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What brings a banking executive, a software engineer, a dental hygienist, a writer and a logistics worker to an empty Menlo Park church at 7 p.m. on a Tuesday? A desire to become more confident public speakers.
They’re all members of the Menlo Park chapter of Toastmasters International, where weekly meetings focus on building confidence through public speaking. The club is hosting an open house later this month to welcome prospective members.
While some Toastmaster clubs might target employees of a certain company or industry, Menlo Park Toastmasters is open to all. When you ask a member what makes the Menlo Park club special, they all say the same thing: its welcoming atmosphere.
“I think the greatest part of the club is the environment: the folks that are already members are very supportive, very helpful and always available to answer any questions so I can navigate my path to become a better public speaker,” said Ramón Martinez, who joined the club in September 2025.
“It is not only to help with speaking, it’s also a community,” said Ben Lim, a tech worker who joined the club six months ago.
Though members came from different backgrounds, many who spoke to this news organization said the club’s atmosphere helped them work toward their goals.
“In the tech industry, when they tell you how to communicate, it’s always very technical, very data-focused,” said Lim. “What you find at Toastmasters is that the value of telling a story is actually more important to captivate the audience.”
Lim said that even though he joined six months ago, he has already noticed a difference.
“I think I am more comfortable when I get up and speak in front of a group. In tech, you don’t get as much of an opportunity to just go out there and give a speech off the cuff,” Lim said.
Donne Davis, the club’s longest-attending member, joined in 2009 and credits the club with helping her overcome a lifelong fear of public speaking.
“When I first joined, I was, like most people, terrified of public speaking even though I’d had to do a lot of it. I worked at Foothill College for 15 years as an outreach counselor, and I used to go out to high schools and talk to students. I’d be in front of these huge audiences, and my heart would just be pounding,” Davis said.
Davis said that with large audiences, speakers can feel alone and judged but when speaking at club meetings, everyone supports each other.
“When I joined Toastmasters, people made me feel comfortable and like they were cheering for me when I got up to speak, ” Davis added.
She later became a mentor, helping other club members inside and outside of meetings.
“I tell every new member, ‘I’m available to help you’ and people would ask me to be their mentor… so I will get together with them outside of the meeting, and I might brainstorm with them, or we might work on a specific project or presentation,” Davis said.
Davis became a Distinguished Toastmaster, the highest level of educational achievement in the club, by giving over 50 speeches and leading local clubs for over a year.
“It’s just another feeling of reward to know that you’ve helped people who have a goal and want to improve their lives, want to better themselves,” Davis said.
Some of the club’s members joined after moving to the United States.
“I used to live in Norway and we’re not as communicative. So when I moved here, there was a lot of communication that I wasn’t used to, so I had to find a way to understand and how to connect with people in a way that was not common for me,” said Nini Che, who joined the club in 2019 and is now one of its officers.
Che said that not only did her confidence improve, Toastmasters helped her to explore new career paths. When she moved here from Norway, Che was a dental hygienist. Now, she’s a professor at College of San Mateo teaching dentistry and health care communication.
“There’s a lot of communication in health care. It’s very important how we communicate to provide the best care for our patients. We need to be careful about how we explain things, how we pick up on body language clues, and also be very mindful about HIPAA and confidentiality,” Che said.
Speeches, grammarians and ‘ah-counters’
At the Menlo Park Toastmasters Jan. 6 meeting, new member Jen Zou gave her first speech in front of club members. Davis was assigned to evaluate it, but all club members were encouraged to give written feedback.
“Before I walked in, I was thinking, ‘I can’t believe I am doing this.’ … But then I felt a sense of calm because everyone here is so encouraging, and truly, that was my first speech ever. So if it was terrible, it would be okay. I can just improve,” Zou said afterward.
Zou joined the club about a month ago. “Like everyone, there are moments when I feel like my voice is caught in my throat and I have this inability to express myself,” she said.
Davis says the most important step is walking in the door. “It takes a lot of courage to come to a meeting. You’re getting up there, you’re vulnerable, you’re not naked, but you feel like that,” Davis said.
Kassie Perlongo, who attended her first Toastmasters meeting on Jan. 6, agreed. “I almost canceled. I told my partner earlier today that. ‘I don’t know if I’m gonna go.’ He goes, ‘Just try.’ And so for me to just walk through the door, that’s the hardest part,” she said.
Following prepared speeches, the club’s meeting turns to impromptu speaking, when members are given the option to give off-the-cuff answers to prompts..
Several members serve in feedback roles during each meeting, including a grammarian who listens for grammar and word choice, and an “ah-counter” who tracks filler words and false starts. Toward the end of the meeting, they report their findings to the group to help speakers refine their skills.
“I’ve never been one to sugarcoat but I also always start with a positive. It’s kind of like the sandwich — positive, suggestion, positive. We never use the word critique or criticize, and it’s always with the goal of encouraging the speaker to speak again,” said Davis.
The club allows visitors to attend three meetings before becoming members, which costs $60 for six months. Members also get access to the Pathways Learning Experience, an online self-paced program that includes videos, worksheets and lessons.
Menlo Park Toastmasters meets every Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Bethany Lutheran Church, 1095 Cloud Ave. The club is hosting an open house for prospective members there on Jan. 20, also at 7 p.m. For more information, visit menlopark.toastmost.org.
