“What would you do during an alien invasion?,” posed Toastmaster President, Valerie Krugh, to Toastmaster members at their inaugural Monday morning meeting.

“Would you rather scuba dive or skydive?” While members answer the impromptu table topic questions, “ums” and “ahs” are tallied and feedback is given to each speaker, all the while laughter and jokes fill the board room.

“We really do try to laugh a lot,” Toastmaster and Vice President of Public Relations Al Lorenz said. “That was the goal of this club from day one, to improve and have fun while we’re doing it.”

Fountain Hills Toastmasters (FHTM) is part of the Chamber of Commerce’s initiative to involve members in leadership opportunities to network, engage and build relationships in the community.

The Chamber of Commerce introduced “Success Factor Groups” in October of last year, a rebranding of their “Elite Leads Groups,” who’s focus is to, “develop Chamber Community Leaders who optimize their time together to expand their networking and referral capacity and contribute to each other’s success,” the Fountain Hills Chamber website said.

“I’ve been in Toastmasters since 1987 and have been in the FHTM since 2016,” Tom Lindsey said, VP of Education at FHTM.

Lindsey, like others in FHTM leadership, joined Toastmasters early in their careers and left, only to come back years later after “getting rusty” in their public speaking.

After welcoming members and guests, Lindsey gives a captivating icebreaker speech with grandiose imagery and perfect enunciation, dispelling any “rust” that may have lingered in his early years of public speaking. Despite being a part-time ASU professor and serving 40 years as a public school educator, constructive feedback is still provided for Lindsey to improve upon.

“Feedback is important,” Lindsey said. “It’s probably the single most important part of Toastmasters.”

FHTM meets at the Chamber of Commerce every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. and has begun meeting every other Monday at 11 a.m. to expand membership.

“I want to see a diverse group of people because we all learn better that way,” says FHTM President Valerie Krugh, who also leads an Elevator Speech Workshop as one of the Chamber’s Success Factor Groups.

Matt Gurtatowski, a Toastmaster Competent Communicator, says he rejoined Toastmasters after a five-year hiatus because of a work assignment.

“As an engineer, I work with ‘things’ all day long,” Gurtatowski said, who was not accustomed to speaking in front of people. “Work came to me and said, ‘Hey, you’re going to go to Washington, D.C., to talk to the Air Force,’ and I was like, ‘What?’

“I was doing this new stuff at work that I was not comfortable with, and did not have the skillset for, and Toastmasters provided that skillset.”

According to Gurtatowski, one of the biggest fears people have is talking in front of others, and Toastmasters provides a friendly environment to learn and grow as a group.

“When people realize that, ‘Hey, I want to be a better communicator and more comfortable talking in front of people,’ then this is definitely the thing to do, and that’s who I would encourage to come,” Gurtatowski said.

For information about FHTM, visit their website at fountainhills.toastmastersclubs.org. For information on the Chamber of Commerce Success Factor Groups, visit fountainhillschamber.com or call 480-837-1654.