University of Ottawa Student Empowered by Toastmasters Experience

Toastmasters International, founded in 1924, is a non-profit educational organization that operates clubs worldwide for the purpose of helping members improve their communication, public speaking, and leadership skills. There are thousands of clubs in over 122 countries. Run by volunteers, members pay a membership fee in order to participate in weekly meetings where each member is evaluated on their communication skills, from grammar and use of diverse vocabulary, to eye contact, body language, and vocal expression. Along with prepared speeches, members are also given impromptu topics each week to speak about so that they learn to think on their feet.

Heba first became aware of her intense fear of public speaking when she was paralysed with anxiety during a presentation to a class full of her friends in high school in Saudi Arabia. Since beginning university, Heba promised herself each year that she would join the Toastmasters club, but was only in her third year that she realized she needed to take some immediate measures to deal with her anxiety as it was once again causing problems for her. “My very first presentation in third year was in a biochemistry lab and my knees and hands started to shake and I specifically remember holding my paper in my right hand while it was shaking and I had to stabilize the paper with my left hand so that the paper wouldn’t shake so much and it wouldn’t be so obvious to everyone watching me,” Heba shared.

Since joining Toastmasters, Heba has become one of the clubs most active members, preparing a speech each week. David Blaney, the Club’s Treasurer, who co-founded the University of Ottawa’s Toastmasters Club in 2004 when he was an Accounting student, has been quite impressed with Heba’s development. “She’s funny. She’s well organized. She uses notes but I don’t know why because I don’t think she needs them! She’s progressing very quickly,” David stated. After graduating and joining the work world, David has continued with the club as he finds it rewarding to support new members’ development and to meet and learn from people from all walks of life. “We have a lot of international students come to get better at English but what we see quite quickly is that they continue to be a member because they want to work on communication and leadership skills.”

Leadership comes from the fact that the club is run by its members, with each member being tasked with a specific role in order to support the development of their fellow members at each meeting. Heba has taken on roles such as Grammarian, Timer, Speech Evaluator, and Ah-Counter (She has to count how many times a person says “ah” during a speech). “When I first started I thought ‘Who am I, a beginner, to evaluate someone who has been with Toastmasters for 11 years?’ But they put you in these situations so you can learn,” she explained. She finds the space to be very supportive and receiving positive and constructive feedback from other members has helped her gain the confidence needed to manage her anxiety.

Through the club, Heba has also discovered that her multicultural background is seen as interesting and valuable to others and can be a great source for speech topics. Her first speech talked about her life as a Palestinian refugee living in Saudi Arabia. She was surprised by how open and receptive club members were to her story. Heba’s most popular speech with members so far has been “How to Make Hummus”. “I chose this topic because here they buy hummus from the store but it tastes better when we make it!” Heba stated, laughing, “And it’s three times cheaper when you make it so I thought I better share the secret with them!”

Heba encourages anyone who wants to improve their public-speaking skills in a social and supportive atmosphere to join Toastmasters. “It eventually stops being something you have to do for a purpose and becomes a hobby for you, something you look forward to and enjoy,” she explained. “I went from being so afraid of having attention on me to actually enjoying giving a speech in front of people. It’s so empowering!”

For more information about the University of Ottawa Toastmasters Club, its meetings, and fees visit www.uottawa.toastmastersclubs.org or contact Alain Decelles, Tel. 613 562 5756, Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

To find a Toastmasters Club near you visit this website.