Dear Gene,

Many people are as afraid of interviewing as they are of public speaking, and for the same basic reason. Fear of public speaking is estimated to be the most common fear that humans have, outranking even the fear of death. As Jerry Seinfeld once joked, “This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.”

Thankfully, there is an effective and very affordable solution – Toastmasters, the organization founded to help people overcome the fear of speaking and improve their communication and leadership skills. Toastmasters has a proven program to help shy, anxious speakers blossom into confident, articulate, persuasive ones. At your own pace, you follow a set of speech projects designed to develop your skills in a variety of speaking skills, including organization, delivery, persuasion, body language, vocal variety, and more.

In addition to the prepared speeches, every Toastmasters meeting also has a section called “Table Topics” to improve your impromptu speaking skills. One member will bring a set of questions similar to the ones you might hear asked of beauty pageant contestants. Individual members are asked to give 1- to 2-minute off-the-cuff answers to those questions in front of the group. I can tell you from personal experience that the same confidence and abilities you build from answering Table Topics kick in when you are in a job interview.

Most cities have several Toastmasters clubs that meet at different times – morning, afternoon, and evening – on almost any day of the week. You can go to www.toastmasters.org to find a club near you. And there is one extra benefit to joining Toastmasters beyond growing your confidence in speaking and interviewing. Most Toastmasters groups are also very supportive networking resources, and somebody there just might connect you to the right lead for your next job.