Toastmasters Club for Progressives

Two years ago I joined a Toastmasters Club in the hopes of learning to speak without relying on a script. And now I can (usually). I also wanted to get rid of verbal stalls like: um, uh, so, and, well, like, ya know, like, ya know, um.

Like, not only did I improve, ya know, but I watched other newcomers with far less experience become um comfortable and uh capable in a surprisingly short time.

Problem: I wanted to practice speaking about issues that were more controversial and that had a definite liberal spin, but my particular club had several members who were religious conservatives. My speech about why the government had no place trying to control women's bodies simply wouldn't fly. Nor would my discussion of school prayer.

Solution: A Toastmasters Club specifically for progressives, which would give us an opportunity to practice articulating our liberal moral values. It's a perfect follow-on to the series of workshops we did this spring at our Unitarian church on George Lakoff's reframing ideas. As we got better at putting words to our values, we realized we needed to get out there and TALK.

I put the word out both at church and to the local Democrats and we start Wednesday. People are excited; they say the time is ripe. We will follow the standard TM format, except that evaluations will also include a discussion of how to improve the framing of the particular topic. Stay tuned.