The Honeydew Toastmasters Club appointed a new president during a virtual meeting on July 12. Lorenzo Jefferies joined Toastmaster in 2018 to improve his public-speaking ability after he abandoned the activity in high school. “The first time I attended a meeting, I got to the parking lot and the nerves got the better of me, so I just drove away. But I returned and never left,” he shared.
Once he joined he was pleasantly surprised that the atmosphere was not formal or rigid. He referred to it as “… casual but very structured at the same time. It was not as intimidating as you would think it would be.” Lorenzo has not only overcome his jitters but he has excelled to his new position as club president.
“I am hoping to keep the club where it is in its good standing. I would like to see us keep our new members and young members, not to say we do not accept people who are older. I’d like the club to be more youth-led. When I was elected president I didn’t say ‘I want to be president and I have these goals’. Sometimes it’s just a case of maintaining and making slight improvements,” he shared his philosophy.
Lorenzo, who is also an avid photographer, said he wanted more competitive speakers from the club and have them get the competition experience. According to him, you can never run out of things to talk about but it is important to know your audience. “I would say no topics are off the table but just be cautious how you present them. You can talk about things that are very divisive but it should be done with tact and maturity.”
He admitted that public speaking is tricky to quantify because it takes different shapes in our daily interactions. “As I’m speaking to you, it’s public speaking. But I don’t think I would use that in a formal setting. You shouldn’t look at it as how you have used public speaking because sometimes the benefits trickle down into other ways you might not notice.”
