The club in question is called Toastmasters International. SO is a huge extrovert. He enjoys being out with other people, and being in FRONT of other people, being the center of attention.
Toastmasters helps you improve your public presentation skills in a very safe (small club) environment so you can learn where your strengths are and where you need improvement.
Now I've been going to TM related meetings, conferences and parties with SO for years. Sort of a TM groupie, if you will. Not only is this an activity he enjoys, but it's a social circle of his where the people sincerely enjoy me and I enjoy them (unlike his other social circle where he hung out with OW2). Last November, SO won a district-wide contest for a speech he gave. He was wonderful. The conference was great fun. I finally decided at that time that it was time for me to join. So, I picked a local club that SO does NOT belong to (he belongs to 3 or 4 local clubs), because I knew if I was going to do this, I had to carve out my own piece. SO is a very well-known Toastmaster in the state, especially after winning this contest.
It is something we can do together. I have to give presentations from time to time for work, so I figured it wouldn't hurt me professionally anyway. And it's something fun we can do together.
This is probably one of those things that falls into the "I would rather be happy than right" category. I mean, after all, why not?
