For one hour twice a month, the members of the Elizabethtown Toastmasters promote personal and professional development, share information, learn new things - and have a lot of fun doing it all.

The club formed in September of 2019, and it's open to anyone. "I think we are E-town's best-kept secret," said David Pelna, vice president of membership.

Elizabethtown Toastmasters is a chapter of Toastmasters International, a nonprofit educational organization that aims to help members improve communication and build leadership skills. Founded in 1924, Toastmasters International includes more than 16,800 clubs in 143 countries.

"This is a club for anybody who wants to improve their speaking and communication skills," explained club president Matt Blazi. "It's also a great opportunity for networking. We have people in our group of all ages, different experiences, different backgrounds."

Each Toastmasters meeting follows the same format. A club member serves as Toastmaster for the evening and acts as a sort of master of ceremonies. At a recent meeting, club member Kevin Schafer filled this role, introducing the schedule for the evening as well as the two speakers who gave prepared speeches on topics of their choice.

Blazi spoke on "The Lighthouses of Cape Cod," following a curriculum prompt that required him to tackle a speech while managing a difficult audience. Jeff Boyle delivered a prepared speech about 988, a new nationwide mental health hotline.

Other roles filled by club members included evaluators, who scored the prepared speeches; an "ah" counter, who checked for filler words or speech stumbles; a grammarian, who checked for proper grammar and introduced a word of the day; and a timer, who made sure speakers stuck to prearranged speech lengths.

After the prepared speeches, club members were invited to give an impromptu speech on a variety of Table Topics. The theme for impromptu speeches at a recent meeting was autumn, and topics included prompts such as "What's the ideal temperature?" and "Sell me a pumpkin."

Blazi explained that evaluating the speakers helps club members hone their public-speaking skills. "It's a time to learn, get feedback, grow, take notes and work to improve," he remarked. Club members also vote on the best prepared speech and best impromptu speech of the evening.

Pelna said he joined the club to overcome the challenge of speaking in front of groups of people, something he often has to do in his job. "I wanted to improve at work, but I also found it's a skill I can apply to so many situations outside of work as well," he said.

Blazi encourages anyone with an interest to visit the Toastmasters website or just come to a meeting. "Toastmasters has helped me become a better communicator," he said, "and I can use that in so many aspects of my life."

The Elizabethtown Toastmasters meets at Community Place on Washington, 61 E. Washington St., Elizabethtown, on the first and third Thursdays of the month from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. For more information, visit http://www.toastmasters.org or come to a meeting.