Of Music Makers and Toastmasters

As a post-script to the immediately-precedent BLOG essay on Toastmasters, I, Lawrence Keeney Marsh, cellist since age eight, testify that I helped establish a local club of amateur musicians called Music Makers, nearly forty years ago. That club is still in fully-vigorous existence today, meeting always the first Sunday afternoon of each month in various club-members' private homes.

Many long years of prior experience with music performance in front of Music Maker audiences was a great help in becoming a Toastmaster of far more recent time. Granting that speaking and instrumental music-playing are not identical skills, the two nevertheless do share some degree of common ground with such skills as artistic phrasing, dynamic contrast, tempo, rhythm and clarity of articulation. In serving as a Toastmaster speech evaluator, I critique speeches of other people with the ears of a trained musician.

More importantly, however, many long years of Music Maker experience have in large measure conquered the severe trepidations I might have otherwise had in my early days of Toastmaster speaking experience. Most important: I know that in both settings, I am among friends, and nobody in the audience has a shot-gun across their lap, waiting to blast me away a la John Wayne style, the first time I stumble a little.

-LKM