It is 7:30 a.m. on a Thursday. Most Grand Valley State University students are still sleeping, some having breakfast. And though the members of GVSU’s Toastmasters Club sound like a breakfast club, they’re not.

They’re learning about the art of speaking, listening and thinking at their second annual Toastmasters Speak-A-Thon event.

“This is a fun place to be,” said Jenna Puisis, vice president of the Toastmaster’s club. “Really. We’re not here to tear anyone down. This is a comfortable place for people to improve their speaking skills, whether they are already good speakers or not. We’re here to work together.”

Speak-A-Thon speakers are provided a manual with specific guidelines in which to follow, in which they can pick any topic. The speakers are then paired with an evaluator who takes notes and gives the speakers feedback. The audience is given informal evaluations on a form provided.

Included in evaluations is a “ah counter” as well as a grammarian. The “ah counter” counts the number of times the speaker says filler words such as “like,” “um” or “so,” while the grammarian looks for misuse of words and grammar. The tallies of each were revealed at the end of the meeting.

Jeff Blair served as the “ah counter” and Elizabeth Blair as the grammarian. Both are GVSU alumni and active participants of the group.

“I visited a few times after repeatedly seeing this event on GVSU’s calendar,” Elizabeth said. “I realized it was a great club and a good place to be.”

The three speakers for the meeting — Monica Kaiser, Diane Hvizdos, and Jenna Puisis — spoke for five to seven minutes each. The subject matter ranged from butterflies to Aminatta Forna to skin cancer, keeping the audience of roughly a dozen people entertained and attentive.

After each speech, the evaluator gave feedback politely and constructively.

“It can be kind of intimidating, but even if you give a bad speech, the goal is to improve, and everyone here will give you their support,” Jeff said. “You just power through.”

The GVSU Downtown Toastmasters Club meets every Thursday in the University Club on the DeVos campus from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. For more information, visit www.gvsudowntown.freetoasthost.info.

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