Thomas Spetter joined the sales team at Pitney Bowes after he earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington in 1991. He moved to Xerox in 1993 and joined the pharmaceutical industry in 1994, representing Abbott Laboratories. He currently serves as key account manager at Turing Pharmaceuticals, a post he has held since the summer of 2015. Thomas “Tom” Spetter has belonged to several professional and civic organizations through the years, including the Orange County Junior Chamber of Commerce, the San Diego Medical Service Society, and Toastmasters International.

1. By Thomas Spetter
Toastmasters International Trains
People in Speaking and Leadership

2. Introduction
 Thomas Spetter joined the sales team at Pitney Bowes
after he earned his bachelor’s degree from the University
of Washington in 1991. He moved to Xerox in 1993 and
joined the pharmaceutical industry in 1994, representing
Abbott Laboratories. He currently serves as key account
manager at Turing Pharmaceuticals, a post he has held
since the summer of 2015. Thomas “Tom” Spetter has
belonged to several professional and civic organizations
through the years, including the Orange County Junior
Chamber of Commerce, the San Diego Medical Service
Society, and Toastmasters International.
Ralph Smedley, who worked for the YMCA, identified a
need within the community he served for men who could
speak publicly, conduct meetings, work on committees,
and plan programs. In 1924, he formally established
Toastmasters to meet these needs.

3. Toastmasters International
 Like the practice at modern Toastmasters’ meetings,
members alternated leading the meetings and giving short
speeches, which were evaluated by the more experienced
participants. The concept quickly gained in popularity.
Today, more than 335,000 members meet in more than
15,400 clubs in 135 countries worldwide, developing
crucial speaking, listening, and organizational skills
necessary to lead businesses, sports teams and even
families.
Toastmasters identifies five common myths about public
speaking:
1. “Good speakers are born, not made.” The fact is, with
training and practice, anybody can become an effective
public speaker. Anyone.
2. “Good speakers don’t get nervous.” The destructive
corollary is that if you’re nervous, you’re not good. In
response, Toastmasters quotes Mark Twain: “There are
two types of speakers in the world: 1) the nervous, and 2)
liars.”

4. Conclusion
 3. “Introverts cannot be good public speakers.”
Toastmasters and others have shown time and
again that introverts can make excellent public
speakers.
4. “You must memorize a speech.” Although some
good speakers do memorize their speeches,
many don’t. Instead, they learn their key points by
heart and practice a great deal. Famous
performance coach Tony Robbins insists that
memorization only hurts a presentation.
5. “There’s a rigid code of conduct for speeches.”
Good public speakers don’t adhere to lists of
rules, they simply talk to their audiences in a