Sooner Toastmasters

Sooner Toastmasters A welcoming Toastmasters club in Norman where people practice public speaking, build leadership skills, and grow together in a supportive environment.

Communications and Leadership training in the Norman, OK area.

Hello Sooner Toastmasters Friends and Family!! Join us Thursday as Heather hosts with the idea of serving with a greater...
08/31/2026

Hello Sooner Toastmasters Friends and Family!! Join us Thursday as Heather hosts with the idea of serving with a greater purpose. Sept. 3rd. 7 to 8:30 Mcfarlin Church 419 S University Blvd. Let's lead together in our community!

08/29/2026

Could you survive a night of creative speaking and leadership? Of course you could! Join us Thurday evenings 7 pm. Details in the fine print!

08/29/2026

Could you survive such an evening? Those of us that made the trek did.

How do you actually get better at public speaking?You practice.But practice alone isn’t enough.Thursday night at Sooner ...
08/24/2026

How do you actually get better at public speaking?

You practice.

But practice alone isn’t enough.

Thursday night at Sooner Toastmasters, John and Lord Jack both recorded their speeches on their phones.

Why record yourself?

Because the speech you think you gave and the speech everyone else actually saw aren’t always the same thing. 😁

You notice the pause that felt like an eternity but actually lasted two seconds. You catch the habit you didn’t know you had. You see where the audience reacted—and where they didn’t.

Then there’s another piece of the process:

Someone else watches you, too.

Every prepared speaker at our meetings receives an evaluation from another member.

Lisbeth praised what John did well while also challenging him to be careful about presenting information as fact without verifying it first.

Donna pointed out how Lord Jack’s use of books and other props didn’t merely add something visual—they helped strengthen his message.

Heather reflected on Michael’s story about making eye contact and talking with a stranger. Rather than simply critiquing his performance, she showed how his story had affected her and encouraged the rest of us to consider taking that same small risk.

That’s what good feedback can do.

It isn’t about standing in front of someone with a scorecard and listing everything they did wrong.

It’s about asking:

What worked?
Why did it work?
And what could make it even better next time?

Sometimes growth is giving a speech.

Sometimes it’s watching yourself give that speech afterward.

Sometimes it’s learning how to give another person useful feedback.

And sometimes it’s being willing to hear that feedback yourself.

That’s the part of Toastmasters that’s difficult to capture in a picture—the person who walks out of the room Thursday night is a little more prepared than the person who walked in.

Want to see how the process works?

Come check us out. You don’t have to give a speech, take a role or arrive knowing anything about Toastmasters. Just visit and watch it happen.

📅 Thursdays | 7:00–8:30 PM
📍 McFarlin Methodist Church
419 S. University Blvd., Norman, OK
Room 226

Guests are always welcome.

What are YOU going to do about it?Whitney told her boss that she wanted to become more comfortable speaking in front of ...
08/23/2026

What are YOU going to do about it?

Whitney told her boss that she wanted to become more comfortable speaking in front of large groups—eventually, audiences of 500 people.

Her boss asked a pretty simple question:

“What are you going to do about it?”

Whitney had an answer.

“Join Toastmasters.”

So Thursday night, she walked into Sooner Toastmasters as our guest.

When Table Topics began—the part of our meeting where people practice answering questions without preparation—I decided not to make her first question too painful. 😁

I asked:

“I’m happy you’re here. Why are you here?”

Whitney stood up and told us exactly that story.

She already has experience communicating in professional and boardroom settings. But speaking confidently to much larger audiences is the next challenge she wants to take on.

And here’s something Whitney may not have known when she chose our club because the location and meeting time worked for her:

She walked into a room with people who can help.

Around our tables are members who have spoken to audiences in the hundreds, competed—and won—at higher levels of Toastmasters competition, performed at comedy open mics, written books, started podcasts, served in leadership positions and even been paid to speak.

Not because everyone at Sooner Toastmasters wants to become a professional speaker.

They don’t.

Everyone’s next step is different.

For one person, success might be speaking confidently in front of 500 people.

For another, it might be giving a presentation at work without dreading it all week.

For someone else, it might simply be standing up when they weren’t planning to speak and discovering, Hey…I can do this.

As for Whitney?

She came to her first meeting looking for a place to practice.

Then she stood up, spoke for a minute…

…and won Best Table Topics. 🏆

Not a bad first night.

So here’s the question Whitney’s boss asked her—and maybe it’s worth asking yourself:

What do you want to get better at? And what are you going to do about it?

If communicating with confidence is somewhere on that list, come check us out.

📅 Thursdays | 7:00–8:30 PM
📍 McFarlin Methodist Church
419 S. University Blvd., Norman, OK
Room 226

Guests are always welcome. Come see what your next step could be.

Public speaking. Table Topics. Evaluations. The end of civilization as we know it.Just another Thursday night at Sooner ...
08/22/2026

Public speaking. Table Topics. Evaluations. The end of civilization as we know it.

Just another Thursday night at Sooner Toastmasters. 😂

Lord Jack Jordan is taking over this week, and apparently business casual will not be required after the apocalypse.

Guests are always welcome. Come survive the evening with us!

📅 Thursday | 7:00–8:30 PM
📍 McFarlin Methodist Church
419 S University Blvd., Norman — Room 226

No survival experience necessary. 😎

What does happiness look like?Is happiness something you find? Something you remember? Something you create? Or maybe so...
08/21/2026

What does happiness look like?

Is happiness something you find? Something you remember? Something you create? Or maybe something you discover in other people?

That was the question running quietly through our meeting at Sooner Toastmasters this week.

Our Toastmaster for the evening, Sonny Robitaille, chose happiness as the theme—but he didn’t give us a lecture about it. Instead, he built it into the meeting.

He filled a table with books about happiness. He gave members different words associated with happiness and had us hold them up around the room—glad, fortunate, joyful, delighted, carefree, satisfied—a simple reminder that happiness doesn’t look exactly the same to everyone.

And then something interesting happened.

Our three speakers gave us three very different versions of it.

John Robertson gave us happiness remembered. He took us back to his college days and the adventures of playing in a band. It was nostalgic, funny and the kind of story that reminds you how much joy can live in memories we haven’t thought about in years.

Lord Jack Jordan gave us happiness sought. His speech was more personal. He talked openly about his own search for happiness, including places he looked and didn’t find it. But he also talked about places he has—through acts of service and relationships with other people, including friendships he has found in this club.

Then Michael Barnes gave us happiness through connection.

Michael told us about making the “mistake” of making eye contact with a stranger. He said hello. A conversation followed. Eventually, a friendship did too.

His message was simple: we can move through life staring at our phones and pass right by people we never really see. Yet occasionally taking the risk to look up and say hello might introduce us to someone we can help, someone who can help us—or simply someone worth knowing.

Nobody stood up Thursday night and gave us the definition of happiness.

I’m glad they didn’t.

Instead, a room full of people told stories, laughed, listened, learned from one another and gave us several different possibilities.

And maybe that’s a pretty good definition itself.

Sooner Toastmasters is about becoming a better speaker—but some nights, the conversations become about a whole lot more than speaking.

Curious about what Toastmasters could do for you? Come check us out. There’s no pressure to speak and no obligation to join. Just come meet us, watch a meeting and see what happens.

📅 Thursdays | 7:00–8:30 PM
📍 McFarlin Methodist Church
419 S. University Blvd., Norman, OK
Room 226

Guests are always welcome. We’d be happy to have you.

🧠 We had all the feels at Sooner Toastmasters this week! 😃😡😢😨Toastmaster of the Day Waqar took us on a fun and informati...
08/15/2026

🧠 We had all the feels at Sooner Toastmasters this week! 😃😡😢😨

Toastmaster of the Day Waqar took us on a fun and informative exploration of Emotional Intelligence—and he brought props!

From Inside Out characters and emotion cards to books, activities and EI resources, the room was filled with reminders that recognizing and understanding our emotions can make us better communicators.

Members kicked things off by trying to identify the emotions pictured on cards placed around the room. Throughout the evening, Waqar sprinkled in insights about emotional intelligence between speakers and encouraged Table Topicsmaster John to keep the impromptu questions connected to the theme. It was a great example of using a theme to tie an entire meeting together while keeping the spotlight where it belongs—on the members.

🎤 Kathy shared how members can use Pathways to get more from their Toastmasters experience.

⚛️ Rachel tackled the considerably easier subject of quantum chemistry—while several members were assigned to interrupt her! 😂 It was all part of her Pathways project, giving her the challenge of staying focused and communicating effectively through distractions.

And then there were our award winners! 🏆

👏 Best Speaker — Rachel
👏 Best Evaluator — Sonny
👏 Best Table Topics — Lord Jack

We practiced prepared speaking, impromptu speaking, evaluation, listening, adaptability—and maybe learned a little something about what all those emotions in our heads are doing while we’re trying to communicate.

Fun, informative, interactive and just a little emotional. Sounds like a pretty good Thursday night to us. ❤️💛💚💙

08/07/2026

We had a great themed meeting lead by Robbie Trotter . Thanks for the great leadership and a trip down memory lane. Bring a friend and we will see YOU next Thursday 7 to 8:30 McFarlin Methidust Church Rm 209

The ‘80s called… and we answered! 📼🎸 Join Sooner Toastmasters this Thursday for a totally rad evening of speeches, leade...
08/05/2026

The ‘80s called… and we answered! 📼🎸 Join Sooner Toastmasters this Thursday for a totally rad evening of speeches, leadership, laughter, and enough neon to make a Rubik’s Cube jealous. Whether you’re rocking your favorite 80s gear or just bringing your smile, we’d love to have you!

📍 McFarlin Methodist Church
419 S. University Blvd., Room 226
Norman, OK
🕖 Thursday, August 6 • 7:00–8:30 PM

Address

419 S University Drive
Norman, OK
73071

Opening Hours

7pm - 8:30pm

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