Section: ThisWeek Page: 08 Edition: 2 STAR Here's to breakfast DaybreakersToastmasters Club offers early morning weekly chat and chew By BETTY L. MARTIN Staff Waving a small U.S. flag, the first speaker describes Old Glory's evolution to a world-recognized symbol of freedom. Moments later, another speaker holds up a copy of the U.S. Constitution, saying that guaranteed freedoms and rights are being systematically eroded today by a political system that ignores its own rules. This is no debate or political rally, but a regular Thursday meeting of the Daybreakers Toastmasters Club at the Hampton Inn off South Loop at 6:50 a.m., when many people in the southwest Houston area are still asleep. "What I like about Toastmasters is it's a supportive place to get leadership experience and to practice speaking before other people," said John Martin, 52, a business development consultant and Alief resident who is a past president of Daybreakers. The current president, Gavin Goryl of Tanglewilde and owner of information technology company Eventlogic, agrees. "It gave me the confidence to get in front of groups and speak," said Goryl, 37, who has been in the club for two years. "And its changed me dramatically as far as just being better organized and being cognizant of what the audience is interested in hearing - then tailoring a presentation to that and knowing what to say." Organized in 1972, Daybreakers is one of about 120 clubs within Toastmasters District 56, which covers southeast Texas, and one of about 70 clubs just within the Greater Houston area. It's stated purpose is the same as other clubs - to help people improve communication and leadership abilities - but Daybreakers does it a lot earlier than most. It's is a diverse group and about 25 percent of the 30 to 40 members who attend meetings regularly are people for whom English is not their native language. "We have a lady from Peru, someone from China and at least two from Mexico," Martin said. "And we've had members or visitors from Africa, Hungary, Germany, India and the United Kingdom." Within Texas, members come from as far away as the Hill Country, including one who drives to Daybreakers from La Grange every week, Goryl said. Like many who join Daybreakers, Martin was affiliated with another club within Toastmasters International before coming to the club about six years ago. After being hired after graduating from Indiana University by Texas Instruments, he worked in the Angleton area and first joined Toastmasters there. "When I was growing up, nobody in my family gave toasts. But in my wife's family, somebody was giving a toast every time they got together," he said. Martin liked the club so much that when his company moved him to the Alief area, he looked around for a replacement. Now, after many years in Daybreakers and as its president in 1999, he can make a toast at family gatherings or when called upon to give speeches at business or social functions. That's something he would not have imagined in his pre-Toastmaster days, he said. "First and foremost, it gives people an opportunity to overcome any anxiety they may have about speaking in front of any group of any size, to learn to control a group of people in a discussion and lastly, to practice leadership in a group environment," Martin said. Working as a marketing manager, Martin has been called on to provide seminars for clients or company prospects. "I don't have to think how to run a meeting - I know how to run a meeting," he said. "I have been in a meeting every week for years, and so my company turns to me to do sales training and seminars." Under the Toastmasters format, the president introduces the toastmaster selected to run that day's meeting, start the meeting off with a toast and to line up the day's speakers. A table top master makes sure every member at a club meeting gets to speak by organizing discussion subjects and asking various members to address them within a minute or two. At last week's meeting, the topics included whether justice had been served in the case in which Clear Lake resident Andrea Yates had been found guilty and imprisoned for murdering her children, what would constitute justice in the Middle East and whether or not justice is for sale in the United States. Called on by the tabletop discussion leader, individual club members had one to two minutes to spontaneously answer the question posed to them. Impromptu speaking is about thinking on your feet," Martin said. "It's one of the opportunities each club member has at each meeting to practice speaking in a group environment." A timekeeper notes the minutes and seconds it takes each speaker to answer questions during the impromptu portion, and again later during the morning's two prepared speeches designed to be less than 10 minutes each. One job not usually found at other clubs is the "ah counter," the person designated at each meeting to jot down each time a speaker lapses into noncommunicable verbal sounds to cover a pause. "The first speech I ever gave, I think I had about 16 ah's in 30 seconds," said Dan Gormley, 58, of Sharpstown who works for Houston Airport Systems and has been in one Toastmasters club or another for 27 years. "In a company meeting, a boss will say, `What do you think of this?' And you have to be ready to respond," he said. "Toastmasters not only lets you improve your speaking and leadership within the business settings, but at social functions - in life." Another distinct role at Toastmasters' meetings is the grammarian who introduces the word of the day and praises or notes mistakes with a speaker's use of the English language. Last Thursday, the day's selected word was "harangue," which each speaker tried - with more or less success - to incorporate into the tabletop or prepared speeches. What makes Toastmasters unique from other organizations where speeches are routinely given, Martin said, are the master and general speech evaluators. "The evaluation part is very supportive and a very constructive system," he said. "And it is something that is critical. If you just get up and do a speech at Rotary, nobody tells you what you are doing right and what you need help with. The evaluation is a chance to find out how you are doing and how to fix what is wrong." New members are given several breaks - including no "ah" counts on speeches and the assignment of a mentoring toastmaster for the first few months, Gormley said. "The idea is that everyone helps everyone else. At one meeting, you may be the toastmaster and the next, handle the tabletop topics or be the timekeeper," he said. "But if we keep coming to the meetings, we help each other grow." Dottie Visoski of Rosharon and Ed Teitel of the Tanglewilde area prepared short speeches that incorporated the use of props - Visoki's flag and Teitel's copy of the Constitution. While Teitel, 53, said he came to Daybreakers about 18 months ago to learn how to improve his speaking skills, Visoki, 58, has attended Daybreakers meetings for 16 years because other members have become like family. "For me, it's about personal development, but also the camaraderie," she said. Though the topics of discussion or prepared speeches range from lighthearted to the serious, Goryl said the focus in Toastmasters is the delivery of the message, not the message itself. "We are a fun group and we don't take ourselves too seriously," Goryl said. |
