Page 6 - December 2019

COVER STORY

My Toastmasters Journey

Abraham Alfaro, PM2

December’s spotlight is trained on Division B Director

Abraham Alfaro. In this month’s article, Abraham shares
highlights of his Toastmasters journey.

I joined Toastmasters in 2012 when I was broke,
unemployed, and houseless. Someone suggested
I attend a Toastmasters meeting to develop my
interviewing skills and tbuild my confidence.

My first impression of the meetings I attended, as
I bounced around western Oregon looking for work,
PJ Kleffner, DTM
were of groups of people working hard to be better
Program Quality Director
tomorrow than they were yesterday. That atmosphere
Service with a Smile
of self-actualization (along with the people I have met
along the way) keeps me coming back every week.
In Toastmasters, I have had many moments of
Erik Bergman, DTM
growth and sudden bursts of realization. One of my
“A-ha Moments” came while reading Confessions of a
Public Speaker by Scott Berkun, a book I would not have
pulled off the shelf if I hadn’t been in Toastmasters. At
one point, Berkun discusses his theory for the origin

of glossophobia, the fear of public speaking. He thinks
it derives from an atavistic response an individual has
to having multiple sets of eyes watching them. We start
feeling like we are being hunted by pack predators

6 ONE COMMUNITY