Overcome the Fear of Public Speaking with the Cherry Capital Club Toastmasters

“I was scared to death to talk in front of people.”

“I was very shy.”

The fear of public speaking is a very common form of social anxiety. Affecting as much as 75% of the population. But there’s a Northern Michigan organization that helps people become more confident in speaking and communicating.

“ is an international group all over the world. And we practice our public speaking skills at our structured meetings every week.”

Merek Roman is the Vice President of Public Relations for the . The club breaks it down, making it easy to guide members on their journey of personal growth. Starting with a speaking portion —

Merek says, “Structured speeches that talk about, use this skill or use a visual aid or have a question and answer section.”

A Table Topics portion–

“We have a toast table topics master that asks questions that are impromptu. They get up and speak for 45 seconds to a minute and a half.”

And a unique critique.

“We have two evaluators that will evaluate our speakers and give constructive feedback and also talk about what the speakers did very well.”

“We have an agrimarium and they pick up those little catch phrases that you may have; uh, um, you know, I mean. Those things that drive us crazy in speeches,” says Matthew French, the group’s Sergent at Arms.

Helping people of all different backgrounds and skill levels.

“In my line of work, I get to get up and speak every week. I’m a minister by trade. I thought I knew a little bit about speaking, I found out, I really didn’t know much at all,” says French.

Carol Taberski says, “It gave me confidence and that took a long time before I can stand up and talk in front of people.”

Cherry capital club toastmasters — Empowering individuals and even gaining something a little more…

“You meet some super people, and people who have really become friends. It just builds me up and makes me a better person,” says Mary Ferris.

Cherry Capital Club Toastmasters President Eric Davis says, “Toastmasters is a really fun group of people. I found that they were very accepting.”

And their door is always open…

“Come and see us, you don’t have to be a part of it, but just come and experience it with us.”