On Oct. 22, 2024, Toastmasters International celebrated the 100th anniversary of its first meeting. Emanon Gavel Club of New Jersey State Prison — one of Toastmasters International’s 14,000 clubs — joined the celebration.
Since the founding of Toastmasters in 1924, the club has become an international phenomenon, with about 270,000 members spread across 150 countries.
New Jersey State Prison’s club was founded in 1987. The founding members remained undecided on the club’s name for many months, simply referring to the club as having “no name.” One of the members read the unofficial title on a club document, but read “no name” backward due to dyslexia. Thus, Emanon was born.
In my view, the club is one of the most welcoming and positive environments inside New Jersey State Prison in Trenton. Up to 55 people, including seven members who join us from Princeton Toastmasters, gather second and fourth Tuesdays.
Emanon Gavel Club celebrated its 37th anniversary last year, with the theme “Be the ladder for others to climb.” The theme was fitting for a place where positive leadership is difficult to find. Prison suppresses a person, while Toastmasters turns men into ladders.
I find inspiration each time I attend a meeting. The presenters, speakers and evaluators stoke emotions and provoke thoughts.
The meetings start with a call to order, usually done by Sergeant at Arms Donte Williams, who announces Toastmasters’ mission statement: “The mission of a Toastmasters club is to provide a mutually positive and supportive learning environment in which each member has the opportunity to develop leadership and communication skills, which in turn foster self-confidence and personal growth.”
At our club’s 100-year celebration, the Toastmaster of the evening was Walter Tormasi, an intelligent and natural comedian. He kept us laughing and smoothly guided us from one segment of the meeting to the next.
The inspirational opening was delivered by Tyhan Brown, a young man and new member who spoke for two minutes, inspiring us to fight through the gloom of lengthy prison sentences until we find the elusive light of freedom.
The wordmaster of the day was Vasil Heisler. His job was to provide the members with a challenging but practical word to be used by everyone who approached the lectern. The word Heisler selected was “burgeon.” It’s not easy, trying to incorporate a word you may have just learned into a presentation you’ve already prepared.
The jokemaster for the evening was George Philip, a member of Princeton Toastmasters who volunteers his time with us. The jokemaster’s job is to lighten the mood and ease a speaker’s angst.
After the introductory segments, selected speakers presented. First to the lectern was Thaine Shetter, another Princeton volunteer, who presented “How Toastmasters Begat ‘Star Trek.’”
The speech was about Toastmasters International’s founding and its growth throughout the years — and noted that Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock in “Star Trek,” was a Toastmaster.
He ended by posing a question, borrowing from the famous line in the TV show: “How will you use your Toastmasters experience to boldly go where you have not gone before?”
Next up to the lectern was Shakeil Price. It was only his second speech, but he seemed to be at an advanced level. Price spoke about the magnetic attraction of Toastmasters, and how the program “refreshed” his life.
“I heard about this program 16 years ago, but never learned anything about it,” Price said. “In hindsight, I should’ve joined 16 years ago!”
He added that the club has rejuvenated prison with positivity and restored a piece of one’s humanity.
The final speaker of the evening was Emanon club President Ray Franklin. Franklin is one of two incarcerated people in the United States to earn gold Toastmasters status, the organization’s highest honor. He presented a rhyming talk about our club’s meetings. The poem was speckled with inspiration and humor, much of which was at the expense of our individual members.
Speakers are usually given feedback from evaluators who provide praise and encouraging points of growth. But this night the evaluators were silent so we could have time to enjoy refreshments.
While we snacked on pretzels and cookies, an eagerly awaited segment called “Table Topics” was presented by Williams, the sergeant at arms. This segment’s master has a cache of questions and he calls unsuspecting members to the lectern to answer them off the cuff.
This method helps train us to respond accurately, quickly and truthfully to general topics. Donte asked: What do you think the first Toastmasters meeting was like? What is your personal leadership style? How do you respond when your ideas are rejected?
“Table Topics” questions have no right or wrong answers. Spectators squirm in their seats, wondering if they’ll be called next. Many of us pine to answer the question we just heard. But, when our number is called, we usually find ourselves momentarily stumped at the lectern. No matter how hard we train, public speaking can still be intimidating.
Toastmasters has helped me grow in ways I never thought imaginable. I’ve become more sociable, and I’ve gravitated to people and things that are about building, not destroying. I’m working on delivering my sixth speech. And, when I’m finally free, I plan to “explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, and to boldly go where no man has gone before.”
