Celebrating 100 years of Toastmasters

No sex, no religion, no politics; that’s a rule of Toastmasters, the international organisation that helps people with public speaking and leadership skills.

But Dr Shirley Gallagher, a member of Guardian, which is the Toastmasters branch at UCC, says she has broken the rule, speaking about all three ‘taboo’ subjects at the club - saying the rule is theoretical rather than something that is always obeyed.

“A long while ago, there was a whole load of porn found in the Vatican,” says Shirley. “I crossed over the Toastmasters rule in talking about it! I was just fascinated.”

But, generally, Shirley keeps an eye on matters relating to sustainability, her area of expertise, which she speaks about at Toastmasters, all the while improving her communication skills.

History of organisation 

Toastmasters, which is 100 years old this year, is an international organisation that grew out of a single club founded by Dr Ralph C Smedley at a YMCA gathering in Santa Ana, California in 1924. Its goal was to train young boys and men in speech, to face an audience and express their thoughts.

The organisation began itting women in 1932. There are now 18 branches of Toastmasters in Cork city and county.

Glanmire-based Shirley, born in London, moved to Arranmore Island off Donegal when she was nine. At primary school, everything was done as Gaeilge, which was a bit of a shock for the young Londoner.

For her secondary school education, she attended a boarding school on the mainland, moving away from home at just 12.

“It was hard, but if you wanted to be educated, you had to go. There is now a secondary school on the island,” she said.

Shirley became pregnant at 18. She decided to study science at Ulster University as it had a crèche. She considered embarking on a teaching career because of the hours and holidays but work experience turned her off the profession.

“I realised my brain wouldn’t manage teaching, repeating the same thing all the time.”

She worked in sales for a while before completing a doctorate in environmental chemistry and software development. Her subsequent career involved working in labs, calibration and training. She is now a consultant in technical auditing, business development, sustainable development, data analytics, energy, and the circular economy.

Shirley is also involved in a start-up that is all about extending the life of rechargeable batteries in a safe way and avoiding carbon.

Networking is something Shirley enjoys. She is a founding member of the global Sustainable Speakers Club and is a Climate Reality leader.

“From a continuous professional development scenario, I thought ing Toastmasters would be a good idea. When I was chairperson of the Environmental Sciences Association of Ireland, I recognised that I needed to prepare my speeches better. Involved in climate action and sustainability measures, I wanted to be a better speaker and to be asked to attend conferences.

“In Toastmasters, you’re learning by doing and you get a lot of mentoring along the way. People are very interested in helping you to become a better speaker.”

Shirley ed Toastmasters in Glanmire in 2012 (which subsequently moved to Little Island). Before settling in the Guardian branch (set up by of the Garda Siochana initially), she visited a number of different branches. That included The Cork Club at the Metropole Hotel, the original Toastmasters branch in Cork, founded by Con O’Connor among others.

“At the Guardian Toastmasters, we have a lot of students because we meet in UCC,” said Shirley.

While she finds the organisation, with its opportunities to give speeches on specific topics as well as impromptu speeches, very helpful professionally, it is also “good fun”.

“I’ve made great friends at Toastmasters. And I enjoy the mentoring I give to people coming through. I’ve mentored students, post-grads and older people. For example, there’s a guy who is going to be taking on his family business. He’s just a bit shy and wants to learn in a safe space which Toastmasters gives to people.”

Shirley says a lot of people come to Toastmasters to prepare for the wedding speech they have to give as groom or best man or bride.

“Toastmasters definitely helped me with my father’s eulogy when he ed away in 2020. It gave me the skills to craft a funny and sad tribute.

“I also did a mother-of-the-bride speech when my daughter got married last year. I wrote it and used Toastmasters to help me make it better.”

'All in the delivery'

At Toastmasters, there’s an online platform called Pathways where can learn about dynamic leadership, effective coaching and persuasive influence. It’s all in the delivery.

What are the main mistakes people make when it comes to public speaking?

“I’d say not preparing and humming and hawing and using crutch words like ‘you know’ and ‘kind of’.” Being asked to speak on a topic without any time to prepare is one of the exercises at Toastmasters.

“You can have an answer ready that you can twist or turn to suit the topic. Thinking on your feet is an important skill. We all speak in public every time we go into a shop.”

From a physical perspective, voice projection is vital.

“It’s about breathing properly. A lot of the time, we’re breathing from up on our chests whereas we should breathe from our belly.”

Shirley says that Toastmasters makes people more confident.

“I’ve always been confident. There’s a guy from Aranmore who says that being from the island gives you the confidence to talk to anyone as it’s so cosmopolitan. People there have often lived elsewhere. ”

Clearly, Shirley is in a good position to mentor Toastmasters’ participants. And she continues to work on making her messages about sustainability clear and captivating.