Toastmasters Club chartered in Connellsville to teach public speaking, business skills
The fear of public speaking – and overcoming it – is a process with which Laurel Highlands Toastmasters Club President Sharon Joseph is intimately familiar.
Growing up, Joseph had a stutter and was unable to pronounce “s” or “w.” That meant she had trouble pronouncing her own name and asking questions like “What?” When?” “Where?” and “Why?”
“Growing up, I couldn’t speak,” she said. “My journey of getting to where I am now was a long and onerous one.”
She took a speaking course as a young adult and became connected with Toastmasters through her mentor, who also had a stutter. Gaining public speaking skills and leadership skills through Toastmasters aided her through college at New York University and work as an operations manager for Standard & Poor’s. She said while her college education was excellent, she learned even more through Toastmasters than she did through NYU.
“I am so very excited about having Toastmasters here in Connellsville,” she said.
Joseph said she wants locals to gain those same skills and help people get back to work. She observes people missing out on job opportunities because they do not have enough confidence in their business skills and speaking abilities, she said.
The Laurel Highlands Toastmasters Club was chartered in July in Connellsville. It is the first in southwestern Pennsylvania and the first to offer a hybrid model, which allows people to participate in person or virtually from any location.
“We’re making history in so many ways,” she said.
The hybrid model will have an added benefit of teaching skills in virtual communication, Joseph said, with many companies continuing to ask their employees to work remotely and hold virtual meetings.
The club gained 21 members in three weeks, and their goal for the year is to have 100 members, she said.
The club will hold an open house at 6 p.m. Aug. 10 at the Connellsville Canteen and WWII Museum at 131 W. Crawford Ave. in Connellsville. Meetings are held every second and fourth Tuesday of the month at the same location and online.
To register or to receive a link to attend virtually, contact Joseph at 724-603-0413 or at SharonNY99@yahoo.com. For more information, visit www.toastmasters.org.