DIANE MAKAR MURPHY Members speak highly -- and confidently -- of club

Warren resident Mike Gerrick, dressed like a business executive, mustache well-groomed, shoes shined, strides to the podium at the center of a horseshoe of tables.
He drags the stand back a few feet, steps in front of it, pauses to look comfortably at the audience, then smiles.
He cups his hands over his mouth and gives a reverberating Tarzan yell that would make Johnny Weissmuller proud.
Welcome to Toastmasters -- the place where the confident, less confident and even those with shaking knees, come to develop speaking skills.
Every Monday at 6:45 p.m., a group of 17 or so men and women meet in a large room in Building C at Forum Health Beeghly Medical Center in Boardman.
Depending on the monthly agenda, a member acts as Toastmaster, Joke Master, Word Master, speaker, evaluator, timer, grammarian or "Ah Counter" (the individual who, upon hearing someone stutter, "U-hhh" gets to slap a little bell like the one on a dry cleaner's counter.)
Job duties
The Toastmaster is the master of ceremonies, and each week that and other jobs rotate through the membership, with the goal being, quite simply, public speaking.
If you are an evaluator, in addition to simply evaluating others' presentations, you present your findings in a short speech.
If you join a discussion, you allow yourself to present what amounts to a minispeech.
If you are the Joke Master, you go to the head of the group to relay your humor. The training tip presenter for the evening, Joe White, a recent Youngstown State University graduate, talks about ... the ... effectiveness ... of using ... pauses -- a tip that many of the speakers already knew.
If you are the Word Master, you bring a visual aid, talk about your word for a couple of timed minutes, then encourage members to use that word during the evening. Before members know it, after rotating through a few jobs, they've become more at ease.
"Does anyone remember Miki's icebreaker?" asked Ken Thomas of Youngstown, the evening's Toastmaster, after his wife's speech. "Her knees were shaking. What a difference! When your self-confidence goes up ... your income goes up."
Which may be the motivation for some members whose jobs include sales and motivational speaking. At least one, Belden Ham, who lives near Columbiana, attends to "teach my messages."
Noticeable improvement
Alan Deeley, who joined the nonprofit international organization in 1963, admitted severe stage fright at first. "I froze on my first icebreaker," the Poland resident said. "My mentor came up and helped me."
Thomas said, "If you see someone during their icebreaker, then six months later, there's a world of difference. A year later -- amazing!"
Among the promises Toastmasters members make when joining the club -- promises highlighted in Miki Thomas' speech Monday -- are to attend all club meetings regularly, prepare speeches to the best of their ability basing them upon projects in the Toastmaster manual, and prepare for meeting assignments.
Most important, members, especially on the evenings they are designated as speech evaluators, promise to help maintain a "positive, friendly environment necessary for all members to learn and grow."
"We have an expert in Alan Deeley in giving tactful, constructive criticism," Miki said in her talk. "But I don't want whitewash. I want an evaluation that will help me move on."
Regional competitor
That is, evidently, what she and others get, because the three main speakers for Monday were polished. Ham, a master of using pauses effectively, gave an inspirational speech without benefit of notes immediately after Miki's.
And then there was Mike with his Tarzan yodel. His speech, "That Little Extra," encouraged listeners to take the time to do what counts, to spend time with their children and to care for others.
He brought it to the club for critiquing because this weekend he will compete with it at a regional contest, having won four lower-division competitions for speaking.
murphy@vindy.com