Toastmasters Taking HOPE to The Prisons

by Donald Thompson, CC

At Liberty County’s Correctional Institution annex in Quincy, Florida, a team of toastmasters lead by Chuck Rabaut, DTM participates in a demonstration Toastmasters meeting. The theme for the day is “HOPE.” The toastmasters along with institutional staff make the journey through fences, locked gates, and razor wire to the Chapel. Traveling through the iron jungle; “hope” isn’t the first thing on the sojourners mind. It is evident from inmate body language and other verbal and nonverbal communication “hope” is recessed in the minds of those whose stay is more permanent. However, hope isn’t so recessed that an observer doesn’t notice the distinct need for programming within the fences, locked gates, and razor wire that institute “hope.”

Toastmaster’s Gavel Clubs are becoming a catalyst for “hope.” The inspirational ingredients of a Gavel Club meeting promote confidence, self-esteem, self-worth, and leadership. Thus, Gavel Clubs and Toastmaster volunteers become instruments of “hope.” 

Quincy Gavel Club

One such agent of hope is Chuck Rabaut, DTM. Chuck leads the effort to establish Gavel Clubs in Northwest Florida. His promotion and leadership has led to 3 active Gavel Clubs in Wakulla Correctional Institution, and one each at Calhoun, Liberty Quincy, and Jefferson Correctional facilities, as well as an all female Toastmasters club in the Gadsden Correctional Institution.

Mr. Rabaut noted that “prisoners, like anyone desiring to enhance their future, need to do all they can to improve their skills in the areas of communication and leadership.” He believes that Toastmasters provides these opportunities for growth. When asked what inmates receive from participating in Gavel Clubs? Chuck noted, “Inmates are particularly prone to suffer from lack of confidence and low self-esteem, which are some of the same reasons we became Toastmasters.

Hope radiates from each Gavel Club meeting as change is embraced. At the Calhoun Correctional Institution’s Gavel Club meeting on April 1st, the forty plus inmates formed the Radiant Phoenix Gavel Club. The name heralds the inmate’s declaration of hope as they are raised out of the ashes of despair, low self-esteem and lack of confidence.

When asked what is motivating this pursuit, Mr. Rabaut revealed, “The return on investment to you and I is a reduced recidivism rate! That means the knowledge, skills, and abilities gained by these inmates will be put into practice when they return to become contributing citizens.”  He further stated, “WE ALL BENEFIT.”

We may not all be able to personally participate in the Gavel Clubs. However, we can facilitate “hope” through alternative means, such as providing monetary support or donating educational or leadership manuals and recycled Toastmasters magazines. Gaveliers receive copies of the Toastmaster Magazine as a part of the continuing education process. Like Toastmasters members, they utilize the magazines to reinforce what they have learned during their meetings.

Mr. Rabaut spends countless hours encouraging Toastmaster Club involvement and seeking funding from individuals and local Toastmaster Clubs. These tasks are imperative to the success of each Gavel Club. Of course, the success of these clubs would not be attained without the help of team members like Riley Smith, who also devotes his time to this effort.

Speaker Spotlight: Ron “Mel” Melvin, DTM

by Esther Lenssen, ACB

Ronald E. Melvin, DTM, also known as "Mystic Mel", is a humorous speaker who combines his presentations and workshops with entertaining magic. In his speeches he tells unique stories that encompass life coaching, inspiration and humor. Mel has been a Toastmaster since 1992 and his public speaking experience spans more than 30 years.

Ron Melvin, DTM

Last year, Mel was one of the nine finalists of the Toastmasters World Championship of Public Speaking, which was held in Orlando, FL, in August. In April 2013, Mel joined Area 44 Governor Gene Kowalski, ACG, ALB, and EduSpeakers' VP Education Lynn Kruse, ACB, ALB, at Goliath Radio 1380 AM to promote the Division D International Speech and Table Topics Contest on the “Via Report” with host Roland Via. Here are a few of the questions Roland asked and Mel's answers:

Roland Via: Did you think, when you first joined Toastmasters, that you'd be there [at the finals of the Toastmasters World Championship of Public Speaking]?

Mel: I always wanted to be there. To say that I'd get there... It is always a struggle.

Roland Via: Yeah, the desire is one thing, the ability to do it another.

Mel: I knew I could do it. It's just getting there... It's taken a lot of time, it's not an easy task to do. It takes a lot of time, a lot of effort and you have to get a lot of support from the other Toastmasters.

Roland Via: And that's one of the reasons that Toastmasters is so successful. It's not a “me” group, it's a “we” group more than anything else. Would that be correct?

Mel: I'd say that you're absolutely right with that. We in Toastmasters want everyone to succeed. That's the whole idea. Each club was started by people like the new people who walk in the door each week. They're there to show that they did it, and now we can help you do that.

Roland Via: That makes all the sense in the world. So you had to work long and hard on that, but Toastmasters gives you the tools, the ability and the training to move yourself along. As long as you have that master ingredient—and that's the desire to want to do it.

Mel: Yes, and when you have the desire, along with that has to come the desire to get support from others. You can't do this alone. Speaking is not only you; you can speak to a wall and be very good...

Roland Via [interrupts]: I know, I do that every day between 2 and 4 o' clock.

Mel [laughs]

Roland Via [laughs]: I talk to a lot of walls... Sometimes I laugh at myself...

Mel [laughs]: But you know, the other part is... who's receiving it. If you can get other people to understand and receive and feel the emotions that you're putting into your speech—that makes it a good speech.

Roland Via: But what makes it a good speech is this—when you put the emotions and everything into it, people can tell when you're connecting with yourself, and that's a rare commodity sometimes. Whenever we look at politicians, for instance, and we're looking at their campaign speeches, sometimes their body language and the emphasis they put on words are probably more important than anything else. And here I am on radio moving my hands... But that does make a difference, right?

Mel: It does make a difference, but I'm going to tell you a secret about speaking. It is when you can make the receiver feel what you want. You see, I can feel anything, but if I can't transfer that to you—and that's what you were saying—it's not a feeling that you feel. And that's what I want to do. I want you to feel any emotion that I'm trying to share.

Roland Via: How do you get the listener to feel?

Mel: By telling them a story that they can relate to. You don't want to tell them a fully detailed story, because now they're trying to think of what you're feeling. Give them enough that they can feel from their own experience what it was like. […] For example, remember the time that you were scared when you were going down the street and all of a sudden a car veered off the street and onto the sidewalk. What was that like? That's what I'm trying to do. I don't want you to see exactly what I see, but what you see that makes you feel that way. I'm trying to steal your emotions, bring them up.

I was one of the listeners who called in to ask Mel questions live on the show. After I asked him for his advice about how to overcome any potential fears of taking part in a speaking contest and why he participated, Roland Via added the following question:

Roland Via: Do you encourage the failure points, where you say, “I cannot learn how to do it right until I'm doing it wrong and understand that I'm still alive, I'm still breathing and people are still smiling and listening to me?”

Mel: No...

Roland Via [interrupts, surprised]: No?

Mel: ...there's no failure. Every failure is a learning element. You learn not to do it that way. It's not a failure. You just say, “Oops, that didn't work, let me try this one over here.” I don't like to use [the word] “failure”. That's a long story. At Toastmasters I talk about how I was raised in a family as the failure. Therefore Toastmasters has been a way for me to build up my own confidence, because I'm a shy person in my own way. I don't feel that I'm up to the standards of other people. But let's get back to this contest...

Roland Via [interrupts]: He's wrong by the way, everybody, he's dead wrong, but nonetheless [laughs], if you feel that way, Mel, okay, you can feel that way...

Mel [laughs]: When you're in your own club, your club loves you and they don't want to do anything to stop you from coming back again. But are you growing? [...] Where I learned the most was when I took my speech for the contest and went to other clubs and they beat me over the head. Sometimes I went home almost in tears. How could they hate that speech? How could they find that wrong? But I took it and I said, “Wait a minute. If they're feeling that way, that means if I go to a contest, somebody else is going to feel that way. How do I change it?” And I kept getting better at it that way. So go to the contests. Compete. Take the things that you find that don't work, rewrite them. You'll make it.