New U of M club teaches students the art of oration

Some U of M students are finding out that there's a better way to handle stage fright than imagining the audience naked.

Toastmasters International, a national nonprofit organization that teaches its 250,000 members the art of public speaking, is on campus for the first time this semester.

The Fogelman College of Business and Economics approved the charters of three Toastmaster clubs on Monday, and will possibly approve more in the spring.

Jasbir Dhaliwal, associate dean of the Fogelman College of Business and Economics, said the college decided to bring the organization to campus after a report by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business showed that the majority of students in the department were "weak in presentation and articulation."

"We want it to grow so more students can benefit," Dhaliwal said. "So more students, when they graduate, have good public speaking and articulation skills. It shows more confidence. We want our students to be great leaders."

Business students and their mentors run the clubs, which are specifically for students in the college but also include invited members, said Dhaliwal, who helped create the three clubs.

The clubs are titled the "The Toasting Tigers," "Fogelman's Finest," and the "Distinguished Voices of Fogelman."

Fogelman's Finest meet every Monday at 3 p.m., The Toasting Tigers meet every Monday at 4 p.m. and the Distinguished Voices of Fogelman meet every Friday at 5 p.m. All three clubs meet in room 119 of the Fogelman Executive Center.

While essentially the same, the three clubs meet at different times in the week because of widespread interest in the groups.

The clubs already have about 65 members combined, with more than 20 in each club, according to Bradley Harris. Harris also serves as the national chapter governor of the 43rd district as well as co-sponsor and mentor of the club chapters at The U of M.

Harris said the clubs' main focus is to help students develop a lifelong love for communication and leadership.

"These three clubs comprise business students at undergraduate and graduate levels who seek to build practical communication and leadership skills they can take to work upon graduation," Harris said. "For many members, Toastmasters is a lifelong pursuit."

Kimberlee Keef, the instructor in the management department of the Fogelman College of Business who lead the push for the new clubs, is offering her students extra credit for joining the organization.

Keef provides students in her classes who join the organization with the opportunity to receive class credit and is encouraging other faculty in the department to do the same.

Andrew Beauchamp, senior supply-chain management major, is a student in one of Keef's classes and a member of one of the Toastmasters chapters. He joined the organization to boost his chances of landing a job in a tough market, he said.

"This is a really good opportunity to get helpful criticism from peers and people who are proven speakers," he said. "Being able to speak well is critical to being successful in the professional world."

Harris said he and Keef are working with senior faculty members to provide extra credit in the college curriculum to students who actively participate in Toastmasters.

"We've enjoyed the enthusiastic support and creative, out-of-the-box thinking of key Fogelman College personnel, which helped us launch quickly and effectively," Keef said.

Caolinn Golden, freshman fine arts major, said business professors should provide extra credit for class assignments, but that the college should not.

"(I would support extra credit) if it were on small things like homework and papers, not anything worth a lot of points, (but) because the teacher wants you to learn a specific lesson," Golden said.