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Park City Toastmasters dives into spelunking with C. William Steele

Park City Toastmasters Club will host a virtual presentation by spelunker and public speaker C. William “Bill” Steele on Tuesday, Nov. 10.
Courtesy of C. William Steele

What: Park City Toastmasters Presents C. William “Bill” Steele

When: 7 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 10

Cost: Free, but registration is required

Email: ron@livelikesam.org

Web: pctoastmasters.com

Gregg Davison believes Park City Toastmasters Club is a vital community resource.

“We would like anyone who believes their personal life, entrepreneurial life, business life and/or their organizations would benefit from better communication skills (to) think of us,” said Davison, the club’s president.

Still, Toastmasters isn’t just an organization that provides tools for people to communicate and speak well. It also offers the community the opportunity to attend speaking events, such as the upcoming Nov. 10 presentation by spelunker C. William “Bill” Steele.



Steele’s speech will coincide with the Toastmasters weekly Tuesday meeting that runs from 7-8:15 a.m. via Zoom.

We want to build communication and leadership skills, and confidence in the community, business structures and personal lives…” Gregg Davison, Park City Toastmasters Club president

The public is invited to tune in and can receive the link by emailing Ron Jackenthal, Park City Toastmasters vice president of marketing, at ron@livelikesam.org.



Bonnie Armstrong, Park City Toastmasters vice president of education, came up with the idea of inviting Steele to talk, Davison said.

“Bonnie is an avid caver, and is also an instructor of caving safety and accident-recovery modeling,” he said. “She felt it would be fun to bring in a guest speaker, something we have not done before.”

Steele’s presentation also aligns with Toastmasters model, because he has expansive speaking experience, according to Davison.

“He has taken his speaking passion into the cruise ship world, where he is offered trips for himself and his spouse for participating in the continuing education models of those cruise ships,” he said.

In addition, Steele is a leader and explorer in the world of spelunking, and he is also a good communicator, Davison said.

“Every one of those points is a goal in the Toastmasters mission,” he said. “We want to build communication and leadership skills, and confidence in the community, business structures and personal lives. We learn to speak and communicate by speaking and communicating.”

Park City Toastmasters was established in 2000, and is associated with Toastmasters International, which oversees more than 13,500 clubs in 116 countries.

In the past few years, Davison has seen a growth in interest and understanding of the club in the local community.

“I’ve seen a growing club reaching into different aspects of Park City’s communities, such as the nonprofit community, and those who run for political office,” he said. “Those types of folks come to Park City Toastmasters to become powerful and effective communicators, and I think in a few short months these people leave Toastmasters with their toolboxes filled.”

The novel coronavirus proved to be an unforeseen challenge during the past eight months for Park City Toastmasters.

“We went totally virtual in March during the shutdown,” Davison said. “After 3 ½ months we attempted to move to a hybrid platform, but our meeting location at the Park City Hospital’s Blair Education Center closed, and remains closed. So we ended up at Hugo’s Coffee Shop.”

Meetings in the shop, located in the Park City Visitor Information Center, failed to gain traction, so the club has returned to the Zoom platform, he said.

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