It’s a usual Wednesday evening. The emotions vacillate between the relief from overcoming the hump of the business week and the hope for another relaxing weekend. What could be more appropriate, under these circumstances, than going to a club?

This is the choice that about 25 members of the AmCham Toastmasters Club make every second and fourth Wednesday of the month. AmCham Toastmasters is a public speaking club that is part of the Toastmasters International network, and in Bulgaria under the umbrella of the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria.

They all share the same goals – self-development, boosting their careers and improving interpersonal relations – by developing communication, public speaking and leadership skills.

It is 7pm. The doors of the hall that hosts the meeting are about to close. Company owners, web designers, financial managers, IT experts, HR people and other professionals change their hats and turn into speakers, evaluators and active audience members.

The president of the club declares the meeting open and gives the floor to the toastmaster of the evening, who goes though a pre-prepared and distributed agenda, explains the roles and refers to the participants responsible for them.

Once the meeting begins, the idiom and word master announces the selection of special phrases for the meeting and encourages the participants to use them in their performance in front of the audience. The table topics master then takes the floor and proposes topics for impromptu speeches. Regardless of their experience with the club, members volunteer to deliver a short speech to express their opinion on the given topics.

"From my first visit, when I was ‘tossed’ in front of an audience for an impromptu speech about the democracy in Belarus, I understood that I made a serious step towards my personal development," said Rangel Mironov, a Toastmasters member since 2006, who achieved his "competent communicator" rank in 2009.

With the table topics out of the way, the pre-assigned speakers step up to deliver their speeches, prepared following the requirements in the Toastmaster Manual, but on a topic of their own choosing. Each new member receives a "beginner’s" manual with 10 speech projects to complete, each project being focused on developing specific communication skills. Once the basic manual is complete, the Toastmaster achieves the rank of "competent communicator" and can continue with any one of the 15 topical advanced manuals.

Not surprisingly, the first speech from the basic manual is the "ice-breaker", which introduces the new member to the club. Daniela Petkova, a member since mid-2008, still remembers the "trembling voice and hectic gestures" that accompanied her own ice-breaker. What gave her the courage to continue were the "empathy, positiveness and joy the audience shared in welcoming the first performance of a new club member who decided to take the journey of self-development."

This feeling of encouragement is also conveyed through the individual suggestions and words of appreciation that the meeting participants provide in writing to each speaker. After each performance, a designated evaluator presents comments of evaluation orally to the audience and in writing in the respective speaker’s manual.

As the meeting progresses, designated members make their reports as "timer", "ah/um" counter, grammarian and "general evaluator". The Toastmaster of the evening greets the first-time guests and invites them to introduce themselves.

It is then the turn of the club president to make closing comments and distribute the roles for the next meeting among the volunteers, marking the formal closing of the meeting, but not the end of the evening. The members replace the business setting of the meeting room with the more relaxed environment of a restaurant in central Sofia, which hosts the regular dinners of the toastmasters.

What is left unspoken during the meetings is then shared in a more casual environment: "For me, Toastmasters is not only going outside my comfort zone, stretching my goals and constantly improving my speaking and interpersonal skills. It is also big fun, as all this happens with my friends from the club, the other members," said Mironov, who served as club president in 2008/09.

As the Toastmasters members progress on their path to competent communicator status, they also contribute to the overall success of the club. The AmCham Toastmasters in Sofia was awarded as Distinguished Toastmasters Club for the period 2008/09 by Toastmasters International.

"I am happy we received the distinguished club award in July," current club president Sofia Panayotova said. "It is a development award that shows the motivation and dedication of our members, and I am sure we will receive it again in 2010."

And the rising stature of the club is an additional incentive for its members to strive for further personal and professional growth.

AmCham Toastmasters Club meetings are held in English every second and fourth Wednesday of the month at the Grand Hotel Sofia, starting at 7pm. For more information about the club and Toastmasters International go to amchamtm.org and toastmasters.org.