country. Around 800 of those members are part of the dozens of clubs in the capital city.

Risti said membership was also recognized at the international level, which enables members to visit or move to any other clubs when they move or are transferred abroad. The schedules and email address of every club around the world is available on the Toastmaster’s website.

“Our club once did a session with a club in the United States, which was great for our club because our members could interact with counterparts from an English-speaking country,”
Risti said.

She said the session was memorable particularly because one of the US members wore a batik shirt he bought 20 years ago during a visit to Indonesia.

Risti said she had never heard of Toastmasters before becoming a member. She said she agreed to join a meeting, recommended to her by a friend, to avoid the hectic traffic after office hours.

She happily came to her first session, with the assumption that the social club might have wine because of the name.

“When I arrived, I thought: Oh my God, this is too formal. Only 20 people and there was not a single bottle!” she said, laughing.

She was impressed by the supportive and attentive atmosphere in the club, she said. It did not take long for her to fall in love with the club and get involved in its activities.

Anyone over 18 years old can join the club, which consists of housewives, students and workers. Risti said a company could also start a club as long as they met the requirement for starting a new club: having at least 20 members.

She said a new membership fee was US$20 and each member paid $27 for a six-month membership. The member receives a manual from headquarters in America as well as a monthly magazine.

The meetings, held once every two weeks, are divided into three sessions — prepared speech, impromptu speech and evaluation.

After finishing the first program, advanced members are offered more specific communication practice, including storytelling, persuasive speech and motivational speech.

“There is no teacher or examination here. Everyone can move at their own pace. If you want to finish the program in six months or a year, it’s up to you,” Risti said.

She said members should not only work on their speeches, but should also be involved in their club in order to maintain the organization. “You should take on certain roles, like becoming an evaluator,” she said.

Vasta C. Choesin, a manager at a major oil company, said many companies send their employees to Toastmasters for public speaking workshops. He found the workshops were not much of a benefit if employees did not practice the art of public speaking.

“You cannot just read the tennis manual and then play the sport. You should go to the court and practice,” he said.

Joseph Gomez, a marketing adviser for region 14 of Toastmasters, said he was concerned to see that many graduates from Indonesia were too shy to speak in English.

Toastmasters, he said, provided a platform to practice communication together with a low price.

“You will improve a lot. This club is your place to make mistakes.

“If you go out to a convention, board meeting or presentation, don’t make a mistake. Become a champion,” he said.

For more information, visit www.toastmasters.org