Sharing the gift of the gab

Elmwood

East Kildonan

North Kildonan

There’s something powerful about the spoken word.

Every Friday morning, members of the Elmwood Speakers Club get together to practise their public speaking skills. But there’s more to it than that.

“We use communications skills to enhance the social and mental health of each member,” said Wayne Stanton, the club’s vice-president of education. “But it was never primarily a public speaking group. And I think that’s the strongest component, that we’re like a peer support group. We celebrate birthdays, we’ll attend funerals. The public speaking is secondary. It gives us structure. But it’s more of an emotional support group.”

Founded 47 years ago, the Elmwood Speakers Club, formerly known as the Elmwood Senior Speakers Club, was a part of the Toastmasters organization. A few years back, the group decided to go out on its own but it still follows a structured study and presentation plan, by way of the Agora Speakers International organization.

“The first half of each meeting is an improvised session. We have a thing called ‘hot topics,’ where we respond to questions. You get practise speaking off the cuff. The second half is prepared speeches, whether it’s through the manual (which has 10 projects) or ‘freelancing.’ Everything is timed. You’ve got to get it within five to seven minutes. Everything you do is evaluated. We call it Even Better If points (EBI points), rather than saying, here’s what you did wrong or here’s what you can work on.”

Stanton, a former professional comedian, joined the group when he retired seven years ago. He believes that the confidence that can come from public speaking is a benefit to members of all ages.

“Public speaking, if you can speak and think, that’s all you need. You don’t need to be an athlete,” he said. “As you get older, things get taken away from you. To still be part of a team, in some way, and part of a successful team, is special. They can’t take that away from you. When you’re 70, 80 and hear that you’re still in the game, that’s part of it. But the biggest thing is the emotional support.”

Having a common interest helps bring the group together, Stanton added, but what keeps people coming back is the camaraderie within the group, which at press time had 18 members.

“One of the biggest problems with seniors, in particular, is loneliness,” he said. “Sometimes your kids go off and get married, you don’t see them. That human contact and interaction, that’s the greatest thing about this, is you’re sharing something.”

The group meets from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Bronx Park Community Centre (720 Henderson Hwy.). Guests and new members all always welcome, Stanton added.

“The best thing to do is drop by as a guest,” he said. “You don’t have to participate until you’re comfortable. But you just have to feel that interaction, to see the love that is shared by the people in the room.”