When senior finance major Greg Boggus went on job interviews, hewas so nervous that he would start hyperventilating.

“I would just tank. … I didn’t even get aninternship at the company where my mom worked,” he said

For this reason, Boggus and junior finance major Finny Bennycreated the SMU Toastmasters Club. Entering into its secondsemester, the club gives students an opportunity to practice theirpublic speaking skills.

“We responded to a need,” Benny said. “SMU isproducing these amazingly intelligent and talented students, andthey’re not able to get jobs because they’re notinterviewing well.”

The SMU Toastmasters Club’s first meeting of the semesteron Tuesday night met with “amazing” success, accordingto Benny, the club president.

Last semester, it recruited one member at the first meeting, buton Tuesday, 15 people turned in applications to join.

One of those 15, junior finance major Bobby Aitkenhead, wasapproached after the meeting by a corporate representative fromQuest Raymond-James Financial, Inc. concerning a possible summerinternship.

That kind of student success is exactly what Boggus and Bennyhad in mind when they began SMU Toastmasters in the fall.

Stage fright

Most of the officers present admitted to having public speakingproblems. Benny said he needed help thinking on his feet andthanked Toastmasters for helping him conquer his problem.”It’s helped me in class, being able to answerprofessors’ questions and just having confidence,” hesaid.

Boggus credited the Toastmasters program with his newself-confidence.

“It’s not where you come from, it’s where youare. Toastmasters got me here,” he said, referring to his newjob working at KPMG, an international financial consultingfirm.

Chartered in the Fall 2003 semester, the club has quickly becomeknown as a place for innovation and quick thinking.

Confidence builders

The program that has received the most praise has been the newSpeaker Series, initiated by Benny and Boggus. The Speaker Seriesis designed to promote networking and enhance students’public speaking skills.

Students have the opportunity to go to either QuestRaymond-James or Ernst & Young and present two advancedspeeches to members of the company and receive feedback. It alsoprovides students with the chance to meet members of the corporateworld and establish beneficial future connections.

The Toastmasters speech series is composed of 10 speeches orsteps. Each speech, beginning with the first “IceBreaker” speech, is designed to focus on key elements ofpositive public speaking skills such as speech organization, voice,language, gestures and persuasion.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Josh Miller gave his fourth speech,the “Formal Speech,” which must include a presentationand handouts. His speech, entitled “Non-verbal Language:Communication is a Cross Cultural Environment,” began withMiller miming the beginning of his speech, including a slap-stickmoment when he knocked himself down.

Miller finished to a loud round of applause from all thestudents present. According to Solomon, this was typical of aregular Toastmaster meeting.

“That’s what’s so cool about this club,”she said. “Everyone supports one another. Everyone alwaysclaps, cheers each other on, laughs even when you’re notfunny. It’s just an amazing group of people.”

Miller’s speech was formally critiqued by more experiencedmembers of the neighboring Turtle Creek Toastmasters club. Theypraised his use of eye contact and physical movement, which helpedkeep the energy level high and involved the audience instead ofdistancing the listeners.

The next section of the meeting, called “TableTopics,” addresses impromptu speeches. Solomon, the TableTopics Master for Tuesday’s meeting, said she generally picksquestions students might face at potential job interviews.”It’s important you get practice answeringinterview-type questions like, ‘What would you bring to thiscompany?’ Those put you on the spot and can be hard to answerif you’re not prepared.”

Some students attending the meeting expressed doubt in the club.Craig Smith, a finance major in the Cox business school, said,”It seems way intense. My public speaking skills could usesome work, but with all the clapping and cheering … I justdon’t know.”

SMU Toastmasters is part of the International ToastmastersOrganizations. Interested students can visit the club’s Website, www.smutoastmasters.org to see sample speeches and formembership and contact information.