Many years ago, as a brand new 2nd Lieutenant, I had to brief the Wing commander and his immediate staff about how my department was preparing for an upcoming inspection. I was so nervous my notes visible shook in my hands, I stuttered, and I could not form complete sentences. It was a horrible experience.
The commander gave me a direct order. "Lieutenant Haynes, next Tuesday night the Toastmasters meets in downtown in the Ocean View Restaurant. You will be there and for the next three months attend each meeting and fully participate in their acttivities. I will receive a performance report from them. At that time you will report back to me and give me a full report on the status of your department".
My first night at the Toastmasters, just as dinner ended, I was handed a slip of paper with the word "canoe" on it. A few minutes later I was introduced to the table - about 15 people, all strangers - and then was asked to give a 3 minute talk on the subject on the slip of paper. I had no idea that I had to make a presentation, in fact, I didn't know what the Toastmasters were all about.
I started off stuttering and stamering when about a minute into it, I was asked a question, "Have you ever paddled a canoe"? As a matter of fact, I had spent a couple summers paddling and portaging amongst the small lakes of upper Maine, so I charged right into my experiences. They had to cut me off; I was then so involved and enthused talking about exploring and camping from a canoe that I completely forgot my nervousness and fears.
Toastmasters, over the next several months led and trained me into methods of preparing for a presentation to where at the 6-month meeting for me, I was the lead speaker for that night, giving a 15 minute presentation. The major lesson I gained from them was to involve myself in the subject of my presentation to the point of being enthusiastic and driven towards making my audience enthusiastic as well.
At the 3-month mark, I was able to report on the progress and status of my department with some degree of aplomb. True, I was a little nervous prior to starting, but as soon as I started my introduction I felt much more at ease, and gave a much more professional presentation.
Some time later, the Wing Commander told me that he regularly used Toastmasters to train his young officers. He felt that the ability to comfortably perform public speaking was a mandatory capability for both an officer and leader in any environment.