Toastmasters – Local “Outliers” Chapter Open to New Members “Shy is Not a Life Sentence!”

I grew up in a small town near Philadelphia. The youngest of the family with three much older brothers, I was a very shy little girl. My Mom enrolled me as a “Brownie” in the Girl Scouts. I was doing ok with the crafts and being with the other girls in the Troop until…Girl Scout Cookie time. I still remember the angst I felt at the thought of walking to our neighbors’ houses to take orders for boxes of Girl Scout cookies. I begged my Mom, “Please don’t make me knock on doors and ask them what cookies they want to buy!”. Next, she signed up for a piano teacher to come to our house. I remember sitting at the keyboard crying silently if I messed up playing a piece of music for the teacher. Being shy was painfully deep in my psyche!
When I was 13 my parents moved us to California. My inward perspective and approach to life finally began to change when I joined the school choir; I took Modern Dance class instead of P.E.; got 2nd lead in the school musical, and…wait for it…I met a boy…a cool surfer, at that! He apparently adored my shy approach and he asked me to “go steady”. He later became my husband for life!
I learned that by joining in a group effort I changed my inward-facing perspective to outwardly embrace growing with the other members. Joining Toastmasters as an adult dramatically solidified my confidence and built a skillset that has taken me to filling corporate management positions, supporting my husband’s public life in his career, and travel to other countries. If you find that you, or someone you know, is showing the signs of the condition known as “shyness”, Toastmasters has the answer for everyone.
Don’t live life on the sidelines…we all must represent! Toastmasters provides a warm, caring environment to study and practice your communication and meeting management skills using the Toastmasters online “Pathway” lessons. In each bi-weekly meeting 2 to 3 speakers deliver their speeches that they have written, and an assigned evaluator gives positive feedback. One-on-one mentoring help is also available. Shyness, and any other roadblocks you think you have, are replaced with acceptance and confidence. We are a group of caring members, and we welcome guests to our meetings to check us out. For information contact our VP of Education Tom Iland: 661-313-3323 or tom@thomasiland.com.