The Toastmasters International specialize in building leadership and communication skills. On Mar. 24, 1905, the now international organization held its first unofficial meeting. The university’s chapter of Toastmasters started its first meeting of the spring semester on Jan. 25 at 5 p.m. in Garrett Hall.

President of Southeastern Louisiana University Toastmasters International Ian Squires, a senior accounting major stated that he planned on doing this club for a while.

“I felt like it was very good for business majors specifically, and I want to branch it out to all majors eventually,” said Squires. “We’ve been trying to get things off. A little rocky start last semester, and we’re doing a lot better this semester. We have a lot clearer goals, and I think we’re going to be very successful.”

Allie Dyer, a senior marketing major, is vice president of memberships. She shared that she joined this club because she had gone to a lot of the different meetings for clubs but had not gotten anything out of it.

“They don’t give anything back,” said Dyer. “As college students when we work hard, we like to get something out of it. With this club, you can earn a certificate.”

The club’s mission is to provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered to develop communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self-confidence and personal growth.

Dyer shared that she has learned something else from the club. She learned to actively listen.

“When you listen to someone speaking, you’re preparing yourself to speak,” said Dyer.

The number of active members in the organization is approximately eight to 10. The number of participants in the organization is 20 including the members.

“The other 10 or so will come when they can,” said Squires. “I think we’re definitely going to grow. It’s going to take about 20 people for us to charter and that’s our goal for this semester.”

The meetings are every other Wednesday at 5 p.m. with the exception of holidays. Dyer feels that it works perfectly with her schedule.

“Even if you don’t make it to this meeting, there are other meetings in Hammond you can attend,” said Dyer.

In the usual meetings of Toastmasters, participants learn the skills of listening, communicating and public speaking by getting hands-on experience. Not only do they teach the do’s and don’ts of public speaking but they also allow people to participate choosing a person at random to speak in front of the group. The topic of the first meeting of this semester was about stress management. Squires was a member of the Hammond organization originally.

“They have clubs all over the world, and I joined Beta Alpha Psi which is an accounting honor society,” said Squires. “The meetings were at the same time. I really loved Toastmasters, and I didn’t wanna lose it. So, I decided to start my own club.”

Toastmasters invites guest speakers from different charters of the organization to discuss topics and be evaluated by different participants using constructive criticism for the speech.

“Last semester, we had one of the top 20 speakers in the world, Mr. Joel Dawson,” said Squires.

There are contests for members of Toastmasters to compete in to be evaluated by how well they speak.

“We do have a speech contest,” said Squires. “Contest season is starting. I participated in the humorous speech contest last semester. I won at the club level, we got second place at the area level, then it goes up to district and then division and after that you get to international.”

Squires described how he feels about being a part of this organization.

“Honestly, it’s the best club I’ve ever joined,” said Squires. “I love it because it’s given me so much value. I’ve learned how to communicate with people so much better, and it’s the number one essential skill for getting a job.”