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From: Pam
Date: 10 Oct 2011
Time: 23:10:56 -0500
Remote Name: 67.248.218.106
Hi Ari - good to hear from you! People from all walks of life join Toastmasters. Everybody except me in my club is fluent (mostly!) and join because they fear speaking publicly. Most people dis-like being in vulnerable situations where you think you will be judged. That is the major reason I hear why people join. One woman joined our club several years ago, and wound up asking me to mentor her. She is fluent, but was terrified of speaking to groups. And she was/is a human resources director for a non-profit. Through the structured format of Toastmasters, supportive feedback from fellow members, and opportunities to speak, she flourished. We also have professors, insurance agents, state workers, students and even a lawyer in my club. I know Toastmasters International has published a few articles over the years about how beneficial TM has been for we who stutter, but I don't think they fully understand the true impact it has and the positive change for so many it leads to. I wrote an article for my local TM division newsletter, but in my opinion, its not talked about enough. So glad to see you taking such an active role in this ISAD conference. Is there a TM club for you to join in Israel? If not, there would be plenty of people who would be happy to help get it started. (me - remotely of course). All the best. ~Pam