I gave a speech at Toastmasters about my tattoos.
Both arms, full sleeves in color. A phoenix on one side for rebirth after my wife passed away. A dragon on the other because dragons are cool, intelligent, and you don public speaking for introverts‘t want to make them angry. Two coral snakes as borders and a spider. All done by Roni Zulu, a Los Angeles-based tattoo artist, oil painter, and children’s book author who has done work for Janet Jackson, Queen Latifah, and Debra Wilson.
NPR profiled him as an “urban shaman” who treats tattooing as sacred spiritual work. His philosophy: “My job is never to put a mark on you. It’s to bring the mark out of you.” I brought my friend Mardhavi Sakuntala along for the sessions.
Her self-appointed mission was to laugh every time I yelped in pain. It made the whole experience a lot more fun, and she had a blast.
My tattoo artist didn’t start right away. He told me, “You will wait six months, and if you come back and still want it, I’ll do it.” I came back, and I still wanted it. The left shoulder took eight hours straight, and I wanted to tear my arm off. I got smarter with the dragon on the right. It took 16 hours, done in four-hour shifts. I also learned that colors hurt differently. Orange hurts. Green barely hurts at all.
Standing in front of a room of professionals and explaining why a 50-year-old introvert covered both arms in ink wasn’t something I ever imagined doing. That’s what Toastmasters does. It puts you in front of people and gives you a reason to say something real.
What Is Toastmasters?
Toastmasters is an international organization built around one idea: you get better at public speaking by doing public speaking. The program is structured so you progress through increasingly challenging assignments. You start with basic introductions, work up to prepared speeches on topics you choose, then move into persuasive speaking, impromptu responses, and leadership roles within the club. For more, see what zork, simCity, and oregon trail taught me about writing.
Another member evaluates every speech. The feedback is specific and constructive. Not “great job” but “your opening grabbed attention, your third point needed a stronger transition, and you said ‘um’ fourteen times.” That kind of feedback is uncomfortable at first and essential once you learn to use it. The feedback loop separates Toastmasters from just reading books about public speaking. You can study technique forever. You have to stand up and talk to people, repeatedly, to improve. They focus on breaking filler words, the pauses and every “like,” and “well” goes too, because it’s a nothing word. I went for a few months and I still have those words. In 2024 I said I wanted to go back and throw them out of my vocabulary entirely, partly because I wanted to do a TED talk.
Watch: 2025 Toastmasters World Champion of Public Speaking: Sabyasachi Sengupta, Toastmasters International
What It Did for Me
From the podcast
Urmi Hossain joined Toastmasters in 2019 and found the value was wider than the stated one, on Leaders and Their Stories:
Toastmasters is really not just a place about public speaking. It’s about organizational skills. It’s about critical thinking.The speaking is the visible part. The rest is what people keep long after they stop competing.
I’m an introvert with ADHD and autism. Social situations drain my energy. Standing in front of a group and talking should have been the worst possible activity for someone with my wiring. Instead, it’s now among the most useful skills I’ve developed.
Toastmasters gave me a structured, low-stakes environment to practice. The room is supportive. Everyone there’s working on the same skill. Nobody expects perfection. That matters when you’re starting from a place where the idea of speaking to a group triggers real anxiety. The structure removes the ambiguity that makes social situations difficult for me. I know when I’m speaking, how long I have, and what’s expected. That predictability made it manageable.
The confidence I built at Toastmasters carried directly into my professional life.
I started speaking at RGA, a business networking group similar to BNI. Then libraries. Then businesses. The topics expanded beyond writing into digital transformation, ethics, leadership, cybersecurity, and ghostwriting. Each venue was different, each audience had different expectations, but the core skill was the same: organize your thoughts, deliver them clearly, and connect with the people in front of you.
Why Does Toastmasters Matter for Writers?
Writers spend most of their time alone with words on a screen.
That solitude is necessary for the work, but it creates a gap between the writer and the audience. Public speaking closes that gap. When you stand in front of people and watch their faces while you talk, you learn things about communication that you can’t learn from a keyboard.
You learn which ideas land and which ones don’t. You learn that the clever phrasing you spent ten minutes crafting sometimes falls flat while the simple, direct statement gets the reaction. You learn pacing. You learn that pauses are powerful and that rushing through material is the fastest way to lose an audience. Every one of these lessons translates directly to better writing.
For ghostwriters, Toastmasters develops skills that matter for the work. Ghostwriting requires listening carefully, understanding different communication styles, and reproducing someone else’s voice on the page. Toastmasters trains all three. You listen to other speakers and evaluate them. You’re exposed to dozens of different speaking styles. You learn to analyze what makes one speaker absorbing and another forgettable. That analytical skill is exactly what a ghostwriter uses when studying a client’s voice.
What Is the Business Value of Toastmasters?
I speak regularly at Eliances, a business networking group where I present to entrepreneurs, executives, and professionals. Here’s a real example: a book that landed a TEDx talk.
Every speaking engagement is a business development opportunity. When you stand in front of a room and deliver real value, people remember you when they need what you offer. This is more effective than any cold email or social media campaign because the audience has already experienced your competence firsthand.
I also do podcast interviews. They use the same core skills in a different format. And I’m expanding into speaking at local Toastmasters clubs and other organizations. Each appearance builds credibility, generates referrals, and puts me in front of potential clients in a context where I’m showing expertise instead of selling services.
The ability to pitch your services, negotiate contracts, and interact confidently with clients all improve with public speaking practice. Writers who can articulate their value in person command higher rates and attract better clients than writers who can only communicate through email. That’s not an opinion. It’s a pattern I’ve observed across years of professional ghostwriting.
What are the limitations of Toastmasters?
Toastmasters requires a real time commitment. Regular meetings, prepared speeches, evaluation roles. If you’re juggling client deadlines and your own writing projects, finding the time is a legitimate challenge.
Club quality varies enormously. Some clubs are welcoming, constructive, and well-run. Others are rigid, overly formal, or dominated by a few members who’ve been there for decades and resist change. Visit multiple clubs before committing to one. The right club makes the experience worthwhile. The wrong club makes it a chore.
The pace can feel slow if you’re impatient. The program is designed for gradual progression, and some people want faster results. But the gradual approach works because it builds real confidence through repeated experience instead of superficial technique through quick tips.
Getting Started
Visit a local club as a guest. Most clubs welcome visitors and let you observe a full meeting before deciding whether to join. Watch how the members interact, how the evaluations are delivered, and whether the atmosphere feels supportive or competitive. You’ll know quickly whether a particular club is the right fit.
When you give your first speech, pick something you care about. I talked about my tattoos. A phoenix for rebirth, a dragon because dragons are everything I respect, ink by Roni Zulu in Los Angeles. The speech worked because it was personal and real. Toastmasters teaches you the technique. You have to bring something.
